Producer makes millions by defying film critics
I found this article fascinating and if I were a film studies professor I would probably assign it as reading. Some of the issues it brings up:
Film as an art form vs. film as a business. Are they opposed to each other? Are they inseparable?
"The only films that get good reviews are the ones that nobody sees." We can all name films that are extremely well-respected and did well at the box office, but they seem to be the exception. Why are critics' choices often ignored by the public. Is it because of lower production costs and less marketing, or is something deeper at work?
Film snobbery vs. "the unsophisticated tastes of the masses." How is it that a film like Norbit can be universally panned by critics, but, if Robbins is to be believed, "score[s] in the 90s with an auience?"
Who are the arbiters of taste and artistic achievement in society?
What is the impact of casting on a film? Will the right cast make the public want to see a particular film?