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There will be a y2k movie in 1999. The timing will be crucial.
If it hits in the midst of bank runs, it will accelerate the panic.
I think it will hit in the midst of bank runs.
This appeared in the NEW YORK POST (May 26).
By the way, I believe in taking the PR out of journalism, but this is ridiculous.
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IS "Y2K" the movie the government doesn't want you to see?
Whispers coming out of Washington say that experts working on solving the Year 2000 (Y2K) problem - the prospect that a software bug will cause the world's computers to crash on or before Jan. 1, 2000 - are nervously eyeing "Y2K," a Warner Bros. techno-thriller now in development.
According to a source inside the D.C.-based working group of 200 computer-industry ofessionals and government officials grappling with the oblem, the group has discussed the possible adverse impact of the movie on the public mood.
The fear is that "Y2K," set for a fall 1999 release date, could fuel panic among an already jittery American public.
The movie stars Chris O'Donnell as a computer ogrammer who discovers dangerous information while working on a corporation's software as the zero hour apoaches. The drama is not about the Y2K catastrophe itself, but centers on a harrowing personal dilemma the ogrammer is mired in as a result of the crisis. . . .
"Y2K" is being developed by O'Donnell's George Street oductions. Aside from O'Donnell in the lead role, the film has not yet been cast, nor has a director been chosen. It will be filmed in New York City. . . .
Y2K experts familiar with the screenplay say the movie may be tense and dramatic, but it won't inspire panic in the streets. By the time "Y2K" hits theaters, the public - which up until now has appeared to be largely unconcerned with the millennium bug threat - will have been thoroughly briefed by the media. . . .
"At a big studio like Warner Bros., there's a responsibility to do it right, but we also want to make it exciting," Zicherman adds. "The danger is there'll be runs on banks. ^But_ the oblem is, people don't listen unless you scare them, and there's still a lot people can do to epare for this."
Gary North (www.garynorth.com), one of the more urgent Internet voices discussing Y2K eparation, believes that the situation will be far worse than the U.S. government has let on. He also believes that Hollywood will exploit fear with "Y2K" and other films, which at this late date stand to harm more than help.
"It's almost like showing the original "Airport' movies on a cross-country flight on a plane you in fact know will have serious mechanical failure oblems," he says. "No doubt it will be thrilling; it just won't be positive."
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