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4-19-2005 This weekend's box office tickets didn't go to well for the film. Not only did it lose it's top ranking to the film, "Amityville Horror", but it also lost ticket sales too as word of mouth is spreading. Last weekend it topped $18.5 million. This weekend it only totaled $13.1 million. A loss of $5.1 million dollars. To make matters even worse, Amityville totaled $23.3 million. A difference of $4.8 million more that Amityville took in on it's first weekend over Sahara. It could get even worse because "XXX: State of the Union," staring Ice-Cube and "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" premieres this coming weekend. *CORRECTION (4-25-2005)* Those 2 films actually come out this week.
Last week, the IMDB reported this: Huge Lawsuit Takes
Shape Over 'Sahara' and this: Cussler Won't Settle with
Studio Over 'Sahara' Word of mouth is spreading, folks. Sahara will not recoup it's $130 million dollar investment and I do not think we will see another Dirk Pitt novel coming to the cinema anytime soon unless Cussler gets what was originally in his contract: Script approval. I also want to thank everyone who has submitted their film reviews and links to several websites and newspapers. I've been overwhelmed with more than I expected and I will have them all posted here soon. Again, thank you! 4-11-2005
In an unexpected surprise, Sahara debuted over the weekend as the top
grossing movie reported Matthew McConaughey's "Sahara" heated up the weekend box office, with the action flick set in the African desert debuting at the top with $18.5 million. "Sahara" averaged $5,866 in 3,154 theaters... "Sahara," adapted from Clive Cussler's adventure novel, stars McConaughey, Penelope Cruz and Steve Zahn as adventurers who turn up a long-lost Civil War vessel in the desert and try to stop a plague spreading through Africa. Distributor Paramount had expected the movie to debut in the $15 million range, said Wayne Lewellen, head of distribution. "This is a good, solid opening I think for this film," Lewellen said. "It played well particularly in the middle of the country, which always bodes well for it holding up." Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at North American theaters, according to Exhibitor Relations Co. Inc. Final figures will be released Monday.
Also, the IMDB reported this: Huge
Lawsuit Takes Shape Over 'Sahara' 4-8-2005 18:12 I added 5 editorials on the Editorials Page. Reviews will be posted late tonight/early tomorrow. I am receiving a free screening of the film tonight thanks to a free pass that I got this past Christmas. I will also be posting my review this weekend. 4-8-2005 12:42pm Sahara opens up today and through out the day, I will be film reviews from various newspapers & websites on the new Reviews Page. I will also be posting, throughout the day and this weekend, articles on the Editorials Page. In a personal note, I would like to thank everyone who has sent me links to the various editorials and movie reviews of the film over the past week. I have literally received hundreds of e-mails, some duplicates, that has kept me busy all week. If you're wondering why I haven't responded to you, now you do. Every single editorial and review that I received will be posted on the site. If not today, than this weekend. I also created a submission form to allow fans and the general public to send their own in-depth review of the film. The Official Site has probably posted their last update to the site. They have added a link about their mobile game and a Ticket & Showtime link. The site also has a link to its Store from where you can purchase the ball cap that Matthew McConaughey was wearing during his Cross-Country Promotional Tour. The other link that really caught me eye is their Prop Auction Link that links to The Prop Store London on e-Bay. 4-4-2005 Sahara debuted tonight in Los Angeles at the Grauman's Chinese Theater. When I can get some photos and more info, I'll have it posted here. The film is released nationwide on Friday. Many reviews have already popped up over the internet. And I will have some posted tomorrow evening on the new Reviews Page. You might want to bookmark this page once it is posted because allot of reviews will be posted in the coming weeks to follow. Thanks to the many fans who have sent me the links. All are appreciated and they will all be posted. I received many e-mails over the weekend and I'm still trying to sort them all out. Of course, that is not including the e-mails that I have been receiving from Yahoo! News and Google News. From them alone, I receive about 30 from each of them on a given day. The Official Site has been updated again with a brief synopsis on the characters and the mission Penelope Cruz visted the Dave Letterman Show and Late Night with Conan O'Brien last week. And Steve Zahn was on Jay Leno Friday night. I taped them and will try and have them posted on here ASAP. Don't forget that Matthew McConaughey will be doing his TV appearances this week as follows: (NBC) The Tonight Show - Jay Leno (Comedy Central) The Daily Show with Jon
Stewart Also, Matthew McConaughey's cross-country road trip to promote "Sahara" is the subject of an hour-long special, "Matthew McConaughey Uncut," that will air on the E! Entertainment network April 10 at 10 p.m. 3-30-2005 Several new clips have popped up on several websites. Those links are posted on the Video Clips page. Set your VCRs this week for some late night TV. Penelope Cruz and Steve Zahn will be on David Letterman, Conan O'Brien and Jay Leno on this dates: (CBS) The Late Show - David Letterman Matthew McConaughey will also be doing some TV appearances: (NBC) The Tonight Show - Jay Leno (Comedy Central) The Daily Show with Jon
Stewart *NOTE* Ok, now here is a guy who visited Dr. Cussler several times in the past about doing his novels because he enjoyed reading the novels and that he was a big fun. You would think that since he was a huge fan of the novels that he would have given allot more effort in keeping some of Cussler's concepts in the film. I have received allot of recent e-mails asking me why I am being so negative about this film and with Matthew McConaughey. First, let me say that I have nothing against Matthew McConaughey as an actor. I have enjoyed all of his films and I have 3 of them on DVD. What I am frustrated about is how he handled Sahara. For right now, I will leave it at that. I will give you a more detailed explanation when I have more time. 3-28-2005 Want to see a free screening the night before it's official release? If you live in the Kansas City area you might want to check this out. And if you're a loyal Cussler fan and don't want to support this film financially than this might be your only way to see it. From the Kansas City Star. And if you live in the San Francisco area, SF Station is doing the same thing. Paramount has issued a press release for the Los Angeles Premiere at the Grauman's Chinese Theater for Monday April 4, 2005. The Official Site has added a few more companies in their Promotions Section. I reported back last October, that 21st Century Toys were going to release some toys based on the film. Well their site is now linked to the film's site. But still nothing on their site about the toys or when they will be released on the market. The Official Site also has a link to the film's soundtrack. This soundtrack is just re-hased music from various bands. Four of the songs out of the 12 available are not even in the film. Let's hope they'll release an original composed soundtrack by Clint Mansell. I will try and post the script that I have promised hopefully by the end of the week. Matthew updated his Blog Saturday morning. 3-21-2005 (4:05pm) Ray Ban released this official announcement today regarding their products in the film. 3-21-2005 (2:16am)The Official Site has been updated with a Cast & Crew Section with brief bios for Matthew McConaughey, Steve Zahn, Penelope Cruz, Lambert Wilson, Glynn Turman, Delroy Lindo, William H. Macy & Rain Wilson. Also posted is a very brief Synopsis about the film. 3-17-2005 Matthew is now in the vicinity of Denver, CO as he and his crew are staying at one of his regular camping areas that he regularly visits. Go over to his blog to hear...err....read what he has to say. Also, if you want to see a sneak peak of the film than tune to USA Network Monday, March 21 at 9pm when they air Raiders of the Lost Ark. (Thanks to Bill for the heads up!) I also received a video clip montage of the film by our regular contributor "Big Al" Actually he sent me 3 different versions. One is for dial-up users, the other is for ISDN/DSL users and the last is for our Cable/T1/T3 users. Let's just not have a repeat from last September and have the site shut down because of another bandwidth problem. Their up on the renamed Video Clips Page. A few weeks (March 4, 2005) ago, Matthew McConaughey visited the Senator Theatre in Baltimore, Maryland and had a discussion with local college editors about the film and why the ladies adore him. Here's a brief excerpt: Kevin Dugan, Loyola Greyhound: You said at the theater last night that you spent 7 years on this project ... MM: Over 7 years ago, I went to see Clive Cussler, author of Sahara and all the other books. So I started lobbying, trying to sell myself to get the role of Dirk Pitt. I had read some of the boos. Love the books, love the character. It's like, man, this is what I'm talkin' about. This is the kind of adventure I want to explore and go on. The guy who's real good at things, but is real tongue and cheek about things, doesn't take himself seriously. A real joker, you know what I mean? So I went and saw Clive, and it was a good meeting, but didn't necessarily get his approval. Saw him again. Another good meeting, didn't necessarily get approval. Script started coming together independent of me, but it was understood through Hollywood that I was tracking this character, trying to get their bid. I had a successful movie come out, How To Lose A Guy in 10 Days, when that made, the business side, when that made $100 million dollars, all of a sudden the people who were putting up the money thought it was a great idea. You can put two and two together and see how that works. TT: They made one movie before right? With Dirk Pitt? MM: They made one called Raise The Titanic, which Clive was not happy with. He didn't have any real desire to allow one of his books made into a film again. He's a successful writer, his career's goin' great--why put it out there, and open up the opportunity for someone to make a crappy movie with it. Well, thankfully he did sign off on this movie. N-L: Let's just go back to the character for a minute. You defined the character, Dirk Pitt, you described him as a renaissance man, but also swash-buckling rogue, a sort of awesome Humphrey Bogart character. MM: Well sure, he's not a white knight. He's half senator's son, half pirate, half treasure hunter, he's half scientist, but he takes care of the business at hand. He chases down the commas in the history books, a good way to put it you know. He chases the unknown, and then puts a period on it. And no one has to know. He's not doing it for the history books, it's not for notoriety. It ends up that he has a good, pure heart and a fun-loving spirit. Also, he's another type of renaissance man. He's one of those guys, like me, I'm 35, you're growing older, and getting' more learned, but at the same time he's just like a kid.He's just curious, man. The guy's just really, really curious. He's just more fun, and I was looking for that kind of character. N-L: So you identify with this character? MM: Sure. I mean, I've never gone off and been a part of saving the world, but I go off on these "fugamundis," which is what you would call a walk about. When I was 18, went to Australia for a year, grabbed a backpack and I went to Peru, floated the Amazon. I went to Mali, where the story takes place, floated the Niger River, went to Timbuktu. I love goin' over to a whole different culture, getting lost in it, not knowing the vocabulary. All of a sudden, two weeks have gone by, and I haven't spoken any English, and I go 'how have I gotten done what I needed to get done?' All of a sudden you look around and you go, 'oh, we've been doing charades.' And it's cool. It's fun, I like it. I put myself in a position, where I slowly find the common denominator. Travel's been the best education. College was good, it was part of the adventure, but traveling - we find out that we all speak the same language, the vocabulary's just a little different. Basically, everyone's just tryin' to take care of themselves, their loved ones, have a roof over their head, eat somethin' and stay healthy. TT: You've done action movies before, like Reign of Fire and U-571, what was different about making this one? MM: U-571 was like a structured, military job. It required structured research, and a persistence to learn. Reign of Fire, that movie was about one thing - slayin' dragons. That was so fun and so simple. That was real full-on fiction. It was just a guy tryin' to survive. Dirk Pitt, he'd rather not fight. He's off on a treasure hunt, but he's got an altruistic heart. He'd rather be a lover than a fighter, but when its time to fight, he'll fight. Reign of Fire, it's more of a just a big wide open adventure. The guy in Reign of Fire was not necessarily havin' fun. He was surviving. It was either him or the dragons. This guy Dirk's into havin' fun. If trouble's up ahead, everybody's gonna say, we're going back, right?' Nope, he's gonna say 'let's go'. If he's gonna do it, he's gonna do it with pleasure. It's more fun to make. This movie was a blast to make. We were in the Sahara desert for 5 months. Which was an adventure in itself. Going off the set, the adventure didn't end when we were off the set and called it a day. You slept in a tent and checked your bed for scorpions. The adventure continued, you know? We went out in the middle of a desert on a Saturday night, had a drum session under a full moon, and nomads would show up, sit down, share some food, share some wine, and all of a sudden they were gone, they just faded off into the night. It was cool. It was pretty wild. LG: Do you think there's going to be more Dirk Pitt films? MM: That's up to y'all, man. I mean that. That's part of why I'm out here now. To sit down and try to get the awareness out. If people go see it, and think it's worth seein'. Do y'all think it's worth seeing? N-L: It's a good ride. MM: Yeah, it is a good ride. Whether you're 13, 30, or 60, it's cool and it's fun. The movie works, the logic works. It doesn't take itself too seriously. It's a good use of two hours. We made this movie hoping to make a franchise out of it. It doesn't mean it's going to be successful at the box office. Good movies, sometimes, people won't go see it. This one, it's worthy of all that. People have got to go see it, so we can make some money off of it, and we can make another one. Part of the reason I got into this movie in the first place is because I was looking for my franchise character, my Indiana Jones or James Bond. So, I hope to come back and do some more and that's kind of up to y'all. N-L: It's seems like you're all having a good time during the movie. How would you describe the dynamic between yourself, Steve Zahn and Penelope Cruz? MM: It was as much fun as it looked like. Steve and I had to show a familiarity, a banter. Part of the job is to just do your job as an actor. Half the time I'm listening to him, half the time I'm not. And that's what happens when you know someone real well, you're a brother to someone. You don't sit there and go, 'uh huh, uh huh' and listen to every word. You sit there and you half listen to him and you half don't. There's a familiarity in the process. That's one of my favorite parts of the movie is their relationship as buddies. And working with Penelope was a joy. She's a really good actress, and she's got a good heart. And she's also the one in the film that - Dr. Eva Rojas - who's kind of a dreamer. She's chasin' down something more serious, the source of a disease. I'm chasin' treasure. That's where our paths cross. Click here to read the rest of the Q & A. Matthew also had a viewing of the film this past Monday in Kansas City reports the Kansas City Star. 3-16-2005 (11:45pm EST) The Morris Daily Herald reported that Matthew stopped at Quiznos near Kansas City, KS to eat some lunch because he has never had a Quiznos sub. Twenty-Five new production photos have been posted in the Photo Gallery Section. (Thanks to "Big Al".) 3-16-2005 (2:22am EST) The Official Website has added some additional photos in their photo gallery. The also added a nice feature with a longitude/latitude crosshair as you move your mouse over the various links. They also added a new game titled, "The Objective". Here is the brief synopsis: "You and your team find yourselves emerging from an underground tunnel into the Massarde Enterprises toxic waste burn tower in the middle of the Sahara Desert. You are surrounded by 50 gallon steel drums full of highly explosive toxic waste, and facing a bomb that reads 2 minutes until detonation. Disable the bomb, or the explosion will produce a pollutant that will travel down the Niger River and eventually cause a form of marine cannibalism called "Red Tide". Matthew's new entry in his blog will give you a nice chuckle. MTV or Matthew, I'm not sure who put this feature in but it is a 2 minute behind-the-scenes video of the making of the film. (Thanks to Geoffrey Chadwick & "Big Al") I will post again later on in the day. 3-14-2005 The Official Website now has a splash intro when you first log on to the site. They also added a Confederate coin on the main page. A link to Matthew McConaughey's Blog on MTV is also posted on the main page. Speaking of his blog, it's been updated several times since my last post. Paramount has been asked to correct Association to Agency on Sahara's Official Site which was on a synopsis page for a Flash oriented game titled, "Up the River". It was a mistake and not what I first thought was a "slap in the face" to the fans and to Dr. Cussler. And for that, I do apologize to Paramount Pictures and the producers of the film on this issue and this issue only. Thanks to Jack Colt for the heads up. The New York Times reports about how Jeep and Paramount hope to learn from "Lara Croft". The article is written by Stuart Elliott. This article was posted last Thursday. Gamasutra reported (Feb 25) that TKO Software Inc., who was developing a video game based on the film for the PlayStation 2 and X-Box has apparently shut down most of it's development office in Santa Cruz, California in late January that also cost about 60 workers their jobs. It's unclear whether development of the game is being continued at other TKO offices. Now if you are into mobile games on your cell phone, than you will be happy to know that GOSUB 60, developer and publisher of mobile entertainment software, announced an agreement with Bristol Bay Productions to produce a mobile game based on the film, Sahara. The game, available on BREW and J2ME, is launching on multiple wireless U.S. carriers April 8th, 2005 in sync with the nationwide theatrical release of the movie. To read the full article, click here. I'm working on a few updates that I thought I would get done over the weekend and have posted by today. Apparently that is not the case. I hope to have it all done and posted by next Monday. Over the weekend, I received a copy of the script's first draft and photocopies of some storyboards that depict the Ironclad scenes. The script is taking more time than I thought and I hope to have it done by the end of the week. The storyboards are another story. I'm not sure if they will come out well once they are scanned. I also obtained some new photos and video clips that I will share with you later on this week too. They should be up and ready by Tuesday or Wednesday. 3-9-2005 Allot to report today. First, if you haven't checked out Matthew McConaughey's MTV Blog, than you should check it out. His last post was Sunday while he was in New York City. He also has posted some photos of his visit in the Big Apple. Second, the Official Site has posted a Flash oriented Game up the Niger River with NUMA's State of the Art Calliope titled, "Up the River". Here's the synopsis from the official site: At the end of the Civil War a Battleship carrying a secret shipment of gold vanished without a trace. Your mission is to embark on a journey up the Niger River and discover if the stories are true about, what locals call, "The Ship of Death". The mystery that's buried with a long forgotten legend also carries a threat that could kill millions. You must hurry! N.U.M.A. (National Underwater Marine Association) has equipped you with a fully armed 35 ft. shallow V, straight inboard speedboat to accomplish this mission. Use your wits and clever heroics to travel through some of the most dangerous and hostile regions of West Africa and discover the origin of "The Ship of Death" and eliminate the threat. The producers decided to change the "A" in NUMA from Agency to Association for no apparent reason. A final defiant slap in the face to Dr. Cussler and his devoted fans to tell us they made the movie their way and contracts be damned. Third, if you had a chance to see a free screening in Detroit that was held yesterday (Sorry everyone, I dropped the ball on this one. I had posted it on a new page but forgot to upload it.), I would love to hear from you. I'm looking for review from both Cussler fans who have read the book and non-Cussler fans who have not read it. I want to try and objective with the reviews and see what everyone thinks about it. I personally will not see it because of how the producers have treated Dr. Cussler. I will wait and see it when it comes out on cable. I will be depending on you and from various other sources to keep this site buzzing with news and new content. Fourth, Penelope Cruz was on Jay Leno last night to promote two films, "Sahara" and "Non ti muovere", an Italian made film. Instead of showing a clip of Sahara, they instead showed a clip from Non ti muovere. Penelope did say something about Sahara, that the film is a great action film with the energy of Indiana Jones and that it is for anyone from age 8 to age 80 and that everyone should see it. Fifth, I found several articles that are now on the Editorials Page. Actually several of them, including the brief article from Detroit, were uploaded to the server but not linked to the rest of the site. But the one article that you all should read is from Outside Online by Anthony Cerretani. It's not about Dr. Cussler and why he will not see this film and why most Dirk Pitt fans shouldn't see it either. Sorry Matt, but we have to support the Doc on this one. 2-26-2005 Looks like Matthew has put the historical Senator Theatre, in Baltimore Maryland, as his next stop on his tour to promote the film. Check it out! Matthew also has posted his first blog entry on MTV.com. 2-24-2005 Matthew continued on his tour yesterday (Wednesday) and stopped at Robins Air Force Base in Georgia. Again, thanks to the Associated Press. Also worth noting; the Official Site has posted a photo gallery with 13 photos, (most of the photos have already been floating around the internet for quite some time, including on this site) a download section that includes 6 AIM Icons, 2 Wallpapers and 1 screensaver an updated 1 brief-short paragraph synopsis and a promotions section which basically has links to 4 companies' (Jeep, DOXA, Bloomingdale's and Ray Ban) websites. The sound effects give it a nice effect. 2-23-2005 Matthew's tour is progressing. Thanks to the Associated Press, I have obtained photographs from his appearances at the Daytona 500 and from the Atlanta Braves Spring Training complex in Kissimmee, FL. More photos will be added as the tour progresses. Another article has been posted from the Associated Press, titled, "McConaughey livens up Braves spring workout by Paul Newberry". 2-22-2005 As part of his Cross Country tour to promote his film, "Sahara", Matthew McConaughey visited the Atlanta Braves Spring Training Complex in Kissimmee, FL. To read the article, click here.
Friday February 18, 4:22 pm ET Star to Crisscross Nation in Support of Film Opening April 8 HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ -- Matthew McConaughey, who stars as Dirk Pitt in, and is an executive producer of, Paramount Pictures/Bristol Bay Productions' upcoming action-adventure "Sahara," will begin a cross-country tour in his personal Airstream trailer, which has been specially outfitted with art from the film. As he explores the country, meets the fans, and spreads the word about his new film, McConaughey will document his experiences in a blog at mtv.com/movies. In "Sahara," master explorer Dirk Pitt (Matthew McConaughey) takes on the adventure of his life when he embarks on a treasure hunt through some of the most dangerous regions of West Africa. Searching for what locals call the "Ship of Death," a long lost Civil War battleship which protects a secret cargo, Pitt and his wisecracking sidekick (Steve Zahn) use their wits and clever heroics to help Doctor Eva Rojas (Penelope Cruz), when they realize the ship may be linked to mysterious deaths in the very same area. The film opens in theaters nationwide on April 8. Moviegoers interested in seeing McConaughey and reading about his travels can follow along on a blog he will keep on mtv.com/movies. Several times each week during his expedition, McConaughey will share his thoughts, experiences, and photos with the mtv.com audience. Commenting on the announcement, McConaughey said, "We've done the hard part, which is making an entertaining, exciting action movie. We worked hard, we put out a great product, and I'm honored to get out and sell it, which is the fun part. I love getting on the road and meeting new people in new places. It's an adventure, just like the film. I'm also excited to be keeping a blog on mtv.com -- I've always kept diaries on my road trips; now, I'm going to share the experience. There should be some cool, interesting, and unexpected stories to tell." McConaughey will kick off the tour in Daytona Beach, Florida, on February 20th, where he will serve as Grand Marshal for the NASCAR Daytona 500. Following that, McConaughey will make stops in big cities, small towns, and military bases from Orlando to New York to San Diego and, in the star's words, "everywhere in-between" during the six-week tour. Paramount Pictures and Bristol Bay Productions present, in association with Baldwin Entertainment Group, a j.k. livin production, a Kanzaman production, "Sahara." Breck Eisner directs. The screenplay is by Thomas Dean Donnelly & Joshua Oppenheimer and John C. Richards and James V. Hart, based on the novel by Clive Cussler. The action-adventure is produced by Howard Baldwin, Karen Baldwin, Mace Neufeld and Stephanie Austin. Matthew McConaughey, Gus Gustawes, William J. Immerman, and Vicki Dee Rock are the executive producers. Additional cast includes Lambert Wilson, Glynn Turman, with Delroy Lindo and William H. Macy. The film is distributed in the United States by Paramount Pictures. j. k. livin, McConaughey's production company, stands for "just keep livin'." Paramount Pictures is a part of the entertainment operations of Viacom, Inc., one of the world's largest entertainment and media companies and a leader in the production, promotion, and distribution of entertainment, news, sports, and music.
Also, last weekend (Saturday, February 12, 2005), Saharamovie.com was hacked into by Portegese Hackers who call themselves, "UN-ROOT". It was confirmed on their IRC channel #UN-ROOT on irc.gigachat.net. (Thanks to Tim Bauer for the confirmation) The Official Site has a new makeover..in Flash Format of course. But it's pretty much the same stuff rearranged. No new material has been posted just yet. As you already know, Paramount has moved the release date up from March 24, to April 8. The Official site has also added a new TV Promo Ad that will be broadcasted during Super Bowl XXIX this Sunday night. If you can't wait until than, visit the The Official Movie Site. On a personal note, I do want to apologize to everyone for not keeping this site updated like I usually have. Between my job and several other web design projects for several clients, I have not had much time (besides, eating, sleeping, etc.) for anything else. I do have several big updates that I am working on for both the Sahara Section and the RTT Section. I will try to do better. |
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