Carl Icahn Now Wants ALL Of Lionsgate 
Action Comedy TV: Showrunner Matt Nix 
SAG National Board Approves Joint Bargaining … 
He died of cancer at his home today. He was 81. He was the screenwriter's screenwriter -- an intelligent role model with ascerbic wit who was also kind but candid. That's a rare combination in Hollywood these days. He was very active in Writers Guild issues, and in fact just recently gave me a support statement for WGAw presidential candidate Elias Davis and his slate of candidates. Gelbart had success on stage, film, and TV. He is best known for works as varied as the big screen hit Tootsie as well as turning Robert Altman's M.A.S.H. into the long running TV series as producer and writer. He also penned the teleplay for HBO's very adept adaptation of the financial book Barbarians At The Gate. He also co-wrote the book for the 1962 Broadway musical “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” which was recently revived on The Great White Way. His writing won a slew of Tony and Emmy awards and Oscar nominations (For Tootsie and Oh, God!). “Laughing Matters,” a collection of Mr. Gelbart’s essays and reminiscences, was published by Random House in 1998. Every now and then, Larry would phone me to complain about this mogul or that. (Harvey Weinstein came in for frequent withering criticism by Gelbart because of problems with their projects.) He never feared what Hollywood's Powers That Be would do to him when he went public with a dispute. Success and self-confidence gave him courage. I adored ... Read More »
R.I.P. Larry Gelbart
Broadway Tribute To Sam Cohn
I'm told that Broadway is dimming at curtain tonight for the ICM agent.
So What Was All The Fuss About? Marvel Locks In Jon Favreau For 'Iron Man 2'
EXCLUSIVE: It's not officially announced yet, but I'm told that Marvel Studios and Iron Man director Jon Favreau have reached a deal for him to helm the sequel, due out in 2010. (Robert Downey Jr had a sequel clause in his contract so he's on board.) Marvel Studios boss David Maisel was quick to put out a "definitely" richer offer to Favreau, but not quick enough for Jon -- who used the Internet and other media to rile up the movie's many fans who spread nonsense that Marvel was dragging its feet and then lowballing him. Granted Maisel is no day at the beach himself, but couldn't Favreau have refrained from negotiating in public and left the bargaining to his powerful agency CAA? (FYI, I earlier posted that he acted like an asshole, but he's not...)
Lawyer Pierce O'Donnell Switches From Battling Big Media To Big Government
Los Angeles super-lawyer Pierce O'Donnell, whom Forbes once called the Perry Mason Of Hollywood, used to go after the sleazy practices of Big Media companies. He represented Art Buchwald in the Coming To America case against Paramount (described in his book Fatal Subtraction about phony studio accounting), me against Disney and News Corp (because I did my job as a journalist), and others. So what does O'Donnell do for a second act? As lead counsel for the 350,000 Hurricane Katrina victims, he goes after the U.S. government and the Army Corps of Engineers for the catastrophic flooding of New Orleans. To keep people informed about the progress of the federal case, O'Donnell has set up this website for breaking news and analysis.
Will Smith Owns July 4th Again: 'Hancock' His Best Holiday Wkd Opening At $107M; Worldwide Total $185M In 50 Territories
SUNDAY AM: North American numbers show that, thanks to big weekend bounces in 3,965 theaters, Sony Pictures' No. 1 Hancock scored its first 3-day weekend with $66 mil and gave star Will Smith his biggest Independent Day holiday opening ever with a 5 1/2-day cume of $107.3 mil. The PG-13 pic went up 9% from Thursday to Friday for $18.8M, and up 39% from Friday to Saturday for $26.1M. The dark comedy about an unhappy superhero mustered the momentum despite receiving only 33% positive reviews from top critics and only so-so buzz. But Will Smith has traditionally owned the July 4th long weekend based on the past performance of his movies which opened on that holiday like Independence Day, Men In Black, Men In Black 2, and Wild Wild West. All went on to earn $442+M in worldwide gross. Hancock is the 5th film he has opened #1 during the Fourh of July holiday and his 8th #1 opening in a row and his 8th film to gross over $100M in a row since July 2002. Will has 12 #1 films throughout his career and has opened 9 films to opening weekend grosses higher than $40M. Because of that impressive track record from the one actor whom Hollywood considers able to reliably open a movie these days., Sony feels Hancock's franchise hopes are alive because "there is a huge disconnect between audiences and critics when you have big numbers added to the world's most bankable movie star." Demographics were fairly balanced with 52%/48% of the audience male/female, and 52%/48% under age ... Read More »
Will Smith's 'Hancock' Ups Its Fast Pace: Dramedy Speeds To $60.1M In 3.5 Days; Predicted $105M High For July 4th Wkd
SATURDAY AM: Sony Pictures' Hancock received the bounce it needed, up 9% from Thursday, to make $18.8 million on Fourth of July Friday from 3,965 theaters. 
That gives the Will Smith dramedy $60.1M from its first 3 1/2 days. The studio expects a 3-day weekend in the low $60sM to put Hancock "comfortably over 100" for the 5 days -- around $105M. But the buzz is bad on the pic that cost $150M. Yet the studio feels Hancock's franchise hopes are still alive because "there is a huge disconnect between audiences and critics when you have big numbers added to the world's most bankable movie star."
Meanwhile, Picturehouse made a huge mistake by only platforming Kit Kittredge: An American Girl 10 days before Wall-E opened, and then waited for a wider release until July 2nd after the Disney/Pixar toon was a blockbuster. As an insider explained, "They had the right date all along: the momentum was there, the reviews were there, and Wall-E was not! But then Picturehouse put Kit Kittredge down in the middle of freeway. Suicide." After making $857K Friday in 1,843 theaters , the Picturehouse pic that opened so promisingly was #8 for what should only be a FSS of $3.3M and cume of $6M.
Other films: #2 Disney/Pixar's Wall-E made $9.1M Friday (-61% from its opening day) from 3,992 venues. It should make $38M for FSS and a cume of $133M. #3 Universal's Wanted $5.3M (-72% from its opening) Friday in 3,185 runs, $22M FSS, cume $92M. #4 Warner Bros' Get Smart $3M Friday from 3,574 plays, $12M FSS, cume ... Read More »
A Meaningless L.A. Times Film Survey...
UPDATE: I warned you the article was going to be a waste of time, and it was. Especially regarding actors, directors, or writers who recently left their talent agencies. Because the old tenpercentery that booked the job, and therefore gets the money, should get the credit. Not the new agency which doesn't have a financial stake. Duh...
Hollywood agencies have been wondering why the Los Angeles Times is suddenly surrounding itself in secrecy for a story about their biz. 
So I'll tell you what's going on. The newspaper's Calendar writer John Horn is all hush-hush because he's surveying the 25 major summer releases and toting up which tenpercenteries represent the most top actors, directors and writers. Exactly what this is supposed to reveal new about the agencies I can't fathom, especially since everyone already knows that CAA has far and away the dominant market share of "A" and "B" list talent, with probably Endeavor and UTA doing well considering their boutique status, and giants William Morris and ICM somewhere lower on the list. But it's also just one season. What a meaningless waste of a tree set to publish Thursday. But why all the secrecy? Because the agencies make reporters' lives miserable whenever we try to do these kinds of metrics. For instance, after the TV upfronts in May, I tried to do a schematic showing which agency had the most pilot pickups. Oh, the tenpercentery shrieking! Worse, no agency could agree on across-the-board figures, either. (But Endeavor was #1.)
Filmgoers Wild For 'Wall-E' And 'Wanted': Angelina Jolie Posts Best Opening Ever; Lonely Droid Debut Is Pixar's 3rd Biggest
SUNDAY AM: North American box office numbers show that No. 1 Disney / Pixar's futuristic Wall-E blasted off with a $23.1 million Friday and $22 million Saturday from 3,992 theaters for what was a $62.5 million opening weekend. This means arty Wall-E is big and transcended from a kids movie into a four-quadrant hit. But it wasn't quite the $70+M record breaker everyone thought it would be. Still, it was the 3rd biggest Pixar opening (behind The Incredibles at $70.5M and Finding Nemo at $70.2M, but equal to Monsters Inc. at $62.5M) and the 7th all-time animated opening. And its opening day gross was the biggest of all nine Pixar titles ($23.1M, which passed The Incredibles' $20.5 million of 2004) and its opening weekend the 2nd best overall for June (behind Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban's $93.7M). Disney is looking for a Best Picture Oscar nomination for the computer-generated G-rated toon, very possible with 97% great reviews from top critics and even rival studio bigwigs gushing: "It's just adorable and smart and interesting. It has more character development and emotion than any movie I've seen this year." One wrinkle in Wall-E's marketing was that the 1 hour, 37 minute pic has no dialogue for the first 40 or so minutes. And it can be hard to find something funny to say from a character who doesn't talk.
More and more, films with different ratings and different genres can happily coexist at the box office -- Alvin And The Chipmunks and I Am Legend, American Gangster and Bee Movie. So Wanted, Universal's Angelina Jolie/James McAvoy starrer, debuted to ... Read More »
Wkd Prediction: Robot $70M, Angie $40M
I'm told that not only is Pixar/Disney internally hoping for a $70+ million dollar opening for Wall-E, but also a Best Picture Oscar nomination for the L'il Robot. 
It's possible with 100% great reviews from top critics and even rival studios bigwigs gushing about the pic: "I saw it on Wednesday and it's just adorable and smart and interesting. It has more character development and emotion than any movie I've seen this year." My box office gurus are projecting a $65M to $70M opening, and maybe more from 3,992 theaters. Clearly it'll be another giant box office since Universal's Angelina Jolie / James McAvoy starrer Wanted now looks like an all-round date movie instead of just a guyfest.
Universal is hoping for at least $35M and maybe even $40M from 3,175 venues for Wanted's Fri/Sat/Sun total. My box office gurus are projecting $40M to $42M. "In terms of comps, that would be an extraordinary result for an R-rated summer action movie," a source tells me. "So anything above $35M is absolutely a franchise." 
The appeal for well-reviewed Wanted is a surprise: women want to see it as almost as much as men, young and old are coming in nearly even, and relative newcomer McAvoy is almost as much of a draw for the film as veteran Jolie.
Wall-E and Wanted will compete for older females. But it won't matter. "All the Wall-E reviews have been extraordinary. And Pixar is a brand that has earned the complete and total trust of the public," ... Read More »
'Wall-E' Orbiting Best Picture Oscar Nod?
I'm told that Disney and Pixar are going to push hard for a Best Picture Oscar nomination for Wall-E on the basis of its anti-toon moody darkness and rave reviews by critics who matter. Certainly many toons have tried for that high honor over the years, and then settled for "just" a recently added Best Animated Feature nod. Only one animated movie has made it into the most competitive Academy Award category -- Disney's Beauty And The Beast in 1991 -- but, alas, didn't win. But that may not be the obstacle in Wall-E's way. No, I'm hearing the problem may be Andrew Stanton's arrogance in that interview in last Sunday's New York Times:
"Stanton, who wrote and directed the film, doesn’t care if the kiddies want to hug Wall-E or not when the movie comes out on Friday. 'I never think about the audience,” he said. “If someone gives me a marketing report, I throw it away.'” Because them thar's fightin' words in the movie industry. "Half of Hollywood went, 'You've got to be kidding!' " a bigwig Hollywood marketer said, echoing sentiment heard within the Industry. "Nobody can say, 'I don't care what the audience thinks', especially when making a mainstream movie for families. Nobody can live outside the envelope like that. His disdain for the audience was really obvious."
Ah, I love the smell of nastiness at the start of Oscar season. Smells like... controversy!
'Hancock': $115M Over Fourth Of July?
All my box office gurus think Hancock will be massive. So they're predicting a floor of $100M all the way up to $115M over the 5-day holiday since the Sony pic is starring Mr Independence Day Weekend, Will Smith. Let the prognosticating begin... Meanwhile, Sony is rolling out its long awaited and much rumored new multi-platform video service this summer in the U.S. and will offer Hancock to owners of internet-connected Bravia TVs before the movie is available on DVD.
"Mark Canton Wants A Word With You..."
Variety's Todd McCarthy has just reviewed Sony's Hancock and hilariously said it has "a certain whiff of" 1993's The Last Action Hero. Oy. Since that infamous pic brought down upper management of the studio way back then. If the Sony Pictures Entertainment toppers weren't all heading into the Barack Obama $2,300-per-person fundraiser at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in the Los Angeles Music Center right now, I'd bet you could hear their screams all over Hollywood. As for the pic, it doesn't have to be good to make $$$. It's only 92 minutes long. And Will Smith owns July 4th weekend.
Why Hollywood Is Such A Homewrecker...
How often does this happen? Will Smith was on Letterman last night and noted that his 7-year-old daughter Willow's film Kit Kittredge: An American Girl opens wide against his Hancock in U.S. theaters on the same day (July 2nd). Said Will, "I told her, 'Daddy loves you sweetie, but I gots to stomp you at the box office.' " Then Dave snarked, "I've got a son, but even I know that American Girl thing is very popular." But Willow was quoted as saying a few days earlier about her Dad, "He thinks he is going to be beat me, but I think not. I think I am going to beat him."
Paramount First To Hit $1 Billion For 2008
HOLLYWOOD, CA (June 23, 2008) – Coming off reaching the billion-dollar mark in international box office sales last weekend, Paramount Pictures Corporation has now also crossed the billion-dollar milestone on its domestic gross sales, making it the first studio to accomplish this feat this calendar year and besting last year’s billion-dollar record by nearly three weeks.
This marks back-to-back years of firsts for Paramount Pictures and five consecutive weeks of holding the Number One spot in domestic market share. The studio also set a new first as of this weekend – having the Top Three grossing films of 2008 at mid-year.
The half-year got off to a strong start with JJ Abrams’ thriller Cloverfield earning $80M. Paramount was further buoyed by the blockbuster successes of Marvel Entertainment’s Iron Man ($305M), Lucas Films' and Steven Spielberg’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull ($291M) and DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda ($156M – which this weekend surpassed Horton Hears A Who! to become the year’s third top grossing film to this point).
"It has been a wonderful year so far," said Paramount Chairman Brad Grey. "As we look towards the rest of 2008, and into 2009 -- when we will have Transformers II, JJ Abram's Star Trek, G.I. Joe and NowhereLand starring Eddie Murphy, among others -- we are as excited about the future as we are by reaching this milestone."
Paramount’s forthcoming openings this year include DreamWorks’ Tropic Thunder starring Ben Stiller, Robert Downey Jr., and Jack Black (August 15, 2008), Paramount
... Read More »
A Reboot Of DC Comics Before Comic-Con?
With Comic-Con fast approaching (July 24-27) and all the Hollywood studios getting ready, I understand that Warner Bros has been nervously monitoring the deteriorating situation at its subsidiary DC Comics. There could be a major shake-up -- especially if Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes keeps cleaning house inside the Big Media corp. There's a lot of chatter, from comic book circles like io9.com to trade media like Publishers Weekly, that DC Comics Senior VP and Executive Editor Dan DiDio, who oversees the DC Universe line of superheroes, is in major trouble. I don't pretend to know all the ins and outs of the comic book culture. But my own reporting, and others' coverage, show the following:
The problem isn't just that, under DiDio's leadership, fanboys are disappointed with the directions of Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman and other characters. (How dopey of DiDio to come out with a new series Decisions this September where the superheroes take political stands timed to the election.) Little wonder that fanboys are selling "Dan DiDio Must Die" t-shirts. But also average sales of the DCU line are down more than 20% from a year ago, and DiDio has lost a big chunk of existing readers in a year while deliberately failing to reach out to new ones.
But the biggest bad news is that DC's much hyped Summer 2008 release Final Crisis, the 7-issue miniseries, isn't the huge hit it was supposed to be. Comic Book Resources reviewed, "This isn't ... Read More »
Dueling Comics: Steve Carell's 'Get Smart' #1, Mike Myers' 'Love Guru' Bombs At #4
SUNDAY AM: The No. 1 movie was Warner Bros' mediocre laffer Get Smart, which opened in 3,911 theaters to a better-than-expected $39.1 million weekend. 
(The studio had been projecting $35M.) Exit polling showed the audience was split evenly male-female and skewed older, with 60% aged 25 or older -- no doubt because of the original Mel Brooks-Buck Henry TV series. Many in Hollywood had made a fuss over the fact that this retread starring Steve Carell as Maxwell Smart and Anne Hathaway as Agent 99 was competing head to head for North American box office gross against another even worse comedy, Paramount's moronic The Love Guru, because the two studios felt they couldn't find another open date all summer. But it wasn't a fair fight. The vehicle for Mike Myers' return to the Big Screen after a long absence was filled with toilet humor, dick jokes and midget gags. It bombed badly, debuting at just No. 4 in 3,012 venues for an embarrassingly low $14 million weekend. (As one studio insider described the situation succinctly, "Ugh.") But there's a big difference in the two pics' negative costs: $100M vs $60M, respectively. I'm also told that Warner Bros vastly outspent Paramount on marketing their comedy, $50M to $35M, which as Get Smart's release neared began to be advertised on the back of The Rock's popularity in order to draw non-Caucasians -- a strategy that seems to have worked. As for The Love Guru, it was aiming for a much younger audience aged 12 to 17 -- but even they ... Read More »
Furious Horror Film Fans Target Lionsgate
I give TV and movie fans a lot of credit: when they get mad, they scare the crap out of the moguls. That's happening at Lionsgate where the studio's phones and email accounts are jammed with angry fans for the past week. They're making a stink because new Lionsgate topper Joe Drake appears to be dumping all of ex-prez Peter Block's movies. That includes Midnight Meat Train, the adaptation of the Barker short story that's a fan fave. Supposedly the trailer tested higher than any film in Lionsgate history. But when Drake took over, he promptly bumped Midnight Meat Train from its May 16th release date. The result was that Rogue Pictures' The Strangers (which was skedded two weekends later) had zero competition in the hard-R category. And guess who was exec producer of The Strangers? Joe Drake.
Then, the websites, Shock Til You Drop and Fangoria found out Lionsgate is planning only a 100 theater run on August 1st to merely fulfill the contractual obligation with Lakeshore Entertainment. The plan is to release the DVD immediately after. So fans are asking if Drake is such a dummy that he'd intentionally sink what to them is a sure-thing hit. And they want to know if the studio that was built on horror gross (both the gory and cash kinds) is going to bite the hand that's fed it so well in favor of four Tyler Perry movies a year.
The result is a lot of anti-Lionsgate blogging in Horrorville by fans, by self-appointed horror flick experts, and also by Barker himself. "I would passionately encourage everybody who cares about my work ... Read More »
How Argument About 'Iron Man' Led To Bob Shaye's Marvel Stock Short Debacle
You know how there's no fool like an old fool? Well, how about a vengeful fool? So fired New Line founder Bob Shaye told his close pals the following story: Years ago, as everyone knows, New Line had Iron Man in development. But then Shaye and Avi Arad, the longtime chairman and CEO of Marvel Studios, got into an argument over whether Iron Man should fly. (This is what grown men debate in the movie biz...) Bob contended that Iron Man would look goofy soaring in an iron suit. But Avi was adamant that the pic had to stay true to the comic book so the character should take to the sky. Eventually the option ran out, and Marvel announced a deal with Merrill Lynch to self-finance future films. Now, most men would have left the argument there. Not Bob. He told his friends that he was so convinced Marvel would run into trouble on its Iron Man movie that he took out a big short on Marvel stock. 
But, as we all know, the pic not only made gobs of money, but Marvel shares shot skyward to an all-time high. And then the stock was recently listed on the S&P's midcap index so it went up another 4%. Now, most men would have given up there and then. Not Bob. He told his friends he was still shorting the stock because he believed Marvel would give it back when The Incredible Hulk failed. That ... Read More »
Nightmare $5-Gallon 'Meet Dave' Promo
UPDATE: A studio source emailed me, "Yeah, but it's a lot cheaper and greener than flying Eddie around on a private jet for a press tour." But I thought Murphy hasn't done real press tours since he gave that transvestite hooker a lift in his car.
'Hulk' And 'Happening' Fall Off Saturday
SUNDAY AM: While No. 1 The Incredible Hulk and 
No. 3 The Happening had better-than-expected debuts overall, they experienced fall-offs from Friday to Saturday: -15% and -21% respectively. The Green Guy, self-financed by Marvel and distributed by Universal, made $21.7 million Friday and $18.4M Saturday for a $54.5 million weekend (vs $62M for the first Hulk). Though The Incredible Hulk is Marvel's 2nd best-known character, the reboot is only the 5th biggest pic for a top Marvel character in a non-sequel opening. Exit polling gave The Incredible Hulk a Cinemascore of A- with male making up 60% of the audince and females 40%; 48% under age 25%; 25 yrs and older 52%; an ethnically diverse audience of slightly less than half Caucasian (46%), followed by Hispanic (28%), African American (13%), Asian (7%), and other(6%). But most interesting of all tThe vast majority of the audience (82%) had seen the 2003 movie. M Night Shyamalan's The Happening from 20th Century Fox started out No. 2 Friday but fell to No. 3 behind DreamWorks Animation / Paramount's Kung Fu Panda. Yet Shyamalan's first R-rated horror thriller still managed a substantial $30.5M weekend from 2,986 venues with $13M Friday and $10.2M Saturday. It earned only a Cinemascore of "D".
For my complete numbers and analysis, see here.
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