Boxoffice-November.2001

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The Majestic
Jim Carrey ("Dr. Seuss' How the Grinch
Stole Christmas") stars in this romam e as a
1950s-era Hollywood screenwriter who is
blacklisted by the House Un-American
Activities Committee. Having lost his job,
he gets drunk and crashes his car, emerging
from the wreckage with a case of amnesia.
He stumbles into a small coastal community
and is mistaken for a soldier returning
from war. Under his new identity, he falls in
love and catalyzes a town recovery that
includes the restoration of a local theatre,
the Majestic. But his returning memory and
the pursuant blacklisted threaten his new,
Capra-esque existence. Laurie Holden,
Martin Landau ("Ready to Rumble") and
Bruce Campbell ("Evil Dead") co-star. Frank
Darabont ("The Green Mile") directs and
produces a script by Michael Sloane.
(Warner Bros., 1 2/21)
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Exploitips: Darabont who let a ball a
decide pass between his i titkalh ,i< c Limed
"The Shawshank Redemption" and "The
Green vl/Ve was skeptical when his old pal
Sloane handed him the screenplay for "The
Majestic," then known as "The Bijou." Soon
he was so enamored, however, that he agreed
to direct. Darabont has indicated that it
Frank
Capra's films were a genre, he would call
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ants ensemble i asl ini ludes Mil hael
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Gambon I
leremy
Northam ("The Golden Bowl"), Helen
Mirren ("Greenfingers"), Emily Watson
("The Luzhin Defense"), Ryan Phillippe
("AntiTrust"), Stephen Fry ("Wilde"),
Maggie Smith ("Harry Potter and the
Sorcerer's Stone"), Kristin Scott Thomas
("Life as a House") and Richard E. Grant
("The Match"). Julian Fellowes scripts;
Altman, actor Bob Balaban and frequent
Altman collaborator David Levy produce.
(USA, 12/21 NY/LA)
Exploitips: "Gosford Park" marks the first
time maverick filmmaker Altman has
filmed in England and, with the exception
of Phillippe, is comprised of a mostly
British cast. BOXOFFICE talks to Altman
from the Isle on page 36.
Little Otik
In this Czech fairy tale, which combines
live action with claymation, a childless
couple turn a tree stump into a baby and
then watch him evolve into a monster. Jan
Svankmajer directs, scripts and produces;
Keith Griffiths and Jaromir Kallista also produce.
(Zeitgeist, 12/19 NY)
Exploitips: Invite Svankmajer to attend a
screening on opening weekend to talk
about his claymation technique and the
origins of this story.
DECEMBER 25
The Royal Tenenbaums
Gene Hackman ("Heist"), Anjelica
Huston ("The Golden Bowl"), Gwyneth
Paltrow ("Shallow Hal"), Ben Stiller
("Zoolander") and Luke Wilson ("Soul
Survivors") star in this comedy as a family of
geniuses. As youngsters, the children were
an award-winning playwright, a financial
wizard and a tennis star. Now they're married
to an older man, paranoid and burnedout,
respectively, largely due to their father's
failure as a patriarch. But they have reunited
under one roof upon learning that their old
man is terminally ill. Bill Murray ("Osmosis
lones") and Danny Glover ("Beloved") costar.
Wes Anderson ("Rushmore") directs,
scripts and produces; Owen Wilson
("Rushmore"), who also co-stars, co-scripts;
Barry Mendel ("Unbreakable") and Scott
Rudin ("Zoolander," "Wonder Boys also
produce. (Buena Vista, 12/25 ^
I
fying run, winter 2002 exp)
Exploitips: Anderson, whosi
"Rushmore" was a hit among a tin s it not
the general public, wrote the two parental
leads with Hackman and Huston in mind,
hitting the proverbial jackpot
when they agreed to star.
I ista ob\ iousl) has
Oscar hopes foi th
positioning it with a oneweek
qualifying run starting
Christmas da\ before a w idei
The Shipping News
Kevin Space} ("K i'\\
stars in this drama .is .1 sin
overweight new spaperman
who. aftei the death ol Ins
unfaithful wife, moves with
his aunt and two daughters to the home of his
ancestors, Newfoundland. There he takes a
job reporting on the shipping news, falls in
love with a local single mom and uncovers
the secrets of his family's past. Julianne Moore
("Hannibal"), Judi Dench ("Chocolat") and
Cate Blanchett ("The Lord of the Rings") costar.
Lasse Hallstrom ("Chocolat") directs;
Robert Nelson Jacobs ("Chocolat") scripts
based on the book by E. Annie Proulx; Irwin
Winkler ("Life as a House"), Linda Goldstein
Knowlton ("Crazy in Alabama"! and Leslie
Holleran ("Chocolat") produce. (Miramax,
12/25, 1/4 exp)
Exploitips: "The Shipping News" has
been in development since before its publication
in 1 993, and such talent as helmer
Fred Schepisi, actors John Travolta and his
wife Kelly Preston, director/actor Billy Bob
Thornton and actor Meg Ryan all have
been associated with the pic at various
points in time. The pic was originally set up
at Columbia, which agreed to share distribution
with Miramax when Hallstrom signed
on, since he owed the minimajor his next
film. Eventually, Columbia sold the rights to
Miramax outright. Cooperate with a local
bookstore to promote both the Pulitzer
Prize-winning novel and the Oscar-hopeful
film. Collaborate with a local travel agency
to give away a trip for four to the story's
1 hill\ setting, Newfoundland.
A Beautiful Mind
Russell Crowe ("Proof of Life") stars in
this drama based on the life of John Forbes
Nash Jr., a brilliant mathematician who
makes some landmark discoveries early in
his career at M.I.T. in the 1950s but succumbs
to schizophrenia, a disease that
threatens his marriage. Ultimately he overcomes
his affliction and wins the Nobel
Prize in economics for his work on Game
Theory. Ed Harris ("Enemy at the Gates")
and lennifer Connelly ("Requiem for a
Dream") co-star. Ron Howard ("How the
Grinch Stole Christmas") directs; Akiva
Goldsman ("Practical Magic") scripts based
on the biography by Sylvia Nasar: Brian
Grazer ("Dr. Seuss' Hou the Grinch Stole
Christmas") produces. (Universal, 12/25)
Exploitips: A number of A-listers—including
director Robert Redford and actor Tom
Cruise— have circled this project m/ih'
1 low aid ami Grazer's production
company, bought the rights 10 the
for $1 million thre ago Snooting
began on the project the da) attei the 2001
\w ards when ( 'rowe heat 1 11 si. 11
Harris in the best actoi category. Nash's
real-lite personal problems included an illegitimate
child and affairs w ith men. but the
32 BOXOIIKI