Brokeback Lawsuit, Theater Ads and More!
April 2006 Movie News
Brokeback Broke Word: According to Randy Quaid at least. Instead of his usual salary (and share of the gross profits) he took a substantial pay cut, I assume for the cachet of playing in a "small, art-house film not expected to make any money", he was told. But according to his suit, "From day one, defendants fully intended that the film would not be made on a low budget, would be given a worldwide release, and would be supported as the studio picture it always was secretly intended to be." As it turns out he was right, as the movie has, so far, grossed more than $82 million on a budget of around $13 million. Named in the suit are Focus Features LLC, Del Mar Productions LLC, which was formed by Focus to make the movie, and producers David Linde and James Schamus.
Playing On Empty: For those on the cutting edge, beware: if you plan on purchasing a brand new HD-DVD player, you might not have anything to watch except a blue screen. Warner Home Video has pushed back its release date of numerous titles to mid-April (which probably equals May or June). But certainly HD-DVDs are the next new thing: the X-Box 360 has the capability of playing them, as does the upcoming PlayStation3 game console. But if you don't play games and only watch movies, I suggest you wait a few months. And don't buy the "version 1.0" (old programming slang) as it usually has the most glitches. Everything comes to she who waits!
Extremely Irritating: Further proof of our sheep-like behavior: in a recent study, more than 50% of theater-goers didn't like watching ads before the film, but less than a quarter actually do something about it (complain, come in late, or go to another theater). The survey, taken over the web, covered around 2,000 participants. As an interesting note, advertising on TV or the web for a particular movie did not rate too high. The trailer was ranked number one, with a friend's recommendation second and favorite actor(s) third. I find it ironic that ads aren't the main reason we go see a movie, yet they play them for various products before the movie. As a side note: I do not watch ads before a movie and, if I am unfortunate enough not to time my entrance correctly (I'm getting pretty good at it), I make it a point *not* to buy anything shown up there. Fortunately many of them are car commercials and I already have one, thank you.
Tomb Raiding: No, not the lithesome Lara, but the older Indy. The script (written by Jeff Nathanson and tweaked by George Lucas and Co.) for the fourth Indiana Jones movie has passed muster, winning approval from both Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg (pictured above). All parties involved are quick to say that there is no shooting date quite yet, but certainly we are closer to production than we were before. Rumor has it that the film will begin shooting "before 2007"... although that is not set in stone (Or a rolling boulder). Stay tuned!
Last But Not Least!: The winner of the "Top 100 Sexiest Women in the World", according to FHM magazine, is Scarlett Johansson. Number two is another favorite of mine, Angelina Jolie. Other winners include Jessica Alba, Jessica Simpson, Keira Knightley, and Halle Berry. While I certainly don't want to rank them (all are beautiful), both are certainly on my list!
