Hollywood’s ’91 Focus: a Good Story : Movies: The top four films of 1990 were sleepers. Now the studios are starting the new year looking for films with good scripts, rather than star vehicles.

Moviegoing brought in near-record receipts in 1990, but there was an ironic twist to the film year’s happy ending: falling ticket sales.

Although income at the box office in the United States and Canada topped more than $5 billion during the year--just under the record $5.03 billion set in 1989--10% fewer tickets were sold. According to early estimates from exhibitor and studio sources, last year’s movie attendance slipped from 1.1 billion in 1989 to about 1 billion in 1990.

The drop-off in admissions, however, wasn’t reflected correspondingly in box-office receipts because of higher ticket prices.

Along with buying fewer tickets, audiences also sent Hollywood a tough message about the films they would and wouldn’t buy. The result? The movies the industry thought would be “sure-fire” hits weren’t; many of them opened well, but most lacked that staying power commonly referred to as “legs.”

Indeed, the four films that head the list of the Top 10 grossing titles of 1990 were true “sleepers,” successes no one expected: “Ghost,” “Pretty Woman,” “Home Alone,” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”

Little wonder that the industry that bases and prides itself on its ability to read public taste is now sorting through the unexpected returns of 1990 to see if they can figure out just what it is the public wants.

Suddenly, “story-driven” films--not heavy-artillery, big-budget, big-star sequels--are the talked-about hot properties from Burbank to Culver City.

“The emphasis has shifted to stories--to substance rather than glitz,” said Dick Cook, president of Disney’s Buena Vista Pictures Distribution.

Orion Pictures marketing and distribution president David Forbes seconds the motion, adding that he believes many of those stories will have a comedic or fantasy format. “When times are bad, people want pure escapism,” he said.

Whether people want--or need--stars, who often come with skyrocketing salaries, is another question raised by moviegoers’ choices in 1990. Said one marketing specialist, “Nobody went to see ‘Home Alone’ because of the stars.”

It’s no secret, either, that “Ghost” revived the sagging careers of Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg, or that Richard Gere’s star had slipped before “Pretty Woman” was released. (Julia Roberts’ star had yet to rise.) Or that the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” starred unknown actors inside latex suits.

Tom Pollock, chairman of the MCA motion picture group, believes that big stars will always be in demand: “They’re a Hollywood tradition.” But, “The mid-range stars could suffer down the road.”

Predicts Pollock: “We’re going to be seeing many more opportunities for unknowns--or for stars whose careers need to be resurrected.”

Some of those opportunities have already surfaced in the lucrative action arena. Steven Seagal--a virtual unknown until the 1989 release of “Above the Law”--had back-to-back successes with last year’s “Hard to Kill” ($47.4 million gross) and “Marked for Death” ($43 million).

Due out the chute this year: former pro linebacker Brian (The Boz) Bozworth starring in Columbia Pictures’ “Stone Cold”; and martial-arts instructor Jeff Speakman in Paramount Pictures’ “The Perfect Weapon.”

And Bill Campbell--who had a continuing role on TV’s “Dynasty”--was chosen over arguably bigger names for the title role in Walt Disney Pictures’ “The Rocketeer,” due this summer.

As for the past year, there is near-unanimous agreement (some of it somewhat begrudging), that there are lessons to be learned from:

* The Christmas season gridlock. More than a dozen titles were released over a seven-week period from early November through Christmas Day. “There were absolutely too many movies to choose from. A lot of them got hurt,” said Pollock.

Pointing to the three spring releases (“The Hunt for Red October,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” and “Pretty Woman”) that topped the $100-million mark, 20th Century Fox Vice President Tom Sherak added, “Those pictures are proof that this is a 52-week business. There’s no longer a law that says all hit pictures come out in summer, or during the holidays. Release strategies are going to have to change so that movies aimed at similar audiences don’t kill each other off.” (In a shrewd marketing move, Fox moved up the date of “Home Alone” to get the jump on another kid comedy, “Three Men and a Little Lady.”)

* Too many sequels, led by the big budget, action-oriented variety. “It got to the point where people felt like they were going to sit through the same movie each week,” said Fox’s Sherak, whose own studio hit pay-dirt with “Die Hard 2,” but fizzled with “Predator 2.”

“Before studio executives sit down to make another big sequel,” said Sherak, “the first words have got to be, ‘How’s the script?’ ”

Of the many familiar titles that didn’t perform to expectations: “Another 48 HRS.,” “Rocky V,” “RoboCop 2,” “Gremlins II: The New Batch,” and the certifiable bombs “The Two Jakes” and “Texasville.”

* The fact that star power did not insure box-office power.

Among the many examples: Tom Cruise as a race car driver in “Days of Thunder”; Sylvester Stallone as Rocky Balboa--his cinematic calling card--in “Rocky V”; Clint Eastwood in the action vehicle, “The Rookie”; Robert Redford in the lavish period romance, “Havana”; Jack Nicholson in “The Two Jakes”; Robin Williams in “Cadillac Man”; Bill Cosby in “Ghost Dad”; Bill Murray in “Quick Change”; Mel Gibson in “Air America,” and Tom Hanks and Bruce Willis in “The Bonfire of the Vanities.”

Among actresses who didn’t sell tickets: Jessica Lange in “Men Don’t Leave”; Bette Midler in “Stella”; Jane Fonda (opposite Robert De Niro) in “Stanley & Iris,” and Debra Winger (opposite Nick Nolte) in “Everybody Wins”.

* Big budgets, which sometimes soared to ridiculous heights. “Total Recall” reportedly cost $60 million to $70 million; “Die Hard 2” was $60 million-plus.

According to the Motion Picture Assn. of America, the average film budget rose to $23.4 million in 1989, up from $18 million in 1988. Figures are still being calculated for the 1990 average, but it is expected to rise above 1989’s.

Little wonder that cost-cutting has become a goal at many of the studios.

Paramount--which made the $50 million-plus “Days of Thunder” and the $45 million “Another 48 HRS.”--plans to reduce budgets by 25%, on the average, for fiscal 1991.

“We’re going to be concentrating on movies with story elements we totally believe in,” said Barry London, president of Paramount Pictures’ motion picture group.

Stressing that “what we’ve been seeing lately reaffirms that the most important star is the story,” London said, “but every movie is a business unto itself. There basically are no rules.”

Indeed, though Universal Pictures is planning on a roster of films with budgets that range “from $20 million to under $10 million,” Pollock acknowledged, “We will also make one or two expensive movies.”

One of those costly ventures may be “Jurassic Park,” based on the best-selling novel by Michael Crichton. Steven Spielberg is attached to direct the modern-day saga about rampaging dinosaurs, on a budget that will reportedly exceed $50 million.

“If we make this movie, it will be expensive not for movie stars, or for Steven Spielberg (who will direct), but because of the special effects,” said Pollock, adding, “It’s got to look real. The dinosaurs are going to have to work. That’s the promise you make when you do a movie like this.”

In fact, spectacles are a Hollywood tradition, along with high-priced stars in costly action vehicles (Bruce Willis is reportedly getting some $10 million for the $50 million-plus “Hudson Hawk”) and, yes, sequels.

As Pollock put it: “The reason studios make them is because of marketing. They have instant identity.”

Get ready, then, for the sixth installment in the “Nightmare on Elm Street” series, “Problem Child II,” “RoboCop 3,” a further episode of “Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure,” “Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear,” “Aliens III,” and “Terminator II.”

Ironically, what were some of last year’s most original titles will become sequels themselves: “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2: The Secret of the Ooze” is due in March, and Fox is talking about the “Home Alone” sequel, “Alone Again.”

THE 1990 BOX-OFFICE CHAMPS

RANK TITLE (Distributor) COST RELEASED GROSS 1. “Ghost” (Paramount) $27.0 July 13, 1990 $206.1 2. “Pretty Woman” (Buena Vista) 18.0 March 23, 1990 178.4 3. “Home Alone” (Fox) 18.2 Nov. 16, 1990 152.1 4. “Teenage Mutant Ninja 12.0 March 30, 1990 135.5 Turtles” (New Line) 5. “Hunt for Red October” 35.0+ March 2, 1990 120.7 (Paramount) 6. “Total Recall” (Tri-Star) 60.0+ June 1, 1990 118.6 7. “Die Hard 2” (Fox) 65.0 July 4, 1990 115.2 8. “Driving Miss Daisy” 7.5 * Dec. 13, 1989 106.6 (Warner Bros.) 7.5 * Dec. 13, 1989 106.6 9. “Dick Tracy” (Buena Vista) 35.0 June 15, 1990 103.8 10. “Back to the Future III” 40.0 May 25, 1990 87.5 (Universal)

Figures in millions of dollars

* “Driving Miss Daisy” took in $1.6 million in 1989 (not included in the 1990 gross ) .

SOURCE: Exhibitor Relations Co. and L.A Times

THE HITS LISTS

Top-Grossing Films of the Past 5 Years

1. “Batman” (Warner Bros.) 1989 $251.2 2. “Rain Man” (MGM/UA) 1988 $171.2 3. “Three Men and a Baby” 1987 $167.8 (Buena Vista) 4. “Top Gun” 1986 $176.8 (Paramount Pictures) 5. “Back to the Future” 1985 $200.1 (Universal Pictures)

Figures in millions of dollars

The All-Time Top-Grossing Films

1. “E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial” 1982 $399.8 (Universal) 2. “Star Wars” (20th Century Fox) 1977 $322 3. “Return of the Jedi” 1983 $263 (20th Century Fox) 4. “Jaws” (Universal) 1975 $260 5. “Batman” (Warner Bros.) 1989 $251.2

Figures in millions of dollars

SOURCE: Entertainment Data Inc.