THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 23, 1997 TAG: 9701230305
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MAL VINCENT, ENTERTAINMENT WRITER
LENGTH: 95 lines
Don't be surprised if you spot Jamie Lee Curtis in downtown Norfolk this spring.
Norfolk's economy, as well as the game of starwatching, will get a major boost in April when the big-budget, special-effects laden thriller ``Virus'' is filmed here. The stars - Curtis, Donald Sutherland and William Baldwin - will be living in a downtown Norfolk hotel for two to three months, and a crew of up to 150 will be spending money locally.
``The filming will take place mostly on the Chesapeake Bay some 10 miles off Norfolk,'' said Gale Anne Hurd, the film's producer. ``I'm delighted with the scouting effort. We've found everything we need. It's going to be a challenging shoot. We have to create a hurricane at sea and sink a ship.''
She expects that none of the scenes will be shot on Norfolk streets. All the local shoots will be at sea.
Hurd won't discuss budget, but she doesn't make cheap films. She produced such high-tech thrillers as ``The Terminator,'' ``Aliens'' and ``The Abyss'' and is represented currently in theaters by ``The Relic.'' Her production of ``Dante's Peak,'' featuring an erupting volcano, opens Feb. 7.
The budget for ``Virus'' has been rumored to be between $30 and $40 million, but Universal Pictures, which will release it in the fall, has a policy of not releasing even ballpark guesses.
Despite the title, it's not another medical-emergency movie. A rough plot outline: An American tugboat sinks in a mighty storm, and the crew takes refuge aboard a top secret Russian research vessel. But don't celebrate that rescue - the Russian crew has been brutally annihilated by an alien life form that has infested the ship. As the death toll rises, the crew discovers the alien's objective - it regards humans as a virus (hence the title) that must be eliminated and will stop at nothing in order to complete its genocidal mission. ``For Jamie Lee, it's a return to the screaming horror type thing that started her career,'' Hurd said. Curtis first made her mark screaming through ``Halloween'' in 1978; her most recent hit was the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie ``True Lies.''
Ken Hawkins of the Norfolk Waterside Marriott Hotel said that some $80,000 in reservations has been guaranteed for the stars' residences, with their arrival set for April 5.
Production company officials said they would be shooting off Cape Charles, in Newport News and off Lamberts Point. Shooting is scheduled to finish by May 9.
Denise Page of the Virginia Film Office in Richmond said the company was expected to be residing in Norfolk for ``at least 12 weeks - and spending a great deal of money. We're delighted to get them in Virginia. This type production generates a lot of money for the local economy.''
Page estimated that 25 to 30 percent of a film's production budget is spent on location.
M.P. Mausteller, chairman of the Virginia Port Authority, said that ``Virus'' could bring at least $7 million to the local economy.
It is the first major movie production in the region since the filming of ``Navy SEALS'' in 1990.
The local star of the film will be the missile range instrumentation ship Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg, a mothballed Navy vessel now undergoing a major facelift at Norfolk's Colonna's Shipyard.
``The Vandenberg has gone through a major cosmetic change to make it look like a Russian research vehicle, and we've also prepared two tugboats - one that they can sink over and over,'' said Doug Forrest, Colonna's vice president. ``The cost, so far, has been in the neighborhood of $1 million.''
Built in 1944 as a troop transport, the Vandenberg was converted in 1965 for tracking and testing nuclear missiles. It was decommissioned in 1983 and put in the National Defense Reserve Fleet on the James River. Hurd said that the company's decision to come to Norfolk was primarily because of the ship.
``There were lengthy negotiations with the Navy to get it,'' she said.
The tugs have been remodeled to look like North Sea vessels.
Anthony Hopkins was originally sought for the film but was replaced by Donald Sutherland. It is not Sutherland's first local visit. He appeared at the Virginia Beach Friends of the Library's film series several years ago for a screening of his film ``Don't Look Now.'' He rose to stardom in the movie version of ``M*A*S*H.'' Other films starring Sutherland include ``Invasion of the Body Snatchers,'' ``Klute,'' and ``The Eagle Has Landed.''
William Baldwin starred with Sharon Stone in ``Sliver'' and in the Ron Howard firefighter movie ``Backdraft,'' in which Sutherland also appeared.
The film will be directed by John Bruno. The script has been written by Chuck Pfarrer and Michael Richardson. Interior shots will be completed in Wilmington, N.C., before the company moves here. ILLUSTRATION: Color file photos
Jamie Lee Curtis
Films: ``Halloween,'' ``True Lies,'' ``Trading Places,'' ``A Fish
Called Wanda.''
Donald Sutherland
Films: ``M*A*S*H,'' ``Invasion of the Body Snatchers,'' ``Klute,''
``The Eagle Has Landed.''
William Baldwin
Films: ``Backdraft,'' ``Sliver,'' ``Flatliners,'' ``Fair Game,''
``Three of Hearts.''
KEYWORDS: MOVIES NORFOLK