Daily Variety back issues from September 2008:
Summer cum laude: B.O. on par with hot '07.
Sep 02, 2008; ... The Labor Day box office may have been sluggish--with none of the new releases doing big business--but the summer ended on a high note in all but matching last year's record-setting B.O. haul. Through the Monday holiday, summer box office was estimated at roughly $4.12 billion ...
'Mamma's' second wind.(Mamma Mia!)(Table)
Sep 02, 2008; ... Mamma Mia!-- here you go again. Special Labor Day sing-alongs for Universal s bigscreen, musical adaptation "Mamma Mia!" scored bigtime with the film actually enjoying a 2% bump in ticket sales over the holiday weekend. That's impressive, considering the pic was in its seventh ...
O'seas flies with Batpic.
Sep 02, 2008; ... As the sun sets on the summer B.O. sesh, "The Dark Knight" and "Mamma Mia!" have stayed bright overseas and kept overall international B.O. healthy. With those two pies enjoying exceptional holdover biz, the final foreign summer box office figure will come in at about $5.17 ...
Think chief on Senator ticket.
Sep 02, 2008; ... Mark Urman is ankling troubled indie ThinkFilm to join Marco Weber's Senator Entertainment U.S. as president of Senator's newly formed distribution company. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Urman will begin work in the new post on Oct. 1. Urman cofounded ThinkFilm ...
Fest pops a 'Button'.
Sep 02, 2008; ... The Telluride Film Festival has always celebrated cinema's past as much as its present, and the old mostly looked better than the new at the mountain fest's 35th edition. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] In terms of new titles and industry excitement, the runaway smash was ...
Che makes hay along the Lido.(Venice International Film Festival)
Sep 02, 2008; ... Play it again, Che. While Steven Soderbergh's two-part epic "Che" was regarded by many in Cannes as overlong and unwieldy, hurting its prospects for a North American distribution deal, a leaner version of the pic could close a deal before the end of Venice and ahead of its ...
Mercenaries 2.(VARIETY.COM)
Sep 02, 2008 ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] EA's vidgame finds ...
P.I., legal eagle found guilty.
Sep 02, 2008; ... A federal jury convicted former Hollywood private eye Anthony Pellicano and entertainment attorney Terry Christensen on Friday on conspiracy and wiretapping charges in connection with their illegal wiretapping of Lisa Bonder, the exwife of Christensen's longtime client, billionaire Kirk ...
Obama's Nielsen field day: 38.4 million.
Sep 02, 2008; ... Yes, he can, apparently: Barack Obama's acceptance speech, delivered before a crowd of nearly 80,000 at Denver's Invesco Field on Thursday, delivered a blockbuster 38.4 million total viewers in the showcase 10 p.m. hour, according to Nielsen estimates. The Illinois senator's ...
SAG goes to the polls.(Screen Actors Guild)
Sep 02, 2008; ... With the stalemate between SAG and the congloms entering its third month, the Screen Actors Guild is pleading with its 120,000 members to back its strategy of holding out for a better deal. SAG crafted a 14-page newsletter that began hitting member mailboxes over the holiday ...
Power players brace for autumn angst.
Sep 02, 2008; ... THERE'S ALWAYS A BUZZ around every company on the first Tuesday after Labor Day. The delicious torpor of August is over. It's time to get back into angst mode, and this September, with the economy tanking and an election looming, angst is in the air. In the entertainment ...
Tribune stations give CW the cold shoulder.(Inside Moves)(Tribune Broadcasting)(Brief article)
Sep 02, 2008; ... As the CW preps for what could be its make-or-break season, Tribune Broadcasting has thrown a wrench into the net's branding efforts. Over the past few weeks, Tribune's station group has scrubbed the network's name off most of its 13 CW affils. Instead, the company, whose ...
Wet blanket for GOP: Gustav diverts confab's sked.
Sep 02, 2008; ... In the hasty, hurricane-driven makeover of their convention plans, the Republicans bent over backward on Monday to send a clear and nonpartisan message to the country: We care. With the nightmare of Katrina still on the minds of party leaders, John McCain and the White House ...
TWC promotes its biz boss.
Sep 02, 2008; ... Andrew Kramer has been upped to president of business and legal affairs for the Weinstein Co., after having fulfilled that role at subsid Dimension Films. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] He will negotiate the development, acquisition, production and co-financing deals of both ...
SPC 'Embraces' Almodovar.
Sep 02, 2008; ... Pedro Almodovar has wooed Sony Pictures Classics to "Broken Embraces," the helmer's latest collaboration with "Volver" thesp Penelope Cruz. Ahnodovar scripted. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] SPC has taken North American rights. Pic, which also stars Almodovar vets ...
Morgan Creek banks CFO.
Sep 02, 2008; ... Veteran finance exec Gary Stutman has been elevated to chief financial officer at Morgan Creek Prods. Stutman has served as veep of finance for Morgan Creek for the past 2 1/2 years and was previously employed at the company in the late 1980s as VP of business affairs and ...
Hyde Park plans int'l expansion.
Sep 02, 2008; ... Ashok Amritraj has put Hyde Park Entertainment Group on a global expansion kick. He's made a trio of executive appointments to spearhead the growth and will hire an L.A.-based business affairs staff as well as creative execs for HPE's new offices in Singapore and the Middle ...
Rookies still off the radar.(fall television)
Sep 02, 2008; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] As the networks kick their fall TV marketing efforts into high gear post-Labor Day, they've got their work cut out for them. Just two new series--the dusted-off franchises "Knight Rider" and "90210"--are registering much awareness so far among ...
Slumdog Millionaire.(Movie review)
Sep 02, 2008; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] (US.-UK.) A Fox Searchlight (in U.S.) release of a Fox Searchlight, Warner Bros. (U.S.)/Celador Films, Film 4 (U.K.) presentation. (International sales: Pathe Intl., London.) Produced by Christian Colson. Executive producers, Paul Smith, Tessa ...
The Duchess.(Movie review)
Sep 02, 2008; ... (U.S.-U.K.) A Paramount Vantage (in U.S.)/Pathe Distribution (in U.K.) release of a Paramount Vanrage (U.S.)/Pathe, BBC Films (U.K.) presentation, in association with Pathe Renn Production and BIM Distribuzione, of a Qwerty Films (U.K.)/Magnolia Mac Films (U.S.) production ....
Cate Corrals H'w'd: Soderbergh set to helm Sydney legiter.(LEGIT)
Sep 02, 2008; ... Cate Blanchett's debut season as co-artistic director of the Sydney Theater Company will feature productions helmed by directors Steven Soderbergh and Liv Ullmann, and see a repurposing of the resident Actors Company. At a launch event Monday in Sydney for the not-for-profit ...
Morgan cuts Fringe.(LEGIT)(Edinburgh Festival Fringe's Jon Morgan)(Brief article)
Sep 02, 2008; ... Edinburgh Fringe director Jon Morgan tendered a surprise resignation on Thursday, just 15 months after stepping in to the position. Announcement came in the wake of a rough year for the 61-yearold lest, which ran Aug. 3-25. Ticket sales were slightly more than 1.5 million, down ...
'Fault Lines' to shake up Naked Angels.(LEGIT BITS)(Brief article)
Sep 02, 2008; ... A David Schwimmer-helmed production of a new Stephen Belber play, "Fault Lines" will kick off Naked Angels' Off Broadway season, taking the place of the recently scuttled staging of Frank Pugliese's "The Talk." Josh Lucas, Noah Emmerich, Jennifer Mudge and Dominic Fumusa star ...
The Menier Chocolate Factory's London production of "La Cage aux Folles" will have a West End run in the winter, beginning perfs at the Playhouse Theater in October.(LEGIT BITS)(Theater review)
Sep 02, 2008; ... The Menier Chocolate Factory's London production of "La Cage aux Folles" will have a West End run in the winter, beginning perfs at the Playhouse Theater in October. Douglas Hodge, who played drag performer Albin in the production's run at the Menier last winter, reprises his ...
Vanities, A New Musical.(Theater review)
Sep 02, 2008; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] (Pasadena Playhouse; 650 seats; $76 top) A Pasadena Playhouse presentation by special arrangement with Junkyard Dog Prods. and Bartner/Jenkins Entertainment of a musical in one act with book by Jack Heifner, based on his original play ...
Precinct sets cable precedent: success of cop drama allowed FX to ramp up original programming.(V PLUS: 'THE SHIELD' FAREWELL)
Sep 02, 2008; ... Ryan Murphy should take a moment to thank "The Shield." As should the Kessler brothers and Denis Leary. [ILLUSTRATIONS OMITTED] Their respective skeins--"Nip/Tuck," "Damages" and "Rescue Me"--might've ended up homeless if Shawn Ryan's gritty cop drama "The Shield" ...
Mackey matters: Chiklis' career-defining role a long way from 'Daddio'.(V PLUS: 'THE SHIELD' FAREWELL)
Sep 02, 2008; ... If you'd never seen Michael Chiklis other than in his Emmy--winning role as ferocious, corrupt cop Vic Mackey on FX's "The Shield," or as the lovable Thing in the Fantastic Four films, you might never recognize him in his previous, portlier incarnations as the lead on "The Commish" and in ...
Grit grabs aud attention: rape, murders all part of rising realism levels.(FIGHT OR FLIGHT: VIOLENCE IN SHOW'S DNA)
Sep 02, 2008; ... For Shawn Ryan, the time was right. "NYPD Blue," arguably the best copshow on air, had lost some of its edge; over on HBO, "The Sopranos" had transformed TV drama; and the real-life Louima and Rampart scandals had badly shaken the public's faith in big-city police departments. ...
The top five: TV critic Alan Sepinwall chooses his favorite episodes.(V PLUS: 'THE SHIELD' FAREWELL)
Sep 02, 2008 ... "PILOT" (season 1, episode 1) From the first scene (a politically correct press conference is intercut with Vic Mackey and his all-white team beating up a black drug dealer) to the last (Mackey puts a bullet in the brain of the undercover cop assigned to bring him down), it's a ...
Beginning to end: Johnson's jaunt: director handled pilot, finale and set a tone for how series was shot.(FULL CIRCLE: ANATOMY OF A HELMER)(Clark Johnson)(Interview)
Sep 02, 2008; ... From his days patrolling the streets of Baltimore as Det. Meldrick Lewis on "Homicide: Life on the Street" to a recent turn in the final season of "The Wire," Clark Johnson has carved out an enviable career on both sides of the camera. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Yet "The ...
Cast reflections: a look back from the actors who helped create 'The Shield' legacy.
Sep 02, 2008; ... WALTON GOGGINS What legacy does "The Shield" leave? "I think it will mean something different to every person who watches it, but it's a morality tale for me. You reap what you've sown, and you don't get a free pass in life. Immoral behavior begets immoral behavior, ...
Mideast movie mart: Dubai digital bazaar to help regional pics.(Dubai Film Festival )(Brief article)
Sep 02, 2008; ... The fifth Dubai Film Festival will launch the Arab world's first movie market in December. The Dubai Film Market will focus on Arab, Asian and African films and give buyers from across the world the opportunity to acquire content through Cinetech, an innovative digital ...
Senator posts half-year loss.(World News)(Financial report)
Sep 02, 2008; ... Germany's Senator Entertainment has slashed its full-year revenue forecast by half after posting a 10.1 million [euro] ($14.8 million) net loss in the first six months of the year and is changing course in the restructure of its sagging business. Citing a much poorer showing at ...
Disney park bows a toon showcase.(World News)
Sep 02, 2008; ... HONG KONG -- Hong Kong Disneyland has unveiled Art of Animation, which aims to educate parkgoers about the toon process. The attraction consists of a lifesize Zoetrope, a mechanism that creates an illusion of motion from the rapid movement of static pictures. It takes visitors ...
New joint fund for Italo filming.(ITALY)(Brief article)
Sep 02, 2008; ... Los Angeles-based Endgame Entertainment and Italy's Piedmont Film Commission are going forward with their long-gestating film fund that will be available to U.S. studios making movies in Italy. Some $20 million of the ...
Mipcom keynotes set.(Brief article)
Sep 02, 2008; ... Internet pioneer, presenter and comedian Ze Frank and Gary Carter, prexy of Creative Networks and chief operating officer of Fremantle-Media's FMZ, will deliver a joint ...
Fipresci fetes 'Blood'.(International Federation of Film Critics, There Will Be Blood)(Brief article)
Sep 02, 2008; ... Paul Thomas Anderson's "There Will Be Blood" has won the Fipresci (Intl. Federation of Film Critics) Grand Prix for film of the year. Anderson will pick up the ...
Aardman rejigs sales.(Aardman Animations)(Brief article)
Sep 02, 2008; ... Animation studio Aardman, famous for"Wallace and Gromit" claymation pies, has restructured its TV distribution arm, merging its marketing, licensing and distribution departments to form Aardman Rights. It ...
Taewon shutters prod'n house.(Taewon Entertainment)(Brief article)
Sep 02, 2008; ... Influential South Korean producer Chung Taewon is set to quit his production powerhouse, Taewon Entertainment. Chung, who held 17% of the company, and other major shareholders FireWorks Intl. (35%) and Cannizaro Asia Master Fund (17%) have sold their shares to private buyers Cho ...
Music, TV boost Viv but earnings sag.(World News)
Sep 02, 2008; ... French entertainment and telco giant Vivendi announced rising first-half revenues Monday, up 10.2% on last year to 11.27 billion [pounds sterling] ($16.43 billion). Earnings nevertheless fell 15.8% vs. the same period in 2007 to $2.65 billion. But Vivendi topper Jean-Bernard ...
Puck is turning out to be an unlucky part at Hartford Stage.(A Midsummer Night's Dream's accident)(Brief article)
Sep 02, 2008; ... Puck is turning out to be an unlucky part at Hartford Stage. Francis Jue, who was playing the forest fairy in the Hartford Stage production of William Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream," sustained a back injury during a rappelling scene Wednesday, causing him to drop out ...
A 1930s play and a new musical comprise the 2008-09 season for Off Broadway's Transport Group.(LEGIT BITS)
Sep 02, 2008; ... A 1930s play and a new musical comprise the 2008-09 season for Off Broadway's Transport Group. Slate kicks off with "Bury the Dead," Irwin Shaw's 1936 play about dead soldiers who rise and ask not to be buried. Joe Calarco ("Shakespeare's R & J") helms a cast that includes ...
Politically minded circus troupe Circus Amok will present its latest topical offering, "Sub-Prime Sublime," in Gotham parks in September.(LEGIT BITS)
Sep 02, 2008; ... Politically minded circus troupe Circus Amok will present its latest topical offering, "Sub-Prime Sublime," in Gotham parks in September. Production, centering on a woman named Dorothy and her run-ins with ...
Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea.(Movie review)
Sep 02, 2008; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] (GAKE NO UE NO PONYO) (Animated-Japan) A Toho Co. release of a Studio Ghibli, Nippon Television Network, Dentsu, Hakuhodo DYMP, Walt Disney Home Entertainment, Mitsubishi, Toho presentation of a Studio Ghibli production. Produced by Toshio ...
The Burning Plain.(Movie review)
Sep 02, 2008; ... A 2929 Prods. presentation, in association with Costa Fills, of a Parkes/MacDonald production. (International sales: 2929 Intl., Los Angeles.) Produced by Walter Parkes, Laurie MacDonald. Executive producers, Todd Wagner, Mark Cuban, Marc Butan, Charlize Theron, Alisa Tager, Ray Angelic ....
College.(Movie review)
Sep 02, 2008; ... An MGM release of an Element Films presentation, in association with Lift Prods. Produced by Adam Rosenfelt, Marc Schaberg. Executive producer, Sam Nazarian. Coproducer, John J. Anderson. Associate producers, Julie Dangel, Malcolm Petal. Directed by Deb Hagan. Screenplay, Dan ...
Disaster Movie.(Movie review)
Sep 02, 2008; ... [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] A Lionsgate release, presented with Grosvenor Park, of a 3 in the Box production. Produced by Peter Safran, Jason Friedberg, Aaron Seltzer. Executive producer, Hal Olofsson. Co-producer, Jerry E Jacobs. Directed, written by Jason Friedberg, ...
Lincoln Center unspools Oshima retro.(GOTHAM FILM CLIPS)(Nagisa Oshima )(Brief article)
Sep 02, 2008; ... Lincoln Center's 26-film retrospective "In the Realm of Oshima," which the org is calling a "sidebar" to the New York Film Festival, will follow the movies of Japanese helmer and activist Nagisa Oshima over his five-decade career. Half of the films will screen in new 35mm ...
The Brooklyn Academy of Music will screen a Barbet Schroeder retrospective starting with "Paris vu Par," a series of vignettes produced by Schroeder and directed by French filmmakers such as Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc Godard and Eric Rohmer.(GOTHAM FILM CLIPS)
Sep 02, 2008; ... The Brooklyn Academy of Music will screen a Barbet Schroeder retrospective starting with "Paris vu Par," a series of vignettes produced by Schroeder and directed by French filmmakers such as Claude Chabrol, Jean-Luc Godard and Eric Rohmer. The BAM series will ...
Also at BAM, an Asia Argento retrospective begins in November and will include the U.S. premiere of Bertrand Bonello's "On War," starring Argento.(GOTHAM FILM CLIPS)(Brief article)
Sep 02, 2008; ... Also at BAM, an Asia Argento retrospective begins in November and will include the U.S. premiere of Bertrand Bonello's "On War," starring Argento. The thesp and sometime helmer's film "The Heart Is ...
Beantown fest needs a boost.
Sep 02, 2008; ... A scaled-back version of the Boston Film Festival will take place outside Boston at Landmark Theaters' Kendall Square venue in Cambridge, just across the river near MIT. Kendall was used as a satellite site for the fest several years ago without much success. Trying to bounce ...
Abu Dhabi derby: $1 bil fund is emirate's latest biz foray.
Sep 03, 2008; ... Abu Dhabi has set its sights on joining the big leagues of pic production. The Abu Dhabi Media Co., which oversees the emirate's film, TV and radio outlets, is launching a production shingle with $1 billion to spend on developing, financing and producing feature films over the ...
Mouse House marshals WWII novel.
Sep 03, 2008; ... Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer have acquired screen rights to "Killing Rommel" a novel by Steven Pressfield about a British battalion's attempt to thwart German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel's desert campaign. Book was published in spring by Doubleday. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] ...
B'way in the 'Spirit' again.
Sep 03, 2008; ... The 1941 Noel Coward comedy "Blithe Spirit" is poised to haunt Broadway next spring in a revival shepherded by the producing team also on the Rialto with "August: Osage County" and the upcoming "Speed-the-Plow." Michael Blakemore ("Noises Off" "Kiss Me Kate," "Is He Dead?") ...
CW auds hot for 'Gossip'.
Sep 03, 2008; ... After stumbling in the dark all summer, CW turned the lights on Monday with promising preems for returning dramas "Gossip Girl" and "One Tree Hill." The drama duo, paired on the night for the first time late last season after the net's comedy block disappointed, combined to give ...
Happy hour for TNT 'Bar'.
Sep 03, 2008; ... TNT raised the bar Monday for original basic cable series. "Raising the Bar" the Turner cabler's legal ensembler from Steven Bochco, bowed to more than 7.7 million viewers, besting the mark of 7.4 million set in 2004 by USA's premiere of "The 4400." "Raising the ...
Helmer ape for Tarzan.
Sep 03, 2008; ... Stephen Sommers is in talks to direct a bigscreen version of "Tarzan" for Warner Bros. and producer Jerry Weintraub. Smart Beattie is set to pen the script with Sommers. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] Sommers and Beattie worked together on the recently wrapped "G.I. Joe" for ...
Variety.com.
Sep 03, 2008 ... TOTAL SUMMER BOX OFFICE: $4.131 bil Check out the Box Office Boffo blog for the final ...
Paley bows 'Frost/Nixon'.(Paley Center for Media)(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2008; ... The presidential election will receive plenty of attention this fall at the Paley Center for Media, which will also take the opportunity to look at past chief executives. Delving into the film world, both the Beverly Hills and New York branches of the org will premiere the ...
Reelz unspools weekly movie in fall lineup.
Sep 03, 2008; ... ReelzChannel is adding a weekly movie to its fall lineup, scheduled to launch Sept. 7. Under the moniker "Our Favorite Movies," cabler is set to unspool "Smoke," starring Harvey Keitel, to be followed by pies such as "Prizzi's Honor" and "Passion Fish" Each film will air at 8 ...
Thesp was a trailer titan.
Sep 03, 2008 ... Don LaFontaine, the man who popularized the now-loved catch-phrase "In a world where ..." and lent his voice to thousands of movie previews, died Monday of a collapsed lung in Los Angeles. He was 68. [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] LaFontaine made more than 5,000 trailers in ...
Everything old is new again this fall.
Sep 03, 2008; ... BRACING FOR the late-arriving fall TV crush inspired me to go back to the end of the fin-syn era and re-examine the 1993-94 TV season--which, a mere 15 years later, feels like a lifetime ago. In hindsight, it's hard to believe the business whirlwind that has ensued in that ...
Woodstock sets opening trio.(Woodstock Film Festival )(Brief article)
Sep 03, 2008; ... The Woodstock Film Festival has tapped Greg Kinnear drama "Flash of Genius" Mike Leigh's "Happy-Go-Lucky" and the domestic preem of Edward Norton-Colin Farrell starrer "Pride and Glory" to open the fest. Event will close with Kevin Smith's new comedy "Zack and Miri Make a Pomo" starring ...
Blogs flog newsies: sites probe Palin as TV tries to catch up.
Sep 03, 2008; ... The major networks owned the drama of Hurricane Gustav storming into Louisiana, but it was the blogosphere that drove the coverage of another province the nets like to think they rule: the big political story of the day. On day two of the Republican National Convention, that big ...
Shingle to debut with 'Society'.
Sep 03, 2008; ... An unlikely pair has nabbed the film rights to "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society" one of the most talked-about books of the summer. "Nim's Island" producer Paula Mazur and independent bookseller Mitchell Kaplan are teaming to bring the novel, written by Mary Ann ...