World Collectively Sighs: Budgetary Concerns Almost Killed Battleship Movie in June

Do we talk about the Battleship movie too much here on Screened? Perhaps so, but let's be honest: this is the train wreck on water we're all dying to see come to fruition. Production's getting started this month in Hawaii and THR is reporting that Universal execs are nervous about the project in a big way. A $200 million dollar way. 
 
That's the budget for this film. 
 
If you need to hyperventilate into a paper bag I'll understand, I've got one for my now-thrice hourly attacks thanks to this news. For comparison's sake, Avatar was around $237 million. With a price tag like that attached the company heads are feeling a bit antsy since there are no real headlining stars attached besides Rhianna, but this being her debut as an actress it's impossible to say how well she'll perform. There's also the impending sale of NBC Universal to Comcast and another project with a bloated budget might not look terribly attractive on the balance sheets. An executive decision was almost made in June to ax it, but something made them hold back. Is the film part of an elaborate, wildly expensive gamble between billionaire entertainment CEOs to see how much it grosses? I can not wait to see where the dice rest on this one.