Movie Aims for More Than Rail-Thin Profit
Thereâs a lot riding on âThe Polar Express.â
To make the film, which uses new technology to insert actor Tom Hanks into a computer-generated Christmas fantasy, the fare for Warner Bros. and its financing partner, producer Steve Bing, came to $170 million.
On top of that, $125 million is going toward global marketing and distribution. And if the movie turns a profit, Hanks and director Robert Zemeckis can claim more than one-third of it for themselves.
All told, âPolarâ will have to amass more than $500 million in worldwide revenue from box-office, DVD and TV sales and other sources to leave Warner and Bing any presents under the tree.
âWe need to do a lot of business on this movie to come out,â Warner Bros. President Alan Horn said. âIt is a big risk, and the decision to do any movie this expensive is not done lightly.â
So risky that another studio, Universal Pictures, passed up a chance to co- finance the film. âIt was too expensive for us and the technology was untried,â said Universal Pictures Chairwoman Stacey Snider, âso we just opted out.â
But Horn has confidence in the movie. Calling Zemeckis and Hanks âgigantic talents,â he said he believed the duo -- who teamed on the hits âForrest Gumpâ and âCastawayâ -- had worked their magic again.
âWeâre betting on them,â Horn said.
The two took Chris Van Allsburgâs 29-page tale of a young boy whisked away by a magic train to the North Pole on Christmas Eve and made it into a family adventure film. Featuring performance capture technology, it copies the look and motions of Hanks and the other actors via sensors attached to their bodies. The images are picked up by cameras, then manipulated by computer animators to appear realistic.
âPolar Expressâ expands on Van Allsburgâs book significantly with new characters such as a hobo ghost, songs and scenes that ramp up the action. Although âPolar Expressâ is rated G, it includes harrowing runaway train sequences and an eerie scene in which the filmâs young star stumbles into a box-car of broken toys and is startled by a marionette.
Warner hopes that by injecting action into a popular sentimental story it can attract a broad audience. A good box- office performance means better sales on DVD, where family films sell especially well because kids like to watch their favorites over and over. Perennial holiday films, Horn added, can put money in a studioâs stocking year after year through DVD sales.
But âPolar Expressâ has a more immediate problem -- being sandwiched between two major family theatrical releases.
Five days before âPolar Expressâ opens Nov. 10, Walt Disney Co. releases âThe Incredibles,â the next computer- animated film from industry powerhouse Pixar Animation Studios. Then, on Nov. 19, Paramount Pictures debuts the âSpongeBob SquarePants Movie,â based on the wildly popular Nickelodeon cartoon series.
Although Horn acknowledged that being in such competitive company as âThe Incrediblesâ and âSpongeBobâ was âa terrifying thought,â he said he was sure there would be enough business to support all three films over the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays.
âWe hope weâre the ham in the middle of a bread sandwich,â he said. âBut, if you could get Mr. Jobs and Ms. Lansing to put their movies on the shelves for a year, weâd all appreciate it,â he added, referring to Pixar chief Steven Jobs and Paramount Pictures head Sherry Lansing.
Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co., agreed that when movies are good, Hollywoodâs holiday family market will expand. In 2001, âMonsters, Inc.â and âHarry Potter and the Sorcererâs Stoneâ both were blockbusters despite opening two weeks apart.
âKids are insatiable -- they want to see everything,â Dergarabedian said.
Still, Horn hedged his bet by taking financier Bing up on an offer to co-finance the movie.
Known in Hollywood as a major Democratic contributor and for tabloid stories of his love affairs, Bing can afford to bankroll films thanks to a real estate inheritance. Forbes magazine estimates that Bing and his family are worth $750 million.
Horn had already given âPolarâ the go-ahead for production when he had the fateful lunch with Bing, a good friend who has an overall movie deal at Warner. When Horn suggested that Bing could put up a quarter of the budget, the financier upped the stakes by insisting on being an equal partner.
âHeâs a gutsy guy,â Horn said. âFor him to put up half the money and not blink is very courageous.... I welcomed a sharing of the risk.â
Bing, who doesnât grant interviews, declined to comment.
With $85 million of his money on the line, âPolar Expressâ is by far Bingâs biggest movie investment to date. As a producer, Bing has largely struck out with such flops as âThe Big Bounceâ and âGet Carter.â
Longtime Bing friend Martin Shafer, chief executive of Castle Rock Entertainment, which helped develop âPolar Expressâ as a pet project for Hanks, said that Warner benefited from having an individual buy half of the movie rather than another studio. That way, he said, Warner, which is owned by Time Warner Inc., retains worldwide distribution rights that a rival would have demanded to share.
âItâs smart to have a partner to reduce your downside,â Shafer said, noting that other studios including Sony Pictures offered to team with Warner.
With âPolar Expressâ about to leave the station, Horn isnât concerned about Hollywood buzz that the film seems too dark and may not appeal to teens who have become used to more irreverent humor that is the hallmark of such successful computer-generated films as âFinding Nemoâ and âShrek 2.â
Horn said parents shouldnât be any more wary of taking impressionable children to âPolar Expressâ than they were to films such as Disneyâs classic âBambiâ that featured scary scenes.
Hornâs worries about the filmâs financial prospects have been somewhat eased by encouraging reactions Warner received from two recent test screenings near Phoenix.
The studio chief said one daytime showing for parents and their kids was well received, as was a nighttime screening for teens and non-parent adults.
âItâs a family movie for everybody,â Horn said.
It's a date
Get our L.A. Goes Out newsletter, with the week's best events, to help you explore and experience our city.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.