In a cost-saving move that is undoubtedly the product of a messed up economy, Universal Pictures will stop spending money to develop advancing projects for the remainder of this year. Thus, unless a project is being fast-tracked, no progress will be made on films under Universal’s umbrella until January.
Why is the studio freezing developments so late in the game — doesn’t September seem awfully late?
While not all projects have been yielded — those that will constitute the bulk of the studio’s 2011 slate are still moving forward — this means that any smaller projects that are weak on Universal’s radar will be drastically shifted back in time. Furthermore, Variety notes that this has an unseen harsh impact upon writers:
“[T]he development is a blow to the dealmaking community, particularly writers’ reps. Across the post-strike studio landscape, writers’ reps are having a hard time making sizable deals for clients. Reps say despite some assertions in the press that the strike was worthwhile, they are dealing with residual animosity toward scribes that started a slide from past quotes — a dip that was cemented by the economic collapse.”
Other studios such as Warner Bros. and Disney have slowed their production spending down, but only Universal has announced their intention to immediately cease spending altogether.
The whole situation reeks of strange studio politics, but it’s hard not to imagine the sizeable chunk of money that can be saved by 3.5 months of relative inactivity on behalf of one of the industry’s largest studios. The true repercussions of this move (negative and positive) will only be fully realized in a few years when halted projects are finally slated for release.
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