The movie business has always been a dangerous industry.
Rich people want to be part of it because it's glamorous, but actually turning a profit has traditionally been unbelievably challenging.
When you make a movie, nearly all your costs are upfront. Once it's complete, you then have massive marketing and distribution costs.
Sometimes certain rights, such as streaming or distribution deals in some overseas markets, might bring in cash while a film is being made, but it's not that common for smaller productions.
"The big financial stories are the fact that movies are not that profitable, ultimately, that the amount of expenditure that goes into them does not make a movie very profitable anymore," financial journalist Richard Natale told PBS Frontline.
He shared an example.
"And if you look at a movie like 'Pearl Harbor,' they spent $140 million to make it. They spent another $100 million to market it. And they will come away with probably $400 million to $500 million at the box office, half of which is returned to the studio," he added.
Most films actually lose money.
"Across all our films, we estimate that 41% made a profit and 59% made a loss," according to data from American Film Market.
"There is a wild oversupply of feature-length film productions, approximately 600 to 700 per year, while only 200 or so obtain even a decent release, permitting any return at all, much less a profit," Forbes contributor Schuyler Moore, a recognized commentator on film economics, wrote.
Numbers like that show how incredibly hard it is to make money in the business. It also reveals that $1 billion may not be as much as it seems.
Gold Tree Studios filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy
In March of this year, just nine months ago, Gold Tree, the parent company of Gold Tree Studio, raised $1 billion in financing for its film, television, and animation projects.
"Led by Gold Tree CEO and founder Tim Chonacas, the company will expand soundstages, equipment rentals, and post-production services in key tax-incentivized states to support its ongoing commitment to producing content across multiple platforms while offering world-class studio facilities," Deadline reported.
That seems like a lot of money, but not when you consider the costs of making a Hollywood movie.
"The average cost to produce a major studio movie has been around $65 million. But the production costs don't cover distribution and marketing, which adds another $35 million or so, on average, bringing the total cost to produce and market a major movie to about $100 million," according to Investopedia.