Wednesday, 31 December 1997

TOP TEN MOVIE NEWS STORIES OF 1997
There was lots of movie news this year, but not much that will be remembered. Here are the 10, in inverse order, that I think will be.

10. Death -- Death is always a major story. There were some big ones this year (in alphabetical order): Chris Farley, Samuel Fuller, Burgess Meredith, Robert Mitchum, Dawn Steel, Jimmy Stewart and Fred Zinnemann. And my father, Sidney. You'll always be with us, whatever the format.

9. DreamWorks starts releasing movies -- Spielberg, Katzenberg and Geffen cut the red tape and the result was The Peacemaker, Amistad and Mouse Hunt. Tough out there, huh boys?

8. Star Wars -- The 20th anniversary release proved that the franchise is still the biggest with over $250 million for the trio in North America alone. Now Fox has the inside track on the prequel, due Memorial Day weekend, 1999. And though it's a sure bet to gross well over $500 million, that's nothing compared to the billions in merchandising. Start lining up now.

7. Disney vs. Fox's Anastasia -- Fox was the home of paranoia as Disney released the same seven-year-old re-release that they do in early November and the same new film that they do every Thanksgiving. With Anastasia doing just $50 million domestic, who won the war? Sony's I Know What You Did Last Summer, which dominated the pre-Thanksgiving fall by giving audiences what they wanted instead of trying to fight an entrenched franchise.

6. The Return of Julia - Bankable women movie stars are almost as rare as producers who can balance their own checkbooks. The return of the redheaded, smiling, big-opening Julia Roberts in My Best Friend's Wedding is a triumph for the entire industry. You can never have enough major movie stars. Just don't greenlight Mary Reilly 2 by mistake.

5. Black filmmakers -- As the studios were getting out of the business of making relationship films with major white stars, young black filmmakers were filling the void. Ted Witcher's love jones, Kasi Lemmons' Eve's Bayou and George Tillman Jr.'s Soul Food all made their mark at the box office with strong stories and compelling characters. Meanwhile, Set It Off director Gary Gray got a greenlight for The Negotiator, the first film ever directed by a black director with a budget over $40 million. It's about time.

4. Titanic -- The saga of the budget. The PCP-laced seafood chowder. The delay from the July release date. The bad press. The reports of a $300 million budget. Entertainment Weekly's generous rewriting of history, reducing the film to an almost palatable $200 million. The mob at the Japanese opening. The success. What a story! And the eight or so Academy Award nods ain't gonna hurt either.

3. Studios rebound critically/Indies subside -- Last year, the Academy Awards were so independent that even the media couldn't tell the nominated stars from their publicists. This year, the studios are back. Miramax will be pushing Good Will Hunting, but aside from that, expect a studio landslide of nominations. What happened? Better movies overall. And the more good movies, the more likely that the ones form the major studios will be recognized.

2. Warner Bros. in flux -- After being the most stable studio in town for years, the WB has suddenly become The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight. Batman and Robin, Fathers Day, Mad City and Steel all made my Ten Worst list (coming this weekend). And L.A. Confidential, the favorite for the Best Picture Oscar, underperformed badly. So who got fired? Marketing President Chris Pula, perhaps the savvyest guy around. Another dead messenger. Another screwed up studio.

1. Sony Succeeds -- This was the biggest surprise of them all. Hit after hit after hit came from the failed tenure of former film chief Mark Canton. A record breaking $1.25 billion year with more than 20 percent of the domestic going into Sony pockets. And Godzilla is still awaiting its Memorial Day 1998 monster release. Last month, new movie chief John Calley announced a load of projects poised to get rolling, amongst the very first of his tenure. We'll know if they worked sometime in 1999. Meanwhile, where's Mark Canton? Heading back to the Warner Bros. fold. It's a small world after all.

Thursday will be my personal Top Ten Movies of 1997. Friday, the Ten Hot Movies That I Just Didn't Get. And the weekend edition will offer up my Bottom Ten for 1997. E-mail me your thoughts on any of the lists to come.

Read The Whole Picture and my New Year's Resolutions. Or check out last week's The Whole Picture for the last days of Hanukkah.