As expected, 20th Century Fox has put ''Phone Booth'' on hold. Variety reports that the studio made the decision on Tuesday to postpone indefinitely the release of its sniper thriller, even as the real-life story of the Washington, D.C.-area sniper, who has killed nine people so far, continued to unfold. Not only will the film not open as planned on Nov. 15, but it probably won't appear until sometime in early 2003, Fox insiders told Variety.
Fox may end up all but writing off the movie, as Sony did last month with its ill-timed child-abduction thriller ''Trapped,'' which was released with minimal publicity and did minimal business. After all, ''Phone Booth,'' which stars Colin Farrell as a man pinned down in a sidewalk booth by sniper Kiefer Sutherland, only cost $12 million to make, according to Variety, so it may not be worth it to spend a like amount on prints and promotion for a wide release. That would be good news for Fox accountants, but bad news for director Joel Schumacher, who is badly in need of a hit after such high-profile flops (or perceived flops) as ''Bad Company,'' ''8MM,'' and ''Batman & Robin.''
Meanwhile, Variety reports that Paramount is developing a thriller about the Zodiac Killer, who terrorized San Francisco in the 1960s and '70s and killed 37 people. So Hollywood apparently thinks we'll want to see serial killers again in the near future.
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