Neither Side Blinking in Nicholson Wars : Marketing: Columbia and Fox set the same opening date for their big Christmas entries, but there is a problem--both films star Jack Nicholson.

Competition? What competition?

“We’re not competing at all with ‘A Few Good Men,’ ” says 20th Century Fox executive vice president Tom Sherak of “Hoffa,” one of the studio’s big Christmas pictures.

“We’re not competing with ‘Hoffa,’ that’s just not the case,” says Columbia Pictures chairman Mark Canton of his studio’s “A Few Good Men.”

Though both sides deny any friction, the facts speak for themselves: Both “Hoffa,” director Danny DeVito’s Teamsters epic starring Jack Nicholson in the title role, and “A Few Good Men,” Rob Reiner’s military drama with Nicholson, Tom Cruise and Demi Moore, are scheduled to open Dec. 11.

And so let what one industry marketing source has dubbed “The Jack Nicholson Wars” begin.

Both films are being spoken of as possible Academy Award contenders and are dramas seeking an adult audience. “Basically,” says the source, “this is a case of one studio waiting for the other one to blink. It’s a real standoff. Opening two Jack Nicholson movies on the same day is not the wisest thing to do. Someone’s going to lose.”

And one person closely connected to “A Few Good Men” believes, of course, that the loser will be “Hoffa.”

“The only movie this Christmas season that has the possibility of beating us is ‘Home Alone II,’ ” the source said. “ ‘A Few Good Men’ is one of those movies that, because of the star power involved, even if you screwed up the marketing it could still make $100 million.” Sherak, when this comment is repeated to him, replied, “I’m happy they feel that way. But they have not seen ‘Hoffa.’ I have. Danny’s made a masterpiece. I hope ‘A Few Good Men’ is as brilliant as ‘Hoffa.’ If that’s the case, then we’ll all have a very happy Christmas.”

Sherak adds, “But we’re not competing with ‘A Few Good Men.’ To me, it’s just a case of properly positioning both movies, and then wishing each other well.”

Canton, echoing Sherak’s sentiments, says: “We have a rooting interest in each other’s success. I haven’t seen Danny’s movie, but I’m sure it’s a very fine film. We wish them well.”

For studios, the correct positioning of big-budget Christmas movies has always been a tricky business. After the early weeks of summer, the most lucrative box-office period of the year is Dec. 25 through Jan. 2. “That’s the gold-rush time,” says the marketing source. “The early part of the month--from Dec. 1 through Christmas Day--is traditionally a bad time to attract the adult audience. Everybody’s shopping or making fruitcakes, so the idea is to give your film a midmonth opening with breathing room if you can. That allows for good word of mouth to build.”

Columbia and Fox agree that “Hoffa” landed on Dec. 11 first.

“We were going to open on Dec. 18,” says Canton. “But that date was never in concrete. Our desire all along was to open this movie so that we’d have the greatest amount of playing time to attract the widest possible audience.”

Columbia made the decision to move “A Few Good Men” up a week, says Canton, after studying the preview audience reaction to Reiner’s Castle Rock film. “We had an enormously successful response on more than one occasion,” says Canton.

But a source close to “A Few Good Men” tells a different story. “Columbia, when they found out ‘Hoffa’ was coming out first, wasn’t happy about it. It was a case of ‘Why do we have to have the second Jack Nicholson movie in the marketplace?’ Columbia wanted their movie to come out first. They moved the date firmly believing that Fox would back down and move ‘Hoffa.’ ”

According to several sources, Columbia’s game plan just may work. Fox executives, say the sources, are toying with opening “Hoffa” in a limited “platform” release Dec. 18 and then opening wide on Christmas Day, so they aren’t swallowed up by the “A Few Good Men” media and advertising juggernaut (that film is scheduled to open on more than 1,800 screens).

Fox has not yet made the announcement, because “they like the idea that every time ‘A Few Good Men’ is mentioned, they are getting equal publicity.”

Sherak, when asked about this hypothesis, replied, “That’s very good conversation, isn’t it? That makes for a good chuckle.

“There’s a lot of jockeying that goes around this time of the year. A lot of times you will give a date just to see what the other guy will do. You don’t want to lock yourself up. Nothing is ever for sure, except the fact that in this marketplace, you get one shot at it.

“This,” Sherak concluded with a laugh, “is called the art of distribution and marketing. It’s why I’m wearing a ‘Hoffa’ hat as we speak.”

Canton, when asked what he was wearing during a telephone conversation, replied, “military whites, of course.”

20th Century Fox