OLYMPICS LIKELY TO BURY OTHER MEDIA

The Olympic Games are likely to hit video store rentals, online streaming sites, and movie theaters hard, analysts have suggested. Executives at those media operations seem to agree. Studios are releasing to high-wattage blockbusters during the Olympics. The dance drama Step Up Revolution and the comedy The Watch head into theaters on Friday and next […]

NO ESTIMATES FOR ANY FILM THIS WEEKEND

All major and independent studios have joined Warner Bros. in withholding weekend estimates in what they said was an effort to focus attention on the Aurora, CO shootings that occurred during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises early Friday. Veteran box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com said it was “the right way to […]

REPORT: SEC PROBING STUDIO DEALS WITH CHINA

On the heels of reports that at least three Hollywood studios have made major breakthroughs with China, effectively lifting the quota on the number of films that are shown there and entering into coproductions worth tens, or even hundreds, of millions of dollars, Reuters is reporting that the Securities and Exchange Commission wants the studios […]

WALMART STORES TO CONVERT DISCS TO DIGITAL

Wal-Mart Stores on Wednesday gave reporters a preview of its Disc to Digital service, which allows owners of DVDs to bring their favorite discs to a Walmart outlet and, if they can be matched with the titles of some 4,000 titles to which Walmart has secured rights, they’ll be able to stream them online to […]

DESPITE RECORD REVENUE, U.K. STUDIO POSTS LOSS

The stages at Britain’s Pinewood Shepperton studios may have been humming last year, with productions such as Anna Karenina, Snow White and the Huntsman, The Hobbit and the next James Bond film, Skyfall, being shot there. And while all those productions pushed revenue to $81 million for the year — up 24 percent from 2010 […]

OSCAR-NOMINATED FILMS TO GET A SECOND CHANCE

The major studios are hoping to capitalize on Oscar nominations this weekend by expanding nominated films that have not yet been released on DVD. “The Oscar spotlight could boost several contenders at the box office,” Daily Variety observed, then commented, “It better: The class of 2011 consists of some comparative underachievers.” Only one film in […]

LUCAS TO RETIRE FROM BLOCKBUSTERS, MAKE “PERSONAL” FILMS

Apparently disgusted with his treatment by Hollywood studios when he approached them to finance Red Tails, his film about World War II’s famed Tuskegee Airmen featuring an all-black cast, George Lucas has told the New York Times that he will no longer make films for Hollywood (with the possible exception of another Indiana Jones movie). […]

MORE “FOUND FOOTAGE” MOVIES IN THE OFFING

The surprising success of The Devil Inside is likely to trigger a plethora of “found footage” movies in 2012, the Los Angeles Times observed today (Tuesday). “There’s a freshness to it — the camera work gives you an intimacy, because you feel like you’re inside something that is real,” Lorenzo di Bonaventura, co-executive producer of […]

FORMER HARRODS OWNER MAY BUY PINEWOOD SHEPPERTON

Egyptian businessman Mohamed Al Fayed has confirmed that he is the unidentified “third party” who is considering making a bid to acquire Britain’s legendary Pinewood Shepperton studios. Al Fayed sold the Harrods department store chain in 2010 for $2.3 billion. He once owned a studio in Egypt and backed the 1981 film Chariots of Fire, […]

MOVIES SAVE SKINS

Movie studios have been responsible for keeping MTV’s drama Skins on the air, the New York Times suggested today (Wednesday), noting that, with the exception of a Red Bull ad, every commercial on Monday night’s episode was either a movie, a movie being released on DVD or a video game. Protests from conservative groups, led […]

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