Leonard Goldberg, chairman of Mandy Films at Sony Pictures and executive producer of “Charlie’s Angels,” is taking a few weeks to enjoy his success and pondering a sequel.
“None of the talent would sign on for another movie when we started,” says Goldberg. “We will know in about a week when we sit down with the angels to find out if they had fun doing the movie and, if schedules permit, would they sign on to do a sequel.”
The film was plagued by rumors of on-set tension, but such talk has been silenced by the $40 million opening weekend. Goldberg is projecting the film to exceed $100 million in domestic box office, and double that amount overseas.
Who will reprise the roles of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton in the remake of “Night of the Iguana” by Ray Stark Productions at Columbia and Kiper-Lascu’s Rex Media? The buzz has odds on Jeremy Irons with either Catherine Zeta Jones or Helena Bonham Carter.
Robert Evans, chairman/CEO of the Robert Evans Co. at Paramount Pictures, is excited about his projects and says, “we’ve got lots of things in development.”
Evans’ remake of “The Picture of Dorian Gray” is being adapted for the screen by his wunderkind son Josh, whose mother is Ali McGraw and stepfather was Steve McQueen. The younger Evans is also touting his own new movie “The Price of Air,” which he produced, directed and acted in on a minuscule budget of $200,000. The picture, shot in four weeks, stars Michael Madsen, Jenna Hoffman (Dustin Hoffman’s daughter), Alexis Arquette, Michele Phillips and Dick Van Patten. It is being distributed by Artist Direct.
In Hollywood, some people get second chances, like Christian Slater currently churning out movies in high gear. His work includes a supporting role in Rod Lurie’s “The Contender,” a lead role opposite Nicholas Cage in “Windtalk” (a World War II film with a budget of about $100 million, slated for an early 2001 release), and a supporting role in “3 Thousand Miles To Graceland,” starring Kevin Costner and Kurt Russell.
Slater, a new dad, says, “I wasn’t in any hurry to go back to work, but now I’ve got my son’s college education to provide for.”
“Thirteen Days,” a New Line Cinema film starring Kevin Costner, has created a buzz of controversy because of the film’s main character, Kenny O. Donnell, a special assistant to John F. Kennedy. The film focuses on the actual degree to which he was involved in the Cuban missile crisis.
“It is just a different way to tell a story,” says chief publicist Chris Day at UTA, the agency that handles Costner.
The cast of “Four Feathers,” directed by Shekhar Kapur for Paramount/Miramax, is a casting agent’s dream, with the hottest young talent in Hollywood, including Wes Bentley, Heath Ledger and Kate Hudson all of whom are suffering the rigors of filming in Morocco. The producers are looking beyond camel bites and sand storms to big box-office business in 2001.
Paramount is also looking at “What Women Want to Know” (set to be released Dec. 15, starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt) to be a Christmas present.
“It is our big holiday film,” says Sonia Ede, publicist at Paramount.
Commercial producer Jeff Lester is grateful to pal Billy Bob Thornton who appeared gratis in Lester’s 12-minute short, “The Last Real Cowboy,” picked up by Adams Productions in Seattle to be sold to Internet sites and possibly to airlines.
Contributing reporter Anita Talbert can be reached at [email protected].
