Three things to say about this.
One, the title change, from Neighbors (US) to Bad Neighbours (UK). I approve of the spelling correction, and presumably the addition of ‘Bad’ was intended both to raunch it up and to distinguish it from everyone’s favourite antipodean soap?
Two, I haven’t seen it, but the pitch is so delicious – frat house moves in next to young parents bemoaning their lost youth – that it would seem hard to foul it up.
Three, I love this story (h/t Charles Gant at the brilliant Guardian UK box office blog):
“The success of Bad Neighbours may prompt reflection at its backers, going by comments made by Seth Rogen to Variety at the SXSW festival. After Universal bought the pitch in 2011 and Nick Stoller signed on to direct, the film's progress through the executive ranks was slower than anticipated. "It seemed like we were going to enter development hell," said Rogen. "We went into a phone call that we thought was going to be our green light, and we got a bunch of notes. We went back to the studio and said, 'What is the amount of money we can make this for where we stop having these conversations?'" The budget was then chopped in half to $18m. If a film succeeds wildly beyond expectations as a result of studio executives being sidelined in the creative process, it's certainly one for them to ponder.”
Tom Williams
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