James Cameron brings down Battleship
"We have a story crisis. Now they want to make the Battleship game into a film. This is pure desperation."
"Everyone in Hollywood knows how important it is that a film is a brand before it hit theaters. If a brand has been around, Harry Potter for example, or Spider-Man, you are light years ahead. And there lies the problem. Because unfortunately these franchises are becoming more ridiculous. Battleship. This degrades the cinema."
"Everyone in Hollywood knows how important it is that a film is a brand before it hit theaters. If a brand has been around, Harry Potter for example, or Spider-Man, you are light years ahead. And there lies the problem. Because unfortunately these franchises are becoming more ridiculous. Battleship. This degrades the cinema."
Do I dare say that Ferngully: The Last Rainforest and that really big steamship that hit that iceberg and sank in 1912 want their stories back?
Battleship was released May 18th, 2012 and stars Taylor Kitsch, Alexander Skarsgård, Rihanna, Brooklyn Decker, Tadanobu Asano, Hamish Linklater, Liam Neeson, Peter MacNicol. The film is directed by Peter Berg.
Comments (58)
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Mutant
I agree with James
2 years agoby @zenderFlag
BERSERKER
Amen to James Cameron. I know Avatar wasn't the best story in the world, but it's no Battleship movie.
2 years agoby @Number1WolverineFlag
Diaigma
You have to admit, @Cyn - Avatar has "some" story compared to a game that has none.
2 years agoby @diaigmaFlag
Cyn
I'm not sure that Cameron is the guy to be talking about "story" when he can barely rub two sticks together and come up with a decent plot.
Hey Cameron - $2 billion at the box office doesnt mean you had a great story. It means that a lot of movie goers are like children when you wave something sparkly in front of them.
2 years agoby @cyn-de-harvenFlag
Diaigma
Good man, Cameron. Tell it like it is :P
2 years agoby @diaigmaFlag
skywise
i am so sure that pirhana 2: the spawning was so enlightening and non degrading to cinama. he was not always "the king of the world" and he should understand that not every director gets handed 500 million dollers to create all new worlds. A job is a job.
2 years agoby @skywiseFlag
Emmytt
yes battleship will suck but so will avatar 2 and 3
2 years agoby @emmyttFlag
Pjwolsker
@CourtneyO he made 2 movies that were the highest grossing films of all time. i think he's allowed to have some ego
2 years agoby @pjwolskerFlag
Daveactor7
@ejk1 excellent point and i agree
2 years agoby @daveactor7Flag
ejk1
@Narrator, I don't think I can find a better example than the Spider-Man series. Yes I liked the first one, and number two is in my all-time top ten, but by the third the franchise was exhausted. Badly exhausted. The last thirty minutes were completely predictable. And for Heaven's sake, how many times does MJ have to be kidnapped? Boring. Can't wait to see the reboot, but am not thrilled with the possibility that Gwen will be kidnapped a la MJ.
2 years agoby @ejk1Flag
the Narrator
@ejk, very valid point, one I find myself agreeing with. Repetitiveness is a huge downfall, because in the simpler categories such as romance, comedy, horror and action, films of late seem to suffer from the safe thing being redone again and again, despite attempts to disguise the redundancy. Th audience either always sees it coming, or feels dissatisfied with the overall product, if not both, because creators feel if one such way works, why change it? Being "original" is great, but creating a good film takes precedence over originality any day. It's possible to have an originally bad idea. But to make a film that stand son it s own two feet, without following the similar turns of other films in its genre is key IMO.
2 years agoby @narratorFlag
Courtney O.
If his ego gets any bigger it's gonna sink in the atlantic ocean
2 years agoby @chickflickFlag
ejk1
Yeah, I'm gonna slightly disagree with Cameron on this. I recognize that on paper this is a ludicrous idea, but so was basing a movie on an amusement park ride. Disney did it twice, failing with The Haunted Mansion, but wildly succeeding with Pirates of The Caribbean. Although Battleship more than likely will not have a Johnny Depp to save it from stupidity, this is far from the worst thing ever to happen to Hollywood(that would be repetitiveness, at least in my opinion).
2 years agoby @ejk1Flag
Dan
Uno would have a predominately hispanic cast :P
Operation would just be another ER. Boooooorrrriiiinnnggggg.
2 years agoby @dan1Flag
Pjwolsker
hahaha uno. operation: the movie???
2 years agoby @pjwolskerFlag
Dan
Janga. Connect 4. Uno. The possibilities are endless!
2 years agoby @dan1Flag
Pjwolsker
Tetris: The Movie
Candyland: The Movie
Chess: The Movie
2 years agoby @pjwolskerFlag
felipe-11
He's totally right.
2 years agoby @felipe-11Flag
IlikePie202
Cameron is a great director, but this is a dumb idea. and @GROND29 he isn't a dick
2 years agoby @Ilikepie202Flag
John2347
What he said is true but he's being a bit hypocritical.
2 years agoby @john2347Flag
ZanyZap
If anyone else had said the above quote, everyone would be jumping on the "thumbs up" button and submitting tons of comments like "Hell yeah!" "You tell 'em!" or some other variation of approval. Regardless of who voiced the opinion, I think we can all agree that it's true. I guarantee if I click on any other Battleship related article, there will only be negativity. Maybe Cameron's not the best authority on the subject, but like it or not, he's right: Hollywood has lot a magnitude of its creativity; it's a sunken ship, really.
And I agree with @Marcusx. Although I have found the articles more entertaining as of late, these are still "news" articles; they are not columns. We already have a section for opinion, sarcasm, and rhetorical questions...
2 years agoby @zanyzapFlag
Summit10
Liam and the Losers :)
2 years agoby @summit10Flag
slysnide
And "Avatar" wasn't? Nor "Titanic"? And with the rerelease of "Titanic" too? Man, you gotta watch what you say JC, for while you're right about Battleship, it's bizarre coming from someone who's doing the same thing...twice now the upcoming rerelease.
2 years agoby @slysnideFlag
jskillet
Also, isn't he releasing Titanic to theaters again next year in 3-d? Plus with 2 Avatar sequels in the future? wheres his originality?
2 years agoby @jskilletFlag
jskillet
This guy thinks he is Hollywood, and it should all be around him. Who is he to judge a movie before its really started filming? "Clue" was a board game made into a movie, and that movie was fantastic. I'll say it, I wasn't impressed with Avatar at all. Speaking of originality, does anyone else see him producing Cirque du Soleil story? Yep, original!!!
2 years agoby @jskilletFlag
Messenger
Tell me, honestly, what movie in recent memory has been truly original? A movie that you watched and it didn't remind you AT ALL of another movie? And don't pull the Inception card, as good as that movie was it wasn't that original.
If you know anything at all you will know that every story that is told now comes from greek theater and Shakespeare.
I agree Avatar's story wasn't unique or original but what he did to make it was, MANY people forget that and it's sad.
As for releasing Avatar, Cameron might of had some say-so but I bet you anything it's the studios who are ordering those to be put out. They want their money and they want it now and can you blame them?
2 years agoby @messengerFlag
the Narrator
"Because unfortunately, these franchises are becoming more ridiculous."
Yes, James. They really are. :P
*Looks at blue monkeys, looks at him. Monkey's and him.*
2 years agoby @narratorFlag
Cripple
And I completely agree.
2 years agoby @crippleFlag
PeterTomMaatta
He's right, but he's delusional if he doesn't realize that he hasn't created a truly original story since "The Terminator". Let's look... "Aliens" was a sequel, with a weak story. "True Lies" was a remake. "Titanic"... enough said. I'll give Cameron "Terminator 2" and "The Abyss", not great story and script writing, but pretty good. But, really "Avatar". Complete story rip-off for the sake of doing flashing showy special effects. Come up with a weak story, and use that for the sake of big special effects... Sounds like "Titanic", "Avatar" and "Battleship" have something in common.
2 years agoby @petertommaattaFlag
TheDude1
Cameron calls other people desperate but isn't he the real desperate one? I mean the guy had a re-release of Avatar and 2 DVD/Blu Ray releases within the first year of it being released in theaters. Now if that is not desperate/money grubbing I have no idea what idea.
2 years agoby @thedude1Flag