Studios Rush To Make Cheap Movies

Hollywood (NBp) - After a spending frenzy that culminated in the $200 million movie Titanic, Hollywood has discovered that they don't need to spend that much on movies. The Blair Witch Project, which cost only $100,000 to make, raked in more than $28 million in one weekend.

Studio insiders have told NBp that at least one major stuido is reducing their average movie budget from $50 million to $1.5 million. "Just look at Blair Witch. It has no special effects, no well known actors, was made on cheap cameras and is popular with both critics and audiences and has made a ton of money. That's the new formula in Hollywood," exclaimed our anonymous insider.

For the past couple of months, studios have been scrambling to produce big budget sci-fi movies, based on the success of Star Wars, The Matrix, The Mummy and The Haunting. The new "cheap movie" fad in Hollywood has led to the greenlighting of more than 500 inexpensive movies including:

• Ghost Town, Missouri - A group of art students travel to a small Missouri town that is rumored to be haunted to paint pictures of the town. The movie is presented as a slide show of their paintings. Budget: $3,500.
• The Invisible Bear - A group of college students go hiking in the mountains and are attacked by a bear they cannot see. Budget: $27,500.
• The Haunting II - A psychiatrist forces a group of students to stay in a house they believe is haunted. He studies their reaction as they discover that it is not actually haunted. Budget: $39,250
• The Abominable Snowman Project - See The Invisible Bear above, but replace "bear" with "abominable snowman". Budget: $50,000.
• Analyze Witch - a ghost comes to a group of psychiatry students who then videotape the therapy sessions. The ghost's voice can be heard on the tapes, but the ghost cannot be seen. Budget: $46,000.
• The $1,000 Movie - a documentary about a group of students who set out to make a movie for $1,000. Budget: $1,000.

Hollywood is expected to shift from cheap movies to comic book movies after this week's release of Mystery Men.