Life On The Bubble

2011 Sundance Film Festival announces films in competition

Snippet from the press release:

For the 2011 Sundance Film Festival, 115 feature-length films were selected, representing 28 countries by 40 first-time filmmakers, including 25 in competition. These films were selected from 3,812 feature-length film submissions composed of 1,943 U.S. and 1,869 international feature-length films. 92 films at the Festival will be world premieres.

Here's the link to the festival's website:  http://www.sundance.org/festival/

TheWrap.com: Hollywood Unveils 'UltraViolet' -- the All-Platform Video Player

Get to know the name UltraViolet. By next year you'll be able to play all the movies and shows you download over almost any device -- from TVs to smartphones to tablets to PCs to Blu-ray players. You'll also be able to burn them onto DVDs and share them with family and friends.

Most significantly, making the vision happen has involved an historic collaboration among the major media and technology companies -- all united by common threats faced by piracy and a languishing home video market.

Plans have been under way since 2008, but on Monday, an actual name, logo and prototype for a website were revealed.

Among the stakeholders are five of the major Hollywood studios, cable companies like Comcast, technology companies such as Microsoft, big-ticket retailer Best Buy and online rental giant Netflix.

via www.thewrap.com

This feels like a pretty big deal...

Marion Maneker (TheBigMoney.com): Agents Behaving Badly

Last week, New York magazine excerpted agent Bill Clegg's memoir of his crack crack-up. The book is the curiously titled Portrait of an Addict as a Young Man and it got some heavy puffery from the New York Times over the weekend.

It may be a sign of the decline of the literary world that it appears in the Styles section. But, more importantly, the fact that Clegg is better known for his exploits than his authors says something about the role agents play—or want to play—in this new publishing environment. Houses make fewer deals, and it is harder to play editors off of one another on all but the biggest projects.

via www.thebigmoney.com

This is worth clicking through on principle (I'm a fan of TheBigMoney.com and the Goodnight, Gutenberg blog), but also because if you substitute "agent" for "publisher" it could be describing the movie business.

No need to substitute anything for "agent." Which makes it even more interesting...

Mike Fleming (deadline.com): Even Harry Potter Loses Money Because Of Phony Baloney Net Profit Accounting

Signing a deal that makes anyone a net profit participant  in  a Hollywood movie deal has always been a sucker’s bet. In an era where studios have all but eliminated first dollar gross and invited talent to share the risk and potential rewards, guess what? Net profit deals are still a sucker's bet. I was slipped a net profit statement (below) for Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix, the 2007 Warner Bros sequel. Though the film grossed $938.2 million worldwide, the accounting statement below conveys that the film is still over $167 million in the red. (Text continues below...)

via www.deadline.com

Steven Zeitchik (LA Times): Are expectations for 'Inception' go too high?

There's reason, to be sure, to think that "Inception" will rise to the hyperbole. The premise shows promise, the trailer is intriguing, and if anyone has earned this kind of pre-release love, it's Nolan, who's never made a bad film and has made several legitimately great ones.

But there's also a chance -- let's face it, a not insignificant one -- that those expecting an effects-era second-coming of "Citizen Kane" and "The Godfather" won't get all they had hoped for, especially if some of the expository scenes get a little windy, as some who've seen the film say they have. That's when all the hype will come back to bite, as those of us who would have been inclined to like a movie if we came in expectation-free will spend too much of our time trying to decide if it measures up.

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

Interesting take. A couple of my friends who've seen it (pre-hype) say it definitely lives up to the hype, and is a movie people are going to want to see a second time immediately. Can't wait until next week...

LA Times: Screenwriters find work is dwindling

This week the Writers Guild of America, West reported that while earnings for screenwriters have bounced back to pre-strike levels, there is a lot less work going around: employment has fallen 11% in the last three years, with 226 fewer screenwriters working in 2009 than 2006, the year before the 100-day walkout and the lowest level in at least six years.

via www.latimes.com

If you don't mind "glass half empty" articles, this one's worth reading.

I'm surprised the above number is only -11%. I would have guessed in the mid- to high teens.

Mike Fleming (deadline.com): Warner Bros Cracks Down On Screenwriter’s Late Delivery Dates

In a move that has writers and their reps buzzing, Warner Bros has just put out word that it will start to enforce delivery dates on first screenplay drafts. That means writers who signed contracts had better deliver on time, or risk the wrath of the studio.

via www.deadline.com

Interesting read.

Patrick Goldstein (LA Times): How Fox throws writers under the train: The real story behind 'The A-Team' script fiasco

At Fox, the process that led to the scrum of "A-Team" writers is routine, not out of the ordinary. With the exception of movies made for Elizabeth Gabler's Fox 2000 imprint, where writers are held in high esteem, nearly every movie at Big Fox is put together this way. Finke was apparently protecting a valued source when she made the preposterous claim that Fox co-chairman Tom Rothman "wasn't that close to the tortured 'A-Team' development process." As anyone who's ever worked at Fox can attest, the brilliant, hard-working and, well, often overbearing Rothman is at the center of every key decision -- and some not-so-key decisions -- made at the studio.

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

I missed this last week, and it's worth click through for another take on the topic. I have a selfish motive for linking to this tonight, though, too: The final paragraph includes a couple of lines that echo my own conclusions in the intro to the latest Spec Market Scorecard (out tomorrow afternoon to my email list).

Ben Fritz: Carl Icahn owns nearly 32% of Lions Gate stock as tender closes

Carl Icahn is now the largest shareholder in Lions Gate Entertainment with 31.8% of the company's outstanding stock.

A person familiar with the situation confirmed that the activist investor’s $7 per share tender offer, which expired at 5 pm Pacific Time Wednesday, brought him 15.6 million shares, or about 13.2% of Lions Gate stock. 9.2 million came from media entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, who said last week that he would tender.

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

Click through for more details. And as the last line of the article reads, "for more details on what the results of Icahn's tender could mean for Lionsgate," click here.

Kurt Sutter: STAR BUCKS AND THE DEATH OF THE CREATIVE MIDDLE-CLASS

The globalization of America is impacting the film business as well -- the days of the 7-15 million dollar movie are dying.  Take a stroll into any movie theater complex, anywhere -- all you find are huge, 50-500 million dollar studio projects and small, 1-5 million dollar indies -- homogeneous mega-movies and quirky boutique films  -- nothing in between.

via sutterink.blogspot.com

Click through to read Kurt Sutter's interesting take on the death of the medium sized movie. I swear I didn't read this before writing the intro to my upcoming Spec Market Scorecard (out tomorrow afternoon to my email list -- sign up now if you want to get it when the cool kids do). You'll see what I mean tomorrow...

By the way, a hat tip for pointing out Kurt's post is due to my friend Courtney Rabada, who just started a blog called The Callsheet Report.  The idea of her site is to aggregate articles about the industry from sources you may not be reading on a daily basis.  It's a smart concept, and I'm looking forward to getting her RSS feed every day.

Claudia Eller (LA Times): Bob Berney in talks with producer Graham King to head new distribution unit

Producer Graham King plans to launch a theatrical distribution division and is in negotiations to bring Bob Berney aboard to head the operation, according to a person familiar with the talks.

Berney, a veteran independent film distributor known for innovative campaigns for such movies as "My Big Fat Greek Wedding," "Memento" and "The Passion of the Christ," surprised many in May when he abruptly resigned from Apparition, the distribution company he founded after his previous employer, Warner Independent Pictures, was shut down by Warner Bros.

King has told associates for some time that he wanted to start his own distribution company to fill a void in the market after most studios abandoned releasing independently made movies.

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

TheWrap.com: Media Derivatives Gets Go-Ahead for Movie Futures Trading

A federal agency has given the go-ahead to  Chicago-based Media Derivatives to begin trading futures based on the box-office performance of movies.

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission on Monday announced that it has "found that the terms and conditions of the proposed Weekend Motion Picture Revenue futures and options contracts submitted by Media Derivatives, Inc. (MDEX) do not violate the Commodity Exchange Act or the Commission’s Regulations thereunder."

The trading was approved with a 3-2 vote.

With approval in hand, Media Derivatives expects to begin this winter trading contracts tied to box office receipts on the first weekend of a movie’s release in wide distribution, with futures contracts and options going on sale a month before the movie comes out.

The commission must announce its go/no-go decision on a second request, by Cantor Fitzgerald, to trade movie futures by June 28.

via www.thewrap.com

I still can't decide whether this is a big deal for the business itself or not. I'm excited personally, though -- www.itsonthegrid.com should be a pretty valuable resource to box office commodities traders.

Nikki Finke (deadline.com): How 20th Exec Alex Young Lost Control Of ‘The A-Team’

I can report exclusively that the Writers Guild recently decided the credits on The A-Team, the movie based on the '80s TV show and opening this weekend. There were 11 screenwriters who worked on the film -- 5 single writers and 3 teams of two: Kevin Broadbin, Bruce Feirstein, Jayson Rothwell, Laurence M. Konner and Mark Rosenthal, Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, Skip Woods, Joe Carnahan & Brian Bloom, Mathew Carnahan. And that's with the interruption of the writers strike. The final credit now reads: "Written by Joe Carnahan & Brian Bloom and Skip Woods. Created by Frank Lupo & Stephen J. Cannell." In other words, 11 writers, and in the end, the director and his partner get first position credit. The WGA has a history of idiotic credits decisions. But the story behind these 11 writers that interests me most is how Alex Young lost control of The A-Team.

via www.deadline.com

The title's a little misleading. It's less the anatomy of a screenwriting train wreck and more an opportunity to take a whack at the widely-disliked Alex Young. As one commenter points out, it feels like there's a bit of spin going on here (it takes more than one executive to hamstring a movie), but it's still a fun read.

Claudia Eller & Dawn Chmielewski (LA Times): Ron Tutor and David Bergstein in exclusive talks for Miramax

Los Angeles construction magnate Ron Tutor and his embattled film financier partner, David Bergstein, are entering into exclusive negotiations with Walt Disney Co. to acquire Miramax Films.

Tutor confirmed Friday morning in an interview with The Times that "we have the right to exclusively negotiate and conclude a deal," beginning Monday. The parties reached a handshake agreement Thursday night and it's now under review by lawyers, Tutor said.

A Disney representative was not immediately available for comment.

The surprise development comes shortly after a failed attempt by supermarket tycoon Ron Burkle and Miramax founders Bob and Harvey Weinstein to buy back the specialty movie company for around $600 million.

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

Sharon Waxman (The Wrap): Universal Strikes 5-Year Deal to Distribute MRC Films

Universal has struck a five-year agreement with the independent film producer Media Rights Capital to distribute their films, the companies announced today.

The news release follows:

Media Rights Capital (MRC), the independent film, television and digital studio, and Universal Pictures today announced an agreement under which Universal will distribute twenty MRC films in five years beginning in 2011.  This expansion deepens the relationship between the two studios and guarantees major studio marketing and distribution for MRC films.

via www.thewrap.com

Ben Fritz (LA Times): 'Robin Hood' far from a certain bull's-eye

It's never a great sign when a big-budget summer event film is poised to open No. 2 at the box office.

But director Ridley Scott's version of "Robin Hood" starring Russell Crowe has been a challenge for distributor Universal Pictures, given its high cost, serious tone and apparent lack of appeal to the young moviegoers who usually drive big openings.

Hollywood executives who have seen pre-release polling of potential moviegoers expect the film to open between $40 million and $45 million in the U.S. and Canada. That would put it behind "Iron Man 2," which should take in roughly $60 million on its second weekend after launching with a very strong $128.1 million.

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

Nikki Finke & Mike Fleming (deadline.com): Miramax Deal To Be Announced At Cannes

We hear the deal to put the Miramax name and library under new ownership is done. But the reason there is no announcement is that Harvey Weinstein wants to make a publicity splash at the Cannes Film Festival which kicks off Wednesday. [UPDATE: Harvey's camp just told us: "We'd love to announce at Cannes. We're very close but if you go to Loeb & Loeb on the 25th floor, there are 3 boardrooms of people still negotiating." Deadline stands by its story.]

We've learned that the Weinstein Brothers/Ron Burkle/Fortress-Colbeck partnership has finally settled for a price of around $650 million — which, on the surface, seems like more than Burkle wanted to pay, and less than Disney expected to receive. [UPDATE: The Weinsteins will claim the price is "under $625M", but Disney will privately say it's "above $650M" and more like $700M.]  

via www.deadline.com

Click through - there's plenty more juicy details from Finke and Fleming.

Steven Zeitchik (LA Times): Chris Nolan and J.J. Abrams trailers, under lock and key

When did trailers for action movies get good? And when did they go behind the velvet rope? Two new trailers for two secretive projects come attached to "Iron Man 2": for Christopher Nolan's "Inception" and J.J. Abrams' "Super 8." (Is there a movie on Earth that wouldn't want to be in that pre-Robert Downey Jr. slot? The rich indeed get richer.)

The "Inception" piece, featured above, is the better of the two, not least because it finally casts light on what the movie is about (dream policing and subconscious thievery, it turns out). You can watch it here, though it's meant to be discovered and watched only after one plays this online game. Movie marketers might wonder why in the name of Catwoman a studio would cut a trailer and then hide it inside a video game. But when your name is Chris Nolan, less is often more, and a velvet rope may be the best invitation of all.

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

I saw Iron Man 2 yesterday and experienced the recently remarked upon cavalcade of trailers. I was going to mention the ones for Inception and Super 8 today, and then caught the above Zeitchik post, which is more interesting than I'd planned to be.

I'll say this, though: Inception brought out my inner Nolan fanboy, but I'm reserving judgment on Super 8.  The Prince of Persia trailer was in front of IM2, too, and it looked pretty great.

Ben Fritz (LA Times): 'Iron Man 2' has 'The Dark Knight' in its sights

There's only one question as "Iron Man 2" debuts this weekend: Will it post a record for an opening weekend, or just be one of the biggest?

Pre-release surveys indicate that moviegoer interest in seeing the sequel to Marvel Entertainment's 2008 surprise superhero hit starring Robert Downey Jr. is in the stratosphere. Opening weekend ticket sales of at least $140 million are all but assured, people who closely follow tracking said, and "Iron Man 2" has a good shot at grossing as much as $160 million.

The biggest previous domestic first weekend was "The Dark Knight," which opened to $158.4 million in 2008. Ticket prices have risen substantially since then, however, so although "Iron Man 2" could post the biggest opening ever in raw dollars, it's much less likely to do so when accounting for inflation.

via latimesblogs.latimes.com

Iron Man 2 box office projections have been well reported all over the place, but it's worth clicking through the above. Ben did a nice job dissecting the movie's potential to break a string of records, from Thursday night screenings to single-day Friday and so on.

By the way, he notes that worldwide print and advertising spend has been $150m, on top of the film's reported $170m production budget. As of this morning, it had already gotten close to earning its budget in international box office revenue. Should be fun to watch its worldwide grosses roll up in the coming weeks.

Teaser: Spec Market Roundup for April 2010

I wrapped up the Spec Market Report for April last night -- it publishes in the BOSI newsletter tomorrow and will get slipped to my email list later today.  If you're not already on that list, you can sign up now using the form toward the top of the right column of the page.  In the meantime, here's the teaser quote from the beginning of the new article:

"...Since the intro of the last edition of the Scoggins Report was such a downer, let's kick this one off with some good news:  Last month saw the highest number of spec sales in nearly a year, and six buyers who hadn't purchased a spec yet this year got their checkbooks out for the first time.  Here are April's raw numbers..."