PARAMOUNT LOOKS
TO TOMB RAIDER
Copyright 2001 www.tombraiderchronicles.com
[ January 15th 2001 ]
Following
a year of turmoil intermittently rearing it's
head throughout the 2000 season, the U.S film
industry has weathered strikes, exhibitors going
bankrupt, and a hostile federal government, competing
against previous years titles including "Star
Wars" Episode One and "Blair Witch".
Paramount
Pictures, according to Yahoo! news, boasted a
relatively stable top executive corps and a stable
year at the box office too.
"Mission:
Impossible 2'' ($215 million) ended up as the
No. 2 movie of 2000, while "Shaft,'' "Rules of
Engagement,'' "Rugrats in Paris: The Movie,''
"Snow Day'' and "The Original Kings of Comedy''
all toted uphealthy numbers. More disappointing,
Kim Basinger's "Bless the Child'' was a dud as
was the John Travolta starrer "Lucky Numbers.''
With the exception of the Curtis Hanson-helmed
"Wonder Boys,'' which generated Oscar buzz in
a late-year rerelease, there's not a lot of risk-taking
at Paramount these days, with the studio's development
machine working in overdrive until every story
beat clicks:
Next
year's tentpole, the Angelina Jolie starrer "Tomb
Raider,'' has been a marathon development project,
but Paramount is sure that it will produce hefty
returns in the summer. The studio is also especially
keen on "Vanilla Sky,'' which teams Tom Cruise,
Penelope Cruz, Cameron Diaz and director Cameron
Crowe in a remake of the Spanish-language picture
"Open Your Eyes.''
|