Parlez Vous Box-Office Hit?

How’s this for cultural exchange: We provided the French with Jerry Lewis; they’ve provided a bunch of good films to be remade. The latest, “Fathers’ Day,” arrives Friday. The stars, Billy Crystal and Robin Williams, had wanted to star in a film together for more than a decade. The two comedians even tried writing a screenplay from scratch, to no avail. Then Crystal saw “Les Comperes,” the 1984 French film that inspired the American version, directed by Ivan Reitman. Williams and Crystal play former boyfriends of a woman (Nastassja Kinski) who tricks them into searching for her runaway son. Despite the high-voltage pairing of the “Comedy Relief” partners, they’re working in a genre that hasn’t always resulted in sure-fire hits. To be sure, there are dollars (and francs) to be mined in remakes and adaptations of Gallic movies. The recent Tim Allen comedy, “Jungle 2 Jungle,” inspired by the hit “Little Indian, Big City,” has grossed nearly $54 million domestically, while one of last year’s biggest hits, “The Birdcage,” a remake of the award-winning farce “La Cage aux Folles,” took in $124 million. Similarly, “Nine Months,” a 1995 comedy starring Hugh Grant that was based on the French film “Neuf Mois,” took in $69.7 million, while Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1994 action film, “True Lies,” based on the French movie “La Totale,” earned $146.3 million in North America. But star power is no guarantee of success. Take Sharon Stone. The blond actress appeared in two remakes that flopped in the United States. “Diabolique,” based on the classic thriller “Les Diaboliques,” grossed only $17.1 million domestically, and “Intersection,” based on a French movie called “Les Choses de la Vie,” took in $20.5 million despite the added draw of Richard Gere. Ted Danson has seen both success and failure. Adapted from the Oscar-nominated “Three Men and a Cradle,” the 1987 comedy “3 Men and a Baby” starring Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg and Danson, grossed $167.8 million. But Danson also starred in the 1989 misfire, “Cousins” ($21.7 million), an Americanized version of the French hit “Cousin, Cousine.” Meanwhile, “Blame It on Rio” starring Michael Caine, a 1984 remake of “One Wild Moment,” grossed only $18.6 million domestically. In that case, they couldn’t blame it on France.

TV Execs Start Spreading the News

The television industry’s annual exodus to New York begins this week, as the networks begin setting prime-time schedules for next season. Top-rated NBC starts the ball rolling by officially announcing its lineup next Monday, but the real politicking will take place this week as network brass convene with studio officials to determine what shows make the cut. Many seemingly indistinguishable comedies--”The Naked Truth” (starring Tea Leoni), “Fired Up,” etc.--hang in the balance, while the network decides whether to renew those shows or gamble on new ones. NBC’s lineup will doubtless influence how rivals configure their schedules, with ABC, Fox and CBS to unveil their program rosters the week of May 19. The timing of NBC’s announcement also means the clock is ticking on negotiations with the supporting stars of “Seinfeld,” who want lucrative deals to return next season. Though some would say securing television’s top-rated show is worth practically any price, sources say there’s fear in network circles that setting the bar too high will establish a precedent in future negotiations--the same concern that arose in the movie world when Jim Carrey was paid $20 million to star in “The Cable Guy.” For the next two weeks, at least, it’s the TV guys who’ll be having those Maalox moments.

Would Austin Powers Find Them Fab?

The Chemical Brothers, one of the stars of the new wave of British dance music, will have another chance to show if they’re worthy of all the attention that has been focused on them in recent months when they perform Saturday at the 5,000-capacity Shrine Expo Hall, which was about 80% sold out late last week. The record industry, looking for ways to jump-start still-stagnant U.S. sales, has been closely watching the progress of the team of Tom Rowlands and Ed Simons since last fall, when MTV pointed to the twosome and the English group Prodigy in announcing that the cable channel was going to expand its playlist to include more of the digitally produced dance music that has made both groups so popular in their homeland. The Chemical Brothers’ latest album, “Dig Your Own Hole,” got off to an impressive start last month when it debuted at No. 14 on the Billboard sales chart. It has since dropped out of the Top 40, but sales--110,000 copies in three weeks--remain promising. Meanwhile, the duo’s live show has received mixed notices on its U.S. tour. “This skeptic surrendered to a sound that moves the feet and massages the mind,” wrote a reviewer for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. But the Chicago Tribune noted: “The Chemical Brothers created electronica that approached the bombast of arena rock . . . [but] with little variation between or within songs . . . the grooves quickly grew tiresome.” Prodigy begins its North American tour May 26 in Toronto, reaching the Mayan Theatre in Los Angeles on May 28. The group’s album is due in early summer.