EXCLUSIVE: With Monday night’s Gotham Awards and Tuesday’s announcement of the Independent Spirit Award nominations and winners of the New York Film Critics awards (more on that below), awards season is in full swing and we are barely past Thanksgiving. It seems as if the season is
becoming a literal rush to judgment with screenings beginning only this week for some big titles such as The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close and Angelina Jolie’s In The Land of Blood and Honey.
But things could become even more hurried if the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences actually follows through on their much-talked about plan to move the Oscars earlier in 2013 by as much as a month. The most-discussed date is the last Sunday of January that year — the 27th. The current season’s Oscars will be on Sunday February 26th. But as it turns out, I have learned that a significantly earlier Oscarcast is very unlikely for 2013 and even 2014.
The prevailing thinking is that an earlier Oscars would mercifully shorten the long awards season and make them more competitive with the slew of movie awards shows that precede the Academy Awards beginning with this week’s events (The National Board of Review will also announce their winners on Thursday). Past Academy President Sid Ganis and current President Tom Sherak … Read More
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AFTRA’s Head PR Leaves To Join 42West
After an 11-year stint at the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, the actors union’s top PR executive, National Director of Communication Christopher de Haan, is leaving to join entertainment PR firm 42West an executive in the Strategic Communications division. There, de Haan is expected to still work with AFTRA, which has been a client of 42West since 2007. De Haan’s last day will be Dec. 16, and AFTRA will likely name his successor next month. The move comes as the two actors unions, SAG and AFTRA, continue merger talks. De Haan first joined AFTRA in early 2001 as National Assistant in the Entertainment, Commercials, Non-Broadcast/Industrial, and Interactive Media departments. He later served as National Manager of Communications and was upped to National Director in 2008.
Hot Trailer: Red Band Spot For ‘Young Adult’
Here’s a red band TV spot (really? for what markets?) in which Charlize Theron spews over a messy collision involving something cold, wet and sticky.
Stage Hand Sues Dick Clark Prods. Over Late Payments For ‘American Music Awards’
Production stage hand Charles Griffin has filed suit against Dick Clark Productions over late payment for services on the 36th Annual American Music Awards telecast. Griffin has also requested class-action status on behalf of other stagehands on the show. In the suit filed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Griffin says DCP hired him November 22, 2008 and discharged him “on or about” the same date after completion of work but did not issue payment until February 5, 2009. Griffin’s complaint alleges DCP “fails to devote sufficient resources to the accounting function with the result that such late payment of wages is customary rather than exceptional.” Griffin states in the suit that state law stipulates that any discharged employee is entitled to receive payment within the next pay period following the end of employment. Griffin asserts that DCP was up to two months late paying him and other employees and is seeking up to $400,000 in damages for all members of the class action.
Gotham Awards: ‘Tree Of Life,’ ‘Beginners’ Share Kudos For Best Feature
Terrence Malick’s The Tree of Life and Mike Mills’ Beginners shared the best feature award at Monday night’s 21st Annual Gotham Independent Film Awards. Other nominees for Best Feature were nominees were The Descendants, Meek’s Cutoff and Take Shelter. Girlfriend won 
the audience award and Dee Rees was named breakthrough director for Pariah. Mike Mills’ Beginners took best ensemble performance, and the prize for Best Film Not Seen In A Theater Near You went to Scenes of A Crime. Those filmmakers win a week’s run at Cinema Village in New York City. The win by Beginners was a big surprise as the movie bested the higher profile The Descendants, Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter and Martha Marcy May Marlene. Best documentary was Better This World. Breakthrough Actor Award went to Felicity Jones for Like Crazy. Event took place at Cipriani on Wall Street.
Complete list of winners:
Best Feature / Tie
BEGINNERS
Directed by Mike Mills
Produced by Leslie Urdang, Dean Vanech, Miranda de Pencier, Jay Van Hoy, Lars Knudsen
Released by Focus Features
TREE OF LIFE
Directed by Terrence Malick
Produced by Sarah Green, Bill Pohlad, Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, Grant Hill
Released by Fox Searchlight
The Best Feature Jury included: Anne Carey, Jodie Foster, Nicole Kidman, Lee Percy, and Natalie Portman
Best Documentary
BETTER THIS WORLD
Directed and produced by Katie Galloway and Kelly Duane de la Vega
Produced by Mike Nicholson
The Best Documentary Jury included: Jonathan Caouette, Keiko … Read More
Fox Full Speed Ahead With David Guggenheim’s ‘Narco Sub’ For Tony Scott
Twentieth Century Fox acquired the action thriller spec Narco Sub from David Guggenheim with Tony Scott attached to direct. Simon Kinberg’
Microsoft Eyes Entry Into Scripted Television
It looks like software giant Microsoft is looking to get into the scripted TV business. I hear that the company has hired a headhunter to search for an experienced executive to serve as a head of scripted. Microsoft has dabbled into original series before. Several years ago, the company’s music and entertainment service Zune partnered with MEAN Magazine to produce Cinemash, a digital comedy series that took on classic scenes from popular movies. Microsoft recently has been exploring the scripted TV territory for its video-game console XBox. After a decade of growing pains, original content has finally become the new frontier for big Internet companies, though none has gone as far as to produce high-end series for online distribution, and Prospect Park’s failed attempt to do it with canceled soaps One Life To Live and All My Children proves just how economically challenging that is. Netflix is betting heavily on scripted series through straight acquisitions of drama House Of Cards and comedies Orange Is The New Black and Arrested Development. And Google’s YouTube recently announced the launch of as many as 100 channels with premium original content.
Lionsgate, Summit In Talks: Bloomberg
Summit Entertainment and Lionsgate Entertainment are in discussions about a possible merger, according to Bloomberg, which cited two unidentified sources with knowledge of the situation. With the first part of the Twilight vampire franchise’s finale coming off a hot worldwide opening, talks that have previously broken down over money and control issues may be heating up again. There also have been rumblings that other companies are interested in a deal with Summit or Lionsgate either separately or in some kind of combination. All the discussions are preliminary and speculative and could easily fall apart. Lionsgate has a fairly 
large library of movies and TV content that would be vastly enriched by Summit’s TheTwilight Saga franchise. The latest movie, Breaking Dawn Part 1, has generated more than $220 million domestically in its first two weekends plus nearly $270 million overseas. The franchise has grossed in excess of $1 billion. Breaking Dawn Part 2 will be released next year. Lionsgate has its own potential hit franchise based on a comparable set of young-adult novels in The Hunger Games. The first movie opens in March. Lionsgate also has an active TV division that produces Mad Men, Nurse Jackie, Weeds and Boss, among others. An analyst cited by Bloomberg said The Hunger Games and its sequels could generate between $220 million-$733 million in additional cash flow over the next few years.
AP: NBA And Players Reach Tentative Deal
The TV sports industry will be relieved that, around 12:30 AM today, The AP is quoting NBA Commissioner David Stern as saying, “We’re optimistic that will all come to pass and that the NBA season will begin December 25th. He confirmed the two sides reached a “tentative understanding that is subject to a variety of approvals and very complex machinations”. Already, the league had cut 10 games from the normal season in a revised schedule which would mean a big hit on ad revenue for ABC/ESPN, TNT/Turner and regional sports networks that hold lucrative TV rights to games. The tentative end to the 148-day lockout was reached after a secret meeting earlier this week when the sides met for more than 15 hours Friday, working to try to save the season. Now this handshake deal still must be ratified by both owners and players. A majority on each side is needed. The NBA needs votes from 15 of 29 owners. (The league owns the New Orleans Hornets.) The union needs a simple majority of its 430-plus members. Under the deal, a 66-game season would begin on Christmas. Stern had said the league needs about 30 days from an agreement to when games could be played, and that deadline created a sense of urgency.
Before now, the NBA’
Media Help Set Free Arrested U.S.-Egyptian Filmmaker Jehane Noujaim In Cairo
UPDATE: American filmmaker Jehane Noujaim told NBC News today how she was arrested and accused of throwing Molotov cocktails by the Egyptian security forces as she fled from clouds of tear gas. The award-winning filmmaker best known for her Al Jazeera documentary Control Room was seized by security forces while documenting clashes in Cairo’s Tahrir Square. She was detained in the city’s Tora prison for 36 hours without a phone and her camera was confiscated, Noujaim said in the interview.
Previous: Award-winning Egyptian American documentary filmmaker Jehane Noujaim best known for her films Control Room, Mokattam, Startup.com, was arrested and later released after participating in one of Cairo’s protest uprisings, according to news reports. Noujaim was interviewing a military officer when the arrest took place and was accused of being a spy for Israel and a traitor. Noujaim and others were reportedly charged with congregation and destruction of public property. She was freed after the Committee to Protect journalists appealed to Egyptian authorities to let her go and correspondents for newspapers like The Guardian and The New York Times took up her cause. She is well known to international media because Noujaim’s 2004 Control Room examined the U.S. military’s relations with Al Jazeera and other news organizations that covered the 2003 invasion of Iraq. She also won the TED … Read More
French Films Finish #1 And #2 For 2011 Beating Harry Potter Finale, Tintin, Pirates 4
Here’s a shot in the arm for French cinema: Gaumont’s award-winning crowd-pleaser Untouchable has catapulted to the top of the French box-office heap for 2011 in less than four weeks of release. The studio announced today that the film has now sold over 8.2 million tickets, making it the No. 1 film this year. Another French film, Pathé’s Rien A Declarer (Nothing To Declare), is sitting in the 2nd spot in France for the year with just over 8.13 million tickets sold. The two local pics are running ahead of such fare as the Harry Potter finale, Steven Spielberg’s Adventures Of Tintin and the latest Pirates Of The Caribbean 4.
Gaumont’s Cécile Gaget tells me that Untouchable is experiencing a “Titanic phenomenon” whereby moviegoers are returning to see it multiple times. From directors Eric Toledano and Olivier Nakache, pic stars François Cluzet as a wheelchair-bound aristocrat who hires an out-of-the-ordinary assistant played by Omar Sy. The film recently won the Grand Prize at the Tokyo Film Fest with the stars sharing acting kudos. Gaumont says the film is also doing brisk business in Switzerland and Belgium. The Weinstein Co acquired Untouchable in North America, the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Scandinavia, South America and China and also took English-language remake rights.
Pathé’s Nothing To Declare, meanwhile, hails from director and star Dany Boon whose Welcome To The Sticks rode a juggernaut locally back in 2008 to become the highest-grossing French film ever and to … Read More
Berlusconi’s Mediaset Co-Bids For Endemol
Just days after Silvio Berlusconi left Italian politics, he’s already on the 
hunt for Big Media. Berlusconi’s Mediaset and Italian private equity firm Clessidra have entered a joint bid for Dutch reality TV giant Endemol. “We have presented our offer with Clessidra,” Mediaset vice chairman (and the former prime minister’s son) Pier Silvio Berlusconi confirmed Thursday, according to reports from Milan. No terms were disclosed. But earlier this month Mediaset’s CFO said the company would invest more money in Endemol if there were a “clear strategy” for the company.
When queried about the Mediaset/Clessidra bid, Endemol spokesman Charlie Gardner told Deadline, “Our focus is on the restructuring of our debt. Those discussions are progressing well and we’re confident of a positive outcome soon.” Mediaset currently owns around a third of Endemol, whose other owners are Goldman Sachs’ Capital Partners and John de Mol’s investment vehicle Cyrte. Time Warner recently made a $1.4 billion unsolicited offer for Endemol which the target put on hold as it proceeds with a debt restructuring.
Global Showbiz Briefs: UK, Ireland, Canada, Asia Pacific
Odeon Becomes Largest All-Digital Cinema Chain In UK, Ireland
Exhibition giant Odeon has completed its digital rollout across the UK and Ireland. All of Odeon’s 890 screens have been enhanced with the company’s Digital 8000 HD system at a cost of £40 million. The circuit now becomes the largest all-digital cinema chain in the two territories. Rupert Gavin, CEO of Odeon and UCI Cinemas commented: “The completion of this digital rollout realises our ambition to ensure that every guest can experience the best in digital technology and picture quality, a process that has taken just under two years to realise. We hope that our guests across the country enjoy the new digital experience and the exciting content set to hit screens in the months to come.”
Sky Revs Up Formula 1 Channel
Here’s something for Formula 1 fanatics: Britain’s Sky Sports has announced the launch of a channel dedicated to the hugely popular nine-month racing ritual. Rolling out in March, Sky Sports F1 HD will air live coverage of the entire Grand Prix season, including all practice and qualifying sessions and every race on the calendar. Magazine shows are planned and interactive services will put viewers in the driver’s seat, behind the scenes and down in the pits – just the thing for car-crazy Brits.
Fantasia Fest Innovates With Frontières Market
The Fantasia International Film Festival is adding an international co-production market to its upcoming 16th edition. The Montreal-based genre fest says the Frontières market will select 12 standout projects by filmmakers from Canada, Europe, … Read More
Tom Hardy & Chris Nolan Speak About Bane
Tom Hardy speaks for the first time about taking on masked villain Bane in the third Batman installment The Dark Knight Rises. And Christopher Nolan speaks for the first time about Hardy and Bane. The duo gave the interview exclusively to UK’s Empire magazine for a special Batman/Bane edition embargoed until today:
Tom Hardy
On Bane: ‘
H’wood Hopes For T-Day Weekend Bounty: ‘Breaking Dawn’ Still #1, ‘The Muppets’ #2, ‘Hugo’ #3, ‘Happy Feet’ #4, ‘Arthur Xmas’ #5
THURSDAY PM/FRIDAY AM, 3RD UPDATE: My sources are giving me these estimates for North American movie openings and for the 5-day Thanksgiving holiday. “Things really bounced around Thursday with pics flying in both directions,” one studio exec emails me. “Won’t know how it affects the 5-day estimates until Friday when the kids pics should come roaring back.” Already it’s looking like some of the new family fare won’t speed out of the theatrical gate, leaving a clear 
path for Summit Entertainment’s holdover Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 1 to win the weekend derby. Hollywood will have hissy fits if the North American box office slump keeps continuing. The good news is that critics are bestowing good reviews and audiences are giving great CinemaScores to today’s opening pics: Disney’s rebooted The Muppets earned an ‘A’, and Sony Pictures’ Arthur Christmas an ‘A-’. But the big news Thursday was the $2.3M made by Martin Scorsese’s 3D film Hugo that’s playing on 2,000 less screens than all the competition. Paramount is gleefully estimating $14M for its first 5 days on just 1,277 screens and noting its 97% positive reviews on Rotten Tomatoes. But I’m still going to wait until Friday night to draw any major conclusions about this weekend’s grosses. Meanwhile, … Read More
Layoffs Follow ‘Happy Feet Two’ Flopping
It’s bad enough that Happy Feet Two went over budget by $50 million. Or that my sources say Warner Bros plugged it figuring the sequel to the smash hit 2006 Best Animation Oscar winner would be another big earner. But it’s not. 
The holiday pic is tanking. Now comes even worse Christmas news. According to an online article today in IF magazine, the Australian digital production company behind Happy Feet Two is laying off 600 staffers in early December. Sydney-based Dr D Studios is the 2007 joint venture between filmmaker George Miller’s and producer Doug Mitchell’s Kennedy Miller Mitchell, which is Australia’s most successful production company, in partnership with The Mapp family’s Omnilab Media Group, which is Australia’s largest film services company. Dr D Studios was intended to rival Peter Jackson’
HAMMOND: ‘War Horse’ Campaign Begins; Can Steven Spielberg Win Another Oscar?
The horse is out of the bag. Steven Spielberg’s much-awaited epic War Horse began its industry screenings in earnest this afternoon, Thanksgiving Day, in both New York and Los Angeles by inviting members (via trade ads and
website Monday) of most guilds , critics groups, and, of course, the Academy to special holiday weekend screenings that will continue through Sunday in both cities as well as San Francisco (Fri-Sun). In addition , as previously announced , there will be public sneaks in NYC and nine other cities on Sunday afteroon (10:30AM in LA at AMC Century City) followed by a Q&A with Spielberg in NY that will be satellited to the other cities as well as streamed live on MSN.com. It is an innovative “one-stop shopping” tactic on the part of Dreamworks (and Disney who distributes) since Spielberg is on the east coast currently shooting Lincoln and not available for the usual round of campaign activities. Its “World Premiere” will take place December 4th at Avery Fisher Hall in NYC.
The big launch is on now even though the film was completed for all intents and purposes in September. At the Labor Day weekend Telluride Film Festival producer Kathleen Kennedy told me they only had the D.I. to complete at that time, but even though it was ready the film, which opens on December 25, has skipped the … Read More
Hollywood Hopes For Thanksgiving Bounty: ‘Breaking Dawn’ #1 Again, ‘The Muppets’ #2, ‘Arthur Christmas’ #4, Scorsese’s ‘Hugo’ #8
WEDNESDAY 11 PM, 2ND UPDATE: My sources are giving me these estimates for today’s movie openings and for the 5-day Thanksgiving holiday. Already it’s looking like some of the new family fare won’t speed out of the theatrical gate, leaving a clear path for Summit Entertainment’s holdover Twilight Saga Breaking Dawn Part 1 to win the weekend derby. Hollywood will have hissy fits if the North American box office slump keeps continuing. The good news is that audiences are giving reat CinemaScores to today’s opening pics: Disney’s rebooted The Muppets earned an ‘A’, and Sony Pictures’ Arthur Christmas an ‘A-’. But I’m going to wait until Friday night to draw any major conclusions. Meanwhile, The Weinstein Co is platforming its Oscar-buzzed My Week With Marilyn today in 123 theaters and adds another 121 locations on Friday. But it should do $150K today and around $2M for the 5-day holiday. The Weinstein Co’s other Academy Awards-touted film The Artist debuts in 4 locations tomorrow. Full analysis later:
1. Twilight Saga’s Breaking Dawn Part 1 (Summit) Week 2 [4,066 Theaters]
Wednesday $12.5M, Estimated 5-Day Holiday $58M
2. The Muppets (Disney) NEW [3,440 Theaters]
Wednesday $7.3M, Estimated 5-Day Holiday $50M
3. Happy Feet Two 3D (Warner Bros) Week 2 [3,606 Theaters]
Wednesday $3M, Estimated 5-Day Holiday $23M
4. Arthur Christmas 3D (Sony Pictures) NEW [3,376 Theaters]
Wednesday $2.8M, Estimated 5-Day Holiday $22M
5. Immortals 3D (Relativity) Week 3 [3,120 Theaters]
Wednesday $2.2M, Estimated 5-Day Holiday $15M
6. Jack & Jill (Sony) Week 3 [3,438 Theaters]
Wednesday $2.1M, Estimated 5-Day … Read More
Hammond: Alexandre Desplat Is Music To Oscar’s Ears
Is Alexandre Desplat the new hardest working man in show business?
The prolific french composer who has had four Oscar nominations in the last five years is just coming off his busiest year since gaining international notoriety in 2003 with Girl With A Pearl Earring. Since then he has been one of, if not the most in-demand composers in the business with a remarkable output that
made me tired just reading all the titles. Those Oscar-nominated scores , The King’s Speech, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and The Queen are just a tiny sample of the nearly 60 scores he has written in the last 10 years , a decade of major achievement for the now-50 year old Desplat who can probably safely say life really does start at 40. He has actually been actively composing for films for a quarter century but has only become an international household name in movie music circles since ’03. When I sat down with him at a small dinner last week he was in town just for 36 hours and between back-to-back Q&As with his The Ides of March director George Clooney. That morning he had just completed the score for Stephen Daldry’s Christmas release, Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. It was a rush job to be sure as he was brought in as a last minute replacement for the film’s first composer, Nico Muhly ( who despite … Read More
Michael Apted To Finish Surf Movie For Curtis Hanson
EXCLUSIVE: After experiencing health complications from a recent heart surgery, director Curtis Hanson is getting help to finish the principal photography on Of Men and Mavericks, the Walden Media drama about big wave surfer Jay Moriarity. Michael Apted is going to step in and complete the final 15 days of principal photography for Hanson, starting on Monday. They are shooting in Northern California, where Moriarity became known for riding treacherous waves called Mavericks. The film stars Gerard Butler, with newcomer Jonny Weston playing Moriarity. Fox will release the film.