OK, gang. Those of you collegiate types who want to make it big in Hollywood
have a couple of new heroes for whom to root. A student at , TriStarUSC, Josh
Schwartz, just sold his autobiographical script, Providence,to
TriStar for over half a million bucks. And a senior at SMU named Bob Corbett
just optioned a story he wrote for the school newspaper for alow six-figure
payday. From the school newspaper! Turns out the guy stole a sorority
rush manual and published it in the paper and hilarity ensued. Which
goes to show, theft and sexism can still make you big bucks. What a country!
Speaking of theft, Steven Spielberg must be having a nightmare for every night
of Hanukkah this year. As a major hit maker, Spielberg is regularly sued
for plagiarism. It’s part of the price of success. As The Hot Button
has told you before, every major hit usually gets sued. After the success.
But two suits against Spielberg now have had unusual luck in getting
past the summary judgment stage. First, the Amistadcase. Now,
it’s Twister. You may think there was no real story there,just
special effects. But don’t tell that to Stephen Kessler, who
issuing Spielberg, the writers and the studios who made the flick for millions.
Don’t expect any suits over Mouse Hunt.
You won’t have to break the law to get your own piece of Jim Cameron‘sTitanic.
Just a full checking account. Twentieth Century Fox is selling stuff
from the movie via the The Whole Picture is all new for the holidays.
But if you’re good boys and girls, you will unwrap each section as the
appropriate holiday comes around. Too much Whole Picture at one sitting
will rot your teeth.
E-mail all through the holidays.
I haven’t got anything else to do.
Posts Tagged ‘Jim Cameron’
New Heroes
Thursday, December 18th, 1997Tags: Jim Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Titanic
Posted in Hot Button, Old MCN Blogs | Comments Off on New Heroes
Titanic Finally Set Sail in Japan
Wednesday, November 5th, 1997With a triumph for Jim Cameron and an even bigger one for Paramount and 20th Century Fox publicity. For Cameron, it was the wildly enthusiastic reaction of the crowd to the film. For the studios, it was their success in getting a handle on the estimates of overwhelming production costs that have been bandied about by the media. Back while the film was shooting, estimates ran up to $300 million. But, Entertainment Weekly serves up a warm, wet smoochy, Cameron-driven cover story on Titanic with the $200 million tag and BOOM!, the media falls in line. Remember when you read this stuff — those of us who write it tend to be a bunch of bleating sheep. But in the end, who really cares? No one goes to the theater to see a budget. They go to see movies that they’ll like and, apparently, Titanic is one of those. Congratulations to all.
Another test of the media’s honor is the Roman Polanski story. He’s coming back and is getting away with child molestation. Has he paid his price by way of exile? Perhaps. But the tendency in the Hollywood culture is to forgive the “indiscretions” of its own. Indiscretions are anything that doesn’t cost me money. I don’t know whether it’s better, or even more disgusting, that the precocious object of Polanski’s lust has sold her story to “Inside Edition.” Samantha Geimer will appear in a two-parter just in time for November sweeps. Makes you want to take a shower just reading it, huh?
The inalterably pleasant Yasmine Bleeth is set for her first feature film, It Came From the Sky. She plays a mysterious stranger who is either a con woman or a real-life angel, Non-Charlie Division. She starts the film after completing her latest TV movie, The Lake, a science-fiction thriller about a small town that does a reverse Stepford as locals turn evil after being sucked into the water. Get it? Shawn Weatherly turns into Erika Elaniak who turns into Nicole Eggert who turns into Pam Anderson who turns into Yasmine Bleeth who turns into Gena Lee Nolin who turns into Donna D’Errico. They all play the same character, don’t they?
Have some of your own indiscretions? Well, I’m not a priest, but I’ll listen to your confessions. Email me.
Tags: Box Office, It Came From the Sky, Jim Cameron, Roman Polanski, Titanic, Yasmine Bleeth
Posted in Hot Button, Old MCN Blogs | Comments Off on Titanic Finally Set Sail in Japan
Polanski, Titanic Release Date
Saturday, October 4th, 1997Director Roman Polanski, who has been in exile in France for 20 years to avoid jail time for his sexual encounter with a 13-year-old girl in Jack Nicholson’s backyard, is rumored to have cut a deal to return to Hollywood. Another great achievement for Los Angeles D.A. Gil Garcetti. Polanski is probably anxious to return to Hollywood before Natalie Portman turns 18.
Another million dollar deal for a classic idea. Former “Mad TV” writer, Stuart Blumberg, sold Columbia Pictures Keeping the Faith, a “romantic drama” about a long-term friendship between a rabbi and a Catholic priest that becomes strained when both men fall in love with the same woman. Drama? All that description makes me think of a joke starting, “A rabbi and a priest walk into a…” Email us your best priest/rabbi jokes and maybe they’ll end up in The Hot Button.
Traditionally, the success of big-budget movies on American soil has led the way to foreign box office gold. But 20th Century Fox has held its breath long enough on Titanic, the long-delayed Jim Cameron epic. Scheduled to premiere in the U.S. on December 19 under the Paramount banner (they split rights), Fox has decided to launch Titanic at the Tokyo International Film Festival on November 1. Japan has been a solid audience for Cameron, so if they don’t like it, expect to find Fox execs looking for a spot under Godzilla’s foot (or hanging from George Lucas‘ shirttails).
As Janeane Garofalo left the theater during her star turn in The Matchmaker, she said, “I saw my pie face up there and the crow’s feet. Have you ever seen your face blown up 10 feet tall? I can’t take it.” If she can’t take that, she should stay off the Web. Inspired by Chris Brandon’s Site-ing of last Wednesday, I took a trip to GarofaloLand. My favorite sight was this letter on a Janeanne-loving site. James Ricardo (no relation to Ricky) from Torrance, CA, wrote: “I love Janeane. She is way prettier than Uma Thurman or Lisa or Mira in Romy and Michele. Though my guess is she isn’t that good in bed. She seems very much a missionary style-type chick. Long Live Janeane! Bow down to her cute, fat, hairy little legs!!” How could I ever top that?
Come back Monday for a box office round up.
Tags: Jack Nicholson, Janeane Garofalo, Jim Cameron, Roman Polanski, Titanic
Posted in Hot Button, Old MCN Blogs | Comments Off on Polanski, Titanic Release Date
Superman may live, but not until 1999
Saturday, September 27th, 1997After moving faster than a speeding bullet to start filming October 6th with Nicolas Cage putting on the tights for director Tim Burton, the film leapt to a February start date, then took a second bound to April 1998. Why? It’s inferred. To explain. Superman Lives has had enough troubles to make one believe that Lex Luthor was an exec at another studio. The original script, by Chasing Amy scribe Kevin Smith, was dumped by Burton. The new version, by Wesley Strick (Cape Fear/The Saint), apparently has struck Kryptonite as well. Then, the production move to early 1998 made the scheduled summer 1998 release date into a Titanic-like scheduling nightmare. So, Warner Bros. moved it to Christmas 1998. Okay? Nope! Resurrected Producer Jon Peters wanted a summer movie! So, July 3, 1999 it is. Safe at last? Warner Bros. hopes so. The Independence Day release date is five whole weeks from the Star Wars prequel. It’ll need it. And if the other studios are looking for a fight, Cage’s Neurotic Man Of Steel could end up fighting the Jedi, The Fantastic Four and The Terminator (T-3) in one bloody summer.
Speaking of The Terminator, I told you last week about the purchase of the sequel rights by bankrupt company king Andy Vanja. Turns out the 20th Century Fox found out about the purchase at about the same time I did. Why does that matter? Well, they were in the midst of closing negotiations with Jim Cameron, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Gale Ann Hurd to make T-3 at Fox. Not only were they embarrassed, but they now have a very unwanted partner. The bottom price for the remake rights now sits at about $15 million and is likely to go up as Vanja applies the pressure. And that’s before Arnold’s likely $30 million asking price, Cameron’s probable $15 million writer/director fee and the production itself, which, given Cameron’s history, could push beyond Titanic’s $200 million (low estimate) price tag. Arnold’s new tag line? “I’ll be back-breaker.”
In more Fox news, the studio is being sued by New York State, which is claiming that the studio is in cahoots with Sammy “The Bull” Gravano, former mob hit man, to skirt the state’s “Son of Sam” law, which keeps convicted felons from profiting from their criminal acts. The fight is over the $250,000 Gravano received when Underboss, the Peter Maas bestseller about Gravano’s murderous history, was sold to Fox. Always wanting to stay with the trend, California legislators want to pass the Home Alone 3 law, making it illegal for studios to profit from unnecessary sequels.
E-Mail Dave with the issues that get your button hot!
Tags: Gale Ann Hurd, Jim Cameron, Kevin Smith, Nicolas Cage, Superman LIves, The Terminator
Posted in Hot Button, Old MCN Blogs | Comments Off on Superman may live, but not until 1999
