whitegoodmansdball Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 My buddy sent me this article that is definitely worth a read: http://whatculture.com/wwe/10-wwe-studios-movies-lost-millions.php According to WWE's latest financial reports (from october) the company has lost over $35 million on WWE Studios. What's the point? Why take Randy Orton off the road to cast him in a movie that is going to lose more money than it makes? It doesn't make any sense to me. Why does WWE keep putting out movies? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anarchistxx Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 What's the point? So they can feel like a legitimate 'entertainment' operation rather than a sleazy wrestling company. Vanity and perception, basically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
W2BTD Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 Because VKM is a wrestling promoter that wishes he was anything but a wrestling promoter, and has delusions that people see him as something other than a wrestling promoter. The first 30 seconds of the Austin interview showed the massive insecurities and psychosis this man is infected with. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El-P Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 They are so lucky to have so many other revenue streams at this point. Otherwise, this would have tanked the company a long time ago. You can safely add WWE Studios alongside Icopro, WBF, XFL and WWF New York. Note to Paul & Stephy Lesveque : you betta promote good ol' rastlin', my boys. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brady Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 I've actually read that Steph is the driving force behind their "entertainment" ventures like the Scooby Doo tie in. Would make sense considering she filled her creative team with failed sitcom dudes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 Hey, at least the Scooby Doo meets WWE cartoon was good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 Hey, at least the Scooby Doo meets WWE cartoon was good. Was it really, or were you being sarcastic? I found the DVD for $2 at Walmart and bought it for the hell of it. Hopefully the movie is good, but that doesn't exactly speak well of the WWE film division's fortunes. Then again, they had a lot of stuff on sale from major studios from $2 to $10 (like Doom on Blu-Ray for $7 - not a good movie, I admit, but I love Dwayne's batshit crazy performance in it, LOL). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted December 16, 2014 Report Share Posted December 16, 2014 Hey, at least the Scooby Doo meets WWE cartoon was good. As long as Scrappy Doo isn't in it, Is it possible to have a bad Scooby Doo cartoon? Plus I have a feeling you relate to Shaggy. Lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted December 17, 2014 Report Share Posted December 17, 2014 The Scooby flick is honestly really good. My four year old nephew "bought it for me for my birthday", lol. He loves Scooby and will watch wrestling with me. We sat down and watched it and it was a lot of fun. There's some parts that are hilarious on a level they weren't going for as well. I'll just say this, in this world there's a WWE City where all the wrestlers live, all the shows are, and they have their own laws and police. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shoe Posted December 17, 2014 Report Share Posted December 17, 2014 The Scooby flick is honestly really good. My four year old nephew "bought it for me for my birthday", lol. He loves Scooby and will watch wrestling with me. We sat down and watched it and it was a lot of fun. There's some parts that are hilarious on a level they weren't going for as well. I'll just say this, in this world there's a WWE City where all the wrestlers live, all the shows are, and they have their own laws and police. See that's what they should be aiming for the kids audience. When they get away from that they lose money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tigerpride Posted December 17, 2014 Report Share Posted December 17, 2014 Are these movies really losing money or is it simply Hollywood accounting to get a tax writeoff? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdw Posted December 17, 2014 Report Share Posted December 17, 2014 It's from the WWE's public filings. They wouldn't lie about it because it's a no-no to lie in what you file with the SEC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted December 17, 2014 Report Share Posted December 17, 2014 Why does WWE keep putting out movies? Not all their movies lost money. The Marine made $15 million in profits. That early success explains why they invested further in their movie division. If it wasn't for The Call turning a nice profit more recently, they'd likely be out of the game by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted December 17, 2014 Report Share Posted December 17, 2014 Not all their movies lost money. The Marine made $15 million in profits. That early success explains why they invested further in their movie division. If it wasn't for The Call turning a nice profit more recently, they'd likely be out of the game by now. The Call had a good premise and real star. That helps. Ultimately, the movie wasn't great, but it wasn't bad by any means either. It was good enough to generate a bit of buzz. I thought Dead Man Down (Colin Farrell) was very good, but I can understand people not liking that or not even wanting to see it in the first place. It was a strange movie and probably a hard sell. Wade Barrett looked goofy and out of place in it, but that doesn't really matter too much because he was such a small part of the movie. That's What I Am was really good, but I doubt it made money, and it's mocked by wrestling fans for the nutty Orton "I'll go to the papers if I have to" scene. I liked The Condemned, but I'm guessing people feel mixed about that one, and it probably wasn't strong at the box office. The Marine with Cena was pretty bad, but the sequel with DiBiase Jr. was better, and the third movie with The Miz was actually quite good for what it was - and Miz was the best of the Marine actors, believe it or not. The one with Edge and Jamie Kennedy was decent. Not great, but there are certainly worse ways to spend a couple of hours. The Chaperone was exactly what you'd expect - a bad kids' movie with a certain goofy charm to it. Other than Condemned, the first Marine, The Call, Dead Man Down, and a couple of others, most of these have been straight-to-video, I believe. The profit margins should be higher if they bypass theaters and stick to a lower budget, but who knows, I could be wrong on that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kjh Posted December 17, 2014 Report Share Posted December 17, 2014 Their strategy now seems to be "low risk, low reward" by splitting the production costs with partners like Warner Bros. or picking up movies already made and acting as the distributor. It seems to be working as the big money losses of a year ago seem to be a thing of the past. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goc Posted December 17, 2014 Report Share Posted December 17, 2014 At least they didn't make The Interview. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajtroma Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 I like how El-P remembered IcoPro. Did anyone here every try that? I did and man, was it terrible. At least Met-Rx tasted good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sporadic Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 I like how El-P remembered IcoPro. Did anyone here every try that? I did and man, was it terrible. At least Met-Rx tasted good. I tried it way back in my middle school/high school lifting days. It was beyond gross. The again, all protein powders then tasted liked shit until EAS came along. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iamthedoctor Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 My buddy sent me this article that is definitely worth a read: http://whatculture.com/wwe/10-wwe-studios-movies-lost-millions.php According to WWE's latest financial reports (from october) the company has lost over $35 million on WWE Studios. What's the point? Why take Randy Orton off the road to cast him in a movie that is going to lose more money than it makes? It doesn't make any sense to me. Why does WWE keep putting out movies? I did enjoy The Marine with Cena & the Scooby Doo film. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt D Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 At least they didn't make The Interview. That's a shame between what would come out with the leaks and then Vince's reaction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mookeighana Posted December 18, 2014 Report Share Posted December 18, 2014 The studios were losing lots of money in the early years. Besides The Marine, almost everything either lost money or broke even. In the past 18 months, things have changed in that they changed how they distribute and finance the movies and that they've been taking on much less risk. Things like Miz's made-for-TV movie made money for instance. The Call made money. However, the only thing that made gobs and gobs of money was the original The Marine. Things like The Condemned and Barricade (what's that? yes, exactly.) cost them dearly. Yes, in aggregate they've lost tons of money, but the performance in the last 18 months have been better and some of these revenue streams are turning positive after 6-9 months after release (so the first quarter after the SEC filing it might still be down but overall they're seeing return on their investment). Don't get me wrong - I've strongly advocated that it's an albatross and a terrible way to try to make a buck. Still, complaining about the money losses in 2014 is WAY behind the times. The film impairment charges were all last year. Now it's Network expenses and foregone TV money (due to less leverage negotiating) and foregone PPV money (due to pissing off the providers and overestimating the subscribers for their service). They've lost WAY more on that then anything they did on the Studios/Films project. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C.S. Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 Barricade (what's that? yes, exactly.) I actually saw this. The movie was kind of a confusing mess, somewhat redeemed with an ending that put it all together, but I still wouldn't call it good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dooley Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 At least they didn't make The Interview. That's a shame between what would come out with the leaks and then Vince's reaction. I would have loved the inevitable Vince "we will NOT negotiate with TERRARISTS" rant. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flyonthewall2983 Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 So who lost more this year, Vince or Sony? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Sorrow Posted December 19, 2014 Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 "Tell Kim Jong-un to FUCK Kim Jong-un." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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