The phenomenon of late sequelae continues to have an impact an undeniable commercial success. The last example is Bitelchus Bitelchusa sequel that is separated by 35 years from the original story and that, as usually happens in these cases, turned out to be a return extremely unexpected. Especially because even if the first installment has its acolytes, the truth is that generating a return to the ghostly world of Tim Burton presented an obvious risk of possible failure at the box office. But in the end, the opposite happened. The second installment has been dominating the box office for a few weeks, reaching almost the 300 million dollars fundraising around the world. A relief for the filmmaker and for Warner Bros, who originally wanted present it exclusively in streaming.
It is not strange, especially from the said production company, that at the beginning of the creation of the Warner Bros. Discovery project, they wanted to release Bitelchus Bitelchus directly in Max. The company led by David Zaslav does not hesitate when it comes to deciding which stories will see the light of day and which will be economic risk too high. We have the clearest case where, through the DC department, they decided not to release the film. bat girl. A superheroic proposal that was almost finished and had cost the label a few dollars. $90 million. In response to the fact that it did not meet quality quotas worthy of the study, the platform benefited from tax breaks and Buried Leslie Grace’s heroine forever. A case similar to that of Coyote vs Acme (still without anyone wanting/being able to release it) nor to the series Batman: The Caped Crusaderhosted in the Prime Video catalog despite being a license from the Zaslav brand. Faced with this concern on Burton’s part at the beginning of pre-production, the filmmaker did everything he could to face the complicated negotiation with his bosses: reduce the budget for Warner to assume exclusive theatrical distribution.
Two allies for Tim Burton
Fortunately for the director of big fishhis desire to see Bitelchus Bitelchus browse cinemas found in Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy to two strong allies. Well, like him, this duo of co-presidents within Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group believed that the rebirth of Michael Keaton had to begin as early as a completely cinematic experience.
According to both executives, Burton refused to see how the sequel to his second film as director was being exiled from the theater. However, the Gothic storyteller had to deal with his recent commercial failures at the same time. The last film he had directed was the ruinous premiere of live action of Dumbo for Disney and that said, to find a great triumph at the global box office of his filmography, he needed back to 2010 with the arrival of Alice in Wonderlands. An adaptation that has exceeded a billion dollars at the international box office.
“It would never have worked for Tim.”Abdy began by telling the New York Times“We are talking about a visionary artist whose films demand to be seen on the big screen,” continued the company’s board of directors, who, together with his colleague from the executive department, wanted to highlight the Californian’s efforts in his defense of the power of exhibition in theaters. Bitelchus Bitelchus It was also the first feature film fully developed by De Luca and Abdy since the duo took over the film studio in 2022.
So to appease the WBD bosses and secure a theatrical release, Burton cut nearly $50 million the budget of what had been initially agreed with the audiovisual company. Bitelchus Bitelchus started with a budget of $147 millionwith the salaries of the stars as the main costs. But according to the North American media through the words of Luca and Abdy, the director has done everything possible to reconcile a budget item much smaller and get the space they wanted in theaters: “They approached Burton and said he could make the sequel for an exclusive theatrical release as long as he had a budget under $100 million.”
At the cinema thanks to its stars
The collaborative factor had to come through the big names who commissioned the stories and so, Bitelchus Bitelchus received the green light with a game of $99 million. Burton and the main actors (Keaton, Winona Ryder, Jenna Ortega and Catherine O’Hara) agreed to charge less money up front. Instead, they approved long-term deals to get a percentage of the collection ticketing.
A hopeful victory for a moment of weakness in the field of exhibition, where the task seems increasingly difficult, even for the great figures of the seventh art. realize your projects. Bitelchus Bitelchus It is available in theaters from the first week of September. After its run in cinemas yes it will end up in Max’s catalog.
