Superpublicist Leslee Dart was fired by publicity juggernaut PMK Wednesday night, sent packing after coming up on the short end of a power struggle with Head Flack in Charge Pat Kingsley. From Variety's account:
The publicist denial is a delicate artform; a well-articulated naysaying by a practiced image craftsman can have the impact of a two-page spread in People (complete with candid photos of snuggling with a loved one on a couch and rolling in the grass with a favored pet). Compare Lindsay Lohan's flack's subtle and effective denial of a reported diva shit-fit at a recent Jane cover shoot with that of the magazine editor's attempt:
OR: Hey, Mike, the game's called "Got Your Nose."
In Wednesday's testimony at the Hollywood Trial of the Century, Disney CEO Michael Eisner spun a fascinating account of failed president's Michael Ovitz's last days with the company. Even though Eisner claimed that his No. 2 "would not accept being fired" and needed to be told several times that Disney no longer required his services, Eisner still managed to paint himself as Ovitz's victim.
A reader reports some bedlam at last night's Miramax screening of The Aviator, where a twenty-minute melee broke out and a barely-employed WGA member was stabbed for punching Dr. Dre and dissing The G-Unit. Oh, wait, that was the Vibe awards! We get confused sometimes. Still, a decimated Miramax again proves its recent gift for courting trouble by alienating many of the voters they hope to court with their patented end-of-year awards publicity binge. Naturally, we blame Harvey Weinstein.
Yesterday, in his seven-hour testimony in the Hollywood Trial of the Century, Disney CEO Michael Eisner continued his account of how an "arrogant" and "abrasive" Michael Ovitz quickly wore out his welcome in the company. Eisner described some bizarre emotional outbursts that compromised Ovitz's ability to be an effective leader, but attempted to gloss over a weak moment of his own.
· Disney plans Toy Story 3 without Pixar. That's right, Steve Jobs, Eisner doesn't need you and your hit-making studio, so feel free to sign up with a rival and make huge piles of cash. Just like that Katzenberg fellow.
[THR]
· Rodney and Complete Savages get "back 9" episode orders. Cursory research indicates that these are sitcoms on ABC, and that under no circumstances would we watch either of them. [THR]
· Cinematic Dream Team warning, please shield your eyes before reading on: Spike Lee and Keanu Reeves get together for disillusioned cop drama The Night Watchman. [Variety, sub. req'd.]
· With negotiations with producers looming, SAG distracts itself with a bunch of internal legal stuff with lawyers and whatnot. Humph. Actors! What are ya gonna do with 'em? [Variety]
· Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason finishes first at the overseas box office, proving that the world's appetite for skinny Americans pretending to be fat Brits cannot possibly be sated. [THR]
The recently moribund Hollywood Trial of the Century received a heaping plate of sexing up when Disney CEO Michael Eisner finally took the stand Monday to discuss his hiring and firing of erstwhile mega-agent Michael Ovitz as the company's president. While Ovitz tried to evoke a sepia-toned image of the two "life partners'" running Disney while placidly floating in a rowboat, executive limbs intertwined, breaking their clasp only when Ovitz would sit up to readjust the parasol protecting his CEO from the midday sun, Eisner did his best to portray their union as strictly take-the-cab-fare-and-try-not-to-wake-me-on-the-way-out: "I was amused by him," Eisner said. "He was fun to go to dinner with."
· Tom Hanks is in negotiations to star in the adaptation of The DaVinci Code, with director Ron Howard attempting to de-intellectualize the bestselling source material (all those words!) into an Oscar contender. [THR]
· Oscar-baiting biopics Kinsey and Finding Neverland get off to a strong start in limited release. [Variety, sub. req'd.]
· NBC Universal Chairman and CEO Bob Wright sounds like a baseball owner, urging patience while Jeff Zucker tries to rebuild their schedule from promising players in development. Also, Wright says the light-hitting rookie Joey "is doing just fine." We suspect he'd like to trade Matt LeBlanc for Teri Hatcher and a situational left-hander. [THR]
· Denzel Washington, floating down on a $20 million parachute from the aborted American Gangster project, can afford to play Brutus in Julius Caesar on Broadway for a mere $1200/week. [Variety, sub. req'd.]
· Writer-producer Victor Fresco will ditch Paramount TV in June for a huge overall deal at 20th Century Fox TV. Fresco's bolting to Fox because they're "constantly willing to take chances." Sure, that's one way to put it. Another way is, "Hey, Fox put My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss on the air. They'll let me do anything!" [THR]
· NBC gains the upper hand in the network fight to exploit 9/11 in a miniseries, gets close to signing Brian Grazer and Ron Howard to executive produce the project. Look for the same kind of sophisticated treatment they brought to A Beautiful Mind, with the hijackers debating their evil mission with imaginary friends. [THR]
· Former ABC president Susan Lyne will take over Martha Stewart Omnimedia. She's charged with the task of trying to smuggle cameras and kitchen utensils in a variety of delicious cakes into jail to keep their brand viable. [THR]
· Schlockhouse Revolution Studios trips over a Philip K. Dick anthology on the way to the bathroom, then signs up Nicholas Cage to star in Next, an adaptation of the Dick story The Golden Man. [Variety, sub. req'd.]
· Craig Kilborn's big post-Late Late Show splash is in...The Shaggy Dog remake? Kilborn will play Tim Allen's (the dog/man) incredibly, inevitably smarmy neighbor. [THR]
· Apparently, people won't just watch just any shitty reality show, as My Big Fat Obnoxious Boss, The Rebel Billionaire, and The $25 Million Hoax all flopped this week. [Variety]
We're nearly as tired of passing on Miramax layoff rumors as their employees are of actually being fired (are those sympathetic whip-wounds we're developing on our back?), but we're hearing that the pre-Thanksgiving downsizing party might be coming sooner than expected...like tomorrow sooner. The whispers have about 50 NY-based jobs disappearing with a wave of Harvey Weinstein's meaty hand on Friday. So, Miramax staffers, if you find yourself on the business end of a pink-slip tomorrow, count to ten before filling your pockets with office supplies and making a break for the front door. Harvey is a big man, sure, but much quicker than he looks, so plan your escape route before bolting.
Since recently-appointed MPAA head/pirate-hunter Dan Glickman is still new on the job, he's going to have to endure months of inevitable "He's no Jack Valenti" profiles like the one in today's NYT, which begins with "He's about as bland as Jack Valenti is colorful. A navy blue blazer and a comb-over. A long face with puffy eyelids that have yet to feel the sharp edge of Beverly Hills' finest technicians." Eventually, the piece heats up a little when News Corp president Peter Chernin seemingly hints that although Glickman's clearly no dapper Jack, he might draw some interest from a certain faction of Hollywood power players when he's not occupied with suing movie downloaders:
· Kevin Spacey's is so firmly in the thrall of Bobby Darin after making Beyond the Sea that he's performing Darin's music at the Wiltern with an orchestra. Obviously, Spacey wanted to give THR another opportunity to run that picture of him getting friendly with a microphone. [THR]
· Brett Ratner signs on to direct and executive produce the Fox drama pilot Prison Break. He's wasting himself on television. We firmly believe that Ratner's hacky gifts need to be writ large on a silver-screen canvas to be truly appreciated. [THR]
After yesterday's memo informing their employees that their end-of-year vacations were going to be a lot less merry, you'd think Miramax would be done crushing the holiday spirit. Unfortunately, there are now rumors circulating within the Max that Harvey Weinstein wants to ruin Thanksgiving as well, with another possible round of layoffs rolling through before the turkeys are in the oven. Is there anyone left to fire, or are they going to need to fill empty cubes with temps before marching through the office and handing out pinkslips smeared in cranberry sauce? Please, someone go and white-out all of the holidays on Harvey's calendar before he figures out a way to fuck with Boxing Day.
LA Weekly's Nikki Finke reports that Michael Ovitz hasn't exactly been pinning NYT reporter Laura Holson's coverage of The Hollywood Trial of the Century to his fridge. Ovitz's displeasure and behind-the-scenes maneuvering might have led to today's Page Six item about Holson's um, disruptive behavior in the courtroom:
Defamer is committed to bringing its readers exciting employment opportunies with ample room for professional growth. A little headhunting birdie let it slip that Endeavor's putting out the word that star client Lindsay Lohan is looking for a personal assistant. If you'd like to cultivate an intimate knowledge of the Hollywood club scene, think your hair-holding/Fez-tending skills are up to par, and believe you can get Lohan to the set on time, you can reach Lohan's agent, Leanne Coronel, with the information here. Good luck, job hunters!
· Martin "Goldeneye" Campbell is in negotiations to direct the next Bond movie and—no pressure—save the franchise. But first MGM has to find a new Bond. We say truss up Connery and run him out there one more time. [THR]
· Meanwhile, Pierce Brosnan has moved on from dapper spy typecasting to dapper thief typecasting, preparing to do The Topkapi Affair, a sequel to The Thomas Crown Affair. [Variety, sub. req'd.]
Tuesday's testimony in The Hollywood Trial of the Century revealed that erstwhile superagent Michael Ovitz demanded a $50 million signing bonus to become Disney's president. (To illustrate, that figure is roughly 75 percent of CEO Michael Eisner's fund for negotiating with the families of Disneyland guests who found Donald Duck to be feloniously handsy in the buffet line at the Character Breakfast.) An agent posturing to get more money than he can rationally expect? Shocker.
Hey, remember this morning, when everyone was talking about what a cool party Miramax threw at the American Film Market? Well, the Miramax Left Behind (the "lucky" ones who escaped the layoffs) have had any fond party memories (whether firsthand or vicarious) erased by the latest in a barrage of morale-downsizing memoranda. This time, Miramax changed its holiday vacation time policy on the fly, eliminating the end-of-year paid holidays and forcing what's left of their workforce to take the time as vacation days—long after most have already made their plans. There are rumblings that this new policy came straight from Harvey Weinstein's Grinch cave, complete with Scroogian cackle. [Ed.note—Are there any other holiday bad guys left to squeeze in that sentence?] Employees are so happy about the news that they're all out following every dogwalker in Tribeca, "shopping" for Weinstein's holiday gift with plastic baggies. The memo follows after the jump.
