Showbiz News and Scoops | Studio and Network Dish | Hollywood Insider

Hollywood Insider Showbiz News and Scoops | Studio and Network Dish

Jan 24 2010 12:45 PM ET

Sundance: Malin Akerman on fan adoration

When actress Malin Akerman headed to Sundance Thursday to promote three films at the festival: Happythankyoumoreplease, Bang Bang Club, and The Romantics, she hung around the airport in Los Angeles looking like just another passenger awaiting her plane. But when she landed in Salt Lake City, it was an entirely different situation. Watchmen fans surrounded their Silk Spectre with freshly printed glossy photos, searching for a signature. The attention seemed a bit out of place, and rather extreme, for this airport that is usually filled with ski buffs ready to attack Utah’s snowy peaks. But one week out of the year, Utah becomes a star-studded locale, and the fans are ready. “I always wonder how they know where I am,” says Akerman. “There must be some insider at the airport who calls all the Watchmen fans, because they are always the ones that show up.” And how does Akerman handle the adoration? “You’ve got to give them a ‘one more and I’ll see you at the festival.’ But they can be pretty adamant. One of these days I’m going to have to interview them to figure out how they find me.”

Akerman’s first film Happythankyoumoreplease debuted to a standing ovation. The directorial debut from How I Met Your Mother star Josh Radnor has received some solid reviews and is likely to sell by the end of the festival.

Jan 23 2010 06:30 PM ET

Sundance: Spike Jonze strikes 'I'm Here' deal

by Nicole Sperling

Categories: Sundance Film Festival

Director Spike Jonze has proven again that he can make magic in any format. The director of Where the Wild Things Are created a beautiful 30-minute short called I’m Here about young love in Los Angeles. The film, which debuted here as part of the festival’s short program, feels like a modern-day retelling of Shel Silverstein’s The Giving Tree, with two crudely constructed robots serving as the protagonists. Financed by Absolut Vodka, IFC claims it has reached a deal to air I’m Here — while others say the details has not yet been finalized.

Regardless, the buzz about Jonze’s short is undeniable. The director admits to the Silverstein influence, adding that he named his main character Sheldon in honor of the 1970s poet and storyteller. “I was trying to take the influence of The Giving Tree, but write about relationships,” says Jonze. “I love Shel Silverstein. I just love him.” Jonze hired Andrew Garfield (The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus) and Sienna Guillory to don robot costumes, while his special effects crew did a fantastic job drawing emotions out of robot heads that resembled the old Apple Macintosh Classic computer.

And how does Jonze feel about Where the Wild Things Are — his risky, big-budget adaptation of the children’s classic — now that some time has passed. He’s thrilled. “I feel like we got to make the movie that was in my heard,” says Jonze. “It was hard along the way but in the end, I feel like we got away with murder. We got to make this personal film on this [huge] scale.”

Jan 23 2010 04:52 PM ET

Box office Friday: 'Avatar' still on top; 'Legion' grabs second slot

by Nicole Sperling

Categories: Box Office, Movie Biz, Uncategorized

Looks like its gonna be a rough weekend for new releases. Early estimates for Friday show Avatar back on top yet again, adding another $9 million to its cumulative haul. Legion, from Sony’s Screen Gems division, performed best of the new releases, with the sci-fi thriller starring Paul Bettany and Dennis Quaid scoring an estimated $6.7 million for the day. Third place belonged to holdover The Book of Eli, which grossed close to $5 million in its second Friday in theaters. And it doesn’t look like kids are buying The Rock as The Tooth Fairy. The PG-rated comedy starring Dwayne Johnson earned only $3.4 million on its opening day for a fourth place slot. Number five belonged to The Lovely Bones, which garnered an additional $2.6 million for the day.

Meanwhile, CBS Films looks like its going to be asking for a do-over on their debut film from the new company. Extraordinary Measures, with Harrison Ford and Brendan Fraser, landed in the sixth slot with only $2 million for the day. Check back tomorrow for a full weekend report.

Jan 23 2010 10:38 AM ET

Conan O'Brien's farewell attracts big ratings

by Lynette Rice

Categories: TV Ratings, Television, Uncategorized

Not surprisingly, the last edition of The Tonight Show with Conan O’Brien was a ratings magnet for the ailing NBC. The comedian, who talked about how he “did it my way” and did not “regret a second,” earned a whopping 7.0 rating/16 share in 55 of the country’s metered markets (the most immediate numbers available). Ratings for his fellow latenight hosts didn’t even come close: The Late Show with David Letterman averaged a mere 2.5/5, while Nightline earned a 2.8/6, and Jimmy Kimmel Live, a 1.3/4. Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, however, was able to draft off of O’Brien’s success: his show averaged a respectible 3.3/10, easily beating Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson (1.5/4). Final ratings for last night are due Jan. 28.

For more on O’Brien’s departure:

Conan O’Brien’s final monologue

Conan O’Brien’s last night: your take?

NBC reaches a resolution on Conan, announces Jay Leno is back on Tonight March 1

Jan 22 2010 10:53 PM ET

Conan O'Brien's final monologue: 'Nobody in life gets what they thought they were going to get'

by Lynette Rice

Categories: Uncategorized

So long, Coco. In Conan O’Brien’s final comments to viewers tonight, the comedian thanked his fans for their support and — despite a protracted and ugly negotiation – gave a shout-out to NBC, his home for more than 20 years. Here is tonight’s final monologue:

Ladies and gentleman, we have exactly one hour to steal every single item in this studio. We’ve a had a lot of fun being here these last 7 months, but like everything in life, the fun has to come to an end a decade too early. The terms of my settlement say that I can’t host another show for 7 months. So next week look forward to the `Andy Richter Show’ with his sidekick, me! As I set off for exciting new career opportunities, I just want to make one thing clear to everyone listening out there: I will do nudity.

Now that this mess is almost behind me – I just have one last request: HBO, when you make the movie about this whole NBC late night fiasco, I’d like to be played by Academy-Award winning actress Tilda Swinton. People have been asking me what’s going to happen to our studio after we’re gone. There are actually a few possible uses for our studio being kicked around. I thought I’d share some of the ideas with you right now:

Site of Tiger Woods’ 1st Annual Mistress Reunion
Fitting room for cast of “The Biggest Loser”
Storage facility for apology notes to NBC stockholders
Waterpark for Max Weinberg’s illegitimate children
Hair and chest oil storage for the “Jersey Shore” cast
Future site of “Cooters,” the nation’s first pants less sports bar and restaurant
Studio preserved as a nice, quiet, peaceful place where the cast of “Chuck” can be alone with their thoughts
Magician David Blaine will attempt the impossible by trying to remain in the studio for longer than seven months
Leave the studio cold and empty and re-name it “The World’s Largest Metaphor For NBC Programming”
Panic room for Gary Busey after the rise of the fire hydrants
Studio will be air-lifted to a location with better luck, like on top of a native-American burial ground

And his closing remarks:

Before we end this rodeo, a few things need to be said. There has been a lot of speculation in the press about what I legally can and can’t say about NBC. To set the record straight, tonight I am allowed to say anything I want. And what I want to say is this: between my time at Saturday Night Live, the Late Night show, and my brief run here on The Tonight Show, I have worked with NBC for over 20 years. Yes, we have our differences right now and yes, we’re going to go our separate ways. But this company has been my home for most of my adult life. I am enormously proud of the work we have done together, and I want to thank NBC for making it all possible.

Walking away from The Tonight Show is the hardest thing I have ever had to do. Making this choice has been enormously difficult. This is the best job in the world, I absolutely love doing it, and I have the best staff and crew in the history of the medium. But despite this sense of loss, I really feel this should be a happy moment. Every comedian dreams of hosting The Tonight Show and, for seven months, I got to. I did it my way, with people I love, and I do not regret a second. I’ve had more good fortune than anyone I know and if our next gig is doing a show in a 7-Eleven parking lot, we’ll find a way to make it fun.

And finally, I have to say something to our fans. The massive outpouring of support and passion from so many people has been overwhelming. The rallies, the signs, all the goofy, outrageous creativity on the Internet, and the fact that people have traveled long distances and camped out all night in the pouring rain to be in our audience, made a sad situation joyous and inspirational.

To all the people watching, I can never thank you enough for your kindness to me and I’ll think about it for the rest of my life. All I ask of you is one thing: please don’t be cynical. I hate cynicism — it’s my least favorite quality and it doesn’t lead anywhere. Nobody in life gets exactly what they thought they were going to get. But if you work really hard and you’re kind, amazing things will happen. As proof, let’s make an amazing thing happen right now.

Jan 22 2010 03:38 PM ET

'Jersey Shore' finale posts record ratings for MTV

by Lynette Rice

Categories: TV Biz, TV Ratings, Television

MTV has yet to decide whether to order a second season of Jersey Shore but the latest ratings should speed up the process. Last night’s finale of the now-notorious reality show, following a group of people renting a beach house at the Jersey Shore, averaged a whopping 4.8 million viewers and a 4.8 rating in the age 12-34 demographic. That’s a 30% increase over the previous series high in that key demo. MTV reports that Shore posted incredible growth over its abbreviated season and the finale audience more than tripled that of the series debut. Many viewers also stuck around for Jersey Shore: The Reunion immediately after the finale; it delivered a 4.0 rating among persons 12-34 and attracted more than 4 million viewers.

Jan 22 2010 02:08 PM ET

Tony Hale 'optimistically hopeful' about 'Arrested Development' movie

by Nicole Sperling

Categories: Film, Movie Biz, News, Television

Tony Hale is “optimistically hopeful” about the Arrested Development movie starting this year. The actor, best known as Buster Bluth on the hit series, is in Sundance today to promote Josh Radnor’s (How I Met Your Mother) directorial debut HappyThankYouMorePlease, in which Hale is part of the ensemble cast in a story of complicated New York relationships. The actor said he just talked to Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz and can confirm the script is currently being written. He added, “I saw that Will Arnett said we’ll be shooting this year. I hope that’s true. All I know is we are all really excited to make the movie.”

Jan 21 2010 10:58 PM ET

Box office preview: 'Tooth Fairy', 'Extraordinary Measures' and 'Legion' will all fall to 'Avatar'

by Nicole Sperling

Categories: Box Office, Film, Movie Biz

Neither a grown man in a fairy costume, nor Harrison Ford, nor badass avenging angels will be able to topple Avatar, even as James Cameron’s 3-D extravaganza enters its sixth weekend in theaters. Avatar has already grossed more than $500 million domestically and is likely to surpass The Dark Knight’s cume of $533 million by the close of the weekend. With that, Dwayne Johnson’s The Tooth Fairy, the Harrison Ford-Brendan Fraser medical weepie Extraordinary Measures, and Sony’s supernatural drama Legion will all have to vie for second, third and fourth place, along with holdovers Book of Eli and The Lovely Bones.

Read on for my predictions.

1. Avatar: $34 million

Considering the film dropped only 17% last frame, a mere 20% fall this weekend is not impossible. (Read full post)

Jan 21 2010 08:45 PM ET

Jay Leno: 'I have chosen to stay on the Titanic'

by Lynette Rice

Categories: News, TV Biz, Television

Now that it’s official that Conan O’Brien is vacating The Tonight Show, Jay Leno made the following statement during today’s taping of The Jay Leno Show that will air tonight: “NBC and Conan O’Brien made an announcement earlier today — as many of you know — Conan is leaving the network. His final show airs tomorrow night. I have chosen to stay on the Titanic. I don’t believe the iceberg is that big, the biggest ship, this ship will never sink and Kev…when it does, Kev as it’s sinking you will play us…you’ll be here for us so. Apparently we’ll be back on The Tonight Show March 1 after the Olympics, so that’s pretty much where we are.”

Earlier today, NBC Entertainment Chairman Jeff Gaspin told EW.com that he expects Leno “will be competitive” when he returns to The Tonight Show and — despite the wave of pro-Conan O’Brien sentiment — that he will not have trouble luring stars to his old stomping grounds. “Jay has been booking guests for 18 years, and while there might be a guest or two who favors Conan who doesn’t want to come on, there are also guests who Leno has that don’t like to go on Conan,” said Gaspin. “I think we will be fine.”

Jan 21 2010 04:55 PM ET

Robert Pattinson, Sean Penn in talks for 'Elephants'

by Nicole Sperling

Categories: Film, Movie Biz, News, Robert Pattinson

Robert Pattinson and Sean Penn are in negotiations to star with Reese Witherspoon in Water for Elephants for Fox 2000. The film will be an adaptation of Sara Gruen’s 2006 bestseller of the same name about a love triangle among circus employees in Depression-era America. Pattinson would play Jacob Jankowski, an orphaned veterinary student who is put in charge of caring for the animals in a traveling circus. He falls in love with beautiful equestrian rider Marlena (Witherspoon) who is married to the troupe’s charismatic but dangerous animal trainer August (Penn).

Francis Lawrence attached to direct, and Richard LaGravenese to adapt the script. Gil Netter, Erwin Stoff and Andrew Tennenbaum are producing. Fox hasn’t confirmed Pattinson and Penn’s involvement in the project.

Older Posts