RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Modern Family’, ‘Law & Order: SVU’ & ‘Criminal Minds’ Hit Finale Lows, ‘Masterchef’ Down In Season Debut

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday May 23, 2013 @ 9:07am PDT

The final night of the 2012-2013 TV season saw six finales and one season debut. On ABC, Wednesday marked the Season 4 finale of Modern Family (3.6/11) at 9 PM. In a season that saw the comedy post its first adults 18-49 win over American Idol, last night’s episode dipped 3% from its May 14 show. While the highest-rated show of the night by far, Family also fell 12% from its Season 3 end on May 23, 2012 to hit an all-time season-finale low. That result could change a bit in the final numbers as the extra minute of Family is factored in. Last week, the show went up from its 3.5 in fast affiliate rating to a 3.6 later in the day. The Season 4 finale of The Middle (2.0/7) started ABC’s primetime last night, with the sitcom was up a slight 5% from last week and even with last year’s May 23, 2012 finale. A Modern Family (1.6/5) encore followed at 8:30 PM. How To Live With You Parents (For The Rest Of Your Life) (2.2/6) was the only non-finale original on ABC last night. The newbie comedy was up 10% from its May 14 show. Nashville (1.9/5) wrapped its freshman cycle with cliffhangers-galore show that saw a 12% rise from last week.

Related: CBS Wins Season; ABC Tops Adults 18-49 In Final Week

A two-hour Criminal Minds (2.7/8) finale was the only original on CBS last night. Literally ending with a bang, the Season 8 ender of the recently renewed procedural series was up 4% from its May 14 episode but down a hard 25% from last season’s two-hour finale on May 16, 2012. Though the most watched show of the night with 10.80 million viewers, that’s a finale low for the series. With 8.982 million watching, CBS won the night in total viewers and tied with ABC (2.2) in adults 18-49. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘Dancing With The Stars’ Finale Lowest Ever, ‘The Voice’ Hits New Low, ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Even

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday May 22, 2013 @ 9:02am PDT

The second-to-last night of the season featured the Season 16 finale of Dancing With The Stars (2.6/7). In the first finale with four remaining contestants, it came down to former American Idol contestant Kellie Pickler, Disney star Zendaya, Olympian Aly Raisman and the Baltimore Ravens’ Jacoby Jones. Musical performances came from rapper Pitbull, Psy and former contestant Wynonna Judd. The two-hour live results show was up 44% from last week, but it was the lowest-rated finale for DWTS ever, down 13% from the last cycle ender on November 27, 2012 and down 21% from its last spring finale May 22. The show was the second-highest-rated of the night behind The Voice but the most-watched by far with 14.96 million viewers. With a live show like this, expect an adjustment later in the day when final numbers come in.

Ahead of the season premiere of The Bachelorette on May 27, a special one-hour recap of the funniest moments from The Bachelor (1.2/4) aired before DWTS last night. ABC won the night in total viewers, with NBC topping adults 18-49. Read More »

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CBS Wins Season & Ties Sweep In Demo; ABC Tops Adults 18-49 In Season’s Final Week

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday May 21, 2013 @ 2:59pm PDT

As everyone knew they would, CBS has taken the top spots for the 2012-2013 TV season for the first time in over 20 years. However, ABC topped adults 18-49 for the final full week of the season and is tied for top spot in the May sweep.

Strong showings from veterans NCIS and The Big Bang Theory, sporting events like the NCAA Tournament and The Masters plus airing the Super Bowl this year, put CBS on top for the season in both viewers and among adults 18-49 for the first time since 1991-1992. With just a couple of days until the season wraps, that breaks Fox’s eight consecutive season hold on the prized demo.

Related: ‘American Idol’ Hits All-Time Finale Low

There were a numbers of factors that contributed to Fox slipping into second place among adults 18-49 but certainly the network was plagued by a sharp more than 20% decline for American Idol, which hit an all time finale low last week. Add to that disappointing X-Factor season 2 numbers, Mob Doctor cratering, a lack of traction among its comedies, a lackluster baseball post-season and plethora of preemptions in the fall and Fox was lucky it was muscular enough to only tumble to second place. For all that change, some things have stayed the same. This season is the second year in a row that sees ABC in the fourth place spot despite a second-season … Read More »

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A&E’s ‘Bates Motel’ Rises In Finale

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday May 21, 2013 @ 12:18pm PDT

The Season 1 finale of Bates Motel last night on A&E got 2.7 million viewers with 1.5 million among adults 18-49 and 1.4 million among adults 25-54. That’s up 15% in the 18-49 demo from last week’s show and up 8% in total viewers and among Adults 25-54. The finale was down from the show’s March 18 premiere that was the most-watched original drama in the demos in A&E’s history. The debut of the Psycho prequel garnered 3 million total viewers and 1.599 million viewers among adults 18-49 and 1.633 million viewers among adults 25-54. Those numbers made it a no-brainer that A&E announced on April 8 that it had renewed Bates Motel for a 10-episode second season to air in 2014. Overall, Bates Motel averaged 2.7 million viewers in its first season with 1.5 million in both the 18-49 and 25-54 demos. Those results are the best any A&E drama has performed in the demos. The numbers place Bates Motel as the No. 2 top new cable drama of the season behind History’s Vikings.

Related: Carlton Cuse On ‘Bates Motel’s’ ‘Twin Peaks’ & ‘Psycho’ Heritage

The series, whose first season ran for 10-espisodes, details the dark backstory of Norman Bates (Freddie Highmore) and how deeply intricate his relationship is with his mother Norma (Vera Farmiga). Carlton Cuse (Lost) and Kerry Ehrin (Friday Night Lights) executive produce.

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Obama Scandals Bring MSNBC 7-Year Low While Fox News Rises

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Monday May 20, 2013 @ 4:44pm PDT

MSNBCThe scandals of the Obama administration seem to be hurting not just the White House but MSNBC as well, while Fox News Channel has just scored its second-best week of the year. After double-digit gains during last year’s presidential election, May 13-17 saw the progressive-aligned “Lean Forward” news network hit new lows as the IRS scandal erupted and revelations that the Justice Department secretly obtained AP records became public. With 350,000 viewers on average and 94,000 in the adults 25-54 demo, MSNBC had its least-watched and lowest-rated total-day results of the year last week. That was also the lowest total-day demo result the network has had since the week of June 26-July 2, 2006, when MSNBC pulled in just 83,000 viewers among adults 25-54, according to Nielsen data.

Related: Fox News Tops 2012 Cable News Network Ratings; MSNBC Up
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RATINGS RAT RACE: Billboard Awards Surge From 2012, ‘Celebrity Apprentice’ Finale Falls, ‘Simpsons’ Finale Flat

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Monday May 20, 2013 @ 9:19am PDT

Just like last year, the last Sunday of the broadcast season saw a schedule full of specials and finales. Unlike 2012, the specials and the finales split the difference for the top spots. With wins by Taylor Swift and Madonna, boos from the audience directed at Justin Bieber and a closing performance from Prince, the 2013 Billboard Awards (3.6/10) was up big from last year.  On ABC for the third year in a row, the live three-hour Tracy Morgan-hosted ceremony surged up from its 2012 broadcast. The highest-rated show of the night. The Billboard Awards was up 33% among adults 18-49 and up 28% in total viewers to 9.47 million watching. ABC aired the season finale of America’s Funniest Home Videos (1.8/6) before the Billboard Awards. The most watched show of the night with 9.84 million viewers, the original found footage show was up 29% from its May 12 show and up 20% from last year’s finale on May 20, 2012. With 8.863 million watching, ABC won the night among viewers and adults 18-49.
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Specialty Box Office: ‘Frances Ha’ Triumphs As Fellow Newcomers Take A Nose Dive

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Sunday May 19, 2013 @ 10:12am PDT

Brian Brooks is a Deadline contributor.

Indie FilmsIFC FilmsFrances Ha had the last laugh this weekend, opening solid in a pair of theaters each in New York and Los Angeles. The critically well-received feature directed by Noah Baumbach and starring Greta Gerwig grossed $134K, averaging $33,500. It came fairly close to his last feature, Greenberg, which averaged $39,384 when it opened in March 2010 in three locations. But that film, which also starred Gerwig, also included Ben Stiller, Jennifer Jason Leigh and Juno Temple. Frances Ha inched out Baumbach’s acclaimed 2005 Best Screenplay Oscar-nominated The Squid And The Whale in terms of first weekend PSA. That film opened in four runs, averaging $32,461. Frances Ha‘s fellow newcomers, however did not fare nearly as well.
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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 PDT

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.

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UPFRONTS 2013: The Overachievers

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Friday May 17, 2013 @ 7:18pm PDT
Nellie Andreeva

First off, congratulations to all writers, producers, actors and agents who landed new series this week. I know it wasn’t easy. Here is Deadline’s annual list of those who excelled at the upfronts. I tried to be inclusive, but if I’ve missed anyone who’s had a banner week, let me know. I’ve also compiled a list of pods and independent producers with multiple broadcast series.

Cougar Town co-creator Bill Lawrence and his Doozer banner had three new series unveiled at the upfronts this week: comedies Undateable on NBC, Surviving Jack on Fox and Ground Floor on TBS. Also, TBS recently renewed Cougar Town for a fifth season.

Related: 2013-14 Schedule Grid & Top Face-Offs

J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot claimed one of the top new drama series last season with NBC’s Revolution and one of the hottest sophomore shows with CBS’ Person Of Interest. The company is keeping the momentum with two new series orders for next season: Almost Human at Fox and Believe at NBC.

Independent producer Aaron Kaplan of Kapital Entertainment received two new series orders from the broadcast networks: Back In The Game at ABC and Friends With Better Lives at CBS. Additionally, his freshman ABC comedy The Neighbors was renewed and his ABC pilot Bad Management is in serious contention for a series pickup. Kaplan also received two cable series orders in the past month, for Chasing Life on ABC Family and Instant Mom on NickMom, and also has comedy series Wendell & Vinnie on Nick at Nite and pilot HR at Lifetime.

Writer-producer Julie Plec also landed two new series this week, both at the CW: She wrote/executive produces the planted Vampire Diaries spinoff The Originals and executive produces The Tomorrow People. Additionally, she executive produces TVD, giving her three series on the air next season. (Fellow Tomorrow People executive producer Greg Berlanti has two, including returning CW hit Arrow.)

Another drama writer-producer, former ER showrunner David Zabel, saw both of his pilots picked up. He is the writer/exec producer on ABC’s Betrayal and co-writer/exec producer on ABC’s Lucky 7. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE UPDATE: ‘American Idol’ Hits All-Time Finale Low, ‘The Office’ Series Finale Up, ‘Scandal’ Finale Surges

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday May 17, 2013 @ 9:34am PDT

UPDATE, 9:34 AM: Final American Idol finale numbers are in from Nielsen. While the show remains at an all-time low, it did see an expected adjustment upward. The 8-10:07 PM Idol garnered a 3.6 rating with 14.3 million viewers, which is down 44% in ratings from Season 11′s finale and down 33% in viewership. The show was up 24% from its May 8 episode.

PREVIOUSLY, 8:19 AM: Thursday saw a flurry of finales including American Idol (3.4/11) ending its 12th season with an all-time finale low and The Office closing its doors for good. Declaring a winner from the final two female contestants, the more than two-hour live Idol was down 47% in preliminary ratings from the 6.4/18 final numbers of Season 11’s finale on May 23, 2012. It’s the first Idol finale to have less than 20 million viewers. The show, which went nearly eight minutes over the hour and will likely be adjusted up in the final numbers, pulled in 13.61 million viewers from 8-10:07 PM last night. That’s nearly 8 million viewers less than the 21.5 million who watched last year’s season finale. For the first time ever, the Idol finale wasn’t even the highest-rated show of the night — the Season 6 finale of The Big Bang Theory (4.4/16) topped Thursday. Facing off in the 8-8:30 slot, Idol garnered a 2.8 in adults 18-49 against the CBS geek sitcom. Idol was also way down from the 6.0/16 rating and 17.93 million viewers of the Season 12 premiere on January 16. Thursday’s finale was up 28% in adults 18-49 over last week’s show and saw a bounce from the 11.6 million viewers who watched May 9. With 13.608 millon watching, Fox won Thursday in total viewers and adults 18-49. (See complete list of American Idol finale viewership and ratings numbers below)

Related: Anyone Care Who Won ‘American Idol’? Read More »

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UPDATE: ‘Iron Man 3′ Box Office Crosses $1B Global And $300M Domestic

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday May 17, 2013 @ 9:18am PDT

UPDATE, FRIDAY AM: Disney confirmed today that last night Iron Man 3 crossed $1B at the worldwide box office and $300M at the domestic box office. Iron Man 3The global milestone came on the 23rd day of release around the world, making it the second Marvel Studios film (after The Avengers, which crossed the mark in 19 days) and sixth Disney pic (Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, Alice In Wonderland, Toy Story 3, and Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, and Avengers) to cross that threshold. The domestic mark comes on the 14th day of release and is the ninth studio pic to reach that peak. To date, the pic has grossed $1.008B globally — $698.9M international and $301.9M domestic. It is the 16th highest-grossing film of all-time globally and 11th all-time internationally.

PREVIOUS EXCLUSIVE, WEDNESDAY PM: More records breaking for Summer 2013 as may continues to sizzle at the global box office. The Disney/Marvel threequel has only been in theaters for 23 days around the world but already Iron Man 3 is set to cross the $1B mark on Thursday. Its latest cumes are $294.7M domestic and $685.6M international through May 14. That makes it the 16th biggest film ever amid predictions it will finish as the 5th highest grossing film of all time when all theatrical grosses are in. Read More »

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MGM Reports Q1 Windfall From ‘Hobbit’ And ‘Skyfall’

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday May 16, 2013 @ 4:23pm EDT

The numbers do the roaring for MGM. In the first three months of this year it generated net income of $57.4M, +150.7% vs the period last year, on revenues of $481.7M, +168.4%. It shouldn’t be a surprise. With the late 2012 release of the James Bond film Skyfall, and a 50% stake in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the studio had $139.5M in worldwide box office revenues, up from $0.5M last year. The company says that it has to wait for costs to be covered before it can recognize revenue from two films it co-financed: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters and G.I. Joe: Retaliation. Home entertainment also was way up — to $201.7M from $36.2M — with the home video release of Skyfall and piggy-back promotions for its James Bond library. But worldwide television licensing was -3.2% to $109.3M. MGM’s 19.1% stake in EPIX delivered $5M to net earnings, +16.3%. The results “exceeded our expectations” and “position us well to deliver on our financial goals” for 2013, CEO Gary Barber told investors. Read More »

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Cannes: Image Entertainment Acquires Rights To Winnie Mandela Biopic

LOS ANGELES, May 16, 2013 – Image Entertainment, an RLJ Entertainment brand, has acquired all U.S. rights to Winnie Mandela at the 2013 Cannes International Film Festival. Budgeted at $15 million, the film is an adaptation of Anné Mariè du Preez Bezdrob’s biography Winnie Mandela: A Life and is written and directed by Darrell J. Roodt. Winnie Mandela stars Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls; Sex in the City) and Academy Award nominee Terrence Howard (Hustle & Flow; Red Tails; Iron Man) and will be released in theaters Fall 2013. The film is presented by TD Jakes, and produced by André Pieterse (Ironwood Films) and Michael Mosca (Equinoxe Films). Bill Bromiley, Chief Acquisitions Officer for Image Entertainment, made today’s announcement.

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Steps It Up, ‘Idol’ Rises, ‘CSI’ Finale Down, ‘Supernatural’ Finale & ‘Nashville’ Up

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday May 16, 2013 @ 9:09am PDT

It was Nigel Lythgoe night on Fox on Wednesday with back-to-back competition shows produced by the former choreographer. Almost to the finish line, it was the season’s last performance night for American Idol (2.9/10). Finalists Candice Glover and Kree Harrison sang three songs each on the one-hour live show from LA’s Nokia Theatre. The most-watched show of the night with 11.57 million viewers, Idol was even with the final numbers of last week’s two-hour show but up 12% in the 8-9 PM hour. As is common with live shows, those results could be adjusted in the final numbers later today. Tonight’s finale will see a few surprises aside from declaring a winner, including performances of new tunes from judges Mariah Carey — with Randy Jackson on bass — and Keith Urban.

The second night of the two-part premiere of Season 10 of So You Think You Can Dance (2.3/6) headed to Detroit for the first time for the next round of auditions, with Season 4’s tWitch joining the judges panel, SYTYCD benefited from its Idol lead-in with a 21% jump over Tuesday’s premiere. It also saw viewership leap 39% to 7.11 million. On a night that saw the NBA Playoffs on TNT, Fox was tops in both viewers and adults 18-49 among the broadcast networks. Read More »

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Hammond On Cannes: Opening Night ‘Gatsby’ Party Wet But Elaborate

Pete Hammond

Baz Luhrmann followed up his biggest opening day in America with his biggest opening day in France as The Great Gatsby took in $78K in partial-day results that still were bigger than his Moulin Rouge and AustraliaUnderstandably in a party mood thanks to the overperformance of his U.S. box office last weekend, the director pronounced himself pleased with one of the most elaborate after-parties which Cannes has seen since Moulin Rouge premiered here in 2001. Warner Bros co-hosted the gala event with Gatsby‘s other key financier, Village Roadshow. “I love it.  I think Jay Gatsby would have loved it too. ‘Screw the rain,’ he would have said,” Luhrmann laughed.

The Cannes celebration of its opening-night film continued into the early morning hours despite a monsoon-like downpour. When I left around 2 AM, though, the party showed no sign of winding down. Luhrmann was frequently out on the dance floor whooping it up with the likes of Warner Bros worldwide marketing czarina Sue Kroll (“When you open the festival, you have to spend a good amount of money on the party,” Kroll told me), his co-star Isla Fisher, and his WME agent Robert Newman. Also there was the festival guru Thierry Fremaux, who told me that the first film he ever programmed when he first snagged the prestigious Cannes gig was Luhrmann’s Moulin Rouge.

Luhrmann said he was now really optimistic about the global … Read More »

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‘Hannibal’ Subject Of Outside Interest While Awaiting Renewal Decision At NBC

By NELLIE ANDREEVA | Wednesday May 15, 2013 @ 6:12pm PDT
Nellie Andreeva

There are several comedy and drama pilots not picked up to series yet that are still in play. But among returning scripted series, only one, NBC drama Hannibal, went through the upfronts without learning its fate. The series, from Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller, got off to a solid ratings start and was in serious contention for an early renewal. The numbers eventually tapered off, and NBC put the renewal decision on hold. Hannibal was well reviewed, and I hear there has been interest from at least one cable network in case NBC passes on a second season. Additionally, I hear Amazon, which currently carries repeats of the show, has expressed interest in taking it on. There are no talks going on and Hannibal has not been shopped as the producers are waiting on a renewal at NBC. Hannibal, from Gaumont International Television, is produced under a different model at a license fee that is a fraction of what dramas with similar production values cost.

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TV WEEKLY WARFARE: CBS Tops Demo & Viewers; ABC Rises & Fox Falls Among Adults 18-49

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday May 15, 2013 @ 5:14pm PDT

“We’re very flattered when he called us ‘smug motherfuckers’, that means we’re winning. We’ll try to be a little bit more gracious but that’s hard for me as you know,” CBS boss Les Moonves said today in response to remarks Jimmy Kimmel made on Tuesday about the network’s No. 1 ranking this season. Moonves’ comments came just hours before CBS’ Carnegie Hall Upfront presentation where there was no shortage of chest thumping on display as the CBS President and CEO and others boasted about the network winning the season this year. Well, the 2012-2013 season is almost over, but Week 33 gave Moonves’ gang a little more that they’ll have to try to be less smug about. The second full week of the May sweep saw CBS once again No.1 in both viewers and among Adults 18-49 for the week of May 6 to May 12 with 9.349 million watching and a 2.0/6 and 2.6 million in the demo. That’s up from the 1.9/6 the network was tied with Fox in the key demo for the previous frame and a rise from the 9.218 million that were watching during the week of April 29 to May 5. Like the previous week, The Big Bang Theory was the top show in the demo with a 4.9. The May 6 airing of NBC’s The Voice was in second place with a 4.1. In terms of viewership, CBS had the top four shows of the frame with NCIS (17.558 million), BBT (16.304 million), NCIS: LA (13.176 million) and Person Of Interest (13.162 million). ABC’s Dancing With The Stars was No. 5 with 13.117 million viewers.

Related: Les Moonves Tells Advertisers That Media Would Be “Barren” Without Broadcast TV

Among viewers DWTS may have fallen from the No. 3 spot of the previous frame but ABC itself had a strong rise up to No. 2 last week. As CBS shifted into the top spots again this season, ABC wasn’t far behind in the key demo with a 1.9/6 and 2.4 million viewers in the adult 18-49 demo. That’s up solidly from the 1.6/5 of Week 32 and the first time that the network has been second this season since the week of March 25 to March 31. As ABC moved up, The Voice-beholding NBC, which ran three airings of the competition series last week, slipped into third with a 1.8/6 and 2.3 million in the demo. That result was almost the same as the frame before. Fox, on the other hand, took a fall from being tied for first place among adults 18-49 in Week 32 to fourth place with a 1.7/5 and 2.2 million among the 18-49s in Week 33. Read More »

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RATINGS RAT RACE: ‘So You Think You Can Dance’ Debuts Down, ‘NCIS’ Finale Down, ‘The Voice’ Dips, ‘Wipeout’ Hits Series Low

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday May 15, 2013 @ 9:17am PDT

There were a lot of moves on television last night and not just the five finales inprimetime. So You Think You Can Dance (1.9/6) was back for a 10th season with a first-time May sweep debut. Nigel Lythgoe and Mary Murphy were joined by guest judge Jesse Tyler Ferguson of Modern Family as LA hopefuls auditioned and angled for a ticket to Las Vegas. The premiere stumbled 14% from last season’s debut on April 24, 2012 but was up 19% from Season 9’s finale on September 18. The other dance show of the night, ABC’s Dancing With The Stars (1.8/5), was up 6% from its results show from last week and was the third-most-watched show of the night with 11.59 million viewers.  Back on Fox, the season finales of comedies New Girl (2.1/6) and The Mindy Project (1.3/4) followed. The second-season ender of the Zooey Deschanel starrer was even with its May 7 show but down 25% from its May 8, 2012 Season 1 finale. The freshman finale of Mindy was also even with last week’s show. Over on ABC and moved to Tuesday, Wipeout (1.1/4) saw the second week of its latest season fall 15% from its May 9 premiere and tie a series low. At 10 PM, Body Of Proof (1.4/4) was even with last week’s show.

NCIS  (3.2/10) wrapped its 10th season Tuesday. The night’s most watched show with 18.16 million viewers was up a scant 3% from last week, and the powerhouse procedural was down 11% from last season’s finale. NCIS: LA (2.5/7) had a similar but slightly more exaggerated result: The spinoff was up 4% from its May 7 episode but fell 17% from its two-hour Season 3 finale last year on May 15, 2012. The now-cancelled Golden Boy (1.2/4) ended its tractionless freshman season, with a ratings drop and the loss of more than 6 million viewers from its lead-in summing up the police drama’s problems. The fact that last night’s show was flat with its May 7 airing to tie a Tuesday broadcast low does too. CBS won the night in total viewers with 12.870 million, while NBC took the top spot in adults 18-49. Read More »

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Cannes: ‘ABCs Of Death 2′ Lines Up Directors Bill Plympton, Vincenzo Natali, Sion Sono, Larry Fessenden

By JEN YAMATO | Wednesday May 15, 2013 @ 9:00am PDT

Magnet Releasing is plotting more ABCs Of Death following its 2012 high concept horror anthology. The sequel’s directors unveiled today at Cannes will include Oscar nominated animator Bill Plympton, Goya winning director Alex De La Iglesias (The Last Circus), and documentarian Rodney Ascher (Room 237), who lead a new lineup of international directors depicting assorted horrible ways to die. Also tapped to direct segments: Filipino filmmaker Erik Matti, ABCs Of Death 2whose On The Job debuts this week in Cannes’ Directors’ Fortnight sidebar (watch Deadline’s exclusive trailer here), founder of Nigerian “Nollywood” cinema Lancelot Imasuen, Lithuania’s Kristina Buozyte and Bruno Samper (Vanishing Waves), Japan’s Sion Sono (Cold Fish), Vincenzo Natali (Splice, Cube), indie horror icon Larry Fessenden (The Last Winter), Marcus Dunstan (The Collection), France’s Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (Inside, Livid), SXSW breakout E.L. Katz (Cheap Thrills), twin auteurs Jen and Sylvia Soska (American Mary), Israel’s Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado (Rabies, Big Bad Wolves), Julian Gilbey (A Lonely Place To Die), Brazil’s Dennison Ramalho (Ninjas, Love For Mother Only), Jerome Sable (The Legend Of Beaver Dam), and BAFTA nominated animator Robert Morgan (Bobby Yeah). Read More »

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