DOES CRUNCHING DATA EQUAL BOX OFFICE SUCCESS?

New York Times' Media & Advertising section has a piece about number crunching and story analytics, profiling 'the reigning mad scientist of Hollywood' Vinny Bruzzese's new script evaluation system.

It was only a matter of time before analytics made it's way into the genesis stage of movie making.

“Demons in horror movies can target people or be summoned,” Mr. Bruzzese said in a gravelly voice, by way of example. “If it’s a targeting demon, you are likely to have much higher opening-weekend sales than if it’s summoned. So get rid of that Ouija Board scene.”

Vinny Bruzzese doesn't go into the specifics of his service but he does list a few examples like the one above.

Ol Parker, screenwriter of THE BEST EXOTIC MARIGOLD HOTEL, feels the chill of this new approach in his soul:

 “Look, I’d take a suggestion from my grandmother if I thought it would improve a film I was writing,” he said. “But this feels like the studio would listen to my grandmother before me, and that is terrifying.”

So what do you think? Is this just another sign of the oncoming robot apocalypse? Or actually pretty helpful?

Read the full article here.

(Thanks to Colonist Tommy Butler '10)