OK, it's now official: Michael Eisner is an idiot. And for the good of Walt Disney Co., he needs to step down as the company's CEO. As in immediately.
Eisner continues to embarrass the Mouse House with a series of increasingly bad decisions, not the least of which is his not-so-public feud with Roy Disney, the nephew of Walt. (The ensuing melee led to Roy Disney resigning from the board of directors and Eisner stepping down as its chairman of the board.)
Under Eisner's leadership, the Disney company has also estranged Pixar Animation Studio officials — so much so that the computer-animation giant will likely go its own way when their distribution deal expires in 2005.
And perhaps worst of all, Disney has closed its animation studios in both Florida and Europe and has been contracting out to Asian animation houses for cost-cutting reasons. (Eisner has basically declared that traditional animation as we know it is dead.)
His latest gaffe concerns "Fahrenheit 9/11," a new documentary from another Academy Award winner, Michael Moore. To the surprise of virtually no one, the film is highly critical of the Bush administration and its war on terror. So, Eisner has effectively quashed the film.
Miramax Films, Disney's indie distribution house, was set to release it before the presidential election. But fears about the politically charged documentary led Eisner to delay it indefinitely.
The Weinstein brothers (Harvey and Bob), who run Miramax, are now apparently so fed up with Eisner that they may try to go elsewhere as well. And in the meantime, they're buying "Fahrenheit 9/11" to sell it to another distributor. (The Weinsteins went a similar route with Kevin Smith's controversial religious comedy "Dogma" in 1999.)
What makes Eisner's decision so strange is that he was in control of the Disney purse strings when the studio bankrolled production on the $6 million film. But he's only having problems with it now?
SAY, WHO'S IN CHARGE HERE? To be fair to Eisner, he's not the only studio chief or executive making questionable decisions these days. The Weinsteins themselves have made a few head-scratchers.
Most recently, they delayed the release of the U.S. remake of "Shall We Dance?" which was originally supposed to open in August. The reason? Test audiences evidently wanted the film to have "more Jennifer Lopez."
When will they learn?
Meanwhile, Paramount Pictures is reaching new levels of studio bungling, delaying the sci-fi adventure "Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow," from July to September, because execs don't know what to do with it.
Paramount has also ordered reshoots for the summer remake of "The Stepford Wives," reportedly because test audiences thought that the film — in particular, the ending — was "too dark."
Well, duh! Hasn't anyone over there seen the original version or read the book?
WELL, AT LEAST SOMEONE'S THINKING. Screen Gems and Play Magazine are inviting fans to create poster designs for "Resident Evil: Apocalypse," this September's videogame-based horror sequel.
Contestants can create up to three poster designs and submit them through June 30. Finalists will be announced during July's San Diego Comic-Con, and the winning poster will be announced Aug. 2. The grand prize-winner will receive a cash award of $2,500 and other goodies.
Actually, it's pretty clever idea for fans to design the poster. You certainly couldn't do any worse than the pros do sometimes. Just look at the cluttered designs for the "Troy" and "Lord of the Rings" movie posters.
Contest details are available online at www.RE2.com.
E-mail: jeff@desnews.com