HBO - not just TV anymore
NEW YORK (AP) - The people at HBO Films have a rooting interest at the Cannes Film Festival this week. A film they bankrolled, Gus Van Sant's Last Days, is among the 20 competing for the prestigious Palme d'Or.
The story based on Kurt Cobain's descent toward suicide will be in movie theatres this summer and probably won't be seen on America's channel HBO for at least a year.
Making movies for theatres would seem counterintuitive for a premium cable channel, but it's a strategy that HBO Films is following on select titles to burnish its reputation and direct attention to projects that may otherwise be overlooked.
HBO and New Line Cinema announced in March that they had formed a new company to distribute films theatrically, acquiring the Newmarket Films distribution system.
"I hope it's a way of saying to filmmakers that there are a multitude of ways you can work with HBO," said Colin Callender, president of HBO Films. "It is sort of one-stop shopping. This furthers the notion that we're not constrained by traditional forms."
The risk for HBO lies in alienating subscribers who pay a monthly premium for the service and expect original films as part of the deal. Callender said the majority of HBO films will still premiere on the cable channel.
HBO first tried this approach in 2002 with Real Women Have Curves, a movie about a Mexican-American woman's struggle to get a college education in spite of her traditionalist family's desire she get a husband instead. It was made with an unknown cast and likely to get lost in a year HBO had a full slate of films coming out.
To get some attention, HBO took the movie to the Sundance Film Festival. It won two audience awards, and Callender was approached by people who wanted to release it theatrically.
At first he balked. Then, after thinking it over, he decided to give it a try. He saw a marketing opportunity with a shortage of films for adults in the theatres.
It was a success in the indie film world, grossing $6 million US after costing less than $4 million to make. Real Women Have Curves took the traditional route out of the theatres, appearing first on DVD and pay-per-view before finally debuting on HBO more than a year after movie fans could buy a ticket to see it.
When it finally came on HBO, it had a track record of success and drew more interest from subscribers than it would have if it had appeared new on television, he said.
And it had already made the company a profit.
HBO Films has since gone to theatres first with American Splendor, starring Paul Giamatti in the role of comic book writer Harvey Pekar; Van Sant's Elephant; and Maria Full of Grace, which earned Catalina Sandino Moreno a best actress Oscar nomination for her portrayal of a heroin smuggler.
In terms of reputation, most HBO films are worthy of being played in a theatre, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of Exhibitor Relations, a firm that tracks Hollywood box-office results.
For the general public, a theatrical release gives a movie "an aura of prestige," he said.
"I think a lot of people will be looking at this to see if it works," Dergarabedian said. "For small movies, it's a way to get the movies seen by a lot of people."
The most obvious candidates for a theatrical release are indie-type films likely to succeed through critical acclaim and word-of-mouth. Big concept, or star vehicles, are more suited to cable - where Empire Falls, packed with names like Ed Harris, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Helen Hunt and Paul Newman, will debut May 28.
Generally, HBO premieres about six to eight original movies a year. One or two go first to theatres, although that may be stepped up next year.
"We were and continue to be very conscious of our obligation to and unwritten contract with subscribers that we would provide them with exclusive and original movies," Callender said. "We had always resisted going out theatrically because it seemed at odds with that promise."
To use a business term in vogue, HBO is looking for ways to extend the brand. It makes a big difference that, particularly after the Newmarket deal, the company knows the movies will be released under the HBO Films banner.
It has tried other ways to give its movies more attention and circulation. Earlier this year, HBO agreed to let PBS air three of its current events-oriented movies, including Dirty War, a month after they appeared on the premium service. Rerun rights to the miniseries about the 1980s AIDS crisis, Angels in America, were sold to Logo, the gay and lesbian-oriented network that is to debut next month.
Someday HBO might try debuting a film on the network on a Sunday, for instance, and put it into theatres the following Friday, he said.
If HBO is lucky, Callender will face more dilemmas similar to the one he had this winter.
He was in a Los Angeles area movie theatre, where a chiefly black test audience was watching Lackawanna Blues. The Halle Berry-produced film about a Pennsylvania rooming house during the final days of segregation was to debut on HBO a few weeks later.
The test scores were among the highest he had ever seen. Callender panicked. Did he make a mistake scheduling it for HBO? Should it be in theatres?
He took over running a focus group discussion that he had planned to watch from behind a screen.
Participants advocated both viewpoints.
"In the end we went ahead with doing it on HBO," he said, "because we had done all the groundwork and to take it off would, in some sense, break that promise with viewers."
Rolling Stones tour announcement anticipated
The Rolling Stones are expected to announce plans for a new tour during a Tuesday (5/10) press conference that will originate from New York City's famous Julliard School of Music.
Though the band hasn't officially tipped its hand as to what Tuesday's announcement will be, various news reports say that a live telecast and performance is planned.
Earlier this year, Boston officials approved plans for major concerts on Aug. 21 and 23, which are widely expected to be the shows that launch a Stones world tour predicted to run well into 2006. The Stones' last outing was the 2002-2003 "Licks" world tour, which played to more than 3.4 million fans and grossed nearly $300 million, according to Amusement Business.
The outing will include a stop at the New Charlotte Arena in North Carolina, home to the NBA's Bobcats, the Charlotte Observer reported. That show reportedly will take place prior to U2's Dec. 12 concert at the same venue.
CBC news reported this week that the Stones are planning an early September outdoor show in Moncton, New Brunswick. Promoters are quoted as predicting that the show, at the 60,000-capacity Magnetic Hill concert site, will be the largest concert ever held in Atlantic Canada.
Charlottesville, VA's Scott Stadium is also expected to host a show, according to local news reports.
Earlier this year, producer Don Was told liveDaily that he was working with the Stones on a new album that is expected to hit stores later this year. Meanwhile, Virgin Records recently issued re-issued versions of two best-of albums from the Stones, "Sucking in the Seventies" and "Made in the Shade."
Report: NBC Makes Play for '24'
LOS ANGELES (Zap2it.com) It's a secret, last-second twist worthy of Jack Bauer: NBC is reportedly angling to poach the drama series "24" from rival FOX.
FOX and 20th Century Fox TV, which produces "24," are currently negotiating a license fee for renewal of the thriller, which stars Kiefer Sutherland as counterterrorism agent Jack Bauer. The show's current license agreement expires after this season.
At the 11th (or 23rd, maybe, in this case) hour, though, NBC has made it known that it would love to bring a fifth season of the series of the show to its airwaves. "I can tell you that NBC has not been shy about expressing their interest in '24,'" a source who requested anonymity tells the New York Post.
NBC's reported interest comes despite the fact that the network and studio are both units of News Corp., which would seem to make the Peacock's odds of wresting the series from FOX pretty slim. Even disregarding the corporate connection, it seems unlikely that FOX would let one of its better-performing series go.
Nearly 12 million people per week are watching "24," which unfolds in real time over the course of 24 hours, this season, a marked improvement over last season's average of 10.2 million. The jump is even more impressive considering that "24" had ratings juggernaut "American Idol" as a lead-in for much of last season, whereas this year it's had to be more of a self-starter.
The broadcast networks are less than two weeks from announcing their 2005-06 lineups at the upfronts; NBC's presentation is scheduled for Monday, May 16, with FOX's set for three days later.
Jennifer Garner's Baby on Board
Jennifer Garner's next alias: mommy.
The Alias star is expecting her first child, E! Online and E! News have confirmed.
Multiple sources close to Garner and beau Ben Affleck say the actress is three months along. News of the pregnancy comes just two weeks after several published reports claimed the couple were engaged.
According to E! Online columnist Ted Casablanca, Affleck flew Garner's kin from West Virginia to California in April for his leading lady's 33rd birthday party. The question subsequently was popped in private, Casablanca reported.
At the time Affleck's rep, Ken Sunshine, described said reports as "garbage." On Saturday, Sunshine declined to address the baby news, saying "I never comment on [Affleck's] personal life." There was no immediate word from Garner's camp on the pregnancy or whether a ceremony was in the offing.
Despite having a baby on board, Garner is still keeping to her schedule this summer. Her next big-screen project, Columbia Pictures' romantic drama Catch and Release, begins its two-month shoot next week in Vancouver. The film costars Kevin Smith, Juliette Lewis and Timothy Olyphant and marks the directorial debut of Erin Brockovich screenwriter Susannah Grant.
But Garner's November due date could prove tricky for the Alias brain trust. While ABC's spy thriller is wrapped for the season (the finale airs May 25), the show has been picked up for the fall and is slated to resume production in July. Now, producers must decide how to deal with Garner's pregnancy, either by incorporating it into the show (remember, Sydney's eggs were harvested last season) or just try to hide it. Then again, considering the show's sky-high slinky outfit-to-episode ratio, a burgeoning belly would be hard to conceal. Further complicating matters, Garner performs most of her own stunts.
Affleck, 32, and Garner costarred on screen together before coupling off--he was Daredevil to her Elektra in 2003's Daredevil. (His cameo in this year's Elektra wound up on the cutting-room floor, but is preserved for posterity on the DVD.)
They finally went public with their much-rumored romance last fall at the World Series, when she was spotted snuggling Red Sox diehard Affleck at Boston's Fenway Park. Their pairing was alternately dubbed Garfleck and Bennifer II.
But unlike the original Bennifer tandem of Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, the all-new edition prefers to fly under the radar. The World Series appearance aside, Garner and Affleck have generally managed to eschew being photographed together at red-carpet events.
Garner was previously married to Felicity costar Scott Foley. They split in 2003, and their divorce was finalized in March 2004. They didn't have any children.
The never-wed Affleck previously was engaged to Lopez. That relationship ended with the scuttling of their September 2003 nuptials.
SITH HAPPENS
'HOLD me, Anakin! "Hold me like you did by the lake on Naboo!" Oh boy.
Yes, Natalie Portman really says that to Hayden Christensen in the new "Star Wars" movie, "Episode III: Revenge of the Sith."
And yes, the audience snickered when they heard that verbal clunker at a screening on Tuesday - even though they were watching the movie on George Lucas' home turf, in the theater on his Marin County, Calif., hideaway, Skywalker Ranch.
Not that Lucas cared.
"Dialogue is not my thing," Lucas freely admits, adding, "I don't like writing, and I don't like scripts."
And if fans mock the overheated love story between doomed Padme Amidala and even more doomed Anakin Skywalker, "it's not my job to make people like my movies," Lucas says.
If that sounds contemptuous, keep in mind that by following his own muse, Lucas has built the most envied film franchise ever. The five previous "Star Wars" movies have grossed more than $3.4 billion worldwide, not to mention the $9 million in sales of DVDs, video games, plastic lightsabers and Yoda Pez dispensers.
And while Lucas may not like scripts, he loves spectacle - and "Episode III" has that in spades.
"Sith" offers the best "Star Wars" visuals yet, with a stunning opening dogfight, a spider-like Sith villain who fights with not one but four lightsabers, and - best of all - a remarkably lifelike Yoda. Plus, for the first time since "Return of the Jedi," we have a "Star Wars" story that we can follow, with almost no references to tariff disputes and only one line for that perennial laughing stock, Jar Jar Binks.
In "Episode III," Lucas is finally telling the story - in which Anakin completes his journey to the dark side by betraying his teacher, Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Padme, and turning into the arch-villain Darth Vader.
"This is where you see Anakin undergo change. It's what I wanted to play in the last movie," Christensen says. "It was good to get out there finally and do it.
"I had a lot of fun going over to the dark side."
DARK SIDE OF THE FORCE
In other words, this is the first "Star Wars" prequel that, spots of bad dialogue aside, is a must-see. And on some subconscious level, perhaps even Lucas knows it.
"I noticed a significant change with him on this movie," Christensen says. "This time around, he was genuinely passionate about the story he was telling.
"He would get so excited. He was up from behind the monitors on every take, talking to the actors, getting into it."
Watching "Episode III," you'll finally understand what Lucas has said all along - that the "Star Wars" saga is less Luke Skywalker's story than his father's.
"You learn that Darth Vader isn't this monster," Lucas says. "He's a pathetic individual who made a pact with the devil and lost.
"Now when you see Darth Vader walk into that ship at the beginning of 'Episode IV,' you'll go, 'Oh, that poor guy! He's still in the suit!'"
Even though everyone goes into "Episode III" already knowing that Anakin will turn into Darth Vader - "it's as predictable as 'Titanic,'" says producer Rob McCallum - Lucas has a lot of fun getting there (and those who want to be surprised should skip to the next section).
At the beginning of "Sith," the Clone Wars are in full swing. The good and democratic Galactic Republic is crumbling under the strain and in the chaos, a new dictator is rising, the Republic's Supreme Chancellor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid).
Our heroes - Yoda, Obi-Wan and the rest of the Jedi Knights - are still fighting on Palpatine's side, but they're growing more and more distrustful of him, with the notable exception of Anakin, who worries the Jedi Council with his close friendship to the chancellor.
Eventually, the Jedis realize that Palpatine is even worse than they suspected - he's actually Darth Sidious, the leader of the anti-Jedi Sith knights, who use the Force for evil. Along the way, we're treated to a groovy new bad guy (the computer-animated droid Gen. Grievous), a major battle involving an army of Wookiees including our old friend Chewbacca and a climactic 20-minute lightsaber duel between Anakin and Obi-Wan on the planet of volcanoes, Mustafar.
SOUND AND VISION
"Episode III" also takes "Star Wars" to darker places than it has ever gone.
There are some surprisingly harsh moments in the movie, including a genuinely upsetting massacre of Jedi "younglings" by none other than Anakin, who just a few years ago was an adorable youngling himself.
Thanks to these rougher bits, the movie carries a PG-13 rating, unlike the other five, which were all PG.
This hard-core stuff might frighten young fans who discovered the franchise through "Phantom Menace," but they'll probably thrill older fans who have missed the rock 'n' roll edges of the original trilogy. Although Lucas famously refuses to read fan Web sites, he knows those people are out there.
"There are certainly fans who wish 'Episode III' had been 'Episode I,' and than the rest of the movies had been Darth Vader going around cutting people's heads off and terrorizing the universe," he says.
"But I'm not interested in that story. I'm interested in a character study of Anakin."
That might surprise those who have accused Lucas of caring more about cutting-edge special effects than the sassy characters who gave the original trilogy its heart.
But from Lucas' point of view, "movies aren't about words. They're about telling a story with images and motion and music."
'Kingdom of Heaven' Tops Box Office
LOS ANGELES - The epic battle tale "Kingdom of Heaven" fought its way to the top of the box office, taking in $20 million in its debut weekend, but the film did little to boost slumping revenues at the start of the summer movie season.
The film by "Gladiator" director Ridley Scott features heartthrob Orlando Bloom as a warrior in Jerusalem between the Second and Third Crusades. The R-rated movie was followed in the rankings by another new R-rated movie, "House of Wax," which brought in $12.2 million, according to studio estimates Sunday.
"Kingdom of Heaven" features Bloom as blacksmith-turned-warrior Balian who joins his knightly father in Jerusalem. The film also features Liam Neeson as Balian's father, the knight Godfrey of Ibelin, as well as Jeremy Irons and Brendan Gleeson.
"House of Wax," featuring Elisha Cuthbert and Paris Hilton in a remake of the Vincent Price horror tale, is the latest from producer Joel Silver's Dark Castle Entertainment.
The other notable new movie this weekend was "Crash," which features Don Cheadle, Sandra Bullock, Matt Dillon and rapper Chris "Ludacris" Bridges in intertwining stories examining racial stereotypes in Los Angeles. The R-rated film played in 1,864 theaters and finished fourth with $9.1 million.
"The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" dropped to third place with nearly $9.13 million after debuting last weekend at the top spot.
Hollywood's box office slump continued with revenues down for the 11th straight weekend compared with the same weekend last year, said Paul Dergarabedian, president of box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations.
The top 12 movies grossed $76.9 million, down 24 percent from last year at this time when "Van Helsing" and "Mean Girls" were the top movies.
"It was quite an underwhelming week," Dergarabedian said. "This is theoretically the first weekend of the summer and it doesn't feel like one."
Though "Kingdom of Heaven" pulled in $20 million, it paled in comparison to other recent blockbusters that opened during the first weekend of May, Dergarabedian said. "Van Helsing" opened last year with a three-day haul of $51.7 million, while "X2: X-Men United" opened in 2003 with $85.6 million. In 2002, "Spider-Man" debuted the same weekend and collected a whopping $114.8 million.
"Kingdom of Heaven" played in wide release at 3,216 theaters and averaged $6,219 per cinema, said Bruce Snyder, president of domestic distribution at Twentieth Century Fox. It also opened in nearly 100 international markets and earned an additional $56 million, Snyder said.
"It's a great start and we're very pleased," Snyder said.
Box office watchers anticipate that Hollywood's slide will end May 19 when the final installment in the "Star Wars" prequel trilogy debuts.
"Believe me, when 'Star Wars' comes out, people will drop everything and come to the theater," Dergarabedian said.
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. "Kingdom of Heaven," $20 million.
2. "House of Wax," $12.2 million.
3. "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," $9.1 million.
4. "Crash," $9.1 million.
5. "The Interpreter," $7.5 million.
6: "XXX: State of the Union," $5.4 million.
7. "The Amityville Horror," $3.2 million.
8. "Sahara," $3.1 million.
9. "A Lot Like Love," $3 million.
10. "Fever Pitch," $2 million.