Teen Flicks Rule By Sharon Waxman Washington Post Staff Writer Friday, April 16, 1999; Page A1

Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Reese Witherspoon and Selma Blair star in "Cruel Intentions." (Columbia TriStar)

It is everywhere. "Cruel Intentions." "Varsity Blues." "She's All That." It is unstoppable. "Never Been Kissed." "The Mod Squad." "10 Things I Hate About You." "Go."

Oh insidious youth. Or, as the trailer from an upcoming teen knockoff puts it, "There's something about . . . being young."

The babysitters' club has a panoply of choices. Mock horror. Black comedy. Adolescent romance. Pimple-faced drama.

For the over-25 set? There's "EDtv." And then there's regular TV.

But for the newly pubescent there's no end to the selections. There are films with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Neve Campbell and Katie Holmes. Or they feature Julia Stiles or Reese Witherspoon or Claire Danes or Drew Barrymore, at least two of whom are the same person. They star actors with names like Ryan and Elijah and Devon, they employ people with vaguely familiar faces from television shows you probably never watch ("Buffy the Vampire Slayer," "Dawson's Creek," "Party of Five").

Oh yes, and there are more to come, all through the summer ("American Pie," "Idle Hands," "Dick") and deep into the fall ("Three to Tango," "Killing Mrs. Tingle"). And in December, "Scream 3."

The ads for these films have the air of the ominously familiar: eight or nine or 10 or so slouching, scowling, stooping, glowering, pierced, posing, navel-exposing teenagers. Or the same number of maniacally, relentlessly and herbally ecstatic teenagers.

"I don't think there's any saturation point with these movies," says Paul Degarabedian of Exhibitor Relations Co., which tracks the box office. "It's the nature of teen habits, the way they get their entertainment. If they like something they'll see it over and over again. . . . It's a safety zone: 'I like this kind of movie. It speaks to me.' "

Frightening words.

Here is Hollywood's current idea of a winning plot line: The Devil takes over the hand of a high school student, who can't stop making mischief ("Idle Hands"). And this: A popular high school student isn't allowed to date until her older renegade sister does ("10 Things"). And this: Two high school students get lost on a tour of the Nixon White House and become infatuated with the president ("Dick"). And: A high school student plots revenge against a teacher who gave her a bad grade ("Killing Mrs. Tingle").

Memo to studio executives: Doesn't anyone ever graduate?

There is similar fare from the more highbrow art houses: "O" from Miramax is "Othello" in a high school. "Get Real," the first release from the fledgling Paramount Classics, is about a 16-year-old gay student in Basingstoke, England. "Election," according to the Paramount news release, tells us that "a high school election goes awry when the student government advisor decides to sabotage the campaign of an overachieving student."

Guess who's in it? Reese Witherspoon!

In fact, even those making the teen movies are afraid there might be too many. "It's kind of unfortunate that there's a glut of bad teen movies out there," says Doug Liman, director of "Go," an R-rated film about a group of completely amoral teenagers on a life-risking weekend bender. Critics liked the film, but it earned only $4.7 million when it opened last weekend. (Still, the film cost just $7 million.)

The ads for "Go" show a group of sneering teens in black leather jackets, but Liman says that's going to change. "The nature of the ad campaign was to find a way of making it like the other teen movies out there. That was [the studio's] marketing idea – they thought it would be effective." The new campaign, he says, will try to distinguish it from the teen pack, emphasizing the movie's "really interesting, wild story. It's not a teen comedy," he stresses.

Either way, Columbia Pictures, the studio releasing the film, isn't concerned. It has plenty of other teen pics. "Right now you've got a lot of kids available to the moviegoing audience, because it's spring break, they're out of school," says Ed Russell, Columbia's executive vice president for publicity. "These movies are doing a decent business."

And what a business it is. Unknown actors! Little-known directors! Minimal sets and almost no special effects! "She's All That," starring Freddie Prinze Jr. and Rachel Leigh Cook (who?), cost less than $10 million to make and took in $61 million at the box office. "Cruel Intentions" cost $12 million to make, and has so far brought in $30 million. Even "The Faculty," which no one thought was very good, took in $40 million. It cost less than $15 million to make.

How did we get to this state of affairs? It all started a couple of years ago when the horror film "Scream" became a surprise monster hit in December 1996. It starred Neve Campbell, David Arquette and a bunch of other little-known actors, but became a repeat draw that ended up grossing $103 million. "Scream 2" immediately followed and did just as well, earning $101 million. Quick to spot a trend, studio executives across the Land of Hollywood swiftly threw their money at just about any teen script that crossed their desks.

They have lots of statistics on their side. The Motion Picture Association of America reported last month that moviegoers age 12 to 24 account for 38 percent of theater admissions. (The over-the-hill crowd – those 25 to 39 – were 27 percent of the audience; senior citizens – moviegoers older than 40 – were 35 percent.) Similarly, the Los Angeles Times conducted a poll in February that found 59 percent of people 18 to 29 had seen at least one movie in the previous month. But only 38 percent of the 30-to-44-year-olds had done so, and a mere 29 percent of the 45-to-64-year-olds.

Says Degarabedian: "I don't know if anyone wants to try very hard" to make movies for the over-30 crowd. "There's a conception that the audiences won't come out."

Clearly this does not bode well for those who can legally drive to the multiplex. Question: Will there be movies for them?

"Come fall you'll see a lot more," says Russell, trying to reassure. One or two, certainly. But in the meantime, his studio has just signed a deal to make "Charlie's Angels." Not with Farrah Fawcett, of course; with Cameron Diaz and – you guessed it – Drew Barrymore.