Apparently People Like Roland Emmerich Movies Better If They Have Godzilla Instead Of Shakespeare

Bad news for Roland Emmerich's newest movie "Anonymous".

Known of course for directing blockbuster films such as "Independence Day", "Stargate", "2012", and of course "Godzilla", Emmerich has traded in the special effects for a character-driven movie about Shakespeare.

The film is focused on the idea of whether or not Shakespeare truly wrote his writings, with some prominent character actors involved within the film.

So while Emmerich is all ready to switch filmmaking gears, apparently Sony Pictures (the same makers of the 1998 Godzilla film) think otherwise.

Originally geared to be released on 2,500+ screens, that number has now been sliced to 250 screens.

A 90% drop-off, wow!

The reasoning is that the studio wants better dollar-per-screen averages (which in essence makes the film look better) as initial previews have not been kind to it.

So they're opening it smaller to enjoy these higher averages, and if the film has some success they will broaden its screen numbers as the weeks progress.

The problem is that most theater chains will not allow such increases unless the film is really doing tremendous business...which this film is not expected to do. 

Tough break for Emmerich, who no doubt wanted more people to see what he can do outside of special effects.

Here's the original article for further info:

movies.yahoo.com: Apparently People Like Roland Emmerich Movies Better If They Have Godzilla Instead Of Shakespeare