Thomas Glad to Be in Movie Club
Hollywood -- May 30, 1996 -- Jay Thomas, who has his first
starring big-screen role in the indie feature "Dirty Laundry,"
credits producer and former Paramount Pictures President David
Kirkpatrick for steering him into "the movie club." The former
"Love & War" star explains that a few years back "My agent and I
and David were sitting and talking and I said I really want to
figure out how to get into the film business. David said, If I
were you I would try to become second or third lead for some
really big movie stars so people can see you can handle it until
you're ready to star in a film.' And that was exactly the
position I got in with Richard Dreyfuss and Mr. Holland's Opus.'"
Thomas says after the success of "Mr. Holland's Opus," "We wrote
David and said, We did it and you're the one who helped me think
of this.'" And Kirkpatrick has come through again. He's exec-
producing "A Smile Like Yours," the Lauren Holly film Thomas is
skedded to start shooting this month. "This is what I always
wanted my career to be like," says Thomas. "Acting for me is
trying to do all of it...Rather than trying to be a star. I'm
sometimes the lead, sometimes the support, sometimes the bad guy,
sometimes the good guy, sometimes I get the girl, sometimes I
lose the girl..."
Keaton's 'Multiplicity' Dates
Hollywood -- May 31, 1996 -- Michael Keaton's "Multiplicity"
opens on some 2,500 screens July 12, but director Harold Ramis
feels that broad a release won't make the difference between its
success or failure. As he points out, "Mission: Impossible" has
been given the widest release in history -- on between 4,500-
5,000 screens. But, he says, "Analyst says that 90 per cent of
Mission: Impossible's revenue is coming from about 1,400 play
dates. For instance, you can make more in one night at Century
City in L.A. than you can during a week in a small town in Idado."
He also makes the point, "There are about 50,000 screens in
the U.S. -- so there's really room for everything, even with
movies getting wider and wider runs." Will "Multiplicity" be the
picture that brings Michael Keaton back to the ranks of top name
actors? "He's unbelievable in the picture," says Ramis. "It's a
terrific picture." It's a picture that has Keaton playing a man
who hatches a bunch of clones.
Copyright (c) 1996 Beck/Smith Ent.