Search Results for: “"les miserables"”

2013-14 NBC New Series

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday May 22, 2013 @ 1:46pm PDT

2013-14 NBC New Series
New Comedies

About A Boy – Based on the best-selling Nick Hornby (“High Fidelity,” “An Education”) novel, writer Jason Katims (“Friday Night Lights,” “Parenthood”) and director Jon Favreau (“Iron Man,” “Revolution”) present a different kind of coming-of-age story. Will Freeman (David Walton, “Bent,” “Perfect Couples”) lives a charmed existence as the ultimate man-child. After writing a hit song, he was granted a life of free time, free love and freedom from financial woes. He’s single, unemployed and loving it. So imagine his surprise when Fiona (Minnie Driver, “Good Will Hunting,” “Barney’s Version”), a needy single mom and her oddly charming 11-year-old son, Marcus (Benjamin Stockham, “1600 Penn”), move in next door and disrupt his perfect world. When Marcus begins dropping by his home unannounced, Will’s not so sure about being a kid’s new best friend, until, of course, Will discovers that women find single dads irresistible. That changes everything and a deal is struck: Marcus will pretend to be Will’s son and, in return, Marcus is allowed to chill at Will’s house. Before he realizes it, Will starts to enjoy the visits and even finds himself looking out for the kid. In fact, this newfound friendship may very well teach him a thing or two that he never imagined possible — about himself and caring for others. Writer Jason Katims, director Jon Favreau, Tim Bevan (“Les Misérables,” “About a Boy”), Eric Fellner (“Les Misérables,” “About a Boy”), Liza Chasin (“Les Misérables,” “About … Read More »

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Cannes: Fleming Reflects And Finds Talented Trio A Breath Of Fresh Air

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday May 21, 2013 @ 11:35pm PDTTags: Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Michael B. Jordan, Oscar Isaac, Ryan Coogler
Mike Fleming

The Cannes Film Festival is over for me, and when I come to a place like this, I find myself asking, where are the next stars coming from? Between Fruitvale Station’s Michael B. Jordan and writer-director Ryan Coogler, and Inside Llewyn Davis’ Oscar Isaac, I feel like I got three answers to that question over the course of a weekend.

I come to Cannes primarily to chase deal stories, as I do in Toronto and Sundance. At those other two, the threat of transactions leaves me confined to a hotel room waiting for action. The sporadic action here allowed me see movies and stroll down a rain-soaked Croisette. The drivers here are entirely dangerous in their tiny cars; one driver trying to turn came so close to plowing into my leg that I had to pound his hood with my fist (luckily I didn’t damage my typing finger, which would have cut my output in half). I also made time to see movies including Fruitvale Station, Inside Llewyn Davis, and Behind The Candelabra. While Steven Soderbergh ends the movie-making part of his movie career 24 years after it began here when he won Palme d’Or in 1989 for sex lies & videotape, the road is just beginning for Jordan, Coogler and Isaac. Based on the films I saw here, each has a long drive ahead.

I spoke briefly with Isaac following the Inside Llewyn Davis premiere and jokingly asked him how they possibly could have overlooked him for Les Miserables, given his remarkable singing chops. He seemed jolted for a moment and then smiled as I did, because we both knew this was much, much better. Joel and Ethan Coen created a tour de force folk-singer role for him that any actor with pipes could only dream about. “This might sound cliché, but I feel like I’ve been training 33 years just for this movie,” said the 33-year-old actor. Judging by the talk I overheard between CBS Films and Isaac’s reps about keeping room in his late-year schedule for Oscar-season stumping, Isaac wasn’t overstating the case.

Coogler, meanwhile, is a 27 year old who hails from Oakland, and who got a football scholarship and then went to study film at USC. He found his feature debut in the story of Oscar Grant, the young man whose accidental shooting by roughshod cops atop a train platform created national outrage. Jordan plays Grant and to watch him, Coogler and their cohorts staring wide-eyed at the Cannes premiere crowd at the Palais was charming. A standing ovation must have lasted 10 minutes, and I can’t recall a movie where I saw so many audience members in tears, a remarkable accomplishment since so many absorbed the dialogue through subtitles. Much of the movie’s power is Jordan’s engagingly accessible screen persona, but a lot of credit goes to Coogler. As I and other journos milled around him, I could see Coogler bristle when they put him in the “black filmmaker” category, and it doesn’t surprise me that one reason Harvey Weinstein won Fruitvale Station over other bidders is that he was the only mogul who, when speaking to Coogler, drew parallels to films like The Bicycle Thief, classics Coogler studied in school. Coogler made more right decisions in this movie than is usual for a first-time feature director. His best one: making this a family story and not an angry urban polemic. It makes Oscar’s tragedy relatable to anyone who has abruptly lost a loved one (it hit me like a sledgehammer). As for the Cannes adulation, Coogler was overwhelmed, but applied a lesson learned on the football field when he was a wide receiver. “You constantly remind yourself over and over to concentrate on catching the ball and securing it first, before you try to run with it.” It is all about attention to technique and detail, he said, and he’ll take his time figuring out the next film. It will be something he can make personal, the way he did Fruitvale Station. Read More »

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‘Fast & Furious 6′ Breaks Records In UK-Ireland Before Begins Global Rollout May 24

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Sunday May 19, 2013 @ 10:32am PDTTags: Box Office, Fast & Furious 6

SUNDAY UPDATE: Summer 2013 just keeps sizzling here and abroad. The sixth installment of the Universal Pictures franchise is looking to successfully transition from street racing to heist action to terrorist plot and kicked off this weekend in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Fast & Furious 6 is opposite Warner Bros’ The Great Gatsby (including Thursday previews) and the second week of Paramount’s Star Trek In Darkness. But F&F6 is set in London and had its world premiere there. It scored a record breaking #1 opening and grossed $13.8M (£9M) at 460 dates for Universal’s biggest 3-day opening weekend in that territory. (Smashing the previous record set by Les Miserables of $13.1M). It is the franchise’s biggest opening weekend in the UK as well as the highest opening weekend for Vin Diesel and Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson. F&F6 is now the 2nd biggest opening weekend of 2013 there behind IM3‘s $17.6M. F&F6 opens in North America and 59 international markets day and date on May 24th. Universal did what no studio has ever dared to do: change the genre of a successful franchise. But chairman Adam Fogelson and co-chairman Donna Langley put Chris Morgan – the screenwriter of Fast Five as well as The Fast And The Furious 3: Tokyo Drift,  and Fast & Furious 4 — on the latest script to freshen the franchise yet again. Johnson is back as a federal agent alongside Diesel, Paul Walker and of course director Justin Lin (behind the camera for the 4th time) and longtime producer Neal Moritz. It also stars Jordana Brewster, … Read More »

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‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ $164.5M Global: Lower Domestic But +80% Bigger Overseas; ‘Gatsby’ $132.1M Global, ‘Iron Man 3′ $1B

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Sunday May 19, 2013 @ 9:19am PDTTags: Box Office, J.J. Abrams, Star Trek Into Darkness

Box OfficeSUNDAY 9 AM, 7TH & 8TH UPDATE (WRITETHRU): The iconic space tentpole grossed a lot of money worldwide as May continues to sizzle for Summer 2013. But came nowhere near the $80M weekend and $100M total predicted. Star Trek Into Darkness from Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions, and director J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot opened with $2M Wednesday from IMAX late shows, $11.5M Thursday, $22M Friday, $27.2M Saturday (for a +25% bump), and an estimated $21.2M Sunday. So that’s a $70.5M weekend from 3,868 theaters and an $84M domestic cume. Exit polling shows that the audience was 64% male/36% female with 27% under age 25/73% age 25 and over. Despite the passage of 4 years and the addition of 3D and IMAX for ticket premiums, 4 1/2 days of Star Trek Into Darkness barely beat 2009′s Star Trek 3-day weekend opening. Rightly or wrongly, fanboys (who are notoriously hard to please) saw the sequel as a ripoff of 1982′s The Wrath Of Khan. I felt the problem was that the latest pic’s marketing assumed people had seen the first installment and therefore didn’t target newbies. The iconic space tentpole in 3D received a coveted “A” CinemaScore to help word of mouth and 87% positive Rotten Tomatoes score setting it up for a strong weekend. The budget was a costly $190M, but the studio was predicting a 3-day weekend domestic estimate of $80M and 4-day estimate of $100M. Abrams’ first grossed $257.7M in North America but only $128M overseas where the franchise has long underperformed. STID was expected to easily beat the North American take so Abrams filmed 30 minutes using high-resolution cameras to increase the IMAX grosses which comprised 16% of domestic. To expand international, Paramount dispatched Abrams’ Bad Robot partner Bryan Burk to share 20 minutes of footage with media and distributors abroad earlier this year. It helped: international told a stronger story. Since sequels usually play well overseas, the total is $80.5 from 40 markets through Sunday, or +80% from the prior film. For comparison, STID is running +33% on a global basis compared to the 2009 reboot. Worldwide total is $164.5M. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto reprise their roles as Kirk and Spock with its ensemble USS Enterprise cast and Benedict Cumberbatch debuts as the movie’s mysterious baddie in this sequel to Abrams’ 2009 reboot of the franchise, which began as a 1960s TV series. Star Trek Into Darkness, based on Gene Roddenberry’s creation, was written by credited scripters Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman & Damon Lindelof, who also are producers along with the Bad Robot duo of Abrams and Burk.

1. Star Trek Into Darkness (Skydance/Paramount) Week 1 [3,868 Theaters]
Wed $2.0M, Thurs $11.5M, Fri $22.0M, Sat $27.2M, Est Sun $21.2M
Wkd $70.5M, Dom Cume $84.0M, Intl Cume $80.5M, WW Total $164.9M

2. Iron Man 3 (Marvel/Disney) Week 3 [Runs 4,237]
Friday $9.6M, Saturday $15.8M, Weekend $35.5M,
Dom Cume $337.1M, Intl Cume $736.2M, Worldwide Total $1.073.3B

On May 16, the film crossed the $1B benchmark at the global box office in 23 days and the $300M threshold at the domestic box office in 14 days. Iron Man 3 is now the #9 highest grossing film of all time globally and the #9 highest grossing film of all time internationally. This is the 2nd Marvel Studios film and the 6th Walt Disney Studios release to reach $1B globally, and the 9th Disney release to reach $300M domestic.

3. The Great Gatsby (Warner Bros) Week 2 [Runs 3,550]
Friday $7.6M, Saturday $9.5m, Weekend $23.6M (-53%)

Dom Cume $90.1M, Intl Cume $42.1M, Worldwide Total $132.2M

Baz Luhrmann’s biggest to date here and overseas looks to make $140M domestic all in. “Domestic box office results are excellent,” a Warner Bros exec gushed. “Counter-programming can succeed with great success in a summer of tentpole fanboy event films.” Coming off the heels of a gala opening night event at the Cannes Film Event, The Great Gatsby in 3D released in 49 territories overseas and grossed a big $42.1M (ith 4.6Madmissions from almost 8,400 screens). This was 38% higher than Luhrmann’s Australia in the same markets ($30.4M) and 3x higher than Moulin Rouge ($13.8M). This weekend’s rollout abroad represent 70% of the international box office; major markets yet to launch include Australia (May 30th), Mexico (May 31st), Brazil (June 7th), Japan (June 14th). This weekend’s results included some #1 placements despite stuff competition: Russia $6.2M (Rbl 194M), UK $6.1M (£4.0M), France $4.7M (€3.6M), Korea $4.3M (KRW 4.75B), Italy $3.8M (€2.9M), Germany $3.7M (€2.8M), Spain $2.2M (€1.7M), Taiwan $779K (NT$23.9M).

Also, Universal’s May 24th domestic opener Fast & Furious 6 kicked off its worldwide release in the UK and Ireland this weekend with a record breaking #1 opening. The film grossed $13.8M (£9M) at 460 dates scoring Universal’s biggest 3-day opening weekend in that territory (smashing the previous record set by Les Miserables of $13.1M). It is the biggest opening weekend in the UK for the franchise and the highest opening weekend for Vin Diesel and Dwayne Johnson. F&F6 is now the 2nd biggest opening weekend of 2013 there behind IM3‘s $17.6M.

Read More »

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PTC Calls The MPAA’s ‘Check The Box’ Campaign An “Empty Gesture”

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday May 16, 2013 @ 5:58pm EDTTags: MPAA, MPAA Ratings, MPAA Ratings Board, Parents Television Council, PTC

While the Parents Television Council’s view is no surprise, the activist group made it forcefully this week in a letter to MPAA chief Chris Dodd calling for meaningful changes in the movie ratings system and its treatment of on-screen violence. The “Check The Box” initiative that Dodd unveiled at last month’s CinemaCon confab changes movie ratings labeling to help people see the specific rationale — for example whether a PG-13 or R-rated film received the designation due to its use of profanity, nudity, smoking, drug use, or violence. PTC says that just gives studios “the appearance of doing something about media violence without actually doing anything at all.” The MPAA can “keep rating violent movies PG-13″ which means studios can “market those violent films to kids … PG-13 films run the gamut from Les Miserables to Drag Me To Hell. And because it applies to everything, in practice, it means nothing.” Read More »

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Cannes: Worldview Backing Anne Hathaway In ‘Song One’

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Wednesday, 15 May 2013 08:55 UKTags: Anne Hathaway, Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Worldview Entertainment

Anne Hathaway won an Oscar this year based in part on her performance of one song in Les Misérables. Now she’s starring in Song One which Worldview Entertainment has signed on to finance and produce. The drama is a feature debut for helmer Kate Barker-Froyland who will direct from her own screenplay about a young woman who strikes up a relationship with her ailing brother’s favorite musician. Newly-minted Lotus Entertainment is handling international sales. CAA has domestic. Worldview’s Christopher Woodrow and Molly Conners will produce alongside Hathaway’s Rachel Getting Married producers Marc Platt and Jonathan Demme, with Hathaway herself and Adam Shulman. Worldview’s Maria Cestone, Sarah Johnson Redlich and Hoyt David Morgan will executive produce. Principal photography starts May 29 in New York.

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Chris Pine, Jake Gyllenhaal Clearing Throats For ‘Into The Woods’ Pic

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday May 14, 2013 @ 9:22pm PDTTags: Chris Pine, Disney, Into The Woods, Jake Gyllenhaal

Chris Pine and Jake Gyllenhaal aren’t exactly renowned for their pipes, but both are in discussions to join Johnny Depp and Meryl Streep in Disney‘s film version of the 1987 Stephen Sondheim musical Into The Woods. Rob Marshall is directing the pic with an eye on the 9-figure coin drawn by Best Picture nominee Les Miserables and Streep starrer Mamma Mia! Meanwhile, Pine has other things on his mind — like a huge opening for his Final Frontier sequel Star Trek Into Darkness this weekend.

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Late Night At NBC Upfronts: Jay Leno To “Pass The Baton” To Jimmy Fallon During Winter Olympics; Seth Meyers To Start Feb. 24

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Monday May 13, 2013 @ 10:39am PDTTags: Jay Leno, Jimmy Fallon, NBC Late Night, Seth Meyers, SNL, Tonight Show

BREAKING…NBC‘s Upfront presentation today officially announced that Jay Leno will end his 22-year run on The Tonight Show during the week leading up to the 2014 Winter Olympics which start February 6th. And that Jimmy Fallon will be introduced during the second week of the Sochi games when ratings are at their highest. NBC Entertainment chairman Bob Greenblatt said Fallon will settle into his 11:30 PM Tonight Show slot on Monday, February 24th, followed by the debut of Late Night With Seth Meyers at 12:30 AM.

Related: Live-Blog: NBC’s Upfront Presentation

NBC Broadcasting chief Ted Harbert kicked off the upfront by explaining the changeover with this understated description: “Things are shifting and changing in late-night.” But if any of the media buyers or advertisers in the audience thought NBC was going to candidly say why they’re taking off the network’s #1 Tonight Show host for two decades, they got a joke instead. Promising a “slight change” in late night, Greenblatt deadpanned, “I’m stepping down in 2014 and Jay Leno will be taking my job.” Later, Greenblatt offered as explanation only the ”increasingly competitive” late night landscape and that the network wanted to “pass the baton while still No. 1…” Then he launched into praise for the guy he’s replacing. ”We owe a great debt of gratitude to Jay Leno and extend Jay our sincerest thanks for an unparalleled run.” Stressing how Leno “always has … Read More »

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NBC’s 2013-14 Schedule: ‘Revolution’ Moves To Wednesday, ‘Parenthood’ To Thursday, ‘Blacklist’ Gets Post ‘Voice’ Slot

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Sunday May 12, 2013 @ 2:15pm PDTTags: NBC, Parenthood, Revolution, The Blacklist
Nellie Andreeva

Family comedies and action dramas dominate NBC‘s new series additions for next season. NBC is introducing six series in the fall — comedies Welcome to the Family, Sean Saves the World, and The Michael J. Fox Show; and dramas The Blacklist, Ironside and Dracula; with five more set for midseason– comedies The Family Guide and About A Boy, and dramas Believe, Crisis and Crossbones. (Dracula and Crossbones were carried over from last upfront/off-season). Not scheduled yet are newly picked up dramas Chicago PD and The Night Shift and comedy Undateable as well as last-minute renewal Community. On the returning series side, missing from the announcement are long-time reality staple Celebrity Apprentice and well reviewed freshman drama Hannibal as NBC is yet to make a pickup decision on both. Here is NBC’s fall and midseason schedules with analysis and new series descriptions underneath. As expected, the network is spreading its launches between the fall and spring, tied to its Winter Olympics coverage:

NBC FALL 2013-14 SCHEDULE
(New programs in UPPER CASE; all times ET)

MONDAY
8-10 p.m. – “The Voice”
10-11 p.m. – “THE BLACKLIST”

TUESDAY
8-9 p.m. – “The Biggest Loser” (New Day and Time)
9-10 p.m. – “The Voice” (New time)
10-11 p.m. – “Chicago Fire” (New Day and Time)

WEDNESDAY
8-9 p.m. – “Revolution” (New Day and Time)
9-10 p.m. – ”Law & Order: SVU”
10-11 p.m. – “IRONSIDE”

THURSDAY
8-8:30 p.m. – “Parks and Recreation” (New time)
8:30-9 p.m. – “WELCOME TO THE FAMILY”
9-9:30 p.m. – “SEAN SAVES THE WORLD”
9:30-10 p.m. – “THE MICHAEL J. FOX SHOW”
10-11 p.m. – “Parenthood” (New Day and Time)

FRIDAY
8-9 p.m. – “Dateline NBC”
9-10 p.m. – “Grimm”
10-11 p.m. – “DRACULA”

SATURDAY
Encore programming

SUNDAY
7:00-8:15 p.m. – “Football Night in America”
8:15-11:30 p.m. – “NBC Sunday Night Football” Read More »

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NBC New Series Pickups: Sean Hayes, DJ Nash, ‘Crisis’, ‘About A Boy’, ‘Believe’

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Thursday May 9, 2013 @ 10:13am PDTTags: About A Boy, Believe, Crisis, NBC
Nellie Andreeva

2ND UPDATE: Joining the group of newly picked up NBC series is DJ Nash comedy The Family Guide. This is it for NBC’s first batch of new series pickups. Waiting word are several top contenders, including Sony’s drama Blacklist and comedy Welcome To The Family.

Related: ‘Whitney’ & ’1600 Penn’ Cancelled, ‘Parks & Rec’ Renewed

UPDATE, 10:15 AM: Also picked up are the Sean Hayes/Victor Fresco comedy, titled Sean Saves The World, and J.J. Abrams’ drama Believe. That means two series each on NBC next season for Hayes/Hazy Mills and Abrams/Bad Robot, who also executive produce the recently renewed Grimm and Revolution, respectively.

PREVIOUS, 10:13 AM: After cleaning up house yesterday, passing on seven pilots, NBC just started handing out their new series orders. Rand Ravich’s drama Crisis and Jason Katims’ comedy About A Boy were among the first to get the happy call. Like Hayes and Abrams, Katims too will be pulling double duty on NBC next season as his Parenthood also has been renewed. About A Boy stars the little boy from 1600 Penn, so in case anyone was wondering, that series is dead. NBC, of course also has the Michael J. Fox comedy series with a 22-episode order. I’ll keep updating with pickup information as it comes in.

Related: Full Primetime Pilot Panic Listings

Here are credits and descriptions for NBC’s newly picked-up series: Read More »

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Disney, ‘Iron Man 3′ Dominate 2013 Golden Trailer Awards

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday May 5, 2013 @ 1:55pm PDTTags: Disney, Golden Trailer Awards, Hit & Run, Spring Breakers

Golden Trailer Awards Winners 2013The annual marketing kudos went big for Disney pics Iron Man 3, Wreck-It-Ralph, Monsters University, Brave, and The Avengers at the Golden Trailer Awards Friday night. The GTAs didn’t just fete the best movie promos of the year. They also doled out Trashiest Trailer (to A24′s Spring Breakers) and gave indie comedy Hit & Run the Golden Fleece award, awarded to a trailer better than its actual movie. Here’s the full list of winners:
Read More »

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Jessica Chastain In Talks For Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday May 2, 2013 @ 4:37pm PDTTags: Anne Hathaway, Christopher Nolan, Interstellar, Jessica Chastain, Matthew McConaughey
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Jessica Chastain is in talks to star with Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway in Interstellar, the next film that Christopher Nolan will direct. She will play the third lead, I’m told, and this is a great follow to her Oscar-nominated turn in Zero Dark Thirty. Quite a cast Nolan is cooking up; Hathaway won the Oscar for Les Miserables, and McConaughey is on a run himself. Not much is known about the specific log line (Nolan and cohorts work under the cone of silence) and that includes casting. I was able to break the news about McConaughey (he confirmed it a week later), and also Hathaway. The film is a co-production between Paramount and Warner Bros and was put in motion by Lynda Obst, who commissioned the original treatment. Steven Spielberg came aboard in 2006, when Paramount owned DreamWorks, and after the filmmaker became intrigued by Caltech physicist and relativity expert Kip S. Thorne and his scientific theory that wormholes exist and can be used for time travel. Spielberg set Jonah Nolan to write the script, which made it easy for Christopher Nolan to come aboard after Spielberg left the project. After all, the Nolan siblings have a collaborative track record, with Jonah hatching the short story that became Christopher’s first hit, 2000′s Memento, and following that with two Batfilms and The Prestige. Christopher Nolan signed on in January to write a script that … Read More »

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Comcast Beats Q1 Earnings Forecasts With Help From NBCU Cable Networks

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday May 1, 2013 @ 8:12am EDTTags: Comcast, Les Miserables, NBCUniversal, Super Bowl

Here’s yet another mixed-bag Big Media report on this unusually busy morning, although the 2% pre-market jump in Comcast‘s shares suggests that the earnings growth here is especially impressive. The cable and entertainment colossus generated $1.65B in net income in Q1, +13.7% vs the period last year, on revenues of $15.3B, +2.9%. Analysts thought that revenues would come in a little higher, at $15.4B. But earnings of 54 cents a share beat forecasts for 50 cents. NBCUniversal did its part, with operating cash flow +17.2% to $953M — despite a 2.4% drop in revenues to $5.34B. (It would have been up 2.4% if you factor out last year’s $259M from NBC’s Super Bowl coverage.) Cable network revenue was +4.6% to $2.2B with operating cash flow +6.2% to $859M. Comcast says that affiliate fees were up 8.6% while ad price increases offset lower ratings to raise sales 2.5%. The story’s drearier at the broadcast operation: Its operating loss increased to $35M from $14M last year while revenues fell 18.5% to $1.5B. (The drop would be just 5.3% without last year’s Super Bowl.) The main culprits, the company says, were “lower primetime ratings at the NBC broadcast network and lower content licensing revenue.” In Filmed Entertainment, the company says that Les Miserables helped to propel revenues +2% to $1.2B with operating cash flow up to $69M from $6M in the period last year. Theme Parks also performed with revenues +12.2% to $462M and operating cash flow +10.3% to $173M. CEO Brian Roberts says that following his company’s acquisition of General Electric’s stake in NBCU it will “drive innovation and operational excellence to deliver superior entertainment and communications choices for consumers.” Read More »

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CinemaCon: Universal’s Sequel Machine Pays Off With Exhibitors

By PETE HAMMOND | Tuesday April 16, 2013 @ 3:05pm PDTTags: Adam Fogelson, Battleship, Big Deals Film, Denzel Washington, Despicable Me 2, Fast & Furious 6, Kick-Ass 2, Mark Wahlberg, Ron Meyer, Ted, Universal, Vin Diesel
Pete Hammond

It was Universal Pictures’ turn in the spotlight this morning as Chairman Adam Fogelson served up a look at the studio’s sequel-packed summer slate and a summary of the studio’s 2012 hits and even big miss Battleship. He announced sequels in varying stages of development: Snow White And The Huntsman (for a targeted 2015 date), Ted, Bourne Legacy, and also for 2015 another Pitch Perfect, that sleeper which earned $110 million worldwide and has become the 4th biggest digital download in history. But clearly the studio’s biggest franchise news - thinking audiences can’t get enough of a good thing – was star/producer Vin Diesel’s announcement that the cast will return for a 7th Fast & Furious with a release date already set for July 11, 2014. Marketing honcho Michael Moses told me afterwards that the 7th film will go into production with new director James Wan in August right after the cast finishes up its worldwide promotions for #6. For such a stunt driven movie, 11 months is not much time and sets it up for an imposing ‘fast and furious’ schedule. In fact these things go so down to the wire that #6 director Justin Lin couldn’t be in Vegas to join the cast (including Paul Walker and Michelle Rodriguez) and producer Neal H. Moritz on stage to talk up the new film for the pumped theater owners. Moritz said he’s been darting between London, Vancouver … Read More »

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‘Avengers’, ‘Silver Linings Playbook’ Top 2013 MTV Movie Awards

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday April 14, 2013 @ 8:41pm PDTTags: MTV Movie Awards, Silver Linings Playbook, The Avengers

The Weinstein Co.’s Silver Linings Playbook and leading duo Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper came up big at the 2013 MTV Movie Awards, nabbing Best Female Performance, Best Male Performance, and Best Kiss at the annual fan-driven ceremony. Marvel’s The Avengers took home three awards including Movie Of The Year, while host Rebel Wilson and her breakout summer pic Pitch Perfect also garnered kudos. Meanwhile, Taylor Lautner of Summit’s The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn — Part 2 snagged a win out of the film’s lone nomination: Best Shirtless Performance. Here’s the full list of winners, highlighted in bold:
Read More »

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Anne Hathaway To Star With Matthew McConaughey in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Interstellar’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Tuesday April 9, 2013 @ 1:36pm PDTTags: Anne Hathaway, Big Deals Film, Christopher Nolan, Interstellar, Matthew McConaughey
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: I’m told that Anne Hathaway is near a deal to star with Matthew McConaughey in Interstellar, the next film that Christopher Nolan will direct. This is a heckuva follow up to Les Miserables, for which Hathaway won the Academy Award. It also reunites her with Nolan, after she last year played the Selina/Catwoman role in Nolan’s Batfinale The Dark Knight Rises. McConaughey is also enjoying a resurgence fueled by his Independent Spirit Award-winning turn in Magic Mike, and several other pics.

Not much is known about the specific log line (Nolan and cohorts work under the cone of silence) and that includes casting. I was able to break the news about McConaughey (he confirmed it a week later), and I am sure Hathaway’s deal will make. The film is a co-production between Paramount and Warner Bros and was originally set up in 2006 by Steven Spielberg, when Paramount owned DreamWorks, and after Spielberg became intrigued by Caltech physicist and relativity expert Kip S. Thorne and his scientific theory that wormholes exist and can be used for time travel. Spielberg set Jonah Nolan to write the script, which made it easy for Christopher Nolan to come aboard after Spielberg left the project. After all, the Nolan siblings have a collaborative track record, with Jonah hatching the short story that became Christopher’s first hit Memento, and following that with two Batfilms and The Prestige. … Read More »

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Golden Trailer Nominees Unveiled

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday April 5, 2013 @ 10:45am PDTTags: Golden Trailer Awards

Rob Schneider and Aisha Tyler will host the 14th annual Golden Trailer Awards on May 3 at the Saban Theatre in Beverly Hills. More than 1200 submissions were received this year, an 11% year-over-year increase, in a total of 70 categories, with honors in 16 main Show Categories set to be presented during the ceremony along with an additional trophy for Best in Show. Here are the main categories (see the rest of the nominees here):

THE 14TH ANNUAL GOLDEN TRAILER AWARDS

SHOW CATEGORY NOMINEES

SUMMER 2013 BLOCKBUSTER TRAILER
“Iron Man 3” – Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, Trailer Park
“Fast & Furious 6” – Universal, AV Squad
“Man of Steel” – Warner Bros., Jennifer Horvath
“Pacific Rim” – Warner Bros., Trailer Park
“World War Z “Day”“ – Paramount Pictures, Buddha Jones Read More »

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Anne Hathaway, Chloe Moretz & Sam Rockwell To Star In Lynn Shelton Pic

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday March 27, 2013 @ 11:14am PDTTags: Anne Hathaway, Big Deals Film, Chloe Moretz, Laggies, Lynn Shelton, Sam Rockwell

Anne HathawayChloe MoretzEXCLUSIVE: Anne Hathaway, Chloe Moretz and Sam Rockwell are all deep in negotiations to join Laggies. The Lynn Shelton-directed dark comedy chronicles perpetual adolescent and late-twentysomething Megan (Hathaway) who, freaked out by her boyfriend’s marriage proposal, pretends to go on a career retreat but actually hides out for a week with 16-year-old Annika (Moretz), her new best friend. Mark Webber is also in talks to join the film as Megan’s boyfriend. Rockwell will play an older character named Craig in the film, written by Andrea Seigel. Steve Golin, Alix Madigan and Rosalie Swedlin are producing for Anonymous Content. Madigan brought the project to Anonymous, developing it and bringing Shelton on board to direct before attaching any cast. Read More »

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Tom Hooper, Ang Lee, David Fincher And Steven Spielberg Eye Intriguing Movies

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday March 14, 2013 @ 5:22pm PDTTags: Ang Lee, Big Deals Film, David Fincher, Ridley Scott, Steven Spielberg, Tom Hooper
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Deadline scooped the news today that Safety Not Guaranteed helmer Colin Trevorrow landed the plum gig of Jurassic Park 4, a move which could catapult him to the director A-list. There is a lot of movement going on among directors that will reverberate depending on who takes what job.

First up, Steven Spielberg has ended his long flirtation with directing Gods And Kings, the epic-sized Warner Bros film about life of Moses based on the script by Michael Green and Stuart Hazeldine. That puts Warner Bros in a bind because of the rival Moses project, the Adam Cooper/Bill Collage-scripted Exodus, which is gathering steam at Fox, with Ridley Scott looking to mobilize that as soon as he completes The Counselor. But Warner Bros is now out to Ang Lee, who just won the Best Director Oscar for Life Of Pi. I’m told he’s intrigued with the project but hasn’t had a formal meeting on the script. Imagine what either director can do with that subject matter, and with the ratings on History Channel’s The Bible miniseries, the audience is certainly there. Spielberg hasn’t dropped the project for another; while he postponed his next film Robopocalypse, he hasn’t replaced it with anything as he continues to develop that robot pic. Spielberg also recently told French TV he’s developing a Napoleon miniseries for TV based on Stanley Kubrick’s screenplay and research. for Read More »

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