THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, October 10, 1996 TAG: 9610100042
SECTION: DAILY BREAK PAGE: E1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: 192 lines
IT'S A SHOWDOWN at local movie theaters this weekend when, in a rare October shootout, the studios pit three huge-budget productions head to head. At least $180 million is at stake, in production costs alone.
Someone is going to lose - big.
But then, on the other hand, at least one big winner, and possibly two, might evolve. Rarely has your choice of a movie ticket been watched so closely by studio moguls in Hollywood.
Time was when the back-to-school season was the doldrums of the movie year. In Autumn, studios would release sensitive, perhaps even serious, films that wouldn't have stood a chance against the summer escapist blockbusters. September and October were traditionally a lull between the summer and megathon Christmas releases (which now get unveiled as early as mid-November).
The studios have learned, though, that there is no ``down'' period anymore.
The three new entries include ``The Chamber,'' the latest adaptation of a John Grisham novel, with this one starring Chris O'Donnell, Gene Hackman and Faye Dunaway. Cost of production: $45 million.
Then there is the all-out action entry ``The Long Kiss Goodnight'' starring Geena Davis, directed by her husband Renny Harlin. Estimated cost of production: $75 million.
The big risk weekend is completed by ``The Ghost and the Darkness'' starring Val Kilmer and Michael Douglas on location in Africa. Based on a true story, it aims to be ``Jaws'' with lions. Cost of production: $60 million.
The release of all three films on the same date was prompted by Christopher Columbus. With Columbus Day being recognized on Monday, many office workers have an extra day off - and, presumably, time to see a new movie. Studio bookers flock to long weekends like bees to honey and this is the last big one before Thanksgiving.
But screenwriter William Goldman (who won Oscars for penning ``Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid'' and ``All the President's Men'') says the bookings are ``suicide'' and ``madness.''
``There are simply too many movies out there,'' Goldman said. ``Sometimes I feel as if the industry is on the edge of disaster - self-made. Going directly, head to head, against each other is sheer folly.''
Goldman has a two-thirds chance to win. He wrote the scripts for both ``The Chamber'' and ``The Ghost and the Darkness.''
It's a good time to seek interviews with usually elusive stars.
Here's a bit of the thinking from each of the three camps, straight from the actors and the creators themselves. ``The Chamber''
``The Chamber'' is a stark drama with Chris O'Donnell as a young, idealistic lawyer who attempts to save his grandfather (Gene Hackman) from the gas chamber. Having grown up in Chicago, the young lawyer was far from his family's Mississippi background, where Sam Cahall, the Hackman character, was convicted of a 1967 bombing which resulted in the deaths of two small children.
The movie has the Grisham brand name working for it. Of the four previous films based on Grisham novels, three made more than $100 million and one made $75 million. ``The Firm,'' ``The Client,'' ``The Pelican Brief'' and ``A Time to Kill'' were all hits.
On the risky side is the fact that this is the darkest and most character-driven of the Grisham novels, and it has no love interest.
Also risky is the fact that this is the first adult drama that actor Chris O'Donnell has attempted to carry. As Robin, Batman's ward, he became a star, but can he sustain top billing over two-time Oscar winner Gene Hackman?
O'Donnell admits that he was intimidated by working with Hackman. ``Gene comes to the set fully prepared. He has everything figured out. What do I talk to him about? How do I keep from looking like a fool?''
Taking time out from filming ``Batman and Robin,'' fresh-faced O'Donnell took particular pleasure in the fact that he at last gets to play his own age: 26.
``I wanted this role, and I wanted it badly,'' he said. `` `Batman Forever' opened the floodgates for me, but I still was getting offered kid roles.''
The story goes that Grisham sold the idea for ``The Chamber'' on the basis of a one-page outline described in a two-minute telephone call to Hollywood - before the book was even written. Universal bought the story for $3.75 million, sight unseen. At one time, it was thought that Brad Pitt would star and Ron Howard would direct. Both backed out. James Foley became the director. ``The Long Kiss Goodnight''
Academy Award winner Geena Davis (``The Accidental Tourist'') plays double roles. She's a suburban school teacher suffering from amnesia. She also is a highly trained secret agent involved in the government's most unscrupulous affairs - and pursued by those who fear she may remember too much. Samuel L. Jackson is a deadbeat detective who, unwittingly, is thrown into the mix and aids her flight.
It has state-of-the-art special effects, directed by Davis' husband, Renny Harlin, who is a specialist in action fare. He first broke through with ``Nightmare on Elm Street 4: Dream Master'' and reached the big time with ``Die Hard 2: Die Harder.'' His ``Cliffhanger'' with Sylvester Stallone grossed more than $260 million.
Davis dumped Jeff Goldblum to marry Harlin but their subsequent film projects have flopped. (He produced and she starred in the flop romance ``Speechless,'' with Michael Keaton and the $70 million disaster ``CutThroat Island'' which turned out to be one of the biggest money losers in film history.)
How can a marriage stay happy when the husband has his wife jumping out windows every day - and even, in ``Long Kiss' '' most dangerous stunt, into and under a lake covered with ice?
``Nothing was life-threatening,'' Harlin claimed. ``We were very careful. Geena is not the kind of actress who takes the role home with her. I couldn't be married to that kind of actress. She comes home as Geena.''
But the target audience is the standard action-film faithful: teen-age males. Traditionally, they haven't accepted women heroines in this type film. It didn't work for ``Tank Girl'' and it didn't work for Kathleen Turner. Harlin isn't threatened.
``If you just change the name from John to Jane, no, it won't work. But our film is about a woman - a woman in these very specific conditions. Geena is very feminine.''
Davis says of ``The Long Kiss Goodbye,'' ``it's more than just an action film. For an actress, it's a great part - a large arc. It's like playing a double personality. Who could ask for more?''
As for ``The Long Kiss Goodnight's'' chances, Harlin puts it this way: ``We have the market cornered on action. `The Chamber' is for serious drama fans. That's not our audience and `The Ghost and the Darkness' is a different kind of action film - not the same audience. It all depends on which studio does the best job with the publicity.'' ``Ghost and the Darkness''
Val Kilmer, Michael Douglas and five lions star in ``The Ghost and the Darkness.'' Set in East Africa in 1896, it concerns a race to build a 580-mile railway from Mombassa, on the Indian Ocean, to Lake Victoria in order to secure the lucrative ivory trade.
In real life, construction was stopped when two killer lions, dubbed `the ghost' and `the darkness,'' systematically killed construction workers who were toiling to build a bridge across Komati River. The lions uncannily knew where to strike and how to avoid the usual hunters.
Filmed during four months on the South Africa-Swaziland border, the film used a crew of 380 and several thousand native tribesmen, none of whom had ever seen a movie, much less a movie camera.
Douglas, who won Oscars for acting in ``Wall Street'' and producing ``One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest,'' produced ``Ghost'' as well as taking an uncharacteristically small role as a hunter brought in to help in the losing battle against the crafty lions.
``This will be the one I remember,'' Douglas said when he showed up at the Four Seasons Hotel in Los Angeles to talk about the film. ``I always wanted to make this kind of movie in Africa. We were 40 miles into the backcountry in what was the biggest movie ever produced in South Africa.''
Kilmer has faced a barrage of criticism since Joel Schumacher, director of ``Batman Forever,'' made a public statement about how the actor made mucho trouble on the set.
``Why should we protect these high-priced actors who are overpaid and spoiled?'' Schumacher said. Others came forward with stories of Kilmer battles on varied sets, including a claim that he and Marlon Brando teamed up to get a director fired off the set of ``The Island of Dr. Moreau.''
``I don't even read those stories,'' Kilmer said, with an apparent aim at damage control. ``Marlon phoned me and wanted to know if he should make a public statement denying it. We agreed that the best thing was just to ignore it. I favor a strong director. I need direction.''
Stephen Hopkins, the Australian director of ``The Ghost and the Darkness'' got the job, probably, because of his success with the action film ``Blown Away.''
``Val has been going through a rough time in his life,'' Hopkins said. ``A divorce is never easy. (Kilmer was married to actress Joanne Whalley-Kilmer). But, in reality, `Ghost and the Darkness' would never have been made if it hadn't been for Val. He'd been to Africa many times before. He's fascinated with the continent and he very much wanted to make a film here. When `Batman Forever' became a huge hit, suddenly we had a star name that was bankable.''
The real stars, though are five lions, all born in captivity. The five played the two title lions in varied degree of rage.
Producer Douglas said, ``We were worried about making a movie in which people are trying to kill lions. You know, after `The Lion King,' but the danger is established. Even our five trained lions, who were great, have to be watched more carefully at night. We had lots of night scenes, and they are noticeably more dangerous at night.'' Mal's predictions
The films will be reviewed later, so this is no quality judgment, but a prediction on the box-office outcome would go like this:
``The Chamber'' winning because, even though it is a serious drama, it has the broadest appeal.
``The Ghost and the Darkness'' will be second because it has proven stars (even though its period setting and its lack of any love interest might be against it).
``The Long Kiss Goodnight'' has a problem in that Geena Davis is not a proven action star. Never underestimate the power, though, of the action fans. ``Kiss'' might surprise on its opening weekend, even though ``The Chamber'' should be the long-range winner. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo from PARAMOUNT PICTURES
Michael Douglas...
Color photo from NEW LINE CINEMA
Geena Davis and Craig Bierko...
Color photo by UNIVERSAL CITY STUDIOS
Chris O'Donnell... by CNB