Know what? People starred Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen. Furthermore, the project was written and directed by Judd Apatow. And I'm not sure, but I think Jonah Hill was in the picture. Heck, I won't even check, because with Rogen and Apatow involved, I think, by law, Hill has to be involved, too (actually, I did end up checking and he is, in fact, in the cast).

These guys are pretty powerful Hollywood players. And they don't come cheap. Boxofficemojo says it cost $75 million to make People. I have to assume that most of the capital went to the talent involved. If, say, People were made with unknown actors, much less money would have probably been required.

When you consider the talent, the $75 million, and whatever was allocated to sell and market the project, I don't think you can come to any other conclusion: NBC Universal did not get its money's worth. Not even close. One thing that should be mentioned: Universal did receive some help from Sony (NYSE: SNE) and from Relativity Media in terms of the budget, according to the Los Angeles Times. But such a fact cannot be used as an excuse for the high-cost strategy. Remember, Universal, and any studio for that matter, enters into co-production deals as a way of transferring risk. In the process, studios transfer away economic value as well, and it especially hurts if the film in question turns out to be a smash hit.

Perhaps People will pick up in the coming weeks. Maybe it will be a sleeper hit. Still, it's important, no matter what, to generate as much money in the first weekend as possible. Maximization of the ultimate gross depends on a strong opening. I suppose one could argue Universal dropped the ball in the arena of promotion. I'm not so sure about that, though. I thought the commercial campaign was appropriate. Simply put, Universal may have been better off looking for ideas from new talent. Not only is such a paradigm cheaper, but it also avoids catching big stars at overvalued moments. Let's face it: investing in a big star's next creative vision always runs the risk of investing in that star's next failure; it's sort of akin to buying a momentum stock right before the momentum hits a rough spot.

NBC Universal is not in the best of states. It didn't do well with Land of the Lost earlier in the summer. Bruno isn't capturing the kind of box office one might have hoped it would. And GE's second-quarter report amply displays the division's desperate need for better executive guidance. Shareholders should hope that GE puts a little more effort into its media investments.

Disclosure: I own Disney, GE; positions can change without notice.