Three Amigos Seek $100 Mil

Thankfully, not a sequel to a Chevy Chase movie

By: Andre Rivas
Published: Monday, May 7th 2007 at 2:42 AM

Stop me if you've heard this one before … three Mexicans walk into a movie studio and ask for $100 million dollars …

Actually, it's not a joke. Last year, the so-called Three Amigos (Alfonso Cuaron, Gulliermo del Toro and Alejandro González Iñárritu) received mucho hoopla for their three Oscar-nominated films (Children of Men, Pan's Labyrinth and Babel). Now, these exciting directors are looking to cash in … sort of.

According to this L.A. Times article, they are joining forces and seeking a five picture deal that would entail $100 million dollars in financing.

That … is … balls.

But this isn't a case of success getting to their greedy little sombreros. This is about artistic freedom as the three directors will be collecting less than they normally would for directing the films included in this potential deal.

Cuaron, Inarritu and del Toro aren't even directing all five films. Rodrigo Garcia (the upcoming Passengers) and Alfonso's little brother, Carlos (who co-wrote Y Tu Mama Tambien) will be handling the other two. According to the article, the projected budgets for all five films have been set and are said to range from $10 million to $40 million each.

I have never heard of a deal quite like this before but I think it's good for the industry. These guys just want the freedom to be able to make the movies they feel passionate about. If they want to use their recent clout to get financing for not just one but five future projects, more power to them, I say.

A few studios have already balked at the terms of the agreement but it looks as if Universal Pictures might bite (del Toro is currently working on Hellboy 2: The Golden Army for the studio which also distributed Children of Men).

If this works out, I can see a lot more directors getting together and forming a posse. Maybe we can get a whole West Coast/East Coast feud out of this as well.