You are viewing the archive: “”

This Weekend: ‘Superbad’ #1, ‘War’ #2, ‘Nanny Diaries’ #3; Summer 2007 Record

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday August 23, 2007 @ 12:29pm PDTTags: Actors, Box Office, Comedy, Movies, Studios, Summer Movies, Tracking
war_posterbig.jpgnannydiaries_posterbig.jpg

Sony’s Superbad should continue as No. 1 this weekend. Down 40% or less would be a big show of strength for this low-cost coming-of-age comedy from producer Judd Apatow (who’s now officially a mogul in my opinion). My box office gurus expect a Superbad weekend close to $20 mil from its 2,948 theaters. Next among newcomers comes Lionsgate’s War with Jet Li and Jason Stratham which should debut “in the high teens” from 2,277 venues. And No. 3 among freshmen probably goes to The Nanny Diaries starring Scarlett Johansson from The Weinstein Co/MGM in the low teens with 2,629 runs. Really, how irritating that these people took a hot book and made a sitcom instead of a movie (horrible reviews on RottenTomatoes). No one knows quite where Mr. Bean’s Holiday (1,713 dates) will end up since his movies are always hard to predict. Instead of the films, the really BIG news this weekend will be the moment that Summer 2007 crosses into the record books. Media By Numbers said yesterday’s total is $3.881 billion, close to the precedent-setting $3.95 billion of 2004.

Comments Off

If Only Showtime Had HBO’s Promo Dept

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday August 23, 2007 @ 12:09pm PDTTags: Actors, Cable, Marketing, NY Times, TV

duchovny.jpgHilarious that it’s taken until today for The New York Times‘ Bill Carter to declare HB-Over. (I guess Les Moonves didn’t tell him what to think about it until now.) I already did it June 12th (… Read More »

Comments Off

David Lynch: World ‘Moved On’ From Film

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday August 23, 2007 @ 9:48am PDTTags: Directors, DVDs, Movies, MTV

david-lynch.jpgIdiosyncratic David Lynch doesn’t give many interviews, so it’s worth looking at MTV’s little one on the occasion of the newly released DVD of his digital pic, Inland Empire, featuring more than an hour of additional scenes (more of his actors … Read More »

Comments Off

Bonus Time Won’t Be Happy Time At CAA

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Wednesday August 22, 2007 @ 6:37pm PDTTags: Agents, Buzz, Finance

Wow, CAA just keeps cutting back and cutting back. While partners Bryan Lourd, Richard Lovett and Kevin Huvane are paying themselves $15 million a year, caalogo.jpgtheir tenpercentery is buzzing that the bonuses for the agents who work … Read More »

Comments Off

DHD Update: Postings Resume Tonight

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Wednesday August 22, 2007 @ 5:43pm PDTTags: DH update

Thanks for your patience. And your continuing tips!

Comments Off

Michael Bay Switches Support To HD-DVD

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday August 21, 2007 @ 4:00pm PDTTags: Blu-ray, Directors, DVDs, Moguls, Movies, Studios, Tech

This is hilarious. A few hours after director Michael Bay declared “No Blu-Ray, No ‘Transformers’ 2!” (and nearly gave poor Paramount boss Brad Grey a panic attack), he has backtracked. By the way, to answer all your questions about my personal views, I honestly don’t care which format takes over; … Read More »

Comments Off

Death Deal For Tribune Pensions OKayed

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday August 21, 2007 @ 11:27am PDTTags: Big Media, Finance, LA Times, Media, Moguls

News reports say Tribune Co shareholders today formally voted to approve an $8.2 billion plan to take the company private. The company said 97% of the shares cast OKed the $34-a-share buyout led by a group that includes Chicago real estate tycoon Sam … Read More »

Comments Off

Director Michael Bay Says To Paramount: No Blu-Ray, So No ‘Transformers’ Sequel!

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday August 21, 2007 @ 9:58am PDTTags: Digital, Directors, DVDs, Moguls, Movies, Studios, Tech

tform10.jpg

UPDATE: Michael Bay Changes Mind

There’s more fallout today from yesterday’s announcement that Paramount has gone from supporting both Blu-ray and HD DVD formats to just the losing high-def format HD. An obviously vexed Michael Bay wrote in a forum posting … Read More »

Comments Off

Will the Last Limato Assistant To Leave ICM Please Turn Off The Lights?

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday August 21, 2007 @ 8:11am PDTTags: Actors, Agents

ICM didn’t renew the contract of Jim Osborne, whose clients included Hayden Christensen and who is another former Ed Limato protégé. The agency expects to retain Jim’s clients.

Comments Off

‘Lone Survivor’ Book To Be Universal Film

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Monday August 20, 2007 @ 10:47am PDTTags: Agents, Books, Directors, Movies, Studios, Writers

lone-survivor.JPGI just heard that Universal won the negotiations and acquired (not just optioned) The New York Times No. 1 non-fiction bestseller Lone Survivor and Navy Seal author Marcus Luttrell’s underlying life rights for seven figures. (I hear … Read More »

Comments Off

Apatow’s ‘Superbad’ Superbetter: $33M

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Monday August 20, 2007 @ 10:20am PDTTags: Box Office, Comedy, Directors, Movies, Studios, Summer Movies

Sony’s Superbad had a better than expected Sunday so the official weekend total is now $33 mil, not just $31 mil. “We had an exceptional hold, one of the best I have ever seen, and it looks like we will be only down about 2% off of Saturday’s number.” See … Read More »

Comments Off

UPDATE: Desperation Move & Cash Grab? Or Bloodier Blu-ray/HD-DVD Format War?

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Sunday August 19, 2007 @ 11:46pm PDTTags: Blu-ray, Digital, DVDs, Finance, Movies, Studios, Tech

hdstudios.JPGMONDAY AM UPDATE: Here’s the official Hollywood announcement today. Note how there’s no mention of the money Paramount (I’m told $50 million) and DreamWorks Animation (I’m told $100 million) is receiving for “promotional consideration” from the HD … Read More »

Comments Off

‘High School Musical 2′ Breaks TV Records

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Sunday August 19, 2007 @ 12:08pm PDTTags: Cable, Movies, Music, Ratings, Studios, TV

hs2.jpg
News reports say early Nielsens show that Friday’s premiere of The Disney Channel’s made for TV High School Musical 2 was the most-watched basic cable television program of all time. With 17.2 million viewers, it was also the most-watched basic cable movie of all time, … Read More »

Comments Off

‘Superbad’ Trounces Competition & Helps Summer 2007 Stay On Track For Record

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Sunday August 19, 2007 @ 7:49am PDTTags: Box Office, Comedy, Movies, Studios, Summer Movies

superbad20.jpg
SUNDAY AM: It was the 6th “up” weekend in a row in overall summer box office which looks increasingly likely to set a new record for 2007. Summer to date’s domestic box office revenues of $3.82 billion (Media By Numbers) this year already have passed … Read More »

Comments Off

Who Knew There Was Talent At Morris?

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Saturday August 18, 2007 @ 3:34pm PDTTags: Agents, Humor

On Friday, a William Morris assistant sent out an email (see below) to scores of the agency’s staff members and some outsiders as well. wma.jpgThis is a lesson in what assistants should never do. Shai Steinberger (Harvard ’04) worked … Read More »

Comments Off

Why Didn’t LA Times’ Chuck Philips Use U.S. Attorney Statement About Seagal?

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Saturday August 18, 2007 @ 2:28pm PDTTags: Courts, Journalism, LA Times, Law, Media, Pellicano, Scandal

chuckphillips.jpgIn Friday’s article about Steven Seagal and the Pellicano scandal, Los Angeles Times staff writer Chuck Philips regurgitated claims about the conduct of the U.S. Attorney’s office from one of Seagal’s attorney’s, Jan L. Handzlik. … Read More »

Comments Off

More On Merv & The Hollywood Reporter

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Saturday August 18, 2007 @ 1:03pm PDTTags: Hollywood, Internet, Journalism, Media, Moguls, Trades, TV

I’m told that The Hollywood Reporter‘s newly named editor Elizabeth Guider misled Merv Griffin’s people. logo_hollywood-reporter.gifThey were told by her on Friday that Ray Richmond’s claims about the TV legend’s personal life had been removed from the paper’s website … Read More »

Comments Off

Sick Of Bloated Blockbusters, Filmgoers Flock To Small Teen Comedy ‘Superbad’

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Saturday August 18, 2007 @ 7:01am PDTTags: Actors, Box Office, Comedy, Movies, Studios, Summer Movies, Tracking

superbad10.JPG

SUNDAY AM: Sony’s Superbad did supergood at the domestic box office this weekend as the studio told me Judd Apatow’s low-cost coming of age comedy opened with a surprisingly big $31.2 million from 2,948 theaters. … Read More »

Comments Off

Ben’s ‘Bring Back Sexy’ NBC Peacock Tatt

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday August 17, 2007 @ 4:17pm PDTTags: Ben Silverman, Hollyweird, Moguls, Networks, Studios

peacock-ben.JPGI love Ben Silverman because he’s the gift that keeps on giving me material. Another day, so another antic. His latest took place at Tuesday’s one-day retreat in Santa Monica at Shutters On The Beach for NBC Entertainment and Universal … Read More »

Comments Off
More Deadline | Hollywood »
« Previous Deadline | Hollywood