Sony's megahits push studio to No. 1
But does the studio have future products to keep it on top?
Columbia Pictures and TriStar Pictures fed the Sony pipeline with projects developed and produced within the studio -- a notable change from years past, when Columbia relied heavily on Castle Rock and TriStar on Carolco. But self-financed indie production outfits like Mandalay Entertainment, Phoenix Pictures and Beacon Pictures ("Air Force One") also helped SPE chalk up 20.4% of the total domestic B.O.
Internally, Sony enjoyed a solid marketing/distribution effort from the team of worldwide marketing prexy Bob Levin and Sony Pictures Releasing president Jeff Blake. Col TriStar Film Distributors Intl. prexy Duncan Clark also pitched in profitably with a $100 million-plus international perf for the Brad Pitt/Harrison Ford thriller "The Devil's Own," a big-budget pic that suffered domestically with a weaker $43 million take.
SPE also solidified its film production/development team under film vice chairs Lucy Fisher and Gareth Wigan. Col prexy Amy Pascal and TriStar president of production Chris Lee smoothly segued into studio chief positions that had been previously revolving doors at Sony.
"One of our greatest accomplishments this year was getting a marketing team together that was fearless and never missed a beat," Fisher said.
"Anything we were going to send out there got the same sort of care and discussion," Blake added. "We really proved (this year that) you've got to respect the possibility that any picture from us could, and eventually would, work for the theaters."
A year ago, Sony execs were miserable, following a period of unsettling transition. Agents and producers shunned the Sony lot, for fear that projects would disappear into corporate inertia. Now, the mood on the lot is upbeat and the town will often bring projects to Culver City first.
From a box office perspective, Calley's first year in office was a resounding hit, even if its films were primarily inherited from past regimes.
LOW POINTS: With all the fanfare, Sony still had its share of financial misfires: the Alicia Silverstone comedy "Excess Baggage," the genetic thriller "Gattaca," the Jean Claude Van Damme/Dennis Rodman actioner "Double Team," Henson Pictures' gorilla pic "Buddy" and Phoenix's Oliver Stone film noir "U-Turn."
Paul Verhoeven's "Starship Troopers" cost $105 million to make -- a budget split with international distrib Disney -- and earned only $54 million domestically.
More problematic for the studio is a continuing battle with greenlight indecision. SPE faces a distinct lack of new product in its pipeline for 1998 and 1999. The major projects due out this year ("Godzilla," "The Mask of Zorro" and "Stepmom") are all development remnants of former regimes.
Both studio execs and producers complain that the development process is slowed by the restrictive hands-on approach from Calley, Fisher and Wigan, who closely monitor every purchase and read much of the potential material. Also, producers on the lot howl that pics ready for greenlights get tossed back in their laps for no discernible reason.
PRODUCTION LAPSES: After dumping a number of vanity and unproductive deals a year ago, Sony may have gone too far. The studio has been cautious about doing long-term or multipic deals with indie shingles or individual producers. But the company realizes it needs product. SPE is still in the running for the elusive Roland Emmerich/Dean Devlin deal, which virtually every studio desires.
"We're a very filmmaker-friendly studio," said Fisher, "and we're willing to work hard with filmmakers to find gold where we think it's lying."
MANDALAY'S NEW ROAD: Peter Guber's Mandalay Entertainment has been a sore spot for Sony's Tokyo brass, which is still unhappy about the $3.2 billion loss in 1994 under Guber's chairmanship. But his company, which brings in outside financing for its pics, was restructured two years ago to benefit Sony. Now, Guber is entertaining other potential studio deals. With the $70 million perf of "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and the upcoming Sharon Stone starrer "Gloria," Mandalay seems to have found its own road.
OUTLOOK FOR '98: Look for a massive run-up to the Memorial Day opening of "Godzilla" and a similar buildup for the studio's other big summer release, "Mask of Zorro" (moved from Thanksgiving to summer because of younger-skewing test scores than anyone expected).
SPE execs expect Columbia's "The Replacement Killers" (with Hong Kong icon Chow Yun-Fat) and Mandalay's "Les Miserables" to perform through the spring.
Columbia's "Spice World," due out later this month, has lost some momentum as public hysteria about the band has faded somewhat since Col announced the project last year in Cannes. But Col execs remain hopeful.
The tail end of the Castle Rock distrib deal will provide Jake Kasdan's "Zero Effect," "Seinfeld" creator Larry David's feature debut "Sour Grapes" and "My Giant," the Billy Crystal starrer.
"8 Millimeter" with Nicolas Cage, and "Stepmom" with Julia Roberts and Susan Sarandon will help close the year. "S.W.A.T." -- with or without Arnold Schwarzenegger -- should then take them into 1999.
-- John Voland
