“Ang Panday” vs the Jedi

I’m now one of the legions of Star Wars fans that saw the final installment of the saga created by American filmmaker/mogul George Lucas.I like “Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” very much.My favorite among the six is still “The Empire Strikes Back,” but Episode III is truly an excellent movie. Ten days ago, this film set a one-day box-office record, earning $50 million in North American theaters alone.It will earn a few extra bucks for I’m sure to watch it again on the big screen, and I’ll purchase the original DVD when it’s released.Plus, I can’t resist buying an Episode III hat.

The smartest move George Lucas ever did was to keep the merchandizing rights to his ‘Star Wars’ franchise.Since 1977 when the first movie was released, George Lucas’s personal fortune has skyrocketed to $3 billion dollars.That is a lot of ‘Star Wars’ tickets, videos, video games, hats, t-shirts, lunch boxes, toys, coffee mugs, towels, pillowcases, watches, books, comics, and posters sold.Ironically, his dream as a film student was to make small, personal films.But being a master marketing man, he protected his product by keeping creative control over all his work.Lucas said, “I took over control of the merchandising not because I thought it was going to make me rich, but because I wanted to control it. I wanted to make a stand for social, safety, and quality reasons. I didn’t want someone using the name ‘Star Wars’ on a piece of junk.”

I’m not the first, nor the last, to discuss the devotion towards this saga.George Lucas recreated for our era the long-standing traditions of myth and storytelling. He isn’t shy to admit he based his world of legends from Joseph Campbell’s book, The Hero With a Thousand Faces.Likewise, Mr. Lucas doesn’t hide that the premise of the original ‘Star Wars’ was taken from Akira Kurosawa’s samurai movie, “The Hidden Fortress.”Aren’t the Jedi Knights simply the samurai of Japan’s imperial times, wielding light sabers instead of samurai swords?Fantasies, heroes, villains, and romance have always entranced us.George Lucas just added fantastic special effects, together with a massive marketing machine that has “The Force” on its side.Purists might say motion picture marketing borders on the dark side.But I bet Master Yoda would agree that movies need to be sold to the widest audience possible.

Hollywood movie marketing madness begins each year in January with the awards season.First, film critics’ circles hand out their top ten best of the past year.It’s always good for a movie to land on a critic’s list for a cineaste would choose to see a critical favorite.Soon after, the Golden Globes announce their nominations, adding prestige to a motion picture, plus an enormous promotional kick.Winning gives the film even more impact.Then come the Screen Actors Guild Awards, the BAFTA (British Academy Awards), and of course, culminating with the most important awards night of all, the Oscars.Winning an Academy Award guarantees bigger box office revenue.This year’s Best Picture Oscar winner “Million Dollar Baby” tripled its gross sales in one month. After winning gold, it added another 40 percent from its total.This is in the United States alone.Clint Eastwood’s film earned an extra 95% from worldwide receipts, totaling $196 million.It is no wonder movie studios covet prizes, even only nominations.

It would be wonderful if a Filipino movie wins an Oscar.So far, we’ve never been nominated.Many claim earning an Oscar nomination is more about money and politics, rather than quality.That is why the academy put a stop to blatant campaigning.In the past years, movie studios would buy full-page ads in Hollywood dailies like Variety and the Hollywood Reporter, urging academy members to vote for their films.If earning a spot in the top five entails millions of dollars in advertising and PR, then our Philippine producers are in trouble.A basic promotional campaign of a major Hollywood movie costs more than 20 tagalog movies combined.For example, the prints and advertising costs for 2001 best picture winner “A Beautiful Mind” was $30 million; not including the budget to produce this Russell Crowe movie, which was $78 million.The most expensive Filipino production would be around 100 million pesos, or a mere $1.8 million.Don’t expect Robin Padilla to be walking on the red carpet with Catherine Zeta-Jones just yet.

In 1993, an official Viet Nam entry “Scent of Green Papaya” was nominated for Best Foreign Film by the academy.Although set in 1950s Viet Nam, the film was shot entirely in a sound stage in France, and funded by the Paris-based Fondation Gan pour le Cinema.Still, the movie was directed and starred Vietnamese talents.There is no available information about its production budget, but one can easily assume it cost more than any Regal, Star, Seiko, Viva, or Unitel production.Case in point, the production designer converted Paris studios into Viet Nam.Precise set design and daily sound stage rentals are expensive.Moreover, its director Tran Anh Hung won the 1993 Cannes Film Festival Camera D’or for best cinematography.This could only mean that high quality cameras, lenses, lighting, and expensive film stock were used.Film developing and film color processing in laboratories go over tens of thousands of dollars, sometimes in the hundreds of thousands especially if tons of film were shot.It really takes a lot of money to compete in the big leagues.

I hear local heartthrob, Jericho Rosales, will take over the role of “Ang Panday.”But no Filipino folk legend, nor American superhero for that matter, can beat the force, fame, and finance of a Jedi.Only James Cameron’s epic “Titanic” earned bigger box-office than any single film.But who wants to buy a ‘Titanic’ beach towel?And how can there ever be a sequel?Frankly, let’s not try to compete yet.Let’s just make good movies.