Universal, which released Erin, is slightly nervous, I'm also told. That's because Roberts, who has recently allied herself with former Disney studio chief Joe Roth's new Revolution Studio, isn't working as hard to promote the film as Universal would like. It's not exactly a big secret that Hollywood studios coordinate their campaigns, hiring consultants and plastering industry trades Variety and The Hollywood Reporter with big splashy ads. Studios were told to rein it in a few years back when Sony gave out very pricey wooden boxes with cassettes of its movies inside. But doling out the actors for interviews is still fair game.
Life is Beautiful.
Actors do work. Last year, Dreamworks did the same with Kevin Spacey, who is a great actor but doesn't like the press. The studio rolled him out, putting him on Letterman , Leno , and every cable talk show in America. So take a look who's on magazine covers and on talk shows giving those lengthy interviews between now and Feb. 13. You're gonna find a lot of Roberts, Crowe, and Michael Douglas, the star of Traffic.