Spielberg Potential Move to India

The Herald Tribune wrote an article on Spielberg's probably hop in bed with Indian company Reliance ADA Group. They wondered how money rich Hollywood or New York couldn't have simply worked out something especially since he continues to prove his ability to make money with the current box office take of $743 million for Indiana Jones 4.

One possible reason is the 20% cut he gets for his movies from the gross. That means he gets paid before expenses (cost of the movie, advertising, etc) is removed to determine profit. He must be highly motivated to want Transformers 2 out on time, probably even more then Bay is.

That expense combined with the cost of the talent, never mind the movies themselves and suddenly his projects are not as valuable to the bottom line focused studios and public companies that can not justify the expense of a Spielberg deal to their shareholders.

Another concern is DVD sales are dropping (only 3.2 percent though) which is making potential Spielberg investors think that long term return will not be as high. It use (and really still is) the case where even if a movie tanks at the box office, DVD sales can still make a film profitable. Also since Spielberg likes a mix of blockbuster (money printing machines) and prestige films (that bring in Academy Awards, but tend to lose money) makes his per movie hit profit hit rate not worth it.

As for why Spielberg may be looking overseas - control. American investors will demand a say in what films are made, better return on their money, how they are advertised and so forth. Reliance is not as likely to make demands, basically they will allow Spielberg to conduct and make movies as Spielberg has been doing over the last three decades.

A deal hasn't been signed so final determination on what, if anything, will happen with the Transformers franchise is unknown. Thanks to Charl_Huntress for the link.