Should Writers Get Residuals?, It's happening Rating Options

[MrsRon]

URGENT! Hollywood Writers Strike Called; Timing Announcement To Come Friday; Actors Agree To Walk WGA Picket Lines; AMPTP Says 'No Progress Can Be Made'
LIVE-BLOGGING: I just heard from a source attending tonight's Writers Guild Of America general membership meeting that the exact timing of the writers strike will be decided tomorrow morning, then announced in the afternoon. Insider says the Screen Actors Guild will be joining the WGA picket lines, and that SAG has been in the backroom with the writers guild in all the negotiations. (The actors' contract with AMPTP doesn't expire until June 2008.) The WGA leadership said they waited until the writers contract expired at midnight on October 31st to see if the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers prez Nick Counter came up with a last-minute (and expected low-ball) offer -- but he didn't. So now the Hollywood writers walkout is a reality. But tomorrow, the WGA West & East negotiations board decides when is the most opportune moment for the walkout. They are explaining their strategy now to the meeting attended by 2,000 guild members tonight. I heard cheers and applause rose from the crowd when the WGA's negotiating committee announced its recommendation to strike. MORE (...keep refreshing for latest)

[lastcigarette]

This most assuredly will not be a good thing for us the consumer. When the Movie and TV Big Wigs finally cave they will find a way to make the viewers pay for it. I don't blame the writers for this but it is the way things work.

[new12]

This most assuredly will not be a good thing for us the consumer. When the Movie and TV Big Wigs finally cave they will find a way to make the viewers pay for it. I don't blame the writers for this but it is the way things work.

True enough.
Both sides want more money
That’s fine. Capitalism works!
However it’s has to come from somewhere…
I just don’t know why the zip code of "somewhere" always seems to be my wallet?

…….strange game. The only winning move is not to play……….

[MrsRon]

True enough.
Both sides want more money
That’s fine. Capitalism works!
However it’s has to come from somewhere…
I just don’t know why the zip code of "somewhere" always seems to be my wallet?

…….strange game. The only winning move is not to play……….

Well the studios and the corporations who own them don't HAVE to take it out of your pocket.
In the last couple of years the union collected a couple of hundred million dollars in residual payments. In a town where ONE movie like Forest Gump makes $600 million dollars, do we really believe that the writers asking for ten cents on every ten dollar the studio makes, means that increase HAS to come out of the consumers pocket?
It could come out of Fox Corp's, or General Electrics, or Sony Corp. It might not even hurt. They stand to make SUCH ENORMOUS PROFITS off of new media, that the idea that the CEO's will be losing their homes is an idea that's a tad disingenuous and nothing but spin.

[MrsRon]

Worldwide grosses on three movies (in millions):

Lord of The Rings, Return Of The King $1,118, 999.

Dead Man's Chest $1,o66,200.

Harry Potter $976,500.



Just tell me again how the studios are hurting, and they HAVE to pass the hit onto the consumer??

1 Titanic Par. $1,845.0 $600.8 32.6% $1,244.2 67.4% 1997
2 The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King NL $1,118.9 $377.0 33.7% $741.9 66.3% 2003
3 Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest BV $1,066.2 $423.3 39.7% $642.9 60.3% 2006
4 Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone WB $976.5 $317.6 32.5% $658.9 67.5% 2001
5 Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End BV $961.0 $309.4 32.2% $651.6 67.8% 2007
6 Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix WB $937.8 $291.6 31.1% $646.3 68.9% 2007
7 The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers NL $926.3 $341.8 36.9% $584.5 63.1% 2002
8 Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace Fox $924.3 $431.1 46.6% $493.2 53.4% 1999
9 Shrek 2 DW $919.8 $441.2 48.0% $478.6 52.0% 2004
10 Jurassic Park Uni. $914.7 $357.1 39.0% $557.6 61.0% 1993
11 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire WB $896.0 $290.0 32.4% $606.0 67.6% 2005
12 Spider-Man 3 Sony $891.0 $336.5 37.8% $554.5 62.2% 2007
13 Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets WB $879.0 $262.0 29.8% $617.0 70.2% 2002
14 The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring NL $871.4 $314.8 36.1% $556.6 63.9% 2001
15 Finding Nemo BV $864.6 $339.7 39.3% $524.9 60.7% 2003
16 Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith Fox $850.0 $380.3 44.7% $469.7 55.3% 2005
17 Spider-Man Sony $821.7 $403.7 49.1% $418.0 50.9% 2002
18 Independence Day Fox $817.0 $306.2 37.5% $510.8 62.5% 1996
19 Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban WB $795.5 $249.5 31.4% $546.0 68.6% 2004
20 Shrek the Third P/DW $793.3 $321.0 40.5% $472.3 59.5% 2007
21 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Uni. $792.9 $435.1 54.9% $357.8 45.1% 1982
22 The Lion King BV $783.8 $328.5 41.9% $455.3 58.1% 1994
23 Spider-Man 2 Sony $783.8 $373.6 47.7% $410.2 52.3% 2004
24 Star Wars Fox $775.4 $461.0 59.5% $314.4 40.5% 1977
25 The Da Vinci Code Sony $758.2 $217.5 28.7% $540.7 71.3% 2006
26 The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe BV $744.8 $291.7 39.2% $453.1 60.8% 2005
27 The Matrix Reloaded WB $738.6 $281.6 38.1% $457.0 61.9% 2003
28 Transformers P/DW $702.4 $318.8 45.4% $383.6 54.6% 2007
29 Forrest Gump Par. $677.4 $329.7 48.7% $347.7 51.3% 1994
30 The Sixth Sense BV $672.8 $293.5 43.6% $379.3 56.4% 1999
31 Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl BV $654.3 $305.4 46.7% $348.9 53.3% 2003
32 Ice Age: The Meltdown Fox $651.6 $195.3 30.0% $456.2 70.0% 2006
33 Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones Fox $649.4 $310.7 47.8% $338.7 52.2% 2002
34 The Incredibles BV $631.4 $261.4 41.4% $370.0 58.6% 2004
35 The Lost World: Jurassic Park Uni. $618.6 $229.1 37.0% $389.6 63.0% 1997
36 The Passion of the Christ NM $611.9 $370.8 60.6% $241.1 39.4% 2004
37 Casino Royale Sony $594.2 $167.4 28.2% $426.8 71.8% 2006
38 War of the Worlds Par. $591.7 $234.3 39.6% $357.5 60.4% 2005
39 Men in Black Sony $589.4 $250.7 42.5% $338.7 57.5% 1997
40 Night at the Museum Fox $573.5 $250.9 43.7% $322.7 56.3% 2006
41 Armageddon BV $553.7 $201.6 36.4% $352.1 63.6% 1998
42 Ratatouille BV $553.5 $205.3 37.1% $348.2 62.9% 2007
43 King Kong Uni. $549.4 $218.1 39.7% $331.3 60.3% 2005
44 Mission: Impossible II Par. $546.4 $215.4 39.4% $331.0 60.6% 2000
45 The Day After Tomorrow Fox $542.8 $186.7 34.4% $356.0 65.6% 2004
46 The Empire Strikes Back Fox $538.4 $290.5 54.0% $247.9 46.0% 1980
47 Madagascar DW $532.7 $193.6 36.3% $339.1 63.7% 2005
48 Monsters, Inc. BV $525.4 $255.9 48.7% $269.5 51.3% 2001
49 The Simpsons Movie Fox $524.3 $182.9 34.9% $341.4 65.1% 2007
50 Terminator 2: Judgment Day TriS $519.8 $204.8 39.4% $315.0 60.6% 1991
51 Meet the Fockers Uni. $516.6 $279.3 54.1% $237.4 45.9% 2004
52 Ghost Par. $505.7 $217.6 43.0% $288.1 57.0% 1990
53 Aladdin BV $504.1 $217.4 43.1% $286.7 56.9% 1992
54 Troy WB $497.4 $133.4 26.8% $364.0 73.2% 2004
55 Twister WB $494.5 $241.7 48.9% $252.8 51.1% 1996
56 Toy Story 2 BV $485.0 $245.9 50.7% $239.2 49.3% 1999
57 Bruce Almighty Uni. $484.6 $242.8 50.1% $241.7 49.9% 2003
58 Shrek DW $484.4 $267.7 55.3% $216.7 44.7% 2001
59 Saving Private Ryan DW $481.8 $216.5 44.9% $265.3 55.1% 1998
60 Mr. & Mrs. Smith Fox $478.2 $186.3 39.0% $291.9 61.0% 2005
61 Home Alone Fox $477.6 $285.8 59.8% $191.8 40.2% 1990
62 Return of the Jedi Fox $475.1 $309.3 65.1% $165.8 34.9% 1983
63 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory WB $475.0 $206.5 43.5% $268.5 56.5% 2005
64 Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade Par. $474.2 $197.2 41.6% $277.0 58.4% 1989
65 Jaws Uni. $470.7 $260.0 55.2% $210.7 44.8% 1975
66 Pretty Woman BV $463.4 $178.4 38.5% $285.0 61.5% 1990
67 Cars BV $462.0 $244.1 52.8% $217.9 47.2% 2006
68 The Matrix WB $460.4 $171.5 37.2% $288.9 62.8% 1999
69 X-Men: The Last Stand Fox $459.3 $234.4 51.0% $224.9 49.0% 2006
70 Mission: Impossible Par. $457.7 $181.0 39.5% $276.7 60.5% 1996
71 Gladiator DW $457.6 $187.7 41.0% $269.9 59.0% 2000
72 The Last Samurai WB $456.8 $111.1 24.3% $345.6 75.7% 2003
73 300 WB $456.1 $210.6 46.2% $245.5 53.8% 2007
74 Ocean's Eleven WB $450.7 $183.4 40.7% $267.3 59.3% 2001
75 Pearl Harbor BV $449.2 $198.5 44.2% $250.7 55.8% 2001
76 Tarzan BV $448.2 $171.1 38.2% $277.1 61.8% 1999
77 Men in Black II Sony $441.8 $190.4 43.1% $251.4 56.9% 2002
78 Mrs. Doubtfire Fox $441.2 $219.2 49.7% $222.0 50.3% 1993
79 The Exorcist WB $441.1 $232.7 52.8% $208.4 47.2% 1973
80 Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines WB $433.4 $150.4 34.7% $283.0 65.3% 2003
81 The Mummy Returns Uni. $433.0 $202.0 46.7% $231.0 53.3% 2001
82 Die Another Day MGM $432.0 $160.9 37.3% $271.0 62.7% 2002
83 Cast Away Fox $429.6 $233.6 54.4% $196.0 45.6% 2000
84 The Matrix Revolutions WB $425.0 $139.3 32.8% $285.7 67.2% 2003
85 Dances with Wolves Orion $424.2 $184.2 43.4% $240.0 56.6% 1990
86 The Mummy Uni. $415.9 $155.4 37.4% $260.5 62.6% 1999
87 The Bourne Ultimatum Uni. $411.7 $226.5 55.0% $185.1 45.0% 2007
88 Batman WB $411.3 $251.2 61.1% $160.2 38.9% 1989
89 The Bodyguard WB $410.9 $121.9 29.7% $289.0 70.3% 1992
90 Signs BV $408.2 $228.0 55.8% $180.3 44.2% 2002
91 X2: X-Men United Fox $407.6 $214.9 52.7% $192.6 47.3% 2003
92 Gone with the Wind MGM $400.2 $198.7 49.6% $201.5 50.4% 1939
93 Mission: Impossible III Par. $397.9 $134.0 33.7% $263.8 66.3% 2006
94 Grease Par. $394.6 $188.4 47.7% $206.2 52.3% 1978
95 Superman Returns WB $391.1 $200.1 51.2% $191.0 48.8% 2006
96 Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves WB $390.5 $165.5 42.4% $225.0 57.6% 1991
97 Happy Feet WB $384.3 $198.0 51.5% $186.3 48.5% 2006
98 Raiders of the Lost Ark Par. $384.1 $242.4 63.1% $141.8 36.9% 1981
99 Ice Age Fox $383.3 $176.4 46.0% $206.9 54.0% 2002
100 Back to the Future Uni. $381.1 $210.6 55.3% $170.5 44.7% 1985