Newsday (Nassau Edition) du lieu suivant : Hempstead, New York • 87

3 C4 or era of the megabuck movies By Joseph Gelmis The trade paper, Variety, recently devoted its front page to a cautionary survey of the "ominous trend" of the "megabuck era." What's a megabuck movie? It's a war movie that probably cost more to make than the battles it depicts actually cost to fight. It's special effects to rival NASA technology. It's a sequel that, because of inflation, automatically costs twice as much as the original box office hit while earning less. It's corporate high-stakes gambling, executive profit-sharing, greed, filmmakers' self-indulgence. It's Hollywood's answer to the question: What kind of movie experience can you sell the moviegoer who thinks he or she has seen it all? Response: The megabuck movie, bigger, more "realistic," sensory roller coaster rides for the jaded, fickle, overstimulated moviegoer.

Consider some examples of megabuck movies: "Star. Trek" is $40 million worth of rocketship realism in deep space with the original crew of the television series. (At $20 million, its sci fi competition this Christmas, Disney's "The Black Hole," is the economy model for the movie consumer.) Look forward to Dino DeLaurentiis' $35 million "Flash Gordon" next year. Now" is war-as-hell, a $32 million horror film and psychedelic adventure Vietnam. Upcoming for Christmas is "1941," a madcap $32 million World War II comedy featuring the favorite screen zany of the moment, John Belushi, and the entire state of California running amok on the eve of an expected Japanese invasion.

"Heaven's Gate," a western being shot now by the director of last year's Oscar-winning "Deer Hunter" (which cost a trifling $14 million), may cost more than $30 million before it's done. Those are typical of scores of movies whose escalating price tags alarm industry observers. Yet there is no end in sight for the "ominous trend." There are a score of movies with pricetags of $15 million to $25 million now in various stages of preparation. Inflation is a significant factor, of course. Sequels are especially afflicted.

"Moonraker," the latest installment of the James Bond series, reportedly cost about $32 million. It wasn't as good as its less expensive predecessor, "The Spy Who Loved Me" nor the earlier "From Russia With Love," a low-budget flick by comparison. Even allowing for an inflationary economy that has doubled budgets over the past decade, sequels are an inherent money trap. The producer of a sequel must top himself. IN SHORT 'Brian' controversy The Monty Python spoof of Christianity, "Life of Brian," has been condemned by a slew of clerical organizations as sacreligious.

As the British comedy troupe tells his story, Brian is a baby born the same time and place as Jesus of Nazareth. He is mistaken for a messiah, from the opening scene when the three wise men arrive with gifts (which they quickly take back and give to the Christ in the nearby stable manger) to his final crucifixion. Among the religious groups offended by the film is the Catholic Archdiocese of New York. Communications office director Eugene V. Black said, "The picture holds the person of Christ up to comic ridicule and is, for Christians, an act of blasphemy." A scene from one of the megabuck movies: 'Apocalypse Now' A sequel is desperate to offer MORE which is is no backlog of experience and hardware.

Thus, why "Moonraker" is a shameless space combat the remake of "King Kong" (which originally rip-off of "Star Wars," featuring a steel-toothed cost RKO less than $500,000 back in 1932) was a villain named Jaws. The sequel to "Star Wars," chaotic lesson in budgetary overruns with such the current box office champ, due next spring is items as a $1 million giant mechanical ape that "The Empire Strikes Back," which has already couldn't be made to work as it was supposed to. more than doubled the original's $9.5 million (They finally put a man in a monkey suit and budget and still has more special effects to fin- sent him rampaging against a scale-model Manish. hattan that cost millions.) Sequels traditionally earn less than the origi- Megabuck movies are usually delayed in pronal that inspired them. But so long as there are duction because of the painstaking special effects customers hoping for a rerun of the emotions work.

The 1970s has been unique in its cost-bethat the original evoked in them, Hollywood will damned reliance on special effects. Hollywood's invest whatever a sequel costs to make. "Jaws reasons for making special effects couldn't be IT" cost twice the original and the next sequel, more obvious. Special effects were integral to the "Jaws III, People 0," a slapstick farce by the Na- success of "Star Wars" (animation, model space tional Lampoon creators of "Animal House," will ships, laser guns, weird alien creature costumes, be costlier yet. hovercraft, etc) and "Jaws" (its mechanical hero The cost of special effects is astronomical.

In was a man-eating shark). Those two biggest the days when Hollywood's studios controlled all moneymakers of all time created a realistic illuproduction and made most movies on their own sion of things that can't really be filmed- -a vinsound stages and backlots, special effects cost dictive shark devouring human prey on cue, and less. The experts were salaried staff, and their a battle of good and evil in the outer reaches of equipment and expertise were used from movie the cosmos. to movie. Today, in an era of free agents, each Escapist adventure movies are worthless if movie using special effects starts over, and there -Continued on next page Kristofferson out Kris Kristofferson canceled some concert summer because the which he is starring, Gate," by "Deer Hunter" Michael Cimino, is way schedule and ever budget.

Travolta ailing reportedly tours this movie in "Heaven's director behind John Travolta was bedded by the flu for three days after tropical storm Claudette struck the Texas set of "Urban Cowboy." Shooting was suspended on the film, in which Travolta plays a Houston oil refinery worker. The film, directed by James Bridges, is due for release next summer. Travolta dances again, as well as acts. 'Amityville' gross Amityville Horror" distributor, American International Pic- tures, claims the haunted house flick has grossed $41 million in the first 31 days, at 940 theaters. The success of the movie has already rubbed off on its producers, Ronald Saland and Elliot Geisinger, and the author of the book, Jay Anson.

The trio will be bankrolled by Orion Pictures to make a $9 million horror movie based on Anson's forthcoming novel to be published in the spring by Simon and Schuster. Trailers Funnymen signed to write, star in and direct their own movies: Albert Brooks will make an untitled comedy for Columbia next year, his second such outing Life," for Paramount, bombed); George Carlin will begin shooting Illustrated George Carlin," a loosely linked series of vignettes and concert footage, late next month in Los Angeles for release next April by Associated Film Distribution. Carpay TV. Peter Sellers and Sid lin's co-director is Marty Callner, who Caesar directed costar in several Fiendish specials Plot for 838W3ld3S of Dr. Fu Manchu," which begins 3 filming in England shortly under the direction of Piers Haggard, British who 1979 previously directed the TV series, "Pennies From Heaven." The comedy is due next summer Robert Downey, best known for his outrageous advertising agency satire, "Putney Swope," is slated to start directing "The Brave Young Men of Weinberg," a military academy comedy, this month in Salina, Kansas Bette Davis, Carroll Baker and David McCallum will star in "A Watcher in the Woods," a Disney movie that departs from the studio's usual comedy fare.

It deals with an American family which encounters extraordinary forces in an Part old English country house. 5.