Business Analysis of the Film and Its Production: The Kings Speech - Movie Review Example

?Business Analysis of Film and Its Production Production The King’s Speech is a British historical drama that was written by David Seidler and directed by Tom Hooper. The film stars Colin Firth, Lionel Logue, Geoffrey Rush, Helena Bonham Carter, Guy Pearce, and Timothy Spall. The King’s Speech was produced by See-Saw Films and Bedlam Productions, though Iain Canning, Emile Sherman, Gareth Unwin, and Geoffrey Rush also played vital roles in the production of the film. The King’s Speech was in preproduction for approximately five months, encompassing the middle portion of 2009 (May-October). The film was in production for nine months, from November of 2009 until August 2010. It entered postproduction status at the beginning of September 2010, where it remained until a month prior to its release, which was on December 24, 2010 in America and January 7, 2011 in the United Kingdom. The budget of The King’s Speech was $14,401,000 (ten million in European Euros), which is considered to be a low budget film. The film finished precisely on this budget. As a historical drama, the majority of the budget went to the location and the set design, since the film takes place in 1925, depression-era London. The next greatest portion of the budget went to the salaries of the leading actors, followed by the purchase of a Arricam studio camera with a 14 mm T1.3 Zeiss Master Prime lens, which is a special, albeit expensive, camera that would allow the director to experiment with new shots that would play up on the emotions of the characters. There was only a month or two delay from the time the film was finished until it was released in theaters in the United States. The reason for this delay, as is the case with all films, is to ensure that if extra shots needed to be filmed, they could be done so without risking going over the deadline of the film. It is uncommon that the delay period is as short as just a couple of months, but since the film was a historical piece and required very little of extra actors, the production company of The King’s Speech was able to pull it off with no problems. Distribution The companies that were in charge for distributing The King’s Speech were Australia’s branch of Paramount Pictures, The Weinstein Company of the United States, and Momentum Pictures in the United Kingdom. During its first week of release, The King’s Speech brought in $355,450 in the four theaters that released it in the United States; after this, the film was released to seven hundred more theaters throughout the States, though by the beginning of the New Year, it had been to released to a total of 1,543 screens. In the United Kingdom and Ireland, The King’s Speech earned $5,081,824 from 395 theaters in its first weekend. In Australia, the film made approximately $6,614,615 during its first two weeks. Globally, from the time the film was released until the present, The King’s Speech has earned $374,943,967 in gross revenue. Since The King’s Speech was filmed in Britain, and intended to solely be a British film, only four theaters in the United States saw its release. However, the results of these previews prompted distributors to release in an additional 696 theaters. By January 2011, roughly around the time when the film was released in the United Kingdom, the demand was high for the United States, and so the film was further released into an additional 843 screens. The release was gradual, adding more theaters as the demand for the film grew, which is a common occurrence among independent films. The King’s Speech’s distribution overseas was just as successful as the domestic distribution. As the film was based and shot in London, the United Kingdom was always intended to be a part of the release. Furthermore, since one of the lead actors and a producer (Geoffrey Rush) is originally from Australia, the country also played a vital role in the overseas distribution. In revenue, The King’s Speech has received $130,000,000 overseas, a little less than half of what it has made in all. The King’s Speech was entered into numerous overseas film festivals, taking home many awards. The film won the People’s Choice Award at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival, the award for the Best British Independent Film at the 2010 British Independent Film Awards, and the 2011 Goya Award for Best European Film from the Spanish Academy of Cinematic Art and Science. The overall opinion of The King’s Speech from film professionals is that of a critical success. In the United Kingdom, it was considered to be the most successful independent British film in history. Roger Ebert, the famous critic of the Chicago Sun-Times, gave The King’s Speech a four full stars. Critics with Empire magazine, the Denver Post, and The Guardian gave high praise for the film. Queen Elizabeth II, though far from being a professional film critic, was portrayed as a young girl in the film; as such, she was given a copy of the film to be used for a private screening, which she viewed and declared as one of the most touching films she had ever seen. The general audience shared similar views with the professional critics; in Australia, the customer feedback on the film was extravagant. Rotten Tomatoes, a website known for its harsh criticism, which comes from customers and critics alike, gave The King’s Speech a 95% rating. The gross revenue from the box office of The King’s Speech speaks for itself, as the aforementioned revenue only covers the first three and a half months of the film’s runtime. No sequels are intended to be made for The King’s Speech, as the story did not call for one to be made. Conclusion The length of time of the complete production of the movie (preproduction, production, and postproduction) was surprising. It seemed to take a fairly long time. I know that great epic films, such as fantasy or science fiction films, are harder to handle, which makes me realize that making films is not a simple, quick business. Furthermore, the amount of theaters that The King’s Speech was originally released in was shocking, especially in comparison to how many theaters it was eventually released to. The present movie industry is very interesting because it is a nonstop business. A lot goes into making a single movie, yet the industry is constantly releasing new films. Even after a film has been released to theaters, the industry is still not done with what it can do with the film. After the theaters, the film needs to be released on DVD, and then it stands a chance for prestigious award. Finally, in many cases, sequels or entire series need to be made. Now, in the modern age, movies are able to be obtained via the Internet and businesses like Netflix. Even in the failing economy of the United States, it comes as no surprise that the movie industry is still able to rise above and remain successful. Read More