Did Clint Eastwood's RNC empty-chair routine cause trouble for 'Curve'?

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This film image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Clint Eastwood, left, and Justin Timberlake in a scene from "Trouble with the Curve." The film, about an aging and ailing baseball scout, will be released on Sept. 21. (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Pictures, Keith Bernstein)

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - A week after Clint Eastwood's appearance before the Republican National Convention, mocking continues about the Hollywood veteran's peculiar, rambling conversation with an imaginary President Barack Obama in an empty chair, raising the question: Will his latest film also be playing to empty seats when it debuts later this month?

Eastwood's nearly 12-minute-long speech, partially directed to an invisible Obama, has fired up a social media meme that shows no signs of cooling. It includes the popular (hashtag)Eastwooding and the (at)InvisbleObama account on Twitter, as well as jokey videos of the infamous seat hosting a press conference and a montage of empty chairs plopped into Eastwood film scenes.

While such ridicule plays well online, it could prove disastrous at the box office when "Trouble With the Curve" opens nationwide Sept. 21. The film stars Eastwood as a past-his-prime baseball scout for the Atlanta Braves who's accompanied by his lawyer daughter, played by "The Fighter" actress Amy Adams, on a last-chance scouting trip to North Carolina.

"If you're a Clint Eastwood fan, my guess is you'll probably still go to see the movie," said S. Mark Young, co-author of "The Mirror Effect: How Celebrity Narcissism is Seducing America" and professor at the University of Southern California's Marshall School of Business. "If you're not, you might be very disappointed with what's become of Clint."

The movie, which also stars Justin Timberlake as a rival scout, is directed by Eastwood collaborator, Robert Lorenz, and is being distributed by Warner Bros. A studio spokeswoman declined to comment if the film's marketing campaign would be tweaked in light of Eastwood's odd convention appearance. He's still expected to attend the film's junket and premiere.

Leonard Hirshan, Eastwood's longtime manager, said the 82-year-old actor-director would likely appear on one talk show to promote the film. He wasn't sure which one. Hirshan didn't originally know Eastwood was planning to appear at the convention in Tampa, Fla. He noted Eastwood doesn't employ a personal representative and usually "chooses to do what he wants to do."

Although he's been a Hollywood staple, Eastwood has never conformed to Hollywood standards. He's a flag-waving Republican, a fiscal conservative who takes left-leaning stands on social issues like gay marriage. He made waves with right-wingers earlier this year when he starred in a Super Bowl spot for Chrysler, a company that benefited from government support.

Despite the continued roasting of Eastwood's RNC shenanigans online, Young of USC said moviegoers are often extremely forgiving of such bizarre, broadcast-for-the-masses moments. He cited Tom Cruise as an example. Cruise still draws crowds to theatres even after he wildly jumped on Oprah Winfrey's couch and called Matt Lauer "glib" on the "Today" show.

"Unless someone has done something truly egregious, people are still going to go to the movies," said Young. "If people go to see 'Trouble With the Curve,' it's probably not because they side or don't side with Clint's political beliefs. They're going to go to be entertained, whether they like movies about baseball or just the stuff that Eastwood has done in the past."

Moviegoers aren't the only audience Eastwood might have to worry about following his divisive speech supporting Mitt Romney. There's also left-leaning Hollywood. Eastwood's "Trouble With the Curve" performance has already been bandied about as an awards contender. Could his empty-chair act have undermined Eastwood's chances at capturing more Oscars?

"What he did is not going to help him, but it's certainly not going to harm him either," said Scott Feinberg, awards analyst and blogger for The Hollywood Reporter. "The fallout and embarrassment from what he did is probably punishment enough for Clint. Ultimately, I don't think his 11-minute speech can undo his 50-plus-year legacy in Hollywood."

Feinberg noted that actors like Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln," Joaquin Phoenix in "The Master," John Hawkes in "The Sessions" and Denzel Washington in "Flight" were already considered more likely front-runners for best actor nods before Eastwood ever began chatting with an invisible Obama. It also wouldn't be the first time he was passed over.

Eastwood, who won best picture and director Academy Awards for 1992's "Unforgiven" and 2004's "Million Dollar Baby," hasn't received Oscar love since 2007, when "Letters from Iwo Jima" was nominated for the same prizes. He wasn't up for those categories earlier this year for "J. Edgar" or for 2008's "Gran Torino," which he starred in as well as directed.

"This may actually have the reverse effect and cause sympathy for him," said Tom O'Neil, editor of the awards site GoldDerby.com. "The Oscars are all about hugs — who we love and who we don't in Hollywood. There was something endearing about him taking a chance up there and embracing his politics. It took guts. That's kinda what you expect from Dirty Harry."

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Online:

http://troublewiththecurve.warnerbros.com/

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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Derrik J. Lang on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/derrikjlang.