Weekend - 9-10 October 1999

NEWS BY THE NUMBERS

8. Low Blow: On Friday, The Hollywood Reporter joined the gossip pack with reports about how premiere audiences reacted to the violence in Fight Club. They actually printed this bon mot: "One woman leaving the theater cried, 'It's the most horrible movie I've ever seen! Why aren't the pickets here? Where is Cardinal (John) O'Connor when we need him?'" That's exactly who the film is for ... people who would like to see the church protesting movies for violence. Another thoughtful comment: "'It's loathsome to use the medium this way,' lamented one producer." I think all these people, who can't see the art for the violence should head to New York and protest the art exhibition at the Brooklyn Museum of Art immediately. It's okay not to love Fight Club. No doubt it is a hard sell and a tough topic. But not to understand it at all is pathetic. And keep in mind that all these offended folks probably didn't bat an eye at 17-year-old Thora Birch's breasts in American Beauty. After all, that film made a hero of a man who lost his way in life and (this may be a spoiler to you, but it is given away in the first frames of the film) dies for his effort. That's a happy ending, apparently. Fight Club dares to suggest that you have to fight to stay self-aware and even after you wake-up, you can screw it all up. A more truthful ending, but one that actually requires thought. Darn.

7. Buy The Buy: The Mummy and The Matrix are duking it out on video stores all over America to some record breaking rental numbers. But the story in DVD is a bit more complex. The Matrix is breaking sales records for DVD, despite some compatibility problems, in part because Warner Bros. has the video for sale only at rental prices (over $90 retail). Universal, on the other hand, decided to release The Mummy in both formats simultaneously, arguing that DVD does not cannibalize home video. But does home video cannibalize DVD? Either way, it is amazing to watch an increasingly popular wave of movie ownership while the cable and satellite businesses are figuring out how to make pay-per-view the next big trend.

6. The Price Of Tea In China: So, Meg Ryan is fetching $15 million to be in a movie. So here's the question: is she worth it? And I have to say, sadly, no way in hell! Now, I am still getting mail after questioning whether Leonardo DiCaprio is actually worth $20 million at this point, so I am wary of being so bold. (And for the record, Leo had Romeo & Juliet as a second hit, though had Leo been paid $20 million for that film, it would have just barely broken even. What I meant by "one-hit wonder" was "one mega-hit wonder.") Meg Ryan, in this decade, has had only two $100 million movies. Both co-starred Tom Hanks, who has had seven such films this decade and since 1992 has had only one film do less than $100 million domestic, though that film, Philadelphia, made up for it in international box office, totaling over $200 million. But back to Ryan. Besides those two films, Ryan has had only three $50 million domestic grossers, When A Man Loves A Woman ($50m), Courage Under Fire ($58m) and City if Angels ($79m), each with an increasingly powerful male co-star. The co-star of Ms. Ryan's planned $15 million payday, Russell Crowe, may well win an Oscar this year for his work in Michael Mann's The Insider. He is well liked by anyone who loves good acting. But he is not box office. At least, not yet. Meg Ryan is box office. But not this kind of box office. A $20 million star must deliver $100 million domestic grossers pretty consistently to be worthy of that payday. A $15 million star must guarantee $75 million and Ryan simply hasn't proven that she can do that without Big Money by her side.

5. The Hard Road: I loved Andrew Fleming's Dick ... perhaps I should rephrase that. I loved the movie Dick, which Andrew Fleming directed. So what does a filmmaker who was slapped in the face with a financial failure caused by the complexity of his last film do the next time up to bat? Well, find something even more complex and hard to sell, of course. Fleming will make Rogues, a comedy set in the era of the Revolutionary War about the first scholarship students to attend Harvard. Wow! Can't you see the add campaign now? Kirsten Dunst and Michelle Williams in bustiers and hoop skirts leaning over an ivy covered library. Honestly, I applaud this guy's guts. Let's all hope it goes well. (Yoikes!!!)

4. Gather Ye Protests While Ye May: Miramax/Lions Gate couldn't have asked for anything better when about 500 people, if that many, showed up at the New York Film Festival to protest Dogma, the hopefully controversial Kevin Smith film. Of course, the number was later inflated to 1,000 or 1,500 in other media outlets, which is appropriate in connection with a film whose level of controversiality is also over-inflated.

3. Keep Your Friends Close: Also trying to keep the kingdom close, Fox and Sony recently made investments in post-production facilities on their lots that can compete with facilities that have all the most current technologies. In other words, digital technology. No, this is not an indication of any urge to compete with ILM or Digital Domain, but you'd like to have your films able to dub on the lot. And now they can. Besides Sony getting deeper and deeper into the exhibition business, Fox has also become the keepers of some of the most important studio space outside of America, with the water-driven Fox Baja Studios a.k.a. Titanic Studio and a massive studio in Australia. They're shooting some little movie there now ... Mission: Imp something or another and if they don't finish it soon, they're going ot bump into the crew from The Matrix Pre & Se-quels.

2. I don't usually obsess on casting news, but the saga of Dougray Scott is too interesting to pass up. It seems that Paramount's Mission: Impossible 2, mentioned above, is so far over schedule now that Dougray's gig as Wolverine in Fox's X-Men is in danger. This is the X-Men that pushed back its start date by three months to start with. It seems that Paramount was smart enough to give Scott no out in his Mission contract in case of schedule overruns. So the clock is ticking and Fox, which spent forever deciding on Scott, may have to go back to the well to re-cast by, well, today. Meanwhile, Scott must be sweating when he sees his incredibly high flying career threatened with a mis-step knowing full well that it doesn't take much to go from "isn't he ..." to "wasn't he ..."

1. The future of MGM is, as it's been on and off for more than two decades, all about Kirk Kerkorian. So, it was not a surprise when a public offering was rescinded earlier this week when the effort to raise $750 million turned too costly for the billionaire. One thing is clear in the end. Kerkorian is bullish on the future of the company. However, it seems just as clear that the future of the company is going to be driven by the more economically sound, but far less romantic theory of Ancillary First. In other words, the money is in the aftermarket of movies, not in production and distribution. The choice of Kerkorian not to dilute his position in MGM with the stock offering was met by a strong recovery in the stock price when the company announced that the $750 million would be raised via an internal offering. The rich get richer.

From Aimee: "I have to disagree with your dismissal that Leonardo is a one-hit wonder. Even if he never appears in another money-making movie, he is a fine actor with true charisma -- something lacking in many younger actors today, I believe. As far as his inactivity since Titanic, I believe it was intentional on his part to take a full year off in 1998 and in Jan thru April of 1999 he was in Thailand filming The Beach. His next movie will be Gangs which will start filming in Feb., 2000. I admire his restraint in choosing his movies. I don't see it as laziness on his part or non-interest on the part of studios or the audience. I think he is pretty savvy for a 24 year old."

From JP: "DiCaprio worked his buns off in Thailand from Jan-April,1999 filming The Beach based on Alex Garland's novel. Therefore, he is not in stasis as is Jim Cameron. Also, as soon as he finished filming Titanic, he went to France to film The Man in The Iron Mask. This was not a critical rave, but came out in the wake of Titanic and made good money. As a matter of fact, his Romeo and Juliet did well at the box office, so he does not qualify as a one hit wonder. (Yeah, I'm a fan). For pete's sake, you did surely see all those great movies he has made: Gilbert Grape, Marvin's Room. You have a good point about lowering the budget on Gangs, but I wish you would get the facts straight."

And From Mom: "Yes, it's another Leo fan writing as I'm sure you have been bombarded with e-mail from the ladies at the Thai site! While finding much of what you say to be humorous, I disagree with a few of your comments. For one, you called Leo a one-hit wonder and you used Celebrity as an example of how Miramax bet big dollars on him and lost. You do know that Leo was only in the film for 12 minutes, right? I find it interesting that you do not find fault with Woody's script or Woody's directing as to why that film did not make the money that they were expecting.

You also made a comment that Leo is unable to make the next move after Titanic, much like James Cameron. I think it's called burn out after working for 16 straight months without a break. On the last day of shooting Titanic, Leo hopped a plane to France to begin work on The Man in the Iron Mask. He was a month late in arriving due to the extra months required on Titanic. Give the kid a break."

E ME: Okay, okay, okay! Should I give Leo a break?