Friday, April 10, 1998
Play it again
FILM: Old movies bring in box office bucks from a new generation
of filmgoers
By Vanessa VanderZanden
Daily Bruin Staff
People camped out for hours last year, waiting in line for
tickets to the re-release of "Star Wars." In its first 10 days of
big-screen revival, "Grease" has already pulled in $20.2 million.
Though these classics have long held a tender spot in the hearts of
audiences, many ask: why the big hoopla when you can rent them at
any video store, any day of the week?
"I think it’s because they’re seeing a better print," speculates
UCLA film professor Myrl Schreibman. "They’re seeing it in its
original format. They’re hearing better sound."
Whatever the case may be, "Grease" has managed to reach number
four at the box office in the short time it has been revived.
Unlike the pricey, teched-up version of "Star Wars," "Grease"
includes no new scenes, but it still required millions of dollars
on the part of Paramount for advertising alone. However, the film’s
resurgence seems to have been worth the financial risk.
"The entertainment value of this film is not dated," Rob
Friedman, vice chairman of Paramount Pictures’ Motion Picture
Group, told the L.A. Times. "The music is still music you can tap
your foot to."
Other reasons exist for the film’s success. For instance, the
story has been a recent Broadway musical smash, including a cast of
well-known stars like Rosie O’Donnel, Brooke Shields and Sally
Struthers. Even the video has kept the tale alive, hitting number
14 on VideoScan’s list of top video sales for last year.
"To another degree, it becomes like nostalgia," Schreibman says
of the high audience appeal. "It takes them back to a different
era, and it’s a part of remembering how they were when they saw it
for the first time."
Such a view strikes a chord with Jodi Benson, the voice of Ariel
in Disney’s "The Little Mermaid." Re-released to the big screen
this past November, she expressed her excitement over the event in
an interview given to the Bruin just prior to the theater run.
"I’m looking forward to remembering the first time I had seen it
in the screening room and white-knuckling the chair," Benson
related. She remembers "watching it and just going, ‘Oh my gosh!
This movie is just amazing!’"
As the animation team filled in the scenes after she and the
rest of the cast recorded their voices, the first viewing of the
finished product was an event to remember. Marking the resurgence
of new full-length animated films to the big screen, "The Little
Mermaid" made history in its debut. However, Benson and the crew
"never thought we’d be talking about it again 10 years later" for
the re-release.
Perhaps it is this change in an audience’s perception of a film,
once it has existed beyond marketing hype, which helps prompt
studios to re-release certain movies over others. Scheduled
re-releases for the future include "The Big Chill," "Gone With the
Wind" and "Funny Girl," all celebrating anniversaries for their big
screen debuts. As in the case of "The Little Mermaid," the
re-releases are expected to reach a new audience.
"I’m really looking forward to watching (‘The Little Mermaid’)
with the kids who haven’t been brought up on ‘Mermaid’ yet," Benson
said. "We didn’t realize it was going to be the rebirth of the
Renaissance, the second golden age of animation. We had no idea. We
had our little wine and cheese party and they said, ‘Good work!’
and then we just moved on."
On a different note, producer Allen Carr of "Grease" didn’t just
"move on." Once he found out that "Summer Nights," the hit song
from "Grease," is the most sung Karaoke song and that a huge
teenage following accompanies the film, he felt convinced that the
movie was due for a re-release. He finally had his dream come true
after nine months of planning.
"It was the Monday morning after ‘Star Wars’ opened," Carr
recalls. "They called me in. ‘Oh, I guess a re-issue of a picture
could work.’ That was the icing on the cake."
However, as any movie afficionado knows, second-run films and
reshowings of classics can often be found at art house locales,
such as the Nuart on Santa Monica Blvd., or midnight showings at
theaters like The Plaza on Glendon in Westwood. The "Warner Bros.
Festival of Classics," a week-long review of old favorites from
"Rebel Without a Cause" to "Dog Day Afternoon," just finished its
run at the Mann’s Chinese Theater in Hollywood.
But wide re-releases of restored pictures are different, drawing
in more audiences and coming but a few times a year.