This past weekend, Henry Cavill’s new movie, COLD LIGHT OF DAY, bombed at the box office with nasty reviews and few dollars. This is Cavill’s last movie as a civilian. Next year, he either ascends superstardom or wallows in Brandon Routhdom as the next Superman in MAN OF STEEL. Either way, he won’t be poor!:)
It’s also the Toronto Film Festival this week – one of my favorite film festivals from my old home town – and it always brings to mind my favorite topic about the battle between indie versus studio films. And it is a reminder about a filmmaker’s passion and what kind of luck a film, its director and its actors can have.
It was at the Sundance Film Festival many years ago where AMERICAN PSYCHO blasted off to turn Christian into a star. Indie films like JUNO became hits at a film festival when a major studio decided, “Hey, let’s buy this little movie and see how well it does!” This month, I’m looking forward to seeing PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER because I loved the book, and I’d love to see how Emma Watson handles her post-POTTER career, and I think the next great actor is Ezra Miller.
In a similar way, my book, Christian Bale’s biography, is sort of like an indie film. My publisher is smaller – think Summit Entertainment, not Paramount Pictures – and we had no advertising budget. But the book has caught on and been doing well, consistently in the Top 100 Best Selling Celeb biographies on Amazon for the past 3 months. Thank you all for your tremendous support!
The fan mail – yes, I’m getting mail! – has also been interesting as the nature of the readers have changed. I think initially, hardcore Baleheads were bristling at any perceived criticism of their favorite actor. But as the reviews have been getting out there, and people have been reading the book, the word of mouth is more like, “Wow, I didn’t know that! I didn’t realize what it takes to be an actor!”
And this summer has been great proof of the power of fandom. Witness the 2 Internet campaigns – the first one to get Christian to go to Colorado to visit the shooting victims, the second to visit with the cancer-stricken boy – I mean, really, Baleheads, you have to feel good about the power of the Internet and the continued proof of what’s in Christian’s biography – that fans have always mattered to his career.
I’m hard at work on my next book projects. It’s too early to talk too much about them, but suffice it to say, you write what you know!:)
Christian Bale: The Inside Story of the Darkest Batman 