Your Next Contact May Be a From a Lawyer

The Warner Bros. science-fiction saga “Contact,” directed by Robert Zemeckis (“Forrest Gump”) and starring Jodie Foster as an astronomer who detects radio signals from deep space, makes its debut Friday on about 1,500 theater screens nationwide. But back on Earth, some of the strongest signals received about the project have come from lawyers, not from extraterrestrials. The film is based on a best-selling 1985 novel by the late astronomer Carl Sagan. The movie has been the subject of litigation since Dec. 26, 1996, when a breach-of-contract suit by Francis Ford Coppola (“The Godfather”) was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court only days after Sagan’s death. The suit by Coppola’s Zoetrope Corp. seeks at least $250,000 in compensatory damages and claims that the idea for Sagan’s book came from Coppola more than 20 years ago, when the director joined forces with Children’s Television Workshop Productions to develop a TV program called “First Contact.”

The suit also claims that Sagan was given permission to write and publish a book relating to the subject matter of the TV show but that the contract stipulated that any royalties and other payments attributable to the book were to be divided equally among the parties. Sagan’s widow, Ann Druyan, of Ithaca, N.Y., said previously that she was “sickened and outraged” by Coppola’s allegations, and the estate’s attorney, Scott A. Edelman, asked: “If they had this disagreement with Dr. Sagan for over a year before he died, why did they wait until after his death to file the lawsuit?” Coppola’s attorney, Robert Chapman, said that the complaint was already in the works when Sagan died last Dec. 20 of a rare pre-leukemia syndrome at age 62 and that his death was as much of a surprise to them as anyone. Although the suit initially sought to stop “further development, production or distribution” of the film, no preliminary injunction has been sought to prevent its release on Friday. And, attorneys said, Coppola has not yet sat down for a sworn deposition. Chapman said that a trial date could be set at a July 22 hearing.

Fox Tries to Buck All-Star Game Trend

Following the lowest-rated All-Star Game in 27 years, Fox is hoping some high-tech gimmickry will bring much-needed luster back to baseball’s summer showcase. Specifically, during Tuesday’s telecast, the network that introduced America to the glowing hockey puck will introduce the “Catcher-Cam,” described as “a lipstick-sized camera mounted on the catcher’s mask.” Fox is also touting the fact that Joe Buck, the 28-year-old son of veteran play-by-play man Jack Buck, will become the youngest person ever to call an All-Star Game, a task the elder Buck handled three times, the first before his son was born. For all the hype, the real question is whether the telecast can slow baseball’s downward ratings slide. Just 23% of the available TV audience tuned in last year’s all-star contest, compared to 37% a decade ago and 50% when the game moved to prime time in 1967. Although that mirrors a general decline in network TV viewing, some wonder if baseball is still feeling the effects of its season-shortening players’ strike three years ago. Whatever the reason, Fox will have to buck a trend to keep many former baseball viewers from passing on America’s pastime.

Keep Him Away From the Backstage Food

Rock fans will focus their eyes on Neil Young’s left index finger this week as the sixth annual H.O.R.D.E. tour kicks off Friday at the Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, Calif. Young & Crazy Horse, forced to cancel a European tour last month after Young sliced his finger while making a ham sandwich, are headlining the 30-city H.O.R.D.E. trek, which includes a July 17 show at the Irvine Meadows Amphitheatre. “Neil’s been to his doctor and has been cleared for action,” says the veteran rocker’s longtime manager, Elliot Roberts. “Rehearsals have been going well and he’s ready to kill.” In addition to Young’s 90-minute show-closing set, the Mountain View and Irvine H.O.R.D.E. dates will include performances by Primus, Big Head Todd & the Monsters, the Squirrel Nut Zippers, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Morphine, Ben Folds Five, Leftover Salmon and Ozomatli. This is the first time that Blues Traveler, the tour’s founder, will not be on board for the entire tour, but Gregg Perloff of Bill Graham Presents, which is promoting the opening-day show, says that ticket sales have been strong. He expects Friday’s show to draw about 15,000 to the 20,000-capacity Mountain View facility.