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NEWS: Former Madhouse Head: Poppy Hill May Not Have Recouped Costs


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clipeuh



Joined: 05 Nov 2010
Posts: 117
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:00 am Reply with quote
Wait...

Wasn't it the highest grossing Japanese movie of 2011?? How could they have lost money on something so popular? Confused
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walw6pK4Alo



Joined: 12 Mar 2008
Posts: 9322
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:05 am Reply with quote
Interesting information, but what about future home video sales? I also wonder if Buena Vista would even bother licensing this, or just skip it because it's not the right Miyazaki directing and it's not subject matter that easily translates and resonates with younger non-Japanese audiences in a universal manner like most Ghibli films have been able to do. Spirited Away is quite Japanese in aesthetic, but it still has that sense of wonder and adventure that language and cultural barriers don't affect. I'd like to see this in theaters, but it definitely won't be getting any kind of wide release, not by Disney anyway.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
Posts: 15611
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:15 am Reply with quote
walw: I imagine if it's less risque than Only Yesterday, that Disney might consider bringing Poppy Hill over here to see if there's a market for "coming-of-age" Ghibli anime.
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partially



Joined: 14 Oct 2007
Posts: 702
Location: Oz
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:21 am Reply with quote
Interesting, but I have to wonder where he is getting this from. As clipeuh says it was one of the highest grossing films last year, and it has yet to hit other territories.

Quote:
because animation companies focused on theatrical productions rely heavily on box-office receipts, the effects that a failure to recoup costs on one title has on the company is much larger than on an animation studio that focuses on producing animation for television.


Again where is he getting this from. Certainly for some companies it would be a problem. However home video sales of Ghibli films are consistent bestsellers. Just look at Totoro which is still a home video bestseller despite being from 1988. Poppy Hill is set to hit video release in a month or two, and it already sold $58 million or so at the box office. I cannot see the budget of the film being that high. Particularly as this is from Goro and given his last film stank, I cannot think they gave him such a high budget this time around.
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Ojamajo LimePie



Joined: 09 Nov 2007
Posts: 772
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:26 am Reply with quote
It hasn't even hit DVD in Japan yet. Way too early to be writing the movie off. Does somebody have a grudge about Ghibli's success?
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Fletcher1991



Joined: 14 Apr 2009
Posts: 514
Location: Long Island, NY
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:46 am Reply with quote
I don't see how that is possible. Also there is no evidence to support what he says, at the very least its not shown.
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GATSU



Joined: 03 Jan 2002
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 12:58 am Reply with quote
partially: The budget might be high, if there was a lot of prep time and research which went into the production.
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zeopower6



Joined: 01 Nov 2011
Posts: 191
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 1:52 am Reply with quote
Seems a bit odd given that it did rather well...
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Jacut



Joined: 15 Oct 2004
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Location: Paris, France
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 3:00 am Reply with quote
I highly doubt that honestly, seeing that the movie was a huge success both in Japan and overseas (at least in the countries it was already released in like France/Belgium/Switzerland) and the BD/DVDs are not available yet. Even if it's not at the moment, wait till the end of the year and Kokuriko Kara will be largely profitable.
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mgosdin



Joined: 17 Jul 2011
Posts: 1302
Location: Kissimmee, Florida, USA
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 3:58 am Reply with quote
I think we need to remember the context of this quote.

If Masuda was speaking in terms of the movie needing to recoup costs based on it's Japanese theatrical release only, then if the costs were above normal he may very well be right.

The overall profitability of Up on Poppy Hill may never be questioned, but it could still impact Studio Ghibli if it takes the International and / or Home Video markets to finally recoup it's production costs, i.e. before it begins to make a profit on paper.

Mark Gosdin
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Sunday Silence



Joined: 22 Jun 2010
Posts: 2047
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 4:59 am Reply with quote
So, Hollywood maths have trickled to Japan?
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dragon695



Joined: 28 Nov 2008
Posts: 1377
Location: Clemson, SC
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 5:28 am Reply with quote
mgosdin wrote:
I think we need to remember the context of this quote.

If Masuda was speaking in terms of the movie needing to recoup costs based on it's Japanese theatrical release only, then if the costs were above normal he may very well be right.

You may want to reread the thread yourself, it was already noted what he said and roundly dismissed as bunk. It was announced that it had earned $53 million after 2 months and was set to continue playing in 300 theatres after that. Are you seriously going to say with a straight face that production costs were in the 100's of millions? It sounds much more like sour grapes and idle speculation from some has-been.
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Blood-
Bargain Hunter



Joined: 07 Mar 2009
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PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:52 am Reply with quote
While I too am skeptical that Poppy Hill has not recouped its costs from its Japanese theatrical run considering how successful it was, there are a few things to consider. First, we don't know what the budget of the film was. All we know is that Ghibli's animated films are generally not cheap to make. Second, the P&A commitment (prints and advertising - i.e. the cost of actually bringing the film to theatres and releasing it) can easily double the budget figure. All of that needs to be paid back before a film has recouped its costs. That's why very few films recoup costs just from theatrical release. Only movies that are made on a dime or Avatar-sized hits tend to do that. The idea that Poppy Hill won't ultimately be profitable (if it isn't already) is a little hard to swallow.
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dragonrider_cody



Joined: 14 Jun 2008
Posts: 2541
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 6:53 am Reply with quote
He was speaking hypothetically and it seemed he was just using Poppy Hill as an example. He probably chose it because it was such a high grossing film. His point was simply that a film that relies more on box office receipts is more prone to be hit by one failure than a company like Madhouse that is more diversified in its productions.

Ghibli only produces one movie a year, so he is correct in saying that one failed film could hurt them quite a bit. Don't forget that Miyazaki was considering stopping productions at one point, so it's likely Ghibli has lost money on films in the past. He was also correct that we never know how much their budgets are.

Most of you are taking this really out of context. He could have just as easily used any high grossing film in Japan for his point. It wasn't a personal jab at Ghibli. Calm down.
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Amiantos



Joined: 30 Jan 2008
Posts: 345
PostPosted: Wed Apr 25, 2012 7:25 am Reply with quote
Find it a bit amusing the former Madhouse Head said this after you know...that bit of financial problem Madhouse was/still going through because of their lack of high selling shows.
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