Boxoffice-April.2000

HE BUSINESS MAGAZINE OF THE GLOBAL MOTION PICTURE INDUSTRY APRIL 2000, $4.95

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FADE IN...
As detailed in these April pages and in
our ShoWest Intro (placed in all convention
attendees' registration bags and also
bound into this issue), there is a lot going
on at ShoWest's big Vegas bash this year.
And there's a lot going on at Booth 2013,
which for the 2000 gathering is the temporary
trade-floor home of BOXOFFICE.
Leading equipment suppliers DTS, QSC and
Smart are providing high technology for
our annual prize giveaway—and also, new
this year, you can WIN MEL.
APRIL, 2000 VOL. 136, HO. 4 SHOWEST
COVER QUOTE: ['The Patriot" characters must] make ultimate sacrifices to i
what they value....
DEPARTMENTS
That's a kind of world that's not around anymore.— MEL GIBSON
8 MAILROOM
Mask marauder; antidigitalestablishmentarianism. Compiled by Christine James
1 REEL DEALS (formerly Hollywood Updates)
Col gets Mace; MGM pitches Woo; USA's Pate plate. ByAnnlee Ellingson
12 HOT SET (formerly Hollywood Report)
Keanu's First Lady frolics; Pitt goes "Mexican." By Christine James
14 RELEASE CHARTS: Studio Films
Major releases slated through July 2000. Compiled by Wade Major
16 RELEASE CHARTS: Independent Films
Specialized fare month by month into 2000. Compiled by Wade Major
18 TRAILERS: May Movies
Cruise's "M:I2"; Travolta heads to "Earth"; "Dinosaur's" lemur love;
Paltrow sings "Duets"; Demi's "Passion"; Hawke does "Hamlet." NEW:
Actor's Studio, Director's Chair conversations. ByAnnlee Ellingson
Weil, not exactly win out "Patriot" cover
profilee, Mr. Gibson; but you can win a
poster signed by the actor and at the same
time help a worthy cause, as part of a promotional
effort we're undertaking on
behalf of longtime exhibition industry
charity the Will Rogers Foundation.
Come by our Booth 2013, or see the
Foundation folks in Palace Room 1 on
Baliy's casino level. Fill out a donation
form and leave it with us or with the
Foundation; at show's end, we will award
two signed April-issue posters, one to the
highest-level donor and one to a donor
selected at random. BOXOFFICE will send
the posters to the winners after the show.
We thank Mr. Gibson for his kind efforts,
and we thank you, our readers, in advance
for your generosity.— Kim Williamson
BOXOFFICE ONLINE
WEBSITE ADDRESS: www.boxoffice.com
EMAIL ADDRESS: boxoffice@earthlink.net
206 EXHIBITION BRIEFINGS
Syufy stakes AMC claim; Loews loves indie art; convention calendar.
NEW: NATO Regional News: ShowSouth grows, goes Orlando way;
tech exemption concerns; Texas annual a success. NEW: Exhibition
Stock Chart; MovleBoss player tip. By Franceses Dinglasan
207 NEW: HILL NEWS
Film tax credits; unauthorized recordings bill. By Franceses Dinglasan
208 NEW: TECH TALK
Supply Side; Koala climbs in. Digital Cinema: French dig digital.
Large Format: Iwerks gets Extreme. Wired Work) AMC, Cinemark,
Splyce heat online ticketing; plus "9 on the Net. " ByAnnlee Ellingson
211 NEW: STUDIO NEWS
Indies on the move; MGM's "Bond" market. By Kim Williamson
213 NORTHERN EXPOSURE
Winning Genie wishes; in hot "Water." By Shlomo Schwartzberg
214 EUROVIEWS
Kieft does j.v.; Kinowelt enters; Village solos. By Franceses Dinglasan
215 PACIFIC OVERTURES
Bx blues in Japan, Singapore; healthy in N.Z. By Franceses Dinglasan
216 FILM REVIEWS
Three-star 'Things You Can Tell..." tops our 55 long-lead and breaking
reviews, including 28 from Sundance. Compiled by Christine James
250 NEW: MOVIEGOER ACTIVITY REPORT/QUESTION OF THE MONTH
How high can giant-screen ticket prices go? Compiled by MovieFone
251 HOME RELEASE CHART: March
Getting Physical: "Bone," "Eyes," "Body" bow. Compiled by Wade Msjor
253 AD INDEX AND CLASSIFIEDS
NEW: Our expanded index to advertisers includes contact names,
mail/email addresses, phone/fax numbers, and website URLs.
CIRCULATION INQUIRIES
BOXOFFICE DATA CENTER
725 S. Wells St., Fourth Floor
Chicago, IL 606007
(312) 922-9326; fax: (312) 922-7209
ft
OFFICES
EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING CORP. HQ/CLASSIFIED!
155 S El MolinoAve. Suite 100 Mailing address:
Pasadena. CA 91101 P. 0. Box 25485
(626) 396-0250 Chicago. IL 60625
Fax: (626) 396-0248 (773) 338-7007
SUBSCRIPTION/CIRCULATJO
725 S. Wells St., Fourth Floor
Chicago, IL 60607
(312)922-9326
Fax:(312)922-7209
4 BOXOFFICE

SPECIAL CONTENTS: SHOWEST 2000
Now entering its second quarter-century, ShoWest again this year provides a showcase for the studios and their
upcoming summer fare, for the independents with the first-night screenings, and for the theatre suppliers on the
trade-show floor. There's also a major demonstration area for digital cinema. In the pages below, we cover it all.
28 SPECIAL: SUMMER HEAT—All the Season's Films
Will the upcoming cinema season outdo last summer's $3 billion mark? Among the 68 films—each of them detailed here in
our immense season summary—vying for exhibitor attention are audience-familiar titles like "Shaft" and "The Adventures
of Rocky and Bullwinkle" plus the big-star likes of "Numbers" and "What Lies Beneath." By Annlee Ellingson
108 PROJECTION: Digital Cinema on Display
In our continuing coverage of this key topic, we examine the companies whose digital-cinema wares will be centerpieces of
ShoWest 2000: AndAction, Digital Projection, Real Image, Barco and Christie. By Mike Kerrigan
1 1 3-1 80 (SW-1 to SW-52) THE 80X0FFICE SHOWEST INTRO 2000
In our annual convention special, a separate table of contents for which you will find on pages 116
and 117 (SW-4 and SW-5), we provide ShoWest essays by convention general chairman Milton I.
Moritz, NATO president John Fithian, ITEA president Dan Taylor and NAC president Skip Stefansen,
along with our Intro cover interview with ShoWest International Exhibitor of the Year Tim Warner.
Plus: ShoWest Schedule of Events; BOXOFFICE prize giveways; ShoWest trade floor booth layout;
and a detailed list of companies exhibiting their wares at ShoWest, along with new-product listings
in projection, sound, concessions, theatre furnishings, computer hardware/software, and more.
181 SHOWEST: The Convention Awardees
Profiles of: ShoWester of the Year William F. Kartozian; International Exhibitor of the Year Tim
Warner; Sherrill C. Corwin Humanitarian Awardee Tom Sherak; Bert Nathan Memorial Award winner
J.C. Evans; plus biographies of the convention's Hollywood awardees, including Jim Carrey, Annette
Bening, Angelina Jolie and Ving Rhames. By Franceses Dinglasan and Bridget Byrne
1PRIL FEATURES
14 SNEAK PREVIEW: "Texas Rangers"
James Van Der Beek helps bring an old Savoy project to
life with his star turn in 'Texas Rangers," now a Miramax
release unsaddling in April. By Annlee Ellingson
COVER STORY:
"The Patriot"
Starring in
Columbia's
could-be-huge
summer film,
Mel Gibson
sits down with
BOXOFFICE to
discuss the
American
Revolutionary War epic from the filmmaking hands of
mammoth-scale wunderkinds Roland Emmerich and
Dean Devlin, opening June 30. By Christine James
EDITORIAL STAFF
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
;im Williamson
MANAGING EDITOR
Ihristine James
SENIOR EDITOR
Yancesca Dinglasan
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
innlee Ellingson
kimw@txjxotfice.com
christinej@boxof1ice.com
francescad@boxoffice.com
annleee@boxoffice.com
•DITORIAL ASSISTANTS
inda Andrade
andra Koscho
lindaa@boxoffice.com
sandrak@boxotfice.com
CON TDIDIITflD
FEATURE CHARTS EDITOR
Wade Major (310) 456-2767; fax (310) 456-9750
CANADIAN CORRESPONDENT
Shlomo Schwartzberg (416) 928-2179
ARTICLE/REVIEW WRITERS
John F. Allen, Bridget Byrne, Susan Green,
Lucas Hilderbrand, Rich Ingrassia. Mike Kerrigan.
Dwayne E. Leslie, Wade Major, Michael Mezaros,
Jim Moore, Melissa Morrison, Luisa F. Ribeiro,
L.J. Strom, Michael Tunison, Jon A. Walz
INDUSTRY CONTRIBUTORS
Jerry Alexander, Jerry Brand, Randi Emerman,
Brian Fridley, Richard A. Gambogi, Denise Gurin,
Lisa Hilbert, Bryan Jeffries, Jeff Kaufman,
Rein Rabakukk, Jim Tenuta
WEBMASTER
Ken Partridge mariinco@flash.net
90 ON THE SHELF: Summer Cinema Reading
Stanley Kubrick, war movies, exhibition data, film comedy
—these are some of the subjects of new books covering
the movies, the people that make them and the people
who show them. By Francesca Dinglasan PLUS: On
censorship in the studio era. By Michael Mezaros
94 8USINESS: Exhibition on Wall Street
Paul Kagan Associates takes stock of the movie theatre
business in its 'The Business of Movie Exhibition 2000,"
the latest in its annual series analyzing the exhibition
industry. In this overview written for BOXOFFICE, Kagan's
movie analyst provides a precis of the study—including
share-price comparisons, new screen forecasts and
cash-flow numbers—and projects what could lie ahead in
the industry's near-term future. By Rich Ingrassia
100 WIRED WORLD: MovieDoss
Love the movie business so much you wish you could do
it at home too? Want to pit your exhibition savvy against
your compatriots in the industry? Then MovieBoss, the
new online run-your-own-theatre game, could be for you.
BUSINESS STAFF
PUBLISHER
Robert L. Dietmeier (773) 338-7007
(continues on p. 6)
NATIONAL ADVERTISING DIRECTOR
Robert M. Vale (626) 396-0250:
ADVERTISING CONSULTANT
Morris Schlozman (816) 942-5877
bobv@boxoffice.com
ADVERTISING REPRESENTATIVE
Gwen Campbell (310) 372-9832; tco@ix.netcom.com
BUSINESS MANAGER
Dan Johnson (773) 338-7007
CIRCULATION DIRECTOR
Chuck Taylor (312) 922-9326
r ICE (ISSN 0006-8527). Published monthly by RLD Communications, Inc., 203 N. Wabash Ave., Suite 800. Chicago. IL 60601.
itions: U.S. $30 per year; Canada and Mexico $50, airmail $80; overseas subscriptions (all airmail) $80. Periodical postage paid at
IL, . and additional mailing offices. Postmaster; Send address changes to Boxoffice, 725 South Wells St., 4th Floor, Chicago, IL 60607.
© 2000 RLD Communications, Inc. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
April, 2000 5

-
'
104 SOUND: Digital
In the third of his four-part retrospective of 20 years of
writing in these pages, our sound columnist journeys
back to 1993, when the abbreviations DTS, SDDS and
SRD were new on the cinema scene. By John F. Allen
252 FAXBACK: Reader Survey
What about BOXOFFICE do you love the most? Least?
Complete this form and fax it back to us, and you could
win a set of our limited-edition cover posters.
258 CLOSE FOCUS:
Barrie Lawson Loek!
The president of Star
Theatres talks about
popcorn, midnight
magic, exhibition's
future on Wall Street—
and the high value of
walking in circles.
By Kim Williamson
SPECIAL REPORT: SUMMER ANIMATION
In this section timed for ShoWest, we look forward to tt
ajor studios' three major animated summer featt
46 ON LOCATION: "Chicken Run" 50 SNEAK PREVIEW: "Titan A.E.
BOXQFFICE visits the Bristol,
Animation goes After Earth
England setTTT DreamWorks'
'Chicken Run," the first feature
^RS postmodern wtfh this
^
fllrh'feom the famed Aardmart
Animations and multi-Oscar
r r winner Nick Park, the genius
-
, behind the beloved "Wariate &
""shorts. By Brid
54^SNEAK PREVIEW: 'Dinosaur"
tosaur" bowing May
T FILM
1 92 INDEPENDENT EXHIBITION SHOWCASE: The Rafael
There's a new movie palace for art-house lovers: San Rafael, Calif. s redone Rafael. By Michael Tunison
1 98 INDEPENDENT EXHIBITION SHOWCASE: The Bijou
From L.A. music to small-town art-house: the owners of the Bijou love the new climate. By Jim Moore
SPECIAL SECTION: GIANT SCREEN CINEMA
200 OVERVIEW: Beyond "F2K"
In the post-"Fantasia 2000" era, the large-format business aims even bigger and brighter. By Mike Kerrigan
202 SNEAK PREVIEW: "Cirque du Soleil: Journey of Man"
The director of the upcoming Sony Classics release explains why he loves the giant medium. By Bridget Byrne
204 GIANT-SCREEN PROFILE: St. Paul, Minn.'s Omnitheater
The site where in 1978 the world's second domed omni-format theatre was built is reborn as a 400-seat
structure not only expanded to accommodate the sellout crowds but also made flexible enough to better
incorporate future technological advances. Already installed: the Hughes JVC/ILA 12K (the "Star Wars"
digital projector) and the U.S.-exclusive RoDo rotating dome system. By Lucas Hilderbrand
SPECIAL REPORT: BOXOFFICE AT 80
DIRECTOR'S CHAIR: Rohmer at 80
Born in April 1920, the same month and year of BOXOFFICE's birth, French filmmaker Eric Rohmer has long delighted sop
ticated moviegoers with the likes of "Claire's Knee," "Full Moon in Paris" and "A Tale of Winter." Constant contributor
Wade Major tooks a look back at the man devoted to making movies "in which there is no waste." By Wade Major
76
THEATRE CIRCUIT Q&A: Film Buying
In our seven-page survey, film buying execs discuss film rentals, price strategies, best practices, the elements that make
for a good movie and a good movie buyer, their greatest successes (and not), their forecasts for summer 2000—and their
favorite film of BOXOFFICE's 80 years, for which we reprint our reviews from our archives. Compiled by Francesca Dinglasai
SPECIAL REPORT: THE YEAR IN REVIEW
188 SURVEY: Annual Blue Ribbon Poll Results
Exhibitors choose the best and worst films of the year. PLUS: Wide-open reader comments. Compiled by Christine James
190 BALLOT: Academy Awards
Here's your yearly Oscar scorecard for Hollywood's night of nights, arriving March 26. Compiled by Christine James
191 MOVIEGOER REPORT: Annual Summary
You've Got Numbers: The top 10 MovieFone-partnered circuits and sites. PLUS: 24 key markets. Compiled by MovieFone
6 BOXOFFICE

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MAILROOM
SPLICE OF LIFE
Dear BOXOFFICE:
I thought it might be useful to respond to
the unsigned manager who objected to the
use of masking tape when reattaching
ily, so can any video encryption technolo-
leaders and tails to a print [Letters, "A gy.
Breakdown in the System," BOXOFFICE, transmissions can be had for $100. And
November 1999]. We use masking tape to
think about how easy it would be for an
attach leaders and tails, and prefer to get employee to walk off with a few discs for
prints in that way as well. We only
the
use
night to copy (your average 16-yearold
projectionist/computer user painters masking, which does not leave a
could
residue, and we leave the splicing tape on
the last frame of the head or tail to prevent
any additional damage to the print.
I was taught to break down a print this
way to accommodate the next guy, who is
most likely on a schedule, as I am, and
who most likely has a platter, as I do.
When we get a print in, we hope the heads
the edges of in-focus objects are versus the
and tails are attached (with masking), and out-of-focus background— it will make
we cut off one frame of the feature to you cringe. Pixel counts for digital formats
insure a clean splice. We hope the
are
guy
not high enough (yet). Also, colors are
before us cut off the head or tail with one not always accurate, slow motion is not
or two identifiable frames remaining on smooth and there are obvious texture flaws
the head or tail for us to compare. I hate
(skin looking like carpet, etc.).
3.
it when someone attaches the print with Cost. Outfit your local 30-plex for, what,
splicing tape, as it doubles the time and
hassle factor to build up a film. Unless
you are running reel-to-reel, it's one of
those totally unnecessary time-wasters for
both shipper and receiver.
A note to Travis Schwieder [Letters,
"Backbreaking Breakdowns," BOXOF-
FICE, November 1999]: I hope I wasn't the
one who dropped the print [you received]. I
have done that, and hated sending the print
out to the next guy that way. I'd rather
shippers would consider a small label
attached to the outside of the cans [on
which exhibitors] could just check off a
box describing the condition of the print.
Poor condition would result in that print
being marked for destruction, rather than
cycled through to the sub-runs. No financial
penalties should be threatened to the
reporting theatre. Then the best prints
would be saved and circulated, and the
worst would be destroyed, to the benefit of
everyone (including the film company, as
they would have their
products shown in
the best possible condition).
Hey BOXOFFICE, maybe it's time to
produce an article on the realities of platter
makeup and breakdown. The way
prints are used has changed [without] the
"proper procedures" for handling film
[being updated]. I'd be happy to use something
like that in my theatres.
Name withheld by request
LIST-LESS
Dear BOXOFFICE:
As a subscriber with no vested interest in
any form, I thought I would offer this
unbiased opinion.
Top five reasons not to go with a digital
format (based on the current technology):
5. Theft, either from airwaves or disc formats.
If DVD codes can be broken so eas-
Also, descramblers of digital satellite
have it out to his friends the next day,
complete with label)! You can't do that
with 90 pounds of film.
4. Quality. Go look at the best high-end
digital video (about $12,000 for the best
60-inch HDTV and DVD, not found at
normal retail outlets). Look how pixelated
$3,000,000? NOT! Or $100,000 for a
small-town one-screen [theatre]? Forget it!
2. Maintenance. Who in your local theatre
can deal with the upkeep of a digital
video system, [with such varied and complex
potential problems as] storms, bad
transmissions or scratched discs, skipping,
short bulb life, LCD burnout, etc.
Who do you turn to when something goes
wrong? Just TRY getting [customer support
from a studio] on the phone Friday
report to the shipper that this print
night if
has
something is wrong. What happens
if
been damaged and should be removed the power goes out during a broadcast
from circulation, but I can't afford to pay
event? You can't rewind when the power
$2,500 for a print that is most likely going
comes back on. With film, the startup is
in the trash. Knowing that most of the
where you left off when power returns.
1 .
prints that leave my facility will be Who does this benefit? The film companies
destroyed, I take my chances. Perhaps
save
the on manufacturing, shipping and storage,
while charging more for the convenient
new format which can in turn be rushed to
video before every theatre plays it.
Don't settle for a transmission of video
that does not rival film— your audience
can tell the difference. Improve your theatres
by improving the existing presentation,
and train your projectionists to keep
the films clean and to splice film properly.
This will please your audience more while
saving you money.
Good luck—hope it works out for the best.
Brad R. Riehards
(ianadn Cinema, Ganado, TX
\]mM letters to:
-JX0FFICE, Mailroom
155S. El Molino Ave., Suite 100
Pasadena, CA 91101
^^Ctax: 626-3S
E-mail: editorial@boxof
BOXOFFICE
Response No. 73

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Response No. 100

Goes Columbian
REEL
DEALS
M'Hil#lM
Hunts for "Mutants"
After a decade on the
Paramount lot, producer Mace
Neufeld has left the studio and
inked a three-year, first-look deal
with Columbia. The move represents
the company's desire to
Neufeld's recent $100 million
release "The General's
Daughter." Neufeld also will
bring several projects with him
when he hangs his shingle at
Sony, including movies based on
author Michael Connelly's
"Black Ice," "Black Echo," "The
Concrete Blonde" and "The Last
Coyote," all featuring LAPD
crime detective Harry Bosch.
Also, "The Man Who Could
Work Miracles," which Neufeld
has had set up at Columbia for
20 years, may finally get made.
Neufeld will continue to work
on at least two projects he has in
the pipeline at Paramount,
including Tom Clancy's "The
Sum of All Fears," with Phillip
Noyce expected to direct and
Harrison Ford attached to star,
and "Asylum," to be directed by
Ted Demme with Liam Neeson
starring.
Meanwhile, MGM has signed
director John Woo and his producing
partner Terence Chang
away from Columbia, offering
their production company Lion
Rock Prods, a three-year, firstlook
film and television deal.
Woo has already committed to
direct Nicolas Cage, who starred
in
his blockbuster "Face/Off," in
Artists label and providing a
home for Woo-Chang television
projects. Woo left Columbia
without helming a single picture
for the company.
Multi-hyphenate brothers Josh
and Jonas Pate have inked with
USA Films to write, direct and
produce films for the company's
Gramercy label. Their first project
will be a sci-fi action thriller
called "Earl Watt."
"With more and more original
productions being put together at
USA Films, we are looking forward
to the Pate brothers' contributions
to our slate," says Russell
Schwartz, president of USA
Films. "Given their background
in independent film, we feel that
USA is just the right place for
them to set up shop."
The Pates first came to widespread
attention in the industry at
Sundance 1996 with their film
"The Grave." Previously they had
co-written, -directed and -produced
"Deceiver," released by
MGM in 1998. Most recently
they created "GvsE" for the USA
Network. The brothers have
signed a separate multi-year television
development deal with
beef up its
Studios USA .
action slate.
Columbia has already bought
two projects for Neufeld to produce:
"The Lion's Game" and
USA has likewise signed New
York-based producer Arielle
"Plum Island," both written by Tepper to an exclusive two-year
Nelson DeMille, who wrote deal to develop films and television
shows for the studio's
October banner. Much of
Tepper's experience lies in the
theatre: She's produced John
Leguizamo's "Freak" and Sandra
Bernhardt "I'm Still
Here. ..Damn It!" on Broadway.
ership position in developin)
Ankling the studio two years
before their contracts expire,
and
product
producing motion
the form,"
pictun
say
in digital
Universal Pictures development
Artisan president Amir Malin
executives Jon Berg and "Intertainer is a service that is oi
Damien Saccani have arranged the forefront of digital distribu
tion, and we are extremely confi
for early departures, forming
their own management-produc-
dent they will prove to be a grea
tion company and inking a firstlook
deal with the studio. Berg-
Saccani will concentrate on
attracting projects with up-andcoming
stars and directors and
mid-sized budgets. Berg and
Saccani also have plans to
launch television and online
divisions.
Having completed her first
feature film, Valerie McCaffrey
has resigned from her position at
New Line as VP feature casting to
sign a first-look directing deal
with financier NewMarket
Capital. "Wish You Were Dead,"
the picture that prompted the
pact, stars Cary Elwes, Elaine
Hendrix, Mary Steenburgen,
Gene Simmons and Lin Shaye in
"Wind Talkers" for MGM. The
ly successful "Omega Code," ha
a love story about a hitwoman
deal also contains provisions for who falls in love with the man pacted with Triple Axe
financing Lion Rock productions she's been hired to kill.
Productions to acquire five of it
through the studio's United
films. The first picture under the
British
director Simon Hunter
has signed a two-picture deal
with producer Ed Pressman.
Hunter's first project will be the
$30 million sci-fi thriller "Mutant
Chronicles," about an odd couple
that joins forces to save the
Earth from alien invaders, and
begins shooting this fall.
Previously, Hunter directed
"Lighthouse," due out this spring
from Stratosphere.
Hearkening back to the studio
system, the Walt Disney Co. has
hired three writers-in-residence,
signing exclusive one-year deals
with Ron Anderson, Chad
Beguelin and Mark Perez. The
three men will work out of
offices on the Disney lot, reading
scripts, penning treatments and
meeting with studio executives a
couple of times a month to share
their ideas. The trio will be earning
low six-figure salaries with
bonuses built in for greenlit
scripts.
In an announcement made a
Sundance, Artisan vowed tr.
team with Internet exhibito
Intertainer to co-develop, -pro
duce and -distribute five feature
length films shot and edited com
pletely digitally. The pics, bud
geted at around $500,000 each
will be available on Intertainer':
cable and online services afte
they have been distributed the
atrically or on the home vider.
market by Artisan.
"With 'The Blair Witcl
Project,' Artisan became knowi
as a studio that broke nev
ground with the marketing o
films on the Internet, and we an
now looking to establish a lead
partner and resource on thesi
films not only as a content deliv
ery vehicle but also as a produc
tion partner."
Commercial production com
pany Orbit Entertainment ha
t<
inked with Phoenix Pictures
produce five films for Phoenix ii
exchange for equity stake ii
Orbit. The strategic alliano
gives Phoenix access to Orbit'
talent pool, which includes "Thi
Sixth Day" director Roge
Spottiswoode, Wim Wender
and Carroll Ballard. Orbit, mean
while, will see a boost its com
mercial and feature film work.
Providence Entertainmenl
which distributed the surprising
deal will be "The Amati Girls,
about the relationship arnon]
four sisters and their recenth
widowed mother. "The Amal
is still Girls" in production, am
the other four films have yet t(
be announced.
Gotham-based GreeneStree
Films has bolstered its digital filn
division by parting* with Thl
Orphanage, a partnership anion
three former ILM special effect
creators who contributed to tw>
Sundance shorts this year. Thl
$15 million-$20 million deccalls
for the Orphanage to mak
at least a dozen features for th
independent production compc
ny. The Orphanage will also fui
nish digital postproduction an
effects for GreeneStreet. The de;
is not exclusive: The visu;
effects company will continue I
offer its services to other compj
nies, including part of the 40C
plus CGI shots in Disney
"Mission to Mars."
10 BOXOHKI

America's Concession FavoriiL»

HOLLYWOOD
HOT SET
Goes "Long"
flum's" The Word
"THE OTTOMAN EMPIRE" An
ex-porn star-turned-straight arrow
"WAKING UP IN RENO" Two
redneck, white trash couples
"PEARL HARBOR" "Armageddon"
director Michael Bay and producer
New Jersey furniture salesman ("Pushing Tin's" Billy Bob
Jerry Bruckheimer will team
("The Matrix's" Keanu Reeves) is
with scripter Randall Wallace
("Braveheart") for this World War
blackmailed into servicing the
lusty First Lady of the United
States in this comedy. (Columbia)
"THE MEXICAN" Brad Pitt
("Fight Club") and Julia Roberts
("Erin Brockovich") may star for
director Core Verbinski ("Mouse
Hunt") in this film about a mobster
who travels to Mexico to
track down an antique pistol
that's reputed to be cursed.
(Distribution is to be set)
"TOYS OF DESPERATION" Ed
Zwick ("The Siege") will direct
this thriller about a ghost who
killed his girlfriend 50 years ago
and is intent on framing a young
Ivy League student for a similar
crime. (Paramount)
"LONG LOST" A fictional iconic
'70s singer known for his weepy
ballads ("Bowfinger's" Steve
Martin) is on the road to becoming
a has-been in this comedy, to
be directed by Griffin Dunne
("Practical Magic"). (Miramax)
"3,000 MILES TO GRACELAND"
Kevin Costner ("For Love of the
Game") and Kurt Russell
("Soldier") will star in this film
about a gang of ex -cons who rob a
Vegas casino during an Elvis convention.
(Distribution is
to be set)
"RACER X" "The Skulls'" director
Rob Cohen and star Paul Walker
reteam for this action drama in
which a group of teens steal ordinary
vehicles and transform them
into race cars. (Universal)
"SO LOVE RETURNS" Drew
"BORN ROMANTIC" Three Barrymore will star in and produce
this adaptation of uncoordinated men take dance
Robert
lessons to win over three beautiful
women in this David Kane ("This
Year's Love")-helmed romantic
comedy, to star Jane Horrocks
("Little Voice"), Olivia Williams
("The Sixth Sense"), Catherine
McCormack ("Burned to Light"),
Ian Hart ("The Closer You Get"),
Craig Ferguson ("The Big Tease"),
Adrian Lester ("Primary Colors"),
Jimi Mistry ("East Is East") and
David Morrissey ("Hilary and
Jackie"). (Distribution is
to be set)
in this remake of the 1960 Rat
Pack comedy about a gang that
tries to rob five Vegas casinos
simultaneously. Other actors
about the business and politics of
tentatively attached to star
include Johnny Depp ("The drug trafficking as seen from the
Ninth Gate"), Julia Roberts different perspectives of everyone
("Erin Brockovich"), Mike Myers connected with the trade.
("Austin Powers 2"), Luke
Wilson ("Blue Streak") and
Owen Wilson ("The Haunting").
(Warner Bros.)
Thornton, "The Parent Trap's"
Natasha Richardson, "Black
Dog's" Patrick Swayze and "The
Cider House Rules'" Charlize
Theron) embark on a road trip to
a monster truck event in this comedy,
to be directed by Jordan
Brady ("Dill Scallion"). (Miramax)
"FINDERS KEEPERS" A smalltown
auctioneer discovers gold
hidden in an antique desk owned
by an eccentric woman ("Isn't
She Great's" Bette Midler) and
plots to steal it. (Distribution to
be set)
"CINDERELLA MAN" Based on
a true story, this drama may star
Ben Affleck ("Reindeer Games")
as boxer |im Braddock, who
became a national hero during
the Depression. (Distribution is
to be set)
"BREAKERS" A mother-daughter
con artist team ("Galaxy Quest's"
Sigourney Weaver and "The
Suburbans'" Jennifer Love
Hewitt) swindle all the men they
come across in this black comedy,
to be helmed by "Romy and
Michele's High School Reunion's"
David Mirkin. (MGM)
"ANIMAL HUSBANDRY" Ashley
Judd ("Double Jeopardy") stars in
this comedy as a woman who,
after being dumped, becomes
obsessed with creating theories
based on the animal world about
the impossibility of a lasting relationship.
Tony Goldwyn ("A Walk
on the Moon") helms. (Fox)
Nathan's 1958 novel about a
young writer who's devastated
by the death of his wife and
becomes a recluse— until a
woman magically emerges from
the ocean and enters his life.
(Distribution is to be set)
"THE MUMMY 2" Brendan
Fraser, Rachel Weisz and John
Hannah return to resurrect
1999's special effects extravaganza
about a bandaged baddie.
This time, the story unravels in
"OCEAN'S ELEVEN" George 1920s London. A May 2001
Clooney ("Three Kings") and release dated is scheduled.
Brad Pitt ("Fight Club") may star (Universal)
"TRAFFIK" Based on a British
miniseries, this Steven Soderbergh
("The Limey")-helmed film is
Harrison Ford ("Random Hearts")
and Catherine Zeta-Jones
("Entrapment") are in talks to star.
(Distribution is
to be set)
ll-set action-drama-romance in
which two fighter pilots (possibly
to be played by "American
Beauty's" Wes Bentley and "The
Thin Red Line's" Jim Caviezel) fall
in love with the same nurse ("The
Cider House Rules'" Charlize
Theron). (Buena Vista)
"NATIONAL SECURITY" A
white cop is kicked off the force
after being wrongly accused of
beating a black man ("Any Given
Sunday's" Jamie Foxx), but the
two find themselves teaming up
to evade a mutual enemy in a
comedy scripted by Jay Sherick
and David Ronn of TV's "Spin
City." (MGM)
"JULIE JOHNSON" A policeman's
wife and mother of two
("The Haunting's" Lili Taylor in
the title role) takes a computer
course that opens unexpected
opportunities to her in this Bob
Gosse ("Niagara, Niagarasdirected
film. (Distribution to is
be set)
"DOUBLE TAKE" In this action
comedy, an investment banker
("Liberty Heights'" Orlando
Jones) is framed for laundering
money for a drug cartel and must
partner with a con artist who's
really an undercover government
agent ("Deuce Bigalow's" Eddie
Griffin) to clear his name. (Buena
Vista)
"KIND HEARTS AND CORO-
NETS" Robin Williams
("Bicentennial Man") may give a
multi-role performance in this
remake of the 1949 comedy in
which a man sets out to kill eight
family members who stand
between him and an inheritance.
In the original, Alec Guinness
played all the victims.
(Universal)
ET CETERA: Tom Cruise
("Magnolia") may star in
Columbia's biopic of Wendell
Fertig, an American soldier who
became a hero during World
War II. ..Rocker Elvis Costello,
R&B singer Mary J. Blige and rappers
Fat Joe ("Whiteboys") and
Q-Tip ("Poetic Justice") will star
in New Line's "Prison Song," an
urban musical about a young
black man's experiences in
jail. ..Tim Curry has signed on to
play the villain in Columbia's
"Charlie's Angels," which stars
Cameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore
and Lucy Liu. .."Red Planet's" Val i
Kilmer will play a man who witnesses
the murder of his wife and
goes undercover to avenge her
death in the Warner Bros, thriller
"The Salton Sea."
1 2 BOXOFFICE

Dolby Laboratories was started in 1965 with a single mission: to develop technologies
that improve sound recording and reproduction. We remain dedicated to this goal.
Our developments in motion picture sound technology, from stereo to Dolby Digital
Surround EX. provide filmmakers all over the world the technical tools to produce
increasingly captivating soundtracks. As we welcome a new millennium, we
will continue in our mission to find innovative solutions to audio challenges.
uww.doIby.com
DO Dolby
Breaking ;iNG SOUND Sound BARRi: barriers
for For 35 Years
IIH! .IMMMMIWMIIH.UJJlLlimnjJ
...l...,....IL l l...l.ll..
Dolby Laboratories Inc • 100 Potrero Avenue, San Francisco, CA 94103-4813 • Telephone 415-558-0200 . Fax 415-863-1373
Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire SN4 8QJ. England • Telephone (44) 1793-842100 . Fax (44) 1793-842101 • www.dolby.com
Dolby, the double-D s
Response No. 95

1 22
BOXOFFICE Studio Charts
-1000
310-449-3000
212-941-3800
212-593-8900 212-833-8500
588-6000
212-708-0300
323-951-4200
3un Shy, 2/4, Rom/Com, R, 102 min.
3TS. SDDS, SR. SRD. Flat Sandra
Bullock, Liam Neeson, Oliver Piatt. Dir
Eric Blakeney.
rhe Tigger Movie, 2/1 1, Art, G, DTS,
SRD. SDDS. Flat. Dir: Jun Falkenstein.
I/larch 2000:
Mission to Mars. 3/10. Dra/SF. PG,
mm. DTS, SDDS. SR, SRD. Scope
3ary Simse, Connie Nielsen. Tim
bobbins, Don Cheadle. Dir: Brian
DePalma.
High Fidelity. 3/31. Com. R, 108 min.
DTS, SDDS, SR. SRD, Flat. John
Dusack, Jack Black. Iben Hjejle. Dir:
Stephen Frears
Hanging Up, 2/18. Com/Dra, PG-13, American Beauty (re-release), 2/18. 3 Strikes. 2/25. Com. SRD Brian
131 min. DTS, SDDS. SR. SRD. Flat Com/Dra, R, Kevin Spacey. Annette Hooks, N'Bushe Wright, Saizon Love.
Meg Ryan. Lisa Kudrow, Diane Keaton Bening, Thora Birch, Chris Cooper. Dir: David Alan Grier. George Wallace, Phil
Morris, E40. Dir: D.J. Pooh.
March 2000:
March 2000:
What Planet Are You From?, 3/3, The Road to El Dorado (tormerly El NO RELEASES SCHEDULED
Com. R. 100 min, DTS, SDDS, SR,
io. City of Gold). 3/31. Ani. PG.
SRD, Flat Garry Shandling, Annette DTS, SDDS, SRD. Kevin Kline, Kenneth
Bening, John Goodman, Greg Kinnear, Branagh, Rosie Perez. Armand
Ben Kingsley, Linda Florentine Camryn Assante, Edward James Olmos. Dir:
Manheim, Nora Dunn Dir: Mike Nichols Eric "Bibo" Bergeron. Don Paul.
Whatever It Takes. 3/24, Com, PG-13,
92 mm, SDDS, SR. Flat. Shane West,
Maria Sokoloff, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe,
James Franco, Aaron Paul, Colin
Hanks. Dir David Raynr.
Scream 3, 2/4. Hor/Com. R, SDDS.
Scope David Arquette. Neve Campb
Courteney Cox. Dir: Wes Craven.
Diamonds, 2/18, PG-13. 91 min,
SDDS, SRD, Flal Kirk Douglas, Da
Aykroyd, Lauren Bacall, Corbin Allr
Jenny McCarthy. Dir: John Asher.
" '
leer Games. 2/25. Act. 133 mir
DTS. SRD Ben Affleck. Gary Sinise.
Charlize Theron. Dir: John Frankenhe
March 2000:
East Is East. 3/31 NY/LA. Dra.
Scary Movie (formerly Scream If Y
Know What I Did Last Halloween),
Keenan Ivory Wayans, Marlon Way
Shawn Wayans Dir: Keenan Ivory
Wayans.
Keeping the Faith, 4/14, Com, SRD.
Edward Norton, Ben Stiller. Jenna
Elfman, Eli Wallach. Dir Edward Norton
May 2000:
Duets, 5/5, Com, R, SRD. Maria Bello,
^ndre Braugher, Paul Giamatti. Huey
_ewis. Gwyneth Paltrow Dir: Bruce
Paltrow.
Dinosaur. 5/19. Ani/Live Action, DTS.
SDDS. SRD, Flat Voices: Alfre
Woodard, Ossie Davis, Max Casella,
OB. Sweeney, Hayden Panettiere.
Samuel E.Wright. Dir: Ralph Zondag &
Gone in 60 Seconds. 6/9. Act, DTS,
SDDS, SRD, Scope Nicolas Cage,
Angelina Jolie, Giovanni Ribisi, Delroy
Lmdo. Dir: Dominic Sena.
July 2000:
NO RELEASES SCHEDULED
COMING:
Recess. 8/4, Am/Com, DTS, SDDS,
SRD, Flat. Dir Chuck Sheetz.
Coyote Ugly, Summer, Com, DTS.
Piper Perabo. Adam Garcia, Maria
Bello, Melanie Lynskey Dir: David
McNally.
The Crew, Summer, Com. Richard
Dreyfuss, Burt Reynolds.
Shanghai Noon, Summer,
Com/Western Jackie Chan, Owen
102 Dalmatians, Fall/Holiday,
Fam/Com. DTS, SRD Glenn Close,
loan Grufludd, Alice Evans. Dir Kevin
Kingdom in the Sun. Fall/Holiday. Ani,
Voices: David Spade, John Goodman.
Eartha Kitt. Patrick Warburton.
O Brother, Where Art Thou?,
Fall/Holiday, Com John Turlurro, Tim
Blake Nelson. George Clooney. Dir: Joe
Coen
Remember the Titans. Fall/Holiday,
Dra. DTS, SRD, Denzel Washington.
Will Patton Dir: Boaz Yakin
Unbreakable, Fall/Holiday. Sus/Thr
Bruce Willis, Samuel L. Jackson. Dir: M
Night Shyamalan.
Black and White, 4/5, Dra, R. 100 min,
Scope. Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr,
Elijah Wood. Dir: James Toback.
28 Days. 4/7, Dra/Com. 103 min. DTS,
SDDS, SR. SRD, Flat, Sandra Bullock,
Elizabeth Perkins, Azura Skye, Viggo
Mortensen, Mike O'Malley, Steve
Buscemi, Marianne Jean-Baptiste.
Diane Ladd. Dir: Betty Thomas.
Center Stage (formerly The Dance
Movie), 2nd Qtr. Dra. 113 min, DTS.
SDDS, SR, SRD. Scope. Peter
Gallagher. Dir: Nicholas Hytner.
Time Code, 3/31. Dra, 94 min, SDDS,
SR, SRD. Flal. Saffron Burrows. Salma
Hayek, Holly Hunter, Kyle MacLachlan,
Laurie Metcalf, Julian Sands, Stellan
Skarsgard. Jeanne Tripplehorn, Steven
Weber. Dir: Mike Figgis.
May 2000:
frica, 5/5, Epic Dra,
PG-13, 112 min. SDDS, SR, SRD,
Scope. Kim Basinger, Vincent Perez,
Eva Marie Saint, Robert Loggia. Dir.
Hugh Hudson.
June 2000:
The Patriot, 6/30, Dra/Adv, DTS.
SDDS, SR, SRD, Scope Mel Gibson,
Heath Ledger. Joely Richardson.
Tcheky Karyo. Dir: Roland Emmerich
The Hollow Man. 7/28, Sus/Thr, DTS,
SDDS, SRD, Flat. Kevin Bacon,
Elisabeth Shue. Josh Brolin. Joey
Slotnick. Dir: Paul '
COMING:
Hoofbeats, 2nd Otr. Dra/Adv. 90 min,
Scope. Chase Moore. Arie Verveen,
Lukas Haas Dir: Sergei Bodrov.
Godzilla 2000,8/11.
Untitled "Urban Legend" sequel.
August/September. Thr. Jennifer
Morrison. Joseph Lawrence, Matthew
Davis. Dir: John Ottman.
Loser, Summer, Com. DTS. SDDS. SR
SRD, Flat. Jason Biggs, Mena Suvari.
Greg Kinnear. Dir: Amy Heckerling.
The Vertical Limit, Summer, Act/Adv,
SDDS Chris O'Donnell. Robin Tunney,
Bill Paxton Dir: Mark Campbell.
All the Pretty Horses, 3rd Qtr.
Dra/Western, SDDS. SR, Matt Damon,
Henry Thomas, Lucas Black, Penelope
Cruz. Ruben Blades, Bruce Dern,
Robert Patrick Dir Billy Bob Thornton.
The Sixth Day (tentative title). Fall.
SF/Act. Arnold Schwarzenegger,
Michael Rapaport, Tony Goldwyn,
Robert Duvall Dir Roger Spotfiswoode
The Tailor of Panama, Fall/Holiday.
Sus/Thr Pierce Brosnan. Dir: John
Boorman.
Charlie's Angels, November,
Acl/Adv/Com, SDDS. Drew Barrymore,
Cameron Diaz, Lucy Liu, Bill Murray
Dir: McG.
Finding Forrester, December, Dra.
Sean Connery Dir: Gus Van Sant.
NO RELEASES SCHEDULED Return to Me. 4/7, Rom/Dra. PG, 116
min. DTS, SRD. Flat. David Duchovny,
Minnie Driver, Bonnie Hunt, David Alan
Grier, Robert Loggia, Joely Richardson,
Jim Belushi, Carroll O'Connor. Dir:
Bonnie Hunt,
Things You Can Tell Just by Looking
at Her, 4/28, Dra, PG-13, 109 min, SR.
SRD. Flat. Cameron Diaz, Calista
Gladiator, 5/5, Act/Epic, R, DTS,
SDDS, SRD, Scope. Russell Crowe,
Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Olive
Reed, Derek Jacobi. Dir: Ridley Scott.
Road Trip, 5/19. Rom, DTS, SRD.
Breckin Meyer, Amy Smart, Seann
William Scott, Rachel Blanchard. Andy
Dick. Dir: Todd Phillips.
Chicken Run, 6 23, Am, DTS. SDDS,
SRD. SRD-EX Voices: Mel Gibson. Jul
Sawalha. Miranda Richardson. Jane
Horrocks Dir: Nick Park & Peter Lord
What Lies Beneath. 7/21, Sup Thr. DTS.
SDDS. SRD, Scope. Harrison Ford,
Michelle Pfeiffer Dir: Robert Zemeckis.
COMING:
Small Time Crooks. Spring. Com.
Woody Allen, Tracey Ullman, Hugh
Grant, Jon Lovitz, Michael Rapaport.
Elaine May. Dir: Woody Allen.
Untitled Cameron Crowe project,
Spring, Dra/Com, DTS, SDDS. SRD
Billy Crudup. Frances McDormand. Dir:
Cameron Crowe.
The Legend of Bagger Vance. 8/4,
Dra, DTS. SRD Will Smith. Matt
Damon, Charlize Theron, L, Michael
Moncnef, Joel Gretsch, Bruce McGill.
Dir: Robert Redford.
An Everlasting Piece, Fall, Com. Barry
McEvoy, Brian F O'Byrne, Anna Friel,
Billy Connolly Dir: Barry Levinson.
After Man, DTS. SDDS. SRD
Arkansas, DTS, SDDS. SRD.
Keeper, DTS, SDDS. SRD.
The Man Who Came to Dinner, DTS.
SDDS, SRD. Dir: Danny De Vito.
Mozart and the Whale, DTS. SDDS,
SRD.
Neanderthal. DTS. SDDS, SRD.
The Newports. DTS, SDDS, SRD. Dir:
Steven Spielberg.
Untitled Charles Lindbergh Project
DTS. SDDS, SRD Dir: Steven
Spielberg,
Shrek. 6/22/2001. Am, DTS. SDDS.
SRD. Voices: Mike Myers. Cameron
Diaz. Eddie Murphy, John Lithgow Dir:
Kelly Asbury, Andrew Adamson.
Flockhart. Glenn Close. Kathy Baker,
Amy Brenneman, Gregory Hines, Holly
Hunter, Dir:
Rodrigo Garcia.
NO RELEASES SCHEDULED
NO RELEASES SCHEDULED
July 2000:
NO RELEASES SCHEDULED
COMING:
Crime + Punishment in Suburbia (formerly
Crime & Punishment in High
School). Spring, Dra, SRD. Ellen Barkin,
Monica Keena, Vincent Kartheiser,
James De Bello, Jeffrey Wright, Michael
Ironside. Dir. Rob Schmidt.
Autumn in New York. Fall, Dra/Rom.
Richard Gere, Winona Ryder, Anthony
LaPaglia, Elaine Stritch, Sherry
Stringfield. Jill Hennessy. Dir: Joan
Chen.
Antitrust. 4th Qtr. Thr. Tim Robbins,
Ryan Phillippe, Rachael Leigh Cook.
Dir Peter Howitt.
Dancing in the Dark. 4th Otr, Dra.
DTS Angelina Jolie, Antonio Banderas.
Thomas Jane Dir; Michael Cristofer.
Kingdom Come. 4th Qtr. Dra Wes
Bentlev. Sarah Polley Dir;
Michael
Mr. Accident. Com. PG-13, 89 min,
DTS, SRD, Flal. Yahoo Serious. Helen
Dallimore Dir: Yahoo Serious.
Committed. 4/28 Heather Graharr
Casey Affleck. Luke Wilson, Goran
c. Patricia Velasquez, Dir: List
Krueger.
Texas Rangers, Western, SRD, St
Ashton Kutcher, Usher Raymond,
James Van Der Beek. Dylan
McDermott.
May 2000:
The Wisdom of Crocodiles, 5/55 5
NY/LA, R, Timothy Spall. Judc
Hamlet, 5/12 NY/LA, Dra, R,
Murray, Ethan Hawke.
June 2000:
Love's Labour's Lost, 6/2, Mus/Q
Kenneth Branagh, Alicia Silverstorj
Nathan Lane. Natasha McElhone.l
Kenneth Branagh.
The Yards. 6/9 NY/LA, Dra. SRD,|
Scope. Mark Wahlberg, James Cat
Joaquin Phoenix. Faye Dunaway, *
Charlize Theron. Dir: James Gray.J
Butterfly's Tongue, 6/23, Dra I
Fernando Fernan-Gomez
The Golden Bowl, Dra Nick NoltJ
Uma Thurman, Anjelica Huston. Je
July 2000:
Human Traffic. 7/14, Dra, R. Din
Kerrigan.
Bounce, 7/28, Rom/Dra, Ben AffJ
Gwyneth Paltrow. Dir: Don Roos.
COMING:
Birthday Girl. 2nd Qtr. Ben Stiller,
Nicole Kidman.
Daddy and Them, 2nd Qtr NY/U1
Com, SRD. Laura Dern, Billy Bob}
Thornton. Kelly Preston, Ben /
Diane Ladd. Dir: Billy Bob Thorntfl
Imposter, 8/4 Mekhi Phifer, Gara
Sinise. Madeleine Stowe Dir: Gaf
Fleder.
Boys and Girls. 8/11. Freddie Ptf
Jr. Claire Forlani. Dir: Robert Is
Highlander - Endgame. 8/25.
About Adam, September. Dra/Ri
Kate Hudson, Stuart Townsend.l|
Gerard Stembridge.
Blow Dry. 3rd Otr , Com. Alan
Rickman, Natasha Richardson.
O (Othello). 3rd Qtr. 91 min. Sfl
Mekhi Phifer, Elden Henson. Jos
Hartnett. Julia Stiles. Rain Phoerf
Tim Blake Nelson.
Spy Kids. 3rd Otr Alan Cumminfl
Robert Rodriguez.
Dracula 2000, 10/27. Dir: PathC*
Hard Day's Night (restored reisa
2nd Qtr 2001 NY/LA. 91 mir "
Flat. The Beatles Dir: Richard Lei

it.
it.
lin.
ill
I
April, 200i
PSHMIOUIIt
20th Century Fox
Uniuerssl
310-854-5811
323-956-5000
310-369-1000
212-649-4900
212-373-7000
212-556-2400
212-331-2400 212-484-8000
loom, 2/18. Dra. R. 99 min,
>DS, SRD. Flat. Sen Affleck,
i Ribisi. Nia Long. Vin Diesel,
irett Scotl. Dir. Ben Younger.
Snow Day. 2/11, Com, PG. DTS, SRD,
Flat. Chevy Chase. Pam Grier. Mark
Webber. Zena Grey. Schuyler Fisk. Dir
NO RELEASES SCHEDULED
The Whole Nine Yards. 2/18. Com, R,
DTS. SDDS, SRD. Flat. Bruce Willis.
Matthew Perry, Roseanna Arquette,
Natasha Henstridge. Dir: Jonathan Lyn
March 2000:
istination (formerly Flight 180).
pThr. 93 mm. DTS. SDDS.
Devon Sawa. Ah Larler, Kerr
manda Detmer, Knsten Cloke
es Wong.
Glory (aka The Ortegas). 3/31
13. 113 mm. DTS. SDDS,
Jimmy Smits, Jon Seda,
lonzalez. Maria Del Mar Dir:
March 2000:
The Next Best Thing. 3/3, Rom/Com.
PG-13. SRD Madonna, Rupert Everett,
llleanna Douglas. Michael Vartan Dir
John Schlesinger.
Rules of Engagement, 3/31. Dra/Act,
DTS, SRD, Scope. Tommy Lee Jones.
Samuel L. Jackson. Guy Pearce. Ben
Kingsley. Dir: William Fnedkin.
Here on Earth. 3/24. Dra. PG-13. SR.
SRD. Flat. Leelee Sobieski. Chris Klein.
Josh Hartnetl, Bruce Greenwood.
Annette OToole, Annie Corley. Dir Marl
Erin Brockovich. 3/17, Dra, DTS, SRD
Julia Roberts, Aaron Eckhart. Albert
Finney. Marg Helgenberger. Dir: Steven
Soderbergh.
Chain of Fools, 3/3. Act. R, DTS.
SDDS. SRD Salma Hayek. Jeff
Goldblum, Steve Zahn. David Hyde
Pierce. Orlando Jones. Lara Flynn
Boyle. Michael Rapaporl. Eli|ah Wood.
Claudia Schiffer. Dir: Traktor
Romeo Must Die. 3/22. Act/Dra, DTS.
SDDS. SRD Jet Li, Aaliyah. Delroy
Lindo. Isaiah Washington. Russell
Wong. DMX Dir: Andrzej Bartkowiak
NT)
d Basketball. 4/21. Rom/Dra. NO RELEASES SCHEDULED
IDS, SRD, Flat. Omar Epps.
odard. Debbi Morgan, Dennis
I. Dir: Gina Prince-Bythewood
*y. 4/28, SF/Thr. PG-13, 117
5. SDDS, SRD, Scope Dennis
m Caviezel, Elizabeth Mitchell,
augher Dir: Gregory Hobllt.
Where the Heart Is (formerly Home Is Skulls, 4/7. Sus/Thr. PG-13, DTS, SRD
Where the Heart Is). 4/28, Dra. PG-13. Joshua Jackson, Paul Walker, Hill
SR. SRD. Flat. Natalie Portman. Ashley Harper. Leslie Bibb Dir: Rob Cohen. Caan. Oliver Piatt. Dir:
Judd. Stockard Channing. Sally Field. U-571. 4/21. Sus/Dra/Act. DTS. SDDS. Gossip. 4/28. Dra, R. DTS. SDDS.
SR. SRD, Scope. Matthew
SRD. James Marsden. Lena Heady.
McConaughey, Bill Paxton, Harvey Norman Reedus, Kate Hudson. Dir:
Keitel, Jon Bon Jovi, David Keilh, Jake David Guggenheim.
Weber Dir: Jonathan Mostow.
In Crowd. April. Thr, SRD. Susan Ward.
Mary Huering. Dir: Mary Lambert.
EASES SCHEDULED
LASES SCHEDULED
:ASES SCHEDULED
Dir: Tarsem.
ss (aka Celebrity). 10/6.
R. DTS, SDDS. SRD.
i Bums, Robert De Niro,
ammer. Melina Kanakaredes.
Herzfeld.
3/6. Snoop Dogg.
r all/Holiday, Dra Kevin Costner
uperstar, Fall/Holiday. Dra. R
Michel.
ers. Fall/Holiday, Com
Iro, Dominique Swain.
lund Guys. Fall/Holiday. Dra
d Cohen Afterworld.
s.Fall, Sup/Thr. R, 102 min,
IS, SRD. Scope. Winona Ryder,
Dir: Janusz Kaminski
>ng. Fall/Holiday. Mus/Dra
Martin.
d Spice, Fall/Holiday, Com.
Country. Fall/Holiday.
DTS. SDDS. SRD. Flat,
jatty, Diane Keaton. Goldie
die MacDowell. Dir:
Peter
tonal Love. Fall/Holiday. Com.
•gan.
y. 11/17, Com. DTS. SDDS,
Adam Sandler. Patricia
Harvey Keitel Dir: Steve Brill
Mission: Impossible II. 5/24. Act/Sus.
DTS. SRD. Scope. Tom Cruise, Ving
Rhames, Dougray Scott. Ttiandie
Newton. Steve Zahn, Luther Stickell.
3hn Woo.
; 2000:
Shaft (formerly Shalt Returns). 6/16.
Act. DTS. SRD Samuel L Jackson,
jsa Williams, Richard Roundtree,
Christian Bale, Geoffrey Wright. Dir:
John Singleton
July :
7/14, Com, SRD. John
Travolta. Lisa Kudrow. Tim Roth.
Michael Rapapon. Ed O'Neill, Bill
Pullman. Dir: Nora Ephron.
Was Made to Love Her, 7/28, SRD
Chris Rock. Dir: Chris & Paul Weitz.
COMING:
Save the Last Dance. 8/11. Rom, SRD.
Stiles, Sean Patrick Thomas,
Fredro Starr, Kerry Washington. Dir:
Thomas Carter.
Along Came a Spider. 9/29.
Ladies Man. 10/6. Com. Tim Meadows.
Ferrell. Dir: Reginald Hudlin.
lander, 10/27.
Bless the Child, Fall, SF, SRD, Scope.
Kim Basinger. Jimmy Smits, Angela
. Holliston Coleman. Dimitra Arlys
Dir Chuck Russell.
Rugrats in Paris - The Movie. 11/17.
DTS. SRD. Christine Cavanaugh.
Cheryl Chase, Susan Sarandon. Dir:
Paul Demeyer & Stig Berggvist.
What Women Want. 12/15. Mel Gibson.
Dir: Nancy Meyers.
2000:
NO RELEASES SCHEDULED
! 2000:
Big Momma's House, 6/2. Martin
Lawrence, Nia Long, Paul Giamatti Dir:
Raja Gosnell.
Titan A.E. (formerly Planet Ice), 6/16,
Ani, SR. SRD. Scope. Voices: Matt
Damon, Bill Pullman, Drew Barrymore,
in Lane, John Leguizamo,
Janeane Garofalo Dir: Don Bluth &
Gary Goldman.
Me, Myself & Irene. 6/23. Com. SR.
SRD. Flat. Jim Carrey. Renee Zellwegei
Robert Forster, Chris Cooper. Dir: The
Farrelly Brothers
/ 2000:
len. 7/14, Act. DTS, SR. SRD. SRD-
EX, Scope. Sir Ian McKellan. Patrick
Stewart, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry,
Anna Paquin, Dir: Bryan Singer.
COMING:
Bedazzled. 8/1 1 . Com. SRD Brendan
Fraser. Dir: Harold Ramis.
The Dancer. Fall/Holiday. Rom. SR.
SRD. Mia Frye. Dir: Luc Besson.
Moulin Rouge. Fall, SRD. Nicole
Kidman. Ewan McGregor, John
zamo. Dir: Baz Luhrmann.
Navy Diver, Fall, Dra/Act. SRD Robert
DeNiro, Cuba Gooding Jr., Charlize
Theron. Dir: George Tillman Jr.
Say It Isn't So (working title).
Fall/Holiday, Com, SR, SRD. Chris
Heather Graham.
Squelch, Fall/Holiday. Act. Leelee
Sobieski. Steve Zahn Dir: John Dahl
;eybone. 1 1/3. Com. SR, SRD.
Brendan Fraser. Whoopi Goldberg,
Bridget Fonda, Chris Kaftan Dir: Henry
Selick.
Minority Report. 11/17. SR. SRD.
EX. Tom Cruise. Dir: Steven
Spielberg.
Cast Away, Christmas, Dra, SR, SRD,
Flat. Tom Hanks. Helen Hunt. Dir:
Robert Zemeckis.
Disaster Area, SR. SRD. Vince Vaughn.
Dir. Harold Zwarf.
From Hell. Act Dir: The Hughes Brothers.
Sunset Strip. R. SR. SRD Anna Friel.
Simon Baker Denney. Nick Stahl. Rory
Cochrane Dir: Adam Collis.
Untitled Mike Judge Film. SR. SRD
Dir: Mike Judge.
Untitled Sean Connery Project, SR.
SRD Sean Connery.
The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas.
5/12. Com. DTS, SDDS, SRD, Flat.
Mark Addy, Stephen Baldwin, Kristen
June 2000:
The Adventures of Rocky and
Bullwinkle, 6/30. Com/Adv, 105 i
SRD. Flat Rene Russo. Jason
Alexander, Robert De Niro, Janee
Garofalo. Dir: Des McAnuff.
Nutty Professor II - The Klumps.
7/28. Com, DTS, SR, SRD. Eddie
Murphy, Janel Jackson. Dir: Pete Segal.
COMING:
Head Over Heels. Spring/Summer.
Rom/Com. DTS. SRD Freddie Prinze
Jr. Monica Potter Dir Mark Waters.
D-TOX (formerly The Outpost. Detox),
9/1, Sus/Thr. DTS, SDDS, SR, SRD,
Scope Sylvester Stallone, Tom
Berenger. Polly Walker, Kris
Knstofferson, Jeffrey Wright. Dir: Jim
Gillespie.
Cheer Fever, Fall. Com. Kirsten Dunst.
Jesse Bradford. Eliza Dushku. Tsianina
Bilderback. Rini Bell. Nathan West.
Gabnelle Union Dir: Peyton Reed.
Foolproof (formerly Pittsburgh.
Screwed). Fall, Com, DTS, SR. SRD.
Norm Macdonald. Dave Chappelle,
Elaine Stntch, Sarah Silverman.
Sherman Hemsley Dir: Scott Alexander
Meet the Parents. Fall. Com, DTS
Robert De Niro. Ben Stiller. Teri Polo.
Blythe Danner. James Rebhorn.
Thomas McCarthy Dir Jay Roach.
Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch Stole
Christmas, Thanksgiving, Com/Fam,
SR. SRD. Jim Carrey, Molly Shannon,
Jeffrey Tambor, Taylor Munson,
Christine Baranski. Bill Irwin. Clint
Howard Dir: Ron Howard
Family Man. Christmas. Com. DTS.
SRD Nicolas Cage, Tea Leoni. Don
Cheadle, Jeremy Piven. Amber Valleta
Harve Presnell. Dir Brett Ratner
Battlefield Earth, 5/12, SF. DTS.
SDDS. SRD. John Travolta. Barry
Pepper, Forest Whitaker, Kim Coates,
Sabine Karsenall. Dir: Roger Christian
The Perfect Storm. 6/30. Act/Dra. DTS.
SDDS. SRD. Scope. George Clooney,
Mark Wahlberg. Mary Elizabeth
Mastrantonio. Diane Lane. Dir: Wolfgang
COMING:
Space Cowboys. 8/4. Act. All formats.
Scope. Clint Eastwood, Tommy Lee
Jones. Dir: Clint Eastwood.
Summer Catch, August, Rom, SRD
Dir: Michael Tolkin.
Metal God. September. Com. DTS,
SRD. Mark Wahlberg.
Get Carter. October. Thr. SRD
Sylvester Stallone. Miranda Richardson
The Replacements, October, Dra. DTS.
SRD. Keanu Reeves. Gene Hackman.
Jon Favreau Dir: Howard Deutch.
33 Liberty Street. Fall. DTS. SRD.
Robert De Niro.
Bait. Fall. Dra. SRD. Jamie Foxx.
Red Planet (formerly Mars). 11/10, SF
DTS, SDDS. SRD Val Kilmer. Carrie
Anne Moss Dir: Anthony Hoffman
Steinbeck's Point of View, Christmas.
SRD. Dir: Shekhar Kapur
Miss Congeniality. Holiday. Act, SRD
Sandra Bullock,
Pay It Forward, Holiday. Dra. SRD
Kevin Spacey. Helen Hunt, Haley Joel
Osment. Dir: Mimi Leder
Proof of Life. Holiday. Rom/Dra, SRD
Meg Ryan. Russell Crowe. Dir Taylor
Hackford.
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
DTS Mike Myers.
Dino. DTS. Dir: Martin Scorsese.
Pet People, DTS Hugh Grant.
Till Human Voices Wake Us. Dir:
Michael Petroni.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer
Summer 2001, DTS
The Incredible Mr. Limpet Summer
2001. Com/Fan. DTS
Osmosis Jones. 2001 . Am. SDDS.
DTS. Voices Will Smith. Chns Rock

BOXOFFICE Independent Charts
MARCH
Artisan
310-255-3716
Ghost Dog: Way of the Samurai, Dra.
R, 116 min. Forest Whitaker. Dir: Jim
Jarmusch. 3/3 NY, 3/10 exp
The Ninth Gate.Thr. R, 132 min. Johnny
Depp. Dir: Roman Polanski. 3/17
Artistic License
212-265-9119
Emporte-moi (Set Me Free), Dra. 94
min. Karine Venasse, Pascale
Bussieres. Miki Manjlovic. Dir: Lea Pool.
Destination
310-434-2700
Drowning Mona Com. Danny DeVito
Bette Midler. Dir: Nick Gomez. 3/3
Fine Line
212-649-4800
Baby Mother, Mus/Dra. Anjela Lauren
Smith. 3/17 ltd
Buddy Boy, Dra. Emmanuelle
Seigner, Aidan Gillen. Dir: Mark Adlon.
3/24 NY/LA/SF
The Filth and the Fury, Doc. The Sex
Pistols. Dir: Julian Temple. 3/29 NY,
4/21 LA
First Run
212-243-0600
Homo Sapiens 1900. Doc, 85 min. Dir:
iPeter Cohen. 3/3 NY
Fox Searchlight
310-369-4402
;Soft Fruit. Dra, R. 102 min. Jeanie
jDynan. Linal Haft, Genevieve Lemar,
SSacha Harler. Alicia Talbot, Russell
pykstra. Dir: Christina Andreef.
Jour de Fete
3 323-933-2733
*Trash (reissue), Com/Dra, 110 min.
;Joe Dallesandro, Holly Woodlawn. Dir:
JPaul Morrissey. 3/17
Lions Gate
212-966-4670
=Beyond the Mat, Doc. 92 min. Dir:
Barry Blaustein. 3/3
FAmerican Psycho, Dra. NC-17, 100
Smin. Christian Bale. Dir: Mary Harron.
C3/31
F
Method Fest
310-535-9230
cMy Sweet Killer, Thr. Kirk Harris, Jack
CRubio. Dir: Justin Dossetti. 3/2 LA
I
I
\ New Yorker
212-247-6110
]
jThe Little Thief. Nicolas Duvauchelle.
j,Dir. Eric Zonca. 3/1
L
Palm
e 312-751-0020

,
Blythe
;
Cinema Village
212-431-5119
:iose to Paradise (China). Dra, 95
Wang Tong, Shi Yu. Dir: Wang
Fine Line
;ible Circus. Dra, R. Cameron
Danner. Dir: Adam Brooks
Fox Searchlight
ian on Top, Rom/Com, R.
ilope Cruzo. Dir: Fina Torres.
Lions Gate
is' Son, Dra, R, 110 min. Billy
upr. Dir. Alison Maclean. 6/16
Paramount Classics
ihine, Dra. Ralph Fiennes. Dir:
n Szabo. 6/9
Sony Classics
5. Com. Emily Watson, Nick Nolte,
lot Mulroney, Brittany Murphy Dir:
Rudolph. 6/9 NY/LA
USA
Match, 95 min. Max Beesley,
i Fraser, James Cosmo. Ian Holm,
ird E. Grant, Bill Paterson, Tom
nore. Dir: Mick Davis. 6/16
et Martin. Dra. Juliette Binoche,
indre Techine. 6/30
about Mambo, Mus/Dra/Rom,
nin. William Ash, Keri Russell. Dir:
Forte.
Jerland, Dra. Dir: Michael
irbottom.
Destination
ias and the Magic Railroad,
Alec Baldwin, Peter Fonda, Mara
n. Dir: Britt Allcroft.
Paramount Classics
on the Bridge, Dra, 92 min.
Auteuil, Vanessa Paradis. Dir:
e Leconte. 7/28
Sony Classics
er, Dra. Zhu Xu. Pu Cun Xin,
Wu. Dir: Zhang Yang. 7/7 NY/LA
USA
ever Happened to Harold
i?
AUGUST
Artisan
>f the Gun. Dra. Ryan Phillippe.
o Del Toro, Taye Diggs, Juliette
James Caan. Dir: Christopher
Fine Line
and Main, Com. Alec Baldwin,
Seymour Hoffman, Charles
Dir: David Mamet.
igr.
Fox Searchlight
nen, Mus/Dra. Adam Garcia. Dir;
'erry.
USA
r Falls, Dra. R. Dir: Geoffrey Wright.
SEPTEMBER
Artisan
Soul Survivors, Thr. Casey Affleck.
Eliza Dushku. Wes Bentley, Luke
Wilson. Dir: Steve Carpenter. 9/15 wide
Lions Gate
Shadow of the Vampire, DraThr.
John Malkovich. Willem Dafoe, Eddie
Izzard, Catherine McCormack. Dir:
Elias Merhige. 9/22
Panorama
Origin of the Species, 95 min.
Amanda Peet. Dir: Andres Heinz.
OCTDBER
Artisan
Cecil B. Demented. Com. Stephen
Dorff. Melanie Griffith, Ricki Lake,
Patricia Hearst, Alicia Witt, Mink Stole.
Adrian Grenier. Dir: John Waters. 10/13
ltd
Blair Witch
2, Thr/Hor. 10/27 wide
Fine Line
Prime Gig. Vince Vaughn, Ed Harris.
Dir: Gregory Mosher.
The Ring.
Samuel Goldwyn
The Faithless (Sweden), Dra. Dir:
Ullmann. 10/6
DECEMBER
Liv
First Run
Wallowitch & Ross: This Moment,
Doc, 77 min. John Wallowitch, Bertram
Ross. Dir: Richard Morris. 12/10 NY
Sony Classics
Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
Act/Dra. Michelle Yeoh. Chow Yun Fat.
Dir: AngLee. 12/22 NY/LA
COMING
Artisan
The Lost Son. Dra. R, 102 mm. Daniel
Auteuil, Nastassja Kinski. Dir: Chris
Menges.
Destination
Buying the Cow. Rom/Com. Jerry
O'Connell. Bridgette Wilson, Ron
Livingston, Alyssa Milano, Annabeth
Gish. Dir: Walt Becker. Spring
Whipped. Com. NC-17. Amanda Peet.
Dir: Peter M. Cohen. 3/31
Beautiful. Minnie Driver, Hailie
Eisenberg, Joey Lauren Adams,
Kathleen Turner. Dir: Sally Field. Fall
Cowboy Up, Dra/Western. Kiefer
Sutherland, Daryl Hannah, Pete
Postelthwaite, Molly Ringwald. Dir:
Xavier Koller. Fall
Fine Line
Dancer in the Dark, Dra. Bjork,
Catherine Deneuve. Dir: Lars Von Trier
First Run
Don't Let Me Die on a Sunday. Jean-
Marc Barr, Elodie Bouchez.
Fox Searchlight
Sexy Beast. Dra Ray Wtnstone. Ben
Kingsley. Dir: Jonathan Glazer. Summer
Hard Men (U.K.), Dra. R Vincent
Regan, Ross Boatman, Lee Ross. Dir:
J.K. Amalou.
Quills, Dra. Geoffrey Rush. Kate Winslet,
Joaquin Phoenix. Dir: Philip Kaufman.
IMAX
905-403-6500
Mysteries of Egypt, Doc. Omar Sharif.
1st Qtr
American Road, Doc.
Mission to Mir, Doc.
Jour de Fete
Hit and Runway. Com. Spring
Lions Gate
Steal this Movie, Dra. Vincent
D'Onofrio, Troy Garity. Spring
Palm
The Criminal, Dra/Thr, 98 min. Steven
Macintosh. Natasha Little, Eddie
Izzard. Dir: Julian Simpson. Spring
Lock Down, Dra. Master P. Dir: John
Luessenhop. Spring
Panorama
Redboy 13, 88 min. Robert Logan, Devon
Roy-Brown. Dir: Marcus van Bavel.
To Hell With Love. 98 min. David
Coburn, Corey Michael Blake, Kate
Parselle, Michael McCafferty. Julie
McKee. Dir: Karl Kozak.
What's Your Sign, 90 min. Dir: Jack Gindi.
You Are Here, 81 min. Robert
Knepper, Jenny Robertson, Camryn
Manheim, John Tillinger, Matthew
Ross. Dir: Tom Rooney.
Paramount Classics
Company Man. Com, 86 min. Ryan
Phillippe, Sigourney Weaver. Dir:
Douglas McGrath, Peter Askin. 3rd Qtr
Phaedra
Beneath the Surface. 99 min
Johanna Sallstrom, Mikael Persbrandt.
Dir: Daniel Fridell. 1st Qtr
Sweet Jane, Dra, 87 min. Samantha
Mathis, Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Dir: Joe
Gayton. 1st Qtr
Zone 39, SF, 93 min. Peter Phelps,
Carlolyn Bock. Dir: John Tatoulis. 1st Qtr
On the Run. Michael Imperioli. Dir:
Bruno de Almeida. 2nd Qtr
Went to Coney Island on a Mission
From God. ..Back By Five John
Cryer. Dir: John Cryer.
Rialto
Le Cercle Rouge (reissue, France).
Act/Dra. Alain Delon, Yves Montand.
Dir: Jean-Pierre Melville. Summer
Seventh Art
Coming to Light, Doc. 80 min. Dir:
Ann Makepeace.
Creature, Doc. Dir: Parris Patton.
Selected cities
Karussell, Doc. Dir: Nona Ziok.
Selected cities
Speaking in Strings, Doc. 74 min. Dir:
Paola di Florino. Selected cities
Souvenir. Dra, 78 min. Kristin Scott
Thomas, the voice of Christina Ricci.
Dir: Michael Shamberg. Summer
April, 20G
Shooting Gallery
You Can Count on Me, Dra, 1C
Matthew Broderick, Laura Linney, Mai
Ruffalo. Dir: Kenneth Lonnergan. Spru,
Loving Jezebel. Rom/Com
Harper. Laurel Holloman, Nicole
Parker, Sandnne Holt, David Moscc.
Elisa Donovan, Phylicia Rashad. Di
Kwyn Bader 2nd Qtr
Sony Classics
The Road Home. Dra Dir: Zhan
Yimou. Fall/Holiday
Strand
310-395-5002
Praise, Rom. Spring
Stella Does Tricks, Dra, 99 min. Kel
MacDonald. Dir: Coky Giedroyc. Sprin
Stratosphere
Beautiful Joe Sharon Stone, Bil
Connelly. Ian Holm, Gil Bellows. Di
Stephan Metcalfe. Summer
Trimark
Skipped Parts, Com Jennifer Jasc
Leigh. Dir: Tamra Davis. Summer
Stalk (tentative title), Dra. Matthe
Settle. Tom Everett Scott, Gretche
Mol, Samantha Mathis. Dir: Russs
DeGrazier. Fall
USA
Blood Simple (reissue), Thr. France
McDormand. Dir: Joel Coen. Summei
Nurse Betty. Dra. R. Renee Zellwege
Morgan Freeman, Chris Rock, Gr
Kinnear, Crispin Glover, Aar
Eckhart. Dir: Neil LaBute Summer
One Night at McCool's. Dra. LivTyf
Matt Dillon. John Goodman. Pa
Reiser. Fall
Bloody Angels.
The Idiots, 117 min. Louise Hassini
Anne-Grethe, Bjarup Riis. Dir: Lars Vc
Trier.
The Naked Man, Com Michai
Rapaport, Rachael Leigh Cook. Dir:
Todd Anderson.
Resurrection Man Stuart Townsent
James Nesbitt. Sean McGinley, Brenc
Fricker. Dir: Marc Evans.
Snarl Up. Dir: Michael Winterbottom.
Thursday. Thomas Jane, Aarrj
Eckhart, Mickey Rourke, Glen
Plummer. Dir: Skip Woods.
What Rats Won't Do (U.K.
Rom/Com. Natascha McElhoni
Parker Posey. Dir: Alaistair Reid.
Viz/Tidepoint
Tokyo Eyes, Dra, 90 min. Dir: Jean
Limosin. Spring/Summer
Untitled (a.k.a. We Are Not Alo
Dra, 115 min. Tsutomu Yamazaki.
Yohjiro Takifa. Spring/summer
Moonlight Whispers. Dra. 100 mi
Dir: Akihiko Shiota. Fall
WinStar
212-686-6777
Wirey Spindell. Rom/Com. Err
Schaeffer. Dir: Eric Schaeffer. 1st Qtr I!
Madadayo, Dra, 134 min. Hyakkelj
Uchida. Tatsuo Matsumura. Dir: Akiifl
Kurosawa. Spring
Book of Life. Dir: Hal Hartley.
Elles. Rom/Dra, 97 min. Miou-MioJ
Marisa Berenson. Dir: LuisGalvao TeleB ('
DISTRIBUTORS:
Fax your schedule upda t
to 310-456-9750
April. 2000

18 BOXOFFKK
MAY \y
TRAILERS
what your calendar says.
In Hollywood,
summer starts on May 1. MAY 5
Gladiator
Chameleon Russell Crowe
("The Insider") and Joaquin
Phoenix ("8MM") go head to
head in this epic adventure set in
Roman times. Crowe plays
Maximus, a general who's forced
into exile by Commodus,
Phoenix's jealous heir to the
throne. Realizing that he has to
garner the support of the Roman
people to overthrow Commodus,
now the Emporer, to avenge his
family's murder, Maximus
becomes a national hero as a
fearsome gladiator. Connie
Nielsen ("Mission to Mars") and
Djimon Hounsou ("Amistad")
co-star. Ridley Scott ("C.I. Jane")
directs a script by David
Franzoni ("Amistad") and )ohn
Logan ("Any Given Sunday");
Douglas Wick ("Girl,
Interrupted"), Franzoni and
Branko Lustig ("The Peacemaker")
produce. (DreamWorks,
Exploitips: Like "Anna and the
King. " "Gladiator" hearkens
back to a more lavish period in
filmmaking. Unfortunately, in
today's economical climate, that
translates into a nearly $100-
million budget. Program "Gladiator"
with throwback classics
such as "Spartacus" or "Ben
Hur." Invite a local fencing club
to demonstrate or teach swordfighting
techniques on opening
weekend. You may also consider
constructing a faux gladiator
ring in your lobby, a la sumo
wrestling, but that's more geared
to the kiddies, and this film is
rated R for intense, graphic
combat. See Actor's Studio,
page 20.
Duets
Gwyneth Paltrow ("The
Talented Mr. Ripley") tops this
ensemble musical comedy
directed and produced by her
dad Bruce about a handful of
karaoke hustlers who converge
on a big competition in Omaha,
Neb. Maria Bello ("Payback"),
Andre Braugher ("Frequency"),
Paul Giamatti ("Man on the
Moon"), singer Huey Lewis and
Scott Speedman (TV's
"Felicity") co-star. |ohn Byrum
scripts as well as produces with
Kevin Jones. (Buena Vista, 5/5)
Exploitips: This project was
initially set up at Columbia
with Brad Pitt attached to costar,
but when he and Paltrow
(Gwyneth, not Bruce) broke up,
it went into turnaround until it
was salvaged when Buena
Vista Film Sales picked up foreign
rights.
Obviously, coordinate
with local karaoke bars to
give away movie tickets on
amateur night, and rent your
own equipment to entertain
patrons while they're milling in
the lobby.
I
Dreamed of Africa
Kim Basinger ("L.A.
Confidential") stars in this epic
drama as a woman who abandons
her comfortable life in
Italy to live in Kenya with her
son and new husband. Vincent
Perez ("The Crow: City of
Angels"), Eva
Marie Saint
("On the
Waterfront")
and Liam
Aiken ("Stepmom")
costar.
Hugh
Hudson ("My Life So Far")
directs; Paula Milne ("Mad
Love") and Susan Shilliday
("Legends of the Fall") script
based on the book by Kuki
Gallmann; Stanley R. laffe
("School Ties") and Allyn
Stewart ("Madeline") produce.
(Columbia, 5/5)
Exploitips: Penguin is publishing
a new edition of
Gallmann's book, which is
based on her real-lite experiences,
sometime this spring.
Collaborate with local environmental
groups, especially
ones that focus on the African
continent, to use the film as
an awareness- and fund-raiser
for the issues raised within
it.

Your projected income.
Thousands of dollars,
guaranteed.
"We guarantee 45 screens $81,000 a year!"
BASED ON 9, FIVE-SCREEN THEATRES.
"We guarantee 20 screens $40,000 a year!"
BASED ON 5, FOUR-SCREEN THEATRES.
"We guarantee 300 screens $540,000 a year!"
BASED ON 60, FIVE-SCREEN THEATRES.
"We guarantee 1 screen $5,000 a year!"
BASED ON 1, ONE-SCREEN THEATRE.
Call us toll free today to find out how much you could
be making with Unique Screen Ad Productions:
1-800-3584818
Guaranteed. We guarantee you'll make the money we promise by running
our screen ads. That's all. We sell and produce the ads. We pay for all the
equipment and install it. We guarantee how much we pay our theatre
owners before anyone signs on the dotted line. All you do is push a
button to run our localized, community-focused screen ads before each
movie and collect your checks. Indoor theatres only.
QUE SCREEN AD PRODUCTIONS
P.O. Box 2165 • St. Cloud, MN 56302-2165 • 1-800-358-1818 • Fax:320-202-2916 • www.mediaproinc.com/usa.htr
QUALIFIED THEATRES ONLY
Response No. 473

Actor's Studio: Connie Nielsen, "Gladiator"
Born in Copenhagen, Denmark, actress Connie Nielsen landed her breakout role
in her first American film just a month after moving to New York, playing Satan's
spawn in "The Devil's Advocate" opposite Al Pacino and Keanu Reeves. Just three
short years later, she's starring in two of the biggest blockbusters in 2000: Disney's
"Mission to Mars" and DreamWorks' "Gladiator."
Nielsen offers no explanation for how she rose through the Hollywood ranks so
quickly. "I really don't know how that happened," she says. "I just came here [to
New York] and worked, and then I did my readings."
The performer began her career at an early age, working at her mother's side at
local revue and variety shows when she was 15. Three years later she moved to Paris,
eventually studying in Rome, Milan and South Africa as well. Her international travels
have made her multilingual—she speaks English, German, Danish, Swedish,
French and Italian fluently—and multitalented—she sings and dances, too.
And the learning process continues today. In addition to studying acting in Italy and
New York, Nielsen enjoys getting ready for her roles. "I'm a research person. I love, love, love the whole research thing," she says.
Nielsen was particularly intrigued by what she learned on the set of "Mission to Mars." "When I went to do 'Missions to
Mars,' it was an opportunity to get to know as much as possible about [what] it is to live and work in space," she says. "It
was a splendid experience to spend so much time with real astronauts who had actually done amazing things. Not like us
[actors], just pretending. They actually did them."
For her role in "Gladiator," however, the actress had done much of the necessary research before she even auditioned. "I
have always had a great love for history and the ancient classics" she says.
In the film, directed by Ridley Scott, Nielsen plays Lucilla, sister to Joaquin Phoenix's Commodus, heir to the Empire, and
love interest to Russell Crowe's Maximus, the emperor's favorite general who is exiled by Commodus but returns to exact his
revenge. "My character is the connecting point between [the emperor], his son and his favorite general," she explains. "My
character is also the moral compass of the royal family at that time, at least in our story. She is torn between the love of her
brother and the respect of the Empire and its rules and laws that he persists in trying to circumvent or overthrow."
Nielsen has worked in the indie scene, too, appearing in "Rushmore" with Bill Murray and "Permanent Midnight" with Ben
Stiller. While the filmmaking styles on big-budget studio films and low-budget indies are vastly different, the actress claims
that her job on both is the same. "The first [time I worked] on a big Hollywood movie, it was a very different experience from
shooting in Europe where we do not have a fraction of the budget," she remembers. "I was quite disturbed in the beginning,
seeing hundreds of people working on these big films.
"I think there's an intrinsic intimacy to the kind of film that an indie is. It keeps in mind the basics of what it is to make a
movie, and that's really nice. But on the other hand, [acting is] just as serious when you're doing a studio film as it is when
you're doing an indie in the amount of love and energy that you put into it." Annlee Ellingson
The Wisdom
of Crocodiles
Jude Law ("The Talented Mr. Ripley")
stars in this British romantic thriller as a
womanizer in search of the perfect
woman. However, once he finds her, it
becomes
onship.
Lowen-
("Six
Sunday") and
Timothy Spall
("Topsy-turvy")
co-star.
("Once Upon
a Time in
Shanghai")
directs a script b\ Paul Hoffman; Carolyn
Choa and David Lascelles produce.
(Miramax, 5/5 NY/LA)
Exploitips: BOXOFFICE gave "The
Wisdom of Crocodiles" three stars when it
reviewed the film at Montreal in the
November 1999 issue, saying, "Spall, a veteran
of several Mike Leigh pictures, really
inspires some nuances in Law's perforis
they embark on a familiar catand-mouse
routine. Diret inr I'o Chih Leong
and i inematographer Oliver Curtis certainly
know how to provide visual splendor for
this film without much of a pulse." Held
from \pnl
Alone
A Spanish-language drama, "Alone"
stars newcomer Ana Fernandez as a
pregnant woman who houses her mother
while her alcoholic father is hospitalized.
Maria Caliana co-stars. Benito
Zambrano writes and directs his debut;
Antonio Perez produces. (Samuel
Coldwyn, 5/5)
known Exploitips: "Alone," also as
"Solas," won three awards at last year's
Berlin Film Festival, including the
Panorama Audience Award and a special
jury prize. This would be a good one to
promote at local women's gatherings that
may be hosting special mother-daughter
days around this time.
Adrenaline Drive
Shinobu Yaguchi writes and directs this
action comedy about a mild-mannered car
rental businessman who gets in over his
head in the world of crime but ultimately
prevails over its dim residents. Kiyoshi
Mizokami produces. (Shooting Gallery,
5/5)
Exploitips: Featured at the 1999
Seattle International Film Festival,
"Adrenaline Drive" would be a good
opportunity to market with a local car
rental company that may want to spon-
;oi a tree rental for a weekend getaway,
provided the winners don't emulate the
film's events.
Bossa Nova
Bruno Barreto ("Four Days in
September") directs this Portuguese-language
romance about a struggling
Brazilian lawyer and an American English
teacher living and working in Rio de
Janeiro while she recovers from the loss of
her husband, who died two years before
Sad and alone, both have resigned themselves
to never finding their respective
lifelong soul mates. Amy Irving ("The
Rage: Carrie 2") and Alexandre Borges
star. Alexandre Machado and Fernanda
Young script based on Sergio Santana's
novel; Lucy Barreto ("Four Days in
September") produces. (Sony Classics, 5/5
NY/LA)
Exploitips: After "Four Days in
September" was nominated for a best foreign
film Oscar in 1 998, Barreto went on
to make "One Tough Cop" starring
Stephen Baldwin, which grossed a slight
$1.2 million at the boxoffice. Barreto
returns to his roots for this pic, making it
a family affair: Irving is his wife, and
Lucy Barreto is his mom. Held trom
February.
Jails, Hospitals and Hip-Hop
Danny Hoch ("Whiteboys") stars in this
one-man stand-up show as a bevy of characters
from the hip-hop culture.
"Whiteboys" cinematographer Mark
Benjamin and Hoch direct. (Stratosphere,
5/5 NY/LA)
Exploitips: "Jails, Hospitals and Hip-
Hop" is based on Hoch's eponymous touring
performance theatre piece, which
reached out to urban youth.
Local centers
tor troubled teens may be interested in
organizing field trips to see this pic. Held
It on i March.
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MAY 19
Dinosaur
Casting the voices of D.B. Sweeney ("The
Cutting Edge") , Woodard ("Love and
Basketball"), Ossie Davis ("Dr. Dolittle"),
Julianna Margulies (TV's "ER") and Delia
Reese (TV's "Touched by an Angel"), Disney's
animators go prehistoric with this tale about
an Iganodon who's raised by lemurs but is
eventually reunited with his own kind just as
meteors begin to pelt the Earth. Ralph Zondag
("We're Back! A Dinosaur's Story") and Eric
Leighton, who worked on "The Nightmare
Before Christmas" and "James and the Giant
Peach," direct; Pam Marsden produces.
(Buena Vista, 5/19)
Exploitips: Alert local grade schools
about this pic's release date, perhaps even
hosting a field trip for science classes that
may be studying dinosaurs in school. See
Sneak Preview on page 54 for more on
"Dinosaur.
Road Trip
Up-and-comers Breckin Meyer ("Go"),
Seann William Scott ("Final Destination"),
Amy Smart ("Outside Providence"), Rachel
Blanchard (TV's "Clueless"), DJ Quails and
Paulo Costanzo make up the ensemble in
this college-set comedy about four boys
who set out on an 1,800-mile road trip to
intercept an incriminating video tape sent
to one of their girlfriends. Todd Phillips
("Frat House") directs a script he wrote
with Scot Armstrong; "Six Days, Seven
Nights" executive producers Dan Goldberg
and Joe Medjuck produce. (DreamWorks,
5/19)
Exploitips: The destination here is Texas.
To attract the target audience, sponsor a
contest that would send winners on their
own road trip to the Lone Star state, providing
a car (perhaps in conjunction with a
local dealer or rental company), gas, food
and lodging. (Of course, if your theatre is in
Texas, you could send them in the other
direction, back to New York.)
Five Senses
Mary-Louise Parker ("Boys on the Side"),
Molly Parker ("Waking the Dead"), Daniel
Maclvor ("Beefcake"), Gabrielle Rose ("The
Sweet Hereafter"), Philipe Volter ("Blue"),
Marco Leonard ("Like Water for
Chocolate"), Pascale Bussieres ("Emportemoi")
and Nadia Litz make up the ensemble
cast of this romantic drama in which
five characters each have an impaired sense
(such as taste, touch, sound, smell or sight)
and are struggling to connect with ea< h
other and themselves, all set against the
backdrop of a search for a missing child.
Jeremy Podeswa ("Eclipse") writes, directs
and produces with Camelia Frieberg ("The
Sweet Hereafter"). (Fine Line, 5/19 NY/LA)
Exploitips: BOXOFFICE gave this pic four
^l.n s in its Cannes coverage in the
September 1999 issue, saying, "'The Five
Senses' takes what could have been a contrived,
artificial construct and turns it into
a surprisingly intricate, effective
movie. ..Podeswa creates a film that works
on many levels and says much about the
difficult) humans haw in forging mean-
right.
1 itionships. " See Director's Chair,
Director's Chair: Jeremy Podeswa, "The Five Senses"
Romantic films have always been
a popular and much cherished genre
in Hollywood. And director Jeremy
Podeswa, a native of Toronto,
Canada, has been making movies
about the nature of love since 1983.
But as much as Podeswa loves the
subject, his movies don't resemble
the cheery model of Tinseltown. His
new film, "The Five Senses," is the
perfect case in point. In an elliptical
fashion, it examines
which five urban
the ways in
dwellers—each
having lost touch with one of their
senses—try to find a way to connect.
"Clearly I
wanted to do something
that was in opposition to what the
mainstream Hollywood fantasy of what romance was all about," Podeswa
explains. "For me, it was important that I did not have the tyranny of happy endings
in the movie where everything works out happily for Meg Ryan and Tom
Hanks. I wanted a complexity and diversity in terms of what happens to all the
characters."
Part of the appeal in that complexity for Podeswa is what he feels his movies
have to offer audiences. Whether it is the love between a man and a woman, a
gay couple or among family members, Podeswa wants to redefine just what a
romantic film is.
"You go to a movie like this not for the fantasy of what Hollywood movies give
you but the reality of seeing your own life reflected," Podeswa remarks. "In a way,
it is more accurate, more affecting and deeply moving, rather than just superficially
satisfying."
Telling stories that aren't superficially entertaining has always been important
to Podeswa. "I've always had a real big interest in cinema," he says. "My
father was a visual artist, and he was also a big film buff. He introduced me
to a lot of foreign films when I was a kid. His earliest favorite films were 'The
Children of Paradise' by [Marcel] Carne, 'Open City' by [Roberto] Rossellini,
'A Place in the Sun' and 'Odd Man Out' with James Mason. He had great
tastes."
And it was Podeswa's father who whetted his appetite to be a filmmaker. "With
my natural interest already there, and my father taking me to the rep houses, I had
a love of cinema that lasted a long time. When I decided to go to university and
thought about what I wanted to do for a career, it made sense to go with my natural
inclinations and make films."
Podeswa studied at Ryerson Polytechnical in Toronto where he made his first
film—a short called "David Roche Talks to You About Love"—which was based
on a one-man show featuring actor David Roche ruminating about the travails of
love. The startling debut won the Norman Jewison Award for Best Overall Film in
1984 and a Blue Ribbon at the American Film Festival in New York the same year.
In 1994, Podeswa made his first feature film, "Eclipse." This adaptation of the
turn-of-the-century Arthur Schnitzler play "La Ronde" featured 10 different sexual
encounters which ultimately led up to a solar eclipse. The film was not only
nominated for two Genie Awards, the Canadian equivalent of the Academy
Award, it also established Podeswa as one of Canada's top ranking directors.
"Certainly for me, in 'Eclipse,' I wanted to deal with the rules of attraction in a
certain way," Podeswa explains. "The groundwork of all romantic love is paternal
and maternal love, and then we go through our whole lives trying to replicate that
in our friendships. So I wanted to draw a connection between all these things and
show that romance isn't just about men and women loving each other. It's about
all kinds of people loving each other in many different ways."
"The Five Senses" has so far been a great draw at film festivals around the
world, but there still remains the problem of whether Canadian directors have
established enough of a cachet to draw the paying public into the theatres.
Podeswa believes they have.
"I think [David) Cronenberg and Atom Egoyan have that absolutely," Podeswa
says emphatically. "I know lots of people in L.A. and Europe who are waiting for
the next Atom Egoyan film."
But how does Podeswa like his chances? "I would hope that one day I would
have that kind of name brand value, too," he says with a grin. "I think that's the
ultimate goal for any serious filmmaker."— Kevin Courrier
24 Boxoi ii( i

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alaui
Young Dr. Freud
The Tate Axel Corti first directed "Young
Dr. Freud," starring Karlheinz Hackl, for
television in 1976. (Kino, 5/17)
Exploitips: Most ofCorti's work was done
for television. This re-release could be a
good opportunity to program a retrospective
of the rest of his work.
8 1/2 Women
MAY 26
Writer-director Peter Greenaway's ("The
Pillow Book") ode to Federico Fellini's "8
1/2," this comedy stars John Standing ("Mrs.
Dalloway") as a wealthy Genevan businessman
whose son introduces him to the
women of Fellini's film when his wife dies.
Then the two get the idea to turn
their home into an elaborate brothel.
Matthew Delamere, Vivian Wu
("The Pillow Book"), Toni Collette
("The Sixth Sense"), Amanda
Plummer ("Pulp Fiction") and Polly
Walker ("Emma") co-star. Kees
Kasander ("The Pillow Book") produces.
(Lions Gate, 5/26 ltd)
Exploitips: BOXOFFICE reviewed
"8 1/2 Women" at Cannes, giving it
two stars in the September 1999
issue: "'Creenaway has called his
film a 'modest homage to Fellini,'
but all of the obvious references
only emphasize how far superior
Fellini's classic is to this disappointing
effort. ...The only impressive
thing about this film is that
Creenaway could get actresses with significant
credits like Plummer, Collette and
Walker to play such trite versions of male
sexual fantasies."
Passion of Mind
Demi Moore ("G.I. Jane") stars in this
romantic psychological thriller as an
American widow and mother of two living
in France who fantasizes about being a single
New York book editor. Or is it the other
way around? Stellan Skarsgard ("Deep Blue
Sea") and William Fichtner ("Drowning
Mona") co-star, both as her lovers. Alain
Berliner ("Ma Vie en Rose") directs; Ron
Bass ("Snow Falling on Cedars") scripts and
produces. (Paramount Classics, 5/26)
Exploitips: Paramount Classics
announced this co-venture with Lakeshore
Entertainment just three months after the
specialty arm's launch. Coordinate with a
local radio station, inviting listeners to call
in their favorite fantasies or, if they're bold
enough, stories about their double lives.
The best tale wins tickets to opening weekend
or, depending on your budget, a trip to
France.
Kikujiro
Takeshi Kitano ("Fireworks") writes,
directs and stars in (as Beat Takeshi, his acting
alias) this drama as his trademark tough
guy who befriends a sensitive young boy as
the two roam the lapanese countryside
looking for the mother the boy never knew.
Yusuke Sekiguchi co-stars. Kitano's creative
partner Masayuki Mori produces. (Sony
Classics, 5/26 NY/LA)
Exploitips: BOXOFFICE gave this pic 3.5
stars in its Cannes coverage in the
September 1999 issue, saying, "Kitano
skillfull) creates a distinctive character in
the cynical and manipulative Kikujiro.
Kitano works well opposite the natural performance
of young Sekiguchi in his film
debut. ...There are imaginative touches
throughout the film."
Mission: Impossible 2
Tom Cruise ("Magnolia") produces and
stars in this sequel to the actioner that
opened exactly four years ago and went on
to gross $180 million. This time around, he
and his team must seize and destroy a
deadly German virus before it falls into the
wrong hands. Dougray Scott ("Ever After"),
Thandie Newton ("Beloved") and Ving
Rhames ("Entrapment") co-star. John Woo
("Face/Off") directs a script by Robert
Towne ("Mission: Impossible"). Cruise's
partner Paula Wagner ("Mission:
Impossible") also produces. (Paramount,
5/24)
Exploitips: A production of this magnitude
saw its share of delays, beginning
shi loting a month late due to -.< ript t hanges
and losing a cinematographer along the
way, and its release date was ultimately
shoved back from Christmas to Memorial
Day. But "M:l-2" is bound to succeed, with
Cruise returning in the lead role and Woo,
who's Face/Off" also earned over $100
million at the boxoffice. Coordinate with a
local radio station to give listeners who can
trivia questions about the original
'60s TV story tickets to opening weekend.
Luminous Motion
In this drama Deborah Kara Unger ("The
Huricane") stars as a single, nomadic mom
who sells her body and sleeps with men to
get by. The greedy, corporate-climbing
father of her son would like to reassemble
the family, however. Eric Lloyd (TV's
"Jesse") and Jamey Sheridan ("Cradle Will
Rock") co-star. Bette Gordon directs;
Robert Roth and Scott Bradfield script;
Anthony Bregman, who executive produced
"Trick," and Ted Hope ("Ride with
the Devil") produce. (Artistic License, May
undated)
Exploitips: BOXOFFICE gave "Luminous
Motion" 3.5 stars in the September 1999
issue as part of its Florida Film Festival coverage,
saying, "Films this daring remind us
how safe and predictable the independent
movement has .i< tuall) !• i
Cirque du Soleil:
Journey of Man
In this large-format family flick, the colorful
acrobat troupe "Cirque du Soleil" performs
against the backdrop of natural and
historical landmarks from around the
world. The story follows a young boy on a
mystical journey from birth to death. Keith
Melton, who's previous experience has
been with 3-D simulator rides, directs;
"Max Headroom" creators Peter Wagg and
Steve Roberts script; Wagg also produces.
(Sony Classics, May undated)
Exploitips: The Cirque du Soleil regularly
performs in Las Vegas but also has troupes
that travel around the world. If you're lucky
enough to be a host city, contact the venue
to propose a co-marketing venture. If
ii if, invite a local gymnastics club to
perform in the lobby on opening
weekend. See BOXOFFICE s interview
with Melton on page 206.
The St. Francisville
Experiment
Their identities kept firmly under
wraps, the director and producers
of this horror flick gave digital
equipment to four non-ai tors I
psychic, a ghost hunter,a film std
dent and a historian—and locked
them in the infamous I
1
m New ( )rle,inv The
Laiauries were notoriously abusive
of their slaves, and the victims'
ghosts supposedly haunted'
Madame Lalaurie even after thd
house
i fire and she moved to a neal
by plantation. (Trimark, May undated)
Exploitips: The comparisons here to "the
Blair Witch Projei I" arc obvious and /'(

1
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Skittles' is #2 in category with $253 MM i
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Response No. 495

WTf,
Patriotism and dollar signs
go hand-in-hand during the hottest
(literally andfiguratively)
season of the year.
pics scneduled: DreamWorks'
"Gladiator," Warner Bros.'
"Dinosaur" and Paramounfs
Big Momma's House
"Blue Streak's" Martin
Lawrence stars in this comedy as
an undercover cop and master of
disguise, one of his personae
being a crass Southern grandmother
dubbed "Big Momma."
Nia Long ("Boiler Room") and
Paul Ciamatti ("Man on the
Moon") co-star. Raja Cosnell
a
("Never Been Kissed") directs
script by Darryl Quarles; David
Friendly ("Dr. Dolittle"), Michael
Green and Rodney Liber ("Wild
Things") produce. (Fox, 6/2)
Love's Labour's Lost
Like "Hamlet," out three week
earlier, and "Romeo + Juliet"
before it, writer-director-star
Kenneth Branagh ("Hamlet"
1996's four-hour version) sets
classic Shakespeare in a more
contemporary setting, here in the
swingin' 1930s, but keeps the
Bard's language intact.
Performed to the music oi Cole
Porter and George Gershwin, this
light comedy recounts four men's
vow to swear off women and Sunshine
subsequent infatuation with a
Ralph Fiennes ("The End of the
French princess and her three
Affair") stars in this historical
companions. Alicia Silverstone
drama as the patriarch in three
ast from the Past"), Natascha
generations of
McElhone ("Ronin"), Alessandro
Hungarian Jews who rise from
Nivola ("Mansfield Park"), humble beginnings to wealth and
Matthew Lillard ("Wing
power only to have their lives
Commander") and Nathan Lane
("Isn't She Great") co-star.
Branagh's partner David Barron
produces. (Miramax, 6 2)
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. Joaquin
Phoenix ("Gladiator"),
Charlize Theron ("The
Cider House Rules"), Faye
Dunaway ("The Messenger"),
Ellen Burstyn
("Playing by Heart") and
James Caan ("Mickey Blue
Eyes") co-star, lames 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, 6/9)
shattered when World War II grips
the continent. Rosemary Harris
("My Life So Far"), Rachel Weisz
Gone in 60 Seconds
Nicolas Cage ("Bringing out the Dead") stars in this
remake of the 1 974 actioner, known for its 40-minutes chase
scene, as an ex-car thief who re-enters the profession to save
his brother's hide, organizing a one-night crime spree to
steal 50 rare automobiles. Angelina Jolie ("Girl,
Interrupted"), Giovanni Ribisi ("Boiler Room") and Robert
Duvall ("A Civil Action") co-star. Dominic Sena
("Kalifornia") directs a script by Scott Rosenberg ("High
Fidelity"); Jerry Bruckheimer ("Enemy of the State") and
Mike Stenson produce. (Buena Vista, 6/9)
2X
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Response No. 10

I You
i Gary
Titan A.E.
Matt Damon ("The Talented
Mr. Ripley") and Drew
Barrymore ("Never Been
Kiseed") lend their voices to
this animated sci-fier about a
rebellious teenage boy who
realizes his destiny is to save
humankind after the Earth
blows up. Bill Pullman
("Brokedown Palace"), Nathan
Lane ("Trixie"), Janeane
Garofalo ("What Planet Are
From? ") and John Leguizamo ("Summer of Sam") co-star. "Anastasia's" Don Bluth and
Goldman direct and produce; Ben Edlund and Randall McCormick script. (Fox, 6/1 6)
("The Mummy"! and William noirish screwball comedy about an
Hurt ("One True Thing") co-star, inarticulate amateur detective who
Istvan Szabo ("Mephisto") directs becomes embroiled in a murder
a script he penned with Israel mystery involving a promiscuous
Horovitz; "eXistenZ's" Robet senator. Emily Watson ("Angela's
Lantos and Andras Hamori produce.
Ashes"), Dermot Mulroney ("Where
(Paramount Classics, 6/9) the Money Is"), Nick
Nolle
Trixie
Writer-director
("Breakfast of C
Alan
Rudolph
Requiem for a Dream
("Simpatico"), Nathan Lane ("Love's
Labour's Lost") and Brittany Murphy
("Girl, Interrupted") star. John Binder
\rti
5; Robert Altman (Rudolph's
Jared Leto ("American Psycho") stars in writer-director
Darren Aronofsky's follow-up to his critically acclaimed "Pi."
The drama consists of parallel story lines. In one, which Leto's
character, his girlfriend and his best friend dream of opening a
club in New York City but sacrifice their ambitions to drugs.
The other involves Leto's character's mother, a pill popper who
aspires to be on a game show. Ellen Burstyn ("The Yards"),
Jennifer
N^i
Connelly
("Waking the
Dead") and
Marlon Wayans
("Scary
Movie") costar;
Eric
Watson ("Pi")
and Palmer
West produce.
(Artisan, 6/16
ltd)
City") directs; Elizabeth
Cuthrell, David Urrutia and
Oren Moverman script based on
Denis Johnson's short-stories;
Lydia Dean-Pilcher ("Cradle
Will Rock"), Cuthrell and
Urrutia produce. (Lions Gate,
6/16 ltd, 6/30 exp)
The Match
Featuring amateur soccer at
its most amateur, "The Match"
is a romantic comedy about
two rival Scottish pubs that
have met on the soccer fielcj
once a year for almost a century.
Ninety-nine years ago, the
owner of Le Bistro wagered
("There's Something About Mary") as a Rhode Island state
trooper who surfers from a multiple personality disorder.
When he neglects to take his medication, both of his personalities
meet and fall in love with the same woman, ultimately
declaring war on each other. Renee Zellweger ("The Bachelor")
co-stars. Mike Cerrone lends a hand on the script;
Bradley Thomas ("There's Something About Mary") produces.
(Fox, 6/23)
30 BOXOFFKF
JeSUS SOII Benny, proprietor of Benny
Billy Crudup patrons wouldn'j
("Without Bar, that his
Limits") and Samantha Morton beat his team once in the nex
("Dreaming of Joseph Lees") star 1 00 years, putting his establish
in this road movie about a m ent at stake. Max Beesley an
young man who journeys from a Laura Fraser ("Titus") star. Mic
life of drug addiction and petty hii
crime to one of redemption,
Davis
debut;
writes and
Guyman
directs
Cassidy
Holly Hunter ("Things You Can Allan Scott produce. (US/
Tell Just by Looking at Her"), 6/16)
Dennis Hopper ("EDtv") and
Denis Leary ("The Thomas
Crown Affair") co-star. Alison
pui-i-p,,
WllUKeil p„n nun
Maclean (TV's "Sex and the Mel Gibson (next week':
Patriot") voices Rocky thJJ
Rooster in this animated send-

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Response No. 76
^>sonics
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(205) 733-0500 www.sonics.com

Hate
The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle
Classic cartoon characters Rocky and Bullwinkle have
been eking out an existence living residual check to residual
check ever since their series was cancelled in 1973.
Meanwhile, their lifelong nemeses Fearless Leader, Boris
and Natasha have discovered how to escape the twodimensional
world of animation and are headed for
Hollywood with a plan to take over the world. Part animated,
part live action, this comedy adventure stars
Robert De Niro ("Analyze This"), Jason Alexander (TV's
"Seinfeld") and Rene Russo ("The Thomas Crown Affair")
opposite the cartoon title characters. Des McAnuff
("Cousin Bette") directs a script by Ken Lonergan
("Analyze This"); De Niro and his partner Jane Rosenthal
'30)
Civil War centers around the
relationship between a young
boy and his schoolmaster, who
helps him overcome his fears
about starting school. Fernando
Fernan Gomez ("All About My
Mother") stars; Jose Luis Cuerda
directs; Rafael Azcona scripts
based on short stories by Manuel
Rivas. (Miramax, 6/23)
The Patriot
Coverboy Mel Gibson
("Payback") headlines this epic
adventure about a pacifist who
is forced to fight when the
Revolutionary War reaches his
front door, threatening his family.
He and his idealistic patriot
son ultimately lead rebel soldiers
into battle with the British,
Woman
on Top
culinary
In this
romantic comedy,
Penelope
Cruz ("All
About My
Mother") plays
a Brazilian
chef whose
talents
and sensuality
catapult her to fame when she moves to San Francisco,
landing her her own show on a local TV station. She must
decide, however, if she wants to nourish her career or succumb
to her machismo husband's jealous wishes. Murilo Benecio costars.
Fina Torres ("Celestial Clockwork") directs; Vera Blasi
and June Roberts script; Alan Poul ("'Til There Was You") proit,
June)
helping to free the young nation
would become
Techin6 directs as well as scripts
with "Les Voleurs'" Gilles
that the United
States of America. Heath Ledger
("10 Things I About You"),
Taurand;
Techine's
Alain
"Les
Sarde
Voleurs")
(also
produces.
Joely Richardson ("Event
(USA, 6/30)
Horizon"), Tom Wilkinson ("The
Full Monty"), Chris Cooper
("American Beauty") and Tcheky
Karyo ("The Messenger") costar.
Roland Emmerich
("Godzilla") directs a script by
Robert Rodat ("Saving Private
Ryan"); Dean Devlin
("Godzilla") produces with
"Saving Private Ryan's" Mark
Gordon and Gary Levinsohn.
(Columbia, 6/30)
Alice et Martin
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
The Golden Bowl
Nick Nolte ("Trixie") stars in
this drama about marital turmoil
based on the Henry
James novel as a wealthy
American expatriate widower
who marries a much younger
woman who in turn has an
affair with the man married to
his daughter. Uma Thurman
("The Avengers"), Anjelica
Huston ("Agnes Browne"),
Kate Beckinsale ("Brokedown
Palace") and Jeremy Northam
("An Ideal Husband") co-star.
James Ivory ("A Soldier's
Daughter Never Cries") directs
a script adapted by frequent
collaborator Ruth Prawef
Jhabvala; Ivory's partner
Ismail Merchant produi es.
(Miramax, June)
The Perfect Storm
"Three Kings'" George
Clooney and Mark Wahlbe
reunite in this adaptation
Sebastian Junger's bestseliinj
nonfiction tale about fishermen
caught in the one of the
biggest storms of the century.
Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio
("Limbo"), John C. Reilly
("Magnolia") and Diane Lane
("My Dog Skip") co-star.
Wolfgang Petersen ("Air
Force One") directs a script
by Bo Goldman ("Meet Joe
Black") and William D.
Wittliff ("Legends of the
Fall"); Gail Katz ("Bicentennial
Man"), Petersen and
Paula Weinstein ("Analyze
This") produce. (Warner
Bros., 6/30)
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John Travolta ("Battlefield Earth") stars in this Nora
Ephron ("You've Got Mail")-directed comedy as a TV weatherman
and local celebrity whose lavish lifestyle and failing
snowmobile dealership are bleeding him dry. He schemes
with the station's lotto ball girl to rig the state lottery; the
numbers come up right, but everything else goes wrong. Lisa
Kudrow ("Hanging Up"), Tim Roth ("The Legend of 1900"),
Ed O'Neill ("The Bone Collector"), Michael Rapaport
("Deep Blue Sea") and Michael Moore ("EDtv") co-star.
Adam Resnick ("Cabin Boy") scripts; Andrew Lazar ("The
Astronaut's Wife"), Jonathan D. Krane ("Battlefield Earth"),
Sean Daniel ("The Mummy") and Ephron produce.
(Paramount, 7/14)
So Close to Paradise
Chinese helmer Wang
Xiaoshuai writes and directs this
drama that stars Wang Tong, Shi
Yu, Tao Guo and Wu Tao ("The
Last Emperor"). Pang Ming
scripts; Han Sanping ("The
Emperor and the Assassin") produces.
(Cinema Village, June)
Invisible Circus
Cameron Diaz ("Things You
Can Tell Just by Looking at Her")
stars in this '60s-set drama as a
young woman who mysteriously
dies while travelling in Europe
with her boyfriend. Her younger
sister sets out to retrace her steps
and explain her death. Jordana
Brewster ("The Faculty") and
Christopher Eccleston ("Elizabeth")
co-star. Screenwriter
Adam Brooks ("Practical
Magic") writes and directs based
on the novel by Jennifer Egan;
Julia Chasman ("Polish
Wedding") and Nick Wechsler
("The Yards") produce. (Fine
Line, lune)
What Lies Beneath
Harrison Ford ("Random Hearts") and Michelle Pfeiffer
("The Story of Us") pair for the first time in this supernatural
thriller about a college professor who begins to investigate
the murder of a student whose ghost is appearing to his
wife. Robert Zemeckis ("Contact") directs a script by Clark
Gregg; Zemeckis produces with his partners Steve Starkey
("Contact") and Jack Rapke. (DreamWorks, 7/21)
Bryan Singer ("The Usual
Suspects") directs a hot
ensemble cast in this sci-fi
actioner based on the Marvel
characters who are born with
genetic mutations that give
them superpowers. Patrick
Stewart ("Star Trek:
Insurrection"), Ian McKellen
("Gods and Monsters"), Famke
Janssen ("House on Haunted
Hill"), Hugh Jackman
("Paperback Hero"), Anna
Paquin ("She's All That"),
Halle Berry ("Bulworth"),
Rebecca Romijn-Stamos
("Austin Powers: The Spy Who
Shagged Me") and Ray Park ("Star Wars: Episode I—The
Phantom Menace") star. Tom DeSanto, David Hayter,
Christopher McQuarrie ("The Usual Suspects"), Singer, Ed
Solomon ("What Planet Are You From?") and Joss Whedon
(TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer") script; Lauren Shuler
Donner ("Any Given Sunday") and Ralph Winter, who
executive produced "Inspector Gadget," produces. (Fox,
7/14)
Mad About Mambo
In her first leading role in a
feature film since the debut of
TV's popular "Felicity," Keri
Russell stars as an upper-class
Irish student determined to prove
herself as an accomplished Latin
dancer. A romantic comedy, the
pic pairs her with a workingclass
teen who dreams of playing
the dance floor. You fill in the
blanks. William Ash and Theo
Fraser Steele co-star. John Forte
David Ki
McBeal's"
June)
Wonderland
Michael
Mil
Winterbottor
("Welcome to Sarajevo") directs tn
London-set family drama that inte
twines the lives of three 20-somj
professional soccer and sets out thing sisters and their webs of rel
to polish his athletic prowess on tionships. Shirley Hendersa
("Topsy-Turvy"), Cina McKa
("Women Talking Dirty") and Mofl
Parker ("The Five Senses")
Laurence Coriat scripts. (USA,
Nutty II—The Klumps
In this sequel to the 1996 blockbuster comedy "The
Nutty Professor," Eddie Murphy once again plays the dual
roles of Sherman Klump, a portly, painfully shy professor,
and Buddy Love, his outrageous alter ego. While Sherman
attempts to remove Buddy's DNA from his system, Buddy
steals his latest invention—a youth serum. As in the first
"Nutty Professor," hijinks ensue. Pop star Janet Jackson costars.
Peter Segal ("Tommy Boy") directs; the original's
Barry W. Blaustein and David Shef-field script with "Antz's"!
Paul Weitz and Chris Weitz; Brian Grazer ("Bowfinger")
1
produces. (Universal, 7/28)

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Response No. 154

Pokemon 2
Crossing its fingers that Poke-mania isn't just a phase,
Warner Bros, bought this sequel to "Mewtwo Strikes
Back," which promises to introduce a brand-new
Pokemon. Pikachu, of course, is still the star. (Warner
Bros., 7/21)
Shower
Zhang Yang directs this
Chinese-language comic drama
about an elderly man who operates
a rundown bathhouse with
one of his two sons. When his
other son returns, believing his
father has died, he is compelled
to face the responsibilities of caring
for his family. Zhu Xu, Pu
Cun Xin and Jiang Wu ("A
Beautiful New World") star. Peter
Loehr ("A Beautiful New World")
produces. (Sony Classics, 7/7
NY/LA)
Human Traffic
A British buddy movie of sorts,
"Human Traffic" literally gets
inside the heads of five friends
and a tag-along little brother who
embark on a weekend of pubs,
clubs and parties. John Simm
("Wonderland"), Lorraine
Pilkington, Shaun Parkes, Danny
Dyer, Nicola Reynolds and
Andrew Lincoln star. Newcomer
Justin Kerrigan scripts and
directs; Allan Niblo and Emer
McCourt produce. (Miramax,
7/14)
The Hollow Man
Kevin Bacon ("Stir of Echoes"),
Elisabeth Shue ("Molly") and
Josh Brolin ("Best Laid Plans")
form a love triangle in this thriller
about a team of scientists who
develop a serum for invisibility.
Bacon's character decides to test
it on himself, but the effect is
irreversible and his newfound
power begins to fuel his suspicions
of his colleagues. Paul
Verhoeven ("Starship Troopers")
Recess
Based on the popular television cartoon, "Recess" is less
about recess than summer vacation, or the potential lack
thereof. T.J. Detweiler is looking forward to a fun-filled
break until he uncovers his former principal's plot to make
it winter year-round. T.J. and his friends band together
with the faculty to prevent such a travesty from ever coming
to light. Chuck Sheetz, who's directed episodes of
"King of the Hill" and "The Simpsons" in addition to
"Recess," helms; creators Paul Germain and Joe
Ansolabehere executive produce. (Buena Vista, 8/4)
Thomas and the
Magic Railroad
Peter Fonda ("The Limey"),
Mara Wilson ("Matilda") and
Alec Baldwin ("Outside
Providence") star in this part
live-action, part animated
adaptation of the popular
children's franchise about
little girl who arrives in the
wrong town when she takes a
train to visit her grandfather.
Mr. Conductor takes her
under his wing, whisking her
off to a magic toy world
where Thomas, a tiny blue
steam engine, lives. Britt
Allcroft, who created the
original children's television
series, writes, directs and
produces. (Destination
7/26)
directs a script by Anc
Marlowe ("End of Days"), whl
also produces with Douglal
Wick ("Gladiator"). (Columbil
7/28)
Bounce
Ben Affleck ("ReindeB
Games") and Gwyneth PaltrqJ
("Duets") star in this romana
about a womanizing ad exedj
tive who relinquishes his sea
a flight to a struggling wrifl
who's anxious to get home to hi
wife. The plane crashes arfl
rat keel with guilt, the exec seel
out the dead man's widow, eveB
tually tailing in love with hi
She, meanwhile, isn't aware ol
then fateful connection. Dj
Roos ("The Opposite of Sed
writes .md directs his sophomd
effort; Bobby Cohen, who exed
tive produced "Down to Yol
and Miramax topper Harvl
Weinstein produce. (Miraml
7/28)
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Response No. 39

Whatever Happened
to Harold Smith?
"The Borrowers'" Peter
Hewitt directs this romantic
comedy set in northern England
in the 1970s about a man who
abandons his beloved disco for
punk when he falls in love with
a co-worker. His father, meanwhile,
rises to fame when he
discovers he has magical powers.
Tom Courtenay takes the
Space Cowboys
title role. Ben Steiner scripts;
David Brown ("Up at the Villa") Clint Eastwood ("True
and Ruth Jackson, who executive
Crime") directs, produces and
stars this action-adventure
in produced "Hilary
and
lackie," produce. (USA, July)
Impostor
Gary Sinise ("Mission to
Mars") stars in this sci-fi film
based on the Philip K. Dick
short story as an engineer who
develops a weapon for a battle
against aliens, only to be
suspected of being otherworldly
himself. Madeleine
Stowe ("The General's
Daughter"), Vincent D'Ono-
set in space as a retired Ait
Force pilot who was passec
over for the astronaut training
program as a youth because
of his cocky attitude bu:
decades later is recruited b\
NASA to repair a '60s satellite
that's broken and headed fo
Earth. He agrees to help ou
only if he can bring his bud'
dies along. Tommy Lee Jone:
("Rules of Engagement") anc
James Garner ("Twilight") co
star as the codgers; Jamei
Cromwell ("The Gr
Mile"), Donald Sutherlanc
("The Art of War") and Marci,
Gay Harden ("Flubber") alsc
star. Ken Kaufman ("Muppet:
From Space") and Howarc
Klausner script; Andrew Lazai
("10 Things I Hate Abou
You") produces. (Warne
The Legend of Bagger Vance
Matt Damon ("The Talented Mr. Ripley") and Will Smith
("Wild Wild West") form an unusual friendship in this
drama set on the green about a World War I vet who agrees
to help publicize the opening of a Savannah golf course in
1931 by competing with links legends and the mysterious
caddy who advises him. Charlize Theron ("The Yards") and
Jack Lemmon ("Grumpy Old Men") co-star. Robert Redford
("The Horse Whisperer") directs; Jeremy Leven ("Don Juan
DeMarco") and Richard LaCravenese ("The Horse
Whisperer") script based on the novel by Steven Pressfield;
Redford, Michael Nozik (Redford's "Quiz Show") and Jake
Eberts ("Grey Owl") produce. (DreamWorks, 8/4)
Save the Last Dance
Julia Stiles ("Hamlet") stars in this musical drama as a
white, middle-class, small-town teen who's suddenly thrust
into an inner-city, virtually all-black Chicago high school
when her mother dies. She connects, however, with a popular
African-American student through their common interest
in dance. Sean Patrick Thomas ("Cruel Intentions") costars.
Thomas Carter ("Swing Kids") directs by Duane Adler
and Cheryl Edwards; "Runaway Bride's" Robert Cort and
David Madden produce. (Paramount, 8/11)
I Was Made to Love Her
Chris Rock ("Dogma")
scripts and stars in this comedy
directed by Chris and Paul
Weitz ("American Pie") as a
struggling stand-up comic
who's prematurely plucked
from this Earth, only to be
returned via an unsuitable host
body—that of an elderly aristocrat.
Ali LeRoi, Louis C.K. and
Lance Crouther, all writers on
Rock's HBO show, collaborated
on the script. (Paramount,
7/28)
The Girl on the Bridge
Daniel Auteuil ("The Lost
Son") and Vanessa Paradis star in
("Ridicule") directs; Serge
Frydman scripts; Christian
Fechner ("The Lovers on the
Bridge") produces. (Paramount
Classics, 7/28)
The Art of War
Wesley Snipes ("Blade")
stars in this martial arts actioner
as a top-secret U.N. operative
who is framed for the
assassination of a Chinese
ambassador. Donald Sutherland
("Instinct") co-stars.
Christian Duguay (TV's "loan
of Arc") directs a script by
Simon Barry and Kevin
Bernhardt; Nicolas Clermont
("Eye of the Beholder") and
this French-language romance as Oliver Stone (who executive
a knife thrower and the produced his film "Any Given
suicidal
woman who volunteers to be his Sunday")
Bros., July)
produce. (Warner
target. Patrice Leconte
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Response No. 144

|
who
The Ceil
In this sci-fi thriller, Jennifer
Lopez plays a child therapist
participates in a breakthrough
research program that
allows her to explore inside
the mind of a comatose serial
killer to hopefully save his last
victim. Vincent D'Onofrio
("Impostor"), Vince Vaughn
("Psycho") and Marianne
Jean-Baptiste ("28 Days") costar.
Commercial and music
video helmer Tarsem makes
his feature debut; Mark
Protosevich scripts; Julio Caro
and Eric McLeod ("Austin
Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me") produce. (New Line,
Godzilla 2000
No, this isn't the sequel to
Dean Devlin and Roland
Emmerich's 1998 monster
movie (though that is in development).
"Godzilla 2000" is a
Japanese-produced sci-fi thriller
that pits the giant reptile against
an alien life form that has been
hibernating in the Japan trench
for 6,000 years. "Godzilla and
Mothra" star Takehiro Murata,
director Takao Okawara and
producer Shogo Tomiyama
reunite; Hiroshi Kashiwabara
and Wataru Mimura, who've
both worked on other
"Godzilla" movies, script.
(Columbia, 8/11)
Boys and Girls
Freddie Prinze Jr. ("Down to
You") and Claire Forlani ("Meet
Joe Black") star in this romantic
comedy as two best friends
who fall in and out of love.
Jason Biggs ("Loser"), Heather
Wi
("American Pie") co-star.
Robert Iscove ("She's All That")
directs a script by "Simon
Sez's" Andrew Lowery and
Andrew Miller; "A Walk on the
Moon's" Dustin Hoffman and
Cohen produce. (Miramax,
Jay
8/11)
Bedazzled
Brendan Fraser ("The
Mummy") stars in this remake of
the 1967 Dudley Moore comedy
as a low-level software company
employee who enlists a
powerful seductress to help him
woo a co-worker. Elizabeth
Hurley ("EDtv") and Frances
O'Connor ("Mansfield Park")
co-star. "Analyze This'" Harold
Ramis directs and scripts with
Larry Gelbart ("Tootsie") and
Peter Tolan ("Analyze This");
Ramis also produces with Trevor
Albert ("Multiplicity"). (Fox,
8/11)
Way of the Gun
Ryan Phiilippe ("Cruel Intentions"), Benecio Del Toro
("Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas") and Juliette Lewis ("The
Other Sister") star in this crime drama as two career criminals
and the surrogate mother they kidnap for ransom.
James Caan ("The Yards") and Taye Diggs ("House on
Haunted
Hill") co-star.
Screenwriter
Christopher
McQuarrie
("X-Men")
scripts and
makes his directorial
debut;
Kenneth
Kokin, who
co-produced
"The Usual
Suspects,"
produces.
(Artisan,
8/18)
Urban
Legend 2
Joseph Lawrence
("Tequila
Body
Shots") stars
in this thriller
as a film student
vying for
the prestigious,
careerjumpstarting
Hitchcock
Award, which he may have a very good chance at winning
since someone is killing all the competition. Jennifer
Morrison ("Stir of Echoes") and Matthew Davis co-star as
fellow burgeoning filmmakers. Composer John Ottman
("The Usual Suspects") makes his directorial debut; Paul
Harris Boardman and Scott Derrickson script; "Urban
Legend's" Neal H. Mortiz and Gina Matthews produce.
(Columbia, August/September)
Highlander: Endgame
Adrian Paul (star of the TV
version) and Christopher
Lambert (who starred in the
first three movies) return to
appear in the fourth bigscreen
installment, "Highlander:
Endgame," whose plot
is being kept top secret.
Douglas Aarniokoski, who's
been an assistant director on
several films, makes his
directorial debut; Gillian
Horvath and Joel Soisson
script; Peter Davis
("Highlander II") and William
Panzer ("Highlander I, II" and
the television series) produce.
(Miramax, 8/25)
State and Main
David Mamet ("The Winslow
Boy") directs this Hollywood
satire about a film crew that
invades a small New England
town. The old-fashioned
screenwriter finds his values
challenged when he becomes
the only witness to the film's
indiscretions with a local
star's
teenage girl. Alec Baldwin
("Thomas and the Magic
Railroad"), Phillip Seymour
Hoffman ("The Talented
Ripley"), William H. Macy
("Magnolia"), Julia Stiles ("Save
the Last Dance"), Davii
Paymer ("The Hurricane"),
Rebecca Pidgeon ("The
Winslow Boy"), Sarah Jessica
Parker (TV's "Sex and the
City"), Charles Durning ("One
Fine Day") and Patty LuPone
("Summer of Sam") make up
the ensemble cast. Dorothy
Aufiero ("Mr. Death") and frej
quent Mamet collaboratoi
Sarah Green produce. (Fine
Line, August)
Boot Men
Tap Dogs tap dance troupt
creator Dein Perry directs thii
comedy/drama about tw<
brothers who escape thei
Summer Catch
Freddie Prinze Jr. ("Down to
You") is the catch in this
lives in the steel mill b:
romance set against a baseball becoming professional taj
backdrop. Prinze portrays a dancers, basing their perfoi
minor-league player who's mances on the industria
simultaneously trying to sounds from their forme
impress major league scouts workplace. (Sound familiar!
and a wealthy girl vacationing Adam Garcia and Sarr an
in his Cape Cod hometown. Worthington star. Stev
Mike Tollin makes his feature Worland scripts; Hilar
directorial debut and produces
Linstead produces. (Fo
with "Varsity Blues" Searchlight, August)
director-producer Brian
Robbins and Sam Weisman; Cherry Falls
Kevin Falls (TV's "Sports ittany Murphy ("Trixiel
Night") scripts. (Warner Bros., and Jay Mohr ("Go") star ij
August)
this thriller about a serial
killer who bends the horrol
genre's rules, taking out trfl
small town's virgins one bv
one. When the villain is ca(ff
tured, the twisted secrets M
the community's most respect!
ed leaders are revealed alorfl
with the identity of the murl
derer. Australian GeoffnS
Wright ("Romper StomperB
helms; Ken Selden ("WhijB
Lies") scripts; MarshaB
Persinger ("Still BreathinJ
and Eli Selden produce. (USiJ
August)
40 BOXOFFIC'E

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Response No. 23
„ ,000 S.ono In.ernationol, a division o. Bo,,on„ne o. O.oho, Inc. Member NYSE :
BIN

|
|
.
Coyote Ugly
Jerry Bruckheimer ("Gone in
60 Seconds") switches gears to
produce this romantic comedy
about an aspiring songwriter
who moves to the Big Apple to
pursue her dream but gets sidetracked
by her day job at the
Coyote Ugly, a bar run by sexy,
enterprising young women who
attract attention from men and
the media with their outrageous
antics. Piper Perabo ("The
Adventures of Rocky and
Bullwinkle") snagged the lead
role; Adam Garcia ("Bootmen"),
Maria Bello ("Duets"), Melanie
Lynskey ("Detroit Rock City")
and John Goodman ("What
Planet Are You From?") co-star. David McNally directs; Gina
Wendkos, Kevin Smith ("Dogma") and Todd Graff ("The
Beautician and the Beast") script. (Bucna Vista, summer)
The Crew
Richard
Dreyfuss
("Krippendorf's Tribe"), Burt
Reynolds ("Mystery, Alaska"),
Dan Hedaya ("Dick") and
Seymour Cassel ("Rushmore") star
to save it. Michael Dinner (TV's
"Chicago Hope") directs a script
by Barry Fanaro ("Kingpin");
"Wild Wild West's" Barry
Sonnenfeld and Barry Josephson
produce. (Buena Vista, summer)
Shanghai Noon
Jackie Chan revisits the lucrative
"Rush Hour" formula in this
oater as a Chinese Imperial Guard
who travels to the wild west to rescue
a kidnapped princess, partner-
John Turteltaub ("Phenomenon")
directs a script by Audrey Wells
("Guinevere"); Turteltaub, Christina
Steinberg, a co-producer on
Turteltaub's "Instinct," and Hunt
Lowry ("A Time to Kill") produce.
(Buena Vista, summer)
Loser
"American Pie's" Jason Biggs
and Mena Suvari reunite in this
romantic comedy as a Midwestern
boy quickly branded a loser by his
dormmates at New York
("Clueless") writes and directs as
well as produces with Twink
Caplan. (Columbia, summer)
Sexy Beast
Ray Winstone ("Agnes
Browne") and Ben Kingsley
("Rules of Engagement") star in this
romantic heist movie as a former
_
ing with a train robber along the The Vertical Limit
way. Owen Wilson ("The
Haunting") and Lucy Liu ("Play It
to the Bone") co-star. Tom Dey
directs a script by "Lethal Weapon
4's" Alfred Gough and Miles
Millar; "Rush Hour's" Roger
Birnbaum and Jonathan Glickman
produce with Gary Barber, who
executive produced "Wrongfully
Accused." (Buena Vista, summer)
gangster who wants to retire quietly
with his wife in his Spanish villa
and the former boss who returns to
ask one last favor. Amanda
Redman co-stars. Commercial
director Jonathan Glazerwill make
his feature debut; David Mellis and
Louis Scinto script; )eremy
Thomas, who executive produced
'The Cup," produces.
Searchlight, summer)
(Fox
Le Cercle Rouge
This re-release of the 1970
thriller about an ex-con who teams
up with an escaped murderer to
Blood Simple
The Coen brothers' first feature
film, this 1984 film noir about a
jealous husband who hires a private
investigator to spy on his trysting
wife stars John Get?, Frances
McDormand ("Wonder Boys") and
Dan Hedaya ("Dick"). Joel Coen
("The Big Lebowski") directs; Joel
and Ethan Coen script; Ethan Coen
produces. (USA, summer)
pull off a jewel heist is one of writerdirector
Jean-Pierre Melville's last
Nurse Betty
Renee Zellweger ("Me, Myself
films. Alain Delon and Gian Maria
and Irene") stars in "Your Friends
Volonte star. Robert Dorfmann produces.
(Rialto, summer)
and Neighbors" director Neil
LaBute's latest black (and he
means black) comedy as a waitress
who confuses reality with
Souvenir
Kristin Scott Thomas ("Up at fantasy when she sets out on a
the Villa") stars in this drama cross-country road trip to unite
about an American sports journalist
living in France who's
obsessed with her brother, who
may be dead. Christina Ricci costars.
Michael Shamberg directs.
(Shadow, summer)
Beautiful Joe
Sharon Stone ("Simpatico")
and Billy Connolly ("Still Crazy")
star in this romance about a nice
guy prone to bad luck who's
about to stumble across a little
more— a woman. Stephen
Metcalfe ("Roommates") writes
and directs; "The Third Miracle's"
in this comedy as four ex-wise
guys who are being forced out of
Fred Fuchs and Steven Haft produce.
(Stratosphere, summer)
University and "the girl he falls in
their retirement home in South
love with. She just happens to
Beach, Miami, and hatch a plan
have eyes for her professor. Greg
Kinnear ("What Planet Are You Skipped Parts
From?") co-stars. Amy Heckerling Jennifer Jason Leigh
Untitled Bruce Willis/
John Turteltaub
Bruce Willis ("The Sixth Sense")
once again co-stars with a youngster
in this dramedy, for awhile titled
"The Kid," about a 40-year-old
image consultant who encounters
an eight-year-old version of himself.
("eXistenZ") stars in this romantic
drama as an irresponsible mother
who flees to a small Wyoming
town with her 14-year-old son to
escape from her domineering
with her favorite soap star.
Meanwhile, a couple of hit men
are in pursuit. Greg Kinnear
("Loser"), Chris Rock ("I Was
Made to Love Her") and Morgan
Freeman ("Deep Impact"! costar.
John Richards and lames
Flamberg script; Steve Colin
("Being John Malkovich "i and
Gail Mutrux ("Donnie Brasco"
produce. (USA, summer)
Tokyo Eyes
Takeshi Kitano ("Kikuiuo")
stars in this Japanese-L
thriller about a sniper whoa
thick glasses (he's nicknamed
"Four Eyes") prevents him from
ever making a kill. Hinano
Yoshikawa and Kaori Mizushima
co-star. Jean-Pierre Limosin
writes and directs. (Viz/Tidepoint,
spring/summer)
We Are Not Alone
Tsutomu Yamazaki stars in thii
father. Brad Renfro ("Apt Pupil") .
Japanese-language film directe
co-stars, and Drew Barrymore b Yo
makes a cameo. Tamra Davis J " r
° ak ' ta a
Nobuyuk, k | ?? H*"-!
Isshiki. (V.z/T.depojntj
("Billy Madison") directs; Tim
spring/summer)
Sandlin scripts from his own
Chris O'Donnell ("The Vertical Limit") scales K2 in this actioner about a mountain climber
who has sworn off the sport i
after the tragic death of his
father. He's forced to reconsider,
however, when his I
estranged sister becomes
trapped on the second tallest
mountain in the world. Bill
Paxton ("U-571") and Robin]
Tunney ("End of Days") co-star.
Martin Campbell ("The Mask of I
Zorro") directs a script by I
Robert King ("Red Corner")
and Terry Hayes; Lloyd Phillips,
who executive produced "The
Edge," Campbell and King produce.
(Columbia, summer)
42 BOXOFFICE

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i
cander
I
Sneak Preview
JIMMY THE KID
James Van Der Beek Graduates
from High School to Ride
with the "Texas Rangers"
by Annlee Ellingson
the titular character on TV's he tells BOXOFFICE. "I really liked the
;d Mexico." Van I
As"Dawson' ( reek." .lames Van
thought it was a great epic story. explains. "General Cortina, a Spanish
Der Beek is passion.!:
Of course [I liked the idea of fulfilling] general, had a hand of outlaws who
mistic and witty beyond his yeai
the whole little boy's fantasy of wanting were basically hiding out in Mexico and
encing pop culture like a kid from the to play a cowboy. But in addition to it then coming up into Texas and just
MTV generation who's actually cognizant
enough to critically analyze it. also think it's something that would be stealing cattle and then going hack
being exciting for me to play a cowboy, I aging farms and ransacking villages
exciting to watch.
Mexico. So the state oi' Texas com
"The other thing about Texas
McNeils to basically
Rangers' that I really liked was when I bring some law and order.
In realits, Van Der Beek resembles
Dawson, but a few years down the
! i the business has burned him
a couple of times. He chooses his words
carefully, fully aware that bj
while teen idoldom may ^^
not be Ins life aspiration.
it certainly has provided
him with plentv of work H
so far. Likewise, he picks
his projects prudently, recognizing
that his threemonth
break from
"Dawson's" is an important
opportunity to not
onlj distinguish himself
from his defining role but
*•:
script, there was also
MEAN STREET POSSE: Ashtcn
McDermott and Usher Raymond
i
to grow as a person and as
an actor.
In January 1999, Van
Der Beek's first post-
••Dawson" starring role in
"Varsity Blues." which
earned $55 million, made
him an immediate boxoffice
commodity, and he
had to put together a project
quickly to be ready to shoot during another actor. Thi
his hiatus starting in March. "Texas McNelly role that Dylan [McDermott]
Rangers." a project that had been Ian- ended up playing.
guishing at Savoy since 1993, before opportunity to work with some
which it had been set up at Columbia experienced actors than myself."
with the late San Peckinpah attached to The Texas Rangers were a posse
recruited after the Civil War to clean up
direct.
Van Der Beek turned down several the wild West. "The Texas Rangers were
other film oilers to salvage "Texas actually commissioned by the state o\~
Rangers." "1 really liked the character." Texas to patrol the border between

mistake. They musi think I'm a lot better
than I really am. How am 1 going to
come up to the level of the people
ound
hue
enee. Basically I just went to rein
every day and just watched and li
and processed and studied and w iked.
And it all paid off and came together.
When the reviews came out. it was just a
real defining moment, sitting back and
really kind of admitting to myself and
realizing, i can do this. I can hack it.'
Obviously. 1 must have had some kind of
intuition that I would be able to hack it.
but I didn't really prove it to myself until
then.
"That has always been in\ benchmark
for everything that I do. I got a
for the first lime, and I had no
idea where the camera was or what I
was supposed to do. 1 had no idea how
to hit my
pull
this
I
P
li ion
i
want to
vacation, technically, so I
pick roles that I'm going to have fun
doing. And also I trv to do something
different during the' hiatus, so I definitely
think we'll be looking at some
other roles. There's only so many
scenes vou n p mt of ,i locktlk-and-talks
Onl
ei. down a school
you can gel
em different
through and
each time.
"[Bui
aekno
Van
doi
"Texas Rang
ill
k' has] been
ic's quick to
jl. even if he
1 hopes that
somewh;
the media's and his fans' perception ot
him. "(My intent is] not so much a shedding
mark. 1 always
kind of hearken
back to
that experience
w
Edward Albee
and just think.
•Okay, if I can
do that. I can
learn this, and
I was
pecially
when
hosting 'Saturday
Night
live' lor the
first lime,
mean.
in;
Van Der Bcek and his trui
together ;
'Saturday Night Live'[-typeJ show in my
town and didn't want me to be in it
because I wasn't funny. And here 1 am
hosting the real deal. Also, because I
was in New York, it reminded me of the
whole experience [on 'Finding ihe Sun'].
So it was just a tremendous boost to
have so early on in your career."
Shortly thereafter, Van Der Beck
landed a role in "Angus." an underseen,
charming little film in which he plays
the school lock a part that ended up
being a precursor to his role in "Varsity
Blues." The thespian went to college for
a couple of years alter that before landing
his breakout role in "Dawson's position that will allow me to keep on
actor' 7 .And how can 1 put myself in a
Creek."
working?'"
Hi
Van Der Beck is cautiously looking
forward to graduating, however, from "Texas Rangers." Starring J
the high school-set angst} dramas that
have made him a star to more adult
roles closer to his own age. "When I got
'Dawson's.' 1 was 20 vears old. and now
I'm 23. 1 feel like a very different person.
A lot's happened in the past three
years. It was a lot o\' fun to play someone
who was my own age [in Texas
Ranacrs'].
YOU CAN LEAD A HORSE TO WATER...:
ty steed in
"Texas Range
and the
press
l hat 1 do as
well. 1 never
embraced a
teen idol
image, really,
so it doesn't
to me feel like I have to shake it off. I
think I always kind of resisted il.
"Inevitably, you get packaged when
you're on a TV show, and people print
up calendars and make CDs and do all
that without your consent because
they don't need it. Right now I happen
to be popular, but that's not going to
last. The goal is basically to keep on
working and keep on growing as an
actor. With every move I make in my
career, that's the goal: 'How can I
learn from this? How can 1 grow from
this? How can I become a better

Sneak Preview
as
Unique
Aardman experts locked into a minutely detailed
Animations may be, "Rarer schedule, overseen by both Park and
than a hen's tooth" is not the
quaint adage to apply to what's been
Lord in accordance with a daily diary
call sheet mapped out almost to the second.
happening at the company's studios
The bosses are scheduled for the
these past couple of years. Everywhere
one looks there are grinning chickens,
BOXOFFICE interview from 2:30 to 3
p.m., after Lord has visited Unit 18 of
flashing their molars, beaming their his crew for a final briefing on their
three-day shoot of sequence 6500, and
pearly whites, gnashing their incisors,
chattering through teeth that are
clenched, agape, smiling, on edge.
It's teeth, many admirers feel, that are
responsible for much of the success of
Aardman's unusual brand of plasticine
animation that in the past has created
such witty short films as the Wallace
and Gromit adventures "The
Wrong Trousers" and "A Close
Shave" and the medieval fable
"Wat's Pig." Rarely have creatures
created from whole cloth, or
rather a sophisticated version of
play dough, appeared to have
such an inner life, and much of
that impression can be attributed
to the way the perfectly synchronized
words in odd regional
accents come forth from toothy
mouths. Now Nick Park and
Peter Lord, the creators of these
3-D wonders, are co-producing
and co-directing "Chicken Run,"
a full-length feature cartoon with talking
hens to be released by DreamWorks
in the United States and most international
territories, while Pathe will distribute
in
The
Europe.
Aardman workshop is an
ordinary-looking building in an
ordinary-looking industrial
park, just outside the city of Bristol in
southwest England. Exiting the motorway
and driving on to the site one day
last June, nothing prepared BOXOFFICE
for the wonderland of creativity and
amusement inside the premises. Who
knew how much a chicken with teeth
could make one giggle?
The ambitious project demands the
painstaking attention of a whole team of
THE
1
rr
"RUN
BOXOFFICE Visits the
Set of DreamWorks' and
Aardman Animations'
"Chicken Run"
Park has spent half an hour in the art
department with animator Loyd Price,
director of photography Frank
Passingham and an assistant art director,
in reference to something ominously
called "the Pie Machine." Following the
interview Lord is immediately scheduled
for "director time" and then must check
out sequence 5300 and review a reel of
completed film, while Park's schedule
attends to other details and then joins in
the review.
Aardman is definitely a world unto
itself,
filled with jobs few know actually
exist, but many might covet if they did.
There are about 150 people working in
this building, which had been taken over
in 1998 because the company's established
commercial and short film studios
and offices in Bristol were not large
enough to accommodate such a huge
crew and extensive workshops and sets.
(Among the most visible of Aardman's
commercial ventures are those chatty,
toothy cars dreamed up for Chevron
ads.)
by Bridget Byrne
During BOXOFFICE's visit, production
on "Chicken Run" is about half way
along. Panic isn't yet rampant, but lurking.
"The hours are quite severe. The sheer
volume of work to be done is quite
daunting," admits Lord, while Park says
that though they believe they are running
a "very well oiled machine," they
are practicing creativity with a time gun
at their head, and it can feel something
of "a hard slog" at times.
Lord founded Aardman with school
pal Dave Sproxton, co-producer of
"Chicken Run." They met at age 12 at
grammar school in the town of!
Woking, south of London, discovered
a mutual interest and (as
Lord describes it in "Cracking
Animation," a book written with
Brian Sibley that delineates and
illustrates the whole process of 3-
D animation) "in the great tradition
of British amateurism our
first film was made on the kitchen
table." The company was named
after a rather limp, semi-
Superman character Lord first
drew as a strip cartoon. The character
was then developed into a
cell animation short that was
bought by the BBC for 15
pounds, the check deposited in the
bank in the name of Aardman
Animations.
Park joined the company in 1985,
bringing his own sensibility and style
into the mix as the originator of the
cheese-eating inventor Wallace and his
levelheaded dog Gromit, a famous
Oscar-winning duo first developed when
he was in art school in Sheffield in
northwest England.
Lord and Park both possess what
might be called an amateur star quality,
meaning that despite having to take on
the onus of big business, they are clearly
still in touch with the schoolboy enthusiasms
that first fueled their careers. Lord;
writes in his book. "I began animating
as a hobby, when I was a teenager
46 BOXOFFICE

1 Rhode
I
;lmost 30 years ago. And though it has
low become my career, it has never
topped being a hobby."
As co-directors of "Chicken Run,"
hey appear to have developed an almost
audeville-like repartee (or in the spirit
tf amateurism, one might say a local
tub's open-mike-night turn) to explain
he compromises of their working relaionship.
"Growing up, my family had chickns,"
says Park.
"I hate chickens," says Lord.
That difference aside. Lord says their
ollaboration "has worked very well."
"There's mutual respect," says Park.
They both laugh.
"You have to have trust," says Lord.
lescribing them as being "profoundly
like [and] not particularly egotistical."
However, they say they've both been
busy doing their part of the work that
hey "hardly ever meet."
More laughter.
They describe chickens as
impossible things to animate,"
and therefore they
don't often think of them
s
chickens."
That's really the point,
'he script, written by Karey
Lirkpatrick and Jack
tosenthal based on Lord
nd Park's story idea, is
escribed by the animators
s "The Great Escape' with
hickens."
"The chickens are hard
one by. They are not free,
•veryone wants to be free."
hey depict it as a kind of a game, quite
lark. ..so that's what this film is about.
"he chickens are unjustly cooped up,
ait they face almost impossible odds
/ith indomitable spirit."
"It's like a boy's own escape movie but
/ith over-weight middle-aged women,"
xclaims Park.
The story is set on a Yorkshire chickn
farm in the 1950s, where the grim
ifestyle has impacted the fowls' egglying
capacity, so the owner Mrs.
weedy decides to make meat pies out
f them all. But the surprise landing of
Island red rooster among the
lock inspires the hens of Hut 17 to
Ian their escape. Among the voices in
film are Mel Gibson as Rocky, the
le
jrbster; Julia Sawalha (TVs
Absolutely Fabulous") as Ginger, the
eroine with dreams; Jane Horrocks
Little Voice") as a daffy bird called
the hens to fly. Unfortunately, it is not a
skill he possesses himself, because he
doesn't wing his way in but actually is
shot out of a cannon at a local circus
and just happens to land among the
imprisoned poultry. The animators
describe Gibson as "self-depreciating
and witty" and are delighted to have his
talent aboard.
They, too. might be described as "selfdepreciating
and witty" as they discuss
how. unlike most modern feature cartoons,
their movie will contain "no
singing," though there is dance. They
also ponder the total Britishness of their
sensibility and how that will play in
believe you will ever make the best films.
Aardman does make money, happily,
but it is not what interests or motivates
us. It is certainly not why we make
films."
Park sees the theme of the film as an
analogy for the filmmaking — "An
American arrives unexpectedly and gets
a bunch of British chickens to chose to
do something they've never done
before."
"And are quite unfit for." chimes in
Lord, grateful but not overawed,
amused but not daunted. by
DreamWorks' belief in the talents of
two true Brits.
That
said, the two men have a lot
of business to attend to, while
back on the various sets and
workshops there's still plenty for a visitor
to see and wonder at.
Babs; and Miranda Richardson, an There are various versions ol
actress adept at playing frightening the size he appears to the other poultr
women, as the evil proprietor.
the size he appears to Mrs. Tweedy; the
Lord describes Gibson's Rocky as size he appears in wide shot: the size hi
being somewhat like Maverick, a bit of a appears in close-up. Then there are all
con man who becomes a hero despite his interchangeable moveable parts
himself. The rooster is meant to teach from his crest to claws, wing tips to eyeballs,
beak and. of course, teeth. All
need to be removable and replaceable
according to the demands of the script
each time the bird moves and talks. This
is down to such a fine art that there is
beak, cheek and teeth for the "ai"
sound, others from the "oo" sound and
so on, not just for the chickens but for
all the characters that include a dog,
rats and humans.
The feathers on each chicken, even
the average ones that act as extras in the
wide shots, are hand-painted. Each bird
has individual eye color and a natty patterned
scarf around its neck (this kerchief
neatly hides the joint between
moveable neck and more
stationary body.) For example.
Mac. a Scottish chicken
who is the intelligent scientist
of the bunch, has glasses
and a tartan muffler.
On another work table is
a dog, the armature that
makes its variety of movement
possible currently visible.
(The armature is the
metal skeleton over which
Plasticine modeling clay,
fabric or latex is laid to form
the 3-D figure.)
"Anything that makes
these chickens a character is
ays Lord, while Park talks
of such
plastic." explains
model maker
Lizzie
•f the influence Spivey, production
manager.
aring deed movies about
Vorld War II as "The CHICKEN RANCH: Peter Lord and Nick Park direct "Chicken Rim
Great
Elsewhere is a model of
iscape," "The Bridge Over the River America and internationally. "We never Mr. Tweedy (voiced by Tony Haygarth).
Lwai" and "The Wooden Horse" on think of the audience at all," says Lord, the oafish, cowed husband of the evil
who writes in his book, "Of course, it owner with mud on his wellies and a
heir post-war generation of school-
is
a good idea for companies to be profitable,
patch on his jacket that is made of foam
>oys.
but if that is the reason you are in but looks like leather. There's also a
"Those films are part of our culture."
ays Lord. "They depict real danger, but the business of animation, I do not comic pair of rats— Fletcher (voiced by
Phil Daniels), the tall, thin one in a
holey woolly and mittens, and Nick
(voiced by Timothy Spall), the shorter,
rounder one in a ripped shirt—and 150
mini-chickens, all varieties of the four
average chickens, awaiting final director
approval so they can step into the background
of some long shot.
Matt Pilston makes molds of the
chicken bodies. He went to art college,
but before he signed on with Aardman
he made molds for teaching tools for
the medical industry. "Teeth?" BOXOF-
FICE asks. "No, mainly genitals." he
replies.
In another corner of the workshop,
the miniature scale farmhouse, barn and
outhouse, looming over its concentration
camp-style rows of coops, are lit for
dawn and dusk, night and day. designed
for long shot and close-up—a somewhat
spooky set. part realism, part myth, apt
a
April, 2000 47

What does
the coming
for this comedy drama about
human (sorry, chicken) rights.
Merlin Crossingham and
Will Hodge take a few
moments away from their
third day of shooting 25
chickens lined up for a roll
call scene—at about 30
frames a day—to talk about
gestures all require the same
amount of painstaking alteration
and attention. At
Aardman there always seems
to be time for the craft to
become art.
Across the room. Price, a
chief animator who worked
with Park on "A Close Shave."
era of
digital cinema
mean to YOU
and your
bottom line?
Come visit us at
The Digital Cinema Exchange
Las Vegas Ballroom, #6
Ballv's Hotel
REAL I MAGE
D\G\TALCINEMA
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their love for animation's
"unique form of expression."
It's an art form that
Crossingham relates to circus
performing and Hodge enjoys
for its humor and attention to
detail. They listen to the
soundtrack over and over and
over in order to perfectly synchronize
the chickens' lib
movements.
"Cracking
Animation"
describes the lip sync technique
"perfected by Nick":
"An editor marks all the syllables
on the magnetic tape of
the dialogue recording. Then
he or she transfers all this to a
bar chart, in which each bar
covers a second of film (or one
foot for 35mm), so the animator
can see exactly where each
syllable starts and finishes."
With this detailed map of the
sounds, the animator then listens
"over and over again,
repeating it, copying the
accent and intonation, trying
to sense the right moment for
the character to react." To
marry sound to lip movement,
a character needs replacement
mouths or ideally face resculpturing
after each frame.
Even when just a replacement
mouth is used the face must be
remodeled to a certain extent
so it fits perfectly.
Despite all this Lord
believes that mouth movement
supplies only five to 10
percent of a character's performance.
Eye. eyebrow, chin.
nose, cheek, hand and arm
is in the midst of a 13.5-second
shot that is taking seven
days to shoot. "This is a very
dialogue-driven movie that
takes a lot of rehearsal," he
says, explaining how he and
Nick acted out these
sequences in the video booth
before rigging up the model of
Mrs. Tweedy, wielding her
cleaver on a cold-hearted
tirade. He moves her "a fraction
of a tooth" again and
again to capture the exact
emotion and synchronization.
"1 think the basic premise of
this is brilliant." says Price. "It's
a good story, and a lot of time
has been put in to developing
the script. The scenes are difficult
to create because of their
depth and mood. The feelings
are intense and held down, and
that's a hell of a lot harder to
do than big action and spectacle.
It's not about making [the
characters] move, it's about
making them act. giving them
the illusion of life. It's about
pumping life and feeling into
things." And giving them teeth,
so to speak.
m
"Chicken Run." Slurring
the voices of Mel Gibson, Julia
Sawalha. Miranda Richardson
and Jane Horrocks. Directed I
by Peter Lord and Nick Park.
\
Written by Karey Kirkpatrickl
and Jack Rosenthal. ProducedX
by David Sproxton. Al
DreamWorks release. AnimaA
lion. Not vet rated. Opens JuneM
23.
48 BOXOFFICE

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hum&v^'/y
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CLASH OFTHetrTANS
Fox's "Titan A.E." Destroys BotH the Earth
and Preconceptions About Animation
by Melissa Morrison
Wit

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, then, despite
» prehistoric
its. modern
we re telling our story
nt times you will forget
tucsc sue dinosaurs; these are
charaeters," Zondag says. "And
you'll get swept up and caught up
into the story itself and then be
reminded, 'Oh, yeah, that's right:
They're dinosaurs beeause there's a
Tyrannosaurus Rex chasing them.'
You'll get caught up into the trou-
L, s that they face and the decisions
that they must make.
cally cheap anim aH'"
"So, really, it is somewhat ly seen before."
would use that in
relatable to present day— just getting
on with your own life. There film with Zondag, attributes 3-D Workbook, v
Eric Leighton, who directed the our live-action en
are changes and obstacles that "Dinosaur's" originality to its scale. a location that h
people have to face, and you, too,
nl that makes ti id shoot it. We would ti
have to be able to see that and it most unique is the magnitude," he era angles, earner
somehow adapt to it or get around says. "|For| most of the things that lenses—all that infori .
it or find a way. The helpfulness we've done, processes have been in the 3-D Workbook. That way,
of others sometimes helps you see place. We have just elevated them and knew that what they si
it, and that's really what this picture
is about—working together else has.
could put our i
done a lot more of it than anybody camera moves and ca
and not looking out just for yourself."
performance of muscles and skin and
how they relate to each other and how
they make the characters look great
in a live-action environment. So the
look is unlike anything else you've
seen before.
"We've always wanted to go photorealistic,"
she continues. "It's always
been a big goal to create a world that
you would believe in and that you had
imagined, but that you had never real-
take them to run soi
would work out approximate
for scenes and then block
whole scene according to th
mation.
"Once we did that, we woul
follow that and work
ting and our camera
to this 3-D Workbook,
"My comparison is always could mow -
'Jurassic Park,' which had 60 scenes it's all prtw

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tiing in the turn would make the skin move in dif- developed it, we felt tl
: way." ferent ways. And that ultimately gives and proces
..tarrying animated you the degree of realism that we're would have ...
mmm
live-action back- looking for, particularly in the hero or be used on ot lit. ..
>ts on "Dinosaur** main character. In that regard, we applications, so we
m
al
cFi>
1 'We have a gres
it niDeline. We
- saiffl
of quiver up and down in the c
upper thigh would start to coti.
tie bit. If you've ever watched
phant, this happens quite
Basically all that energy has t(, .
fer somewhere, especially with s
thing that heavy, so all the shaking and
quivering happens.
"And then on top of that we had a
separate skin system that went on tt
of the muscles, and that had its oh,.
follow-through stuff, initial response
to that impact. So the foot would hit.
licting that tt
'Dinosaur" would be
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ATR
PATRIOT
Mel Gibson Stars?]
in a Story About
America, Family
and Freedom
by Christine James

BOXOFFICE: Who is Benjamin
Martin?
MEL GIBSON: Benjamin Martin.
He's a veteran of Continental guerilla
warfare, from the French and Indian
War days. And he doesn't like war,
because he's been through it—in fact,
he's been a rather vigorous participant
in it,
as is alluded to many times; you
never quite know what he's trying to
cover up. War crimes or something.
B And he's not actually the Patriot—his
B son [Australian actor Heath Ledger]
B is the Patriot. But I think he kind of
takes a leaf out of his boy's book and
eventually becomes very patriotic. But
he's a little more mercenary and fearful
of war and really trying to avoid it
more than grab the flag and start waving
it—which he eventually ends up
doing.
BOXOFFICE: I had read that your
character was based on an actual person;
is that right?
GIBSON: It's based on about three or
four different people. It's sort of a
conglomerate of Francis Marion and
another guy called Dan Morgan and
another general who I forget the name
of. There are various people who did
extraordinary things during the
American Revolution, and |"The
Patriot's" filmmakers have] taken little
pieces of all of them and thrown
them into this one character and given
him a whole other dimension, too, in
that he's just a father with seven kids
and is just really more afraid of what
the war can do to his family and his
environment.
Boxoffice: I read something about
the fact that Francis Marion's nickname
was Swamp Fox. Is that element
present in the script?
GIBSON: Yeah. The Swamp Fox was
his name. Old Disney did a TV series
ages ago about the Swamp Fox with
Leslie Nielsen, which kind of has bad
connotations. But indeed he was the
Swamp Fox. They just call him The
Ghost in this. And he does hang out in
the swamps with these guys and he
does hit-and-run tactics, kind of
guerilla warfare, against a superior
force, really. The British were organized
and [the Americans] were outmanned
and outgunned and outsuppiied
and everything else. So the only
realistic way to fight them was to hit
62 BOXOFFICE

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Response No. 97

know where the Swamp Fox at/
Swamp Fox, Swamp Fox, Hiding in
the glen/He run away to fight again."
BOXOFFICE: So that's not going to be
on the soundtrack.
GIBSON: "Got no...something...all I
got is Continental money.. .Na na na
na..." Anyway. Yeah.
BOXOFFICE: So you're kind of playing
down that whole...
BOXOFFICE: "The Ghost" is a
cooler name, but it would have been
nice to have the historical element
intact and call him the Swamp
Fox. Also, then you could have
had the ditty from the "50s show.
GIBSON: There you go.
BOXOFFICE: I don't know how it
goes, but I read that it's "Swamp
Pox, Swamp Fox, Tail on his hat.
Nobody knows..."
GIBSON: "Nobody know where
the Swamp Fox at."
BOXOFFICE: You know it!
GIBSON: Yeah, every kid [knew
the song]. "Swamp Fox, Swamp
Fox, Tail on his hat/Nobodv
GIBSON: Pretty much. I mean, it is
based on that guy, yeah. And everything
down in the South, you know, it's
the Francis Marion Hotel and Francis
Marion Memorial Park and Francis
Marion Public Toilets and everything.
The guy did some amazing things back
then. He was successful in keeping the
British forces divided, in that he kept
them detained in the South because he
was making so much trouble that they
couldn't join forces and finish off
Washington. And Washington, he was
pretty well finishing himself off. He
only won a couple of skirmishes, really.
He never won any major battles. It's
amazing that the colonies gained their
independence. When you look at
the
history of it, I mean, it's just amazing.
BOXOFFICE: It's really incredible
when a film like, for example,
"Braveheart" brings history to life
and makes it larger than life.
GIBSON: Yes, I love history, and dabbling
in the world of what really went
down. And to make it cinematic and
palatable, sure, you have to bend some
of the truth a iittle bit. But not too
much, not really. I mean, some of the
most extraordinary things in this film,
and also |in| "Braveheart," some of the
most filmic things were the real things.
That's what's so amazing about it. But
if you can make it palatable for a now
audience, and have them access it
and I think Roland did a tremendous
job at providing an audience with
access points all through this story,
through the characters, through the
situations, through the humor, through
even the violence—it'll bring it home
and make it real for them, and it may
kindle some kind of interest in history
and where this place came from. And
it's kind of relevant now, in the start of
the millennium, to sort of look back
and say, "Where do we come from?
How did we all get born?" And reflect
back on that a little bit.
64 BOXOFFIC K

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Boxoffice: When you say "some of
the most filmic things were the real
things," what are some examples?
GIBSON: I think it's the cinematic
things, the things that one would preare
the modifications we make
for cinema. For example, if you read
about the guys who signed the
Constitution or signed the Declaration
of Independence, all those guys, they
had horrible lives! Really horrible
things happened to these people! They
were tortured and imprisoned and thenkids
were butchered and all kinds of
hideous things. And then they ended up
going crazy and going into lunatic asylums
or killing themselves. And you
find these things in this story. And
sometimes you think, "Whoa! That's a
bit hard. They're doing that surely so
that they can do revenge now, or
they're doing it to be sensationalist
with the violence,"
or something like
that. Not at all. In fact, we went easy.
Some of the stuff that you read from
the time, the crimes—even colonists
against colonists, that's where the
most gruesome stuff happened. The
Loyalists and Rebels used to mix it up,
and there were Manson-like crimes,
'm talking about babies being cut out
of mothers' stomachs and blood
scrawled on the wall and all
this kind
of stuff. I mean, really hideous crimes.
Boxoffice: Is that in this film?
GIBSON: Nothing like that, no. But
it's alluded to; he talks about what he
did in the French and Indian War, and
he basically dismembered an entire
force, and sent tongues and fingers in
one direction and eyeballs and legs
and feet and heads in the other direction,
and mailed them off to people.
That's the kind of barbarism there
was around.
Boxoffice: Were you worried about
similarities in theme with
"Braveheart"?
13
W) Boxoffice

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j
GIBSON: No, I wasn't, because history has similarity in
theme. That's all there is to it. Any time you're looking at an
historical story where the theme is basically freedom and the
struggle for freedom or independence, you're going to get
many of the same elements. So any similarities are just contained
within the nature of man and his participation in the
struggle for freedom — you know, sovereign freedoms that we
all take for granted here now. Apart from that, it's not really
that similar. I mean, you've got people who have to do extraordinary
things and make ultimate sacrifices to maintain what
they value or prize or what they profess. And that's a kind of
world that's not around anymore, really, I don't think.
BOXOFFICE: Do you think it's odd that two—for all intents
and purposes—Australians are telling the story of the
American Revolutionary War? [Gibson was raised in
Australia, though he was born in Peekskill, N.Y.|
GIBSON: And a German guy |Emmerich|. And a guy who's
half-Filipino Iproducer Dean Devlin]. It is interesting. I think
Roland—I don't know whether he'd ever say this, but I've
thought that, "Oh, he's cast guys who are from another country."
And I think everybody was from another country back
then, or they weren't far from it. They were one generation
removed from somewhere else, unless you were the Native
Americans. They were either from England or Scotland or
who else did they have. Frenchmen—from Europe, from
Western Europe, mostly. And I think he just wanted something
that was a little less ingrained generationally. Like Heath
he's right off the boat, you know? And, I don't know, maybe he
couldn't find that particular quality with actors here.
BOXOFFICE: As someone who makes a habit of playing heroic
icons, do you have any idols or heroes yourself?
GIBSON: It was just two days ago I was talking about — you
remember that athlete who was in the Olympics? Black
woman. She was running. It wasn't Flo-Jo. She had the gold
medal in the bag, and she tripped. And she didn't get it. And
the heroic part of that was not that she was tripped, or not
that she was gonna get it, but her behavior afterwards. Which
was so graceful. It was her moment of complete grace and
beauty. And you fall in love with that person because she was
so cool about it. And that's like, "Are you kidding me? Four
j
years of working up to this race? And you fall or get tripped
or something?" And she didn't bat an eyelash. I would have
been crying and pissed off—seriously disappointed. And I'm
sure she was. But she just was really heroic and strong. You
see something like that and you go, "Wow!"
BOXOFFICE: How are you handling constantly being named
Sexiest, Most Beautiful Person Who Ever Deigned to Walk
Among Mortals?
GIBSON: Oh, god. I mean, look at this kid out here [indicating
Heath Ledger, now sporting short-cropped blond hair,
posing in the garden in a garish orange and silver shirt that
looks like 1979's vision of the future]. You look at this kid and
you know it's not true anymore. |laughs|
12
68 BoxonicK
BOXOFFICE: I think the readers of People Magazine would I
have something to say about that.
GIBSON: Oh, something like that, yeah, the reader's poll or
something. Where did they visit, an old people's home? [laughs]

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Boxoffice: Is it true you got into a
fight the night before your audition for
your starmaking role in "Mad Max"?
GIBSON: It wasn't the night before,
it was three or four days before.
Boxoffice: And that somehow
wound up helping to get you the part?
GIBSON: Well, because I was so
heinously battered—there were, like,
three guys, and it was this drunken
rugby party, and I didn't know anybody
there, and I was with one of the
girls, and it was somebody's sister, and
I guess I didn't know, and some guy
started mouthin', and I mouthed back,
and it was all over. I got hammered. I
mean, hospital hammered. And it was
like three days later, I'm sort of walking
around with my eyes and my nose
and my jaw, everything—I really got
pounded. I looked like a raw—I looked
like an "Eat Beef" advertisement, all
right? And I walked into this place.
And they didn't even call me to come
into the place. A friend of mine was
going for an audition, and I walked in
and I was waiting for him. And they
said, "Who are you?!" And I said
[barely intelligible, talking as though
with a mangled jaw]: "Oh, I'm just
here with Steve." And they said,
"C'mere, we gotta take pictures of
that. That's wicked." I said, "Okay."
|laughs] So they took a few Polaroids;
of my head, which looked like a busted;
grapefruit. And they said, "Phew!
What do you look like normally?" D
said, "Oh, you know, okay." They'
said, "Look, come back in a weekJ
because we're interested. We need a loll
of freaks in this movie. We want people
that look really messed up and,
like, scarred." And they figured after
this, I was going to be, like, some kindj
of crowl. And I healed up really fastj
and came back a week later. They
said, "Who are you?" "I'm the guy
with the pictures." And they went,)
"Whoa! Come in!" They sat me down
and they said, "Can you memorize]
these three pages in five minutes?" I
went, "Yeah!" Of course 1 couldn't/
But they always tell you to say "Yeah.!
"Can you ride a horse?" "Yeah." "Cam
you wrestle an alligator?" "Sure can.
Done it twice." And they said. "Can
you drive?" And I went, "No, I havenT}
got a license." [But] I got the part.
Boxoffice: A Road Warrior whcj
can't drive and an Australian-raised
atriot—onlv in Hollywood.
70 BOXOIIIM

Cover
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SPECIAL REPORT: 80 Years of BOXOFFICE
Like BOXOFFICE Born in 1920, French Filmmaker Eric Rohmer
Has Been Delighting Sophisticated Moviegoers for 80 Years
by Wade Major
hether sociological, psychological
or astrological, there's a
strange and enduring bond that
forms when two individuals discover that
they share a birth date. It is a chance
occurrence that engenders instant camaraderie
and kinship, as though one were
discovering a long-lost relation. For
BOXOFFICE. that relation goes by the
name of Eric Rohmer.
Born Jean-Marie Maurice Scherer on
is obvious academic significance to the
more pressing developments that have
transpired during the life of BOXOFFICE
—sound, color, widescreen, digital sound,
digital cinema—there is something far
more intimate in the knowledge that your
publication and Eric Rohmer have grown
up and grown wise together.
t is perhaps fitting that the notoriously
private Rohmer was unavailable
to be interviewed for this piece.
On the eve of his 80th birthday, in his
native France, he is busy preparing to
direct yet another film, an excuse with
which this magazine can scarcely be disappointed.
Had he not been busy, however,
it is still unlikely Rohmer would
have consented to an interview. This is,
after all, a man set in his ways—a lifelong
environmentalist who has never
driven or owned a car, refuses to take
taxis, has no telephone in his home and
shuns the limelight to which nearly all
other filmmakers of his stature aspire.
His passion is for his craft: an unpolluted,
pure love for the art of cinema sans
the pomp, circumstance, glamour and
glitz with which it has become irre-
April 4, 1920, the same month that this
magazine began publication. Rohmer is
versibly linked.
But the bond between Rohmer and
arguably one of the most influential filmmakers
in history—an artistic maverick very roots of what constitute entertain-
BOXOFFICE goes deeper still, to the
and cinematic reformer whose more than ment journalism. Along with Francois
30 films (short and feature-length) in Truffaut, Claude Chabrol. Jean-Luc
nearly 50 years have left an indelible mark
on the world of cinema. For, though there
Godard and Jacques Rivette, he was one
of the founding contributors of Andre
Bazin's
legendary Cahiers du Cinema,
the French magazine of film criticism
that awakened the world to the artistic
value of the medium, only to later
launch the filmmaking careers of its
writers in an unparalleled burst of artistic
and narrative innovation that would
become known as the French New Wave.
It was during this time that Rohmer
seized the pen name by which he has
been known ever since, serving as editor
of Cahiers from 1956 to 1963 and calling
attention to the accomplishments of
filmmakers as diverse as Alfred Hitchcock,
F.W. Murnau and Roberto Rossellini.
In so doing, Rohmer and his colleagues
created a vision of borderless
cinema, inclusive of but not limited to
the fabled land of Hollywood. Even
now, at a time when the voices of protectionism
rail against Hollywood domination,
Rohmer voices a cautious position
of openness and inclusion, wary of
Hollywood, yet equally suspicious of
those who would attack it. Proclaiming
himself a "commercial filmmaker" in a
rare recent interview with The New York
Times, he argued against the popula
practice of government film subsidies.
am not supported by the state," he sai^
"I am for free competition."
ndeed, if there is one word ihi
describes Rohmer 's body of work,
is "free." To detractors they are slov
boring, talky and worse. But to the nu
lions whose lives have been touched h
Rohmer's vision of humanity—includ
ing such seminal American directors i
Woody Allen and Martin Scorsese-"
they epitomize a level of freedom t
which all artists, and journalists, aspin
The rules and regulations which fc
most form the foundation for any su<
cessful creative endeavor aren't simpl
useless to Rohmer—they are irrelevan
For Rohmer it is life and an unfettere
view of it that provide all rules necessai
for compelling and truthful storytelling
His 1969 film "My Night at Maud's
which earned him his only Acadera
Award nomination (for best origin!
screenplay), still stands as the quinte
sential example of that approach. Tr
story centers on a shy small-town cleii
(Jean-Louis Trintignant) as he struggli
with his feelings for an elegant divorce
Had the film been made by any othi
director, the proverbial itch would hai
been scratched by some form of co»
summation—be it tragic or romanti
Not so in Rohmer's films, wherein dr:
matic considerations take a stern bad
seat to emotional truth: As "Maud':
winds to a conclusion, the clerk not on
fails to act on his feelings, but he resigi
himself to marrying someone else.
The film offers a compelling counts
point to Rohmer's own life which, 1
any standards, has been a fabled exi
tence. Married to the same woman I
more than 40 years, and an active filr.
maker for nearly 50, Rohmer still enjo;
72 BoxomcE

1. SIX MORAL TALES
Undoubtedly prompted by the worldwide explosion of libertinism during
the 1960s, the devoutly Catholic Rohmer took to this detailed, intimate study
of human interaction. Rohmer himself has described the films as belonging to
"a cinema of thoughts rather than actions," explaining that they "deal less with
what people do than with what is going on in their minds while they're doing
it." The first two films in the series were short films
the 24-minute "The Girl at the Monceau Bakery"
(1962) and the 54-minute "Suzanne's Career" (1963)
—dealing with common romantic dilemmas. In the UJJ YltltiS
former, Rohmer's longtime partner, film director
Barbet Schroeder, stars as a young man troubled by
unrequited love, while the second centers on
friends who fall in love with the same girl.
Rohmer's breakthrough finally came when
earned an expected Oscar nomination for his screenplay
for the third film in the series, "My Night at Maud's." The
ment, released in 1971 (though it was filmed prior to "Maud's")
controversial "La Collectionneuse," an unsettling look at a sexually promiscu
ous woman and her many lovers. Next came "Claire's Knee" (1970), a more
humorous but equally provocative story of a young diplomat who, on the eve
of his marriage, confesses to an attraction to a pair of underage sisters. The last
of the moral tales, 1972's "Chloe in the Afternoon," centers on a married businessman
whose "innocent" fantasies about other women are put to the test
when one such woman—title character Chloe—reciprocates.
2. COMEDIES & PROVERBS
Only slightly less introspective than the moral tales, Rohmer's half-dozen
"Comedies & Proverbs" take a more critical look at French culture and society
during the off-kilter 1980s. "The Aviator's Wife" (1970) casts a comically cynical
eye on infidelity while "A Good Marriage" (1983) looks at the institution
through the eyes of a naive but sincere young woman in search of a husband.
The third film in the series, the immensely popular "Pauline at the Beach"
(1983), is a witty and wise comedy about the failed romantic pursuits of a
young man as observed by his younger cousin, Pauline.
Promiscuity also figures prominently in 1984's "Full Moon in Paris," about
a woman who breaks off a promising relationship only to enter into a series of
unfulfilling affairs. In 1986, Rohmer took home the Venice Film Festival's
Golden Lion for "Summer," the fifth and probably the most profound in the
series, a parable of fate and fortitude as a lonely secretary takes a solo vacation
with unexpected consequences. Rohmer's preoccupation with youth and its
follies is evident in the concluding chapter, "Boyfriends & Girlfriends," the
story of two couples and their attractions to each other's partners.
3. TALES OF THE FOUR SEASONS
Indicative of Rohmer's increasingly
introspective world
view, "Tales of the Four
Seasons" finds a less amused
but no less optimistic Rohmer
considering emotional isolation
in four stories, each set in a different
season. "A Tale of
Springtime" (1990) focuses on a
young girl attempting to help
herself and her father cope with
her parents' separation; "A Tale
of Winter" (1992), about a
woman waiting for the return of
her child's father, pays homage
to Shakespeare's similarly titled "The Winter's Tale"; "A Summer's Tale"
(1996) presents a more cynical picture of an uncaring and cruel womanizer;
and lastly "An Autumn Tale," starring Beatrice Romand in a late-life response
to her travails in "A Good Marriage," finds a socially awkward woman's
friends endeavoring to find her a husband, with surprising results.
the companionship of not just one bt
two great loves. It's of no surprise, thei
that women and love figure so prom
nently in his films—the two subjects i
which Rohmer seems most well-verse<
Efforts like '"Chloe in the Afternoon.
"Pauline at the Beach," "Girlfriends an
Boyfriends" and -'Summer" are but
few of his more incisive meditation
films in which humans behave more lik
humans than actors, in which emotior
speak louder than words and waxin
philosophical need not exclude th
capacity for waxing poetic.
ohmer was hardly the first filrr
maker to embrace the minima
ist techniques with which he an
his films are associated—an honor th*
would likely go to the late Robei
Bresson—but he has become their fon
most practitioner. To watch a Rohme
film, in fact, is sometimes an almos
voyeuristic exercise; the staging is s
subdued, the dialogue so restrained, th
acting so sublime that it seems unthink
able someone could have fabricated i
much less rehearsed it.
Ironically, Rohmer's most lastin
innovation is probably the least di<
cussed. Long before Krzysztc
Kieslowski embarked on such pre
planned, theme-linked film series a
"The Dekalog," "Three Colors: Rec
White, Blue" and the unfilmed "Heaver
Hell and Purgatory," Rohmer hai
already perfected the approach. Sixteej
of Rohmer's films in total belong to suet
series (see sidebar), Rohmer's way q
approaching deeper and broader theme
and concerns than might otherwise a
possible in the space of just one story.]
Between 1962 and 1972, Rohmer an)
future Oscar-winning cinematographs'
Nestor Almendros filmed the "Six Mori
Tales" series (which includes "My Nigb
at Maud's"), a sweeping consideration c
human morality that predates KiesloM
ski's similar "Dekalog" by more than
decade. After a brief, experiment?
detour into period pieces like 1975's "Th
Marquise of O" and 1978's "Perceval
Rohmer mounted a new six-film series o
contemporary French culture in tb
1980s with "Comedies & Proverbs.
Then, in 1990, he commenced his thii
and most recent film series — "Tales
the Four Seasons"—with "A Tale <
Springtime," following with "A Tale <
Winter" (1992) and "Summer's Tali
(1996), and concluding the series just la
year with "An Autumn Tale" (1999)
Whether Rohmer feels the same kir
of kinship for BOXOFFICE is hard
important. What matters is that Rohm
exemplifies, in the flesh, the artistic idee
and journalistic ethics to which this ma
azine remains committed. "I am lucky
have practically complete independence
he said at the 1987 Montreal Fil
Festival. "That's because I make films
which there is no waste."
H
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Response No. 30

SPECIAL REPORT: 80 Years of BOXOFFICE
BOOKER SMARTS
To Celebrate Our 80th Year of Publication, BOXOFFICE Asked
Film Buyers From the Nation's Top Circuits to Share the Secrets of
Their Success and to Select the Best Films of the Past Eight Decades,
Found Here With Reprints of Our Original Reviews
RICHARD A. GAMBOGI, President,
Continental Film Services Inc.,
Coming Attractions
What is your favorite film, 1920-2000?
Without a doubt, "Citizen Kane."
What are the splits common today? How do those compare to the
percentages seen 10 or 20 years ago?
Aggregates of 50 to 55 percent. I would say this is up three to six
percent from years ago.
Studios believe their percentage of gross should increase based on
the increased cost of moviemaking; exhibitors believe theirs should
based on the costs of building the multiplexes making such wide
releases possible. What do you think?
I feel that we have reached the maximum percentages that
exhibitors can pay. Boxoffice and concessions are all that they can
capitalize on, whereas foreign distribution, television and video
sales keep increasing for film distribution.
What strategy do you believe is or could be most effective to help
exhibitors keep their film costs low?
Exhibition has to hold a film for the maximum amount of playtime
even if it is only one show a day. Distribution has to be more
lax in allowing exhibition to stack film on one screen when
drop without letting their ego's get in the way.
What is the secret to great film buying? (Besides "picking good movies?"]
Balancing the exhibitors' needs with the distributors' needs and making
sure the exhibitor has a level playing field.
In your experience for your markets, what makes for a "good movie"?
You need to know your markets. A good movie in one market may
be bad for another. If it is an art market a good movie is an art film.
If it is an action market, it [should have] an action movie and you try
to avoid putting one in the other.
In your experience, what three specific characteristics make for a good
film buyer?
Knowing your markets; making sure that there is a good working
relationship between you, the exhibitor and the distributor; fighting
italizes on it.
Least greatest: not being able to resolve a clearance issue that was
extremely unreasonable several years ago.
What are your top three pics for summer 2000, and what is your
prognosis in dollar terms for boxoffice takes?
'"Dinosaur"— $150 million; "Mission Impossible II"—$175 million;
"Battlefield Earth"—$135 million.
CITIZEN KANE (1941)
RKO. 119 min. Starring Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten,
Dorothy Comingore, Agnes Moorehead, Ruth Warrick,
Ray Collins ana" Erskine Sanford.
"Citizen Kane" is an event in motion pictures. An intelligent
and intellectual stimulus, and also an experiment.
The report must be that this long-awaited Orson Welles
film is noteworthy in its conception, its execution and,
indeed, in its entire approach. But it is noteworthy
essentially in a critical sense — in the sense that here is
an endeavor to be admired for the expertness and the
newness of its treatment, the superb characteristics of
its craftsmanship. On those scores, "Citizen Kane"
might well be said to have marked a milestone.
In reverse approach, however, its characters seem unreal.
They never elicit sympathy. Probably few will care much
what happens to any of them. They left this reviewer cold,
harboring the conviction all of them were deliberately cre-
for the best percentage terms you can get on final settlements.
ated to talk the dialogue assigned for them to say.
What has been your "greatest" and "least greatest" success as a film This suggests that histrionically the performances are
buyer?
automaton-like and lifeless. Yet. daring the seeming contradiction,
this is far removed from the truth. Acting-wise,
Greatest success: being able to buy films for the clients that I have,
who I feel are very wise in that each knows what his niche is and cap-
the cast, composed largely of members of Welles' Mercury
Theatre and new to films, does an excellent job. but in
terms of technical perfection. Perhaps Welles deliberately
fashioned them in this mold. There is no way of knowing
that, exactly, as there seems to be no way to divorce the air
of the fanciful and the unreal which the performers and the
picture itself create.
76 BOXOKFIC'K

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Response No. 29

JERRY BRAND, VP, Film Dept., Cinemark
What is your favorite film, 1920-2000? "Patton."
(Because,
as told to BOXOFFICE by Brand. "After that movie,
George C. Scott was known from then-on-out as 'Patton.'")
Studios believe their percentage of gross should increase based
on the increased cost of moviemaking; exhibitors believe theirs
should based on the costs of building the multiplexes making
such wide releases possible. What do you think?
The distributors must understand the extremely high costs of
building these stadium megaplexes do not allow exhibitors to pay
hgher film rental percentages. These megaplexes. in some cases,
more than double the gross, therefore, at the same percentage as
in the past the distrbutors are greatly increasing their film rental.
What strategy do you believe is or could be most effective to
help exhibitors keep their film costs low?
'"Low" is a bad word. For film rental percentages to remain
where they were two to three years ago, while the grosses are
increasing due to millions upon millions of dollars exhibitors
are spending, we must have understanding and cooperation
from the distributors to work together for the future.
What is the secret to great film buying? |Besides "picking good
movies?"|
Good relationships and realizing there is not any one film
that is so "big" you "have to" buy it—regardless of terms.
In your experience for your markets, what makes for a "good
movie"? Comedy; action.
In your experience, what three specific charactersties
make for a good film buyer? Honesty; hard
work; good relationships.
What has been your "greatest" and "least greatest"
success as a film buyer?
Greatest: meeting my wife Joy at Buena Vista;
making life-long relationships with many good
film people.
What are your top three pics for summer 2000, and what is
your prognosis in dollar terms for boxoffice takes? Secret!
ymi miis
PATTON (1970)
20th Century Fox. 170 min. Starring George C Scott, Karl
Maiden, Stephen Young, Michael Strong and Bill Hickman.
Despite current semantic quibbling among antiwar protestors
over "hero" and "war hero" in particular. General
George S. Patton Jr. fits the category lock, stock and ivoryhandled
pistol. In the "Middle America" sense, and, indeed,
in a historic sense, Patton was a true American hero of World
War II. In creating a film biography of the famous tank commander,
20th Century Fox has produced one of the best of
the genre; it holds up well as both historical record and fine
entertainment. George C. Scott portrays Patton skillfully and
unforgettably, giving one of his best performances; irascible
and violent, flamboyant and profane. Colorful and outspoken,
Patton is presented on a Dimension 1 50 and
De Luxe Color screen in all his own glory following
his military campaigns in North Africa. Sicily
and across France and Germany. The character of
the man Patton pervades all, and, in the workmanlike
direction by Franklin Schaffner, the storyline
and the selling ("A Salute to a Rebel"), Fox has
wisely stressed the person over the grand scale of
war. Yet the conventional battle scenes are there,
nicely executed on the wide screen and beautifully photographed
(in Spain, for the most part). Production values
throughout are excellent.

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JEFF KAUFMAN, VP, Head Film Buyer,
Malco Theatres
What is your favorite film, 1920-2000?
I know it's the romantics' choice, but it has to be
"Casablanca." It is truly a legendary film with great writing,
great acting, beautiful cinematography and wonderful music.
Studios believe their percentage of gross should increase based
on the increased cost of moviemaking; exhibitors believe theirs
should based on the costs of building the multiplexes making
such wide releases possible. What do you think?
Todays business environment is in a period of transition.
Recapitalization, screen proliferation and increased building
costs (which provide value added amenities such as stadium
seating and gourmet concession items) contribute to
decreased exhibition earnings. The overall increase in film
terms is also a factor. As long as heavily front loaded pictures
in expensive new megaplexes generate staggering grosses at the
cost of once healthy conventional theatres, we will continue to
see film rentals increase and exhibitor earnings lag.
What strategy do you believe is or could be most effective to
help exhibitors keep their film costs low?
Making sure your house allowances are current is extremely
important. Diversifying programming in specific niche
areas can provide added grosses with smaller aggregate film
rentals. Strategizing new construction into non-competitive
areas also helps.
What is the secret to great film buying? (Besides, "picking
good movies?"|
Being lucky is sometimes more important than being good.
However, staying on top of current popular fads and the
hottest stars helps. Keep up with genre popularity
and trends. Know the demographics of each of
your theatres. Most of all, listen to the public
around you. They are the ultimate barometers of
our business.
In your experience for your markets, what makes
for a "good movie"?
Any movie that touches people on any level is a
good movie. People want to be transported by
movies: taken to places, times and emotions they would not
be able to reach without them. A "good movie" really is the
same for everyone—including us. It's a visceral tug at your
soul saying that the experience
at that moment was profound.
Laugh, cry or scream—we
want to be moved. Then
again, a great movie plays for
four months at 30 percent.
In your experience, what three
specific characterstics make
for a good film buyer?
An open mind; attention to
detail; the personality of a pit
bull.
What has been your "greatest"
and "least greatest" success
as a film buyer?
It's a problem when I have
not sniffed out a picture that
sneaks up to grab the attention
of the public. I mean, we
know the ship sinks. You
already know the ending—how big can it be?
What are your top three pics for summer 2000, and what is
your prognosis in dollar terms for boxoffice takes?
Looking at the summer in January, it's hard to tell. I think
"Mission Impossible 2" and "Dinosaur" are important and
both could go to $200 million plus. However, looking at last
summer's top three, is there anyone who had "Sixth Sense"
in that group? It's like picking Tennessee and St. Louis in
the Superbowl in August.
CASABLANCA (1942)
Warner Bros. 102 min. Starring Humphrey Bogart,
Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Peter Lone,
Claude Rains, Conrad Veidt and Sydney
Greenstreet.
The title is good at the moment. The story holds
up well enough. Seven featured players give their best to
roles which reward their efforts in the final accounting.
Mounted with careful attention
to its North African location
the story has moments of
charm, nostalgia and wit that
should cause it to take hold of
the audience's attention and
carry along to a happy finish.
It is fair Bogart, very good
Ingrid Bergman. Storywise it
deals with cafe life among
refugees from Nazi-dominated
Europe who seek exit visas
to America. Bogart, Bergman
and Paul Henreid play the triangle
game. Claude Rains
and Conrad Veidt are a couple
of cops, French-Nazi,
respectively. Bogart softens in
the last reel, gets Henreid and
Bergman out in a plane at gunpoint
and goes off to join the Fighting French with Rains.
Michael Curtiz directed.
SELLING ANGLES: The name values are quite obvious.
Round up the newspaper headlines on the recent war activity
in Casablanca. Feature large panel blowups of the colorful
cafe scenes in the lobby. Rig up a large map of Africa
with a red ribbon indicating Casablanca and leading to a
dramatic scene in the picture. Tie up with antique dealers
who handle North African coffee sets.
'
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Response No.

JERRY ALEXANDER,
Director of Film, Central
States Theatre Corp.
What is your favorite film, 1920-2000?
Impossible to pick one! "Dr.
Strangelove Or: How I Learned to
Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb."'
What are the splits common today?
How do those compare to the percentages
seen 10 or 20 years ago?
45 to 50 now; 35 to 40 then.
Studios believe their percentage of
gross should increase based on the
increased cost of moviemaking;
exhibitors believe theirs should based
on the costs of building the multiplexes
making such wide releases possible.
What do you think?
Exhibitors' percentages [given to studios]
cannot go higher if they want
to stay in business. The percentage of
gross is too high to make any money,
except on exceptional films. If studios
increase percentage any more,
they won't have theatres to play their
films.
What strategy do you believe is or
could be most effective to help
exhibitors keep their film costs low?
Just say "no." If enough exhibitors
would say no to ridiculous
terms, things would change.
What is the secret to great
film buying? [Besides "picking
good movies?")
Playing the best films, at the
best terms, and keeping all
studios happy by trying to
play at least some of everyone's
product.
In your experience for your markets,
what makes for a "good
movie"?
A PG or PG-13 rated, family
or special effects film that is
a fun pictur. [and] that you
can come out of feeling
good.
In your experience, what three
specific characterstics make
for a good film buyer?
Someone level-headed and honest;
even-tempered; good
negoiator.
What has been your "greatest"
and "least greatest" success
as a film buyer?
Greatest success: still in the
business.
Least greatest: not getting
"good pictures" in a competitive
town.
What are your top three pics
for summer 2000, and what is
your prognosis in dollar terms
for boxoffice takes?
"Dinosaur"; "Mission
Impossible 2"; "Gone in 60
Seconds."
DR. STRANGELOVE OR: HOW I LEARNED TO STOP
WORRYING AND LOVE THE BOMB (1964)
Columbia. 93 nun. Starring Peter Sellers, George C. Scott, Sterling Hayden, Keenen
Wynn and Slim Pickens.
The destruction of mankind by the H-Bomb and a so-called "Doomsday Machine"
scarcely seems a likely subject for comedy, yet producer-director Stanley Kubrick has
fashioned a fantastically satirical picture with many chuckles and a goodly amount
of suspense from his zany picturization of Peter George's book, 'Red Alert." Once
again. Peter Sellers demonstrates his versatility and fine comedy sense with three
widely varied portrayals: a mild-mannered British liaison officer; the calm, serious
President of the U.S.; and the heavily accented crippled German scientist, who gives
the film its title (certainly the longest ever). Sellers' name, plus the title and rave magazine
reviews, will attract the mature class patrons, especially in the key cities, but the
picture's weird theme and the sex angle, briefly introduced by the bikini-clad Tracy
Reed as an Air Force general's amorous secretary, must be heavily exploited. It may
be too off-beat and filled with technical and nuclear terms for many average moviegoers.
George C. Scott, as a grimacing Pentagon general, and Sterling Hayden. as the
grimly realistic Gen. Jack D. Ripper, contribute fine portrayals.
THE STORY: Sterling Hayden. a Strategic Air Command general, on his own initiative,
sends bomb-carrying planes to attack Russia and, after sealing in the air base,
no one is able to countermand his orders. Even the President (Peter Sellers) is unable
to take decisive action and he calls a meeting in the Pentagon with other generals and
even the Russian envoy (Peter Bull) participating. The latter threatens that if the U.S.
planes bomb Russia, that country will release its secret weapon, a "Doomsday
Machine," which will annihilate all the earth's inhabitants. Finally, an eccentric scientist.
Dr. Strangelove (also Peter Sellers), is brought in and proves to be a former
Nazi who invented these death-dealing devices. After
Hayden, worried about fluoridation of water, commits
suicide, several other fantastic events take
place—with no logical ending for the picture.
82 BOXOFFICE

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BRYAN JEFFRIES, Booking,
GKC Theatres
What is your favorite film, 1920-2000?
I would have to say "Diner."
What strategy do you believe is or could be most effective to
help exhibitors keep their film costs low?
"Sixth Sense" helps bring everyone to the reality that you do
not have to pay for the expensive, big special effects movie to
get big boxoffice returns. "There's Something About Mary"
is also an example of this. It's a matter of not having to pay
for stars who don't produce.
I think that also a key stategy is to [avoid] flooding markets
with multiplexes. Exhibitors are fearful of movies being
"sold out," and they should really begin to accept that it's
actually an okay thing; people can come back the next week,
and "Titanic" showed that they would. So instead of building
theatres with too many screens to avoid being sold out
the "I want it now" mentality—exhibitors should let the
shows sell out every once in a while, and eliminate the problem
of having too many auditoriums to fill during all the
other times, when films aren't necessarily attracting large
crowds to the cinema.
What is the secret to great film buying?
|
Besides "picking good
movies?"]
Having rock solid relationships with distributors. We all
shake hands, but its the ones we have real relationships with
that ensure the best exchanges.... and picking good movies!
In your experience for your markets, what makes for a "good
movie"?
Timing is a factor. There was no other romantic-comedy
out when "Notting Hill" was in
release. It went five weeks without competition,
attracting that many more adults, who sisj yjMJ
had no other real choices, and making that
much more money.
In your experience, what three specific charactcrstics
make for a good film buyer?
An ability to disguise the losses; an ability to
loudly celebrate the wins; someone who doesn't close the
door to anybody.
What has been your "greatest" and "least greatest" success as
a film buyer?
DINER (1982)
Metio-Goldwyn-Mayer. 110 nan. Staning Steve Guttenberg,
Daniel Stern, Mickey Romke, Timothy Daly and Kevin Beacon.
"Diner" is a sort of poor man's "American Graffiti," covering
the same dramatic turf but lacking the style, wit and
strong narrative structure of its predecessor.
Although both films chronicle the adventures of a group of
close friends reluctant to enter adulthood circa 1960.
"Grafitti" spotlighted the innocence and sense of optimism
of its era while "Diner" concentrates on the frustrations and
aimlessness of young people foundering between high
school graduation and marriage.
"Diner's" group of buddies are not as engaging as
"Graffiti's" bunch of mischievous teens, mainly because they
are older, wiser and very afraid of following in their parents'
empty footsteps.
Writer/director Barry Levinson's script is full of idle banter
and boyish prattle, the bulk of which concerns the mysteries
of sex. Not one of Levinson's round table of boobs seems to
want to better himself or his life, nor do they consider their
women anything but sex partners or servants. Perhaps this
behavior can be blamed on the mounds of greasy food consumed
at the diner that serves as their meeting place, but a
closer look should reveal that Levinson's own weak script is
at fault.
Many of the young actors etch memorable characters that
somehow raise their heads above the muddled storyline.
Rourke, last seen as an ex-con with a penchant for arson in
"Body Heat," and Stern, an alumnus of
"Breaking Away." have their moments. But too
much of this film has the feel of a student production
and mires its pacing in a sluggish
sequence of events even a young Marlon Brando
couldn't act out of.
Though there are a few inventive moments and
several highly professional technical performances
(with Peter Sova's photography a standout),
"Diner" is paltry fare. Exhibitors should
emphasize its bouncy Fifties rock n' roll score and resemblance
to other period youth films as promotional hooks.
Well, everybody hits the blockbusters; the greatest success is really the ability to make sure screens 12, 13 and 14 have full
audiences. How these screens can be taken cared of is by figuring out the secret to dumping a film on the correct week.
What are your top three pics for summer 2000, and what is your prognosis in dollar terms for boxoffice takes?
"The Patriot"; "Me, Myself & Irene"; "Dinosaur."
M
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BRIAN FRID LEY, VP, Buyer & Booker, R.L. Fridley Theatres
What is your favorite film, 1920-2000? The Wrong Box."
What are the splits common today? How do those compare to the percentages
seen 10 or 20 years ago?
Film rental has increased eight percent over the last 10 years. This is while
admissions have decreased due to inconsistent product. Theatrical revenue in
the U.S.A. accounts for only 12-18 percent of a film's total revenue. Many
films are released theatrically only to use as a springboard for video. PPV
and foreign distribution. Is it right exhibition bear the load?
Studios believe their percentage of gross should increase based on the increased
cost of moviemaking; exhibitors believe theirs should based on the costs of building
the multiplexes making such wide releases possible. What do you think?
Exhibition is struggling. Just look at the stock prices for the major circuits.
Too many films are made for limited audiences. Theatres need films that have
mass appeal, i.e., family films. During Christmas, only one family film was
released. On Valentine's Day, zero romantic films are in release. Are the wise
men in Hollywood being smart? Terms wouldn't be as much of an issue if
we had good, entertaining product 52 weeks a year. Early May playtime used
to be considered terrible. They know better now. There isn't such a thing as
poor playtime, just poor movies.
What strategy do you believe is or could be most effective to help exhibitors
keep their film costs low?
Holdover and guess well. More good films and better judgement by producers
on the subject matter of their projects.
What is the secret to great film buying? (Besides "picking good movies?")
Having relationships with distributors that make them went to give you the
patrons feeling like they had a good time for the last two hours.
What has been your "greatest" and "least greatest" success as a film buyer?
Greatest: "Waterboy" and "She's All That."
Least greatest: Not pulling "Wild, Wild West" dates.
What are your top three pics for summer 2000, and what is
your prognosis in dollar terms for boxoffice takes?
"Me, Myself & Irene"—$170 million (rated PG or PG-13)
or $100 million (rated R); "Dinosaur"—$170 million;
"Nutty Professor 2" —$160 million.
BOXOFFICE STAFF SHARES THEIR
FAVORITE FILMS, 1920-2000:
KIM WILLIAMSON,
editor-in-chief
Darkness, and the sound of
silence: Then faintly comes the
sound of cleats on concrete and
modified strains of the tune
"Streets of Laredo." As the
music plays, two pinstriped
baseball players emerge from a
center-field tunnel into the sunshine
of a day seemingly made
for the boys of summer. The
cleats' "clack-clack -clack" changes to "chitz-chitz-ehitz"
as star pitcher Henry Wiggen (Michael Moriarty) and
low-IQ third-string catcher Bruce Pearson (Robert De
Niro)—who we will learn is dying from Hodgkin's. and
whose only confidant is Wiggen— turn to stride along
the warning track, side by side, heading toward home.
Everything you need to know about the movie to follow.
and much of what you need to know about life, has just
been revealed in one of the simplest yet greatest movie
openings ever.
Has there ever been a better film made than "Bang the
Drum Slowly'"' Yes: perhaps most. Has there ever been
one more simply true'.' There, there's nothing in its league.
Vm y&m
THE WRONG BOX (1966)
Columbia. 95 min. Starling John Mills, Ralph
Richardson, Michael Caine, Nanette Newman, Peter
Sellers, Peter Cook and Dudley Moore,
That old gag -"Where there's a will, there's a relative"—has
been expanded by Larry Gelbart and
Burt Shevelove, the librettests of "A Funny Thing
Happened on the Way to the Forum," into an irreverently
funny comedy about a pair of lively
"corpses" who thwart all efforts to be buried prema-
best service possible.
turely by their greedy next-of-kin who hope to inherit
In your experience for your markets, what makes for a "good movie"?
the family fortune. Action, set in the Victorian era,
How many times have you attended a screening and left asking. "Who is the pyramids to a frenzied climax involving an extra
idiot that approved this project?" Films must be entertaining and leave our corpse nobody wants and a race to the cemetery by
horse-driven herses, a beer truck and an ice wagon.
Bryan Forbes proves as excellent at directing off-beat
period comedy as he is at drama, and the slightly
stylized acting technique occasionally used by his all-
British cast in "The Wrong Box" adds
plenty of flavor to the fun. Graveyard
finale is handled tactfully and in good
taste. Although primarily an art-house
attraction, with names like Michael Caine,
John Mills, Ralph Richardson and Peter
Seller top-featured. "The Wrong Box"
could also be the right booking to attract
general audiences in any large house in
any key city. Sellers, incidentally, is priceless
in a cameo bit. Eastman Color photography,
costuming, editing and art direction are first rate.
BANG THE DRUM SLOWLY (1973)
Paramount. 97 min. Starring Michael Moriarty,
Robert DeNiro, Vincent Gardenia, Phil Foster, Ann
Wedgeworth and Patrick McVey.
Professional baseball forms the setting for a realistic,
sometimes touching comedy-drama that could find
great favor with the public. Except for biographical
films, sports movies haven't always been popular at
the b.o. Additionally, baseball is no longer the
nation's number one spectator sport. With these hurdles
to overcome and the lack of star names, the main ingredient
becomes the story itself. Produced by Maurice and Lois Rosenfield. the
Paramount release is sure to garner a wealth of critical praise that will
help get the message across. Mark Harris' screenplay, based on is 195q
TV drama (with Paul Newman and Albert Salmi), is a fictionalized!
account of what might happen to a big league New York baseball team]
if one of its key members were suffering from a fatal disease. The actors!
and director John Hancock capture a real feeling for the game and its
particular sidelines, e.g., the players' constant needling of each othed
their outside interests, their philosophies. As in the current "Maurie,
"j
Michael Moriarty devotes his time to the interests of his dying friendj
Title is from the song "Streets of Laredo," the film's theme. Filmed in
New York and Florida, color by Movielab.
86 BOXOFFICE

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Response No. 215

CHRISTINE JAMES, managing editor
Choosing this film as my all-time favorite evokes the occasion
early in my entertainment journalism
career when I rated "Bill
and Ted's Excellent Adventure"
four stars. My colleagues
sneered. "What it, 'Gone
is
With the Wind"".' No. but it
was four stars' worth of what it
was—fantastically original.
clever and silly comedy, which,
truth be told. I go in for much
more than epic period costume
dramas. If •'Bill and Ted " gets
four stars. "Spinal Tap" "goes
to ." 1 1 as the guileless bassist of
the mockumentary's titular
heavy metal band so keenly
observed of his amplifiers in the film's most famous scene.
FRANCESCA DINGLASAN, senior editor
The angst movie before all other angst movies. Also, as so eloquently
pointed out by my editor, there's nothing
more memorable than the perfect sound of silence,
and "The Graduate" wrote the book on that concept,
whether it be Benjamin (Dustin Hoffman) sitting
underwater in his parents' pool; the frantic
moments before he
breaks up his true
loves wedding, where
mouths move but no
sound breaks through
until his cry of "Elaine!" rings out;
and, of course, the final moment
on the bus. And, finally, I have one
word for you: "Plastics."
THE GRADUATE
(1967)
Embassy. 105 min. Starring
Anne Bancroft, Dustin Hoffman,
Katharine Ross and William
Daniels.
Described as a "satire on the Los Angelesization of the world,"
Embassy's "The Graduate" is essentially a sex comedy concerned
with an incredibly naive college graduate, who receives
his sexual matriculation with the wife of his parents' best friend,
only to fall in love with the woman's
daughter. If carefully sold, the
Lawrence Turman-Mike Nichols coproduction
could be Joseph E.
Levine's most popular entry in a long
time. As Nichols' second directorial
chore, the film resembles a series of
cinematic Mike Nichols-Elaine May
sketches in the earlier part, slowly
moving toward a fantastic and heartrending
finale, the likes of which
should have audiences jumping with
joy, laughter and tears The Calder
Willingham-Buck Henry screenplay has some traces of
unpleasantness and a plethora of sharp-edged digs at contemporary
society. Newcomer Dustin Hoffman and Oscar-winner
Anne Bancroft both survive initial hurdles of miscasting to give
bravura performances, and lovely Katharine Ross couldn't be
more appealing as the daughter. Robert Surtees' excellent
Technicolor-Panavision cinematography is a standout feature.
For the youthful audience, there will be the allure of the soundtrack
of Top 40 Simon and Garfunkel songs.
mi&im
ANNLEE ELLI1WGSON, associate editor
An obscure, mid-career detective story from Robert
Altman. "The Long Goodbye" plants Raymond Chandler's
noir dick Philip Marlowe (played by Humphrey Bogart in
1946's "The Big Sleep" and here by Elliot Gould) in the
hippy-dippy '70s. Highlights include a lost cat; naked, freeloving
neighbors: and an unbilled Arnold Schwarzenegger.;
THE LONG GOODBYE (1973)
United Artists; 112 min. Starring Elliot Gould, Nina van
Paallandt, Sterling Hayden, Mark Rydell, Henry Gibson,
David Arkin and Jim Bouton.
Returning to films after a two-year absence, Elliot Gould portrays
the first spaced-out detective as a hip version
of Raymond Chandler's durable Philip Marlowe.
Gould and director Robert Altman (previously
teamed in M* A*S*H) use the improvisational technique
to a great extent, sometimes at the sacrifice
of coherence. The co-stars are a colorful and varied
Jot: veteran star Sterling Hayden, who replaced the
ate Dan Blocker in the part of a washed-up writer;
Nina van Pallandt. the Danish-born singer who
was involved in the Clifford Irving-Howard Hughes
affair, here making a promising U.S. film debut: ex-
Yankee pitcher Jim Bouton, now a TV sportscaster
in New York; actor-director Mark Rydell, who
recently directed John Wayne in "The Cowboys";!
ex- "Laugh-In" regular Hebry Gibson; David Arkin. Warren
Berlinger and. in a cameo, David Carradine. Leign Bracked
adapted Chandler's novel, she previously having worked on the
author's classic "The Big Sleep" (1946) with William Faulkner.
Flashing, a process employed for muting colors, captures soma
dream) views of Malibu, Los Angeles and Mexico. With all the
talent involved, there should be good receptions. Technicolor
and Panavision. Jerry Bick produced.
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Response No. 522

SPECIAL FEATURE: Books Oo Cinema
SUMMERTIME TOMES
BOXOFFICE'S Annual Summer Reading List
for the Literate Movie Buff
by Francesca Dinglasan
STANLEY KUBRICK, DIRECTOR:
A VISUAL ANALYSIS
by Alexander Walker,
with Sybil Taylor and Ulrich Ruchti
WW Norton & Company
376 pgs./$35.00
^ hortly after the master
^helmer passed away in
J March 1999, film critic
Alexander Walker's "Stanley
Kubrick. Director: A Visual
Analysis." was released to honor the legendary
director as well as provide an indepth
analysis of the body of work that
resulted from nearly three decades of
moviemaking.
STANLEY
KUBRIC
RECTOHl
In his new book. Walker updates and
expands his earlier work, "Stanley
Kubrick Director." which was first published
in 1971 and contains commentary
on the director's first few big screen
efforts. Along with film-by-film analysis,
starting with earlier works, such as
"Killer's Kiss" (1955) and "Pathe of
Glory" (1957), up to last year's "Eyes
Wide Shut." which was first reveiwed by
Walker and released after Kubrick's
death, the author establishes a comparative
link among all of the director's work
by presenting a common thematic and
stylistic thread that runs through each
and every one of Kubrick's films.
Unique to Walker's analysis is his use
of a photo design created by Sybil
Taylor and Ulrich Rucht meant to
demonstrate the visual and technical
progression of Kubrick's feature films.
The system incorporates more than 400
frame enlargements and numerous stills,
accompanied by Walker's description, to
help illustrate the subtleties of some of
Kubrick's most critically-acclaimed
films.
For example. Walker points out technical
aspects of key scenes in horror
classic "The Shining" (1980) to demonstrate
Kubrick's approach to conveying
the fear and possession of the pic's characters.
Walker writes in his photo caption
descriptions: "As frequently occurs in a
Kubrick setting, stark symmetry accompanies
impending doom. Wendy discovers
Jack's secret"; "Almost like a minimalist
work of art, her husband's mania is
exposed in his repetition of one of the
homeliest of maxims in old-fashioned
schoolbooks. Kubrick inverts family values
to induce a sense of family doom";
and "Again, Kubrick uses the unconventional
camera angle to lend dramatic
sharpness to a crisis as Wendy imprisons
her husband in the storeroom."
Walker's careful examinations of
Kubrick's oeuvre, accompanied by the
hundreds of film shots that help readers
to visualize the stylistics
at work, serve
as both a fitting tribute to the legendarydirector
as well as an informative, attractive
addition to the libraries of Kubrick
fans and students alike.
VIDEO HOUND'S WAR MOVIES:
CLASSIC CONFLICT ON FILM
by Mike Mayo
Visible Ink Press
638 pgs./ $19.95
This reference work
would probably be
best appreciated by
serious-minded filmgoers,
who prefer their summer flicks to depict
human conflict on an epic scale. Should
this be the case, "Video Hound's War
Movies" is an excellent read for discovering
or learning more about the numerous
films that make up this unique genre.
cSTwttw

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I
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER'S
1998 JOURNAL OF THEATRICAL
BOXOFFICE AND EXHIBITION
Robert J. Dowling,
editor-in-chief and publisher;
Brian Fuson, journal editor
191 pgs./ $316.00
not exactly
portable light fare for
Wlhile
reading at the beach,
the "1998 Journal of Theatrical
Boxoffice and Exhibition," compiled by the
staff at trade paper "The Hollywood
Reporter." is an almost essential reference
piece for all those professionally associated
with the motion picture industry.
Figures found in the "Journal," which cover the 10-year period ending
December 1998. are numerous and far-ranging, with nearly every statistic related
to big screen product available. Among the contents are average U.S. movie ticket
prices, average film and production costs, consumer video rental and sell
through spending as well as the standard factors indicating individual product
success, such as "domestic and international admissions, overall boxoffice total
and top film grosses. The "Journal" even includes an extremely handy week-toweek
breakdown of boxoffice performance of all films in release in 1998— a listing
made possible through "The Hollywood Reporter's" regular tracking of cinema
admissions throughout the year.
Perhaps what makes this first edition reference work even more useful is its
extensive look at the exhibition side of the business, in addition to its boxoffice
reports. Similar to the National Association of Theatre Owners' annual publication,
the "Journal" provides names of the largest circuits in the U.S., Canada and
internationally, including pertinent contact information. Additionally, information
for major production companies and their studio affiliations help round out
this invaluable resource for those who need to know the "who" and "how much"
of the movie theatre business.
Of course, since these chapters are
designed for those interested in a particular
war, rather than movie, this method
can easily be bypassed by referring to
the ultra-organized index, which offers
the choice of searching by title, cast
member, director, cinematographer,
composer or category.
As for the film synopses themselves,
each entry consists of a plot description,
including historical backdrop; a still
from the pic: the film's most notable or
famous quotes; critical and boxoffice
reception of the pic at the time of its
release; film facts including cast, writer,
producer, awards, budget.
MPAA rating, running
time and format; and
"See Also" references to
other movies related to or
similar to the film.
While heavier (thematically
and literally at over
600 pages) than traditional
summer reading.
"War Movies" nonetheless
provides an excellent
opportunity to simultaneously
learn about
entertainment and history—especially
for those
who find summer's light
fare just a bit too mindnumbing.
CINEMATIC
CENTURY
THE CINEMATIC CENTURY: AN
INTIMATE DIARY OF AMERICA'S
AFFAIR WITH THE MOVIES
by Harry Haun
Applause Books
$18.95 cloth; $25.95 paper
f Boxoffice seems to
recommend a good deal
I of reference books, it's
because we know that true
movie buffs just love to stuff their heads
with as much trivia and little known film
facts as possible. That being the case,
Harry Haun's clever new book. "The
Cinematic Century" is
perfect for whiling
away the lazy days of
summer.
Arranged chronologically
by the 365-
days-of-the-year, each
individaul date features
tidbits about entertainment-related
events
and milestones that
occurred on that day.
For example, turn to
July 6, and one learns
that in 1964, "With
Princess Margaret in
attendance. The Beatles
put in 'A Hard Day's
Night' at the London
CONTROLLING HOLLYWOOD:
CENSORSHIP AND
REGULATION
IN THE STUDIO ERA
by Matthew Bernstein
Rutgers University Press
308 pgs./$50."00
Remembering and Reconsidering
the History of Censorship in
Hollywood
1927, Cecil B. DeMille was
Inediting "King of Kings," his
drama about the life of Christ.
He'd gone to extraordinary measures
to satisfy many points of view,
including having Catholic priests
and Protestant ministers on set at
all times. But Jewish groups such as
B'Nai B'Rith were upset by the crucifixion
scene, which they believed
was depicted inaccurately and
insensitively, in a manner that
would inflame anti-Semitism. In
response to their criticism, a defiant
DeMille responded, "Those Jews
who are raising these rather violent
objections would crucify Christ a
second time if they had an opportunity."
The Hays Office stepped in and,
with the power of the industry's
Production Code behind it, negotiated
minor cuts in the film. As
released, "King of Kings" incited
little Jewish protest, nor the expected
anti-Semitic riots in Eastern
Europe. It's a surprising example of
the Hollywood censorship machine
being used for purposes most would
consider positive and just one of the
fascinating anecdotes in the new
book, "Controlling Hollywood:
Censorship and Regulation in the
Studio Era."
With all the recent controversy
surrounding the MPAA ratings system,
which replaced the Production
Code in 1962, it's worth placing that
system in context by taking a look
back at a century of film censorship.
"Controlling Hollywood" editor
Matthew Bernstein has done
just that in this collection of essays
from film scholars on topics including
the infamous Production Code,
the issue of race in censorship and
the blacklist. The book traces film
censorship back to at least 1907,
when a Chicago law targeted
exploitation films, such as those
about white slavery.
A 1915 Supreme Court ruling
that declared films weren't covered
by the First Amendment led to the
creation of the Production Code, a
censorship standard within the film
92 Boxoiiki

• And
avilion on this day, premiering their first
ick. Not that the title ever made much
:nse—even in
English—but, on its jourey
around the globe it got some very loose
anslations: in Greece, 'Let's Have Fun
ith the Beatles'; in Israel, 'The 4
lagnificents'; in Brazil. 'Kings of le, le, le":
ad in Portugal, 'The Four Haircuts of the
fter-Calypso.'" Or, go to December 15,
id discover that for all intent and pupose,
le date seems to unofficially be "Gone
/ith the Wind" Day. considering that in
)36, the millionth copy of the Margaret
litchell book was published and presenti
to the author; in 1939 the film worldremiered;
and in 1996 pic stars Clark
iable and Vivien Leigh's Oscar went up
ir auction (although Gable's, which
tched more than Leigh's, was for his perirmance
in "It Happened One Night").
Ranging from the silly to the profound,
formation in "The Cinematic Century"
Desn't just help the days of summer pass,
informs readers all about the historic sigficance
of those days.
THE 50 FUNNIEST MOVIES OF
VLL TIME: A CRITIC'S RANKING
by Kathryn Bernheimer
Citadel Press
208 pgs./$16.95
a:
s evinced by the title.
The 50 Funniest
Movies of All
Times: A Critic's Ranking" is
athryn Bemheimer's listing of and reflec-
3ns on the numerous flicks that have
pecially tickled her funny bone over the
>urse of her career. Making no
Dnes about the subjective nature
I such a compilation, Bern-
:imer attempts to take all
tastes
to account, stating that her
jok "extols the virtues of the
:st examples of satire, farce, slapick,
parody, screwball comedy,
imantic comedy, and black comly."
While Bernheimer admits that
le is "particularly fond of black
>medy," and her inclusion of
irker pics such as "Dr.
rangelove" and "M*A*S*H"
mfirm her proclivity, the author's
acement of mainstream belly-laughers,
eluding "A Fish Called Wanda," "This Is
linal Tap" and "The Full Monty" also
;monstrates her genuinely open-minded
)proach.
Each film on Bemheimer's list is accominied
by a synopsis of the plot, facts perjning
to its production and its reception by
pes and the public—both at the time of
\ release and its place in cinematic history.
while most readers will either disjee
with some entries, or else be in disbef
that their personal favorite did not
[ake the cut, the highly varied "50
inniest Movies of All Time" is bound to
ve at least a couple of picks that everyle
can agree on.
Hi
industry itself. Will Hays, president
of the MPPDA (forerunner of
today's MPAA), wasn't officially a
censor, as many believe, but was in
some ways the Jack Valenti of his
day. He did use his office as the teeth
of the Production Code, but his primary
role was to promote the film
industry at home and abroad.
Bernstein, in fact, sees Hays' unique
role as an important turning point in
film censorship: It no longer had a
lofty purpose like keeping film content
within the bounds of American
"morality," but brought the role of
censor in-house, where it could be
manipulated by the industry.
When it suited studio purposes, the
Production Code was an image of
brutal censorship, a brick wall that
the studios were banging their heads
against. And when they decided to
overrule it, it often didn't exist. "You
can't have that kind of flexibility if
censorship is in the hands of a government
body," says Bernstein.
Race took center stage in film during
World War II. Opinion polls
showed that African-Americans were
firmly anti-Nazi, but often sympathized
with the Japanese, considering
them a fellow "colored" people. The
Office of War Information pressured
Hollywood to make films showing
blacks in solidarity with whites for
the war effort, while demonizing the
Japanese.
The bizarre result
of this effort were
films like 1943's
"Bataan," in which
integrated Army
units fight together
FUNKIEST
MOVIE/ or
AH TIME
(X Ltticc a Jvortfcino
on the Pacific front.
In the real world, all
Army units were
strictly segregated by
color.
Another milestone
in film censorship
was Fritz Lang's 1945
film noir "Scarlet
Street," which ends with the Edward
G. Robinson character acquitted of a
murder he did, in fact, commit.
Although guilt cripples the man to
the point of mental illness (he wanders
the streets listening to voices in
his head taunt him), groups such as
the Catholic Legion of Decency were
appalled. Cities across the country
banned the film (the first act of film
censorship in decades for many) and
criticized the Production Code for
being too lenient.
A modern audience is apt to see
the end of "Scarlet Street" as the
director's attempt to show that
Robinson's character receives a
moral punishment, living with a tortured
soul and likely to commit suicide.
However, some critics of the
time saw its as Hollywood teaching
audiences how to get away with murder.
"There's no question that the
average person today who sees these
movies is more aware of film style
and subtleties of interpretation, even
though audiences in the 40s went to
the movies more often," says
Bernstein.
In 1962, a new Supreme Court ruling
granted First Amendment protection
to films. It was the end of the
Production Code and the birth of the
modern MPAA "voluntary" ratings
system. Unlike many industry
observers, Bernstein doesn't feel that
ratings pressures have encouraged
blandness in film content.
"This summer, we had the 'Austin
Powers' sequel and the 'South Park'
film. We're getting a lot of offensive
material," Bernstein laughs. "We
don't seem to be suffering a lack of
offensive comedy, horror, gross-outs
and so on. It's been a liberating couple
of decades, which is healthy in a
lot of ways. If the movies are heading
toward the blandness of television, I
don't see it."
Still, the failure of the ratings system
to create a distribution channel
for adult, non-pornographic films
has provoked much discussion in the
industry. Roger Ebert leads a cadre
of critics who demand an "A" (adults
only) rating between R and NC-17,
so that films like "Lolita" can find
mainstream distribution. Bernstein
disagrees.
"That's a business decision," he
says. "The effect is censorship, but it's
rooted in the profit motive. If they
thought they could get away with
showing movies like 'Lolita' at the
local multiplex and make money,
they would do it, no matter what."
Bernstein, however, acknowledges
the troubling aspects of the ratings
system. "Yes, a system like this
touches on censorship." he admits.
"Films are re-cut to match certain
ratings for marketing purposes, but I
try to keep the concepts distinct.
Censorship, to me, is mutilating or
suppressing the work. The ratings are
sometimes troubling, but they don't
fit [the] definition [of censorship]."
And although troubling, Bernstein
considers the system useful. As a
father, he readily admits that he values
and depends on film ratings. "All
in all, we're better off with them than
without them." he says. Michael
Mezaros
am
April, 2000 93

j
SPECIAL REPORT: Wall Street
TAKING STOCK
Paul Kagan Associates Overviews the
Industry in Its Exhibition Annual
by Rich Ingrassia, PKA
Boxoffice
grosses topped $7.7 billion
in the U.S. and Canada in
1999, 15 percent better than
1998's $6.7 billion and the greatest year
in the history of the movie business.
The $1 billion in new ticket receipts in
1999 was driven home by a stunning 18
films that took in more than $100 million
at the boxoffice, four of them raking
in more than $200 million. Previously,
the record was 15 at $100+ million and
just two at $200+ million.
Using a $4.69 average domestic
ticket price (which includes bargain
matinees and dollar theatres, according
to the National Association of
Theatre Owners), movie admissions
exceeded 1.65 billion in 1999. That's
more than 5 visits per capita, and the
busiest year in a generation.
Yet amid all this abundance are
entirely different results at the bottom
line for the nation's public exhibition
chains. In fact, 1999 will likely go down
as the worst year of the decade for these
companies, particularly in terms of their
equity valuations. (See the "Share
Prices" stock chart on page 96.)
So where's the disconnect?
The year 1999 was a time of dramatic
change in the exhibition industry as
major players attempted to recover from
a frenetic building and renovating phase
in key markets. New-screen growth over
the past five years has been in the 4 percent
to 7 percent range, well above the 1
percent growth in the general population.
Although in some cases the
megaplexing of America has helped
94 BOXOFFICE
resulting in more modern facilities with
an increased number of amenities to
boost traffic—in many markets more
screens were built than the population
could reasonably support. (See the table
"Gung Ho No Mo'" on page 96.)
The
most recent nine months'
results from publicly traded
chains shows that the strategy
paid off— at least from the revenue side.
Robust boxoffice sales drove theatre
revenues up more than 20 percent overall
in 1999. Unfortunately, such exhibition
companies as AMC and Loews
Cineplex have said the stellar increase
was mainly due to higher ticket prices. nies,
THE BUSINESS OF
which were up as much as 12 percent
from the similar period in 1998.
This fact, on top of market overbuilding,
created a cash flow drain at the I
nation's largest domestic chains, as mar
gins have slipped 2.4 percent so far ii
1999. Of course, there are a number of I
bright spots: Thanks to the absorption
of Act III merger costs. Regal Cinemas
added nearly 13 points to its cash flow
margin in 1999 year-to-date, a 228 percent
gain from 1998. Carmike also
improved, posting a 4.9 percent gain,
and CinemaStar's cash flow margin
jumped to 6.7 percent in 1999 from -1.5
percent in 1998. (See our "Cash Flow
Margin Snapshot, page 98.)
Nevertheless, investors have beenl
punishing exhibitor stocks and bondsj
indiscriminately, and equity trading
multiples were at a four-year low at the
end of 1999. The reason: Wall Street
looks more to operating income and
earnings for its buying signals, and
those stats have been pummeled in the
exhibition sector, due to aforementioned
expansion and rapid depreciation
of older screens.
Although total operating income
increased $6.1 million in the sector as ai
whole in 1999, the good news was misleading,
and investors didn't miss the]
point. Without Regal's post-merger i
income statement turnaround, the I
country's major public chains actually
brought in $58 million less. In addition,
operating income margins
decreased for six of the nine compa-
:
as United Artists Theatre Circuit]
EXHI IllOK
2000

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digital presentations, the
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Response No. 3

Share Prices for Loews Cineplex vs. Carmike Cinemas
vs. Marcus vs. GC Cos. vs. AMC Entertainment (%)
Indexed to 100

1
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with excellent results. Matter's new
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Star Theaters equipped by Auto Cine
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A Macro Look at the Exhibition
Industry, 1989-2003
1999 2001
No. Admissions/Avg. Screen (000) 46.3 43.4 45.7 44.5
No. Admissions/Avg. Theater (000) 155.5 164.5 201.7 215.5
Ticket Rev./Avg. Screen ($000) 183.8 185.5 196.5 195.1
Concessions Rev./Avg. Screen ($ 000) 45.4 46.7 56.6 55.8
Other Rev./Avg. Screen ($ 000) 5.7 3.7 6.3 5.5
45.6
257.1
204.0
59.6
6.0
49.2
300.2
228.1
69.0
7.8
50.0
313.9
237.6
74.2
8.1
52.8
340.5
255.7
82.4
Total Rev./Avg. Screen
($000) 234.9 235.9 259.4 256.3 3.6 304.9 319.9 346.9
Ticket Rev./Avg. Theater
Concessions Rev /Avg. Theater
Other Rev./Avg. Theater
($ 000)
($ 000)
($ 000)
617.2 703.2 867.2
152 4 177.2 249.8
19.1 14.1 27.7
945.1 1,150.4 1,390.8 1,490.6 1,649.8
270.3 336.3 420.5 465.6 531.8
26.5 33.7 47.7 51.1 56.6
Total RevJAvg. Theater
($000) 788.7 894.4 1,144.7 1,241.8 1,520.4 1,859.0 2,007.3 2,238.2
Cash Flow/Avg. Screen
Annual growth
Cash Flow/Avg. Theater
Annual growth
($ 000)
(%)
($ 000)
(%)
21.1 231 38.6
4.7 0.0 37.9
71.0 87.7 170.6
36.1

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'.
SPECIAL REPORT: Wired World
BE YOUR OWN
MOVIEBOSS
Run Your Own Theatre in a New Online Game
'lie assistance of the
irs of MovieBoss, we
provide our readers
with an introductory
overview of their online
movie-theatre game lme for
exhibitors. Playing tips will.
also appear monthly
'>>'
Exhibition Briefings ;
"New Films To Open
On 1 Million Screens'
As
impossible as that above headline
seems, there are four people
who fully believe it could be a
reality before the end of this year. In
fact, they are convinced that this number
could well be a conservative estimate.
They also hope to see features such as
stadium seating installed in more than a
hundred thousand auditoriums before
the end of this summer's movie season.
Before you suggest these people need
a nice vacation in padded rooms, you
might want to talk to the owners of
Movie Boss, Inc. (URL: www.movieboss
.com), where numbers like these are considered
to be not only achievable but
almost sure things.
MovieBoss.com is a new online game
that centers on the process of operating
and building theatre empires. Unlike
other simulation games that aim to provide
only an entertaining diversion, the
creators of MovieBoss.com are striving
for something greater. They hope to
actually have an effect on the way
Hollywood markets films to the public,
provide a barometer for public opinion
on upcoming releases, and present theatre
owners with a training tool that will
help their employees understand more
about the industry itself.

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movies are being released that month.
Clicking on a previous month will show
you the selection of films already
released and in theatres. Select a future
month and you will see the films that are
"coming soon." MovieBoss.com uses the
same titles shown in actual movie theatres
around the country. Then, the
strategy is up to you. Feel that "Mission:
Impossible 2" is going to
be a smash hit? Better
book a print or two!
The second way to
book a movie is to use the
"Instant Booker.'" Simply
click on the pulldown
menu and you will see a
list of every available
movie. Select the one you
want, and enter the number
of the auditorium
where you wish to show
the movie, its start date,
and a closing date. Click
on the "book film" button
and you're done!
In the spirit of fairness,
you are limited to a maximum
of two copies per
theatre of any given
movie. Your theatre will
be ready to open to the
public the day after you
log in for the first time, so
you can book your
movies to begin showing
for the next business day.
Movie Boss also allows
you to expand your number
of sites. Once you
[§1 Hurricane. The
own three or more cinema
locations, an "In
House Booker" becomes
an option. This allows you to easily
manage multiple locations: Quickly
booking or canceling films across your
circuit is only a mouse click away. (More
on the circuit side anon.)
GOIN' SLEUTHIN'
Title:
foreclose and shut you down. If this
happens, don't worry. You can simply
log in and start over with a brand-new
theatre. Also, if you do run short of
cash, you can select the "Sell Asset" button
and sell a few of your upgrades back
to the bank for some spare coinage.
By clicking on the "Score Boards"
icon you can see how well you stack up
83amD©mi&>
View your Chain Screen Counts
u'u
Movie Boss player screen counts for Sat, Jan 22, 2000
Select a date from the pulldown list
for future screen counts.
Date | Sat. Jan 22 _^J Show Counts
|
Movie Boss screen counts ere generated nightly
Percentages calculated against total number of screens across Movie Boss
E§3 Dovin to You
Eli Play It to the Bone
Wl Supernova
H3 My Dog Skip
S3 Nexl Friday
Percentage:
MovieBoss.com also features the
exclusive "Cinema Sleuth" film database
search tool to help you decide which
movies look like the big moneymakers.
Enter the name of any upcoming movie
in the Cinema Sleuth box and you will
be presented with current information
on release dates, casts, and even links to
view the preview trailer for the movie
online. The "Sleuth" is able to search by
date, genre, cast, studio and more.
One of the ways theatre chains attract
the masses is by offering the latest in
state-of-the-art upgrades and amenities
to the audience. By clicking on the
handy "Upgrade" icon, you are presented
with a full list of things you can
install in your theatre, each of which will
increase your revenue. But spend wisely!
Just like in the real world, if you run
your business poorly, the bank might

35MM PROJECTOR
HEADS-USED
ALLANTYNE PRO-35
STEREO
PROCESSORS-USED
MISCELLANEOUS
ITEMS-USED

SPECIAL REPORT: Sound
DIGITAL SOUND FOR
MOTION PICTURE THEATRES:
ity check
Tliird in a series (this from 1993) of 20 years of writing by our sound columnist
by John F. Allen
New
technology is essential if
exhibition is to survive in the
future. If one accepts (as do I)
the premise that the motion picture
experience needs to be reinvented, then
certainly surrounding an audience with
digital stereo sound would be an integral
part of such an overhaul. However, even
without improvements in the current 35
mm / 24 frame-per-second image performance,
digital sound itself holds the
potential to dramatically enhance
motion picture entertainment.
The question then becomes not
whether digital stereo can improve the
moviegoing experience, but how much
of the improvement will be realized. If
recent history is any indication, the destiny
of digital cinema sound is, in my
opinion, a bleak one indeed.
This pessimism has nothing at all to
do with the quality of digital soundtracks,
but rather with several major factors
that must be expertly dealt with at
many levels throughout the motion picture
industry. For exhibitors, three of
these factors are theatre sound playback
systems, sound system tuning procedures
and format standardization.
104 BOXOIIKI
Simply installing a digital processor
and putting the word "digital" on the
marquee will not be enough. Surviving
in the future will take a genuine financial
commitment, a new level of technical
training and the finest equipment.
Although the battle over standardization
will ultimately be resolved, this
industry has a very long way to go in the
areas of theatre sound delivery systems
and their tuning procedures. (Thin walls
and noisy ventilation systems must also
be mentioned here.)
INADEQUATE SOUND SYSTEMS
The word "inadequate" may be too
generous, as so many current theatre
sound systems are painfully incapable
of reproducing and delivering the true
quality of digital stereo to the ears of
the audience. From my perspective,
since we first introduced digital stereo
in commercial theatres in 1984, this
industry has neither properly prepared
itself for digital's demands, nor does it
seem likely to do so. In light of this situation,
I shall devote most of this article
to this issue.
I base my concern for digital's future
on the often pitiful way current stereo
films are presented in modern theatres.
This applies to both 35 mm and 70 mm
presentations. At worst, dialogue can be
hard (sometimes impossible) to understand.
More often, subtle effects and
many of the background nuances are
completely wiped out. Music is thin,
"canned" and all but ruined. If all that
weren't enough, dynamic range is so
compressed that the word "dynamic" no
longer applies. In short, many sounds
that are recorded are never heard in a
majority of today's theatres. Further, it
would appear that this problem has not
been fully realized. If you are curious.
try listening to a stereo film or a laser
disc over a good set of headphones and
you will hear what I mean.
Even studio systems can fail in this
regard, as evidenced by the number of
comments made by producers and engineers
upon listening to their films on
truly superior sound systems. Typically,
their rather startled reaction is, "Fmi
hearing things I've never heard before.'
WHERE DID THE HARP GO?
At one such listening session, a producer
of a major film noted he could hear
the harp in his orchestra for the first time
since he had been present on the scoring
stage and heard it live. He hadn't heard it
next door in the studio's control room.*
He hadn't heard it on the rerecording
stage. He hadn't heard it at the Motion
Picture Academy or in any other theatre.
But there it was: the harp. Delicate.
Perfect. Just as it was supposed to be.
Of course, a great deal more than the
missing harp came through and was also
heard by this producer for the first time.
He kept shaking his head in disbelief. I
think it is fair to say that he was amazed.
Where had the harp been hiding all
this time? Yes indeed, as Warner Hollywood
Studios' chief engineer John
Bonner put it, it is possible for a film to
"sound better than it was made."
Many other experiences add further
testament to the shortcomings that can
be found in theatre sound systems.
Over the years, I have played exhibitors
35 mm prints of various films using
very high quality sound systems. Quite
often, they have remarked that, from
the very first
moment, these presentations
of 35 mm prints sounded better
than the 70 mm versions they had
heard in their own theatres.
35 mm optical stereo sounding better
than 70? How is this possible? 0M\
exhibitor stated that the sound he heard
just echoing in the lobby of one suqll
good sounding theatre was in every wi
superior to what he heard sitting in the
middle of his own theatres.

All this is no joke! Again, the reality is
hat there is much more potential in
oday's conventional analog soundracks
that too few ever hear and that is
otally wasted. Is it prob-
.ble that digital stereo
vill become the great
uccess that it needs to be
vhen current analog
tereo has been so poorly
mplemented? In such an
nvironment, can digital
ound make much of a diference?
Obviously, it can't.
IT'S THE SPEAKERS,
STUPID
Employing a parody of
'resident Clinton's "it's
he economy, stupid"
ampaign theme reminds
is that no good sound
ystem designer ever for-
;ets how important the loudspeakers
re. After all, speakers are what an audince
listens to. Though unequaled in
ierformance, large, full-performance,
igh-output loudspeakers have seen
market diminish over the years
heir
jlmost to the point of nonexistence,
rystal-clear sound quality has taken a
ack seat to the desires of architects and
esigners for smaller cabinets. Pure lazihas
played a role as well. People
on t like to bother with speakers that
ley cannot lift. (I've sometimes wished
was in the piccolo business myself.)
Inhappily. the sad truth is that, if you
in lift a speaker, it's too small even for
living room—let alone a movie theatre.
Too small, that is, if you really expect
accurately reproduce all the sound,
usic and massive wave fronts that went
to the microphones. Anyone who
tends live symphony orchestra conrts
knows what I mean. (Those who
>n't attend should do so.)
It has to be faced: The sound systems
most theatres today are just plain too
d and/or too small. If all the benefits
digital sound are ever to be heard by
pvie audiences, the obsolete speakers
d amplifiers currently inhabiting there
s must finally go the way of handinked
projectors and carbon arcs,
ithout installing better, more powerful
;atre speakers and amplifiers, digital
sreo will fail to meet its true potential.
idiences will feel unimpressed and
eated. What's more, the mere gimmick
adding greater numbers of sub-
>ofers to pump up the bass will soon
come tiresome and give digital movies
: reputation of just being too loud,
3 unpleasant and all boom.
To their credit, some speaker builders
re recently offered more rugged surmd
speakers, and at least one manu-
:turer has committed itself to building
1-size. uncompromised loudspeakers,
igned specifically for placement
behind movie screens. But with the relatively
small size of the theatre market
and the tiny profit margins allowed on
the larger equipment, it's easy to understand
the dedication required to get
these speakers developed and produced.
NEW TUNING METHODS
Another affliction plaguing motion
picture sound quality is
the way theatre
sound systems are tuned, or mistuned to
be more precise. Unfortunately, the use
of pink noise with real time analyzers
for the purposes of sound system equalization
became popular in movie theatres
just as this technique was being discredited
and abandoned by many in the
professional sound field.
Rather than real tuning, today's
stereo theatres are only "equalized." I
use the term mockingly. Technicians are
familiar with the routine: Microphones
are placed far from the speakers, in the
reverberant field of the theatre.
Pink noise is played through each
speaker and the microphones deliver
their resultant signals to the analyzer.
The technician adjusts the equalizers all
over the place until the analyzer shows
the desired response. Unfortunately, this
method is not repeatable and quite simply
doesn't work. The results are thousands
of theatres that sound considerably
worse than they should, no matter what
speakers and amplifiers are installed.
The reason this method fails is essentially
twofold. First, transient or impulse
response is completely ignored because
pink noise is a steady state signal. Pink
noise can be very useful for setting levels
and for general adjustments of nonacoustic
circuits such as optical and magnetic
sound pickups. But, when pink noise
is played in a room over a loudspeaker for
more than a brief time, there comes a
point when the sound level stabilizes.
With as much sound energy being put
into the room as is being decayed and
absorbed, a state of acoustic equilibrium
is created. This hardly simulates anything
approaching listening to program
material, which is highly impulsive.
At its best, pink noise is useful in
rooms only when it is well understood
what it reveals, what it does not reveal,
and how misleading it can be.
This brings us to another rather complicated
problem with the pink noise
method. It relates to the difference in the
way we hear and the way microphones
respond. Basically, our brains ignore a
lot of early reverberation. Later reverberation
is treated quite
differently than a sound's
first arrival. Microphones
do not have brains. Pink
noise measurements
made in the reverberant
field of a room cannot
represent the spectral
balance we hear when a
film is playing because
the reverberation processing
our ears and
brains perform is absent
from the microphone or
the analyzer.
The inclusion of all
this reverberation severely
corrupts the measurement.
Errors of 8 dB are
common in my experience.
Figures 1 and 2 show both near
field and reverberant, or far field pink
noise measurements done in the same
theatre at the same time. Both measurements
were averaged over space and
time. Note the dramatic difference. The
reverberant field measurement indicates
two large peaks that do not actually
exist. Imagine the disastrous consequences
if one used equalization to
"remove" these false peaks.
Theatre sound systems tuned in and
for the reverberant field, therefore, can
exhibit audible peaks and dips in their
frequency response of as much as 8.
even 10 dB, and yet measure flat] This
phenomenon has given rise to the
lament that pertains to many sound systems
everywhere: "It measures great but
sounds terrible." Clearly, the motion picture
industry must move beyond pink
April. 2000 105

MENU
noise-based equalization methods and
adopt superior (near field and first
arrival dominate) tuning techniques if
high-quality natural sound is ever to be
achieved in all theatres.
STANDARDIZATION
The third problem area with digital
stereo that exhibitors must deal with is
probably temporary yet is still cumbersome
and expensive. As this article is
being written, several companies are
attempting to get their digital film sound
formats adopted. Of these different formats,
three are promised to be used with
this summer's releases.
Dolby's SR-D system currently leads
the industry in digital releases.
Universale Digital Theatre System
(DTS) is scheduled for installation in as
many as 1,000 theatres in conjunction
with their release of "Jurassic Park."
Sony's Sony Dynamic Digital Sound
(SDDS) system is scheduled to be field
tested with four or five prints of
Columbia's "Last Action Hero."
Dolby's SR-D system is a sound-onfilm
six-channel system; left, center,
right, bass, left surround and right surround.
Systems using this format have
come to be called 5.1 -channel systems.
with the "A" referring to the bass channel,
which requires less data storage.
Sony's SDDS is also a composite
release print format with the addition of
two more full-range stage speakers for a
total of eight discrete channels of digital
sound. This format might be thought of
as a 7. 1 -channel format. However, in this
case, the designated bass track happens
to be recorded in a normal full-bandwidth
channel. According to Sony, in
smaller theatres the five screen channels
can be folded down into the more conventional
left, center and right configuration
by simply formatting the theatre's
SDDS processor accordingly.
At about $5,000. the Universal DTS
package is currently the least expensive.
It is also a double system, with the digital
soundtrack stored on CD-ROMs.
There are actually two DTS formats.
The first is a discrete six-track version
providing the 5. 1 digital format. The second
is a left-total / right-total two-track
system fed into the optical preamplifier
inputs of a conventional 35 mm optical
stereo processor and decoded into the
left, center, right and surround channels.
The DTS processor also has a separate
bass channel output. (Ed. Note: The twotrack
format has been discontinued.)
Both the DTS and SR-D digital
processors are designed as add-on units
to be used with existing theatre sound
processors. The SDDS system uses a
completely new processor in addition to
the theatre's existing unit. Each of these
three formats retains the standard stereo
analog soundtrack on the print.
For the present, a few exhibitors will
face the chore of outfitting some of their
top theatres with more than one digital
processor, as none of the competing formats
is compatible with another. Other
Copyright 1993 & 2000 John F.
Allen.
All Rights Reserved. John F. Allen is the
founder and president of High
Performance Stereo in Newton. Mass. He
is also the inventor of the HPS-4000 cinema
sound system and in 1984 was the first
to bring digital sound to the cinema. John
Allen can be reached by email at
JohnFAllen(ahps4000. com.
HOME I
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i^&XKsa www.theatre-displays.com
Click here for //V your theatre display specialists
International Display Systems
is a full-service point of
purchase design organization.
We enjoy a world-wide reputation
as top-of-the-line display specialists.
We custom design displays fitting
your theatre and suiting your
individual needs. From kiosks to
candy displays, concession signs to
box office surrounds, our team of
experts are ready to consult with you
now. Contact us by phone, e-mail or
at our web site. We know you'll be
glad you did.
International Display Systems, Inc.
5008 Veteran's High
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Response No 71

TANKERSLEY ENTERPRISES
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SPECIAL REPORT: Digital Watch
BIEITOl
DCCAD
BOXOFFICE Asks the Leaders of the Digital
Revolution What the Next 10 Years Will Hold
by Mike Kerrigan
Ayear ago. digital cinema was little
more than a twinkle in the
eye of a few techno visionaries.
Even split-screen demonstrations and a
vote of confidence from George Lucas at
ShoWest 1999 did little to convince most
exhibitors of the wisdom, and financial
soundness, of taking the digital road.
However, in the last year, the whole
arena has
changed. Major
studios.
Disney.
taken
like
have
giant
strides by digitally
showing
features like
"Toy Story 2"
both in the
United States
and in Europe.
Filmmakers
, have embraced
AndAction president and
h techno iogy .
CEO Craig Writer.
Mjke Figg^
the award-winning director of "Leaving
Las Vegas." made his new feature, "Time
Code," digitally—shooting, editing and
projecting—and will premiere it in Los
Angeles a few days before the Academy
Awards.
This year, at ShoWest 2000, several
companies will be attempting to demonstrate
to exhibitors how they can benefit
from the latest developments.
AndAction Corp. describes itself as a
digital distribution network. The company
supplies a secure environment that can
provide visual and audio images to distant
locations while protecting the content
from piracy. The company, based in
Encino, Calif, also provides reporting systems
for content providers and end users.
According to president and CEO Craig
Winter, AndAction"s plan is to use Internet
technology to distribute movies and other
services to theatres. "This does not mean
necessarily using the public Internet, but
Internet protocol which will deliver, via a
broadband pipe, to the theatres." he told
BOXOFFICE.
AndAction's NEC 42" flat panel plasma display is an interactive touchscreen
that can show movie trailers, facts, stills and more.
"Satellites are not a great way to deliver a
movie and using a disc of some kind, while
being much cheaper than film, puts you at
the mercy of weather and other vagaries of
distribution. Our system is not only secure
but brings a host of bonus features.
I 1®
AndAction's NEC XT5000 DIP
digital projector.
"The two-way network can collect
demographics, and both exhibitors and
distributors need feedback. For example,
an audience could see a trailer and vote
about their interest in the film. There are
also sales possibilities. A soundtrack could
be ordered by a viewer as they exit the
screening."
Another innovation is 42-inch panels in
the theatre lobby, where a normal onesheet
would be hung, that will be touchsensitive.
Just one push on a movie title
could show a trailer or facts and stills.
Again, data on all the activity would be
instantly available to all interested parties.
Looking forward a year. Winter sees an
embryo network of theatres using the
AndAction technology. The company will
provide all the hardware, including projectors,
which will be rented by the theatres.
108 BOXOFFICE

i
i
"One thing we have to do is convince
/eryone of the security of our system.
/e all fear the 16-year-old hacker who
in wreak havoc. So far we are certain
tat we are very secure, but we are also
jnvinced that it has to be monitored 24
ours a day.
"But it is not only the efficiency and
jnvenience of the network that will make
happen but the potential of extra revlue
streams. It is not just film versus digal
images: from the moment the customer
alks into the theatre they will be exposed
innovation. And the longer time people
>end in
the lobby, the more they are liketo
spend."
The other thing Winter sees as essential
making the whole system as user-friendas
possible. Studio executives would be
)le to control everything from their desk-
>ps. Trailers could be switched, special
ffers inserted, content tailored to times of
jy.
"But it's important to note that we have
3 control over content. We are just the
jarterback. We need the help of all the
ther companies who are essential to make
le whole system work."
In a decade. Winter predicts that the
gital image quality will be far superior to
hat we have currently. But he expects the
iture will be truly market-driven. "Live
eds may well be common as a way of
creasing revenue before noon. But there
ill be a special responsibility for everyone
create that demand." he said.
At ShoWest. AndAction will take up
»'0 ballrooms for its exhibit. The first one
ill be the lobby of the future, featuring
it panel displays and other high-tech
novations. The second ballroom will be a
igital cinema with an XT5000 projec-
|r— it weighs just 95 pounds—showing
filers and clips. Demonstrations will
icus on managing, including how ad revlues
may also boost theatre profits.
Digital
Projection Inc. is based in
Atlanta, Ga., and is the
American arm of Digital
{ejection Ltd. of Manchester, England. It
I its three initials—DLP—which have
[en seen all over the world in the past
|ar as "Star Wars: The Phantom
lenace." "Toy Story 2" and other digital-
Iprojected movies have been rolled out.
[After being acquired by Imax last
Sptember. the company is now positionself
for the next step. President Mike
says that the film industry has to
ike the decision as to just what part digwill
play in its future, but he is confint
that the technical area will not be the
ak link.
"Things have come a long way in the
t year. It is not just that the digital disy
is better, which it is, but more that we
now looking at everything with a difent
perspective," he said. "We are
:ouraging people to
ask the questions,
don't think there is just one answer to
everything, but we are trying to keep
everyone on the right track to solve their
problems.
"To that end we have got together with
10 different technical partners to open the
channels of communication. It is a plan
which will be of benefit to distributors,
exhibitors and all the technical disciplines."
In the next
year. Levi
sees more
and more
studios and
exhibitors
trying the
new systems.
"As the filmmakers
commit
to digital
content, I
can see some
very important
partnerships
being
formed. The road ahead will not be without
potholes but the movement will be forward."
In a decade, Levi sees two possible
extremes. "The first is that nothing really
sticks
Digital Projection Inc
president Mike Levi.
because nobody takes a leadership
role. The other is
a full rollout: a real digital
revolution.
"My best guess is that over the next
three to five years there will be a very
aggressive push to reach certain benchmarks,
to get target numbers out there. To
make the business plan work you need not
just numbers but also key locations," he
said.
"By the year 2010, the first tier of theatres
worldwide could be completely digital.
But the final answer is not in the hands
of the manufacturers but from Hollywood
and the public.
Digital Projection's
- Lightning 15sx projector.
"Technically the movie going experience
must not be as good as it is now— it must
be better. And the other thing certain is
that the current business plan doesn't provide
the solution to the future.
"Our role, apart from improving the
hardware, is to keep the right people talking
to each other. We can't get the answers
if we don't have enough information about
one another."
At ShoWest. Digital Projection will be
showing a digital preview, film clip screenings,
interactive entertainment and imaging
demonstrations. But the major thrust
of its presentation will be the hosting a
series of panels in its two rooms.
"Compression and Encryption" will
include speakers from DemoGrafX.
Digital Vision, Grass Valley Group,
Qualcomm and QuVis, moderated by Jerry
Pierce of Universal Digital Video
Compression Center. "Digital Server
Technology" will be hosted by Matt
Cowan of Entertainment Technology
Consultants. The "Audio and Theatre
Design" panel will have contributions from
LJ Technologies and Sonics. moderated by
Sam Giordano of AMC Theatres.
eal Image Digital was taken over
by Technicolor last fall and now
has as its goal to become as integral
a part of the digital world as its parent
company was of the analog. CEO Wayne
Schoenfeld says that the transition to digital
is inevitable. "But it will benefit everyone
if this happens in an orderly way, and
that comes from consensus. It is vital that
our commu
ter— to make Real Image Digital CEO
people aware Wayne Schoenfeld.
of the new
technology. And we shared all the data
from audience exit interviews with anyone
who was interested. Spreading the word is
the key to the future."
Over the next year, Schoenfeld sees a
steady increase in the spread of digital cinema.
"There will be more test sites like the
ones in Europe. At the moment we are selling
a product that might not even have an
audience. But the more they see the more
they will want.
"One dimension which is different in
Europe is the cultural element. There is a
ready acceptance of non-movie presentations.
I expect that some of the first commercially
viable digital cinemas will be
there. The audiences have been very positive."
By the end of the decade, Schoenfeld has
one word for digital cinema— ubiquitous.
"It may be slow to get started but as bandwidth
becomes more available the whole
industry will grow. And it will get cheaper.
"When I was at college. I had a [calculator]
that cost me $300. Models more powerful
than it are now routinely given away
these days. As the business accelerates film
will be like vinyl records.
April. 2000 109

js: '! *^ 5 ?

"[What] will come with that is a greater
•esponsibility for the theatre owners. Now
hey can rely on a S25 million ad campaign
o launch a Hollywood movie. In the
uture they will have to market these other
:vents without that kind of help. It will
teed some brilliant showmanship to take
till advantage of the technology."
In the next year, Bosley sees a small roll-
>ut of digital theatres. "Bear in mind that
vhat we are seeing today is only the protoype.
Whether the next step will be a
negaplex with one digital screen or digital
:afe
style venues, we will just have to see.
vly guess is that it will probably be both.
"The opportunities are going to open
ip and the successes are going to go to the
>eople with the best imagination,
rhinking outside the box will have never
>een more important."
Bosley sees a whole new generation of
irojector chip development over the next
years. "We will probably have some
:ind of laser technology in the digital cinma
of the future. The price of the techlology
will go down and there will be lots
if ancillary revenue streams. I think
xhibitors will ultimately be given more
ontrol and the visionaries will flourish.
"My advice is never say never—and
lever look back."
Barco will have an ELM-R12 (Extreme
Jght Machine—Reality with 1280 x 1084
lisplay ) projector in their Digital Theatre of
"oday at ShoWest. It will be closer to the
iigital cafe style of experience rather than a
Barco's market manager of digital cinema Wendy Bosley sinks her teeth
into the challenge of digital cinema versus film.
theatre environment, but there will also be ny manufactures and sells projectors
demonstrations of some of the technology
to be found in larger venues. Speakers will
address the running of digital theatres.
around the globe, including through its
two subsidiary companies in Luxembourg
and Singapore.
"Two years ago we realized that digital
cinema was coming into play." president
Christie is one of the largest manufacturers
of theatre equipment
in the world. From its world HQ
Jack Kline told BOXOFFICE. "In October
of last year we bought the Electrohome
Co., which had a sales base in digital projection.
m C
the 70-year-old compa-
For us. this was a great fit. We had
press. Calif.,
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Response No. 119
April, 2000 1 1

Christie Inc. president
jack Kline.
the worldwide reputation and sales team.
Now we had the latest technology too. We
established Christie Systems as the holding
company for Christie Inc. and Christie
CDS. for the electronic side."
The company
provided
the consoles
for the
recent
demonstrations
of the
Texas
Instruments
technology
in 16 sites
around the
world. "The
response has
been very
positive,"
said Kline.
In
the
next year he sees more and more test sites
being opened around the world.
"Technicolor and Disney will be providing
supervision and support for those and we
expect additional studios to join them.
"This will be a time for getting both the
public and the industry used to the new
technology. It will also be a time to establish
standards for encryption and compression."
As to the more distant future, Kline see
an orderly march towards total acceptance
of digital. "Within three years there will a
mixture of film and digital with a full
implementation of the digital by year five.
By then all new screens will be digital with
retrofitting of current theatres coming
over a 10-year period.
"It is a hockey stick curve—a steady systems but do not use the new DLP cintl
adoption at first and then a total takeover. ma chip.
There will also be a shakedown of stan-
A demonstration of that, promising beii
dards, eventually resulting in a global
acceptance."
The only thing holding back progress,
feels Kline, is assent in the early stages.
"This has to be a total system. It has to
reach critical mass for it to work in an economic
fashion," he said. He also points out
that most buyers will opt for a complete
new system rather than a retrofit. "Our
Xenon consoles can be adapted with a
reflector change but it really only saves
about S6,000 on a $135,000 unit."
At ShoWest, Christie will have a
demonstration using three different projectors
from the brand-new Prodigy series-l
the X4, X8 and the X10. Two are princl
pally aimed at advertising and lobby dis]
plays and the third for the smaller theatrl
experience. All are high resolution DLj
ter contrast and color spectrum, will b
seen at a Thursday morning demonstra
tion by Texas Instruments.
consensus seems to be that th
Thekeys to the success of the digit;
format are improved technology
security, support and communication—eh
ments certain to be fostered at the world
largest exhibition convention. Watch thes
pages for full coverage of ShoWesfs digit;
cinema presentations and panels.
Access BOXOFFICE's
up-to-the-minute ShoWest
coverage by clicking on
www.boxoffice.com/
shows/showestOO.html
CUJJfjliiJTUUJ'JJDJJ.