business

Trade Round-Up: Superman Gets Company

mark · 01/07/05 01:31PM

· The comic book fanboy rumors are true: Kate Bosworth and Kevin Spacey will play Lois Lane and Lex
Luthor in Bryan Singer's new Superman flick. That's Bosworth-Lane and Spacey-Luthor, unless Singer's really trying to shake thing up. [THR]
· Chastened by Michael Eisner's reign of terror at Disney, the company decides to keep the jobs of chairman and CEO separate. What this means to laymen: The CEO gets first choice of which character costume he gets to wear at board meetings. [Variety, sub. req'd.]
· British thesp David Morrissey hops aboard Basic Instinct 2 as the psychiatrist who tries to figure out Sharon Stone's homicidal, beaver-flashing novelist. Wow, one sentence in and we've already stopped caring. [THR]
· Modest ratings gains have NBC desperately clinging to the idea that 2005 won't be as big a disaster as last year. Keep hope alive, Jeff Zucker! [THR]
· ExploitationWatch: CBS snatches up the rights to Amber Frey's Witness to develop as telepic. [Variety]

Tom Freston And Brad Grey, Best Friends Forever

mark · 01/07/05 12:55PM

As if the comparison between Viacom co-president/positivity coach Tom Freston's hiring of manager Brad Grey to run Paramount and Michael Eisner's fateful decision to hire BFF and erstwhile superagent Michael Ovitz to run Disney weren't excruciatingly obvious, the LAT helpfully provides this neon Bad Idea sign:

Michael Eisner, Disney Bonus Baby

mark · 01/07/05 11:42AM

Despite a year in which Michael Eisner barely staved off a revolt by bloodthirsty shareholders desperate to mount his head on a pike outside of the Magic Kingdom and in which he had to testify in court about his doomed relationship with former "life partner" Michael Ovitz, the embattled Disney CEO did pretty well for himself. The company awarded Eisner a $7.25 million "bonus," which seems a lot like a payoff for finally getting him to announce his (eventual) resignation. Or, perhaps, it's a bribe by his number two for an implicit endorsement:

Tom Freston Thinks Everything Is Super Great At The New Paramount!

mark · 01/06/05 05:47PM

In an e-mail to his media conglomerate serfs, Viacom co-president welcomes new Paramount chairman and CEO Brad Grey into the fold and ushers in a new era at the studio. Either someone (read: Les Moonves) stole Freston's thesaurus, or he took twice his regular dosage of Wellbutrin, because everything seems great to him. There's the "great news" that Grey is coming aboard, and Paramount is in "great shape" with "great momentum" from the "great recent hits" SpongeBob and Lemony Snicket. Had enough positivity? The great-alanche continues, with Freston heralding Grey as a magnet for "great people" and "great ideas" with a "great feel" for the marketplace.

Trade Round-Up: Brad Grey To Paramount, Yada Yada

mark · 01/06/05 01:16PM

· As we all know by now, Brad Grey is confirmed as head of Paramount, etc etc. [THR, Variety, sub. req'd.]
· John Travolta will play a homicide detective in the feature Lonely Hearts. We hope he's the kind of cop who breaks all the rules, we can't get enough of those! James Gandolfini will sully himself alongside the bloated, scenery-chewing Scientologist. [Variety]
· HBO, bored of their procession of single-camera comedy hits, gives a pick up to its first multi-camera sitcom, a family show written by and starring Louis C.K. Oh, the hubris that makes HBO think they can make the laugh track bearable... [THR]
· MTV picks up 3 more seasons of The Real World, ensuring that Los Angeles will have a nearly inexhaustible supply of bartenders and servers that patrons kind of recognize from the TV. [Variety]
· OutKast's Andre 3000 will star as Mark Wahlberg's brother in Paramount's dead-mother-avenging feature previously known as Four Brothers. If you had any questions as to why Paramount had to clean house, please re-read the first sentence. [THR]
· Once-proud, one-man lawyer drama factory David E. Kelley slowly descends the network ladder, exec producing the pilot Halley's Comet for the WB. [THR]
· Breaking: Directors Guild nominates Clint Eastwood, Marc Forster, Taylor Hackford, Alexander Payne, and Martin Scorsese for its awards. [Variety]

Paramount Gets Its Man

mark · 01/06/05 11:23AM

It looks like the "snags" that were holding up Brad Grey's coronation at Paramount have been unsnagged, as they announced this morning that the manager will take his meager film experience (hey, he's got "people skills"!) straight to the top of their studio. A spy said there were major stirrings on the Paramount lot this morning, so we can expect the symbolic, power transferring copulation (with the requisite photo op) between the new guy and outgoing studio queen Sherry Lansing any time now. Developing...

Trade Round-Up: Executive Shuffle

mark · 01/04/05 01:36PM

· Rick Sands, the Miramax COO hardened by years of Harvey Weinstein's cat o' nine tails, assumes the title of president and CEO of DreamWorks. He'll report to David Geffen, whom we expect will issue a totally different kind of daily beating than the ones Sands grew accustomed to at The Max. [Variety, sub. req'd.]
· You hardly needed this told to you: Shrek 2 was the highest selling home video title in 2004. DreamWorks Animation's Jeffrey Katzenberg can now flush entire stacks of hundred dollar bills down the toilet, whereas before he had to peel them off one by one. [THR]
· Just because there's nothing to do in the first week of the year but count the piles of money: Sony wins the year in North American box office thanks to Spider-man 2, while Warner Bros. takes the international box office crown [THR, Variety]
· Paramount execs were taken by surprise by the stories that Brad Grey has been anointed as the next studio head, feeling they weren't consulted. Hmm, maybe they weren't told because they're all about to get fired? [Variety]
· Jerry Bruckheimer gets two drama pilot pickups, including E-Ring for NBC, a supposed West Wing in the Pentagon. Maybe it's time he gets his own channel. Jerry's Steaming Pile of Derivative Shit TV has kind of a nice sound to it. [THR]

Utterly Unsurprising Headline Of The Day

mark · 01/04/05 12:38PM


Who could've seen that coming? In response to the failure of Who's Your Daddy?, Fox Entertainment head Gail Berman, worried about her job but convinced the show is a winner, will pledge patience and sign up another installment that even further raises the emotional stakes. In Who's Your Mommy?, five barren women are turned loose in a hospital's nursery to grab an infant, then given a two-day head start before being hunted down by the babies' heavily-armed birth mothers.

Paramount Still Trying To Consummate Love With Brad Grey

mark · 01/04/05 11:42AM

As much as we'd like to think that supermanager Brad Grey's union with Paramount is as easy to consummate as a quickie in a bathroom stall at Concorde, the two sides still have to figure out how to buy off his management company, Brillstein-Grey, and pull his sticky fingers out of Brad Pitt, Jennifer Aniston, and Warner Bros' pies. B-G founder Bernie Brillstein offers some historical perspective:

Maybe Jeff Zucker Hasn't Lost His Touch After All

mark · 01/03/05 05:23PM


Knowing that he's got no Desperate Housewives or Lost in the programming pipeline, NBC Universal golden silver boy Jeff Zucker reaches into the nightly news for a sure-fire ratings winner. He'd be a fool not to try and turn the event into a Night of the Erstwhile Must-See TV Stars to remind everyone about the time that NBC ruled the world. We can see it now: George Clooney back in his ER scrubs, conspicuously manning the phone bank as the cast of Friends pleads for the public to help tsunami victims..and maybe, if they're really feeling generous, tune in to Joey.

Trade Round-Up: Brad Grey Sacrifices Money For Power

mark · 01/03/05 01:28PM

·"No power player has ever given up as much autonomy and wealth to become the No. 3 man in an entertainment company." So sayeth Peter Bart about Brad Grey's expected move to Paramount, but he's obviously overlooking the valuable opportunity to be Les Moonves' demonic valet (Tom Freston will be long slain) at Viacom when the Rapture comes. [Variety, sub. req'd.]
· Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda will open the Santa Barbara Film Festival. This isn't as scary as it sounds—Allen's only creatively dead, not actually dead. [THR]
· Samaire Armstrong, on-screen assistant to Jeremy Piven's Ari Gold on Entourage (and late of The O.C.), is cast as Lindsay Lohan's BFF in her untitled "Lucky" project. Next up for Armstrong: peer-pressure surgery, a drinking problem, and a punitive fling with Fez. [THR]
· Carsey-Werner and Fox will attempt to squeeze every last drop of blood from the dessicated corpse of That 70's Show, formulating plans to keep the sitcom going after Topher Grace bails at the end of this season and Ashton Kutcher makes only token appearances. [Variety]
· Every time a publicist is promoted, an angel gets a scorching case of herpes: Rebecca Marks moved up to executive VP of NBC Universal west coast publicity division. The bad news is she still reports directly to fading NBC-U golden boy Jeff Zucker. [Variety]

Brad Grey To Turn Around Paramount Overnight...Or Die Trying

mark · 01/03/05 12:31PM

While we were all ass-deep in champagne toasts and ill-advised hook-ups while the ball dropped, it seems that Paramount was in serious negotiations to hand over their flop-riddled dream factory to über-manager Brad Grey.

Gossip Roundup: Graham King Shakes His Bankroll

Choire · 12/31/04 12:12PM

· Aviator investor and foreign rights salesman Graham King is the man with the big money—no, the other one, the guy that isn't afraid of Harvey Weinstein. [LAT]
· Paris Hilton takes a faceplant on the social slopes of Gstaad. [Page Six]
· Fuckin' Debbie Reynolds, man. She's the meanest chick in town, as everyone knows—almost as vindictive as Shirley Maclaine and that cruel, cruel Julia Roberts. Now she's backed out of a mall display of Hollywood memorabilia and she's getting sued, the little witch. [AP]
· Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer vows vengeance; will lil' Anna ever get her rightful $88 million? [CNN]

Trade Round-Up: Rupert Murdoch Kills Kittens

Choire · 12/30/04 01:37PM

Just kidding. But seriously, if you're gonna do some devious business crap or deviant personal insanity, do it today. No one's paying attention. Here's all we could scavenge from the desiccated trades today:

Christmas At Viacom, The Little Cartel That Could

Choire · 12/29/04 04:53PM

There's something about the end-of-year corporate memo that's always just a litttttle bit creepy—especially if you're Viacom. Basically, let us summarize this year's mashnote from Viacom honcho Sumner Redstone, which we assume was largely ghost-written by Viacom chief media expansionist and serial semi-monogamist Les Moonves as he cackled and covered himself in the blood of lesser, warmer-blooded television executives:

'Phantom' Sucks; Stupid Audiences Shocked, Betrayed

Choire · 12/29/04 11:31AM

In the January 3rd, 2005, issue of the New Yorker, Anthony Lane rips Andrew Lloyd Webber and Joel Schumacher's Phantom of the Opera into tiny, bloody chunks, comparing the flick to a "special-edition remix of a Duran Duran video." It's definitely the feel-good review of 2005 already.

Dear Miramax: Don't Fire All The Copy Editors

Choire · 12/28/04 11:34AM


We know the workload is high and the morale is low at Miramax, but really, putting The Avitor in the title bar of The Aviator's official site is just a sad cry for help.

Jim Carrey: The Face You Save May Be Your Own

Choire · 12/28/04 11:12AM

Expectedly, Monday morning's Christmas weekend box office projections were a little off—hey, we were drunk, why shouldn't the folks who do screen math have been a wee bit tanked too? The good news soon to be trumpeted by publicist Marleah Leslie & Associates is a triumph of the emaciated over the plump: Jim Carrey pulls Lemony Snicket (barely) into second place behind Fockers, and Fat Albert plops down to third place.

Trade Round-Up: Busting Up Murdoch, Busting Down Disney

Choire · 12/27/04 04:20PM

· In the dark alleys of Europe, "obscure" execs challenge Rupert Murdoch's monopoly on Pay TV with their sinister new technologies and low prices. Here at Fox, from the fifth floor of building 100, an old Aussie weeps. "Fie! Fie on ye, progress!" [Variety, sub. req'd.]
· Disney execs face "incentive revisions." Happy holidays! [Variety, sub. req'd.]
· Baio returns to the small screen with NBC comedy produced by Jace Richdale. In it, Baio stars as a 40-something guy who moves in with a 20 year old and subsequently "turns his life upside down." So, like Charles in Charge, plus 20 years, minus Nicole Eggert. [THR]
· 2005 Television ad market looking "cloudy." In unrelated news, 2005 product placement market looking "egregious." [THR]
· The Incredibles paves way for new subgenre: superheroes vaguely reminiscent of comic books characters, but not so much as to require the exchanging of money. [THR]
· Rap "star" Kurupt and David Carradine to star in one of the more ridiculous movie ideas in recent memory, the urban Western Click. [THR]

Trade Round-Up: Lohan Makes Out With CAA In VIP Section

mark · 12/23/04 12:10PM

· Lindsay Lohan dumps Endeavor for CAA, who apparently provided her with a much more comprehensive strategy for the further marketing of her assets. Which is no mean feat, considering that Endeavor snagged her $3.5 million per breast from 20th Century Fox. [THR]
· HBO is on the verge of becoming the first network in history to top a billion dollars in profit. And all of this success without Good Morning Miami, Complete Savages, or Center of the Universe. [Variety, sub. req'd.]
· For all of those kids who missed out on the whole Matrix thing: An upcoming Constantine videogame will allow players to feel the virtual "Whoa" of becoming Keanu Reeves. [THR]
· Please forgive us, but we must: Uma, Ulla. Ulla,Uma. Etc etc. (Oh, we feel so very unclean.) Uma Thurman may take over for Nicole Kidman in the film version of The Producers. [Variety]
· ESPN is developing a made-for-TV movie about legendary boxer Jack Johnson. Folly! How will they ever top Tom Sizemore's epic turn in Hu$tle? [THR]