Online producer The Romp has signed a TV development
deal with MANDALAY SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT, according to Erik
Gruenwedel of ADWEEK ONLINE. The Romp will co-develop and
produce two TV shows -- "THE HUNT," with contestants in a
contemporary scavenger hunt, and "PEEPHOLE," in which
viewers wager on sports video clips (ADWEEK ONLINE, 9/28).
WORTH REMEMBER-ING THE TITANS? Disney's new football
film "REMEMBER THE TITANS" opens today, and in N.Y., A.O.
Scott writes, "This is the kind of movie in which every big
speech or heartfelt moment ... is washed in on the flood
tide of a thousand violins." If the movie "is corny, it's
unabashedly, even generously so" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/29). The
WALL STREET JOURNAL's Joe Morgenstern writes that the movie
"wants to inspire, and sometimes it does so," but it also
features "machine-made melodramatics and glib uplift" (WALL
STREET JOURNAL, 9/29). Also in the WALL STREET JOURNAL, Lisa
Gubernick examines why football films have not fared well at
the box office: "The problem: There's too much sports in
these pigskin flicks." Revolution Studios partner TOM
SHERAK: "Sports movies need to be about something other than
sports to succeed." Gubernick adds that another "big
drawback for football films is the difficulty in attracting
a female audience" (WALL STREET JOURNAL, 9/29).
ONE TO WATCH: The film GIRLFIGHT about a young female
boxer continues to earn positive reviews. In DC, Rita
Kempley writes the movie is a "scrappy independent film that
packs the same emotional punch" as "ROCKY" (WASHINGTON POST,
9/29). In N.Y., A.O. Scott writes that the "unassuming
script" and cinematography keep the film "anchored in
unpretentious realism" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/29). The WALL STREET
JOURNAL calls the film "splendid" (WSJ, 9/29).
A TRAILER: "ET" aired a preview of SYLVESTER STALLONE's
movie, "CHAMPS." Mary Hart: "Stallone and the crew shot
actual car races from Miami to Japan in order to make the
high-speed sequences look as real as possible" ("ET," 9/28).
