Late-night reruns put damper on movie campaigns

By Steven Zeitchik and Leslie Simmons

NEW YORK (Hollywood Reporter) - For film publicists who rely on the oxygen of late-night television to breathe life into their campaigns, the Writers Guild of America strike has been a punch to the gut.

Television networks this week have been busy tallying production casualties, but on the movies side, the studios have begun counting a different toll: lost bookings.

A fall season already difficult because of a crowded release calendar just became even more challenging. Movies due for release on Friday -- "Lions for Lambs," "Fred Claus" and "No Country for Old Men" -- will now join a scramble for other, sometimes less optimal, television slots.

They'll also be forced to seek out such shorter lead-time outlets as newspapers and radio.

Nearly every day in the coming weeks will bring a new victim. On Tuesday, for instance, MGM's "Lambs" lost a "Tonight Show With Jay Leno" booking for Meryl Streep.

"Late-night shows are cornerstones of a good campaign because a late-night audience is a moviegoing audience," said Amanda Lundberg, an independent publicist who is working on MGM's "Lambs" campaign. "And there is no replacement for the charisma of the actors reminding us why we like them."

Lundberg noted that on "Lambs," coverage from "Larry King Live," "Good Morning America" and Time magazine are filling the void -- somewhat.

And while specialty movies tend to rely less on the late-night bang, the strike has made few distinctions between size or type of picture.