Saturday, March 05, 2011

Spider-Man's true super power: Bookkeeping


Hmmmmm:
Every time I read anything about "Spider-Man", it's [sic] budget has grown. Now it's up to $65 million. --Reader comment, The New York Times, Oct. 31, 2010 (first reference to the $65 million tab I could find in the Times)

Ready or not, here comes “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark.” The most expensive show in Broadway history, at $65 million, or more than twice as much as the previous record-holder, “Shrek the Musical,” “Spider-Man” will hold its first preview performance at 6:30 p.m. on Sunday before more than 1,900 paying theatergoers, reporters, and several of the musical’s nervous producers and investors. --The New York Times, Nov. 28, 2010

The Broadway musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” will delay its opening night by four weeks, until Monday, Feb. 7, to provide more time for its creators — the director Julie Taymor and U2’s Bono and the Edge — to make changes in the $65 million show before theater critics review it, the lead producer announced on Friday. --The New York Times, Dec. 17, 2010

Steve Lillywhite, the Grammy-winning record producer who counts U2 as among his most frequent clients, has come aboard “Spider-Man: Turn Off The Dark,” the $65-million Broadway musical featuring music by Bono and the Edge, the band’s chief songwriters. --The New York Times, Jan. 13, 2011

“Spider-Man” has not even officially opened yet. The date has been delayed five times to fix myriad problems, with Sunday afternoon being preview performance No. 66 and the opening planned for Monday night being pushed back five more weeks to March 15. But this $65 million musical has become a national object of pop culture fascination — more so, perhaps, than any show in Broadway history. --The New York Times, Feb. 5, 2011

Everyone, it seemed, understood Mr. Page’s reference to the injuries that have been incurred by cast and crew members during the long (and officially still far from over) preview period for this $65 million musical. --The New York Times, Feb. 8, 2011

Federal regulators on Friday cited “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” for three serious workplace safety violations, though the proposed fine of $12,600 is unlikely to faze a production that has already run through $65 million. --The New York Times, March 4, 2011


Amazing how a show that was scheduled to begin previews in November and open in December--it's officially supposed to open this month, but could go as late as June--could have not added a penny to its budget since the end of October, despite gaining songs, producers, and writers, and basically getting completely reworked.

In the grand scheme of things, this may seem a minor point, but it bugs me that the paper of record keeps parroting the $65 million line. It's just embarrassing at this point.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

That's what I call a contingency fund!

Knatolee said...

A little fact-checking would be nice!