Weekend, 6-7 February 1999

NEWS BY THE NUMBERS

10. OH WHAT A TANGLE: One down, one to go. An L.A. court dismissed MGM's claim to the rights to make Spider-Man as a live-action film. As you must know by now, the franchise's value is sky-high because James Cameron is waiting for legal webs to clear so that he can make his version of the comic. Cameron is the King of the Cash. (I can hear Linda Hamilton now... "Cough it up, blondie!") Next up is Sony, who claims to hold rights before Marvel. If Marvel gets the rights back, look for the company to grab a $20 million payday as the battle for Spidey begins. Who would win? Probably Fox. They just can't seem to lose these days.

9. THE MOUSE THAT ROTH BUILT: Speculation has been going on for months about whether Joe Roth, movie topper at Disney and current captain of the campaign to convince Wall Street that Disney's live-action division will soon become highly profitable again, is going to stay on at the Mouse House come the end of this summer when his contract is up. After much speculation that he could end up taking over at Universal (he's about the only qualified person not attached to a major with a long-term deal), this week's rumor has him teaming up with producer Jerry Bruckheimer to create a new and improved "visionary alliance." The question I have is, why would Roth want to attach himself to anyone who already has a machine rolling if he wants to go back to producing? He could get financing almost anywhere, and Roth is not a big-budget blockbuster kind of producer. Blockbusters yes, but not a CG King of the Universe. Roth would likely have a lot of autonomy at Universal since no one really believes that Edgar Jr. really cares about movies. There's no Michael Eisner looking over his shoulder... hmmm.

8. LEO-MANIA LIVES!: Twenty-four hours after The Hollywood Reporter put Leonardo DiCaprio in Martin Scorsese's Gangs of New York at Disney, Daily Variety throws him into The Stanford Prison Experiment for Fox. Neither project boasts that it's next, though the Reporter has DiCaprio deeper in than Variety does. Also, while Variety's hook is that DiCaprio is making a fourth picture for Fox, the Reporter is excited by the possible confrontation between Michael Ovitz's AMG foot soldiers, which rep Scorsese and DiCaprio, and CAA's stealth knives, who rep Robert De Niro, Scorsese's choice for the flick. The variation that neither mentions is that Scorsese doesn't have a slot open until 2000, while Lee Tamahori, the choice for the Fox project, should be able to start in Leo's available fall '99 slot.

7. EAT ME: The response of Roald Dahl's ex-wife, Patricia Neal, when I told her that they were talking about doing a remake of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (aka Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory) was "What? Why?" (Liv Tyler had similar sentiments, if you care.) Warner Bros. has hired Scott Frank (Out of Sight) to do the adaptation, so you know they aren't just kidding around. Dahl's estate will get around $4 million and 5 percent of the gross from the eventual film. Not exactly 2-cent taffy. What will Frank, a writer best known for adapting Elmore Leonard, do with the kids' classic? Will the Oompa-Loompas be packing heat? Will John Travolta be Willy Wonka? Or maybe Steve Zahn?

6. VIVE LA FRANCE!: The nominees for the Cesar Awards, the French version of the Oscars®, were announced this week. The best foreign film competitors are Saving Private Ryan, Titanic, The Celebration, Central Station and Life is Beautiful. In the acting categories, it's Jerry Lewis, De Lewis de Jerry, Cherie Lo As, Louise Cherries and Jim Carrey. The awards leaders were Nicole Garcia's Place Vendome and Patrice Chereau's Ceux Qui M'aiment Prendront le Train. Will we ever see these films here in America? Probably not. We are so tunnel-visioned here.

5. THAT CHAT: The first four Sundance chat transcripts are up. Here are some selected quotes from the participants. Tim Roth on expectations for his films: "The production experience can be great. And the film is still a pile of sh--. Except for some circumstances, I just don't watch the films. Why ruin the experience? Especially when the financiers have been re-cutting the film. But I reserve the right to fail. Critics have no right to fail."

Rebecca Gayheart on whether Hollywood is superficial and depressing: "What do you mean, superficial and depressing? We are all one big family in L.A. We are supportive and kind and we all look out for each other. HA, HA!"

Robert Carlyle on being the new Bond villain: "Bond is part of the British film psyche. I admired (Sean) Connery so much... There's a kind of fundamental link between Bond, Connery, Scots and acting."

Rose McGowan on her plans for Millennium Eve: "I don't know what I'm doing tomorrow. I hope to be drinking a 40-ouncer in front of the 7-11 parking lot while listening to Black Sabbath."

Aidan Quinn defines the value of doing indie film: "It's the freedom to not have the mediocre minds of meddling studio executives involved in creative decision making."

And Guy Pearce on the making of Ravenous: "It was probably one of the most difficult films I ever made. On an emotional level as well as a creative one." Check them all out.

4. OVER-DRAWING: Why does it seem that big-time studio animation is more susceptible to bankruptcy than any live-action films? Following in the footsteps of Don Bluth financial troubles in Ireland, Warner Bros.' animated The King and I has become endangered by cash flow problems. Morgan Creek Productions hasn't paid its final payment of more than $1 million to Rich Animation, the company that physically produced the project. Rich is now holding the last three scenes of the film hostage until they get their money. And this is all over less than $2 million? Some execs better be watching for repo-men around their leased Mercedes.

3. THE FORCE IS $29.95: The longest lead insight on big summer films is often the Toy Fair in New York. Last year, Godzilla stayed under lock and key throughout, hoping to surprise movie lovers. It did and the toys flopped worse than the movie. This year, Star Wars merchandise hits the fair almost four months prior to the film's release. After $4.5 billion in sales over the last 22 years, retailers should be foaming at the mouth to get there. This should be even better than a truckload of Vanity Fairs.

2. SAY GOODBYE TO SAUDIWOOD: Apparently the deal between Saudi Prince Mohamed bin Bandur bin Abdulaziz (say THAT three times fast!) and Universal for the sale of PolyGram Filmed Entertainment's remaining assets is being touted as over. But don't be too sure that this is not just tactical maneuvering. The fact is that if the Prince is really talking about more than $500 million for PFE, Universal won't stop negotiating because no one else will ever be that stupid, I mean, come close to the figure. Once again, heads must be hanging in the valley, with hundreds of jobs at stake. Will PFE be consolidated into Universal or will it be sold? Will Julia Roberts be in a Universal movie this summer or will she wait until fall and be released by some other company? Is October going to keep rolling at Universal or will it be too much grist for the mill? Tune in next week! Same Bronfman Time, Same Bronfman Channel!

1. MOVIN' ON UP: Sony finally took the leap (the only studio to do so) and agreed to pay screenwriter gross points under some specific circumstances. The argument against points has been that the studios are now giving so many points to actors and directors that there are no more to give. Bad argument. But the weird part of this deal and the part that should scare Hollywood, is that the gross points aren't an exchange for reduced prices, but rather for maintaining the status quo, which, for the writers who qualify, is already a seven-figure proposition. The deal is with 31 of the top writers in the business, with the qualifier being a $750,000 sale or an Oscar® nomination. The writers involved are trying to spin this so it doesn't look like they are the only ones benefiting, but they are the only ones who will benefit. (What's new?) Variety quoted Phil Alden Robinson as saying, "It's very important that it not be seen as a millionaires' club. It was important that gross receipts should be available to all writers." Yeah. Watch this space for the announcement of hell freezing over. That will come right after a $500,000-a-movie actor gets a gross point in exchange for his or her fee. The rich get richer.

READER OF THE DAY: ML (no K): "Caught a sneak of Blast From the Past last night (only because it was free, I swear). I won't really comment on the overall quality of the film because I wasn't in the most ideal mood to see a movie like this and, thus, didn't like it, but I will say this: what happened to Alicia Silverstone? In BFTP, she basically plays the Drew Barrymore role: the thankless girlfriend/sidekick. You know, like in The Wedding Singer. And all I kept thinking was, what happened? She did the Aerosmith videos and Clueless, seemed to be at the peak of her career, and then faster than you can say "as if!" she spiraled down. Batman & Robin, Excess Baggage, now this. When will it end? Brendan Fraser is a goofball who I will never take seriously, but Alicia? She deserves more than a movie like BFTP, especially if she's going to play the straight character (ie: the one who doesn't go for the laughs, as opposed to Dave Foley's homosexual friend character). I wish her a speedy recovery."

---

E ME: I find it fascinating that someone takes Alicia Silverstone more seriously than Brendan Fraser, who has worked so hard to do a wider range of films. Oh, well. When you're right, you write. Right?