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American Morning

Holiday Movie Wrap

Aired January 06, 2003 - 08:45   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.


BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The weekend also marked the official end of the holiday movie season. Let's talk about the best and the worst right now of the season. Pretty decent season overall. Leah Rosen of "People" magazine is our guest here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Nice to see you.

LEAH ROSEN, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

HEMMER: What is the lure right now of "Lord of the Rings," $260 million already in this country alone?

ROSEN: Towering grosses. They're looking at a possible billion dollars worldwide. It's the franchise. People really liked the first film, and there are so many fans of the book, and they're all going to the second.

HEMMER: Is it the storyline? Is it the special effects? Is it the way it's produced?

ROSEN: It's both. It's just the franchise. It's the fantasy element that you get to go into this whole other world, and then these amazing special effects and some pretty great New Zealand scenery.

HEMMER: I understand it has a lot of violence -- a lot more violence as opposed to the first one, do you agree with that or not?

ROSEN: Well, this one is battle scene after battle scene, so, yes, there's some pretty gruesome violence, but nothing that we haven't seen on screens before.

HEMMER: That is one of what you consider a commercial success?

ROSEN: Absolutely.

HEMMER: The other one, "Catch Me If You Can."

ROSEN: Yes, "Catch Me If You Can," this is the Steven Spielberg- directed film with Leo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. It is about to hit 100 million at theaters here. It's just a really fun film.

HEMMER: Not a bad start?

ROSEN: Not a bad start at all.

HEMMER: "Two Weeks Notice?" ROSEN: "Two Weeks Notice," romantic comedy. There is always pent-up demand among women viewers for romantic comedies. Sandra Bullock has a strong record, and pair her with Hugh Grant, and people are going to go.

HEMMER: Yes, and you put that in the category, too, of commercial successes. So, too, does "Maid in Manhattan" with J-Lo. Why?

ROSEN: It also looks like it is going to come in at about a hundred million. It is, by far, her most successful film.

HEMMER: Yes, very true. What about "Gangs of New York?" I think it checked in about number seven this past weekend. I don't know if it's hit or miss right now across the country. It appears to be slowly gaining momentum. Do you see this in a way, or not?

ROSEN: No. It's sort of iffy. This is -- for the Christmas movies, "Gangs of New York" was the most anticipated movie, along with "Lord of the Rings," and it's just looking like it's having mixed success. It had a mixed critical reception. It's going to get some awards, for example, Daniel Day-Lewis, but audiences are not embracing it.

HEMMER: About a three-hour film, right?

ROSEN: A little under three hours, mid 1800s, and period dramas are often problematic.

HEMMER: I'm hearing a lot of good things about "Chicago" as a film.

ROSEN: "Chicago" is so much fun. This is a musical. It's only in about 300 theaters now, but it goes wider in two weeks, and audiences are responding. The question is going to be, will that same young audience that embraced "Moulin Rouge" go for that (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HEMMER: Very true.

Let's talk about the category labeled today as "the stinkers." Now I said at the outset, this is a pretty good holiday weekend, and a pretty good holiday season now for films across the country. What do you not like? And I believe you do not like "Pinocchio?"

ROSEN: I haven't seen "Pinocchio," but everyone I know who has, says don't even waste your time. Put it this way, Miramax didn't screen it for critics ahead of time, which is never a good sign.

HEMMER: And the anticipation months ago was that this thing was going to be a hit.

ROSEN: I don't think it's true.

HEMMER: "Star Trek Nemesis," what happened? ROSEN: It just -- it died. Basically, Star Trek fans went that first weekend. It made about $17 million the first weekend, and no one else went. I mean, this was, the next generation was clearly the geezer generation. It wasn't much of a film. So fans liked it, and no one else, and it turns out there are limited Star Trek fans these days.

HEMMER: Happy new year to you.

ROSEN: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired January 6, 2003 - 08:45   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: The weekend also marked the official end of the holiday movie season. Let's talk about the best and the worst right now of the season. Pretty decent season overall. Leah Rosen of "People" magazine is our guest here on AMERICAN MORNING.
Nice to see you.

LEAH ROSEN, "PEOPLE" MAGAZINE: Good morning.

HEMMER: What is the lure right now of "Lord of the Rings," $260 million already in this country alone?

ROSEN: Towering grosses. They're looking at a possible billion dollars worldwide. It's the franchise. People really liked the first film, and there are so many fans of the book, and they're all going to the second.

HEMMER: Is it the storyline? Is it the special effects? Is it the way it's produced?

ROSEN: It's both. It's just the franchise. It's the fantasy element that you get to go into this whole other world, and then these amazing special effects and some pretty great New Zealand scenery.

HEMMER: I understand it has a lot of violence -- a lot more violence as opposed to the first one, do you agree with that or not?

ROSEN: Well, this one is battle scene after battle scene, so, yes, there's some pretty gruesome violence, but nothing that we haven't seen on screens before.

HEMMER: That is one of what you consider a commercial success?

ROSEN: Absolutely.

HEMMER: The other one, "Catch Me If You Can."

ROSEN: Yes, "Catch Me If You Can," this is the Steven Spielberg- directed film with Leo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks. It is about to hit 100 million at theaters here. It's just a really fun film.

HEMMER: Not a bad start?

ROSEN: Not a bad start at all.

HEMMER: "Two Weeks Notice?" ROSEN: "Two Weeks Notice," romantic comedy. There is always pent-up demand among women viewers for romantic comedies. Sandra Bullock has a strong record, and pair her with Hugh Grant, and people are going to go.

HEMMER: Yes, and you put that in the category, too, of commercial successes. So, too, does "Maid in Manhattan" with J-Lo. Why?

ROSEN: It also looks like it is going to come in at about a hundred million. It is, by far, her most successful film.

HEMMER: Yes, very true. What about "Gangs of New York?" I think it checked in about number seven this past weekend. I don't know if it's hit or miss right now across the country. It appears to be slowly gaining momentum. Do you see this in a way, or not?

ROSEN: No. It's sort of iffy. This is -- for the Christmas movies, "Gangs of New York" was the most anticipated movie, along with "Lord of the Rings," and it's just looking like it's having mixed success. It had a mixed critical reception. It's going to get some awards, for example, Daniel Day-Lewis, but audiences are not embracing it.

HEMMER: About a three-hour film, right?

ROSEN: A little under three hours, mid 1800s, and period dramas are often problematic.

HEMMER: I'm hearing a lot of good things about "Chicago" as a film.

ROSEN: "Chicago" is so much fun. This is a musical. It's only in about 300 theaters now, but it goes wider in two weeks, and audiences are responding. The question is going to be, will that same young audience that embraced "Moulin Rouge" go for that (UNINTELLIGIBLE).

HEMMER: Very true.

Let's talk about the category labeled today as "the stinkers." Now I said at the outset, this is a pretty good holiday weekend, and a pretty good holiday season now for films across the country. What do you not like? And I believe you do not like "Pinocchio?"

ROSEN: I haven't seen "Pinocchio," but everyone I know who has, says don't even waste your time. Put it this way, Miramax didn't screen it for critics ahead of time, which is never a good sign.

HEMMER: And the anticipation months ago was that this thing was going to be a hit.

ROSEN: I don't think it's true.

HEMMER: "Star Trek Nemesis," what happened? ROSEN: It just -- it died. Basically, Star Trek fans went that first weekend. It made about $17 million the first weekend, and no one else went. I mean, this was, the next generation was clearly the geezer generation. It wasn't much of a film. So fans liked it, and no one else, and it turns out there are limited Star Trek fans these days.

HEMMER: Happy new year to you.

ROSEN: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com