Heidi-Ho, Heidi-Hum, the Beat Goes On

Heidi. Heidi. Heidi.

Now that your attention is riveted to the page, consider this: There are dozens of things happening in Hollywood that have nothing to do with Heidi Fleiss--or even Ivan Nagy.

At Warner Bros., for one, sources report that Chairman Robert Daly and President Terry Semel have come to terms on five-year contract extensions, following a protracted negotiation. The two are expected to formalize their deals as early as next week, thereby ensuring that one of Hollywood’s most stable and successful management teams remains in place.

On the acquisition trail, meanwhile, cable mogul Ted Turner moved a step closer Thursday to creating a mini-studio out of Castle Rock Entertainment and New Line Cinema.

Sources say Time Warner, which holds 20.6% of Turner Broadcasting System and three seats on the board, will not block the New Line acquisition at a New York board meeting Tuesday.

Time Warner has been stung by published reports that it is hostile to the New Line deal, which involves a $300-million stock swap, because it doesn’t want the independent company to develop into a major competitor of its Warner Bros. subsidiary.

“We’re not afraid of Turner (entering) the business, competing with our studio. This has to do with our vote as fiduciaries,” one senior Time Warner official insisted. “We happen to be the only (directors) who know the movie business intimately.”

Castle Rock, for its part, is working hard to get itself added to the Turner agenda by Tuesday. Its five founders--Alan Horn, Martin Shafer, Rob Reiner, Andy Scheinman and Glenn Padnick--reportedly have agreed to sell the company to Turner for about $100 million cash, but they’re still trying to work out an exit strategy with Sony Pictures Entertainment, which owns about 44% of Castle Rock’s stock and distributes its movies domestically and its television shows worldwide.

New Line holds the foreign rights to Castle Rock films, as well as worldwide videos, although the deal expires after the next four films. Since Castle Rock accounts for a big chunk of New Line’s profit, some critics contend that Turner is, in effect, paying twice if he acquires both companies.

One source characterized Sony’s talks with Castle Rock as a “very difficult, strained negotiation” despite the fact that Castle Rock wants to continue to have its product distributed by Sony. Castle Rock is not considering distribution of its films by New Line, the source said.

At Warner Bros., meanwhile, the bargaining position of Daly and Semel may have been strengthened by the studio’s uncommonly strong summer. The two, who are said to already earn more than $5 million a year each in salary and bonuses, will purportedly get healthy raises over the term of the contracts.

The Daly-Semel hit parade began in May with the release of “Dave” and continued through last weekend when “The Fugitive” was set free. Holding up the middle of the line are “Made in America,” “Dennis the Menace” and “Free Willy,” with “The Secret Garden” and “The Man Without a Face” still to come.

While “The Fugitive” is the only runaway blockbuster, the remaining summer movies are considered solid performers.

Rival studios consider it a testament to Warner’s focus that it managed to market the string of hits while its top two executives were locked in lengthy contract negotiations.

Warner executives initially predicted the contract issue would be resolved as early as last May. Sources say the delays were partly due to the rigid negotiating stance of Time Warner Chairman Gerald R. Levin, which sharply contrasted with the freewheeling style of his predecessor, the late Steve Ross.

Moreover, Semel’s negotiations were reportedly complicated by an overture from Credit Lyonnais, which owns MGM. It’s rumored that Semel had an opportunity last month to take control of the studio with a large equity stake. Sources say that Levin and Time Warner financial consultant Oded Aboodi agreed to a 10-point list of non-negotiable demands to keep Semel in the fold.

Semel is vacationing in St. Tropez for the month and was unavailable for comment. Daly declined to comment on the deal.

Actual Heidi Item: The Japanese press is finally picking up on the Fleiss story, but mostly by rehashing American news accounts. In the coverage so far, there have been no references to Sony Corp., parent of Columbia Pictures. The studio has denied rumors of links to the scandal.

The Sports Nippon, a racy tabloid, ran a full-page story under the headline “American Uproar!! Hollywood Whore Scandal.” Sankei, a conservative national newspaper, carried a story called “Pinkgate--No Laughing Matter.” The headline in Yomiuri newspaper, Japan’s largest, said, “Shocking Topic: Pink Hollywood.”

In case you’re wondering, pink is a color used to symbolize sex in Japan.

Times staff writer Teresa Watanabe in Tokyo contributed to this story.

Bob & Terry’s Excellent Summer

Warner Bros. has had a solid string of successes this summer. The following grosses, in millions of dollars, are as of Aug. 8.

Film Weeks in Release Domestic Gross The Fugitive 1 $23.7 Free Willy 4 $45.3 Dennis the Menace 7 $46.6 Made in America 11 $42.8 Dave 14 $62.2

Source: Entertainment Data Inc.