Weekend, 13-14 November 1999

NEWS BY THE NUMBERS

10. Box Office Monstershatatatata: The downside of the success of The Mon Who Would Be Poke is that they are already running out of trading cards at America's theaters. And so, Warner Bros., no dummies they, have created an 800 number to call so that your child can get his or her card in exchange for their ticket stub.

From the WB press release: "...viewers who see Pokemon: The First Movie before Monday, November 15, 1999 and do not receive a game card packet at the theater should mail their movie-ticket stub and a stamped, self-addressed envelope to the following address:

Pokemon Trading Card Game Card Offer
c/o Technicolor
202 Rochester Avenue
Ontario, CA 91761

Requests must be postmarked by December 14, 1999; delivery of the Trading Card Game cards will take at least six weeks. One Trading Card Game card will be sent per ticket stub. People may also call an 800 number to receive this same address and set of instructions for obtaining a game card. The number is (800) 824-9588. Callers should have paper and pencil handy so that they can write down the aforementioned address, which will be provided on the phone."

In the great tradition of today's Hollywood, I have made my first effort at eBay and will be selling a Pokemon ticket stub to the highest bidder!!!

9. Ashleychu: When I saw Ashley Judd at an early Bond screening, I couldn't figure out what she was doing there. I'm sure she loves Bond and all, but the girl has a broken leg and she's hopping around, avoiding press people and there had to be some reason she was there. Michael Apted sprung to mind, but then some completely inappropriate-for-Apted project sprung up with Judd's name and a director attached, so the thought passed. Then the trades announced that she was negotiating to do Dexterty, a lower budget drama about factory workers in a small dying New York town...BING, BING, BING! Apted time. I don't know how Judd felt about The World Is Not Enough, but it seems like a good match otherwise.

8. Atsalotsabananas: A few weeks ago, word came that Ryan Phillippe was making "just" a million dollars for his next movie. And I applauded. For a person who is perceived, not unfairly, as having some drawing power with teens, that's about how much he draws without benefit of a good movie around him. And so, with Leelee Sobieski set for just over $1 million for The Glass House, again, I applaud. She is becoming a star. But a million bucks seems to fit.

7. Leofestassha: This story has gotten a bit ripe on the tree, but Leofest is on the way. Leonardo DiCaprio is behind an online short film festival that will seek to give voice to young filmmakers across the globe. Exactly how, when and where this event will take place seems to still be in the air, but you can send in your films.

6. Aurevoirisntale: Runanway production that's never coming back... It was news this week when the House Ways and Means Committee didn't vote on the issue of runaway production and possible government subsidies to stem the tide. See, it kind of occurred to them that billions of dollars over the next five years subsidizing the film business (ha!) wasn't really the best idea. (Next Senate campaign: "And thanks to my vote in the Senate, you had the chance to see Denise Richards, not clothed, not semi-nude, but all the way NUDE!!!!" The crowd chants the Senator's name.) I don't mean to completely dismiss the issue. The problem is real. But it is completely about economics. If the American industry wants to bring production home, it will have to make some major financial concessions of its own. If the State of California can quantify its loss in jobs and tax revenue from runaway production, the state should offer some financial relief. But the idea of Hollywood being subsidized by your tax dollars, at an ultimate deficit, sure seems goofy, doesn't it? It's a tough problem and I suspect that the answer will be tough, too.

5. Sellasoulapoopoo: Next week, there will be yet another auction of Hollywood stuff. Included is Alex's cane from A Clockwork Orange and a lot of other cool stuff. But not so cool, at least to me, is the sale of Herman Mankiewicz's Oscar for Citizen Kane. Doesn't that kind of creep you out? Should'nt Oscars revert back to a museum or something if they lose their way? It strikes me as kind of like football or baseball teams moving to another city. I like the idea that now the NFL rule is that the name stays with the town. What would be the glory of Cleveland having a new team if they had to be called the Eries? The Oscar is expected to fetch as much as $300,000. That's great and I'm sure that someone needs that money, but I don't know. Between that and Marilyn Monroe's temporary license going for some absurd amount, I may have to give up my eBay auction in protest.

4. Steveiateadipole: Word comes from DreamWorks that they have "finally" picked a writer to pen a screenplay from the A. Scott Berg bio of Charles Lindbergh. Didn't they already do that, you ask? Isn't Paul Atanasio hard at work, you wonder? Uh, guess not. Word is that Atanasio, who was said to be moving to pen a first-draft in a rush, never delivered a draft. Manno Mayjes, who wrote the feel-gooder-than-Atanasio-has-ever-felt Indiana Jones & The Last Crusade and The Color Purple for Spielberg is the new man on board. (Yes, I know "gooder" is not a word.) The big question for me is whether Meyjes will put Lindbergh on filmic trial for anti-Semitism as it seemed sure that Atanasio would have. We'll see. Meanwhile, at this late date, it will be a relief to see Spielberg behind a camera again. Waiting for Cruise has become a Hollywood pastime over the last 2 years and while he may be worth the wait (great work in EWS and Magnolia), the guy can screw up a perfectly good career schedule. Spielberg could have done Memoirs of a Geisha and been putting it on a slow track to Fall 2000 at this point. Time to get back to work.

3. Illbebackigoo: Michael Fleming reported it for Variety, but if you believe it at face value, you are a sap. What do you do when you've laid out more than $16 million ($8 million to the bankruptcy court and at least the same amount, plus a piece of the real net to Gale Anne Hurd, who owned the other half of the rights) and Jim Cameron is waffling about whether he wants to do the movie (or any other, at this point)? Well, Andy Vanja and Mario Kassar go to the press. You hire two dangerously mediocre writers (Tedi Sarafian, who wrote the non-sensicle but stylish looking Tank Girl and David Wilson, who wrote the unreleaseable MGM debacle Supernova) to make sure that Cameron knows you are about to rape and pillage his legacy if he doesn't come around. And you lay out the future of the two films in a way that you know will piss Cameron off. Because this is the reality, my friends. Terminator 3 with Cameron And Schwarzenegger is a virtual $300 million worldwide lock even if it is the weakest of the series, with a real possibility of going to $500 million worldwide if it's good. Terminator 3 without Cameron, but with Schwarzenegger is a likely $150 million worldwide lock, but a gamble if it is perceived as weak. T3 without either guy is just another HBO premiere action movie. With $16 million or so on the table already for rights alone and a movie that can't be made for less than $80 million without Schwarzenegger and which would be $100 million with him and $150 million with Cameron, with Cameron and Arnold is the only really good bet. If they make the movie without the duo, they are looking to break even at $200 million worldwide without the draw. Hell, it may happen. At some point, $16 million expended is a lot to watch float away for nothing. But believe me, Andy and Mario are going to be willing to wait a long, long, long time before they ever do this without the dynamic duo.

2. MasPokelatkpata: Not sick of Pokemon (or these Pokemon button titles) yet? Well, unlucky for you, Warner Bros. doesn't even have to make a second movie to release a second movie. There is already one in the can that did over $33 million in Japan. Once again, the film will boast new characters and a brand new Pokemon!!!! Hoooo-ray! The film, entitled Pocket Monsters Revelation Lugia, will be renamed, re-edited and re-dubbed for America. And I suspect that we will see this one by the summer. No point in taking a chance of letting the heat fade. And also keep an eye out for Hello Kitty Kicks A**, not coming soon to a theater near you.

1. Disneyafache: The move to digital theaters continues to slowly chug along. Disney will be the first distributor to go day-and-date with the film and digital release of Toy Story 2, which will be followed by day-and-dates for Bicentennial Man, Dinosaur and Mission to Mars. Also in the broadening-the-spectrum category, Disney will open Fantasia 2000 on IMAX screens across the planet on January 1. I'll print a full list off all the theaters very soon, but they reach from Minnesota to Kowloon to Lucerne.

READER OF THE DAY: Bobby Baby wrote: "So, are Annette Bening and Nicole Kidman completely out of the Best Actress race? That's a shame...Kidman ruled Eyes Wide Shut, and I think Annette's performance in American Beauty is as good as anyone else's. Or are they both supporting roles? Speaking of Supporting Actress, perhaps Chloe Sevigny could have a shot for Boys Don't Cry, or even Diane Venora if The Insider gets some momentum. At one point, wasn't Jean Smart considered a possibility for Guinevere? And what about Patricia Neal for Cookie's Fortune? Or Julianne Moore for An Ideal Husband? Mira Sorvino for Summer of Sam? Sarah Polley for Go? Diane Lane for A Walk on the Moon? See, there are plenty of good women's performances. Provided, of course, one looks hard enough."

And Doug: His 1st Letter wrote: "Does Snow Falling On Cedars not get a mention on your Oscar list for 1999? Did you see this film and not like it, or did you simply not see it? Scott Hicks has done a wonderful job with this film - it seems to be an oversight on your part. (Or is there simply no buzz - or worse, a bad buzz - for this film in your neck of the woods?) When it premiered in Boston, the critics raved. It is being released on December 22 for Oscar consideration (unless that date has been pushed back - could that be why you made no mention of it?) Jay Carr and James Verniere, the two major critics in Boston, thought it was excellent and a certain Oscar-contender. Comments?"

E ME: Let's see...I had to check my teeth after seeing SFOC because I was pretty sure that they had all been pulled by the time I left the theater. Not that I feel strongly about the film. What do you think of Oscar? Any more women to nominate? Are you anxious to see Billy Zane in T3? If you could buy an Oscar for $300,000, what would you do with it?