Scott Glenn, Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster in "Silence of the Lambs." A sequel isn't very likely.
What's next for Oscar-winning director Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Ted Tally? It probably won't be a "Silence of the Lambs" sequel, because of complicated rights problems.Several insiders say that there is a good possibility the two will re-team on ex-cop Nancy Taylor Rosenberg's soon-to-be-published first novel, "Mitigating Circumstances," a police thriller recently optioned by TriStar.
"It's definitely a thought of ours," said TriStar President Marc Platt, adding, "but at the moment, it's just a thought. It's a little premature at this point."
Both Platt and TriStar Chairman Mike Medavoy were at Orion when "The Silence of the Lambs" got underway and are anxious to do another film with the "Silence" team responsible for the film that won all five major Academy Awards.
In addition, Medavoy has a long relationship with Demme dating back to "Something Wild" and "Married to the Mob," both produced at Orion. Industry insiders also believe that Demme will move his production company, Clinica Estetico, formerly headquartered at bankrupt Orion, to TriStar.
"Mitigating Circumstances" is the story of a district attorney who avenges the brutal rape of herself and her daughter. Valerie Thomas, Demme's director of development, said that there were several things about the book that attracted him. "Jonathan has always been a big fan of the positive female character as the center of a story," she says. "Not only is it an interesting story, but it's also commercially viable."
Tally is currently working on the adaptation of Rosellen Brown's soon-to-be-published novel, "Before and After," to be directed by Barbet Schroeder ("Reversal of Fortune") and starring Meryl Streep. But Thomas says "he's at the top of our list for this project."
Rosenberg's "Mitigating Circumstances" and the rights to her second novel were recently sold to NAL-Dutton for close to $800,000 and there was interest from numerous film makers. Peter Miller, Rosenberg's agent, said that the book was optioned by TriStar for $125,000 against a mid-six-figure purchase price. In addition, for every week the book is on the bestseller list, the studio will pay an additional $10,000.
"This is a very substantial figure for a first novel and for an unknown writer," says a Hollywood agent who specializes in packaging books for movies.-ANDY MARX
- HOLLYWOOD - How did director Robert Altman persuade more than 60 Hollywood celebrities to do cameos in "The Player," his delicious send-up of Hollywood?
He just asked.
"He called and said, `I need an icon,' " says Rod Steiger, who appears in a party scene. "I said, `That makes me feel like a dinosaur,' but it was fun. They had a buffet. We ignored the camera and went about our business."
"I don't know how he approached other people," says Scott Glenn, who appeared in Altman's "Nashville." He stars with Lily Tomlin in a movie being filmed in "The Player." "He didn't say it was a cameo or something special. He said, `I want you to be an extra in the movie.' I was flattered."
"He said show up and be yourself," says fellow partygoer Marlee Matlin. "I didn't ask any questions of him."
Anjelica Huston said that she jumped at the chance to appear in a lunch sequence at a Hollywood watering hole.
"It was one of the nicest days of working I have ever had," she recalls. "I wish they were all like that. It was a nice scene because we were in a pretty outdoor situation in a restaurant. We had a lovely lunch."
Michael Tolkin, who wrote the screenplay based on his novel "The Player," says Altman decided to use real celebrities because "we wanted to make it as lifelike as possible. We had some party scenes and Altman wanted real actors in the background."
Jeff Goldblum, who worked with Altman on "California Split," "Nashville" and "Beyond Therapy," says the director caught the actors being themselves by using several cameras. "Everybody does the whole scene and you don't know if the camera is on you or not. I didn't know if it was on me or not."
Altman asked his extras to improvise their scenes. Buck Henry recalls he simply was told to pitch a movie idea to studio executive Griffin Mill, played by Tim Robbins. Henry, who co-wrote "The Graduate" screenplay, pitched "The Graduate II."
"(Altman) said, `What are you going to do?' I said, `Let me surprise you.' But it wasn't much of a surprise by take eight."
Glenn recalls Altman gave him and Tomlin very little direction. "He said, `Lily, if it feels good, be a little bit of a prima donna, and Scott, you don't really care about this project. (The production) stiffed you on your per diem. And don't parody yourselves, let me do that.' "
The actors say they all wanted to appear in "The Player" because they adore Altman both as a person and as an artist. (All the actors worked for scale and their salaries were donated to the Motion Picture and Television Fund.)
"You kind of just fall in love with Bob," says Tomlin, who received an Oscar nomination for "Nashville." "There is something menschy and human about him. People buy into the fact he has survived so long and thumbed his nose at the system, even though he does it in a kind of menschy way."
"He is still the American director," says Elliott Gould, who starred in Altman's "MASH," "The Long Goodbye" and "California Split." "I am his actor. His vision of America is still like no one else's."
Glenn says Altman is "still the youngest and most irreverent director I have ever worked with. It is just fun to be around someone like that."
Huston believes that among movies on Hollywood, "The Player" ranks with Vincente Minnelli's "The Bad and the Beautiful." "This is a pretty ferocious take on it," she says. "I would say it is not unfounded. He is very perceptive and very funny about it. It's sort of a healthy commentary."
He enjoyed it, but Buck Henry has one misgiving.
"What will they think in Des Moines?" - SUSAN KING