Boxoffice-January.2000

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FEBRUAR
TRAILER
New and improved
Up.." which Columbia held from a Christi
controversial "The Beach," featuring L
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month features a Winnie
as well <
long-awaited "Tit,):
thriller Boiler Room" batth Biuce Willis
vith
starrer "The Whole Nine Yards" on
18. which is also
Destination "Drowning
bowing the
a modern
remake of "Hamlet —Annie
"
Gun Shy
Liam Neeson ("The Phantom
Menace") and Sandra Bullock
("Forces of Nature") break out of
their shells to star in this black
comedy about an undercover
agent who loses his nerve while
on a case. Oliver Piatt ("Three to
Tango") co-stars. Tyro filmmaker
Eric Blakeney scripts and directs;
Bullock and sister Cesine produce.
(Buena Vista, 2/4)
Exploitips: Bullock's Fortis
Films, which produced "Hope
Floats" and "Practical Magic,"
continues developing star vehicles
for her in an indie-esque
environment. "Gun Shy" was
financed via negative pick-up
by Buena Vista Film Sales, the
acquisitions and sales arm of
the Walt Disney Co., and found
distribution through Hollywood
Pictures.
Scream 3
"Scream" and "Scream 2" survivors
Neve Campbell, Courtney
Cox and David Arquette return
for the third and final
installment
of the franchise that reinvented
the horror genre. Now out of college,
the protagonists dodge
knives during the shooting of
"Stab 3." ("Stab," you'll recall,
skipping over its sequel.) Parker
Posey ("You've Cot Mail") co-stars.
Wes Craven returns to direct;
Ehren Kruger ("Arlington Road")
scripts; "Scream"-writer Kevin
Williamson and "Scream 2's"
Cathy Konrad and Marianne
Madalena produce. (Miramax, 2/4)
Exploitips: After penning a 30-
page outline, Williamson pulled
out of scripting "Scream 3, " citing a
full plate of other Miramax projects
including his disappointing directorial
debut "Teaching Mrs. Tingle"
and the fall TV series "Wasteland.
Because of this and other delays,
"Scream 3's" release date was
pushed back from December, the
release month for both "Scream"
and "Scream 2, " both of which surpassed
$100 million.
this animated kids movie is
about Tigger's search for his family.
When Tigger has no one to
play with, he goes on a search
for his family tree. His friends,
including Winnie the Pooh,
Eeyore, Kanga, Roo and Piglet,
try to make him feel better by
disguising themselves as Tiggers,
but he discovers their ruse and
continues his quest, getting lost
in a snowstorm. (Buena Vista,
2/11)
Exploitips: Like "Doug's 1st
Movie, " which Disney promoted
from a direct-to-video release
after witnessing the runaway success
several studios (including
of "The Rugrats Movie,"
Miramax, Columbia, Paramount
"The Tigger Movie" was original-
and Warner Bros.) clamored for
ly intended for the small screen.
It's now only the second Winnie
the Pooh movie to make it to the
big time, the other being 1997's
"Many Adventures of Winnie the
Hanging Up
Diane Keaton ("Unstrung
Heroes") does double duty as the
director and star of this comedydrama
about how three sisters
come to terms with their ornery
father's death. Meg Ryan
("You've Cot Mail"), Lisa Kudrow
("Analyze This") and Walter
was the movie-within-a-movie in
Matthau ("Grumpier Old Men")
"Scream 2." Apparently we're just
co-star. "You've Cot Mail's"
tie Winona Ryder ("Girl, Interrupted") stars in
thriller as a young woman who becomes aware
a plot to enable the devil to walk the Earth in
nan form. Ben Chaplin ("The Thin Red Line") co-
Janusz Kaminski makes his directorial debut;
e Gardner scripts; Meg Ryan ("French Kiss")
R. Sadowsky produce. (February 2/4)
Exploitips: This may be Kaminski's first effort as a
tor, but he's no stranger to great filmmaking:
cinematographer of choice for Steven Spiellierg
m a couple of Oscirs lor "Shindler's
and "Saving Private Ryan. " Held from October.
i the Director's Chair, page 18.)
this film herself but eventually
deemed the subject matter a bit
too close for comfort: Her sister's
novel is semi-autobiographical.
Keaton's role in the
film, too, has been altered. She
had initially agreed to work on
the film solely behind the camera
until a reading with
Kudrow convinced the studio
that it wanted to sign both
women to star. Held from
December to avoid the glut of
The Beach
Twenty-million-dollar man
Leonardo DiCaprio ("Titanic"
The Tigger Movie
as if you didn't know) stars in
A la "Muppets From Space,"
this drama as an American traveling
through Thailand in
search of a beach that's
rumored to be paradise on
earth. What he finds there,
is however, short of the Eden
ideal. Danny Boyle
("Trainspotting") directs; Boyle
collaborator |ohn Hodge scripts
based on Alex Garland's book;
Hodge and Andrew
Macdonald, also a Boyle loyalist,
produce. (Fox, 2/11)
Exploitips: After DiCaprio
attached himself to this pic— the
first film tor which he received
his current titanic going salary—
distribution rights. Fox prevailed
largely because of its relationship
with both Boyle, for whom
it made "A Life Less Ordinary,"
and DiCaprio, for whom it
made both "Romeo + Juliet"
and "Titanic." The studio may
have wished otherwise, however,
when Thai locals objected to
the production's alterations to
Maya Beach on Phi Phi Island,
located several hundred miles
southwest of Bangkok. The public
relations nightmare included
accusations that the crew's leveling
of sand dunes, removal of
natural vegetation and planting
of coconut trees were destroying
an important ecological system
Delia and Nora Ephron script
based on the former's novel;
on the beach. A Thai court
Laurence Mark ("Bicentennial threw out the emergency court
order attempting to block shooting,
Man") produces with the latter.
(Columbia, 2/11)
but environmental groups
Exploitips: Nora Fphron have initiated Internet-based
vowing to boycott the
originally intended to direct petitions
film, despite DiCaprio's personal
promise that the beach would
be unharmed. All this after Fox
altered original plans to shoot
"Anna and the King" in the
film's setting of Thailand
because the Thai government
found the script "insufficiently
respectful to the Thai monarchy."
Originally intended as a
holiday release, the studio
pushed back "The Beach" to the
first quarter of 2000 to maximize
its commercial potential.
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