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Charlton Heston Dead at 84
7 April 2008 (WENN)
Oscar-winning actor Charlton Heston has died. He was 84. Heston passed away on Saturday night at his home in Beverly Hills, California, after suffering from Alzheimer's disease. Born John Charles Carter in Evanston, Illinois, he was the son of mill operator Russell Whitford Carter and his wife Lilla Charlton. He would later change his Christian name to Charlton and take on his new stepdad Chester Heston's surname. Heston studied acting at school and went on to win a drama scholarship to the local Northwestern University, before enrolling in the U.S. Air Force in 1944. That same year, he married fellow Northwestern student Lydia Clarke. After three years in the force and rising to the rank of Staff Sergeant, Heston returned home, where he continued to pursue his passion for acting with a stint in theatre. Heston landed his big-screen break in 1952's The Greatest Show On Earth, and in 1956 appeared as Moses in The Ten Commandments. His role in the religious epic won him much critical acclaim, and he went on to star in movie classics El Cid, Planet Of The Apes, Earthquake, and Ben-Hur, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. Ben-Hur was awarded a total of 11 Oscars, including Best Picture - a feat only equaled by 1997's Titanic and 2003's The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King. He made his directorial debut with 1972's Antony And Cleopatra, but the film received terrible reviews and, as a result, was not released in cinemas. In the latter years of his career, Heston moved on to playing a number of supporting roles and cameos, appearing in films like 1993's Wayne's World 2, 1994's True Lies, and Tim Burton's 2001 remake of Planet Of The Apes. Heston was also well-known for his work behind the scenes, serving as the president of the Screen Actors Guild from 1965-1971, and as chairman of the American Film Institute. Away from Hollywood, Heston became a prolific civil rights activist in the 1950s and 60s, and later went on to become the president of the National Rifle Association in the 1990s. In 2003, Heston was awarded the prestigious Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S. He is survived by his wife Lydia, their son Fraser Clarke Heston and their adopted daughter, Holly Ann Heston. Paying tribute to the screen legend, his family says in a statement: "To his loving friends, colleagues and fans, we appreciate your heartfelt prayers and support. Charlton Heston was seen by the world as larger than life. No one could ask for a fuller life than his. No man could have given more to his family, to his profession, and to his country. In his own words, 'I have lived such a wonderful life. I've lived enough for two people'." A private memorial service is to be held later this month.

British Star Sangster Lands Tintin Role?
25 March 2008 (WENN)
Teenage actor Thomas Sangster is set to take on the role of cult comic hero Tintin in the upcoming movie franchise, according to reports. The 17-year-old Brit, who has starred in hit movies Love Actually and Nanny McPhee, is said to have emerged as the frontrunner to play the intrepid young reporter in a trilogy of films based on the famed comics by Belgian cartoonist Hergé, aka Georges Remi. And Sangster sparked further speculation he is to be handed the lead role in the planned film trilogy after flying to Los Angeles to work on test action sequences with renowned moviemaker Steven Spielberg, who is to direct the first installment in the franchise. Although Sangster's agent has refused to comment about his involvement with the project - due to start shooting in the autumn - the representative admits the Brit has traveled to Hollywood for meetings and urges fans to "watch this space." If Sangster does win the leading role, he will join fellow British star Andy Serkis in the film franchise. Serkis has signed on to play Tintin's sidekick Captain Haddock. The trilogy will reportedly be split between Spielberg and Peter Jackson, with the Saving Private Ryan director managing the first film in the franchise, and the Lord Of The Rings moviemaker taking on the second and third.

Roberts Named Oscars' Most Stylish
25 February 2008 (WENN)
Julia Roberts has been named the Best-Dressed Oscar winner in a new online poll. The actress' look at the 2000 Academy Awards, where she was named Best Actress for her portrayal of Erin Brockovich, gave her the style edge over Halle Berry in Parade.com's Oscar Survey Spectacular. Roberts scooped up 25 percent of the vote with Berry's 2001 outfit trailing close behind with 24 percent. Hilary Swank came in third for her 2004 Million Dollar Baby outfit. Parade.com's in depth online survey also named Roberts' Pretty Woman co-star Richard Gere and Sandra Bullock as the Favorite Actor and Actress Never Nominated for an Oscar. Meanwhile, Sally Field's "You really like me!" speech was voted Oscars' most memorable. And, in a look back at the favorite Oscar-winning films of each decade, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest claimed the 1970s prize, Rain Man was voted the Favorite Oscar Winner of the 1980s, Forrest Gump beat Titanic for the 1990s honor, and The Lord Of The Rings The Return Of The King was named the Favorite Film of the new century so far.

The Stuff of 'Legend'
17 December 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Will Smith could well have invoked the famous line of Muhammad Ali, the man he once played in a movie: "I am the greatest." For Smith, who performs a veritable one-man show in the movie I Am Legend, set a box-office record for December over the weekend as the movie debuted with an estimated $77.4 million. The previous record had been set by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which took in $72.6 million in its 2003 debut. (Warner Bros. observed that the results also represented the biggest success it has ever had with a "non-franchise" film.) Box office gurus, who were way off in their predictions on Friday, could only marvel at the Legend-ary results: $59.2 million on Friday and Saturday. And Warner Bros.' estimate that it took in an additional $18.2 million on Sunday could very well prove to be too conservative. Meanwhile, 20th Century Fox's Alvin and the Chipmunks also surpassed expectations, taking in about $44.7 million. The family film clobbered New Line's The Golden Compass, which wound up with just $9 million after opening last week with a disappointing $25.8 million, a fraction of its cost of more than $200 million to produce and market. The success of Legend and Alvin pushed box-office receipts 36 percent above those for a year ago.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Media by Numbers: 1. I Am Legend, $76.5 million; 2. Alvin and the Chipmunks, $45 million; 3. The Golden Compass, $9 million; 4. Enchanted, $6 million; 5. No Country for Old Men, $3 million; 6. The Perfect Holiday, $2.97 million; 7. Fred Claus, $2.3 million; 8. This Christmas, $2.3 million; 9. Atonement, $1.85 million; 10. August Rush, $1.8 million.

Jackson "Fired" Gosling?
29 October 2007 (WENN)
Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King filmmaker Peter Jackson fired actor Ryan Gosling from movie The Lovely Bones because he was "too demanding" according to reports. It was alleged Gosling "stepped down" from the movie and was replaced by Mark Wahlberg - but Oscar-winning director Jackson in fact axed the 26-year-old, reports New York gossip column, PageSix. A source says, "Peter couldn't stand Ryan. Ryan cut his own hair, and was fighting with wardrobe. He was so demanding... Peter booted him two days before filming started." The Lovely Bones, the movie adaptation of Alice Sebold's bestseller, also stars Rachel Weisz - and will be released next year.

Mortensen Praises Co-Star Watts
10 September 2007 (WENN)
Actor Viggo Mortensen has lavished praise on Naomi Watts - for refusing to develop a preoccupation with how she looks. The Lord Of The Rings star Mortensen worked with Watts on new David Cronenberg movie Eastern Promises, and was impressed how the Britain-born beauty successfully combined intelligence with her good looks, and never got distracted from her performance. He says, "Watts has beauty and brains, she can't really not look attractive. What I respect is that not only does she act really well in the movie but she looks like she has that job. Everybody talks about how people look, the dress they wear and 'I hated her hair!' and all this kind of stupid stuff. It's very distracting, I think, for a performer - especially actresses. In some cases, that preoccupation with image carries over into movies and ruins even good performances, but never with Watts."

Midnight Screenings Attract Kids and Adults
12 July 2007 (StudioBriefing)
Apparently a lot of kids were allowed to stay up late Tuesday as midnight screenings of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix raked in a record-breaking $12 million in 2,311 theaters. The figure represented the biggest gross for a film opening at midnight on Wednesday, far exceeding the previous record high -- $8 million, earned by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003. The last Potter movie, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, took in $6 million at its midnight screenings in 2005.

Actors Sue for 'Lord of the Rings' Profits
7 June 2007 (WENN)
Fifteen actors from The Lord of the Rings movies have filed suit against film studio New Line, accusing the company of a breach of contract over merchandising. The New Zealand actors filed court papers in Los Angeles Superior Court last Wednesday, alleging New Line broke an agreement to pay them five per cent of an estimated $100 million profits from merchandising sales, such as caps, games and mugs. The actors' lawyer Henry Gradstein said New Line took "gross participation" fees that the company wasn't entitled to. Gradstein says, "The expenses will always be approximately 104 per cent. It's Hollywood accounting." This is the latest of several lawsuits New Line have been served with in relation to the film adaptation of the J.R.R. Tolkien classic novels. In 2005, director Peter Jackson accused New Line of withholding profits from the first installment in the trilogy The Fellowship Of The Ring, while producer Saul Zaentz settled out of court with the firm over the rights to the books. According to industry newspaper Variety, the fifteen actors filing lawsuits are: Noel Appleby, Jed Brophy, Mark Ferguson, Ray Henwood, Bruce Hopkins, William Johnson, Nathaniel Lees, Sarah McLeod, Ian Mune, Paul Norell, Craig Parker, Robert Pollock, Martyn Sanderson, Peter Tait and Stephen Ure.

Lee Cut from 'Sweeney Todd'
28 May 2007 (WENN)
Horror movie icon Christopher Lee has been cut out of another major movie - director Tim Burton has axed the actor's role as a ghost in Sweeney Todd. Lee raged when his character Saruman was cut from The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King - and now he's been left out of another major blockbuster. According to FilmStew.com, Lee was slated to play a Gentleman Ghost in Burton's movie musical, which stars Johnny Depp as the fabled Demon Barber of Fleet Street, London - but Lee won't be needed afterall. But at least the aged actor didn't waste time filming his scenes for the movie. He tells London's Daily Telegraph, "It would have been worse if I had done the scenes, but I never got to film them."

'Lord' of Cable?
7 December 2006 (StudioBriefing)
The TNT channel is virtually certain of pulling in record numbers of viewers when it becomes the first outlet to televise The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King next week. TNT said that it plans to air the hit movie in its entirety on three consecutive weekend nights beginning Friday, December 15. The Sunday showing will mark the end of an 11-hour marathon telecast of all three LOTR features. TNT also said that each of the films will become available via video on demand (VOD) beginning December 24.

Critic Breaks Embargo, Reviews 'Dreamgirls'
6 December 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Jack Mathews, the New York Daily News critic who has sometimes steamed studio executives by breaking the usual day-of-release embargo on movies -- he did so in 1999 with Star Wars -- Episode I: The Phantom Menace and again in 2003 with The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King -- has become the first major newspaper critic to review Dreamgirls (presumably because the film premiered in New York on Monday). In his review, he writes that former American Idol contestant Jennifer Hudson "inscribes her name on an Oscar" for her performance. "How strange and wonderful," he adds, "that a singer four years removed from gigs on Disney cruise ships could win a role as important as Effie and own it as completely as Hudson. If the movie were as powerful as she is, it would blow out the speakers" at the theaters where it opens on Dec. 15. Meanwhile, news reports on Tuesday told of a standing ovation for the film after it was screened at the Monday premiere.

Jackson Kicked Off 'The Hobbit' In Fit of Pique, Says Report
29 November 2006 (StudioBriefing)
New Line Cinema notified Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson that he would not be involved in the production of The Hobbit and another LOTR prequel after Jackson declined to contribute a video salute to the studio for its 40th anniversary celebration next year, the New York Times reported today (Wednesday), citing two people familiar with the matter. Jackson and New Line are locked in a legal dispute over profits from The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring. The Times said that Jackson's camp has accused the studio of dropping him from the prequels "in a fit of pique." Meanwhile, a spokesman for MGM which owns distribution rights to The Hobbit, told the Times. "We support Peter Jackson as a filmmaker, and believe that when the dust settles, he'll be making the movie. We can't imagine any other result."

Jackson Delays 'Halo' Movie
3 November 2006 (WENN)
Oscar-winning director Peter Jackson has agreed to put his big budget movie version of video game Halo on hold while he searches for a new studio. The Lord Of The Rings filmmaker had continued to shoot the joint project with Microsoft despite the financial withdrawal of Fox and Universal last month. But Jackson - who has handed directorial duties to Neill Blomkamp, and will be a executive producer - has pulled the plug, with the mutual agreement of Microsoft. He says, "We are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait." The two movie giants were thought to have pulled out because of a spiraling budget.

'Pirates' Breaks $1 Billion Barrier
11 September 2006 (WENN)
Pirates Of The Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest has become only the third film to break through the $1 billion international box office barrier. The swashbuckling sequel - which stars Johnny Depp, Keira Knightley and Orlando Bloom - now only trails Titanic and The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King in the history books. James Cameron's Titanic made $1.8 billion following its release in 1997, while the concluding part of Peter Jackson's trilogy earned $1.1 billion.

'Pirates' Rings Up $1 Billion
7 September 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Disney's treasure chest for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest is expected to swell to more than $1 billion today (Thursday) as the film continues to dominate the overseas box office and manages to attract decent business domestically as well. Only two other films have preceded Pirates into the exclusive $1-billion club, Titanic, which accumulated $1.83 billion, and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which grossed $1.13 billion. Pirates principally owes its box-office success to its drawing power in the U.K., where it has so far earned $94 million, and in Japan, where it has raked in $78 million. On Tuesday, its total overseas gross stood at $583 million and its domestic gross, at $414 million.

Kevin Smith Takes On Another Writer
27 July 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Kevin Smith has another film commentator in his sights. After taking aim at critic Joel Siegel, who walked out of a screening of his Clerks II, Smith has laid into L.A. Weekly columnist Nikki Finke, who criticized the decision to add 10,000 names to the closing credits of the movie -- a marketing ploy by distributors The Weinstein Co. to get 10,000 MySpace.com users to link to the Clerks II website. Finke had called the list an insult to members of Hollywood guilds who had worked to secure screen credits for their members. "It's so sad," Smith wrote in his own MySpace blog. "Weinstein Co. finds a fun way to spice up the marketing a bit, and this woman tries to kill-joy the whole endeavor." He insisted that he has not heard a single complaint about the list from a Hollywood guild member. Finke responded: "Total strangers to the film who merely entered a contest don't deserve credit, no matter how quick the crawl." The ploy is not entirely unique. Peter Jackson added 29 minutes of "fan credits" to the end of the extended DVD of Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King over music from the soundtrack and music that was cut from the film.

'Superman Returns' With a Bang
29 June 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Bryan Singer's Superman Returns posted a mighty $21,015,000 in ticket sales on its opening day Wednesday, including midnight screenings the previous night, according to unofficial figures posted by the industry website Showbiz Data today (Thursday). Although well ahead of last year's $15.1-million opening of Batman Begins, the figure paled compared with the $40.5 million taken in during the July 2004 opening day of Spider-Man 2, which holds the record for the biggest box-office take for a Wednesday opener. It also ranks considerably below the Wednesday opening of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which debuted with $34.5 million in December 2003.

Take That, Carl Icahn!
2 February 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Time Warner produced some heavy ammunition Wednesday to defend itself in its battle with dissident shareholder Carl Icahn -- a fourth-quarter report showing a 21-percent boost in profit to $1.4 billion, up from $1.1 billion a year ago. The results were significantly above analysts' expectations. The company in particular credited strong performances by its cable networks, cable system, and AOL for the increase. However, filmed entertainment was down 13 percent, largely due to the fact that its Warner Bros. unit had nothing to match the success of last year's Lord of the Rings film; nevertheless, it noted, the company saw outstanding results from Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. In a conference call with analysts, Time Warner CEO Richard Parsons boasted, "If I can be allowed one moment of immodesty, no one can run these businesses better than the current management is running them." Icahn, however, was unimpressed. In a speech in New York quoted in today's (Thursday) Los Angeles Times, Icahn remarked that the company "should be doing better. ... If you just broke it up, the stock would be higher. ... In Time Warner, we're saying the conglomerate concept does not work."

Will Indie Movies Pummel Oscar Ratings?
1 February 2006 (StudioBriefing)
Movie critics and commentators who originally questioned whether a romantic film about two gay cowboys would be able to attract a mainstream audience are now wondering whether it will doom the Oscar telecast. Brokeback Mountain, which appears to have a lock on the best-picture Oscar, may have defied industry predictions and become profitable, but it has not been seen by a mass audience, the way Titanic and the Lord of the Rings movies were before they helped draw big ratings for the Oscars. Indeed, as several writers have observed, virtually all of the films in the top categories are small low-budget films, none of which has risen to blockbuster status. Los Angeles Times entertainment writer Jim Bates observed today (Wednesday): "All you need to know about how hard it will be to get people to watch the Oscars is that a nominated documentary about penguins has been watched by more moviegoers than any of the five best picture contenders. Or that four out of five people tuning into the broadcast will not have seen any of those movies in a theater." And New York Post entertainment writer Don Kaplan observed today, "ABC may be staring down the barrel of one of the lowest-rated Oscar telecasts in recent memory."

'King Kong' Still Lumbering
28 December 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Box-office trackers are continuing to predict that, in the end, King Kong will justify its $220-million production cost. Several are noting that Titanic took in much less than King Kong in its opening weeks, yet went on to become the biggest box-office winner of all time. In an interview with the Associated Press, Paul Dergarabedian, head of Exhibitor Relations, noted that the Peter Jackson film earned $9.2 million on Christmas day. "The fact it did such strong business Christmas day shows there's a lot of interest in the movie," Dergarabedian said. Exit polls also showed a high level of audience satisfaction with the film. Analysts attributed the fact that it was not doing the kind of box-office business that the recent Star Wars. Harry Potter and Lord of the Rings films did to several factors: There was no built-up fan base for King Kong; it had to compete with a plethora of new releases; and it runs over three hours, limiting the number of times theaters can screen it. John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theater Owners, told A.P.: "I'm not worried about King Kong. It's the type of movie that will continue to do business well into the new year." Meanwhile, Chuck Viane, president of Disney's Buena Vista Pictures Distribution, predicted that The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe will probably pass the $200-million mark at the box office by New Year's Eve. "I think what you have here is a movie instantly becoming one of those holiday classics," he told A.P.

The top ten films over the four-day holiday weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. King Kong, Universal, $33,274,690, 2 Wks. ($120,597,410); 2. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, $Disney, $31,692,295, 3 Wks. ($165,135,135); 3. Fun With Dick and Jane, Sony, $21,530,160, 1 Wk. ($29,105,916 -- From Wednesday); 4. Cheaper by the Dozen 2, 20th Century Fox, $15,340,679, 1 Wk. ($20,622,433 -- From Wednesday); 5. Memoirs of a Geisha, Sony, $10,165,114, 3 Wks. ($13,254,749); 6. The Family Stone, 20th Century Fox, $10,009,399, 2 Wks. ($29,209,405); 7. The Ringer, Fox Searchlight, $7,702,439, (New); 8. Rumor Has It, Warner Bros., $7,515,000, (New); 9. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Warner Bros., $6,500,000, 6 Wks. ($263,215,000); 10. Munich, Universal, $6,040,860, (New).

The Lion Roars at the Box Office
13 December 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Although analysts had predicted that the weekend gross for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe would exceed Disney's estimate of $67.1 million once the Sunday churchgoer crowd made its presence known, the film actually took in somewhat less than the estimate, $65.6 million. Still, the total represented the second-biggest weekend opening ever in December, topped only by the $72.6 million debut of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003. The strong showing of the movie helped boost the overall box office by nearly 17 percent over the comparable weekend a year ago. The movie also earned an estimated $42 million in 14 overseas markets, Disney said.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Disney, $65,556,312, (New); 2. Syriana, Warner Bros., $11,737,143, 3 Wks. ($13,236,572); 3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Warner Bros., $10,265,443, 4 Wks. ($244,069,305); 4. Walk The Line, 20th Century Fox, $5,738,176, 4 Wks. ($76,991,362); 5. Yours, Mine & Ours, Paramount, $5,051,879, 3 Wks. ($40,819,218); 6. Aeon Flux, Paramount, $4,561,619, 2 Wks. ($20,218,288); 7. Just Friends, New Line, $3,808,637, 3 Wks. ($26,372,794); 8. Pride & Prejudice, Focus Features, $2,579,523, 5 Wks. ($26,473,313); 9. Chicken Little, Disney, $2,306,627, 6 Wks. ($127,280,176); 10. Rent, Sony, $2,004,157, 3 Wks. ($26,915,863).

Time To Settle
4 August 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Time Warner said Wednesday that it would settle a shareholders lawsuit against it for $2.4 billion and has set aside an additional $600 million to dispose of other lawsuits. The write-downs resulted in a $321-million loss for the second quarter versus a $777-million profit during the same period last year. The company also took a write-down for its Warner Bros. movie The Island, which reportedly cost $130 million to make but which has brought in only $24 million after two weeks. The movie was made with DreamWorks. Time Warner also reported an overall drop in its movie business compared with last year when its studios clicked with the final installment of Lord of the Rings and another Harry Potter movie.

Dylan and Jones To Play for Amazon
17 June 2005 (WENN)
Bob Dylan and Norah Jones are teaming up for a special one-off webcast concert to celebrate the 10th anniversary of internet retailer Amazon.com. The show will be broadcast live on Amazon's homepage on July 16 - 10 years after Jeff Bezos officially launched the virtual store. Comedian Bill Maher will serve as host for the concert, which will take place at Seattle, Washington's Benaroya Hall. Fans hoping to catch a glimpse of the show will only be able to see it online, as tickets will not be sold to the general public. Amazon's Seattle-area employees will be invited to attend. The concert will feature other yet-to-be announced musical performances, readings by authors and behind-the-scenes footage from The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King, one of Amazon's biggest-selling DVDs.

Sweetest 'Revenge'
23 May 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Box office records fell to the Sith this weekend, as the latest episode of George Lucas's grandiose Star Wars serial took in an estimated $158.5 million over four days, pulverizing the previous four-day record of $134.3 million, set by The Matrix Reloaded in 2003. It might have set a record for an ordinary three-day weekend as well, if it hadn't taken in more than $50 million on opening day Thursday (itself a record). As things turned out, Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith earned an estimated $108.5 million for the three days, somewhat less than Spider-Man's $114.8 million and about the same as Shrek 2's $108 million. (Final results are due to be announced later today.) Overseas, the movie recorded $144.7 million in ticket sales, smashing more records in 105 countries (the widest international roll-out in history) and eclipsing the $129.7-million overseas opening record set by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in 2003.

No Big Blockbuster, But Time Warner Saved by Cable
4 May 2005 (StudioBriefing)
It didn't have a Lord of the Rings -style blockbuster, but Time Warner said in an SEC filing Tuesday that rising revenue at Time Warner Cable offset lower performance by its film companies during the first quarter. In fact, net income was virtually flat with last year -- $963 million versus $961 million in 2004. The company also saw revenue increase 4 percent to $2.3 billion at its Turner Broadcasting division, which includes the WB network, CNN, TBS, and the Cartoon network.

New Troubles for Time Warner
3 May 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Just when Time Warner was allowed a bit of clear sailing following the disaster of the AOL merger and numerous accounting scandals, the company was hit in the course of a single day with two new bombshells. First, Larry Cockell, the company's chief security officer, sent an email to all employees notifying them that an outside firm hired to ship and store its computer back-up tapes away from the company's main site, had lost a container of the tapes that included the names and Social Security numbers of all 600,000 current and former Time Warner employees. The message did not indicate when the loss occurred and noted that an investigation had not found evidence that the missing tapes had been accessed or misused. The Secret Service has been called in to participate in the investigation. Later in the day, reports indicated that Time Warner was likely to report a whopping 18-percent plunge in first-quarter profit, largely attributable to the fact that it had no movie in theaters this year that came close to equaling last year's performance of The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King. The Rings trilogy, produced by the company's New Line division, had fattened Time Warner's earnings for three consecutive years.

Lee Miffed at Being Cut from 'Lord of the Rings'
21 March 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Veteran actor Christopher Lee is still stewing over the deletion of his scenes from the third Lord of the Rings film. In an interview with Total Film magazine, the 82-year-old Lee, who played the evil wizard Saruman in the first two films, said: "My point was not that, as an actor, I'd had my scenes taken out. It was the story. You can't have a man looking frantic on a balcony when everything is being destroyed and then never see him again. The audience would demand, as they did, to know what happened to him. I just didn't understand it. I was given plenty of reasons why I was cut out, none of which made sense."

Legal Problems Continue To Hobble 'The Hobbit,' Says Jackson
14 March 2005 (StudioBriefing)
Director Peter Jackson said Saturday that continued legal problems would probably delay his planned production of The Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit for another three to four years. Currently New Line Cinema owns the rights to produce the film, while MGM has the rights to distribute it. Jackson observed that the acquisition of MGM by Sony further complicates matters. In an interview with the New Zealand network TVNZ, Jackson said, "I think there is probably a will and a desire to try and get [The Hobbit] made. ... But I think it's gonna be a lot of lawyers sitting in a room trying to thrash out a deal before it will ever happen."

Lucas To "Cameo" in New 'Star Wars' Movie
18 February 2005 (WENN)
Star Wars director George Lucas will make a cameo appearance in the upcoming final film in the sci-fi series. Lucas is set to follow in the footsteps of Lord Of The Rings film-maker Peter Jackson by briefly appearing before cameras in Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge Of The Sith, playing Baron Papanoida in an opera house scene. Jackson has immortalized himself on screen in all three Lord Of The Rings films, playing hobbit Albert Dreary, an uncredited Rohirrim Warrior and an unnamed Mercenary On Boat in The Fellowship Of The Ring, The Two Towers and Return Of The King, respectively.

Academy Fears Small Audience for This Year's Oscars
17 February 2005 (StudioBriefing)
The fact that the five films nominated for the best picture Oscar -- The Aviator, Finding Neverland, Million Dollar Baby, Ray, and Sideways -- have been seen by fewer moviegoers than any list of best picture nominees in 20 years has become the source of considerable worry for the movie academy, which fears a plunge in ratings, the Associated Press observed today (Thursday). Executive director Bruce Davis told the wire service, "We don't have a Titanic or a Lord of the Rings out there. I think it's fair to say it does concern us a bit." Added Exhibitor Relations chief Paul Dergarabedian: "Eyeballs staring at the movie screen translates to eyeballs staring at the TV screen." ABC is reportedly charging an average $1.6 million for a 30-second spot on the Oscar telecast, up from $1.5 million a year ago. There was no word whether the network had guaranteed advertisers a minimum audience.

'King Kong' More Than a Monkey Movie
7 February 2005 (WENN)
Adrien Brody hopes he will divert attention away from King Kong in Peter Jackson's upcoming remake by impressing audiences with the character acting he specializes in. The Oscar-winning actor wasn't prepared to play a stereotypically hollow role alongside the digitally enhanced ape and Jackson's spectacular special effects. However, Brody knew The Lord Of The Rings director Jackson wouldn't have approached him if he simply wanted the Oscar winner to make up the human numbers. The 31-year-old says, "It's true that King Kong is the title character, but one of my problems with the original is that you don't identify much with the story of the characters. You're just interested in the spectacle of the monkey. Then why would I be there, because I sure as hell don't want to be just there to work. I want to contribute some depth to it and something interesting. And believe me, if the studio or director didn't want that, they wouldn't hire me. So I have a feeling that it will have a little more than the monkey to attract audiences and remain interesting to a full range of people. I think Peter Jackson is going to create the definitive King Kong. We've got a bit to do still, it's a long one, but very exciting."

Ticket Sales Boom in Russia
18 January 2005 (StudioBriefing)
The number of people going to movie theaters in the U.S. may not have changed much in years, and it even declined a bit last year, but a boom in the construction of multiplexes in Russia sent admissions in that country rising 41 percent over last year, the BBC reported today (Tuesday). The most popular film of the year was a sci-fi thriller titled Night Watch, which set a record for a Russian Film, $30 million. The highest-grossing foreign film in Russia was The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, which took in $14 million

'King Kong' Is a Dream Come True for Jackson
18 January 2005 (WENN)
The new King Kong movie fulfills a lifetime obsession for director Peter Jackson. The Oscar-winning Lord Of The Rings movie maker made his first King Kong film with a cardboard set when he was just 13 - so to be given a $150 million budget to remake of the 1933 is a "dream come true". Jackson tells website The Scoop, "Obviously, there's a lot of criticism and apprehension about remaking any film, and it has the potential for pitfalls that are greater than The Lord of the Rings. But it's a dream come true. That's the reality of it."

Otto Pregnant
14 January 2005 (WENN)
Australian actress Miranda Otto is expecting her first child with actor husband Peter O'Brien. The couple, who married on New Year's Day 2003, are "thrilled", according to a spokesperson. Otto, 37, who starred as Eowyn in the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, recently finished filming Steven Spielberg's War Of The Worlds, in which she plays Tom Cruise's pregnant wife.

Producers Guild Nominations Announced
5 January 2005 (IMDb News Flash)
A period piece, an ensemble comedy, a boxing drama, a big-budget biopic, and an animated extravaganza were among the nominees for this year's Producers Guild of America awards. In a marked constrast to last year's epic-driven slate, lower-budget and more intimate movies dominated the guild's picks, with Finding Neverland, Million Dollar Baby, and awards fave Sideways going up against the large-scale The Aviator and, in a bit of a surprise, Pixar's latest animated hit, The Incredibles. All five movies are up for Golden Globes in their respective Best Picture categories, with Sideways dominating the critical awards season.

Though not as reliable a barometer as the Directors Guild Awards, the PGA nominees are a pretty good harbinger of things to come and in the past have helped prognosticators whittle down the competition for the Best Picture Oscar; four of last year's six nominees -- Master & Commander: The Far Side of the World, Seabiscuit, Mystic River, and winner The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King -- went on to snag Best Picture nominataions (the other PGA nominees, Cold Mountain and The Last Samurai, was passed over for Lost in Translation). In weeding out the favorites, the PGA relegated a number of movies to also-ran status, including Kinsey, Closer, Ray, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and the year's two most polarizing films, Fahrenheit 9/11 and The Passion of the Christ.

The PGA also announced its nominees for long-form television: Angels in America, Horatio Hornblower: Loyalty, Ike: Countdown to D-Day, The Lion in Winter and Something the Lord Made.

Eleven of the PGA's past 15 feature film winners have gone on to win the Best Picture Oscar, and this year's winner will be announced January 22nd -- three days before the naming of this year's Academy Award nominees.

Box Office Sour As a Lemon
21 December 2004 (StudioBriefing)
'Twas the week before Christmas, and all through the movie houses, not too much was stirring. Attendance was down by more than 25 percent from the same weekend last year, and receipts were off by almost that amount. The top film, Paramount's Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, brought in $30.1 million -- a far cry from the $72.6 million that The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King raked in during the comparable weekend a year ago. The No. 2 film, Warner's Ocean's Twelve, saw its take ebb to $18.1 million, 54 percent below its high-water mark last week. Sony's Adam Sandler starrer Spanglish debuted in third place with just $8.8 million -- half the amount that analysts had predicted. And 20th Century Fox's Flight of the Phoenix was a case of ashes-to-ashes, as it barely got off the ground with $5 million and settled for eighth place. The only bright spot in the top ten was the performance of Warner's The Polar Express, which, while losing 13 percent of the theaters in which it was playing, was down just 12 percent in actual receipts. It has now earned $123.5 million domestically and an additional $64.2 million overseas. Two films opened strongly in limited release, Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, took off with $893,066 in 41 theaters. And Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby, starring Hilary Swank, took in $179,953 in its first round at eight theaters.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, Paramount, $30,061,756, (New); 2. Ocean's Twelve, Warner Bros., $18,124,149, 2 Wks. ($68,524,528); 3. Spanglish, Sony, $8,817,853, (New); 4. The Polar Express, Warner Bros., $8,411,135, 6 Wks. ($123,430,336); 5. Blade: Trinity, New Line, $6,817,584, 2 Wks. ($35,628,693); 6. National Treasure, Disney, $6,022,564, 5 Wks. ($132,748,249); 7. Christmas With the Kranks, Sony, $5,366,072, 4 Wks. ($61,972,118); 8. Flight of the Phoenix,20th Century Fox, $5,019,430, (New); 9. Closer, Sony, $3,351,014, 3 Wks. ($18,803,296); 10. The Incredibles, Disney, $3,120,541, 7 Wks. ($236,978,426).

Box Office Turns 'Lemony'
20 December 2004 (StudioBriefing)
The box office was lemony sour over the weekend and represented a kind of unfortunate event in its own right. Although the Jim Carrey family movie Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events came in at No. 1 with $30.2 million, the figure was well off analysts' forecasts and was particularly disappointing compared with the performance of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King which debuted during the comparable weekend last year with $72.6 million. Even more frustrating was the lackluster debut of the Adam Sandler comedy Spanglish, directed by James L. Brooks, which debuted in third place with $9 million, less than half what analysts thought it would bring in and way below the average of a typical Adam Sandler comedy (which this was not). A third newcomer, Flight of the Phoenix, remained in the ashes, taking in only $5.3 million, to place eighth. Despite a 3.8 percent increase in ticket prices since last year, the top 12 films took in an estimated gross of just $100.2 million, down nearly 25 percent from the $133.4 million grossed by the top 12 films during the comparable weekend a year ago. The only bright spots on the box-office account sheet were the terrific performances in limited release of Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, and Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby, starring Hilary Swank. Aviator grossed about $831,000 in 40 theaters, or $20,775 per theater; Baby took in $178,000 in eight theaters, or $22,250 per theater. By contrast, Snicket averaged just $8,300 per theater. Also holding up strongly in its sixth week was Warner's The Polar Express, which earned $8.6 million to place fourth and bring its gross to date to a respectable $123.6 million.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events, $30.2 million; 2. Ocean's Twelve, $18.3 million; 3. Spanglish, $9 million; 4. The Polar Express, $8.6 million; 5. Blade: Trinity, $6.6 million; 6. National Treasure, $6.1 million; 7. Christmas With the Kranks, $5.7 million; 8. The Flight of the Phoenix, $5.1 million; 9. Closer, $3.5 million; 10. The Incredibles, $3.3 million.

Sharif Fights With 'Lord of the Rings' Star
12 November 2004 (WENN)
Movie legend Omar Sharif proved he still has his hell-raising ways intact at 72, after reportedly beating up a fellow actor in a drunken brawl in India. The Lawrence Of Arabia star reportedly quarreled with Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King villain John Noble in a Jodhpur hotel - and then hit him with a lamp, according to British newspaper the Daily Mirror. The two stars, in India filming One Night With The King with Sharif's Lawrence of Arabia co-star Peter O'Toole, stopped fighting as soon as the lamp smashed, according to fellow revelers. One says, "The conversation developed into a major disagreement between John and Omar, although no one is quite sure what it was about." Sharif was arrested in France this summer after head-butting a policeman during a fracas in a casino.

Patty Duke Recovering from Heart Bypass Surgery
4 November 2004 (WENN)
Valley Of The Dolls star Patty Duke is in fair condition after undergoing single bypass surgery yesterday. The 57-year-old actress is currently in the intensive care unit at the North Idaho Heart Center, after having the surgery at Kootenai Medical Center in Couer d'alene, Idaho. The medical center's spokeswoman Teri Farr says, "Her husband said everything went well." Last spring, the actress was admitted to the heart center for insertion of a stent in one of her arteries to improve blood flow. Duke, mother of Lord Of The Rings star Sean Astin, is expected to recover in time to serve as chairwoman for the Festival Of Trees later this month, with proceeds benefiting the heart center. She lives in the area with her husband Mike Pearce.

Bush Voted Year's Top Film Villain
28 October 2004 (WENN)
American President George W. Bush has topped an unlikely poll in Britain - as this year's top screen villain. Bush won the dubious accolade for his unauthorized appearance in Michael Moore's anti-Bush documentary Fahrenheit 9/11. The politician beat out the likes of Doc Ock, played by Alfred Molina, in Spider-Man 2; The Texas Chainsaw Massacre's Leatherface; Andy Serkis' Gollum from Lord Of The Rings trilogy; and Elle Driver, the assassin played by Daryl Hannah in Kill Bill. Almost 10,000 people voted in the poll, conducted by Total Film Magazine.

Jackson Lengthens 'Rings' Film By Nearly aThird for DVD
27 September 2004 (StudioBriefing)
The extended version of Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, due to be released on Dec. 14, will add 50 minutes to the original theatrical version of the film, the Hollywood Reporter reported today (Monday). "With even more added footage than the special extended editions of The Fellowship of the Ring and The Two Towers, this new version of The Return of the King is truly a landmark cinematic experience," New Line Home Entertainment president and COO Stephen Einhorn told the trade publication. The four-disc set will have a suggested retail price of about $40.

Now Anyone Can Create a Gollum, Say Korean Researchers
21 September 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Korean university researchers said today (Tuesday) that they had developed a simplified technology making it possible to create computer-generated 3D characters like Gollum in The Lord of the Rings films with a single camera at a fraction of present costs. Details of the technique were not provided in an article appearing on the English-language website of The Chosun Ilbo newspaper. The article quoted the researchers as saying that the development could play an important role in the Korean film industry, allowing it compete with Hollywood.

Jackson's 'Return of the King' DVD Adds 50 Minutes
27 July 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Director Peter Jackson has added 50 -- count 'em, 50 -- minutes to the DVD version of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, due out in December, New Line Entertainment has announced. The additional footage includes 300 new special effects, the studio said.

Extended Versions of 'Lord of the Rings' To Hit Theaters
8 July 2004 (StudioBriefing)
An employee of the Odeon theater chain in the U.K. has posted a message on a Lord of the Rings website disclosing that the chain has been notified that the three extended versions of the Rings films will be distributed to theaters in October, ahead of their DVD release in December. Another employee of a theater in Denmark said that his managers received a message from the films' distributors noting that the three extended versions will be shipped to "a select number of cinemas" in Denmark in "mid-October."

Tyler Confirms She's Expecting First Child
24 June 2004 (WENN)
Hollywood beauty Liv Tyler has confirmed she is expecting her first child with rocker husband Royston Langdon. The Lord Of The Rings actress, 26, is looking forward to taking a break from her film career to prepare for her first child - who is expected this winter. Tyler says, "Roy and I are both overjoyed and look forward to the arrival of our child." A source adds, "Liv's over the moon and absolutely glowing. They've wanted a baby for a while." Tyler has been very open about her desire to start a family with her husband - who she married in Barbados in March 2003. She said soon after the wedding, "I've always known I wanted a family. I'm definitely looking forward to having children."

Bosworth's Orlando Romance Blooms
22 June 2004 (WENN)
Superstar couple Orlando Bloom and Kate Bosworth have intensified speculation their romance is heading for marriage - by going furniture shopping together. The Lord Of The Rings hunk was spotted looking deeply in love with the Blue Crush beauty as they shopped for household items in Los Angeles this week. Smitten Orlando wrapped his arms around the blonde actress as they left a store in west Hollywood, close to where they are setting up a love nest base for the British superstar. Both partners have always refused to confirm reports of their romance, explaining they wish to keep their private life out of the media spotlight.

Mortensen Taken to Court Over Child Support
17 June 2004 (WENN)
Lord Of The Rings: Return of the King star Viggo Mortensen's movie successes are causing him problems in his personal life - his ex-wife wants more money from him. Punk rock star-turned-librarian Exene Cervenka claims the couple's son Henry needs a reported $18,000 every month. And in court papers leaked to American scandal show Celebrity Justice, Cervenka, who once fronted punk group X, claims her ex-husband earned $276,000 per month last year. The hunky LOTR star is currently in pre-production for drama Alatriste.

'Prisoner' Captures Overseas Box Office
8 June 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Overseas, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban posted $113.5 million in ticket sales at 7,885 theaters in 24 countries, making it the third-biggest overseas debut ever (behind The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and The Matrix Revolutions). The U.K., which opened the film on Monday, a bank holiday, led the way with a seven-day total of $43.7 million. France tallied $17.7 million over three days, followed by Germany, with $15.2 million.

'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' Kills Rivals at MTV Movie Awards
7 June 2004 (StudioBriefing)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King was voted best film at Saturday's MTV Movie Awards, but Kill Bill: Vol. 1 was the real killer, winning for Best Female Performance (Uma Thurman), Best Villain (Lucy Liu) and Best Fight (Thurman with Chiaki Kuriyama). Johnny Depp won for Best Male Performance (in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl). Jack Black took home the award for Best Comedic Performance for his role in School of Rock. This being MTV, Adam Sandler touched off little initial controversy (the awards show will not air until June 10) when, in accepting the Best Team award with Drew Barrymore for 50 First Dates, he thanked the people of Hawaii, where the movie was made, for supplying him with marijuana ("weed," as he put it).

'Kill Bill' and 'Return of the King' Win at MTV Awards
7 June 2004 (WENN)
Kill Bill: Vol 1 and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King took home most of the major honors at the MTV Movie Awards in Los Angeles last night. Uma Thurman won Best Female Performance and Lucy Liu was named Best Villain for their roles in Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill: Vol 1. The revenge epic was also awarded the Best Fight prize, for the clash between Thurman's character and schoolgirl Chiaki Kuriyama. A grateful Thurman praised Tarantino as she collected the award: "Quentin spent many years writing this for me and wants to be honored as if he were dead tonight. We don't have time, so I'll have to honor you as if you were living. Thank you, Quentin." The Return Of The King, the third film in director Peter Jackson's blockbusting Lord Of The Rings trilogy, won Best Movie and Best Action Sequence. Elsewhere, Johnny Depp's part in The Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl was voted Best Male Performance, and Jack Black won the Comedic Performance award for School of Rock. Lindsay Lohan took home Breakthrough Female for Freaky Friday and X2's Shawn Ashmore won Breakthrough Male. Best Kiss went to the smooch shared between Owen Wilson, Amy Smart and Carmen Electra in Starsky & Hutch, while Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore were named the Best Onscreen Team for their partnership in 50 First Dates. Superstars including Tom Cruise and Snoop Dogg presented awards at the glitzy bash, which is to be screened on MTV this Thursday.

Bosworth Thanks Press for Bloom Romance
24 May 2004 (WENN)
Win A Date With Ted Hamilton star Kate Bosworth is grateful to the media for bringing her closer to her actor boyfriend Orlando Bloom. Although the high-profile coverage of Jennifer Lopez and Ben Affleck's romance played a part in their split earlier this year , the blonde beauty credits her fame with strengthening her relationship with the Lord Of The Rings hunk. The 20-year-old says, "when you become a public figure you're sort of giving yourself to the world and you realize the people who matter are the ones who know you best. It brought me closer to my loved ones and made me appreciate them. I try not to be suspicious of new people, but it's natural I am a little." Bosworth is currently filming Sin City with her boyfriend's LOTR co-star Elijah Wood.

'Rings' Music on 9-Disc CD Collection
3 May 2004 (StudioBriefing)
The soundtrack CDs for The Lord of the Rings movies are going the way of DVDs, featuring "extras" not heard in the theatrical versions, Britain's "Empire Magazine" reported Friday. Composer-conductor Howard Shore told the magazine that plans are in the works for a nine-disk set of music from the film, eight of them featuring the music from the theatrical versions and a ninth featuring "rare unreleased music" with commentary by Shore. Shore also indicated that he's hoping that the DVD of The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King will also include a 45-minute documentary about the making of the Rings symphony and a performance with the Montreal Symphony. Shore, who currently is performing the symphony on a world tour, told Empire: "I don't think there's ever been a full concert piece of this size devoted to one particular film or series."

Florida Film Commissioner Pumps for Incentives
28 April 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Florida's state Film Commissioner Susan Albershardt has complained that Hollywood producers have chosen Louisiana over Florida for two major movies in the past two months, largely because of more enticing offers of rebates and incentives. In an interview with the South Florida Sun-Sentinel, she pointed out that one of the films, Because of Winn-Dixie is even set in a small Florida town, but because of Louisiana's incentives, producers found it cheaper to make in that state and create a location site that looked like a Florida town. Urging legislators to increase incentive funding, Albershardt said, "It is so incredibly important for Florida to showcase the tourism places that it has to offer. ... When Lord of the Rings shot in New Zealand, their tourism went up in two weeks by 22 percent. ... It's like free advertising."

Peter Jackson To Direct Harrowing Rape Story?
26 April 2004 (WENN)
Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson has shocked Hollywood by tentatively agreeing to take over the harrowing tale of a teenage rape and murder victim after director Lynne Ramsay walked out. The Oscar-winning New Zealand-based movie maker, who will film King Kong later this year, is negotiating with producers to make Alice Sebold's novel The Lovely Bones his next project. The story is narrated by the dead girl from heaven as she follows her family's attempts to deal with her gruesome death and the efforts of a detective to solve the case.

Show-Biz Celebs Are Noteworthy for Their Absence from 'Time' List
19 April 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Few show-business personalities made Time magazine's list of the 100 "World's Most Influential People," which hits newsstands today (Monday). Among those who did are The Passion of the Christ filmmaker Mel Gibson, who made the "Heroes and Icons" category, and Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson, and Academy Award-winning actors Sean Penn and Nicole Kidman, who were listed in the "Artists and Entertainers" category. Coincidentally, Penn and Kidman will star opposite each other in the upcoming The Interpreter.

'Passion' Breaks Records in Italy
9 April 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, starring James Caviezel and Monica Bellucci, shattered all existing box office records in its Wednesday premiere in Italy, the country where it was filmed, according to its distributor. The movie earned $1.48 million, beating the previous record of $1.34 million set last year by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Unlike most countries, which have barred children and teens from seeing it unless accompanied by adults, Italy laid down no rating restrictions on it.

'Passion' Breaks Record in Italy
9 April 2004 (WENN)
Mel Gibson's controversial religious epic The Passion Of The Christ has broken Italy's first-day box office record, taking an unprecedented $1.4 million in its opening 24 hours. The Jim Caviezel-starring movie - which chronicles the brutal final 12 hours of Jesus Christ's life - has exceeded the record held by The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King, which took $1.3 million in a day. In Britain, the film - which has been accused of sparking anti-Semitism - scored the biggest ever opening weekend for a subtitled movie, taking $3.78 million in its first three days on release. It has also broken box office records in Egypt, Syria and Lebanon.

Jack Black Hired For Leading Role in 'King Kong'
30 March 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Academy Award-winning producer-director Peter Jackson (The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King) has selected Jack Black (The School of Rock, Shallow Hal) to star opposite Naomi Watts in his remake of King Kong as the filmmaker-entrepreneur who captures the giant ape and brings him to New York as a freak-show attraction. The role was originally played by Robert Armstrong in the 1933 original and by Charles Grodin in the 1976 remake (although the character's name was changed and he became an oil executive).

Massive Piracy Raids in Germany
19 March 2004 (StudioBriefing)
In what was described as the world's largest operation against movie and video games piracy, German authorities this week raided more than 750 locations across the country, seizing 19 servers, 40,000 video discs and more than 200 personal computers. Among the German-language dubs swept up by the a raiders were The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and Cheaper by the Dozen. More than 15 persons were "detained" for questioning. The action was hailed by the MPAA, which called it "a major blow against piracy in Germany."

'Passion' Again Exceeds Forecasts
16 March 2004 (StudioBriefing)
For the third week in a row, Sunday ticket sales for The Passion of the Christ significantly exceeded studio estimates. The rush of churchgoers to movie theaters brought the movie's weekend gross to $32.1 million and its 19-day total to $264.5 million. With strong mid-week ticket sales continuing, the film should break the record for an R-rated film, currently held by The Matrix Reloaded with $281.5 million, by the end of the week and could cross the $300-million level by next weekend. Meanwhile, the new Johnny Depp thriller Secret Window opened in second place with $18.2 million. However, the film was receiving only fair comments from audience members polled by Cinemascore and is not expected to draw strongly next week. MGM's Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London debuted in fifth place with a disappointing $8 million, while Warner's Spartan, directed by David Mamet and starring Val Kilmer, premiered DOA with just $2 million.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date):1. The Passion of the Christ, New Market, $32,130,978, 3 Wks. ($26,4510,209); 2. Secret Window, Sony, $18,237,568, (New); 3. Starsky & Hutch, Warner Bros., $16,018,291, 2 Wks. ($51,500,921); 4. Hidalgo, Disney, $11,861,620, 2 Wks. ($35,635,388); 5. Agent Cody Banks 2, MGM, $8,014,005, (New); 6. 50 First Dates, Sony, $5,425,736, 5 Wks. ($106,701,379); 7. Twisted, Paramount, $3,081,612, 3 Wks. ($21,134,984); 8. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Disney, $2,472,097, 4 Wks. ($24,942,380); 9. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, New Line, $2,021,501, 13 Wks. ($371,147,794); 10. Spartan, Warner Bros., $2,011,435, (New).

'Passion' Sets Indie Box Office Record
15 March 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ held on to the box office lead for the third straight weekend with an estimated $31.7 million in ticket sales, to put its sum to date at $264 million domestically and making it the highest-grossing independently produced film in history (putting it ahead of the previous record holder, My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which raked in $241 million). During the past two weekends, analysts have underestimated grosses for Sunday screenings of Passion, and it could not be immediately determined whether they had adjusted their methodology for calculating this past Sunday's as a result. The Johnny Depp starrer Secret Window debuted in second place with about $19 million. However, the sequel to Frankie Muniz's Agent Cody Banks fell short of studio estimates with only $8 million to place fifth. And David Mamet's thriller Spartan, starring Val Kilmer, took in a sparer-than-spartan $2 million for tenth place.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. The Passion of the Christ, $31.7 million; 2. Secret Window, $19 million; 3. Starsky & Hutch, $16 million; 4. Hidalgo, $11.7 million; 5. Agent Cody Banks: Destination London, $8 million; 6. 50 First Dates, $5.3 million; 7. Twisted, $3.1 million; 8. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, $2.4 million; 9. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, $2.05 million; 10. Spartan, $2 million.

Second Coming Bigger Than Expected
9 March 2004 (StudioBriefing)
For the second week in a row, Sunday ticket sales for The Passion of the Christ proved to be bigger than originally expected. The final weekend tally totaled $53.2 million, some $1.8 million more than Newmarket Films, its distributor, had predicted. Its total domestic gross now stands at $213.9 million, with some analysts now predicting that the film could surpass $350 million and total more than $1 billion worldwide, even before sales of DVDs and other ancillary items are taken into account. Starsky & Hutch, a movie versions of the 1970s TV series, starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson, debuted in second place with $28.1 million, about $1 million less than what was forecast.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. The Passion of the Christ, Newmarket, $53,246,801, 2 Wks. ($213,888,740); 2. Starsky & Hutch, Warner Bros., $28,103,367, (New); 3. Hidalgo, Disney, $18,829,435, (New); 4. 50 First Dates, Sony, $7,637,128, 4 Wks. ($99,348,370); 5. Twisted, Paramount, $5,126,387, 2 Wks. ($16,483,793); 6. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Disney, $4,045,006, 3 Wks. ($21,803,186); 7. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, New Line, $3,037,822, 12 Wks. ($368,210,170); 8. Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, Lions Gate, $2,962,008, 2 Wks. ($10,149,976); 9. Miracle, Disney, $2,543,422, 5 Wks. ($59,822,969); 10. Monster, Newmarket, $2,123,915, 11 Wks. ($29,954,254).

'Passion' Rises Again
8 March 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Moviegoers' passion for Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ diminished only slightly over the weekend -- 39 percent to be precise, a small drop by box-office standards -- as the film took in an estimated $51.4 million to bring its 12-day gross to $212 million. Only two other films, Spider-Man and The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King have reached the $200-million mark faster. Moreover, it seemed clear that much of the business for Passion was produced by ticket-buyers who don't ordinarily go to the movies, as Warner's Starsky & Hutch opened with a better-than-predicted $29.1 million and Disney's Hidalgo took in $19.6 million. In an interview with the Associated Press, Disney distribution chief Chuck Viane remarked. "I've never seen anything quite like The Passion. ... To have two other movies come in and open as strongly as they did in the face of a steamroller, you can't complain." The total box office was up an astounding 44 percent from the comparable weekend a year ago, partly the result of post-Oscar bumps for the big winners. New Line added 791 theaters to the 1112 that were still showing Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King and wound up with the movie placing seventh among the top ten with $3.2 million, after dropping out of the top ten a week ago.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. The Passion of the Christ, $51.4 million; 2. Starsky & Hutch, $29.05 million; 3. Hidalgo, $19.6 million; 4. 50 First Dates, $7.7 million; 5. Twisted, $5 million; 6. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, $4 million; 7. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, $3.2 million; 8. Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, $2.85 million; 9. Miracle, $2.6 million; 10. Monster, $2.25 million.

Release Date Set for 'Return of the King'
8 March 2004 (StudioBriefing)
New Line has set May 25 for the home-video release of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King at a list price of $29.95 for DVD and $24.97 for VHS. An extended version of the film, including numerous "extras" is expected to be released around the Christmas season, priced at about $40.00. "You could almost call them the everyman edition and the fan set," Video Watchdog editor Tim Lucas told today's (Monday) Los Angeles Times, "because the expanded editions really do play to the fans." Meanwhile, it was announced that the first Lord of the Rings movie will air on The WB network in HDTV during the November sweeps.

The Return of 'The Return of the King'
2 March 2004 (StudioBriefing)
New Line is hoping to capitalize on the overwhelming Oscar success of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King by returning it to more than 2,000 theaters next weekend. The film, which fell out of the top ten for the first time last weekend, has now grossed $364.1 million domestically, and New Line distribution chief David Tuckerman told today's (Tuesday) Los Angeles Daily News that he believes the film has not yet realized its potential. "There are groups of people that haven't seen it yet because of the length [more than 3.5 hours] or there are probably some who are afraid to see it because they haven't seen the first two. But this film stands out on its own, so we have to reach these people and tell them, it's OK; you can see it."

New Zealand Moved To Tears Over Oscar Success
2 March 2004 (WENN)
New Zealand prime minister Helen Clark cried tears of pride after every Oscar that the Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King received on Sunday night. Academy Award-winning director Peter Jackson brought the filming of the epic trilogy to his native land and managed to turn the New Zealand countryside into Middle Earth. The emotional prime minister gushes, "It's an incredibly proud day to be a New Zealander, to see Lord of the Rings sweep the field. It was simply amazing. It is just blowing everyone away." The country's feelings were summed up in the capital Wellington - where 750 movie buffs dressed up as Hobbits and Elves and crammed into a movie theatre to watch the 76th Academy Awards. Mayor of Wellington Kerry Prendergast enthuses, "I'm absolutely stunned, I've had to wipe a few tears away with every Oscar. It's wonderful for our country, not just for creativity and innovation but also the genius of the people involved." The film won a record-tying eleven Oscars at Sunday night's ceremony at the Kodak Theatre in Los Angeles including Best Director and Best Film.

Hilton Makes a Splash at the Oscars
2 March 2004 (WENN)
Hotel heiress Paris Hilton embarrassed herself spectacularly on Saturday when she gatecrashed a pre-Oscar bash and fell into a pool. The reality TV star waltzed into the Lord Of The Rings pre-Academy Awards dinner at New Line Cinema boss Bob Shaye's hilltop estate in Beverly Hills, California. Hilton screamed, "Oh my God," as she splashed into a Japanese pool carpeted in rose blossoms. After climbing out of the pond, Hilton lamented, "God, I didn't see the pool. Why does he have a pool there? At least I didn't go in the big pool." The sexy socialite - who hit the headlines last year when a video tape of her having sex with former beau Rick Solomon surfaced on the internet - managed to avoid damaging her glitzy outfit, although she did get her Louis Vuitton shoes wet. She was then overheard telling her sister Nicky on the phone, "Guess what? I just fell into a little pond! It's soooo embarrassing." A bemused Shaye was more baffled by Hilton's attendance, saying, "She wasn't even invited."

Triumph of the 'King'
1 March 2004 (StudioBriefing)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won a record-tying 11 Oscars Sunday night, including best film, picking up a trophy in every category in which it was nominated. It was the first fantasy film ever to win the Oscar for best picture. Only 1997's Titanic and 1959's Ben-Hur have won as many awards. Besides claiming the best picture Oscar as one of ROTK's producers, Peter Jackson also nabbed the golden statue for director and adapted screenplay. There were no surprises -- except, perhaps, the appearance of Sean Penn on stage to accept his best actor award for Mystic River. In the past, Penn has been a notorious Oscar no-show. Although there had been much speculation that, if he did appear, he would use the occasion to denounce U.S. policy in Iraq, he made only a passing reference to it. Referring to his fellow nominees, he commented, "If there's one thing that actors know -- apart from the fact that there were no WMDs -- is that there are no bests in acting." Charlize Theron won the best actress Oscar for her performance in Monster. Oscars in the best supporting category were picked up by Renée Zellweger, for Cold Mountain, and Tim Robbins for Mystic River. (Robbins later told reporters that he had thought that his vocal opposition to the war in Iraq would probably cost him an Oscar; he said nothing about the war in his acceptance speech.) Denys Arcand's The Barbarian Invasions won for best foreign-language film. The only outright political statement was delivered by Errol Morris, who won the feature documentary award for his Vietnam War film The Fog of War. "I fear we're going down a rabbit hole once again," he said.

'Lord of the Rings': The Concert
1 March 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Howard Shore, who won the Oscar Sunday night for his score for The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King has told the Toronto Star that he plans to conduct the Toronto Symphony Orchestra in a performance of excerpts from it next year that will involve some 100 musicians and a chorus of 100. "It all came out of an idea from the conductor of the Hollywood Bowl [John Mauceri]," Shore told the newspaper. "He wanted a concert piece using themes from the movie." The Bowl is being reconstructed this year and will sport two giant movie screens on each side that can be used to show live shots of the orchestra or scenes from motion pictures. "I wrote the symphony because even though people could hear the music at the movie and on CDs, there was a tremendous amount of interest in hearing it played live," Shore said in the Star interview. "It's the kind of event families can attend together. I've been getting a lot of letters from teachers talking about the educational value." He also disclosed that he is currently working on composing the score for an extended version of Return of the King that will be released on DVD.

Return of the Mistakes
1 March 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Meanwhile, despite the spate of honors the movie has received, the Internet site moviemistakes.com said Sunday that fans of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King have, at last count, reported some 64 continuity errors in it -- most notably a scar on Frodo's face that changes position and size in several scenes (reminiscent of the moving mole on Frau Blücher's face in Young Frankenstein). In all, some 500 apparent continuity errors in the three Lord of the Rings movies have been spotted by fans, and presumably the number for Return of the King will increase significantly once it's released on DVD.

'Return of the King' Rings Up $1 Billion
24 February 2004 (StudioBriefing)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King has become the second film in history to earn more than $1 billion worldwide, reaching that level during its tenth week of release, one week faster than Titanic (which went on to earn $1.8 billion). According to its distributor, New Line Cinema, the film's total stood at $1,005,380,412 through Sunday. The results were announced even as the domestic box office experienced a deep swoon, falling 21 percent behind results for the comparable week a year ago. Although four new films made their debuts, not one earned so much as $10 million.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. 50 First Dates, Sony, $20,427,325, 2 Wks. ($71,738,493); 2. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Disney, $9,350,572, (New); 3. Miracle, Disney, $7,803,352, 3 Wks. ($50,352,253); 4. Welcome to Mooseport, 20th Century Fox, $6,775,132, (New); 5. Eurotrip, DreamWorks, $6,711,384, (New); 6. Barbershop 2: Back in Business, MGM, $6,287,008, 3 Wks. ($53,223,440); 7. Mystic River, Warner Bros., $3,094,569, 20 Wks. ($79,206,839); 8. Against the Ropes, Paramount, $3,038,546, (New); 9. The Butterfly Effect, New Line, $2,975,882, 5 Wks. ($53,208,211); 10. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, New Line, $2,850,455, 10 Wks. ($361,118,934).

Death on the Aisles
23 February 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Four new movies opened wide at the box office over the weekend, and none of them earned $10 million or more. "The audience stayed away this weekend," Exhibitor Relations chief Paul Dergarabedian told Bloomberg News. "Many of what I thought would be pretty big opening films fell flat." Ticket sales for the top 12 films amounted to only $75.1 million, a figure 21 percent lower than the comparable weekend a year ago. "We've had four down weekends in a row," Dergarabedian told Bloomberg. "We're really in a slump." The top film at the box office -- for the second week -- was the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore romantic comedy 50 First Dates with $21.0 million. Among the newcomers Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen took in $9.2 million, good enough for second place. Other new films died at birth. The Ray Romano/Gene Hackman comedy Welcome to Mooseport opened in fourth place with $7 million. The raunchy teen movie Eurotrip took fifth place with $6.6 million, and Paramount's Against the Ropes, starring Meg Ryan as a boxing manager, opened in eighth with $3 million.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. 50 First Dates, $21 million; 2. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, $9.2 million; 3. Miracle, $8 million; 4. Welcome to Mooseport, $7 million; 5. Eurotrip, $6.6 million; 6. Barbershop 2: Back in Business, $6.3 million; 7. Mystic River, $3.1 million; 8. Against the Ropes, $3 million; 9. The Butterfly Effect, $2.9 million; 10. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, $2.8 million.

Depp Beats Out Penn for SAG Award
23 February 2004 (StudioBriefing)
In what was regarded as a pirate's prize of the first order, Johnny Depp has won the Screen Actors Guild award for best actor for his performance in Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, beating out the favorite, Sean Penn, who was nominated for his role in Mystic River. There were no other surprises. Charlize Theron won for best actress for her performance as a serial killer in Monster. Renée Zellweger received the supporting actress award for her role in Cold Mountain and Tim Robbins, the best supporting actor award for his role in Mystic River. The cast of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King claimed the prize for best ensemble cast. Meanwhile, in separate ceremonies, Sofia Coppola received the WGA's best original screenplay award for her Lost in Translation, which she also directed. Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman took the award for best adapted screenplay for American Splendor. And in London Jerry Springer: The Opera won the Laurence Olivier award, presented by the Society of London Theater, for best new musical.

Sandler for President(s Day)
18 February 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Adam Sandler appeared to justify his $20-million-per-movie going price as his latest movie, Sony's 50 First Dates, pulled in $45.1 million dollars over the four-day Presidents Day weekend ($39.9 million between Friday and Sunday). The film set a February record for a romantic comedy. The previous weekend's top film, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, slipped to second place with ticket sales of $16.5 million ($14.5 million between Friday and Sunday). Disney's Miracle remained fairly firm, actually moving ahead of Barbershop 2 into second place on Monday with $17 million for the four days ($14 million between Friday and Sunday). The rest of the top ten bunched together well behind the leaders.

The top ten films over the three-day weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. 50 First Dates, Sony, $39,852,237, 1 Wks. ($45,107,871); 2. Barbershop 2: Back in Business, MGM, $14,467,567, 2 Wks. ($44,974,742); 3. Miracle, Disney, $14,031,960, 2 Wks. ($40,050,545); 4. You Got Served, Screen Gems, $5,111,778, 3 Wks. ($33,006,206); 5. The Butterfly Effect, New Line, $5,254,335, 4 Wks. ($49,179,651); 6. Catch That Kid, 20th Century Fox, $4,465,460, 2 Wks. ($12,379,409); 7. Along Came Polly, Universal, $4,831,820, 5 Wks. ($82,011,840); 8. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, New Line, $4,187,000, 9 Wks. ($357,367,856); 9. Mystic River, Warner Bros., $3,687,667, 19 Wks. ($75,269,389); 10. Cold Mountain, Miramax, $3,460,854, 8 Wks. ($87,758,959).

Lots of Dates for 'Dates'
16 February 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Proving itself to be the Valentine's Day (and Presidents' Day) weekend's ultimate date movie, the Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore romantic comedy 50 First Dates became the second-biggest February opening ever as it took in $41 million, according to studio estimates. Only 2001's Hannibal, which debuted with $58 million, performed better in February, a traditionally sluggish month at the box office. Last week's top film, Barbershop 2: Back in Business, moved down a notch to second place with $15.6 million.

The top ten films for the weekend, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations: 1. 50 First Dates, $41 million; 2. Barbershop 2: Back in Business, $15.6 million; 3. Miracle, $14 million; 4. The Butterfly Effect, $5.7 million; 5. You Got Served, $5.1 million; 6. Along Came Polly, $5.08 million; 7. Catch That Kid, $4.35 million; 8. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King, $4.15 million; 9. Cold Mountain, $3.7 million; 10. Mystic River, $3.55 million.

'Lord' Is King at BAFTAs
16 February 2004 (StudioBriefing)
The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King won the best film award Sunday night at the annual BAFTA ceremonies in London. Surprisingly, however, the award for best director went to Peter Weir, who helmed Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World. Bill Murray won the best actor award for his performance in Lost in Translation. Murray, notorious for shunning awards programs, sent a note that was read by the film's director, Sofia Coppola, saying that the honor was "a huge surprise." The award also surprised many film industry prognosticators, who had almost unanimously forecast a win for Sean Penn for Mystic River. Another surprise winner was Murray's costar Scarlett Johansson, who won the best actress award for her performance in the movie. In an anomaly, she was also up against herself in the category, having also been nominated for Girl With a Pearl Earring. Bill Nighy received the supporting actor award for Love Actually, while Renée Zellweger received the supporting actress award for Cold Mountain.

'Lord' of the BAFTAs
16 February 2004 (WENN)
The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The King and Lost In Translation were the big winners at Sunday's Orange British Academy Film Awards. The final installment of the JRR Tolkien adaptations picked up five BAFTAs out of 13 nominations, including Best Film, Best Adapted Screenplay and Film Of The Year (as voted by the public), at the star-studded ceremony at the Odeon Leicester Square in London. Lost In Translation garnered the top acting accolades as teen star Scarlett Johansson won Best Actress In A Leading Role and Bill Murray was honored with Best Actor In A Leading Role, which was accepted on his behalf by director Sofia Coppola. Master And Commander: The Far Side Of The World was another big achiever on the night, garnering four golden masks, including The David Lean Award for Achievement in Direction for Peter Weir. Master And Commander star Paul Bettany, who won Best Actor for his role in the seafaring film at the London Film Critics' Circle Awards last week, accepted Weir's award as the movie-maker was in America filming and paid tribute to him, saying, "Peter is a genius." The big shock of the evening was Cold Mountain's performance - after garnering 13 nominations, it only won Best Actress In A Supporting Role for Renee Zellweger and the Anthony Asquith Award For Achievement In Film Music. Girl With A Pearl Earring also lost out in all ten categories it was nominated in. See all the BAFTA winners.

London Film Critics Snub 'Rings'
13 February 2004 (StudioBriefing)
In a departure from the near unanimous decisions of other major film critics groups, The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King has been shut out in the annual voting of the London Film Critics' Circle. The group of 100 critics who write for newspapers and magazines throughout the United Kingdom selected Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World as the year's best film. The award for directing went to Clint Eastwood for Mystic River. Sean Penn received the best actor award for the same film; Julianne Moore, the best actress vote for Far From Heaven. The screenwriting award was won by John Collee and Peter Weir for Master and Commander.The German film Good-bye, Lenin! took the best foreign language film award.

'Barbershop 2' Collects Fourth-Biggest February Take
10 February 2004 (StudioBriefing)
Barbershop 2: Back in Business debuted strongly at the box office over the weekend, taking in $24.2 million, the fourth-biggest February opening in history. The figure compared with $20.6 million for the original Barbershop in 2004. Disney's Miracle also had a strong opening, netting $19.4 million for the second spot. But results quickly sank from there, putting the overall box office 7 percent behind the comparable weekend a year ago. A significant disappointment was 20th Century Fox's Catch That Kid, which couldn't catch enough kids' interest. The film collected only $5.8 million, putting it in sixth place.

The top ten films over the weekend, according to final figures compiled by Exhibitor Relations (figures in parentheses represent total gross to date): 1. Barbershop 2: Back in Business, MGM, $24,241,612, (New); 2. Miracle, Disney, $19,377,577, (New); 3. You Got Served, Sony, $7,518,860, 2 Wks. ($25,865,203); 4. Along Came Polly, Universal, $6,846,305, 4 Wks. ($75,046,055); 5. The Butterfly Effect, New Line, $6,