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American Morning

Hollywood's Version of Nuclear Nightmare Didn't Scare Away Moviegoers Over Weekend

Aired June 03, 2002 - 08:44   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.
JACK CAFFERTY, CNN ANCHOR: Hollywood's version of a nuclear nightmare didn't scare away moviegoers over the weekend, "The Sum of All Fears," starring Ben Affleck, opened with a bang at the box office, taking in over $31 million. It was followed in order by "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones," "Spiderman," $14.5. -- "Attack of the Clones I made a mistake -- $354 million for "Spiderman" in five weeks. That's raking it in. "Undercover Brother" and "Spirit" round out the top five.

For more Hollywood happenings and another dose of reality TV, something about bachelorettes, we turn to entertainment reporter Susan Campos.

Good morning. Happy Monday.

SUSAN CAMPOS, ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: And good morning to you, too.

CAFFERTY: So a calculated risk putting the "Sum of all Fears" out, coming after the events of 9-11. It turned out they bet right, people didn't stay away from it.

CAMPOS: They didn't stay away from it. And you know, this is so good for Ben Affleck, because a lot of people were questioning, can he fill Harrison Ford's shoes and play Jack Ryan, and he not only did it, but in this franchise, there have been four movies. This fourth has done the best of any other. So he made $30 million. The last one opened at $20 million in 1994. And Ben Affleck had a very good year. He also had "Changing Lanes," which was a big hit.

CAFFERTY: He'll pay the rent. He'll be all right. Morgan Freeman in an interview ahead of the release of this said something stupid that was in one of the newspapers this morning. You know, I guess in an effort to allay people not going to this because of, you know, relationship to events of 9-11 and the terrorist tie-in, Morgan Freeman told the reporter that the attack on the World Trade Center was not a national trauma, and he told this guy who worked for New York One, if you were not in New York on September 11th, what you saw was an event on CNN.

Hey, Morgan, wrong answer, buddy.

CAMPOS: Yes. That is definitely... CAFFERTY: Very bad. Very bad. Anyway, that aside, the movie did well. Now, the question is, there is apparently a race on in Hollywood to decide who's going to be the next big action hero. We have Arnold Schwarzenegger who is getting a little long in the tooth to be running through the jungle looking for -- Arnold, you're terrific. I love all your movies, but who is the next big one at the box office?

CAMPOS: You know, in Hollywood, they do want the action stars, because these movies do so well internationally, and that's where the big money is. So the next big up and comer is a guy named Vin Diesel, who was in "Fast and the Furious," and this movie did so well. So he's in "Triple X."

CAFFERTY: Is that a porn movie?

CAMPOS: It sounds like a porn movie, but it's not. It's a James Bond kind of thriller that comes on August 9th. He's going to get $20 million for the sequel because it tested so well, the first one.

CAFFERTY: Wow.

CAMPOS: Then you have The Rock, who was in "The Scorpion King," as you remember. And "The Scorpion King" did so well that they've already signed him for a non-sequel for $12.5 million for "Eldorado."

CAFFERTY: And this guy never made a movie in his life. He's like a WWF guy.

CAMPOS: Yes, he's a wrestler turned actor. This is where the money is, in action films, and this is why they're always looking for the next action star in every -- not every male actor, but a lot of male actors want to be an action star.

CAFFERTY: I would like to be one. Most of them just grunt and take steroids.

CAMPOS: And you've to be tall, and you've got the height.

CAFFERTY: But I'm not bulky enough. You've got to be big and muscular.

Who's the third guy there?

CAMPOS: He's Eric Bana, and he's from Australia. He was in "Black Hawk Down," and he's going to play the Hulk in 2003. So, you know, again, is a new up and comer.

CAFFERTY: We had that tedious TV show where the guy went looking for a wife, right, the bachelor party or whatever. I missed this last night on Fox, but they have got one called -- what's the name of it? "Looking for Love: Bachelorettes in Alaska."

CAMPOS: Yes, I actually saw it last night, and I have to say, I kind of glued to the television, because it's all about casting, and they kind of find that one annoying character that you can't take your eyes off.

So it's five women picking from dozens of men. Of course the horrible thing is the public humiliation of it all. Everybody kind of puts their heart on the line, and then they get rejected. You feel bad for everybody, but can't stop watching it. It's horrible actually.

CAFFERTY: But that's why you want to watch it.

CAMPOS: That's why you want to watch it.

CAFFERTY: Sometimes you like to watch a car wreck, as long as you're not in it.

CAMPOS: Exactly.

CAFFERTY: This is terrible, and these people are being humiliated, and I can't get enough.

CAMPOS: I know. You feel guilty while you're watching it.

CAFFERTY: But you turn it on again. You didn't hear the overnights. Did it do well?

CAMPOS: No, I'll be actually very anxious, but I think it will because it was really good.

CAFFERTY: In a terrible sort of way.

CAMPOS: Right. Exactly.

CAFFERTY: I'll Talk to you later.

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