THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Monday, September 5, 1994 TAG: 9409030071
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: Long : 112 lines
THERE WERE more big hits, more variety, and even more good reviews in the summer of '94 than in any summer ever.
There was a time, not many weeks ago, when it wasn't thought possible. After all, the summer of '93 set a record, sparked by the mighty ``Jurassic Park,'' which remains the biggest single moneymaker in movie history. Without a megahit like that, and coming after a sluggish spring, it looked like a struggle ahead for summer cinema.
Then came a few surprises. ``Speed,'' a not-too-expensive actioner that wasn't expected to be anything special, took off like a bus out of control. ``The Lion King,'' expected to top the list from the first, did even better than expected. ``Forrest Gump'' was expected to do well, but it was a bit offbeat - a romance about a low-IQ guy who runs. It became a phenomenon, the single most talked-about movie in the country. ``The Client,'' an adult movie loaded with courtroom talk, didn't have a major star, but it opened bigger than the other John Grisham-penned bestseller, ``The Pelican Brief.''
Jim Carrey proved he could not only open a second film but keep it going.
Locally, the weather cooperated, with an endless stream of rain in July, packing the theaters. Then ``Clear and Present Danger'' became the August hit that nailed the record down.
Ticket sales totaled $2.2 billion. It's just 3 percent over last summer, but last summer was a record.
What does it prove? What does it show about our tastes? How was it done? What was the strategy?
``People found good movies,'' said Mike Kennedy, manager of Pembroke theaters in Virginia Beach. `` `Forrest Gump' brought a lot of people out who don't normally show up. I was hearing people who came to see it saying they were coming to our theater for the first time and that they'd be back. Last summer, we had `Jurassic Park' and `The Fugitive,' but this summer we had a half-dozen big hits - spread more over the board.''
Joe Linville, manager of the Janaf theaters in Norfolk, said ``Business was steady at seven of our eight theaters all summer long. The reason is simple. The product was good. Even things that weren't big hits did well. We did business with `It Could Happen to You,' which we didn't expect to do. `Angels in the Outfield' was a strong secondary hit.''
Barry Wiseman, manager of the Surf-N-Sand theaters near the Oceanfront, said the rainy July helped his business do well, ``particularly at the matinees. Business was almost too good. We had to hire extra help,'' he said.Virginia Beach police had to provide traffic control outside the theater, sparking many customers to sign petitions requesting a traffic light there.
It was touted as the summer of family movies, but many of those flicks flopped. ``The Lion King'' took most of this business, while ``Angels in the Outfield'' was a $40-million-plus hit. ``The Little Rascals'' opened well and surprisingly stayed steady, but the kids didn't show for most of the others. Among the unexpected flops were ``Lassie,'' ``Black Beauty,'' ``Andre,'' ``Little Big League,'' ``Baby's Day Out,'' ``North'' (perhaps the worst major film of the summer) and ``Getting Even With Dad.''
Are family movies dead?
``We had a glut of those films,'' said Ray Bentley, advertising manager for the Neighborhood Theaters chain. ``It came as a result of `Free Willy' being a $70-million hit last summer and `Rookie of the Year' being a $50-million hit. The producers took a look at those results, for films that didn't cost that much to make, and they rushed to make copies. Last summer, everyone was yelling that we didn't have enough family movies. This summer, we had too many.''
Rob Copeland, veteran local manager for AMC Theaters, said: ``Some of the family movies canceled themselves out, but others made up for it. The big losers were `I Love Trouble,' `Wyatt Earp' and `Renaissance Man' because all were expected to be hits. There was no `date movie,' like `Sleepless in Seattle,' so `Forrest Gump' became the date movie. There was something for everyone.''
The most promising trend of the record summer is that the hits were quality films that also got good reviews. Of the Top 10 films, only ``The Flintstones'' was terrible. Even ``Wolf,'' which was 10th, had some merit in its well-written dialogue, although the ending was strictly formula.
The summer is generally regarded as popcorn-movie time, but the venerable Naro Expanded Cinema, dedicated to quality movies, held its own. ``In past summers, we had individual hits that carried the summer, like `Howards End' two years ago and `Much Ado About Nothing' last year,'' said Tench Phillips, co-manager of the theater. ``This summer we had across-the-board films that did well.''
Of the summer's films, only ``Airheads,'' and possibly ``In the Army Now'' could actually be labeled ``teen films'' and they both flopped terribly. Teens, of course, are going to movies as much as ever, but they are choosing more mainstream flicks. On the other hand, adults won't go to teen films. So producers are maximizing their profit possibilities by aiming for across-the-board hits.
Still, with the number of theaters out there, it's tough to score a huge hit at any one screen. Sam Reilly, at the Circle 6 Theaters in Military Circle Mall, said it is difficult, even in the best of summers, to sell out. ``The movies are spread out over more theaters now.''
John Dashiell, assistant manager at AMC's Lynnhaven 8 theaters in Virginia Beach, confirmed that: ``It just isn't the same as back when `Batman' was playing at just three theaters and we sold out just about every theater for eight weeks in a row. That doesn't happen anymore, even in the best of summers.''
There are more than 80 screens in south Hampton Roads, but, according to the theater managers, these are not enough. Too often, hit films have to be pulled out while they are still drawing crowds to make room for new films. Some chains also want to try art films and foreign language films.
RC Theaters, the chain that owns Surf-N-Sand, is building a complex that will house 12 new screens across the street from Pembroke Mall. These are scheduled to open around Thanksgiving. The Tennessee-based Regal Cinemas Inc. is spending $4 million to construct a 10- to 14-screen complex across from Greenbrier Mall in Chesapeake.
Some movies were moved out of the heavy competition completely. ``The River Wild,'' Meryl Streep's entry into the action race, was put off until the fall. So was ``It's Pat'' and ``The Next Karate Kid.''
This was the summer with something for everyone. The public responded. by CNB