Word: paramount
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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When documentation arrived, Paramount concluded that the budget was as much as $30 million off. An insider says it allowed only $300,000 for music and about $7 million for special effects. Typically, music in a big movie like Titanic can cost more than $1.5 million. As for effects, Starship Troopers or The Lost World each required more than $20 million worth. Using the threat of a lawsuit, Paramount negotiated an agreement that capped its contribution at $65 million. It was the beginning of what Mechanic describes as "a terrible relationship...
...numbers went inexorably up. A source who worked on the film says the effects cost more than $30 million. Fox tried to hold the overall budget to $150 million, then to $175 million. It repeatedly asked Paramount to ante up a little more--to augment, for example, the music budget. Paramount declined. "They never helped the movie," Mechanic says. "Anytime something could have made things better, it was 'That's your problem.' " Stymied, Fox offered to give Paramount its money back and take over. Paramount didn't take the offer seriously. Rather than lose scenes he deemed essential, Cameron gave...
...complained of sweatshop-style practices that sometimes had them working as long as two weeks without a break; about Cameron's screaming tirades; and about a still unsolved food-poisoning incident in which chowder served to the cast and crew was laced with the drug PCP. Meanwhile, Fox and Paramount quarreled publicly over the release date. Finally, they settled on Dec. 19--after the early rush of holiday shopping but in time to qualify for the Oscars...
...potentially strong competition: the new James Bond movie, Tomorrow Never Dies, and the DreamWorks comedy Mouse Hunt. But January is a dead zone. Titanic can play and play and play. And it will have to for both studios to get their money back. It's not an impossible mission. Paramount's Mission: Impossible grossed $422 million worldwide. Sony's Men in Black grossed $527 million. Despite Titanic's marathon running time (3 hrs. 14 min.), most industry observers think it has a chance. Paramount, with its cap, should see a profit while Fox is still praying to break even. Mechanic...
...when another Cameron project comes along, will Mechanic slam the door? Will Paramount? Both studios say no. In fact, Mechanic says he's sure Fox will do Cameron's next picture. Surely Cameron won't smash the budget the way he did the time before. And the time before that. And the time before that. "It does not have to be this complex," Mechanic insists, with a showman's optimism. "I don't think this will happen again...