High Cost May Take Revenge On Summer Films

Hollywood is headed for its most expensive summer ever.

Price tags on the big “tentpole” movies have climbed so high that even a longtime studio head calls the escalating costs “horrifying.” Other words used to describe the spending for this summer were “economically frightening,” “a curse” and “dangerous.”

“Everybody’s playing for home runs,” concluded 20th Century Fox executive vice president Tom Sherak.

Working from estimates by industry observers and insiders - no studio would confirm actual budget figures - it would appear at least a half-dozen films will have price tags above $70 million. At least 13 films are over $50 million. Many more hover in the mid-$40 million range.

Universal’s “Waterworld,” of course, leads the way with somewhere between $160 million to $175 million reportedly spent so far on the futuristic action film. Several sources said they believe Warner Bros.’ “Batman Forever” is rapidly approaching the $100 million figure.

At the NATO/ShoWest industry convention in Las Vegas in March, Motion Picture Association of America head Jack Valenti reported that making and marketing the “average” movie rose to $50.4 million in 1994.

Some insist that this trend cannot continue much longer.

“If some of these high-priced films fail to perform this summer that will ring like twanging wire throughout our business,” warned Valenti.

However, others feel high costs are the price of doing business during summer.

“Summer is the time of year where the feeling is that you have to deliver a flashy movie,” said “Congo” director Frank Marshall. “And that means you have to spend some money. It means stars and wild stories, it means period or action or taking you to a place you’ve never been before.”

“At a certain level, you’re not going to cut corners,” said one production company head, who asked not to be identified. “Why spend $45 million to $50 million to make a movie that is not special enough to recoup your investment, especially if you can spend the extra money and blow people away?”

Nevertheless, many insiders worry that too much is at stake on any given weekend this summer.

“If a $50 million film goes out and tanks the first weekend, that’s the end - it’s all over (for that film),” worried entertainment attorney David Colden. “That’s a nightmarish situation for a distributor, putting out product and taking the risk that in the course of three or four days you’ll either see your investment recouped or get pushed out of the theaters to make room for the giant blockbuster next weekend.

“It’s bad for business to have these blockbusters bunched so closely together.”

Why has summer gotten so out of hand? What has jacked up the budgets to such proportions? Not everyone agrees on the reasons.

Valenti lays the heavy price for summer on the talent. “The competition is enormous and there are only a handful of A-plus movie stars or a dozen A-list directors,” he said. “They have huge leverage (when it comes to their salaries).”

Others insist the kinds of movies that draw huge summer audiences demand large budgets for effects, stunts, costume and art direction.

“Few movies are way out of whack this summer (budget-wise),” insisted Jerry Bruckheimer, co-producer of “Crimson Tide.” “‘Batman’ and ‘Die Hard’ are sequels, which have large built-in audiences. ‘Waterworld’ is inherently expensive because it was shot largely on water. ‘Apollo 13’s‘ subject matter lends itself to a higher price movie. Some movies are period. You can’t get the costumes for ‘Braveheart’ at Macy’s.”

“In the scheme of things, the cost of big summer movies is less the cost of big stars - unless it’s Sly or Arnold - than the cost of everything - the stunts, costumes, effects,” said one independent production executive. “For a top director to deliver the vision he wants - the vision that will deliver an audience - it costs money.”

Disney distribution head Dick Cook isn’t even certain there is any trend toward bigger budgeted movies each summer.

“It just happened that way (this year) - the way every once in a while summer is full of dramas and next Christmas is all comedies,” said Cook. “I don’t believe you can draw any conclusions from (this summer).”