Nikki Rocco, the veteran president of distribution at Universal Pictures, told movie exhibitors exactly what they wanted to hear at CinemaCon in Las Vegas during this morning's preview presentation. "Hits don't just come at summer and Christmas," she proclaimed. "A year has 52 weekends."
For years, John Fithian of the National Association of Theatre Owners has been calling for a more evenly spaced out schedule of quality releases throughout the year, and Universal has benefited mightily by following just that strategy. The studio's January hits Lone Survivor and Ride Along held the number one and two spots at the box office two weeks in a row, the first time a distributor had done that in two decades. And next month, Universal looks to have a monster hit in Neighbors,
Univcrsal has another likely hit in A Million Ways to Die in the West, Seth McFarlane's western sendup that looks like a 21st-century Blazing Saddles with more shock violence and a higher raunch factor. Also very intriguing was Luc Besson's Lucy, starring Scarlett Johansson as a drug mule who ingests a substance that gives her super-intelligence and fierce fighting skills. It all looks patently absurd but unabashedly entertaining, as Johansson completes a movie trifecta with her Marvel Black Widow and the seductively lethal alien she plays in Under the Skin.
For 2015, Universal has no less than four franchises in play. The glimpses of the seventh Fast & Furious movie revealed more jaw-dropping stunt work (with cars parachuted out of a plane, for some reason the script will surely explain) and shots of the series' late star, Paul Walker. The studio had surprisingly ample footage to show from Minions, the Despicable Me spinoff which traces the history of those giddy yellow creatures who live to serve a demanding master; the fun sight gags, including one involving the construction of the Pyramids, augur another worldwide smash. The studio is also reviving one of its biggest blockbusters in 2015 with Jurassic World, and teased the sequel to its sleeper musical winner Pitch Perfect with footage from the original.
Universal Pictures chairman Donna Langley was very enthusiastic about the studio's prestige Christmas picture, Unbroken, the story of Olympic runner Louis Zamperini, who was captured and brutalized by the Japanese during World War II. Amazingly, Universal has owned the rights to Zamperini's story since 1957, when it planned to star Tony Curtis as the war hero. Laura Hillenbrand's 2010 bestseller about Zamperini revived interest in the project. which finally came to fruition thanks to a "force of nature" (in Langley's words) named Angelina Jolie, who directed.
Jolie appeared onstage, stunning in a white pantsuit, and introduced an extended trailer with quiet eloquence. Unbroken, she said, delivers a message "we need now more than ever," chronicling "the journey of a man through darkness into light." The clips revealed a big-scale, harrowing but inspirational film, photographed by the great Roger Deakins. It's the kind of movie the Academy loves, so don't be surprised if Jolie vies for a second Oscar next year in a new capacity.
The session ended with the world premiere of scenes from Fifty Shades of Grey, the movie of the huge bestseller that made kinky sex a fashionable turn-on for millions of women. "How do you make a movie of Fifty Shades of Grey?" Langley asked. "Very carefully." The clips were distinctly PG-rated, but who can say how far this eagerly awaited movie will go to be faithful to the spirit of the book? In any event, leads Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are very attractive and seem to have good chemistry; whether that chemistry steams up the screen next Valentine's Day is a question that will no doubt bring long lines to multiplexes on opening weekend.
—Kevin Lally
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