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American Morning

Reporter Discusses Fight for Holiday Box Office Receipts

Aired July 05, 2002 - 09:31   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.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones are back in black.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (sings "I Will Survive")

WILL SMITH, ACTOR: Frank! Bring your head in this window before I roll it up in there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

HARRIS: I liked Frank in the last movie too.

"Men in Black II" is now in theaters, and the alien action is expected to top the $100 million mark by end of the holiday weekend.

Joining us now with the more on what's hot and what's not in Hollywood, entertainment reporter Susan Campos.

Good to see you.

SUSAN CAMPOS, ENTERTAINMENT REPORTER: Good morning.

HARRIS: All right, what's the word on "Men in Black"? I kind of expected this one was going to be a big one coming in. When you see the trailers and you see the effects, it's hard for this one to be a loser.

CAMPOS: It is so big, actually. On Wednesday, it did $19.2 million. So that indicates it will do, as you said, about $100 million.

The last "Men in Black" was also opened on a five-day July Fourth weekend, and it did just under $80 million. So their audience is building. And it's such a fun movie.

HARRIS: Is the story as good, though, because I have heard different reviews about that.

CAMPOS: You know, I just think it's fun. And I love the two of them together. So if you just going to have fun, it's good. A lot of, you know -- it has gotten a lot of bad reviews, but the audience is going. HARRIS: So this one you figure is going to be good all summer, or is it just going to be a big bang right now?

CAMPOS: I think that it will hold. I think it will have legs.

Also, "Mr. Deeds" is doing well. It also did well on a Wednesday. It came in right after "Men in Black."

HARRIS: But you know what, Mr. Deeds is not like this one and "Spider-Man," that came out earlier, with the comic book theme. What do you make of that?

CAMPOS: Well, I think Hollywood has always tapped into the comic books to get material: "Batman," "Men in Black," the upcoming "The Hulk." But "Spider-Man" just created this frenzy. And companies, like Marvel, that publish these comic books, suddenly they have everybody calling them and saying, What do you have, I need something. But it doesn't mean just because it was successful comic book that suddenly it's going to be -- can I say "success" -- but basically, "Howard the Duck" did not do well, "The Phantom."

HARRIS: That one did kind of stank.

CAMPOS: Right. So it doesn't always work.

HARRIS: You know what else doesn't happen with the comic books, though? You don't see any women, because the comic book heroes are pretty much all male characters. Does that mean this is going to be a summer with no women, basically, being at the top of the box office?

CAMPOS: The summer, basically, isn't for women in Hollywood. It's a time for action pictures. And that started with "Jaws," back in the '70s. It just started with all this action, and all these roles go to men. And you hear women complain we can't get any good roles unless you're Julia Roberts. But Julia Roberts doesn't even have a big movie this summer.

So the good news is, basically, you have "Charlie's Angels," which they're making a sequel to. So women are breaking into action. And Cameron Diaz will get $20 million for "Charlie's Angels 2," so she'll join Julia Roberts. And then you have Angelina Jolie for "Tomb Raider II".

But other than that, you don't really have women in action films.

HARRIS: You know what, though, in a way -- speaking only as a guy here...

CAMPOS: Oh, no. I don't know if I want to hear this.

HARRIS: Speaking as a guy -- Daryn's already got her ears perked up -- that makes sense to me, because during the summertime, chick flicks probably wouldn't do very well, because...

CAMPOS: You're right. Because it's teenage boys.

HARRIS: Yes.

CAMPOS: It's all -- and teenage boys drive the box office.

HARRIS: You got it. And also, guys have other things to do in the summertime. If their girlfriend says, Come on, let's got watch this tearjerker, or let's go hit the beach, which one would you rather do?

CAMPOS: I know.

HARRIS: In the wintertime, it's a different story because you can't really go out and do those kind of things.

CAMPOS: The fall is when you have a lot of chick flicks.

HARRIS: OK.

CAMPOS: Yes, that's what they're called. And that's basically when you have them. Because a lot of movies that were actually going to come out in the summer, they moved when they saw all these big blockbusters, coming to say we can't compete.

HARRIS: All right, how about kid flicks? There was another big one that came out: "Powerpuff Girls." My daughter Laurin (ph) is at home -- Laurin (ph), if you're listening, get ready, here it comes.

CAMPOS: Is she dying to go?

HARRIS: She loves the pink one. I don't even know what her name is. She loves the pink one.

CAMPOS: This is a very popular cartoon. And I thought this was great counterprogramming against "Men in Black." I have to say Wednesday numbers looked a little bit weak, but that doesn't mean it won't do well, because I think Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, when everybody's off work, that's when maybe the parents will be bringing their kids to see this. But it should do well, and I think it's great counterprogramming against "Men in Black."

HARRIS: Yes. And the other thing too about it, it's a cartoon -- it couldn't have cost nearly as much as "Men in Black" to put together.

CAMPOS: Oh, no. "Men in Black"...

HARRIS: Do you know how much it cost to make it?

CAMPOS: I don't know how much it cost, but that's why these big- budget sequels have to make over $100 million to make their money back, because you also, in addition to making the movie, you have advertising, which is half your budget as well.

HARRIS: Yes. And speaking as a parent I can also say the kids rule the wallet, especially in the summertime. So even if it isn't that great a movie, the kids will go see it any way.

CAMPOS: Look at "Scooby-Doo."

HARRIS: Perfect case in point. I...

CAMPOS: I mean everybody said that that was a horrible movie, but the kids flock to see it.

HARRIS: The kids love it, exactly. And there's always DVDs.

CAMPOS: Exactly.

HARRIS: You wait till that thing hits the stores.

Susan Campos, good to see you.

CAMPOS: Good to see you. Thank you.

HARRIS: Nice to meet you finally face to face.

CAMPOS: I know. Thank you.

HARRIS: You're just as cute as I thought you were too.

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