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Thursday, September 13, 2001
Films with terror plots face uncertainty
Action movies on TV will be replaced with family-friendly shows
By Anthony Breznican
Associated Press

   LOS ANGELES - Real-life terrorism has led Hollywood executives to postpone at least two movies and consider rescheduling other films and TV shows that involve terrorist plots against Americans.
   Warner Bros. said Wednesday it will indefinitely withhold the release of Arnold Schwarzenegger's latest film, "Collateral Damage," in which a terrorist bombs a Los Angeles skyscraper. It was to have debuted Oct. 5.
   Disney's Touchstone Pictures postponed the Sept. 21 release of the Tim Allen comedy "Big Trouble," in which one scene involves a bomb on a plane.
   Out of respect
   Both studios said they acted out of respect for victims of the terror attacks Tuesday in New York, Washington and Pennsylvania.
   "Our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by this terrible tragedy," said Touchstone spokeswoman Vivian Boyer.
   Warner Bros. said it would retrieve all commercials, posters and ads for "Collateral Damage" and disconnect its Web site, all of which feature phony newspaper headlines about the fictional attack.
   Meanwhile, Sony Pictures removed a trailer from theaters and the Internet for the adventure "Spider-Man" because of a scene in which a helicopter carrying fleeing robbers gets trapped in a giant spider web strung between the two towers of the World Trade Center.
   The sequence was created only for the ad and not for the film, which debuts May 3, Sony spokeswoman Susan Tick said.
   Even the new Internet game Majestic, an interactive mystery involving conspiracies and bombings, was suspended. "Given the recent national tragedy we feel that some of the fictional elements in the game may not be appropriate at this time," said a statement by creator Electronic Arts.
   As for television, ABC canceled a showing Saturday of the movie "The Peacemaker," about nuclear terrorists, and replaced it with the romance "Hope Floats."
   Replaced broadcasts
   Fox replaced broadcasts of "The X-Files" movie Friday and the film "Independence Day" on Sunday with the comedies "Nine Months" and "Mrs. Doubtfire," respectively, spokesman Scott Grogin said.
   In "Independence Day," the White House and Empire State Building blow up.
   Fox feared such scenes could disturb many viewers. "We're looking at programming that is more family-oriented so people can watch it together," Grogin said.
   On one Fox drama just six months ago, the World Trade Center was threatened. The premiere of the series "The Lone Gunmen" featured a U.S. government plot to boost arms sales by crashing an airliner into one of the towers, then blaming terrorists.
   Scenes from the cockpit showed the struggle to disengage the plane's suicidally programmed navigational system. The plane managed to clear the tower by inches.
   "The Lone Gunmen" was quickly canceled. But among the new crop of shoot-'em-up series in the fall TV season, which starts Monday, are three - ABC's "Alias," CBS' "The Agency" and Fox's "24" - that deal with terrorism at war with the CIA.
   One story line in "24" involves a terrorist blowing up a passenger plane. On the premiere of "The Agency," terrorists plot to blow up the London department store Harrods.
   Promos for those shows may be withheld. "We're taking this one day at a time," Grogin said.
   Appetite for violence
   Do viewers still have an appetite for violent escapism?
   "All this time, we've been conjuring with this deck of violent images. But this week has given them substance," said Ric Burns, whose epic history "New York" premieres its final two installments on PBS later this month.
   "Who's going to want to play with them now?"
   The biggest TV networks - ABC, CBS and NBC and Fox - canceled all programming and commercials after the attacks for round-the-clock news coverage.

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