In
an era where everyone is complaining about star salaries, Disney found
a new level of bizarre by paying $2.25 million for Sixth Sense,
a horror script about a child psychologist. Even better, the deal gives
the director's chair to first-timer M. Night Shyamalan, who wrote
the film. Unlike other writers who have demanded a directing gig, Shyamalan
has no writing track record, with his first major feature, Wide Awake,
due from Miramax on Oct. 17. And there's more! The $2.5 million fee
will comprise about 20 percent of the film's overall budget, a bigger
piece of the budgetary pie than $20 million action stars like Arnold
get. This may be the stupidest financial deal this writer has ever heard
of in Hollywood. No joke.
The new Harrison Ford film, The Age Aquarius, changed
plans to shoot in Israel for three weeks next month when someone figures
out that Israel could be dangerous. Also on the Genius Insight travel
advisory list was the fact that the French don't like us, the British
can't cook and Italian men may pinch your wife's buttocks. Stay tuned
for more important updates.
Andy Vajna is buying half The Terminator sequel rights
at $7.5 million from Carolco Liquidating Trust, the executor of the
bankruptcy that Carolco founder Vanja left behind to start Cinergi Pictures.
But, Vanja's Cinergi isn't the one buying the rights, because that company
is self-liquidating to avoid bankruptcy after making too many losers,
like The Color of Night, Judge Dredd and The Scarlett Letter
(not to mention weak returns on Evita). So, if you have a
few hundred million lying around the house, invest in Andy. Only this
time, the Indecent Proposal will be paying Demi Moore
$12 million to appear in a costume drama and you're the one that gets
screwed.
Bruce Willis and Demi Moore did their best to shock the
world at this year's Emmy Awards when Bruce gave a big hello smooch
to Ellen DeGeneres while Demi did likewise with Anne Heche.
More shocking still would have been the trio of Willis, Moore and Heche
not finding a way to steal headlines form the people who actually won
Emmys.
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