On Black Friday, Light for Fox?

By Steven Zeitchik

Australia's numbers so far prove a curious mix of things. Epic westerns with heartthrobs don't match up to teen-vampire movies with heartthrobs. Older people, with whom the movie appears to be doing well, will still go for a sweeping war romance. And Crocodile Dundee jokes aren't dead.

If the movie, which has earnned a little over $5 million as of Friday morning, ultimately succeeds, it will prove that naysayers were reacting wrongly and prematurely by branding it another Fox '08 underperformer (and underestimating the Oprah Effect). If it doesn't, it will prove another disappointment for Fox in a tough year - but not in the way you'd expect.

The Rothman-run studio has been pigeonholed as the place (there's one in every generation) driven by quadrants; come up with a marketable concept and build everything else around that. And so far this year rivals have had fodder to criticize that model, as concept- and brand-driven movies like "Space Chimps," "Meet Dave" and and "The X-Files: I Want to Believe" have disappointed.

"Australia," if it doesn't work, will likely get lumped in by many as another example of the studio's cold streak. But the film actually represents the opposite -- a big passion project, complete with (Warners-ish)carte blanche to a vision-driven star director and a splurge on name talent. It's also the first awards-oriented movie the studio has done in five years (six if you don't count "Master & Commander").

Tough years tend to make studios re-chart their course. But ending this particular tough year with underwhelming numbers for such an un-Fox-like project as "Australia" may only reinforce the studio's desire to return to its usual approach -- some kangaroos, in other words, making it act more like a Fox.

Comments

[Jake]

I really liked Australia and I think besides Nicole Kidman, more Oscar consideration should be given to Hugh Jackman. It's a wonderful sweeping epic that Oscars seem to love. And Baz deserves that payback Oscar for not being nominated for Moulin Rouge.