Word: budgeted
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Avatar, in other words, has none of the selling points that are supposed to guarantee hit status for a big-budget movie. Yet James Cameron's enviro-epic, with no famous name attached to it but its writer-director's, is not just a blockbuster; it's king of the world. Since premiering on Dec. 18, it has proceeded to shatter most existing box-office records at home and abroad. It has been No. 1 every week, swatting away ambitious newcomers like so many mosquitoes. And like the best ambassador for Hollywood, it has earned most of its revenue - nearly...
Recall that Titanic was a colossal gamble back in '97. With a $200 million budget, it was, some said, the most expensive picture ever made. (In real dollars, that dubious honor would probably go to the Elizabeth Taylor Cleopatra in 1963.) Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet were not yet established stars. The historical event lacked suspense: whatever else happened, that 1912 ocean liner would sink; there would be no Titanic II. Moreover, the scenario Cameron did invent was a love story, and that would scare off the guys. (See more about Avatar on Techland.com...
After Titanic, Cameron got financial carte blanche to spend a bundle on another no-star epic. (The film's distributor, 20th Century Fox, claims that the budget for Avatar was $237 million, less than that of Spider-Man 3 or the last Harry Potter movie.) This time, instead of re-creating a cruise ship, Cameron created a whole new world, using technologies he waited nearly a decade to see come to fruition. The man who built the Titanic became the God of the Old Testament - or at least J.R.R. Tolkien - summoning previously unseen lands from his majestic imagination...
...Harvard Union of Clerical and Technical Workers (HUCTW) released an open letter to its members and the Harvard community on the afternoon of Friday, Feb. 5, criticizing the University and the Deans for not being specific in their communications about the current budget crisis and for not seeming to have a universal plan to deal with fiscal concerns...
...Official communications from University leaders, issued periodically as the budget crisis unfolded, did not suggest a unified University approach to the financial difficulties,” HUCTW officials wrote in what they said was the first in a series of five open letters to the University community. “The President, Vice-Presidents and Deans wrote in generalities about the need to manage resources prudently while maintaining Harvard’s high standards and ambitious agenda...