hmm...true. i guess I think of the Ben-Hurs, David lean movies, Irwin Allen and dino delaurentis - but those were the exceptions.

ronin was great! loved that movie.

lol, when you talk about actors perks it reminds me of a rumor I heard that jack nicholson nowadays doesn't want to make movies that interfere with Lakers home games BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHHA!!!

i never saw cleopatra but Ive also heard that it was perceived as a bomb but did make money. OTOH, heaven's gate truly was a bomb.

its funny you mention that a cleopatra-like movie would be $900 million today. Avatar cost $400 million in producing and promotion, I wonder if we'll see the first $1 Billion dollar movie soon?

another thing I am intrigued about is what role agents play. In sports, we know scott boras can singlehandely influence an entire team. 15 years ago, the NBA was a players league and agents like david falk had considerable power. you don't hear to much about movie agents.