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Archive for January 19th, 2009

Monday, January 19th, 2009

MONDAY JANUARY 19, 2009

BOX OFFICE

Weekend Estimate

January 16-18, 2009 (*millions)

FILM GROSS

1 Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009) $33.8M

2 Gran Torino (2008) $22.2M

3 My Bloody Valentine 3-D (2009) $21.9M

4 Notorious (2009) $21.5M

5 Hotel for Dogs (2009) $17.7M

6 Bride Wars (2009) $11.8M

7 The Unborn (2009) $9.85M

8 Defiance (2008) $9.21M

9 Marley & Me (2008) $6.33M

10 Slumdog Millionaire (2008) $5.9M

PROJECTS ANNOUNCED

Have you heard the one about the Cougar and the Jackass? OK, so it’s not exactly Aesop, but Cher and Johnny Knoxville are attached to star in “The Drop-Out,” a comedy written by Ricky Blitt, who will also direct. John Jacobs is producing. The slacker laugher tracks the fortunes of a 35-year-old career college student (Knoxville) who is finally kicked out of his parents house. Desperate, he decides to get in good with the 62-year-old woman next door (Cher), so he can keep his food, couch and TV regimen intact. In the mix is the woman’s ne’er-do-well son, who is looking for a father figure, even if it’s a guy his own age.

ABC is developing a slacker-themed comedy from “Family Guy” alum Ricky Blitt. Alphabet has given a put pilot commitment to the laffer, which revolves around a guy in his thirties who is caught between his girlfriend — a single mother — and his slacker best friend. Project was formerly known as “Threesome.” Blitt’s credits include creating the Fox comedy “The Winner.”

ACQUISITIONS/FESTIVAL NEWS

A year after its Sundance preem, Peace Arch announced they’ve nabbed North American rights to the coming-of-ager “The Mysteries of Pittsburgh,” based on Michael Chabon’s (“Wonder Boys”) first tome. The distrib will release it in the spring. Directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber (“Dodgeball”) pic stars Jon Foster, Sienna Miller, Mena Suvari, Peter Sarsgaard, and Nick Nolte. Michael London, Thor Benander, and Jason Ajax Mercer produced. Set in 1980s Pittsburgh, story follows a teen’s transformative summer with his mobster father, sometime girlfriend, a beautiful debutante and her thug boyfriend.

Senator Distribution nabbed North American rights to Antoine Fuqua’s cop drama “Brooklyn’s Finest” on Saturday night, 24 hours after its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. Sources close to the deal said Senator paid under $5 million, but made an eight-figure P&A commitment. Senator says it will release the film in the fourth quarter for awards consideration. Pic’s cast includes Richard Gere, Ethan Hawke, and Don Cheadle as cops battling their own ethical and moral dilemmas. Stressing that the film is a work in progress, Urman said talks continued the next day with Fuqua, focusing on delivery issues. The music is still temporary and there are discussions about reworking the ending.

BUSINESS NEWS

After months of negotiations, “Mad Men” creator and exec producer Matthew Weiner has cut a two-year deal with Lionsgate TV that will keep him at the helm of his Emmy-winning AMC drama. Details of the pact were sketchy Friday, but it is said to cover Weiner’s services on “Mad Men” for the show’s third and fourth seasons as well as other TV development. It also includes a component for a feature project through Lionsgate.

INDUSTRY MOVES

Veteran business affairs executives Jim Meenaghan and Rich Shuter have joined UTA’s business affairs department and been named heads of motion picture business affairs and television business affairs, respectively. Meenaghan, mostly recently of Walden Media, will oversee business affairs for the agency’s motion picture operations. Rich Shuter, most recently of DreamWorks TV, will oversee business affairs for the agency’s TV department.

STRIKE NEWS/LABOR ISSUES

Beleaguered Screen Actors Guild national exec director Doug Allen isn’t backing down and has blasted the moderate wing of the guild’s national board, which nearly fired him a week ago. Allen blamed the moderates – who had the votes to toss the SAG topper out but were barred, in a 30-hour filibuster, from doing so – for having compromised his strike strategy. He said he’ll send out the divisive strike authorization vote if the national board doesn’t agree with his proposed compromise to make a last-ditch run at persuading the congloms to sweeten terms of their final offer.

TECHNOLOGY/MULTI-PLATFORM CONTENT

Congressional efforts to delay the long-planned Feb. 17 transition to digital broadcasting are gaining steam. Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.), the incoming chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, and Rep. Henry Waxman (D-Los Angeles) have introduced bills that would delay the switch until June 12. Incoming Obama administration officials called on Congress last week to delay the transition, saying the federal effort to prepare consumers for the switch had been insufficient and underfunded. The concerns grew after it was revealed earlier this month that the government program set up to provide $40 voucher coupons to help offset the cost of the digital converter boxes needed for older TV sets had run out of money and still had millions of people on a waiting list.

WEBSITE TO WATCH

http://www.sho.com/site/tara/home.do

If you’ve been online at all this past week you’ve probably run into promos, previews or banner ads for United States of Tara, Showtime’s new family drama that premiered last night, starring Toni Collette as a mom and wife beset with multiple alter egos. Showtime’s Digital Media team has outdone itself in getting the word out, previewing the pilot across more than 100 sites and platforms, including entertainment portals (YouTube, Netflix,); Social networks (Facebook, Bebo); blogs (Gawker, Pink is the new Blog); mobile platforms (MobiTV, Joost’s iPhone app); and podcast platforms (iTunes, Zune). The network even posted a documentary with consultant Dr. Richard P. Kluft explaining the serious side of Tara’s disorder – Dissociative Identity Disorder. The first day the pilot steamed on YouTube it had over 500,000 views. Tara’s Facebook page includes a full episode video player and widget allowing users to sign up for mobile alerts from the show. This is the future of entertainment marketing, folks. Bombard outlets and platforms until you make sure everyone that isn’t residing in a cabin in the hills of Montana gets a chance to sample your what you’ve got to offer. Showtime has orchestrated similar efforts for other shows such as the Tudors, offering shows for a la carte purchase on iTunes at a time when HBO content was nowhere to be found, but nothing to this extent. It will be interesting to see what kind of bump Showtime’s core product – subscriptions – receives from the effort.