Independent Film News

"Flyboys" - The $60M Gamble

When a studio won't touch your film because they think it won't bring in audiences, do you trust their instincts and walk away, tail between your legs?

If you're the big-budget producer of Independence Day or the son of the fifth richest man in the world, you give 'em the finger and get the film out yourself.

Dean Delvin (the producer) and David Ellison (the son, pictured) did just that with their World War I pic Flyboys. About the pilots who risked their lives to fly rickety fighter planes, the movie clocked in at a whopping $60 million budget. Mel Gibson's independent The Passion of the Christ was only (only!) $25 million; most indies barely break the $5 million mark.

Reuters compares the two to maverick Howard Hughes, who's Hell's Angels $3 million budget was the most expensive film made at the time. The similarity in subject matter isn't lost, either. Studios balked at the budget, fearing the young male target audience, accustomed to a futuristic action world, wouldn't get into a film about old planes.

These recent day mavericks used digital effects to create most of the planes in the film, saving a bit had they built every last one. And now, despite the big pricetag, filmmakers are taking a grassroots approach to getting the word out--Ellison is a bit of a star in the aviation world, so they're hawking it at airshows across the country.

Flyboys opens Friday alongside All The King's Men and Jackass 2...which, I'm afraid, will draw away most of the male audience Flyboys is banking on. Think it can make its $60 mil back?

Posted by Lisa on September 18, 2006 03:52 PM
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