Paramount No. 1 in 2011 Global Market Share With $5.17 Billion

from Hollywood Reporter:

Studio wrestles crown from Warner Bros. on strength of box office hits including “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and “Kung Fu Panda 2.”

Paramount ranked No. 1 in market share at the domestic box office in 2011, taking the crown away from Warner Bros. after Warners’ three-year winning streak. Paramount titles collected $1.96 billion in 2011 in North America, compared to $1.82 billion for Warner Bros. Overseas, the news was just as good for Paramount, where it became the first studio in history to jump the $3 billion mark, with its titles earning $3.21 billion.

That puts Paramount’s global total at $5.17 billion.

Warner Bros.’ films took in $2.86 billion overseas for a global total of $4.67 billion, the second-best showing after Paramount among the Hollywood studios.

Paramount is credited for its fine-tuned marketing and distribution units, as well as for a focused development slate.

“Over the last six years, we’ve achieved everything we hoped we would,” Paramount chairman-CEO Brad Grey told The Hollywood Reporter. “We had three major franchise titles in 2011, Michael Bay’s Dark of the Moon, Paranormal Activity 3 and the recalibration of Mission: Impossible–Ghost Protocol, withTom Cruise doing a great job.”

When announcing the good news, Paramount revealed its 2012 slate will include Halloween release Paranormal Activity 4. Other 2012 titles include Brad Pitt zombie tentpole World War Z, directed by Marc Forster, G.I. Joe: Retaliation and The Dictator, reteaming Sacha Baron Cohen with Borat directorLarry Charles

January 3, 2012
Categories: Inside Hollywood . Tags: . Author: MyMotorways . Comments: Leave a comment

WSJ: Ryan Seacrest May Replace Matt Lauer

 

NBC Universal is courting Ryan Seacrest as a potential replacement for Matt Lauer on the Today show, the Wall Street Journal reports. The paper says NBC News, Today show, and NBC network executives met with Seacrest on Tuesday about the possibilty of  him joining the morning talker. The discussions with Seacrest include multiple possibilities that might enhance his role within the broader corporate context at Comcast and NBC Universal. Seacrest’s existing deal with Comcast/NBCUniversal expires next year. He serves as host and producer of a daily news show on E! network as well as E!’s red-carpet specials. Seacrest’s prolific TV production company is also based at E! A Seacrest spokeswoman would say only that negotiations with NBC Universal were ongoing.

From Wall Street Journal

December 7, 2011
Categories: Inside Hollywood . Tags: , , . Author: MyMotorways . Comments: Leave a comment

Pan Am Series – On the way out?

 

ABC’s November 18 order of one additional episode to freshman drama Pan Am stands. Back then, the network opted for a one-episode back order to the 1960s drama, bringing the first-season run of Pan Am to 14 episodes, but producer Sony Pictures TV didn’t accept the offer right away. The negotiations between the sides stretched into the holiday weekend and were still in full force yesterday.

To help shore up a full-season order, Sony added Steven Maeda as showrunner a month ago. In the end, the studio took ABC’s original offer and will produce one extra episode. This morning, one of the show’s stars, Karine Vanasse, tweeted that the cast and crew have “received THE call” and that “Pan Am is only coming back for one more episode after Christmas.”

As ABC stated back on November 18, it will make final decision on the fate of the show beyond its first season in May. On ABC’s midseason schedule, Pan Am is being replaced by new dramedy GCB on Sundays 10 PM beginning in March

 

December 2, 2011
Categories: Inside Hollywood, Vendor News . Tags: , , . Author: MyMotorways . Comments: Leave a comment

Sony to buy Sony Ericsson, turn into subsidiary

Sony buys out Ericsson partnership –

 

November 3, 2011
Categories: Inside Hollywood, Technologies, Vendor News . Tags: , , . Author: MyMotorways . Comments: Leave a comment

‘Live! With Kelly’ Taps Jerry Seinfeld As First Guest Co-Host

Following Regis Philbin’s November 18 exit, his syndicated talk show with Kelly Ripa will be temporarily retitled Live! With Kelly while a new permanent co-host is found. In the meantime, Ripa will be joined by a slew of guest co-hosts. First off is Jerry Seinfeld, who will take a seat besides Ripa on her first three solo shows, November 21-23. The duo’s guests will include Jason Segal, Kim Cattrall, Howie Mandel, Jamie Oliver and Miss Piggy. “Jerry is a great friend of ours, and a friend of Kelly’s, and it doesn’t hurt that he’s an entertainment icon,” Live executive producer Michael Gelman said. “It’s a great way to kick off the new beginning of our show.”

 

 

Re-posted from Deadline.com

November 2, 2011
Categories: Inside Hollywood . . Author: MyMotorways . Comments: Leave a comment

Super coup: Wilmington lands ‘Iron Man 3’

WILMINGTON North Carolina’s race to catch up with states that have lured film projects with better financial incentives has paid off with a major motion picture production commitment.

“Iron Man 3,” starring Robert Downey Jr. as a comic book superhero, will be produced from beginning to end in this state, Gov. Bev Perdue announced at EUE/Screen Gems Studios on Thursday.

“My top priority is creating jobs, and this film production will mean high-quality, well-paying jobs for North Carolinians,” Perdue said. “I pushed hard to get the revamped film incentive passed, with the help of a number of lawmakers, and now we see that initiative doing exactly what it was designed to do.”

The Perdue administration estimates that over the next 10 months the project will bring more than $80 million into the state, create 550 crew jobs and more than 1,000 positions for actors.

It will be the largest production ever to shoot in North Carolina, according to the state’s film office.

“It’s a huge, huge win for the state,” said Jordan Kerner, a longtime Hollywood producer who also is dean of filmmaking at the UNC-School of the Arts in Winston-Salem.

Kerner has worked quietly with the governor and Aaron Syrett, director of the N.C. Film Office, to lure the film industry back ever since he moved to North Carolina to take the position at the university in 2007.

Wilmington became star-struck in the 1980s after legendary producer Dino De Laurentis moved Screen Gems Studios there, sparking the state’s reputation for film production. But North Carolina quickly lost ground as other states offered increasingly expensive financial incentives.

In recent years, the state has lost more than one major movie project to a competing state. Kerner pushed for a tax credit of no more than 25 percent and urged leaders to explore public-private funding options to build more production facilities.

In 2009, the state upped the tax credit to 25 percent, and last year it increased the cap on the credit for each production from $7.5 million to $20 million. The state also ended the corporate income tax on the incentives.

There was $73 million in direct spending from movie and TV productions in the state in 2010, and already $200 million this year, Syrett said.

Negotiations over “Iron Man 3” began about six months ago.

Michigan hoped to land the film. But its 40 percent tax incentive that had successfully lured film projects was brought to a halt by newly elected Republican legislators.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/10/28/2728142/a-super-coup-wilmington-lands.html#ixzz1cVLqVd3X

November 1, 2011
Categories: Events, Inside Hollywood . Tags: , . Author: MyMotorways . Comments: 1 Comment

Paramount Closing New York Distribution Office

In the wake of centralizing its theatrical marketing and distribution operations in Los Angeles, Paramount is closing its New York distribution officeParamount Logo

There are eight positions in the office; five are being eliminated, while three executives were offered to relocate to Los Angeles. One of the three staffers has accepted, while the other two positions will be filled in Los Angeles.

A Paramount insider said a New York distribution office–which handles booking and billing of films in the Northeast—is no longer a necessity, considering the evolution of the business.

In the past, all the major studios had distribution offices in various regions of the country, ensuring direct contact with theater owners. But as technology changed, many were closed, save for New York.

Last week, Paramount announced sweeping changes to its marketing and distribution structure that sees Megan Colligan, previously co-president of domestic marketing, promoted to president of domestic marketing and distribution.She reports to Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore on distribution matters.

The changes coincided with the announcement that Jim Tharp will retire as president of domestic distribution in June 2012, at which time Don Harris will assume the title and report to Colligan. Harris currently serves as executive vice president of sales and domestic distribution.

Don Harris, who had served as executive vice president of domestic sales and distribution, will become president of domestic distribution, reporting to Colligan.

October 3, 2011
Categories: Inside Hollywood, Vendor News . Tags: , , . Author: MyMotorways . Comments: Leave a comment

Steve Martin’s Advice to Eddie Murphy

September 29, 2011
Categories: Inside Hollywood, News you can Use . Tags: , , , . Author: MyMotorways . Comments: Leave a comment

More Cuts at Sony Pictures – This Time 3D Glasses

Sony Pictures issued a heads-up Tuesday to exhibitors and theatergoers: Next summer, its 3D pics will be Bring Your Own Glasses!

So Sir Howard, do the TV glasses work for the theatre?

The studio announced plans to stop subsidizing 3D glasses next May with “Men in Black III” and “The Amazing Spider-Man,” bucking the trend that Disney started in 2005 when it provided them outright for “Chicken Little.”

Exhibitors, already under siege from shrinking theatrical windows, are expected to push back against Sony’s 3D-glasses maneuver, just as they did in 2009 when 20th Century Fox tried to get outof paying for specs for “Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs.” (Forced to relent, Fox ultimately wound up footing the bill.)

But if Sony holds its ground and other studios follow suit, exhibitors will not only have to cover the costs somehow, they’ll also be forced to sort out sales and distribution logistics. Exhibitors may have to follow the standard set overseas, where moviegoers are encouraged to buy their own glasses and reuse them, in some cases paying a lower ticket price upon return visits.

For instance, Dolby controls most of the Japanese 3D market, and in March, the company started offering reusable 3D glasses for $12 per pair. In Europe, RealD sells its reusable glasses at concession stands or the ticket window for about 1 Euro, saving auds the repeated expense.

In any case, the costs will in some way trickle down to theatergoers already wary of 3D surcharges, as evidenced by the steady erosion of 3D market share over this past summer.

The bring-your-own-glasses model poses a logistical headache for U.S. audiences, as varying 3D systems require different eyewear. What’s more, foreign exhibitors don’t pay as much to studios, giving them more flexibility with ticket prices.

Tension over the glasses question has mounted throughout the rise of 3D, as studios have increasingly balked at the cost. At 50¢ to $1 per ticket, eyewear often means millions of dollars in additional distribution costs.

But the news is good news for one facet of the biz: the companies who manufacture custom and high-end 3D glasses.

As of now, RealD controls about 90% of the 3D space in North America and contracts with the majors to provide most of the 3D frames, a dynamic that’s likely to change as auds seek more durable alternatives to the freebies they’re used to getting.

I wonder if the Sony 3D Television glasses work at the theatres?  Is this really a marketing ploy..?

 

September 28, 2011
Categories: Inside Hollywood, Technologies, Vendor News . Tags: , , , . Author: MyMotorways . Comments: Leave a comment

J Edgar Trailer released

 

Warner Bros today released the theatrical trailer for J Edgar, with Clint Eastwood directing star Leonardo DiCaprio. WB plans a limited release on Nov. 9 before going wide two days later.

 

Does Leo seem like the right guy for this?

September 27, 2011
Categories: Inside Hollywood, Vendor News . Tags: , , , . Author: MyMotorways . Comments: Leave a comment

« Previous Page — Previous page Next page — Next Page »