Miramax to buy The Quiet American
Miramax Films is in final negotiations to buy North and South American rights to The Quiet American, a $30 million Vietnam-set period drama starring Michael Caine and Brendan Fraser.

Director Phillip Noyce starts shooting the picture in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. The adaptation of Graham Greene’s novel is set in 1952 against the backdrop of the Vietnamese war of liberation from French colonial rule.

The story revolves around the ambivalent friendship between a jaded, opium-addicted British newspaper reporter (Caine) and an idealistic but naive American aid worker (Fraser). Their relationship is complicated by their rivalry for the affections of a Vietnamese girl - a love triangle that leads to murder.
The girl is played by 19-year-old Vietnamese actress Do Hai Yen, in her English-language debut. A graduate of a Hanoi dancing school and star of two Vietnamese movies, she was discovered after a four-month worldwide casting search.

“This is an extraordinary piece of literature, which really examines the very beginnings of how we Americans got into Vietnam, and does it not through describing battles, but through a marvelous triangle”, said Sydney Pollack, one of the executive producers.

“It becomes a kind of thriller melodrama between these three people, set against the canvas of the changeover between the French and the Americans in the fight against communism.”

The picture also stars Rade Serbedzija (Snatch) as a French police officer. The film is being financed by Intermedia, which is selling the international rights.

Reports show, there is more sex on television
According to a study conducted, U.S. television shows have significantly increased their amount of sexual content and usually fail to emphasize the need for safe sex.

In what it described as the biggest ever such study, the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation that monitors social mores, said sexual content featured in two-thirds of all television shows in the 1999/2000 season compared to only about half in 1997/98.

While the amount of sexual content had increased, the study found that the proportion of shows with safe sex messages remained steady at 10 percent.
“Every time there is sex on TV, there is an opportunity to deliver useful information to young people”, said Kaiser Family Foundation Vice president Victoria Rideout.

“While some shows are taking advantage of that opportunity, nine out of 10 are not”, she added in a statement.

The study, called ‘Sex on TV: Content and Context’, was conducted by a University of California professor and examined 1,114 shows aired from October 1999 to March 2000.

It found that the biggest increase in sexual content was among situation comedies, where the share rose to 84 percent of all episodes from 56 percent.
Hollywood has come under increasing pressure in recent years to reduce the amount of sexual content and violence in television shows, particularly during early evening hours when young children watch them.

A treat for moviegoers
Would you like wine with your popcorn? Moviegoers in southern California will soon receive restaurant-style service when they venture to the multiplex, courtesy of a movies-and-dining concept unveiled last week.

In its first foray to the region, movie theater chain National Amusements has chosen a lavish retail development in southwest Los Angeles as the inaugural site of its Bridge concept.

The company plans to roll out an unspecified number of Bridge multiplexes in select cities nationwide, with key amenities involving ‘dinner-quality’ food and beverage and possible waiter service at patrons’ theater seats.

Other amenities planned for all Bridge multiplexes include upscale lobby lounges, concierge services and valet parking, officials said.

Dedham, Mass.-based National, a 1,350-screen circuit concentrated in the Northeast, is controlled by Viacom Inc. chairman Sumner Redstone and serves as Viacom’s parent company. Properties operated under the Bridge concept are part of a CineBridge joint venture between National and businessman Paul Heth, who’s previously been active in international exhibition.

National has set an early summer opening for its L.A. megaplex, which will form a key component of Hughes Corporate Center’s 250,000-square-foot Entertainment Promenade. Several restaurants and retail stores also are planned for the site, with a Borders book store and Nordstrom Rack outlet set to open within the next few weeks.

A total of 18 theaters and an Imax-sized auditorium already have been constructed, awaiting only the addition of seats and screens. But National has decided to turn one of the theaters into additional lobby space and is negotiating with large-format operators for the giant-screen space.

The megaplex was originally built for Edwards Theaters, which was booted from the project when the Newport Beach-based exhibitor missed a payment just before slipping into Chapter 11 reorganization in August.

National will operate the megaplex under a lease deal with developer J.H. Snyder Co., which is co-venturing with Orix Real Estate on Entertainment Promenade.