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American Morning

Interview with Susan Campos, Entertainment Reporter

Aired April 29, 2002 - 09:22   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: Well, the Rock is still on a roll at the box office. God help us all. Moviegoers can't seem to get enough of the wrestling superstar in his new role, "The Scorpion King." The movie ruled for a second straight weekend at the box office, taking in more than 17 million cannolis. Can you believe it? It was followed by "Changing Lanes," "Life or Something Like It," "Jason 10," I guess or "X" and "Murder by Numbers."

Joining us now with more on the movies and a reports of a defection -- possible defection from TV's "Sex and the City," entertainment reporter Susan Campos. Thanks for being with us.

SUSAN CAMPOS, ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Good morning. Thank you.

COOPER: We'll get to "Sex in the City" in a moment.

Let's start off with the Rock, "The Scorpion King". Still number one in the box office. How long is this going to last?

CAMPOS: Well, he was lucky. He didn't have a lot of competition this weekend but forget about next weekend because he's going to be sucked into the web of "Spiderman" and it's over, he'll get gobbled up because "Spiderman" is going to be, you know, 70 or $80 million.

COOPER: It's got a huge tracking numbers. I mean this ...

CAMPOS: Huge.

COOPER: The studio is really expecting a lot from the open.

CAMPOS: They are so excited about it. And they have reason to be because it is tracking really at 70 or $80 million dollars, that is a huge opening weekend.

COOPER: But now I'm told the Rock can now be commanding upwards of $20 million for a picture, which is just incredible.

CAMPOS: Isn't it? You can go from wrestler to this and he could have a career like Arnold and be this action hero.

COOPER: Right. Well that's what we need. We another action hero these days. Now some disappointing news for Angelina Jolie this weekend. Her big movie, which got a lot of hype really opened pretty badly, in third place, and this is actually the third movie in a row with a big female lead comedy that hasn't done well. Do people just don't want comedies right now?

CAMPOS: I don't know what's with romantic comedies. But you know "Kate and Leopold" with Meg Ryan that didn't do well, and then "The Sweetest Thing" with Cameron Diaz, and now this Angelina Jolie movie. What's kind of bad about it is these chick flicks or romantic comedies aren't doing so well, and studio executives will actually get a little bit nervous, so if you have romantic comedy idea and you want to get the green light, just forget about it right now, because it's going to be really difficult until another one breaks through, and then everyone will want them again.

COOPER: Right. Hollywood is definitely not a very original place and, you know, they basically stick with -- probably right now we're going to see a whole lot "Scorpion King" type movies.

CAMPOS: Oh, absolutely. Remember with "Scream" and then you saw all these teen horror films. Until then, they don't start working and then it's like, OK, what's the new thing?

COOPER: Right. So Jack and I -- if Jack and I maybe bulked up a little bit more, we could maybe get our own little ...

CAMPOS: Hey, action hero, there you go. You got the look.

COOPER: Oh, yes. I think that will work. They really like pale and the skinny gray-haired guys. It was pretty much a big -- a weekend of contrast as well. I mean sort of counter programming, basically Angelina Jolie versus "The Scorpion King" didn't really work so well this weekend. Does it usually work?

CAMPOS: You know, it actually can work, with "Knotting Hill" actually went up against "Star Wars: Phantom Menace" in its second weekend. And it didn't beat "Star Wars," but "Knotting Hill" did about $30 million, which is pretty huge. And the thing is, is that people would say well, "Life or Something Like It," is no "Knotting Hill," but I would say "Scorpion King " is no "Star Wars" either.

COOPER: There really is a dearth of good movies right now playing at the box office, and I tried to go see something this weekend, and you look in the paper and there's really just not that much to see.

CAMPOS: There's really nothing to see. You know -- I know that's kind of what -- that's why "The Scorpion King" is doing so well.

COOPER: Right. On the small screen now "Sex and the City", there's been a lot of -- a lot of reports recently about it. Number one, there's gossip these days or rumors that Kim Cattrall, the blonde vixen on "Sex and the City," may be leaving. Is this true?

CAMPOS: She is not leaving the show, and I actually checked and checked and checked and she isn't leaving the show. Apparently she was on a television show in London and said something about her future in five or ten years, which did not include "Sex and the City," but you know she can't play -- you know she doesn't want to play Samantha that long. And so basically they took that as she's quitting the show, which she is not quitting the show.

COOPER: But she -- she's written a book recently or helped write a book. I don't even know ...

CAMPOS: Right. A sex book. Right.

COOPER: Right. A sex book. I'm not going to repeat the title here -- so -- but she is going to be on the show at least for the near-term?

CAMPOS: Right. I think that they're all signed on to do this next season and the following. So they have two more. And they're only going to do eight episodes rather than 13.

COOPER: And this is because Sarah Jessica Parker is pregnant in real life?

CAMPOS: Right, and so they're working around the pregnancy, although, it's not going to be in the show. I kind of wanted it to be Big's baby, you know, who's one of the guys she's dating.

COOPER: Oh, it's not going to be in the show?

CAMPOS: It isn't. No, they're going to work around it. They say that right now, she isn't showing, and apparently they've shot two of the eight episodes already, and because one of the other characters just had a baby, they decided not to go with that.

COOPER: All right, Susan Campos thanks very for the latest from Hollywood.

CAMPOS: Thank you.

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