'Titanic' Heads for Small Towns

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Residents of a handful of tiny towns where ``Titanic'' still hasn't played will soon have a chance to find out what the fuss is about. Despite a colossal run of 4,200 prints, the big boat has yet to dock in a handful of hamlets such as Lake City, Iowa -- population 1,841. Films reach the nation's smallest towns only after prints begin coming off screens in major market multiplexes. That typically takes two to six weeks, but in the case of the wildly successful ``Titanic,'' it has stretched to over three months. Paramount has decided to mint about 50 fresh prints of ``Titanic,'' which will enable the film to make its way to smaller towns.

-- Dan Draghici (ddraghic@sprint.ca), March 28, 1998