Line #135 Main/ContractualObligationProject


1	[[quoteright:350:[[AudioPlay/MontyPythonsContractualObligationAlbum https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/32834e5a5d640ad446d50e37b14ca793.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350: [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin Truth in album titling.]]]]
3
4	->''"Two words: contractually obligated!"''
5	-->-- '''Music/KellyClarkson''', on why she did ''Film/FromJustinToKelly''
6
7	A work that [[WordOfGod the creators say they did mainly to fulfill a contractual obligation.]]
8
9	Similar to MoneyDearBoy except for the creator's goal in many instances is to avoid ''losing'' money as a result of [[ScrewedByTheLawyers getting sued for breach of contract, incurring legal expenses, and (in the worst case scenario) having to pay damages]].
10
11	For a creator involved in a contractual obligation project, the ''obligation'' aspect looms over everything. A typical example is when there's a final project left in a long-term agreement between parties whose relationship has soured. [[CreatorsApathy The enthusiasm for this last project may be low]] since at least one party just wants to get it over with and end the deal. Other times, the Contractual Obligation Project may be one a creator will do [[OneForTheMoneyOneForTheArt just so they can get to do another more enticing project that's also part of the deal.]] This does not mean a Contractual Obligation Project is all but guaranteed to be a dud. There are times when, in spite of everything, the final product will end up being [[SleeperHit financially successful, award-winning,]] and [[MagnumOpusDissonance highly-regarded]].
12
13	Note that this is mostly an English-speaking trope used in the Anglosphere, due to the way in which Common Law works in those countries. Many other countries forbid forcing a person to work against their will unless the person who signed the contract also compromised in some way or another to work on that project. There are a few exceptions to this, especially when divorced people are involved.
14
15	Compare this with AshcanCopy, which is a project that is greenlit to avoid a penalty because the terms of a contract ''aren't'' being met, and MerchandiseDriven, where the writers of a show are contractually obligated to add elements inspired by real-life merchandise in order to advertise it. A fictional version usually involves ForcedCreativity.
16	----
17	!!Examples:
18	[[foldercontrol]]
19
20	[[folder:Advertising]]
21	* The reason Music/MichaelJackson did Pepsi commercials in TheEighties despite not drinking the stuff was part of the deal for them sponsoring Music/TheJacksons' ''Victory'' tour in 1984. This led to a serious accident where, while filming one of the commercials, Jackson was accidentally set on fire by pyrotechnics; he negotiated a massive settlement with Pepsi afterward, but the injuries to his scalp forced him to wear wigs for the rest of his life, and many pointed to the accident as the catalyst for the painkiller addiction that would eventually kill him.
22	[[/folder]]
23
24	[[folder:Anime and Manga]]
25	* Basically how the ''[[Anime/SmilePrettyCure Glitter Force]]'' dub came to be. Despite Crunchyroll trying to get the streaming rights to the rest of the ''Pretty Cure'' series [[note]] and eventually succeeding in doing so after ''Glitter Force'' flopped [[/note]], Toei decided to include ''Pretty Cure'' in the same licensing deal that also gave Saban Brands the rights to ''Digimon''. However, it should be noted that Saban wanted nothing to do with the ''Pretty Cure'' series to begin with. This resulted in ''Smile'' (and eventually ''Anime/DokiDokiPrettyCure'') getting an AshcanCopy dubwork from upper management.
26	[[/folder]]
27
28	[[folder:Audio Plays]]
29	* ''AudioPlay/MontyPythonsContractualObligationAlbum'' expressly invokes this trope: it contained a minimum of brand new material, and that was often deliberately thrown together and made to look slapdash and amateurish whilst still remaining funny. Most of the rest consists of off-cuts from film scripts, and reworkings of old sketches and songs that go back to the middle 1960s, and which were originally intended for radio and TV shows that ''preceded'' [[Franchise/MontyPython Python]] by some years. Some sketches had indeed already been performed on British radio and TV by other people.
30	[[/folder]]
31
32	[[folder:Comic Books]]
33	* An in-universe example in ''ComicBook/{{Transmetropolitan}}''. Spider Jerusalem left the City but is forced to return due to a two-book contract. He eventually declares that one of the books will be an {{Omnibus}} re-release of the columns he's written so far, angrily pointing out (on live TV, no less), that his contract permits this, while the second book will be on the impending presidential election. [[spoiler: He gets out of the second due to info-pollen induced dementia.]]
34	[[/folder]]
35
36	[[folder:ComicStrips]]
37	* Lampshaded in a ''ComicStrip/{{Doonesbury}}'' strip with Jimmy Thudpucker. When told he needs a "dues" song on his new album (as in "I've paid my dues") Jimmy replies that he paid no dues. He was an overnight success. His agent counters that his contract requires one "dues" song per album.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Films — Animation]]
41	* For nearly 20 years, Creator/WaltDisney had a distribution deal with Creator/{{RKO}}. By the early 1950s, RKO was crumbling under the erratic leadership of Creator/HowardHughes. In 1953, Disney had formed his own distribution company, Buena Vista, but was still obligated to deliver one more film to Hughes. As a result, Disney compiled segments from his earlier animated anthologies ''WesternAnimation/MakeMineMusic'' and ''WesternAnimation/MelodyTime'', to create ''Music Land'' (1955). This constituted a new film in RKO's eyes and the deal ended with ''Music Land''. Unsurprisingly, the film is an even bigger OldShame for Disney than its other package movies; it never saw any theatrical reissues nor any home video releases and is not counted as part of the [[Franchise/DisneyAnimatedCanon canon]].
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Films — Live-Action]]
45	* While Creator/DavidArquette doing ''Film/ReadyToRumble'' isn't itself an example (he actually enjoyed doing the film... solely because it let him hang out with professional wrestlers; he thought the script was garbage), him holding the WCW World Heavyweight Championship ''is''. Arquette, a lifelong wrestling fan, was horrified at the idea of a non-wrestler like him being handed the title but was forced into the gimmick by his contract. In response, he donated his earnings to the families of deceased wrestlers Wrestling/OwenHart and Wrestling/BrianPillman, as well as to Darren Drozdov (rendered permanently paralyzed after an in-ring accident).
46	* The poster-woman for why this occurs is Creator/KimBasinger, who averted this trope by backing out of ''Film/BoxingHelena'' - and was subsequently sued by Main Line Pictures for breach of contract, initially winning an $8.1 million judgment against the actress (resulting in her bankruptcy), though they later settled for roughly $3.8 million.
47	* Even though the film ended up winning her an UsefulNotes/AcademyAward (albeit due to a sympathy vote because she had nearly died of pneumonia[[note]]Creator/ShirleyMacLaine, up until then the presumptive favorite for ''Film/TheApartment'', which otherwise swept the awards that night, famously said, "when Liz Taylor got a hole in her throat, I canceled my plane".[[/note]]), Creator/ElizabethTaylor never liked ''[=Butterfield=] 8'' and only did the movie because it was required under her contract.
48	* ''Film/TheCatInTheHat'' is an example due to Creator/MikeMyers and Bo Welch being forced under threat of a lawsuit[[note]] Myers was supposed to do a movie based on the ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketch ''Sprockets'' for Universal, but he was unsatisfied with all of the proposed scripts and refused.[[/note]] to work on the movie.
49	* The existence of ''Film/CutthroatIsland'' had a lot to do with it being a Contractual Obligation Project for many of the people involved. The producers, for example, were obligated to make the film because the money had already been raised and star Creator/GeenaDavis and director Creator/RennyHarlin were contractually tied to do it.
50	* When Music/KellyClarkson was asked why she participated in the poorly received musical ''Film/FromJustinToKelly'', she replied "{{Two Words\|AddedEmphasis}}: contractually obligated!"
51	* Creator/JessicaChastain was given a starring role in ''Film/CrimsonPeak'' provided that she would also later appear in ''Film/TheHuntsmanWintersWar''.
52	* Creator/ClarkGable and Creator/ClaudetteColbert thought ''Film/ItHappenedOneNight'' would flop and were only in the film to fulfill contractual obligations. Both would go on to win [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscars]] for the movie; as of 2019, the film is one of only three films to win the "Big Five" Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Actor and Best Actress).[[note]]For the curious, the other two are ''Film/OneFlewOverTheCuckoosNest'' and ''Film/TheSilenceOfTheLambs''.[[/note]]
53	* Music/TheBeatles signed a contract with Creator/UnitedArtists in late 1963 to make three movies, two of which were the very well-received ''Film/AHardDaysNight'' and ''Film/{{Help}}''. The Fab Four was dissatisfied working on the latter film, however, so they agreed to have ''WesternAnimation/YellowSubmarine'' made as an easy way to fulfill their contract since it's an animated movie NotQuiteStarring them. On seeing the end result, however, the band actually ended up enjoying it more than they expected. Many fans have assumed that the cartoon did not satisfy the contract, but ''Film/LetItBe'', also released by United Artists, was not part of the original three-picture deal.
54	* Creator/SylvesterStallone starred in ''Film/OverTheTop'' purely to fulfill his contract with Creator/TheCannonGroup.
55	* Creator/PaulNewman agreed to star in ''Film/WhenTimeRanOut'' out of contractual obligation and later called it the worst film he ever did. On the bright side, much of Newman's salary from the movie provided the seed money to begin his successful charity, Newman's Own.
56	* Creator/NataliePortman signed onto the first ''Film/{{Thor}}'' because she wanted to work with Creator/KennethBranagh. She also signed under the understanding that Creator/PattyJenkins [[note]] Jenkins would have been the first woman to direct a modern big-budget superhero movie. She would actually end up being that a few years later with ''Film/WonderWoman2017'' [[/note]]was to direct the sequel that ended up being called ''[[Film/ThorTheDarkWorld The Dark World]]''. Jenkins ended up leaving the project a few months after she officially signed on for CreativeDifferences and Portman tried to leave with her. She would later back down once she realized that there was no way out of her two-film contract to avoid litigation from Creator/{{Disney}}’s ArmyOfLawyers.
57	* Creator/WhoopiGoldberg reluctantly did ''Film/TheodoreRex'' to fulfill a contractual obligation and avoid paying damages from a lawsuit by the film's producers. Whoopi Goldberg had learned the lesson of just biting the bullet and starring in a flop from Creator/KimBasinger, who was driven into bankruptcy when she tried to defy this trope by refusing to star in ''Film/BoxingHelena''.
58	* Creator/ChanningTatum's appearances in ''Film/GIJoeTheRiseOfCobra'' and ''Film/GIJoeRetaliation'' were the result of a deal he made with Paramount and the studio threatened him with a lawsuit if he didn't honor the agreement. He picked the ''Franchise/GIJoe'' franchise in the hopes that it would be a fun experience but [[CreatorBacklash has had very few nice things to say about the films]] once he was no longer obligated to promote them.
59	* Creator/JamieLeeCurtis was forced to star in ''Film/HalloweenResurrection'' - a critically savaged sequel to ''Film/HalloweenH20TwentyYearsLater''. The promotional team also circulated a lie that Jamie was only meant to have a 30-second cameo but "liked the script so much" that she had her role expanded.
60	* Creator/EmilyBlunt had to star in ''Film/GulliversTravels2010'' as a result of starring in ''Film/TheDevilWearsPrada''. Because of the scheduling conflict, she had to turn down the role of ComicBook/BlackWidow in ''Film/IronMan2''.
61	* Back in the 1930s Chinese-American star Creator/AnnaMayWong was getting frustrated at playing DragonLady parts and exotic supporting roles. She agreed to do one more - playing the daughter of Literature/FuManchu in ''Film/DaughterOfTheDragon'' - so she could star in the Creator/MarleneDietrich movie ''Film/ShanghaiExpress'', getting a more interesting part. ''Daughter of the Dragon'' marked the last time she ever played a DragonLady.
62	* Creator/ValKilmer didn't want to be in ''Film/TopGun'', but was contractually obliged. He also tried to drop out of ''Film/TheIslandOfDrMoreau1996'' due to his impending divorce but was contractually obliged. Another of the film's stars, Creator/FairuzaBalk, walked off the set in protest at Creator/RichardStanley being fired and was literally stopped at the airport when trying to leave Australia, being informed that her career would be utterly ruined if she dropped out.
63	* Both Creator/OttoPreminger and Creator/MarilynMonroe were forced to do the 1954 western ''River of No Return'' against their will, due to contractual obligations. They both expressed their frustration over the script which they considered below par. However, the film was a box office hit upon its release and remains a popular classic western. Monroe also agreed to take a supporting part in ''There's No Business Like Show Business'', a JukeboxMusical released the same year, in order to secure a leading role in ''Film/TheSevenYearItch''[[note]]If Monroe proved to be unavailable, Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox's next choice would've been Creator/JeanSimmons[[/note]].
64	* Creator/EdwardNorton made it clear that his participation in ''Film/TheItalianJob2003'' is a result of contractual obligation, not choice. He signed a three-movie deal with Paramount, of which ''Film/PrimalFear'', his breakthrough movie, was the first. He kept dismissing scripts for the other two (resulting in the contract getting extended from the intended timeline of contract though Norton now only had to do one extra film) until Paramount coerced him into accepting a role in this film. Norton did not hide his misery on the set, [[HostilityOnTheSet clashing with the crew]] throughout it, and when the producer handed out gifts to the cast over the movie's surprisingly strong box office performance, Norton returned the gift with a note stating "Give this to someone you actually like--or someone who actually likes you." He also wasn't happy at how the conditions of the deal meant that he was paid a fraction of what he'd have earned on any other film at that time in his career.
65	* Creator/JohnWayne played UsefulNotes/GenghisKhan in ''Film/TheConqueror'' to close out his contract with Creator/{{RKO}}.
66	* Creator/GenevieveBujold made ''Film/{{Earthquake}}'' and ''Film/{{Swashbuckler}}'' purely to fill out her contract with Creator/UniversalStudios.
67	* Eric Bress and J Mackeye Gruber wrote the script for ''Film/FinalDestination2'' in order to be allowed to direct ''Film/TheButterflyEffect''.
68	* Creator/ChristopherLambert was so disgusted with the rewritten script for ''Film/HighlanderIITheQuickening'' that he wanted to drop out of the film. Contractual obligations forced him to finish it.
69	* Creator/RoyScheider did not originally want to appear in ''Film/Jaws2'', but had recently left the production of ''Film/TheDeerHunter'', which led to conflicts with Creator/UniversalPictures to whom he was locked into a multi-film contract. The studio agreed to forgive his leaving ''The Deer Hunter'' if he did ''Jaws 2'', which they would count as the two remaining films of his contract with them. Scheider agreed to the terms but was resentful of his involvement from the onset and clashed frequently with director Jeannot Szwarc.
70	* Creator/ArnoldSchwarzenegger only agreed to star in ''Film/RawDeal1986'' after much haggling in exchange for dissolving his multi-picture agreement with Dino [=De Laurentiis=]. He had one picture left with the producer and was actually very interested in doing ''Film/TotalRecall1990'', but [=De Laurentiis=] objected, feeling that he was not suitable for the lead role of Quaid. Instead, Creator/PatrickSwayze was already cast before the bankruptcy.
71	* Creator/JackieChan appeared in ''Film/CannonballRunII'' for this very reason.
72	* Creator/NatalieWood didn't want to be in ''Film/TheGreatRace'', but Creator/WarnerBros talked her into it. Wood was unhappy with her career and her personal life, having recently divorced from Creator/RobertWagner in April 1962. Warner asked Creator/TonyCurtis if he would give a percentage of his film royalties to Wood, as an enticement, but Curtis refused. He said, "I couldn't give her anything to make her want to do the movie." Instead of more money, Warner promised Wood that if she completed ''The Great Race'', she could star in ''Film/InsideDaisyClover'', a role she greatly wished to have. Wood agreed, thinking that filming would be brief on Creator/BlakeEdwards' movie.
73	* Creator/GaryCooper agreed to star in ''Film/ThePrideOfTheYankees'' despite not being a baseball fan, as he owed one to Samuel Goldwyn.
74	* Creator/JohnCandy didn't want to make ''Film/WagonsEast'', but was contractually obliged. Sadly, this turned out to be his final film, as he DiedDuringProduction.
75	* Creator/MichaelFassbender agreed to star in ''Film/TheCounselor'' as part of a two-picture deal. The next film would not be a sequel; instead, the studio would fund ''[[Film/AssassinsCreed2016 Assassin's Creed]]'', which was a passion project of his.
76	* Following the failure via ExecutiveMeddling of his film ''The Road Back'', Creator/JamesWhale ran out his contract at Universal with a string of B-movies. Other than ''The Man In The Iron Mask'', six of his last seven films were critical and commercial failures.
77	* Creator/ChrisFarley and Creator/DavidSpade were both signed to a two-film deal by Paramount. ''Film/BlackSheep1996'' was rushed into production because they wanted to capitalize on the success of ''Film/TommyBoy'' before the contracts expired.
78	* Creator/CarolineMunro appeared in ''Film/DraculaAD1972'' and ''Film/CaptainKronosVampireHunter'' as part of her deal with Hammer.
79	* Creator/GeorgeLazenby appeared in three films for Golden Harvest - ''Stoner'', ''Film/TheManFromHongKong'' and ''The Queen's Ransom''.
80	* Creator/AlanLadd signed a three-picture deal with Creator/AlbertRBroccoli's Warwick films. The results were ''The Red Beret'', ''Hell Below Zero'' and ''The Black Knight''.
81	* Creator/MarioBava was unwillingly conscripted to direct the Creator/VincentPrice spy-spoof sequel ''[[Film/DrGoldfootAndTheBikiniMachine Doctor Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs]]''. The resulting mess is often and unsurprisingly regarded as his worst movie.
82	* Creator/BruceWillis starred in ''Film/Armageddon1998'', ''Film/TheSixthSense'' and ''Film/TheKid2000'' (the first two of which were monster hits) because of another film he'd been working on for Disney, ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broadway_Brawler Broadway Brawler]]'', being scrapped early into principal photography for various reasons (mostly on Willis' end), with a three-picture deal between him and Disney ultimately brokered to prevent Disney from suing him; because of the fact that Disney had spent $20 million on an unfinished movie, Willis took a drastic cut in pay for ''Armageddon'' to help make up the difference.
83	* Creator/{{Disney}} inherited a bunch of movies from [[Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios Twentieth Century Fox]] following the former's expensive acquisition of the latter. Despite some speculation that some completed films might be canceled, Disney made an effort to honor the existing contracts by giving full theatrical releases to all inherited films, even if some movies had InvisibleAdvertising as a result.
84	* Creator/BrookeShields agreed to take a role in the Creator/GeorgeBurns vehicle ''Just You and Me, Kid'' only to secure the lead in ''Film/{{The Blue Lagoon\|1980}}''[[note]]If Shields proved to be unavailable, the producers' other choice was Melissa Sue Anderson[[/note]].
85	* Music/RobZombie initially signed a three-picture deal with the Weinstein Company to reboot the ''Halloween'' franchise. He found working with the Weinsteins to be a nightmare, however. So before agreeing to direct the second film, he asked to be let out of the agreement to do the third.
86	[[/folder]]
87
88	[[folder:Literature]]
89	* ''Literature/PetSematary'': While it was marketed as "the book so scary Stephen King didn't want to publish it," the real truth is that King wanted out of his Doubleday contract due to the publisher holding onto a huge backlog of his royalties. Doubleday refused to give the money back unless King delivered two more books. Having previously shelved the story for being too nihilistic for his liking, King threw the manuscript at them to settle half of the contract.
90	[[/folder]]
91
92	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
93	* This trope is invoked in-universe in the final episode of ''Series/ThirtyRock'' when, after the show-within-the-show "TGS" is canceled, another episode has to be produced in order to avoid having to give Tracy a $30 million payout.
94	* The only reason Creator/{{Freeform}} still airs the fundamentalist Christian show ''The 700 Club'' is because it is under contract with televangelist Pat Robertson to do so, back when it was owned by his Christian Broadcasting Network, under the name CBN Satellite Service. Robertson allegedly refused Disney's monetary offers to take his business elsewhere; it's likely that he kept doing it out of spite in response to the network's "satanic" direction since the TurnOfTheMillennium. The network gets around the issue by scheduling it in undesirable slots and airing ContentWarnings which generally [[TakeThat mock the show]].
95	-->''Freeform is not responsible for what is about to appear on your screen. Watch or don't watch. We're okay either way.''
96	* Monty Hall hosted the 1979-80 revival of ''Series/BeatTheClock'' because CBS [[http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,28600.msg350149.html#msg350149 had him under contract at the time]]. Up until that point, they hadn't found any work for him, so they forced him to host. He greatly disliked the show, stating many years later [[OldShame "I hated it with all my heart"]].
97	* Early in his career, Creator/LennyHenry's first manager gave him the opportunity to perform as part of the Luff-produced touring stage version of ''Series/TheBlackAndWhiteMinstrelShow'', which in retrospect has widely been seen as [[OldShame an embarrassment]] and one of the [[ValuesDissonance most racist shows in British history]]. In July 2009, he stated he was contractually obliged to perform and regretted his part in the show, telling ''The Times'' in 2015 that his appearance on the show led to a profound "wormhole of depression", and regretted his family not intervening to prevent him from continuing in the show.
98	* ''Series/{{Dollhouse}}'' was created in order to finish Creator/ElizaDushku's contract with Creator/{{Fox}}.
99	* When Patrick Duffy returned to ''Series/{{Dallas}}'' in 1986, he stipulated in his contract that once the series ended, series producer Lorimar would be obligated to cast him in another show. ''Dallas'' ended in 1991, and Lorimar fulfilled the contract by casting Duffy as the patriarch on ''Series/StepByStep''.
100	* Creator/PaulLynde's appearances on ''Series/DonnyAndMarie'' were to fulfill his contract with Creator/{{ABC}} regarding his Halloween special.
101	* The series ''Series/{{Helstrom}}'' was commissioned by ''Marvel Television'' for Creator/{{Hulu}} as part of the ''Franchise/MarvelCinematicUniverse'' (MCU) in a supernatural horror subfranchise titled ''Adventure Into Fear'' with a standalone ''Ghost Rider'' series (with Gabriel Luna reprising his role) also being developed with many other horror characters also having planned adaptations. However, following a corporate restructuring that had MCU Producer Kevin Feige gaining complete oversight over the Television side of the MCU, the subfranchise was aborted with all the shows canceled except ''Helstrom'' due to being too far in development, and was allowed to finish production but also declared non-canonical to the MCU in order to fulfill their contractual obligations to the parties involved.
102	* The NCAA used to control all television rights for UsefulNotes/CollegiateAmericanFootball. Starting in 1977, when they reached a 4-year deal with Creator/{{ABC}} that significantly expanded the number of games shown, the NCAA required that the network show a small number of games involving colleges from the lower-profile Division II and Division III (and when it began in 1978, Division I-AA). ABC had no intention of taking any prime exposure away from Division I teams for these games, so they [[LoopholeAbuse scheduled them in the less-desirable early afternoon timeslots with very small regional footprints]] (often just 1 or 2 affiliates). In 1982, Creator/{{CBS}} was also granted rights to live games, but the NCAA subjected them to the same requirements, which they handled in much the same way. Most memorably, during the UsefulNotes/NationalFootballLeague players' strike that year, CBS burned off their Division III requirement over a single weekend by moving four games[[note]]Baldwin-Wallace at Wittenberg, West Georgia at Millsaps, Wisconsin-Oshkosh at Wisconsin-Stout, University of San Diego at Occidental[[/note]] to Sunday and putting them in the regular NFL timeslot to be aired on a regional basis. However, the NCAA's heavy-handed rules had frustrated many of the bigger schools, who banded together to form the College Football Association, which attempted to cut its own TV deal. This led to suits and countersuits between the NCAA and the CFA, until the US Supreme Court ruled against the NCAA in 1984, saying that their TV contracts violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, opening the way for schools and conferences to make TV deals and pushing the smaller schools out of the TV picture entirely.
103	* ''Series/PowerRangersRPM'' exists because of contractual obligations between Disney, Bandai, and Jetix Europe. By that point in time, Disney had long contemplated canceling ''Franchise/PowerRangers'' (especially when Bruce Kalish, lead producer of previous Disney seasons, parted ways following ''Series/PowerRangersJungleFury''), but they were on the hook for one last season, so ''RPM'' was produced with fresh new production. The preconception that ''RPM'' was going to be [[GrandFinale the final season of the franchise]] is what enabled the new team more creative freedom to explore [[DarkerAndEdgier an uncharacteristically darker and more self-aware direction appealing to older audiences]], but [[ScrewedByTheNetwork it also led to Disney's complete indifference to the show when it was ready, giving it little advertising and subjecting it highly inconsistent broadcasting and timeslots, including at 5 AM]].
104	* Short-lived reality/competition show ''Unchained Reaction'' -- hosted by Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman of ''Series/{{Mythbusters}}'' fame -- was the result of the two being approached by {{Creator/Discovery\|Channel}} to create a show based on making [[RubeGoldbergDevice chain reaction machines]]. Neither Savage nor Hyneman were fans of Rube Goldberg machines just for the sake of it, as well as competition shows, but they ended up doing a short 6-episode season to test the waters [[ShortRunners before it was dropped shortly afterward]].
105	[[/folder]]
106
107	[[folder:Music]]
108	* Music/JimiHendrix:
109	** ''Music/AxisBoldAsLove'' was a contractual obligation album because the Experience was required to release two albums in 1967. Despite this, it is regarded as a classic and was listed at #83 in ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='=]s 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
110	** Part of the reason for ''Music/BandOfGypsys'' being produced was to settle a contract dispute with Ed Chalpin, who managed Hendrix when the guitarist was a member of R&B band Curtis Knight & The Squires and who had been reissuing Knight/Squires albums on Creator/CapitolRecords with misleading covers publicizing Jimi's involvement with them to compete with/capitalize on Hendrix' success years later.
111	* Music/ElectricLightOrchestra's ''Music/BalanceOfPower'' was created entirely because the band needed to deliver one more album to Jet Records before they could dissolve following the TroubledProduction of ''Secret Messages''. The resultant CreatorsApathy led to the album being widely panned upon release, and the band immediately parted ways once the supporting tour wrapped up, not reforming until the TurnOfTheMillennium.
112	* Music/TheDingees admitted that, after writing enough songs for their fourth album, ''The Rebel Soul Sound System'', they'd planned to stick in a bunch of dub remixes as AlbumFiller to extend the whole thing to double-album length--and thus fulfill their five-album contract with their label. Ironically, the label dropped ''them'' before they could record any of it, and ''The Rebel Soul Sound System'' wound up being the band's zero-budget passion project instead of a contractual obligation.
113	* By 1977 the members of Music/EmersonLakeAndPalmer were pretty much no longer on speaking terms. They had to record one more album before they were released by their label, though, and the result, ''Love Beach'', is regarded as ''their'' worst.
114	* When Music/MarvinGaye got divorced in 1977, he agreed to give his ex-wife half the proceeds from his next album. The result was ''Here, My Dear'', which was panned by critics and fans alike (although it's been VindicatedByHistory, making ''Magazine/RollingStone''[='=]s list of 500 Greatest Albums of All Time at #456). Rumors that he intentionally made a bad album that wouldn't sell soon arose; other accounts suggest that she would get the money regardless, possibly making this an aversion.
115	* Though Music/TalkTalk split up shortly after the release of ''Music/LaughingStock'' in 1991, their contract with Creator/PolydorRecords required one more album to be fulfilled. Frontman Mark Hollis would thus come out of retirement in 1998 solely to put out [[Music/MarkHollisAlbum a self-titled solo album]] and complete his end of the bargain, quietly stepping back into retirement right after.
116	* Music/MichaelJackson[='=]s ''Number Ones'' compilation album was released solely so that Jackson could fulfill his contract with Sony Music, following a high-profile legal dispute with them that stalled promotion for ''Music/{{Invincible}}'', his last album before his death eight years later.
117	* Lord Melody (a calypso singer) released two in 1962/1963 to get out of his contract with Cook Records (which was about to fold). These were ''Lord Melody 1962'' (US) / ''More Calypsoes By Lord Melody'' (Trinidad) (largely rerecorded early 50s material and singles aimed at tourists) and ''Caribbean Limbo Music'' (an album of Melody and a man named Sam discussing limbo moves over jazz instrumentals from Cook's back catalog). In Trinidad, ''1962'' was Melody's poorest-selling release, though it was fairly successful in the US due to his cover of "Shame And Scandal" (Wau Wau).
118	* Music/LedZeppelin began and ended this way:
119	** When Music/TheYardbirds broke up in 1968, Music/JimmyPage wound up holding the bag on the band's remaining contractually obligated album. He got three other musicians he knew of together to form, and briefly tour, as the New Yardbirds. By the time they released the album, they'd changed their name and the rest is history ...
120	** ... until it came to an end a decade later. They were contractually obligated for one more album after the death of drummer John Bonham but were unwilling to continue without him, and so released ''Music/{{Coda}}'', an album made up entirely of unreleased songs, mostly from ''Music/InThroughTheOutDoor''. It's generally considered to be their worst album.
121	* When [[Music/NSync *NSYNC]] went on a hiatus in 2002, they didn't plan for the break to turn into [[https://www.huffpost.com/entry/nsync-interview-walk-of-fame_n_5ade1b2be4b0df502a4e64d0 a formal disbandment]]. Since they still owed Creator/JiveRecords future albums, compilation albums were released in subsequent years to fulfill their contract (Jive has since been absorbed into Sony Music).
122	** These compilation albums include ''Greatest Hits'' (2005), ''The Collection'' (2010), and ''The Essential NSYNC'' (2014). The band members themselves [[https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/lance-bass-talks-surprise-n-sync-album-i-was-shocked-6214236/ were not even aware of an impending release]] of ''The Essential NSYNC''.
123	** In 2004, as Lance, Joey, JC, and Chris waited on Justin’s presumed return to the band, Justin was asked by GQ Magazine about the possibility of returning to the group. The article stated, “Lance Bass says [='NSync=] is planning to record another album, ideally in November, and he has every reason to expect Justin will be there. Justin's less certain, even when it's suggested he has a contractual obligation.”
124	--> '''Justin''': I don't know, I don't know. You're never contractually obligated to do anything. I think Music/ATribeCalledQuest has been contractually obligated to do another album for like ten years.
125	* After the death of Music/VanMorrison's producer Bert Berns, Morrison was still contracted for an album to his Bang Records company, owned by Berns' widow Ilena, with whom Morrison didn't get along. To get out of his contract, Morrison recorded an album worth of desultory, sometimes intentionally offensive "songs" such as "Ring Worm", "Here Comes Dumb George", and "Blowin' Your Nose". They sometimes get released as "rarities" to hoodwink completists.
126	* Music/OzzyOsbourne never made any secret of disliking the 1982 ''Speak of the Devil'' double live album that consists mostly of his versions of Black Sabbath songs, to the point that after it went out of print in 2000 he [[CanonDiscontinuity stopped listing it on his website]], since it was not a good time in his life and he did it purely for contractual reasons.[[note]]However, even at the time, it was praised since his versions were notably better than those offered up by his former bandmates on ''Live Evil''.[[/note]]
127	* Music/TupacShakur signed a three-album deal with Creator/DeathRowRecords in exchange for them bailing him out of prison. ''Music/AllEyezOnMe'' was released as a double album, which was followed by ''Music/TheDonKilluminatiThe7DayTheory''.
128	* Andrew Eldritch of Music/TheSistersOfMercy, in order to dissolve his Warner contract, released a "techno without drums" album under a quasi-side project called SSV-NSMABAAOTWMODAACOTIATW, short for Screw Shareholder Value - Not So Much A Band As Another Opportunity To Waste Money On Drugs And Ammunition courtesy Of The Idiots At Time Warner.
129	* When Music/FrankieValliAndTheFourSeasons left Vee-Jay Records for Philips Records following a lawsuit over unpaid royalties, they were obligated as part of the settlement to deliver one final album for Vee-Jay. They created a "live" album by taking rehearsal recordings and overdubbing crowd noises. Said album mostly featured standards done in a traditional style incongruous with the group's usual sound, perhaps in a deliberate attempt to make the album flop, although it did feature a song done in their usual style ("Little Boy [in Grown up Clothes]", which saw a single release) and a comedy routine which featured excerpts of "Sherry" ("How Do You Make a Hit Song?").
130	* Happened with Music/WeirdAlYankovic when he was with his old record company, Scotti Bros.
131	** Al was faced with two stipulations for ''Music/DareToBeStupid''. The first was that one of the songs had to be a Music/CyndiLauper parody, and the second was that he had to include a cover. He met them with "Girls Just Want to Have Lunch" and the ''WesternAnimation/GeorgeOfTheJungle'' theme song, respectively. Al put as little effort as he could for "Girls Just Want to Have Lunch", [[WriterRevolt singing with a rock-bottom demeanor]].
132	** For ''Music/PolkaParty'', the label forced him to include a Christmas song. Al gave them "Christmas at Ground Zero", a BlackComedy song about nuclear annihilation.
133	** As ''Music/{{Alapalooza}}'' neared completion, Scotti Bros. attempted to release a compilation album called ''Al Unplugged''. When Al heard that this meant swapping out the electric instruments in the songs in favor of synthesized acoustic-sounding parts, he put an end to it. The label then pitched ''The Food Album'' which Al accepted because he "hated it slightly less." Al commissioned Creator/MrLawrence to design the album cover (a monster getting his last licks at the remains of Al's skeleton with an apple in its jaws) to illustrate how the label had "[bled] his catalog dry".
134	** While ''Music/BadHairDay'' was in production, Al was similarly approached for ''The TV Album'' to complete the compilation album clause on his contract. Al was more open to it, reporting that the record company was more civil than in other cases. Its cover depicts Al giving a SlasherSmile while blowing up a TV set with dynamite. Al explained that the artwork for ''TV'' and ''Food'' was so that he'd at least have a good laugh at the album covers despite hating the albums themselves.
135	* Both ''Music/NaughtyBoys'' and ''Music/{{Service}}'' by Music/YellowMagicOrchestra were put out solely to fulfill the band's contract with Alfa Records as fast as possible; the group originally planned to dissolve after the release of ''Music/{{Technodelic}}'' thanks to CreativeDifferences, but Alfa still required two more albums. Tellingly, ''Naughty Boys'' and ''Service'' both released the same year, and the latter features a number of Japanese-language comedy skits to pad out the runtime.
136	* Music/{{Logic}} had announced his retirement from rap before realizing that his contract with Def Jam still required him to put out an album and mixtape; he put together his last album under Def Jam, ''Vinyl Days'', in 12 days in order to fulfill his obligations and get independent as fast as possible. The album received broadly positive reviews, features an impressive guest list, and is considered by his fans to be one of his best projects. Logic stated in an interview that he was proud that, even though he cranked it out quickly, ''Vinyl Days'' was "the dopest shit I could give them -- it's not like I just wiped my ass".
137	* In 1970, Music/TheRollingStones wanted to leave their then-current record company Decca to form their own label but was told they were still under contract to produce at least one more single for the company. To complete the contract but also stick it to Decca management whom they had grown to really detest by this time, they submitted the extremely profane song "Cocksucker Blues" (aka Schoolboy Blues), a song that tells the tale of a young man going to London looking for gay sex in explicit detail. Naturally, Decca refused to release it, just as the band had expected. It would have remained buried and unheard by anyone outside the band and record label if not for a German record label accidentally including it on a Rolling Stones box set "The Rest of the Best" they released in 1983. Once this oversight was discovered, the box set was recalled and later reissued without Schoolboy Blues on it, but not before copies of the original version of the box set were sold and as a result, the song was later able to be uploaded to the internet, where it has since developed a cult following.
138	* Legendary JazzFusion band Music/WeatherReport's final album, ''This Is This!'', was only made because the band had one more album left in their contract. Saxophonist Wayne Shorter was mostly not involved in it, preferring to focus on his solo project, and the album suffered for it.
139	* Music/MikeOldfield's ''Amarok'' and ''Heaven's Open'' were made primarily to fulfill the remainder of his contract with Creator/VirginRecords, as Oldfield's relationship with CEO Richard Branson had grown increasingly strained over the years. To ensure that he would have the last laugh, both albums were loaded with jabs at Branson and Virgin, with the former album being made as uncommercial as possible (following ''Earth Moving'', in which Oldfield adhered to Branson's demands to the letter by making a pop album with no instrumentals).
140	* Music/FrankOcean was signed on to Def Jam records after his mixtape ''Nostalgia, Ultra''. He released ''Channel Orange'', and then went quiet for several years, occasionally teasing an upcoming project. Finally, in August of 2016, he released ''Endless'', an odd collection of song fragments sprinkled into a long video of him building a staircase. His contractual obligation with Def Jam for two albums was fulfilled and Frank having bought back all his masters going back to 2009, then left Def Jam and independently released ''Blonde'' which went on to eclipse ''Endless'' entirely.
141	* After Jim Morrison died in 1971, the surviving members of Music/TheDoors recorded two contractually obligated albums without him: ''Other Voices'' and ''Full Circle''. The albums were poorly received and eventually forgotten, and they were not included in reissues of the Doors' catalog until they were finally rereleased in 2015.
142	* Music/TheStrokes released ''Comedown Machine'' in 2013, two years after their previous album ''Angles''. It was their fifth and final album for Creator/RCARecords and the band did not promote the album on television, live shows or tours. Instead of an original design, the cover artwork for the album was designed to resemble an old RCA magnetic tape reel box.
143	[[/folder]]
144
145	[[folder:Other]]
146	* Believe it or not, there was an entire car brand that owed its existence to contractual reasons -- [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_(automobile) Eagle]]. [[https://youtu.be/vv6XDyns7N8 Created by Chrysler in the late 80s]] after their buyout of the AMC assets (including Jeep) from Renault, the very existence of the brand was predicated on Renault forcing Chrysler to use a certain amount of Renault-sourced engines and parts in their intended new flagship sedan, the Renault Premier (as Renault had poured tons of money into creating it, including the construction of a brand-new assembly plant in Ontario) -- it would instead be sold as the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eagle_Premier Eagle Premier]]. The Eagle name was taken from the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AMC_Eagle AMC Eagle]] (the last non-Renault or Jeep model AMC was still selling at the time of the buyout); another factor that meant Eagle needed to be its' own brand was that state franchise laws prevented Chrysler from selling their existing product through the ex-AMC dealer network (and vice-versa, meaning Eagle would be sold alongside Jeeps exclusively; [[LoopholeAbuse this didn't prevent dealers from selling Jeep-Eagle product and separately selling products from the other Chrysler divisions]]). It only lasted for 10 years, their models never sold well, and outside the legal requirements mainly functioned as a clearinghouse for other Chrysler products (including [[PaletteSwap badge-engineered Mitsubishis]]); however, [[SmallRoleBigImpact the Eagle Premier platform (which was more advanced than anything else Chrysler had at the time) was used as the basis]] for the extremely-successful [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysler_LH_platform LH platform "cab forward" cars]] that brought Chrysler both sales and critical acclaim in the 1990s (and indeed, Eagle sold an LH variant as the Eagle Vision).
147	[[/folder]]
148
149	[[folder:Theme Parks]]
150	* When Disney signed off on the construction of [[Ride/DisneylandParis Euro Disneyland]], the contract they signed with the French government for the land mandated that, after the resort's opening, they must continue to build a new theme park (up to a total of three) within the resort on a ten-year cadence. If they miss the deadline, the government can repossess the earmarked land and sell it off. Walt Disney Studios Park opened in 2002, i.e. exactly a decade after the original park opened. It was heavily criticised on opening day for being cheap and underdeveloped, illustratively featuring just three rides, none of which were completely original to a Disney park. Disney have wisely negotiated extensions to the third theme park, with its current construction deadline being in 2036. While Walt Disney Studios Park has received much-needed investment and improvements over the years, it is still widely considered to be Disney's weakest park.
151	[[/folder]]
152
153	[[folder:Video Games]]
154	* Creator/ThatGameCompany made a three-game deal with Creator/{{Sony}} in order to put themselves on the map of the video game industry. The results were ''VideoGame/{{flOw}}'', ''VideoGame/{{Flower}}'', and ''VideoGame/Journey2012'', and the aforementioned deal is the sole reason why they remained Sony console-exclusives for so long. Only in 2019 was ''Flower'' put for sale on the Creator/EpicGames Store, and ''Journey'' marked there as "coming soon".
155	* During the 2010s, Creator/{{Sega}} signed a deal with Creator/{{Nintendo}} to make three ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'' games for them: Of which came ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld'', ''[[VideoGame/MarioAndSonicAtTheOlympicGames Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Winter Games]]''... and ''VideoGame/SonicBoom''. While the former two had smooth enough developments, the third was outsourced to another company called Big Red Button whose engine wasn't compatible with the Platform/WiiU system. Rather than scrap the project and do something else, Sega pretty much forced the company into completing the game to fulfill its obligation to Nintendo. The fact that the game was Big Red Button's first (and at the current, only) game which critics and gamers would savage didn't help matters.
156	* ''VideoGame/AliensColonialMarines'' was a game that [[Creator/TwentiethCenturyStudios 20th Century Fox]] and later Creator/{{Sega}} always wanted to do, an Action-Horror FirstPersonShooter set after the events of ''Film/{{Aliens}}'' and ''Film/Alien3''. However, they would be unable to do it due to bad luck and incompetence. Eventually, Sega would hire Creator/GearboxSoftware to make their own version, but suspicions of Gearbox taking money away to work on their own projects led to Sega canceling the game, only to give it back to Gearbox after the success of ''Videogame/Borderlands1'' with the caveat of a 2012 release. However, Gearbox was in the middle of developing ''VideoGame/Borderlands2'' and finishing ''VideoGame/DukeNukemForever'' when they accepted to develop ''Colonial Marines'', and felt that ''Borderlands 2'' was a more important game (since it was their IP), decided to outsource the development of ''A:CM'' to [=TimeGate=] Studios, who were unable to make a passable build by the time ''[=BL2=]'' was released in 2012 due to ExecutiveMeddling from both Gearbox and Sega. Gearbox's leadership went into panic mode as Sega would sue them for failing to release the game on time as promised, and decided to rebuild the game almost from scratch to get the game into stores just before the end of Sega's fiscal year in March 2013. The game would be released to dismal reviews but passable sales and Sega would cut ties with Gearbox for all the TroubledProduction the game suffered through.
157	* The infamous Platform/ZXSpectrum game ''VideoGame/{{SQIJ}}'' was the result of a contract between its creator Jason Creighton (then 15 years old) and publisher The Power House. After a falling-out, he tried to get out of the contract by [[AshcanCopy hastily slapping together some code that just barely qualified as a game]], figuring the result would be so obviously unpublishable that they'd just throw it out. [[SpringtimeForHitler Then they went and published it anyway.]]
158	* Creator/{{Sega}} forced a newly-formed developer called Creator/{{Treasure}} to develop ''VideoGame/McDonaldsTreasureLandAdventure'' in exchange for greenlighting their passion project, ''VideoGame/GunstarHeroes''. Though ''Treasure Land Adventure'' was finished first, ''Gunstar Heroes'' came out two weeks earlier, making it Treasure's proper debut title.
159	* ''VideoGame/HotelMario'' and ''VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaCDIGames'' exist as part of a contract Creator/{{Nintendo}} and Philips made after the cancellation of the Platform/{{SNESCDRom}}. Consequently, Nintendo had little interest or oversight other than ensuring that the characters were on model in the packaging and manual artwork.
160	* Part of the reason why ''VideoGame/SkullAndBones'' went through a 7-year TroubledProduction instead of being cancelled outright was because Creator/{{Ubisoft}} had signed a deal with the Singaporean government pledging to develop original IP games in the country in return for tax breaks. If the game had been cancelled, the money would have to be refunded in full.
161	[[/folder]]
162
163	[[folder:Western Animation]]
164	* In the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' parody of ''Film/ReturnOfTheJedi'', the OpeningCrawl veers off into [[WriterRevolt a rant about how they're tired of parodying]] ''Franchise/StarWars'', says that Creator/{{Fox}} made them produce it, lapses into a non sequitur about raccoons, and finally asks the audience to lower their expectations for the episode. Based on the DVDCommentary, the crew wants to make it crystal clear that their rant wasn't a joke on their part; [[SincerityMode they really meant it]].
165	* The three ''WesternAnimation/TheFoxAndTheCrow'' cartoons produced by Creator/{{UPA}} were a contractual obligation for their distribution contract with Creator/ColumbiaPictures. UPA wanted to do cartoons that steered away from the cliches of the day, such as the use of FunnyAnimals and {{Slapstick}}, both of which the Fox and Crow cartoons exemplified in spades. The cartoons were actually well-received (two were nominated for Academy Awards), which gave UPA free rein to make their own films with their own characters.
166	* An in-universe example occurs in the ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' episode "Wacky Delly" when Ralph Bighead[[labelnote:*]]as the character was known during the original series; [[UsefulNotes/{{Transgender}} she's Rachel]] in ''[[WesternAnimation/RockosModernLifeStaticCling Static Cling]]''[[/labelnote]] ends production on his show ''The Fatheads'' to create a new artistic masterpiece. However, his network contract states that he has to make one more show so, to get it over with, Ralph hires Rocko, Heffer, and Filburt to make a pilot for the new show, hoping it will be bad enough to get the executives to cancel his contract. [[SpringtimeForHitler Unfortunately]], they love ''Wacky Delly'' and the show becomes a massive hit. Ironically when he decides to put some effort into it, the network ''instantly'' cancels the show.
167	* ''WesternAnimation/VeggieTales'': Invoked in a song that was so pointless, Larry's voice actor supposedly refused to finish it (though this was probably written in meta-humor). "The Song Under the Credits" was its name, and in the middle of a chorus of "Hey hey ho-ho-ho-ho" the actor left, while the other actors chewed him out for leaving, telling him "We have contractual obligations to finish this song!"
168	[[/folder]]
169

Context Main / ContractualObligationProject