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4 articles from 1998

16 February 1998 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

An effort to resurrect the critically acclaimed L.A. Confidential (1997) had only so-so results. The film earned $2.5 million at 814 screens, or about $3100 per screen. "It's not a picture that has a wide appeal, " Art Rockwell of Rockwell Capital Management told the Associated Press Sunday. "It was not handled right to begin with in terms of marketing. It's been very well reviewed ... but it isn't the kind of film that plays well in the rural areas." The top-ten films, according to industry estimates provided by Exhibitor Relations:1. Titanic (1997), Paramount-20th, $27.5 million; 2. Wedding Singer, The (1998), New Line, $18.5 million; 3. Sphere, Warner Bros., $15.2 million; 4. Good Will Hunting (1997), Miramax, $8.2 million; 5. As Good As It Gets (1997), TriStar/Sony $6.5 million; 6. Borrowers, The (1997), Polygram, $4.8 million; 7. Replacement Killers, The (1998), Sony/Columbia, $4.3 million; 8. Great Expectations (1998), Fox, $3.4 million; 9. Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), Universal, $3.2 million; 10. Wag the Dog (1997), New Line, $2.75 million.

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10 February 1998 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Meanwhile, the smashing success of Titanic (1997) has touched off much talk about how it might affect the studios' future strategy, with many in the industry predicting copy-cat films. Director Stephen Herek (Mr. Holland's Opus (1995), 101 Dalmatians (1996) ) told today's USA Today: "The problem with Hollywood is that everybody tries to look for a formula, but if anybody tried to guess based on Titanic, they'd probably be wrong." Echoed producer Brian Grazer (Apollo 13 (1995), Liar Liar (1997) ): "The studio guys love to play it safe. Studios try to find a trend." Referring to director James Cameron, Grazer added: "The only lesson to be learned from Titanic is to trust somebody who has a really strong vision, who is talented and has an enormous amount of passion." In fact, USA Today commented, the movie appears to destroy many of Hollywood's old formulas, including these: 1. "A three-hour movie is too long to be a blockbuster;" 2. "Men rule the box office;" 3. "The teen audience isn't what it used to be;" 4. "Young moviegoers will not go to a period drama;" 5. "It's dangerous to open a movie the same weekend as another blockbuster" (Titanic opened on the same weekend as the latest James Bond offering, the most successful in the franchise's history); 6. "Getting advance press about your cost overruns and record budget is bad." Final box-office results for last weekend, according to Exhibitor Relations: 1. Titanic (1997), Paramount-Fox, $23 million; 2. Replacement Killers, The (1998), Sony/Columbia, $8 million; 3. Good Will Hunting (1997), Miramax, $6.8 million; 4. Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), Universal, $6.1 million; 5. Great Expectations (1998), Fox, $5.3 million; 6. As Good As It Gets (1997), Sony/TriStar, $5 million; 7. Spice World (1997), Sony/Columbia, $4 million; 8. Wag the Dog (1997), New Line, $3.4 million; 9. Desperate Measures (1998), Sony/TriStar, $3.0 million; 10. Deep Rising (1998), Disney/Hollywood, $2.5 million.

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9 February 1998 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

For the first time in eight weekends, Titanic (1997) did not top $25 million at the box office; it took in "only" $23.2 million. "Titanic Loses Some Steam, (but Very Little), " headlined today's (Monday) Los Angeles Times. The estimated total (final figures will be released later today) brought Titanic's domestic gross to date to $337.5 million and pushed it past Forrest Gump (1994) into fourth place among the highest-grossing films of all time. (In an interview with today's USA Today, Paramount publicist Blaise Noto predicted that Titanic will surpass Jurassic Park (1993) at number three on the all-time list next weekend.) Analysts noted that the film could get a big boost Tuesday when Oscar nominations are announced. The number-two film at the box office, Replacement Killers, The (1998), featuring Chow Yun-Fat, was far behind Titanic with $8.1 million. Miramax's Good Will Hunting (1997) finished third with about $6.8 million, bringing its 10-week total to $68.2 million. Universal's Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) opened with a lackluster $6.5 million for fourth. The Associated Press today quoted Universal marketing exec Alan Sutton as saying, "Given the competitiveness of the marketplace, we're very pleased that Blues Brothers 2000 (1998) was one of the weekend's top films." The top ten films for the weekend and their estimated grosses: 1. Titanic (1997), Fox-Paramount, $23.2 million; 2. Replacement Killers, The (1998), Sony/Columbia, $8.1 million; 3. Good Will Hunting (1997), Miramax, $6.8 million; 4. Blues Brothers 2000 (1998), Universal $6.5 million; 5. Great Expectations (1998), Fox, $5.5 million; 6. As Good As It Gets (1997), Sony/TriStar, $5.1 million; 7. Spice World (1997), Sony/Columbia $4 million; 8. Wag the Dog (1997), New Line, $3.5 million; 9. Desperate Measures (1998), Sony/TriStar, $3 million; 10. Deep Rising (1998), Disney, $2.4 million.

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6 February 1998 | From Studio Briefing | See recent Studio Briefing news

Hong Kong superstar Chow Yun-Fat is getting high marks from critics for his first English-language film, Replacement Killers, The (1998). The film itself is not. "How do they say 'cheesy' in Hong Kong?" asks Eleanor Ringel in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Jami Bernard in the New York Daily News faults director Antoine Fuqua, whose previous specialty had been music videos. "He is in over his eyeballs on his directorial debut, " writes Bernard. Likewise Chris Vognar in the Dallas Morning News criticizes Fuqua for trying to jam "the chiseled square peg of Mr. Chow's Hong Kong persona into the round hole of Hollywood formula." But Betsy Sherman in the Boston Globe thinks the film is "viscerally and technically, a knockout job, " although she concedes that "its limited story elements keep it from having dramatic appeal beyond its genre."

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4 articles from 1998