Search Results for: “Paramount”

FIRST BOX OFFICE: ‘Fast & Furious 6′ Easy #1 With $35M Friday And $100+M Memorial Weekend For Franchise Biggest; ‘Hangover III’ $14M/$50M; ‘Epic’ $11M/$50M; Records?

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Friday May 24, 2013 @ 1:32pm PDTTags: Box Office, Epic, Fast & Furious 6, The Hangover Part III

Box Office Hangover Part IIIFRIDAY 1:30 PM, 5TH UPDATE: I’ve just received from my sources the first Friday and Memorial Weekend estimates which assume the four-day (and even 4 1/2-day) holiday period’s total box office can expand significantly over 2011′s record $270M. The easy #1 is Universal’s Fast & Furious 6 is pulling out ahead with $35M today (including Thursday late shows and Friday midnights) to target $100+M for the long weekend from 3,658 domestic theaters. This will be the franchise’s biggest opening by far. The #2 film is Warner Bros’ The Hangover Part III co-financed with Legendary Pictures making $14M today after earning $11.7M for its Wednesday late shows/Thursday midnights. It’s aiming for a $50M Memorial Weekend from 3,555 North American theaters over its 4 1/2 day debut. And #3 right now is Twentieth Century Fox/Blue Sky Studios’ toon Epic which is looking at $11M today and expecting $50M in 3,882 U.S. and Canadian locations for Memorial Weekend. It’s tracking after what has been a drought of family fare since March.

The real question is how much this Memorial Weekend box office can expand over last year’s to accommodate all 3 new tentpoles. There’s also 3 proven blockbusters still in the marketplace: Disney/Marvel’s Iron Man 3 in 3,424 theaters, Warner Bros/Village Roadshow’s The Great Gatsby in 3,090 locations (which today crossed $100M domestic after only 14 days and is the first Baz Luhrmann film to do so), and Paramount/Skydance’s Star Trek In Darkness in 3,907 theaters. Big online ticketseller Fandango reports this is its biggest Memorial Day weekend for sales ever with Fast & Furious 6 selling 53% more Fandango tickets than The Hangover Part III.

After 12 years, five films and more than $1.5 billion at the global box office, the sixth Fast & Furious installment should successfully transition from street racing to heist action to terrorist plot as it opens wide today. F&F6 debuted in 2,409 North American theaters for Thursday 10 PM late shows and Friday midnights and made $6.5M which speeded past Fast 5‘s $3.8M late show grosses from an uncrowded April 29, 2011. F&F6 debuts day and date in 59 total international territories this weekend after popping Universal’s biggest opening in the UK and Ireland last Friday. Pic already has $53.4M from 34 international markets, opening #1 in all of them as the franchise’s biggest opener. Another 25 territories release today.

THURSDAY 11:30 PM, 2ND UPDATE: Warner Bros’ The Hangover Part III co-financed with Legendary Pictures went wide in 3,555 North American theaters today and my sources say it opened to $11 million which includes Wednesday late shows and Thursday midnights. That’s miniscule compared to The Hangover Part II‘s Thursday opening of $31.6M - 3,615 locations on May 26, 2011 - which was the highest-grossing opening day ever for a live-action comedy. (H3‘s also is less than Thursday’s $13.5M debut a week ago for Star Trek Into Darkness.) Plus audiences only gave The Hangover Part III a ‘B’ CinemaScore compared to the ‘A-’ which the sequel scored. This threequel also scored even worse reviews (only 26% positive on Rotten Tomatoes) than H2 (34%) which was considered embarrassingly awful. By contrast, F&F6 and Epic both scored 70+% positive RT reviews. But H3 is still going to make a lot of moolah: worldwide moviegoers really like this mindless crap especially during the summer months. Internationally, the comedy is taking off in 3 markets this weekend – the UK, Australia and New Zealand. The studio tells me early numbers in Australia indicate a strong opening day of A$1.75M from 494 screens, dominating 80% of the Top 5. NZ also opened big, controlling over 70% of the Top 5. Next weekend H3 opens in 32 markets, including Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Brazil. Read More »

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SHOCKER: Tom Cruise Exits ‘Man From U.N.C.L.E.;’ Warner Bros Recasting For Fall Start

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday May 24, 2013 @ 9:59am PDTTags: Guy Ritchie, Mission: Impossible 5, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., Tom Cruise, Warner Bros
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Tom Cruise has exited as the lead in The Man From U.N.C.L.E., the remake of the classic TV series that Guy Ritchie will direct for Warner Bros. Cruise was scheduled to star in the film with Armie Hammer, but he has stepped out of the picture to focus on producing and starring in Mission: Impossible 5. Paramount and Skydance are now planning to begin shooting the latest installment of that franchise before year’s end. Warner Bros has a script they like, and a top director who’s expecting to direct U.N.C.L.E. in the fall. The timing proved too difficult and so Cruise stepped out to focus on M:I5.

Warner Bros will now go hard looking for the lead of this movie, which is inspired by the original TV series ran from 1964-68, with Robert Vaughan and David McCallum playing Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin, two agents of the United Network Command for Law Enforcement. With gadgets and their wits and charm, they fought the evil forces of Thrush. Hammer, who’ll be seen shortly alongside Johnny Depp in the Gore Verbinski-directed The Lone Ranger, is still firmly in the film.

This is another temporary setback for a potential franchise that Warner Bros has long been high on, going back to when the studio had Steven Soderbergh ready to direct George Clooney in the lead. The actor … Read More »

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TOLDJA! Paramount Pocketing $190M From Disney For Marvel ‘Iron Man 3′ + ‘Avengers’

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Thursday May 23, 2013 @ 2:31pm PDTTags: Iron Man 3, Paramount Marvel Disney, The Avengers

Previous: Paramount Makes Money Off ‘Avengers’ Too

ParamountA year ago I was first to toldja about Paramount‘s big payday from The Avengers and Iron Man 3 - the two movies left on its 6-pic distribution deal with Marvel. Now I can tell you how much Disney moolah it pocketed. According to calculations I’ve received from insiders, Paramount receives 9% of Disney’s take on what is expected to be $1.2 billion worldwide gross theatrical receipts plus projected ancillary (like homevideo, VOD, television) for Iron Man 3. So that works out to be about $90 million to the Melrose Avenue studio. Paramount also pockets 8% of Disney’s take on the $1.5 billion worldwide gross theatrical receipts plus ancillary for The Avengers. So that works out to be about $100 million. In other words, the total dollars equal $190M. “It’s very nice,” a Paramount exec deadpanned. Oh, and did I mention that, when I first wrote about this deal, Disney was spitting mad at me?

Marvel DisneyTo remind you, The Avengers was the first Marvel Studios film marketed and distributed by The Walt Disney Studios which took over those duties from Paramount in 2012 after Bob Iger bought the comics entertainment company for $4 billion in 2009. Then in 2010 Disney bought Paramount out of the final two films and paid a premium to put everything … Read More »

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FilmDistrict Shifts ‘Oldboy’ Release Date

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday May 23, 2013 @ 10:33am PDTTags: FilmDistrict, Oldboy, Spike Lee

The Spike Lee-directed remake of Park Chan-wook’s cult Korean classic will now see its wide release on October 25, 2013, after FilmDistrict originally slated it for October 11. Oldboy will now bow opposite Paramount’s Paranormal Activity 5, which already had the date. Josh Brolin, Samuel L. Jackson, Elizabeth Olsen and Sharlto Copley star in the revenge pic, which was originally part of Park’s Vengeance trilogy that included Lady Vengeance and Sympathy For Mister Vengeance. That latter movie is also getting a U.S. remake, with Silver Reel and Lotus Entertainment announcing in Cannes that they are partnering with di Bonaventura Pictures and CJ Entertainment for an English-language version from a script by Broken City‘s Brian Tucker.

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Hammond On Cannes: Paramount’s ‘Nebraska’ Hits Town As Only Major Studio Movie In Competition

By PETE HAMMOND | Thursday May 23, 2013 @ 8:54am PDTTags: Alexander Payne, Bruce Dern, Cannes Film Festival, Cannes Wrap-Up, Nebraska, Paramount Pictures, Will Forte
Pete Hammond

Alexander Payne says he only finished postproduction last Friday on his Cannes competition entry Nebraska, which had its press screening this morning and will premiere tonight. Reviews coming in so far are largely mixed to very good. Even though Paramount won’t release it until November 22, Payne likes to take awhile in post to get everything right. There was initial concern about even making the Cannes date, so that is why until just a week before this year’s official lineup was announced did Paramount and Payne even decide to take a shot. He brought the film to Paris, showed it to Thierry Fremaux with only two days to spare, and landed tonight’s slot. Payne is becoming somewhat of a Cannes regular — although other than 2002′s About Schmidt, this is only his second film in competition. He has served on the juries of both Un Certain Regard and, last year, the main selection.

Nebraska, which will be one of Paramount’s Oscar hopes this year, played well to nice but brief applause from the press at the screening and at the press conference that followed (especially when stars Bruce Dern and Will Forte were introduced). It’s pure Payne in its humanist, gently funny style and captures that Middle America folksy style in beautiful black and white, but it is definitely what I would call a small film that will need tender loving care from the studio (the only major studio film in competition). Read More »

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R.I.P. Leonard Kalcheim

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday May 22, 2013 @ 8:24pm PDTTags: ABC, Leonard Kalcheim, Paramount, Paramount Pictures, R.I.P.

Veteran business affairs attorney Leonard Kalcheim died today at his home in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 74. Kalcheim started as an attorney at ABC before moving to Paramount Pictures, where he worked for more than 20 years, rising to SVP Business & Legal Affairs. After leaving Paramount in 1986, Kalcheim oversaw business and legal affairs for several independent entertainment companies including Guthy-Renker, Nash Entertainment and Atlas Media. He was a captain in the Army from 1965-67 after graduating from Columbia Law School.

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A Tale Of Two Movie Tie-In Games: ‘Star Trek’ Flops, ‘Fast & Furious 6′ Tops

By NIKKI FINKE AND JEN YAMATO | Wednesday May 22, 2013 @ 5:04pm PDTTags: Fast & Furious 6, Paramount, Star Trek Into Darkness, Universal, Video Games

The mobile gaming tie-in to Universal’s Fast & Furious 6 launched on the iTunes App Store last week and is #1 among free apps in 45 countries. Created with SF-based studio Kabam, it’s also the #1 overall game in 69 countries, the top racing game in 112 countries, and the #1 action game in 85 countries. Its iPad app version runs comparable if even wider in saturation as the top free app in 81 countries. By contrast, Paramount‘s Star Trek: The Game — tied to the release of Star Trek Into Darkness — stayed in-house and it’s doing lousy since it came out last month. According to VG Chartz, unit sales in its first three weeks are only 140K to date across PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 consoles. It’s also considered a failure because it’s very buggy despite years of development. Critics and users alike gave it poor reviews. So what happened?
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Brad Pitt’s Plan B Banner Promotes Jeremy Kleiner To Co-President

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday May 22, 2013 @ 3:18pm PDTTags: Brad Pitt, Jeremy Kleiner, Paramount, Plan B, World War Z

Brad Pitt and Plan B Entertainment President Dede Gardner said today that Jeremy Kleiner is upped to Co-President of the busy production company. “Jeremy Kleiner has played an immeasurable role in the success of this company,” said Pitt in a statement. “This promotion is long overdue. We are happy to make it official.” Along with Pitt and Gardner, Kleiner produced Plan B’s upcoming World War Z, which stars Pitt and is being released by Paramount on June 21. He is also a producer on Plan B’s Twelve Years A Slave, directed by Steve McQueen and starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Michael Fassbender, Benedict Cumberbatch, Paul Dano, and Paul Giamatti, which will be released by Fox Searchlight on December 27. With Gardner, Kleiner oversees Plan B’s development and production slate. He joined Plan B in 2003 and rose through the ranks from Creative Executive to Producer and now Co-President.

Related: Paramount Out To Prove Its Zombie ‘World War Z’ Doesn’t Stink

Kleiner also is a producer on True Story from New Regency which is directed by Rupert Goold and stars Jonah Hill and James Franco. Kleiner is also an Executive Producer of Plan B and Brillstein Entertainment Partners’ ABC/ABC Studios pilot, Resurrection, and on Plan B productions Kick-Ass, Eat Pray Love, and The Private Lives Of Pippa Lee. He previously worked as a creative executive at Dick and Lauren Shuler Donner’s company before joining Plan B.

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Warner Bros Sets Spike Jonze’s ‘Her’ For November 20

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday May 21, 2013 @ 1:43pm PDTTags: Her, Spike Jonze, Warner Bros

Spike Jonze wrote and directed Her, which stars Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Samantha Morton and Olivia Wilde. The film is about a guy who falls in love with the voice of a computer, a la the iPhone’s Siri. Warner Bros will open the pic November 20, 2013 in limited release, two days before fellow specialty pic Nebraska from Alexander Payne and Paramount, Disney’s Delivery Man and of course Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire. Her has been percolating for a while, with Megan Ellison’s Annapurna Pictures coming aboard to finance it in March 2011. Jonze’s last feature was 2009′s Where The Wild Things Are. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions has international rights. Joining Jonze as producers on the film are Vincent Landay and Megan Ellison. Daniel Lupi and Ted Schipper will serve as executive producers.

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DreamWorks’ ‘Fifth Estate’ Release Date Shifts Month; ‘Delivery Man’ Moved To Nov.

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday May 20, 2013 @ 6:21pm PDTTags: Delivery Man, DreamWorks, The Fifth Estate, Walt Disney Studios

Disney announced today that the release date for DreamWorks’ Wikileaks movie The Fifth Estate has moved to October 11, more than a month earlier than its initial November 15 date. And Delivery Man has moved to November 22 from its initial date of October 4. With the shift, Fifth Estate avoids Paramount’s The Wolf Of Wall Street, Fox’s thriller The Counselor and Universal’s comedy/drama The Best Man Holiday and faces Sony/Columbia’s drama Captain Phillips, Fox’s horror pic Haunts and Film District’s thriller Old Boy. Delivery Man now goes up against Lionsgate’s The Hunger Games: Catching Fire and Paramount’s Nebraska.

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Li Bingbing Joins ‘Transformers 4′ As Part Of China Push

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday May 20, 2013 @ 12:45pm PDTTags: Li Bingbing, Paramount Pictures, Transformers 4

UPDATED: Paramount said when it announced in April that it was teaming with two China-based companies on a “cooperation agreement” for Transformers 4 that it would add Chinese talent. Now the fourth pic in the Michael Bay-directed tentpole series has done so, tapping Li Bingbing to join a cast that includes Mark Wahlberg, Stanley Tucci, Kelsey Grammer, Jack Reynor, Nicola Peltz and Sophia Myles. The film has a June 27, 2014 release date set in North America and around the same date is expected for its China bow; the last Transformers pic, Dark Of The Moon, was huge in China, grossing $165M locally. Some of the movie will shoot there as well as in the U.S. when production begins this summer. The agreement with state-backed China Movie Channel and U.S.-China streaming company Jiaflix was a first for CMC and a major motion picture from the West. The move follows a similar one by Disney/Marvel’s Iron Man 3, a China co-production with DMG. That pic featured Chinese stars Wang Xueqi and Fan Bingbing — though they had larger roles in the film’s official China version than what U.S. audiences saw. Li’s recent Chinese film credits include Tsui Hark’s Detective Dee And The Mystery Of The Phantom Flame and 1911, and in the U.S. she co-starred in Resident Evil: Retribution, Snow Flower And The Secret … 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.

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‘World War Z’ To Open 35th Moscow International Film Festival

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 2:25pm PDTTags: Russia International Film Festival, World War Z

Paramount‘s zombie tentpole World War Z will open the Moscow International Film Festival held June 20-29, the fest’s Leonid Vereshchagin announced today at Cannes. The Marc Forster pic opens stateside June 21. Also announced today for the fest were retrospectives of Olympic Games-themed documentaries, films by Bernardo Bertolucci and Costa Gavras, and a Dutch cinema program. The Moscow Business Square sidebar will host 20 Russian and international projects, while the Generation Campus program will offer young filmmakers training in writing, directing, cinematography, and editing. Ten in-competition titles announced today include: Matterhorn (dir. Diederik Ebbinge, Netherlands), Drogowka (dir. Wojciech Smarzowski, Poland), Rol/The Role (dir. Konstantin Lopushansky, Russia), Spaghetti Story (dir. Ciro de Caro, Italy), Sayonara Keikoku/The Ravine Of Goodbye (dir. Tatsushi Ômori, Japan), Los Chicos Del Puerto (dir. Alberto Morais, Spain), Rosie (dir. Marsel Gisler, Switzerland), Zerre/Particle (dir., Erdem Tepegöz, Turkey), Disorder (dir. Archil Kavtaradze, Georgia), and Skolzheniye/Slide (dir. Anton Rozenberg, Russia).

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Hot Teaser Trailer: ‘Anchorman 2′

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Saturday May 18, 2013 @ 10:25am PDTTags: Anchorman 2, Paramount

Ron Burgundy & Co. are back December 20 in Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. Paramount’s unleashed another teaser for the currently-filming sequel with more in-character riffing but no actual footage, in what plays like outtakes from last year’s first peek:

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Jason Reitman Pic ‘Labor Day’ Gets Christmas Release

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday May 17, 2013 @ 4:47pm PDTTags: Jason Reitman, Labor Day, Paramount Pictures

Another Jason Reitman movie is getting prime awards-season placement. Paramount said the Juno and Up In The Air director’s latest, Labor Day, will open in limited release December 25 this year before expanding January 10 and going wide January 31. Tobey Maguire, Kate Winslet, Josh Brolin, J.K. Simmons, James Van Der Beek, Brooke Smith, Gattlin Griffith, and Brighid Fleming star. The studio is also co-financing the pic, which Reitman also wrote as an adaptation of the Joyce Maynard novel. The story centers on a 13-year-old boy (Griffith) from New Hampshire who learns valuable life lessons over a five-day Labor Day weekend after an escaped convict (Brolin) seeks shelter with the boy’s single mom (Winslet). Mr. Mudd’s Lianne Halfon and Russ Smith are producing along with Helen Estabrook and Reitman. Indian Paintbrush is exec producing. The date obviously is chock-full of big pics including Paramount’s own Jack Ryan, Universal’s 47 Ronin, and Fox’s The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty as well as expansions for The Weinstein Company’s Grace Of Monaco and Fox Searchlight’s Twelve Years A Slave.

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Kroenke Sports Completes Outdoor Channel Acquisition

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Friday May 17, 2013 @ 6:13pm EDTTags: Kroenke Sports & Entertainment, Outdoor Channel

The deal’s finally done, with Kroenke Sports & Entertainment paying $10.25 a share — about $265M — for the cable channel. “As a part of KSE, Outdoor Channel will be well positioned — competitively, strategically and financially — to meet the needs of its customers and business partners,” says KSE chief Jim Martin. Outdoor Channel CEO Tom Hornish adds that the new owner will “greatly strengthen our ability to invest in assets, expand our distribution and continue to generate the unparalleled experience our viewers expect.” KSE is owned by Stan Kroenke. It owns the NFL’s St. Louis Rams and is a power in Denver with venues including the Pepsi Center, the Paramount Theater and Dick’s Sporting Goods Park, and teams including hockey’s Colorado Avalanche, the NBA’s Denver Nuggets, and Major League Soccer’s Colorado Rapids. Outdoor Channel shareholders approved the deal in a special meeting yesterday with 19.3M votes in favor and just 758,969 against. The company initially agreed in November to sell itself to InterMedia Partners, which owns The Sportsman Channel, in a deal valued at about $8 a share. But that collapsed in March when Kroenke launched a bidding war.

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WWE Studios Taps Ex-Paramount Exec VP Marketing

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday May 17, 2013 @ 1:08pm PDTTags: Julie Tustin, WWE Studios

WWE Studios has appointed former Paramount Pictures and Miramax film executive Julie Tustin as VP Marketing. She will oversee all aspects of marketing, publicity and brand development for the studio and  work out of parent company WWE’s Connecticut headquarters. Tustin most recently was SVP Special Marketing Projects at Paramount, and before that led NY-based publicity teams for studio specialty labels Fox Searchlight and Paramount Vantage. She began her career with Miramax Films.

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Legendary Acquires Movie Marketing Company FIVE33

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday May 16, 2013 @ 2:40pm PDTTags: Five 33, Legendary Pictures, Thomas Tull

Thomas Tull just bought himself a fully functioning in-house marketing division. Legendary Pictures announced today that they’ve acquired strategic marketers FIVE33. The LA and London-based company will become incorporated into Legendary. The companies became acquainted earlier this year as FIVE33 were brought on board for marketing on Legendary’s Pacific Rim and the still in production Godzilla. Here’s the release:

Burbank, CA – May 16, 2013 – Legendary Entertainment has announced an agreement to purchase FIVE33, a global marketing company that specializes in developing innovative marketing programs to bring immersive awareness of tentpole movies and intellectual properties to audiences around the world. Through this deal, FIVE33 will now work exclusively with Legendary and its high-profile stable of filmmakers and storytellers to drive awareness of the studio’s brand and suite of properties via worldwide campaigns and multi-platform strategies. The announcement was made by Legendary President and Chief Creative Officer, Jon Jashni and FIVE33 CEO and Founder, Emily Castel.

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