New movie delayed by hit song
John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John have been on display everywhere of late, from the cover of People magazine to “Good Morning America” and “The Tonight Show.”
What hasn’t been display is the movie they’re promoting: Two of a Kind, which just opened without the usual advance screenings. Twentieth Century Fox invited members of the nation’s press to see the film in New York last month, but then abruptly rescinded the invita tion sparking rumors that Two of a Kind is a dud.
Whatever its cinematic virtues, there was one good reason for not previewing the film: Fox wasn’t done with it.
The changes, involved “Twist of Fate,” a song from the current Newton-John album that originally played over the movie-closing credits. When the song caught fire on radio and MTV in mid-November, Fox decided to discard the film’s score by Academy Award-winning composer Bill Conti. Patrick Williams was commissioned to write a new score using “Twist of Fate” as the theme.
The song now plays throughout the film. It even found its way into Fox’s reworked ad campaign: “It took a twist of fate to make them two of a kind.”
The last-minute changes meant that final prints of the film weren’t available until this week, according to Jack Brodsky, executive vice presi dent of worldwide advertising. publicity and promotion for Fox.
“We had to face up (to the negative rumors),” he said.