The Lost Movie That Still Got Made: Foodfight!

All Things Lost
13 Oct 202014:36

Summary

TLDRThe story of 'Food Fight', once envisioned as the next big animated film, is a tale of ambition, setbacks, and ultimate disappointment. Conceived by Larry Kasanov and Threshold Entertainment, the film aspired to be a Toy Story-like spectacle set in a supermarket with extensive product placement. However, plagued by production issues, including the theft of work hard drives and a shift from 3D animation to motion capture, the film's quality suffered. Further complicated by financial troubles and a lack of directorial expertise, 'Food Fight' was eventually auctioned off and released to poor critical reception and commercial success, despite its initial promise and a star-studded voice cast. The film's turbulent journey reflects the challenges of balancing creative vision with business realities.

Takeaways

  • 🎬 The story revolves around the production of 'Food Fight', considered one of the worst films ever made.
  • đŸ„‡ Florence Larry Kassanov founded Threshold Entertainment in 1993, known for producing 'Mortal Kombat' and its sequel.
  • 🚀 The idea for 'Food Fight' was to create a movie akin to 'Toy Story' set in a supermarket with extensive product placement.
  • 🌐 The film was intended to be a multimedia franchise with toys, video games, a live show, branded food, and a web series.
  • 💾 Press releases for 'Food Fight' claimed it would be the most complex digitally animated feature, incorporating thousands of products.
  • đŸ–„ïž Threshold had experience in 3D animation, but the technology was challenging at the time, leading to dated visuals in the trailer.
  • 😔 The production faced controversy for its extensive product placement, with critics arguing it contributed to health issues like obesity and diabetes.
  • đŸ’» In 2002, the hard drives containing all the work for 'Food Fight' were stolen, leading to speculation of industrial espionage or an inside job.
  • 📉 The film's production was halted and later resumed with a new direction, switching from squash and stretch animations to motion capture.
  • đŸŽ„ Inexperience in direction and animation technology led to a disjointed production process and numerous delays.
  • 🏩 In 2011, 'Food Fight' was auctioned off after Threshold defaulted on their loans, and the insurance company had it completed for immediate release.
  • 📉 The final product was poorly received, with low box office returns and abysmal ratings, and the promised brand icons were notably absent or mocked in the film.

Q & A

  • What was the original vision for the movie Food Fight?

    -The original vision for Food Fight was to create a movie similar to Toy Story, but set in a supermarket, filled with as many real-world brands as possible, using a mix of 3D animation and product placement to extreme levels.

  • Who founded Threshold Entertainment, the company behind Food Fight?

    -Threshold Entertainment was founded by Florence Larry Kassanov in 1993.

  • What were some of the notable projects Threshold Entertainment worked on before Food Fight?

    -Threshold Entertainment was known for producing the 1995 Mortal Kombat movie and its sequel, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, as well as working on 3D animation for Hershey's Really Big 3D Show and visual effects for movies like I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, Ace Ventura Pet Detective, and Dogma.

  • What was the significance of the press release Threshold Entertainment distributed in mid-2001?

    -The press release in mid-2001 was significant because it detailed the ambitious plans for Food Fight, including claims that it would be the most complex digitally animated feature film ever attempted and would incorporate thousands of products and character icons from the grocery store. It also announced the company's intention to create a multimedia franchise with toys, video games, a live show, their own brand of food, and a 22-episode web series.

  • What was the controversy surrounding Food Fight's production?

    -The controversy centered around the excessive product placement and commercialization in the movie, which critics argued raised the commercial assault on children to a new level of brazenness, especially considering the rising levels of childhood obesity and type 2 diabetes at the time.

  • What happened to the hard drives containing the work for Food Fight in 2002?

    -The hard drives containing all the work for Food Fight were stolen, which was referred to as industrial espionage. The theft led the team to start production from scratch.

  • What were some theories regarding the theft of the original copy of Food Fight?

    -Theories include a company whose products were used trying to get out of their contract upon seeing the movie's quality, a rival company like Pixar, Dreamworks, or Disney stealing the movie, an inside job by someone on the production team, and the possibility that the theft was fabricated by Threshold to save face or cover up a lawsuit or money laundering scheme.

  • How did the production of Food Fight change after the theft?

    -After the theft, production resumed in 2004 with a change in direction. The film's style was shifted from squash and stretch animations to a more live-action look using motion capture, which resulted in a different visual and storytelling approach.

  • What were some of the issues that arose during the production of Food Fight after the change in direction?

    -Issues included the limitations of the motion capture technology used, which resulted in stiff facial animations, and creative disagreements between Larry Kassanov and the animators. Kassanov's inexperience as a director and his desire for adult jokes in the movie also led to conflicts with the brands involved.

  • What was the final outcome of Food Fight after years in development?

    -Food Fight was eventually auctioned off in 2011 to British company Boulevard Entertainment. The movie was completed quickly and cheaply for immediate release, and it was not well-received by critics or audiences, with very low box office earnings against a high production budget.

  • How did the failure of Food Fight impact Threshold Entertainment and Larry Kassanov?

    -Threshold Entertainment tried to distance themselves from the movie and did not list it on their website. Larry Kassanov, however, continued to work in the industry, directing a documentary on mindfulness and producing a reboot of the Mortal Kombat series and a trilogy based on the video game Tetris.

  • What was the final nail in the coffin for Food Fight?

    -The final nail in the coffin was Threshold's financial troubles, which led to the company defaulting on their loans and the movie being auctioned off in 2011 to British company Boulevard Entertainment.

Outlines

00:00

🎬 The Genesis and Aspirations of Food Fight

This paragraph introduces the story behind the infamous 'Food Fight' movie, which has been widely regarded as one of the worst films of all time. It delves into the origins of Threshold Entertainment, founded by Florence Larry Kassanov in 1993, and their ambition to create a multimedia franchise akin to 'Toy Story' but set in a supermarket. The vision was to incorporate numerous real-world brands into their animated world. Despite having experience in 3D animation and visual effects, Threshold faced skepticism and criticism over their claims about the film's complexity and product placement. The paragraph also highlights the production challenges and the theft of the hard drives containing the movie's work in 2002, which led to a halt in production.

05:02

🔍 The Mystery of the Stolen Production and Theories

This paragraph explores the baffling case of the stolen hard drives containing 'Food Fight's' production work. Various theories are presented to explain the motive behind this crime, ranging from disgruntled companies to potential inside jobs. The discussion also touches on the possibility of the movie being part of a money laundering scheme due to its high production cost compared to the final product. The paragraph details the challenges faced by Threshold in resuming production in 2004, including a shift in animation style and the involvement of motion capture technology. It also highlights the distribution struggles and the eventual delay of the film's release.

10:04

🍿 The Downfall and Legacy of Food Fight

The final paragraph discusses the culmination of 'Food Fight's' troubled production and its eventual release. After years of development and setbacks, the movie was auctioned off in 2011 and quickly released by the insurance company to recoup their investment. The film's reception was overwhelmingly negative, with poor box office returns and scathing reviews. The paragraph also reflects on the absence of the promised brand icons in the final film and the impact on the careers of those involved. It concludes with a look at Threshold Entertainment's future projects and the potential for redemption, despite the failure of 'Food Fight'.

Mindmap

Keywords

💡Lost Media

The term 'Lost Media' refers to films, television shows, or other forms of media that have become difficult to locate or are believed to be permanently lost due to various reasons such as theft, destruction, or obsolescence. In the context of the video, 'Food Fight' is considered lost media because the original hard drives containing the work for the movie were stolen, leading to the production having to start from scratch. This incident adds a layer of mystery and intrigue to the film's history.

💡Threshold Entertainment

Threshold Entertainment is a production company founded by Larry Kasanov in 1993, known for producing films like the 'Mortal Kombat' movie and its sequel. In the context of the video, the company is significant as it is responsible for the creation and production of 'Food Fight,' which is presented as a case study of a failed multimedia franchise attempt.

💡Product Placement

Product placement is a marketing strategy where brands pay to have their products featured prominently in movies, television shows, or other media. In the video, 'Food Fight' was envisioned as a movie filled with real-world brands, taking product placement to an extreme by incorporating thousands of products into the fictional grocery store setting, with the intention of customizing the film for a global audience.

💡Cross-Promotion

Cross-promotion is a marketing technique where two or more brands collaborate to promote each other's products or services, often resulting in mutual benefits. In the context of the video, Larry Kasanov described 'Food Fight' as a cross-promotional venture rather than product placement, suggesting that the brands involved would benefit from the exposure without directly paying for it.

💡Industrial Espionage

Industrial espionage refers to the unauthorized acquisition of trade secrets or confidential business information by one company or individual for the benefit of a competitor or personal gain. In the video, the theft of 'Food Fight's' hard drives is referred to as 'industrial espionage,' implying that the crime was committed by someone with inside knowledge, possibly to sabotage the project or gain an unfair advantage.

💡Money Laundering

Money laundering is the process of making illegally-gained proceeds (dirty money) appear legal (clean) by concealing the true origin of the funds, often through complex transactions. In the video, 'Food Fight' is speculated to be part of a money laundering scheme due to its high production cost compared to the final product and the insurance money collected after the theft of the hard drives.

💡Motion Capture

Motion capture is a technology used in animation and game development that records the movements of real actors, which are then used to animate digital characters, creating a more realistic and fluid motion. In the video, the decision to switch from squash and stretch animations to motion capture was a significant change in the film's production approach, aiming to make the movie more lifelike and similar to live-action films.

💡Adult Jokes

Adult jokes are humor or content that is targeted towards a mature audience and may contain sexual innuendos, profanity, or themes that are not suitable for children. In the context of the video, Larry Kasanov's desire to include adult jokes in 'Food Fight' led to conflicts with some brands, as they found the content inappropriate for their mascots andçš„ćœąè±Ą.

💡Insurance Money

Insurance money refers to the funds paid out by an insurance company to cover a loss or damage as specified in an insurance policy. In the video, the mention of insurance money relates to the compensation received by Threshold Entertainment after the theft of 'Food Fight's' hard drives, which allowed the company to start production again, albeit under different circumstances.

💡Auction

An auction is a public sale where goods or property are sold to the highest bidder. In the context of the video, the auction refers to the event in 2011 when 'Food Fight' was sold to British company Boulevard Entertainment after Threshold defaulted on their loans, marking a turning point in the film's troubled history.

💡Brand Icons

Brand icons refer to the mascots or recognizable symbols associated with specific brands, often used in marketing and advertising to create a connection with consumers. In the video, the absence of the promised 1000 brand icons in 'Food Fight' is noted, indicating that the film did not fully deliver on its initial premise of being filled with real-world brands.

Highlights

The story of 'Food Fight', considered one of the worst films of all time, and its journey from concept to production.

Florence Larry Kassanov founded Threshold Entertainment in 1993, known for producing the 'Mortal Kombat' movie and its sequel.

The idea for 'Food Fight' came from Kassanov and producer Joshua Wexler, envisioning a movie like 'Toy Story' set in a supermarket.

Threshold had experience in 3D animation, having worked on projects like Hershey's Really Big 3D Show and visual effects for movies.

The press release in mid-2001 claimed 'Food Fight' would be the most complex digitally animated feature film ever attempted.

The film was intended to be a multimedia franchise, including toys, video games, a live show, branded food, and a web series.

The production faced controversy over its extensive use of product placement and its impact on children.

The original hard drives containing all the work for 'Food Fight' were stolen in late 2002, leading to a complete restart of production.

Theories suggest the theft could have been an inside job or that the movie was part of a money laundering scheme.

After the theft, production resumed in 2004 with a new direction, switching from 3D animation to motion capture.

Inexperience in directing and issues with the animation technology led to delays and a pushback of the release date.

The final release of 'Food Fight' in 2012 was met with poor reception and low box office returns compared to its high budget.

The promised 1000 brand icons in the film were not present, and some characters from the first trailer were either reduced or removed.

Threshold Entertainment and Larry Kassanov continued their work in the industry, moving on to theme park rides and other projects.

The case of the stolen original copy of 'Food Fight' remains unsolved, and the company seems to have moved on from the incident.

The story of 'Food Fight' serves as an example of the potential risks and challenges in the film industry, especially when prioritizing profit over content quality.

Despite the failure of 'Food Fight', the company and individuals involved have continued to work on successful projects in the entertainment industry.

Threshold Entertainment is planning a return to feature films with a 'Tetris' trilogy and a 'Mortal Kombat' reboot, with Kassanov as executive producer.

The 'Food Fight' story illustrates the importance of a visionary team and a focus on content quality in the success of animated films.

Transcripts

00:00

oh hi there this lost movie has been

00:02

reviewed all over the internet and is

00:04

considered one of the worst films of all

00:06

time

00:06

but if it's been released how can it be

00:08

lost media we'll sit back while we

00:10

explore the humble beginnings of a

00:12

production company

00:13

and one man's vision for the next big

00:14

thing that led to the death and rebirth

00:17

of the worst animated film

00:18

ever this is the story of the lost movie

00:21

that still got made

00:22

this is the story of food fight here

00:26

[Music]

00:28

goes

00:30

[Music]

00:44

the history of food fight revolves

00:46

around one man florence

00:47

larry kassanov who in 1993 founded the

00:50

company threshold entertainment

00:52

threshold were best known in the 90s for

00:53

producing the 1995 mortal kombat movie

00:56

and its universally panned sequel

00:58

moral combat annihilation you're alive

01:01

too bad

01:01

you will die the idea for a food fight

01:05

came from kasanov

01:06

and threshold producer joshua wexler

01:09

casanov and wexler envisioned a movie

01:10

like toy story but set in a supermarket

01:12

and taking toy story's minor product

01:14

placement such as mr potato head and

01:16

slinky dog to the extreme by filling

01:18

their fictional grocery store

01:20

with as many real world brands as

01:21

possible

01:23

i'll take it all just send a bill

01:26

threshold as a company did have small

01:28

scale experience in 3d animation

01:30

having worked on hershey's really big 3d

01:32

show for hershey's chocolate world

01:33

and visual effects for numerous movies

01:35

such as i still know what you did last

01:37

summer

01:37

aceventura pet detective and dogma with

01:40

this kind of 3d animation experience

01:42

making a 3d animated film wasn't out of

01:44

the rim of possibility

01:46

in mid 2001 threshold distributed a

01:48

press release

01:49

detailing the film for the first time

01:51

this release would make some impressive

01:52

claims

01:53

calling the movie the most complex

01:55

digitally animated feature film ever

01:57

attempted

01:57

that will incorporate thousands of

01:59

products and character icons from the

02:00

grocery store and that brands will be

02:02

altered in order to customize the film

02:04

for a worldwide audience

02:05

but perhaps the most interesting part of

02:07

the press release shows that food fight

02:09

was meant to be a multimedia franchise

02:11

there were going to be food fight toys

02:13

video games a live show

02:15

their own brand of food and most

02:17

impressively a 22 episode web series

02:19

called

02:20

food fight the adventures of dex

02:21

detective that was scheduled to be

02:23

released eight months before the film

02:25

but with casanov being the benevolent

02:27

ruler he is would allow participating

02:29

brands to have the opportunity

02:31

to pay threshold to create a web series

02:33

featuring their icons

02:35

the press release also announced their

02:36

association with korean investment

02:38

company natural image who combined with

02:40

equity financing would fund the movie's

02:41

production at around 50 million dollars

02:44

the production initially gained minor

02:46

controversy over its claims that the

02:47

movie would contain

02:48

thousands of products gary ruskin of

02:50

commercial alert remarked

02:51

it raises the commercial assault on

02:53

children to a new level of brazenness

02:55

some people will stoop to any level to

02:56

make a buck and sadly food fight is an

02:58

example

02:59

it looks like a two hour parade of junk

03:00

food at a time when we have skyrocketing

03:02

levels of childhood obesity and type 2

03:04

diabetes

03:05

but larry kassanov had already prepared

03:07

for this going on to boast that the

03:08

flick is entirely product placement free

03:10

in an interview with kid scree no one

03:12

paid us to be in this movie

03:14

and we didn't pay anyone to be in this

03:15

movie it's not a big commercial

03:17

in later interviews this model will be

03:19

referred to as cross promotion rather

03:21

than product placement

03:22

the following year threshold released

03:24

food fight's first trailer giving us our

03:25

first look at the movie

03:26

and expected a full release within the

03:28

next year or so and even by 2000

03:30

standards the trailer didn't look too

03:32

good

03:33

being dated when compared to other

03:34

computer animated movies at the time

03:36

like shrek ice age or finding nemo we

03:38

could tell the movie was going to use

03:40

squash and stretch animations the

03:41

merchant looney tunes

03:42

but using 3d computer animation

03:44

something that was difficult at the time

03:46

but none of this stopped casanov from

03:48

toting the film as the next big thing

03:50

telling animation magazine do we believe

03:52

our next movie food fight is gonna be a

03:54

huge hit

03:54

of course we do this is the most complex

03:57

digitally animated film ever undertaken

03:59

with thousands of different characters

04:00

and hundreds of sets we're never gonna

04:02

be the next pixar being four higher

04:04

producers with some other shop

04:06

you heard right larry thought threshold

04:08

had the potential to be the next pixar

04:10

but even though the movie didn't look

04:12

great i can't blame casanov for being

04:14

excited

04:14

something that's often overlooked when

04:16

talking about food fight is it's

04:17

absolutely visionary casting

04:19

if the movie was released in 2003 or

04:22

2004 as expected

04:23

it would have featured charlie sheen

04:24

right on the heels of his debut on two

04:26

and a half men

04:27

a role she'd become the highest paid

04:28

actor in television for

04:30

a pre-desperate housewives eva longoria

04:32

hillary duff just after lizzie mcguire

04:34

what would have been wayne brady's

04:36

feature film debut a pre-mean girl's

04:38

daniel franzisi

04:40

and chris cattan right after his tenure

04:41

on snl

04:47

but the film's production came to a

04:49

standstill in late 2002

04:51

when the hard drives contained all the

04:53

work for the movie were stolen

04:55

cast off would refer to the crime as

04:56

industrial espionage

04:58

and would tell the new york times it was

04:59

an incredibly complex crime

05:01

they got into the cold room a room

05:03

within a room within a room

05:05

kassanov also claimed the secret service

05:07

was involved in the investigation for

05:09

the stolen movie

05:10

the company was insured for the loss but

05:12

the thieves stole almost everything

05:14

leading the team to start production

05:15

from scratch today the mystery of who

05:18

stole the film is unsolved

05:19

but we do have some theories

05:22

the only case that ever really mattered

05:25

and i couldn't solve it

05:26

let's start with who would have had the

05:28

motivation to steal the movie maybe one

05:30

of the companies whose products were

05:31

used could have seen how bad the movie

05:32

was going to turn out and try to get out

05:34

their contract

05:35

they couldn't so they resorted to theft

05:37

maybe a rival company like pixar

05:39

dreamworks or even disney could have

05:41

stole the movie

05:42

this is pretty silly because all these

05:43

companies already had better looking

05:44

movies years prior

05:46

and clearly didn't have anything to

05:47

worry about but to me

05:49

the most likely thief will be someone on

05:51

the inside kasanov said the crime was

05:53

extremely complex

05:55

meaning that someone on the inside

05:56

someone who had intimate knowledge of

05:58

the facility

05:58

would have a much easier time stealing

06:00

the movie an animator a producer

06:02

or even larry himself would all have

06:04

motivation as a movie

06:06

this bad could potentially damage a

06:07

career a common theory passed around

06:10

is that the movie was never stolen that

06:12

the whole thing was fabricated

06:13

threshold were either sued over the

06:15

movie or was scrapped and they wanted to

06:17

save face

06:18

i personally cannot find the police

06:20

report for the incident anywhere

06:21

and if anyone can please tweet it at me

06:24

at lost mediamike

06:26

the last and most prevalent theory is

06:28

that the movie was part of a money

06:29

laundering scheme

06:30

the main evidence for this is just how

06:32

much the movie cost an estimated 45 to

06:35

65 million dollars

06:36

versus the finished product compare this

06:38

to toy story which cost 30 million

06:40

the lego movie which cost 60 to 65

06:42

million sausage party at 19 million

06:45

or even shrek which was released in 2001

06:48

with a 60 million dollar budget

06:50

that still holds up today more evidence

06:52

that something criminal behind the

06:53

scenes was going on

06:54

is the insurance money a 2004 new york

06:57

times article states the film was

06:59

insured and insurance money was

07:00

collected

07:01

though this doesn't prove anything

07:02

criminal it shows that money could have

07:04

been made over the film's loss

07:07

let's strawberry jam out of here even

07:09

though the team had lost

07:10

years of work threshold decided to

07:12

continue and production on food fight

07:14

resumed in 2004 but casanov wanted to

07:16

change the film's direction

07:18

scrapping the squash and stretch style

07:20

in favor of making the movie more like a

07:21

live action film through the use of

07:23

motion capture

07:23

retakes and spontaneity this new

07:26

approach could not be

07:27

any more different than squash and

07:29

stretch and as a result casanov and the

07:31

animators were speaking two different

07:32

languages

07:33

motion capture was split between two

07:35

companies house of moves

07:36

and image metrics according to a 2013

07:39

new york times article

07:41

image metrics had a limitation

07:42

performers had to stare straight ahead

07:44

and keep still

07:45

the result was subdued with eyes

07:47

appearing vacant or looking in the wrong

07:48

direction

07:49

which if you look at early films of

07:51

image metrics such as meet dave the

07:52

facial animation is very stiff

07:54

but this at least seems to be somewhat

07:56

intentional for meet dave this explains

07:58

why the first trailer of food fight has

08:00

better looking eyes than the lifeless

08:01

final release

08:03

for this new take on the movie lionsgate

08:05

was set to distribute the film with

08:06

financing company story arc providing 20

08:08

million dollars in funding

08:10

the movie was set to have a quick

08:11

turnaround scheduled for a 2005 release

08:14

at this point castanov's inexperience as

08:16

a director began to show

08:17

former threshold animators claimed that

08:19

casanov would say things like

08:20

make it more awesome or make it 30

08:22

better and didn't understand

08:24

any of the animation technology or its

08:25

limitations

08:27

according to kenneth wydtrack a layout

08:29

artist on the project

08:30

his approach because he had gotten the

08:31

money for it and no one could say no to

08:33

him was very idiosyncratic

08:35

you didn't know from day to day what

08:36

would occur would there be a review

08:38

would he suddenly want to change the

08:39

whole thing kasanov also wanted adult

08:41

jokes in the movie that some of the

08:42

brands found offensive

08:44

for example mckee foods wouldn't allow

08:46

daredevil dan to cat call little debbie

08:48

and one of the snack mascots was to have

08:50

a case of peanut envy

08:51

the cat calling seems to have made it

08:52

into the final film but lil debbie was

08:54

replaced with a generic character

08:59

the film was delayed again pushed back

09:01

to 2006

09:02

and that year the food fight website

09:04

began to give us more details

09:06

included was a description of six

09:07

characters of those six characters where

09:10

harry hold

09:10

played by greg elias and polar penguin

09:12

played by chris kattan

09:14

whose inclusion on this list imply they

09:16

were meant for a bigger role in the

09:17

final film

09:18

after missing their 2006 release the

09:20

website was updated

09:22

listing the release for spring 2007 then

09:25

fall 2007 and by 2008 the website just

09:29

directs you to the threshold website

09:31

with no release date in sight is that

09:33

the

09:34

enticing scent of rich creamy chocolate

09:37

are you chocolate are you made of

09:38

chocolate really

09:40

after years in development the final

09:43

nail in the coffin came in 2011

09:45

after threshold defaulted on their loans

09:47

and on monday

09:48

september 26 2011 at 10 am

09:52

in the law offices of gladstone michael

09:54

weinsberg wilmer and salone

09:56

in marina del rey california with an

09:58

opening bid of 2.5 million dollars

10:01

the movie food fight was auctioned off

10:04

to british company boulevard

10:05

entertainment

10:08

once the movie was sold the investors at

10:10

story arc enacted the clause through

10:11

their insurance agency

10:12

fireman's fund insurance company that

10:14

led fireman's fund to step in and have

10:16

the movie completed as quickly and as

10:18

cheaply as possible for immediate

10:19

release

10:20

the insurance company is even listed in

10:22

the right section when buying the movie

10:23

on the google play store

10:25

also don't buy the movie on the google

10:26

play store it's been free on youtube for

10:28

years

10:28

in a 2013 interview late stage animator

10:31

ken bailey said at this point in

10:32

development

10:33

the film was already ruined they were

10:35

just trying to salvage what they could

10:36

who was your favorite character the

10:39

doggy

10:40

and the squirrel dog and the squirrel

10:42

were her favorite so yeah

10:44

in 2012 the movie was quietly released

10:46

with a limited theatrical run in the uk

10:48

and will be released on dvd soon after

10:50

the film's total gross is debatable with

10:52

the numbers.com saying around 73

10:54

thousand dollars were made

10:56

and box office mojo saying around 120

10:58

000

10:59

were made all against a 65 million

11:02

dollar budget

11:03

and as you might have guessed the movie

11:05

was not received well from critics

11:06

with a 1.5 on imdb a 1.6 on the bomb

11:10

report

11:11

a 10 review on rotten tomatoes which is

11:13

pretty generous

11:15

and the movie has since been roasted all

11:17

over youtube

11:18

frankly my dear i don't give a spam

11:22

with the release of the film it became

11:23

apparent that the 1000 brand icons

11:26

promised by kasanov were not present

11:28

in the film with at least 20 characters

11:30

and around

11:31

20 non-character products that were

11:32

confirmed or shown in the first trailer

11:34

gone a number of these missing mascots

11:37

are seemingly mocked throughout the film

11:38

in mean-spirited ways

11:40

as if they didn't make the right choice

11:41

by leaving the production over the years

11:43

various food fight merchandise has been

11:45

released with the occasional book being

11:47

found at a thrift shop a food fight

11:48

plush for sale on ebay or in a movie

11:50

theater claw machine

11:52

and sometimes you can still find a

11:54

physical copy of the movie for sale on

11:56

store shelves

11:57

threshold has since tried their best to

11:59

forget about the movie not even listing

12:01

it on their website

12:02

and not copyright claiming the movie

12:03

when it's uploaded in its entirety to

12:05

youtube

12:06

to this day the stolen original copy of

12:08

food fight has never surfaced

12:10

and the case has gone cold but honestly

12:13

i don't think they're looking too hard

12:14

anymore

12:17

but how did you get in and out of the

12:19

store

12:20

now i might get some flack for this but

12:22

i think the idea for food fight

12:24

is genius from a business perspective

12:26

the movie had so much potential

12:28

and based on the continued success of

12:30

threshold entertainment

12:31

larry kassanov is clearly a good

12:33

businessman who knows his way around the

12:35

industry

12:36

when i poured over the history of this

12:38

film i kept asking myself

12:39

what went wrong and every time the

12:42

problem be traced back to larry

12:44

even though he had all the odds in his

12:45

favor the downfall of food fight seems

12:47

to be the arrogance of larry kassanov

12:50

he had funding skilled riders an

12:52

experienced animation team

12:54

and had secured deals with some of the

12:55

most popular food brands as well as

12:57

well-known voice actors

12:59

but he didn't utilize them to their full

13:00

potential instead he ignored them

13:03

and didn't even have enough knowledge of

13:04

the medium to know how to utilize them

13:06

properly

13:07

this is disappointing because the

13:08

beginnings of threshold entertainment

13:10

are similar to that of pixar

13:12

they started with a few shorts and doing

13:13

visual effects for movies

13:15

with the next big step being a feature

13:16

film the stark difference

13:18

is that pixar had a team full of

13:20

visionary artists who wanted to make a

13:22

great movie

13:23

threshold on the other hand was led by a

13:25

businessman who considered profit before

13:27

content

13:28

someone with all the money but none of

13:30

the heart

13:34

luckily the story does have a happy

13:36

ending threshold are still around today

13:38

still doing 3d animation but now for

13:40

theme park rides

13:42

and larry kassanov has since directed

13:43

another movie a 2015 documentary on

13:46

mindfulness

13:47

and from what i can tell no one's career

13:49

was derailed from the movie

13:50

though charlie sheen seen better days

13:53

but not all as well

13:54

it looks like threshold are re-entering

13:56

the feature film business with a trilogy

13:58

based on the video game

13:59

tetris and a 2021 reboot of the mortal

14:03

kombat series on the big screen

14:05

with kasanov as executive producer

14:06

according to his website

14:08

we'll see if threshold entertainment and

14:10

larry kassadop can surprise us and

14:12

redeem themselves

14:14

but for some reason i'm not so sure

14:17

[Music]

14:19

thank you so much for watching let me

14:21

know in the comments your theory on what

14:23

happened to the movie

14:24

and consider subscribing to the channel

14:25

to see more videos like this

14:27

this is mike with all things lost see

14:30

you soon

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Tags associés
Film HistoryThreshold EntertainmentFood FightAnimation FlopLarry KasanovProduct PlacementIndustry MishapsCasting ChoicesTheft MysteryBox Office Failure
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