Miramax, Dimension bow slates
'Tingle,' 'Scream 3' scare up excitement
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LAS VEGAS -- Banking on nationwide interest in Kevin Williamson's "Killing Mrs. Tingle" and his soon-to-lense "Scream 3," Miramax and Dimension Films unspooled a down-and-dirty product reel Thursday at ShoWest '99.
Describing a no-frills luncheon that featured a starless dais, Miramax marketing topper Mark Gill and international poobah Rick Sands boasted of the strong theatrical performance of current Oscar contenders "Shakespeare in Love" and "Life Is Beautiful," then introduced a new slate mixing arthouse and action.
Keeping in the less-is-more theme of the event, Gill said that when he and Sands came to Miramax four years ago, the company released 47 films that year; this time, he said, it will be 29 or 30, though Sands later pegged the release number at 30-35, with Dimension good for six to eight.
Miramax left exhibs tingling over "Mrs. Tingle," a teen frightfest that marks the directorial debut of Williamson and stars Helen Mirren, and Katie Holmes, as well as "Scream 3," which Wes Craven will direct in May, and "Fifty Violins," the Meryl Streep-Angela Bassett starrer about inner-city kids who are taught to fiddle.
Also strong was "The Yards," the Mark Wahlberg-Joaquin Phoenix crime drama; the Billy Bob Thornton-directed "Daddy & Them"; the big-ticket Sundance acquisition "Happy, Texas"; the Rupert Everett starrer "An Ideal Husband"; "Outside Providence," the comedy scripted by director Michael Corrente and dynamic duo Peter and Bobby Farrelly from Peter's novel; and Jane Campion's "Holy Smoke" with "Titanic's" Kate Winslet along with Harvey Keitel.
Dimension presented a double dose of Jackie Chan (he plays twins) in the chopsocky actioner "Twin Dragons," and Miramax touted the Diane Lane starrer "A Walk on the Moon," the Omar Epps starrer "In Too Deep" and "The Cider House Rules." Shaping up as a potential sleeper was the Aussie import "The Castle."
