Weekend, 7 March 1998

NEWS BY THE NUMBERS

10. Seagal Gets The Joke: Steven Seagal has finally shown he can see himself through our eyes by casting himself as the 12th century Mongol Genghis Khan. He claims that the project will be a $40 million epic, but like his stomach, his ambition may be bigger than it appears on screen.

9. Movin' On Up: F. Gary Gray continues to break ground for black filmmakers. Should this be news? No. But it is. After completing The Negotiator, the first film ever by a black director budgeted at more than $40 million, Gray will take on the sequel to The Nutty Professor, which is sure to weigh in at over $80 million. This is a big step toward making this kind of story a non-story.

8. Dead/Alive: J.T. Walsh passed away last week, but the show must go on and it will for Millennium Films' Outside Ozona. Walsh's untimely passing left an empty role and it's being filled, in an incredible irony, by fellow "Unknown Soldier" Robert Forster, whose career was dead but came back to life this year with his Academy Award-nominated performance in Jackie Brown. (For more on Walsh and other "Unknown Soldiers," check out The Whole Picture).

7. Another Shade Of Walt: Walt Disney Pictures bought a pitch called Mad Mojo last week with an eye toward making it a summer action tentpole. It's the story of a 2,000-year-old voodoo spirit that wreaks comic havoc in the present. But that's not the important story. This is Disney's first film to be centered around a black family. Welcome to the '90s, guys. And keep an eye out for the voodoo spirit of Uncle Walt if he gets the trades on the other side.

6. Some Down Under Synergy: Paramount is finally going in to the studio theme park business. In Melbourne, Australia. After watching rival studios Disney, Warner Bros. (Six Flags) and Universal generate billions of dollars and untold good karma with their movie-oriented theme parks, Paramount will invest more than $100 million in the park/studio facility in what could be their first step toward opening studio parks in the U.S. Meanwhile, across the country in Sydney, Fox is also opening their first theme park/studio tour. The only theme park-free studio left? Sony. They could open a successful park with Men In Black and Godzilla alone.

5. Market, Schmarket: The American Film Festival laid a rotten egg this year. Word from some of the low-budget producers whose exploitation flicks usually dominate this market is that no one was buying the junk anymore. The few deals that were made were for pictures of $10 million or more. Brings a tear to the eye, huh? What will HBO run at 2 a.m.?

4. Stalkers Need Not Apply: Jonathan Norman was found guilty of stalking Steven Spielberg this week. Apparently, Norman thought that kidnapping and raping Spielberg would be a good way to get an acting gig. Wrong. He'll be "auditioning" in a state prison for 25 to life.

3. Downey And In: The in-and-out saga of Robert Downey, Jr., continues. After spending three days "off campus" working on DreamWorks' thriller, In Dreams (a.k.a. Blue Vision) and doing press for U.S. Marshals, the Los Angeles County Sheriff contested the judge's ruling to let Jr. continue his movie career while behind bars, and won. No more outings for now. I was hoping to catch Downey and his crew of cops in Las Vegas at DreamWorks' ShoWest event next Tuesday, but he'll have to get his fill of gambling, drugs, sex and violence in the jail yard.

2. Pulp Friction: That Oscar-winning couple, Mira Sorvino and Quentin Tarantino, have officially broken up. We know because their publicists told us so.

1. The Immaculate Ms. Foster: Jodie Foster is pregnant. We know because Liz Smith told us so. Jodie confirmed. Foster told Liz, "I'm not going to discuss the father, the method, or anything of that nature." I certainly don't know how it happened, and there's no boyfriend to ask, but how's this for a coincidence? Thanksgiving was exactly 100 days ago.

READER OF THE DAY: From Erik T: "Tell me: How in heck can I smuggle my way into the ShoWest convention and act like a theater owner? Do they need volunteers? How about press? I have an old press pass from my college newspaper. Would that work?"

E ME: Sorry, Eric. The only way to go to ShoWest this year is to come to The Hot Button next Tuesday through Friday. Roughcut will offer the only daily analysis of the event outside of the trades. Any questions?