The Lion Roars a Little Louder

Leo the Lion, whose famous roaring has introduced countless Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films, was pretty much a pussycat last year, at least when it came to box office.

The studio released a mere nine movies throughout the calendar year and, all together, those films grossed an anemic $95.3 million domestically, according to box-office tracking firm Exhibitor Relations Co. Indeed, the best grossing movie was the Richard Gere-Winona Ryder romance “Autumn in New York” with $37.8 million in ticket sales.

But things appear to be turning around for the venerable studio in 2001.

For starters, MGM was ecstatic when “Hannibal,” the sequel to the Oscar-winning film, “The Silence of the Lambs,” raked in $165 million domestically. Combined with its other releases this year--”Heartbreakers,” “Antitrust” and a small critic’s favorite, “The Claim,” the studio has already seen its box office totals soar to $215.7 million.

On Friday, MGM will roll out the next film in its 2001 arsenal, a comedy with a quirky title called “What’s the Worst That Could Happen?” (Critics could have a field day with that one). The film stars Martin Lawrence as a professional thief with taste and style who gets a tip for an easy heist: billionaire tycoon Max Fairbanks’ (Danny DeVito) unoccupied beachfront mansion.

Lawrence has been on something of a roll himself. His comedy “Big Momma’s House,” released around the same time last summer, grossed $117.6 million, while the previous year, the police action comedy “Blue Streak” made $68.5 million and the comedy “Life,” co-starring Eddie Murphy, took in $63.9 million.

Even if Lawrence doesn’t deliver, MGM has high hopes for some other summer fare, including “Legally Blonde,” starring Reese Witherspoon; “Original Sin,” with Antonio Banderas and Angelina Jolie; director John McTiernan’s updated version of “Rollerball”; and a horror film called “Jeepers Creepers.”

HBO’s Post-’Sopranos’ Plan

If “The Sopranos” is an addictive drug, then think of “Sex and the City” and “Six Feet Under” as part of HBO’s methadone plan--a way to get you through the long, hard months before the popular Mafia drama returns next year.

Both “Sex and the City,” which returns for its third season, and “Six Feet Under,” a new series from the Academy Award-winning writer of “American Beauty,” Alan Ball, debut Sunday.

The good news for HBO, a pay cable network seen in one-third of the U.S. homes that have television, is that “The Sopranos” season finale attracted an impressive 9.5 million viewers. The challenge is holding on to those subscribers without fresh “Sopranos” episodes to throw at them. (“Churn” is the word they use at HBO to refer to those viewers who subscribe for a particular series, then cancel their subscriptions.)

Knowing it had a captive audience Sunday nights at 9, HBO ran lots of promos for “Sex” and “Six Feet Under.” The former show, which stars Sarah Jessica Parker, averaged 2.6 million viewers per showing last season. (To launch the new season, HBO is showing two originals back to back, from 9 to 10. Thereafter, the 9:30 slot will be occupied by “Arli$$.”)

“Six Feet Under,” to be seen at 10, is about a family-run funeral service. It has the macabre backdrop and dark comedy of “The Sopranos,” but will the death business sell like mob hits?

Rockers Try to ‘Break the Cycle’

Can rockers turn the tables on hip-hop and steal some of youth pop’s sales fizz?

It’s conventional wisdom these days that the hard-rock heroes have ceded the top of the nation’s album chart to other genres, but this week a band called Staind is trying to break that cycle with an album called, well, “Break the Cycle.”

Riding the power of two radio hits, “It’s Been Awhile” and “Outside”--both were given major airplay on L.A.’s KROQ-FM (106.7) and other modern-rock stations across the country--the disc is headed toward a powerful debut, with first-week sales that may go north of 600,000 copies.

That would be one of the strongest sales performances of the year, and it comes on the heels of heavy rock outfit Tool’s selling 550,000 copies of “Lateralus,” today’s reigning No. 1 album, suggesting that reports of rock’s death have been greatly exaggerated.

“I don’t think rock ever really went away, but it wasn’t as cool,” says Greg Thompson, executive vice president and general manager for Elektra Records, the label home of Staind. “Certainly, the numbers the last few weeks show that it is cool again and relevant.”

One reason for rock’s durability: live performance. Even when rock acts were sinking on the album charts, the genre has been a champ at arenas and festivals. “With Staind, the radio airplay only added fuel to the fire,” Thompson said. “It was the tireless touring that started the fire.”

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Compiled by Times staff writers