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WB, Disney, MGM, Village Roadshow Near Deal With Foxtel

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday December 6, 2012 @ 9:44pm PSTTags: Disney, Foxtel, MGM, Village Roadshow, Warner Bros

Don Groves is a Deadline contributor based in Sydney.

Warner Bros, Disney, Village Roadshow and MGM films may not be missing from Australian pay-TV screens for long, despite the decision to dissolve their joint venture The Movie Network. Each studio is negotiating with dominant platform Foxtel and Deadline has learned the first licensing deals could be signed within two weeks. That would see those studios’ films screening on Foxtel by March or earlier as part of the paybox’s unified movies service. The seven TMN channels will disappear from Foxtel on December 31 when the current contract expires. TMN shareholders had no option other than to pull the plug when Foxtel rejected any idea of the separate channels continuing. Those studios are realizing they will have to accept less lucrative terms as Foxtel cuts costs and reduces the number of movie channels after buying the other major service Showtime from Paramount, NBCUniversal, Fox, Sony and Liberty Media in October. Foxtel is poised to announce a new lineup of rebranded movie channels and a new pricing structure, perhaps as early as Sunday. TMN has appointed Deloitte as liquidators. About 10 TMN staffers are expected to be offered jobs at Foxtel.

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MGM Chief Gary Barber Tells Investors He’ll Stay Through 2017

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday November 15, 2012 @ 3:50pm PSTTags: Gary Barber, MGM, Skyfall

Gary Barber’s new agreement follows last month’s announcement that Roger Birnbaum — who had been co-CEO and co-chairman — will return to movie making. “We are thrilled he has chosen to stay at MGM on an exclusive … Read More »

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‘Skyfall’ Expected To Exceed $800M In Worldwide Box Office Sales

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday November 15, 2012 @ 2:58pm PSTTags: James Bond, MGM, Skyfall

MGM chief Gary Barber presented the forecast to his company’s investors today, saying that the film will become “the highest-grossing Bond film of all time.” He adds that Skyfall is performing “substantially above our expectations.” Barber also … Read More »

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Paramount & MGM Team Up For ‘Hercules’; Dwayne Johnson To Star, Brett Ratner To Direct

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday November 7, 2012 @ 2:37pm PSTTags: Big Deals Film, Brett Ratner, Dwayne Johnson, Hercules, MGM, Paramount

Dwayne Johnson really will play the classic strongman Hercules onscreen. The Brett Ratner-directed Hercules action film will be co-produced by Paramount and MGM, the companies announced today. Johnson and Ratner’s names have been attached to the project … Read More »

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‘Skyfall’ Opens #1 In 25 Overseas Markets; Grosses $77.7M And Smashes UK Records

By NIKKI FINKE AND NANCY TARTAGLIONE | Sunday October 28, 2012 @ 10:28am PDTTags: Box Office, James Bond, MGM, Skyfall, Sony Pictures

SUNDAY AM UPDATE: Sony Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s Skyfall, the 23rd film in the James Bond series, opened overseas in 25 markets and grossed a staggering $77.7 million, #1 everywhere. Setting the pace was of course the UK, which opened to an enormous estimated $32.4 million (£20.1M). Smashing the all-time Saturday attendance record, this is the biggest opening of 2012 and the biggest 2D Friday-to-Sunday opening weekend in history there, and the 2nd biggest all-time Friday-to-Sunday opening weekend, behind just the 3D Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows Part 2. This launch was 76% bigger than Daniel Craig’s first turn as 007, Casino Royale, and 30% bigger than Quantum Of Solace. Of the $77.7M on Skyfall, IMAX is estimating a weekend gross of $3.5M in 79 locations in 15 territories which include the UK, France, Russia, Korea, Bulgaria, Middle East, Kazakhstan and Brazil.

– France bowed with $9.1M, or 39% more than Casino Royale’s opening Friday to Sunday (beating the entire 5-day opening as well) and just 15% less than Quantum Of Solace (which  opened during a holiday period.)

– Russia opened to $8.6M, way more than the previous movies especially with that territory’s massive theatre-building push.

– Korea took in 49% of the market, grossing $6.1M, which was more than triple Casino Royale’s opening and 58% more than Quantum Of Solace’s opening Friday-to-Sunday (22% more than Quantum’s  entire 4-day opening).

– Brazil launched with a huge $6.5M, the biggest Bond bow ever there, beating Casino Royale’s opening by 130% and Quantum Of Solace’s by 37%.

– Belgium earned $1.4M, up 40% on Casino Royale’s first Friday to Sunday and 17% on Quantum Of Solace’s.

– Norway opened to $2.7M, capturing well over 65% of the entire market and besting the opening of Casino Royale by 52% and Quantum Of Solace by 15%.

– Sweden launched with a huge $2.6, the biggest opening of 2012, 27% bigger than the opening of Casino Royale, and just 4% less than Quantum Of Solace, which opened during a national holiday.

– Denmark also opened to $2.6, the biggest non-3D opening ever there, beating Casino Royale by 23% and Quantum Of Solace by 30%.

– Finland earned a huge $1.5M, the biggest opening in history there excluding previews, beating Casino Royale’s bow by 82% and Quantum Of Solace’s by 23%.

Other openings included Other openings included Poland $2.5M, the Czech Republic $835k, Hungary $425K, Romania $325K, Slovakia (310K, Bulgaria $175K, Iceland $155K, Israel $825K, Portugal $630K.

Related: Weak Pre-Uberstorm Box Office: ‘Argo’ #1, ‘Cloud Atlas’ Low Grossing #2

EXCLUSIVE… SATURDAY: There’s no doubt that strong film reviews and advance buzz are giving the 23rd James Bond movie a big thumbs-up. But this weekend is the first indication of how well the Sam Mendes-directed pic will do at the box office with the Eon Production Skyfall opening in the UK, France and other Euro territories for Sony Pictures and MGM. Sony won’t divulge official international grosses until Sunday morning. But sources tell Deadline now that Skyfall opened as Britain’s 2D all-time biggest Friday opening and 2D biggest opening weekend. It smashed previous records set by the two other Daniel Craig as 007 movies.

Skyfall‘s UK total is expected to be £20M weekend ($32.2M) compared with the first installment Casino Royale‘s opening weekend of £13.37m ($21.53M) and Quantum Of Solace‘s £15.38m ($24.77M) which broke UK box office records for the biggest opening weekend when it was released in 2008. Skyfall‘s Friday opening day of £6.2M ($9.99M) also shattered Quantum Of Solace‘s previous recordholder of £4.9M. Saturday was expected to be higher and Sunday’s about the same. (Numbers may be refined on Sunday…) Helping total grosses, Skyfall was expected to be shown almost 75 to 100 times in round-the-clock screenings over its opening weekend at some UK cinemas in London, Manchester, Liverpool, and Southhampton. Skyfall doesn’t open in the U.S. and Canada until November 9th (a day earlier, November 8th, on IMAX screens). But Hollywood expects it to top both Quantum Of Solace which went on to gross $586M (£367.4M) worldwide and 2006′s Casino Royale which grossed $594.2M (£372.5M) making it the highest grossing film in the Bond franchise (not adjusted for inflation or higher ticket prices).

Related: IMAX Boasts 26% More James Bond ‘Skyfall’

That includes the United States where all-in guesstimates top $215M – much better than

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Hot Trailer: ‘Skyfall’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Friday October 19, 2012 @ 10:28am PDTTags: MGM, Skyfall, Sony Pictures

The second official trailer for Skyfall just dropped. Sony releases the MGM pic in the U.S. on November 9.

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Hot Teaser Trailer: ‘Carrie’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday October 15, 2012 @ 9:17pm PDTTags: Carrie, MGM, Screen Gems

Screen Gems and MGM‘s remake stars Julianne Moore and Chloe Moretz, who’s seen here for the first time as Stephen King’s idea of the girl next door. Kimberly Peirce directed Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa’s script for Carrie, which is due out March 15, 2013.

Watch this trailer on … Read More »

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Jonathan Glickman Re-Ups As Head Of MGM Motion Picture Group

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday October 15, 2012 @ 10:06am PDTTags: MGM

The move comes two weeks after MGM co-head Roger Birnbaum’s announcement that he was moving into an executive producer role at the studio that he and partner Gary Barber bought out of bankruptcy two years ago. That made Barber the sole chairman and CEO, and now he has his former Spyglass Entertainment president Jonathan Glickman locked in until 2017 to run the feature film unit. Here’s the announcement:

LOS ANGELES, CA (October 15, 2012) – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. (MGM) President of Motion Picture Group Jonathan Glickman has signed a new agreement that extends his term to 2017, it was announced today by Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Gary Barber. Glickman will continue in his current role overseeing development and production for all feature films, as well as targeting co-financing opportunities with other studios. He will continue to report to Barber.

Since joining MGM, Glickman oversaw “Skyfall,” the much anticipated 23rdJames Bond film produced by Michael G. Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, for the studio. Additionally, Glickman has supervised the adaptation of Stephen King’s “Carrie,” directed by Kimberly Peirce and starring Chloe Moretz and Julianne Moore, as well as “Robocop” directed by José Padilha.  Future high profile MGM projects include: “Hercules,” starring Dwayne Johnson, “The Machine” starring Vin Diesel, “The Magnificent Seven” starring Tom Cruise, as well as reboots of the “Deathwish” and “Poltergeist” franchises.

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MGM Acquires ‘One Red Paper Clip’ As Man Trades Up To Better Life

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Thursday September 13, 2012 @ 2:46pm PDTTags: Laurence Mark, Maria Maggenti, MGM
Mike Fleming

BREAKING: Scribe Maria Maggenti has made an MGM pitch for One Red Paper Clip, based on the nonfiction book by Kyle MacDonald. It’s the true story about a man who wins his girlfriend’s heart by trading up from a red paper clip in hopes of getting a house for them to live in. Through a series of trades, he gets the home and the happy ending. Laurence Mark is producing alongside Motion Theory’s Sean Sorensen and Matthew Cullen. Maggenti separately sold the TV pilot Park And Lex to ABC for DarkFire and Ryan Reynolds to produce. Maggenti is repped by Paradigm and Madhouse. Read More »

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Hot Trailer: ‘Hansel And Gretel: Witch Hunters’

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday September 4, 2012 @ 10:26am PDTTags: Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, MGM, Paramount

Jeremy Renner and Gemma Arterton play the kids who have come a long way from eating a witch’s gingerbread house in the original Grimm fable. Paramount and MGM are behind the reimagined take that will be released in the U.S. on January 11, 2013. Tommy Wirkola directed, … Read More »

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MGM Rights To ‘Raging Bull’ Affirmed By Appeals Court

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Wednesday August 29, 2012 @ 8:03pm PDTTags: MGM, Raging Bull

MGM today prevailed in a protracted dispute over underlying rights to Raging Bull involving the daughter of the writer of an early screenplay based on the life of fighter Jake LaMotta. The U.S. Court of Appeals … Read More »

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No Hugh Laurie For ‘Robocop’ Remake

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday August 24, 2012 @ 9:46am PDTTags: Hugh Laurie, MGM, RoboCop
Mike Fleming

Though he was expected to play the head of the facility that made the title character, Hugh Laurie is no longer going to star in the Robocop remake at MGM. The film, which stars Joel Kinnaman in … Read More »

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Jennifer Ehle In Talks To Join ‘RoboCop’

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday August 2, 2012 @ 7:06pm PDTTags: Jennifer Ehle, MGM, Movie Casting, RoboCop

EXCLUSIVE: Jennifer Ehle is in negotiations to join the cast of RoboCop. The two-time Tony Winner would star in the role of Liz Kline in the movie aside the recently announced Jackie Earle Haley, The Dark Knight Rises’ Gary Oldman, House star Hugh Laurie, Abbie Cornish and The Avengers’ Samuel L. Jackson.  Jose Padilha is directing the remake of the 1987 crime action movie. Later this year, Ehle will be seen in Kathryn Bigelow’s Zero Dark Thirty about the military team that found and killed Osama bin Laden. Read More »

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MGM Settles ‘Raging Bull II’ Lawsuit With Movie Name Change

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday August 1, 2012 @ 3:30pm PDTTags: Hollywood lawsuits, MGM, Raging Bull II

It’s not a TKO but MGM is dropping its lawsuit against the producers of Raging Bull II. “The parties have amicably reached a resolution of their pending litigation, pursuant to which production of a … Read More »

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Does Carl Icahn Selling MGM Stake Clear Way For IPO?

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday July 31, 2012 @ 1:44pm PDTTags: Carl Icahn, MGM

If true, it puts Carl Icahn on the Hollywood sidelines after selling stakes in Blockbuster before it went into bankruptcy and most recently Lionsgate, in which he sold … Read More »

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MGM Holdings Says That It’s Preparing To Go Public

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Wednesday July 25, 2012 @ 6:21am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, MGM

The company isn’t talking, but says in a cryptic press release that it has “submitted a draft registration statement on a confidential basis” to the SEC for “a possible initial public offering of its Class A common stock.” I … Read More »

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Jackie Earle Haley Joining ‘Robocop’ Cast

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Friday July 20, 2012 @ 3:50pm PDTTags: Jackie Earle Haley, MGM, RoboCop
Mike Fleming

EXCLUSIVE: Jackie Earle Haley is signing on to star in the Robocop remake that Jose Padilha will direct with Joel Kinnaman playing the title character. Haley will play Maddox, the guy who dispenses the military training to Robocop. … Read More »

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Alfred Gough & Miles Millar Near Deal To Write MGM’s Vin Diesel Movie ‘The Machine’

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Wednesday July 18, 2012 @ 1:51pm PDTTags: Big Deals Film, MGM, Miles Millar
Mike Fleming

Smallville creators Alfred Gough and Miles Millar are in final negotiations to write The Machine, the Vin Diesel-starring action comedy that is also the first new production for the restructured MGM. Thomas Lennon and Robert Ben Garant wrote the original script, about a human-like machine created in secrecy by the Pentagon to be the world’s first ultimate weapon. After the machine was decommissioned and buried it is discovered, reactivated and befriended by a kid 20 years later. When the government learns that it’s back in operation, the machine’s mission becomes to protect the family harboring him. Diesel, who also is producing via his One Race Films, was set to star when the project was unveiled in May 2011. The hope is to create a franchise. Read More »

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Studiocanal Acquires ‘RoboCop’ For Its European Distribution Network

By NANCY TARTAGLIONE, International Editor | Wednesday July 11, 2012 @ 7:50am PDTTags: MGM, RoboCop, StudioCanal

Studiocanal will release José Padilha’s RoboCop in the UK, France and Germany in 2013. MGM and Sony’s reboot of the futuristic 1987 flick stars Joel Kinnaman, Gary Oldman and Samuel L. Jackson. Story follows a Detroit cop who’s rebuilt after … Read More »

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