UPDATE FRIDAY AM: Rocky Balboa made $3.4 mil for Thursday, a respectable drop of -45% the day after its opening. Cume now is $9.6 mil.
Thursday AM: I'm told MGM's Rocky Balboa started fast with a $6.2 million mid-week opening Wednesday from 2,752 theaters. Early word had been that the matinees were "looking good" since the movie is better than anyone ever expected. Amazing that the franchise still had life in it, especially when the Hollywood studios were telling Sylvester Stallone not to embarrass himself by bringing the character out of retirement for a 6th bout (Although I wish Sly had kept his mouth shut since he made a fool of himself every time he's been interviewed in recent weeks... especially by dissing Richard Gere.) Stallone knocked out the competition, so Sony's The Pursuit of Happyness was #2, Paramount's Charlotte's Web #3 and Fox's Eragon #4. But, my box office gurus tell me that, by this weekend, Rocky may only be #3 even though the film expands to 265 additional venues for a new theatre count of 3,017. The expected #1 is Fox's Night At The Museum, which will be the giant Christmas movie this year, and #2, Sony's The Pursuit of Happyness. Those pics will be ahead of Universal's The Good Shepherd, Warner's We Are Marshall and the holdover from Fox, Eragon. Dreamworks / Paramount's Dreamgirls is looking great, I'm told, definitely Top 3 during Xmas week even with only 800 theaters. So, by December 26th, it should be #1 Museum, #2 Pursuit, #3 Dreamgirls, #4 Rocky, and, believe it or not, #5 Sony's holdover The Holiday.
Everyone's talking today about A.O. "Tony" Scott's rave review in The New York Times (published in tomorrow's edition) of Clint's Letters From Iwo Jima. "Utterly original... strikingly intimate... close to perfect." It's also, in part, a re-review of Flags Of Our Father as seen within the context of both pics simultaneously. This will have a huge impact on Academy members. But, even though it's still way too early to prognosticate accurately (despite all the useless Oscar punditry out in the blogosphere already), I don't believe the review seals the deal for Iwo Jima's Best Picture -- yet. There is no doubt that this movie firmly establishes Clint as Hollywood's greatest living filmmaker right now, head and shoulders above everyone else. As to whether anyone needs to give him a statuette yet again to prove that -- well, understandably, he may run up against some share-the-wealth and let-someone-else-have-a-shot sentiment. The Academy is just jealous like that.
My latest 
column, Orgy Of Sequels Climaxing In 2007, takes a snarky look at next year's knock-offs. Will the public get off? Or is it just studio masturbation? (Yes, I saw today's Los Angeles Times' marathon piece about 2006's sequel fever. Great minds may think alike, but at least I think ahead.)
Here are excerpts from mine:
"It’s official: Hollywood has run out of original ideas. If you thought 2006 was bad, just wait. In 2007, the studios will give up on birthing blockbusters and concentrate instead on cloning them to knock off lame sequel after lamer sequel after lamest sequel. Familiar titles (see Spidey 3 trailer here) will be followed by so many numbers that filmgoers looking for a Friday-night flick will need a calculator just to figure out which of the threequels (Shrek 3 trailer here) and fourquels they want to see — if any at all. Oh, and if the year of living sequentially doesn’t destroy the movie biz, then the expected labor strike (also a sequel) will. Yes, in 2007, the very idea of original screenplays will become increasingly quaint, like real butter poured on popcorn. (Good timing, because the writers will be camped out on picket lines anyway.) There will be a few nonsequel movies, but those are mostly remakes, biopics or book adaptations. (At least we can all be thankful that, unlike previous years, there’ll be almost no TV spinoffs. The complete tanking of Sony’s Bewitched in 2005 saw to that.) But don’t blame the studio moguls; blame their bosses, those hedge-fund-loopy tools who find it easier to schmooze Wall Street about another low-concept, comic-book film like Fantastic Four than to debate going into production on a potentially challenging film like Charlie Wilson’s War, the Tom Hanks–Julia Roberts biopic about a boozin’, hot-tubbin’ U.S. congressman that is scheduled to debut in December 2007... And did I mention that sequels are virtually critic-proof? Reviewers who flipped the bird to Pirates 2 didn’t affect box office at all. The sequel was beyond huge, and Pirates 3 will be too, even if Johnny spends the entire two hours channeling Lance Bass instead of Keith Richards (who’s playing Depp’s daddy in the threequel). It’s not only the studios who are to blame, but also ... Read More »
So CBS unveiled details of its 14th season of Survivor (aka "I've got two naked guys in the hot tub") set in Fiji. And the new Mark Burnett-conceived hook (13th season's was race based, remember?) is once again going to cause controversy, though not necessarily with advertisers but surely with viewers: While one team will live the life of luxury, the other team is left with virtually nothing. Uh, doesn't that defeat the whole point of the show since the contestants are supposed to live on the edge of civilization and eke out an existence? This high concept doesn't make any sense, unless its intent is to cause more animosity between tribes. Which may be since the challenges will have contestants beat up each another. Also, the 19 survivors (more than before) range from a Harvard-educated lawyer to a once homeless street performer. Also, hard-core Survivor aficionados will understand this: Exile Island will be even more rugged, crawling with thousands of deadly sea snakes, while two immunity idols (not just one) will be buried there. What I'd really like to know is when will unannoying Jeff Probst stop traveling hither and yon and replace Regis as co-host with Kelly Ripa. They had great chemistry when Probst filled in for Philbin one week.
Jerry Seinfeld is fascinated by animation, and technology in general. His most recent DVD "Season Six" boxed set included animated versions of some of the more memorable episodes of his sitcom Seinfeld -- re-imagined and drawn as "Sein-imation;" that is, stick-figure cartoons, using the original cast voices. But it's still surprising that the comedian has been quietly busy for the past three years writing, producing and starring in a movie for DreamWorks Animation SKG -- an animated movie. Called the Bee Movie, there's already a funny promo, featuring Jerry in a bee costume and Chris Rock in a cameo. It says the pic is "trying to open November 2007". So here's the plot: Barry B. Benson (voiced by Seinfeld) is a bee who has just graduated from college and is disillusioned at his lone career choice: making honey. On a special trip outside the hive, Barry's life is saved by Vanessa (voiced by Rene Zellweger), a florist in New York City. As their relationship blossoms, he discovers humans actually eat honey, and subsequently decides to sue mankind. "I think I'm bringing a differerent humor sensibility to an animated movie," Seinfeld told the latest issue of Newsweek. "There's a lot of attitude in the jokes, the same way it was on the show." Even though he stays in NYC, he says he keeps tabs on the production via computer screens connected to Dreamworks in California where the animators display the images they're working on. As a crew member notes on the trailer: "This is what he picks to follow the TV series?"
Here are more details from Steven Spielberg and Mark Burnett talking about their 2007 reality show (see video). (In case you didn't know it already, Spielberg is a Reality TV mega-fan, especially of Burnett's Survivor.) Too bad it's on Fox where everything new -- except American Idol and 24 -- goes to die. It's part Idol, part Apprentice and, hopefully, not anything like Ben Affleck/Matt Damon's HBO-aired Project Greenlight, which was such a snore. On The Lot chooses 16 young film directors to battle for a shot at a $1 mil development deal with DreamWorks. The wannabes will work in four teams, and shoot a short film in every genre each week. With one member selected as the director and other members helping produce, they’ll have access to the best resources the studio has to offer. A pool of professional writers, cast and crew will be made available, and if the contestants are resourceful enough, they may even be able to land Hollywood celebrities to star in their films. But with the clock ticking, and other teams working with the same genre or premise, they’ll all need to match their vision with decisiveness, execution and flexibility. The competition will air on two nights weekly. The films will be shown and critiqued in front of a live audience during the one-hour “Film Premiere” episode. On the half-hour “Box Office” results show, the director of the losing feature will be sent home, leaving that team with fewer contestants to help produce the next week’s film. A trio of judges critique the crap out of the movies, but the winner will be decided by Fox viewers. One problem: Spielberg himself. Always worried about his image, he won't play a bad guy so he'll be Missing In Action. (Newsweek says he doesn't show up until the last episode, when he'll escort the winner to a brand new office on the lot.) No word yet on who'll be the judges, but the panel will include a motion picture executive, a film critic and guest judges. The series starts in May around the time when Idol ends. Hurry, film submissions are due by February 16th.
Look, I hate it when a Hollywood studio has a good year. Where's the snark in that for me? So it greatly pains me to regurgitate the press release that Sony Pictures Entertainment had a humongous record-breaking year. With its 13th #1 release (The Pursuit of Happyness), the studio's box office receipts for 2006 breaks the all-time motion picture industry U.S. box office record for a single year. SPE's box office receipts for 2006 have passed $1.573 billion, it was announced today by Jeff Blake, chairman, worldwide marketing and distribution for the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group and vice chairman of SPE. In passing the industry record, which Sony set in 2002, the studio launched 13 films to opening weekends of more than $20 mil, another industry record smashing the old record of 8 films set in 2004 by Sony and Universal, and surpassed more than $3 billion in global ticket sales for the first time. Sony Pictures now holds the top two years in the all-time domestic box office record books. Sony’s 2006 slate, which consisted of 27 motion pictures, has been controlling over 18% of all tickets sold in the United States and Canada. SPE has seen four films open to more than $40 million in the US and Canada; ultimately, each exceeded more than $100 million in domestic box office – including Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, Click, The DaVinci Code, and Casino Royale.
SUNDAY AM: Holiday spirit ruled the box office, especially for Sony which scored its 13th No. 1 release this weekend and passed $1.573 billion in 2006 box office receipts -- setting a new motion picture industry record for U.S. box office in a single year. I'm told Sony's The Pursuit Of Happyness, even playing in fewer theaters than the competition, pit Will Smith (and his real-life son) against a dragon and spider and won its opening weekend with a big $27 million ticket receipts. The film made $9 mil Fri and $10.5 mil Sat (Sundays are projected). Also strong was the Harry Potter clone Eragon from Fox which debuted in 2nd place with a $23.6 mil weekend -- $8.6 mil Fri and $8.7 mil Sat. Charlotte's Web, the Babe lookalike from Paramount, opened #3 with $12.0 mil, after taking in $3.4 mil Fri and $4.6 mil Sat because of the matinee kiddie bounce. Even after five weeks outs, Warner's Happy Feet again got the rug rats en masse, jumping from 6th place, with $2 mil Fri, to 4th place, with $3.7 mil Sat, for an $8.5 mil weekend ($149.4 mil cume). Sony's one-week holdover The Holiday fell from 4th on Fri, with $2.6 mil, to 5th Sat, with $3.2 mil, for a weekend of $8.2 mil, and cume of $25.3 mil. Apocalypto, Disney's R-rated Mel Gibson Mayan epic, finished 5th Fri with $2.2 mil (-54%) but fell to 6th after Sat's $3.1 mil, to add a $7.7 mil weekend to its one-week cume of $27.9 mil. After a week, Warner's Blood Diamond was #7, only making $1.8 mil Fri and $2.5 mil Sat, for a $6.5 mil weekend, despite its star Leo Dicaprio's Golden Globes nominations and media blitz. It now has a disappointing cume of $18.6 mil. 
Sony made it three movies in the Top 10 this weekend when the Bond flick Casino Royale made another $1.6 mil Fri and $2.5 mil Sat for 8th place and a $5.7 mil weekend for a new cume of $137.6 mil. Globally, Bond will finish the weekend with $400+ mil, closing in on the biggest 007 ever, Die Another Day at $432 mil worldwide. New Line's The Nativity continues to underperform, snagging 9th with $1.2 mil Fri and $1.8 mil Sat and what was a $4.5 mil weekend (meager new cume of $22.9 mil). And, No. 10, Warner's Unaccompanied Minors, took in $1 mil Fri ... Read More »
I didn't think it was possible for NBC's The Apprentice, or Donald Trump's shtick, to get even more abhorrent. Boy, was I wrong! First, I'm surprised anyone will bother watching it January 7th, opening the sixth season -- this time, based in Los Angeles (since last spring's show drew less than half of 2004's Season 1 average). Anyway, TV Guide has the 411 on what will be new: most disgusting is that each week's winning team will luxe it up in a Beverly Hills mansion, while the losers are in hell sleeping in two tents in the backyard without hot showers. Said Trump: "One of the great rewards is living like a king, as opposed to living like a dog." I'm nauseous thinking about it.
Previous: Hey, Donald, You Should Be Fired
I'm told, for this weekend, Fox's Harry Potter clone Eragon is tracking "strong" with boys, and Paramount's Babe-like Charlotte's Web "strong" with girls, while Sony's Forrest Gump feel-good flick, The Pursuit of Happyness, 
looks to draw both sexes and all ages because of subject matter and starrer Will Smith. Certainly Web has the theater count advantage -- 3,566 compared to Eragon's 3,020 and Pursuit's 2,852. Predictions are Pursuit and Eragon with $20+ million, and Web in high teens. Warner's The Good German platforms in five theaters, and Paramount/Dreamworks' Dreamgirls in three venues. Box office gurus tell me it's "usually not a good sign" that Apocalypto has been dropping each weekday -- Mon $1.5 mil, Tues $1.3 mil, Wed $1.2 mil, and Thurs. But, looking at the weekend of December 22nd, tracking shows that Fox's Night at the Museum could be the big moneymaker among movies released right around Christmas. Pics should finish in this order that weekend: Museum, followed by Rocky Balboa (MGM, which moved up its release date), We Are Marshall (Warner) and The Good Shepherd (Universal).
Tonight on Leno, Leo DiCaprio talked a lot about the Blood Diamond shoot -- how he fell in love with Africa and spent some of the most unforgettable moments of his life there. "From the slums of Kenya, to the once-genocidal streets of Rwanda, to the villages of Mozambique, Hollywood has embraced Africa -- as a place to shoot films and as a source of fresh dramatic themes." So says The Washington Post in a new article datelined from the Namib Desert, Namibia. Now this is runaway production I don't mind. 
"AIDS, apartheid, crime, gunrunning, murderous militias in Darfur and the misdeeds of the pharmaceutical industry all have been featured in films shot in Africa over the past few years. And as the themes have broadened, the film industry also has pushed beyond its traditional African home in Cape Town in favor of more challenging settings." Leo also noted that, despite AIDS and extreme poverty, "the people would dance in the streets" and it gave him a new perspective when he returned home. For more about Blood Diamond's African shoot, see my previous: Director Ed Zwick Says Production Set Up Private Africa Fund
So the latest Hollywood perk seems to be a silent partner. A real silent partner. Vivendi has decided to keep its 20% stake in NBC Universal and extend its GE deal. Bloomberg reports the Paris-based company emailed a statement today that it won't exercise an option to sell part of its holding in January. Vivendi's right to ask for a share sale of NBC Universal was expanded, and now can be exercised in November of every year from 2007 to 2016. GE's option to buy Vivendi's interest can be exercised in May of each year from 2011 to 2017 with a minimum price of $8.3 billion. The purchase amount will increase each year from May 2009 and is based on the U.S. Consumer Price Index, Bloomberg quoted Vivendi as saying. Vivendi also has annual options to sell portions of its holding in the venture to General Electric. The size of the first year's option was raised to $4 billion from $3 billion and remains $4 billion in subsequent years. Again, thanks to Bloomberg.
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