But practically is not literally. Just because you haven't heard of these films or they didn't last long in theaters doesn't necessarily mean death. And again, I only see one film on Williams' list that went straight to video; the rest made it to theaters. Every actor has ups and downs and makes poor choices and sometimes good choices that don't pan out. And comparing Robin Williams (a comedic actor) to Nicholson, Ford and Clooney (all leading men) isn't even close to being a fair fight.

I've been trying to find the info as Film Jerk originally posted the film got an R rating back in 2003, but trying to search Film Jerk's website, I can't find any information regarding it nor does the MPAA website mention anything. However, from what I've seen, if a film accepts it's MPAA rating and then decides to edit the flick later on, the previous rating becomes invalid and the MPAA doesn't list the first rating.

An example would be the remake of Rollerball. Originally given the R, MGM decided to edit down the flick to a PG-13 for a hopes to make more money off the flick. While the R rating still exists in the MPAA database for the video release, the PG-13 rating is the only one mentioned for the film's theatrical release.

I have to disagree.

Hollywood has always been a 'What have you done for me lately' kind of town. The fact that Williams has been in movies lately that have lasted 2 minutes and have made $1.95 in theaters is certainly close to 'death' in Hollywood.

On your other point ... Williams' got famous for his comedic chops, but lest we forget he won an Oscar for a drama, and held his own in many other dramas thru the years.

Ford's last few movies have had that 'Straight To Video' quality, but 'Firewall' and 'Hollywood Homicide' opened wide in theaters. Williams' movies have not.

Anyway ... that's my rant.

Ford's last few films have opened wide in theaters for two reasons:

1. They've been big budget.
2. They've been produced by major studios (Warner and Sony).

Williams' last few films have opened limited, then sent directly to video for two reasons:

1. They've been low budget.
2. They've been produced by smaller studios who don't have the resources for wide releases most of the time (such as Lionsgate). Lionsgate, using said example, only has the resources to give films wide releases for that will make the studio bank. Saw, Saw 2, The Devil's Rejects, and See No Evil come to mind.

i think any movie that is intended to be released in theaters and then goes straight to vid is known by the producers to be quite bad and thus have no shot in the theater. they release straight to vid because they have absolutely no alternative. i am sure the handful of cult favs like "The Boondock Saints" are few and very far between, with most of them never turning a profit to speak of. DTV is the kiss of death for those only intended to once be released in theaters. the ones made specifically for vid. are a different entity.

Your rant makes it sound like you don't really know how things work in Hollywood, just what you hear in movies and TV shows about Hollywood. You are counting his last 3 films or so as a death slide into DTV fare. A lot of actors make poor choices one right after another, or get into making smaller budget films because the scripts are better than the usual studio junk. If this had been going on for 3 or more years with Robin Williams, then I could say that you might be right, but you are looking at films made this year or last year only.

And my point still stands about Williams vs. Ford, Clooney, etc. Williams is not a leading man actor; just because he won an Oscar in a dramatic role doesn't make him one.

OK. Let's try and change the thread a bit ...

Can anyone remember the last REALLY bankable male star who for 5 years ('Insomnia' to 'RV' in Williams' Case) fell off the bankable map and onto DTV almost exclusively?

In that case, Michael Biehn fits that mold well. In the mid to late 80's, he started with The Terminator, then Aliens, The Abyss, (Navy Seals, maybe?), then fell away for a while, only popping up in occasional small roles in Tombstone and The Rock.

I dont know if Williams is really a dtv actor just yet, sure he spent the last few years doing smaller indie movies but im sure he has more than enough money to really choose wheat he wants to do. Plus he has done some voice acting like in Robots and the upcoming Happy feet. As for Clooney, Im not sure how he fits into this discussion, he has been in quite a few big movies in the past few years. He has even turned to directing, which I think he has done an amazing job.

Clooney was brought up as an example of the type of actor (leading men) who don't usually have things go straight to video.

I thought it referred to Rpbin

You're really underestimating the home video market. Most, if not all those films that are produced with the direct to video market in mind are budgeted to turn a profit and because the cost was so low, they do.

Just think of the logic. If they didn't produce a profit then they would stop making direct to video films altogether. Much like how if McDonalds burgers didn't sell they would go out of business. Just because they are crappy doesn't mean someone wont buy them. A smart producer knows how to budget out films that turn a profit. You asked for successful franchises I gave you a prime example. Land Before Time lived very successfully this way years ago before DVD.

Jack is right.

However, one also has to count for TV rights for most of these movies. I am sure SciFi is paying some of these studios (mostly NuImage) somewhere in the high six-figure/low seven-figure range to have unlimited access to these movies they're originally making for direct-to-video.

Harrison Ford, by any reasonable standard, is certainly worse off than Robin.

Not only have his films been disappointments at the box office, they haven't been any good, he doesn't seem to take the risks Robin does, and he plays, pretty much, the very same character in every movie. He also delivers his lines the exact same way, like, "Get off my plane" in every film he makes.

Lucky for him he still looks good enough to play Indiana Jones, because that should be a blockbuster.

But, again, he's playing the same character-type again. At least it works well for Indy.

The Final Cut, Insomnia, and One Hour Photo were all pretty good and also challenging and interesting roles.

Yeah, that's the other issue here. Robin Williams goes across the lines of what his character can play and he tries to not type cast himself like Ford has done.

Most DTV movies suck, this is true.

I think that an ongoing direct to video career definitely says that it's nearly time to hang up the acting chops.

Don't take my word for it though...just ask Wesley Snipes, Jean Claude Van Damme, Cuba Gooding Jr., and Steven Seagal.

= J

Robin Williams new movie - "The Night Listener"

Trailer:

http://www.apple.com/trailers/mirama...ener/trailer1/

While there are rare exceptions, straight to video means that it didn't have an audience movie theaters. Generally speaking odds are not good for a quality project, particularly on a "blind" buy.

The Big White is a decent movie, though.