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American Morning

Interview of Sandy Kenyon, "Parade"

Aired April 22, 2002 - 07:50   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: Time for some box office. Dwayne the Rock Johnson is rock solid, or in this case solid gold. "The Scorpion King" debuted in first place, grossing a whopping $36 million and turning the Rock into a bona fide movie star. God help us all.

"The Scorpion King" was followed at the box office by "Changing Lanes," "Murder by Numbers," "The Rookie," and Jodie Foster's "Panic Room."

Here to talk about movies is Sandy Kenyon, contributing editor to "Parade" magazine -- thanks for being us, Sandy.

SANDY KENYON, CONTRIBUTING EDITOR, "PARADE" MAGAZINE: Thanks for having me.

COOPER: So it opened up big, No.1 at the box office, the biggest opening ever in April.

KENYON: Absolutely. Bigger than life, literally, bigger than the movie called "Life," with Martin Lawrence and Eddie Murphy...

COOPER: Yes.

KENYON: ... and also bigger than "The Matrix" back in 1999, and that was a big hit. This is a star being born. You know, Anderson, one of the great satisfactions of doing this business for living, covering entertainment, is when you witness that rare star who breaks out, has a big role that defines him. This is the case with the Rock. He comes out of the WWF. They own, interestingly enough, a chunk of his future earnings, but he is a big star. He connected with audiences.

COOPER: Yes. "Variety" magazine on the cover today asked, it says "The Rock, New King of Action." A lot of people are comparing him to a young Sylvester Stallone or Schwarzenegger.

KENYON: Particularly Schwarzenegger around the time of "Conan the Barbarian." I thought this was very interesting. There was a little passing of the torch that went on. Schwarzenegger attended the premiere of "The Scorpion King." And this is what we are seeing. We are seeing a guy who started with smaller roles, as Schwarzenegger did. He had an extended cameo, the Rock did, in "The Mummy Returns."

COOPER: In "The Mummy Returns." Right. KENYON: Yes. And what happens is that now when he was ready, he went to an acting coach and he broke out.

COOPER: I think he needs to spend a little bit more time with an acting coach though. I think it's going to take a little bit more than one lesson, although in "The New York Times" today, it is reporting that for the Rock's next movie, he can get more than $10 million.

KENYON: And here is why, because the critics agree with you, Anderson. They said the Rock is schlock (ph). That was one headline, seriously on Friday, but he connected with audiences. And here is an interesting fact. More than 40 percent of the people that went this past weekend were women. So he is connecting across the board.

COOPER: That's really surprising. I mean, this was an action movie really geared toward young, you know, teenagers.

KENYON: As a female critic friend of mine said, he's a heartbreaker.

COOPER: "Murder by Numbers," Sandra Bullock's movie, opened up in third, pretty bad opening for Sandra Bullock.

KENYON: Moviemaking by numbers, and it's another in a long list of C plus pictures from Sandra Bullock. She told "Parade" magazine in a recent cover story, you don't have to please everyone. Yes, that's true, you don't, but the list is really long of mediocre movies with her name above the title. I am hopeful, though, that she'll pull it out with "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" based on a big best seller. That is going to be maybe the film for women this summer.

COOPER: Now, this summer, there is going to be a record number of sequels, prequels and movies based on comic books. Why is that? Is it just that Hollywood has run out of original ideas?

KENYON: It's summertime, Anderson. That works. You have to open big in the summertime or you're gone. The fastest way to do that is with a pre-sold title, something that the audience already knows.

COOPER: Like the "Spiderman" movie.

KENYON: Or "Star Wars," May 16.

COOPER: Right.

KENYON: Yes.

COOPER: So we are also looking -- I mean, we are showing a clip right now I think for "Spiderman." We are also looking at a bunch of other prequels and sequels, "Scooby Doo"...

KENYON: Yes.

COOPER: ... is going to be in, and... KENYON: You've got to make a big impact in the summertime, Anderson, and the way you do that is with a title that somebody already knows. "Spiderman" is going to be a huge, huge hit. I haven't seen it yet, but people I know have, and they say it's terrific. And of course, "Star Wars, Attack of the Clones,"...

COOPER: Right.

KENYON: ... the biggest film of the summer almost for sure.

COOPER: That heavy breathing we are hearing right now is not me. It is Darth Vader.

KENYON: Or me.

COOPER: It's got a new digital format. Is that going to work for it?

KENYON: It works for the special effects pictures, and I think more importantly it's got a better story by all accounts. And George Lucas brought in a co-writer. He recognized that there was some creative problems with the "Phantom Menace," and in actual fact, this looks to be a critical smash, as well as the expected box office smash, Anderson.

COOPER: All right. Sandy Kenyon, thanks very much.

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