Hmm, a drama about magicians and a biopic about Truman Capote open in theaters soon. Doesn’t that sound familiar?
To any moviegoers thinking about seeing “The Prestige” and “Infamous,” it should. After all, “The Prestige,” starring Hugh Jackman and Christian Bale as dueling magicians, comes a few months after the release of “The Illusionist,” which starred Edward Norton as a magician who uses his skills to woo a woman about to marry into Austria’s royal family.
And “Infamous” has the unfortunate task of following the Oscar-winning “Capote.” Both movies are based on the life of “In Cold Blood” author Truman Capote–but “Capote,” which starred Philip Seymour Hoffman, came first and won Hoffman best actor honors.
The four movies are but the latest examples of movie studios’ tendency to rush two movies about the same thing to the big screen. Check out these other famous examples.
“Alexander”
($34.2 MILLION, 2004)
Stars: Colin Farrell, Angelina Jolie, Val Kilmer
“Alexander the Great”
(NOT FILMED)
Stars: (Reportedly) Leonardo DiCaprio, Nicole Kidman
Oliver Stone caused a big stir when he announced plans to make “Alexander,” even as “Moulin Rouge” director Baz Luhrmann had announced plans to make an epic about the Greek conqueror with DiCaprio as his star. Well, Stone’s movie came out first, and Luhrmann scrapped plans for his.
“Mission to Mars”
($60.9 MILLION, 2000)
Stars: Gary Sinise, Tim Robbins
“Red Planet”
($17.5 MILLION, 2000)
Stars: Val Kilmer, Carrie-Anne Moss
Critics blasted both Mars movies, but Brian De Palma’s “Mission to Mars” reached a higher box-office orbit. “Red Planet” stalled at launch, losing NASA’s endorsement due to a scene in which one astronaut murders another and bad publicity from Kilmer and Tom Sizemore’s on-set feuds.
“Tombstone”
($56.5 MILLION, 1993)
Stars: Kurt Russell, Val Kilmer
“Wyatt Earp”
($25.1 MILLION, 1994)
Stars: Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid
The lesson the two movies about legendary lawman Wyatt Earp taught us: shorter movie, bigger box office. Kurt Russell starred as Earp in the two-hour “Tombstone,” while Kevin Costner starred in the less successful “Wyatt Earp,” which topped the three-hours mark.
“The Truman Show”
($125.6 MILLION, 1998)
Stars: Jim Carrey, Laura Linney
“EDtv”
($22.4 MILLION, 1999)
Stars: Matthew McConaughey, Jenna Elfman
People lined up to see Jim Carrey’s more serious turn as a man unaware that he’s the star of his own reality show. Not so much nine months later when Matthew McConaughey starred as a man who agrees to be the star of his own reality show.
“Armageddon”
($201.5 MILLION, 1998)
Stars: Ben Affleck, Liv Tyler, Bruce Willis
“Deep Impact”
($140.4 MILLION, 1998)
Stars: Morgan Freeman, Tea Leoni, Elijah Wood
The lesson here? The more outrageous asteroid-hitting-Earth story, the bigger the box-office total. The special effects-heavy “Armageddon” helped propel Affleck into the Hollywood stratosphere.
Another photog flap for Jolie
An Associated Press freelance photographer said security guards protecting a movie set where Angelina Jolie is shooting her latest film punched and threatened him at gunpoint Friday, in the second run-in between security guards on the set and the news media this week.
Jolie is in the western Indian city of Pune to film scenes for “A Mighty Heart,” a movie about the life of slain journalist Daniel Pearl.
The photographer representing the AP, Gautam Singh, said he gained legitimate entry to the filming area–a spacious local bungalow–and was accosted by security guards after giving Jolie his business card.
Geyer Kosinski, Jolie’s manager, called the AP’s headquarters in New York to complain about the story written about the incident, saying Jolie didn’t own or control the set. He would not comment on the incident.
Party time
Bill Murray still knows how to party. London’s Sunday Telegraph reported Sunday that the actor, in a scene reminiscent of one from “Lost in Translation,” joined up with 22-year-old Norwegian student Lykke Stavnef, who took him to a house where a student party was in full swing in the Scottish town of St. Andrews. The article was accompanied by a photo that appears to show Murray washing a metal pot at the sink.
King George
For George Clooney, the awards just keep on coming. In a year where he’s already received an Oscar and a Golden Globe, the actor-director-producer has just collected another trophy: the 2006 American Cinematheque Award. The group runs a number of film-fan and filmmaker-development programs in Hollywood.
Globe trotting
Nicole Kidman is the latest star to pitch in for an international humanitarian cause. She arrived in Kosovo on Saturday to tour the province as a goodwill ambassador for the UN. The actress had been in Rome on Friday to premiere her movie “Fur”–based loosely on the life of photographer Diane Arbus–at the inaugural Rome Film Festival.
