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CNN Sunday Morning
Summer Movie Season's Winners and Losers
Aired September 02, 2001 - 08:35 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.
MARTIN SAVIDGE, CNN ANCHOR: The summer of 2001 is going to go down as the summer of the movie sequel.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: That's right. There's also some potential blockbusters in the works for the fall.
SAVIDGE: Let's talk movies now with Thelma Adams. Thelma is a critic for "Us" magazine. She's in New York City this morning. And thank you very much for joining us, Thelma.
THELMA ADAMS, "US": Good morning. Hi, Marty. Hi, Kyra.
PHILLIPS: Hello.
SAVIDGE: Let's start off by asking what kind of summer was it for the movie industry?
ADAMS: You were absolutely right. It was the summer of sequels. From the opening weekend it was "The Mummies Return," closes with "American Pie II." It was a very successful summer.
PHILLIPS: And you listed a couple of movies that did really well. I saw "Legally Blonde." I swore I wasn't going to see it, but it was actually hysterical. How did that do? And Reese Witherspoon was pretty amazing.
ADAMS: Well, this is a breakout summer for Reese Witherspoon. She is a star. She is heading towards the A list. She is making $4 million on her next movie, and she carried "Legally Blonde" to $85 million.
PHILLIPS: Wow.
SAVIDGE: Well, you know, I...
ADAMS: Also breakout for Nicole Kidman, who had two very good movies this summer. She's no longer Mrs. Tom Cruise.
SAVIDGE: No, she's not that. Let me talk about some of the kid movies, though, because that tends to be the movies that I see a lot. "Shrek" really was one that came out and surprised a lot of people at the box office.
ADAMS: "Shrek" was the big hit of the summer. In fact, it's the 13th top all-time domestic seller in the domestic box office, right behind "Home Alone." It was, don't forget, the big hit of the summer. And I call it the "Field of Dreams" theory. If you build it, they will come. If you make a great family movie, it will do very, very well. And "Shrek" was that movie. I saw it with my 5-year-old and I don't know who enjoyed it more, me or him.
SAVIDGE: I had the same problem.
PHILLIPS: There was some subliminal little messages in there that only we as adults would catch that were pretty funny.
SAVIDGE: Hopefully.
PHILLIPS: Yeah, really. I hope.
ADAMS: Well, I think that's what makes a great family movie is that it works both for the kids and the adults.
PHILLIPS: "American Pie II." This is sort of the "Porky's" of our era, I guess, right?
SAVIDGE: Very good.
ADAMS: Definitely a "Porky's" and it was top of the box office three weekends in a row. Let's just say, it wasn't a great movie, but it did fabulously well, made a lot of money. And look out for Alyson Hannigan, band girl, she's a star to watch.
SAVIDGE: Well, let's talk about -- the summer has come to an end, obviously, Labor Day weekend. What do we look forward to in the fall?
ADAMS: We look forward to more family movies. "Monsters, Inc." coming out November 2 from Pixar. The vocal talent of Billy Crystal and John Goodman...
PHILLIPS: Oh, that'll be good.
ADAMS: ... it looks to be a very funny movie.
SAVIDGE: Yeah, that does look to be good. And then, of course, "Harry Potter" is one that everyone and every child is...
ADAMS: "Harry Potter." I'm sure that your kids are looking forward to it.
SAVIDGE: Absolutely.
ADAMS: "Harry Potter" is the big Thanksgiving movie and I'm sure it's going to be a huge success.
SAVIDGE: Can you make too much of it, though?
ADAMS: Can you make too much of it? I don't think, with all the people who have watched it, you know, with all -- you go into the store, you go into Staples, and it's, you know, "Harry Potter" lunch boxes and notepads. I think we're still in the middle of "Harry Potter-mania" and it's a perfect time for this movie.
SAVIDGE: Magic.
PHILLIPS: All right, "Shallow Hal." You've been talking about this is the perfect date movie.
ADAMS: "Shallow Hal," the perfect date movie. It's from the Farrelly brothers, who did "There's Something About Mary" and they're trying to do another "There's Something About Mary" and it stars Gwyneth Paltrow in an unusual roll. Here she is slim, but she puts on a fat suit.
She co-stars with Jack Black, who is the "Shallow Hal" of the title and he's a guy who only goes out with beautiful women. And I guess that was what her underwear looked like before she got thin.
PHILLIPS: Wow.
ADAMS: Wow.
SAVIDGE: Well, you know...
ADAMS: All I can say is, wow.
SAVIDGE: We're just looking at the clips here.
PHILLIPS: I know, sorry about that. Go ahead.
ADAMS: And I think that this is going to be, unquestionably, a big hit of the fall season.
Also, if you're looking for action, "Windtalkers," the John Woo/Nick Cage movie set in World War II.
PHILLIPS: I love Nicolas Cage.
SAVIDGE: Yeah. Well, I -- real quick, before we go, we always talk about the winners. Big losers this summer?
ADAMS: Big losers this summer? "Scary Movie II." In a summer where every sequel did fabulously, that kind of fell -- you know, fell off the radar very quick. "Osmosis Jones." We're talking about family movies doing very well. You've got to have a great story. "Osmosis Jones" didn't have it.
PHILLIPS: Foreign film, "Amelia," right? French film.
ADAMS: Oh, foreign film "Amelia," I've seen it. It's a Miramax movie. It is the movie of the fall that's going to make you just feel like, you know, hope springs eternal, that everything's going to be all right.
PHILLIPS: I'm seeing that one. All right.
SAVIDGE: Thelma Adams, thank you very much for joining us from "Us" magazine. ADAMS: Thank you.
SAVIDGE: A summer of movies; summer coming to an end.
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