News That Philips May Sell Polygram Stake Could Temporarily Crimp Film Plans
The news that Holland’s Philips Electronics is considering selling its stake in PolyGram comes just as the global entertainment conglomerate is striving to raise its profile in the world of movies.
In London, PolyGram is currently shooting the Julia Roberts-Hugh Grant romantic comedy “Notting Hill,†the story of a proprietor of an English bookshop whose life is turned upside down when a famous American movie star wanders in.
Back in the United States, PolyGram recently set up a production company headed by director Ivan Reitman (“Six Days, Seven Nightsâ€) and producer Tom Pollock.
And only last month, PolyGram won a fierce bidding war against other distribution companies when it acquired the North American rights to director-writer Peter Berg’s “Very Bad Things,†a dark comedy starring Christian Slater and Cameron Diaz about a group of young men who turn on one another after a bachelor party.
Under Michael Kuhn, the movie division has had the ambition to become nothing less than another major studio competing with the top players in the business.
While still losing money, the film operations have had some notable successes, including the international box office success of last year’s British comedy “Bean,†which grossed $250 million worldwide; the 1994 comedy “Four Weddings and a Funeral,†which also made $250 million; and the 1996 drama “Sleepers,†which earned about $175 million.
PolyGram Filmed Entertainment--the umbrella company for all of PolyGram’s film operations--owns a 1,500-title library, while the company as a whole has offices in 40 countries employing 12,000 people.
Wednesday’s announcement by Philips is likely to crimp those ambitions, at least temporarily. Filmmakers are notoriously wary of studios undergoing any sort of corporate upheaval, whether it is an internal management shake-up or if the company is being sold or merged with another company.
Filmmakers would much rather be making deals knowing that PolyGram is backed by the resources of a wealthy and committed parent company, industry observers note.
Although PolyGram can point with pride to “Bean†and “Four Weddings and a Funeral,†it has stumbled on a string of other releases.
For example, “The Game,†a thriller starring Michael Douglas, took in a lackluster $47 million domestically last year, despite Douglas’ star power and a spirited media campaign. Other recent releases included “The Borrowers,†which is still in release and has taken in $22.3 million; “Barney’s Great Adventure: The Movie,†which has so far grossed only $9.6 million; and “The Gingerbread Man†and “The Proposition,†which took in only about $1 million each.
PolyGram includes two distribution companies in the U.S.--the newly formed PolyGram Films and Gramercy Pictures.
PolyGram owns several major production companies, including Interscope Communications, which made “Jumanji†and “Mr. Holland’s Opusâ€; Propaganda Films, which made “Sleepers†and “The Gameâ€; and Working Title, which made “Bean,†“Four Weddings and a Funeral,†“Fargo†and “Notting Hill.â€
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