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NBC Universal Loses Court Appeal To Deny ‘Ghost Hunters’ Breach Of Contract Suit

The Wire — Tue, 08 Nov 2011 12:02:57 +0000

The U.S. Supreme Court denied an appeal by NBC Universal to review a lower court ruling that reinstated a complaint alleging that the network stole the idea for its SyFy series Ghost Hunters. Parapsychologist Larry Montz and publicist Daena Smoller had claimed in a 2006 suit that between 1996 and 2003 they had pitched the idea of paranormal investigators using technology to investigate claims of haunted properties to entertainment companies including NBC and its subsidiary then called the SciFi Channel. They lost in district court on the issue of copyright but the case was reinstated on appeal on grounds of implied breach of contract. NBC Universal, with the backing of the MPAA argued to the Supreme Court that federal copyright law trumped state contract law. The high court on Monday declined to review the appeals court ruling, which allows the suit by Montz against NBC Universal, Pilgrim Films & Television which produces Ghost Hunters, and other defendants to proceed.

Jason Bateman & Melissa McCarthy Team For Universal Comedy 'ID Theft'

The Wire — Tue, 16 Aug 2011 05:30:27 +0000

BREAKING: Jason Bateman is attached to star with Bridesmaids’ Melissa McCarthy in the Universal comedy ID Theft. Bateman is producing the comedy with Scott Stuber. Script’s by The Pursuit of Happyness scribe Steve Conrad with Craig Mazin rewriting. The premise was originally for a guy who gets his identity stolen by another guy, and it was written for Bateman and another actor. That changed after Bateman saw McCarthy’s scene stealing role in the summer hit Universal comedy Bridesmaids and he pushed for her to be the identity thief. This is meant to be McCarthy’s first film when Mike & Molly goes on hiatus, shooting in April 2012. Bateman has become an increasingly industrious producer, most recently setting up a movie deal for Under the Banner Of Heaven, the drama based on the Jon Krakauer non fiction book that got set up at Warner Bros, with Ron Howard directing and Dustin Lance Black writing. Bateman is producing the Brian Grazer, Shannon Costello and Stephanie Davis.

Universal Makes First-Look Deal With Jason Blum Of 'Paranormal Activity' And 'Insidious'

The Wire — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 04:45:26 +0000

EXCLUSIVE: Jason Blum will bring the studio into the low-budget but often high-gross world of genre films. Universal Pictures has made a 3-year first-look deal with Blum and his Blumhouse Productions which produced the Paranormal Activity franchise, and followed that up with Insidious, the James Wan-directed thriller that has already become one of the most profitable films of 2011. A sequel seems inevitable.
The original Paranormal Activity cost about $15,000 and grossed $193 million. The first sequel cost $3 million and grossed $177 million worldwide and the third film debuts Oct. 21. Insidious cost $1.5 million and grossed $81 million worldwide and is still rolling out. This guy is minting money. He’s producing the latest installment of the fright franchise Amityville Horror: The Lost Tapes for Dimension Films, produced the Barry Levinson-directed eco-horror film The Bay, The River for ABC and the Jay Chandresakar-directed comedy Baby Makers. He is producing the Oren Peli-directed Area 51 for Paramount Pictures, as well as The Lords of Salem, with Rob Zombie directing. Blum’s also an exec producer on the John Hillcoat-directed The Wettest County in the World. This amounts to an aggressive move into the low-budget area for Universal, which, if anything, is known for spending generously on its slates.
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'Fast Five' Will Transition Franchise From Street Racing To Future Full Of Heist Action

The Wire — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 06:47:49 +0000

EXCLUSIVE: No one’s been harder on Universal than me for all its recent years of misses and no hits (if you don’t count Illumination Entertainment’s Despicable Me and Hop). So I’m relieved that the studio has a big fat blockbuster overseas in Fast Five, which releases into North American theaters this Friday as the fifth installment of the very popular street racing franchise. But here’s what really gives me reason to think Universal might be back on the right track: what’s planned for Fast Six. No studio has ever dared to change the genre of a successful franchise, but I’ve learned that’s exactly what chairman Adam Fogelson and co-chairman Donna Langley are plotting. It’s a bold and provocative move. In summary, I like it.
It’s already known that Universal has started Chris Morgan – the screenwriter of Fast Five as well as The Fast And The Furious 3: Tokyo Drift, and Fast & Furious 4 — on the script for the sixth installment as part of his new production deal at the studio. But Morgan is also a great scripter of the crime-thriller genre, like Wanted. So what Fast Five sets up nicely is a Fast Six whose plot revolves around a major robbery. And Universal’s intent is to transform the street-racing franchise into a series of heist films.
It was Universal’s previous administration of chairman Marc Shmuger and co-chairman David Linde who put the original … Read More

Tory Metzger Nearing Deal To Head Production For David Linde's Lava Bear

The Wire — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 06:30:20 +0000

EXCLUSIVE: Tory Metzger is ready to jump back into the production game. Metzger, one of CAA’s top talent agents when she left the agency in 2008 to run production for Media Rights Capital, is in talks to steer creative and production for David Linde’s Lava Bear. That’s the global platform for film production, financing and distribution that the former Universal Pictures chief is getting off the ground with discussions for a first-look Universal deal and a relationship with Reliance ADA. Metzger left Media Rights Capital last summer. She and Linde have a long relationship working on high profile films both while she was at CAA and MRC. All sides declined comment.

U.S. Sen. Al Franken Asks Justice Dept To Investigate Comcast-NBCU "Gun-Jumping"

The Wire — Tue, 23 Nov 2010 08:23:49 +0000

Monday, November 22, 2010 — Today, Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.) wrote a letter to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) asking them to investigate Comcast’s compliance with federal antitrust laws in light of its recent announcement of its proposed leadership for NBC Universal. Since the proposed merger between Comcast and NBC Universal has yet to be approved, Sen. Franken asked the DOJ to evaluate whether Comcast’s recent actions constitute what’s known as “gun-jumping,” or illegal collaboration between pre-merger companies.
Comcast’s announcement comes despite an earlier assurance to federal regulators not to announce further personnel changes “until the deal closing process and timing is certain.”
Sen. Franken wrote in the letter, “The Department of Justice and Federal Communications Commission have yet to complete their review of the proposed Comcast and NBC Universal merger. And yet, by publicly announcing their intended managers of each component of NBC Universal, Comcast has effectively told employees at NBC Universal who their ‘

'Despicable Me' Crosses $500 Million Mark

The Wire — Sat, 06 Nov 2010 04:49:55 +0000

EXCLUSIVE: Despicable Me, the first film out of the gate for Universal Pictures and Chris Meledandri’s Illumination Entertainment, will cross the $500 million worldwide gross mark tomorrow. It steps into rarefied territory as the film continues to roll out around the world. The 3D animated film that starred Steve Carell recently cracked the Top 10 list of all time biggest domestic-grossing animated films. The pic, which cost $69 million to make, has grossed $248 million domestically, which puts it a distant second behind Toy Story 3, but makes it 2010′s second biggest animated film domestic grosser so far. Despicable Me also has become Universal’s sixth highest domestic-grossing film ever, and the studio’s biggest international grossing film of 2010. The film just opened in Japan but hasn’t played yet in several territories including China. It has done $247 million overseas, and is expected to finish as Universal’s fifth all-time biggest grossing film in the international marketplace. Just as important, the picture pulled Universal out of a prolonged slump.
“We couldn’t be more impressed with the movie or with the global Universal and Illumination team that has made it a certifiable blockbuster,” said Universal Pictures chairman Adam Fogelson and co-chairman Donna Langley in a joint statement. “This was a mammoth effort from every division of the company, and their work resulted in the film’s brilliant success. To know that the first project … Read More

Universal Signs Exclusive Deluxe Print Deal

The Wire — Wed, 20 Oct 2010 09:08:07 +0000

Deluxe, the world’s largest processor of film for the motion picture industry, is now the worldwide provider of 35mm release printing services for Universal which has abandoned Technicolor. (Could it be that Warner Bros is the only major Hollywood studio left using Technicolor?) I understand an announcement will be made Wednesday that Deluxe Entertainment Services Group has signed a multi-year, exclusive worldwide 35mm film print services agreement with Universal Studios that includes Focus Features. The deal follows last week’

Universal Lands Stephen King's 'The Dark Tower' And Plans Unprecedented Feature/Network TV Adaptation

The Wire — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 02:02:13 +0000

EXCLUSIVE: Universal Pictures and NBC Universal Television Entertainment have closed a deal to turn Stephen King’

'Little Fockers' Brings Back Dustin Hoffman

The Wire — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 00:21:08 +0000

UPDATES ‘Little Fockers’ Needs A Week Of Pickups
I’ve confirmed that those pickup shots which I first reported that Universal has scheduled for September on Little Fockers are now more than half a dozen full-blown scenes, including 4 with Dustin Hoffman. The notoriously difficult actor was written out of the Meet The Parents threequel altogether when Universal couldn’t reach a deal with him. But John Hamburg and Jay Roach helped convince Dustin to reprise his role which is “not dissimilar to what we were pitching him in the beginning,” an insider tells me. Hoffman won’t come cheap. “It’s costing what we were going to pay him in the first place,” my insider explains. Fortunately for the studio, the film was under budget, but even so it’s at least a $100M film. Hoffman will star in some pivotal scenes opposite Barbra Streisand, and then in a big scene at the end of the movie involving all the major characters. Other pickup scenes focus on Ben Stiller and the kids. Universal continues to spin that Little Fockers could have gone out “as is” since it scored an “85″ for the top 2 boxes with test audiences. ”But we want to make it better. It’s an investment in the future of the franchise.” So we’ll see whether the threequel still set for release in December kills Universal’s golden … Read More