A New Hollywood Mogul 3 Dynasty!!!

[Abe Sargent]

Anyway, our next project:


Coupling


After Steve and Susan hook up, life is full of hijinks, love and sex for each of their group of six friends. But mostly it’s just about sex.


Romantic Comedy

Target audiences are male and females 18-35

Lots of love scenes and foul language (3 stars each), no violence.

No effects needed of any sort.

What is at stake? Marriage, and how Steve can avoid it as long as possible while still staying with Susan.

Lead, Average 32, difficulty 70, Steve Taylor, comedy role
Love Interest, Susan Walker, 32, difficulty 70, comedy role
Major Support, friend, Jeff Murdock, 30, wacky, 95 diff
Support, Friend, Jane Christie, 30, sexy, 80 diff
Support, Friend, off-beat, Sally Harper, 32, 70 diff
Support (Minor), Patrick Maitland, 32, 60 diff, friend, simple

All are needed for a sequel.

An additional villain is the ticking clock, as Steve and Susan’s relationship continues, and the automatic countdown for marriage scares him.

It will come back in 15.

[Abe Sargent]

Flatwoods



After a sighting of an alien monster in Flatwoods, WV, things begin to get more mysterious as law enforcement arrives

Sci-Fi


Lead – National Guardsman Gene Lemon, the first person to arrive at the scene who was not a member of the May family, his experience becomes the biggest one of the story. Lead and heroic, 20 years old, Diff 96, action role
Buddy – Kathleen May, the mother of the children who first witnessed the aliens, and who went with Gene Lemon to investigate after hearing what they saw. 36, heroic, friend, diff 63
Villain – The Flatwoods Monster. 40, male, alien, conniving and normal, diff 72
Support – A. Lee Stewart – journalist. Fierce, support, diff 53, age 40
Support – Sheriff Robert Carr – age 45, lead, tough, diff 88

I left the diffs alone.

14 months, 3.5 mill

[Abe Sargent]

CENTURION STUDIOS PRESS RELEASE


Centurion Studios and CEO James Essex announced today that they have optioned the BBC comedy “Coupling” for the big screen. This show, written by Steven Moffat, became one of Britain’s biggest hits.

CEO James Essex was quoted as saying, "What makes Coupling so attractive is how the writer completely plays with the medium as much as possible, finding new ways to show things on screen. We will try to do the same thing in this film."

Centurion Studios is dedicated to quality in film-making, including the production of intelligent and provocative films. This classic BBC series should provide ample material for a movie that fits Essex's vision.

[Abe Sargent]

March 14, 2023
Almostheaven.net

Interview with James Essex II

Hello and welcome to another interview with the former West Virginian, James Essex, CEO of the newly formed Centurion Studios. After announcing a project in January regarding a historical event that occurred in West Virginia, we interviewed him.

Yesterday, he announced work on another project, entitled "Flatwoods." This movie is aimed at telling the story of the Flatwoods Monster and sighting. As many of you know, AH-Net brings you the most up to date information on our favorite state, West Virginia.


We were able to secure another virtual interview with James, and he is once again here. James, we always love having you here at AHNet!

James: Thanks again, I always love revisiting my fellow West Virginians.

AHNet: Before we get started with Flatwoods, can you give us an update about the Battle of Blair Mountain?

James: It’s still in the script writing stage, and will be for some time.

AHNet: Fair enough. Let’s talk about Flatwoods. Why this film?

James: I spent my first few years of life in Sutton, where my dad was the preacher at a local Baptist church. I know the area, I know the people, and I know its history. This seemed to be a natural incident to take to the stage. We’ve seen many films made from the sightings of aliens, from The Mothman Prophecies to Fire and Ice. This seemed like a natural addition.

AHNet: Speaking of the Mothman, any plans to make another version of it?

James: It’s certainly the most well known weird story from WV. Coming up with a new way to tell the story is certainly on my radar.

AHNet: How closely will the film follow the actual sighting.

James: The actual sighting will be as close as we can come. After that, we’ve modified some people for the silver screen, and some responses by the community, the region, and the nation.

AHNet: What about the special effects?

James: I want to do everything as well as possible. The Monster is a special looking critter, and we’ll be using an actual actor to represent it. We’ll need a lot of CGI and robotics to do the monster, the space ship, and other elements of the story.

AHNet: It seems like we are running out of time. Thank you very much for agreeing to a return interview!

James: I'm always pleased to talk about my home state!

[Abe Sargent]

End of March


Hails Pictures wants a partner for one of their films. I take a look.

No bid after looking at it. I think they are throwing way too much money at a film with poorly chosen actors.

Three of our films have moved into production – Angry Truth, When a Latin Lover Gets Loved and Lightning Strikes


Anthony Hopkins retired



I greenlight Fearful Dreams

This thriller is a 5 star script, but will take a while to complete.

It’s very expensive, so I get a bunch of stuff ready (SFX, Robotics, Pyro, Stunts).

Time for casting

It took forever to find the love interest part. Anyway, here is my talent for this thriller:

Dir. Chris Nolan, 3.7 mill
Prod. Vince Peyer, 160k
Lead. Ryan Gosling, 1.15 mill
Love. Olga Kurylenko 310k
Villain. Benicio Del Toro. 2.5 mill
Friend. Elijah Wood, 1.1 mill
Support. Audrey Tautou. 940k

Minor Roles:

Emilie de Ravin, Mika Boorem, Debra Messing


Total cost will be 85 for the negative, and 188 for everything else.

I make a nice soundtrack with major artists, and we already made a bit of money off licensing.

[Young Drachma]

what a throwback game. forgot how much fun it was.

[CrimsonFox]

Put Dark Cloud in one of your movies. That'd be a hilarious movie.

[Abe Sargent]

Heh, no thanks. I want to sell movies, not lose money.

[Abe Sargent]

April 4, 2023
Almostheaven.net

Interview with James Essex III

Hello and welcome to yet another interview with man with West Virginia in his blood, James Essex, CEO of Centurion Studios. After announcing two projects in the past three months that are set in West Virginia, he has announced that he will be doing a third, and bringing to the movie format, for the first time ever, the story of John Henry in “Steel Drivin’ Man.”

This is in addition to films on The Battle of Blair Mountain and the Flatwoods Monster. As many of you know, AH-Net brings you the most up to date information on our favorite state, West Virginia.


Yet again, we were easily able to secure a virtual interview with James, and he is here for us a third time. James, as always, welcome to at AHNet!

James: It’s always fun to be here!

AHNet: Three West Virginia movies in four months? Why is that?

James: I’ve spent a lot of my life as a writer and I know one very basic thing. You write about what makes you passionate. Then your writings will simmer with that love you have. They will have a life of their own. I believe that is true about making movies. Choosing projects about which I have a passion is part of making interesting movies.

AHNet: Wow, what a nice perspective. Does that mean we can expect to see more films set in WV?

James: Absolutely

AHNet: Any updates on the first two scripts?

James: No, none. I suppose you have to ask that question every interview? (chuckles)

AHNet: Of course! (laughs) You have caused a bit of controversy about your next film. Tell us about it.

James: Well, the controversy boils down to one man. Two cities claim him. One is in WV and the other deep in the south. One points to a historical man named John William Henry, who was leased to work on the C&O railroad. The other, from Alabama, claims that a man named Henry who worked the nearby Columbus and Western is the real John Henry. We are obviously taking the perspective of the first. There is more historical evidence pointing to the WV/VA placement of John Henry than down south. It won’t make Alabama happy, but that’s okay. Come and see the film anyway, Alabama!

AHNet: Why this story?

James: There is something in the John Henry story that’s truly special. It’s man versus machine, in one of the oldest examples of that motif. It shows the replacement of the best workers by the mechanical, and the fight against what isn’t just. Labor and management, liberal and conservative, atheist and religious have all taken important messages away from the John Henry story. That’s a powerful story. I’m surprised that it never became a big movie, especially during the 20-30 years or so when Hollywood was constantly trying to find movies about Black people’s history and what they did prior to the civil rights movement in America. This seems like a natural fit for that time, but we never saw it. Now we will correct that flaw.

AHNet: There’s a lot of great stuff here again, so once again, we thank you for your time!

James: It’s my pleasure.

[Abe Sargent]

Steel Drivin’ Man

As a steel machine is brought in to do the work of him and his men, John Henry must fight the fight of the ages.

Biography
Historical

Set in 1880s

No special effects, love scenes or violence. 2 star foul language. 5 star pyro (explosions in mountain) and 2 star robotics. Heartbreaking ending.

Lead – John Henry, 35, Lead, Heroic, 90 diff, dies, drama
Buddy – Cephas Daniels, 30, friend, diff 60, innocent, drama
Villain - Mr. Benton Greaves III, 45, mean, fierce, diff 60, drama
Support - Anabell McCauffrey, 25, nice, support, diff 40, drama

I create a couple of minor roles too, to represent workers.


3.5 mill, 14 months


End of April


Robert Duvall has retired. Love Hunting and The Bottom Line move to production.

I purchase the rights for a recent short story called Cave Girl. This romantic comedy is sent out immediately for a script with not changes – 1 mill and 4 months.
I greenlight a 5 star original script Horror/Monster film called On Foreign Soil, set in Australia. I head there to film.

Time for casting:


Dir. John Singleton, 1 mill
Prod. Arlen Savant, 150k
Lead. Ethan Hawke, 1.8 mill
Love. Rebecca Romijn, 300k
Villain. Jude Law. 4.2 mill


No other parts.

It will take 14 months, we begin pre production.

[Abe Sargent]

CENTURION STUDIOS PRESS RELEASE




Centurion Studios and CEO James Essex are proud to announce the acquisition of the movie rights for the Isaac Asimov short story, “Nightfall.” This landmark science-fiction short story has often been hailed as the best short story in the genre of all time.

Nightfall documents what happens to a people in a star system with six suns, with one always above, making the planet and civilization in total light. Then, all six suns set in a rare occurrence and darkness falls for the first time in millennia.

The story is remarkable due to its understanding of psychology, sociology, and philosophy. It studies the people under these conditions, when the suns that have always been there set.

Although the story has had elements used for several previous movies, it has never been fully adapted, with an eye to retaining the essential plot and character elements that define the story’s greatness.

Centurion Studios is dedicated to bringing quality movies to the theaters. This is the latest project that is anticipated to continue the tradition of intelligence and provocation that comprise the twin pillars of DDS’s goals.

[Abe Sargent]

Nightfall

Sci-Fi


Lead, Beenay 25, diff 80, 35, lead, heroic, drama
Love, Siferra 89, 35, friend, eccentric, diff 60
Villain, 40 age, self righteous, nasty, Leader of Apostles of Flame, diff 65
Support, Sheerin 501, support, off beat, 40, diff 50.
Support, Theremon 762, 30 years old, 50 diff, support and fierce
Minor, Athor, 60, nerd, wacky, diff 50

All have drama roles. Villain also has action too.


Ending is a tragedy as cities burn and upheaval has begun.


15 months, 3.75 mill

[vols21]

how long before some of your projects reach the theater?

looking forward to see how they do

[Abe Sargent]

It depends on several factors. Where are we filming? Do we have any sfx? What about set construction? The smallest amount of time a film can spend is nine months. That's long enough for three months each in pre-production, production and post-production. That includes real life things such as making costumes, picking places to film, hiring staff like make up and casing minor bit parts, the actual filming, editing, doing sound, setting up robotics, and more. Some film genre,s like drama or romance, tend to have quick turnarounds because not much goes into making them. Other genres can have huge turarounds.

And that's after the script is ready. For all of these projects I'm purchasing and creating, I have to write the script first.

[Abe Sargent]

“Stormbringer” Sees Newest Fantasy Franchise Brought to Silver Screen

Abigail Winters
ETOnline


Hollywood has had a love-hate relationship with fantasy movies for a long time. There have been a few times when fantasy movies with a cult following and B grade status enjoyed some fandom (Conan: the Barbarian is a great example). Most fantasy films have been aimed at children in order to do well. Examples of family fare include Willow or the Harry Potter series.

Then a certain Lord of the Rings came out and changed things. Epic level, high end fantasy films were in. While most fantasy films were still b grade level (or worse – see The Dungeons and Dragons movie), there was space for more.

However, most franchises that were still picked up for moviedom were oriented towards the children, often ignoring adults. Compare The Golden Compass, and A Series of Unfortunate Events with the serious take of Lord of the Rings to see the point.

Now a studio is willing to try a more adult oriented fantasy series out, with the Elric of Melnibone series. One of the first anti-heroes in fantasy, Elric is not you stereotypical fantasy work. He is weak, relies on his soul-sucking sword for energy in combat, and casts magic spells.

It will take a while to see what happens with this film, but for now, another studio is trying to find the next major fantasy franchise.

[Abe Sargent]

Stormbringer

As the only person from his decadent society with a vestige of a conscience, Elric, 428th Emperor of Melnibone, voyages out to find his place, ultimately finding the greatest sword ever created.


Fantasy
Dark

5 stars across the board
4 stars of violence, one in love scenes, none for foul language.

Set construction 5, sfx 5,no robotics needed, average pyro

Ambiguous ending


Lead – Elric of Melnibone, diff 90, non-human, lead, intimidating, action and drama required, lives, needed for sequel,
Love Interest - Cymoril, diff 70, non-human, drama, 35 years old, cousin and consort, bad girl, fierce
Villain – Yyrkoon, 30 years, diff 70, non-human, drama and action, conniving, nasty, brother of Cymoril, 2nd in line for throne, wants to kill Elric, marry his sister, and re-establish the old ways Elric began to stop. Powerful sorcerer.


There are no other major characters in the first film. By the end of the first film, Elric has found Stormbringer, returned to Melnibone at the head of an invasion human army, and then attacked and kills Yyrkoon, who is wielding Mournblade, but not before Yyrkoon grabs his sister and flings her onto the tip of Stormbringer, thus killing her and devouring her soul.

There are several minor human roles, in the army.

All three major characters need 4 stars of make up, and the villain and Elric need 3 stars of stunts. 3.75 mill and 15 months to give me a script.

[Abe Sargent]

End of May


We get Boston Pictures looking for a partner. I take a look see.

No desire for it at all.


Two movies enter production – Hot Tamales and Could it be True.


Excerpt from "ETOnline” News in Review, May 23, 2023


...And in other news, Centurion Studios announced that they have acquired the movie rights to Hugo Winner for best short story in 1988, "Why I Left Harry's All-Night Hamburgers."

The short story follows a young worker who realizes that many different species of aliens, humans, and other dimension hoppers visit the Hamburger Stand after hours because in every dimension, the one constant is Harry's Hamburger Stand in Flatwoods, WV.

The project has been sent for a script, and we'll keep you up to date as this project continues.

[Abe Sargent]

Why I Left Harry’s All-Night Hamburgers


After a teenager realizes that visitors from other dimensions are frequenting his diner after-hours, he must make a choice to feed or stave off his wanderlust

Science Fiction/Time Travel

(It’s not really time travel, but that’s the best way to put it)

Coming of Age is at stake


No love scenes. I keep the one star in violence and language.

No robotics, special effects to 4 stars, no pyro


Lead, 17, normal, lives, needed for sequel, no name is story, given name of Adam Foster. 75 diff.
Support, 45, Harry, 55 diff, average, not needed for sequel
Buddy, Sid., male, 20, friend nice, not needed for sequel, 50 diff
Support, Joe, 50, diff 50, not needed for sequel, off beat,



15 months, 3.75 mill


I have 30 scripts in the queue, and that’s the most I can have.

[Abe Sargent]

I greenlight the only script I’m sitting on, a 5 star action film called Oil Me Up.

War

All are signed to a 200 million sequel contract.


Dir. Doug Limon, 1.75 mill
Prod. Harriet Aborman, 300k
Lead. Ben Affleck, 2.7mill
Love. Kate Beckinsale, 3.5 mill
Villain. Hugh Jackman, 11.6 mill
Support. Shia LeBeouf, 11.7 mill


I order a five star rock soundtrack, major Blue Ray release, and a major marketing campaign.

The entire thing will cost 300 million to make, with 150 the cost of the negative with the special effects, casting, and everything else.

We begin pre-production

[Abe Sargent]

End of June


Several projects have advanced.

If you’ll recall, I purchased a few projects and sent them out for a quick script. Two are back this month – Last Quarter and Getting Retired

Lonely Fingers Do a Dance has moved to production.

Three films finish production – Angry Truth, Lightning Strikes, and When a Latin Lover Gets Loved

I add some things to each of them, such as Blu Ray extras and a bit of marketing.


Let’s produce Last Quarter


A girl with a miserable life meets a mysterious man named, Adam who seems very familiar to her. After an accident the girl finds herself locked in a mansion with no memory of her life except for Adam. She must now find out why who she is and why she's there.

Drama
Romance


It has some pyro, robotics, and special effects, but not much.

It has a script that is 5 star everything.

I am upgrading the sfx to state of the art, and increasing the production, set, crew, and pyro effects to best enhance a great script.

We will be shooting in Mexico to reduce the cost of the production significantly. (by 40%). It adds 2 months to our pre-production time though.

I have used 10 auditions for a leading lady for this film and have yet to find anyone with a 5 star audition. Ick. After 15 auditions, I haven’t found a 5 and I’m out of auditions for this role this month. I’m just going to cast a 4.

We are all set, with many 4 star auditions instead of 5 (sad).


Dir. Peter Weir, 815k
Prod. Claude Purdue, 805k
Lead. Cate Blanchett, 2.85mill
Love. Patrick Fugit, 100k (one of my few 5 star auditions for any role)
Villain. Ellen Page. 2.28m
Bad Girl. Claire Danes. 760k
Off-Beat. Franka Potente. 235k. (5 star)


Many die, and only two are needed for sequel, so I signed them in.


Pre-production has officially started.


Since we have a full number of projects, we cannot make any more or purchase any more.

[Abe Sargent]

End of July


Jane Fonda retires

A remake of It’s a Wonderful Life has been undertaken by one of our rivals.


Love Hunting and The Bottom Line have moved to post-production.


I move getting retired to casting.


Getting Retired

Religious/Apocalyptic


I am increasing special effects tremendously.

I upgrade our special effects from state of the art to groundbreaking. We will be filming in Mexico again to reduce costs, and the amount of time it will take to get this will be massive.

We green light it

Dir. Chris Weitz, 700k
Prod. Martin Laster, 760k
Lead. Amy Adams, 4.15m
Buddy. Radha Mitchell, 285k
Villain. Mark Wahlberg, 4.85m
Idiot. Kyra Sedgewick. 335k
Sweet. Casey Affleck. 2.25m



Minor roles to:

Cole Hauser
Eliza Dushku
Anson Mount


165 mill for the negative, 283 for everything.

I add an instrumental soundtrack and some additional trailers, and bump it to 295



I make modifications to Love Hunting and The Bottom Line’s marketing, DVD releases, and such



I slate Lightning Strikes for release the week of Halloween as our first release.

[Abe Sargent]

End of August


The short story adaptation of Cave Girl is back from the writer and ready to go.

Fearful Dreams has moved to completion

Could it be True and Hot Tamales have moved to post-production


Could it be True appears to be doing well, and I increase marketing to get more screens. Hot Tamales is not.



Cave Girl


A man is transported back in time and falls in love with a cave girl.


Romantic Comedy

Our casting was really quick. We found the right people quickly.


Dir. Harold Ramis, 885k
Prod. Sophie Texlan, 605k
Lead. Jake Gyllenhaal, 4.33m
Love. Julia Stiles, 910k
Villain. Ryan Gosling, 1.05m
Friend. Ryan Reynolds, 910k


A solid cast for an off-beat Rom-Com if I do say so myself!

80 mill for negative cost


I roll with a pop soundtrack and the film looks to be doing well with theaters, so I increase marketing significantly. Total cost for now is:

207 mill

[Abe Sargent]

End of September

Lightning Strikes is ready, and screening at 95%

When a Latin Lover Gets Loved is ready and screening at 87%

Angry Truth is screening at 81%

We are re-editing Angry Truth. I tried testing a bunch of edits and am going with one for action, which brings it up to 84%. That adds two months until its ready.

A lot of weeks coming up are taken with other films. I slate When a Latin Lover Gets Loved for week 3, Nov, the only open week for a while.


We are down to 42 mill in the bank, after starting with 1 billion in currency. We need to make some cash this month from our first release.

[Abe Sargent]

Lightning Strikes

132 mill for everything

4 stars for director, producer, and all actors except those mentioned below.

5 stars for Ryan Gosling, and minor roles Chiwetel Ejiofor and Shea Wingham

3 stars for supporting role Rufus Sewell

Star Appeal: 2 stars
Story Appeal: 3
Character Appeal: 5
Genre Appeal: 5
Production Budget: 1
Script-to-film: 5
Advertising: 5
Marketing Focus: 3


Here we go!

Domestic Gross: 83m
Foreign: 151m
Worldwide: 235m

We make half of that back, so the film cost 132 to make, and we basically made that back just in the theaters. Now, the other stuff:

Blu Ray was about 160 mill in both markets
Cable and Broadcast rights were about 7 mill
Total Studio Revenue – 291 mill
Net Revenue – 159 mill


Yay! We made money.

We basically just made the DVD profit with the theater revenue paying the cost of the film. That’s not bad at all for your first film.

[Abe Sargent]

November begins:

Oil Me Up has begun filming
Lonely Fingers Do a Dance has finished filming
The Bottom Line is ready, and screening at 94%
Love Hunting is screening at 92%

I schedule Love Hunting against a romance on the 5th week of December.

The Bottom Line is scheduled for the first week of January.



As a reminder, these are our current projects in the writing stage:

The Prisoner
Smallville
Degrassi Jr. High
Jagged Alliance
Doctor Who
Coupling
Flatwoods
Steel Drivin’ Man
The Battle of Blair Mountain
Lucifer’s Hammer
A Canticle for Leibowitz
Nightfall
The Call of Cthulhu
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valence
Stormbringer
Why I Left Harry’s All-Night Hamburgers

[Abe Sargent]

New Movie In Works

AvengersAssemble.org


After the impact of the Avengers characters and team from the late 2000’s and early 2010s by Marvel, the power of super hero films was solidified in the American conscious. After a while, the entertainment crash saw the loss of film dynasties that were box office successes of various size.

Today, Centurion Studios announced that they have optioned the rights for the Avengers franchise. Instead of bringing the major characters to the screen, they will be focusing on a different Avengers team. Here is CEO James Essex’s statement to us about the project:

“I’ve always loved the Avengers going all the way back to my childhood. It’s my favorite comic! What made the Avengers so awesome was that within 16 months of debuting the comic, Stan Lee moved on from his original creation and changed the team to form around some B level characters. This enabled him to write better stories, unfettered by the stories in the other comics. It’s hard to write character developed for Thor in the Avengers when he’s getting it in the Thor comic, for example.

However, many of the reboot franchises of Avengers have focused on the original characters – Thor, Iron Man, Hulk (who was only and Avenger for two comics), Captain America (who joined in #4), and so forth. Whether it’s the Avenger film franchise, the animated series in the 2010-12 TV, the animated direct to DVD series in the late 2000s, or the Ultimates comics line, the story focuses on the wrong thing about the Avengers.

The Vision was Marvel’s most popular character for years. He was a B level character in the Avengers. Moving to Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Black Knight, Vision, and more allowed the comic to develop very interesting characters. That’s the heart of the Avengers – unlikely heroes becoming the World’s foremost heroic team.

We will have a new vision for the Avengers – a group of street level characters who get together because New York needs a super hero team to defend it. There will be no Hulk and no Iron Man, no Thor and no Captain America. This will be the heart of the Avengers.”

It’s certainly a new and fresh take on the comic. We’ve gotten a look at the characters that will be making the new team. Their names, costumes, and such may change. But, they are:

Captain Marvel – Monica Rambeau
Black Panther – Luke Foster
Firebird – Bonita Juarez
Black Knight – Dane Whitman
Hawkeye – Clint Barton
Moon Knight – Jake Lockley


It’s a very interesting line up. Will it work? Who knows, but at least they are trying something new with the franchise. It certainly is an interesting lineup, and the story possibilities are endless. How closely will characters like Moon Knight and Black Panther mimic their comic inspiration?

We wish anybody who respects the franchise good luck in their endeavors, and hope that Essex and his studio can adhere to the source material, while making something new for fans.

[Abe Sargent]

Avengers Assemble


Action/Super-Hero

When a major threat strikes New York that no individual hero can stop, a new team of heroes forms to Avenge the hurt, the lost, and the destitute of the city.

Lots of special effects, robotics, and pyro.
Appeals to male audiences.


3 star violence, no nudity, 1 star language

Main character – Capt. Monica Rambeau, youngest police captain NYC history. 35. Diff 70. Lead, Heroic, lives, stunts required. Some make up needed too. (FYI, Monica Rambeau is black)

Love interest – Luke Foster, aka Black Panther. A local school teacher for an underprivileged school who moonlights as a protector of children, and those who would hurt them. 35, 70, Lead, Heroic (also black). Stunts needed, no make up.

Villain – Graviton. 45, no stunts, diff 70, cruel and yet naïve (it’s hard to pull off for the newly minted villain), a total heavy in power, no make up needed. Lives, but not needed for sequel.

Support – Hawkeye. Diff 60, 30 years old. Lead, aggressive. Clint Barton and partner Dane Whitman run a detective agency under aliases Steve Archer and Michael Blade. The Archer and Blade Detective Agency finds the crimes and Hawkeye and Black Knight end them. Roommates and college friends, and now a crime fighting pair. More stunts for these two that any other role.

Support – Bonita Juarez, aka Firebird. A social worker who was suddenly blasted with a bolt of fire from the sky and gained her powers, she believe she is God’s chosen to the underprivileged. She uses her power openly, and adorns a special costume when she does. The aura of fire that surrounds her protects her identity, and so she is one of the few to openly operate during the day. 35, female, diff 60, two stars of stunts, make up, lead and innocent.

Minor Support – Black Knight – exactly same as Hawkeye. Lead and off-beat

Minor Support – Jake Lochley, aka Moon Knight. Just a simple cab driver by day, but at night, he prowls the city from rooftop looking for crime to stop. You would be surprised at what people will say on the phone in front of a cabbie. He is a bit more brutal than the other Avengers. Diff 65, age 38, lead, tough, 2 stars of stunts

Minor Support – Grim Reaper. Villainous, tough. Encountered early on, and eventually taken out by tag team of Black Panther and Monica, which is their first meeting. 30, three star stunts, diff 50.


It will take 15 months and 3.75 mill to write.

[Abe Sargent]

“Latin Love” at the Box Office


www.TheNOW.com
Mike Thomason


Certainly one of the more unique titles to come down the pike for major studio productions is “When a Latin Lover Gets Loved.” Is it a romance film? It certainly sounds like it, right? Of course, it’s actually a light hearted suspense film, with comedic elements.

After last month’s solid debut film, Lightning Strikes, made money for its studio, can this film be a follow up? The premise is simple enough. Jaden McNally (played masterfully by Ethan Hawke), is a Latin Dance Instructor, who is seducing women and enjoying his life. His friend Gerry Osbourne (played pretty well by William Sadler) and him set up plans to seduce women. Unfortunately, he seduces Mabel Mckenzie (played amazingly well by Helen Hunt).

Mabel is actually married to gazilloiaire tycoon Mike Mckenzie (played solidly by William Fichtner). Fichtner employs his henchman (played very well by Geoffrey Rush) to begin to take out Jaden’s business.

It’s all laughs and suspense, in equal measure in this film. The supporting roles are amazingly acted, and Delroy Lindo, Vincent Cassel, Mos Def and Robert Carlyle bringing in top notch performances. They join forces with Mike and his henchmen to form a League to stop our Latin Lover, and each has nice screen time trying to take him out with various methods (the banker, Delroy Lindo, turns off his credit, as an example).

It’s a smart film, done by a studio who said they would make smart films. The directors and producers did very well. The script is pretty good. Just like Lightning Strikes, the film understands what genre it’s in and is pretty savvy about the whole thing. Perhaps this will be Centurion Studios bread and butter film, the smart send up of various genres with strong comedic elements. It works here.

The film lacks some pizzazz. Should I say, some Latin flair? It’s still worth the price of admission and I give it a strong B

[Abe Sargent]

When a Latin Lover Gets Loved

Dir. Mike Newell – 4 stars
Prod. Gilbert Leander – 4 stars
Lead Ethan Hawke – 5 stars
William Sadler, Geoffrey Rush, William Fichtner – 4 stars
Everybody else 5 stars

Star Appeal – 2
Story Appeal – 3
Character Appeal – 5
Genre Appeal – 4
Production Budget – 1
Script to film – 5
Advertising – 5
Marketing to Audience – 3


Here we go….

US Gross: 32 mill
Foreign Gross: 62 mill
DVD (Blu Ray) – 44 mill
Total Studio Revenue – 105 mill
Cost – 95 mill
Money made – 10 mill


Well, it barely broke even. I think a low production budget kept it down. I didn’t want too big of a budget for my first films. As a result, it’s a nice little art house piece that may do well for awards time.

[Abe Sargent]

Enter December:


Changes to projects:

Cut done for Angry Truth
Pre-Production complete for Last Quarter, On Foreign Soil
Post-Production for Hot Tamales is done. It is screening at 95%

Hot Tamales is slated for release in Feb, third week
Angry Truth for release the 3rd week of March


Despite how good it looks, I can’t get Hot Tamales to more than 1500 screens, no matter my marketing budget.

[Abe Sargent]

Post to Anime Enthusiast Blog

By

AnimeX


Word today is that Centurion Studios is doing something a little different with an anime project they purchased. We’ve seen anime shows adapted to TV for America, and turned into animated films. What is pretty rare is the conversion of the project to live action.

That is exactly what CEO James Essex intends to do with his recent purchase, “Blue Gender.” This was a well received one season show from 1999. However, it is not one of Anime’s top stories, nor it is one that has resonated through the years.

It’s still a good story, typical for the age. I was able to have a quick chat with James Essex, CEO of Centurion. He told me that the plan was for the first movie to closely follow the plot of roughly the first half of Blue Gender. But then, he will change most of the rest of the stuff.

Since Blue Gender begins very interestingly, but quickly evolves into typical anime features like the Earth fighting back through Gaia and such, I can see why he’d change it for a modern movie audience.

[Abe Sargent]

Blue Gender

After being awoken from a deep sleep in a cryo chamber, Yuji finds himself in a world gone mad. As massive insects have infested the world, Yuji must try to survive with a band of hardened soliders.


Science Fiction/Alien Invasion (or is it?)
Action

Future setting
Set in Asian metropolis

A sold amount of foul language (2 stars), 4 stars of violence, and 1 star of love scenes

Ending ambiguous
Additional villain - insects


Characters:

Yuji, 25, Lead, Innocent, 2 stars stunts, 1 star make up, action role, diff 80 (it’s hard to do and not appear whiny), need for sequel.

Marlene, 30, lead, tough, love interest, 4 stars stunts, 2 make up, survives, needed for sequel

Joey, 25, buddy, 4 star stunts, 2 make up, diff 65, friend, member of Marlene’s squad – the only one who’s friendly towards Yuji at first. Dies, not needed for sequel.

Sgt. Robert Bradley, 35, lead, tough, 2 stars of stunts, 1 make up, dies, not needed for sequel, diff 60

Dice, 40, supporting, tough, military runaway who has survived out there, and helps our mains. Lives needed for sequel. Diff 55, 3 stars stunts

A few minor roles, that mostly die, but none enough to make the list.

15 months and 3.75 mill needed for script

[Abe Sargent]

Review of “Love Hunting”


Miko Hunter
Linket | Test


With two films under their belt, Centurion Studios try their third film in as many months, with the release of Love Hunting this week.

In Love Hunting, a volcano erupts and begins to shoot lava towards LA. People scramble to survive the oncoming disaster while Helicopter pilot Steve Swank (Adrien Brody) and his ex-SEAL buddy Mason Counter (Casey Affleck) use his chopper to try and see the lava, and help people.

Unfortunately, some are taking advantage of the chaos, and they are led by Esmeralda Destiny (Kate Winslet). She is trying to break into houses and steal people’s belongings. She leads a band of rioters that threaten locals such as Allen (Javier Bardem) and Rachel (Zooey Deschanel).

It’s another script that’s solidly written, and tries to blend comedic elements with more heavy material. This is clearly the bread and butter of Centurion Studios, but it’s three films now that we’ve seen this. It’s beginning to look a little stale.

Robert Zemeckis is adequate as the director, but Bess Komie is pretty good as producer. All of the actors turn in good performances down the line.

This is getting a bit stale, but the film still has some substances on the bones. My overall ranking is a B-.

[Abe Sargent]

Love Hunting

Dir. Zemeckis – 3
Prod. Bess Komie – 4

All actors at 4 stars (Adrien Brody, Casey Affleck, Kate Winslet, Javier Bardem, and Zooey Deschanel)

Star Appeal – 2
Story – 3
Character – 5
Genre – 1

Production Budget: 2
SFX Budget: 3
Script to film: 5
Advertising: 5
Market to audience: 3


Domestic Gross: 95 mill
Foreign Gross: 180 mill
Total – 275 mill

DVD – 122 mill


Total Revenue – 280 mill
Cost – 175 mill
Money Made – 105 mill



Yay, we made money. That’s what we need to keep things fresh.

[Abe Sargent]

End of December.


January 2024


Changes in film status:

The Prisoner script is done!
Fearful Dreams has completed production and moved to post


Award Consideration:


HM3 automatically submits all roles and films to awards submission.


The Prisoner

Film in LA

I increase production costs across the board to 5 star.

We green light it. It should take 9 months from start to finish.

I have a few male actors I have in mind for the role of Number 6, the ex secret agent. Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig, and more. The only five star audition I’ve found so far is Matt Damon, who is doing three films in a row and isn’t available for a year! I ultimately decide to go with Daniel Craig, a 4 star audition. I pay him 12 and a half mill

For the love interest, No. 46, I go with Milla Jovovich, who is a perfect casting for the Russian ex-spy role. (Well, they have her as a 4, but I think she’d be a 5 in rl). 2.1 mill brings her in.

The villain, Number 2, will be well. Hmm. My best audition was Tobey McGuire. I was looking at Christian Bale or Cillian Murphy. There are others who cast alright, and those two are four each. Let’s cast him against type for almost 20 million.

Rob Brown will be cast as the friend to Number 6, for 200k (a 4 star audition).

I cast Ben Affleck as the nerd, scientist No 98. 2.5 mill and a 4 star casting.

1 mill brings Jonathan Demme to my project as director. I liked his first film for me, and I’m happy to bring him in for a second. 800k brings Dwight Furten to the producer role.

For supporting roles, I auto-cast:

Michael Imperioli, 500k
Ari Graynor, 150k
Mos Def, 700k
Adam Beach, 500k


I pour a lot of money into marketing, and we’ll get it shown on 4000 screens. I spend $$ on a jazz soundtrack. I jack up the DVD something nice.

We make 16 million on ancillaries already – toys, posters, novelization, etc.

291 mill for the entire thing after marketing and such. We are producing a film I hope will be huge – with leads people know, a large production, budget a big marketing campaign, and more.

[Abe Sargent]

January 4, 2024
Almostheaven.net

Interview with James Essex IV

Hello folks! Have a sit and welcome to our fourth interview with the CEO of Centurion Studios, James Essex. After announcing not one, not two, but three projects set in West Virginia last year, he begins this one with a new project in the script writing stage. “Four Governors.”

This is the story of the West Virginia election of 1888 which led to four people claiming they were Governor, and two different people being sworn in on the same day! As many of you know, AH-Net brings you the most up to date information on our favorite state, West Virginia.


James is a great friend to AHnet, and was happy to join us again to talk about the new project. James, as always, welcome to at AHNet!

James: It’s always fun to be here!

AHNet: Congratulations on your first few films! It must be nice to see films finally hit the screens!

James: You cannot image the worry that I had built up, because I feared my projects and company would flame out. It’s nice to know that there are others out there that agree with my vision of film making.

AHNet: Any news on the other three West Virginia scripts?

James: No, it takes a while to see them hit fruition sometimes.

AHNet: Why Four Governors? It seems like an unusual project.

James: The documentary done on the Presidential Election of 2000 that was done a few years ago really stuck with me. I thought a historical drama showing the lives of these four men from 1888, and how politics, greed , corruption, and arrogance could combine to create a ridiculous situation. I thought it would make a good movie.

AHNet: How closely do you intend to stick to the real story.

James: The problem is that no one knows who won that election, and which results were fake and which were real. A democratic legislature chose the democratic results to elect the democratic candidates. And yet, there was not this huge anti-Democrat campaign in the state. Democrats would win the next two governorships. Similarly, the election conspiracy of Hayes didn’t hurt the Republicans too much, and the issues in the Bush/Gore campaign didn’t hurt the Republications too much, and it’s interesting to wonder why.

AHNet: Do you think you can do the story justice?

James: That won’t be a problem. We’ll take a few liberties with the actual story to make things a bit more interesting, but I expect to hew to history more than 90% of the time.


AHNet: Well, thanks once again for giving us a bit of your time. Good luck with your next release!

James: Thanks again!

[Abe Sargent]

Four Governors


After corrupted election results are turned in, four men claim to be the Governor.


Historical
Political

Justice is at stake


All major parts are at 70 difficulty, and in the 40-50 age area. They are:

Lead – Nathan Goff, Jr ,the republican candidate
Buddy – Aretas B Fleming, the democrat candidate
Villain – Robert S Carr, President of the Senate, who manipulates the corruption, and then declares himself governor in the crises.
Support – Gov. Wilson. He declares he is still governor until the crisis ends.

There are no other major roles, just minor ones as these four intersect with each other.


Story ending thought provoking

Set construction 4 stars, no pyro, robotics, sfx.

No violence, love scenes, foul language

Five star everything but plot twist, which is 3.

The usual – 15 months and 3.75 mill

[Abe Sargent]

Review of The Bottom Line

AllMoviesBlog

This film was supposedly brought to Centurion Studios with a cast, director, producer, and script all ready to go, just looking for a greenlight. A fledgling studio looking for scripts and a quick project jumped at the chance. This is the result.

The Bottom Line is a teen comedy that stars Helena Bonham Carter, Will Smith, and Ashley Judd. The film was directed by Jamie Babbitt and produced by Carin Adlay.

In the film, several teachers fight over who is the most popular teacher in school. Showing a teen comedy from the viewpoint of the teachers is certainly a bit more interesting. It’s also nice to see Will Smith act as someone who is not Will Smith, and he does a career punctuating turn in this film. See it for Will Smith alone.

The movie is sharp, with clever characters, and lots of things to rave about it. Will Smith and one of the supporting actors, Paul Dano, are amazing here. Ashley Judd is an average English teacher, Helena Bonham Carter an average art teacher, and David Krumholtz an average math teacher. Emily Blunt is clearly miscast for this role and turns in a poor job as the principal.

Also, the direction and production are uneven at best. While the script was good enough, and Will Smith is amazing, a lot of the other stuff was not. Overall, I’d give it 3 stars out of 5.

[Abe Sargent]

The Bottom Line

Dir. Jamie Babbitt – 3 stars
Prod. Carin Adlay – 3 stars
Actors all did 3 stars except for:
Will Smith, Paul Dano – 5 stars
Emily Blunt – 2 stars

Appeal:
Star – 5 stars
Story – 2
Character – 5
Genre – 5

Production budget – 5 stars
Script to film – 4
Advertising – 5
Marketing focus – 3

US – 100m
Foreign – 192m
Total – 292 m

DVD – 111m
Soundtrack – 29m

Total Revenue – 327mill
Cost – 159 mill
Profit – 168mill

That’s a good profit!

[Abe Sargent]

End of January


People who quit – Ian McKellan, Harvey Keitel, Jon Voight, Brian Dennehy

2024 Oscar Nominations (I will only mention ours):

Best Movie – Love Hunting, When a Latin Lover Gets Loved

Best Director – Mike Newell (When a Latin Lover gets Loved) (Others include Jim Carrey, Quentin Tarantino, and Stephen Spielberg)

Best Actor - Ethan Hawke, When a Latin Lover Gets Loved. Others are Robin Williams, Bill Murray, Jim Carrey and Chris Tucker.

Best Actress – No Centurion Nominees (Tea Leoni, Nicole Kidman, Demi Moore, Sissy Spacek, Meryl Streep).

Best Supporting Actor – Mos Def and Vincent Cassel – Latin Lover (Nicholas Cage, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Robert de Niro)

Best Supporting Actress – Helen Hunt, Latin Lover (Global Pictures has the other four – Renee Zellwinger, Lisa Kudrow, Jane Fonda and Jodi Foster)

Best Original Screenplay – When a Latin Lover Gets Loved,

Best Screenplay Adaptation – We have no nominees


With seven nominations, When a Latin Lover Gets Loved is the most nominated film.

Second is The Passion of Joan d’Arc, directed by Spielberg, starring Streep, Murray, supporting role by Philip Seymour Hoffman and a screenplay nom for 6 nominations.

I schedule Could it be True for an April release. It should be ready next month. I schedule the adventure Lonely Fingers Do a Dance for memorial Day weekend.

I purchase the movie rights for a comic book – Jeremiah. The TV show was based on this comic. It’s a 5 star project. I send it to a writer for 4 months and 1 mill should see it arrive.

[Abe Sargent]

These Tamales are Hot!!!


www.TheNOW.com
Mike Thomason


Business comedies really aren’t the most common genre in movie-dom, so when you get a chance to see one, it’s something special. Will this movie be special good, or special bad? This is the 5th film in five months for what we once called a fledgling move studio. After one of their films from last year led the Oscars with 7 nominations, I think we’ll need to discard that moniker.

How will the 5th film fare?

It’s basically just like When a Latin Lover Gets Loved. Good script, good acting, great home run level production, adequate direction, interesting, low production values, and a comedy+serious stuff happening.

And my guess is that it will not make a lot of money, just like Latin Lover failed to do.

It’s a good film. I’ll skip the usual fare where I talk about the plot, the roles, and so forth, because they don’t really matter. Clive Owen and Anna Paquin turn in absolute five star performances. Guy Pearce and Claire Danes are really, really good, but not super great like Anna and Clive. The acting all around is great. You will love the smartness, wit, and snappy dialogue on this piece. A solid A-.

[Abe Sargent]

Hot Tamales

Dir. David Lynch – 3
Prod. Chris Idyll – 5

Clive and Anna – 5
Claire and Guy – 4

Appeal:
Star – 2
Story – 3
Character – 5
Genre – 5
Prod Budget – 1
Script to film - 5
Advertising – 5
Marketing – 4


Here we go….

Domestic – 41 mill
Foreign – 54 mill
Total – 96 mill

DVD/Blu Ray – 74 mill


Total Revenue – 128 mill
Cost – 93 mill
Profit – 35 mill


This is a good film that may come back in a year and make more money post-awards.

[Abe Sargent]

End of February


Lots of changes in our projects:

Scripts done for – Smallville, Jagged Alliance
Films ready – Lonely Fingers do a Dance, Could it be True
Filming done – Oil me Up, Last Quarter, On Foreign Soil




Jagged Alliance

Filmed in Mexico

Upgraded budgets in many things across the production board. It will take 16 months to complete.

Gus Tarballs will be Viggo Mortensen at a price of 3.8 mill

Buzz, will be played by Jessica Alba for 3 mill

The villainess, Deidranna, will be played by Darryl Hannah for 375k – there really aren’t a lot of older action oriented female stars

Ivan Dolvich will be played by Joaquin Phoenix, for almost 4 mill

Finally, Miguel Cordona will be played by 3 million Brendan Fraser.

For minor roles:

Shadow – Cillian Murphy – 1.17 m
Buns – Lena Headey – 435k
Fox – Kate Bosworth – 3 mill (I wanted Jessica Biel, but settled for Kate)
Ice Williams – There are a large number of black men capable of doing this part – Bokeem Woodbine – 200k (I wanted to cast 5 star auditions with Wayans, Mos Def, and many more, but this guy was willing to take the part)

Cameo – Enrico Chivaldori – Vin Diesel, 2.5 mill

Director – (I wanted to cast Ridley Scott, but he wanted to many extras, and bumping his salary to 3 points and 12 mill is not what I wanted.) (Then Ang Lee tried to pull the same trick) Brian da Palma, 1 mill

Prod – Angela Saccone (from Lightning Strikes) – 500k
I feel very good about the cast here.

I do a Metal 5 star soundtrack. I load the DVD with extras. We gained 17 mill in ancillary revenue already.

275 mill total (and that’s with a reduction of 60% of production costs due to filming in Mexico.)
110 of that is negative cost and sfx

[Abe Sargent]

Smallville


Filming in Vancouver. 12 months to go.


Clark Kent - We’ll cast him last.

Lana Lang – Keira Knightley – 12 mill

Lex Luthor – Colin Ferrell, 10.3 mill

Pete Ross – Patrick Fugit, 89k
Chloe Sullivan – Anna Paquin was my only 5 star audition, 450k
Dale Frees – Ryan Gosling (needed for sequel, the other supporting roles are not)


Dir – David Slade, 800k (A nice, up and coming director)
Prod – Maria ramsey – 400k


Who to cast as Supes? It’s a tough gig. Easy on some fronts, mega tough on others.

Brandon Routh auditions at just 3.

Here are those I would be interested in seeing auditions from: James McAvoy, Jake Gyllenhaal (a little ick on that one, to be fair), Orlando Bloom, Ryan Reynolds, and whomever I like in the character actor section of the table that has the physical presence.

James was a 3, so was Ryan. Orlando has a schedule conflict, Jake is not interested.

After a bit, I have one audition left, and Jake is now interested. I audition him, and he’s a 4. I have no 5’s. I cast Jake.

A order a 5 star pop and rock soundtrack.

16 mill in ancillaries

I load the DVD with the maximum amount of extras. It includes Easter Eggs, Making Of featurette, various commentaries, interview, deleted scenes, out-takes. SFX featurette and games/puzzles.

293 mill

[vols21]

congrats on success and highly nominated film so far.


in general, how much marketing are you throwing at the movies - and how many theaters do you shoot for (is it best to send to as many as possible?)

[Abe Sargent]

I generally shoot for more money for marketing when possible, especially for films I've already put a big production and acting budget into. If I've already dumped 200 mill into it, what's another 10 million for an extra 500 theaters? On the other hand, if it has a special market, I steer clear of too much marketing. There;s no reason to have some arthouse or child's film opening up everywhere.

[Izulde]

I curse you, Abe. This dynasty made me break down and buy HM3. I thought I'd bought it before but couldn't find anything in my emails, so I may have rebought it. Oh well.

[Izulde]

By the way, on the previous property lists, are the genre, etc. all screwed up on yours as well like they are mine? I'm wondering if I'm missed a setting somewhere.

[Abe Sargent]

Muaahaha!


Previous Property Lists? Are you referring to the Film Vault? Nope, mine aren;t.

[Izulde]

No, the Source Ideas like Novels, TV Shows, etc.

For example the one I have, The Wonder Years is listed as an Erotic Thriller.