"The Tourist" Movie

[John Stone]

Travel agents and industry media might want to watch for the Dec. 10 wide release of "The Tourist," the movie starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. Romance-mystery, filmed in Paris and mostly Venice. Depp goes to Italy on vacation, falls for Jolie who has an ex-boyfiend with a criminal past, and the couple gets predictably pursued by the bad guys. But plot twists are promised and it sounds like the star power, the filming locations and the movie title could give this a lot of holiday season buzz. Depp and Jolie usually mean big box office receipts from the get-go, and if the film is any good this could take off.

Wanna invite your best local high-end travel clients to the movies for a holiday season night out? This might be the one to take them to.

PG-13 rating. Here's a summary and a trailer:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1243957/

[John Stone]

The destination publicity photos for The Tourist look great. Angelina Jolie and Johnny Depp stepping off a boat with the majestic panorama of the Grand Canal in the background is not a bad image for a travel agent to display when trying to sell trips to Italy. I heard on NPR radio this morning that the Brits are counting on next year's royal wedding to boost London tourism. Americans love star power and there is something to be said for linking stars (Prince William qualifies) to attractive destinations for getting Americans to go there.

[David Lawrence]

Sounds like fun John. Anything with Angelina is fun. Lots more fun to see her in the movies than on supermarket magazine covers with her 8 or whatever kids.