By FRANK SWERTLOW
Staff Reporter
When Paramount Pictures yanked “Titanic” from a scheduled July opening last summer, some pundits predicted the film was headed for a wintry grave since delaying a release date often signals trouble.
But it’s now the summer of 1998, and “Titanic” is still playing in theaters 688 over the July 4 weekend, to be exact.
In fact, the co-production of Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. and Paramount only recently fell out of the top 10. Indeed, Paramount spokesman Blaise Noto anticipated that the film may remain afloat in theaters well past Sept. 11 debut of the videocassette version.
“It still remains a good summer date movie,” said Steve Cesinger, an investment banker specializing in the entertainment industry at Los Angeles-based Greif & Co. “And many of the major event films out there have had a very weak showing.”
Robert Bucksbaum, president of box-office tracking firm Reel Source Inc., agreed that “Titanic” is benefiting from a lack of competition, especially from action-adventure duds like “Godzilla.”
“‘Titanic’ sticks out like a sore thumb,” he said. “The July 4 holiday will give it another spike up.”
Another reasons for the longevity of “Titanic” is its size the expensive special effects and the scale of the production are such that many believe the film only can be fully appreciated if seen on the big screen.
Another boost may come from discount theaters, many of which serve areas around the country that don’t get first-run films. Paramount is expected to release the film to these theaters in the near future, although no official date has been set.
“A lot of people wait for the dollar runs because they don’t want to see a film like this on video,” Bucksbaum said.
“Titanic,” which has been in theaters for nearly seven months, has not set the record for longevity for a film at Paramount. That honor, Noto said, still goes to 1994’s “Forrest Gump” starring Tom Hanks. It was in theaters for nearly 10 months.
“It is really difficult to track just how long a film is in theaters because at some point the tracking systems aren’t that reliable,” Noto said, adding that many cult films like “Rocky Horror Picture Show” technically have been playing for years, albeit at only a few theaters around the country.
One group, however, that still may resist seeing “Titanic” is men between the ages of 40 and 65, Bucksbaum said.
“They know how the film ends,” he said, “and they don’t want to see it.”
Of course, the 688 theaters showing “Titanic” represent a mere fraction of the 2,600 to 2,900 theaters exhibiting current films like “Dr. Doolittle,” “Mulan” and “The X-Files.”
Even so, the film that was originally conceived as a summer blockbuster has managed to qualify as a modest summer hit not bad for a movie released at Christmas.
