Um, I know I should be happy, but this just means a longer wait for caps :( Paramount to repackage ``Wonder Boys'' By Claude Brodesser HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Not ready to admit defeat, Paramount Pictures will re-release Michael Douglas' "Wonder Boys" this October with a new marketing campaign that will emphasize its entire cast and positive reviews. It's a two-pronged effort to snare Oscar nominations and reignite public interest, said Robert Friedman, Paramount's vice chairman. ``Nobody here was overwhelmed by the grosses when compared with the critical response,'' said Friedman. ``So we thought, 'Why not try something else?''' ``Wonder Boys'' brought in a meager $18.7 million earlier this year -- leaving many in the media scratching their pates. With a raft of glowing reviews and a clutch of Oscar winners like Curtis Hanson (shooting his first picture since ``L.A. Confidential'') -- coupled with stars Douglas and Frances McDormand -- why didn't ``Wonder Boys'' do better at the box office? Asked if he felt Paramount's marketing of the picture failed to connect with its intended audience, Friedman replied curtly, ``That's your opinion.'' The Wall Street Journal's Joe Morgenstern praised Douglas' work in the movie, but slighted Paramount's marketing: ''a raffishly eccentric role, and he's never been so appealing. (Don't be put off by the movie's cryptic poster, which makes him look like Michael J. Pollard.)'' And the Los Angeles Times' Kenneth Turan singled out its one-sheet for scorn: ``The film's ad poster brings Elmer Fudd to mind.'' While the new print campaign will give more prominence to co-star Tobey Maguire (after his star turn in Miramax's ``The Cider House Rules'' he seems to be up for virtually every role in Hollywood these days), ``Wonder Boys'' will now have one thing going for it this time that it lacked the last: those gushing reviews. ``It's going to be a 'Cider House' effort to get them in the door. Tobey didn't get them to come. Charlize (Theron) didn't, and the story didn't. 'Cider House' used its reviews,'' said one Paramount insider, ``and that's what we've got to use here. If that doesn't work, then we can stop kidding ourselves.'' Reuters/Variety

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