Videogum Home - designed by Guilherme Rosa

 

July 31, 2008

Let's Buy Steven Soderbergh's Che, You Guys

thumbnail icon: Let's Buy Steven Soderbergh's Che, You Guys

There's an article in the Hollywood Reporter today about how tight the indie film market has gotten when it comes to finding a distributor, as evidenced by the difficulty three films faced at this year's Cannes Festival:

NEW YORK -- At May's Festival de Cannes, buyers rushed to see the latest work from three American auteurs: Steven Soderbergh's "Che," James Gray's "Two Lovers" and Charlie Kaufman's "Synecdoche, New York." But the fest ended without any of the films clinching a U.S. sale.

It took two months for the $20 million-plus "Synecdoche" to land a U.S. distribution deal with Sony Pictures Classics. 2929 Prods. gave up on finding an outside buyer for its $12 million "Lovers," deciding to release it through sister company Magnolia Pictures. And Soderbergh's $65 million "Che" is still searching for a home.

OK, so we missed our chance on buying Charlie Kauffman's Synedoche, New York (we snooze, we lose), but apparently Soderbergh's Che is still up for grabs. It's a buyer's market, you guys. Let's be buyers so that it's our market!

Now, the four hour epic starring Benicio Del Toro as the Cuban revolutionary cost 65 million dollars to make. I have no idea what that means for how much money we're supposed to offer. Do we pay the whole 65 million? That can't be right. We're just paying for the right to distribute? Or do you guys want to go all in and just own this motherfucker. Both of those are real options that are worth considering because this is a thing that's GOING TO HAPPEN.

Look, no one's buying this movie, so I say we lowball them. Let's say $5,000. We offer that for world distribution rights. Boom, we're Harvey Weinstein. We'd all better start eating. A lot. Because Harvey Weinstein is fat. I'm on the cutting edge of jokes, you guys. Whatever, fat jokes aren't cool, but you know what else isn't cool? Harvey Weinstein's attitude. BACK TO BUSINESS. If we offer $5,000 it's probably going to cost, what, another $5,000 to get this in one billion theaters worldwide? So we're going to need $10,000 total.

If every reader of this website simply contributes $1,000 we will come within $9,000 dollars of our goal. SUCCESS. We can probably hold a bakesale to cover the remainder. Did you know that the original Hollywood Studios were founded by bakesale? That's probably true. We have no way of knowing whether or not that's true.

So, please just send me $1,000 dollars each, and I will get this plan in motion. What should our company be called? I'm leaning towards Serious Business, or maybe Money Factory.

Posted by Gabe at 12:15 PM in
Tags:  |  |




4 Comments

Fuzzy Dunlop

Cash Ruins Everything About Movies

Posted by: Fuzzy Dunlop profile link at 07/31/08 12:52 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Listen, I don't have $1,000, but I do have 54 cents and a coupon for $1 off a sub sandwich at Blimpie's. They're already in the mail.

Posted by: Randi profile link at 07/31/08 1:01 PM | Reply
Score = 1 Vote up Vote down

Steven Soderberg should just tell everybody in Hollywood that this is a movie about a superhero nobody's ever heard of. They like those movies now.

Posted by: Nick at 07/31/08 2:32 PM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

i haven't watched none of these films but their titles do not inspire me... when will you comment more on them? waiting

Posted by: Dominic - Photostock Expert at 12/05/08 9:10 AM | Reply
Score = 0 Vote up Vote down

Leave a comment


Staff

  • Founder/Editor-In-Chief: Scott Lapatine
  • Senior Editor: Gabe Delahaye
  • Executive Editor: Amrit Singh

Info

Contact

You Can Make It Up logo
Gabe loves fan fiction. You Can Make It Up features his own personal alternate adventures starring some of our favorite characters.

You Can Make It Up: The Terminator Trap

The Terminator trudged along the wooded path towards the lake, his gun dangling by his side, the taunts still ringing in his hypersensitive bionic ears. He stared at the ground as he walked, and didn't even bother scanning anything with...

MORE »

The Hunt For The Worst Movie Of All Time logo
After watching Death Sentence, a terrible movie starring Kevin Bacon as a father in search of vigilante justice directed by Saw's James Wan, Gabe embarked on The Hunt For The Worst Movie of All Time. This is his sad journey.

The Hunt For The Worst Movie Of All Time: Funny Games

Do you ever eat foods that you know you don't like, just to remind yourself why you don't like them? I think that's a good thing to do sometimes! The worst case scenario is that you might momentarily have a...

MORE »

Monsters' Ball logo
This week's five highest rated comments as voted on by you, the lowest rated comment as voted on by you, and the editor's choice.

Monsters' Ball: The Week's Best Comments

Last weekend, something strange happened. Some of the Videogum Monsters created their own secret, password-protected chat room. In 2009! Incredible! I suppose every monster has his cave, or whatever. As it turned out, though, we already had a Videogum Chat...

MORE »

Double Dog logo
Blogging about TV and movies isn't all fun and videogames. Every week, Lindsay or Gabe will be presented with a physical or mental challenge that tests their bravery,patience, and taste.

Double Dog: I Took A TV Bus Tour Alone In A "Just Jack" Tshirt

The Challenge: I had to go on a 3.5 hour bus tour of totally random TV and film locations in New York City. Alone, and wearing a specific ridiculous tshirt. And I had to find someone to take my picture...

MORE »

Videogum Movie Club logo
Let's all go to the movies, and let's all see the same movie, and let's discuss it here.

The Videogum Movie Club: Where The Wild Things Are

I went to see Where the Wild Things Are on Saturday, but it was sold out. Ay-ay-ay. That was a surprise! I mean, anticipation for this movie seemed pretty high, but anticipation for lots of movies seems high, especially when...

MORE »