Weekend, 8-9 January 2000

NEWS BY THE NUMBERS

Normally, News By The Numbers covers the Top Ten news items of the week through my psychotic prism. But there has been virtually no real news this week. So instead of 10, it will be a lucky 7 buttons to rile you up. Nonetheless, this is the first full-length column since the holiday break, even if I am short on numbers. Uh... do I get Martin Luther King, Jr. Day off now?

7. The Force Is Worldwide - No real news in Fox releasing Star Wars: Episode One - The Phantom Menace on video. Not even that they aren't releasing a DVD. (Did anyone really think that Lucas would release the DVDs out of order?) But what is news is that Fox is releasing the video across the globe all on one day. April 4 is the day. And if you are looking for symbolism in that it's three days after April Fools Day and 11 before American tax day, I sure can't find any. But does this make the purchase of a copy of the movie a write-off for Hot Button readers?

6. Huh?: It's pretty rare that you read a report and think a movie star is being paid too little for a movie. But Ashley Judd is apparently going to do a Tony Goldwyn movie for "just" $4 million. I assume that in the vein of A Walk on The Moon, Goldwyn is making a "small" movie, so I guess it's not completely shocking. But shouldn't we be reading that Ashley's getting $15 million to play Clarice Starling in Hannibal? (Note: I've been pushing for this for a while, including to one fellow columnist, who apparently saw Judd's name mentioned on EW Online after we talked about it and decided to credit them. I guess EW Online is now trying harder to promote itself, as it has taken credit for every rumor that has long been on the web or in other media regarding Hannibal. Of course, they make a mockery of themselves, as any of us do, who took the Gillian Anderson rumor seriously for more than a split second. That rumor started on a G.A. fan site. After all, what could be stupider than hiring an actress who has become know for playing one F.B.I. agent on TV to play another that is completely...completely!...different?)

5. Joining The Party: The number of folks with DVD players grew 247 percent last year. Amazing. There are now 8.5 million DVD-ready households in the world, almost 6 million of them in the U.S. alone. It took me a long time to get on the satellite bandwagon, though I still expect it to be a short-term technology. And so, it looks like when I return from Sundance, it will be time to take the DVD plunge. Just what I needed... another way to see movies. Oy!

4. Another IPO Magnet: Robin Williams has joined the Internet Elite, hosting (what exactly does that mean?) a weekly comedy program on a new site called Audible.com. For his trouble, Williams gets stock options... a lot of them, I'm sure. And there is no doubt that this will make Audible.com a huge, immediate presence in cyberspace. And there seems little doubt that about 18 months from now, when Williams realizes he is the only thing of value on the site, that he will take his big money and run, leaving a shell behind. Hey, it's possible that I'm wrong and that Audible.com will use the Williams gambit to build something wonderful. But based on how much money must be involved to get a Robin Williams to play, my bet is that this is just going to be a variation on dot.com TV commercial spending... an ultimately fading blur. Nonetheless, welcome to the party, RW.

3. ...And The Law Won: Fox Searchlight has had a pretty good run of late under Lindsay Law (though over the holidays, I inexplicably put Laura Ziskin in charge of Searchlight - on her way out the door - and not Fox 2000... a bit of brain damage that the holidays didn't allow to be immediately corrected...duh!). With all the studios now trying to come up with "arthouse" fare that has a chance to reach the box office heavens, Law hit the jackpot with The Full Monty in ‘97, both financially and as an awards magnet. But The Ice Storm showed the downside. It was a high quality film that didn't have the marketing oomph, due to limited financial resources, to draw either more box office (maxing out at under $8 million domestic) or fulfil its awards potential. In ‘98, Searchlight had controversy in Two Girls and a Guy, a long, long pre-release buzz push for Slums of Beverly Hills and what seemed like a sure Oscar® flick in Waking Ned Devine. That's about as full a sellable plate as Miramax ever has. But even sex with Heather Graham couldn't fill the till for Two Girls, Slums revved its engines longer than it lasted in theaters, effectively launching Natasha Lyonne's face and nothing else and even though Ned Devine made a profitable $25 million, it got blasted come Academy Awards time by the Miramax machine. This year Searchlight has 2 major art films and again, no likely breakout. Boys Don't Cry seems sure to get a Best Actress nomination for Hilary Swank, but the movie is still under $3 million in domestic gross and has never played on more than 51 screens in any weekend. In fact, it's only in one small art house, in a gay neighborhood, here in L.A. Titus is just beginning and audiences have been strong at the one screen it's on here. And I, certainly, will be fighting for the film. But will Fox Searchlight have the marketing might/dollars to break it out? That seems to be the Achilles heel.

But I write not to bury Lindsay Law, but to praise him. In a period when people aren't being fired at certain studios because there is no one obvious around to replace them, Law seems to be leaving 100% of his own accord... back to the east coast and into theater. While some companies have done okay picking up foreign films (Sony Pictures Classics) or building on what Miramax leaves behind (Lion's Gate), Fox Searchlight has been the one inner-indie (coin it, repeat it, love it) with a sense of a personal vision. And now, that person is leaving. Ciao. And thanks for the memories.

"Disney, Canada & A Snow Falling Loving ROTD"