Help me decide.

[Joe Calabrese]

Hey all.

I'm trying to decide whether or not to spend the next 4 months of my life on this new idea I have. Is it too controversial?

The Ten Commandments but solely from the Pharaoh Ramses II perspective.

Would Jews get pissed? Christians? Are pre-historical epic films dead now?

Thoughts

[vig]

yes. yes. yes.

i'd say that being repped is going to help you get reads, but i wouldn't exactly call this high concept. though the controversy could help the marketing, but that's miles down the road.

whenever religion is involved there is a distinct possibility that you will offend any people over many demographics.

but, nobody really knows what's going to fly, we only have what the market place has yield to draw from

tough call, if your repped and you can get reads, i'd think about doing something that you are close to that might have a snowballs chance in a sauna.

vig

[kojled]

jc

is this for tv or cable? if so i give it a weak 'maybe'. if it's a feature then round file it. too much $$$$$$$$$ for the cgi - pyramids, egypt of yore, 10,000 slave extras - fuggetaboutit. that, plus subject matter - i mean, really (whispers) who cares?

a feature would cost 100-300 million (if you're talking about something that looks like the original in scope, fx, etc) and the subject is just not something peeps want to see anymore.

(personally) i don't think a 10 commandments like the original will ever be done again. not unless someone comes up wif $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ they're willing to gamble. and, stuff like that has been doing poorly - alexander, troy, et al

however there is the passion of the you know what. prob is tpotc was made for pocket change - 10 commandments cannot be - unless your version is a touchy-feely intimate lots of dialogue and 'who is this moses' talk and very theater that 'tells' the story of moses - and, yes, we mean tells - while you lose your freaking mind listen to all the 'so shall it be written, so shall it be dones'

holy (golden) cow batman! that's one boring long *** expensive movie

O - there's the round file



zilla

[bikrpreacher]

On the other hand, if you are serious, that might just go over well. There is something like that going on in churches now, has been for about 6 years, of people who come into the church giving all kind of perspectives of things about the bible, usually from a perspective like your idea.(I'm talking about someone coming into the church dressing and acting like a bible character, and not the usual ones at that.) I think it would work.

[maestrowork]

What does your rep say?


In this climate, I'd be careful about Biblical stories. OK, so we have a huge success in Passion of the Christ, but that's still an exception.

But you should consult your rep and see what they think, perhaps?

[Joe Calabrese]

My rep is against anything that is over a million to make.

I write several scripts at once. Right now, I am doing two rewrites (one for hire) and two first draft specs.

On my main computer, I do my work for hire, sellable stuff, etc... My 9 to 5 computer, so to speak.

On my laptop, however, is where I do my dream projects and specs that are against my manager's wishes. They meant more for competitions, sample writing and if they just happen to sell one day-- its a lot of bling bling and a big "I told you so" to my manager...

[35mm]

You are walking into no mans' land. Religion is a very touchy subject and unless you willing to face the backlash by both Jews and Christians not to mention Muslims and Catholics I would say no to this one.

If your movie is about religion than you need all of the above to support your movie. That's how Mel Gibson made his cool 400 million.

[Joe Calabrese]

Davinci Code will be HUGE Box office, but a big disappointment to the people who are fans of the novel.

Another case in point for my dream writing projects. My last one, "The Eyes of Mara," (my long awaited homage to Kipling) is a 100 mil+ project. It won, made semi and finals in half a dozen comps, got read at Warner and through a series of unfortunate events was passed. But the VP who loved it passed it along to an indie producer friend of his who ended up hiring me for a rewrite gig on his low budget script with a similar tone.

Go figure.

[dpaterso]

Maybe it's time Biblical epics made a comeback. Maybe this is your springboard to an A-list Hollywood career. Switch off your targeting computer and use the Force.

-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57)

[Lord_Galvatron]

Do it. Just write it. I for one, would love to pay my 8 bucks to see it.