MovieChat Forums > Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004) Discussion > how does a movie like this happen??

how does a movie like this happen??

posted 11 years ago by LeWildPlatypus
11 replies | jump to latest

2004 was an ordinary year, and out of the blue some weird unexpected movie that not many people saw is pulled out of a hat.

"im beautiful your not" - me
"you're* " - you

[–] hbenthow 11 years ago

It was Kerry Conran's dream project. He'd been working on it since the 1990s in his apartment, and finally managed to get a producer willing to help him make it into a semi-big budget movie.

This Wikipedia page about Kerry Conran tells the whole story, more or less, of how "Sky Captain" came to be: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerry_Conran

Courage, men! We've not sunk before, and we'll not sink now!

[–] DrZaat 11 years ago

Don't know, but I'm glad it did.

[–] stevewyzard 11 years ago

As someone who considers this movie to be the most fabulous ever made, it is now impossible for me to even hear the year 2004 being mentioned, without also thinking of the unassailable majesty of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow!

As we flow down life's rivers - I see the stars glow one by one
All angels of the magic constellation - be singing us now

[–] onethumb-1 8 years ago

Loved this when it first came out. Told everyone that what had been missing from modern movies was that there weren't enough giant robots. Found where the concept for the robots originated when watching an old Max Fleischer Superman cartoon from the 40s.

https://youtu.be/DadH3KjHZws

[–] elpresidente-4 10 years ago

You need a very drugged up producer, who hasn't left his house in months to approve an abomination like this one.

[–] scriptguy-1 10 years ago

elprez,

you might want to read this so you can educate yourself and perhaps appreciate what the movie is:

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/14/magazine/14CONRAN.html?pagewanted=1

[–] spookyrat1 10 years ago

... some weird unexpected movie that not many people saw ...

True, but a real pity it wasn't more commercially successful.🐭

[–] vilafire 8 years ago

Too bad it wasn't released as originally planned, six months earlier with a smaller budget. It might be reentered as a surprise hit.

I think because the distributor or studio wanted the movie out earlier the film makers had to farm out a lot of the CG, which was probably costly.

Also, apparently movie budgets are not as straightforward as other budgets. The filmmakers think the movie cost $20m but the studio says $70m or something, so at the former number the film could have been a moderate success while at the latter prove it's a bomb.

Completely unjustified. The movie is stunning. Underrated for days.

[–] stevewyzard (1591) 3 years ago

It was supposed to be released in the summer of 2004. The studio was scared off by the competition: Spiderman 2, I Robot, and The Bourne Supremacy. It was pushed back to the graveyard of late September, which had a lot to do with why it wasn't more financially successful. The marketing was so non-existent that even though I was looking forward to finding out more about it, the movie had been out for 3 weeks before I finally saw a poster.

[–] stevewyzard (1591) 3 years ago

Time for an UPDATE:

According to the recently released book, Kevin Conran's "Sky Captain and the Art of Tomorrow", the movie's target date was February 2005, but the studio became impatient and moved it up to September 2004. The reason why so many of the effects were "farmed out" was the studio, after some changes in management, wanted the movie over, done with, and off of its "books", so they rushed its completion.

[–] TheAdvocator 10 years ago

Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, for all of its many many problems, is really no different than any thing else that's come out over the past 40 years. Star Wars, The Matrix, Indiana Jones, Sin City. Sky Captain was nothing new.

What the director doesn't realize is that a movie is much more than style.

The Legend of Korra Book 4 is the biggest dip in quality of any show ever.