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Warner Agrees To Let Judge Decide On Watchmen Release
7 January 2009 1:38 AM, PST
Rather than ask for a jury trial that would likely have postponed the release of Watchmen, Warner Bros. has agreed to let a federal judge who has shown the studio little sympathy decide whether 20th Century Fox could prevent it from distributing the movie on March 6 as scheduled. Last month U.S. District Judge Gary Feess agreed that Warner Bros. had not properly obtained the movie rights to Watchmen and advised the two studios to settle the matter. They were unable to do so, however, and the case now appears to be heading toward the appellate courts.
Inaugural Show On HBO -- Free
7 January 2009 1:38 AM, PST
HBO has purchased the rights to televise the January 18 Presidential Inaugural Opening Ceremony -- a star-studded entertainment event at the Lincoln Memorial -- and will make it available for free not only to HBO subscribers but also to everyone with a cable or satellite connection. While the star-studded show is not being beamed over free over-the-air TV, plans are reportedly in the works to stream the affair on the HBO website. In a statement, inaugural committee executive director Emmett S. Beliveau said that HBO's track record "will help ensure an event that reflects President-elect Obama's commitment to holding an inauguration that is open, accessible and reflects America's spirit of unity,"
Dark Knight DVD Sales Set Holiday Record
7 January 2009 1:38 AM, PST
In an otherwise dismal holiday shopping period, sales of The Dark Knight DVD proved to be an exception, with Best Buy, Virgin Megastores and other retailers reporting record sales of the disc, according to Video Business. Best Buy said that sales of the Batman movie were the best in its history. "It was the most units we ever sold in a week," Best Buy spokesman Brian Lucas told Video Business. "It's a case where our core customer demographic was really drawn to the title." Virgin Megastores reported that Blu-ray sales of the movie at its stores were the best in the high-definition format's history. It also noted that sales of the multi-disc special-edition version nearly equaled those of the single-disc.
L.A. D.A. Opposes Dismissal Of Polanski Case
7 January 2009 1:38 AM, PST
Los Angeles prosecutors have filed court documents indicating that they will oppose efforts to dismiss the statutory rape case against director Roman Polanski, who has been living as a fugitive in France for more than 30 years. They also argued that the request to dismiss the case can't be heard without Polanski's appearance in court. His lawyers argue otherwise and point out that if he returns to Los Angeles he could be arrested. A hearing on the matter has been set for Jan. 21. On Monday, Polanski's attorney asked that the case be heard in another county, claiming bias on the part of Los Angeles judges and judicial misconduct on the part of the judge who presided in the original case.
SAG Letting Contracts Lapse, Says Lawyer
7 January 2009 1:38 AM, PST
Even as the Screen Actors Guild continues its battle with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (and fights a civil war among its own membership to boot), it has allowed other significant contracts to expire, entertainment attorney Jonathan Handel has observed on The Huffington Post blog. "Where do SAG contracts go when they expire? Who knows, but wherever it is, it's getting more crowded by the day," he writes. Among those already expired are the union's agreement with talent agents and its basic cable agreement. About to expire are the TV animation agreement and the basic cable animation agreement, which run out on January 15 and the contract for commercials, which winds up on March 31.
Football Goes To The Movies
7 January 2009 1:38 AM, PST
The first full-scale 3-D presentation of a football game on movie screens throughout the country is scheduled to take place on Thursday when some 80 theaters nationwide carry the Bcs National Championship Game between Florida and Oklahoma. The feed will be provided by Fox Sports, which will use Burbank, CA-based 3eality Digital to shoot the game and Cinedigm Digital Cinema of Morristown, NJ to transmit it to the theaters. Fox will provide the play-by-play announcers and commentators. Reporting on the test, today's Wall Street Journal observed, "Some industry observers wonder if fans will be willing to sit still in a theater and snack on popcorn while watching the game. Technical glitches have occurred in previous tests, such as an interruption in the satellite feed. In short, it's unclear if the game will be merely a novelty, or a whole new way to experience game day." The newspaper said that pre-orders for tickets, which are selling for $18-22 have been strong.
Oprah's Weight Confession = Ratings
7 January 2009 1:38 AM, PST
There's one positive thing that can be said about Oprah Winfrey's 48-pound weight gain: it's good for ratings. Monday's Oprah show in which she talked about packing on the pounds and what she plans to do about it averaged a 5.7 rating and a 13 share, her third-best numbers of the season. according to CBS Television Distribution. (Although the talk show airs mostly on ABC television stations, it is distributed by CBS's syndication unit, which acquired the original distributor, King World.) Winfrey's latest weight battle is also featured in her magazine 0, which reportedly has seen a 10 percent slide in circulation during the past year.
Technical Glitches Plague Cooper's Show From Israeli Border
7 January 2009 1:38 AM, PST
The technical production manager of Anderson Cooper's 360 on CNN has disclosed that the show was hit by a plague of technical problems on Monday as Cooper attempted to report from the Israeli border about the conflict in Gaza. "There wasn't much that went according to plan," Bruce Turnbull wrote on the show's blog, as he described microphones, earphones, and telephones going dead just before the broadcast and during the early minutes of the broadcast. "Did you hear voices in the background or see people scrambling around in the shadows?" he asked. "That was us trying to fix the problems."
Ratings Delayed
7 January 2009 1:38 AM, PST
For the second day in a row, Nielsen announced Tuesday that processing errors had caused it to delay release of its overnight ratings for Monday. Final ratings figures for Saturday and Sunday were also delayed, causing Nielsen to issue a statement saying that its weekly ratings would be released "sometime" on Wednesday, instead of Tuesday. (As of midday today they had still not been posted.) While Nielsen has experienced processing errors in the past, the length of the the recent delays were regarded as unusual. Tuesday's figures put CBS ahead in every half hour of primetime, scoring strongest with its new hit The Mentalist, which captured 19.56 million viewers in the 9:00 p.m. hour. (Mediaweek columnist Marc Berman observed that the show has become the biggest new hit series since ABC's Desperate Housewives and Lost.) Earlier, the veteran drama NCIS led the 8:00 p.m. hour with 19.06 million viewers.
TV Reporter To Become Surgeon General?
7 January 2009 1:38 AM, PST
President-elect Obama has asked CNN medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta to become the next U.S. surgeon general, the Washington Post reported on its website Tuesday, citing two sources with knowledge of the situation. According to the newspaper, Gupta, who is also a neurosurgeon, a professor at Emory University in Atlanta, and a frequent contributor to the CBS Evening News, has reportedly told the Obama transition team that he wants the job. In an interview with the Associated Press, CBS News President Sean McManus described Gupta as "an amazing communicator, explaining that he "has a way of breaking down the most complicated medical and health issues into language that everyone understands."
Despite Grim Economy, Berlin's European Film Market Expands
6 January 2009 1:31 AM, PST
Appearing to ignore the international economic downturn, the European Film Market, an adjunct to the Berlin Film Festival (or "Berlinale"), has sold out all its exhibit stands, even as it expanded its exhibit space, Efm Director Beki Probst said in a statement today (Tuesday). "All exhibit stands at both Efm locations are completely booked. Buyer and seller registrations from Europe are particularly stable at present," she said. Last month the festival indicated that it will be converting all video material into a uniform digital format for screenings at the festival and the film market.
Producer Ned Tanen Dead At 77
6 January 2009 1:31 AM, PST
Ned Tanen, who served as president of both Universal and Paramount studios, died Monday in Santa Monica at age 77, Daily Variety reported today (Tuesday). With Russ Regan, Tanen founded Uni Records in 1967, focusing initially on the psychedelic sounds of the mid-60s. After moving into film production, he brought to the screen such Universal films as Smokey and the Bandit, Coal Miner's Daughter and Melvin and Howard. As an independent producer (Chanel Productions), he turned out the brat-pack hits Sixteen Candles, The Breakfast Club and St. Elmo's Fire. Moving to Paramount in 1984, he greenlit such films as Planes, Trains and Automobiles and The Untouchables.
Box Office Starts New Year In Fine Shape
6 January 2009 1:31 AM, PST
The four films that topped the Christmas holiday weekend, repeated over the New Year's weekend, final figures released by Media by Numbers revealed on Monday. Each of the films showed a relatively small decline in ticket sales from the earlier weekend, with 20th Century Fox's Marley & Me landing in first place with $24.3 million, a drop of 33 percent from the previous week. Bedtime Stories from Disney placed second with $20.5 million, a drop of just 25 percent. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which few had predicted would wind up as a box-office hit, placed third with $18.7 million, a drop of 30 percent. And Valkyrie, which gossip columnists had frequently attacked prior to its opening, took in a solid $14.1 million, a drop of 33 percent. Overall, the top-12 films at the box office grossed $131.15 million, versus $121.2 million for the top 12 during the same weekend a year ago -- an increase of 8.21 percent.
The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Media by Numbers (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):1. Marley & Me, 20th Century Fox, $24,263,763, 2 Wks. ($106,664,046); 2. Bedtime Stories, Disney, $20,501,339, 2 Wks. ($85,539,168); 3. The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Paramount, $18,691,248, 2 Wks. ($79,297,086); 4. Valkyrie, MGM, $14,094,617, 2 Wks. ($60,743,921); 5. Yes Man, Warner Bros., $13,910,477, 3 Wks. ($79,507,388); 6. Seven Pounds, Sony, $10,068,518, 3 Wks. ($6,0147298); 7. The Tale of Despereaux, Universal, $6939295, 3 Wks. ($4,3661775); 8. The Day The Earth Stood Still, 20th Century Fox, $5,049,698, 4 Wks. ($74,424,256); 9. Doubt, Miramax, $5,000,893, 4 Wks. ($18,705,481); 10. Slumdog Millionaire, Fox Searchlight, $4,690,769, 8 Wks. ($28,676,598).
Dark Knight Is Now A Dark Horse
6 January 2009 1:31 AM, PST
The Dark Knight, the most successful movie at the box office in 2008, may have been passed over by virtually all the critics groups for best film, but it did receive recognition from a group that really counts -- the Producers Guild of America. The PGA announced that Knight was one of five films nominated for its top award, the Darryl F. Zanuck Producer of the Year Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures, due to be presented on Jan. 24. The others are The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Milk, and Slumdog Millionaire. The Guild's nominees often mirror those chosen by Oscar voters, and the winner usually takes the best-film Oscar.
One TV Guide Sale Off, Another On
6 January 2009 1:31 AM, PST
Just three weeks after Macrovision announced that it had sold the TV Guide Network channel and TV Guide Online to investor Allen Shapiro at the fire-sale price of $255 million, Macrovision said on Monday that it had terminated the deal and instead would sell the two properties to Lionsgate for the same price. However, in an interview with Daily Variety, Shapiro indicated that he plans to challenge the Lionsgate deal. "It's unclear whether the last chapter on this deal has been written yet," he told the trade publication.
Rather Hosts Documentary On Afghanistan
6 January 2009 1:31 AM, PST
His audience, his budget and his salary may only be a fraction of what they once were, but Dan Rather is doing something that no major network news personality has yet done -- devoting an entire one-hour program to the deteriorating situation in Afghanistan and the resurgence of the Taliban. During the hour, which launches the new season of Dan Rather Reports on HDNet, General David McKiernan, the U.S. Commander in Afghanistan, tells Rather about his appeal for more troops to fight the Taliban, while a "grunt" in the field remarks that "the Taliban is a way of life here, and it's hard to fight that."
TV Set Will Have Netflix Access
6 January 2009 1:31 AM, PST
The TV and the PC took another step toward convergence Monday with the announcement by Korea's LG Electronics that it would begin manufacturing HDTV sets capable of streaming Netflix movies and TV shows from the Internet without an external settop box. The LG "Broadband HDTV" sets are being unveiled this week during the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas and will be available to the public in the spring, the company said. LG already manufactures a Blu-ray player that is also able to stream video from Netflix. ""Embedding the Netflix streaming software in the television is a natural progression of our partnership with Netflix and our innovative product line," LG Electronics USA President Teddy Hwang said in a statement. The company indicated that the sets will sell for about $200-300 more than similar models without the broadband feature.
No More $40 Converter Coupons
6 January 2009 1:31 AM, PST
A surge in the number of people requesting $40 coupons for analog-to-digital converter boxes has resulted in the government halting distribution of the coupons much earlier than expected. The Department of Commerce has now begun informing those requesting the coupons that it has committed its entire $1.34-billion budget. However, it is putting the names of additional applicants on a waiting list. Some will receive the coupons if others don't redeem the ones they received within 90 days. Last month, the government warned that it might run out of money for the program by the end of January. The warning touched off what Commerce Department official Meredith Attwell Baker called a "massive spike" in requests for coupons.
Netflix Subscribers Get Early Look At New Series
6 January 2009 1:31 AM, PST
Netflix subscribers who access the video-rental company's broadband service, will be able to view the series premiere of Showtime's new United States of Tara beginning Thursday, a fully ten days before its debut on Showtime, Netflix said Monday. It also noted that two other Showtime season premieres, The L Word and Secret Diary of a Call Girl, will be available for streaming online when they, too, debut on Jan. 18. "The excitement and value that these high-profile shows bring to the growing library of choices available to watch instantly at Netflix is appreciated by our members, who are always looking for new and interesting shows to enjoy," Netflix exec Robert Kyncl said in a statement.
Football Overtime Scores For Fox
6 January 2009 1:31 AM, PST
Some 25 million viewers tuned in to Fox's coverage of the NFL Wildcard Game between the Philadelphia Eagles and the Minnesota Vikings that spilled over into primetime Sunday night, giving the network an easy victory for the night -- even though the rest of its Sunday shows were handily beaten by the competition. Amazingly CBS's 60 Minutes still managed to attract 12.3 million viewers against the game (and post-game). Without Sunday Night Football on its schedule, NBC nevertheless drew solid ratings with the two-hour debut of Superstars of Dance, which averaged 10.4 million viewers. And ABC's Desperate Housewives, now without competition from football, wound up with an average 14.3 million viewers, making it the second-highest-rated show of the night.
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