September 24, 2003

I’m counting screens…

How can Warner Bros. move Gothika into the one of the busiest weekends of the year? It’s not just the crowding, since Gothika is counter-programming of a sort. But where is Dan Fellman planning on finding the screens for his new film?

WB’s Matrix Revolutions opens on the 5th, but this summer, Reloaded was on over 3000-plus screens through the fourth week of release. New Line’s Elf may open on around 2500 screens, but then again, the number could top 3000. Both WB’s Looney Tunes and Fox’s Master & Commander have to be looking for 3000+ screens on November 14. U’s Honey and Dimension’s Bad Santa will suck up around 1800 screens each. Brother Bear will likely be hanging on to 2000+ screens for the holiday. And there is some chance that Radio and Texas Chainsaw Massacre will still be carrying more than a thousand screens each in their fifth or sixth weekends. Which brings us to Universal’s Cat In The Hat and WB’s Gothika.

And there is more on the other side, with Love Actually and The Missing expanding, plus wide, wide, wide releases expected for Disney’s The Haunted Mansion and Paramount’s Timeline.

I estimate well over 30,000 of America’s 40,000 or so screens sucked up by these films for the Thanksgiving weekend…. before adding Gothika.

Perhaps WB is willing to give up some Revolutions screens for the weekend of the 21st. Perhaps a lot of Looney Tunes screens are going to be up for grabs in weekend two. Gothika sure doesn’t feel like a movie that they’ll want to open on 1600 screens. I don’t get it.

The one interesting turn is that this puts Gothika out on the “same” weekend as the one on which Berry’s Bond movie opened last year. There’s a little spin for ya.

Me? I’d be looking at January 16, 2004. Either for Gothika or Looney Tunes…

HAPPY TO SEE YOU: Seeing the new TV spots for The Matrix Revolutions brought the proximity of the fall movie season into perspective for me. Tee hee. My look at the ads is on Movie City News… right here.

BY THE WAY: Re-release lovers…. Investigation Of A Citizen Above Suspicion opens Friday at the Nuart in Los Angeles, and From Here To Eternity is going in several major cities 12/5.

HEADED OFF AT THE SCREENER: With Oscar screener season expected to start in just a week or two, Tim Gray of Variety reports that the MPAA is pushing studios to skip the annual ritual. Unfortunately, this is just another case of the MPAA trying to close the barn door after the horse is out. More so, this heavy-handed hyper vigilance, which potentially delays other, now traditional, forms of piracy by as much as a month, would be potentially disastrous for smaller movies.

Last year’s come from behind multi-award winner, The Pianist, had a disastrous premiere, when a projector at the now-defunct Loew’s Cineplex Century Plaza broke down and the film went unshown. Then, the first Academy screening coincided with some event I have since forgotten and the attendance was disappointing. There are theorists that say that the film was propelled into nominations and wins by the New York block of voters, but a significant percentage of Pianist voters likely saw the film in the comfort of their own living rooms, spurred by strong word of mouth.

This year, with a shorter pre-nomination period, ending January 17, the competition to get films seen will be more intense than ever. If you are selling LOTR: Return of the King or The Last Samurai, you don’t have to worry too much. But if you are Focus Features and are dealing with smaller movies like Lost in Translation and 21 Grams, you need to start Academy screening NOW if you aren’t sending out screeners. The idea that people will get to nomination potential movies during the holidays is lovely, but a lot of the Academy members are on holiday during the holidays and bring their DVDs along. They won’t be able to catch 21 Grams in Montana or even Colorado over Thanksgiving…. or probably even Christmas.

The latest launch for screeners last year was Miramax, which waited until the second week of December before sending out the still-not-in-release Gangs of New York, Chicago and Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. But what are the odds that a significant voting block of Academy members will see New Line’s LOTR: Return of the King, Miramax’s Cold Mountain, Disney’s The Alamo, Disney’s Calendar Girls, Columbia’s Big Fish, DreamWorks’ House of Sand & Fog and Revolution/Columbia’s Mona Lisa Smile all in a theater, all in the 29 days between the first film released and the close of nominations? Uh, zero.

Of course, this means tons more in-town screenings. And a ton more pressure on Oscar flacks who don’t have the films that are already must-see on a commercial level.

And I’ve got news for you… I’m willing to see six or seven movies a week in order to get it all in. But even I have films that I just wouldn’t see if it weren’t for Academy screeners. And there are films that need revisiting that I would not be revisiting if I had to find a screening. Moreover, how fair would it be to have Seabiscuit in Blockbusters all over the country, even if there was an agreement not to send already-in-home-release films out to voters?

There is a lot of money thrown at Oscar campaigns, so I can’t claim that cost really matters. However, the current access to public screenings at regular theaters has become more and more limited - the exhibitors control the number of members they will accept, since the access is an unpaid courtesy to the studios. That would surely change. Paying full price for an awards voter and a guest to see a public screening is still going to be cheaper for studios to do than adding a bunch more screenings, which tend to cost somewhere between $5 and $10 a seat, even for the empty seats.

Add to that the thought that if screenings are the only option for seeing a film, people will naturally prioritize the screenings that include talent Q&As. If your second choice screening has a celebrity showing up and your first choice does not, you may well choose the second choice first. That puts more pressure on talent-laden screenings. And again unbalances the alleged reason for the awards… to reward quality, not hype.

Shorter schedule… fewer opportunities… higher stakes… increased chaos.

And allow me to remind the MPAA… The Hours was available on DVD six weeks before it was sent out by Paramount. The Hulk incident of earlier this year was an internal leak. Spider-Man was an internal leak. And I guarantee you… you can buy Lost In Translation on the streets of any major city on the planet right now.

Eliminating screeners will not stop piracy. It will eliminate a few obvious examples, like screeners being sold on E-bay. (If you ask me, every screener should be numbered and E-Bay should force sellers of any DVD not in current release to offer that “limited edition” number in the offering. Then the MPAA or studios can take action accordingly. Throw a few Academy members out of the Academy and take away access from a few journalists and people will fall in line.) But it will hurt the movies that most need an added opportunity to be seen… that don’t have tens of millions of dollars being spent in ads.

Of course, the MPAA is the studios… and making the Oscars about bigger movies again would suit most of the studios just fine. So…

READER OF THE DAY: JOHNNY UTAH writes: “That Canadian made a revealing comment when he called $130 pocket change to Americans. American movies have not done our nation a favor by portraying us the way they do. Everyone in movies is rich unless their income is an integral part of the story. You can be a yoga instructor and still afford a $10,000 birthday party for your kid. You can be unemployed for months at a time and still keep your spacious studio apartment. You can lose a few thousand in Vegas, and while you frown over it, it doesn't inconvenience you. Wrong wrong wrong. Purchasing $130 in DVDs is an act of love for me.”

SSSSSSSSSS on re-releases: “Vertigo-Watching the opening scene, in which the officer falls from the roof, on a huge screen would be worth the admission alone.

Manhattan-Should have been re-released all over NYC after 9/11. The opening sequence, and the closing code, is a virtual orgasmic tribute to the city.

In Cold Blood-I know, I know, this isn't realistic. But, hell, I love this movie, and I would love to see Conrad Hall's gorgeous b&w cinematography on the big screen. By the way this one comes out today on DVD. I will be purchasing.

Network-Was this movie prescient, or are the media issues of today very similar, or identical, to 30 years ago? They could re-touch the film and call it a new release. It's not like the core issues are dated. When I saw this for the 1st time 2 or 3 years ago, I thought to myself, wait a minute-what's changed?”

And TAIWAN STEVE can’t be stopped: “Every few years, there comes a crime/thriller with the great screenplay. "Se7en", "The Usual Suspects", and "Memeto". This year, we got the latest one, "Identity".

You can call "Identity" as a whodunit, made by the rolls of films. For me, it's more than that. It's also a pay tribute to Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho".

Remember what Hitchcock did in "Psycho"? Well, he made the great shower scene, killed the only big name star Janet Lee while in the middle of the movie, also had a psychologist explained to us who the killer was, and why he killed.

"Identity" has these similar elements, too. There's an old motel, a night with heavy rain, a girl with lots of cash, a mother who can't movie but laying down on the bed, and the first victim who wrapped by a shower curtain. Of course, a psychologist also show up to answer all our questions.

The funny is, even We knew "Identity" is something like "Psycho", we still don't know who the killer is. This film keeps you guessing all the time, the screenplay is such smart.

"Identity" is excellent film you must see in 2003. And few words to Gus Van Sant: Your "Psycho" sucks! See "Identity" then you'll admit it. OK? Don't do anything to mess Hitchcock again.”

E ME: Does your psycho suck? If not, you might want to get yourself another psycho. And so you think that screener restraint will slow piracy?