Its really exciting to hear about your return to Carolco.
And also the latest film youve announced,BOT.
BOTis basically the kind of movie I used to do in the old days of Carolco.
A big, action kind of [film].
Futuristic, but not set too far into the future we dont want huge flying space craft or whatever.
Its maybe, I dont know, 10, 20 years from now.
Theres nanotechnology, a good guy and a bad guy.
Its very humane and an interesting story, without giving away too much of it.
It happened because the writer [Tedi Sarafian] a friend of mine he wrote theTerminator 3story for me.
He called me one day and said, Mario, what are you doing?
I said, I dont know, Im looking for something interesting I cant find anything I really like.
He said, I have something for you if you want to hear it.
I said, Cool, come over.
Then he came over and said, Ive written 20 or 25 pages, but its at my house.
I said, Okay, can we print them here?
He said, Okay.
So I printed those 25 pages, and I read them in 10 or 15 minutes, basically.
I said, Youre not leaving the house until we make a deal.
And thats how I used to work anyway at Carolco.
That was maybe six months ago, and weve been working on it slowly.
Theres no point writing in the dark.
I understand youre planning to make it into a trilogy, is that right?
Its no riskier than some existing properties.Fifty Shades Of Greysold millions and millions of books.
The first one did okay, you cant complain about grossing $500 million.
But they put the bar so high, and they were expecting to make much more.
Its more dangerous to shoot two or three together at the same time.
What are your thoughts on modern Hollywood and the way things have gone since the 90s?
Do you think its become too risk averse in some ways?
I think Hollywood has always been very reluctant to take chances.
The studios dont take any chances.
They really count on their summer tent pole pictures.
Its a number machine now.
Its like a bank, with offices and computers and adding machines.
Is that why its been important to you to remain independent?
Because although you were at Paramount briefly, youve always made films outside the studio system.
People were on a roll and they were making lots of it.
Every big studio has a little company that makes independent films.
Whether its Focus, or Fox Searchlight, they all have smaller studios.
Your output in the 80s and 90s was a really interesting mix.
Yes, Id like to.
I mean, my first, first movie was very small.
The investment was only half a million dollars.
It wasThe Silent Partnerwith Elliott Gould and Christopher Plummer.
It was made in Canada, and it was written by Curtis Hanson.
In those days, the studio would sell you something they werent doing.
They dont want to be in that position any more.
So I got [First Blood], and all of a sudden it just grew by itself.
It became a phenomena.
But nobody had touched it, nobody wanted it, they were all worried.
I need to put it on my poster outside the theatre.
Thats why we went for the big names and it became our standard of making movies.
Its much more, right?
Did you get a lot of satisfaction from making those sorts of films, though?
I dont think a lot of studios would have made something as unusual as Jacobs Ladder.
Every movie, whether its a million dollar budget or $100 million, is problematic.
I came to the conclusion that the problem is the same [regardless of budget].
Because with $25 million you dont really get anybody in it.
Its neither here nor there.
Either do a $5 million movie or do an $80 million, you know what Im saying?
The middle of the road is dangerous.
If its released at the right time with the right people, you know where youre going with it.
When you look at Carolcos line-up, there were a lot ofBOTs around.
But raising the funds is the same.
To be honest with you, its easier to raise $100 million than raise $5 million.
Its more attractive, their ego gets higher, they get all excited.
The small amount of money worries people.
In my experience, Ive found it easier to raise big money than small money.
You had a big rental market in the 80s and 90s, whereas now we have streaming.
How has that affected things?
Well, after VHS there was DVD and now theres streaming, so thats another way of making money.
And then you have tax incentives for shooting here and shooting there Canada, the UK, Germany.
Now, who knows what there is?
Its a complicated way of financing movies.
I like the simple ways.
Simple is always better.
Do you have any regrets about choosing not to make Paul VerhoevensCrusade?
I loved working with Paul.
I was going to do a movie with him a few years ago.
I had it all ready it was aboutAtaturk, the president of Turkey, years ago.
It was financed, money in the bank, very good screenplay, location, everything.
[Biographies] have to be special.Chaplainwas such a special story, I couldnt say no to it.
You have to really pick and choose.
How important has it been to revive the Carolco name?
People like me grew up with those films, so you must be excited to have it back again.
I have to blame Alex [Bafer] for that.
To be honest with you, I was tired of walking down memory lane.
I kind of forgot about it for a while.
My brain has a defence mechanism, and put it to one side.
He found that the Carolco name was available.
So we met, and it brought all the memories of Carolco back.
When he said, I have Carolco, I said, Then you have me.
I had about 1800 employees at my Carolco office.
I had texts and calls from all of them, congratulating me, saying, Do you need anything?
Were ready to come back and work.
This is after 20-something years.
Theyre no longer 23 years old!
The support is amazing.
This was something I had no idea about.
The logos on YouTube.
People have it as their ringtone.
So Im very excited, to be honest with you.
Its taking me back to my old days.
Working nine to five thats not me.
I do everything from A to Z with love and affection.
If I dont believe in something, I cant do it.
Lets put it this way its good to be back!
Mario Kassar, thank you very much.
