STUDIOS SPIN WEB, SCREENINGS TO FIGHT BAD BUZZ.

Byline: Janet Weeks Daily News Staff Writer

It had a snappy, if confusing, catch phrase: ``Rush hour hits the water!''

It had sizzling young stars: Sandra Bullock and Jason Patric.

It had a splashy promotional campaign featuring a posh wine-and-dine for the press on Catalina Island and an eye-catching giveaway: Speedo bathing suits.

And it was the sequel to the mega-hit ``Speed.''

Despite all that and millions spent on marketing, ``Speed 2: Cruise Control,'' an action drama set on a luxury liner, was dead in the water not long after its opening weekend.

What killed the summer blockbuster that 20th Century Fox hoped would shower the studio with a tidal wave of money?

Not bad acting. Not bad direction. Not even bad reviews. ``Speed 2's'' torpedo to the hull was the buzz - the bad buzz.

Buzz, or word of mouth, remains the No. 1 factor in determining the long-term success of a film, so say industry executives and other insiders.

Catchy trailers, cool posters and a chart-topping soundtrack can all help open a movie. But for a film to have longevity, which is where the real money lies, it's got to have good buzz.

And as the film schedule becomes ever more crowded - the fall season sports at least 136 new films opening in 110 days - staying power fueled by good buzz is becoming ever more important.

As a result, studios are searching for new ways to start buzz, stop buzz, control buzz and spin buzz. They're holding more sneak previews.

``G.I. Jane,'' which opens today, was previewed over two weekends in almost 1,000 theaters nationwide in an effort to counter bad buzz about, presumably, a raft of content changes and Demi Moore's acting ability.

Studios also are keeping a tighter lid on test screenings of unfinished films in an effort to stop ugly news leaks.

Working the Web

And studio marketing departments are working the Internet, which, in terms of movie chitchat, is the world's largest cocktail party. Studios are building their own World Wide Web sites and, some say, planting reviews on the other sites.

``If word of mouth is bad, the movie goes away,'' says Tom Sherak, chairman of 20th Domestic Film Group. `` `Speed 2' didn't get great word of mouth as a movie people wanted to see.''

Buzz cuts the other way, too. Many films have floated to the top on the buoyancy of good word. ``Scream,'' released last Christmas by Miramax's Dimension Films, seemed a tough sell. It had no bankable stars. And it was a slasher flick with a satirical edge - not exactly the makings of a feel-good holiday film. But it outlasted dozens of others on the jammed end-of-year schedule (grossing more than $100 million) because young fans urged friends to go.

``It was a film that the audience really embraced and kept going,'' said Marcy Granada, executive vice president of marketing for Miramax. ``They would tell two friends who would tell two friends.''

Or tell many more friends via the Internet. Studio executives are finding that movie fans - especially the young - have embraced computers as a way of discussing their cinematic likes and dislikes.

``The Internet is a factor in word of mouth in a way television and radio never could be, because not everyone had access to an audience,'' says Mitchell Goldman, president of marketing and distribution for New Line, which launched a major Internet campaign to promote ``Spawn.''

``If you're looking to see if anyone has seen a movie, you're going to find it on the Internet.''

For the most part, the cyberspace reviews come out after a film has opened or has been screened for critics. Sometimes, however, fans post reviews based on research screenings meant to gauge audience reaction to unfinished material.

Such chatter is giving the studios a headache.

One of the most talked about Web sites for early reviews is ``Ain't It Cool?'' created by movie fan Harry Knowles of Texas. Earlier this summer, Knowles posted a review of director Jim Cameron's mega-budget ``Titanic'' based on a secret test screening in Minnesota.

Although the review was positive, the very public discussion of an unfinished film reportedly worried Fox, which has invested $200 million in the movie. Knowles did not respond to interview requests.

Some fat guy?

Chris Pula, president of theatrical marketing for Warner Bros., says the problem with Internet buzz is that it's anonymous. There is little accountability, he says.

``The difficult thing is that this bad buzz could be from someone coming out of a test screening or it could be someone just making something up. Everyone's got their own bully pulpit now,'' Pula says.

``It's not like you're on the street corner screaming. You're sitting down in a chair reaching millions of people who don't know if you really saw it. It's not Reuters. More often than not it's some fat guy in Texas.''

Pula said he doesn't mind people going to the Internet. ``But I'm bothered that people lend it so much credence. It's almost like, `If something has made the Internet, somebody must have checked the facts.' ''

Many sites, however, are operated by the studios or stars themselves. Los Angeles-based Celebrity Sightings, which is the official Web site of such teen stars as Jonathan Taylor Thomas and Larisa Oleynick (``The Secret World of Alex Mack'') exists, in part, because Thomas, subject of 8,000 unofficial Web sites, was being impersonated on line.

``Our site is different in that the celebrities own the content,'' says Robert Landes, Celebrity Sightings founder. ``There's no editorial comment. It's what they want to project. It's about them.''

Kristen Bruno, film editor for Web magazine, says she thinks studios worried about nonsanctioned sites are worrying needlessly. Genuine word of mouth, as opposed to the virtual kind, has a much bigger impact on spending habits, she believes. Indeed, she thinks the Internet - filled with studio-sanctioned sites - has more power to promote than to sandbag.

``I don't think it's making any impact on what's going on in theaters today,'' she says. ``I think (Web) surfers are still just able to chat among themselves mostly. There's a potential to (make an impact) and I don't think that's a bad thing. I can't help but think that any buzz is good buzz.''

Good buzz is what Disney is hoping to build with ``G.I. Jane,'' an action drama starring Moore as a woman who trains with the elite Navy SEALs. Brett Dicker, Disney's senior vice president of promotions, said the film suffered some ``initial negative press'' and, to overcome that bad buzz, the studio decided to screen it - a lot.

``Ultimately, the play's the thing. A good movie will always start good buzz,'' says Dicker. ``People just love this movie, so we're really getting it out there.''