‘Avon Ladies’ Calling

Long before the surprise box-office bonanza of Paramount Pictures’ “The First Wives Club,” Bette Midler and Diane Keaton had individually indicated interest in a project that had slipped through the cracks at United Artists. Now, eager to follow up on the chemistry and commerce generated by “Wives,” which has grossed $105 million, they recently decided to team up on the UA venture--with Goldie Hawn also on board.

“Avon Ladies of the Amazon,” the story of a middle-aged cruise passenger stranded in the jungle, was developed at the studio by producers Susan Arnold and Donna Roth (“Unstrung Heroes”). How to expand the number of protagonists has not been determined, they point out. Nor have any deals been signed.

Still, UA seems poised to be the first to capitalize on a wildly successful formula that was developed at a rival studio.

“Things are still in the talking stage, but we’re all operating in good faith,” Arnold said. “The script lay dormant for a couple of years but the interest of these three seems to have turned things around.”

United Artists declined to comment until the project is firmed up. The story, inspired by a November 1993 People magazine article about the growing market for Avon products in Brazil, was written for the screen by Jane Anderson (“The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom”). The project was developed under former UA president and current Sony chief John Calley. Executive vice president Rebecca Pollack-Parker oversaw the screenplay from its inception.

When rumblings started circulating about Calley’s departure, the project was put into turnaround, made available to other studios if costs were reimbursed. UA still had the right of first refusal, however, if any of the key components like the stars, director, etc., had changed. Since the option on the People story was about to expire, the studio had a decision to make. Unless newly appointed UA President Lindsay Doran reactivated the project--which she did shortly before Christmas--UA would own the screenplay without the rights to the story that triggered it.

In the original project--described as a “Romancing the Stone”-type comedy-adventure--the disembarked passenger gets caught in a restroom when her long nails complicate the task of opening the door. By the time she’s able to free herself, the ship has already sailed. Making the best of a bad situation, she becomes an Avon lady, in the jungle.

“There’s a lot of room for physical comedy from these three,” Roth said. “But the movie also takes a look at what it is that makes a woman feel beautiful or, to use a dated term ‘special.’ It’s the perfect vehicle for three actresses with comic flair who possess a lot of humanity.”

Still, the fact that Paramount was the studio responsible for “First Wives Club” loomed large.

“No one wanted to upset [Paramount Motion Picture Chairman] Sherry Lansing,” said Bonnie Bruckheimer, Midler’s producing partner. “But our agents and lawyers assured us that we were reuniting the same group of girls rather than stealing anything. There was no reason to miss out on an opportunity like this when it was clearly not a sequel.”

Lansing, for her part, downplays the development.

“I’m thrilled at the success of our movie--and of the ladies themselves,” she said. “I hope they make 20 movies together and individually--one of which I know will be the sequel to ‘First Wives Club.’ We’ve been meeting with writers, adopting a tough approach so that this one will be as good as or better than the first. In the last week or so, we’ve honed in on some ideas we like--but, in any case, there’s no race.”

Sources say that “First Wives” producer Scott Rudin has indicated he would move ahead on a sequel only if the project is up to the standards of the original. Among the writers under consideration, Olivia Goldsmith, author of the original novel, is said to have the inside track.

Bruckheimer observes that “Grumpy Old Men” and the sequel were made at Warner Bros. while Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau are appearing in “Out to Sea” at Fox--a point with which Lansing agrees.

“These actresses may be teaming up but they’re not playing Elise, Brenda and Annie--their characters in ‘First Wives Club,’ ” she said. “Faulting them for that is like saying that Paul Newman and Robert Redford shouldn’t have worked together after ‘Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.’ I’m expecting to work with Bette and Goldie and Diane on many more movies--maybe one about us in old age homes.”

On the face of it, the prospective “Avon Ladies” and their colleagues make for a cozy group--one whose roots go back quite a way. Bruckheimer worked with Teri Schwartz, Hawn’s producing partner, on 1988’s “Beaches.” Roth and Arnold produced Keaton’s acclaimed 1995 directorial debut, “Unstrung Heroes,” after which they showed her the “Avon” script. And Midler, if all goes well, will finally be chewing on a screenplay of Anderson’s of whom she’s been a fan for years.

Early next week, however, reality intervenes as they gather to hammer out details. In the wake of “First Wives,” scripts have been pouring in and the actresses’ asking price has undoubtedly gone up. The budget on “Avon” could well be above that of their first outing, which was said to be in the low $20-million range.

“Compared to John Travolta and Jim Carrey, however, these actresses are virtually free,” said Bill Robinson, president of Blue Relief, Keaton’s production company. “That’s what’s so sick about this industry. I suspect that one of the reasons this script sat on the shelf at UA is that they were afraid to open a movie with a middle-aged woman at its core. ‘First Wives Club’ only got off the ground because it had three great comedians instead of one. With the exception of Sherry Lansing who fought for years to get the movie made, executives don’t know anything about anything.”

It’s ironic, adds Robinson, that media attention is now focused on a purported competition between “Avon Ladies” and a “First Wives” sequel, just as they’ve been tracking the progress of Fox’s “Volcano” and Universal’s “Dante’s Peak.”

“That signifies a bit of justice in a world where Oscar-winning actresses are still getting a fraction of what they deserve,” he said. “There’s an audience out there for more than mindless action films.”