I recently downloaded Celtx to my computer and I am working on writing my first real screenplay. It is a fantasy about five young heroes who must save their Empire from an evil Lord who has usurped the throne. I was wondering, is there any market for sci-fi/fantasy films? This one would be one that might appeal to both young people and adults. It is not overly violent, but it's not something that one would just take the kids to either. The goal was to make something in the vein of a good fantasy RPG that would include action, mild violence, magic, and beautiful story. Basically it would be like a beautiful Anime film done in live action. I purposely decided that this film would not be animation. I also decided that it would never be something cheesy like Legend of the Seeker. Anyway I'm just wondering if there would be any money in this genre, because I have more up my sleeves. Actually a lot more, but I am focused on finishing this one because I set a goal of finishing it by late Spring and I intend to keep that goal. I just want to know if there's going to be anyone willing to buy a film like this? Thank you!
Question about Sci-fi/fantasy
- Thread starter gambit924
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Well, obviously, I'd never say never -- big budget fantasy films of one sort or another certainly get made. Some are successful, some are not.
But the one thing that essentially all of them have in common is this.
In one way or another, they are all based on some pre-existing material.
A book or series of books, (hopefully a best-selling series of books), or a pre-existing movie, or a graphic novel.
Something.
When you are going to spend a hundred or a couple hundred *million* dollars to make a movie and millions upon millions more to distribute and market that movie -- the producers generally want to have some sense of their feet planted on something.
That 'something' is the sense that whatever is that they're making has been made and has worked already and that thus, the "pump" into which they are going to inject this vastly expensive motion picture enterprise, has already been successfully primed.
Lord of the Rings? People know about it. Clash of the Titans? People know about it. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? People know about it. Sorcerer's Apprentice? People know about it.
It is enormously difficult to break through that wall of resistance that studios inevitably have against investing a huge amount of money in a really big budget project that nobody has ever heard of before.
Any such investment is always going to be a big risk, so from their viewpoint, anything they can do to minimize that risk -- basing it on a successful novel, on a previously successful movie, on a successful comic book, putting a major star in it, doing a remake, a reboot, a sequel -- whatever they can think of -- they're going to do it as a way of hedging their bets.
What you ask a company to do whenever you ask them to take a chance on a spec script of any kind is to bet on a script that has no provenance whatever -- to take a sort of wild leap of faith.
That bet is not simply to *buy* or option the script, but ultimately, to make the movie -- because why else buy or option the script. Somebody has got to have that kind of belief in it -- they have to believe that the script is worth making and that they're going to be able to convince enough people further up the line to pony up that money.
That's hard enough when you're asking them to bet two million dollars or ten.
But you are asking somebody to bet not ten million dollars but probably something close to two hundred million. That's closer to the budget for a major fantasy epic on the scale of Lord of the Rings.
So, could it happen?
Take a look at your script and really - I mean *really* ask yourself this question.
Is a producer going to look at that and say -- okay, I'm going to walk into a studio chief's office and say-- here. Spend two hundred million dollars on this.
NMS
Great reponse!
This is a great response, NMS!
I've often wondered why more high-fantasy movies aren't made and why so many of them are made but not made as well as they could have been. It didn't really occur to me that finance was a major factor. How is high fantasy any more expensive than science fiction? I know there are low budget and high budget productions. It would be interesting to see if a great screenplay with a low budget could still lead to a great movie.
I think, ultimately, because high fantasy can be a hard sell, it could be good for new screenwriters to get their feet wet with less exclusive genres. Start by writing something shorter, low FX, small cast, limited location, aka cheaper. If that means you don't write your dream high fantasy script then you at least have a chance to gain experience (and possibly make a sale). When you've got a few productions under your writer's belt then studios will be more willing to risk big dollars on your dream productions.
Or, even better, write a few screenplays on the assumption that they won't sell at all. Just to get the feel for how the process is done. Then work your way up to writing ones you hope you can sell. I'm doing that, because it takes the pressure off. If I spent every moment wondering if I could sell this I'd be so frozen in self doubt I wouldn't write anything.
This is a great response, NMS!
I've often wondered why more high-fantasy movies aren't made and why so many of them are made but not made as well as they could have been. It didn't really occur to me that finance was a major factor. How is high fantasy any more expensive than science fiction? I know there are low budget and high budget productions. It would be interesting to see if a great screenplay with a low budget could still lead to a great movie.
I think, ultimately, because high fantasy can be a hard sell, it could be good for new screenwriters to get their feet wet with less exclusive genres. Start by writing something shorter, low FX, small cast, limited location, aka cheaper. If that means you don't write your dream high fantasy script then you at least have a chance to gain experience (and possibly make a sale). When you've got a few productions under your writer's belt then studios will be more willing to risk big dollars on your dream productions.
Or, even better, write a few screenplays on the assumption that they won't sell at all. Just to get the feel for how the process is done. Then work your way up to writing ones you hope you can sell. I'm doing that, because it takes the pressure off. If I spent every moment wondering if I could sell this I'd be so frozen in self doubt I wouldn't write anything.
If you are writing your first screenplay with the expectation of selling it - then be prepared for a disappointment.
You've gotten great advice in this thread so far - so good luck!
Mac
(PS: Even Alex Proyas had to abandon his pet mega-budget Sci-fi/Fantasy film ... )
There's a film franchise called Star Wars that blends sci-fi and fantasy that has been very successful over the last thirty-plus years. There have been many other films that mix science fiction and magic, some more successful than others, such as Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters II, Hellraiser: Inferno, The Event Horizon, and Dune, (and then there is re-booted television series Battlestar Galactica) so, yes, the market is there.
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Star Wars, Episode IV was not a franchise film when it was made. Lucas made it for about $11 million. A lot in 1976, but nowhere equivalent to the budget of the movies made after, or the Star Trek movies. That didn't start as a franchise. Ghostbusters was backed by Bill Murray and Dan Akroyd.
A new project will need to be accessible, not require the megabudget of a franchise film. But it can be done.
The big issue is that of cliche and tropes. From the brief description given (which I assume would form part of your pitch...) I can see a lot of them - dark lords, young heroes, evil empires. A lot of that stuff is old hat in fantasy after the 70s - 90's when there was a glut of fantasy which was largely influenced on Tolkein. There is still a lot of that about but those which are gaining success seem to be those that don't follow the tropes. Game of Thrones, for example, has no concepts of 'good' or 'evil' but simply follows the actions of characters doing what they would do in a particular situation with the outcomes being good or evil. Robert Baratheon is no more a 'good' character than his 'son', both are human with human responses whose actions are percieved as 'good' and 'evil'.
So, I would say that you need to look at your characters and plot and decide if they are truly engaging and realistic and beleivable. Are you avoiding the common cliches of evil dark lords, goblin hordes, bearded dwarves, beautiful elves and so on?
I would also agree with some of the above. It is difficult to get noticed in film or TV unless you have some interest behind you already - the easiest way in fantasy and SF being to (legitimately) use an existing and popular franchise as the base.Popular children's books are a good source of these... Unless you are prepared to pour your own money into it, of course...
Of course, one way you could get your vision noticed is by writing a comic script instead of a movie script and see if you can find a publisher interested in that or an artist prepared to work with you for a share. Get a popular enough comic on a decent story with engaging characters and there is always a chance that someone will approach you to ask for the rights to make a movie in which case you can dust off the movie script...
So, I would say that you need to look at your characters and plot and decide if they are truly engaging and realistic and beleivable. Are you avoiding the common cliches of evil dark lords, goblin hordes, bearded dwarves, beautiful elves and so on?
I would also agree with some of the above. It is difficult to get noticed in film or TV unless you have some interest behind you already - the easiest way in fantasy and SF being to (legitimately) use an existing and popular franchise as the base.Popular children's books are a good source of these... Unless you are prepared to pour your own money into it, of course...
Of course, one way you could get your vision noticed is by writing a comic script instead of a movie script and see if you can find a publisher interested in that or an artist prepared to work with you for a share. Get a popular enough comic on a decent story with engaging characters and there is always a chance that someone will approach you to ask for the rights to make a movie in which case you can dust off the movie script...
Do you think what I have described would be a better comic book? I love comic books, I just never figure that this story would be one. If you believe that this would be the best course of action, let me know what you think and I will seriously consider it. Thank you!
I don't know if it would make a better comic or not (or a better novel or anything else) because I know very little about it and would prefer not to comment. My comment was mainly based on the relative difficulties of getting a script accepted by a producer for filming and accepted by an indie comic publisher for publication. Both are hard to do, I won't say either are easy. However, when a comic publisher is looking at the money they have to risk to make your comic they are dealing with a hell of a lot less money than the film producer.
This is why popular franchises tend to be made even when the script is not very good because the producer sees the potential in the franchise not the creative work. SFF is often a hard sell in film and TV.
This is why popular franchises tend to be made even when the script is not very good because the producer sees the potential in the franchise not the creative work. SFF is often a hard sell in film and TV.
Screen plays are a very hard sell because of the finances involved in bringing a screen play to the big screen or even going straight to DVD or cable...
Graphic Comics are also hard sells because there are so many on the market right now. It also requires teaming up with really good artist unless you can draw and color in the details yourself. Most graphic novels have also moved on from the stale tropes you have mentioned.
Your best bet in my humble opinion is to write a novel, sell it, and have a screen play ready if hollyweird comes a calling. But, be prepared to wait, and wait, and wait because making a movie can take years and years of just pitching to find the right financing, directors, crew, actors and did I mention distribution?
Graphic Comics are also hard sells because there are so many on the market right now. It also requires teaming up with really good artist unless you can draw and color in the details yourself. Most graphic novels have also moved on from the stale tropes you have mentioned.
Your best bet in my humble opinion is to write a novel, sell it, and have a screen play ready if hollyweird comes a calling. But, be prepared to wait, and wait, and wait because making a movie can take years and years of just pitching to find the right financing, directors, crew, actors and did I mention distribution?
I've seen some great fantasy done on a low budget - but that tends to be by filmmakers with chops of their own, with their own stories to tell.
I wouldn't buy a fantasy script to shoot on a low budget. It would have to be my own passion project, The reason for this is that fantasy tends to cost a LOT more than a drama or comedy (similar issues with period pieces), and I can do my own projects at an odd pace with a weird schedule, where a project for commercial release has to be more focused. (I can spend two years working on my own passion project five minute short, if I so desire.)
I'd love to work on more fantasy projects, honestly. But neither I nor any of the small companies I work with tend to get the budgets to do them right. And nothing stinks more than having to half ass a great story with bad art direction/costumes/prosthetics because the money just isn't there.
I wouldn't buy a fantasy script to shoot on a low budget. It would have to be my own passion project, The reason for this is that fantasy tends to cost a LOT more than a drama or comedy (similar issues with period pieces), and I can do my own projects at an odd pace with a weird schedule, where a project for commercial release has to be more focused. (I can spend two years working on my own passion project five minute short, if I so desire.)
I'd love to work on more fantasy projects, honestly. But neither I nor any of the small companies I work with tend to get the budgets to do them right. And nothing stinks more than having to half ass a great story with bad art direction/costumes/prosthetics because the money just isn't there.
And Star Wars was the pet project of an academy-award-nominated director. Everyone figured old George would get it out of his system and go back to making good films.
I think you need to think about who you're targeting. Kids or adults?
HPotter, LOTR, WofOZ, LionWitchWardrobe are kids flicks. Parents take the kids to see them. Young adults like them too. So you capture a range of audience.
Including adult themes, even mild violence and sex and you are in danger of killing the goose.