3 ms·

Why would they want to avoid legions of pissed off fundies protesting? You couldn't buy advertising that good for any amount of money.

knieveltech 14y ago
There's good and bad publicity, and while the line might be blurred for software startups, it's fairly clear for film studios. Pissing off the conservative crowd in North America comes with some consequences for an entertainment/media company. Case in point: The Golden Compass. The studio was shooting for a $30 million dollar opening weekend. They grossed something like $8.8 mil. You might recall that leading up to the opening there was a lot discussion (and a few calls for protests) surrounding some of the material in the books. Compare/contrast "The Chronicles of Narnia". Both movies had similar budgets and targeted the same audience. Chronicles wasn't burdened by a bunch of controversy and pulled in ~$20 mil on the opening weekend.
- eli 14y ago
  According to Rotten Tomatoes, both critics and audiences thought Chronicles was simply a better movie. Unless you think the critics were somehow swayed by protestors? Seems unlikely. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/his_dark_materials_the_golden_compass/ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/his_dark_materials_the_golde... http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chronicles_of_narnia_lion_witch_wardrobe/ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chronicles_of_narnia_lion_wi...
- aidenn0 14y ago
  Those were movies targeted at least partially at the children/young adult audience. The Snow Crash movie is unlikely to be targeted at the same demographic.
- ceejayoz 14y ago
  Yeah, but The Golden Compass wound up being just a bad movie. I loved the books.
  - excuse-me 14y ago
    TO be fair adapting a book about the evil church with the studio forcing them not to mention the church. It's a bit like having Sony insisting that Pearl Harbor shouldn't mention the Japanese.
- dllthomas 14y ago
  Narnia has also been around long enough that parents remember reading it.
- Cushman 14y ago
  The Golden Compass screwed itself. Trying to appease the protest, they softened the message, thus losing fans of the book in favor of conservatives who were never going to see it anyway.

knieveltech 14y ago

There's good and bad publicity, and while the line might be blurred for software startups, it's fairly clear for film studios. Pissing off the conservative crowd in North America comes with some consequences for an entertainment/media company. Case in point: The Golden Compass. The studio was shooting for a $30 million dollar opening weekend. They grossed something like $8.8 mil. You might recall that leading up to the opening there was a lot discussion (and a few calls for protests) surrounding some of the material in the books. Compare/contrast "The Chronicles of Narnia". Both movies had similar budgets and targeted the same audience. Chronicles wasn't burdened by a bunch of controversy and pulled in ~$20 mil on the opening weekend.

eli 14y ago
According to Rotten Tomatoes, both critics and audiences thought Chronicles was simply a better movie. Unless you think the critics were somehow swayed by protestors? Seems unlikely. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/his_dark_materials_the_golden_compass/ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/his_dark_materials_the_golde... http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chronicles_of_narnia_lion_witch_wardrobe/ http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chronicles_of_narnia_lion_wi...
aidenn0 14y ago
Those were movies targeted at least partially at the children/young adult audience. The Snow Crash movie is unlikely to be targeted at the same demographic.
ceejayoz 14y ago
Yeah, but The Golden Compass wound up being just a bad movie. I loved the books.
- excuse-me 14y ago
  TO be fair adapting a book about the evil church with the studio forcing them not to mention the church. It's a bit like having Sony insisting that Pearl Harbor shouldn't mention the Japanese.
dllthomas 14y ago
Narnia has also been around long enough that parents remember reading it.
Cushman 14y ago
The Golden Compass screwed itself. Trying to appease the protest, they softened the message, thus losing fans of the book in favor of conservatives who were never going to see it anyway.