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CBS Reups Les Moonves Through 2015 TUESDAY 5:45 PM: Hollywood VIP David Geffen was seated at President Obama's table.
TUESDAY UPDATE: The White House announced today that also invited from showbiz were GE chairman Jeff Immelt whose corporation runs NBC Universal, Oprah Winfrey galpal Gayle King, director M. Night Shyamalan, and actors Alfre Woodard and Blair E Underwood.
Entertainers: Jennifer Hudson, AR Rahman, Bay Area Empire Bhangra, Kurt Elling, Marvin Hamlisch
EXCLUSIVE: If tradition stands, the details of the guest list will be revealed only a few hours before the Obama administration's first state dinner tomorrow. The welcome for India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will be the biggest social event of the Obama White House. Already the Washington DC press corp is buzzing about the "got-to-be-there" fever. But this first dinner is primarily a thank you to the Obamas' most important political supporters. So I've learned that, among the Hollywood contingent asked to attend, are onetime DreamWorks partners David Geffen, Steven Spielberg and Jeffrey Katzenberg; Sony Pictures Entertainment chairman Michael Lynton; and WME Entertainment Agency co-CEO Ari Emanuel.
Spielberg's inclusion is interesting since he was a much ballyhooed Hillary Clinton supporter during the first months of her primary campaign when she looked like a sure thing, then quietly threw his clout behind Obama after he became the clear winner. But, given that the guest of honor is India's highest ranking statesman, Spielberg's new financial relationship ... Read More »
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.
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 ... 
So now we know with whom David Geffen has been negotiating all these many months. And the newest Hollywood mogul names to put on speed dial are Rajesh Sawhney and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (one of the world's Top 10 richest men). I can confirm that DreamWorks has secured $500 million to $600 million from India's media and entertainment conglomerate Reliance ADA, specifically its Reliance Big Entertainment, and then will add $500 million to $600 million in debt for what will be a total $1.2 billion financing for its new independent film company. I'm told that DreamWorks 2.0 (yes, the principals get back the name) will make about 6 movies a year when it liberates Steven Spielberg from Viacom Inc's Paramount and all the acrimony of that relationship of the past few years. There's no need for DreamWorks to negotiate a distribution deal for a while, but I'm told that Fox, Universal and Disney would be in the running. Because of Spielberg's long history with Universal and the fact his office never moved off the lot, I've always assumed DreamWorks would return there. But DreamWorks has a lot of ties to Fox, including Geffen's close relationship with Rupert Murdoch and Spielberg's with Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman Tom Rothman.
Meanwhile, DreamWorks and Paramount will battle over Spielberg's exit and all that joint development. Unentangling could really cost Viacom Inc's movie studio. Here's why: Spielberg has the right to terminate his contract as soon as October (because of a key man clause ... 
This made the Jack Black-voiced toon Dreamworks Animation's all-time non-sequel opening, overpowering 2004 Shark Tale's $47.6M, and 2005 Madagascar's $47.2M (the latter over Memorial Weekend). The two studios were surprised how much the PG panda pic played like a non-family film. "More like a live action film than a traditional animated film where you normally get a Friday number, then a huge bump on Saturday," a Paramount insider told me. "But our Friday was bigger than we expected because we got more of a general audience. I attribute it to people loving pandas and Jack Black being a big star." Interestingly, exit polls showed that 55% of the audience was female, and 51% over age 25, and 71% age 17 and older.
But the Hollywood mogul was rebuffed first by the Tribune Co's CEO Dennis Fitzimmons and then by current owner Sam Zell. Now Geffen may be looking for a third chance to buy the paper. I'm told by a source that Geffen and Zell are "in serious discussions" regarding a sale. It's all very hush-hush, but my source tells me: "Cash flow is not being met for the bankers, revenue is in freefall, and the potential liability on the Combs story is huge. Sam feels he bought a bill of goods. Geffen is back in the mix and he's going to get it for a deep discount. They're in serious discussions."
SUNDAY AM: Fox's family fare holdover Horton Hears A Who! rose to No. 1 again this Easter Weekend with a big $25.1 million haul, this time with $10.2 million Friday, $9.2 million Saturday and an estimated $5.6 million Sunday from 3,961 venues. That gives the Dr. Seuss toon a big box office cume of $86.4 mil after only a week in theaters. Meet The Browns starring writer/director/actor Tyler Perry's alter ego Madea as well as icon Angela Bassett opened in 2nd place for Lionsgate with $20.2 million this weekend from 2,006 plays. As we've seen before with Perry's pics, 65% of his moviegoers tend to be African-American, though there is still plenty of crossover because of family-oriented themes. Perry further cements his status as one of Hollywood's most reliable box office brands, A surprise for No. 3 was New Regency's Thai horror film Shutter, because of its PG-13 rating and aggressive Internet ad campaign. Distributed by Fox, the newcomer took in $10.7 million from 2,753 dates. All easily bested Paramount's Owen Wilson starrer Drillbit Taylor which placed only 4th: hurt by the star's refusal to dopublicity and the fact it plays young, the PG-13 tween comedy from Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen opened with $10.2 million despite a wide release of 3,056 runs. Meanwhile, I hear that Fox Searchlight/The Weinstein Co's new release Under The Same Moon, from writer/producer Ligiah Villalobos, had a record-breaking opening weekend for a Spanish language film, with $2.6 million in 266 venues here. It was also crushing in Mexico, making $1.6 million from 350 screens - - #3 behind only Horton and 10,000 BC, ... 
But does he also love the movie? Not yet.
Let's see which TV network decides to turn 
Perhaps the hardest-hit entertainment company was Sony Online Entertainment, maker of computer games, which closed its 600-worker office in the Miramar area of fire-affected San Diego.
CBS' Cold Case had a set in Simi Valley that high winds leveled.
today with Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider -- and everybody was all smiles. Talk about a virtual public announcement that a reunion between the studio and DreamWorks isn't far behind! "I can't imagine GE will blow it a second time. They made an extraordinary mistake," a source told me. Meanwhile, an agent analyzed, "I wonder if this is a negotiating ploy?" Look, we all know David Geffen still has to come to terms with GE chairman Jeff Immelt and his NBC Universal errand boy Jeff Zucker, so a deal isn't yet a foregone conclusion. But Uni prez/COO Ron Meyer can facilitate the DreamWorks sale since he's longtime pals with everyone involved (and Snider's ex-boss). 
And we all know that Spielberg never left the Universal lot (even after DreamWorks' sale to Paramount), and it's the studio where the director has been happiest. He'd like nothing better than to call the place home again, and partner David is in the business of giving Steven what he wants. So stay tuned. 
Sony at the Cannes Film Festival paid $11 million for the domestic rights to We Own The Night (from Mark Cuban's 2929 Productions) and is hoping for at least a $12 million debut this weekend. I hear the tracking for the Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg starrer in 2,362 theaters still isn't good, despite a crackling though muted ad campaign and the tempting pairing of those two terrific actors. But 
I can tell you that David Geffen is denying a throwaway line inside a Wall Street Journal article today about big ticket homes for sale claiming that he "has quietly shopped his historic 9.4-acre Los Angeles estate for $100 million, according to a broker who has shown the property". Indeed, sources tell me that Geffen turns down offers, including those in excess of $100 mil, all the time for the famed Beverly Hills mansion that was formerly owned by Hollywood mogul Jack Warner in the 1930s. Geffen purchased it for $47.5 mil and spent another $45 million renovating it, including $20 million on landscaping. (As one journalist wrote, "He may be the only mogul who has ever made Xanadu smaller.) Since Geffen has owned it, the house has played a pivotal role in the charitable and political life of Los Angeles: the mansion that Bill Clinton stayed in has most recently been used for Barack Obama's fundraising. 
There are two things you may not know about Stardust, opening this weekend. 1) Good thing Brad Grey is vacationing in Europe with his family. Because he'll miss the pic's disastrous domestic opening this weekend. Even budgeted without marketing costs at $70 million (which sounds way low to me because of all the special effects excess), director Matthew Vaughn's adventure romance fantasy is tracking horribly for its Friday opening in 2,300 theaters. "The over/under this weekend is at $15 million," one of my box office gurus tells me. Yikes! Plus, the trailers starring Claire Danes, Robert DeNiro, Michelle Pfeiffer and Sienna Miller have to be among the worst I've ever seen. (They remind me of the promos for that huge Terry Gilliam bomb, The Adventures Of Baron Munchausen, though Stardust's producers prefer to compare their pic to Princess Bride on steroids.) Anyway, though it'll do nil biz domestically, Paramount is still "very bullish" on the pic's chances overseas because of the international cast. But, seriously, look at all the Paramount-branded bombs this year: last weekend's Hot Rod, plus Next, Shooter and Zodiac (a leftover from the Sherry Lansing era). Yet the studio is now first place in market share only 
2) So here's the silver lining: I'm told Paramount is only into ... 
I don't do geek. But that doesn't matter because this weekend most Hollywood studios are pushing ALL their movie and other entertainment product at Comic-Con in San Diego. It's like, let's throw mud against the wall and see what sticks. (Which explains why Owen Wilson's latest comedy Drillbit Taylor to the Get Smart remake are poised for convention traction.) The result is that the true Comic-Con oriented product gets lost in the orgy of all the other stuff being promo-ed. On the other hand, the 120,000+ fans are incredibly grateful since they don't get out much. (Just kidding.) Said one Warner's insider to me, "So cool to see fans respond to content. There's a great energy and makes me proud that I work in this biz. Some days it can feel like I'm just in insurance." Check out my sister paper OC Weekly's Comic-Con 
There's a hot ticket screening of Superbad tonight followed by a Q&A with Judd Apatow, Greg Mottola, Seth Rogen, etc. The trailer for Walk Hard will be shown beforehand. On Saturday, Sony's panel starts with footage of Resident Evil: Extinction, with a special appearance by Milla Jovovich as well as the world premiere of the trailer. Sony is also showing footage of 30 Days Of Night with an appearance by producer Sam Raimi. Sony's home entertainment division is hosting a “Blu-ray Experience” event including director Eli Roth ... 
Thanks to yet another DreamWorks pic Transformers performing spectacularly at the summer box office, not only had Paramount climbed to No. 1 in studio market share this year but boasted a new movie franchise to exploit. Grey had been celebrating. Now, because of the article, Brad was "bummed out", a source close to him told me. Also Grey knew that every other Hollywood mogul like him attending Jack Valenti's memorial service last Thursday had heard about the bombshell. So the Paramount chief needed to know if this was real or not. He spoke to Spielberg right away. This time, the director was on location in Hawaii. "And Steven continued to tell Brad he is 'very happy'," an insider tells me. 
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