TUESDAY, JANUARY 1, 2002
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Volume 1, Issue 43
Santa Monica Daily Press Serving Santa Monica for the past 51 days
Top California news for 2001: Terrorism and spiraling economy BY ROBERT JABLON Associated Press Writer
Ross Furukawa/Daily Press
Patrick Sulivan, a two-year Santa Monica resident, is already working on his New Year’s resolution to get in better shape at the Easton Gym on the Third Street Promenade.
Terrorism fears. Gary Condit. The power crisis and the recession. Inexplicable outbursts of violence from San Diego schoolyards to the steps of the state Capitol. California headlines in 2001 tell the story of a trendsetter state swept along by world and national events. 2001 also was a year of change. California officially lost its white majority; the U.S. Census showed Hispanics made up nearly a third while nonHispanic whites slipped to less than half of the state’s total population of 33.9 million. TERRORISM: California was in the crosshairs from the very beginning of the terrorism scare. Two hijacked jetliners that hit New York City’s World Trade Center and a third that hit the Pentagon were originally en route to Los Angeles. A fourth plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was headed to San Francisco. In the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks and the anthrax scare that followed, National Guard troops were positioned at California airports, and bridges, cargo ships were routinely stopped and searched. The Emmy
Awards, usually held in September, were twice delayed for reasons of both symbolism and security. Thousands of sailors and Marines headed off to the war in Afghanistan from San Diego. In November, Gov. Gray Davis made public a private FBI warning that terrorists might be targeting bridges. National Guard troops were sent out to San Francisco’s Golden Gate and three other spans, but no attacks took place. Even before Sept. 11, California was a target. In April, an Algerian man was convicted of federal terrorism charges in an alleged plot to bomb Los Angeles International Airport during millennium celebrations. Authorities say Ahmed Ressam was trained in Afghan terrorist camps linked to Osama bin Laden. POWER WOES: California started the year with an energy crunch and wound up with predictions of too much juice. The state spent a fortune buying power to supply customers of Pacific Gas and Electric Co., Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric Co. The utilities were struggling with billions in debt and could not pass on high electricity costs to consumers. PG&E, the state’s largest utility, filed for federal bankruptcy protection in April. Then new power See NEWS, page 3
Hollywood’s 2001 odyssey: record bucks, big franchises BY DAVID GERMAIN AP Movie Writer
LOS ANGELES — For Hollywood, 2001 was another year of record revenue, a time for the birth and rebirth of big film franchises and a period of soul-searching over violent action films after the Sept. 11 attacks. Movie-ticket sales for 2001 will total an estimated $8.35 billion by the end of New Year’s Eve, up from last year’s record of $7.7 billion, according to box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations. Factoring in an estimated 4 percent rise in average ticket prices, admissions were up about 5 percent, the first increase since 1998, said Paul Dergarabedian, Exhibitor Relations president. Blockbusters such as “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Shrek” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” became instant franchises. The next two years will bring parts two and three of “Harry Potter” and “Lord of the Rings,” while “Harry Potter” could become an annual or near-annual franchise through
“Our job is to give audiences what they want, satisfying their needs. You had to sit back and ask, is this appropriate, because everybody’s very depressed and we’re at war.” — NIKKI ROCCO Head of distribution for Universal
all seven chapters of J.K. Rowling’s fantasy series. A “Shrek” sequel is in the works, along with another installment of the family espionage hit “Spy Kids.” Other new films with followups planned include “The Fast and the Furious” and “Legally Blonde.” 2001 saw its share of sequels, with “Rush Hour 2,” “The Mummy Returns,” “Jurassic Park III,” “Dr. Dolittle
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2” and “American Pie II.” The industry’s favorite serial killer returned in “Hannibal” after a 10-year absence since “The Silence of the Lambs.” A record five films topped the $200 million mark: “Harry Potter,” “Shrek,” “Monsters, Inc.”, “Rush Hour 2” and “The Mummy Returns.” “Lord of the Rings” could become the sixth film released in 2001 to hit that level. Among the notable misses were “Scary Movie 2,” which grossed less than half the $157 million the first film took in, and “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within,” which bombed with just $32 million. Some major releases were postponed after the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, notably Arnold Schwarzenegger’s terrorist-themed “Collateral Damage” and Tim Allen’s “Big Trouble,” a comedy whose plot includes a nuclear device on an airplane. Both films have been rescheduled for release in 2002. Studio queasiness over how audiences would react to violent films after Sept. 11 has eased. In the months since See HOLLYWOOD, page 3
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