Anschutz's wager on "Ray" pays
Denver billionaire made box office hit a reality
By Sandy Shore
The Associated Press

Sunday, February 27, 2005 -

For 13 years, Taylor Hackford was told that a movie about the life of Ray Charles would be a miserable failure. Then he met Phil Anschutz.

The Denver billionaire, whose love of Charles' music dates to the first concert he ever attended, told the Hollywood director he believed in the project. And that he would pay for it.

"There's a lot of rich people who pretend like they're going to finance movies and they will get involved if someone has backed them up," Hackford recalled. "But to go in blind without a distributor and finance a movie that cost $35 million, that was pretty astounding."

The movie, "Ray," has been nominated for six Oscars, including best picture, best actor and best director, heading into tonight's Academy Awards ceremony. The film has grossed $74.9 million at the box office and about $80 million in sales and rentals since its video release two weeks ago.

Now 65, Anschutz is a wildcatter from Kansas who built an empire over four decades by relying on an instinct for finding underdeveloped areas and turning them into successes, whether it be oil wells, railroads, sports teams, newspapers and theaters.

Been in a Regal theater? That's Anschutz. The NHL's Los Angeles Kings are his team. He's a major stakeholder in the Union Pacific Railroad.

Now Anschutz is dabbling in movies.

"If you measure success by the fact that his films have added something immeasurable to the legacy of cinema, the answer is a resounding no," said Peter Guber, chairman of Mandalay Entertainment Group. "If you ask whether or not he's been successful as an entrepreneur in the entertainment business, it is a resounding yes."

The Anschutz Film Group is the umbrella for two film companies formed by Anschutz to produce family-friendly fare, a niche where he believes he can find a home. Bristol Bay Productions, created last year from Crusader Entertainment, was behind "Ray" and the upcoming "Sahara," based on a book by Clive Cussler.

And Walden Media works with teachers and librarians to identify books that can be turned into movies. Its films include "Around the World in 80 Days" (which did $24 million at the U.S. box office and has generated at least $48 million in foreign sales), "Because of Winn Dixie" and "Holes."

Walden also is working with Walt Disney Studios on "The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe," set for December release. It is the first installment from the popular children's fantasy book series by C.S. Lewis.

Anschutz is a devout Presbyterian, but associates say he doesn't try to influence projects with his beliefs.

Hackford recalled shopping around the idea for "Ray" for years and being told younger audiences wouldn't be interested, that black-oriented films don't sell well overseas, that it was a difficult story to tell because Charles was a heroin addict and serial adulterer.

Anschutz, however, believed a Charles movie would offer inspiration.

"He's used to drilling a well and having it come up dry and losing a lot of money and going on and drilling another well and then having it come up a gusher," Hackford said. "He's got nerves of steel."