EXCLUSIVE: Marvel Studios has found its Thor 2 director. I’m told that Marvel has set Alan Taylor, who was widely rumored to be on the short list to replace Patty Jenkins. Taylor is an accomplished TV director whose recent credits include Game of Thrones, Boardwalk Empire and Nurse Jackie, and he directed the feature Palookaville. Jenkins got the job but then fell out over differences with Marvel on the sequel.
This will put the film back on track to meet its November 15, 2013 release date. The sequel brings back Chris Hemsworth as the hammer-wielding superhero, from a script by Thor co-writer Don Payne. The Kenneth Branagh-directed original grossed $448 million worldwide and launched the star of Hemsworth, who reprised Thor in The Avengers and then played the latter title role opposite Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron in Snow White and the Huntsman for Universal. Taylor is repped by UTA.
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‘Thor 2′ Director Will Be ‘Game Of Thrones’ Helmer Alan Taylor
No Xmas Cheer: ‘We Bought A Zoo’ Opens Weak Friday; ‘Mission: Impossible’ Still #1
Box Office Brawl: Warner Bros Demands Recount From Rivals Paramount & Sony
FRIDAY PM, 2ND UPDATE: My sources are giving me these estimated numbers for the North American box office for today and the Christmas weekend. The latest news is that Fox is suffering another disappointing debut: 
We Bought A Zoo opened very weak despite heavy TV advertising and two rounds of national sneaks to build word of mouth. You’d think all those animals would have put people in seats. Sure looks as if the Grinch stole Hollywood’s moviegoers overall this weekend. But remember, Christmas Eve always is one of the softest days for filmgoing in the U.S. and Canada, and many international theaters particularly in Europe close early Christmas Eve and on Christmas. Plus, Monday is a U.S. national holiday. “We are basing the ups and downs on 2005 where Xmas fell on a Sunday. So it is still kind of a crap shoot but these are where we think things will shake out,” one exec told me about his studio’s projections. Because of the mid-week openings and expansions, there has been little clarity on whether the entire holiday will bring out moviegoers but Hollywood is wincing at the very … Read More
Baz Luhrmann Injured On ‘The Great Gatsby’
This week Warner Bros released the first official stills for Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. Now Australian news reports say an on-set injury to the filmmaker forced an early end to this year’s shooting of the pic due in theaters next Christmas. The director cracked his head on a camera crane, as detailed by co-producer Anton Monsted to the Sydney Morning Herald: ”We were on quite a cramped set and he was ducking under the crane. He struck his head on the weights on the end of the camera crane. He split open his head and we had to get the doctor.” Producers decided to stop filming and allow the cast and crew to get home for Christmas a day earlier than planned. Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire, et al will return for additional shots in the new year. The hot $125M budgeted pic has been shooting at Fox Studios and locations around Sydney for the past 83 days.
Analyst Richard Greenfield On 2012 Showbiz
Richard Greenfield, a media analyst for BTIG LLC, talks about the outlook for the entertainment industries. He speaks with Tom Keene on Bloomberg Television’s “Surveillance Midday”:
Fox Sports Wins Round Against The Dodgers
Fox Sports has won a temporary stay that bars the Los Angeles Dodgers from shopping broadcasting rights to new bidders until a judge considers the network’s appeal of the federal bankruptcy court ruling in favor of the team. Federal Judge Leonard P. Stark ruled today in Delaware that Fox Sports has a ‘
AMC Renews ‘Hell On Wheels’ For Season 2
EXCLUSIVE: I’ve learned that AMC has renewed its newest series, period Western Hell On Wheels, for a second season. That means that 5 out of the network’s 6 original scripted series to date have now gone beyond their maiden season. Hell On Wheels, developed by Endemol USA and produced by Entertainment One and Calgary-based Nomadic Pictures, got off to a strong start in November. It debuted with 4.4 million viewers, ranking as AMC’
Academy Report Paints A Pretty Picture
As glossy as the image the industry it represents prefers to project, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is the picture of financial health, according to its recently released annual report. The Oscars remain the Academy’s biggest single source of income with $85.5 million for fiscal year 2011 versus $82.7 million for 2010, roughly a 3.4% increase. Expenses related to the Academy Awards amounted to $35.6 million for 2011 leaving Oscars net revenue of about $49.9 million. Oscars-related expenses including production of 
the show for 2010 were about $33.3 million which left $49.4 million net revenue for Academy Awards-related activities. Significantly, the organization’s expenses for 2011 also include $2.3 million set aside for museum development for the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures. The Academy and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art have agreed to develop plans to establish the facility in the former May Company building at the corner of Fairfax and Wilshire. Expenses also include theater operations, fellowships, the Fairbanks Center which includes the Margaret Herrick Library and the Pickford Center.
Revenues from all other sources including investments, membership dues, donations and the like were $26.5 million for 2011, an increase of about 77% over the $15 million in non-Oscars revenue for 2010. Investments represent the second-largest chunk of the Academy’s revenues, with 2011 net … Read More
Fox’s ‘The X Factor’ Ends Bumpy First Season On High(ish) Note
Finally, a big ratings bump for The X Factor. Fox series’ first season finale last night (3.8/11 in adults 18-49, 12.6 million total viewers) was up 31% from last week’s result show in 18-49 but did not hit a series high. It was a solid finish for the heavily promoted singing competition from Simon Cowell whose protege, Melanie Amaro, won the $5 million prize. But The X Factor never came close to the ratings heights of the show that made Cowell a star in the U.S., American Idol. The first season finale of the long-running Fox reality series, which aired in the summer of 2002 with very little promotion, drew a 10.7 rating among adults 18-49 and 22.8 million viewers. However, The X Factor season ender edged the first season finale of NBC’s breakout The Voice, which also aired over the summer and averaged a 3.7 demo rating and 11 million viewers in June. Comparisons to both finales are relatively apples-to-apples because, despite airing in season, The X Factor ran during a pre-holiday week with depressed viewership levels.
It was a rocky first 
season of The X Factor, which didn’t lack the controversies Cowell is so well known about in the U.K. From the abrupt sacking of judge Cheryl Cole a week into filming and her … Read More
‘The Dark Knight Rises’ Trailer: 12.5 Million iTunes Downloads In 24 Hours
BURBANK, CA, December 23, 2011 ‘
Marc Graboff To Run ‘American Idol’ Parent Company CKX
Former top NBC executive Marc Graboff, who left the network last month, is finalizing a deal to run CKX, the parent company of Fox’s juggernaut American Idol. I’ve learned that Graboff will serve as president of CKX, with his contract expected to be completed in the first week of January. The company will not have a CEO, at least for the time being, with current CEO Michael Ferrel expected to exit at the end of the year. The news of Graboff’s hire at CKX was first reported by the New York Post.
Through his acquisition of 19 Entertainment, CKX owns Fox’s Amerian Idol and So You Think You Can Dance. The company also has a controlling interest in Elvis Presley Enterprises, which owns the commercial use of the name, image and likeness of Elvis Presley, the operation of the Graceland museum and related attractions, as well as revenue stemming from any Elvis Presley TV specials, films and some of his music. I’ve learned that private-equity firm Apollo Management, which bought CKX for $510 million in June, plans to grow the company, with Graboff expected to spearhead the process, both through acquisitions of other production companies and organically, through development of original content for TV and digital.
Graboff, who left NBC for the CKX gig, had a major presence at the network for the past 11 … Read More
Daniel Battsek & David Beal Out At National Geographic Films & Entertainment; Beverly Hills Office Shuttered; Is It Finished?
EXCLUSIVE: I’m told the decisions were made after Thanksgiving and 
HR asked staff not to reveal the news. Daniel Battsek will depart as President of National Geographic Films at the end of January and is working out his exit package. (Battsek was exited as Miramax president in 2010 just before its sale and joined NGF a year ago.) Battsek reported to David Beal who also will leave as President of National Geographic Entertainment at the end of December. The Beverly Hills office of National Geographic Films shuttered as of December 20th after HR had been laying off staffers for several months. Remaining activities will be housed out of the National Geographic Global Media group’s headquarters. But the exact future of National Geographic Films and Entertainment is unclear.
For instance, the future of NGF’s $100+ million film fund with ImageNation Abu Dhabi remains up in the air: I understand it was secured at a time when film financing was hard to come by and specified that it had to be spent within the specified 5-year time period on 10 to 15 features. Battsek was responsible for the development, production, acquisitions, and distribution of all of NGE’
Phone Hacking Roundup: First Police Officer Arrested, Former Employee Legal Fees, And ‘The Cult Of Piers’ At UK’s Daily Mirror
London police arrested a female officer on suspicion of corruption in connection with a multipronged investigation into activity connected to phone hacking at the shuttered News of the World. Additionally, former News of the World editor Andy Coulson lost a bid to force publisher News Group to pay for his legal defense related to phone hacking charges. But in a separate ruling the parent company was ordered to resume paying legal fees for the private investigator which the paper used in the case, Glenn Mulcaire, as he faces scores of civil claims.
And finally, former business journalist and newspaper colleague James Hipwell said Piers Morgan must have knownthat phone hacking was rife at the Daily Mirror when Morgan was editor. “Nothing happened at the newspaper without him knowing,” Hipwell testified, a day after Morgan issued a denial at a televised hearing. Hipwell said phone hacking was a “standard journalistic tool for gathering information” and that Morgan was heavily involved in all his reporters’
Reports: Yahoo Reconsiders Proposal To Sell Valuable Assets In China, Japan
Yahoo is reconsidering a proposal to dramatically reduce its 40% stake in the Chinese Internet company Alibaba Holdings and to sell its 35% stake in Yahoo Japan, according to multiple reports that value the overall transaction at between $17 billion and $18 billion. Yahoo’s market capitalization before news broke of the possible deal was about $18.5 billion. The deal is valued at close to $14 a Yahoo share, sources said. The way it might work is that Alibaba and Softbank, Yahoo Japan’
Hammond: ‘Bridesmaids’ A Serious Oscar Contender? Universal Chiefs Say Yes
If anyone were to have told you back on May 13 when Universal’s raunchy female comedy, Bridesmaids opened that we would seriously be discussing its Best Picture Oscar nomination prospects a week before Christmas, the status of their mental health would been called into question. But even though it remains a
long shot Oscar pundits are online actively debating its Best Pic potential. Universal is ratcheting up its campaign with an eye on the prize it never dared dream about, and kudos for the Judd Apatow produced film directed by Paul Feig keep piling up as this awards season gets curiouser and curiouser.
For your consideration:
Bridemaids was recently named one of the year’s top 10 films by the American Film Institute, a prestigious and sought-after honor by awards merchants. It received two key SAG award nominations (a prime indicator of industry sentiment) for Outstanding Cast of a Motion Picture (SAG’s version of Best Picture) and Best Supporting Actress for Melissa McCarthy. She also won the Boston Film Critics Supporting Actress and was named in the same category by the Critics Choice Movie Awards (which also nominated the film for Best Comedy and Ensemble). The Golden Globes nominated Bridesmaids for Best Picture – Musical or Comedy and for lead actress Kristen Wiig. Both Entertainment Weekly critics named the film one of their top three of the year, it made the “Best Of” lists of both A.O.Scott and Manohla Dargis at … Read More
Sony Classics Acquires Woody Allen’s ‘Nero Fiddled’
NEW YORK (December 21, 2011) ‘
Aaron Sorkin’s New HBO Series Gets Title: ‘The Newsroom’
Aaron Sorkin’
TV TEASER: Julianne Moore As Sarah Palin In HBO Film ‘Game Change’
HBO has released the first teaser for its upcoming film Game Change, which follows John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign from his selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as his running mate to their ultimate defeat in the general election. The trailer showcases Julianne Moore as Palin, Ed Harris as McCain and Woody Harrelson as McCain adviser Steve Schmidt as they search for a vice presidential candidate that would help thwart Barack Obama’s momentum — and culminates with the big coming-out party for Palin at the Republican National Convention. Game Change, produced by Tom Hanks and Gary Goetzman’
Lionsgate, Saban And Celestial Pictures Forge Asian Pay TV Partnership
HONG KONG (December 22, 2011) ‘
‘Dog Whisperer’s Cesar Millan Shopping New Dog Series
EXCLUSIVE: Following a successful launch of Dog Whisperer star Cesar Millan’s new Spanish-language show El Lider de la Manada in Spain, an English-language version of the show is being shopped to the U.S. networks. El Lider de la Manada, translated as The Leader Of The Pack, premiered on Spain’
Report: Steve Jones Leaving ‘The X Factor’
This will not come as a shock to anyone, but the Daily Mirror is reporting that the contract of The X Factor host Steve Jones will not be renewed for next season. Veteran British presenter Jones was a complete unknown to American TV audience until Simon Cowell flew him over for a test at the last minute after Nicole Scherzinger, in her original role as host, nixed her chosen co-host, Corbin Bleu. Jones got the job after showing chemistry with Scherzinger. Of course, that soon proved irrelevant as Scherzinger was moved to the judges table following the dismissal of Cheryl Cole, and Jones became the show’s sole host. But the Welshman never seemed comfortable and has drawn mostly negative reviews for his performance. If Jones indeed goes, Scherzinger could get her old job as host of X Factor as she today declined to answer whether she would continue as judge on the show if asked back.