‘Road Trip’ a Comeback Plan for Studio Vets

Once upon a time in Hollywood, Ivan Reitman was the reigning comedic director and Tom Pollock was the Universal Studios chief who financed and distributed some of Reitman’s biggest blockbusters. Together, they minted money with “Twins” and “Kindergarten Cop,” both starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, as well as the “Beethoven” series of family movies.

Now, these high-powered veterans have put their collective experience behind . . . “Road Trip”?

The hard truth is that it’s been an uncomfortably long time since these lions last roared. Living in the idyllic seaside community of Montecito, Calif., Reitman and Pollock have been looking more like retirees than movie makers. They need this low-budget, raunchy comedy to bring them back to life.

With Hollywood oddsmakers betting heavily that the $15.6-million, R-rated movie, which DreamWorks SKG opens Friday, is this year’s “American Pie,” it looks like Reitman and Pollock are back in action.

“My fingers are crossed,” said Reitman, who with Pollock is anxious to put their 2-year-old production company, Montecito Picture Co., finally on the map.

It’s been a rocky journey for the partners. Shortly after launching their Santa Barbara-based company and finalizing a much-ballyhooed $600-million financing deal with Citibank and PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, they watched it all evaporate when PolyGram and its Dutch music giant parent were sold to Seagram.

The Canadian liquor distributor ultimately decided to shutter PolyGram Filmed Entertainment, saying it was redundant with its own Universal Pictures.

It was the second time Pollock had been burned by Seagram. The liquor company ousted him from Universal after a 10-year run as studio chief in the wake of its purchase of the studio.

Suddenly, Montecito found itself without a financial backer. Its $300-million credit facility from Citibank went up in smoke too, contingent on PolyGram making good on its $300-million commitment.

Pollock said he and Reitman tried but failed to put together independent financing through a combination of foreign distribution partners, banks and insurance companies.

“We could only raise money if we were willing to make six to eight movies a year, where you have enough volume to make yourself interesting to them,” Pollock explained. “And, quite frankly, we only wanted to do two or three movies a year and didn’t want to give up the whole reason for living up here in Santa Barbara--looking at the ocean.”

Despite Reitman’s track record, which includes the iconic “Ghostbusters” franchise, the pair had no better luck landing a new studio deal.

“Fortunately, our settlement was healthy,” Reitman joked, referring to a $20-million payout he and Pollock received in cash and projects from Universal after threatening to sue the studio for breach of contract when their funding was cut off.

Out of the ashes, however, came their salvation. Among those projects was “Road Trip,” based on an original idea of Reitman’s about a group of college guys who go on a cross-country romp.

The film’s writer-director, Todd Phillips, and screenwriter Scot Armstrong came up with the actual plot, in which a college boy enlists his buddies to drive from Ithaca, N.Y., to Austin, Texas, to intercept a videotape of his infidelity before it reaches his girlfriend.

A year after Reitman’s box-office misfire “Six Days, Seven Nights,” starring Harrison Ford, was released and he was still suffering from the disappointing “Father’s Day,” “Private Parts” and “Commandments,” DreamWorks stepped up in June 1999 to finance and distribute two movies for the partners. “Road Trip” was one.

On Monday, DreamWorks announced it was extending its business relationship with Reitman and Pollock under a new first-look, three-year deal.

Like Universal’s 1999 hit “American Pie,” which cost $11 million and grossed more than $230 million worldwide, “Road Trip” is the kind of film studios find irresistible: cheap to produce and no stars taking a chunk of the profits.

Reitman and Pollock, who took no upfront producer fees on “Road Trip,” are guaranteed more than 5% of DreamWorks’ gross receipts.

DreamWorks paid the marketing costs, which for a major summer release run about $25 million to $30 million.

If the movie is as big a hit as expected, both DreamWorks and Montecito will make out handsomely.

Reitman set the tone for this kind of raucous youth comedy with his movies “Animal House,” which he produced in 1978, “Meatballs” and “Stripes,” both of which he directed. “Road Trip” represents just the kind of “moderately budgeted films that we want to produce that have the opportunity to break out,” Reitman said.

Reitman and Pollock also plan to make bigger-budget fare at Montecito. Those, however, are certain to be ones Reitman himself directs, Pollock said.

In fact, one of the three movies Reitman is considering directing next, “Wish,” combining live action with some animated characters and visual effects, could cost as much as $80 million .

The other two films he’s considering directing, “Evolution,” a special-effects action comedy for DreamWorks, and a modern-day remake of “Pink Panther,” for MGM’s United Artists, also fall into that big-budget category.

No matter what the cost of their next movie, Reitman says he’s definitely ready to get back to work. “It’s about time.”