Inside Moves
For Spielberg, 'Report' hotter than 'Potter'
Finally, it looks like the director will end the run of a guessing game more engrossing than "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" Spielberg had been expected to reach a decision last week even if he had failed to appraise the studios involved. The two chief contenders were "Minority Report" from Fox and "Harry Potter" from Warners.
Though Spielberg was adamant late last week he still hadn't decided, insiders said it's looking likely that his next film will be "Minority Report," and that he likely won't direct "Harry Potter." Such a course of action would be surprising, if only because Internet pundits pronounced last rites over "Minority Report" last year, and the London press more recently pronounced "Potter" to be Spielberg's next film, a report embraced by newspapers across the U.S.
"Harry Potter," of course, is the first in a planned seven-film Warner Bros. adaptation of J.K. Rowling's best-selling fantasy series. The Steve Kloves script was given first to Spielberg, who has hung on to it for months. Despite early enthusiasm, rumors ran rampant last week that Spielberg had decided not to direct "Potter" and wouldn't be involved in producing the film series, though both WB and Spielberg denied this.
At the same time, "Out of Sight" scribe Scott Frank has completed his umpteenth rewrite of "Minority Report," this one more a fine tuning than the massive structural changes Frank executed in past rewrites to solve plot problems which kept Spielberg from committing to the complicated scifi thriller which once had a summer 2000 release date from co-production partners Fox and DreamWorks. Tom Cruise, as well as executives at Fox, are proceeding as though they'll be in production on "Minority Report" shortly. Cruise, who wrapped what seemed like an endless "Mission Impossible 2" shoot, has deliberately not booked another job and is by all accounts eager to go to work next for Spielberg.
After a two-year hiatus since "Saving Private Ryan," Spielberg favors returning with a back-to-back effort reminiscent of the way he shot "Jurassic Park" and "Schindler's List."
If he nixes "Harry Potter," it seems likely that while Spielberg shoots "Minority Report," Warner Bros. could simultaneously prep "A.I." Even though Spielberg has in his arsenal such high profile projects as "Lindbergh" and "Memoirs of a Geisha," he was passionate enough about "A.I." to make it the first film he's scripted himself since 1977's "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." Spielberg has been working from a Stanley Kubrick outline and while it's unclear whether another scribe will be brought in to finish, WB is already examining logistics and Spielberg has been looking for the next Haley Joel Osment to play the lead kid, sources said.
If Spielberg nixes "Potter," it's hardly a death sentence for the screen version of the biggest publishing phenomenon in memory. There's at least a dozen A-list hitmakers salivating over the property, names which include Chris Columbus, Jonathan Demme, and Brad Silberling. Also on that list is Rob Reiner, who, despite a recent track record of futility that continued with "The Story of Us," is the former Castle Rock partner of WB topper Alan Horn. Stay tuned.
-- Michael Fleming
Sly, U go their separate ways
Universal Pictures' landmark deal with Sylvester Stallone has been terminated.
The studio and the actor agreed to a three-picture deal in August 1995, on the same day Universal signed Jim Carrey to star in "Liar Liar" and a week after Ron Meyer, who had repped Stallone while at Creative Artists Agency, left the agency business to become MCA president.
The Stallone deal attracted attention mainly because the studio was reported to have guaranteed Stallone $60 million, or $20 million per picture. But Universal now says the agreement was a first-look deal, with Stallone only receiving payment if Universal decided to make the movies.
The studio and Stallone agreed on only one movie under the deal -- "D-Tox," a thriller due out later this year. Universal released Stallone's "Daylight" in late 1996 with disappointing domestic returns and solid overseas performance, but that film had been committed to under another agreement.
Universal has not set a release date for "D-Tox," but Warner Bros. plans a fall release for "Get Carter," starring Stallone in a remake of the 1971 film.
-- Dave McNary
'Boiler Room' fires Gotham heat
In the movie "Boiler Room," the corrupt and unscrupulous brokerage house at the center of the action is JT Marlin, a name that evokes a sort of blue-blood pedigree. And how did writer-director Ben Younger hit upon this particular name? Well, coincidentally, his former boss in the New York City Comptroller's office is one John Tepper Marlin.
The real J.T. Marlin, the chief economist for the comptroller, was not amused by the homage from his ex-employee insofar as it seemed to link him to "corrupt business practices and unethical conduct," according to the lawsuit he filed last week in New York County Supreme Court against New Line and Younger.
J.T. Marlin figured that the pain, suffering and mental anguish he has experienced because of the film, its Web site and advertising were worth at least $11 million, and Younger and New Line ought to be punished to the tune of another $11 million.
Word is that a settlement is imminent. Both sides are due in court today.
-- Lindsay Chaney
U moves up 'Rock Vegas' opening
The summer season will start a little earlier this year with Universal Pictures moving "The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas" forward to the last weekend in April.
The sequel to the 1994 comedy hit had originally been set for May 12, then moved forward to May 5 before the studio finally settled on April 28 as the firm date.
"We wanted to get it out early because it's a great film and our tie-in with Burger King will be ready to go," said Nikki Rocco, president of distribution.
Summer season has been expanding into early May in recent years with the success of "Twister," "Deep Impact" and "The Mummy." DreamWorks' "Gladiator" now looks to be the major opener May 5, while "Rock Vegas" will debut against a trio of dramas -- New Line's "Frequency," Warner Bros.' "Gossip" and 20th Century Fox's "Where the Heart Is."
-- Dave McNary
