The Boat That Rocked - Vision

THE BOAT THAT ROCKED

Richard Curtis was inspired by the Pirate Radio ships that broadcast during the 1960s in the UK. This is a theme that would resonate with the older British generations who could remember the real life radio stations, but Richard Curtis's usual demographic is women, as he often writes rom-coms, such as Love Actually and Notting Hill.

Curtis has a reputation of making high quality films, and as he has nearly always working with Working Title Productions they were willing to invest in his proposal, especially as top British actors often work on his projects, creating more media interest in the film.




He wrote a fictional script set in that time period, but included some references to the culture of that time, for example the subsequent banning of pirate radio, and the 'Count' being based on a famous American DJ. The American character was especially used to attract the lucrative American audience.

Working Title procured a budget of over £30million from Universal. In turn, Universal, as a large conglomerate company,  owns many of the rights to the film, such as soundtracks, merchandise or any video-games or spin-offs. Due to their position as a top film studio, Universal was able to fund the vast majority of the film.



Conventions of Working Title that helped get the film greenlit:

American Star to draw in mass audience

Julia Roberts in Notting Hill, 1999


Renee Zellweger in Bridget Jones's Diary.



Phillip Seymour Hoffman in The Boat That Rocked

Traditional British Locations


Piccadilly Circus, Bridget Jones's Diary


The London Ritz Hotel, Notting Hill


Trafalgar Square, The Boat that Rocked.

Popular British Music

 
As TBTR was a film about British Rock Music, a vast array of popular songs from the era were used on the soundtrack. This was intended to attract the British audience members who were nostalgic for the 1960's. Surprisingly, no songs by the Beatles were used, which was seen by many as an attempt not to make the music cliched, but this in the long run probably did not help attract foreign audiences who have a stereotypical, traditional view of the UK.



Rom-Com Genre








Christmas