'Final Fantasy' producer wants next project to be less risky
Bloomberg News Service
TOKYO — Square Co., which financed 90 percent of the movie "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within" with an estimated budget of $135 million, will spread the risk out with its next movie effort set for release in 2003.
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Square, which released the computer-animated movie based on the best-selling video game Wednesday in the United States and Canada, is in talks with Sony Corp.'s Columbia studio on the company's next film, said Jun Aida, one of the film's producers and president and chief operating officer of Square's Honolulu studio.
"Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within," which stars realistic-looking human characters, was financed almost entirely by Square Co. Square hopes to spread the risk next time.
Sony is distributing "Final Fantasy" worldwide.
Square spent four years making the film and more than $45 million to construct a digital studio in Honolulu, Aida said. More than 200 graphic artists and animators from 22 countries worked on developing the movie, a science-fiction film about an alien invasion of Earth. It stars realistic-looking human characters.
"All of the discussion that's been taking place with the major studios so far for the next project has a completely different financial structure, much more favorable to Square," Aida said in an interview from a hotel room in Los Angeles.
Square and Sony's Columbia will decide over the next two to four weeks on the exact financial structure for the next picture, said Aida, who also produced 1994's video-game based "Street Fighter," which grossed more than $100 million worldwide.
The next movie will be released in the summer of 2003 and will take about 2 1/2 years to make, Aida said.
Square hasn't decided if the next movie will be based on "Final Fantasy," though it will be an original story directed by Hironobu Sakaguchi, who also directed "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within."
The verdict is still out on how "Final Fantasy," will do at the box office after taking in $5 million on its opening day Wednesday.
"I'll have a good feel (by Sunday night) if we're going to get our money back," Aida said. "It is rather unfortunate after four years of dedicating all your hard work, producing something like this, you know in five days" if it's a success or not, Aida said.
Analysts have been skeptical about the movie's prospects. It will likely have to gross about $500 million at the worldwide box office to make a profit for Square, said Lisa Spicer, an analyst at ING Barings Securities (Japan).
"The best case scenario is it breaks even after broadcasting rights and the whole ball of wax," said Spicer, who has a "hold" rating on Square. "No one really expects it to be a stunning success."
