The Hot Blog

HAH!™

47-year old industryite writes: "At Monkey Bar for Sandy Bullock party-- bringing median age down about 30 years."

Cop Out - Red Band

You know, watching this, I am actually interested in seeing this film... more so than any Kevin Smith movie in a long while, I must say. And what WB is out selling wide... I just can't tell what movie they are trying to tell me it's going to be... a Wayans Bros mock of cop movies or God knows what.

But this red band trailer - not safe for work or people who get upset by dick jokes - much, much clearer vision.

PRESS RELEASE - "THE COVE" SET TO LAUNCH IN JAPAN

London, UK – The Works International is delighted to announce the acquisition of Academy Award® nominated documentary THE COVE by Japanese distributor Medallion Media which is planning a tentative release date of April 2010 in Japan.

Until now Japanese distributors have shied away from the award-winning documentary which generated huge coverage and controversy in Japan when it was finally included in the line-up of the 2009 Tokyo Film Festival after initially being rejected. Despite threats of legal action by fishermen from the town of Taiji featured in the film, the festival scheduled another screening after the first sold out within hours. Most Japanese are unaware of the annual dolphin cull that takes place in Taiji and also the significant risks of mercury poisoning from the eating of dolphin meat which the film so effectively exposes. In spite of continued opposition from the Taiji fishermen, Medallion Media recognized there were many people keen to see the film. Says Norio Okahara, Director of Medallion Media: “In distributing THE COVE we are not taking sides. Rather, we are presenting the film for the Japanese to decide for themselves about the issues it raises. There is a debate to be had here and this important film – and the Academy Award® nomination only serves to reinforce its importance - offers the opportunity for such a debate.”

Joy Wong negotiated the deal with Media Co.'s Norio Okahara. Carl Clifton, Managing Director of The Works International, said of the deal: “Many distributors screened the film and most decided it was simply too hot to handle even if they all felt it must be seen by the Japanese people. Medallion Media has shown real courage in acquiring THE COVE for Japan and we look forward to working with them on it.”

Is Plagiarism The Same When The Journalist Is Respected?

Just curious on this one. Gerald Posner was caught cribbing off the Miami Herald for The Daily Beast this last week. And in this case, it wasn't a film guide/production notes situation, it was a steal right out of another journalist's reportage.

Same as Paul Fischer or not? Should Posner get mocked, shunned, and fired?

"There is no excuse," (Posner) said, repeatedly expressing his regret. "I take full responsibility."

According to (editor Ed) Felsenthal, Posner will continue to write for the Beast.

"I'm convinced this was an unintentional aberration in an extraordinary career breaking news and doing top quality journalism with high ethical standards," Felsenthal said.

So is it the game or the player that defines the response?

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On a similar note, here is a story on publicity veteran Lois Smith in the Boston University newspaper (found via Romanesko) Bolding is mine:

"Between celebrity magazines and websites, there’s so much out there to be filled up, so much information that has to be put out there simply because those publications exist," says longtime Hollywood publicist Lois Smith. "People are desperate to fill the space they've got; they'll print anything, go with anything, pursue rumors, and even create them. It's not what I call publicity."

She's old... she was a flack... but she also gets it.

Kevin Smith on Cop Out

Ray Pride ran this story and when I clicked on it, I got a big surprise... Kevin Smith directed Cop Out, the movie being hard sold by WB with Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan... with no mention of its famous director.

The piece, worth a read, includes some conversation about how the film is being marketed... which is to say, wider than the Kevin Smith base.

Anyway... I am not picking on Kevin with this. I hope the film is a ton of fun. But as I watched the ads, I kept wondering who directed the thing and why I didn't at least see it on the outdoor or at the back of the TV spots. Question answered.

Weird business.

DP/30 - Precious screenwriter Geoffrey Fletcher

Shot at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival

mp3 of the interview

Do We Really Believe In What "Adjusted Grosses" Mean?

Super Bowl Ads

Not a great year for ads. Google's search through a life experience was close... very clever. I liked Dorito's "Play Nice" ad.

I wasn't a fan of the Megan Fox sexting ad for Motorola. I don't know that VW's punch ad, which I mostly liked, needed a kid punching someone in the balls or a joke about Stevie Wonder being blind... distracted from the everyman idea. And what were the odds that there would be back-to-back ads with men running around without pants?

Here's a way to check out all of the ads via Hulu...

And Here are my 4 favorites... 3 of them after the jump...

This one is yet another case of Leno rebuilding his image...

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BYOB™ Super Bowl Sunday

Working Girl To Join Jersey Shore?

SNL & Ashton Kutcher Explain Twitter... But It Didn't Make The Show

Weekend Estimate by Klady - Dear Na'vi

Is there more to say?

Hannah Montana The Movie sold more tickets on opening weekend than Dear John.

Oy.

To Paris With Love's opening reminds us just how good Fox's approach on Taken was. And isn't it ironic that the sequel to Morel's first film behind the camera, District B13, also opened this weekend... with a thud? (Magnolia made it nearly impossible to see the film... so I guess they thought it had it coming.)

Decent expansion for Crazy Heart. Sherlock crossed $200m. Ajami and The Last Station showed a little nomination bump on an arthouse scale. An Education and Precious also got small bumps, though they can't be thrilled with their per-screens.

BO Friday

I will eventually post Klady's chart, but the headline for the weekend will be that Avatar got beat by a girl, as Dear John will likely roll out to business in the low 30s. (Yes, Super Bowl is hard on chick flicks too.)

The more significant storyline will actually be that in Weekend Eight, Avatar may fall back to Titanic's weekend numbers for the first time. The "official" Titanic Weekend Eight was $23,027,838. If Avatar drops only 25% , it will still have the Weekend Eight record. But 30% - Super Bowl! - would drop it just below. And Titanic actually went back up the weekend after Super Bowl... to $28.2m... which will surely beat Avatar next weekend, if the Na'vi are not vanquished this weekend.

$262 million of Titanic's gross came after Weekend Eight. We shouldn't expect that of Avatar. But with the legs it's shown, another $170m to get to $800m domestic, should not shock.

Meanwhile, with over $1.5m in the international bank already, Avatar should pass Titanic's worldwide gross of $1.8b in international gross alone, ending up with over #2.6b at the box office. A 45% bump from the previous record and well over double any other film's worldwide gross. Those who wish to shoot this down as being just about 3D or hype, please start your adjusting/rationalizing engines and know that you should red in the face with embarrassment, not fury.

And if you are looking for Dear John precedent, look no farther than the "same weekend" two years ago... Hannah Montana/Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert Tour... $31.1m opening... and that was without a lot of women over 20. Simple marketing... give 'em what they want and get out of the way. Smart. Successful.

Taylor Lautner... Car Wreck of The New Decade?

Someone has to say it.

Studios seem to be having a mass delusion about Taylor Lautner. He's a beautiful kid. And shows not the tiniest amount of acting skill. He make Justin Timberlake look like frickin' Olivier!

I may turn out to be terribly wrong. But I have never seen a lesser show of talent hosting Saturday Night Live... and that includes Ralph Nader and January Jones.

And with due respect to Donna Langley, who is quoted in the Stretch Armstrong press release, Mr Lautner has most certainly not become a movie star in the last few years. He's never even been the lead of a movie. And I believe he will be the latest in a long line of cover boys from the girl equivalent of jerk mags, the gossip glossies, to cost studios tens of millions in wasted dollars, trying to make a star out of a stiff stud.

You tell me...

(Edited, 10:40p, for iPhoned typos)

Santa Barbara IntFF

Landed late... no opening night film... but the baby was a celebrity at the opening party. He decided to sleep through much of it. Festival Director Roger Durling was exhausted - he's an early riser and worker... like military early - and late night parties are not his thing. That said, the community continues to support this fest in a big way, some big new sponsors came on board, and his September invites for the hypey part of the fest, the Oscar pre-show, turned out to be prescient.

If you are in SB or will be, a big recommendation for Roy's. The restaurant/bar, at which Roy himself is front and center, not only has excellent food at a pretty good price (entrees including soup and salad) - unpretentious gourmet - but Roy is a real mensch. He's the kind of businessman that I am thrilled to see succeed.