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CNN Live Sunday
Reviews Of Summer Movies
Aired July 20, 2003 - 16:40 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.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, "Bad Boys 2" ruling the box office. The buddy cop flick debuting number one in its opening weekend, earning more than $46 million. Sounds like a lot of money. For the very latest on this weekend's box office earnings and a new look at the releases just around the corner, we now go to Los Angeles, where CNN's Paul Clinton is standing by. Paul, always a pleasure.
PAUL CLINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. How are you?
CALLEBS: Let's talk about this summer. A lot of movies that are supposed to be big blockbusters, the kind that continue to foster record after record after record. What have we seen so far this year?
CLINTON: Well, "Variety," which is the trade paper here in Hollywood, they're calling this summer the audience strikes back. The box office numbers are down. They're down by 5 percent in terms of receipts, 8 percent in terms of attendance, and overall about $71 million lower than it was this time last year. Now, Hollywood's been spoiled. They've had record-breaking summer after record-breaking summer. Now, it ain't over till the fat lady sings. So what I want to say that, this summer's going to be bad news, but so far it is not doing as well.
CALLEBS: Now, $71 million, is that a ton of money? Is this something that the movie industry could theoretically make up now that we reach the midway point of summer?
CLINTON: It's not that much money. And plus, Sean, they don't make their money out of domestic box office release anyway. They make it out of overseas sales and, more to the point, DVD. That's where they make their big bucks. They don't make it into domestic at all. And also, with all the toys and the stuff and games and all that, that's where the big bucks are, not in domestic box office. Theaters take their share. Hollywood really does not make the money on U.S. box at all.
CALLEBS: It's all that brand marketing. Let's talk about "Bad Boys 2." We saw that. I mean, arguably is there a bigger star out there right now than Will Smith?
CLINTON: Will Smith is the big bad boy. He is a boy of summer. He owned the summer a couple years ago with "Independence Day." Then he did it again with "Men in Black." Now he's back with Martin Lawrence. They were reunited after eight years, when "Bad Boys I" came out. Now the original made $160 million. It was a bad movie. And this one has now made, like you said, $46 million, and it's also a bad movie. The only difference is it's a lot longer. Now, the original "Bad Boys" was 2 hours and 6. This one is 2 hours and 40 minutes. It goes on and on and on. It ends about three times, but they just don't stop.
CALLEBS: You don't pull any punches, do you, Paul?
CLINTON: No. It's got a high gross out factor. I mean, there's a huge body count. A lot of the bodies are corpses, though, being thrown off a freeway, so I'm not sure if they really count in the body count.
CALLEBS: Let's talk about "How to Deal," your thoughts there.
CLINTON: "How to Deal", I really liked it. It only $5.8 million, go figure, but it's a teen movie, and it is not talking down to teens. It does not insult your intelligence, their intelligence. It's a rare teen movie that's actually about real issues and real life and birth and death and marriage. It deals with real-life issues. And Mandy more is delightful. Allison Janney plays her mother. She's from "West Wing." The adults in this movie are fully realized characters, unlike a lot of teen movies, where they're just sort of props.
CALLEBS: What about "Seabiscuit"? Here is a movie where Tobey Maguire is someone who finally plays a grownup, and this book did very well. Is it going to be enough to draw people into the box office and become a megahit?
CLINTON: Well, they're hoping so. I mean, this is the prestigious movie of the year. It's coming out the 25th up against "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider." It's based on a best-selling book like you said. It's a great, great story. It's a real story. It's a true story. It's overcoming diversity. It's the American dream. This horse should never have won anything. It was undersized. The jockey was oversized. He only had one eye. The trainer was washed up and they all came together, these three men, the owner, the trainer, and the jockey and this special, wonderful horse, and at one moment in time during the depression when America really needed to believe in something, they really needed a dream, and Seabiscuit was a huge, huge story that really caught the hearts and minds of America back in the '30s, and they're hoping to do it again now in 2003.
CALLEBS: Have you seen it?
CLINTON: I see it tomorrow night. I'm really looking forward to it. I haven't seen it yet.
CALLEBS: I hope it's good. I really do hope this movie's good.
CLINTON: I do too.
CALLEBS: Now, this is the summer of let's do it again. You talked about the "American Pie" sequel, "Charlie's Angels." Now we have another one out there starring the always quirky Angelina Jolie. Your thoughts on this one.
CLINTON: Well, this one is supposed to have a plot. So right off the bat it should be better than the first. The first one didn't even pretend to have a plot, it was horrible. But again, it made $275 million worldwide.
CALLEBS: And sold a lot of videogames.
CLINTON: And sold a lot of videogames. And it's basically -- I'll tell you why. It's Angelina Jolie, and it's tight outfits. I mean, you can get a bunch of magazine covers and flip through them and have the same effect as watching the first movie.
CALLEBS: What do you think about her British accent?
CLINTON: I think it's a bit fake, phony, a bit much.
CALLEBS: Forced?
CLINTON: But she looks great, and this one is supposed to have a plot, and it really won't matter. Her career is in high gear. She's got three other films in the can. She's just signed to do a film called "Love and Honor" in which she'll be playing Catherine the great. So her career is going gangbusters. It will be interesting to see whether she can bring in men on this one or not.
Because as you said, the sequels of summer have not been doing that well. "Xmen 2" did pretty well, "Matrix" of course did well, "Terminator 3" is holding its own, but overall sequels have not been too good this summer, one of the reasons I think is the box office is down.
CALLEBS: Quickly if you had to pick one of these four movies to do well and be perhaps a breakout movie, which one? "Bad Boys," "How to Deal," "Lara Croft," "Seabiscuit"?
CLINTON: Well, it's hard to say because the one I'm really hoping for is the one I haven't seen. I'm going to go for "Seabiscuit" because I know the rest of them aren't going to work.
CALLEBS: Paul Clinton, thanks very much. We appreciate it.
CLINTON: 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 July 20, 2003 - 16:40 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SEAN CALLEBS, CNN ANCHOR: Will Smith and Martin Lawrence, "Bad Boys 2" ruling the box office. The buddy cop flick debuting number one in its opening weekend, earning more than $46 million. Sounds like a lot of money. For the very latest on this weekend's box office earnings and a new look at the releases just around the corner, we now go to Los Angeles, where CNN's Paul Clinton is standing by. Paul, always a pleasure.
PAUL CLINTON, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi. How are you?
CALLEBS: Let's talk about this summer. A lot of movies that are supposed to be big blockbusters, the kind that continue to foster record after record after record. What have we seen so far this year?
CLINTON: Well, "Variety," which is the trade paper here in Hollywood, they're calling this summer the audience strikes back. The box office numbers are down. They're down by 5 percent in terms of receipts, 8 percent in terms of attendance, and overall about $71 million lower than it was this time last year. Now, Hollywood's been spoiled. They've had record-breaking summer after record-breaking summer. Now, it ain't over till the fat lady sings. So what I want to say that, this summer's going to be bad news, but so far it is not doing as well.
CALLEBS: Now, $71 million, is that a ton of money? Is this something that the movie industry could theoretically make up now that we reach the midway point of summer?
CLINTON: It's not that much money. And plus, Sean, they don't make their money out of domestic box office release anyway. They make it out of overseas sales and, more to the point, DVD. That's where they make their big bucks. They don't make it into domestic at all. And also, with all the toys and the stuff and games and all that, that's where the big bucks are, not in domestic box office. Theaters take their share. Hollywood really does not make the money on U.S. box at all.
CALLEBS: It's all that brand marketing. Let's talk about "Bad Boys 2." We saw that. I mean, arguably is there a bigger star out there right now than Will Smith?
CLINTON: Will Smith is the big bad boy. He is a boy of summer. He owned the summer a couple years ago with "Independence Day." Then he did it again with "Men in Black." Now he's back with Martin Lawrence. They were reunited after eight years, when "Bad Boys I" came out. Now the original made $160 million. It was a bad movie. And this one has now made, like you said, $46 million, and it's also a bad movie. The only difference is it's a lot longer. Now, the original "Bad Boys" was 2 hours and 6. This one is 2 hours and 40 minutes. It goes on and on and on. It ends about three times, but they just don't stop.
CALLEBS: You don't pull any punches, do you, Paul?
CLINTON: No. It's got a high gross out factor. I mean, there's a huge body count. A lot of the bodies are corpses, though, being thrown off a freeway, so I'm not sure if they really count in the body count.
CALLEBS: Let's talk about "How to Deal," your thoughts there.
CLINTON: "How to Deal", I really liked it. It only $5.8 million, go figure, but it's a teen movie, and it is not talking down to teens. It does not insult your intelligence, their intelligence. It's a rare teen movie that's actually about real issues and real life and birth and death and marriage. It deals with real-life issues. And Mandy more is delightful. Allison Janney plays her mother. She's from "West Wing." The adults in this movie are fully realized characters, unlike a lot of teen movies, where they're just sort of props.
CALLEBS: What about "Seabiscuit"? Here is a movie where Tobey Maguire is someone who finally plays a grownup, and this book did very well. Is it going to be enough to draw people into the box office and become a megahit?
CLINTON: Well, they're hoping so. I mean, this is the prestigious movie of the year. It's coming out the 25th up against "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider." It's based on a best-selling book like you said. It's a great, great story. It's a real story. It's a true story. It's overcoming diversity. It's the American dream. This horse should never have won anything. It was undersized. The jockey was oversized. He only had one eye. The trainer was washed up and they all came together, these three men, the owner, the trainer, and the jockey and this special, wonderful horse, and at one moment in time during the depression when America really needed to believe in something, they really needed a dream, and Seabiscuit was a huge, huge story that really caught the hearts and minds of America back in the '30s, and they're hoping to do it again now in 2003.
CALLEBS: Have you seen it?
CLINTON: I see it tomorrow night. I'm really looking forward to it. I haven't seen it yet.
CALLEBS: I hope it's good. I really do hope this movie's good.
CLINTON: I do too.
CALLEBS: Now, this is the summer of let's do it again. You talked about the "American Pie" sequel, "Charlie's Angels." Now we have another one out there starring the always quirky Angelina Jolie. Your thoughts on this one.
CLINTON: Well, this one is supposed to have a plot. So right off the bat it should be better than the first. The first one didn't even pretend to have a plot, it was horrible. But again, it made $275 million worldwide.
CALLEBS: And sold a lot of videogames.
CLINTON: And sold a lot of videogames. And it's basically -- I'll tell you why. It's Angelina Jolie, and it's tight outfits. I mean, you can get a bunch of magazine covers and flip through them and have the same effect as watching the first movie.
CALLEBS: What do you think about her British accent?
CLINTON: I think it's a bit fake, phony, a bit much.
CALLEBS: Forced?
CLINTON: But she looks great, and this one is supposed to have a plot, and it really won't matter. Her career is in high gear. She's got three other films in the can. She's just signed to do a film called "Love and Honor" in which she'll be playing Catherine the great. So her career is going gangbusters. It will be interesting to see whether she can bring in men on this one or not.
Because as you said, the sequels of summer have not been doing that well. "Xmen 2" did pretty well, "Matrix" of course did well, "Terminator 3" is holding its own, but overall sequels have not been too good this summer, one of the reasons I think is the box office is down.
CALLEBS: Quickly if you had to pick one of these four movies to do well and be perhaps a breakout movie, which one? "Bad Boys," "How to Deal," "Lara Croft," "Seabiscuit"?
CLINTON: Well, it's hard to say because the one I'm really hoping for is the one I haven't seen. I'm going to go for "Seabiscuit" because I know the rest of them aren't going to work.
CALLEBS: Paul Clinton, thanks very much. We appreciate it.
CLINTON: 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
