The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences' newly selected producers Adam Shankman & Bill Mechanic went to Ben Stiller and Robert Downey Jr and asked them to host as a duo. It would have been a killer combo. But the answer was no. I'm as curious to see who'll host as you are.

UPDATE: The layoff numbers are 3 producers, 3 segment producers, 3 APs, 3 PAs, a supervisiing producer, 1 development person and a script consultant. That's the True Hollywood Story casualty. Also 8 people from stunts (the Countdown show types), 3 from new media, and several more I can't confirm from E!'s production side. And now cuts in E!'s newsAlso, 8 people from stunts (the Countdown show-types), 4 from new media, and several more I can't confirm from E!'s production side. Also layoffs underway this week as well for most of the E! News Now division.

Monday 2:20 PM: I'm told that 3 True Hollywood Story producing teams and one of their supervising producers were let go today. There's chatter inside the hallways that it's related to the Comcast/NBCU deal.

UPDATE: I hear Pasdar will be paid through the end of the season. Very weird. 

So I watched this show its first season, loved it, and then never watched again. (My inner geek was satiated.) Still, Adrian Pasdar's forced exit is surprising unless flying is no longer considered a cool enough capability. More likely is that the show keeps suffering lousy ratings because it never recovered from being interrupted during the writers strike. (Poor Tim Kring was collateral damage as well as his Heroes sequel.) Here are all the superheroes who've been axed from the series since Day One: Season 1 -- Tawny Cypress, Santiago Cabrera; Season 2 -- Noah Gray-Cabey, Dana Davis, Kristen Bell, Leonard Roberts; Season 3 -- Dania Ramirez. Given the failure of NBC network primetime these days, and Jeff Zucker's zeal to save money on shows, I wonder if the 4th season Heroes cast now will be whittled down to just people who can lift a fork from their plate to their mouth in order to save CGI costs.

UPDATES 'Southland' Set For Pick Up By TNT -- If NBC Doesn't Screw It Up
UPDATES  Wells Looking For New 'Southland' Home
UPDATES Wasn't NBC Boasting About 'Southland'? 

People working on the show were told to prepare for good news on November 2nd. And they got it. One minute NBC was boasting about this sophomore cop show. The next the network was dumping it. And then NBC wouldn't let it go to TNT. For weeks now, TNT and NBC were negotiating moolah terms. "This behavior from NBC has been unbelievable and amazingly fucked-up -- even for them -- which is really saying something..." Anyway, that's all over. Barry Meyer did a solid for John Wells so TNT has the exclusive rights to run the 6 unaired episodes of Southland as well as all 13 produced episodes starting January 12th. TNT still has to decide whether to continue the series.

This is supposed to be a video spoof. I think. Or it could be a viral commercial cleverly disguised as the ultimate in bad taste advertising. "After testing the boundaries with their Chris Farley spot, DirecTV wrangles more famous people from beyond the grave to be in commercials":

UPDATES Rights To 'Terminator' Franchise For Sale

An Open Letter to the Terminator Owners. From a Very Important Hollywood Mogul

Dear Sirs/Ma'ams,

I am Joss Whedon, the mastermind behind Titan A.E., Parenthood (not the movie) (or the new series) (or the one where 'hood' was capitalized 'cause it was a pun), and myriad other legendary tales. I have heard through the 'grapevine' that the Terminator franchise is for sale, and I am prepared to make a pre-emptive bid RIGHT NOW to wrap this dealio up. This is not a joke, this is not a scam, this is not available on TV. I will write a check TODAY for $10,000, and viola! Terminator off your hands.

No, you didn't miscount. That's four -- FOUR! -- zeroes after that one. That's to show you I mean business. And I mean show business. Nikki Finke says the Terminator concept is played. Well, here's what I have to say to Nikki Finke: you are a fine journalist and please don't ever notice me. The Terminator story is as formative and important in our culture -- and my pretend play -- as any I can think of. It's far from over. And before you Terminator-Owners (I have trouble remembering names) rush to cash that sweet cheque, let me give you a taste of what I could do with that franchise:

1) Terminator... of the Rings! Yeah, what if he time-travelled TOO far... back to when there was dragons and wizards? (I think it was the Dark Ages.) Hasta La Vista, Boramir! Cool, huh? "Now you gonna be Gandalf the Red!" RRRRIP! But then he totally helps, because he's a cyborg and he doesn't give a s#&% about the ring -- it has no power over him! And he can carry it AND Frodo AND Sam AND f@%& up some orcs while he's doing it. This stuff just comes to me. I mean it. (I will also offer $10,000 for the Lord of the Rings franchise).

2) More Glau. Hey. There's a reason they're called "Summer" movies.

3) Can you say... musical? Well don't. Even I know that's an awful idea.

4) Christian Bale's John Connor will get a throat lozenge. This will also help his Batwork (ten grand for that franchise too, btw.)

5) More porn. John Connor never told Kyle Reese this, but

... Read More »

Michael Jackson's This Is It bounced back from a soft Saturday for a stronger Sunday up 18% to $8.3M and a weekend actual of $23.2M domestic. That's still underwhelming given all the pre-sales hype. But for the past 5 days, the companies behind the film have boasted nonstop to the media about how much money they have made now that the pic went over $101M worldwide. So, if both Sony and Anschutz Entertainment Group are taken at their word, then how about both companies stepping up to the plate and forking over that $6 million to reimburse L. A. taxpayers? The cash strapped City Of Los Angeles facing a $530 million budget deficit wound up stuck with the bill for the millions of dollars spent to police last summer's star-studded tribute to Michael Jackson held at AEG's Staples Center arena in downtown Los Angeles. An attempt to collect donations from Jackson fans to help cover the costs was later abandoned by Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who at first supported the idea. The Police Department deployed 3,200 officers and other services after projecting that as many as 250,000 people would converge on downtown streets for the service. But only ticket holders and about 1,000 fans showed up. At first the LA City Council demanded that the Jackson concert promoter and Staples Center owner AEG Live cover all the costs, but Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa rejected that idea, claiming it was a world-class city's responsibility to provide police protection. But since then there's been a public backlash. For months now, City Attorney Carmen Trutanich has tried to recover the $6M from AEG as the city struggles with a budget deficit. But AEG President/CEO Tim Leiweke keeps wanting to pay only $1.6M. The city has a one-year deadline to sue to recover its costs. When I mentioned over the weekend to a Sony bigwig that it might be a nice PR gesture for the studio and AEG to pick up the $6M tab, the exece claimed not to know what I was talking about. Puh-leeze.

Washington, D.C. – The Motion Picture Association of America, Inc. (MPAA) has urged the Federal Communication Commission (FCC) to make the protection of creative content online a core and guiding principal of the National Broadband Plan. In a filing late Friday with the FCC, the MPAA wrote:

“If the National Broadband Plan is to serve as a successful road map for ubiquitous broadband for all Americans, the government must recognize the vital role that high quality, high value content plays in driving adoption of new technologies. Compelling content is an essential ingredient in the consumer Internet experience and a key driver of broadband adoption. Inadequate respect for creative rights online will impede the rollout of creative new content offerings, undermining the Commission’s, Congress’ and the Administration’s goal of ubiquitous national broadband. For this reason, MPAA urges the Commission to make respect for creative content online a core and guiding principle of the National Broadband Plan.”

“Indeed, if it is to become national policy that the Internet serve as the center of modern society – a digital intersection of Main Street, a town square and a mega-shopping and entertainment complex all-rolled-into-one – it must be a place governed by laws, standards and rules, just like the real streets and communities inhabited all across America. Anarchy and disrespect for the rule of law online are no less pernicious to society than the flouting of our laws would be anywhere else. The government cannot let the anonymity of the Internet become a cloak behind which people think that unlawful conduct can continue unabated.”

The alien apartheid film likely to snag one of the newly expanded 10 Best Picture Oscar nominations did it in worldwide box office this weekend -- $115M domestic and $85M international so far (with China and Japan to come). And, remember, this indie prod's negative cost was only $30M.  By the way, not only does QED Intl have dibs on the franchise, but Sony has first opportunity to lock down the sequel for their territories. Which is why Sony is pushing for a District 9 sequel since the studio is lacking in fresh franchises. But those close to producer Peter Jackson and director Neill Blomkamp say only it may happen "at some point" when the duo "figure out what the story is and organize their respective schedules". (Peter is booked, and Neil is very much in demand now.)

Besides producer Peter Jackson and director Neill Blomkamp, the biggest beneficiary has been Bill Block's QED Intl which was given first shot to finance foreign pre-sales. Block had to commit to fully financing the movie even before the American Film Market got underway. What a risk -- because there was no star, no budget, no script. Only Peter Jackson's name, which meant a lot in the marketplace. That enabled Block to organize the funding from Comerica back in 2007, well before the financial crsis. "I wonder if in the current climate those institutions wuld have stepped up," one of my insiders questioned. "On the other hand, every time something like this happens, it makes indieprods more attractive to institutional financiers."

Sony's Peter Schlessel acquired the pic from QED at AFM for domestic, UK, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Russia, Italy, Latin America, Korea, Hong Kong, China, and some other territories. Sony paid a $25M advance so the studio shares in the film's profits. Also involved is Metropolitan Films, which has France. MGM acquired Spain, Germany, Benelux and Japan. But distributing for MGM is Sony in Spain, Germany and Benelux, and Warners for MGM in Japan. All the backend is shared with the partnership of QED, Jackson and Blomkamp. "The good news is everybody in this wins," an insider tells me. "It's just one of these great stories where the movie came out of nowhere and has performed globally."

The secret of the indie's success, like Paranormal Activity, was that it was made outside the studio system and marketed outside ... Read More »

It's well known that NBC affiliates are beginning to balk about this fall's "Leno effect" drain on their late news ratings. Stations in Miami, Los Angeles, and New York report losses ranging from 22% to 30% compared to last year. And with the Jay Leno Show eking out just a 1.5 or 1.6 rating after 5 weeks on the air, and losing to a week of repeats even though it's got fresh episodes 46 weeks out of the year, it's no surprise that defensive Leno is going on the offensive since he admits his numbers will get even worse during November sweeps. Jay told B&C he personally called a "bunch" of the affiliates last week "just to get feedback" and noted: "Unless they are the greatest actors in the world, they seem to be hanging in there and say they are in it for the long haul. I called Baltimore, Boston, the head of the affiliate board. They don't see it as dire as a lot of people are making it out to be." Here is Leno's best info from the interview:

-- "The first week, people kind of went after us because it looked like the old show."
-- "I've seen some articles that are a little more, 'It's not Jay's fault, its NBC's fault.'"
-- "I'm not protecting Jeff Zucker, nor am I hiding behind him. I could have said no."
-- "There is enough work out there, so people shouldn't necessarily be mad at me for taking the 10 o'clock spot."
-- "I'm not here because the 10 PM period was widely successful. I'm here because nothing else was working."
-- "Lead-ins are important. On the nights when we have a strong lead-in, we are competitive; on the nights we don't, it's up to us to try and carry the ball ourselves.
"-- "The numbers seem to tell us people [who] are watching the show are staying the whole hour."
-- "I find that when I go to Vegas, whereas before I might not sell out, all of a sudden it's sold out."
-- "This is our toughest period; Sweeps we'll do the worst, non-sweeps we'll do the best."
-- "Would I have preferred to stay at 11:30? Yeah, sure. I would have preferred that."
-- "If [11:35 pm] were offered to me, would I take it? If that's what they wanted to do, sure."
-- "Conan is in the same position I was in

... Read More »

UPDATE: Joss Whedon Makes Bid For 'Terminator'

All the big studios, with Sony leading the way, as well as Summit Entertainment and Media Rights Capital, are interested in bidding when the Terminator franchise is auctioned off this month. This news comes from the Financial Times' Matthew Garrahan who says the rights auction is for new Terminator films, TV program and other spin-offs. Because we all know The Sarah Connor Chronicles on Fox did so well, right? that build on the popularity of the franchise. The sale is being conducted by FTI Capital Advisors for Halcyon which bought the Terminator rights 2 years ago for $25M from Mario Kassar. Halcyon recently filed for Chapter 11 after a dispute with Pacificor, a Santa Barbara-based hedge fund that lent Halcyon the sum to buy the Terminator rights. Sheesh, I think this character/concept is played out. Then again, Terminator 4: Salvation made $380M worldwide.