Barry Levinson's Sphere has been poked, prodded and pushed
further than any studio film this year. First, it was delayed while
WB execs decided to cough up Sharon Stone's $6 million asking
price. Then, they delayed production two months in order to rework the
enormous effects budget. Next, they decided to shove it into theaters
this December for Academy Award consideration, offering up Oscar regulars
Levinson, Dustin Hoffman, Sam Jackson and Sharon Stone.
But, apparently, there was so little "want-to-see" in test marketing,
they decided to move the film into mid-February `97, traditionally a
movie dead zone, in order to get the promo machine running at full speed.
Warner Bros. now has to hope that the media doesn't like the story about
the delays better than they like the movie.
Ever see a movie that you heard was altered against the will of the
filmmaker? And it still sucked? Do you still think the musical numbers
in I'll Do Anything, Bruce Willis' penis in Color of
Money or the dirty jokes in Spawn would help? Well, Robert
Altman's The Gingerbread Man will be right up your alley.
After a bad test screening, Polygram decided to re-cut the quirky Altman
thriller to make it more accessible to audiences. It didn't work. They
still hated it. So, Altman's vision will hit the screens in its purest
form, albeit next year, six months after its original release date.
Maybe Polygram thinks that this rotten fruit will get better with time.
After all, it worked for Gone Fishin', Volcano and 'Til
There Was You. Right?
Disney's busy trying re-establish distribution operations in war-torn
Bosnia and Herzegovina, hopefully in time for the Christmas movie season.
Special Bosnia-only versions of the Disney release schedule might include
The Little Mercenary, 101 Dead Dalmatians and Honey, I Blew Up
The Country.
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