HERE'S 'JOHNNY'
EVEN a spy as clueless as Austin Powers knows he has no shortage of rivals. In the past year alone, we've encountered juvenile spies ("Spy Kids 2: Island of Lost Dreams"), maverick spies ("The Recruit"), deluded spies ("Confessions of a Dangerous Mind"), African-American spies ("Undercover Brother") and, of course, the ultimate spy ("Die Another Day").
This Friday, we'll meet a spy who began life in a credit card commercial.
The bumbling, over-confident British secret agent of "Johnny English" was originally a character named Richard Latham created by rubber-faced Brit comic Rowan Atkinson in the early 1990s for a hugely popular series of TV ads for England's Barclays Bank.
"[The ads] were only one minute long but they had the feel and the scale and the tone of a proper spy movie," says Atkinson.
"And we liked the comedy of the central character and we liked the dynamics between him and his sidekick, Bough. We always thought that we might like to make a movie based on those characters, and that's exactly what we've done."
Atkinson's English is a junior desk-bound agent who is elevated to Number One spy after his ineptitude results in the demise of every other agent in the British Secret Service.
With the assistance of his partner, Bough (Ben Miller), and undercover Interpol agent Lorna Campbell (Australian pop star Natalie Imbruglia, making her feature film debut), he must stop fiendish French businessman Pascal Sauvage (John Malkovich) from becoming king of England.
Atkinson, best known in the U.S. for 1997's "Bean," believes the nationality of the villain will help "Johnny English's" fortunes in America, where there is still lingering resentment over France's opposition to the Iraq war.
He's also the first to admit "Johnny English" - which has already raked in $120 million at the international box office - owes a debt to the mythology of 007.
Neal Purvis, who penned the screenplays for the last two Bond films - "The World is Not Enough" and "Die Another Day" - is a co-writer on the film, whose trailers promise "Bean meets Bond."
And - obscure trivia alert! - Atkinson himself once appeared in a Bond film, as a whining embassy official who gets thrown into a pool by Sean Connery in 1983's "Never Say Never Again."
While "Johnny English" is no James Bond film, not by a long stretch, Atkinson believes that, in terms of scale and tone and size, it's more a James Bond film than "Austin Powers."
While comparisons between "Johnny English" and "Austin Powers" are inevitable, the two spy comedies do occupy different ground.
Mike Myers' Austin Powers is an American parody of the British super-spy, its hero existing in an oversexed, pop-psychedelic alternate universe; Johnny English is a minor British Secret Service Agent who takes his work very seriously, and the world of MI-7 is his milieu.
And where the three PG-13-rated "Austin Powers" movies rely heavily on sexual innuendo and toilet jokes for their humor, the squeaky-clean and chaste "Johnny English" is aimed firmly at the eight- to 12-year-old market.
But there is one thing they have in common: There's already talk of a "Johnny English" franchise.
Disney Sets Sail on 'Pirates' Sequel
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Eager to unearth more buried treasure now that "Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl" raised its flag high at the box office this past weekend, the Walt Disney Co. is already talking of setting sail on a sequel to the theme park ride-inspired feature.
In anticipation of the film's success, Disney had already made sequel arrangements with such key cast members as Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, as well as with the behind-the-scenes duo of producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director Gore Verbinski. And the studio has also begun talks with "Pirates" scribes Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio about drafting a sequel, though no specific story line has yet been set.
Since its opening last Wednesday, "Pirates" has earned more than $78 million, including a $46.6 million opening-weekend take that easily won last weekend's box office battle.
File-sharing dips after threats
LOS ANGELES -- Use of several Internet file-sharing services declined the week after the music industry threatened to sue online music swappers, according to data from an Internet tracking firm.
Kazaa and Morpheus -- two popular file-swapping services -- had 15 percent fewer users during the week ending July 6, Nielsen/NetRatings said Monday. The decline translates to about 1 million fewer users on Kazaa. About 41,000 fewer users signed on to Morpheus and the iMesh file-sharing service that week.
The firm tracks a specific number of people who sign on to the services from home and extrapolates the data to estimate how many people use the services at least once in a week.
"With the negative publicity and threat of steep fines, some surfers appear to be backing off," said Greg Bloom, a senior Internet analyst with the firm. "However, with millions of loyal users, these applications aren't likely to go off-line in the near future."
Bloom said the data so far merely suggests a possible link between the threat of lawsuits and the apparent dip in file-sharing traffic. And seasonal factors, such as the holiday weekend, could also skew any trend. A better determination will be possible when all the data is in for July, he said.
The Recording Industry Association of America, which represents the major recording companies, said last month the industry would soon begin suing individuals engaging in online music file-swapping.
Record companies blame music downloading and CD burning for lagging sales in recent years and hope that by going after users directly, they curb traffic to the sites.
StreamCast Networks, the company behind the Morpheus software, said it had not detected any decline in user traffic.
"What we're seeing is that users are actually staying on the Morpheus client longer per session," StreamCast CEO Michael Weiss said. "We can pretty much tell usage by our bandwidth, and our bandwidth has been pretty constant."
Sharman Networks, which owns Kazaa, said fluctuations in user numbers is common.
"Aside from normal seasonal drops experienced on the Internet, we regularly see fluctuations in the number of users online, and there are numerous factors that play a part in these cyclical changes, but they are rarely permanent," the company said.
TV series can live long and prosper on DVD
By Mike Snider, USA TODAY
Despite being a self-described DVD junkie, Michael J. Fox had not noticed how the video stores he frequented had become inundated with hardcover-book-size DVD collections of TV series.
So the actor was surprised when DreamWorks called seeking his help in creating one for Spin City, in which he starred from 1996 to 2000. "I was napping when this whole TV-shows-to-DVD thing got started," he says.
Fox, 42, who won an Emmy for his role as deputy mayor Michael Flaherty, picked 22 favorite Spin City episodes from his four years on the show. Then the studio taped his comments about each one as an extra for the DVD release. "We had so much stuff going on in the show," Fox says. "It was fun trying to recall it."
The two volumes — each has two discs and sells for $22.95 — arrive in stores Aug. 26, adding to the latest rage in home video, TV DVDs. Spin City fits perfectly into the trend, he says. "It was obviously popular enough to be on for six years, but it was never a breakout hit. So the upside is that it leaves it open for discovery."
Television studios have discovered that series need not live on only in syndication these days. A wave of shows reborn on DVDs began in May 2000 with the arrival of complete first-season sets of Sex and the City ($40) and The X-Files ($150).
Since then, the flow of series to DVD has turned into a flood. The 222 released so far this year are closing in on the 264 released all last year. Sales of TV DVDs are outpacing all other categories, too, says Video Store magazine, accounting for 10% of all sales last year (about $870 million), up from about 6% ($300 million) in 2001.
In addition to improved video quality, "TV DVDs are just so highly collectible and their success reflects the American passion for television," says the magazine's director of research, Judith McCourt. She predicts that TV DVD sales will easily surpass $1 billion this year. "You can own your absolute favorite TV series or one you may have missed or one you want to have your children watch."
TV DVD choices include:
• Classics such as All in the Family, I Love Lucy and M*A*S*H (the Season Four three-disc set, out this week, $40).
• More recent faves Friends: Season 4 ($45, this week) and ER: The Complete First Season (Aug. 26, $60).
• Fringe series such as Transformers, Son of the Beach and The Man Show (just out, $30).
In fact, it seems as if no show is too small for DVD. "Time will tell if it is a short-lived novelty," says Scott Hettrick, editor of Video Business and home entertainment editor for Variety. "But for now, just about everything is selling at some level. Until the surge in interest subsides, studios are rapidly putting anything and everything they have on DVD."
After its early successes, HBO tested the depths of DVD devotion last year with Mr. Show: The Complete First and Second Seasons ($35), a two-disc collection of the late-night comedy show (1995-1998) starring little-known comedy writers David Cross and Bob Odenkirk. The sales "told us there might not be a mass audience out there but there is definitely a core audience," says HBO's Cynthia Rhea. A third season set ($35) is out Aug. 26.
Other studios are branching out, too. Last year The Osbournes ($30) and Felicity ($60) sold well enough to make Disney's Buena Vista "feel a lot more comfortable about what we can bring out on DVD," the studio's Gordon Ho says. Due Tuesday are Alias Season 1 ($70) and Felicity: Season Two ($60), and classic soap operas General Hospital and All My Children are being prepared for release next year.
Studios won't release sales figures on individual DVDs, but Video Store magazine market research estimates that The Simpsons — Season 1, the best-selling TV series on DVD so far, has sold nearly 2 million copies — still way short of best-selling movie DVDs such as Spider-Man (12.7 million) and Shrek (10 million).
But TV DVDs are holding their own. "If you look at our top 25 on any given day you will see Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Simpsons and Stargate," says Stefan Pepe, group manager for DVD/Video at Amazon.com. "Customer demand for these titles is just like that for large theatrical ones."
TV DVDs can play various roles in studio strategies. Universal will cross-promote the six-disc Battlestar Galactica: Complete Epic Series set (out Oct. 21, $120) and the SciFi Channel's new Battlestar Galactica miniseries Dec. 7. Buena Vista is quickly releasing Alias Season 2 Dec. 2 to get fans caught up with the series during its third season.
And Universal has started to release individual DVDs with pilot episodes for series such as Monk, Law & Order: Criminal Intent and Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Eventually, full sets will be released, but "there might be people who want to try a show rather than buy the whole thing," the studio's Ken Graffeo says.
While many beloved series have found a new home on DVD and on viewers' shelves, a few holdouts such as Seinfeld and Northern Exposure remain — but not for long. DVD releases are in the works for both series. They are among the most requested DVDs on Amazon.com. Also in the works: Jon Lovitz's animated The Critic, King of Queens andBarney Miller.
And studios have begun to pack TV DVDs with the kind of extras buyers have come to expect on their movie discs. Felicity: Season Two has an unreleased original version of the series' pilot. CSI — The Complete Second Season (Sept. 2, $70) has commentaries and more short features, including one with technical adviser Elizabeth Devine.
ER: The Complete First Season has interviews with co-creators Steven Spielberg and Michael Crichton. Fox's The X-Files SeasonSeven ($150) features Gillian Anderson's first commentary and the 24 Season Two set (Sept. 23, $70) has an entire disc of extras.
The first-season DVD set for 24 had just an alternate ending and an introduction from star and producer Kiefer Sutherland. But during the second season, "we had a (DVD) crew capturing stuff on the set from day one," Fox's Steven Feldstein says.
"You now find producers of TV shows trying to keep in mind material that would be potentially interesting for the DVD," Ho says.
For Spin City, DreamWorks enlisted Fox because "we wanted to really tap into his personality and his insight into the making of that series," DreamWorks' Kelly Sooter says.
The disc also has information about Fox's research foundation for Parkinson's disease. Fox was diagnosed with the disease in 1991.
As for a Family Ties DVD, Fox says, "I imagine if this trend continues, someone could get around to that." The best episodes from the series' six years, 1982-1989? "I'd just pick the ones my wife (Tracy Pollan) was in," Fox says.
Madonna to Star in Gap Ad Campaign
NEW YORK - Madonna will be the new face for Gap's fall multimillion dollar ad campaign.
Gap spokeswoman Claudia Hawkins would give few details on the campaign, set to break July 28, other than to say the campaign also features rap star Missy Elliott.
Over the past several years, Gap has enlisted a diverse group of celebrities for its advertising, including actors Christina Ricci, Anjelica Huston, and Dennis Hopper. But experts believe signing the pop icon is the biggest coup yet for the retailer, which needs additional buzz to continue its turnaround.
"This is the coolest idea. Madonna has kept her image fresh," said Mike Toth, president and chief creative director for Toth Brand Imaging, a brand and advertising company with offices in New York and Concord, Mass.
Toth said the pop icon will resonate well with the group that the chain wants to bring back to the stores — shoppers in their 30s and early 40s.
Madonna hasn't done a lot of commercials for products, though she endorsed Pepsi several years ago, said her publicist Liz Rosenberg.
And why Gap? "Why not Gap?" Rosenberg asked, noting that Madonna wears the clothes.
Madonna is also set to do some tie-ins with Gap to promote her children's book, "The English Roses," due out Sept. 15. Rosenberg declined to offer details.
After two years of disappointing sales, Gap started seeing business bounce back last fall with a return to the more basic fashions that fueled the company's expansion during the 1990s.
Gap announced in May a significant improvement in its first-quarter earnings. The company reported $202.5 million in profits for the three months ended May 3 — five times higher the year-earlier period.
Neil Young Surveys 'Greendale'
NEW YORK (Billboard) - Neil Young has set an Aug. 19 release for his next Reprise album, "Greendale."
The 10-song set chronicles the life and times of the Green family, residents of the fictional town from which the album takes its name. "Greendale" will be bundled with a bonus DVD of Young performing the album in sequence during a recent solo acoustic show in Dublin.
In his review of the show for Billboard.com, Nick Kelly said the Green family seemed to "represent the best of America -- they're by turns kind, loyal, creative, rebellious, and self-possessed. We heard tales of Grandma and Grandpa Green and it's almost as if we were back on Sugar Mountain or at home with the Waltons."
Young is backed on the album by Crazy Horse drummer Ralph Molina and bassist Billy Talbot. The artist is right at home as the all-knowing narrator of the stories, which run the gamut from "Carmichael" (where one character murders a policeman after being caught with drugs in his car) to "Bandit," marked by the bittersweet lament: "someday you'll find everything you're looking for."
"Greendale" will also exist as a stand-alone film, directed by Young under his alias Bernard Shakey. No dialog is included in the movie, which features a number of Young's family members and such longtime associates as musician Ben Keith and "Greendale" album co-producer L.A. Johnson. Young himself cameos as entertainer Wayne Newton.
The "Greendale" film will premiere in September at the Toronto Film Festival and will be released as a separate DVD in the fall. The "Greendale" acoustic concert will air on local cable television stations in more than 100 markets in August, as well as on DirecTV.
On the same day "Greendale" is released, Reprise will reissue the long out-of-print Young albums "On the Beach," "American Stars 'N Bars," "Hawks & Doves" and "Re.ac.tor," which were originally slated for June 24.
Young and Crazy Horse are in the midst of a summer North American tour, which hits Auburn, Wash. Wednesday. Young will also play Farm Aid on Sept. 7 in Columbus, Ohio.
Not Just For Completeists!
Paramount has just announced the DVD release of the 2-disc Star Trek V: The Final Frontier - Collector's Edition on 10/14.
The disc will include the film in anamorphic widescreen video, Dolby Digital 5.1 audio, audio commentary by director/star William Shatner and Liz Shatner (his daughter and author of Captain's Log, William Shatner's personal account of the making of the film), another text commentary by Michael Okuda and Denise Okuda, numerous behind-the-scenes featurettes (including Herman Zimmerman: A Tribute, Original Interview: William Shatner, Cosmic Thoughts, That Klingon Couple and The Green Future?), Harve Bennett's pitch to the sales team, The Journey documentary, make-up tests, a look at pre-visualization models, a look at the abandoned "rock man" costume, video of a press conference for the film, deleted scenes, theatrical trailers (including the teaser and theatrical trailers, as well as the trailer for The Complete Adventures of Indiana Jones), storyboard art and a gallery of production photos.
Don't forget, a 2-disc edition of Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country is being prepared for release early in 2004.