ADVANCE FILM REVIEWS IN CRITICAL CONDITION
How do you keep a movie from being savaged by the critics? Don't let them see it.
Fuhgeddaboud opening-day reviews for two new movies this weekend, "Tyler Perry's Madea's Family Reunion" or the animated feature "Doogal."
"We are not going to spend $50,000 for the privilege of negative reviews for a film that isn't going to be affected by them," Tom Ortenberg, president of "Madea" distributor Lionsgate, told The Post.
"Doogal" and "Madea" are joining a growing number of wide releases that are skipping the customary critics' screenings, much to the dismay of consumers looking for opening-day guidance.
That makes eight so far this year, compared with seven in all of 2005, by The New York Post's count.
"It's a pure business decision," says analyst Gitesh Pandya of boxofficeguru.com. "They're realizing that for films which the critics will hate anyway, it's just not worth going through the trouble and expense of setting up screenings in cities around the country."
In the past, a typical nonscreened movie was a studio mistake dumped to satisfy contractual obligations. Now, nonscreening is more often part of a conscious marketing policy, particularly flicks aimed at teens.
"These kids aren't reading reviews, so these movies are essentially bulletproof," says one former studio publicist.
"Sometimes a director or a star refuses to believe how bad a movie is [think "Gigli"], so they pressure the studio into screening it," Pandya says
Presumably, Oscar-winner Charlize Theron, for example, had no problem with Paramount opening "Aeon Flux" without screenings.
As far as "Doogal," The Weinstein Company claims the film — a British-French co-production that opened to blah reviews overseas and has been retooled for the American market with a new voice cast — wasn't ready in time to screen.
Ortenberg is more blunt about why there were no screenings for "Madea," a follow-up to Perry's "Diary of a Mad Black Woman," which grossed $26 million in its opening weekend on its way to a $50 million gross last year — despite awful reviews.
Although his research and exit polls for "Diary" and "Madea" had more than 95 percent of the crowds rate the films excellent or very good, Ortenberg says of the new "Madea," "our hunch is that critics will have pretty much the same opinion they did of 'Diary.' "
Ortenberg concedes it's a "tough decision" to skip screenings. But in this case, he says, "the money for screenings will be better spent on more advertising."
"For most movies, reviews are an important part of the overall release strategy," the film executive admits.
I think Ortenberg is right about that — studios such as Lionsgate are always going to want critical support for movies like "Crash," so skipping screenings is unlikely to become the norm.
ON THE DOWNLOAD
Apple announcing Thursday that one billion songs have been legally downloaded from its iTunes Music Store since it was launched less than three years ago. The billionth song downloaded was Coldplay's "Speed of Sound."
Keith & Nicole Set for March Marriage?
The Interpreter actress Nicole Kidman and country star Keith Urban have sent out Invitations for their wedding, which will reportedly take place next month. Marriage rumors have besieged the couple - who began dating last year - since November, when Kidman began wearing a large diamond ring on her left hand. Sources tell American magazine Us Weekly the couple will exchange vows in Australia in early March. The source says, "Nicole is an Australian girl at heart. It's no surprise that she would want to get married here."
Superman, Batman Sequelize?
It is the ultimate fanboy fantasy not involving Princess Leia: More Batman, more Superman.
According to Thursday's Variety, the dream could come true as soon as 2008, in the form of sequel to Batman Begins, and 2009, in the form of a sequel to the upcoming Superman Returns.
Warner Bros., the studio behind both revived superhero franchises, would not comment on sequel plans. It called the Variety report "speculative."
Earlier this month at WonderCon, a leading comics convention, Superman Returns director Bryan Singer copped to having "ideas" for more Superman movies, ComicBookResources.com reported. But Singer said those ideas were "like my ideas for X-Men 3," a movie the ex-X-Men helmer is definitely not directing.
Still, the Website said, fans pressed ahead, asking what villains might pop up in additional Superman adventures. ( Kevin Spacey plays Lex Luthor in Returns.) And, still, the Website said, Singer deflected.
"Let's see how the game plays," Singer said, per ComicBookResources.com.
The notion of a Superman Returns sequel, though a no-brainer, is indeed presumptive--the movie, the first Man in Steel big-screen adventure since 1987, doesn't open until June 30.
Batman Begins, the first Caped Crusader big-screen adventure since 1997, swooped into theaters last summer. With a $205.3 million take, it was the eighth-highest grossing 2005 release, per BoxOfficeMojo.com.
Variety pegged the Superman and Batman sequels as being in the planning stages. The trade paper noted that Warners has contractual dibs on the movies' respective cape-wearers, Superman Returns' Brandon Routh and Batman Begins' Christian Bale, but that it doesn't have done deals with the films' respective directors, Singer and Christopher Nolan.
The Batman project, however, does have a screenwriter, Variety said: Jonah (or Jonathan) Nolan, brother of Christopher.
Christopher Nolan currently is directing Bale and Hugh Jackman as dueling magicians in The Prestige. According to the Internet Movie Database, he's also set to call the shots on The Exec, an action/drama penned by his sibling.
Singer's schedule is just as booked.
The director probably would get his long-planned Logan's Run remake up and running before returning to Metropolis, Variety said. His to-do list also includes a dramatized version of The Mayor of Castro Street, about slain gay politician Harvey Milk.