Patrick Stoner welcomes
your questions about movies and the men
and women who make them. Send your questions to
pstoner@whyy.org.
Patrick Stoner welcomes
your questions about movies and the men
and women who make them. Send your questions to
pstoner@whyy.org.
Here's the current question and answer...
ANSWER: Success. If Hollywood were one big studio, then everything would be fine, but it's not. It's a half-dozen big studios and about ten other smaller houses.They are all vying for screens for their products. Normally, this is not a problem, but this summer it is.
Consider the major draws so far: TWISTER, MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, THE ROCK, THE CABLE GUY, THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME, and ERASER. Together, they have already brought in hundreds of millions of dollars. Some multi-plexes fill ALL of their screens with one or two of these blockbusters.
So, where's the problem? Look at those names again. You have products from Warner Brothers, Paramount Pictures, Columbia, Tri-Star, Disney, and back to Warner. About to open is the most-anticipated film of the summer, Twentieth Century Fox's INDEPENDENCE DAY. I've seen it, and it will be huge, BUT where will it and all of the other new films of the summer find screens?
I can't remember when so many movies had such long legs. TWISTER, the first out of the pack in May, is still going strong. Universal will have to squeeze in THE NUTTY PROFESSOR somewhere, and there are still offerings from Michael Keaton, Kevin Costner, Robin Williams, and many others yet to open.
In this environment, what does a little film like John Travolta's PHENOMENON or Bertolucci's STEALING BEAUTY do? If you were a theater owner, would you bump one of the big hits for the little movie? Then again, if you expect INDEPENDENCE DAY to become THE hot ticket, do you take a chance and close a limping but still-solid MISSION IMPOSSIBLE to give it a chance? What if the box office is saturated?
Several films, like the BRADY BUNCH sequel, have already fled the summer for quieter times. Others have postponed openings in the hope that some of the big boys will get tired. Still others, like the excellent drama A TIME TO KILL, assume that the latter part of the summer will be exactly the time for an audience weary of escapist films.
It should be interesting. There are 10% more films opening this summer than did last year, and the fall looks like it will continue the trend. Ironically, since one studio's film will certainly push the otherUs aside, itUs possible to have a giant hit and still not do as well as expected.