Washed It!

Military and aviation officials say they don’t know who may have launched a mysterious object spotted in the sky late Monday off the Southern California coast, but said that whatever the projectile was, it did not pose a threat to national security.

A KCBS news helicopter spotted what appeared to be a missile traveling through the sky northwest of Catalina Island, about 35 miles west of Los Angeles.

Video posted online by the television station showed a luminous point hurtling through the sky followed by a long contrail.

Officials with the Defense Department, the Navy and the Air Force said did not have any details on the object or its launch site. Pentagon officials said that initial indications were that the military was not involved.

“We are aware of the unexplained contrail reported off the coast of Southern California yesterday evening,” according to a statement from the North American Aerospace Defense Command and the U.S. Northern Command, which operates the U.S. and Canadian missile warning system. “At this time, we are unable to provide specific details but we are working to determine the exact nature of this event.”

“We can confirm that there is no indication of any threat to our nation and we will provide more information as it becomes available,” the statement said.

The Federal Aviation Administration didn’t approve any commercial space launches in the area Monday, said spokesman Ian Gregor.

“We’re looking into this,” he said.

Updated at 9:55 a.m.: Naval Base Ventura County spokeswoman Teri Reid said the contrail seen off the Southern California coast Monday did not originate at Naval Air Station Point Mugu.

“It didn’t happen here,” she said. “There was no firing on the range yesterday.”

Nor was it Vandenberg Air Force Base, whose last launch was putting a satellite into orbit on Friday.
Mystery ‘missile’ launch near L.A. no threat to national security, government officials say

On a sticky June night just outside London, the magic finally came to an end for the cast and crew of the “Harry Potter” movies. After a decade together, the small army that has been the busiest in British filmmaking wrapped the final shoot of the last “Potter” production.

The green-screen scene featuring the now world-famous main characters — a trio of young fugitive wizards named Harry, Ron and Hermione — required actors Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint and Emma Watson to hurl themselves onto some off-camera mats to escape danger at the Ministry of Magic. It was an oddly slapstick finish for such a monumental franchise — but that didn’t sap the emotion of the moment.

“I admit it, I did cry like a little girl,” Radcliffe said, recalling the day. “There was a feeling that I had, that we all had, that it was the end of something very special.”

It’s doubtful that pop culture will ever see a phenomenon quite like this sprawling tale that for a decade cast a spell on the page, the screen and beyond. The fantasy epic begins its Hollywood fade-out Nov. 19 with the release of “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1″ and finishes next summer with the eighth film, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2.”

Both movies are poised to be global blockbusters — and may even earn the franchise its first nominations in marquee Academy Award categories — but the numbers posted by their predecessor films are extraordinary already. The six Warner Bros. movies released to date have pulled in $5.7 billion at theaters worldwide; home video adds an additional $1.3 billion. The seven novels from which they sprang, written by J.K. Rowling, account for 400 million books sold in 69 languages.

Then there’s a jaw-dropping $7 billion in retail products, a recently opened amusement attraction in Orlando, touring exhibits of props and costumes and plans for a permanent exhibit outside London.

Still, the true impact of the books and films may not be fully recognized for a decade or two. With ever-rising ticket prices, box-office records don’t stand for long, but no franchise has delivered anything close to eight films in 10 years.

P

roducer David Heyman and his team were able to keep their cast intact — including the young lead stars who started as adolescents and grew into young adults with millions in the bank, and no scandals. The movies arrived even as the audience for Rowling’s books grew, creating a unique synergistic effect. The “Potter” movies have earned Warner Bros. more than $1 billion in profit — and the admiration of industry rivals.

“The books and movies fed each other brilliantly to become these commercial tidal waves,” said veteran literary agent Ron Bernstein, of International Creative Management, who has no connection to the books or films.

Former Walt Disney Studios Chairman Dick Cook, who launched his own mega-franchise with “Pirates of the Caribbean,” agreed that “Harry Potter” has been a breed apart.

“It has unequivocally been the best-managed franchise that we’ve ever seen, top to bottom,” he said. “The movies have been terrific and Warner Bros. managed to position each one as a worldwide event. Each movie has been unique and built on the last one and the anticipation has never been better. They’ve honored the source material and done everything right.”

And, unlike, say, “The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, the “Potter” movies adapted a living, breathing literary sensation whose ending was unknown. Rowling would visit the set and sometimes whisper to actors hints of their characters’ destiny, but screenwriter Steve Kloves, who penned seven of the eight scripts, said no one really knew how everything would conclude.

The entire exercise, he said, was a “10-year tightrope walk … and something that will be never be done again for the simple reason that you won’t see another Jo Rowling come along.”

Lucky break

The rags-to-riches story of Rowling seems as unreal as the world of dragons and goblins she created. Joanne Kathleen Rowling (“J.K.” was manufactured by a publishing executive who thought a gender-neutral author name might sell more books to boys) was a single mom in Edinburgh, getting by with the help of welfare, when she finished “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone,” her first novel.

In late 1997, a copy of the book found its way to Heyman’s London office but ended up on a shelf for low-priority leads. A curious secretary took it home for the weekend. Her enthusiasm prompted Heyman to get past what he has called “that rubbish title,” and the story captured his imagination.

“The funny thing is with all of the magic, all of the wizardry, what really makes the ‘Harry Potter’ stories work are the characters,” he said. “The fantastical elements and the action are wonderful, but the characters are what people remember.”

Heyman sent the book to his friend and fellow Brit Lionel Wigram, a production executive at Warner Bros., to gauge the studio’s interest. Wigram said some in Burbank questioned the viability of the creaky fantasy-adventure genre and viewed the tale of a magical boarding school called Hogwarts as too British for the American heartland. “Don’t spend too much on it,” was the word from the home office, Wigram recalled.

Warner Bros. secured the rights for four “Harry Potter” novels for about $2 million. At that point, only the first book was on shelves in England and none had reached America. Warner Bros. tried to get a financial partner on the project, reaching out to studios including Steven Spielberg’s DreamWorks, which passed.

The end nears for ‘Harry Potter’ on film

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Throughout the new film “I’m Still Here,” Joaquin Phoenix insists he’s done with movies — acting, the Oscar-nominated “Gladiator” and “Walk the Line” star says, is “fraudulent” and “misery to me” — as he tries to rock the mike in his new calling as a hip-hop performer.

Now it looks as if Phoenix is backing away from his “I’m retired” pronouncement.

Several producers have said in recent days that they have been approached by Phoenix’s talent agents about their client’s return to movie roles. Though no deals have been announced, the preliminary conversations suggest that Phoenix could be in front of cameras soon — and not just as a guest next week on “Late Show With David Letterman,” the scene of Phoenix’s infamous monosyllabic appearance in February 2009.

Over the last several weeks, Phoenix has been offered parts in the upcoming movies “The Raven,” “The Sitter” and “The Avengers,” according to someone who works closely with the actor, but he turned them down because they weren’t the right fit. Like the producers, the person asked not to be named so as not to jeopardize future work with Phoenix.

Separately, two women who worked in prominent positions on “I’m Still Here” who had sued director Casey Affleck, alleging sexual harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress have settled their lawsuits against the filmmakers, a spokeswoman for Affleck and a lawyer for the women said Monday.

Throughout the making of the film and in the run-up to its release Friday, Hollywood debated whether the movie was an authentic documentary about an artist at a professional crossroads or a contrived piece of performance art. Critics and audiences have argued over the endeavor’s authenticity, but both Phoenix and Affleck have insisted that it was not a prank.

Phoenix, who appears disheveled, bloated, cavorting with prostitutes and snorting what appears to be cocaine in “I’m Still Here,” has gotten himself back in physical shape. In contrast to his yeti-like appearance in the film, Phoenix showed up last week at the Venice Film Festival well-groomed, slimmer and wearing a closely tailored suit — looking like a movie star, in other words. Several executives who had been interested in casting Phoenix said that they had little doubt he would work again.

Phoenix’s talent agent, WME’s Patrick Whitesell, has been open to discussions about roles for the actor, according to one executive who asked not to be named. The talent agency, which never completely stopped pitching Phoenix during his apparent stint as a rapper, declined to comment.

“I’m Still Here” opened to mediocre box-office business of $97,000 in 19 locations Friday. It goes into wider release this weekend in about 110 locations and will be available through distributor Magnolia Pictures’ video-on-demand outlets Sept. 24.

Studios had not given up on Phoenix even during the filming of “I’m Still Here,” which purports to trace Phoenix’s attempts to get people to take his career switch seriously. “This is me changing my life in front of your eyes,” Phoenix says to some friends at one point in the film. “I want to leave something special on earth.”

In one scene in the movie, Ben Stiller shows up during the casting of Focus Features’ offbeat love story “Greenberg” to see if Phoenix would be interested in a starring role. (The meeting does not go well, with Phoenix insulting Stiller and his blockbuster comedy “There’s Something About Mary.”) And there had been interest in casting the actor in at least one other art house movie, and likely more, in the latter half of 2009 and the early part of 2010. But nothing came of the talks, executives said.

Phoenix’s last feature film role was in 2008’s “Two Lovers,” a drama with Gwyneth Paltrow that started filming in late 2007. It was during the promotion of the movie, which was released in U.S. theaters in February 2009, that Phoenix appeared on Letterman’s talk show, where his unkempt appearance and disjointed mumblings turned the interview into a YouTube blockbuster.

In the film, Phoenix describes the appearance as a fiasco. “I’m so stupid,” he says. “I’m just going to be a joke forever.”

Phoenix skipped the film’s screenings at the Toronto International Film Festival in recent days, as did Affleck (although both attended the world premiere in Venice). The director said in a statement read aloud by Toronto co-director Cameron Bailey on Friday that the film had been subjected to a “misguided and surprisingly reductive debate in the press.” Affleck declined to be interviewed.

In July, two key crew members on “I’m Still Here” filed lawsuits against Affleck and his company, Flemmy Productions, accusing the director of sexual harassment and inflicting emotional distress.

Producer Amanda White alleged that Affleck breached his verbal agreement to pay her $50,000 after months of work on the film, also describing in detail how she was “forced to endure uninvited and unwelcome sexual advances in the workplace.” Among White’s claims: that Affleck hired transvestite prostitutes “for his personal gratification” during filming, referred to women as “cows,” manhandled her when she rejected his sexual advances and instructed a camera operator to flash his genitals at her on several occasions. She was seeking a $2-million settlement.

In a separate action, cinematographer Magdalena Gorka sued Affleck and Flemmy, claiming she was subjected to a “near daily barrage of sexual comments, innuendo and unwelcome advances” by crew members, encouraged by Affleck. In that suit, Gorka described awaking one night to find the director in bed with his arm around her “caressing her back, his face was within inches of hers and his breath reek[ing] of alcohol.” She was seeking $2.5 million in damages.

In a motion filed with the court in July, an attorney for Affleck, Martin Singer, said White “concocted this fabricated sexual harassment lawsuit over a year after she failed in her devious attempt [to] extort a better production deal.” Brian Procel, the attorney representing both Gorka and White, declined to comment for this story. Singer did not respond to requests for comment.

In a statement released Monday by Affleck’s spokeswoman, the parties said the lawsuits “have been resolved to the mutual satisfaction of the parties” and are being dismissed.

steve.zeitchik@latimes.com

john.horn@latimes.com

Zeitchik reported from Toronto; Horn reported from Los Angeles.

Times staff writer Chris Lee contributed reporting to this report.

Joaquin Phoenix is still here (and may be available for film roles)

Richard J. Bing of La Ca

Authorities said eight people were killed and 10 injured when a driver racing in the California 200 desert race in Lucerne Valley lost control of his off-roader, which went airborne and landed on top of spectators. The driver, who was uninjured, and seven of the eight people killed were identified Sunday by officials.

The driver “got airborne and, when he landed, rolled over straight into the spectators,” said Officer Joaquin Zubieta of the California Highway Patrol, the agency investigating the deadly crash. “People didn’t have much of a chance … to get out of the way.”

Six spectators died at the scene. Nine others were airlifted to local hospitals, two of whom died later in the evening, Zubieta said. Of those hurt, five sustained major injuries and five had minor injuries, officials said. Brett M. Sloppy, of San Marcos, was the driver of the truck, according to Zubieta.