Tuesday, 1 September 1998

PAY TO PLAY: How many times have you heard an actor say in an interview, "Don't tell them, but I'd pay them for the chance to act in this film?" Well, MGM has taken one more step toward turning its venerable name into the Scarlet Initials. You can now pay your way into a role in The Thomas Crown Affair, shooting this fall with Pierce Brosnan and Rene Russo under director John McTiernan. The price starts at $10,000 and the part goes to the highest bidder over and above that figure. Any amount over the $10,000 goes to charity. Nice enough, but if this were really a charitable thing, they'd be coughing up all the money, wouldn't they? Well, Kirk Kerkorian has taken the role of Hollywood Putz Billionaire of the Month pretty seriously. Of course, the catalog that offers up this fun stipulates that even after paying up, you can be cut out of the film if the director so chooses. Classic Kerkorian. He'll grab every dime he can and maybe, if you're lucky, you'll get what you paid for.

TOO MUCH: What does a four year, $16 million deal require in Hollywood these days? Well, for DreamWorks and Judd Apatow, it's a job on one sketch show ("The Ben Stiller Show"), one sitcom ("The Larry Sanders Show"), a credited feature writing gig on one miss (Heavyweights), a story credit on another (Celtic Pride) and three uncredited rewriting assignments (Happy Gilmore, The Cable Guy and The Wedding Singer). Apatow may be funny, and he has pretty serious friends in the industry (Ben Stiller, Jim Carrey and Garry Shandling), but this guy as the future of DreamWorks? I don't think so. I have no issue with Apatow getting work, but a $16 million deal over four years? For what?

THINGS ARE ROUGH ALL OVER: Just when you thought it was safe to sell your movie to Russia -- BOOM! -- economic instability! As of last week, the Russian Central Bank put a freeze on all payment of foreign debts for 90 days. In an industry that relies on foreign money to get upfront dollars for lower budget films, the $400,000 that's been available per picture in Russian presales is a real loss. And things aren't much better in the Asian markets these days, the Korean market has all but fallen apart, and Latin America is in a slump. For the moment, home (and a strong Europe) is where the cash is. And that is really the heart of the film biz, isn't it?

REAL STARS TO THE STARS: Ready to see what Armageddon could have been? Clint Eastwood is about to head into space, and he hopes to take Jack Nicholson and Sean Connery with him as retired pilots called back for space shuttle duty in Space Cowboys. You want to see grit? You want to see earthy humor? You want real drama? Eastwood will produce and direct the story, and, if all goes well, you'll get to see what a minimal effects budget and some real acting will do.

WB WIDE OPEN: We're about to hit the two-year anniversary of the start of production on Eyes Wide Shut. A moment of silence please. Warner Bros. was hoping to have the film for the Christmas Oscar slot, but no such luck. (The Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan/Nora Ephron reunion, You've Got Mail, and the John Boorman black and white film, I Once Had a Life, will be the WB Oscar contenders. The studio also hopes the Sandra Bullock/Nicole Kidman starrer Practical Magic, Kurt Russell in Soldier, Drew Barrymore's Home Fries and Michael Keaton in Jack Frost will ring the box office bell.) As for Eyes Wide Shut, the next hope was spring 1999. Nope. (Billy Crystal and Robert DeNiro in Analyze This will arrive and Kevin Costner could send a Message in a Bottle) So, it looks like summer 1999. But, not only will the film have to face Star Wars: Episode 1 and WB's own The Wild, Wild West, but also Tom Hanks in the studio's The Green Mile. Mile could be a May film in theory, but it seems more likely to fill the late summer slot, even if Cruise slightly edges Hanks in mega-popularity. I don't expect to see Eyes Wide Shut until next October or November. But, by the time it does show up, Warner Bros. may have righted its tossing ship. I wonder which studio will be knee deep in doo-doo by then?

READER OF THE DAY: filmmav wrote: "I read your column on Friday, so I decided that I better go to see 54 with lowered expectations. I didn't lower my expectations enough. What were they thinking? Mark Christopher and Miramax made 54 seem one of the most boring and conventional places on earth! Obviously Miramax is much more concerned with money than moviemaking (i.e.: toning down the homosexual themes in 54 that made audiences uncomfortable). 54 tried to be a cautionary tale similar to Boogie Nights. (They even ripped off the New Year's Eve 1980 sequence, complete with -- [spolier edited out by David]) But Boogie Nights has multi-dimensional characters, a good director and script that makes sense. You can tell that Miramax did so much major editing (er, rather butchering) before they released 54 because many of the characters' relationships lack depth. Where were they going with Neve Campbell and Ryan Phillippe? It is very sad to see Miramax, such a successful independent making the same mistakes that big studios have been making for years. Note to the Weinstein brothers: Having stars sells a film, but to make something that people will actually remember and love, you need a script and a director."

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E ME: Not a pretty picture. Mav is not the only one who wrote in passionately about this movie. And he/she wasn't the only one to make the case eloquently. My apologies to those of you who didn't get printed, but know that I read everything you wrote and really appreciated the insights. I hate to be an ass kisser, but I still think The Hot Button readers are amongst the smartest on the 'Net. So, now it's time to act dumb. What movie-related activity would you pay $10,000 to indulge in?