Katrina's wake

Hurricane forces biz to rethink plans

By DAVID S. COHEN, GABRIEL SNYDER

This article was updated at 8:45 p.m.

As Hurricane Katrina wreaked havoc that killed dozens and exacted a cost of multi-millions, the ripple effect of the disaster trickled down even to producers and exhibitors who were caught in the aftermath Tuesday.

At least three shoots were under way in New Orleans when it became clear Katrina was threatening the city and evacuations were ordered: indie feature "The Last Time," starring Michael Keaton; the Eye's "Vampire Bats," starring Lucy Lawless; and Sony's direct-to-video pic "Road House 2," starring Johnathon Schaech.

Projects in pre-production include Lifetime pilot "Scarlett," which was about to start shooting, and two Disney projects: "Deja Vu" and "The Guardian."

"Scarlett" had not yet begun lensing. A spokesman for the cabler said it is "looking at all sorts of options. Things are vague right now." The skein is set in New Orleans and revolves around an Anne Rice-type horror writer, but shooting could conceivably move to another city.

Disney's "The Guardian," starring Kevin Costner and directed by Andrew Davis, was skedded for a November start in the New Orleans area. Producer Tripp Vinson said production is still on schedule.

Because it's largely set on military campuses, the film does not depend on any specific New Orleans locations. "There are bar scenes where the Coast Guard guys hang out, but there are a million of those bars down there," Vinson said.

The water tank built for the film is intact, Vinson added, and scouts already are checking for locations in Baton Rouge and other nearby cities.

FX skein "Thief" was skedded to start shooting Sept. 28 and end right before Thanksgiving, with an eye to bowing the show in the second quarter of 2006.

'Reaping' out of the path

Warner's feature "The Reaping" was shooting in Baton Rouge. A Warner spokesman said the cast and crew had flown to Austin, Texas. Crew is expected to return to Baton Rouge soon and they hope to resume shooting Tuesday after a scheduled Labor Day break.

With the crew still out of town, it was too early to determine if any sets had been damaged.

Pic began shooting Aug. 15 and was skedded to wrap in late October.

"Vampire Bats" had a week to go on its four-week shoot. Exec producer Frank von Zertner said, "Basically what we have left to do can be done anywhere. Most of our exteriors are pretty much accomplished. As luck would have it, we were very lucky with weather."

He is eyeing Baton Rouge, Texas and Canada as options for completing production. "I hope to push that button in a day or two," he said. "The goal would be to be shooting next week."

Bruckheimer Films has already decided to push back Denzel Washington starrer "Deja Vu," which had been skedded to start Oct. 3, for at least three weeks.

Company had six weeks of prep remaining when the hurricane hit. Once the all-clear comes from authorities, it will take two to three weeks to assess the damage to locations. Six more weeks of prep will be needed after that.

Some producers stuck to their plans to shoot in the city, despite television images of broken bridges, ruptured levees and entire neighborhoods submerged.

Major setback

But even as authorities got their first clear look at the extent of the damage along the Gulf Coast, it became clear that production there will take a major hit, as New Orleans faces months of clean-up and rebuilding.

Much of the rest of the region, however, may make a speedier recovery and be ready to host shooting soon.

Louisiana has become a significant production center in recent years, aided by generous tax incentives, but accommodations, among other things, will be scarce in the near future.

What's more, the New Orleans Convention & Visitors Bureau Web site painted a grim picture for any kind of commerce in the area, much less a film shoot.

"Communication with anyone in the city is extremely difficult," said the site. "There is no access to the city of New Orleans by citizens whatsoever.

The few fragments of information reaching Hollywood from the city were just as discouraging.

"Nobody's eyeballed this, but I have a feeling my trucks are under water," Von Zertner said.

Largely overlooked in the aftermath of Monday's destruction was the lesser damage suffered by South Florida as a considerably weaker Katrina swiped the area last week.

Universal's "Miami Vice" was shut down Thursday and Friday last week out of concern for the safety of the crew. Sets were dark over the weekend and went back to production Monday.

A U spokesman said they had padding in the schedule so they're not behind, but shooting in Miami may be extended a couple of days.

Shoot moves to the Dominican Republic for completion and is skedded to end Nov. 8.

Exhib headaches

On the exhibition side, it's been hard to assess the impact of Hurricane Katrina on theaters.

AMC, which operates five theaters with 68 screens in the New Orleans area, does not know the status of those locations.

"At this point, because all of our associates were evacuated Saturday, we don't have a whole lot of information," AMC spokeswoman Melanie Bell said. "The latest report I've seen is that people won't be allowed back for some time."

With flood waters rising on Tuesday as the result of failing levees and pumping stations, officials in New Orleans have declared martial law and are barring all entry into the city.

Landmark Theaters, which operates the Canal Place Cinema in downtown New Orleans and another in La Place just west of the city, has not heard anything from its theaters.

"We literally have had no contact with either location," said film VP Ted Mundorff. "Our theater on Canal Street is high up, so hopefully it didn't sustain too much damage. They ran on Saturday, and that was the last time."

Regal Entertainment spokesman Dick Westerling said the UA Biloxi 10 in hard-hit Biloxi, Miss., "is under eight feet of water."

"We closed all of our locations in Mississippi and Louisiana as the hurricane passed through," he said. The Louisiana locations, which are well north of the Gulf Coast, "fared much better than our Mississippi locations."

Lost in tranportation

Similarly, distribs do not have a sense of how wide a swath the storm has cut.

Bert Livingston, a senior VP and general sales manager for 20th Century Fox, said he did know how many of the more than 3,000 locations opening "Transporter 2" this Friday would be closed down.

"We had a depot that we sent prints to, and we don't know if it's there or not anymore," he said. "This weekend is absolutely going to be hurt."

"Even if there's no flood water, what about electricity?" Livingston said. "Even for those theaters that can open, my guess is people will be more focused on cleaning up."

Labor Day weekend traditionally is not a strong one at the box office.

Other films opening this week include Focus Features' "The Constant Gardener," which bows on 1,327 screens on Wednesday; Miramax's "Underclassman," which bows on 1,200; and Warner Bros.' "Sound of Thunder," which starts on 800.