Trade Round-Up: Steven Seagal, Above The Lawsuit
· SAG/AFTRA resolve their dispute with video game producers without striking, negotiating a 36% percent increase in base payment. But the video game industry gets more like Hollywood studios every day, escaping without paying residuals. [Variety]
· Finally, proof that Steve Seagal is still alive: A production company attempts to sue the actor back to the Hard to Kill Age for delaying filming on two movies by arriving late, bringing a disruptive entourage, and rewriting the scripts on set. The lawsuit does not attempt to penalize Seagal for lacking acting skill, however. [THR]
· Barry Diller will sell his sake in Universal for $3.4 billion, handing NBC Universal full control, and prompting Viacom co-president Les Moonves to issue a press release assuring the industry that while Viacom had nothing to do with the transaction, Jeff Zucker "will continue to be my bitch for the foreseeable future." [Variety]
· Inexplicably large numbers of viewers tune in to watch celebrities dancing on ABC. [THR]
· Focus Features exec Glen Basner signs on for an extedned period of pain and humiliation at the hands of the Weinstein brothers. [Variety]