WEEKEND BOX OFFICE ESTIMATE

1. 21 (SONY) 2,648 $23,700,000
2. Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who! (FOX) 3,826 $17,400,000
3. Superhero Movie (MGM/DIMENSION) 2,960 $9,500,000
4. Meet the Browns (LIONSGATE) 2,016 $7,800,000
5. Drillbit Taylor (PAR) 3,061 $5,800,000
6. Shutter (FOX) 2,756 $5,300,000
7. 10,000 BC (WB) 3,055 $4,900,000
8. Stop-Loss (PAR) 1,291 $4,500,000
9. College Road Trip (DISNEY) 2,270 $3,500,000
10. The Bank Job (LIONSGATE) 1,605 $2,800,000
in millions of dollars

Variety

MGM has named Mary Parent to be chairperson of its Worldwide Motion Picture Group. She will be responsible for oversight of MGM’s worldwide theatrical production, distribution, marketing and business affairs for MGM, reporting directly to chairman/CEO Harry Sloan, and the MGM board of directors. Parent, the former vice chairman of Worldwide Production at Universal Pictures, was a highly regarded executive before she stepped out of the executive suites with Scott Stuber to form the production shingle Stuber/Parent.

Her appointment fills a major need for MGM as it evolves from a slate that came largely from outside providers to a self-generator of feature films. Parent brings strong relationships with filmmakers and actors that will help bring credibility to that effort.

Variety

I agree with the last part about bringing strong relationships to MGM, so smart move!

Just when fanatics were beginning to dread the final two movies bringing an end to Harry Potter mania Warner Bros. milks it for all it’s worth. Well not really…. ok yeah they are. Warner Bros. will be breaking the final installment of Harry Potter,Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,into a 2 part film with each being 6 months apart.( Think the Matrix and Pirates movies who both had installments released months apart) Since I have fallen victim to J.K. Rowlings’ spell, I will be one of those plopping down $10 twice. Hopefully the director doesn’t screw it up and make it as bad as Order of the Phoenix. Read all about this over at Variety. While you wait Harry Potter and the Half Blooded Prince hits theaters November 21, 2008. Here’s to hoping Dobby will not be forgotten again.

Just when you thought you could breathe a sigh of relief.Yes, the next major negotiations to take place among guilds on the aftermath of the writer’s strike is the Screen Actors Guild. The SAG contract with AMPTP is up in June.

Facing pressure to start contract talks as soon as possible, SAG has announced it won’t start formal negotiations with the AMPTP until April at the earliest.

In a message sent to members Thursday, SAG president Alan Rosenberg and national exec director Doug Allen said SAG plans to stress the issues of new media, compensation for middle-class actors and forced endorsement on product integration.

Read the full article here.

Variety

New Line’s 40-year run as an independent studio ended Thursday when Time Warner said it would fold the company into Warner Bros. New Line will become a unit of Warners, maintaining separate development, production, marketing, distribution and business affairs operations.

Variety

Columbia, Moritz call on ‘The Boys’

Indie comicbook series follows CIA squad

By TATIANA SIEGEL

Columbia Pictures has acquired the rights to indie comicbook “The Boys” and will develop a feature adaptation along with producer Neal H. Moritz and his Sony-based Original Film banner.Created by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, the contemporary-set comicbook series follows a CIA squad, known informally as “the boys,” whose job is to keep watch on the proliferation of superheroes and, if necessary, intimidate or eliminate them.

Moritz characterized the series as an original take on the superhero genre. “Rather than begin with a romantic idea of superheroes out to save the world, ‘The Boys’ imagines a world in which superheroes really exist, with all of the flaws that real people have,” he said. “The boys are there to make sure that people with superhuman powers don’t get out of line.”

The comicbook is published by Dynamite Entertainment. Rights were initially optioned by Kickstart Comic Art Studios. Kickstart’s Jason Netter and NightSky Entertainment’s Ken F. Levin will produce the film with Moritz; Original’s Ori Marmur exec produces.

Ennis is co-creator of the bestselling comic series “Preacher,” which is being adapted for HBO.

Variety

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts held it’s annual award ceremony this Sunday. Congratulations to Shia LeBeouf for winning the Orange Rising Star Award.

BEST FILM
Atonement — produced by Tim Bevan/Eric Fellner/Paul Webster

BEST BRITISH FILM
This Is England — Mark Herbert/Shane Meadows

THE CARL FOREMAN AWARD for Special Achievement by a British Director, Writer or Producer for their First Feature Film
Matt Greenhalgh (Writer) — Control

DIRECTOR
No Country For Old Men — Joel Coen/Ethan Coen

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Juno — Diablo Cody

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
The Diving Bell And The Butterfly — Ronald Harwood

FILM NOT IN THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
The Kite Runner — William Horberg/Walter Parkes/Rebecca Yeldham/Marc Forster

ANIMATED FILM
Ratatouille — Brad Bird

LEADING ACTOR
Daniel Day-Lewis — There Will Be Blood

LEADING ACTRESS
Marion Cotillard — La Vie en Rose

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Javier Bardem — No Country for Old Men

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Tilda Swinton — Michael Clayton

MUSIC
La Vie En Rose — Christopher Gunning

CINEMATOGRAPHY
No Country For Old Men — Roger Deakins

EDITING
The Bourne Ultimatum — Christopher Rouse

PRODUCTION DESIGN
Atonement — Sarah Greenwood/Katie Spencer

COSTUME DESIGN
La Vie En Rose — Marit Allen

SOUND
The Bourne Ultimatum — Kirk Francis/Scott Millan/David Parker/Karen Baker Landers/Per Hallberg

SPECIAL VISUAL EFFECTS
The Golden Compass — Michael Fink/Bill Westenhofer/Ben Morris/Trevor Wood

MAKE UP & HAIR
La Vie En Rose — Jan Archibald/Didier Lavergne

SHORT ANIMATION
The Pearce Sisters — Jo Allen/Luis Cook

SHORT FILM
Dog Altogether — Diarmid Scrimshaw/Paddy Considine

THE ORANGE RISING STAR AWARD (voted for by the public)
Shia Labeouf

Amy Adams is in negotiations to star opposite Ben Stiller in 20th Century Fox’s “Night at the Museum 2.”Pic kicks off when the artifacts from the Museum of Natural History are boxed up and sent to the archives at the Smithsonian in Washington. Adams will play an undetermined historical figure who has a crush on security guard Larry (Stiller).

Shawn Levy returns to helm the sequel, which has a U.S. release date set for May 22, 2009. Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon penned the screenplay, Scott Frank the most recent draft.

Levy’s 21 Laps is producing alongside 1492 Pictures. Michael Barnathan and Mark Radcliffe will serve as producers. Studio is eyeing a May start date in Vancouver.

Adams is onscreen in “Charlie Wilson’s War” and “Enchanted.” She stars in the indie “Sunshine Cleaning,” which bowed at the Sundance Film Festival.

Adams is repped by Endeavor.

FILM
Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
George Clooney, Michael Clayton
WINNER: Daniel Day-Lewis, There Will Be Blood
Ryan Gosling, Lars and the Real Girl
Emile Hirsch, Into the Wild
Viggo Mortensen, Eastern PromisesPerformance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Cate Blanchett, Elizabeth: The Golden Age
WINNER: Julie Christie, Away From Her
Marion Cotillard, La Vie en rose
Angelina Jolie, A Mighty Heart
Ellen Page, Juno

Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Casey Affleck, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
WINNER: Javier Bardem, No Country for Old Men
Hal Holbrook, Into the Wild
Tommy Lee Jones, No Country for Old Men
Tom Wilkinson, Michael Clayton

Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Cate Blanchett, I’m Not There
WINNER: Ruby Dee, American Gangster
Catherine Keener, Into the Wild
Amy Ryan, Gone Baby Gone
Tilda Swinton, Michael Clayton

Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
3:10 to Yuma
American Gangster
Hairspray
Into the Wild
WINNER: No Country for Old Men

Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
300
WINNER: The Bourne Ultimatum
I Am Legend
The Kingdom
Pirates of the Caribbean:
At World’s End

TELEVISION
Performance by a Male Actor in a Drama Series
WINNER: James Gandolfini, The Sopranos
Michael C. Hall, Dexter
Jon Hamm, Mad Men
Hugh Laurie, House
James Spader, Boston Legal

Performance by a Female Actor in a Drama Series
Glenn Close, Damages
WINNER: Edie Falco, The Sopranos
Sally Field, Brothers & Sisters
Holly Hunter, Saving Grace
Kyra Sedgwick, The Closer

Performance by a Male Actor in a Comedy Series
WINNER: Alec Baldwin,30 Rock
Steve Carell, The Office
Ricky Gervais, Extras
Jeremy Piven, Entourage
Tony Shaloub, Monk

Performance by a Female Actor in a Comedy Series
Christina Applegate, Samantha Who?
America Ferrera, Ugly Betty
WINNER: Tina Fey, 30 Rock
Mary-Louise Parker, Weeds
Vanessa Williams, Ugly Betty

Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series
Boston Legal
The Closer
Grey’s Anatomy
Mad Men
WINNER: The Sopranos

Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series
30 Rock
Desperate Housewives
Entourage
WINNER: The Office
Ugly Betty

Performance by a Male Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Michael Keaton, The Company
WINNER: Kevin Kline, As You Like It
Oliver Platt, The Bronx Is Burning
Sam Shepard, Ruffian
John Turturro, The Bronx Is Burning

Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries
Ellen Burstyn, Mitch Albom’s For One More Day
Debra Messing, The Starter Wife
Anna Paquin, Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee
WINNER: Queen Latifah, Life Support
Gena Rowlands, What if God Were the Sun?
Vanessa Redgrave, The Fever

Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series
WINNER: 24
Heroes
Lost
Rome
The Unit