LOST IN THE CHASE HOLLYWOOD ECONOMICS MAKES FAMILY FARE LIKE `DUMA' A CHEETAH UNLIKELY TO PROSPER.Byline: Glenn Whipp Film Writer In late April, Warner Bros BROS Brothers BROS Benefits and Retirement Operations Section (King County, Washington) BROS Barnes and Richmond Operatic Society (London, UK) . released filmmaker Carroll Ballard's African adventure story ``Duma'' about a boy and his cheetah cheetah (chē`tə), carnivore of the cat family, Acinonyx jubatus, native to Africa S of the Sahara and SW Asia as far east as India. . You've probably never heard of it. That's because it was only shown in three cities The Three Cities is a collective description of the three fortified cities of Cospicua, Vittoriosa, and Senglea on the Island of Malta, which are enclosed by the massive line of fortification created by the Knights of St John, the Cottonera Lines. - Sacramento, Phoenix and San Antonio San Antonio (săn ăntō`nēō, əntōn`), city (1990 pop. 935,933), seat of Bexar co., S central Tex., at the source of the San Antonio River; inc. 1837. . Warners spent $2 million on television and print advertising to promote the movie. Nobody came. ``If you don't have a million of what I call `whammo' scenes, which means you can't go five seconds between somebody getting whammoed, studios don't think kids will like it,'' says Ballard, best-known for directing the 1979 family classic ``The Black Stallion.'' ``Personally, I think children are a lot more observant and adaptable.'' Which leads to a larger question: Can a family movie without a name star and cartoonlike violence get a fair shake in today's marketplace? Ballard's beliefs that children will come to such a film are being put to the test with ``Duma duma (d  `mä), Russian name for a representative body, particularly applied to the Imperial Duma established as a result of the Russian Revolution of 1905. ,'' only his fourth feature in the quarter century since making ``The Black Stallion.'' When Warners pulled ``Duma'' after its test run, that would have probably been that. But Los Angeles-based film critic Scott Foundas, on assignment from Variety, saw Duma at the Giffoni Hollywood Film Festival This article or section needs sources or references that appear in reliable, third-party publications. Alone, primary sources and sources affiliated with the subject of this article are not sufficient for an accurate encyclopedia article. , an event spotlighting family films. Foundas' rave review ran May 2, and Warner Bros. executives decided to give the movie another - albeit small - chance. The $12 million-budgeted ``Duma,'' which Warner Bros. co-financed with Gaylord Films, opened this weekend in five Chicago theaters. If it does well, it will expand to other cities, including Los Angeles, says Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. president of domestic distribution. ``This has been a tough one to market,'' producer Hunt Lowery low·er·y also lour·y adj. Overcast; threatening. says. ``I know Carroll is frustrated. It would be easier for him if this was out in 2,000 or 3,000 theaters. But nobody at the studio wants to see it die.'' Ballard differs, saying, ``Most of the people at Warner Bros. would just like to bury the movie and forget about it.'' Ballard's biggest gripe gripe v. To have sharp pains in the bowels. n. 1. gripes Sharp, spasmodic pains in the bowels. 2. A firm hold; a grasp. was with the studio's initial marketing campaign, which featured a cartoonish image of a boy's feet dangling from a tree branch alongside a cheetah's tail. The tagline read: ``Some friendships are wilder than others.'' ``I hated it,'' Ballard, 67, says. ``I thought it harkened back to a million kiddie kid·die or kid·dy n. pl. kid·dies Slang A small child. kiddie Noun Informal a child animal movies that I don't want to see anymore. The same thing happened with my last picture, `Fly Away Home.' It was all cutesy cute·sy adj. cute·si·er, cute·si·est Informal Deliberately or affectedly cute; precious: a cutesy boutique for children's fashions. stuff, namby-pamby images for a highly charged film. It didn't work, so I've been yelling and screaming at Warner Bros. from the get-go. 'Don't make the same mistake.' I might as well have saved my breath.'' Fellman admits that ``we did learn some things'' during the movie's April test release. This weekend's Chicago run features a different, edgier advertising campaign that included laudatory laud·a·to·ry adj. Expressing or conferring praise: a laudatory review of the new play. laudatory Adjective (of speech or writing) expressing praise Adj. quotes from several film critics. (Chicago critic Roger Ebert has given it a three and one half stars review.) ``The reality is, there are films that are easy to market, and there are some that take a lot more energy and effort,'' Fellman says. ``Carroll's movies have never been big, wide, 2,000-screen films. So our objective has been to try to find a campaign that reaches the widest possible audience. We went out small because it's much more prudent to test the water before you press the button on a particular strategy.'' The larger reality is that movies like ``Duma'' have been an endangered species endangered species, any plant or animal species whose ability to survive and reproduce has been jeopardized by human activities. In 1999 the U.S. government, in accordance with the U.S. for some time because marketing departments at the major studios simply aren't designed to release small movies. (Alfonso Cuaron's acclaimed 1995 movie, ``A Little Princess A Little Princess is a 1905 children's novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett. It is a revised and expanded version of Burnett's 1888 serialized novella entitled Sara Crewe: or, What happened at Miss Minchin's boarding school, which was published in St. ,'' one of the best-reviewed movies of that year, suffered a similar struggle finding an audience.) Family films lacking a name star - think Ice Cube in ``Are We There Yet?'' or Vin Diesel in ``The Pacifier'' - also lack the hook marketers seem to need to sell the movie. ``If a studio can't spend at least $20 million on a marketing campaign, they simply don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what to do,'' says Tom Shone, author of ``Blockbuster: How Hollywood Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Summer.'' ``They need stars, they need high concepts. They need a talking kangaroo.'' Adds David Poland, who runs Internet sites Movie City News and The Hot Button: ``It's easy to complain about Warner Bros. doing this little movie wrong, but these big companies are geared to releasing and selling big movies. Disney is the only studio that could probably sell 'Duma' because it has a brand name. Families trust them.'' ``Duma'' isn't the only good family-oriented movie facing a bleak future. 20th Century Fox has a wonderful coming-of-age story called ``Little Manhattan'' on the books for late September. But as of now, the film, which tells the story of a 10-year-old boy's love for an older woman (don't worry, she's 11), will debut exclusively on its home turf, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of . Its outlook after that will depend on its opening weekend numbers. ``It has zero chance,'' Poland says. `` 'Duma' at least has the fact that it's an animal movie for kids. A movie like 'Little Manhattan,' no matter how good it is, needs a star to be sellable.'' Which is a shame because ``Little Manhattan'' plays like a great date movie, funnier and more heartfelt than pap like ``Must Love Dogs.'' ``Duma,'' likewise, is a winner, a charming, honest adventure story that sports the beautifully photographed epic landscapes that are a hallmark of Ballard's work. Like all great family movies, ``Duma'' engages the imagination without pandering, making it solid entertainment for all ages. ``Duma'' isn't the first movie Ballard has had to fight for. ``The Black Stallion'' got caught in a regime change at United Artists 25 years ago when Mike Medavoy left to start Orion. Initially, the new studio heads didn't want to release the movie. Francis Ford Coppola Noun 1. Francis Ford Coppola - United States filmmaker (born in 1939) Coppola , who knew Ballard from their days at UCLA UCLA University of California at Los Angeles UCLA University Center for Learning Assistance (Illinois State University) UCLA University of Carrollton, TX and Lower Addison, TX , convinced UA to show ``The Black Stallion'' at the New York Film Festival. It subsequently opened in one New York theater, where solid business and strong word of mouth turned it into a big hit. ``I've been told 50 times that it wouldn't make a dime in today's market,'' Ballard says. ``It used to be that if you made a good film that really worked on a lot of levels, that was the most important thing. Now you've got to sell people with a sound bite. There's no time for people to discover movies anymore.'' Glenn Whipp, (818) 713-3672 glenn.whipp(at)dailynews.com CAPTION(S): 6 photos, box Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) Alex Michaeletos and Duma (2) Alex Michaeletos and Duma (3) Campbell Scott, Hope Davis and Duma (4) Ice Cube in ``Are We There Yet?'' (5) Vin Diesel in ``The Pacifier'' (6) Annasophia Robb in ``Because of Winn-Dixie'' Box: BOX OFFICE WITH A KICK - G.W. |
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