Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg and the Coen Brothers made a movie...that nobody is talking about...
Is there a Hollywood cold war going on?
You're watching Beyond The Trailer's review of Bridge of Spies...
See, Steven Spielberg's production company, Dreamworks, has made it very well known that
after Spielberg's The Big Friendly Giant next year, it will not be renewing its distribution
deal with Disney - and will instead move to another studio, most likely Universal, where
Spielberg can oversee the resurgence of both the Jaws and Back to the Future franchises
ala Jurassic World. So perhaps, Disney isn't so motivated to promote Bridge of Spies, instead
focusing their promotional efforts on in-house films like The Good Dinosaur and Star Wars
The Force Awakens. Now, one could say this lack of promotion isn't personal and it simply
the result of too many big pictures on Disney's release slate, crowding out the little movies.
But then, we've seen an awful lot of publicity for The Finest Hours, right? And let's be
honest, if my company was going to lose the opportunity to distribute Ghost in the Shell
starring Scarlett Johansson, I'd take it kind of personally... Besides, Disney already ran
very aggressive promotional campaigns and award campaigns for War Horse and Lincoln
getting little return at the box office or in actual awards wins - and the less said
about The Fifth Estate the better. But with Dreamworks almost certainly headed for Universal
and Spielberg already set to direct The BFG and Ready Player One next, who's really going
to get hurt here if Bridge of Spies flops? Well, Tom Hanks for one, who'd certainly prefer
another Captain Phillips over another Saving Mr Banks, Cloud Atlas and Larry Crowne. But
he has another DaVinci Code movie set for next year, Inferno, so he's relatively safe
as well. That leaves the Coen Brothers, who will be zero for two when it comes to writing
oscar contenders for other directors, considering Unbroken's lack of traction last year. Yet
they also have the hotly anticipated Hail Caesar coming out next year. Hmm, ironically,
while Bridge of Spies is about people who have everything to lose, it seems the people
who made the movie itself have almost nothing to lose... And finally, perhaps the real culprit
here is that pop culture is burned out on both the Cold War and the 1960s, thanks to
popular TV shows like The Americans and Mad Men. Plus in a year overflowing with high-tech
spy movies, Bridge of Spies might just be too old school to compete.
Just ask The Man from UNCLE...