ShoWest Day Four: Universal Thrills and Warner's Big Picture

By Kevin Lally

By Kevin Lally

Two major studios, Universal Pictures and Warner Bros., chose the final day of ShoWest to get the exhibition community excited about their upcoming product. First up was Universal, with a mostly trailer-driven showcase of their summer lineup.

Perhaps taking a cue from their massive success last summer with The Bourne Ultimatum, the emphasis is on action, often paired with sci-fi/fantasy elements. If audiences don't become exhausted by all the fast cuts, huge-scale FX and frenetic stuntwork, it should be a big summer for Universal.

Adam Fogelson, the studio's president of worldwide marketing and distribution, unveiled the new trailer for The Incredible Hulk, a property that has been reconceived with a new star and a new tone more in line with the heroic exploits of the hit 1970s TV series. With Edward Norton in the lead, expect an intriguing take on poor Bruce Banner's anger-management issues--no disrespect to Eric Bana, who acquitted himself quite well in the moderately performing 2003 Ang Lee version. The movie looks like it delivers what the Marvel audience craves, and the trailer ends with a big throwdown between the Hulk and Tim Roth's aptly named Abomination.

Universal's Hellboy was also a modest success, but Fogelson says the studio loved the world created by director Guillermo del Toro, and the movie's subsequent success on DVD boosted its prospects for a sequel. "Del Toro combines a profound connection with unusual characters and a practical use of special effects," Fogelson declared, and I couldn't agree more. The trailer for Hellboy II, also covered in our day one post, got an enthusiastic response in Vegas.

The Mummy franchise hasn't been a critical favorite, but audiences love it, and the third in the series moves to China and arrives just seven days before the Beijing Olympics. The trailer for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor doesn't stint on visual effects, so the fate of one of Universal's biggest franchises. this time directed by Rob Cohen of Fast and the Furious fame, seems secure.

For Universal's fourth action movie of the summer, Wanted, Fogelson premiered a bravura chase sequence. It begins quietly enough in a supermarket, but within moments all hell breaks loose around unsuspecting target James McAvoy and his super-efficient and ultra-leggy protector, Angelina Jolie. The action then segues to a reckless, death-defying pursuit of Jolie's sports car by assassin Thomas Kretschmann, who is driving a most amusing cat-food delivery truck with the brand name "Nibbles."

"It's Angelina Jolie exactly as moviegoers want to see her," Fogelson declared, adding about McAvoy's character: "I want to be him, and there's no chance."

On the non-action front, Fogelson also showed the racy red-band (R-rated) trailer for the Jason Segel comedy Forgetting Sarah Marshall; the trailer for Mamma Mia! and a scene from the Tina Fey-Amy Poehler comedy Baby Mama, all to good response.

Warner's Big Picture

Warner Bros. courted ShoWest delegates with a 90-minute program kicked off by distribution president Dan Fellman and international distribution president Veronika Kwan-Rubinek, followed by Warner Bros. Entertainment president and COO Alan Horn--all in a great mood after a record-breaking 2007 international gross of $3.66 billion. And cinema owners were happy to hear Horn proclaim, "Warner Bros. is committed to exhibition in theatres--period."

Touching on the recent folding of New Line Cinema into Warner Bros., Horn said the studio was still "figuring out" the new alignment, seeming to confess that the development was as much news to him as it was to New Line. But, he assured, New Line will remain a freestanding company, though scaled down dramatically.

Then Horn brought out the stars and star filmmakers. Veteran producer Joel Silver told how the Wachowski Brothers came to him with an idea for reviving his Speed Racer project, wanting to make something bright and G-rated after their dark, R-rated Matrix trilogy. "I, too, am an R-rated guy," Silver noted. Using composite opticals, they also wanted to make a movie where everything is in focus. The revved-up visuals in the extended trailer Silver showed are indeed blindingly colorful and ultra-clear, and so stylized that John Lasseter deserves to have a cameo.

Stars Emile Hirsch, Matthew Fox and Christina Ricci then took to the stage, looking awestruck and declaring they were "blown away" by what they had just seen. "I can't believe I'm in this movie!" Ricci exulted.

Next up was Get Smart director Peter Segal, who said his movie "stands in the shadows" of the classic TV series created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry, and his main goal in making it was "not to completely suck." Stars Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway joined him, with Carell dubbing Get Smart "a popcorn, Goober, soft pretzel and drink movie," and telling the crowd, "This was the most fun I've ever had doing anything."

Segel then rolled a clip, and guess what? It didn't suck! In fact, it was a hilarious sequence onboard an airplane (and outside it) that bodes very well for this long-gestating project's summer success.

Horn next paid tribute to director Christopher Nolan and his role in reviving the Batman franchise and returning to "the essence of the character as drawn and loved." Nolan confessed to taking some heat for becoming a blockbuster director after his indie past, but admitted he's now "a bit addicted" to "epic, operatic storytelling."

Star Maggie Gyllenhaal happily told the crowd, "This is one you should see in a movie theatre," but the Dark Knight himself, Christian Bale, disappointingly stood to the side of the lit podium and had only a few words for the audience.

Nolan then introduced the opening sequence of the film, a gripping and nasty bank robbery, and said he was "extraordinarily proud to show the introduction" of the late Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker.

The darkness of The Dark Knight was followed by the lightness of The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, with onstage appearances by first-time director Sanaa Hamri and stars America Ferrera (Ugly Betty herself!) and Alexis Bledel. The extended clips looked every bit as charming as the wholesome original.

In a final coup, Horn brought out George Lucas (accompanied by a complement of storm troopers) to introduce an extended trailer from his animated feature Star Wars: The Clone Wars. Lucas said his motivation for the project was that "you never got to see the whole spectacular epic battle" that happened between episodes of his live-action series, and that the TV animated version felt like it deserved a home on the big screen.

The clips looked exciting, but Lucas eschews photorealism here for a more stylized, anime-influenced look. Though the Star Wars films (especially the newer ones) have always been part animation anyway, will the absence of actual human performers elicit the same kind of reaction from fans? Lucas thinks Clone Wars "will hold up with the live-action features," but only time will tell.

OK, friends, it's been a pleasure reporting from ShoWest, but I'm late for the final-night awards banquet, which I'll report on sometime after my return to New York tomorrow. Unfortunately, packing takes precedence over blogging when you have a 7:30 a.m. flight.