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David Poland

By David Poland poland@moviecitynews.com

Posted Thursday, May 21st, 1998 - Comments Off on MGM and Sony
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MGM and Sony

In what is likely a first in litigation, MGM is asking a federal judge to keep Sony from developing a screenplay for a James Bond film. (I’m guessing that you’re aware by now that Sony is planning to start a Bond franchise opposite MGM/UA’s decades-old one.) Last I recall, writing was covered under the First Amendment. In the meantime, Dean Devlin, who is rumored to be Sony’s top choice to handle the franchise with his partner Roland Emmerich, told me, “Sony’s got a lot of legal stuff to work out. If they work it out, it’s something I’d consider, sure. I mean, James Bond is the coolest thing of all time, but I think they’ve got to work through a whole lot of stuff first. And if they do, I would consider it, sure.” Doesn’t sound like the film is ready for a fall start. On the flip side, Devlin and Emmerich traditionally start penning their next project on a Mexican vacation following their latest release. Godzilla‘s Tuesday opening sent the guys heading for Mexico. And MGM asked for a restraining order on Monday. Hmmm.
I finally saw Bulworth and would have to say the film now falls into that group of mishandled, difficult products. When the film started, Halle Berry seemed perfect for the role she played. Better than Jada Pinkett-Smith would have been because the tone was better suited to Halle’s beauty queen looks. By the end, it was clear that Jada was the better choice after all. Not because there’s something wrong with Halle, but because the tone shifted. Of course, that bit of casting was not the only misstep for Beatty in that regard. Bulworth could have been amongst the very best of his work. Ironically, a film that revels in political incorrectness seemed to have gotten lost in political correctness. Rap is not all cute and cuddly. In the ’90s, getting murdered in the street is not a thing of light comedy. Every time Beatty wants to make a real point, he softens it by telling a joke, but not just a joke. A cute joke. Wrong move. Nonetheless, this movie deserved better than to be put under the foot of Godzilla. Maybe March would have sent the political comedy crashing like Primary Colors did (undeservedly), but had Fox held it for October, they not only could have had some soundtrack hits, but the film would have sparked some real conversation before, during and after its run. Oh, well.
X-UPDATE: I’m not looking to get into a pissing match over how many “The X-Files” viewers there are, but my numbers seem to be a matter of aggravation for some of you. Let me clarify my position. “The X-Files” TV finale for this season (or The Movie Prequel, as I like to think about it) had a 11.4 rating and an 18 share. Those numbers were up for the season but down from last season. Each rating point is estimated by Neilsen to represent 980,000 households. The share only measures the percentage of the television audience that is watching TV at any given moment. So, “The X-Files” had about 11,172,000 households for the prequel. Some (including WFG) estimate the average number of viewers per household is 1.5. Without making jokes about “The X-Files” viewers being far more likely to watch alone (Trust No One!), that’s still less than 17 million viewers. If they all went, that would put the film at $100 million. But I really don’t think it’s a criticism of “The X-Files” to suggest that all 17 million won’t be attending in theaters. I will be there and clearly, based on your letters, many of you will, too.
CANNES CANNES: Cannes is still a great big show, but like Sundance, it’s becoming more social with any real business, other than greasing the wheels of on-going relationships, limited to a select few. So, what’s the big news at Miramax, one of the companies that still works Cannes hard? Television. CopLand: The TV Show. Kevin Williamson/Robert Rodriguez Untitled Movie: The TV Show. And, of course, a revival of the TV game show “What’s My Line?” HUH?! Miramax’s version of “What’s My Line” will have the guest guessers blindfolded and tortured by Michael Madsen until they guess right or lose their ears, noses, eyes and fingers. Guest stars like Quentin Tarantino will beat the panel up if they don’t guess who he is as he walks on stage. “What?! You don’t respect me?! Do I look like a little girl to you? Do I? DO I?!” Great TV. (By the way, they are doing some film business at Miramax. They are trying to put together the foreign pre-sale dollars to get a Total Recall sequel, with Arnold, off the ground. Alternately, it could be, you guessed it, Total Recall: The TV Series.)
READER OF THE DAY: From Alex: “First of all, at least 11 million people watched ‘The X-Files’ season finale which would equal about $60 million in box office, but I strongly feel the film will generate repeat viewings by some fans and also appeal to people who don’t regularly watch the show. Judging by reactions to the trailers I’ve seen, the movie will probably make your estimated $50 million OPENING WEEKEND! Look for at least $80-100 million, if not more.”

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It shows how out of it I was in trying to be in it, acknowledging that I was out of it to myself, and then thinking, “Okay, how do I stop being out of it? Well, I get some legitimate illogical narrative ideas” — some novel, you know?

So I decided on three writers that I might be able to option their material and get some producer, or myself as producer, and then get some writer to do a screenplay on it, and maybe make a movie.

And so the three projects were “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep,” “Naked Lunch” and a collection of Bukowski. Which, in 1975, forget it — I mean, that was nuts. Hollywood would not touch any of that, but I was looking for something commercial, and I thought that all of these things were coming.

There would be no Blade Runner if there was no Ray Bradbury. I couldn’t find Philip K. Dick. His agent didn’t even know where he was. And so I gave up.

I was walking down the street and I ran into Bradbury — he directed a play that I was going to do as an actor, so we know each other, but he yelled “hi” — and I’d forgot who he was.

So at my girlfriend Barbara Hershey’s urging — I was with her at that moment — she said, “Talk to him! That guy really wants to talk to you,” and I said “No, fuck him,” and keep walking.

But then I did, and then I realized who it was, and I thought, “Wait, he’s in that realm, maybe he knows Philip K. Dick.” I said, “You know a guy named—” “Yeah, sure — you want his phone number?”

My friend paid my rent for a year while I wrote, because it turned out we couldn’t get a writer. My friends kept on me about, well, if you can’t get a writer, then you write.”
~ Hampton Fancher

“That was the most disappointing thing to me in how this thing was played. Is that I’m on the phone with you now, after all that’s been said, and the fundamental distinction between what James is dealing with in these other cases is not actually brought to the fore. The fundamental difference is that James Franco didn’t seek to use his position to have sex with anyone. There’s not a case of that. He wasn’t using his position or status to try to solicit a sexual favor from anyone. If he had — if that were what the accusation involved — the show would not have gone on. We would have folded up shop and we would have not completed the show. Because then it would have been the same as Harvey Weinstein, or Les Moonves, or any of these cases that are fundamental to this new paradigm. Did you not notice that? Why did you not notice that? Is that not something notable to say, journalistically? Because nobody could find the voice to say it. I’m not just being rhetorical. Why is it that you and the other critics, none of you could find the voice to say, “You know, it’s not this, it’s that”? Because — let me go on and speak further to this. If you go back to the L.A. Times piece, that’s what it lacked. That’s what they were not able to deliver. The one example in the five that involved an issue of a sexual act was between James and a woman he was dating, who he was not working with. There was no professional dynamic in any capacity.

~ David Simon