Kubrick's Swan Song Previewed

With an eye-opening 90-second teaser that featured more explicit nude footage of Nicole Kidman than the entire Broadway run of The Blue Room, Warner Bros. unveiled the first glimpse of Stanley Kubrick's final film Eyes Wide Shut on Wednesday.

The footage, which consisted of a passionate make-out scene between Kidman and husband Tom Cruise, was shown to movie theater owners during their annual ShoWest convention.

The event was presided over by WB Co-Chairman Terry Semel, who nearly broke down while introducing the Kubrick trailer. "Last Tuesday, [fellow Co-Chairman] Bob Daly, Nicole, Tom and I had the extraordinary pleasure of seeing Stanley's final cut in New York City," Semel said. "We were blown away."

Semel described it as the exploration of sexual obsession of a married couple. Though word of the screening led to speculation that the film might have difficulty at ratings time, Semel assured the exhibitors, "This will clearly be a film that will be rated R, with a great story and performances that are truly electrifying."

Semel, who'd spoken with Kubrick hours before the director's death on Sunday, got emotional when he spoke of the sudden death. Ever the perfectionist, Kubrick prepared the teaser just for ShoWest and gave Semel explicit direction on exactly how to introduce it.

Written by Dan Cox and Michael Fleming, Variety