Planet crashes

Planet Hollywood has served its last blockbuster meal at the foot of the CN Tower on Front St. W., closed for lack of business even after dodging the bankruptcy suffered by the star-studded shareholders of its original parent company. The ribbon cutting by Charlie Sheen and Wesley Snipes in October 1996 was followed by a grand opening event in February 1997 that featured Bruce Willis and Tom Arnold – along with Al "Grandpa Munster" Lewis, who’s managed to outlive Toronto’s appetite for the formerly potent combination of big-screen props and overpriced burgers. Arnold Schwarzenegger also dropped by to inspect the premises in those halcyon days. Remember when Planet Hollywood could make the papers just because Due South star Paul Gross dropped by to dedicate a mountie mannequin? Or the time when Jonathan Taylor Thomas plugged his latest flick amidst teenybopper pandemonium? How about the time Robert Duvall made the effort to dedicate restaurant memorabilia from The Apostle? Paul Stanley strutting through the doors to dedicate a Phantom of the Opera guitar? Bruce Willis returning to host a party for his doomed adaptation of the Kurt Vonnegut novel Breakfast of Champions? Chances are, none of them remember it either – well, maybe Paul Gross would – as good taste eventually prevails even in the most touristy pockets of Toronto. Planet Hollywood survives in Niagara Falls, a location which boasts of having the ferris wheel from the Steven Spielberg disaster 1941 suspended from the ceiling. Will they also be lucky enough to score a few of the ski masks from Munich?