"I know everyone wants a poster, a trailer and release date and I’m here to tell you, I want those things too. I’ve explained that this entirely for the producers and distributors to decide. Don’t ask me. I have no control." and "If I was the producer I’d be working it from day one. These guys want to do it another way –maybe they’re right." doesn't sound much to me like he really knows much about what's going on, or agrees with how it's being handled. Nor does he say how long they've been working on finding a date. They should be able to pick out a date in a week or less by now, seeing as every other film of the year has announced.
Regardless of if he's happy or not, he's clearly stated his thoughts on why they're doing so, and reading
any further into it is tantamount to creating conspiracy theories because
we have been told as much as he knows.
That's not really true at all. The vast majority of films are made for far less than that kind of budget. In truth, big budget films are the rarity. Scott Pilgrim is just one example out of the tens of thousands of films out there. Yes, a film can flop if put on the wrong date, but the dates of all the films that could definitely overpower Revelation came out months ago.
http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/records/budgets.php
Let's take a look at this, shall we?
Of the films that have made at least one millon dollars--something that the original Silent Hill did in fifty million--only a few have been for less than Revelations. You're right in that the
majority of films are created for less, but that's creating a false idea seeing as the movies that do indeed make a decent amount of money for more than Revelation's budget vastly outnumber those that are smaller-budget.
I never stated nor implied any such thing. I was saying the movies that would give Revelation the most problems announced a very long time ago, so theat couldn't possibly be the reason they've waited so long.
Thank you for clarifying.
Yes, all movies contend with that, and very few of them wait almost a year until after the start of production to announce.
Key phrase: very few of them. It's completely possible--hell,
probable based on what Bassett has said--that this is going to be one of those films because the producers, who are much more well-versed in marketing a film than you or I, know that the film's audience is limited to people who are interested in horror,
possibly people over 18 depending on the rating it receives, and most probably people who saw the original film (because many hold a mindset of "oh, it's a sequel, I need to see the first before that").
Except Bassett has also made statements suggesting he really doesn't know what's going on, and is possibly even unhappy about it. Add that to the fact that it's fairly rare for films that aren't either A) direct-to-DVD, B) super low budget, or C) heading for the shelf to announce so late and I don't see any reason why reaching such a conclusion calls for an insulting accusation.
His most-recent comments about it on his blog suggest that he may have a different technique to marketing films but he is also going to respect the producers' and how they are doing things. He also stated that they want to have a four-month lead-in, so chances are the film will come out later on in the year, which would mean that we would not know until around four months before it, and Bassett cannot announce that without the producers' okay.
I don't think it's an insulting accusation when you're trying to claim that the film is in deep, deep trouble when in fact Bassett has said they are narrowing down the date and they are specifically trying to find the best time to make the film work.
Nothing he has said has insinuated that the film will be shelved;
everything he's said points to the producers being realistic in that the film will not reach an incredibly large audiences.
My problem here lies in that the only evidence I've seen you show to say the film's in trouble is that the release date hasn't been announced. While this is unusual, there is no other cause--especially when Bassett has said he respects what is going on, understands the reasons for it, and cannot divulge more whether he knows it or not--for alarm whatsoever, and I feel like your saying the movie is in trouble is exaggerating the situation.