The Hot Button by David Poland

Weekend, 31 October 1998

NEWS BY THE NUMBERS

10. AFTERLIFE STYLE: Roddy McDowall will not receive the star treatment by way of a memorial service organized by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (aka The Oscar People). Why? Because he specifically asked that there be no memorial service in his will. There are some really fine people in this business today, but there is something so dignified and classy about "Old Hollywood" that it reminds you of the days when the fascist simplicity of it all seemed rather nice really.
9. OVER THERE: Titanic keeps rising. In its first week in release, the video sold 2.6 million units in the U.K., beating the bejesus out of the record of 1.7 million set just last year by The Full Monty. In other international box office news, the French have apparently added The X-Files to their list of American stuff they like, coughing up $4.1 million in the film's opening weekend, with second place finisher Small Soldiers eating its dust by more than $3 million. The cash is out there.
8. WILL VAMPIRES BITE BACK?: I predicted John Carpenter's Vampires as likely to have a weak $5 million opening (THB 10/30). The Hollywood Reporter says that it will win the weekend easily. To quote their tracking-based estimate, "Men young and old are indicating solid interest in Vampires, which should provide a broad base on which to build business. Younger females are less intrigued, but are signaling fairly sturdy support. Mature women are in the main indifferent." It's not really news, but it does give me a chance to hedge well before I'm proven "dead" wrong. I really don't mind. I seem to have liked this movie a lot more than a lot of other people.
Also, I had a false report on the screen count on American History X. My apologies. It's far lower and according to the producers, the film will likely never pass the 100 screen level. Additionally, New Line's Mike DeLuca told me that a $25 million total domestic gross would be considered a success for the controversial film.
7. OVER THE LIMIT: Just when you thought that the thin line walked by Lolita and Happiness was on the reasonable side, Samuel Goldwyn Films has crossed the line, urinated on it and set it afire. The studio, which is handling the U.S. theatrical release of Lolita, ran ads last week with the tag line, "If you like boys, see Happiness. If you like girls, see Lolita!" That's sick on so many levels that even I wouldn't have thought of it. OK, well, I might have thought of it and joked about it in a strategic meeting, but I sure as hell would never have put it in print. Even Lolita director Adrian Lyne told the New York Post, "It's not the ad I would have chosen."
6. CRUISING WITH PR: Why does it always seem that Tom Cruise news comes in bunches? Some in this business would suggest that his publicist, Pat Kingsley, could actually control the weather if it was in the best interest of her client. In any case, just as the news that Cruise will star unbilled (while getting gross points) in the next flick from Paul Thomas Anderson, Magnolia, comes the legal victory of a British tabloid that accused the Tom and Nic of having a sham marriage. Also, news that a Blockbuster video store in the suburb the Cruises reside in just outside of London, refused to rent Tom a video because he didn't have two forms of ID. The spokesperson for Blockbuster explained, "There is no special dispensation for household names." Watch for the store manager who refused Tom his rental at your local Burger King. Either that, or keep an eye out for his promotion if Blockbuster decides to turn this into a stunt to promote their flagging business.
5. PUTTING YOUR FOOTAGE IN YOUR MOUTHAGE: Some new, uncensored footage of Adolph Hitler (in living color!) was to be aired on German TV this week. The footage was shot by a Hitler aide who taped the führer visiting a sick Benito Mussolini. (Somewhat redundant, wouldn't you say?) Blockbuster may have to open a special section for this new Hitler footage, the elaborate video release of the Zapruder footage, the Clinton testimony tape and, of course, The Avengers -- all great moments of historical tragedy.
4. LIVE LONG AND RIP OFF: Wantagh, NY's Frank Virga stands accused of selling almost $100,000 in fake Star Trek and other collectible memorabilia. I mean, this guy tricked people into buying fake tri-corders and Cardassian phasers! What kind of evil genius is this?!?! Thank God they stopped him before he found the right formula to make fake Spock ears, the fiend! He faces as much as five years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each of 39 counts against him. Fortunately, Virga was caught before he could change his name to Viagra and start selling sexual aids to Star Trek fans.
3. STUDIOS? WE NEED YOUR STINKIN' STUDIOS!: James Cameron was awarded membership in the Mexican Order of the Aztec Eagle by Mexican President Ernesto Zedillo for, essentially, building Titanic's studio in Rosarito, Mexico. This is the highest award a non-citizen of Mexico can receive, but Cameron's achievement has really changed this area of Mexico. Titanic brought construction jobs and then production jobs for hundreds of locals. And now, as the studio continues to be a mecca for major studios (they are currently shooting Warner Bros.' Deep Blue Sea there), the productions alone will bring millions into the local economy each year.
2. SHOWESTING UP FOR THE BATTLE: The line-up for next year's ShoWest (my very favorite convention) is coming together. The thing that is so interesting about who is coming to dinner (and luncheons) is a great way of sensing the ebb and flow of the movie business. Fox, who passed last year, not knowing that they would have Titanic, There's Something About Mary and Dr. Dolittle racking up massive profits, looks like a likely returnee in '99. Their confidence has got to be high with a little film they have coming out Memorial Day weekend. (If you don't know what the film is, go to remedial Hot Button 101 without passing go and without collecting $200.)
Warner Bros., whose absence last year was a bit of a shock to longtime conventioneers given that the studio was traditionally the only sure-bet annual attendee, is coming back with a strong summer and fall to crow about after the disaster of the summers of 1997 and 1998. And Disney, who tried to attend last year, but lost its concert hall venue (the former Aladdin Hotel) to the wrecking ball, will be there, ready to try and make Tarzan the other buzz film of the summer. Additionally, Miramax and New Line will once again come to the big show and settle in as major mini-majors.
Looking at the studios passing on the event, only Universal has a potentially explosive summer on 1999 (with Eddie Murphy and Steve Martin in Bofinger's Big Thing, Kevin Costner playing baseball again in For the Love of the Game, Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon and a potentially great kinky, comic movie, Mystery Men.) Otherwise, Sony, which crowed for two straight years with Godzilla stealing the show twice has Adam Sandler and The Muppets as the leads on their summer 1999 schedule. DreamWorks might hold the Sandra Bullock/Ben Affleck starrer Forces of Nature for summer, but has little else to sell. (They had the best event last year, for sure.) Paramount has the return of the Pretty Woman crew in Runaway Bride and maybe The General's Daughter, but no hype-requiring blockbuster. And MGM has The Mod Squad and The Mod Squad and, I believe, The Mod Squad. The ShoWest people like to put the best face on the group that shows up each year and there are always great excuses, but it always comes down to: if you have something to sell, you come. If you don't, you don't. And that is still true.
1. LOGANS RUN, THE UNION: The Writers Guild released an internal study this week showing that Guild writers under 30 had 73 percent employment in 1997 while writers between 50 and 60 had only a 32 percent employment rate. Also, women writers only had 23 percent of the work in the industry and non-white-male writers got only 20 percent of the work in film and 30 percent in television overall. Race and sex are very real issues that should be taken quite seriously. The age thing is real, too, but not quite as severe as these numbers indicate. Why? Because the writers under 30 who become WGA members do so as a result of working. The fact that 27 percent are out of work before 30, when few enter the Guild before 25 is, in fact, kind of sad. But, as I said, not nearly as sad as the fact that minority writers account for no more than 6 percent of the writing done for signatory companies.
WHAT IT IS...WHAT IT WAS: For a chance to win a copy of the book that chronicles blaxploitation flicks, take this little quiz.
READER OF THE DAY: Matt wrote in with what seems to be the position of those who love the latest from Gary Ross: "What exactly is the problem everyone seems to have with the third act of Pleasantville? So it gets dark; that's the point. In their black-and-white world, nothing ever really good or bad happened. So, when the kids start to bring love and sex and excitement into the mix, of course, they are also going to spurn emotions like fear and hate and paranoia. That's life. True, Ross gets a little heavy-handed (I personally think he was trying to make a statement about intolerance as a whole and not '50s racism with the 'No Coloreds' signs in the windows), but that's his style. If you look at Big and Dave, they both start off very funny and move into serious issues. I'm glad that Ross decided to go for the serious toward the end. If he hadn't, the film would have been as flat and sterile as, well, a 1950s sitcom."

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