The movie may be the surprise sleeper of all time, and it features an all-expenses-paid shopping spree that might make even Imelda Marcos' head spin. In Pretty Woman, Richard Gere, as businessman Edward Lewis, picks up Julia Roberts, as $3,000-a-week Hollywood ''hooker on retainer'' Vivian Ward, while tooling around in a white Lotus. Then, passing the stylish streetwalker off as his new love, Gere proceeds to treat Roberts to the finer things in life as seen through the eyes of a take-charge guy in the takeover game. If art really imitates life, however, it can get pretty expensive, especially when the art was made in Hollywood. Here are the true-life price tags that were paid when Richard met Julia.
Deals on Wheels:
You can't cruise a boulevard looking for the
call girl of your dreams without a classy chassis, and the movie's
mistreated Lotus will set you back $85,000. That's for starters.
Unfortunately, if you'd rather rent, a Lotus is not available in the
L.A. area, but a Ferrari 328 stunt double should do. One may be
obtained from Budget Rent-A-Car of Beverly Hills for only $600 per
day and 50 cents per mile.
From No-Tell Motel to Big Frills Hotel:
The Presidential Suite at
the Regent Beverly Wilshire is where Richard Gere and Julia Roberts
stayed. For $3,000 a day, you'll get all the wet-bar items, along
with strawberries, champagne, and a Continental breakfast. Gere's
everything-on-the-menu breakfast with Roberts, however, would cost a
minimum of $80, and real-world portions, the hotel informs us, are
noticeably smaller than on the big screen. Tips for valet, concierge,
and doorman add $50 per day, plus 20 percent for room service, but
not to worry. They too will leave the light on for you.
Rodeo Drive-Buy Looting:
Julia's shopping trip garnered her a
black lace evening dress custom-made by the movie's costume designer
and worth some $1,500; eight Valentinos, namely three $2,500 suits, a
$4,000 red gown, the nice polo-match dress for $1,800, and three
other $1,500 dresses; a Maud Frizon handbag ($600), three pairs of
Frizon shoes ($1,200); eight teddies and one negligee for $1,600; and
a loud tie for Richard for $85. The large-with-everything pizza they
ordered in from Jacopo's is $19.48 plus tip. Total for her instant
wardrobe: $26,804.48.
Expense Account Entertaining:
The business dinner for four at Rex
is $565, plus 20 percent for the waiters and $20 to $100 for the
maître d'.
Horsing Around in Style:
Gere's sponsorship of the polo matches
at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center comes to $60,000 per day, with
food, parking, and security included.
A Night At The Opera:
Jetting to San Francisco for an evening and
slightly more than one aria would set you back about $9,000, with
$8,424 of that for the Gulfstream Jet.
Modern Cinderella Send-off: Gere's final white-limo rescue was a real bargain: $45 an hour plus tip for the stretch steed and $75 for a dozen Regent Beverly Wilshire roses.
Total tab for a celluloid love affair to remember: $203,669.48.
And Walt Disney Studios, whose Touchstone Pictures produced Pretty
Woman, should offer to pick up your check, since it wouldn't make
even a dent in the $165 million-plus taken in by Woman so far at
the box office. Ghost willing, the movie figures to be the
top-grossing film of 1990. So ain't love grand, or at least worth many thousands of
grands?
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