Boxoffice-March.2000

1
Festival, marking the New Line specialty
arm's first French-language acquisition
since president Mark Ordesky took it over
two years ago. Emulating the film's plot
device, have patrons compose a personal
ad seeking a no-strings-attached, purely
sexual relationship, giving out concessions
coupons for the funniest, sexiest, most original,
etc.— probably not an activity for the
kiddies.
Family Tree
Robert Forster ("Supernova") and Naomi
Judd star in this family drama about a defiant
son's fight against all odds and the lesson
that anything worth having is worth
fighting for. Matt ("Mrs. Doubtfire") and
Andy ("Jack Frost") Lawrence co-star.
Duane Clark directs a script by Paul
Canterna; Mike Curb ("Wedding Bell
Blues") produces. (Independent Artists,
4/21 NY/LA/Dallas/Miami)
Exploitips: Invite a local genealogical
society to set up a booth in your lobby as a
play on this film's name and encourage
families to attend by inviting kids to
illustrate
their own rudimentary family trees
with construction paper and crayons.
Third World Cop
See our January-issue Trailers. (Palm, 4/21
Croupier
Clive Owen ("The Rich Man's Wife")
stars in this thriller as a novelist working at
a roulette wheel who's seduced by a
woman who convinces him to join her in a
robbery scheme, an experience he writes
about in his next book. Alex Kingston (TV's
"ER") co-stars. Mike Hodges directs a script
by Paul Mayersberg; Jonathan Cavendish
and Christine Ruppert produce. (Shooting
Gallery, 4/21)
Exploitips: Set up a roulette wheel in the
lobby, giving away popcorn and soda
instead of cash to winners.
Home Is Where the Heart Is
In this dramedy, Natalie Portman
("Anywhere But Here") stars as a pregnant
teenager abandoned by her boyfriend at an
Oklahoma Wal-Mart with just over $7 in
her pocket on their way to California. She
decides to make the department store her
home. Ashley Judd ("Double Jeopardy"),
Stockard Channing ("Practical Magic") and
Joan Cusack ("Cradle Will Rock") co-star.
"Roseanne" creator Matt Williams makes
his directorial debut; "EDtv's" Lowell Ganz
and Babaloo Mandel script from the novel
by Billie Letts; Williams, Susan Cartsonis
and David McFadzean produce. (Fox, 4/28)
Exploitips: Although Portman was an
integral player in "The Phantom Menace, " a
boxoffice blowout we won't soon forget,
her last outing, "Anywhere But Here," was
a boxoffice disappointment, earning just
over $18 million on a budget of $23 million,
despite her pairing with Susan
Sarandon. Avoid a similar fate with this film
by coordinating with a local Wal-Mart for a
community sleepover at the store under the
premise that it's an experiment to see if a
person could actually live there.
Things You Can Tell
Just by Looking at Her
This romantic dramedy stars Cameron Diaz
("Any Given Sunday"), Calista Flockhart ("A
Midsummer Night's Dream"), Glenn Close
(
"Cookie's Fortune"),
Holly Hunter ("Living
Out Loud") and Kathy
Baker ("The Cider
House Rules") in
2interwoven
stories
about love and loss.
Cinematographer
Rodrigo Garcfa
("Body Shots") makes
his screenwriting and
directorial debut; Jon
Avnet, who ex produced "Inspector
Gadget," produces. (MGM, 4/28)
Exploitips: "Things You Can Tell Just by
Looking at Her" premiered at Sundance in
January, an appropriate forum considering
it originated at the Sundance Institute's
Screenwriting Lab in 1998. It also spearheaded
MCM's repositioning of United
Artists as its specialty label, which will now
produce or acquire eight films a year with
budgets of less than $20 million.
Committed
Heather Graham ("Austin Powers: The
Spy Who Shagged Me") tops this romantic
comedy as a woman who journeys 2,000
miles to retrieve her midlife crisis-suffering
husband. Casey Affleck ("Drowning Mona")
and Luke Wilson ("Blue Streak") co-star. Lisa
Krueger ("Manny & Lo") writes and directs;
"Manny & Lo's" Dean Silvers and Marlen
Hecht produce. (Miramax, 4/28)
Exploitips: Graham's character is touted
here as "the most committed woman in
America." Coordinate with a local radio
station, challenging callers to knock her off
her throne with their true-life stories of
commitment, offering them movie tickets
for their trouble.
James Caviezel ("The Thin Red Line")
stars in this sci-fi thriller as a police officer
who receives a ham radio message from a
fireman, only to realize it's his own father,
played by Dennis Quaid ("Any Given
Sunday"), calling on the day he died in
1969. Gregory Hoblit ("Fallen") directs a
script by Toby Emmerich; Howard Koch
(who executive produced Hoblit's "Primal
Fear"), Hoblit and Emmerich produce.
(New Line, 4/28)
Exploitips: Emmerich is the president of
music at New Line. This is his first screenplay.
Cooperate with a local music store to
give out copies of the soundtrack, which
Emmerich will likely have a hand in.
Gossip
See our September 1999-issue
(Warner Bros., 4/28)
Trailers.
Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie
Luis Buriuel ("Belle de Jour") writes and
directs this reissue about a group of upper-middle
class friends whose dinner plans are continually
interrupted by increasingly surreal events.
Jean-Claude Carriere scripts. (Rialto, 4/28)
Exploitips: Book this one as a double bill
with one of Buhuel's other films.
Not One Less
Zhang Yimou ("Shanghai Triad") directs
this comic fable about a 13-year-old girl
hired to teach the village schoolchildren in
the teacher's absence and is determined not
to allow one more student to drop out of
class. Wei Minzhi, Zhang Huike, Tian
Zhenda and Gao Enman, all non-professionals
playing the roles they have in life, star.
Shi Xiangshen scripts based on his novel;
Zhao Yu produces. (Sony Classics, 4/28)
Exploitips: "Not One Less" won the top
prize, the Golden Lion, at the 1999 Venice
Film Festival and made its North American
debut at Sundance in January.
Texas Rangers
James Van Der Beek ("Varsity Blues ") and
Dylan McDermott ("Three to Tango") lassoed
the leads in this historical Western about a
ragtag posse of cowboys who banded together
after the Civil War to clean up the West.
Ashton Kutcher (TV's "That '70s Show"),
Robert Patrick ("The Faculty"), Randy Travis
("Black Dog") and Usher Raymond ("Light It
Up") round up the cast.
Steve Miner ("Lake
Placid") directs a script by John Milius ("Clear
and Present Danger"); Alan Greisman
("Fletch Lives") and Frank Price ("Circle of
Friends") produce. (Miramax, April undated)
Exploitips: In a role for which he was paid
$200,000, Van Oer Beek led "Varsity Blues"
to an unexpected $50-plus million, and his
hot-ticket status resurrected "Texas Rangers"
from production hell. The pic had originally
been set up years ago at Columbia, where it
was expected to be the last film by director
Sam Peckinpah. It then moved to Sawy
Pictures, where it was intended to be the startup's
first big picture in 1993. Once Van Der
Beek was attached (this time for a low sevenfigure
sum), though, interest in the script
resurfaced, and Dimension Films picked it
up. A surefire hit among teens, promote this
Western to other demos by dressing your staff
up in boots, chaps and spurs and offering discounts
to patrons who do likewise.
The Wisdom of Crocodiles
See our September 1999-issue
(Miramax, April undated NY/LA)
Trailers.
The Yards
Mark Wahlberg ('Three Kings") leads a
multi-generational cast in this mystery as an
ex-con fresh out of prison whose attempts to
lead a straight life are thwarted by the corrupt
family business, loaquin Phoenix ("8MM"),
Charlize Theron ("The Cider House Rules"),
Faye Dunaway ("The Messenger"), Ellen
Burstyn ("Playing by Heart") and lames Caan
("Mickey Blue Eyes") co-star. James Gray
("Little Odessa") directs as well as scripts
with Matt Reeves ("The Pallbearer"). Nick
Wechsler ("The Player"), Paul Webster
("Gridlock'd") and Kerry Orent ("Cop Land")
produce. (Miramax, April undated)
Exploitips: This pic boasts a cast that virtually
guarantees crossover among demos:
Dunaway, Burstyn and Caan for the mature
and distaff sets and Wahlberg, Phoenix and
Theron for the young, hip crowd. This
month's "Rules of Engagement," "U-571"
and "Where the Money Is" will be formidable
opponents.
20 BOXOFHCE