Denzel Washington, who is currently riding high atop the US box-office with Safe House, had some enlightening words regarding the Hollywood studio system.
The actor spoke to Metro and said, "Studios are now owned by big corporations, so all the decisions are made in a completely different way. The mid-majors, places like Summit, are like what studios used to be.The big studios are more interested in their big tent-pole movies and farm out the rest of it and take distribution deals... You can't rely on the studios, you have to know where to go to find it." His new movie, Flight, cost a paltry $30 million and on that budget he spewed, "Bob Zemeckis and I took one-tenth of our usual salary but almost 40% of the back-end - so if it hits, ker-ching. If not, we still made the movie we wanted. It's called 'showbusiness'. I don't have a problem with that. Five years ago we might have got $70 million to make it - now they're looking for Mission: Impossible 6 or Twilight 4." He added finally, "Studios will take the credit for smaller movies if they get Oscars but I get it, we're in tough economic times."
It's fair to say only an actor of the calibre and continuing popularity of Denzel Washington could say something like that. Especially when his latest movie is currently raking in the clams at the box-office.
