Economic meltdown stalls Hollywood flick sequels

MOVIE MELTDOWN: The sequels have become Hollywood's first major victims of the current economic crisis.





Two planned sequels of the movie The Golden Compass have become Hollywood's first major victims of the current economic crisis, with their production being put on hold indefinitely.

Produced by New Line studio, The Golden Compass that starred actors Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig was the first of author Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials fantasy trilogy to be adapted for the big screen, reports contactmusic.com.

Two further films based on Pullman's novels - The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass - were due to be made following the box office success of The Golden Compass. But plans have stalled as a result of the downturn in the international economy.

The movie has grossed more than $370 million worldwide since its December 2007 release against its budget of $180 million.

Paramount delaying films due to economic crisis

Meanwhile, Paramount Pictures' decision to delay two major holiday films - including one with an Oscar aspirations - may be a sign of Hollywood's retrenchment amid the US economic crisis, a media report speculates.

Paramount late last week announced that it would delay the release of The Soloist - a Los Angeles drama about a homeless violin player and a newspaper columnist who intervenes in his life - until next March, the Wall Street Journal said.

The movie comes from DreamWorks, the Paramount unit whose principals, Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider, recently left to start a new film venture.

The decision to delay the movie came barely a month before its planned November 21 debut, resulting in The Soloist star Robert Downey Jr's consideration for the Academy Awards to be put off till next year.

The limited release of Defiance - a war picture with Daniel Craig from the studio's Paramount Vantage specialty unit - has also been delayed until the end of 2008, meaning the film won't be in wide release until January, the paper said.

Paramount, a unit of Viacom Inc, announced the delays as part of a new business strategy under which it is cutting costs by reducing the number of films released each year from around 25 to 20.

To start cutting back in 2008, the studio delayed a couple of films, which puts off most of the cost of marketing and distributing the movies until next year, the Journal said.