Alcon unhappy with 'What to Expect' birthing process

Alcon unhappy with 'What to Expect' birthing process

Don’t expect another marriage between "What to Expect When You're Expecting."

Best known for producing and fully financing family-oriented fare like "Dolphin Tale" and "The Blind Side," Alcon late last year made its first deal to co-finance a movie produced by another studio.

The $40-million adaptation of "What to Expect," based on the bestselling pregnancy book for preparing new parents, hits theaters this weekend with decent box-office expectations. All indications are that the film will make a modest profit.

Still, one of the founders of Alcon, a small production company used to overseeing its own films, said he regrets the decision to get involved in the movie.

"We have not found this experience to be a good one and I don't believe we would do it again in the near future," said Alcon co-chief executive Andrew Kosove.

The reason: Kosove and his partner Broderick Johnson expected to be passive financ iers, merely kicking in half of the production money and half of the $36 million marketing cost in exchange for 50% of the profits.

Instead, Kosove said, it turned out to be a "time suck." He maintained that he and other executives at Alcon had to significantly assist Lionsgate in preparing the marketing campaign for the movie, which features an ensemble including Warner Bros. its first acquisition, the horror film "Chernobyl Diaries." Alcon bought distribution rights to the film in the U.S. and several foreign countries in February.

Kosove said that it’s a coincidence that both of its movies are coming out one week apart, but that Alcon purposely decided to spread its wings into co-financing and acquisitions this year to fill out its film slate.

"We’re large enough now that going an entire year with only one relelase [January's"Joyful Noise"] isn’t sufficient," he said. "We don’t need to do four or five movies, but we can't do just one."

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