Entertainment news for May 31, 1991
TV
A spokeswoman at Lucasfilm denies it, but speculation in
Hollywood is that ABC's The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles could be
the most expensive series on TV by the time it premieres next
January. Plans for filming, which began May 13, call for a rigorous
10 months in 11 countries in Europe, Africa, and Asia, fulfilling
ABC's commitment to 13 hour-long episodes plus a two-hour premiere.
Each show has not one Indiana Jones but three — a 9-year-old, a
16-year-old, and a 93-year-old Indy. Rumors are circulating that the
venture's high cost will prompt a theatrical release in Europe, but
Lucasfilm will only say that the series will be released worldwide in
some form. ''The emphasis is on a coming-of-age story,'' the company
spokeswoman says. ''There will be action but it's not a special
effects-driven show. By industry standards it's actually costing less
than most hour shows.'' Maybe, but with all that travel, keeping up
with the Joneses does sound expensive.
Movies
Madonna was there. Sean Penn was there. There was an
incident. But the party in Cannes for Spike Lee's Jungle Fever didn't
feature a rematch of the divorced stars — Penn's party seemed to
evaporate when his ex arrived. The trouble came from an overzealous
fan who closed in on Madonna too fast. Two members of her entourage
went to talk to him but that got him shouting, ''Don't f---in' touch
me!'' It looked like more than angry words would be exchanged until
Madonna looked at him and cooed, ''Can't I touch you, honey?'' The man
just melted...back into the crowd.
When screenwriter Craig Lucas and director Norman Rene signed on with Twentieth Century Fox to make a film out of their Broadway hit, Prelude to a Kiss, they had hoped to cast the original leads, Alec Baldwin and Mary-Louise Parker. But at Fox's insistence Parker was replaced by Meg Ryan. ''I was disappointed,'' says Lucas. ''Meg is wonderful. But I wanted people to look back in 10 years and say that Norman and I discovered Mary-Louise Parker. I wanted them to say we did for her what Mike Nichols did for Dustin Hoffman.'' Roger Birnbaum, Fox's president of worldwide production, acknowledges, ''It was a difficult decision. Meg Ryan is a talented actress who happens to be a movie star.''
Music
Has Sony reinvented the Betamax? The company's Mini Disc
system, demonstrated earlier this month and due late in 1992, can
record up to 74 minutes of digital sound on a 21/2-inch disc and is
perfect for Walkman-size portable audio. But will there be room for
yet another format on store shelves crowded with audiocassettes, CDs,
and digital audio tape (DAT), and the forthcoming digital compact
cassettes. Some insiders think customers will be cautious. ''The
consumer does not want to get caught with a Beta when VHS prevails,''
says Jordan Rost, vice president of marketing for Warner Music
Group.
Written by: Leonard Klady, Lisa Y. Karlin, George Mannes
