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September 30, 1997

Casting About - Val Kilmer, Matthew Broderick, Albert Brooks

Val Kilmer will collect $9 million to play a blind man who will try experimental surgery to restore his sight in the romance, Sight Unseen. Funny, I've assumed he's been blind for years. I mean, he couldn't have actually read the scripts for Island of Dr. Moreau or The Saint, could he? He was just reading all the zeros on his Braille paycheck.

Matthew Broderick is back in high school, only this time he's a teacher in Election. Karmicly enough, he has a student he hates; she's no Ferris, but a goody-goody played by Reese Witherspoon who is running unopposed for student council president before Broderick creates an opponent for her. The film is being made under the MTV banner. It's their third effort after Joe's Apartment got flushed down the toilet after scurrying for cover when exposed to the light.

Albert Brooks has joined the cast of Out of Sight, number 397 in the current string of Elmore Leonard-based movies. Brooks is the victim of a heist by an all-star line of bad guys, including George Clooney, Jennifer Lopez, Ving Rhames, Don Cheadle and Dennis Farina. Leonard is quickly becoming the next in the line of succession started by Stephen King and followed by John Grisham. Soon to be heard at a theater near you - "If there's one more preview for a movie with quirky, quick-witted bad guys who aren't really bad compared to society's white-gloved criminals and who look great in their underwear, seducing the girlfriend of the really bad bad guy so we root for them even though they spend the entire movie killing people and preparing to rip people off, I am going to scream!"

The Whole Picture delves into the dark side of entertainment journalism this week.

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

Posted by THB Archive at 07:44 PM |

September 16, 1997

Robin Williams Has Set his Next Project,

Robin Williams has set his next project, The Interpreter. The light-hearted comedy about a schlub who interprets rather than translates in tense international negotiations might as well be called Flubber 2, following his expected hit Thanksgiving release. Ironically, when Robin was in negotiations to play The Riddler in Batman Forever four years ago, I asked him why he wanted the part. He said, "If I don't play a bad guy soon, I'm going to become f***ing Fred MacMurray!" No word on whether the Double Indemnity remake is on his "To Do" list.

The Full Monty will be the first late-summer release to go all the way to profitability. Even though the film's gross has just hit $6 million, it should pass $15 million in the next two or three weeks, putting the film into the black considering a $3 million production cost and an estimated $8 million P&A (Prints & Advertising) budget. On the flip side, G.I. Jane, September's top drawer (with silk stocking in it?), is in its fourth week with a $39 million total, making it a poor bet to even match its production costs in domestic box office, though it will certainly be profitable in the long worldwide run. Naked fat guys everywhere rejoice!

Speaking of G.I. Jane, what was with the men in short shorts and hairless legs? Despite Moore's pointedly feminine physique, Ridley Scott's vision of the S.E.A.L.S was more about beefcake than a Chippendale's video.

You think it's easy to be in the movie business? MGM, formerly the lion of Hollywood, has been singing in red ink for the last five years to the tune of $1.7 billion. Yes, billion with a B. Even last year, with The Birdcage and Goldeneye on the release list, MGM dropped $90.5 million. Fortunately, studio chief Frank Mancuso has taken home almost $30 million in salary and stock in that same five years. Makes Michael Eisner's paycheck look pretty reasonable, huh?

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

Posted by THB Archive at 08:19 PM |

September 10, 1997

Sylvester Stallone was the first "victim" of celebrity paparazzi bashing last week.


Sylvester Stallone was the first "victim" of celebrity paparazzi bashing last week. In Venice, Italy to promote the launch of a new Planet Hollywood, Stallone did his usual pose for cameras, but noticed an unfamiliar flashbulb-free atmosphere. The photo hounds were apparently responding to Stallone calling their breed "birds who sit on tombstones" and complaining about "constant harassment." No need to worry there. The big confrontation, in this regard, will take place at The Peacemaker premiere when the most outspoken paparazzi critic of all, George Clooney, strikes a pose.

John Waters has signed T2 kid star Edward Furlong to play "Pecker" in his new movie for Fine Line Features. The story seems pretty autobiographical for Waters and won't be the comedy equivalent of Boogie Nights by Fine Line's parent, New Line, which features a fake 15" replica of Furlong's character's namesake. Look for the MPAA to try to give Pecker an NC-17 rating unless Waters changes the title to Richard. Production starts next month in Baltimore.

From the Greed Is Good Dept.: Forbes ranked the total gross income of show folk once again. Sadly, Oprah Winfrey is going to have to cut back on the purchase of third world nations as she tumbles from first to third with just $201 million. The profitability of the Star Wars re-release rocketed George Lucas from off the list to number two with $241 million. And Steven Spielberg beats the black woman with (isn't it ironic?) Men In Black and Cute Dinosaurs Who Eat People 2 (a.k.a. The Lost World) bringing him to $313 million. Others on the list include David Copperfield with $85 million, proving that it isn't magic that gets Claudia hot. Paupers Tom Cruise, Arnold Schwarzenegger and Harrison Ford had to settle for $82, $74 and $72 million. It's hard to work on a salary. And Mel Gibson's 18th ranking ($59 million) is right next to Sigreid & Roy's $58 million, showing that a gay-basher can stand next to gay men proudly, so long as there's an eight-figure payday involved.

Posted by THB Archive at 07:56 PM |

September 06, 1997

Drew Barrymore, Jeremy Irons, Hugh Grant

Drew Barrymore has jumped into the precocious blonde producers' pool. With a new two year first-look deal at Fox 2000 (if the name fits...), Drew's shown Silverstone-like insight choosing her first Fox project, Born To Shop. Producer Barrymore will play a shopaholic who gets hit by a bus and comes back from the dead to enlist her best shopping pal in the search for the perfect parents for her rebirth on earth. (No, I did not make that up!) Let's hope Drew isn't about to become just another flash-on-the-desk.

Jeremy Irons is playing the censorship card, claiming that the U.S. distributors are withholding distribution of Adrian Lyne's version of Lolita due to its content. The film, based on the Nabakov classic is about a XXXXXXXXX God XXXXXXXXX implants XXXBarry ManilowXXXXXXXXX virgin XXXXXX dead enemas XXXXXXXX karaoke XXXXX love. Rough Cut takes a dim view of censorship and is proud to stand up for our principles!

Obsesses With Sundance must be the new Chief of Connecticut's Mashantucket Pequot Indian tribe. They announced this week that the tribe, which operates a casino that brings in $1 billion a year, will produce Naturally Native, a "sort of Indian version of The Brothers McMullan," according to screenwriter/co-director Valerie Red-Horse. No word yet on whether Red-Horse will give a starring role to her girlfriend who can't act. Or to Lauren Holly.

Hugh Grant will star in Columbia's American Neurotic, which centers on a compulsive womanizer who is unable to commit to any single woman. (Write your own joke here.)

Posted by THB Archive at 01:14 PM |