DOH! MUSICIANS UNION SUES OVER THE SIMPSONS‘ THEME

Twentieth Century Fox and Universal Pictures are embroiled in a lawsuit with the musicians’ union over use of the theme from The Simpsons at the Universal Studios’ amusement park in California. The American Federation of Musicians filed a lawsuit in U.S. district court alleging that use of the music for the Simpsons roller-coaster ride violates […]

STUDIO DENIES IT DUMPED STEWART FROM SNOW WHITE SEQUEL

Universal executives were feeling downright grumpy on Wednesday following reports that they had dumped Kristen Stewart from the planned sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman. The reports, touched off by a story in the Hollywood Reporter that cited unnamed sources, linked the alleged booting to Stewart’s admitted affair with director Rupert Sanders that, in […]

GREEN HORNET GREENER THAN EXPECTED

After a significant improvement in ticket sales on Saturday, Sony estimated that The Green Hornet would wind up with $34 million for the three-day weekend and $40.5 million for the four-day Martin Luther King holiday. On Saturday, the studio had estimated that Friday’s gross had totaled $11.2 million, at the low end of analysts’ estimates. […]

COMCAST CONCEDES DEAL WITH NBC WON’T CONCLUDE THIS YEAR

Comcast has resigned itself to the fact that it won’t be taking over control of NBC and Universal Studios anytime this year, as it had expected. The company issued a statement saying that while the FCC and the DoJ continue to make “substantial progress toward approval of our transaction,” it now realizes that “we will […]

UNIVERSAL’S NEW STAGE MAY HALT “RUNAWAY PRODUCTION”

Universal Studios has unveiled a $4.5-million “virtual stage” that includes a 40×80 green screen that effectively will allow actors to perform “on location” without having to leave the studio. The huge screen allows actors to appear against background footage that is inserted digitally. In reporting on the new stage, the Los Angeles Times observed today […]

FINE RECEPTION FOR “INCEPTION” — $62.8 MILLION

It didn’t come close to equaling director Christopher’s Nolan’s record-breaking opening of The Dark Knight exactly two years ago, but Nolan’s Inception debuted with a mighty $60.4 million over the weekend, according to studio estimates — without the aid of 3D premium pricing. (The film did have the benefit of IMAX surcharges, and although IMAX […]

L.A. COUNTY SUPES CONDEMN KING KONG AD

All five members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Thursday fired off a letter to Tribune Company Chairman Sam Zell scoring a spoof news section wrapped around the paper’s “LAT Extra” section. The section employed the real nameplate of the section and date, and while the word “Advertisement” appeared under it, the […]

STUDIOS O.K. VIDEO-ON-DEMAND SERVICES BY COMCAST, DIRECTV

Cable provider Comcast and satellite service DirecTV have signed deals with three major studios allowing them to offer movies on demand on the same day they go on sale — in other words, four weeks ahead of Netflix and Redbox. The movies, from Universal, Warner Bros. and Fox, will be available for about $4.99 and […]