Familiar Faces Return for 'Survivor: All-Stars'
Much of the fun of "Survivor" lies in watching the players adjust to unfamiliar situations.
This time, though, the competitors know the game all too well.
Eighteen participants from the past seven editions are back in "Survivor: All-Stars," which gets a post-Super Bowl premiere Sunday, Feb. 1, on CBS. Moving to its regular time slot on Thursday, Feb. 5, executive producer Mark Burnett's unscripted series allows returning host Jeff Probst to show how much he already knows about the contestants ... who include some of the winners of past "Survivor" rounds.
Ready to try again off the coast of Panama to "outwit, outplay (and) outlast" the others for the $1 million grand prize are: Rudy Boesch, Richard Hatch (the winner), Sue Hawk and Jenna Lewis of the original "Survivor: Pulau Tiga"; Amber Brkich, Alicia Calaway, Colby Donaldson, Jerri Manthey and Tina Wesson (the winner) of "Survivor: The Australian Outback"; Tom Buchanan, Lex van den Berghe and Ethan Zohn (the winner) of "Survivor: Africa"; Rob Mariano and Kathy Vavrick-O'Brien of "Survivor: Marquesas"; Shii Ann Huang of "Survivor: Thailand"; Rob Cesternino and Jenna Morasca (the winner) of "Survivor: The Amazon"; and Rupert Boneham of last fall's "Survivor: Pearl Islands."
"The way I cast this was really sophisticated: I took a yellow legal pad and started writing down names," producer Burnett muses. "I came up with 24 [players who we wanted back], then realized I couldn't have that many, so I started taking people off the list. Two people wouldn't or couldn't do it. Elisabeth [Filarski Hasselbeck, of 'Survivor: The Australian Outback'] was about to get her chance to be on ABC's 'The View,' and she made a great choice by not going away since she got that job. Colleen Haskell, from season one of 'Survivor,' said she had just had enough and didn't want to go through it again."
After whittling away four more potential returnees, Burnett had no doubts the remaining 18 would be up for weekly challenges and Tribal Councils again. "I was surprised I even got one 'no,' to tell the truth. When I'm casting, I look for people who primarily are seeking adventure, and who secondarily want the money and the fame. These are people who realize how lucky they were to spend six weeks on an island with no telephone, no newspapers and no TV, really living like Robinson Crusoe. It's very hard but very fun."
While "Survivor: Pearl Islands" gave the Emmy Award-winning franchise a fresh twist by adopting a pirate motif, Burnett feels "Survivor: All-Stars" also adds a new spin by pitting veterans of the contest against one another. "Every year," he says, "people ask me, 'Once you know the game, how can it be any good anymore?' Things like 'Joe Millionaire' flopped their second time out, but 'Survivor' has gotten better like a fine wine, and so has the psychological game. Players have learned it from watching the show on TV or, in the case of 'Survivor: All-Stars,' from both TV and their previous experience of playing the game."
The initial behavior of the "all-stars" confirmed that Burnett has done his "Survivor" job right. "On the first day," he reports, "they were all very nervous, not knowing what was going to happen and not trusting anyone else. They'd seen so many twists and turns in the previous seasons, they didn't know if the game was going to start while they were on the airplane flying to the location. They were literally twitching. [Jenna Lewis] wouldn't let go of her sleeping bag for one minute -- not even when she went to the bathroom -- in case the game started right then."
Probst's exchanges with the "all-stars" are guaranteed to be edgier than in his initial encounters with them, since he clearly adopted a sassier approach during "Survivor: Pearl Islands." Burnett promises "major, major fireworks this time, because Jeff's not putting up with any shenanigans. He's always been that way, but you just hadn't seen it on TV. It took a while for some people to get comfortable with the idea that Jeff was entitled to have an opinion, as opposed to being an impartial newsman type, and I pushed and pushed until they allowed us to show that."
Also the originator of the "Eco-Challenge" competition, the England-born Burnett is involved as well with "The Apprentice," NBC's unscripted series that stars Donald Trump. Later this year, Burnett will launch a second season of "The Restaurant" on NBC, and he also has the Las Vegas-set "The Casino" in the works for Fox. However, none of those shows has gotten to inherit a traditionally huge Super Bowl audience like "Survivor" has.
"I feel very fortunate that [CBS programming chief] Leslie Moonves gave me that launching pad," Burnett says, "and I hope I've earned it with the last seven 'Survivors.' I did cast this newest one off the top of my head, but if you've watched the show, all your favorite people are back."
REAL JEOPARDY
TV quizmeister Alex Trebek managed to escape injury Friday after he fell asleep at the wheel of his pickup truck and went airborne. The Jeopardy! was making his way to his farm in central California.
'You Got Served' Dances to Box Office Win
LOS ANGELES - Recently split teen R&B band B2K put the moves on the box office as its dance flick "You Got Served" debuted at No. 1 with $16 million.
The other new wide releases debuted weakly over Super Bowl weekend, typically a slow time at theaters as movie-goers stay home Sunday for the big game.
"The Perfect Score," featuring Scarlett Johansson and Erika Christensen as part of a group of teens swiping the SAT exam, was No. 5 with $5 million, averaging an anemic $2,264 in 2,208 theaters.
Owen Wilson's comic crime caper "The Big Bounce" bombed with $3.3 million, finishing at No. 12 and averaging just $1,439 in 2,304 cinemas.
All three movies received harsh reviews, yet "You Got Served" managed to pull in the teen crowd on the strength of B2K's popularity. Playing in 1,933 theaters, "You Got Served" averaged a healthy $8,277.
The movie exceeded the box-office expectations of Sony, whose Screen Gems banner released "You Got Served."
"It's one of those movies that flies beneath the radar, then suddenly, it's at No. 1," said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. "It just shows when you go after that teen audience, it's an audience that definitely has power."
The movie stars Omari "Omarion" Grandberry — who left for a solo career a month ago — and B2K members Jarell "J-Boog" Houston, DeMario "Raz-B" Thornton and Dreux "Lil' Fizz" Frederic as part of a Los Angeles street-dance crew.
Many of last week's key Academy Awards nominees got a boost at the box office as audiences began catching up with contenders before the Feb. 29 Oscar ceremony.
"The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," the leader with 11 nominations and the front-runner for best picture, held up strongly with $5.3 million, raising its domestic total to $345.3 million.
That makes it the top-grossing installment of "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy, lifting it past the $341.7 million domestic haul of 2002's "The Two Towers." "Return of the King" also has passed "Finding Nemo" ($339.7 million) to become the highest-grossing movie released in 2003.
Best-picture nominee "Mystic River," which went back into wide release the previous weekend, added a few dozen more theaters and took in $4.4 million, pushing its total to $64.9 million.
Jeff Goldstein, general sales manager for "Mystic River" distributor Warner Bros., said the movie has padded its take by $9.5 million since it widened to more theaters in anticipation of the Oscars. The studio figures the awards run could boost the film's take by as much as $20 million, he said.
"It's been out there for 17 weeks with all the critical acclaim, but now with the Oscars, people feel they've missed something, so rather than waiting for it on home video, they're going out to see it now," Goldstein said.
Two other best-picture nominees, "Lost in Translation" and "Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World," expanded back into wider release.
"Lost in Translation," which comes out on video Tuesday, took in $2.2 million, raising its gross to $37.5 million. "Master and Commander" added $2.3 million to push its total to $87.8 million.
The fifth best-picture contender, "Seabiscuit," already is out on video.
"Monster," which scored a best-actress nomination for Charlize Theron, went into its widest release yet, doubling its theater count to 668 and collecting $3.1 million to lift its total to $10.6 million.
Here are the estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.
1. "You Got Served," $16 million.
2. "Along Came Polly," $10.1 million.
3. "The Butterfly Effect," $9.95 million.
4. "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," $5.3 million.
5. "The Perfect Score," $5 million.
6. "Big Fish," $4.6 million.
7. "Cold Mountain," $4.53 million.
8. "Win a Date With Tad Hamilton!", $4.5 million
9. "Mystic River," $4.4 million.
10. "Cheaper by the Dozen," $4.1 million.
CBS Apologizes for Jackson's Exposure
NEW YORK - CBS apologized on Sunday for an unexpectedly R-rated end to its Super Bowl halftime show, when singer Justin Timberlake tore off part of Janet Jackson's top, exposing her breast.
"CBS deeply regrets the incident," spokeswoman Leslie Anne Wade said after the network received several calls about the show.
The two singers were performing a flirtatious duet to end the halftime show, and at the song's finish, Timberlake reached across Jackson's leather gladiator outfit and pulled off the covering to her right breast.
The network quickly cut away from the shot, and did not mention the incident on the air.
Timberlake said he did not intend to expose Jackson's breast.
"I am sorry that anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance of the Super Bowl," Timberlake said in a statement. "It was not intentional and is regrettable."
Wade said CBS officials attended rehearsals of the halftime show all week, "and there was no indication any such thing would happen. The moment did not conform to CBS' broadcast standards and we would like to apologize to anyone who was offended."
The Super Bowl halftime show, which also featured P. Diddy, Nelly and Kid Rock, was produced by MTV, CBS' corporate cousin in Viacom.
"We were extremely disappointed by elements of the MTV-produced halftime show," Joe Browne, NFL executive vice president, said. "They were totally inconsistent with assurances our office was given about the content of the show.
"It's unlikely that MTV will produce another Super Bowl halftime."
MTV issued a contrite statement, saying the incident was "unrehearsed, unplanned, completely unintentional."
Miramax's Weinstein Blames Oscar Snub on Timing
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Miramax Films co-chairman Harvey Weinstein was quoted on Sunday as blaming the timing of the release of "Cold Mountain" for the film's failure to win an Oscar nomination in the best picture category.
In interviews with Time and Newsweek, Weinstein said he opened the highly acclaimed Civil War epic starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law at Christmas time so that Oscar nominations would fuel box office sales.
"With the early (Oscar voting) this year, we fell short. There's a lot to do for Academy members and I don't know how many members we got to. We just plain ran out of people who had seen this movie," Weinstein told Time Magazine, which hits newsstands on Feb. 2.
But "Cold Mountain" did win seven other Oscar nominations from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences including best actor for Jude Law and best supporting actress for Renee Zellweger.
It is the first time in 12 years that Walt Disney Co.'s Miramax does not have a best picture nominee at the Oscars but the studio still racked up the most nominations of any studio -- 15 -- for the third year in a row.
Citing the fact that the Oscars will be held in February this year instead of March, Weinstein told Newsweek, "I think the whole positioning of movies has changed because of this." Other than "Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King," every best-picture nominee was released prior to December, he said.
As a result, Weinstein said Miramax would move up the release of J.M. Barrie's "Neverland" starring Johnny Depp to October and would aim to release Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator" in November instead of late December.
Weinstein also told Time that he will be directing his own film "pretty soon, probably the fall." He said the script is finished and the film will be produced by Martin Scorsese and Anthony Minghella, who directed "Cold Mountain."
Pats Win Super Bowl on Another Late Kick
HOUSTON - Once again, the New England Patriots have Adam Vinatieri's foot to thank for a Super Bowl victory. Vinatieri gave New England its second NFL championship in three seasons with a 41-yard field goal with 4 seconds left for a thrilling 32-29 victory over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night.
Vinatieri earlier missed a field goal and had another one blocked. But as he did in 2002 when he kicked the winning field goal to beat St. Louis on the final play of the Super Bowl, he proved he is perhaps the NFL's best clutch kicker.
For a contest that was scoreless for a record 27 minutes, this game was one of the all-time offensive shows between two of the NFL's best defenses.
There were 37 points scored in the fourth quarter alone and Tom Brady, who led New England on its winning drive, was 32-of-48 for 354 yards and three touchdowns.
Brady was voted the game's MVP for the second time in three seasons, although he did throw an interception that prevented New England from winning more easily.
"There have been some heart attacks, but they've come out on top," said coach Bill Belichick, whose team won its 15th straight game.
Carolina had tied the game at 29 with its third fourth-quarter TD on a 12-yard pass from Jake Delhomme to Ricky Proehl with 1:08 left. Then John Kasay kicked the ball out of bounds to give New England field position at its own 40.
Brady moved the Patriots 37 yards in six plays, hitting Deion Branch to set up Vinatieri's winning kick.
"I looked up and it was going right down the middle," he said.
The kick prevented the Super Bowl from going into overtime for the first time ever.
The Patriots led 14-10 at the half, and after a scoreless third quarter, they made it 21-10 on the second play of the fourth on a 2-yard run by Antowain Smith. It capped an eight-play, 71-yard drive featuring a 33-yard pass from Brady to tight end Daniel Graham.
Carolina wasn't about to give up, though, scoring on DeShaun Foster's 33-yard run on a six-play, 81-yard drive. But the 2-point conversion pass was behind Muhsin Muhammad and it was 21-16. The decision to go for 2 would come back to haunt coach John Fox.
The Patriots seemed ready to put the game away when they got the ball back, but Brady made a rare mistake — throwing an off-balance pass that Reggie Howard intercepted in the end zone.
Two plays later, Delhomme found Muhammad behind the New England defense for an 85-yard score, the longest play from scrimmage in Super Bowl history, to give the Panthers a 22-21 lead with 6:53 left. Fox again went for the 2-point conversion and failed.
Brady came back with the TD pass to linebacker Mike Vrabel with 2:51 remaining, and Kevin Faulk ran in for the 2-point conversion to give New England a 29-22 lead.
About two minutes later, Delhomme and Proehl hooked up to tie the game, setting up Vinatieri's heroics.
The game was scoreless longer than any previous Super Bowl — nearly 27 minutes.
Then the teams got going — 24 points in the final 3:05 of the first half that left the Patriots with a 14-10 lead.
New England dominated that dormant period and finally took a 7-0 lead on the first of two 5-yard TD passes by Brady. The quarterback found Branch after Vrabel had sacked Delhomme, forcing a fumble and giving New England the ball at the Carolina 20.
At that point, New England had outgained Carolina 125 yards to minus-7, and Delhomme was 1-of-9 for 1 yard and had been sacked three times.
But the Patriots' touchdown seemed to wake up the Panthers. Delhomme led Carolina on a 95-yard drive, tied for second longest in Super Bowl history, capping it with a 39-yard TD pass to Steve Smith, who beat Tyrone Poole in single coverage. That tied it at 7-7 with 1:14 left in the half.
Brady came right back, hitting Branch for 52 yards behind Ricky Manning Jr. to set up the second 5-yard TD pass, this time to Givens.
Carolina wasn't finished, either.
Vinatieri squibbed the kickoff and Kris Mangum returned it 12 yards to his own 47. With 12 seconds and a timeout left, the Panthers crossed up the Patriots by handing the ball to Stephen Davis, who rushed 21 yards to the New England 32.
After a timeout, Kasay kicked a 50-yard field goal to close the half.
New England looked as if it might get off to a quick start, shutting down the Panthers on their first possession, then moving to the Carolina 13 after Troy Brown's 28-yard punt return.
But Vinatieri's 31-yard field-goal attempt was wide right. It was only the third time he had missed indoors in 34 attempts, all of them in Houston.
The Patriots continued to keep the Panthers backed up.
Carolina got its first first down with just over 2 minutes left in the first quarter on a holding penalty on New England's Ty Law but had to punt three plays later. Carolina's defense held up its end — Will Witherspoon ended another Patriots threat by dumping Brown for a 10-yard loss on a reverse to take New England out of field-goal range.
With just under 9 minutes left in the second quarter, the Patriots reached the Carolina 38. Brady's third-down sneak was barely stopped, then Antowain Smith barely got the 6 inches on fourth down, a spot that was upheld on replay.
The Patriots reached the 18, but Vinatieri's 36-yard attempt was blocked by Shane Burton.
Three plays later, Vrabel stripped Delhomme and Richard Seymour recovered.
On third-and-7, Brady, the self-described "slowest quarterback in the league," scrambled up the middle to the 5. On the next play, he found Branch in the end zone for the game's first score.
Its Time To Discuss Star Wars Again.
The Rebel Scum fan website is reporting that in recent presentations at London's Toy Fair event, Lucasfilm marketing partner TLC Marketing revealed once again that Lucasfilm plans to release Episodes 4, 5 and 6 on DVD format in October or November of 2004. This is just one more piece in a puzzle that's now growing very large and surprisingly clear. Lucasfilm and 20th Century Fox aren't commenting on the rumors about the DVD release of the original trilogy, but our industry sources are just giving us too much independent confirmation that the release is in the works. We feel very confident now that it's the real deal - that the Star Wars films ARE finally coming to DVD later in 2004.
Just to update you, we've heard a variety of rumors in terms of what might be included on the set, but the rumours seem to indicate that they'll be released as a 4-disc set, with 3 movie discs (1 for each film) and a disc of bonus materials, much like last year's Indiana Jones Trilogy DVD release.
Lucas has repeatedly said not to expect the original versions of the films on DVD, so we're betting on the much-rumored "Archive Editions", which would basically be the Special Editions released in the 1990s, only with further tweaks, changes, enhancements and additions to bring them more into line with the new prequels. Still, the list of specific changes that's been circulating around the Net for a few months reads more like a fanboy wishlist, so it should probably be considered dubious at best. I suspect we won't know anything more until the titles are officially announced.
Speaking of that, IF this DVD release is really happening (and keep in mind that for all our sources - and the widespread information being reported around the Net - this is STILL only a rumor), Lucasfilm would probably want to announce the release sooner rather than later, to give retailers and marketing partners enough time to gear up for it. It would easily be the biggest DVD release of 2004, and arguably one of the biggest (if not THE biggest) releases of all time for the format. By comparison, Lucasfilm announced the November 4th, 2003 DVD release of the Indiana Jones Trilogy on May 5th of last year (the street date was later moved up to October 21st). That's 6 months of lead time. If Lucasfilm holds true to that with the announcement of Star Wars, assuming a September-November window (has as been rumored), that would mean that we could reasonably expect the official announcement sometime between now and May.
Rent Control
The stream of Oscar hopefuls continues with the latest contender to get a DVD announcement, the dark drama The House and Sand and Fog.
DreamWorks Home Entertainment will give this one a rather speedy trip to video, debuting the Ben Kingsley and Jennifer Connelly starrer on March 30th, only a little more than three months since its theatrical bow.
Presented in anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1, extras include an audio tracks. Bonus materials include an audio commentary by director Vadim Perelman, novelist Andre Dubus III and Kingsley, five deleted scenes, Oscar nominee Shoreh Aghdashloo's audition tape, a featurette and trailers.