UPFRONTS 2013: The Overachievers 
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ On Track For $27M … 
‘Mike & Molly’ Creator Mark Roberts To … 
Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts Set For … 
Hammond On Cannes: Weinstein Brings Out Stars For 2013 … 
Cannes: Fake Gunshots Interrupt Canal Plus Live Broadcast … 
‘The Great Gatsby’ Starts With $5.4M … 
Cannes: Music Box Acquires Competition’s … 
Cannes: Bruno Wu & Pierre-Ange Le Pogam Kick Up Angel … 
UPDATE: Amazon Studios Begins Pilot Pickups; … 
Bruce Rosenblum Bids Classy Goodbye 
RATINGS RAT RACE UPDATE: ‘American Idol’ Hits … 
UPDATE: ‘Iron Man 3′ Box Office Crosses $1B … 
John Lesher’s Le Grisbi Teams With DCM Productions … 
Upfront Market: Will Auto Makers Subsidize TV … 
Cannes: Thief Makes Off With $1M+ In Chopard Jewelry Meant … 
Cannes: Cyrus Nowrasteh To Helm Film On Soviet Dissident … 
‘Scandal’ Finale On Small Screen And Onstage At … 
Cannes: Cassian Elwes, Robert Ogden Barnum Launch e2b … 
SPOILER ALERT! NBC’s ‘The Office’ Finale 
‘Modern Family’ Gets Cable Makeover For Launch … 
Shine International Takes Interim Tag Off Nohr
More than eight months after Nadine Nohr stepped in as interim CEO at Shine International, the company has made her gig permanent. Two years ago, the exec supervised the unit’s revamp and relocation. She began as a consultant to Shine International, the sales and distribution arm of the Shine Group, in 2011. Her resume includes a dozen years at Granada International.
Access Digital Preps Download/Streaming Service in Britain
Access Digital Entertainment has announced plans to launch WOWHD.tv, one of the UK’s first download-to-own and VOD services featuring UltraViolet. Users will be able to download or stream content anytime on any web-enabled device, store it in the cloud and share it with as many as five people. ADE chief exec Craig White said deals are in the works with Hollywood studios for TV and film content.
Global Showbiz Briefs: Shine Int’l Makes CEO Permanent; New Download/Streaming Service Headed For UK
‘Fast & Furious 6′ Breaks Records In UK-Ireland Before Begins Global Rollout May 24
UPDATE 7 PM: 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 today. 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. The UK and Ireland scored the biggest opening day for the franchise and Universal’s biggest opening day of all time in those markets, grossing $4.4M (£2.9M) at 462 dates. It was the 2nd biggest opening there of 2013, behind Iron Man 3‘s $4.7M (£3M) and #1 in the market with 54% market share. 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. Read More »
UPFRONTS 2013: The Overachievers
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.
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 »
‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ On Track For $27M Friday And $88M Weekend; International Cume Already $47M
FRIDAY 6:30 PM, 4TH UPDATE: No significant changes in numbers yet.
FRIDAY 1 PM, 3RD UPDATE: My sources say early matinees are very strong for Star Trek Into Darkness from Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions, and director J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot. It continued its domestic run today in 3,762 theaters with a refined number of $13.4 million from Wednesday’s 336 IMAX late shows and Thursday’s midnights and then yesterday’s wide release. Today’s grosses are almost double Thursday’s and an early read of noon averages is ranging from $25M to $27M Friday and $80M to $88M for the 3-day weekend - with a prediction of $100M for the first four days. Abrams’ first 2009 installment of the long-running film franchise opened to $30.1M Friday (without a Thursday start) 
and $79M for the first weekend. Fandango reports the new pic’s ticket sales are outpacing the first movie at the same point in the cycle and 55% of surveyed filmgoers plan to see it more than once. Over 80% of MovieTickets sales are for Star Trek Into Darkness and that’s led to some 430 sold out screenings this weekend. Overseas, the iconic 3D space tentpole’s cume is now $47M through Thursday. More later…
THURSDAY 11:30 PM, 2ND UPDATE: Still more good news at the start of the Summer 2013 box office as May continues to sizzle. My sources say Star Trek Into Darkness from Paramount Pictures, Skydance Productions, and director J.J. Abrams‘ Bad Robot began its domestic run in 3,762 theaters with at least $14 million including $3.5M in Thursday midnights and Wednesday 336 IMAX late shows. 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. Over 400 screenings offered by MovieTickets.com are sold out for this upcoming weekend. The budget was a costly $190M, but the studio is still predicting a 3-day weekend domestic estimate of $80M and 4-day estimate of $100M. Right now Star Trek Into Darkness is running around 80% of Fandango’s ticket sales today while 75% of yesterday’s sales on MovieTickets.com came from STID. Star Trek Into Darkness is expected to easily beat the director’s first installment in North America and do much better overseas, where the franchise has long underperformed. To do that, Abrams filmed 30 minutes of the new sequel using high-resolution cameras to increase the IMAX audience, while Paramount dispatched his Bad Robot partner Bryan Burk to share 20 minutes of footage with media and distributors abroad earlier this year. The international grosses continue to surprise: My sources say the film’s opening day in Russia looks like $1.4 million, or nearly 4x the starting gross of 2009′s Star Trek. The sequel opened in 7 international markets this past weekend, earning $40M thru Wednesday. The combined figures from these territories are almost 70% greater than 2000′s Star Trek from the same UK, Australia, Germany, Mexico, New Zealand, Austria and German-speaking Switzerland. New markets, led by Russia, will open this weekend representing just over 15% of the overseas potential. Total now is just over 50% with 40 markets playing the pic through Sunday. Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto reprise their roles as Kirk and Spock in this sequel to Abrams’ 2009 reboot of the franchise, which began as a 1960s TV series.
Ben Affleck & Kanye West ‘SNL’ Promos: Video
Oscar winner Ben Affleck is hosting this weekend’s Saturday Night Live season finale, but it’s musical guest Kanye West who steals the spotlight in SNL‘s set of promos. “Hell no, I’m not going on SNL skits, this is my goddamn life,” he said onstage this week at the Adult Swim upfronts. Should be fun. Watch the promos:
‘Mike & Molly’ Creator Mark Roberts To Exit, Al Higgins Upped To EP & Showrunner
Mark Roberts, the creator of Mike & Molly, will be leaving the CBS comedy series, which was recently renewed for a fourth season. Roberts “will be stepping down from his showrunner and executive producer roles after three successful seasons to focus on other projects,” Mike & Molly producer Warner Bros. TV said in a statement to Deadline. “Al Higgins, currently co-executive producer of Mike & Molly, has been named executive producer and will serve as day-to-day showrunner of the comedy for its upcoming fourth season.” The studio would not comment on the reasons for the change, however there has been speculation for months that the show’s cast and crew were not happy with Roberts. Veteran comedy writer-producer Higgins has been on Mike & Molly since after the pilot. His previous series credits include NewsRadio and Malcolm In The Middle. On Mike & Molly, he will serve as executive producer alongside Chuck Lorre, who has four series on the air and has not been really involved with Mike & Molly this past season. The comedy starring Melissa McCarthy and Billy Gardell will have some time to accommodate the showrunner transition as it is slated for midseason.
Jason Reitman Pic ‘Labor Day’ Gets Christmas Release
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.
R.I.P. Ken Venturi
Ken Venturi, the voice of PGA golf on CBS for 35 years, died today after a long hospitalization. He was 82. After a solid career as a pro golfer, including a win at the 1964 U.S. Open, he turned to broadcasting after after hanging up his spikes in 1967. He immediately became CBS’ No. 1 golf announcer and retired in 2002 as the longest-serving lead sports analyst in history. The San Francisco native, who counted Frank Sinatra among his best friends, was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame just last week but was too ill to attend the ceremony.
UPDATE: WSJ Says DirecTV Also Mulling A Piece Of Hulu
UPDATE, 4:26 PM: The second company eyeing a Hulu stake is DirecTV, the Wall Street Journal reported today.
PREVIOUSLY, WEDNESDAY AM: Time Warner Cable, the country’s No. 2 cable service and a second unidentified pay-TV entity are considering taking a piece of the ad-supported streaming-video service, The Wall Street Journal reports. Slower growth in the pay-TV sector has the NY-based Time Warner Cable paying more attention to its broadband operations lately. Disney, News Corp and Comcast own about a third each of the 6-year-old 
service, which recently topped the 4 million-subscriber mark. Other groups mulling a stake in Hulu include Yahoo and the Chernin Group, run by ex-News Corp. exec Peter Chernin.
Kroenke Sports Completes Outdoor Channel Acquisition
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.
‘Red’ Scribes Re-Sign For Third Pic
Summit Entertainment has hired Red and Red 2 writers Jon Hoeber & Erich Hoeber to write Red 3. Red 2 opens July 19 and returns Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren and John Malkovich among others. The screenwriting brothers’ recent credits include Battleship.
Deadline Big Media With David Lieberman, Episode 35
Listen to (and share) episode 35 of our audio podcast Deadline Big Media With David Lieberman. Deadline’s executive editor joins host David Bloom to discuss the advertising upfronts this week, including the CBS victory lap and whether an auto ad spending blitz will finance this year’s pricey programming; Daniel Loeb’s (and possibly Les Moonves’) plans for Sony; and National CineMedia’s whiz-bang new technologies to give exhibitors and studios more bang for their in-theater ad bucks.
Deadline Big Media, Episode 35 (MP3 format)
Deadline Big Media, Episode 35 (MP4a format) Read More »
Magnolia Manager Vs UTA, Round Two
Previous: Magnolia Client Rachel McAdams Fires UTA
UPDATE: Magnolia Entertainment manager Shelley Browning’s inexplicable and one-sided battle against UTA co-owner Tracey Jacobs rages on. Last month, Browning was behind Rachel McAdams firing UTA after a seven-year stint with Jacobs. Now two Swedish actors who are both Magnolia clients follow McAdams out the door for no reason: Joel Kinnaman and Noomi Rapace. Since becoming Browning’s client, Rapace has bounced between Hollywood agencies: first UTA, then WME, then back to UTA, and now out of UTA. Among the only Magnolia clients left at UTA is Daniel Espinosa (Safe House) who is directing Kinnaman and Rapace with Tom Hardy in Child 44.
Carey Mulligan, Matthias Schoenaerts Set For Searchlight’s ‘Far From The Madding Crowd’
Danish director Thomas Vinterberg, whose The Hunt was in the Cannes competition last year, will make his English-language helming debut with the adaptation of Thomas Hardy’s 1874 novel, Far From The Madding Crowd. The UK’s DNA Films is producing with Fox Searchlight, which confirms that Carey Mulligan and Matthias Schoenaerts will star in the new take. They’ll play Bathsheba Everdine and Gabriel Oak in the story of the ill-fated passions of a willful young woman and her three suitors. Production is scheduled for this fall in the UK with Searchlight marketing and distributing for the world. A previous film version was directed by John Schlesinger in 1967 and starred Julie Christie, Terence Stamp, Peter Finch and Alan Bates (as Oak). Mulligan is in Cannes this week in support of The Great Gatsby and Inside Llewyn Davis. Schoenaerts was in Cannes last year with Rust And Bone and is here now with Blood Ties. They are both repped by CAA; Vinterberg is repped by ICM Partners and Nichols by Paradigm.
AwesomenessTV Introduces YouTube Channel Targeting Young Males
The channel’s called AwesomenessX and it will offer “original sports, gaming, comedy, pranks and lifestyle content” for males in their teens and 20s, says the company that’s owned by DreamWorks Animation. As the Web destination grows it can “segment our audience so we can better target the programming and build communities around specific interest areas,” says its CEO Brian Robbins. The new channel will pick up some series from AwesomenessTV including The City – Basketball, Sk8 Spotterz, Blow Up Guys, That Was Awesome and How To Be Awesome. It will also launch new series including one that follows Winter X-Games gold medalist David Wise. Another will track “the first Chinese skaters and their friends as they begin to open the minds of the Chinese people to a sport that has always been looked down upon.” Other shows will offer videos of the best game moves and photo shoots of swimsuit models. There’s also The Frank Dog (a dog that “breaks down the latest viral video, with a special dark place just for those adorable cat clips”), Baby Gaga (a talking baby that “will break down his favorite baby videos from around the web and also give his hilarious opinion on what is really going on”) and Fingerlings (where finger puppets poke fun at “current pop culture moments”).
Rupert Murdoch Compares Facebook To “Crappy MySpace” On IPO Anniversary
“Look out Facebook!” the News Corp CEO wrote today in a tweet. “Hours spent participating per member dropping seriously. First really bad sign as seen by crappy MySpace years ago.” Easy to see why he’s still smarting over the “crappy” asset that he bought in 2005 for $508M and sold two years ago for $35M. But his warning also reflects the passion Facebook inspires among supporters and critics alike on the anniversary of its ill-fated initial public offering at $38 a share. The stock closed today at $26.25 — down 31.3% — and has been pretty much flat for more than five months. Bears say that Facebook can’t sustain its torrid growth as it faces potent competitors — including Google, Twitter and Tumblr — and a shift among users from personal computers to advertising unfriendly small screened mobile phones and tablets. “Facebook is now scrambling to boost revenues through bigger ads that take over the entire screen,” BTIG’s Rich Greenfield notes today. He contrasts that to Google+, a social network that “is not out to harm the user experience through disruptive, annoying, spammy ads, they simply want the data to improve search and other products.” Read More »
‘Kinky Boots’, ‘Vanya And Sonia’, ‘Pippin’ Top Drama League Awards
Kinky Boots and Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike are among the big winners of the 79th Annual Drama League Awards announced today in New York City. Kinky Boots took Distinguished Production of a Musical and Vania And Sonia And Masha And Spike was named Distinguished Production of a Play. Other winners include Pippin, Distinguished Revival of a Musical; and Who’s Afraid Of Virginia Woolf, Distinguished Revival of a Play. Nathan Lane received the Distinguished Performance Award, presented by Debra Messing. Others honored include Bernadette Peters who nabbed the Distinguished Achievement in Musical Theatre Award; Madison Square Garden Entertainment and the Rockettes received the Unique Contribution to the Theatre Award and Jerry Mitchell was honored with The Founders Award for Excellence in Directing. Click over for the complete list: Read More »
NBC Makes ‘The Voice’ Coach Moves Official
Related: Shakira & Usher Returning To ‘The Voice’ For Season 6
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. — May 17, 2013 — Illustrating the continuity between its original and current coaches lineup, “The Voice” will bring back Christina Aguilera, CeeLo Green, Adam Levine and Blake Shelton for its fifth cycle in fall and will pair Levine and Shelton with Shakira and Usher for the sixth cycle in midseason.
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