Film Dreams
Can a documentary about high school basketball make it big at the box office? At the moment that is the question uppermost in the minds of Chicago-based filmmakers Steve James, Frederick Marx, and Peter Gilbert, along with scores of behind-the-scenes movie executives whose job is to make the public want to see what Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert has labeled “one of the best films about American life I have ever seen.” After opening October 19 in New York City and then in Chicago and Los Angeles on October 21, the picture hits an additional 15 to 20 markets in late October and early November.
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Though it already has won over numerous critics and will close the New York film festival on October 9, Hoop Dreams is by no means a sure bet at the nation’s box offices. For one thing it’s what people in the commercial film world call “the dreaded d word”–a documentary, few of which, aside from concert movies, have performed well financially in general distribution. One notable recent exception is Roger & Me, filmmaker Michael Moore’s entertaining account of his attempts to track down the chairman of General Motors, which has grossed more than $6.5 million to date. “But that was a comedy,” notes James. No one at New York-based Fine Line Features, which is distributing the considerably more serious Hoop Dreams, is making unduly brash claims about the film’s box office potential. Says Fine Line president Ira Deutchman: “The typical Hollywood film is designed to attract a big audience, but when you’re selling a documentary, you’re viewed as a hero no matter how far you go.”
Deutchman doesn’t expect to have much trouble finding an audience, but he’s pessimistic about attracting the lucrative youth market, at least early on. To help reach that crowd, Nike and Sports Illustrated have teamed up to sponsor a toll-free telephone number school administrators can call to organize special screenings for kids. The number will be prominently displayed in billboards and other advertising. Whatever the film’s commercial fate, its creators hope it will serve as a ticket into the more visible and potentially lucrative feature film business. “I think we all have feature film aspirations,” says director James.
