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American Morning

Big Money Floods Hollywood Movies

Aired May 01, 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 COPPER, CNN ANCHOR: Just how exactly did Jim Carrey pull in something like $60 million for the movie "The Grinch"? And which actress almost didn't get a movie lead because a studio executive said she had no chin? Those are some of the weighty matters revealed in two new books by some Hollywood heavy-hitters. "What Just Happened? Bitter Hollywood Tales from the Front Lines" by Hollywood producer Art Linson, and "Shoot Out: Surviving Fame and Misfortune in Hollywood" by two ex-studio execs: Peter Bart and Peter Guber.

Joining us now to give us the dish on these two insider books, entertainment reporter Susan Campos.

Thanks for being with us, Susan.

SUSAN CAMPOS, ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Good morning.

COPPER: So what do these two books have in common? I mean the Linson book is just out, and the Peter Bart and Guber book is coming out.

CAMPOS: Right. And basically they're stories from insiders who are still very active in the business. And so they're stories from the front lines and basically they're telling the inside stories and how difficult it is to get a movie made in Hollywood today and basically what you have to go through and the deal-making process.

COPPER: It is -- I mean I was reading bits of the Art Linson book, which is a very funny book but it is just amazing the amount of lies and deception, backstabbing, backbiting, I mean, it's really Hollywood is just a horrible, horrible place.

CAMPOS: Well, it is. If you read these books, it's almost like -- or if your son or daughter wanting to go into this business and you read this book, you would say don't go into this business. It's too frightening.

COPPER: Right. A couple of years ago, Linda Obst, a producer, had written a book "Hello, He Lied," which is all about lying in Hollywood. And this ...

CAMPOS: And it goes on all the time. Yes, it does.

COPPER: What -- in the Art Linson book, it talks about Alec Baldwin in the movie "The Edge," I think they ultimately called it, but it -- and it was excerpt in "Vanity Fair" this month and it really gives an insider's view of how this movie got made.

CAMPOS: Well, basically Art Linson meets with Alec Baldwin. And they meet and say, OK, we're going to do this movie. They see him three months later on the set and he's playing a fashion photographer. He's in this with Anthony Hopkins. And at the beginning of the movie, he can't have a beard because he's got to be this sophisticated guy. Well, by the time they see him, he's gained 20 pounds, has a beard and refuses to shave it. She they're saying you've got to shave the beard. You got to get rid of it. He won't. They call his agent in. The agents gets him to shave the beard but he fires -- Alec Baldwin fires the agent for it.

COPPER: And also apparently, according to the producer in this book, punishes the director for the entire ten weeks of the shoot. Won't look the director in the eye. Won't take any direction from him.

CAMPOS: Won't talk with him and after that he won't talk with Art Linson or look him in the eye either. That's fun to work with.

COPPER: God, it's unbelievable. It's -- there's also a funny story about Gwyneth Paltrow, not really funny, kind of a cruel story about Gwyneth Paltrow.

CAMPOS: Right. Where basically she's not Gwyneth yet so this is for "Great Expectations." And so they say, you know, we want you for this movie this and that and Art Linson wants to her. He says to the studio that I want Gwyneth Paltrow but she's just started dating Brad Pitt, just getting hot and they say she has no chin. And they say, what? She has no chin so we don't want her.

But this also happened to Katharine Hepburn where a studio exec said she looks like a horse before she was big and famous. You know, they are having the last laugh.

COPPER: It also recants another studio executive saying I wouldn't want to have sex with them, therefore we shouldn't cast them.

CAMPOS: I know.

COPPER: (INAUDIBLE) discrimination.

CAMPOS: I know. It's totally disgusting.

COPPER: In the Peter Bart book, it talks about how much stars make and it's pretty outrageous the amount of money these guys are pulling in.

CAMPOS: Oh, forget it because they're getting, you know, $25 million and then on top of that their expenses. You know just kind of -- they get $15,000 per week. And you don't have to turn in receipts for this; you just get $15,000 basically of spending money, a jet. So anytime you want this jet, you know, you can just take this jet wherever you want. They have pilots ready to go. A Mercedes, you know, just to kind of tool around in. Two trailers, one to just hang out in and one to get your makeup done and then two personnel assistance. This doesn't include, you know, personal trainers, that kind of thing.

COPPER: Wow. It's much like what we get here at CNN.

CAMPOS: Well, that's what you get. Are you getting 15,000 just in expenses on top of your salary?

COPPER: That's right. Well, we have Jack's trailer, Paula's trailer, my trailer. All the trailers are lined up outside.

CAMPOS: And who has the biggest trailer?

COPPER: Oh, Aaron Brown, of course. Yes, moving on.

CAMPOS: OK. Sure. Jim Carrey, though, when we were saying about $60 million with "The Grinch"; in addition to getting $16,000 per week to spend or whatever he got, he gets $60 million for "The Grinch" because he gets DVD sales and everything else that goes along with it.

COPPER: All right. Susan Campos, thanks very much for being with us -- Paula.

ZAHN: And I love "The Grinch," my kids loved it. It made a lot of money, didn't it?

CAMPOS: It made a huge amount of money.

ZAHN: Yes. All right. Thank you, you two.

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