Let’s clear up a couple of misconceptions here.
First of all: The Scientologists did not pay for this movie. That’s a bit of Internet scare lore; instead of believing what I read in e-mail, I actually look at the trades, so I know what I’m talking about. I won’t say anything else about the relative merits of the CoS organization, but they are not responsible for the financing of Battlefield Earth.
The prime financial backer for this purported turkey is Elie Samaha. He’s one of those wanna-be producers who has flitted around the edges of Hollywood for many years; his filmography up until a couple of years ago included such direct-to-video snoozers as The Peacekeeper (the one with Dolph Lundgren, not the similarly-titled flick starring George Clooney) and Scar City. He got a little notice for the indie flick 20 Dates, in which his wife, Tia Carrere, makes an appearance; he’s the voice of the irate producer chewing out the director. (And no, it wasn’t acting.) Read Ebert’s review for more info on 20 Dates: http://www.suntimes.com/ebert/ebert_reviews/1999/03/031201.html
Lately, simply by dint of his persistence and international financial connections, he’s been able to rack up some more significant deals. He put together the financing for the Bruce Willis comedy The Whole Nine Yards, for example, and he’s also backing the Sly Stallone remake of Get Carter as well as Steve Buscemi’s second directorial outing Animal Factory.
Who is he? Just another Eurotrash money man, like Menachem Golan in the 80’s. He’s got a shingle at Warner Brothers, Franchise Entertainment, which is the money front for Battlefield Earth. If the movie makes money, the Scientologists won’t directly collect any profits, although they will, as always, be able to raid Travolta’s bank account for a big chunk of his share. And they may pick up some fringe dollars from people who go read the book as a result of the movie, and then check out Hubbard’s other work. But by far the man who stands to gain the most is Samaha.
And no: He is not, repeat not, a Scientologist.
Now: As far as the movie’s quality, it has extremely poor buzz, CoS issues aside. For a raft of ordinary-Joe advance-screening reports, check out this link: http://www.aint-it-cool-news.com/display.cgi?id=5915
I’ll be there, though, regardless of the extremely negative advance word, because, well, because I see everything. If you want to see it also, but you’re worried about the tiny risk of supporting the Scientologists, then do what I do: Go to a big multiplex, and buy a ticket for another movie starting about the same time, preferably a smaller movie that needs the support (e.g. Time Code, or The Big Kahuna). Then, after they wave you through the gate, go see the movie you’re there for. (For example, when I saw Wild Wild West, it was Summer of Sam that got my money.)
so…