Welcome to Last Resort Films: The Story So Far! Chad Taylor checking in here with a new series that will take a look back at LRF’s illustrious past, five seasons at a time. In this first edition, we will cover the studio’s first five seasons in existence.
Last Resort Films officially opened for business on November 3rd, 2017 with Phil Dolan as studio-head. Scott Derrickson’s Dracula Origins marked history as the first film the studio ever released and was a huge hit at the box office, surely making Mr. Dolan breathe a sigh of relief. And things were off and running at that point…
Season 1
Dracula Origins proved to be a good representative of things to come as the first few seasons of the studio were built on adapting older works and characters. At this stage in the game, the studio was still about recruiting talent and likely knew it would take time before things became more balanced with original fare. That being said, the Mo Buck Writer’s Association (Mo Buck, James Morgan, Ann Morrow, Harry Wright) immediately established themselves as a source of original stories, even if some of them did not land during this time.
A good number of works in this first season was of the darker variety, either in the form of horror monster movies (Birth of Frankenstein, The Mummy, Creature from the Black Lagoon) or based-on-a-true-story crime pictures like Jack the Ripper and Green River, featuring one of LRF’s first true memorable performances with Robert Downey Jr. as Ted Bundy.
But the true tour-de-force was Josh Brolin’s unshakable turn as cult leader Jim Jones. Jonestown became the true star of this first batch of films, furthering its reputation more after the release of a Director’s Cut. If you’re needing a hidden gem from this season, check out David Fincher’s Libra. Only a Best Screenplay nominee at the time, Dwight Gallo’s adaptation of the Don DeLillo novel has grown in esteem ever since and feels sorely overlooked by the GRAs that year (especially its stellar ensemble).
Best Picture: Jonestown
Best Director: Oliver Stone
Best Actor: Josh Brolin
Best Actress: Brie Larson
Best Screenplay: A View from the Bridge (D.R. Cobb)
Season 2
Heading into its second season, the studio continued to find its identity. While Season 1 featured a handful of video game adaptations (Halo, The Last of Us), this trend really took off with the release of Splinter Cell - a box office sensation that would go on to set numerous box office records (along with its sequels). The studio also started its partnership with DC Comics, releasing Blue Beetle and The Question, which laid the foundation for one of the studio’s most successful brands.
A handful of films stood head and shoulders above the rest as critical darlings: Solution, Blood Meridian, Flicker, and Blackwater. Solution ended up the ultimate winner at the GRAs with Best Picture and Director trophies, but my personal favorite of that bunch is Flicker. It’s a film you don’t often hear discussed in John Malone’s oeuvre but his debut film established his long-running relationship with Alden Ehrenreich and immediately established him as someone who could not be missed.
Best Picture: Solution
Best Director: Anton Corbijn
Best Actor: Leonardo DiCaprio
Best Actress: Brie Larson
Best Adaptation: Flicker (John Malone)
Best Original Story: Blackwater (Dwight Gallo)
Season 3
From the perspective of someone who was still an outsider at this point, Season 3 feels like the time that the studio really found its footing. Malone leveled up in the eyes of many with The Prisoner, his first collaboration with Christopher Nolan and an undeniable hit for the studio as it won awards and was a box office hit. The Prisoner would later go on to be voted the honor of Top LRF Film of All Time back in the LRF 100 vote that took place in Season 8.
The very next release for the studio was Into Thin Air, a film that feels a bit forgotten now but was one of the best original works the studio had seen to that point. If you’re in the mood for a fast-paced time traveler thriller, I recommend checking it out.
On the video game front, Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow took the box office to new heights while Seth Overton’s adaptation of Mass Effect premiered and introduced a new long-running franchise to the studio. Meanwhile, Keanu Reeves debuted as the Silver Surfer - a role he is expected to reprise at season’s end with The Avengers.
Best Picture: The Prisoner
Best Director: Christopher Nolan
Best Actor: Tom Hardy
Best Actress: Suki Waterhouse
Best Adaptation: The Prisoner (John Malone)
Best Original Story: Into Thin Air (James Morgan)
Season 4
The fourth season marked a bit of a downturn critically, with few films reaching the heights that had been reached in the first three. The one notable exception to that is The Price of Fame, Mark Romanek’s memorable thriller that ended up taking Best Picture at the GRAs.
In the blockbuster realm, Batman: Gotham Knight and Halo 2 were the top dogs but not much else became a true runaway hit. While the season saw the studio’s most varied collection of writers yet, it was going through some natural growing pains as it figured out its rhythms. That being said, there is some great genre fare to check out from this season, including Nicholas Winding Refn’s under-appreciated remake of Cat People and one of the studio’s best original horror films, The Creature.
This season means a lot to me, personally, as it is when I made my debut at the studio. I don’t think those season four releases are near my best work but I look back very fondly on just initially getting the opportunity to work with such great company. If you want to see one of my favorite performances from LRF’s early days, go check out Last Rites featuring a rare leading man performance from Michael Madsen. It’s a quick watch!
Best Picture: The Price of Fame
Best Director: Mark Romanek
Best Actor: Christian Bale
Best Actress: Cate Blanchett
Best Adaptation: Alan Wake (APJ)
Best Original Story: The Price of Fame (Ann Morrow)
Season 5
When looking at these five seasons in totality, I think it is clear that season 5 is when the studio’s slate featured the most variety and everyone was having a lot of fun. The dramatic work was ambitious, often tackling complicated subjects on a large canvas. True West, To The White Sea, Sinkhole, The Life of the Party, and Hated: The Ballad of G.G. Allin are a sample of some of the acting showcases you can find from that season. The big winner at the GRAs, however, was Michael Mann’s Cape Torment, which won Best Picture and Best Actor in a stacked year for both of those categories.
If you go down the board that season, you’ll find a lot of entertaining titles to check out. Cosa Nostra, the centerpiece in James Morgan’s Raven trilogy of gangster films, is a real delight. Fevre Dream was a bit over-looked at the time due to its failure at the box office but I think it has aged quite well. And while it is relatively low-key compared to some of the heavy hitters that season, Atlantic City is one I return to often as a movie right directly up my alley.
And on the box office front, I’d be remiss if I failed to mention the phenomenon that was Booster Gold. It was the first LRF film to cross $1 billion globally and helped set the stage for the dominance of the DC Universe for seasons to come. I don’t think anyone expected it to be as big of a hit as it was, especially yours truly!
Best Picture: Cape Torment
Best Director: Andrew Dominik
Best Actor: Benedict Cumberbatch
Best Actress: Jessica Chastain
Best Adaptation: To the White Sea (John Malone)
Best Original Story: Cape Torment (Mo Buck)
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Box Office Top 20 (Seasons 1-5):
20. The Question: Dark Tomorrow - $452 million
19. Purgatorio - $455 million
18. Hawkman - $480 million
17. Mass Effect: Cerberus - $501 million
16. Halo: ODST - $508 million
15. Peter and the Starcatchers - $520 million
14. Dracula Origins - $525 million
13. Halo - $528 million
12. Alan Wake - $592 million
11. Paradise Lost - $634 million
10. Creature from the Black Lagoon - $646 million
9. Green Arrow - $660 million
8. Mass Effect - $672 million
7. Batman: Gotham Knight - $695 million
6. Halo 2 - $703 million
5. Silver Surfer - $828 million
4. Splinter Cell - $892 million
3. Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory - $925 million
2. Splinter Cell: Pandora Tomorrow - $987 million
1. Booster Gold - $1.1 billion
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Editor’s Note: In future editions, I would love to include quotes from the writing community reflecting back on this time. So if you have any thoughts about the next period (Seasons 6-10), feel free to send those to me on the message board so that I can incorporate them next time around. It can be a reflection on your own work, certain films, or just LRF in general during that time!
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