A Lion Laid Low

In a moving tribute last July, President Bush stood in the Capitol Rotunda, where he presented the nation’s highest civilian honor--the Congressional Gold Medal--to four surviving members of the original 29 Navajo “code talkers,” whose daring exploits with the Marine Corps in World War II helped defeat Japan.

Among the invited guests that day were director John Woo, actor Nicolas Cage and other cast members of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s $100-million-plus wartime action film “Windtalkers,” which tells the story of how the Marines used the Navajo recruits’ complex, unwritten language as a secret code against the Japanese military in the Pacific.

MGM had been counting on news coverage of the solemn ceremony to create public awareness of this little-known piece of history as the studio prepared to launch an advertising blitz for the film, which was scheduled to open in November over the Veterans Day holiday. Then terrorists struck on Sept. 11, and MGM pulled “Windtalkers” from its fall schedule and gave it a new release date of June 14--Flag Day.

The question that has haunted MGM ever since was, did it make the right decision?

Rated R for “pervasive graphic war violence,” Woo’s film is an edgy psychological drama packed with epic combat scenes. It seems a proper fit for the more serious fall season. But releasing the movie in summer, when theaters are still crowded with youth-oriented popcorn movies is a strategy fraught with danger. Especially bothersome for MGM is that other studios decided not to delay the release of their war movies because of Sept. 11--a strategy that seemed to have no ill effect.

For MGM, the smallest of Hollywood’s seven major studios, “Windtalkers” represents an enormous gamble. Woo and Cage certainly have the track record; they teamed up with John Travolta in 1997 in the action-drama “Face/Off,” which grossed $112 million. But MGM is a studio that is attempting to regain its footing after three embarrassing box office misfires, which included two high-profile Bruce Willis films, “Bandits” and “Hart’s War,” and the effects-driven remake “Rollerball”--this for a studio that only releases between 10 and 15 films a year.

In the case of “Hart’s War,” the flameout was so embarrassing that even the filmmakers questioned MGM’s marketing of the film, claiming the studio tried to get the public to believe the intense courtroom drama with racial overtones was a Bruce Willis action film. Indeed, an in-house MGM document obtained by The Times shows that selling it as an action film was part of the studio’s pre-release marketing and distribution plan for the movie.

Once the Tiffany of Hollywood studios, MGM today operates out of an office building in Santa Monica, where bigger-than-life images taken from some of the studio’s famous films grace the subterranean walls of the parking garage. Despite its small size, MGM is still a major brand name in the world of entertainment, the roar of its lion on the opening credits familiar to moviegoers everywhere. With a library of 4,100 films, the company’s storied history includes such Academy Award winning movies as the 1935 “Mutiny on the Bounty,” “An American in Paris,” “Gigi” and “Ben-Hur.”

For MGM employees, the past 18 months have been unsettling. One week, they’re rejoicing over “Hannibal,” which opened in the spring 2001 with $58 million at the box office, the biggest debut ever for an R-rated film, and another week they’re ducking under desks hoping they don’t get blamed for a stinker like “Original Sin.”

By the end of 2001, MGM’s slate of films for the year had grossed $448.5 million in total domestic box office, a vast improvement from the measly $95.3 million the studio chalked up the previous year. But the sobering reality was that two films had accounted for more than half the 2001 total. “Hannibal,” co-produced with Universal Pictures, was responsible for $165.1 million, and the breezy Reese Witherspoon comedy “Legally Blonde” surprised everyone by grossing $96.5 million.

After last summer’s Martin Lawrence comedy “What’s the Worst That Could Happen?” sputtered to a dismal $32.3 million, MGM’s top brass quickly ousted the heads of marketing and distribution, both industry veterans who had a hand in the success of “Hannibal” and “Legally Blonde.” In their place, the studio installed Robert Levin as president of worldwide theatrical marketing and distribution. Levin is a veteran marketing executive who served previously at Sony Pictures Entertainment and Disney. By year’s end, there was a shakeup in the publicity department as MGM brought in Jamie Geller-Hartoff to head that post.

The studio argued that this new marketing and publicity team would be better equipped to handle a ramped-up slate of films in the pipeline. But even with a new team, MGM’s moves have been second-guessed in Hollywood.

It began after Sept. 11. As news bulletins flashed across television screens chronicling America’s new war on terror, MGM Vice Chairman Christopher McGurk and Levin weighed the risks to their company if “Windtalkers” were to be released in early November.

“We had a massive television schedule planned,” Levin recalled. “Sept. 28th was the date we would have had to book solid all that television. That was close to an $18-million decision. That was two weeks after Sept. 11. If you recall, Washington was not sure what would happen next.”

What if there was another terrorist attack the week before the movie came out and all the networks replaced highly rated entertainment shows like “ER” and “Friends” with 24-hour, commercial-free news coverage?

“What do we do?” Levin said in a recent interview. “If we pull the movie, we essentially lose $18 million. If we leave the movie, do we have enough power [via available TV spots] to open the movie properly?”

MGM blinked.

In hindsight, MGM probably should have taken the gamble and released the movie last fall. The terrorists did not strike U.S. soil in the months that followed. The country slowly got back on its feet. By early November, life was returning to a semblance of normalcy and people once again were flocking to the movies.

“Behind Enemy Lines,” a 20th Century Fox movie about a U.S. pilot shot down in the Balkans, became a modest hit, and Columbia’s “Black Hawk Down,” a retelling of the tragedy-marred U.S. involvement in Somalia, was a critical and box office winner.

By February, however, the public’s appetite for war movies began to wane. Proof of that was “Hart’s War,” which debuted in seventh place. Weeks later, the Mel Gibson Vietnam War drama, “We Were Soldiers,” fell far short of Gibson’s usual box office potential. The film has grossed less than $80 million domestically.

Despite these omens and the restrictive R rating, Levin argues that “Windtalkers” could become a breakout hit because (a) it isn’t like anything else out there this summer, and (b) Woo’s built-in action fan base won’t be disappointed by the gripping battle sequences the director stages.

Asked whether being the last war movie out of the starting gate could hurt “Windtalkers,” he replied: “I think that this film, while being a movie centering on war, has its own unique relationships. It’s not just a war film. I think if we were coming out in May instead of June, it would be a greater concern, but I think the more time that passes, it doesn’t feel like ‘Black Hawk Down’ or ‘We Were Soldiers.’ ”

In the film, Cage plays Joe Enders, a Marine whose unit is cut to pieces because of his indecision about whether to fall back. Later, haunted by that fateful day, Enders is assigned to guard a Navajo (Adam Beach); unknown to the code talker, Enders has also been given orders to kill him should he be in danger of capture.

Woo fills the screen with intense combat, utilizing 700 extras and more than a dozen cameras at times to document a single battle. Much of it is standard Hollywood shoot-’em-up stuff. But there is also a serious underpinning to the movie--the racism met by the code talkers who shipped out overseas to fight for America. Although MGM executives will only confirm that the film’s production budget came in at more than $100 million, insiders peg the budget at $118 million. Studio President Michael Nathanson notes that MGM’s investment is really closer to $80 million because it has sold off some of the foreign rights.

One thing MGM will need to do to make “Windtalkers” a breakout hit, is build momentum that was lost last year.

To that end, the studio brought Woo, Cage and other cast members, as well as eight former code talkers, to Washington, D.C., for the movie’s premiere on Tuesday at the Uptown Theater. The invited guests included high-level politicians and members of the executive branch. A day earlier, studio executives had joined Woo and the code talkers for a session with Vice President Dick Cheney.

On Tuesday, after arriving on the south lawn of the White House in the presidential helicopter, Bush greeted Woo, Cage and other cast members, along with MGM executives. Bush even invited Cage to step behind the ropes and join him in posing for press photographs.

On Wednesday, Secretary of State Colin Powell met with MGM executives and the “Windtalkers” cast (minus Cage) at the State Department.

While many in Hollywood root for MGM to return to some semblance of its past glory, recent events do not augur well for the studio.

In October, MGM had high hopes for Barry Levinson’s bank-heist black comedy “Bandits.” With a proven director, a top-notch cast in Willis, Billy Bob Thornton and Cate Blanchett, and a quirky plot, the movie wasn’t an easy sell, but it had star power and received generally positive reviews. The movie opened to a respectable $13 million its first weekend in release, but quickly flattened out and grossed only $41.5 million in North America.

Then in early February, MGM rolled out John McTiernan’s high-octane “Rollerball,” but after poor advance word and reviews, the film tanked.

A week later, “Hart’s War,” in which Willis co-starred with the hot young actor Colin Farrell, opened with a dismal $7.8 million. Most studios would drool to have one Bruce Willis movie, let alone two. But somehow MGM managed to bungle both.

Because of “Bandits,” MGM was determined not to see “Hart’s War” fail, especially because Willis was being paid $21 million for only six weeks of work. (According to a source close to the studio, Willis was paid more than $40 million for his two MGM films.)

Over the filmmakers’ protests, however, Levin chose to sell “Hart’s War” strictly as a Willis action film, ignoring the fact that it was an intense courtroom drama set in a wartime POW camp. That had the effect of turning off Willis’ core fans, who expect a big shoot-’em-up, and it also meant that those who might have enjoyed a courtroom drama stayed away.

Producers David Ladd and David Foster agreed that the movie they made was a courtroom drama. “They sold a picture that wasn’t there,” Foster said. “It was a misleading, deceptive campaign.”

Ladd, who has been at MGM for 13 years, added: “I certainly thought there were good commercial visual elements, but the movie was a courtroom drama-thriller.”

In an internal MGM marketing and distribution plan for the film dated Jan. 8, the studio ticked off the key elements in the movie, from Willis as the star and its patriotic theme, to expected good reviews and a suspenseful, unexpected plot twist.

But the document also noted the “cheatable action” in the film. Under the heading “Challenges,” the document states: “Enough moments to create an action sell to open the picture, but in reality a ‘cheat.’ ”

Levin said it is “disingenuous” on the part of the filmmakers to criticize the marketing because they were all in on the discussions. “There may have been disagreements, but it was not done without their knowledge.” The filmmakers say they strenuously fought the decision but were overruled by Levin.

MGM has high hopes for the 20th James Bond film, “Die Another Day,” which stars Pierce Brosnan and Oscar winner Halle Berry, and opens Nov. 22. But Bond is not a new franchise, and, unlike years past, “Die Another Day” will face stiff competition, sandwiched between two powerhouse sequels--to “Harry Potter” and “The Lord of the Rings.”

The studio recently struck a deal with Berry for her to star in and produce two movies--a remake of the 1974 “Foxy Brown” and the character study “Brown-Eyed Girl.”

And, even though the marriage has not yet struck pay dirt, MGM has signed a first-look deal with Willis’ production company, Cheyenne Enterprises, to develop movie and TV projects through comic book king Stan Lee’s company, Pow! Entertainment.

As for recent mistakes made by MGM, Levin says that it’s time to move on: “For me to be put in a defensive position on movies that didn’t work, I’ll just say, ‘It didn’t work.’ ”

*

Robert W. Welkos is a Times staff writer.