Then I guess I don't entirely understand it. Enlighten us?

Dayumn!!! Way to get all of these in one place. Looking forward to the Microbudget Case Study as well...

Hey McCauley, sorry this went unanswered for a few days. Email me at lgamse@nofilmschool.com, send me a resume and let me know what you're looking for at this stage. I can try to connect you with a few people.

Aside from returns, I doubt the industry is eager to see a repeat of this season's reviews. I would again emphasize that there is no need to dumb-down a script to add special effects. IMAX and 3D quotas don't necessitate sub-par storytelling. Great films can have these components if necessary, no box office losses included (domestic or otherwise).

Haha, I stand corrected. Thanks Matt. It was meant as a joke, but always good to get the Weird Al facts straight.

I agree with all the comments here emphasizing the unreliability of this data...but using your own hypothetical numbers, Daniel ($2 docs make $20 and $100 narratives make $200), you would be better off making 50 docs with your $100 than 1 narrative -- you would end up with eight times the profits! I'm not suggesting that studios start making mega-budget docs -- just that they hedge their bets with more of them.

Admittedly my point in the penultimate paragraph got muddled when this piece was edited...damn the censors! When I turned in the post, the sentence above read, "Not to say that Universal’s next tent pole should be a $20 million doc — but perhaps 10 relatively major documentaries would accumulate a better return than another R.I.P.D." (http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?id=ripd.htm)