Boxoffice-July.1999

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Having felt like the town's whipping boys
through much of 1997, the studio's managers
suddenly were sitting atop the heap.
They had survived "Titanic." They had
assembled a highly credible summer slate
within prudent budget parameters. They
had even come up with the year's biggest
sleeper, "There's Something About
Mary"...
By summer's end it looked Hke "Dr.
Dolittle" would do $145 million in the
U.S., "The X-Files" would come in at $84
million, and "There's Something About
Mary" would end up near $175 million in
the U.S. and $200 million overseas.
Meanwhile, the studio had done remarkably
well with its smaller films: Though
"Bulworth" failed to crack $26 million
and had little impact overseas, the
domestic gross on "Hope Floats" totaled
$60 million, on "Ever After" $70 million,
and on "How Stella Got Her Groove
Back" $38 miUion.
The tendency of Fox executives to brag
about their superior strategy annoyed
rivals. Fox's success at the boxoffice had
nothing to do with combining low-budgeted,
demographically targeted movies
with so-called multi-quadrant fare, as
management kept crowing. Rather, it was
all about luck—the "movie gods" again,
they said...
Clearly, among all the studio managements.
Fox's stood out in summer '98 as
the luckiest, most resilient, and most
agile. Despite the battering they took
during the days of "Speed 2" and
"Titanic," the team managed to maintain
its appearance of unity and equanimity...
The studio's approval rating was far
from unanimous, however. Many felt
Fox's decision to structure itself into four
distinct divisions had turned out to be
both confusing and redundant. The divisions
were Twentieth Century Fox, led by
Tom Rothman; Fox 2000, run by former
producer Laura Ziskin; Fox Animation,
headed by Chris Meledandri; and Fox
Searchlight, whose president was Lindsay
Law. The grand design was for each division
to produce its own disinctive brand
of film. It had worked, to a degree. Fox
Searchlight, for example, distributed
"The Full Monty," but its four other 1998
releases were disappointments, including
"Shooting Fish" and "Two Girls and a
Guy." Fox Animation got off to a dicey
start with "Anastasia" but was determined
to continue its battle against
Disney. The Ziskin-led Fox 2000
remained relatively inactive in 1998 but
promised a vigorous slate the following
year. That left Rothman's wing with the
out
bulk of the responsibility for filling
the slate. And given this responsibility, it
was Rothman, aided by Sherak, who led
the inspired charge on the Farrelly brothers.
And in doing so, they managed to
more than compensate for the missteps
and redundancies that had been committed
at the studio.
While Fox was standing by its multidivisional
structure despite the overall
mood of belt-tightening, Disney was
headed in quite the opposite direction.
Joe Roth had never been comfortable
with the several units arrayed around the
lot and by the end of summer '98 he had
shut down the biggest. Touchstone
Pictures, and terminated its production
chief, Donald DeLine, consolidating all
filmmaking activity under David Vogel,
who reported to Roth.
Indeed, he was more than ready to
back off further "Armageddon"-style
adventures. Though that project had
never incurred the risks of a "Titanic," it
nonetheless was a high-wire act. And
while Roth had argued against cofinancing
partners on that meagfilm, he was
now more than ready to find partners for
his future big films-with the exception of
animation...
In retrospect. Roth's summer slate had
proven to be a hairy but productive ride.
He had bet the store on "Armageddon"
and, despite all the static, it had been a
winning bet. The movie turned out to be
the only $200 million movie of summer...
In terms of worldwide gross,
"Armageddon" had a good chance to
pass the $500 milHon mark, which only
six other Hollywood films have achieved.
None of Roth's other films came close
to that mark, to be sure. "Mulan" grossed
$120 million in the U.S. and roughly $200
million worldwide... "Six Days, Seven
Nights" ended up grossing $75 million in
the U.S. and a like number
overseas... Paradoxically, these numbers
were matched by Robert Redford's ponderously
self-important movie, "The
Horse Whisperer." "The Parent Trap"
grossed a respectable $70 million in the
U.S. while "Mafia" ended up at $30 million.
Roth's bottom line was that he had
emerged from summer with two solid
moneymakers in "Armageddon" and
"Mulan," which would ultimately provide
grist for Disney's hugely profitable video
arm, its retail outlets, and other ancillary
streams. His other two pricey films, "The
Horse Whisperer" and "Six Days, Seven
Nights," managed to satisfy Hollywood's
rule-of-thumb criterion that if a film's
domestic gross equals its negative cost, it
will ultimately finish in the black...
Of all the principal companies, the
most unsettled by summer '98 was surely
MGM. Undercapitalized and demoralized,
MGM had managed to mobilize
only two movies for summer '98— "Dirty
Work" and "Disturbing Behavior"
...Between them, the once-proud studio
had managed to achieve a pathetic 1.1
percent market share, lower even than
Universal's 2.4 percent. Frank Mancuso,
MGM's cagey chairman, said he had
been troubled by the summer crush and
so had delayed playing his "ace,"
"Ronin," a $75 million thriller, until
fall...Though it picked up some reasonably
good reviews, the noirish thriller
duplicitously, and the people of an old
generation should have known bettei
legendary director Norman Jewis(
explaining his approach to life and art:
like to think I'm still rebellious. I st
admire rebels.. .I'm a loner, not a joiner
don't know where that comes from, bu;
think it's true of most filmmakers"; ar
even "Titanic" helmer James Camerc
offering advice to future moviemaker
"I think the true and proper schooiii
for a filmmaker is sitting in a movie th
atre watching film, even if that meai
you go to see it two or three times."
Highlighting the directors' methoc
ologies and personal intent, 'A C\
Above" should be appreciated by bot
fihn students and film buffs eager to gai
access to the conceptual artistry behin
some of their favorite films.
"Screenwriters: America's
Storytellers in Portrait" by Helena
Lumme & Mika Manninen
(Angel City Press, 128 pgs., $30)
Sometimes a picture says a thousan.
words and this work is a beautifully illus
trated example of that adage. The boo;:
encompasses a series of portraits, com
plete with filmographies and index list
ings.
"Screenwriters" is a lively collection o
photos that put faces to the names o
some of Hollywood's most celebratec
writers. Subjects of the portraiture!
include William Kelley ("Witness")'
Callie Khouri ("Thelma and Louise"
and Paul Schrader ("Affliction"). Alsc
decorating the book, besides theiil
images, is the screenwriters' stronges
attribute: Their words. Julius Epsteir
quips, "What amuses me is that they paj
a million dollars for a script, then pui
another writer on to write it," while
Khouri notes, "I fell into screenwritin^
much like Alice fell down the rabbit hole.
And now I'm in a world that makes
about as much sense."
Although this portrait tome may not
qualify as true summer "reading," it doe^
make a nice addition to any coffee table!
and just might come in handy for lazy
perusing on those indoor-only, air-conditioned
days.
"The Film Festival Guide: For
Filmmakers, Film Buffs, and
Industry Professionals" by Adam
|
Langer (Chicago Review Press,
269 pgs., $16.95)
The title of Adam Langer's "The Film;
Festival Guide: For Filmmakers. Film
Buffs, and Industry Professionals"
makes no bones about the purpose of the
book: To serve as a comprehensive manual
that provides filmmakers and industry
insiders with valuable information
concerning event contacts, dates, venues
and deadlines for entries. Fortunately, his
work also functions as an insightful
guide oflering advice to the plain old
movie bulT who wants to catch a few
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