This video by Slate’s Jack Shafer is not only entertaining but also rather informative.
Abu Dhabi Shows Warner Bros The Money
Lore has it that, if a sucker is born every minute, all eventually land in Hollywood. After exhausting the German dentist money, then the American tycoon scion money, then the Greenwich hedge fund money, now Tinseltown is exploiting the Abu Dhabi real estate … Read More »
Disney Digs Out Of Deep Legal Pooh-Pooh
Bob Iger can breathe a sigh of relief at today’s legal decision. Since the Disney Channel has My Friends Tigger & Pooh, a re-launch of the company’s very profitable Winnie The Pooh franchise. Tens of millions of … Read More »
Maya Couldn’t, Wouldn’t, Will Rejoin SNL
What the hell is going on at Saturday Night Live? First, NBC privately claimed it didn’t ask Maya Rudolph back to SNL for an eighth season “to freshen the cast.” Then NBC reversed itself and said it was her … Read More »
Reason No. 789 Why I So Love Hollywood
DreamWorks Animation SKG named Tom Freston to its board of directors today. The former Viacom Inc. president and CEO, who OK’ed the deal to bring DreamWorks into Paramount, was axed by old coot Sumner Redstone a year ago. … Read More »
The Dog Ate New Line’s Balance Sheets…
What a scumbag studio New Line Cinema is turning out to be. Because of this nugget buried in that legal victory which Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson just won during the discovery phase … Read More »
Movie Mogul Mayhem: Aviv vs Shmuger
Instead of just two movies competing at the box office this Friday, there are two moguls slugging it out. Vying for No. 1 will be The Game Plan from Disney, and The Kingdom from Universal. But the behind the scenes catfight is what’s really interesting because both titles … Read More »
Everyone In Hollywood Is Talking About…
… Ken Burns’ The War which began last night on PBS. Let’s not forget Tinseltown’s small role in this production. Narrated by actor Keith David, the 7-part series also features the first-person voices of Tom Hanks, Josh Lucas, Bobby Cannavale, Samuel … Read More »
Pellicano Perp Walk: John McTiernan Sentenced To 4 Months In Prison
Happened today. He plans to appeal. He had been trying to withdraw his guilty plea from before. (See my previous, Big-Time Movie Director Cops Guilty Plea) MORE
More Eli Roth Whining About Anti-Torture Porn Media; Disses EW Female Film Critic
Disgusting filmmaker Eli Roth sounds increasingly desperate. (Recall when he reacted badly to the … Read More »
Toldja! NY Friars Club Wins Bicoastal War
So now it’s official: the Friars Club of New York did score that legal victory over the Friars of Beverly Hills I reported way back on September 7th. (See my previous, … Read More »
Oh To Have Been A Fly On The Wall…
… When Brad Grey and Jeff Bewkes lunched together at Michael’s in NYC on Friday. Discussing David Chase and a Sopranos movie? Or The Departed sequel? Or the Viacom-DreamWorks debacle? Or just two “very old and close friends”? But if both moguls … Read More »
Early Controversy Over Israeli Oscar Entry
The Band’s Visit has just swept Israel’s Ophir Awards (the equivalent to that country’s Oscars) so this means it should be Israel’s submission for the Academy Award’s Best Foreign Language Film. But even with the Kodak Theater ceremony still 5 months away, there’s already controversy in this category. Rivals … Read More »
And Now There Are Three Studios $1+B
Warner Bros was already there. So was Paramount, uh, DreamWorks, uh, Paramount / DreamWorks, uh, whatever. Now Sony has joined the $1 billion plus club for 2007 domestic gross for the 6th year in a row, and only … Read More »
Just When They Thought It Safe To Do PR
I’m told there are two tough Hollywood business pieces in the works: the Los Angeles Times is looking at The Weinstein Co, and The New York Times is working on an MGM article. Interesting how every weekend MGM … Read More »
Milla Beats Jessica: ‘Resident Evil III’ Strong; ‘Good Luck Chuck’ Not So Much
SUNDAY AM: It’s been gals, gals, gals galore at the box office this weekend. The third film in Sony/Screen Gems’ franchise, Resident Evil: Extinction, did even better than expected as the highest debuting gross of the franchise, … Read More »
Hildy Gottlieb Rejoins ICM in MP Talent
She starts October 1st. Gottlieb left ICM to head Alec Baldwin’s production company, El Dorado Pictures, and then develop projects for her husband, director/producer Walter Hill. Of course, most of her former clients scattered: Eddie Murphy, Keanu Reeves, Helen Mirren, Christopher … Read More »
Is Endeavor Playing Into IMG’s Hands?
The story behind the story of the Ari Emanuel-brokered move by the scandal plagued ex-HBO head Chris Albrecht to IMG is that it conceivably puts the Endeavor talent agency in play again. A lot of speculation … Read More »
Wesley Snipes Ordered To Pay UTA $1.7M
It’s rare indeed for talent agencies to sue their clients. Unless the situation is really egregious, that is. Now Wesley Snipes finds himself on the hook for $1.7 million to United Talent Agency, which may never collect … Read More »