Advertisement

Ready to Roll ‘Em : DreamWorks Lines Up Slate of Films

Share

After the initial rash of mega-hype surrounding DreamWorks’ launch nearly two years ago, Hollywood wondered whether the company would deliver the creative goods it boasted so loudly that it would.

The answer is now emerging as the closely watched studio venture formed in October 1994 by Steven Spielberg, David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg has put its first slate of movies together. Despite the long pause before DreamWorks put its first film into production last month, Walter Parkes and Laurie MacDonald--the husband-and-wife duo running the studio’s movie division--have been quietly assembling an eclectic group of projects to be produced over the next 18 months.

In effect, the pair is carrying on the tradition of movies made by Spielberg’s company Amblin Entertainment, which it headed for six months before the formation of DreamWorks.

Advertisement

Parkes and MacDonald said DreamWorks is basically interested in making two types of film: the higher-end “big idea” movie, not unlike Amblin’s current hit “Twister,” and the smaller-scale, perhaps more controversial or edgy movie that often involves new talent behind and in front of the camera.

“Where I don’t think we’ll be that active is making just the genre comedy or the genre action picture,” said Parkes, to which MacDonald added: “There are a lot of movies made where you know the upside, creatively or economically, is not tremendous, and you’re just hoping it does OK. We’re not in the business of doing that.”

As is the case at Amblin, DreamWorks will not be making violent or exploitative movies, nor is it likely to deal with NC-17-rated material.

Parkes said because DreamWorks is a company where production will drive distribution rather than the reverse--which is true of the major studios--”we won’t be in a position to green-light movies just to fill slots.”

Last month, DreamWorks began production on its first non-animated movie, “The Peacemaker,” a suspense thriller set in Russia starring George Clooney and Nicole Kidman. DreamWorks’ debut release will be in theaters in the fall of ’97.

Industry insiders and DreamWorks’ rivals have been curious about how committed Spielberg will be, as a director, to his own company since he’s free to make movies anywhere he chooses.

Advertisement

According to Spielberg, very committed.

“I’d prefer to direct inside my own company,” he said in a phone interview from East Hampton, N.Y. “But my first choice is the material. I’m committed to directing where I can find the best scripts and novels. The play’s the thing.”

Spielberg, who is contractually committed to DreamWorks for the next 10 years, said, “I give my best efforts to get co-productions going” if material happens to be at another studio.

Such is the case with a project called “Saving Private Ryan,” a Paramount movie to star Tom Hanks that DreamWorks is negotiating to co-produce.

There are at least three other projects (plus a “secret one”) that Spielberg has earmarked to direct for DreamWorks after completing “Jurassic II” this fall for Amblin/Universal.

DreamWorks’ business plan is to produce two live-action movies this year, four in 1997 and a maximum of seven to nine by 1998. In addition, there will be one animated feature every year or every other year, on which Parkes and MacDonald will oversee the initial development and Katzenberg and which his team will see through to completion.

The company’s average production cost will be about $38 million, a bit more than the industry average of $36.4 million for a studio movie. DreamWorks, backed by MCA, billionaire Paul Allen, One World Media and smaller investors, finances its own production, marketing and movie distribution.

Advertisement

While DreamWorks won’t be producing a slate the size of other major studios, its movie division is an integral part of the business plan, which also calls for television production, music and interactive media.

“The motion picture division is the most important part of the company for me,” Spielberg said, “because it’s what I know and do best. It’s my primary focus.”

It is also the most cost-intensive, he noted.

“The commitment to development and production is the biggest cost drain to any motion picture studio,” he said.

Spielberg, whose Amblin movies have always been bankrolled by studio money, admitted he was a bit shocked the first time DreamWorks plunked down $1 million for a book and $750,000 for a script.

Spielberg works closely with Parkes and MacDonald in picking the movies, and he said he feels lucky to have filmmakers running the division.

With their good looks and statuesque figures making them appear more like fashion models than studio executives, Parkes, 45, and MacDonald, 42, have spent the last year in transition, fulfilling Amblin commitments while building DreamWorks’ first slate of pictures.

Advertisement

Because of their background as filmmakers, Parkes and MacDonald serve in various producer capacities on the Amblin projects (including executive producers on “Twister”) and will produce some of the DreamWorks films.

As DreamWorks grows and Amblin’s commitments diminish, Parkes said, he and MacDonald will also “grow into that somewhat more traditional role of empowering and financing other filmmakers and giving them the same kind of freedom we all want as filmmakers.”

Unlike most Hollywood studios, DreamWorks--still housed in Amblin’s Pueblo-style headquarters on Universal’s back lot, prides itself on its noncorporate environment. Among its other distinctions, the company has committed to giving writers and animators unprecedented profit participation on their movies.

“It’s also a company that hopefully reflects the realities of our business in this decade, which means that there’s less bureaucratic distance between divisions,” said Parkes, whose credits as a writer or producer include “War Games,” “Awakenings,” “Sneakers” and “True Believer.”

Parkes added that “it’s been my experience that at most studios, the TV and motion picture departments rarely communicate.” He noted that “there are three owners who are literally here, and there’s clear and concise communication between everybody.”

MacDonald, who’s had firsthand experience as a studio executive, having been one at Columbia in the mid-1980s, said another plus to having owners running the show is that the regime won’t change every couple of years--often the case at studios.

Advertisement

She said owners also can make quick decisions about movie ideas. Last year, she recalled, she was riding in a New York cab and calling Spielberg about an unpublished article by two Russian journalists that she and Parkes had just read and thought would make a great movie.

“We called Steven and said, ‘This is a great idea,’ and we bought it.” The idea turned into the nearly $50-million movie “The Peacemaker.”

Ideas, rather than star packages, are what DreamWorks is banking on to drive its movies, which helps explain why it took the company so long to get its first production going. DreamWorks had no backlog of development to tap.

“We are less likely to be a company that just picks up something out of turnaround or buys a high-profile script,” MacDonald said, suggesting that DreamWorks would finance production on a higher percentage of projects it develops than most studios.

While DreamWorks’ maiden slate may look good on paper, Spielberg cautions: “The slate looks interesting and compelling to me, but we all have to wait and see how it turns out. I’ve learned over the years not to attach my hopes on anything.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Spielberg’s Slate

Steven Spielberg hopes to direct several films for Dream Works. For a list of other project, see D4.

Advertisement

* “The Newports” (working title), based on a true love story being written by Ron Bass (“Rain Man”) about two high-function autistic people who don’t fit into the world, but who find each other. Status: Bass can’t begin writing for a few months due to prior commitments. Robert Lawrence will produce with DreamWorks.

* “Deep Impact,” a thriller about how the Earth prepares to deal with what could be its final destruction by a comet hurtling toward the planet. Status: Michael Tolkin is currently writing a draft due in August. Richard Zanuck and David Brown will produce for what will be a Paramount/Universal/DreamWorks co-production.

* “Mutiny,” a period drama based on the true story of a slave revolt in 1839. In early stages of visual development for a possible February 1997 start.

* “Saving Private Ryan,” a World War II drama to star Tom Hanks as a soldier forced toundertake an unusual mission during the early days of the Allied invasion of Europe. Status: Currently a Paramount project; DreamWorks is seeking to make the film a co-production with Spielberg directing.

The Movie Slate

Dream Works SKG has announced nine live-action movies it is planning to make and release by the end of 1998.

* “The Peacemaker,” an action drama by Michael Schiffer about the destabilization of the Russian nuclear arsenal that stars George Clooney and Nicole Kidman and marks the directorial debut of Emmy-winning Mimi Leder of “ER.” Production: now. Release: fall 1997.

Advertisement

* “MouseHunt,” about two knucklehead brothers who inherit a house run by a smart, mean mouse, will mark the feature debut of commercial director Gore Verbinsky. Production: November 1996. Release: 1997.

* “Blue Vision,” a suspense thriller about a woman who uses her psychic powers to track a killer, was written by Bruce Robinson and is to be directed by Oscar winner Neil Jordan (“The Crying Game,” “Interview With the Vampire”). Production: early 1997. Release: late 1997.

* “Keeper,” an edgy comedy by Michael Leeson (“War of the Roses”) about talking zoo animals and their keeper who unite to fight off city officials planning to tear down their zoo to build a museum. Production: early 1997. Release: late 1997.

* “Mutiny,” based on the true story of the slave ship Amistad, whose 47 African slaves mutinied in 1839 and all but two were killed and forced to stand trial for murder. Spielberg will direct with choreographer-actress Debbie Allen serving as one of the producers. Production: February 1997 or late 1997. Release: 1997-98.

* “Cat in the Hat,” based on the classic 1957 children’s book by Dr. Seuss, is being adapted by Oscar-winning screenwriter Eric Roth (“Forrest Gump”). Tim Allen of “Home Improvement” may star. Production: late spring 1997. Release: summer 1998.

* “Neanderthal,” based on John Darnton’s best-selling, Pulitzer-winning book about rival paleontologists who make an astounding discovery in remote Siberia with creatures by Oscar winner Stan Winston. Production: 1997. Release: summer 1998.

Advertisement

* “After Man,” inspired by Dougal Dixon’s illustrated books, tells the story of a man’s return to post-apocalyptic Earth whose ecology has passed him by. Production: late 1997. Release: 1998.

* “Arkansas,” a period piece set in 1870s America about a penniless sharecropper who stakes his life on a barren 100-acre farm in rural Arkansas and has to go up against his neighbor and former boss, a man of unyielding determination. Production: spring 1997. Release: 1998.

Note: Production and release dates are tentative.

Advertisement