Warner Brothers that births the most tentpoles, hopes that the end of the Harry Potter movie franchise in 2011 won't mean the end of the tentpole production line for the studio.
Warner Bros studio more than any other, focus is on delivering mega blockbusters like movies The Dark Knight and the Harry Potter sequels. 5 of the 16 highest worldwide grossers have come from Warner Brothers along with "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy movies from New Line.
Tentpoles, the thinking goes, can justify mega budgets for top talent, lavish action sequences and special effects since they'll rake in the mega bucks for other divisions like television, homevideo dvd/Blu-ray, also merchandise and videogames. The case of new properties like The Green Lantern & Sherlock Holmes movies it can also establish an evergreen franchise.
Alan Horn (Studio topper) and Jeff Robinov (Production prexy) have said they would like to have at least four of those blockbusters a year.
Top of the wish list for Horn & Robinov =
For Chris Nolan to figure out a 3rd Batman movie, but nothing as yet has been set. What is happening though is =
* "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," directed by David Yates and starring Daniel Radcliffe, Emma Watson and Rupert Grint. Opening July 15 after being postponed from November.
* "Sherlock Holmes," directed by Guy Ritchie and starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law. Opens Dec. 25 in what the studio hopes will be a franchise launcher.
* "Clash of the Titans," directed by Louis Leterriere and starring Sam Worthington. Opens March 26 in an attempt to replicate the success of "300."
* "Sex and the City 2," directed by Michael Patrick King and starring Sarah Jessica Parker. Opens May 28, two years after the first film grossed over $415 million worldwide.
* "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1," directed by Yates and starring Radcliffe, Watson and Grint. Opening Nov. 19, 2010, in the slot that most of the Potter films have filled.
* "The Green Lantern," directed by Martin Campbell. Opening June 17, 2011. Ryan Reynolds will star in one of the potential crown jewels among the DC Comics library.
* "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2," directed by Yates and starring Radcliffe, Watson and Grint. Opening July 15, 2011. The eight films will probably win up grossing somewhere around $7 billion in worldwide box office.
* "Happy Feet 2," directed by George Miller. Opening Nov. 18, 2011. The 2006 original "Happy Feet" topped $380 million.
* "The Hobbit, Part 1," directed by Guillermo Del Toro. Opening December 2011. New Line and MGM are financing. No casting yet.
* "The Hobbit, Part 2," directed by Del Toro. Opening December 2012. As with "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, the films will be shot in New Zealand.
(From Variety)
The most likely potential tentpoles said are Jonny Quest movie (based on the cartoon and comic books) which still has no director or cast as yet, and New Line's videogame adapation called Gears of War which has Len Wiseman attached to it.
LEEE777 - Great news me thinks, well ive got over the shock of Ryan Reynolds to be Hal Jordan and cannot wait to see the DC space opera movie, it's going to be big! Just hope it don't turn into a Reynolds vehicle movie instead of what in should be, epic space opera, we want it taken seriously and everything will be cool. Gears of War sounds exciting and anyone that played the game will know why. One day hopefully we'll get our Halo movie too, last i heard is Peter Jackson was on the project but that was ages ago, who knows now? Talking Mr Jackson, "The Hobbit" movies are a must see and something really to look forward to aswell, i think your agree there's a lot of great movie coming from WB!
While the schedule does include a June 17, 2011, release for Ryan Reynolds debut as the Green Lantern! There is no slot allotted yet for the Last Son of Krypton our fav Superman. Superman’s exclusion corroborates Warner Bros. chairman Alan Horn’s recent testimony in the court case between Warner Bros. and the families of Superman creators Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel that 2012 would be the earliest that anyone could expect to see a new movie.
Damn, we want another Superman movie, Horn has indicated that the Man of Steel will not be returning any time soon, like said The Man Of Steel, now that's sounds like a movie title to me right there, a bit like The Dark Knight! Hey hopefully they will call it that or Superman: Doomsday! Hey i can wish lol.
Anyway testifying in a recent court trial over the validity of licensing deals, the studio topper said he hopes to make another Superman movie but added that the property wasn't under development as yet, no script had been written and the earliest another Superman picture could be released would be in 2012. Well cant wait! ; )