Apologies in advance if this has already been mentioned: the visual effects look terrible. Make the film look like a made-for-Sci-Fi-Channel movie.

Unfortunate, really.

Supposedly the director worked very closely with Ray and checked (as mentioned in another post)with Ray on various points if it was o.k. or not. I understand that Ray had the ability approve or not approve an aspect of the film. It has been several weeks (before he had gone to hospital I believe) but when I spoke with Ray he said that had lunch with Director not long before and that is when he told me about the October release in the theaters. Ray did not voice any opinion, one way or another, regarding the film when I spoke with him.

[This message has been edited by biplane1 (edited 07-27-2004).]

Nard,
I too had to check my spelling of "cheesy." The tendency is to put a "z" in it, is it not?

Inkling,
I agree. I didn't want to say it without seeing it on the big screen (film has a way of fudging things up a bit) but from what I've seen, you're right. Wouldn't it have been interesting if the dinosaur(s) had been done in stop motion, sort of an homage to Ray's friendship with Ray Harryhausen? That might've been refreshing in a modern movie. A lot of work, of course, but there are still some talented stop-motion people out there. Aardman studios comes to mind...

A person(aiwaz8) who works on this movie talk about visual effects problems of this movie
http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0318081/board/thread/10335571?d=10381751#10381751 http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0318081/board/thread/10417341?d=10418494#10418494 http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0318081/board/nest/6977527?d=10381800#10381800


[This message has been edited by marychan41 (edited 07-28-2004).]

[This message has been edited by marychan41 (edited 07-28-2004).]

[This message has been edited by marychan41 (edited 07-28-2004).]

quote:

Originally posted by groon:]
Wouldn't it have been interesting if the dinosaur(s) had been done in stop motion, sort of an homage to Ray's friendship with Ray Harryhausen? That might've been refreshing in a modern movie. A lot of work, of course, but there are still some talented stop-motion people out there. Aardman studios comes to mind...[/B]

Possibly. Tim Burton's animation gurus may have done it justice. Ultimately, however, I'm afraid "Jurassic Park" has us spoiled, while its effects knock-offs sprinkled throughout syndicated television have left us with a bit of a sour stomach for CG-dinos...

quote:

Originally posted by Inkling:
Possibly. Tim Burton's animation gurus may have done it justice. Ultimately, however, I'm afraid "Jurassic Park" has us spoiled, while its effects knock-offs sprinkled throughout syndicated television have left us with a bit of a sour stomach for CG-dinos...

According to a person(aiwaz8) who works on this movie, the production process have so many troubles and many of the effects are going to a bit inferior.....

It is very sad....I think those "effects" will kill this movie....

Inkling,
That's a good point. It was mentioned in an old thread which discussed Burton's "Big Fish" that he might be a good director to do some Bradbury material, if of course the script was good (which seems to be Tim's stigma of past). Well, so the effects in ASOT are gonna be cheezy. There are so many more Bradbury stories that haven't been made into films yet...

...

[This message has been edited by a_white_iris (edited 08-15-2004).]

Will the movie be delayed again?

I heard that in the new ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY, A SOUND OF THUNDER. . . is not listed under October releases

In the WB site, A SOUND OF THUNDER isn't in the "COMING SOON" list. http://www2.warnerbros.com/web/main/movies/movies.jsp

http://www.latinoreview.com/
Release Dates: Sorry folks but those of you who are waiting to see Warner Bros new sci-fi film THE SOUND OF THUNDER are going to have to wait till next year. The film which was suppose to come out this October has been pushed back till the 1st quarter of 2005.

Maybe someone read all our complaints about its look. Perhaps wishful thinking. More likely a bustle of activity over business egos, each one admiring their own film as greater market than anyone else.

http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=print_story&articleid=VR1117909400&categoryid=13

Elie's new chapter

Samaha's Franchise files for bankruptcy

By JANET SHPRINTZ, DANA HARRIS


HOLLYWOOD -- The other shoe dropped last week, when Elie Samaha's Franchise Pictures filed for bankruptcy.
The Chapter 11 filing, made on Aug. 18, came in the wake of a court order that affirmed a $77 million jury verdict in favor of Intertainment. Samaha has said he plans to appeal the verdict.

Also filing for reorganization were Franchise's many one-off production companies, which are also held liable for the fraud. All filings were made in Federal Bankruptcy Court in Los Angeles.

On Aug. 17, U.S. District Court Judge Alicemarie Stotler ruled that Franchise topper Elie Samaha was personally responsible for the verdict, as well as $4 million of the $29 million awarded in punitive damages. Samaha has not filed for personal bankruptcy.

One attorney familiar with the matter suggested filing for personal bankruptcy would not particularly help Samaha when he is responsible for such a huge judgment. Furthermore, such a filing would be subject to challenge since bankruptcy can't be used to discharge debts that result from fraud.

Net worth at issue

Samaha may also want to avoid further scrutiny of his personal finances. At trial, he testified that his net worth was less than zero despite the fact that he owns a home in the Valley valued at $4.8 million.

Franchise still has a distribution deal with Warner Bros. Pictures under which the studio advances P&A costs for a film's release. The studio still intends to handle Franchise's sole remaining title, "A Sound of Thunder," in the first quarter of 2005. The Ray Bradbury adaptation stars Ed Burns and Ben Kingsley.

Franchise's financial struggles are well documented. In 2003, construction magnate Ron Tutor and business partner David Bergstein made a seven-figure loan to cover Franchise's overhead as well as its legal fees. The deal contained a conversion feature that would have allowed the pair to exchange the sum or a portion thereof for up to a 49% stake in Franchise.

Since that conversion never took place, Tutor and Bergstein are now among Franchise's creditors. However, Bergstein is also CEO of Mobius Pictures and, in February, Mobius became the sales agent for the entire Franchise library. Mobius does not hold the pictures' underlying rights.

Mobius also houses several former Franchise employees, including marketing president Lori Drazen and development topper Tracee Stanley.

'No connection'

"There is no ownership connection between Mobius and Franchise Pictures," Mobius president Hans Turner told Daily Variety. "Mobius' parent is a secured creditor of Franchise."

German distributor Intertainment said Friday that it would go through with its claims against Franchise. In a statement, Intertainment called the move "predictable."

Next up for Intertainment is a January arbitration against Comerica Bank (formerly Imperial Bank) and the completion bond companies. Intertainment claims the bank and bond companies knew about the budget fraud and had an obligation to stop it. Intertainment is claiming damages in excess of $100 million.

In June, Intertainment presented its long-running fraud case against Franchise and Samaha to a federal jury. The once high-flying distributor claimed it had been defrauded into paying on wildly inflated budgets, so that instead of paying 47% of the budget, as the companies' agreement called for, Intertainment ended up covering most of the costs for films including "Get Carter" and "The Whole Nine Yards."

The jury found Samaha responsible for the budget fraud but apportioned all the damages to Franchise. As a result, Franchise took the position that the judgment was unenforceable because Franchise is an empty shell and Samaha was not personally liable.

In her final order, however, Stotler found that the jury intended to hold Samaha liable for damages and that all Franchise defendants, including Samaha, were jointly liable for the entire damage award.

(Ed Meza in Berlin contributed to this report.)

What a grim story! I don't hold out much hope for the quality of A Sound of Thunder, but I'm sure glad it was completed before this fiasco, otherwise it may have been lost in limbo forever, none of us ever knowing whether it was any good or not.

Phil
www.bradburymedia.co.uk

[This message has been edited by philnic (edited 08-24-2004).]

FYI, the release date for A SOUND OF THUNDER has now been re-scheduled for March 11, 2005. See the link attached below:

http://movies.yahoo.com/shop?d=hp&cf=prev&id=1808405972&gpt=ch