HOLLYWOOD
HEADLINES
GETTING BACK TO WORK Hollywood producers and TV networks
face a balancing act as they look for the path to
normalcy following the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11. On
the one hand they're trying to resume production, but at
the same time they're having to be more deliberate than
they usually are about how to proceed. TV entertainment
programmers are particularly anxious about what the
immediate future may bring. Their annual fall season
kick-off was thoroughly fouled up by the blanket news
coverage of the tragedy, but the networks have done what
they could to adjust and the 2001-2002 season is under
way. Network executives are keeping their fingers
crossed that the need does not arise again for
wall-to-wall news in primetime -- for the same reasons
as everyone else, and for reasons of their own.
Disruption of the fall schedule is a negative image of
"the gift that keeps on giving." It not only
costs the network truckloads of money right now, it also
makes it virtually impossible for TV viewers to find
their favorite shows and make time in their lives to
tune in at the appointed time down the road. There are
signs that viewers are anxious to get on with the show.
The Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday that a new
survey indicates people think the networks are doing the
right thing by getting on with the fall schedule. The
"flash" survey by Westfield, N.J.-based
Knowledge Networks-Statistical Research, conducted last
weekend, found that three-fourths of those responding
think an appropriate amount of time has passed since the
attacks for entertainment programs and advertising to
resume. -0-
LENO WILL PERFORM BENEFIT FOR
VEGAS Jay Leno told his "Tonight Show"
audience this week that he will give a free performance
Saturday at the MGM Grand hotel-casino in Las Vegas --
in order to help the gambling resort drum up some
business. Leno, a frequent performer in Vegas, said he
was told by friends that things were pretty slow there,
so he decided to "give something back" to the
town where he has enjoyed a lot of success and made a
lot of money. There have been reports in the last couple
of days that business has started to pick up again in
Vegas. But some casino workers and hotel employees have
been thrown out of work because of the slowdown
following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on the World
Trade Center and the Pentagon. Leno will appear at the
1,700-seat EFX Theatre in a performance that will be
open only to Nevada residents or anyone with an
out-of-state driver's license and a Las Vegas hotel room
key. -0-
STREISAND LIGHTENS UP ON BUSH
Regular visitors to Barbra Streisand's Web page are
familiar with her occasional criticisms of conservative
politics, and her custom of providing articles and links
to other sites that support her point of view, but in
the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,
Streisand has pulled back on the politics. "In
light of recent events," wrote the Oscar-winning
singer-filmmaker, "I strongly believe we must
support our government despite our disagreements on
certain policies, such as those relating to
environmental, educational, social and other specific
issues." Streisand assures her fans that "my
past concerns about such matters still pertain, but at
this point in time, I have removed several articles from
my Web site in an effort to encourage national unity
instead of partisan divisions." According to the
posting, Streisand had just finished recording a new
album one week before terrorists hijacked four airliners
and crashed three of them into the World Trade Center
and the Pentagon. -0-
OSCAR DEADLINE APPROACHES They
haven't even given out the Emmys yet, and already a hard
deadline is upon us for next year's Academy Awards.
Makers of documentary films eligible for the 74th
Academy Awards have until Monday, Oct. 1, to get their
entry forms and supporting materials to the Academy of
Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The deadline for the
Academy to receive the actual film print, and proof that
the documentary was exhibited during the qualifying
period, is Oct. 31. -0-
SAMUEL L. JACKSON'S NEXT Samuel
L. Jackson is reportedly joining the cast of "XXX,"
which stars Vin Diesel as an extreme sports version of a
super spy. Daily Variety reports that Jackson will play
a government agent who recruits and trains Diesel's
character to infiltrate a Russian crime organization.
Rob Cohen, who directed Diesel's summer hit, "The
Fast and the Furious," will direct "XXX."
Jackson had been scheduled to co-star with Jennifer
Lopez in "Tick Tock," but that project has
been taken off the drawing board because its plot deals
with terrorism. Diesel is earning a reported $10 million
for "XXX," and more than $11 million for
"The Chronicles of Riddick," a sequel to last
year's sci-fi action picture, "Pitch Black."
-0-
THE REST OF THE STORY Everyone
knows how "Cinderella" turned out -- they
lived happily ever after -- but now Disney is planning a
direct-to-video sequel to the 1950 animated classic.
Following a pattern established with video sequels to
"Aladdin," "Lady and the Tramp" and
"The Lion King," Disney plans to release
"Cinderella: Dreams Come True" on Feb. 26. The
story centers on the Cinderella story after she marries
the prince who rescued her from life with her wicked
stepmother and two ugly stepsisters. The studio is also
planning a direct-to-video release of "The
Hunchback of Notre Dame II," featuring the voice
talents of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Haley Joel Osment
along with Kevin Kline, Tom Hulce and Demi Moore, who
co-starred in the 1996 feature.
|
See
The Resume
