Thompson On Hollywood

How Journey to the Center of the Earth Got Its Title

[Posted by David S. Cohen]
Contrary to reports in the LAT and NYT, it was not an unanticipated shortage of 3-D screens that forced Warner Bros. and the producers of Journey of the Center of the Earth to change the film's title, which was supposed to be Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D.

It is true that digital 3-D deployment has been slower than predicted and there aren't yet enough digital 3-D screens to support a tentpole-sized wide release. However, Journey director Eric Brevig told Variety: "We knew that two years ago. It's not a mystery to look at the number of projectors being installed and the number of 3-D screens."

Brevig continues: "We didn’t want the '3-D' on the title because the movie is going to play on DVD and in airplanes and everywhere in 2-D." Producer Charlotte Huggins, a leading proponent of 3-D, also argued from the start that audiences would be confused and upset if they bought tickets to a movie with "3-D" in the title and wound up sitting through a regular 2-D showing.

The problem was, Twentieth Century Fox had control of the title Journey to the Center of the Earth and was unwilling to give it up to New Line. By appending "3-D" to the end, New Line could avoid that legal hurdle.

So why did Fox change its mind? It's no secret that digital 3-D is in its infancy: the digital 3-D filmmaking community is small and close-knit. They all know that what affects one 3-D release affects all that follow. Fox has its own very expensive live-action 3-D tentpole coming: James Cameron's Avatar. So Fox has an interest in making sure the 3-D brand isn't sullied in the 18 months before that epic unspools.

We hear that as the conversation escalated at Fox, someone proposed that part of the Journey release be in anaglyph 3-D, using film projectors and the old-style red-and-green glasses, but everyone agreed that was bad for the new digital 3-D brand. Eventually everyone agreed it would also be bad for the 3-D brand -- and, by extension, for Avatar -- if thousands of moviegoers came out of Journey to the Center of the Earth 3-D wondering why they just saw a 2-D movie. Eventually the discussion escalated to the highest levels of the studio, where Fox toppers relented and let New Line and Warner Bros. use the title they had always wanted.

In the end, said Brevig, Fox toppers had only one caveat for the Journey filmmakers: "Just make sure it’s good-looking 3-D."

Summer Boxoffice: Perfect Storm

Several summer trends are good for the movie biz.

Ticket inflation means b.o. grosses are up. (Admissions are down.) The high price of gas is keeping folks closer to home: that's good for cineplexes. School is finally out for summer, which will boost midweek ticket sales. Theaters are charging more for concessions like popcorn (corn prices are up), and they're cleaning up on pre-show digital advertising.

Overseas, the dollar is weak. While it's a bitch to shoot a movie outside the U.S., because it costs more, on the other hand, it boosts overseas revenue.

The other side of that coin: when the dollar eventually gets stronger, the studios won't be able to count on that extra boost.

Holiday Weekend Update: Good and Plenty

There's plenty to see in theaters this weekend.

While it's ingeniously improvised by likable actors at a real poker tournament, The Grand is not as funny as the last mock doc by writer-director Zak Penn, The Incident at Loch Ness. The wily Werner Herzog is the funniest thing in both movies.

My recent Judd Apatow poll shows Pineapple Express leading in want-to-see over his three other comedies, including this weekend's well-advertised opener, Drillbit Taylor. Pineapple Express's director, the usually darkly dramatic David Gordon Green, has in release Snow Angels, which played at Sundance 2007. It's well worth seeing before it disappears. So is Gus Van Sant's brilliant, stark Cannes entry Paranoid Park.

The moody period noir thriller Married Life is marred by miscasting: the estimable Chris Cooper and Pierce Brosnan are both in love with the 20-something femme fatale Rachel McAdams. Excellent actors all. But yucky. I preferred AMC's similar but more stylish Mad Men.

Among the Oscar-season holdovers, Oscar-winner The Counterfeiters and animation nominee Persepolis are hanging in with great WOM. I caught The Band's Visit last weekend, a small gem which was ineligible as Israel's Oscar entry because its Egyptians and Israelis communicate in English.

And of course, the delightful The Bank Job is showing legs.

[Photos: Snow Angels, Paranoid Park, The Counterfeiters, Persepolis]

ShoWest: DreamWorks Animation Goes 3D

The future is 3D, declared DreamWorks animation czar Jeffrey Katzenberg on Tuesday before showing the first piece of 3D footage created by DreamWorks--a redo of an entire scene from the upcoming 2D movie Kung Fu Panda in RealD. (Everyone seems to like these cool RealD glasses better than the clunkier Dolby ones.)

The Theatre des Arts crowd at the Paris donned their 3D glasses and dug the intense action sequence. Then Katzenberg previewed a funny scene from the upcoming Monsters vs. Aliens, featuring a confrontation between the president, played by Stephen Colbert, and a just-landed alien. Here's the casting story.

It's all 3D all the time for DreamWorks Animation from now on, Katzenberg declared, exhorting the exhibs to upgrade to digital 3D. 2009 is the big year when some 10 to 12 digital 3D pics will hit screens--and there aren't enough of them yet--about 1000-- to handle a wide 3D release. UPDATE: Disney distribution and marketing chief Mark Zoradi on Wednesday predicts 4 to 5,000 3D screens by 2010. "In the next 24 months we'll reach a tipping point," he said. And exhibs are finally ready to step up and invest now that they see competitors doing better with Beowulf and Hannah Montana in 3D. Here's more on the impact of Hannah Montana on the biz.

Later in the day, Katzenberg showed Kung Fu Panda in all its CG 2D glory. The crowd ate it up. Katzenberg has this family formula down--it'll play for kids, young males, families, the works.

The pic boasts a lovable central character, the tubby panda (Jack Black) who adores kung fu and must channel his inner strength and purpose and listen to his master teacher (Dustin Hoffman) to become a great fighter and save the day. But the five kung fu heroes our young panda worships are not as well-developed as they might have been. No question this pic will score big this summer (June 6).

Love in the Time of Cholera Title Could be Problem

When you don't have room to spell out on the entire Love in the Time of Cholera title on a theatre marquee, the shortened version tends to be "Cholera," which is not exactly a boxoffice lure. Directed by Mike Newell from Ronald Harwood's adaptation of the romantic Gabriel Garcia Marquez novel, Cholera didn't pull in too many moviegoers this weekend, grossing an estimated $1.9 million from 852 theaters.

Boxoffice vs. Vidgames

Technology Expert has an interesting theory on why boxoffice has been lagging of late: Halo 3. What? A videogame? UPDATE: Ad Age pursues the same notion.

Poor box office receipts have been blamed on a number of things (besides a bad movie, that is), including poor weather, natural disasters, embarrassing news for the stars, strong box office competition, etc. This is the first time we have heard a video game blamed for bad box office.

Halo 3 was officially released on Sept. 26th, and 1 1/2 weeks later, "The Heartbreak Kid," released to far lower receipts than expected: predictions had been for a $20 - 25 million opening weekend, and it only brought in $14 million. The receipts for that weekend were 27% below the same weekend the year before, according to research firm Media by Numbers. That's the movie industry's worst performance for an October weekend since 1999.

Movie executives are blaming it all on the Master Chief, which we all know is a mega-hit. But are they just saying this to save face?

Let's take a look at the weekend prior to the disappointing Oct. 5. Receipts for that weekend (once again by Media by Numbers) show a 9% overall drop from 2006, a 4% from for the top 12 films from the prior weekend, and a 12% drop for the top 12 films from 2006.

Hmmm, maybe they're on to something here. Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket On the other hand, based on the IMDB rating of 5.7 for "The Heartbreak Kid," could it just be a bad movie?

Mark Cuban: The Portfolio Profile

I'm still not sure that Mark Cuban has ever understood the movie business (2929 Entertainment), theatrical exhibition (Landmark Theatres), indie film distribution (Magnolia Pictures) or even high def cable (HDNet). But he does understand the Internet --love his blog: his latest post, "the internet is dead and boring"-- and insists on doing his press interviews by email. Judging from this Portfolio Q & A, clearly, Cuban is impatient with the pace of change.

Weinstein Thinks Small with Dylan Film I'm Not There

The Weinstein Co. is setting a very limited release for Todd Haynes' I'm Not There, reports the NYT. At least Harvey knows better than to use the many stars who play Bob Dylan in the movie---Cate Blanchett, Heath Ledger et al-- to push it into wider release than the film can sustain, as Paramount Vantage did with A Mighty Heart.

The movie will likely play Telluride over Labor Day weekend as well as Toronto, I hear.

Weekend Boxoffice: Bourne Leads Fandango Five

Fandango Five – Ticket Sales (as of 8/10/07 9:00 a.m. PT)

Movie Fandango User Rating % of Fandango’s Sales

The Bourne Ultimatum “Must Go” 30%

Rush Hour 3 “Must Go” 20%

The Simpsons Movie “Go” 8%

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix “Go” 7%

Underdog “Go” 6%

LAFF: Moliere at The Landmark

I have a weakness for French costume epics, especially the light-hearted bodice-ripping variety. So I couldn't resist checking out the new The Landmark in Westwood where Laurent Tirard's Moliere was showing, starring the divine Romain Duris (The Beat My Heart Skipped) in the title role as a womanizing comedy actor/playwright and the equally luscious Laura Morante as the object of his affections. As always, Fabrice Lucchini is hilarious and never dull.

Although it took me a while to find the poorly marked theaters, which are west of Westwood Boulevard, I settled into my seat to enjoy the well-mounted escapist romp which Sony Pictures Classics will release here on July 27. I had read that the theaters were designed so badly that when people come and go, the doors flood the screen with light. It's true, and far worse than I expected. That's something you learn in Theater-Building 101!

Otherwise, the new Landmark complex seems pleasant enough, with a Barnes & Noble bookstore and an inviting (empty) cafe. It's The Arclight Light.

Luke Y. Thompson's review

Movie Narcs Fink Out Theater Perps

Carrie Rickey is horrified by the idea of using movie patrons to spy on the behavior of other movie patrons. She calls them "movie narcs."