Battlefield Earth Budget Questions - DVDfile.com forum for DVD, Blu-Ray, and HD-DVD

saraswati · 05-04-2001, 02:12 PM

i was watching battlefield earth, and, even though the budget was reported at $75 million, none of that was on the screen. the effects were awful, all the actors were no-name (and no-talent) people, it was directed by a hack whose films no one cares about. it was filmed in canada, and according to the director's commentary they had to shoot in places like airplane hangars because they couldn't afford a soundstage. complete and utter lack of production value. i could have made this in my backyard a la el mariachi. so where did all the money go??? in the commentary, the director said the whole production was done for $22 million. that leaves like $50 million. and yeah, travolta got $20 of that. and i guess forest whitaker might have made 2 or 3 million. barry pepper could come in at a million, but probably not. same for the director. so thats $25 million spent on the names. still, there's a missing $25 million dollars somewhere. where did it go??? my guess is that travolta had to pay off the studio to release this theatrically. it's honestly worse than some straight-to-video and sci-fi channel stuff i've seen. anyone have any info on this?? i'm not sure if it's on topic for this board, but i know this is the busiest area, and this subject doesn't really fit into any other category either.

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"Crap, lousy ceiling!"

***1138*** · 05-04-2001, 05:14 PM

Probably a $25 million kick back to The Church of Scientology disguised as paying for the rights to the book.

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1138 - DVD File Forum Greeter
Odo: You'd shoot a man in the back?!
Garak: It's the safest way, isn't it?

saraswati · 05-04-2001, 05:39 PM

travolta bought the rights years ago. i thought it might be something like that, too. i guess it's possible that some went to the church of scientology... but personally i'd rather hear something more sketchy.

------------------
"Crap, lousy ceiling!"

05-04-2001, 02:12 PM	#1 (permalink)
saraswati Actress Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: New York City?!	Battlefield Earth Budget Questions i was watching battlefield earth, and, even though the budget was reported at $75 million, none of that was on the screen. the effects were awful, all the actors were no-name (and no-talent) people, it was directed by a hack whose films no one cares about. it was filmed in canada, and according to the director's commentary they had to shoot in places like airplane hangars because they couldn't afford a soundstage. complete and utter lack of production value. i could have made this in my backyard a la el mariachi. so where did all the money go??? in the commentary, the director said the whole production was done for $22 million. that leaves like $50 million. and yeah, travolta got $20 of that. and i guess forest whitaker might have made 2 or 3 million. barry pepper could come in at a million, but probably not. same for the director. so thats $25 million spent on the names. still, there's a missing $25 million dollars somewhere. where did it go??? my guess is that travolta had to pay off the studio to release this theatrically. it's honestly worse than some straight-to-video and sci-fi channel stuff i've seen. anyone have any info on this?? i'm not sure if it's on topic for this board, but i know this is the busiest area, and this subject doesn't really fit into any other category either. ------------------ "Crap, lousy ceiling!"

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05-04-2001, 05:14 PM	#2 (permalink)
*1138* Producer/Admin Careful, or I'll ban myself... Join Date: Jun 2000 Location: San Jose, CA	Probably a $25 million kick back to The Church of Scientology disguised as paying for the rights to the book. ------------------ 1138 - DVD File Forum Greeter Odo: You'd shoot a man in the back?! Garak: It's the safest way, isn't it?

05-04-2001, 05:39 PM	#3 (permalink)
saraswati Actress Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: New York City?!	travolta bought the rights years ago. i thought it might be something like that, too. i guess it's possible that some went to the church of scientology... but personally i'd rather hear something more sketchy. ------------------ "Crap, lousy ceiling!"