A brief return of the Jamboree, my weekly series of takes on the industry’s passing parade.
Hollywood has a funny way of remembering its hits — and forgetting who made them happen.
Consider Transformers. Last week came news that David Ellison’s Skydance is preparing to bring the $5.4 billion franchise back to the big screen, with Steven Spielberg and Michael Bay once again involved. It’s exactly the kind of enormous, pre-sold intellectual property the new Hollywood loves: recognizable, global and — never assume anything — engineered to print money.
But here’s where the story has a twist.
Long before Transformers became one of Paramount’s biggest franchises, a young DreamWorks executive was practically begging his bosses to see the blockbuster potential in a bunch of Hasbro toys. Almost nobody took him seriously.
That executive? I’ll tell you, but it reveals the irony of who’s being celebrated, and who’s being shown the door in a case of classic Hollywood amnesia.
Don’t stop here
Get the rest of this story — and the scoops and intelligence Hollywood reads first.
Already a subscriber?
Comments
Only Ankler All Access subscribers can comment
Already a subscriber?