Re: He is Risen

On Thu, 27 Mar 2008 04:15:45 GMT, Gene Ward Smith <gene@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:

>Lawrence Watt-Evans <lwe@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in 
>news:ag6mu390tll2uss2dtmfb72h8l9rqc03pe@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
>>>>>>> They did EVERYTHING for the other aspects of SF. Note that 
>Spielberg's 
>>>>>>> SF films came AFTER Star Wars.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> They did not. Close Encounters and Star Wars were both big summer 
>films in
>>>>>> 1977.
>> 
>> "Star Wars" opened in early May, _before_ the traditional summer
>> season.  CE3K was at the very end of the summer.
>
>Which is totally irrelevant to the point at issue, which was the claim
Star 
>Wars allowed CE3K to be produced. No, Jaws did that.

Right.  I just wanted to remove any impression that the two were
simultaneous releases, in competition with each other.

>> It was in the works, yes, but it was seen as a huge gamble, the studio
>> indulging Spielberg as a reward for "Jaws" -- until "Star Wars" hit
>> big and SF was suddenly hot, whereupon CE3K suddenly got big-time
>> studio backing and opened huge, with advertising campaign that some
>> of my friends cynically described as, "Here's something to hold you
>> geeks until the "Star Wars" sequel comes out!"
>
>Both Star Wars and Close Encounters were seen as big risks. 

Not really; "Star Wars" only cost ten million.  It was George Lucas'
reward for "American Graffitti," and the studio expected it to flop
big-time, but it was only ten mil.  Let lucas get it out of his
system, and go back to making teen nostalgia films, was the attitude.

CE3K was much more than ten million, I forget just how much.

>The idea that 
>additional advertising for CE3K played a significant role in the film's 
>success I regard as fatuous. It would have drawn plenty of attention,
just 
>because it was what it was and off of the success of Jaws, without Star 
>Wars having been released at all.

How old are you, Gene?




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