Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 14, 1995 TAG: 9508150096
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN HORN ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: UNIVERSAL CITY, CALIF. LENGTH: Medium
First it was Hugh Grant. Then a suddenly free-spending Walt Disney Co.
The latest shocker: A talking pig has gone hoof to toe with Julia Roberts, Denzel Washington and Kevin Costner.
And he's hogging a lot of their box-office dollars.
In one of the season's more remarkable success stories, the nation's moviegoers unexpectedly have made ``Babe'' a mild box-office hit. The fanciful tale of an upwardly mobile farmyard animal is prospering in spite of its long-shot pedigree.
Almost every big summer movie features either a slam-dunk concept - ``It's the new Disney animated musical!'' - or a star-laden cast. Since competition is the most intense during the vacation season, those films with a discernible hook, a pre-sold plan, tend to succeed better than those without.
That's part of what makes the early returns for ``Babe'' so staggering. The movie's human actors (led by James Cromwell) are virtual unknowns, and director Chris Noonan not only hadn't directed a hit movie before - he'd never made one feature film.
With audiences increasingly brand-name conscious, ``Babe'' lacked the Disney stamp, which is often crucial with family patrons. There was no cuddly ``Babe'' merchandise filling up toy store shelves. The movie's ``stars'' weren't going to be sitting down for a chat on ``Entertainment Tonight.''
A similar but much cheaper talking pig movie, Miramax's ``Gordy,'' bombed in May. And despite enthusiastic reviews, another non-Disney family film, Warner Bros.' re-release of ``A Little Princess,'' is fizzling again at the box office.
Several months before ``Babe's'' release, polling commissioned by maker Universal Pictures found little - as in nearly zero - awareness of and excitement for ``Babe,'' despite a catchy trailer playing with Universal's ``Casper.''
``When the tracking started, [the awareness] just wasn't there. I have to say it was disappointing,'' says Doug Mitchell, the film's producer. When the bad numbers came in, Universal stepped up its advertising campaign, buying more television time.
``And the tracking still didn't improve. We were very worried. Up until the last moment, we had no idea if anyone was going to come at all,'' Mitchell says. He feared a $3 million opening weekend and the fast pass to home video.
Universal executives did not panic. They had seen the film and knew it worked with audiences, and believed the trailer and television spots were connecting even though they weren't registering in polling. Movie theater owners saw the film and liked it, and consistently positive reviews - some of the year's best - began pouring in.
What made ``Babe'' a success, though, had nothing to do with what Universal did or didn't do. The audience simply discovered the film - and generated a cyclone of recommendations.
With three other new movies in the market, including Roberts' ``Something to Talk About'' and Washington's ``Virtuosity,'' ``Babe'' finished a strong third, bringing in $8.7 million in its debut weekend.
The movie performed even better than it appeared, since many admissions were half-price tickets for children. ``Babe's'' per-screen average was good, and it clearly toppled the other new family film in the market, Twentieth Century Fox's ``Bushwhacked.''
By Monday, the film's positive word-of-mouth had kicked in, and ``Babe'' was making about $1 million a night, Universal said.
``The audience out there sniffed it out,'' Mitchell says. ``You can buy a good opening weekend [with an expensive ad campaign], but you can't hold up just through a campaign. The audiences get all the publicity and all the campaigns. But if there's a film they want to see, they go out and find it.''
``Babe'' also was helped by the audience's boredom: They had grown tired of other family films. ``Pocahontas,'' ``Free Willy 2: The Adventure Home,'' ``The Indian in the Cupboard'' and ``Casper'' have all dropped out of the Top 10 list.
Universal was banking on that.
``My concern was having to release the film in a highly competitive marketplace,'' says Universal Executive Vice President Nikki Rocco. ``We didn't want to go against `Pocahontas,' and we didn't want to go against `Casper.'''
To meet the increasing ``Babe'' demand, Universal is adding 200 more theater locations, and stepping up a merchandise program.
It's too early to say whether ``Babe'' will end up grossing more than $50 million or $100 million. It has a chance, though, to be more popular - and far more profitable - than Universal's ``other'' summer film, Costner's ``Waterworld.''
Says Mitchell: ``It would be great for us - and very ironic.''
by CNB