The Decade of Money, Mega-Spending and Special Effects
In the 1990s for the most part, cinema attendance was up at the 23K (36K by 2000) multi-screen multiplexes throughout the country.
***Although the average film budget was almost $53 million by 1998, many films cost over $100 million to produce and returned little money to its producers due to:
- costs & profit percentages of stars and directors (Note: ‘profit percentages’ is the idea that a star agrees to take less money upfront in return for a percentage of a film’s revenues)
- spiraling production costs
- promotional & marketing campaigns (the bigger a film’s budget, the greater the money spent in promotion—which grew to approximately 1/3 of a film’s budget in addition to production costs)
- price for digital special-effects and CGI (computer generated images) action films (vs. artistic/prestige films) which appealed both domestically & internationally
- costly market research and testing (to develop risk-averse, formulaic, stale, and over-produced films)
- scripts created by committee (involving input from directors and stars as well as ‘script doctors’ who may be hired to jazz up story structure as well dialogue)
- all of which resulted in increasing co-productions, cutting costs and the number of yearly releases.
High-Cost Demanding Stars:
In the mid-1990s, perks and the excessive demands of mega-stars sometimes reached epidemic proportions for many of the highest-paid stars:
| Script approval prior to filming | Directorial and casting choices |
| Approval of the use of images for publicity | Restrictions on film scheduling |
| Studio-paid personal /entourage jet travel | Positioning of credits |
| ‘Extras’ (personal gym and trainer/nutritionist, limo service) | Inclusion of nudity and other ‘body-related’ clauses and final-cut approval |
For example, at one time, Jack Nicholson wouldn’t agree to filming during LA Lakers’ basketball home games, and Harrison Ford, Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise would have the studios pay for their private jets. (but in my opinion Tom deserves it … we LOVE Tom)
Julia Roberts
The best-paid female actress of the decade was Julia Roberts, “America’s Sweetheart.”
- She first joined the club of actresses earning a million dollars per picture after being nominated for an Academy Award for Pretty Woman (1990), in her role as a Hollywood hooker in a red-killer dress being romanced by corporate tycoon Richard Gere.
- My Best Friend’s Wedding (1997), Conspiracy Theory (1997), Stepmom (1998), Notting Hill (1999) and a wedding-phobia–Runaway Bride (1999).
- By the end of the decade, Julia Roberts was able to command and equal male salaries – $20 million for her role in Erin Brockovich (2000) —the film for which she won her Best Actress Oscar, playing the title role of an underdog single mother winning against insurmountable odds.
WATCH/TAKE NOTES ON Clip: Pretty Woman
WATCH/TAKE NOTES ON Clip: My Best Friend’s Wedding
https://youtu.be/3IlzGRBnino
I Say a Little Prayer clip – CC
Demi Moore
The most extreme example was Demi Moore.
- To promote her film Ghost (1990), Moore (who earned the nickname ‘Gimme Moore’) insisted the studio pay for a bodyguard, masseuse, hair stylist, cosmetician, fashion consultant, and an assistant (Who had an assistant?).
- She further insisted that the studio charter two planes for her and her entourage while promoting her films. Due to the success of Ghost, in the mid-1990s Moore became the highest paid actress when she was offered a $20 mill three picture contract.
- Unfortunately, the films– The Scarlet Letter (1995), Striptease (1996) and G.I. Jane (1997)—under-performed at the box office.
WATCH/TAKE NOTES ON: Ghost
Tom Cruise
The biggest male star of the decade was Tom Cruise, with films as diverse as Days of Thunder (1990), A Few Good Men (1992), the epic tale of Irish immigrants in the late 19th century titled Far and Away (1992), The Firm (1993), Interview with the Vampire (1994), Mission: Impossible (1996), Jerry Maguire (1996), and Eyes Wide Shut (1999).
WATCH/TAKE NOTES ON Clip: Jerry Maguire
- (According to historian Louis Giannetti, the formula for the success of Tom Cruise’s films is that his characters begin as materialistic, manically self-absorbed and deluded, but through the course of events he learns enlightenment through another ‘purer’ person–usually through a young woman who loves him)
Tom Hanks
Tom Hanks was also a major star of the decade, winning two Best Actor Oscars (back-to-back) from five nominations, for Philadelphia (1993) and Forrest Gump (1994) and another Oscar-nominated role for Cast Away (2000)
WATCH/TAKE NOTES ON – CLIP: Philadelphia (first major film on the AIDS crisis but controversial due to Hanks, as many felt his performance was not Oscar worthy. Hanks himself said he wanted to ‘share’ his win with Denzel).
Whether or not you cared for the character/storyline his acting prowess in undeniable in Forrest Gump! WATCH/TAKE NOTES ON: clip – Forrest Gump
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Following close behind was Arnold Schwarzenegger, who starred in some of the biggest hits of the decade, including Total Recall (1990), Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991), and True Lies (1994).
It became clear that once stars were earning multi-million-dollar salaries, a director and a studio could easily lose control of the film, especially when the demanding star was also one of the film’s producers. Ironically, however, a highly paid star in a big-budget film didn’t guarantee a film’s success.