For Immediate Release on Entertainment Drive Released by Beck/Smith Jonathan Taylor Thomas' Coming of Age Film Hollywood -- June 24, 1996 -- "Home Improvement" youngstar Jonathan Taylor Thomas, who has "Adventures of Pinocchio" due out next month, says one of the reasons he was attracted to his recently-wrapped film "Wild America" is that it's a coming-of-age story. "I'm 14 years old. I'll be 15 in September, and this is the time when children do make that transition from kid to young adult -- so it's good to be in something that conveys how we feel," says the veteran actor, who occasionally comes out with lines worthy of a wizened college prof. "Wild America" re-enacts the true story of the Stouffer brothers, who set off in the 1960s -- when they were teenagers -- to get endangered species of animals on film. The Stouffers today are preeminent wildlife photographer/filmmakers with National Geographic specials to their credit. Oldest brother Marty hosts PBS's "Wild America." Middle brother Mark is coproducer of the "Wild America" feature. Jonathan plays youngest brother Marshall in the movie. He says, "Marshall is not precocious. He's a true kid, rather shy and withdrawn. He's kind of a little Buddah, a dreamer. He envisions a lot of things. When he goes on this journey with his brothers, he proves to be stronger and more outspoken, and he saves the family from falling apart...The story has a lot of heart to it." The rough-and-tumble relationship between the Stouffers is depicted. (Producer Mark sent the film's writer to spend a week with each of his family members, one at a time, to get a sense of them.) "I understand what it is to be the little brother," says Jonathan. "Even though my brother never did to me the kind of stuff the Stouffer brothers did to Marshall. They did some pretty treacherous things, like hanging him over a pool tied in a chair and then letting him drop, dropping cherry bombs on him..." Well, uh, perhaps that's how they grew strong. Jonathan credits "great stunt coordinators' for helping him through reenactments of such scenes. Schwarzenegger Gloats Hollywood -- June 25, 1996 -- So, Arnold Schwarzenegger's "Eraser" made more than $25 million and became boxoffice champ of its opening weekend -- in spite of months of reports about its production problems and its going over schedule and budget. So, that's enough for Arnold to start gloating, hmm? In a word, yes. "The audience pays attention to only one thing," der Arnold informs us. "That is, whether they like the movie or not...Word of mouth on our movie is huge; our boxoffice increased 20 per cent Saturday over Friday." Schwarzenegger is in the midst of making the big-screen comedy "Jingle All the Way," yet he says he found the time to engage in his standard opening-weekend pasttime of sneaking into theaters where his movies are playing. "I like to hear the reaction of the audience and overhear the conversations," says the big guy. "This weekend, people saw me getting into the car and they called out, Arnold, outstanding!' and Arnold, I've been erased!' -- which is the line from the film. You never know when one of these things will become a slogan on its own..." Schwarzenegger, of course, is a superb salesman, marquee value aside. Back on the "Jingle All the Way" set today, he's shooting a scene in which he battles no-good dirty rotten fake Santa Clauses. We asked whether he meets the real Santa, and Arnie said, "I see him all the time. For me, Christmas is every day." It certainly is while he's happy with his grosses. De Niro's 'Fan' Research Hollywood -- June 26, 1996 -- In the upcoming Robert De Niro/Wesley Snipes/Ellen Barkin "The Fan," De Niro plays an obsessive baseball fan who's out to exact revenge from Snipes, the player whose slump is causing Bobby's favorite team to lose. Interestingly, "Fan" writer Phoef Sutton says that all of the stars -- celebrities who themselves are vulnerable to obsessed fans -- expressed sympathy for De Niro's character. Says Phoef, "We're talking about human beings here. These are not people who walk into a room and you say, Uh-oh. There's trouble.' If you met [a fanatical fan] you'd probably see him as kind of a misfit, but not that bad. They're misguided people who've missed some connection somewhere." De Niro's research into fanatical fans included watching videotape interviews with such real-life examples as Mark David Chapman (John Lennon's killer) and Robert John Bardo (who shot actress Rebecca Schaeffer). "It was a pretty intensive couple of weeks," he says. He also says, "some stars say they do a lot of research, but they really don't. De Niro really does do as much as everybody says he does." The writer says "The Fan" was written before De Niro came aboard. "You always talk about which actors you think are going to do which parts, and it's a fool's game because it never turns out to be who you think it's going to be," he says. "I was working on another movie, and one day the studio called and said, What would you think of Wesley Snipes for the part?' And the very next day, they called and said, Well, what would you think of James Garner for the part?' Same part." What a role that must have been. Belushi's Santa Takes Pains Hollywood -- June 27, 1996 -- Jim Belushi, who plays a Santa who tries to make extra money with black market toys in Arnold Schwarzenegger's currently-shooting "Jingle all the Way," is limping around at the moment. He explains, "We were shooting this scene yesterday that had my character starting a fight with Arnold. He didn't want to fight with Santa, but finally got so frustrated he pulled at my beard. He snapped it back and I ended up doing a back flip and hitting a pole." He also ended up with a twisted ankle. Belushi's had a lot of experience playing Santa. He reveals that during his college years he built up a nice business renting himself out as Santa on Christmas Eve. "There were about 20 families I'd go to each Christmas Eve. They'd each pay me $15 -- remember this was the mid-70s' -- and I'd make some nice money to buy Christmas gifts and such." What wasn't so nice was the year he was driving in a Santa outfit, was pulled over by police and arrested for operating an automobile without a valid driver's license. Bah, humbug! Copyright (c) 1996 Beck/Smith Ent.