The shooting of May's Men in Black 3 was reportedly a huge mess. The entire production was shut down for months in order to do rewrites, which were further complicated by all the knots and contradictions inherent in a time-traveling sequel. Now come reports that two 2013 summer blockbusters with nine-figure budgets are in trouble: World War Z and Lone Ranger.
World War Z is going to go back for seven weeks of reshoots--an astonishingly high number, but also one that may indicate that Paramount has faith that its $170 million+ production can be saved. It moved the zombie apocalypse film from December 2012 to the equally valuable real estate in June 2013. (In comparison, troubled productions 47 Ronin and G.I. Joe: Retaliation were moved from Christmas/summer timeslots for less lucrative February and March, respectively). IndieWire quotes Paramount head Adam Goodman admitting the tentpole has a bad ending but that it will be fixed.
THR cites a few problems with the production. Director Mac Forster (Quantum of Solace) wasn't trusted with all the big effects and more complicated aspects of the production, so his team was replaced with a more experienced one. But the group didn't gel, and with Forster ceding leadership in key areas, the prodcution started to go in all different directions instead of being led down a straightforward path. During the shoot in Hungary, an anti-terrorism task force seized the real assault rifles being used on the set--which violated the country's gun laws. The movie was also given inadequate prep time, a common problem in big productions these days. The most damning evidence to me is that Forster hadn't decided on how he wanted the zombies to look or act three weeks before shooting began.
Lone Ranger, a Disney project with budget estimates topping $250 million, is also running into trouble. Director Gore Verbinski and star Johnny Depp have a history together on the Pirates of the Caribbean films, and Depp reportedly fought against Verbinski being replaced as a director when the production ran into some early trouble. Verbinski is known for big-budget additions, and in Lone Ranger he apparently created his own vintage train locomotives from scratch. The production also ran into (insurable?) troubles with dust storms that delayed shooting and damaged sets. The script is still being rewritten, but production is set to finish in August, a manageable end date given the release date next summer. The budget troubles in this case seem like a battle between a cautious post-John Carter Disney and the go-all-out style of Verbinski, Depp, and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. As the success of the Transformers franchise shows, audiences love two hours of non-stop set pieces. That's exactly what Lone Ranger sounds like.
With rushed productions landing themselves in hot water and requiring revised budgets and reshoots, it puts other directors' choices into a new context. Gary Ross, for example, dropped out of directing the sequel to his much-acclaimed Hunger Games because Lionsgate wanted to rush through pre-production due to scheduling issues with star Jennifer Lawrence. J.J. Abrams successfully fought to push back Star Trek 2's scheduled release date. If rushing leads to situations like these, then I think Ross and Abrams were all the wiser to say no to the stress and compromise of helming a rushed summer tentpole.
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