Box Office Preview
The first weekend in October sees several new releases, the biggest being Zombieland starring Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, Emma Stone and Abigail Breslin. This film should be embraced by younger male audiences and will take the top spot with $23-26 million.
“Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs” will fall to number two after two weeks at the top with another $13-16 million as strong word of mouth continues.
“Toy Story/Toy Story 2″ which is being re-released in 3D by Disney will bring in strong business with $10-13 million.
“Surrogates” starring Bruce Willis will earn $5-8 million and “Whip It” will make $4-7 million.
Lukas Eggen
Could The Hobbit and Bond Disappear?
Deadline Hollywood is reporting that MGM needs $20 million in short term cash and $150 million for the rest of the year. If the company doesn’t receive it, it could lose its rights to James Bond and The Hobbit. Here is an excerpt from the article:
So the bondhholders said to MGM, in essence, that they were going to let the studio go bankrupt and collect their money since they’d be first in line to get paid. But Cooper explained that this would be the worst possible outcome for the creditors and the company. Because if MGM were forced into bankruptcy, then it would lose James Bond and the studio doesn’t think it can stay alive without 007. Also, a lot of other issues would surface that would tremendously hurt MGM.
Also, if MGM goes through bankruptcy, that’s a very expensive prospect (where only the lawyers get rich), and extremely disruptive (since who would do business with MGM in the interim) and won’t get the creditors what they want which is their money back. It’s more than simply MGM losing Bond. The studio could lose a lot of other franchises.
You can read the rest of the article here:
The Hobbit is being directed by Guillermo Del Toro and produced by Peter Jackson. The latest Bond is Daniel Craig.
Lukas Eggen
Box Office Preview
This weekend sees Bruce Willis’ new action flick “Surrogates” face off against “Fame” and “Pandorum”.
“Surrogates” should win the top spot. Although it shouldn’t be as successful as Willis’ last big action movie, “Live Free or Die Hard”, an opening of around $23-26 million should be in order.
“Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs”, last weekend’s number one film, should continue to bring in strong business and make another $19-22 million.
“Fame”, which stars Asher Book will make around $13-16 million and “Pandorum” starring Dennis Quaid will struggle to find business and make $10-13 million.
Lukas Eggen
Wii 2 Coming in 2011?
Square-Enix president Yoichi Wada believes that the Wii 2 is coming in 2011. He believes that it will be closer to the x-box 360 and the PS3. Nintendo has already confirmed that its next console will embrace the HD age. 
If this turns out to be true, it would give the Wii a traditional five-year life cycle. However, Sony said it expects the PS3’s cycle to be much longer so it will be interesting to see if Nintendo follows suit.
Lukas Eggen
Kirby Estate Sues Marvel
The estate of Jack Kirby, the creator of Captain America, The Fantastic Four, X-Men, The Avengers, Iron Man, Hulk, The Silver Surfer and Thor has informed Marvel, Disney, Sony, Universal, 2oth Century Fox and Paramount Pictures that it intends to terminate their copyright. Here is the official press release:
Just as the Jerry Siegel estate has done so with rights to Superman, so Kirby’s estate is looking to regain his share of copyright in the characters and their use in comics and other media. the estate is using the same lawyers as the Siegels, Toberoff & Associates, who have been fairly successful in their case against DC/Warner so far.
Such claims, if found valid, would begin from 2014 and, as always, its worth noting that Marvel/Disney will still own the trademarks of the characters in comics, and the studios in movies. The likelihood is that, if successful, the Kirby estate would enter into negotiation with Marvel over terms to continue publishing comics based on his work.
Lukas Eggen
Full Emmy’s Winnner list
Here are all the winners from last night’s Emmy Awards.
Outstanding Drama Series
“Mad Men” (AMC)
Outstanding Comedy Series
“30 Rock” (NBC)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series
Bryan Cranston, “Breaking Bad
” (AMC)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series
Glenn Glose, “Damages” (FX)
Outstanding Writing for a Drama Series
Kater Gordon and Matthew Weiner, “Meditations in an Emergency,” “Mad Men” (AMC)
Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series
Rod Holcomb, “And in the End,” “ER” (NBC)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama
Cherry Jones, “24″ (Fox)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama
Michael Emerson, “Lost” (Fox)
Outstanding Variety, Music or Comedy Series
“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” (Comedy Central)
Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics
“Hugh Jackman Opening Number,” The 81st Annual Academy Awards (ABC)
Outstanding Writing for a Variety, Music or Comedy Series
“The Daily Show with Jon Stewart” (Comedy Central)
Outstanding Directing for Variety, Music or Comedy Series
Bruce Gowers, “American Idol” (Fox)
Outstanding Miniseries
“Little Dorrit” (PBS)
Outstanding Made for TV Movie
“Grey Gardens” (HBO)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Jessica Lange, “Grey Gardens” (HBO)
Outstanding Directing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special
Dearbhla Walsh, “Little Dorrit” (PBS)
Outstanding Writing for a Miniseries, Movie or a Dramatic Special
Andrew Davies, “Little Dorrit” (PBS)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Brendan Gleeson, “Into the Storm” (HBO)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie
Ken Howard, “Grey Gardens” (HBO)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or Movie
Shohreh Aghdashloo as Sajida in “House of Saddam” (HBO)
Outstanding Reality Competition Program
“The Amazing Race” (CBS)
Outstanding Host for a Reality or a Reality Competition Program
Jeff Probst, “Survivor” (CBS)
Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series
Alec Baldwin, “30 Rock” (NBC)
Outstanding Directing for a Comedy Series
Jeffery Blitz, “Stress Relief,” “The Office” (NBC)
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series
Toni Collette, “United States of Tara” (Showtime)
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series
Jon Cryer, “Two and a Half Men (CBS)
Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series
Matt Hubbard, “Reunion,” “30 Rock” (NBC)
Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series
Kristin Chenoweth, “Pushing Daisies” (ABC)
Lukas Eggen
Box Office Results
“Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs” opened at number one with $30.1 million. Based on the children’s novel, the film was expected to open in the mid $20 million range. “The Informant!” starring Matt Damon and directed by Steven Soderbergh opened to a disappointing $10.5 million. Tyler Perry’s “I Can Do Bad All By Myself” took the third spot with $10.1 million, “Love Happens” starring Jennifer Aniston and Aaron Eckhart made $8.5 million and “Jennifer’s Body” starring Megan Fox and written by Diablo Cody made $6.8 million.
Lukas Eggen
New Percy Jackson Trailer
Here is the second trailer from “Percy Jackson and the Olympians: Lightening Thief”.
Based on the novels by Rick Riordan, the film stars Pierce Brosnan, Uma Thurman, Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd, Logan Lerman, Brandon T. Jackson, Alexandra Daddario, Catherine Keener, Rosario Dawson and Steve Coogan.
Christopher Columbus (Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets) is directing.
Cook Steps Down from Disney
Barely a week after Disney’s D23 Expo, Dick Cook is leaving Disney. Here is Cook’s official statement.
I am stepping down from my role as chairman of The Walt Disney Studios, effective immediately.
I have loved every minute of my 38 years that I have worked at Disney… from the beginning as a ride operator on Disneyland’s steam train and monorail to my position as chairman of The Walt Disney Studios. To wrap up my Disney experience in a neatly bundled statement is close to impossible. But what I will say is, during my time at the Studio, we have achieved many industry and Company milestones. Our talent roster is simply the best in the business. I believe our slate of upcoming motion pictures is the best in our history. But most of all, I love the people, my colleagues, my teammates, who are the most talented, dedicated and loyal folks in the world. I know that I leave the Studio in their exceptional hands.
I have been contemplating this for some time now and feel it’s the right time for me to move on to new adventures… and in the words of one of my baseball heroes, Yogi Berra, “If you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
Johnny Depp has said he is not as excited for a fourth Pirates film after the departure of Cook.
Lukas Eggen
