David Cameron has told the UK film industry to make more films like Harry Potter. Which is to say ‘films people want to watch and films which will benefit beyond themselves as they will also encourage people to come and visit our country.’
Aside from the obvious concerns that it would lead to some seriously one-dimensional films, we need variety, there are plenty of other problems. It’s not easy to make a hit movie, otherwise Hollywood would stop making the bad ones, and it’s not like they haven’t invested a lot of time or money trying.
Then there’s the fact that the UK industry couldn’t afford a Harry Potter movie, not on its own. Which is not to say we couldn’t raise the finance and, as I’ve previously stated, maybe we should, so we can keep the profits. It’s a big gamble though. Warner Bros. could handle if HP didn’t make a mint on the first movie, most of the other book-based films didn’t make it past the first one because they didn’t sell. A UK company borrowing $150+ million can’t make that mistake and survive.
I do agree we need to make more mainstream films, most of the funding seems to go on niche films most audiences don’t want to watch. I’m not saying we shouldn’t fund them, but what’s wrong with a few action movies that’ll earn their money back?
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