How’s this for a blast from the past? I’ve just finishing transcribing a hilarious interview that Cameron did with then twenty-two year old John Travolta for Playgirl magazine (circa 1977)! I won’t try to explain, so I recommend that you just check it out.
Much to everyone’s delight, Fox has announced the specs to the upcoming Say Anything… DVD and I think it will exceed your wildest expectations. It also appears that the suggested retail price is only $19.95! I’m still not sure of the audio specs (but expect a 5.1 mix) and I’m holding out hope that Cameron’s original 90 page Say Anything novella will be included, but look what you’ll have in your hot little hands on March 5, 2002!
The press tour for Vanilla Sky has finally ended with stops in Singapore and Sydney for the Australian Premiere at the State Theatre on December 19th. I’m sure they are exhausted and we’ll be getting some much needed rest and relaxation for the holidays. In Singapore, Tom addressed the movie piracy issue while Cameron said technology is helping people break into the film industry, particularly into directing.
Cruise: “We want to make movies, and in order to do that they (the films) have to be able to pay for themselves,” so we’re doing everything we can to try to curb it and to limit it.” Crowe: “Many new directors get started by making amateur films and e-mailing them to their friends.” In the future, everybody is going to be a director,” “somebody’s got to live a real life so we have something to make a movie about.
Vanilla Sky was the top grossing film of the weekend earning an estimated $25 Million. It played on 2,742 screens for a per-screen average of $9,117. Executives at Paramount Pictures, said they were thrilled with the opening, which was on target. “Unlike Cruise’s recent hits, such as the Mission: Impossible films, Vanilla Sky played to a narrower audience: primarily sophisticated viewers in the larger towns”, said Wayne Lewellen, the studio’s president of distribution. Jerry Maguire‘s run at the box office started with a $17 million dollar opening weekend, playing in 2,531 theaters exactly 5 years ago.
Here’s a few pictures (I’ll add more soon) from the extremely blustery premiere of Vanilla Sky last night in Los Angeles.
Peter Frampton paid homage to the late George Harrison at a concert he organized and Cameron also donated signed items from Almost Famous for charity silent auction to raise money for the Sept. 11 relief fund. During an encore last Sunday night, the British guitarist played an emotional version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” as a tribute to Harrison, who died of cancer on Nov. 29 at age 58.
In Vanilla Sky, Cruise’s character David Aames describes lead guitarist George as his favorite Beatle. In the movie, Tom says, “I always liked George.” Crowe and Cruise considered scrapping the line, but decided against it. “We were both so sad. Tom and I kept saying, ‘Can you believe he’s dead?’ We decided it would be too late to change the line now and how it’s almost more meaningful now.”
Most everyone knows that the Twin Towers are featured in Vanilla Sky. This is becoming a common question for Cameron as he does his whirlwind press tour. Here’s a Crowe quote about why they stayed: “The idea of wiping them away by the computer – I couldn’t do it”, “They’ve already been taken away once; they’ll stay in the movie. Hopefully, the audience will understand it’s a tribute.”
