THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED. BILL TUSH, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT: Hello, I'm Bill Tush and we're standing outside the Warner Brothers Store here in Times Square, and the reason for that is because inside there is a gathering. It's sort of a cast reunion from "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." Remember those kids, those five kids that won the golden tickets to get to Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory? Well, they're all grown up and they're here to mark the 30th anniversary of that film that is now out on DVD. We're going to find out all about it. And while we make our way into the store, another William Shakespeare play has made its way on to film. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) LAUREN HUNTER, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Some things are timeless. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "O") UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love that girl. (END VIDEO CLIP) HUNTER: Emotions like love and jealousy. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "O") UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Look, here, she cheated on me. (END VIDEO CLIP) HUNTER: But treachery is the name of the game as the new movie "O" takes William Shakespeare's "Othello" from the battlefield to the high school campus. Though the setting and language are contemporary, the human condition hasn't changed. JOSH HARTNETT, "HUGO IAGO": He takes an emotion and he explores it pretty fully, you know. Like jealousy, envy, a concept like evil, and the plot line is timeless. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "O") UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What's up man? Why you tripping? (END VIDEO CLIP) MEKHI PHIFER, "ODIN OTHELLO": He wrote very complex human beings. Human beings with a full gamut of emotions, insecurities, vulnerabilities and power. HARTNETT: Just watch your girl, bro. I mean, she and Mike spending an awful lot of time together. JULIA STILES, DESDI/DESDEMONA: The stakes are high and these kids are in a pressure cooker of an environment, and basketball is a pressure filled situation for Othello, because that's what's going to get him where he wants and allow him to succeed. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "O") UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don't know if it's true or not, but (UNINTELLIGIBLE) him and Desi were together last night. (END VIDEO CLIP) HUNTER: The movie has been plagued by controversy. Shot in 1999, it's release date was pushed following the massacre at Columbine High School and disputes and legal claims resulted in Miramax selling "O" to the independent Lions Gate Studio. TIM BLAKE NELSON, DIRECTOR: Taking a Shakespearian tragedy, like "Othello," and setting it in the milieu of high school basketball is, at first glance, a really silly notion. What makes this serious notion, and what makes this film suddenly quite credible, is that in our country kids have been shooting one another in high school. That made this film suddenly a challenge that I wanted to take on. I made the film because of high school violence. HUNTER: The actors say the movie doesn't glorify violence, but is a faithful adaptation of Shakespeare's tragedy to today's culture. PHIFER: This film, it can be used as a metaphor, in a sense, to what's going on in kids' lives. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "O") UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If he comes at me again, I swear I'll kill him. (END VIDEO CLIP) STILES: We didn't want to glorify guns or violence. In this movie, you feel the gravity of decisions that these characters make. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "O") HARTNETT: Watch her. But now she's going to come clean. (END VIDEO CLIP) HUNTER: But, be prepared; to borrow from another of the Bard's works, something wicked this way comes. Lauren Hunter, CNN Entertainment News, Hollywood. (END VIDEOTAPE) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY") PETER OSTRUM, "CHARLIE BUCKET": Charlie Bucket. GENE WILDER, "WILLY WONKA": Well, well. Charlie Bucket. I read all about you in the papers. I'm so happy for you. (END VIDEO CLIP) TUSH: Charlie Bucket is all grown up and he grew up to be Peter Ostrum, and here he is. And there's your picture back there. Am I allowed to ask you how old you were, Peter, when you did this movie? OSTRUM: I was 12 and turned 13 during the filming. TUSH: And you were, as you told me a little earlier when we were talking, you were working in the Cleveland Playhouse. OSTRUM: Correct. TUSH: And that's how you got the role. OSTRUM: Right. Home of Joel Gray and Margaret Hamilton. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY") WILDER: I had to test you, Charlie, and you passed the test. (END VIDEO CLIP) TUSH: You have not pursued acting after doing a classic film. OSTRUM: It was my one and only film, but it was... TUSH: If you're going to do one, it might as well be "Willy Wonka," right? OSTRUM: That's correct. TUSH: Peter Ostrum today is a veterinarian working way upstate New York. OSTRUM: Way upstate. TUSH: With diary cows. OSTRUM: Dairy cows. Correct. TUSH: This is fun, to come back and celebrate the 30th anniversary. OSTRUM: Oh, absolutely. It's fun to come back to Manhattan. TUSH: All right. Yeah, why not. Charlie Bucket in real life, Peter Ostrum. Thank you so much. OSTRUM: Thank you. TUSH: We're going to go talk to Dan Aykroyd now. There's a guy that did pursue an acting career. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION") WOODY ALLEN, ACTOR/DIRECTOR: This crazy girl who smokes opium makes up a story and plants the jewels in my apartment. DAN AYKROYD, ACTOR: There's a word for people who think everyone is conspiring against them. ALLEN: That's right. Perceptive. (END VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Woody said he wanted to work with you for a long time, but he was waiting for the right part. Did you want to work with him for a long time? AYKROYD: Oh, absolutely. I don't think there is any actor or actress in this business that would not want to work with Woody Allen. And those that have would come back in a second, so, sure. And it just evolved to this point, where he felt that I was the right part for the cad, heel, irresponsible, horrible, sexually harassing boss. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, Wood -- that's not very flattering. AYKROYD: Well, I'm an actor. You know, I can do anything. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "PEARL HARBOR") AYKROYD: Sir, I believe they'll try to hit us where it will hurt us the most, Pearl Harbor. (END VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You're everywhere. It feels like you're everywhere right now. AYKROYD: Well, the "Pearl Harbor" and the "Evolution" and this one, you know, it's a good time for me in terms of just doing good, honest, bloodless work as a feature film performer. And I've been able to come into these beautiful ventures and offer what I can and provide my services and then move on to other things, which is tremendously liberating, not to have to be the one that originates, writes and comes up with the thing and produces and goes all the way through and spends a whole year on it, as I used to do. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you prefer that? Do you like sort of making these somewhat cameo of a role? AYKROYD: Now this is a good place for me to be, because each one is different, you know. Like, the guy in "Evolution" is different from the guy in "Pearl Harbor" is different from the guy playing in Woody's film. So, I've always wanted to have that kind of variation going and that's really peaking right now, that aspect of my work. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE CURSE OF THE JADE SCORPION") UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When I say the word Madagascar, you will go immediately to the deepest level of hypnotic sleep. (END VIDEO CLIP) UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you ever been hypnotized? AYKROYD: I have not. I -- someone tried once and I put up a mental block which prevented them getting through to my deep, dark secrets. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So, those haven't been explored yet? AYKROYD: No, no, no. Horrible high school stories. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, really? Is that where you were bad, was high school? AYKROYD: Well, yeah, I was bad then. Yeah. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Not now? AYKROYD: Now, I'm, you know -- now I have to set an example as a father, but ultimately what difference is that going to make. They're all going to decide what to do anyway, like we all did. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right, same... AYKROYD: I mean, you have to trust your children to, you know, be sensible. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And what if they want to act, Dan? AYKROYD: Fine with me. It's a great profession. However, banking and real estate would be more appropriate, given my assets now. (END VIDEOTAPE) TUSH: There is more coming our way. For example, did you know Lisa Picard is famous? And Tantric is an old band with a new trick. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY") PARIS THEMMEN, "MIKE TEEVEE": I'm Mike Teevee. Wam, you're dead. WILDER: Wonderful to meet you, Mike. And Mrs. Teevee, how do you do? What an adorable little boy you have. UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. (END VIDEO CLIP) TUSH: One of the lucky five children to get the golden ticket that got them a day at Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory was Mike Teevee. And here he is today, Paris Themmen, all grown up. Product placement in hand. THEMMEN: Here, I've done this before. TUSH: There you go. THEMMEN: Hello. TUSH: Well, let's do this one too. The Wonka, now there actually is a Wonka bar. THEMMEN: There you go. TUSH: See, when you made this movie, there wasn't. There was no such thing. Luckily for us, this is a Time Warner company so you can hold that up all day if you want to. THEMMEN: OK. That's fine. TUSH: Anyway, when you made this movie, there was no such thing as merchandising. You know, think of if they would have had it in 1971. THEMMEN: I think that this was one of the first major, when they were really attempting to tie together the idea of merchandising. Quaker Oates was one of the producers of the film at the time and I think they had it in their head that they were going to come out with bars and sell a million bars, as somebody says in the film. TUSH: But they never did? THEMMEN: I guess they never did. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY") THEMMEN: It's the greatest thing that's ever happened to me. Am I coming in clear? (END VIDEO CLIP) TUSH: Paris Themmen, thank you. THEMMEN: Thank you very much. Bye, everybody. TUSH: We're going to meet Lisa Picard now. There is a new movie out called "Lisa Picard is Famous." (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LISA PICARD IS FAMOUS") LAURA KIRK, "LISA PICARD": When I was in junior high, my school put on a production of "The Diary of Anne Frank" and even though I'm not Jewish, I was just so excited. So, I auditioned, and I was cast in a more difficult role, as Mrs. Frank. GRIFFIN DUNNE, "ANDREW": Who? KIRK: Mrs. Frank. Not Anne. (END VIDEO CLIP) JODI ROSS, CNN ENTERTAINMENT CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): More mockumentary than documentary, "Lisa Picard is Famous" is the tongue- in-cheek story of a struggling New York actress and her best friend, both hoping to find more than 15 minutes of fame. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LISA PICARD IS FAMOUS") UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I never want to speak to you again. This has turned you into a monster. KIRK: It's distorted everything. (END VIDEO CLIP) ROSS: The idea started five years ago, as a demo-reel for real life actors Laura Kirk and Nat DeWolf, who just couldn't get a gig. (on camera): Were you both -- were you feeling desperate? I hate to use that word, but was it desperation? KIRK: No, it -- we use it, because we absolutely were... NATE DEWOLF, ACTOR: Oh, yeah. It -- I was waiting tables. I had just gotten out of grad school. I was, you know, majored in acting. I, you know, came to New York City and there I was waiting tables again, and... KIRK: I just could not get an agent. ROSS (voice-over): And then, an Academy Award winning actress came to the rescue. (on camera): Mira Sorvino was a friend of yours from acting class? DEWOLF: Yeah, we all met in acting class before Mira was Mira. And got to watch it happen to her. And she just read the beginning of the script and just loved it. MIRA SORVINO, ACTRESS: It was thrilling for me to sort of be given a chance to see a project from its inception, from just the grain of their idea, 15 pages of dialogue, and see it turn into a film. ROSS (voice-over): So, Sorvino signed on as producer. Griffin Dunne took the role of documentarian/director. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "LISA PICARD IS FAMOUS") GRIFFIN DUNNE, ACTOR: And that would be, is that showing fear? Because it looked scary. (END VIDEO CLIP) ROSS: And lots of other famous faces make cameo appearances. (on camera): How'd you swing those? DEWOLF: Just favors, a little groveling, a little you owe me. ROSS: Begging? DUNNE: No, I was really, really lucky, you know. Sandy Bullock didn't think twice, she just said sure. And Charlie Sheen and Spike Lee are, of course, great friends of Mira's. ROSS (voice-over): And friends of Mira's seem to go far. Maybe the same fate awaits these two. (on camera): What if, going by the title of the film, this is a self-fulfilling prophecy and you two get famous? DEWOLF: It's not going to happen. KIRK: I can't even go there. ROSS: We can hope. DEWOLF: Yeah, I mean, I just want another job. KIRK: Yeah, another job would be ideal. Jodi Ross, CNN Entertainment News, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE) TUSH: Now, who is this lady? Who was she in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"? Julie Dawn Cole. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY") JULIE DAWN COLE, "VERRUCA SALT": I want one. I want a golden goose. (END VIDEO CLIP) TUSH: Of course, it's Verruca Salt. The meanie. Bad girl. COLE: The meanie. TUSH: Spoiled brat. But you're nothing like that. COLE: Ask my mother. TUSH: Except you're English. COLE: I'm English. Ask my mother. TUSH: Now, how does one get cast as the brat? COLE: You have to be meaner than everybody else. I think so. They came to London to cast. They always think, you know, the English accent sounds particularly nasty. Particularly bratty. So they had it in their heads to have an English girl play the brat, and I guess I was just the brattiest. TUSH: And "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" is a learning experience for the kids, I mean, of course Verruca gets hers when she goes down. COLE: She goes down the shoot. TUSH: The bag egg shoot. COLE: Yep, down to the garbage. TUSH: What do you do these days? COLE: I'm still acting in England. I carried on acting. I did some stuff while I was at school, but then mostly, you know, my career became two separate halves and in England I'm not known very much for "Willy Wonka." TUSH: Thank you for coming by and visiting us on the 30th anniversary. COLE: Thank you. TUSH: OK, we'll be right back. Still to come, some all time favorite films are making it to DVD and more with the kids -- adults -- of "Willy Wonka." (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY") DENISE NICKERSON, "VIOLET BEAUREGARDE": I don't care! WILDER: I wouldn't do that. I really wouldn't. NICKERSON: So long as it's gum, and that's for me. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Violet, now don't you do anything stupid. (END VIDEO CLIP) TUSH: We're back at the Warner Brothers Store meeting the cast of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory." Gene Wilder, who played Willy Wonka, is not here today because he's busy doing other things, but we have all the lucky kids that got to go to his factory. And Denise Nickerson was Violet Beauregarde. NICKERSON: That's right. TUSH: Who will go down in history, or has gone down in history, as the little girl who gets blown up into a blueberry. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY") NICKERSON: Here it comes. Blueberry... (END VIDEO CLIP) TUSH: You told a story here today about how they did that, when they blew you up. NICKERSON: Yes, they put me in a Styrofoam ball, and I was in the middle. And they cut out what was on the inside. And it took them 45 minutes to get me into this costume, so it came lunch time and a half-an-hour break, they didn't have time to take me out, so they assigned a man -- I want this job one day -- they assigned a man to roll me every five minutes. TUSH: We have mentioned before, "Willy Wonka" is out on DVD and just by coincidence, just by coincidence, Lauren Hunter is going to tell us that a lot of our favorite movies are also coming out on DVD. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FORREST GUMP") TON HANKS, ACTOR: You never know what you're going to get. (END VIDEO CLIP) HUNTER (voice-over): Like the proverbial box of chocolates, the "Forrest Gump" DVD will contain some surprises when it hits stores this week. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "FORREST GUMP") HANKS: Sorry to interrupt your parade. (END VIDEO CLIP) MICHAEL ARKIN, PARAMOUNT HOME ENTERTAINMENT: Forrest Gump meets Martin Luther King and he plays ping-pong with George Bush Sr., so to be able to provide, you know, movie lovers today with two new sequences where he meets world figures. We think it's a big plus and we think that the consumers are going to love it. HUNTER: Last year, consumers spent $3.4 billion purchasing DVDs and $573 million on DVD rental. That's expected to increase this year as the number of homes with DVD players grows to 25 percent. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "13 DAYS") KEVIN COSTNER, ACTOR: A lot of things are going wrong today. (END VIDEO CLIP) HUNTER: Upcoming titles such as "13 Days" feature extras including pop-up options. "Pearl Harbor's" DVD version has 13 hours of bonus material. BOB CHAPEK, BUENA VISTA HOME ENTERTAINMENT: Everybody is getting involved in DVD, so we have to appeal to the broad audience, not just to the cinephiles who like behind-the-scenes directory commentary alone. HUNTER: That's one reason why Barbara Streisand was recruited to sing for the upcoming DVD release of "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs." CHAPEK: It's a much more broader experience. We have to recognize that and market to that fact. HUNTER: And that marketing has become big business. From a 5-K run on the Paramount Studio lot to launch "Forrest Gump" to video store visuals for "Hannibal" to the fire and ice pairing of "Total Recall" and "Basic Instinct." The interactivity of DVDs has even found its way to video stores. ANTHONY DEEN, VIRGIN MEGASTORES: This is Virgin's Megaplay System, which allows you to scan up to 200,000 CDs or 10,000 DVDs and preview them in the store, so you can try before you buy. HUNTER: Consumers can view trailers, read reviews or scan a films production information. Business aside, "Godfather" director Francis Ford Coppola says it's the creativity behind the technology that will keep consumers interested. FRANCIS FORD COPPOLA, DIRECTOR: Art is not something like business, that you just put A plus B and C and you get what you want. Creativity is putting things together that aren't normally associated with each other. And people watch it 25, 30 year later because it has life. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "THE GODFATHER") MARLON BRANDO, ACTOR: I swore that I would never break the peace. (END VIDEO CLIP) HUNTER: So, DVD technology may just be an offer consumers can't refuse. Lauren Hunter, CNN Entertainment News, Hollywood. (END VIDEOTAPE) TUSH: Don't go away, "Willy Wonka's" Augustus Gloop is all grown up and Tantric has a new trick. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY") MICHAEL BOLLNER, "AUGUSTUS GLOOP": Augustus Gloop. WILDER: Augustus, my dear boy, how good to see you. And in such fine shape. And this must be the radiant Mrs. Gloop. Just over there... (END VIDEO CLIP) TUSH: Who could ever forget when August Gloop fell in the soup. BOLLNER: No, the... TUSH: The chocolate river. I know that, but I was trying to make a little rhyme there. Anyway, here he is. Michael Bollner. And you actually -- see, OK, it's an accent to us. The German accent. But it's real for you. You weren't putting that on, because you were from... BOLLNER: From Germany, from Munich, Germany. From the city where the film was made, where the Octoberfest is, and where the best beer is brewed. TUSH: Well, two points got me there. (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP, "WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY") WILDER: Please, I beg you, Augustus! Life jacket! (END VIDEO CLIP) TUSH: And today you're an accountant. BOLLNER: Yes, tax accountant and CPA. TUSH: OK, they're moving the furniture out here, so I think it's time for us to run. OK. Michael, August, good to see you. Maybe I'll bump into you at the Octoberfest in Munich. BOLLNER: Yeah. TUSH: You never known. BOLLNER: You'll like it. Yeah, come over to Munich. TUSH: Sounds good to me. BOLLNER: We have beer from real big glasses. We have oompa oompa music. And we have a very good time. TUSH: I'll be there. OK, we've got some music coming up here now with a group called Tantric. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) (MUSIC) ROSS (voice-over): Tantric is a modern rock band hoping to break down music stereotypes. JESSE VEST, TANTRIC: It's definitely modern and it's definitely rock. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are so many categories right now. VEST: Yeah, there are so many different categories that people lump music into and I guess there's a few that we would fit into. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah. VEST: We think we put together a solid rock album and we'll let people, you know, put it where they want. But, you know, we're proud of it. ROSS: Their self-titled debut album can be found on Maverick records, a label started by the "Material Girl." HUGO FERRERIA, TANTRIC: And she's been coming to the shows, trying to get backstage passes all the time, and I'm just like, listen, Madonna, you know. ROSS: The boys admit Madonna has no idea who they are, but lots of fans do. (MUSIC) ROSS: Their new single, "Astounded," is quickly climbing the charts and Tantric was recently a part of a pay-per-view concert featuring Live and the Stone Temple Pilots. (MUSIC) FERRERIA: To be able to play with, you know, bands of that caliber, you know, was, you know, was really fun for us. Plus, you know, it was also good to see that, you know, we were thrown in that mix, because somebody actually believed that we belonged there. ROSS: The band just performed at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and they'll headline their first national tour in September. (on camera): To me, it seems like you're exploding. Is that how you guys see it? FERRERIA: I don't know. I think we're definitely, you know, the band definitely just tries not even to think about that because we don't want to, like, anything to go -- we're always like superstitious, we throw salt... UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're staying afloat. (MUSIC) ROSS (voice-over): It's impossible to talk to Tantric without inquiring about the band's name. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We don't practice any Buddhist, you know, practices, you know... FERRERIA: Tantric sex. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, tantric sex. FERRERIA: There's no way you're going to last eight hours, OK. UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We're all lousy in bed. So... ROSS: Maybe so, but this quartet has made a smooth move from Louisville to the lap of luxury at the Hotel Giraffe (ph). They still remember the tough times... FERRERIA: We had the old $5.99 couch that we bought at the yard sale with two cinder blocks and a TV kind of sitting crooked. ROSS: But it looks like they're sitting pretty now. Jodi Ross, CNN Entertainment News, New York. (END VIDEOTAPE) TUSH: Well, wasn't that fun, seeing the cast of "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" all grown up and they're all successful in their own right, and they had a good time today. I hope you did to. That is SHOWBIZ FOR THIS WEEKEND. Don't forget "SHOWBIZ TODAY" reports right here on CNN. And you have a happy and a safe Labor Day weekend. I'm Bill Tush, and I'll see you next time. 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