`LOVE' VS. `MENACE'; STUDIO COURTS PUBLICITY FOR COMPETITIVELY TIMED FILM.Byline: Dave McNary Daily News Staff Writer How do you get noticed when your movie opens two days after ``Star Wars Episode 1: The Phantom Menace?'' DreamWorks SKG SKG Stichting Kwaliteit Gevelbouw (Dutch) SKG Spielberg, Katzenberg,and Geffen (DreamWorks Studios) SKG Thessaloniki, Greece - Thessaloniki (Airport Code) SKG Smith and Kraus Global decided on a distinctly offbeat off·beat n. Music An unaccented beat in a measure. adj. Slang Not conforming to an ordinary type or pattern; unconventional: offbeat humor. approach. It mailed hand-addressed anonymous love letters - more than 700 - to media types to promote ``The Love Letter,'' its drama-comedy opening May 21. The studio, which will open the movie in 600 to 800 theaters, sent out the typed letters without a return address from a Santa Clarita Santa Clarita, city (1990 pop. 110,642), Los Angeles co., S Calif., suburb 30 mi (48 km) NW of downtown Los Angeles, on the Santa Clara River; inc. 1987. Situated in the Santa Clara valley and nearby canyons, Santa Clarita includes the former towns of Canyon Country, post office. ``Dearest,'' each one began. ``Do you know how much in love with you I am? Did I trip? Did I stumble? Lose my balance, graze my knee . . . graze my heart?'' The four-paragraph letter concluded: ``When I tie my shoes, when I peel an orange, when I drive my car, when I lie down each night without you, I remain. Yours.'' A few days later, DreamWorks mailed a second letter emblazoned with ``The Love Letter'' logo on top and the movie's credits on the bottom. ``Dearest,'' it read. ``Hope you got my earlier letter. `The Love Letter' will open in the smaller theater next to `Star Wars' on May 21st. Hope to see you there. Yours.'' The first letter is a copy of the anonymous note sent to a small town that triggers the plot in ``The Love Letter,'' based on the novel by Catherine Schine. In the film, Kate Capshaw and Ellen DeGeneres Ellen Lee DeGeneres (born January 26, 1958) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, and currently the Emmy Award-winning host of the syndicated talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show. DeGeneres has hosted both the Academy Awards and the Primetime Emmys. star as best friends in a small New England town The New England town is the basic unit of local government in each of the six New England states. An institution that does not have a direct counterpart in most other U.S. states, New England towns are conceptually similar to civil townships in that they were originally set up so trying to uncover the author of the letter. The movie also features Blythe Danner Blythe Katherine Danner, born February 3, 1943 in Philadelphia, United States, is an Emmy and Tony Award winning American actress. She is also the mother of actress Gwyneth Paltrow. , Gloria Stuart, Tom Selleck, Tom Selleck, Tom (1945– ) television/movie actor; born in Detroit, Mich. A talented collegiate athlete, he supported himself as a model, winning bit parts in film and television during the seventies. Everett Scott, Julianne Nicholson and Geraldine McEwan. A DreamWorks spokeswoman said reaction to the letter had been ``overwhelmingly positive'' but conceded that a few recipients had complained about the promotional stunt. She noted that the studio had begun promoting the movie several weeks earlier by mailing videocassettes of the trailer to the same group. DreamWorks scheduled ``The Love Letter'' opposite ``Phantom Menace'' with the idea that it would attract moviegoers who might not be interested in mingling with the massive crowds vying for seats at the ``Star Wars'' prequel pre·quel n. A literary, dramatic, or cinematic work whose narrative takes place before that of a preexisting work or a sequel. [pre- + (se)quel.] . It is the only major studio release opening during the same weekend as ``Phantom Menace,'' which is expected to dominate the box office for several months. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO (Color) Ellen DeGeneres, left, and Kate Capshaw star in DreamWorks ``The Love Letter,'' a drama-comedy opening May 21, three days after ``Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace.'' |
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