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Sequels and animation are at the top of the agenda for Universal‘s film production – a business that’s “not for the faint of heart” — NBCUniversal CEO Steve Burke told analysts today at the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Media, Communications and Entertainment Conference. “We’ve had our ups and downs,” he says. But he hopes to stabilize things by promoting “as many franchises as we can.” He vows that “you’ll see future Bourne films” following the success of The Bourne Legacy. He adds that Universal has “dusted off” its American Pie franchise and “we’d like to see a Ted 2 as soon as we can.” He’s upbeat about upcoming sequels to Despicable Me and Fast And Furious. In addition, Burke says he wants Universal to have more animation. “The key is to go from making one film every 18 months to making two a year.”
NBCU’s Steve Burke Says He Wants ‘Ted 2′ “As Soon As We Can”
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They have no clue over there. It’s a sad state of affairs.
So they’re basically not that interested in new properties, just regurgitating the same content. That’s awesome. At least we’ll get two redundancies per year! Here’s $25 for two tickets to the same crap. When can we expect FAST 17?! Thanks Universal!
Ugh… TED was absolutely one of the worst films I’ve seen in years. I worry that that style of A.D.D. comedy will become the norm (if it hasn’t already).
Shhhh. Be quiet! You’ll upset the manatees (to get this reference, go watch the Muhammed episode of South Park from 2006).
And then, NBC can make Ted into a television series and run it five nights a week……
BTW – I guess the Comcast/Universal standards for success set the bar quite low calling Bourne Legacy a success. What global box office numbers support this? Based on costs this film must do upwards of 300 million plus MINIMUM not counting dvd, additional broadcast sales, etc.
I know…Steve uses the “It could have been worse” theory to establish success.
They sound desperate as hell.
How Universal claim The Bourne Legacy and Snow White and the Huntsman are successful is beyond me. Bourne currently totals $182 million on a $125 million budget with a few countries left to open, and Snow White made 396 million on a 170 million budget. While American Reunion was a success (its international performance offset a disappointing domestic run), I highly doubt the franchise can be considered “dusted off” (Reunion was appalling).
Do you know the financials as well as he does? He multiplies the actual returns with the probability of a repeat from a sequel and comes to this conclusion. It’s a financial not an emotional decision.
The guy doesn’t really sound like he gets the much more muted reaction to half the films he’s talking about.
‘Ted’ isn’t really made for a franchise, ‘Pie’ was a domestic dud saved by international and while the full rollout for ‘Bourne’ isn’t in so far sub $200 million on a $125 million budget really doesn’t scream success – unless he plans to get Damon back.
‘Fast and Furious’ should do fine, probably ‘DM 2′ as well, but the rest of these plans are hilarious.
Next he’ll be getting Ridley and Crowe back for a Robin Hood sequel.
Do a smart and scary back-to-basics Jurassic Park IV. From the writers they have on this it sounds possible but you have to get the thrill back in the thrill ride. Be serious this time. Once you see a Raptor in a plane saying, “Allen!” then your main source of scares has become a joke and it’s not scary anymore. I wanna see a pulse pounding epic like we haven’t seen since the original. Jurassic Park was never intended on being a kids movie so make it smart and crazy scary and you’ll have another billion dollars to bank Universal.
Wow…I never thought I’d look back at the days of Seagram’s with nostalgia.
Steve Burke’s apathy towards the film studio is perfectly evident and worrying. He just doesn’t care it and is quite happy to churn out garbage with an eye to making a slender profit or try to minimize their losses.
Said it before and I’ll say it again, Comcast will sell Universal Studios in a few years and when they do I hope they sell it to someone that has more respect for this classic and revered institution and the quality films they (used) to make.