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— " ) " LA TE MOVIE MOVES INTO JANUARY... Zeus and Roxanne A roguish dog named Zeus and a delightful dolphin named Roxanne form a unique relationship. And the unusual bondingleads to family togetherness, romance and freedom. Steve Guttenberg ("The Big Green") and Kathleen Quinlan ("Apollo 1 3") star. George T. Miller ("Andre ') directs; Tom Benedek ("Carlo Collodi's Pinocchio") scripts; Frank Price produces for Rysher Entertainment. (MGM, 1/10) Exploitips: This family film arrives after fhe boliaays, but if that demo is looking for sometnmg new this one has them all to itself. Walkabout Jenny Agutter, Lucien John and David Gumpilil star in this 1971 Australian film by then debuting director Nicholas Roeg, in which two v^ite, sophisticated Britisn children find themselves lost in the wilds Down Under and must trust themselves to a young aborigine to survive. Edward Bond scripts, adopting the novel by James Vance Marshall; Si Litvinoff produces; Roeg also handled the cinematography. (Films Inc., going wider Jan.) Exploitips: Chicago-based Films Incorporated on l2/27/y6 began re-releasing "Walkabout" in a "director's cut"— the lOO-minute version that v/as available outside the United States. (In 1971, Fox first released a 95-minute, R-rated version, then followed with a further shortened GP-rated version.) This "Walkabout" is unrated; Films Inc. notes it includes full frontal nudity. The distributor also emphasizes that "Walkabout" has never been available on video in the U.S. (Films Inc. will handle that window in second-quarter '97.) where her dead child was laid to rest several years before. The one problem: The cemetery is almost full, with only four sites remaining and people seem to be dropping dead right and left. Her loving husband ("Mission: Impossible's" lean Reno) goes to laughable lengths to save her a spot. Polly Walker ("Restoration") co-stars for director Paul Weiland. Saul Turteltaub, Dick Clement and Ian Le Frenais script; Paul Trijbits, Alison Owen and Dario Poloni produce. (Fine Line, 2/14) Exploitips: "Roseanna's Crave" is an inhouse production by Fine Line, and the distributor was certain enough of this English-language entry that it took the film to Showeast. Fine Line is also releasing this art- A Mongolian Tale In "Hei Ma," a Chinese orphan, Bayinbulag, is raised by a foster grandmother on the Mongolian steppes, with her young granddaughter Somiyo, and a lost foal. Grown, Bayinbulag promises to marry Somiyo when he returns from veterinary studies but, when he comes back with his stallion, he discovers her pregnant and leaves for a dozen years. Journeying to the steppes, and now become a folk singer, Bayinbulag finds Somiyo married to an alcoholic and she the mother of four sons and one daughter—who is desperate for a good father. Berlin fest favorite Xie Fei, one of China's Fifth Generation directors, helms; Zhang Chengzhi adapts his story, "Gongang Mara" A Song (' of the Grossla nd"f, (New Yorker, ]/]f] Exploitips: One production catchline— "Mongolia, SOyears ago. A black stallion, an orphan and the girl he loved"—makes this Mongolian- and Mandarin-language effort sound like a children's or teenager's movie which it's not. What it is, and salably so, is the latest foreign-language art-houser from the man who made the critically acclaimed "Women of the Lake of Scented Souls. Prisoner of the Mountains A sometimes comic fable of love and war, the latest by Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov ("I Wanted to See Angels") relates the adventures of two Russian soldiers, the clashing and experienced Sacha ("Burnt by the Sun s" Oleg Menshikov) and raw recruit Vania (newcomer Sergei Bodrov Jr.). Captured by a Chechen father, they ore held hostage in the man's village home in his hope of bartering them for his captured son. As time elopses Sacho develops a bond with Vania, and Vania begins romancing their captor's daughter. Producers Sergei Bodrov and Boris Giller script with Arif Aliev. (Orion Classics, 1/31 NY) Exploitips: Marketably, "Prisoner of the Mountains" was awarded the Flpresci International Critics Prize at last year's Cannes fest, and it's been selected as Russia's foreign-language Oscar entry. The film is a contemporary adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's "A Prisoner of the Caucasus," so bookstore tie-ins would help draw the literary-minded art-house demo. house effort in SDDS and Dolby SR-D, another sign it thinks this film has the potential to cross over to mainstream audiences. Smilla's Sense of Snow Bille August ("The House of the Spirits") helms this adaptation of the Peter Hoag novel about a woman ("Sabrina's" Julia Ormond) who's an expert on glaciers; after a neighbor child's death, she ventures into the ice fields in search of vengeance. Gabriel Byrne and Richard Harris co-star. Anne Biderman and Andrew Birkin ("The Cement Garden") script; Con- Film head Bernd Eichinger produces. stantin (Fox Searchlight, 2/1 4 NY/LA, wider 2/21 Exploitips: "The House of the Spirits" did poorly stateside (yet well overseas), but Danish director August's "The Best Intentions" won the 7 992 Cannes fest Palme d'Or. Some of Fox Searchlight's slate seems almost mainstream (e.g., "Ice Storm "), but this seems more likely for the art-house crowd, who will respond to the August, Byrne and BIrkIn names. When We Were Kings This documentary about the historic "Rumble in the Jungle" heavyweight bout between Muhammad AN and George Foreman, which was held in Zaire in 1974, features footage that's been in the can since the last punch was thrown 22 years ago. In 1995, with rights issues at last resolved, filmmaker Taylor Hackford began assisting director Leon Cast in cutting the hundreds of hours of film into a cohesive whole. The final result includes fight footage; musical performances by B.B. King, James Brown and others from a fest organized around the bout; and new interviews with the likes of Norman Mailer, George Plimpton and Spike Lee. (Gramercy, 2/14 ltd) Exploitips: Gramercy opened "When We Were Kings" for one week In October In L.A. to Oscar-qualify; the film already has a Special Jury Prize from the Sundance fest. Hotel de Love Aden Young, Saffron Burrows ("Circle of Friends") and Simon Bossell star in this romantic comedy about two brothers who fall in love with the same woman. One wins but then loses her heart; the other is left pining. Ten years later, she returns to the honeymoon hotel at which the brothers' parents are retaking their marital vows. Of course, adventures ensue. Craig Rosenberg directs and scripts; David Parker produces. (Live, 2/14) Exploitips: Based on Toronto fest critics' response. Live has a hit on its hands. Our reviewer (see Nov. '96) calls the film a "remarkably well-written and directed first feature.... [Al thoroughly winsome, heartwamiing, spirited and clever romantic comedy. Kama Sutra Filmmaker Mira Nair ("The Perez Family") transforms the great Indian book on the art of lovemaking into a movie about a princess (Sarita Choudhury) and a servant girl (Indira Varma) who grow up as inseparable companions but then part over the attentions of a raj ("The English Patient's" Naveen Andrews). Helena Kriel co-scripts with Nair; Lydia Dean Pilcher produces. (Trimark, 2/14) Exploitips: Our Toronto-fest critic (see review this Issue) gives "Kama Sutra" only a fair grade (two stars), but one comment ("the movie.. .is full of nudity and sex") suggests the most marketable element of the film. Forever Mozart This latest French-language effort from filmmaker Jean-Luc Godard tells four distinct stories, each of which shares one narrative similarity: An elderly director is trying to cast and shoot a movie about recent events in Bosnia. Ingrid Rubio, Carlos Fuentes and Agata Lys star; Alain Sarde and Ruth Waldenburger produce. (New Yorker, 2/1 4) 26 BOXOFFICE
Exploitips: Our Toronto-fest critic (see this issue's review section) gives "Forever Mozart" four stars, saying Codard "tackles ideas with intellectual rigor while retaining a suggestive and poetic air." Another comment— "although Codard is not to everyone's taste, "Forever Mozart" should delight the filmmaker's loyal following"— suggests this is for the most dedicated art-house fans. Nightwatch See our Nov. '96 Holiday Highlights. (Miramax, 2/14) Bliss See our Aug. '96 Trailers. (Triumph, 2/1 4 ltd) The Graduate See our Dec. '96 Trailers. (Strand, 2/14) Unhook the Stars See our Nov. '96 Holiday Highlights. (Miramax, exp 2/1 4 after Nov. excl opening) FEBRUARY 21 The Empire Strilces Baci( The second in the "Star Wars" series returns in digitally updated form. In this 1980 episode, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia find the tide turning against them and in favor of Darth Vader and the Imperial Fleet. Key developments: Yoda trains Luke; Vader reveals a secret; Han is frozen. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher and Billy Dee Williams star for director Irvin Kershner in what many critics consider the best of the trilogy, thanks in part to great script work by a then unknown Lawrence Kasdan. (Fox, 2/21) Exploitips: what began on 26 screens in 1977 is reemerging on some 2,000 in 1997. Although Fox is spending under $50 million to market the trilogy relaunch, promo tie-ins with Pepsi and its restaurant subsidiaries Taco Bell, Pizza Hut and KFC will help spread the word. The studio isgivingpreferencetodigital houses (the films are going out in Dolby SR-D, DTS and SDDS) and is trying to meet exhibitor demand by booking each of the three to competing chains in given markets. "Star Wars" arrived 1/31; "Return of the Jed i" lands 3/7. Cosi Based on a true story, this oddly named Down Under comedy tells the story of an aspiring theatre director so desperate for work he agrees to stage Mozart's "Cosi Fan Tutte" opera in a mental hospital—with unexpectedly miraculous results. Ben Mendelsohn ("The Year My Voice Broke"), Barry Otto ("Strictly Ballroom"), Pamela Rabe ("Sirens") and the "Muriel's Wedding" duo, Toni Collette and Rachel Griffiths, star for director Mark Joffe ("The Efficiency Expert"). Louis Nowra ("Map of the Human Heart") scripts; Richard Brennan ("Prisoners of the Sun") and Timothy White ("Death in Brunswick") produce. (Miramax, 2/21) Exploitips: At 101 minutes, this comedy promises to crackle along quicker than did Nowra's dramatic "Map of the Human Heart." To varying degrees of boxoffice success, predecessors like "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," "The Dream Team" and "Crazy People" have taken serious and comic looks at asylum teamwork; based on its homeland success, "Cosi" might do for— or is that to— opera what "The Adventures of Priseilia. Queen of the Desert" and "Muriel's Wedding" did for Abba. Bill this one as "Amadeus" meets "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." The Eighth Day See our Nov. '96 Holiday Highlights. (Cramercy, 2/21 NY/LA) FEBRUARY 28 Volcano The '90s home of crisis, Los Angeles—having suffered through the Rodney King riots, the O.J. trial, the Northridge earthquake and the usual Malibu fires—now faces trouble from below, as L.A. goes Vesuvial. Tommy Lee Jones, Anne Heche ("Walking and Talking"), Gaby Hoffmann ("Now and Then"), Don Cheadle ("Devil in a Blue Dress") and John Corbett star. Mick Jackson ("L.A. Story") directs; Billy Ray, Barbara Benedek and Jerome Armstrong script; Neal Moritz and Andrew Z. Davis produce. See photo, p. 22. (Fox, 2/28) Exploitips: Pompeii and circumstance: Universal's "Dante's Peak" inferno epic and this Fox 2000 effort have been competing since they were on the drawing boards, even to the point ofthe studios highly touting when they finished principal photography ("Volcano" on Oct. 17, "[jante's Peak" on Nov. 6). At press time, it looked like the projects would hit theatres with about that time spread, but one might expect "Dante's Peak" to move its 3/7 release to later in the year, to allow a little breathing room for audiences between the films. (Much like "Mars Attacks" went Christmas after "IDA" went summer.) ROSEWOOD In this drama, when a white woman falsely accuses a black man of rape, vigilantes burn down the all-black town of Rosewood, Fla. A handful of residents, including the sole white shopkeeper (Jon Voight) and a black WWI vet ("Striptease's" Ving Rhames), work to save women and children. Don Cheadle fDevil in a Blue Dress"; also in this month's "Volcano"), Esther Rolle and Michael Rooker co-star for director John Singleton THigher Learning"); Gregory Poirier scripts, basing his work on a true 1923 incident; Jon Peters ( My Fellow Americans") produces for his Peters label. (Warner, 2/21 wide) Exploitips: The direct and then indirect collisions between the $25 million "Rosewood" and the similarly themed "Ghosts of Mississippi" in the end was avoided altogether with this move to 2/21. Exhibitors should still trailer "Rosewood" with showings of the Reiner film, though, and the six-week elbow room between the two titles should work to each's advantage. Donnie Brasco Adapted from the book by FBI agent and mob infiltrator Joe Pistone and Richard Woodley, this G-man vs. Mafia tale stars Al Pacino as the wiseguy who mentored Pistone (Johnny Depp), who used the alias Donnie Brasco during his three years underground. Michael Madsen ("Species"), Anne Heche ("Walking and Talking"; also in this month's "Volcano"), Bruno Kirby and James Russo co-star. Mike Newell ("An Awfully Big Adventure") directs; Paul Attanasio ("Quiz Show") scripts; Mark Johnson ("A Little Princess"), Barry Levinson, Louis DiGiaimo and Gail Mutrux produce for Mandalay. (TriStar, 2/28) Exploitips: Last holidays, Pacino's "Heat" did hot business despite its three hours, while Depp's "Nick of Time" misfired despite its short-fuse clock. This is territory distant from that associated with Newell ("Enchanted April, " "Into the West, " "Four Weddings and a Funeral"), but he's no stranger to the manhunt genre (1981's superb "Bad Blood"). Other names, notably Attanasio, Johnson and Levinson, promise at least a prestige production. The film had been slated for 12/27. January, 1997 27
Page 2 and 3: sents m%%l^. only $29 qe 'eryour ''
Page 4 and 5: DEPARTMENTS JANUARY, 1997 VOL. 133
Page 6 and 7: HOLLYWOOD UPDATES The Fighting Iris
Page 8 and 9: HOLLYWOOD REPORT LAURENCE FISHBURNE
Page 10: Cover THE BOXOFFICE INTERVIEW wnm P
Page 13 and 14: The Movies Just Keep Sounding Bette
Page 15 and 16: AN AMP IS AN AMP IS AN AMP.. unless
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Page 37 and 38: GEMMA RICHARDSON, VP, WORLDWIDE MAR
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Page 43 and 44: This ABSORPTION is a complex physic
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Page 51 and 52: Tootsie Roll's president and chief
Page 53 and 54: 8 Showmandiser Promotion of the Mon
Page 55 and 56: I — REVIEWS SPACE JAM •••l/
Page 57 and 58: — — REVIEWS WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE
Page 59 and 60: Innnarv 1Q07 ^Q NATIONAL NEWS DORAN
Page 61 and 62: ' found REGAL'S EXPANDING KINGDOM R
Page 63 and 64: Q&A: JACK VALENTI: AN AMERICAN IN P
Page 65 and 66: 1 Boxoffice Magazine presents Novie
Page 67 and 68: Dra . February March FEATURE CHART
Page 69 and 70: , New BOXOFFICE Independent Feature
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