n what appears to be a holiday season more loaded with big-budget gimmickry than serious cinema-even moreso now that Baz Luhrmann's buzz-heavy Moulin Rouge has been bumped to next year, while Merchant-Ivory's latest offering The Golden Bowl has failed to secure a distributor-Paramount has re-launched its campus dramedy Wonder Boys, an adaptation of Michael Chabon's 1995 feel-somewhat-good novel. Directed by Curtis Hanson (L.A. Confidential) and starring a well-nourished Michael Douglas, the film was initially released in the commercial dead zone of February, when its precious ad campaign and obscure premise-portly Pittsburgh English professor engages in wintry weekend of sex, drugs and dog slaying-portended a mediocre box office take of $24.5 million.
Critical hosannas, however, have encouraged the studio to revive what Roger Ebert boldly brands "the best college movie ever
Given Wonder Boys' warm reception from reviewers, Paramount's maneuver isn't unusual. Quality films launched too early in the year for Oscar consideration-meaning, to the memory-deficient minds of Academy voters, every release date prior to November-are occasionally redistributed in the weeks before or after New Year's, the better to cash in on the feeding frenzy of accolades that precedes and informs the Oscar nominations. Recent examples include Hanson's own L.A. Confidential, which doubled its September commercial take after strong showings on the awards circuit, along with Best Picture winners Braveheart (May 1995) and last year's American Beauty, which DreamWorks unfolded in September. (The studio currently plans to replicate its distribution strategy with its rock saga Almost Famous, a lovely film that bowed two months ago to disappointing revenues.)
Wonder Boys, though, won't reap such delayed dividends: like Fargo, re-released by PolyGram in spring 1997, the film is too quirky and self-conscious to appeal to the general public, which would rather watch Jim Carrey plot against Whoville in The Grinch. Besides, the last February release to win the top prize was The Silence of the Lambs, which opened on Valentine's Day 1991 and proceeded to generate $131 million in grosses-all without the benefit of a re-release.
If only Michael Douglas had eaten Tobey Maguire....
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