SUNDAY UPDATE: Sony’s animated kiddie fare Open Season kicked butt this weekend for No. 1. It was an embarrassing loss for Ashton Kutcher and Kevin Costner despite Disney’s heavy promotion of their Coast Guard action/adventure The Guardian. (So what did we learn? That Costner’s career is definitely toast, while Kutcher’s appeal is limited.) Opening in 3,833 theaters, Sony’s “when the hunted become the hunters”, starring a domesticated grizzly bear and a scrawny mule deer, earned $23 million this weekend thanks to an expected rug rats’ Saturday bump. It was Sony’s 11th No. 1 opening this year, and Sony’s 10th film of the year to open to more than $20M – a gargantuan feat of marketing muscle. By contrast, The Guardian, in 3,241 theaters, made only $17.8 million its debut weekend. The two movies sucked the life out of the rest of this weekend’s box office. The third-place movie, Jackass 2, took in $14 mil for a $51.4 cume. Meanwhile, the AP reported that a small-town Illinois theater owner shut down for two weeks rather than show Jackass 2 or other new releases that he calls “drivel.” The Lorraine Theatre in downtown Hoopeston reopened Friday showing Disney’s football biopic Invincible. The owner said he’ll shut down again if faced with a similar batch of films, even though contractual issues with the studios — such as guarantees on first-week receipts — sometimes limit his options. “I just didn’t think I should use my high-quality facilities to show people vomiting on screen,” he noted. No. 4 was The Weinstein Co/MGM’s School for Scoundrels, which opened in 3,004 theaters for an anemic $8.5 mil weekend. (Remember when star Billy Bob Thornton used to appear in important pics instead of teen drivel?) Finally, in fifth place, holdover Jet Li’s Fearless from Rogue/Focus Pictures added $4.8 mil for a $17.9 mil cume.
Finke/LA Weekly: Baquet’s Billionaire Boys Club; Geffen ‘Confident’ LAT Buy
My latest column, Baquet’s Billionaire Boys’ Club, examines whether the Los Angeles Times editor, “Dean of Arc”, is playing a dangerous game with the newspaper’s integrity. Here’s how it begins:… Read More »
NY/LA Times Re-Commit to Oscar Puffery
David Carr has confirmed to me he’s reprising his Red Carpet role as “The Carpetbagger” for The New York Times this Oscar season beginning in early November. The blog will appear after the NYT‘s annual holiday movie issue is published. Intended to supplement the paper’s news coverage of the Academy Awards, Carr, a Times culture reporter … Read More »
Pellicano: Feds Lose Wiggan Perjury Case
This afternoon, the jury in the Joann Wiggan perjury trial returned verdicts acquitting the former SBC phone employee of four of the five counts. The jury split 6-6 on the third count, and U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer declared … Read More »
Will Oscar Voters Judge Mel’s Film Fairly? Gibson Sneaks ‘Apocalypto’ For Native Americans; Both Time/Newsweek Cover?
I’ve learned that both Time and Newsweek want to put Mel Gibson’s Apocalpto on their covers timed to its Dec. 8th opening. This happened with Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ: Newsweek made it the cover before the film’s release, and Time after the movie was in theaters. It’s quite … Read More »
‘Jackass 2′ Knocks Out Box Office For #1; Jet Li’s ‘Fearless’ #2; ‘King’s Men’ Bombs
Again, moviegoers sought mindless entertainment as Johnny Knoxville’s stupid stunt pic Jackass Number Two delivered a knockout punch at the box office for No. 1. The flick took in a bruising $11.9 million Friday and $10 million Saturday at 3,059 theaters … Read More »
EXCLUSIVE: Top LA Times Editors Loyal To Baquet Said To Have A ‘Suicide Pact’
The Tribune Co., which has an all-important board meeting today where the crisis at its Los Angeles Times will be front and center, may have a bigger problem than even the corporate owners realize with the paper’s top editorial management. I’m told … Read More »
Finke/LA Weekly: Blood-and-Guts Behind The Scenes Why Jim Carrey Went to CAA
My latest column, Cash and Carrey, explores the Entourage-like exploits behind-the-scenes of what was once known as Team Carrey: actor Jim Carrey, his managers Gold/Miller, and his agent, UTA’s Nick Stevens, in even more detail, with more surprises, than … Read More »
LAT’s Hofmeister Now H’woodmeister
UPDATE: *A day after my original posting, the Los Angeles Times internal memo making the announcement finally went out today.* It’s not been announced yet, but I’m told the Los Angeles Times did select its replacement for Amy Wallace, the talented Deputy Business Editor in charge of entertainment/Big Media/technology industry coverage who … Read More »
Ex-Mogul Sherry Lansing: Happy At Last
OK, so now we know what ex-studio moguls do: they blog on HuffPo. If Sherry Lansing’s doing it, can ousted Viacomer Tom Freston be far behind? Sherry opines about turning 60. But there are some interesting Hollywood revelations as well. … Read More »
Hannibal Is Harvey’s Cannibal Now: Young French Actor Stars in Film Prequel; Dr. Lecter’s Lucrative Movie/Book Tie-In
Thomas Harris’ just-delivered prequel, “Hannibal Rising”, is coming to bookstores Dec. 5. The author also penned the screenplay for the hush-hush movie version, Young Hannibal: Behind the Mask, which will be released in theaters two months later. Even though very little has … Read More »
Pellicano Wiretap Scandal Update: Phone Employee’s Perjury Trial Starts Today; Beat Reporter Exits; Pellicano Won’t Rat
It’s been a while since I’ve provided a Pellicano scandal update. So here goes:
- Today is the start of SBC telephone employee Joann Wiggan’s perjury trial before U.S. District Judge Dale S. Fischer — important because it’s one of the first cases relating
Bruce Willis Not A Diehard Republican?
For years, I have been “brainwashed” by the GOP into believing that Bruce Willis is a diehard Republican. Maybe that’s because he has voiced support for the war in Iraq, accused the media of ignoring “success stories” there, backed George … Read More »
Brad Grey’s Posse Denies That Cruise/Scientology Thug Report
Brad Grey’s people finally tell me it’s “nonsense” that Tom Cruise dispatched goons from the Church of Scientology to intimidate him. That’s why I waited to comment on last week’s assertion by the newly revived Radar Online citing “a high-ranking media executive.” … Read More »
Senate Dems Probe Iraq Profiteering Per Robert Greenwald’s New ‘Iraq For Sale’
Hollywood filmmaker Robert Greenwald is in Washington today for Senate Democratic oversight hearings on Iraq war profiteering, and the D.C. movie premiere of his latest documentary, Iraq For Sale: The War Profiteers. The Brave New Films DVD will be released on September 26th. The Senate Democratic Policy Committee, led by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-ND), … Read More »
Some Showbiz Dems Feel Used By Arnold
I’m told some Hollywood Democrats are furious they’ve been “outed” by Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s campaign. On Friday, the Los Angeles Times, in what was tantamount to a press release for Ah-nuld, presented the laundry … Read More »
The Rock Rules At Rocky Box Office: ‘Gridiron Gang” #1; ‘Black Dahlia’ #2; Sony Overtakes Disney In Market Share
SATURDAY: Box office continues to slump as moviegoers stay away from theaters for another weekend, showing yet again how the lack of big tentpole pics can’t drum up excitement for all film fare. But Sony scored yet another No. 1 opening … Read More »
GOP Trying To Blacklist Rosie O’Donnell
You’d think that with the Abramoff scandal heating up again, a failed war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and New Orleans still reeling, the GOP would have better things to focus on before the midterm elections. But no. The attack machine known as the Republican National Committee is attempting … Read More »