Boxoffice-July.1999

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"Frantic," "The Ninth Gate" was Artisan's first
production under new management and was
announced even before it changed its name
from Live Entertainment. At $30 million, the
thriller is also the company's largest production
investment in its 1 0-year history. Depp
fans are going to get their fill this month, with
New Line's "The Astronaut's Wife" opening
just three weeks from now.
West Beirut
After working as a camera operator for
Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" and
"Pulp Fiction," writer-director Ziad Doueiri
has come out with a film of his own, a coming-of-ager
set in 1970s Beirut, when the city
was torn apart by war. For three young boys,
the political schism between Christians and
Muslims means greater freedom, but they cannot
ignore the conflict forever. Rami Doueiri,
Mohamad Chamas and Rola Al Amin star.
Rachid Bouchareb and Jean Brehat produce.
(Cowboy,_8/6 NY/LA)
Exploitips: Cowboy acquired "West Beirut"
at the American Film Market this spring. The
pic won the Fipresci critics award at the 1998
Toronto International Film Festival and was
the official Lebanese submission for the best
foreign film Academy Award.
Plunkett & Macleane
See our March 1999
(Gramercy, 8/6)
issue
Trailers.
Perfect Blue
"Akira" director Katsuhiro Otomo lends his
name to this Japanese anime about a wannabe
actress who blows off her pop girl group for a
small part in a TV series. Soon she finds herself
acting in rape scenes and modeling nude to
support herself while a doppelganger makes
her wonder what her life could have been.
Satoshi Kon directs a screenplay by Sadayuki
Murai; Hiroaki Inoue ("Wings of
Honneamise") and Masao Maruyama produce.
(Palm, 8/6 NY)
Exploitips: Although Otomo's only a special
adviser on this pic, the association will spark
interest even among non-anime aficionados.
Also, Miramax's "Princess Mononoke" has the
advantage of a) being in English, b) coming
out first and c) having the marketing campaign
that won "Shakespeare in Love" an Oscar
behind it. Still, "Perfect Blue" probably will
only benefit from the heightened awareness of
anime brought about by "Princess."
Taxman
See our March
(Phaedra, 8/6)
AUGUST 11
1999 issue Trailers.
The Thomas Crown Affair
See our May 1999 issue Trailers. (MGM,
8/11)
in Too Beep
Omar Epps follows up the "Mod Squad"
debacle with this thriller about an undercover
cop intent on bringing down a gangster called
"God" who's tapped into 80 percent of the
city's crime. It'll take six months to get close to
him. The question becomes, once he's in that
deep, will he be able to come up for air? LL
Cool J
("Halloween H20"), Nia Long ("Soul
Food"), Pam Grier ("Jackie Brown") and
Stanley Tucci ("The Imposters") co-star.
Michael Rymer directs a script by Paul Aaron
and Michael Henry Brown ("Dead
Presidents"), who also both produce.
(Miramax, 8/1 1
Exploitips: Guaranteed to be popular
among urban audiences, "In Too Deep" could
see some crossover due to its similarities to
"Donnie Brasco" and other undercover-in-themob
movies. It might see some holdover competition
from last month's "The Wood," also
starring Epps.
AUGUST 13
The 13th Warrior
Antonio Banderas ("The Mask of Zorro")
leads a mostly European cast in this historical
thriller set in 922 A.D., playing an important
emissary who falls in with a band of Viking
warriors as they battle a cannibalistic creature.
"Die Hard's" John McTiernan directs a script
by William Wisher ("Terminator 2: Judgment
Day") and Warren Lewis, who based it on the
Michael Crichton novel "Eaters of the Dead";
McTiernan, Crichton and Ned Dowd ("The
Three Musketeers") produce. (Buena Vista,
8/13)
Exploitips: Shooting wrapped on "The
Thirteenth Warrior" in November 1997, but
Disney's been taking its time releasing it.
Rumor has it that Banderas hurt his back during
filming, and the filmmakers had to go back
and shoot some pickup shots they lost due to
the injury. One of the last pics put into production
by the now-defunct Cinergi,
Touchstone agreed to oversee its production
and distribution.
iVIr.
Accident
Over a decade after "Young Einstein,"
writer-director-star Yahoo Serious returns in
this comedy as an accident-prone guy who
discovers his employer's plan to market nicotine-laced
eggs. He teams up with his boss'
UFO-obsessed girlfriend to foil the scheme,
and, of course, they fall in love. Helen
Dallimore co-stars. David Roach ("Young
Einstein") lends a hand on the script; Warwick
Ross (Serious' "Reckless Kelly") produces.
(MGM, 8/1 3)
Exploitips: MGM needs a hit, but this isn't
going to be it. "Young Einstein" only grossed
$11.5 million when it was released in 1988,
and last weekend's "The Mystery Men" makes
for a formidable opponent. This is the flick
with which MGM chose to bow its specialty
arm G2 Films. Hmm.
Betroit Rocic City
See our March 1999 issue Trailers. (New
Line, 8/13)
iVIicicey Biue Eyes
Hugh Grant follows up his pairing with Julia
Roberts in "Notting Hill" with another romantic
comedy. This time he's a New York art
dealer who, though madly in love, can't marry '
the girl of his dreams without thwarting her
family: the Mob. Soon he's unwittingly laundering
money, witnessing murder and masquerading
as the notorious mobster Mickey
Blue Eyes. James Caan ("This Is My Father")
and Jeanne Tripplehorn ("'Til There Was You")
co-star. Kelly Makin ("Kids in the Hall: Brain!
Candy") directs a script by Marc Lawrence.;
("Forces of Nature"), Adam Scheinman ("Little
|
Big League") and Robert Kuhn; Elizabeth!
Hurley ("Extreme Measures") and Charles!
Mulvehill ("Red Corner") produce. (Warnerl
Bros., 8/1 3)
Exploitips: A good three months after the
release of "Notting Hill, " the two Grant starrers
shouldn't collide in the marketplace, and
"Mickey Blue Eyes" has the romantic comedy
market cornered this month. There have been
rumors of trouble on the set, however:
Reportedly, Grant clashed with director Makin
and shot extra scenes with Carl Gottlieb on the
set as a stand-in director, with Grant pretty
much calling the shots. The blue-eyed actor
also recut Makin's final cut, adding the new
scenes and making other changes. The good
news is that the result has been getting good
test audience scores.
iVIinusiVlan
See our May 1999 issue Trailers. (Artisan,
8/1 3 NY/LA)
Aiice et iVIartin
Juliet Binoche ("The English Patient") stars
in this French-language drama as a Parisian
whose lover has a mysterious past. He goes
particularly mad when she reveals to him that
she's pregnant. Alexis Loret and Carmen
Maura co-star. Andre Techine directs as well
as scripts with "Les Voleurs'" Gilles Taurand;
Alain Sarde (also Techine's "Les Voleurs") produces.
(October, 8/1 3 NY, 8/20 exp)
Exploitips: As with last month's "The Lovers
of the Bridge," Oscar-winner Binoche will be
the attraction here for American audiences.
Bandits
See our February 1999 issue Trailers.
(Stratosphere, 8/1 3 NY)
AUGUST 20
Blue Streal(
After sharing the limelight in a string of films
(most recently "Life" with Eddie Murphy),
Martin Lawrence carries this comedy on his
own as a jewel thief who, about to be caught
and thrown in jail for three years, hides the
loot at a construction site. When he's released,
he impersonates a cop to find the diamonds,
now buried somewhere within an L.A. policel
precinct, while impressing his colleagues with!
his crime-fighting prowess. Les Mayfield
("Flubber") directs a script by Stephen!
Carpenter; Daniel Melnick ("LA. Story"), Nealj
H. Mortiz ("Cruel Intentions") and Toby Jaffe
produce. (Columbia, 8/20)
jj
Exploitips: Though critics mostly panned it,\\
"Life" opened at number one, indicating that
star power still rules at the boxoffice, at least
on opening weekend. (That it quickly fell to
number two— behind "The Matrix," which
had already been out for several weeks— likewise
indicates that substance also counts.)
Lawrence rarely headlines a film on his ov/i\,
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