Will Hollywood try to cash in on Japan disaster?

By Scott Bowles, USA TODAY

Hollywood has taken an unusually reserved approach to the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, but analysts say they don't expect the restraint to be permanent.

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  Warner Bros. Pictures

  Pulled from Japanese theaters: Hereafter, with Jessica Griffiths, left, and Cecile De France, opens with a tsunami scene.

Warner Bros. Pictures

Pulled from Japanese theaters: Hereafter, with Jessica Griffiths, left, and Cecile De France, opens with a tsunami scene.

This week, Warner Bros. pulled the Matt Damon thriller Hereafter from Japanese theaters because of a graphic opening scene that depicts a tsunami laying waste to a coastal city. Officials estimate that the real-life quake and tsunami claimed at least 10,000 lives.

A day after withdrawing the film, the Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group announced that an unspecified portion of sales from the DVD, which hit shelves this week, would go toward relief efforts. Additionally, the Walt Disney Co. said it would donate $2.5 million to the American Red Cross to assist in aid to the island.

"You'd like to think that this is how Hollywood would deal with all disasters," says Jeff Bock, analyst for Exhibitor Relations, which examines box-office and industry trends. "But with a quake, fire, flood and nuclear explosions, it won't be long before someone tries to sell a monster movie out of it."

So far, few seem interested. Clint Eastwood, who directed Hereafter, says he's fine with having the film pulled from a market that has become crucial to studios. "The devastation and loss Japan is facing is almost incomprehensible," Eastwood said in a statement.

Studios may shy from the story after being burned by flops centered around 9/11, Bock says. Few films that sprung from the attacks have resonated at the box office.

"Generally, you need time to buffer" between movie and tragedy, says Brandon Gray, president of Box Office Mojo. "You need stories of heroism and survival. Scenes of devastation and bodies, especially if it's a real event, won't cut it."

But Kevin Tsujihara, head of Warner Bros.' home-video division, says filmmaking isn't a priority. "Our hearts and prayers go out to the people of Japan," he said in the news release. "We are committed to supporting relief and rebuilding efforts during this difficult time."

Bock says he doesn't expect tsunami films for years, given studios' abysmal showing with war-themed movies. Godzilla pictures, for instance, which sprang from World War II atomic bomb attacks, took a decade to reach theaters.

"People aren't going to be eager to see a feature movie about this anytime soon," Bock says. "Look how long it took us to accept Michael Bay doing a movie about Pearl Harbor. And it still wasn't as popular as Armageddon."

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