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December 17, 1997

The Dark Knight: The Musical

Variety reports that Warner Bros. is making plans to follow in Disney's footsteps by bringing the Batman franchise to Broadway. That's right, "The Dark Knight: The Musical" (It could be less painful than another Schumacher Batman sequel). I bet you want to sing already, huh? Songs include "My Dead Parents," "Sorry 'bout the Acid, Joker," the comedy number, "My Tights Are Too Darned Tight," and the grand romantic ballad, "My Suit Is Happy To See You."

The Arizona Republic talked to Tom Arnold, who spilled the beans about what's next for James Cameron. According to Tom, it's True Lies 2. Cameron is apparently ready to pay Fox back for their $200 million worth of faith in him and his vision for Titanic. Arnold starts his WB hiatus in February and he was just put on indefinite hold on Ridley Scott's over-budget-before-pre-production, I Am Legend. And Cameron? He'd only have to take a break from the awards banquets at which he'll soon be a regular. Look for the film in Christmas, 1998, assuming Tom is on target.

Whining was the art form of choice over the weekend. Kevin Costner was unhappy with press junket critics' reaction to The Postman, his new writer/director/star turn. The reaction? Laughter. "That's horrible!" squealed Kevin, "You guys (the media) keep spinning that way, and it's wrong. You were wrong about Dances (With Wolves), you were wrong about Waterworld, and you're wrong about this movie! It's too bad that's how it keeps going; that really pisses me off." On the other hand, Christian Slater knows that he was wrong and that he needs help. He told reporters, "It doesn't matter how famous you are ... If your head is telling you you suck, all you ever want to do is try to escape from that. I'm just dealing with that now, and it's tough." Good luck, gentlemen. I'll put a dime in your tin cups when I see you.

Any money for me? Throw something in my tin cup. Or just drop me a line to say hi.

Posted by THB Archive at 10:57 PM |

December 04, 1997

The March Of The Superhero Movie Continues

This time, it's Will Smith starring as The Mark, the hero of an original script from comic book superstar Rob Liefeld, which he created specifically for Smith. Liefeld's comic characters, Avengelyne and Badrock, are both on the New Line schedule, but guess which of his three projects will likely make it to the soundstage first? Hint: It's the one with the superstar attached. In other comic book news, Harry Knowles is reporting that Nicolas Cage confirmed to a fan he met in a video store that Superman Reborn is still a firm "go" project. Apparently, Cage has one of the biggest comic book collections around, so this is more than an acting job. The latest rumored meeting for the role of Lois Lane? Sandra Bullock.

Turnabout's fair play. After recommending a read of a good Variety feature, here's a really stupid one about the "demise of sequels." Variety writer Andrew Hinde engages in the kind of simple-minded clich�-building that has made entertainment journalism such a weird profession. As evidence of the end of sequels, Hinde sights Speed 2, Batman & Robin and Alien 3. Problem is, all three of his examples were terrible movies! He sights the failure of Alien: Resurrection by comparing its first weekend to sequel Mortal Kombat: Annihilation. But, though Alien 4 was soft, MK:A will be a big profit center for New Line, probably prompting a third sequel that will again drop the budget and the overall quality. And it will probably make money as well. When Scream 2 opens to massive business, look for the articles about the success of the horror genre and the return of the pulp sequel, using MK:A as a positive example. Don't y'all love show business?

After pushing the boundries of political correctness with Half-Baked, a comic romp through the life of a pothead, comic-turned-actor, Dave Chappelle (Men In Tights/The Nutty Professor), is playing the race card with a comic flair in Rufus. The project from DreamWorks is, I believe, the first slavery comedy. The laughs, of course, come from the fact that the slave gets the better of the master. Ever the trend-setter and flush with the success of its TV-to-screen hits such as McHale's Navy, Universal is prepping the comedy version of their Schindler's List, called Schindler's Grocery List, about a wacky, cannabalistic Nazi who gets sick from undercooked ... no. Not really.

Matt Bailey, from Ohio State University, offered up "Alien Dog Craps on Box Office" as a reaction to a wacky movie headline idea. Yes, your e-mail can make you a star too.


Posted by THB Archive at 06:54 PM |

December 03, 1997

When Are Rights Wrong?

Well, that's going to be up to a judge. The fight is over two competing movie versions of The Bang Bang Club, a real life group of four photographers known for their death-defying war photos. Movie rights are breaking up that old gang of theirs. Emilio Estevez is prepping his version, acquiring rights from the survivors of the two dead members of the club (one died in action, the other committed suicide). Meanwhile, the other two members, still quite alive, sold their rights to a South African filmmaker. Geez. When I saw The Bang Bang Club on the production charts, I assumed it was the story of Emilio's brother, Charlie Sheen.

After switching locations from Israel to Morocco for security reasons (go the distance), Phil Alden Robinson's Age of Aquarius is being held up for a more traditional reason. Money! Universal's Harrison Ford drama is suffering the same problem as their John Travolta starrer, Primary Colors. Universal (and pretty much every other studio in town) won't spend anything over $50 million on anything other than action (if you build it, they will come). Travolta and director Mike Nichols deferred most of their salaries to bring their $70 million budget down to a more reasonable $50 million. At $80 million, Age of Aquarius will demand a lot of concessions from $20 million-plus man Ford if the love story set in Sarajevo is ever to make it on screen. The buzz is that Ford's interest is already waning (feel his pain). Did I mention that Robinson made Field of Dreams?

For those of you who want to know how the business really works, check out the upcoming One Track Mind. A recently sold spec script by Ben Queen, the script tells the story of one script tracker, a studio assistant who finds the perfect script and is ready to claim it for his own after the writer mysteriously dies in a Universal Studios tour tram accident. That is, until other trackers who've read the script turn up. Then he has to kill them too. If you think that's far fetched, how do you think I get my Hot Button copy every day?

Last Tango In Paris was recently sent to the ratings board again and unlike Midnight Cowboy, it's still NC-17. The Hot Button should be so lucky. E-mail me your NC-17 buttons today!

And don't forget The Whole Picture.

Posted by THB Archive at 12:57 PM |

December 02, 1997

DreamWorks Continues to Break Weird Ground With Its New Slate of Films

This Christmas' Mousehunt seems to be Home Alone with the rodent as McCauley Culkin. Next, it's Alien Dog, the Terminator-esque story of two aliens chasing each other on earth, only the hero alien misunderstands nature's hierarchy of earth and disguises himself as a dog instead of a human. Can you see the headlines on the reviews? If so, e-mail me a good one and I'll print it Thursday.

The cool new gadget in the upcoming James Bond flick, Tomorrow Never Dies, is a mobile phone that blows stuff up, sees around corners, and operates a brand new BMW by remote. Of course, in Los Angeles, cell phones already make a trip to the market feel like a Bond chase scene. Ericsson's phone is just one of what seems like a million Bond product placement and promotion deals. No "McDonalds Moneypenny Meals" for Bond. Bond has joined Bob Dole as one of the funniest and one of the least appropriate spokesmen for Visa. BMW has a major hit with the Z3 from GoldenEye, so budgets to promote the new Bond Beemer are soaring. And of course, there are the liquor ads. I guess Bond always was a whore. The whole thing leaves me stirred, but not shaken. I'm still looking forward to the film.

Finally, Meg Ryan tells People that she doesn't see the resemblance between herself and the animated version of her in Anastasia. "Just some of the bad hair days," she jokes. Kind of like trying to see the resemblance between Anastasia and Disney product. It's occurred to me that the difference between the great Disney animated hits and the "misses" is the music. Do any of you remember a song from Hunchback? Did anyone love Michael Bolton's tepid version of Hercules' "Go The Distance?" Likewise, I can't think of a song I'll remember from Anastasia. Pretty pictures though.

Posted by THB Archive at 12:51 PM |

November 20, 1997

Upcoming Projects

Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski have segued from writing The People vs. Larry Flynt to producing The Truth About Sex, the life story of sex study pioneer Alfred Kinsey, with writer/director Michael Davis at the helm. The duo have resisted a title change to a variant of the title of their last movie in release, That Darn Cat.

Premiere reports that Princess Diana was planning to star opposite Kevin Costner in a sequel to The Bodyguard. The story ideas included the Costner and Diana characters falling in love. I can't come up with anything to say about this idea that doesn't involve the phrase "car wreck," so you'll just have the take the story on face value.

Saul Zaentz, producer of last year's Oscar-winning The English Patient and the last producer in Hollywood to actually retain ownership of his soul, appeared in Australia a few days ago and said: "Studios are interested in money, but they think they are creative, that is the problem. Almost all their creativity goes into guessing trends because they love numbers, they love natural disasters and aliens, invasions." I couldn't have said it better myself, Saul.

Participate in The Hot Button! What show business-type or specific individual do you think is ready for a one-way trip to Hades? E-mail your candidates and the reasons. The best entry will win their very own slot on The Hot Button.

Posted by THB Archive at 10:49 PM |

November 18, 1997

Projects, We Have Projects

Island Pictures is developing Trophy Boys based on a New York magazine story about gay men who look for sugar daddies in Hollywood. "What we have in mind is the gay version of How to Marry a Millionaire," Island Pictures president, Mark Burg, told Variety. The film's producer, Howard Rosenman, also has an HBO series in development called "Lesbian Woman Seeks Gay Man for Marriage of Convenience." And keep an eye out for the gay western musical, "Is That A Shotgun In Your Saddle Or Are You Just Glad To See Me?"

Another comic book is headed to the big screen. Mark Canton, the man who bought Men In Black for Sony, has purchased the rights to "House of Secrets," a DC/Vertigo comic about a house haunted by a ghost jury that puts people on trial for the secrets they've kept throughout their lives. Up first is Canton, who'll be tried for managing to keep the secret of his genius under wraps throughout his Sony tenure. Only after he left last January did Sony become the most successful studio of 1997 on the strength of his line-up.

Finally, Warner Bros. has bit into Andy Kurtzman and Eliot Wald's screenplay, Teething, about a couple who adopts a vampire. It's no wonder that Warner Bros. is willing to bank on the writing duo. After all, they came up with Down Periscope and Camp Nowhere, two titles that fit the box office returns. No truth to the rumors that Fox is already planning a series based on the movie to co-star Louise Woodward.

Anything on that movie mind of yours? E-mail me your thoughts.


Posted by THB Archive at 10:30 PM |

November 13, 1997

Retro Thursday

With all the talk about Martin Scorsese prepping a Rat Pack movie -- a kind of sequel, combining Casino and Kundun -- now HBO is talking about their own flick, looking at The Chairman of The Board (Frank), The Drunk (Dean) and The One-Eyed Wonder (Sammy) starring Aidan Quinn, Chaz Palminteri and Don Cheadle, babe. Only problem is that they're giving the helm to solid-producer-turned-hack-director Rob Cohen, who brought consecutive disasters Dragonheart and Daylight to the big screen. And keep an eye out for Rob's girlfriend, Dina Meyer, hot off of Starship Troopers, probably playing Ava Gardner. Ring a ding ding.

James Ellroy is moving out of the '50s and into the '90s. His original script, The Night Watchman, is almost ready at Warner Bros. Set in "a post-O.J. Los Angeles," it's another take on cops and robbers with David Fincher taking on directing chores.

"SWAT"! It's back! Twice! Universal is setting up its own story about the birth of L.A.'s Special Weapons and Tactics force following hard on the heels of TriStar's version of the classic '70s TV series. TriStar's been trying to get Oliver Stone to helm their version, so maybe the Universal competition will create enough paranoia to make it interesting enough for him to take on. Even better, Ollie -- the project was set up by former Tri-Star execs who are now at the U. And it turns out that the SWAT team killed Lincoln. And Kennedy. And Elvis. And George Burns.

E-mail makes the button hotter.

Posted by THB Archive at 09:51 PM |

November 12, 1997

Projects of Love - Tarantino, Sorvino

Quentin Tarantino is producing a series or "re-quels" to From Dusk Til Dawn involving a world of vampires. One of them is set in South Africa, where the production crew is now accused of leaving a trail of evil, spreading fake blood over rocks and destroying the local flora. In defense, line producer Michael Murphey claims that all the crew did was cover graffiti to make the cave look more natural. You got it wrong, Mikey. Graffiti is only indigenous to urban America and South Africans are used to real blood on their local rocks. At least they were until Apartheid ended.

QT's squeeze, the mighty Mira Sorvino has joined the $3 million club. After opening two consecutive unimpressive films, Romy & Michele's High School Reunion and Mimic, to the tune of around $7.5 million each, Sorvino has signed to appear opposite Val Kilmer in MGM's Sight Unseen about a man who risks it all to regain his sight. Mira is his girlfriend. First the bug movies are back, now the return of the "Love Story" genre. And Kilmer is fast running out of women quirky enough to play his love interests. Elizabeth Shue, now Mira. Who's left? If you have an idea about who can keep up with Val's quirks, e-mail me.

Finally, a stupid movie idea I can get behind! DreamWorks has kicked in about $3 million to buy Dale Launer's spec script, Bad Dog. It's a comedic werewolf flick about a psychiatrist who finds out the hard way that his full moon-fearing patient isn't really crazy after all. Launer is the scribe behind My Cousin Vinny, Love Potion No. 9, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Blind Date and Ruthless People. Not a real stinker in the group. This should be as fun as American Werewolf in Paris will be forgettable.

Anything on your mind? Don't be shy, e-mail me.

Posted by THB Archive at 09:44 PM |

November 08, 1997

In & Out, Brad Pitt, Robert Downey, Jr.

IN: New Line is putting all its eggs in one movie, teaming Jackie Chan, Chris Tucker and The Full Monty co-star Tom Wilkinson (who played Gerald) in Rush Hour, to be directed by Money Talks director Brett Ratner. The storyline? The Chinese ambassador's daughter is kidnapped in Los Angeles. Wilkinson plays the ambassador's right-hand man. But is Jackie Chan the ambassador? I don't know, but it wreaks of Sonny Bono, doesn't it? And I'm guessing that we'll be seeing, as soon as a trailer hits theaters, Chris Tucker's eyes bulging out of his head as the foxy Chinese daughter of the ambassador shows off her legs. We are the world.

OUT: Brad Pitt just dropped out of New Line's attempt at a western, Custer Marching to Valhalla, from Dances With Wolves scribe Michael Blake. It marks the end of his longest personal relationship, having been attached to the project since 1995. "The National Perspirer" says that Brad's split left New Line pregnant and heartbroken with a $3 million price tag for the story rights. "The Scar" tabloid says it was New Line that wanted out, returning to their original pre-Ted Turner love of lower-budget filmmaking. "The Weekly World Screws" re-printed the nude photos of Brad.

IN & OUT: Robert Downey Jr., Heather Graham and Natasha Wagner have teamed up to earn the dreaded NC-17 rating for "a scene of explicit sexuality." The film, Two Guys and a Guy, is written and directed by infamously sexist pig James Toback, who also teamed with Downey (and producer Warren Beatty) for 1987's The Pick Up Artist. Graham, also who stars as porn actress Rollergirl in Boogie Nights, is becoming a regular on the hotbod highway, paying off on her claim that she "wants to do out there things." No word on whether Downey will be paroled for the premiere.

Think you have a clearer view of the future? E-mail me.

Posted by THB Archive at 07:57 AM |

November 06, 1997

Brando and Marquez Team Up

The notoriously widescreen Marlon Brando has seduced notoriously picky novelist Gabriel Garcia Marquez into allowing The Grandfather Godfather to adapt his novel, Autumn of the Patriarch, as a movie. In turn, Brando says that this film, which is centered around an aging Latin American dictator, will be his last. If the film does get made, one can only hope that it's great, sweetening the first consummated Hollywood experience of the much-beloved Marquez, and allowing Brando to exit with the grace that his skill as an actor deserves. Good luck, gentlemen.

Hugh Grant's set for Mickey Blue Eyes, a romantic comedy about a high-flying Manhattan art dealer whose nuptials are threatened by his fiance's father's day job as a Mafioso. Grant is co-producing the film with his permanent fiance, Elizabeth Hurley, who would likely agree that for a relationship to be so endangered, something would have to really suck.

What can you say about a project that people have been trying to finance for four years, but whose massive budget left Paul Verhoeven making Showgirls and Arnold Schwarzenegger in a Mr. Freeze costume? Verhoeven is saying, "Let's try again." With Starship Troopers about to hit theaters with some major thunder, the RoboCop/Basic Instinct director is anxious to get his Arnold-attached Crusades back in the pipeline. One little problem, Verhoeven told Variety, "It can't be made for less than Titanic." That's before you get ready for the protests from the religious right. If you think they were upset when the current "Greatest Filmmaker Alive," Martin Scorsese, made The Last Temptation of Christ, just wait until they see this trailer: "From The Director Of Showgirls and That Bug Movie, Arnold wants the Grail and he's killing Jews by the thousands to get it! (image of Arnold's rippled, sword-carrying torso, ready to hack someone to death) "Cwucafy you? It's naught dat kind a Cwusade!" (Arnold swings the blade, cut to black on the sound of the decapitation and then a card, reading, "Coming for The Cup, Christmas 1999").

E-mail me. I won't tell anybody, except maybe all our readers.


Posted by THB Archive at 09:03 PM |

November 04, 1997

Grease is the Word at Paramount These Days

Producer Alan Carr, the most popular caftan wearer ever, aside from our own Andy Jones, is back on the lot, prepping the Grease 20th Anniversary Star Wars-like re-launch, in which more than 1,500 screens will play the remastered version on the smash hit. Unlike Star Wars, there's no extra footage highlighting new advances, like Olivia Newton-John being able to act. This could be Paramount's one shot at cashing in on its status as The Studio of The '70s after making little noise with re-masters of The Godfather and Chinatown. Remember, Paramount is now owned by MTV parent Viacom, so any film that requires an attention span may be out of their range.

Meanwhile, Carr, also in re-release, has finally recovered from the 1989 Academy Awards he produced. (Remember Rob Lowe and Snow White? Disney did. They sued the Academy for copyright infringement, eventually settling.) You've got to respect the guy. Carr was a Hollywood Queen when Queens weren't cool and has since survived years of dialysis, multiple hip surgeries and back injuries, not to mention the '70s themselves. And as Sondheim says, he's still here.

Speaking of large men, has Willard Scott finally found the right movie vehicle? I hope not. Twentieth Century Fox has paid low-to-mid-six figures for Five Day Forecast, a movie pitch about an experiment that brings evil weather systems normally found only on other planets to earth. I guess they ran out of earthbound weather disasters. "Hail Storm: The Movie," "Smog Alert" and "Seasonal Showers of Death" were all rejected by the studio. Al Roker will pull on the tights and cape to fight the interplanetary storms. Just kidding. But now that image is in your head. Mmwwwahhh-ha-ha-ha!

What, you think I'm a natural disaster? Email's the word...


Posted by THB Archive at 08:55 PM |

October 23, 1997

Sondra Locke Finally Settles Lawsuit

Sondra Locke's finally settled her lawsuit against Warner Bros. that claimed the studio bilked her out of a three-picture deal because of former beau, Clint Eastwood's influence rather than because of the uniquely worthless Ratboy, the first film in the deal. So what does she do? A nasty tell-all book! Oooooh! Just check out these amazing morsels! Eastwood didn't know who Barbara Walters was! Oooh! Aaah! Clint liked the much-younger Locke to call him Daddy! Oooh! Aaah! Eastwood started whispering after noticing that it worked for Marilyn Monroe! Who the hell is she kidding?! O.J. spent two years on trial for murder, Chrisitian Slater's biting the women that Marv Albert is missing, Robert Downey Jr. is waking up in Baby Bear's bed and the President of The United States is releasing information about his penis in press conferences! If Clint didn't have sex with Burt Reynolds and that stupid orangutan while holding up a 7-11 with a bazooka, who's going to notice?!

Starship Troopers' star-on-the-rise, Casper Van Dien, is about to go native as Tarzan for Warner Bros. Tarzan Jungle Warrior. Van Dien follows superstars Christopher Lambert and Miles O'Keefe in the role. Did I say superstars? I meant guys who clean bars.

Jon Peters, who has produced a grand total of zero hits since Batman and he and his partner Peter Guber teamed up to lose billions for Sony, has decided repetition is the most likely formula for hitmaking. First, he set up the feature version of The Wild Wild West starring Will Smith. Then there's Superman Reborn, except with a wild-eyed lunatic (Nicolas Cage) as the Man Of Steel. Now he's ready to move on from old TV shows and comic books to classic films with The Trail, a remake of the 1956 John Ford classic, The Searchers, except it's set in space! What's next? A remake of Peters' Bonfire of the Vanities with funny jokes and a comprehensible plot?

Do you have any bad ideas for worse remakes? Email me.

Posted by THB Archive at 09:15 PM |

October 21, 1997

Don't Call Me John Travolta

No, it's not a personal thing. It's the title of a new film out of Singapore about a guy who wants a motorcycle that he can't afford. Inevitably, he turns to polyester and floors with colored lights. Isn't that what you'd do? Well, in Ah Hocks case, he is after $6,500 from the local dance contest. It's kind of The Full Monty in Singapore instead of England: both countries are suffering financial troubles and both films have men looking for innovative financing. Will Ah Hock win the dance contest? Will he end up sad on the subway? Will Sylvester Stallone make him wear a headband in a sequel? Get out your Chinese-to-English dictionary and watch for the film sometime next year.

Mira Nair has had to cut her film, Kama Sutra, repeatedly in order to have it seen in her native India. The English-language version may or may not have finally opened in Bombay last Friday after six months of wrestling with censors over nudity. The Indian-language versions of the film (in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu) are still awaiting clearance. The problem? Nudity! Here's a clue. It's the Kama Sutra, guys! You wrote it! You sold it to the world! There's stuff in there that can't be accomplished by circus performers! Who has time to worry about nudity when they're trying to do a half-gainer while tying their tongue into a bow? Making Kama Sutra without nudity would be like making Gone With The Wind without fire, Little Women without crinoline or The Bible without sheep. Can't do it.

Sometimes, DeNiro isn't enough. Out On My Feet lived up to its name on Friday by shutting down despite big-name Bobby D. and Boogie Nights sensation Mark Wahlberg. The boxing project had been running on fumes for weeks with paychecks for everyone from painters and set dressers to office staff going unsigned for about a month already. The culprit? Apparently, first-time producer David B. Pritchard who was "privately financing" the $9 million movie. That is, until his primary financier fell out. Hmmm. Better not write anymore about this if I want to keep my fingers.

Don't hesitate to email for tips on the art of good lovin' (no, not really!) or anything else that touches your hot button (yes, really).

Posted by THB Archive at 09:33 AM |

October 18, 1997

Jenny McCarthy and Crossover News

Jenny McCarthy and her boyfriend-manager Ray Manzella are squirming more than a buck naked blonde in a Playmate of The Year video these days. (Oh yeah, that was Jenny.) Now that Jenny's sitcom is breaking the wrong kind of ratings records, they are setting their sights on feature films, which has set off my Hot Button. Running out of media tricks (two weeks ago it was Manzella fighting for Jenny's equal opportunity to pass wind on network TV. Last week it was Jenny on every magazine cover proclaiming her new sophisticated self. Make up your mind, Ray!), they've dragged poor Dick Zanuck into their circus. "We are crazy about Jenny," Zanuck was quoted as shouting to Variety. "She's smart, funny, unaffected -- and, needless to say, good-looking!" The only problem with this move is that Dick's nose for talent is broken, as evidenced by a string of six straight flops, from Rush to Chain Reaction, since his Miss Daisy drove him to the Oscars in 1989. In actuality, I do think that Jenny has the star stuff, but she has to take a year or two off, find a boyfriend who doesn't take a percentage of anything but her body, and then come back calmly. Calmly.

In other crossover news, "The Drew Carey Show" is going The Full Monty with male cast members stripping to "Free Ride" for an upcoming episode. With this homage and take-offs of The Rocky Horror Picture Show and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert under its belt (so to speak), plus a new dance number seemingly every fourth episode, Carey's show is becoming the biggest purveyor of gag gimmicks since Ellen DeGeneres faked that whole lesbian thing. Oh? That was real? Ah. Then it's just her new breasts.

Elisabeth Shue is in talks to play Molly, an autistic girl who becomes a genius after receiving radical medical treatment, much to the surprise of her caretaking brother. Sounds like Rain Man with breasts and a happy ending. (This is becoming a theme column!) In real life, of course, Shue is a radical who's surprised people don't think she's a genius, taking care to let us know that medical treatment won't help her acting-autistic brother, Andrew.

If anything hits your Hot Button, Email me and let me know.

Posted by THB Archive at 08:57 PM |

October 15, 1997

Secret Agent Wednesday

The stories that Sony was in pursuit of the Bond franchise started last February. After a week or two of evasion, newly seated Sony Chief John Calley finally spoke to me about the situation and categorically denied that Sony was pursuing the Bond franchise. From all the tap dancing, it seemed that Calley had indeed been trying to leverage his relationship with Bond producer Barbara Broccoli (daughter of Cubby), with whom he had restarted the Bond engine at MGM/UA, the company he exited that is the long standing Bond rights holder. But the connection between Bond and UA was apparently too strong, legally or otherwise, to break. Story over.

But Calley was as smooth as Bond, stirred but not shaken, pursuing the back door entrance into Bondland, with producer Kevin McClory as the source of rights. McClory claims rights to the character based on his involvement in 1965's Thunderball, which he produced and co-storied. In 1983, he delivered Bond to Warner Bros. with Never Say Never Again, which remade the Thunderball story and was the start (along with Time Bandits) of Sean Connery's career resurrection. Guess who was head of production at WB when that happened. Calley!

The brewing legal bloodbath, centered around McClory's rights claim to the James Bond character, as opposed to his previous remaking of the one Bond property he had a hand in, should make December's Bond release, Tomorrow Never Dies, look G-rated in comparison. MGM/UA is, as it has been for years, in serious financial straits and Bond is the one plum in their pudding. In the meantime, call Calley Little Jack Horner, sitting in his corner with Men In Black winning last summer's box office race, Godzilla likely to win the summer of 1998 and an Astin Martin warming up in the garage.

And in the category of "more evasive, less important," Disney-based Interscope Communications will bankroll twin brothers Josh and Jonas Pate's third film, Earl Watt, to the tune of $50 million-plus. What's it about? The secret agent brothers won't say. Coyness from the twins whose first film was the direct-to-cable The Grave, described by TNT's very own Joe Bob Briggs as "Eleven dead bodies. No breasts. Bloody rabbit's foot. Pill poppin'. Embalming-table surgery. Aardvarking. Up-chucking. Baseball bat to the head. The old chained-to-the-floor-of-the-swamp-at-low-tide torture. Massive marijuana use. Multiple gravedigging. One brawl, with pitchfork. Finger rolls. Gratuitous Eric Roberts. Electric-chair fu." I'll tell you what, guys. Match the Coen brothers' first film (Blood Simple) or The Wachowski brothers' cherry-breaking Bound and you can be as mysterious as you want. In the meantime, you're just pissing me off.

If I have the same effect on you, email me. And you were all right. I am 67 percent possessed.

Posted by THB Archive at 08:40 PM |

October 14, 1997

Are You a Man-Hater or a Misogynist?

You have your choice with these two hot, hot, hot spec script purchases! You say it's too good to be true? Well, bite into Dog Eat Dog, a romantic comedy about a woman who hires a trainer for her dog and (get this!) her boyfriend. Wacky! And it cost Disney only $250,000 against $500,000. (Do you know what they call a great development exec? A Golden Retriever! Wacka-wacka!) But what about the misogyny, you ask? It's Sony, paying big bucks to Ben Ramsey and Michael McCant for their script, Waiting For That Bitch To Leave. I wonder why they changed the title to Natural Men. Must be the oppression of political correctness. Couldn't be that the guys who wrote it would be seen as flaming a-holes just for plastering that title on the front page of a script, could it?

Looks like Tom and Nicole are finally set to make I Married A Witch at Sony. My personal experience, albeit limited, with the big, red Nicole, tells me that this shouldn't be seen as a "rhymes with" title. But on titles alone, Tom's second movie as producer, partnered with Paula Wagner, may fuel rumors that their marriage is a Mission: Impossible. Meow.

Renny Harlin is almost set for Deep Blue Sea, which Warner Bros has coined "Jurassic-shark." Bio-medical engineers manipulate genetics to create a faster, smarter, more vicious shark so dumb rich guys can hunt them. And of course, it goes wrong. So wrong! (Look for the scene where the shark grows legs and walks past a video store with posters for Cutthroat Island in the window!) The film is racing with Disney's Megalodon about prehistoric sharks. Is prehistory anything before 1977? That's when Jaws came out. The more things change ...

Email me. Talk to Uncle Dave and tell him how you feel.

Posted by THB Archive at 08:28 PM |

October 08, 1997

It's Iffy Ideas Wednesday

First up is Frosty, Warner Bros' slowly melting live action/special effects project continues to send talent running for their rubbers. George Clooney passed on the opportunity to don the carrot and top hat. Next, John Travolta decided against becoming a three-balled hero. Then, Warner decided Independence Day star Bill Pullman wasn't a big enough star to carry a $53 million movie. Now, director Sam Raimi has left. Anyone getting the hint?

From the "Not A Spec Of Sense" department is Metalheads, United Artists' latest purchase for $600,000 against $1 million. UA is planning on making this a summer event film even though The Hollywood Reporter says the comedy's about "two misfit robots from outer space... sent to Earth to battle a sinister virus designed to wipe out mankind." Apparently, the studio wants to build on the last huge robot comedy, Andy Kaufman and Bernadette Peter's movie career swan song, Heartbeeps.

Paul Schrader meets James Ellroy in 8mm, the next film from writer Andrew Kevin Walker (Seven) and Batwrecker, Joel Schumacher. The film, about a detective who snoops a little too far into the snuff film business for his own good, follows in the "who can be meaner" streak of films currently represented by Kiss the Girls. Schumacher, whose work with the subject of sex consists of rubber Bat-nipples, Jason Patric's hair and Jim Carrey in a leotard, may be looking for scripts in all the wrong places. Pass.

Don't forget to email me when something hits your hot button.


Posted by THB Archive at 09:18 PM |

October 02, 1997

Geena Davis in Talks for Sailor Moon

Geena Davis is in talks to be first on board Disney's live-action version of the Japanese TV anime, Sailor Moon. The show is about teenage girls with super powers and enormous eyes, leaving Davis to the role of evil Queen Beryl, who is trying to destroy the earth. The Hot Button suggests a cast of actresses who can still pretend to be teens and who have eyes so large that they appear to be human incarnations of velvet paintings of unhappy clowns and orphans: Winona Ryder, Heather Graham, Elizabeth Shue during her The Saint period, and the late, great Marty Feldman, resurrected and in drag for this important cinematic achievement.

O.J. Simpson prosecutor Christopher Darden got married last week to Rysher Entertainment exec Marcia Carter. Within hours of the nuptials, Darden was claiming that the failure of such Rysher films as A Smile Like Yours, The Evening Star, White Man's Burden, Dear God and Turbulance (this is the short list, folks!) was the responsibility of O.J. Simpson. When reminded that Simpson was in court while these films were developed, Darden blamed Judge Ito. He then claimed that releasing studio Paramount was playing the Dud Card, when they released the films in theaters instead of prisons. It's OK, Chris. It's over man! You can stop making excuses.

First Joe Eszterhas' poison pen letter to Hollywood, Alan Smithee: Burn Hollywood Burn, had its very own director, Arthur Hiller, yank his name off the film, replaced by the traditional "I-Don't-Want-To-Be-Associated- With-This-Crap" psuedonym, Alan Smithee. Now, it's been pushed by distributor Disney all the way until next March, and even then, is scheduled for just a 20-city test release. Irony rears its ugly head, as the film about getting screwed in Hollywood gets screwed for the most traditional reason in Hollywood; the film stinks and no one wants to see it.

E-Mail Dave with the issues that get your button hot!

Posted by THB Archive at 08:16 PM |

September 27, 1997

Superman may live, but not until 1999

After 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.

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Posted by THB Archive at 07:19 PM | | Comments (0)

September 24, 1997

Manhattan is Looking Pretty Dangerous These Days

In the last week, Fox 2000 paid $3 million for The Cobra Event, a story about a killer who releases a deadly virus in Manhattan and the female pathologist who fights the airborne virus and catches the murderer. And Miramax Films purchased So Shoot Me, a comedy about two club-hopping hedonists, Kat and Kitten, who find happiness by catching the Supermodel Serial Killer of Manhattan. As though a virus could survive the New York air or kill a Supermodel.

The U.S. Postal Service has announced that Dracula, The Mummy, The Wolf Man, The Phantom of the Opera and The Frankenstein Monster will all be seen on stamps, starting Oct. 1. In Los Angeles, long-jaded to movie monsters, the classic creatures will be replaced by Christian Slater, The Implant, Charlie Sheen, The Phantom of The Mini-Mall and Steven Seagal, the bolt-knecked monster raised from obscurity by Dr. Michael Ovitz.

Producer Jason Kliot says he's obtained access to shoot a film in Vietnam for the first time since the war. Three Seasons is expected to shoot in Nam in late October with Harvey Keitel as the star. The Vietnamese may not understand why a story about a naked pianist who seduces mute women, cleans up after hit men who screw up and grunts a lot, set in Brooklyn, New York, has to shoot in Vietnam. Huh? It's not about that? It's about a G.I. who returns to Vietnam in search of a daughter born out of a liaison with a Vietnamese woman? Oh well. I bet Harvey still grunts a lot.

E-Mail Dave with the issues that get your button hot!

Posted by THB Archive at 06:59 PM |

September 20, 1997

Cary Granat is the New President of Miramax's Dimension Films

Granat has been credited with his work on Scream, From Dusk Till Dawn, Mimic and the hood spoof, Don't Be a Menace... But Menace was primarily the project of former Dimension V.P. Helena Echegoyen, as was Rhyme and Reason and love jones (her last project at New Line). Her exit this spring not only marked a change of the color guard at Miramax, but left Hollywood without a single African American holding a V.P.-or-better post at any studio.

On the brighter side, the Screen Actors Guild reports that ethnic minority actors have increased their stake in Hollywood in each of the past five years, topping out at 20.7% of all speaking roles last year -- an all-time high. And a few of those roles could actually be performed without a gun or the use of the "F" word.

Meanwhile, even in the future, Laurence Fishburne is being cast as a slave fighting for freedom. In Keanu and Laurence's Excellent Adventure, a.k.a. Matrix, the future is run by computers which trick the world into thinking it's still the 1990s. (If I had to relive another decade of Gen X, I'd kill myself) Mr. Fishburne plays Morpheus, leader of the freedom fighters who recruit Reeves' character to help retake control. And a dumb white man shall lead them!

In ethnicity-
free news, if you are in San Francisco and you love horror movies, you can check out Body Snatchers: The Musical this month. If it succeeds, we'll all be looking forward to Jason On Ice and Robert Englund in Hello, Freddy. ("You're lookin' dead, Freddy! Open head, Freddy!")

Finally, reports of Jabba The Brando making A Civil Action with John Travolta were premature. Robert Duvall will re-team with his Phenomenon co-star since "the deal" for Brando couldn't be worked out. Something about three tons of M&Ms with all the brown ones taken out. Rock on, Marlon!

E-Mail Dave with the issues that get your button hot!

Posted by THB Archive at 09:17 PM |

September 19, 1997

The Sixth Sense, Wide Awake, The Age Aquarius

In an era where everyone is complaining about star salaries, Disney found a new level of bizarre by paying $2.25 million for Sixth Sense, a horror script about a child psychologist. Even better, the deal gives the director's chair to first-timer M. Night Shyamalan, who wrote the film. Unlike other writers who have demanded a directing gig, Shyamalan has no writing track record, with his first major feature, Wide Awake, due from Miramax on Oct. 17. And there's more! The $2.5 million fee will comprise about 20 percent of the film's overall budget, a bigger piece of the budgetary pie than $20 million action stars like Arnold get. This may be the stupidest financial deal this writer has ever heard of in Hollywood. No joke.

The new Harrison Ford film, The Age Aquarius, changed plans to shoot in Israel for three weeks next month when someone figures out that Israel could be dangerous. Also on the Genius Insight travel advisory list was the fact that the French don't like us, the British can't cook and Italian men may pinch your wife's buttocks. Stay tuned for more important updates.

Andy Vajna is buying half The Terminator sequel rights at $7.5 million from Carolco Liquidating Trust, the executor of the bankruptcy that Carolco founder Vanja left behind to start Cinergi Pictures. But, Vanja's Cinergi isn't the one buying the rights, because that company is self-liquidating to avoid bankruptcy after making too many losers, like The Color of Night, Judge Dredd and The Scarlett Letter (not to mention weak returns on Evita). So, if you have a few hundred million lying around the house, invest in Andy. Only this time, the Indecent Proposal will be paying Demi Moore $12 million to appear in a costume drama and you're the one that gets screwed.

Bruce Willis and Demi Moore did their best to shock the world at this year's Emmy Awards when Bruce gave a big hello smooch to Ellen DeGeneres while Demi did likewise with Anne Heche. More shocking still would have been the trio of Willis, Moore and Heche not finding a way to steal headlines form the people who actually won Emmys.

E-Mail Dave with the issues that get your button hot!

Posted by THB Archive at 09:07 PM |

September 18, 1997

Leonardo DiCaprio Will Soon Play Theodore Hall

The little-known teen genius biophysicist who participated in the making of the first atom bomb and then passed the info on to the Soviets in an attempt to create nuclear weapons parity. Fortunately for DiCaprio, besides being a genius and traitor, Hall was also a skinny, brooding, long-haired teen with a tendency to hyperactivity who screamed at the top of his lungs unintelligibly whenever having a strong emotion. Talk about a coincidence!

Ford model Nacho Arenas is directing a movie. Let that linger in your mind for a moment. Nacho is directing a movie. Nacho! To prove that models are exclusively on the Fernandoesque "It's better to look good than to act good" platform, he's hired alleged actors Maxine "I Lived With Ed Burns" Bahns, Ashley "I Married Shannon Doherty And Angie Everhardt" Hamilton and A. J. "I've Screwed Up My Career As A Gossip Columnist, But My Two Day Growth Looks Really Cool" Benza to star.

Shawn and Marlon Wayans get their civil rights violated in small town America in the comedy, My Kinda Town. When their successful lawsuit bankrupts the tiny town, the duo takes ownership of the town. The first thing they do is create a law forcing all the other citizens to mug at the camera, walk funny and make wild sounds in order to try and get a laugh.

Speaking of jurisprudence, reports are that Marlon Brando is looking to work opposite John Travolta in writer/director Steven Zaillian's film of the non-fiction novel, A Civil Action. The big question is whether Brando is attracted to the project because he thinks the role of corporate counsel to Beatrice Foods is the kind of great role that will bring respect to the tail end of his career or whether he's just looking for a corporate discount.

E-Mail Dave with the issues that get your button hot!

Posted by THB Archive at 08:28 PM |

September 17, 1997

Jodie Foster is set to direct and produce Flora Plum

Jodie Foster is set to direct and produce Flora Plum. Disney describes the picture as All About Eve set in a circus atmosphere. Some sample dialogue: Flora: "Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night!" Ringmaster: "That isn't the night. The elephants just walked through here!" OR Flora to the elephants: "I'm still not to be had for the price of a salted peanut!"

READER HOT BUTTON DU JOUR:
From Amy Taylor of the Northwest: One "Hot Button" I personally have, is spec scripts such as Cowboys and Aliens, or Earth Dick (no, not soft porn!), being purchased for six figures. I bet my 8-year-old could come up with a better idea than those, or at least a better title! In all honesty, however, I am certain if they were my clients, I would have laughed all the way to the bank!

Thanks for your thoughts, Amy. You'll be thrilled to read the next item.

The Thunderbirds is being prepped as a live-action film based on the hit 1960s U.K. TV series that featured marionettes as 21st century space heroes. The Hot Button's wooden casting suggestions: Jason Patric as Anyone Who Has To Talk, Shaquille O'Neal as Anyone Who's Not A Freak, Matthew McConaughey as Anyone Smart and Marky Mark Wahlberg's prosthetic device from Boogie Nights as The Ultimate Force Of Nature.

E-Mail Dave with the issues that get your button hot!

Posted by THB Archive at 08:24 PM |

September 12, 1997

ARE YOU MOCKING ME?!?!

Combine the hip L.A. wannabes from Swingers with Sling Blade's Karl "Killer" Childers and what do you get? A blood-soaked lounge act or a job directing a big Hollywood movie. Nicholas Goodman got the former, landing a directing gig for Paramount based on his three minute-long parody Swing Blade. I wonder whether Paramount would have hired him if he'd mocked the studio's summer misses and missing blockbuster, Titanic, with Addicted To The Event Movie On The Horizon.

Speaking of Swingers, writer/star Jon Favreau is giving up his "Friends" dream of being the Ultimate Fighting Champion to go back to the typewriter to adapt the Po Bronson book about the early days of Silicon Valley, The First 20 Million Is Always the Hardest. Seems like no one can make a career out of sleeping with Courtney Cox. Michael Keaton hasn't been seen in a while, Favreau's back behind the typewriter and Tom Selleck's playing second banana in the closet comedy In & Out.

Art Brown and Tracy Fraim are also trying to ride the parody train to the director's chair. In their parody, Eating Las Vegas, the hero goes to Vegas to eat himself to death. In Vegas, the buffets never close. His hooker girlfriend in this one is bulimic, leading to some explosive (and messy) love scenes. The creators of the film already have a foot in the Hollywood door as writers of an upcoming Drew Barrymore movie, but like their parody's female lead, what they really want to do is project.

Finally, Julia Roberts has agreed to keep smiling in movies, this time opposite Hugh Grant in an untitled project from the team that made Four Weddings and a Funeral. Roberts will spoof herself, playing "the biggest movie star in the world" who walks into Grant's quiet bookstore-owning life. Hugh's second-most famous date's asking price is around $10 million -- about 500 thousand times more expensive than his most famous conquest.

E-Mail Dave with the issues that get your button hot!

Posted by THB Archive at 08:07 PM |