Turnaround (filmmaking)

Turnaround in filmmaking is the use of outside assistance to resolve problems preventing a film project from completing its development phase and entering the preproduction phase. A project stuck in development phase is said to be in development hell.

Background

The outside help needed to get a film project into turnaround may appear in the form of new money being invested into a project in development hell, or it might come along as another outside studio taking interest in a project which the original studio may find difficult to move forward into the pre-production phase. When an outside source takes over a film project from development hell in one studio and transfers the film project to another studio which is willing to invest further resources to move the project into pre-production, then the project is said to have gone through a 'turnaround'. The film project can now move forward out of development hell in one studio into the pre-production phase of filmmaking at another studio.

The term 'turnaround' is borrowed from business operations and management consulting where it is used to describe business ventures which are in some form of insolvency and require a 'business turnaround' or 'management turnaround' to become profitable and make a 'turnaround' in business performance. In the case of the filmmaking process, the transfer of the film project from development hell, at one studio, leading to the project receiving a green light to begin pre-production, at another studio, is referred to as a 'turnaround' for that film.

Informal descriptions

A 'turnaround' or 'turnaround deal' is occasionally used to describe an arrangement in the film industry whereby the production costs of a project that one studio has developed are declared a loss on the company's tax return, thereby preventing the studio from exploiting the property any further. The rights can then be sold to another studio in exchange for the cost of development plus interest.

Examples

Michael Cieply defined the term in The New York Times as "arrangements under which producers can move a project from one studio to another under certain conditions". Some examples include:

• Columbia Pictures stopped production of Steven Spielberg's E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, but Universal Pictures picked up the film and made it a success.
• Back to the Future was under development at Columbia Pictures, while Columbia was developing a satire of the Universal-owned noir film Double Indemnity (1944) called Big Trouble (1986). Its similarities to Double Indemnity meant the studio would violate Universal Pictures' copyright. With production imminent, Columbia asked for the rights from Universal; in exchange, Universal obtained the rights to Back to the Future. The film wound up being a hit.
• Dirty Dancing began development at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, but management changes at the studio put the film in limbo. Vestron Pictures eventually picked up the film and it was a success.
• Total Recall originally began work at De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG), but after DEG suffered some box-office failures like Dune and filed for bankruptcy in 1988, actor Arnold Schwarzenegger convinced Carolco Pictures to buy the film. The film was a hit.
• Home Alone and Edward Scissorhands were originally developed under Warner Bros., but the studio shut down the projects after their budgets increased. 20th Century Fox took control of the film after secret meetings with producer and screenwriter John Hughes, and it was a hit. Warner Bros. also sent Edward Scissorhands to 20th Century Fox after Tim Burton collaborated with Warner on Pee-wee's Big Adventure, Beetlejuice, and Batman (1989).
• The 1993 film My Life's in Turnaround, starring Donal Lardner Ward, Eric Schaeffer, Martha Plimpton and Phoebe Cates, tells the story of two friends who attempt to sell the story of their lives to a variety of studios.
• Tim Burton's Ed Wood was originally in development at Columbia Pictures, but the studio put the film in "turnaround" over Burton's decision to shoot in black-and-white. Ed Wood was taken to Walt Disney Studios, which produced the film through its Touchstone Pictures label. The film became box-office failure.
• Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction began production at TriStar Pictures, but turned it down after deeming the script to be "too demented". Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein picked up the project and it was a success.
• Carolco Pictures sold off the rights to several films in production, including Stargate (to Le Studio Canal+), Last of the Dogmen, and Showgirls (the latter, to Chargeurs). This was done due to their financial troubles and in order to fund their next big-budget film, Cutthroat Island. Cutthroat Island wound up being a massive box-office bomb and led to the demise of Carolco Pictures.
• The turnaround of The Boondock Saints is documented in Overnight, a 2003 documentary that mainly focuses on the perspective of how director Troy Duffy "fell" in Hollywood.
• The Lord of the Rings film trilogy originally began development at Miramax, but after Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein tried to force the project into one film, director Peter Jackson argued his way until Weinstein agreed to allow Jackson to take the project to New Line Cinema, and was a massive success.
• After the rights to adapt Stephenie Meyer's novel Twilight were purchased by MTV Films in 2004, they were optioned by Paramount Pictures where it remained in turnaround before they let the rights lapse in 2007. Summit Entertainment picked them up and released Twilight in 2008.
• Watchmen originally began development at 20th Century Fox before moving to Warner Bros., where it remained in development hell for over two decades before it was finally released in 2009.
• The 2012 film Argo makes several references to the film that was faked for the 1980 CIA Iranian hostage extraction operation as being "in turnaround".
• Vivo was originally developed at DreamWorks Animation, but was cancelled due to the restructuring at the company. It was later revived by Sony Pictures Animation and was successful.