Gannett News Service
Dennis Quaid stars in the G-rated baseball movie "The Rookie."

Gannett News Service
Jesse Bradford plays Zak (left) and Paula Garces is Francesca in the movie "Clockstoppers." The family movie is rated PG rather than G because, Nickelodeon's Albie Hecht said, it's difficult to be true to today's families in a G-rated movie.

G movies score big at box office

'The Rookie' is one of 2002's many family-friendly films

ANDY SEILER, GANNETT NEWS SERVICE

Originally published Monday, April 1, 2002

HOLLYWOOD -- "The Rookie" is as rare in the movies as an unassisted triple play in baseball. It's live-action and G-rated -- and about baseball, no less. That's right -- no cussing and no tobacco-spitting.

"We've got a movie opening that you would never dream would be G," says Dick Cook, chairman of Walt Disney Studios of The Rookie, which hit theaters Friday. "The movie covers just about every human emotion possible. You can do that without resorting to the use of profanity."

In "Rookie," Dennis Quaid plays real-life late-bloomer Jim Morris, who beats the odds to break into the major leagues 12 years after dropping from the minors.

Once thought of as box office poison for anything but animation (and sometimes even for that), the G rating is showing signs of vibrancy.

Vicki Elam, general manger at Yelm Cinemas, said "The Rookie" sneak preview sold out a couple weeks ago on one of the snowiest nights of the year.

"I think the studios are listening to the exhibitors and saying, 'Hey we need more family films.' For a while the studios were turning out mostly R-rated movies, and there's been a switch to movies that you can take the family to."

Already, two after-school programs have booked viewings of "The Rookie" at Yelm Cinemas.

Elam said "The Rookie" runs long for a G-rated movie -- two hours and nine minutes.

"But 'The Princess Dairies' was long also," Elam said, "It was around two hours, which I thought was a little long, but nobody noticed. I don't think kids have as short of attention spans as people think they do."

Elam said "The Princess Diaries" -- the theater's only other sneak preview, which also sold out -- did exceptionally well for a G-rated movie.

"The Rookie," Elam said, could bring an equally successful return.

"People are always very interested in children's movies -- of course that's the way it's always been," Elam said. "The family movies do extremely well here -- not that PG-13 movies don't -- but it appeals to a broader expanse of people."

On the way

Over the past several years, both box office and number of G-rated releases have been creeping upward, and there is a sizable slate of G's planned for 2002.

The considerable success of animation is driving much of the trend. But box office analyst Gitesh Pandya of boxoffice guru.com says live-action is showing strength as well.

"Disney has proved that there is substantial money to be made in G-rated live-action family films with the success of 'Snow Dogs' and 'The Princess Diaries,' " Pandya said, "which together have grossed $187 million."

But that kind of success is rare: Of the top 50 G-rated films released since 1990, only four are live-action, says Tom Borys, president of ACNielsen EDI, a box office tracking firm.

If that segment is growing, he adds, it's only "from the size of a pea to an acorn."

In other words, when Disney steps up to bat with "Rookie," a "Princess Diaries"-level home run is hardly guaranteed.

PG competition

One big obstacle: Nickelodeon opened -- through Paramount Pictures -- "Clockstoppers," its own family movie. The adventure, in which time literally stops, is rated PG.

Why not G? Nickelodeon's Albie Hecht says it's exceedingly difficult to release a successful G-rated family film if you're going to be true to what today's families are actually like.

"It's very hard to be as funny and irreverent as our brand is expected to be," he says.

Still, Nickelodeon has managed to do it with "Rugrats" and "Jimmy Neutron" films, and hopes to do it with its upcoming big-screen adaptations of the TV hits "Hey, Arnold! The Movie" (opening June 28) and "The Wild Thornberrys" (due for the holidays). For some films, he says, G can be like a seal of approval.

Others agree.

"G is a worry-free message for parents," says Diana Loomis, head of publicity for DreamWorks, which is releasing its animated, G-rated "Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron" on May 24. "With a G, parents can be sure they won't have to worry about what they're taking their kids to see."

Still, Cook downplays the difference. "People go to see good movies," he says. "I don't think they go to see ratings. If it's good, regardless of its rating, people will want to go see it."

Looking for more

However, Celeste Daniels-Brown of Olympia said she wishes there were more G-rated movies for her four girls ages 14 and 17 and twins, age 10.

"I love the G-rating," Daniels-Brown said. "I know what I'm getting into as a parent. It's appropriate for all age groups and, hopefully, it will still be entertaining."

Daniels-Brown said her 10-year-old twins enjoyed "The Princess Diaries" enough to want their own copy.

"They loved it," she said. "That appealed more to the younger, I guess, tweens they call them."

Daniels-Brown said that too often she cracks open the movie listings section of the paper to find a bunch of R-rated movies.

"R is not an option for us," she said. "With kids, we go for Gs and PGs. PG-13 we are more hesitant on because what we're finding with them are things that aren't appropriate even for the older kids. The ratings do help a little bit, but I think they are skewed from what they used to be. I would love to see more movies out there with a G rating."

Olympian reporter Sarah Jackson contributed to this report.

At the movies

- "The Rookie" is playing at Lacey 8 Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas. It is rated G.

- "Clockstoppers" can be seen at Capital Mall Cinemas and Yelm Cinemas. It is rated PG.

The Olympian Copyright 2002

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