The UBS Evening Movie News 04.03.08

Posted by George H. Sirois on 04.03.2008

The “Fun with Producers” Edition…




Welcome everyone to the latest edition of The UBS Evening Movie News. I'm George H. Sirois, and I took the advice of a few of you guys and caught See No Evil on Netflix this week. And you know what? It didn't completely suck. Kane made for a damn good horror villain and there were more than a few genuinely creepy moments. The dog scene was pretty damn good. All in all, they could have kicked off WWE Films in a much worse manner. I'd say I won't own it, but looking at my collection, it's only a matter of time before I do.

Oh, and speaking of catching movies on Netflix, allow me to second Chad Webb's recommendation for you to see Superman: Doomsday. I went into this with low expectations and came out of it thinking that I had just seen something that matches the quality of both Batman: Mask of the Phantasm and Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker. Adam Baldwin did a great job as Clark & Superman and James Marsters was really creepy as Lex Luthor. The storyline is a much streamlined rendition of Superman's death and rebirth as it was in the comics, and even though it only winds up being loosely based on that comic story, it worked really well here. I'll be covering this in more detail soon when I do my Scene Anatomy 101 column on it.

I'll be going into more detail with my adventures with Hollywood Classics at the Ziegfeld this week, but before that, I got some news for you…


TOP STORY

Jennifer Aniston and producing partner Kristin Hahn have formed Echo Films, a company that will start with a first-look deal at Universal Pictures.

Aniston and Hahn have already made several project acquisitions, most of which will be developed as star vehicles for Aniston.

The studio has just acquired screen rights to Jane Fallon's British bestseller "Getting Rid of Matthew," and Aniston and Hahn will produce with Lynda Obst and Marc Rosen. Fallon, a veteran U.K. TV producer who is married to Ricky Gervais, will adapt her novel about a hard-charging publicist whose lusty affair with a married man is ruined by his decision to leave his wife and two children for her. She invents a new persona, befriends the spurned wife and attempts to patch up the marriage up so she can be rid of him. In the process, she develops a thing for his oldest son.

Universal and Echo also have tapped the book market to acquire "The Divorce Party," a Laura Dave novel that Viking will publish in May, with Gwyn Lurie ("The Man Who Ate the 747") aboard to write the script. As a husband and wife reach their 35th wedding anniversary, they hold a party to announce their divorce. It creates complications for their son, who returns home with his commitment-shy fiancée.

Aniston and Hahn have made a script deal at U for "Counter-Clockwise," a script by Paul Bernbaum ("Next"). It's a true story based on a study conducted by Harvard prof and psychologist Ellen Langer in which she tried to reverse the aging process of subjects by re-creating the era of their prime. Aniston and Hahn will produce with Gina Mathews and Grant Scharbo. Echo has also has a U deal for "Love: Todd," a Kristen Stavola-scripted drama about an aging tennis pro-turned-coach who gets schooled by a precocious teen tennis phenom. Aniston will produce with Hahn, but isn't planning to act in the film.

The Echo partners have a deal at Overture for "Chemistry," a David Sussman-scripted dramedy centered on the fact that romantic love and obsessive compulsive disorder demonstrate similar brain chemistry.
They have a DreamWorks deal on "The Goree Girls," a fact-based adaptation of Skip Hollandsworth's Texas Monthly article about a falsely convicted woman who gives purpose to her fellow Texas inmates by starting one of America's first all-female bands. Aniston plans to star, and John Lee Hancock is polishing a script by Margaret Nagle.

Aniston and Hahn have been working together since Aniston was a partner with Brad Pitt and Brad Grey in Plan B, and Hahn, an exec producer on "The Departed" and New Line's "The Time Traveler's Wife," co-directed the docu "Anthem."

Echo's emphasis will be on producing grounded, relatable material, the partners say.

"We particularly like working from books and real-life stories about distinct characters that embody something relatable and relevant about human nature's double-sided coin of vulnerability and mettle," Hahn said.
That theme prompted the company's name, Aniston said.

"We're drawn to stories about people finding their voice and finding their way because they help us as listeners and viewers do what we feel we're all trying to do, which is making sense of our lives through the stories of others," Aniston said. "That's why we chose the name Echo, to echo back an idea, a challenge, something that resonates through all of us."

Aniston is shooting the David Frankel-directed "Marley & Me" at Fox 2000 with Owen Wilson and has wrapped the Stephen Belber-directed "Management" for Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, as well as several other pics.

I guess one can take filming so many bland romantic comedies before they finally start setting up their own production company to make the movies they want to make. Seriously, let's take a look at some of Aniston's body of work on the big screen up to now. Picture Perfect? Lame. The Object of My Affection? Not bad, but pushing the sappy button a bit much. Along Came Polly? Not bad, but at the same time, who paid to see this in the theater and who waited until it was on HBO? Rumor Has It…? Can't tell you, haven't seen it yet. The Break-Up? Sucked. Sorry, not a fan. Leprechaun? Classic!

I don't mean to get on Aniston's case here; I think what she's doing with her production company could wind up being just what she needs creatively. These films I mentioned before are just a few examples of the types of safe choices that the industry makes to fill their romantic comedy quota. And hey, everybody's got a light bill, right? For her sake, I hope something comes of this and she'll be able to take a hiatus from the tabloid pages.

Credit: Hollywood Reporter


SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER

DVD NEWS

Futurama fans, rejoice!!! If you thought Bender's Big Score was worth the wait – and you'll have to tell me if it is since I haven't gotten my copy from Netflix yet – then get ready for the second full-length feature - Futurama: The Beast with A Billion Backs - that will be coming to DVD this June.

And there's plenty of features to keep you happy as well. There's an audio commentary, a special feature called "Futurama: The Lost Adventure" (which was produced for the video game and also has commentary), a few featurettes, bloopers, 3D models, storyboards, deleted scenes and a sneak peek at "Futurama: Bender's Game."

No word if this will be coming to Blu-Ray anytime soon, but the standard DVD will be on shelves this June 24th for $29.98.


Hey, looks like I do have some good news for Blu-Ray fans! V for Vendetta is expected to hit stores on May 20th with a suggested retail price of $28.99. It's likely to have the same special features that the HD-DVD version had, and considering that this is a Warner Bros. movie that involves the Wachowski Brothers, one wonders if The Matrix collection is not too far behind.

Credit: DVDReview.com


MOVIE TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Shine a Light

I've seen this trailer several times in the Ziegfeld the past few weeks, and even though I'm not a fan of concert films, this looks stellar! Check it out…




Oh, and while you're watching stuff, take a look at the latest video I put together this past week. I've been a big fan of Disturbed since their first album, and I was thrilled to hear their first single. After hearing it, I decided to make my own music video of it using some very familiar names and faces. Let me know what you think…




JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S-THE-HONEST-TRUTH-DEPARTMENT

The "Demon on Wheels" Has Some Good PR: Warner Bros.' Speed Racer will hijack and speed up TV promos and Web sites from MTV Networks in a multilayered, cross-platform marketing campaign tied to the tentpole movie's May 9 release.

From April 10-18, what will look like regular series promos airing during commercial breaks will suddenly speed up into one about a text-message Speed Racer contest in which players can compete to win a $100,000 custom-built version of the Mach 5, the car driven by the film's title character.

Each of the MTV networks will air about 100 of the 15-second spots, which will include Mach 5-themed footage from the movie and run mostly adjacent to the standard "Speed Racer" commercials. The promos on steroids will include clips from "DEA" on Spike; "A Shot at Love With Tila Tequila" and "The Real World" on MTV; "Miss Rap Supreme" and "Viva Hollywood" on VH1; "The Big 4-0" on TV Land; and an overall network branding spot on Comedy Central.

On May 9, five MTVN sites also will be "sped up" by accelerating their video content as well as spinning and shaking their graphics while a fast-paced clip for the movie is streaming.

The idea of highlighting the film's speed and racing themes by mixing them up with the sort of fast-forwarding images that DVR-using audiences are accustomed to emerged from brainstorming meetings among Speed Racer producer Joel Silver and execs from MTVN, Warner Bros. and Warners' digital agency, Beyond Interactive.

"Consumers are utilizing their TiVos and DVRs to speed up programming," said Mark Fortner, MTVN VP and creative director of digital fusion. "So instead of playing against that, we can sort of tie in with the way people are actually consuming media and behaving."

The spots will direct viewers to go to RaceForSpeedRacer.com to enter their cell phone number or to text in a code to enter the contest. MTVN execs also plan to promote the text message race virally by seeding the 15-second promos and other content around the Internet.

Silver said he was impressed with the way MTV broke into on-air promos with footage from Cloverfield for that Paramount marketing campaign and wanted to do something similar for Speed Racer.

"It is incorporating all of (MTVN's) online activity as well as their broadcast channels, and I think we have something that is really fresh and original (that) people will respond to," he said.

Because the film has a PG rating, the MTVN campaign also could help attract an older teen audience, he said.

I'm a big fan of creative marketing and this sounds like Viacom is using every subsidiary under its umbrella to hype one of its flagship summer films. I have to give them a lot of credit especially about how they've been using their networks and the Internet. By making everything more interactive, Viacom is also looking to bring in new viewers of their different shows like, say, "A Shot at Love…" which I was not a fan of at all, but I'd be somewhat intrigued to watch the episode if I knew if the advertising during that show would be different than the type on a Comedy Central show.

I have no idea how good of a movie Speed Racer is going to be, but you gotta hand it to the marketing department at Viacom. They know how to get everyone involved.

Credit: Hollywood Reporter


As One Lion Exits…: Rick Sands has resigned as COO of MGM.

Sands joined MGM in January 2006 as part of the efforts by MGM chairman and CEO Harry Sloan to revive the company. He was chaired with overseeing various operating units, including MGM Theatrical Distribution, MGM Worldwide Television Distribution, MGM Consumer Products and MGM Home Entertainment Distribution, which is handled by 20th Century Fox.

In addition, he administered the company's finance, operations, administration, human resources and business affairs units.

But last month, MGM, which had been relying on outside producers to provide its film pipeline with product, once again changed course, naming former Universal exec Mary Parent chairman of its worldwide motion picture group, charged with developing MGM's own slate of in-house productions. She was given responsibilities for worldwide theatrical production, distribution, marketing and business affairs, which undercut Sands' own role in those areas.

Another Enters…: MGM continued its rebuilding Thursday under new boss Mary Parent, appointing Becky Sloviter VP of Production.

Sloviter comes from Parent's Stuber/Parent Prods., where she had been a production executive since its inception in 2006. Among her credits is Mentors, starring Paul Rudd and Seann William Scott, which is in postproduction.

Sloviter will report to MGM chair Parent, who last week left Stuber/Parent to join the studio in its efforts to rebuild its development slate and theatrical production strength.

Those efforts also included the hire of New Line executive Cale Boyter as executive VP of Production.

Parent praised Sloviter for her strong relationship with writers, directors and actors as well as her skills in producing.

Sloviter started her career at Endeavor, then worked at Universal Studios before joining Stuber/Parent.

This seems like a bit of a desperation move for MGM to change up its top people after only a little over two years. But just like what the report says, MGM has been relying on too many production companies to come up with their films. All they seem to be right now is just a distribution house with very little to call its own. Not exactly the best place to be after the sort of history that the grand old studio has had. Hopefully Sloviter and Mary Parent can turn things around and give their employees something to be proud about once again.

Credit: Hollywood Reporter



I Want My Cell TV!: Sony Pictures Television is looking to launch the first movie network on mobile phones in the U.S.

The studio has signed a deal with AT&T and MediaFLO USA to launch the linear channel as one of two exclusive channels coming to the newly announced AT&T Mobile TV with FLO service in May.

The channel, to be known as PIX, will be stocked with such titles as Ghostbusters, Philadelphia and Stand by Me from Sony labels including Columbia, TriStar, Screen Gems and Sony Classics.

Mobile has been viewed mostly as a marketing platform for theatricals in the U.S. With the domestic mobile video category for even short-form clips lagging behind markets in Europe and Asia, Sony is looking to entice viewers with more diverse content offerings.

"What you see a lot on the carrier decks is promotional content that people can snack a little on," said Eric Berger, VP mobile entertainment at SPT. "There's nothing currently there as deeply entertaining as these movies."

Films have been made available on handsets on an on-demand basis. Sony was one of several studios that contributed titles to content aggregator MSpot, which teamed with Sprint to launch MSpot Movies in 2006.

Sony always has been bullish on films via mobile. The studio also was the first in the U.S. to embed full-length titles on memory cards for handsets.

Although the prospect of viewers sitting in front of a two-inch screen for two hours seems dim, Berger noted that the objective isn't to keep people watching for the duration of a film.

"We recognize that people are on the go with their mobile phone and coming and going," he said. "This isn't for people looking to view a movie for the first time. It's OK to miss the beginning."

With AT&T on board, PIX will be available on the biggest mobile provider in the U.S., though the company has yet to disclose the price of the FLO tier. With PIX a part of FLO, Sony allows AT&T to differentiate its service from Verizon Wireless, which has been carrying FLO for the past year.

PIX will be available alongside nonexclusive mobile channels including NBC, CBS, ESPN and Nickelodeon, which offer altered forms of their traditional linear programming lineups via multicast transmission.

Sony is negotiating with other U.S. carriers to carry PIX but did not divulge which specific companies are in discussions. As for pricing, each distribution partner likely will use a different business model. For instance, PIX could end up ad-supported on one carrier while free of commercials on another that will charge an extra fee.

Sony eventually might convert PIX to an on-demand model and might take the brand online as well. The full-length linear strategy is just one of many different content plays with which the studio is experimenting. "We're not doubling down and saying it's only about longform," Berger said. "We'll continue to do innovative things in the shortform universe as well."

Films will run on PIX for a month, with additions coming weekly. Other titles coming to PIX include Memento, The Karate Kid, Layer Cake, Resident Evil and Roxanne.

How do you like this? I've been spending the past few weeks pushing for more films to be re-released on the big screens and this is what they do instead. My influence must be waning.

But seriously, the main thing that I'll give them credit for doing is picking the right kinds of movies to put on the smallest possible screens. There's nothing too epic, nothing with big sprawling action scenes, just plenty of comedies, dramas, and the occasional horror film. Great writing, directing and acting can transcend any size screen, so it's good to see Sony dusting off some of its library and trying them out in this format.


FILM MUSIC NEWS

* Harry Fox Collections Totaled $394 Million in 2007
* ASCAP Expo Final Schedule Announced
* audioMIDI.com Announces DAW Conference
* The Scoreboard: Hundreds of Composers and Their Projects
* Signings and Projects: Hans Zimmer, John Powell, Nico Muhly and More
* The Chart Doctor - by Ron Hess, "Anatomy of an Arrangement Part 1: Taking The Call"
* Music Technology and You - by Peter Lawrence Alexander, "Updating Your G5 or Mac Pro for 64 bit? Yes? No? Go PC?"
* Soundtrack Review - by Daniel Schweiger, "Two by Tiomkin" by Dimitri Tiomkin
* CURRENT FILM & TV MUSIC JOB LISTINGS From The Film Music Network

Download This Week's Issue at:
www.filmmusicweekly.com.


VOX POPULI

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE: March 28 – 30, 2008

1. 21: $24,105,943
Total: $24,105,943
2. Horton Hears A Who: $17,740,106
Total: $117,589,254
3. Superhero Movie: $9,510,297
Total: $9,510,297
4. Meet the Browns: $7,481,508
Total: $32,549,825
5. Drillbit Taylor: $5,713,585
Total: $20,487,226
6. Shutter: $5,221,016
Total: $18,998,604
7. 10,000 B.C.: $4,947,174
Total: $84,992,525
8. Stop-Loss: $4,555,117
Total: $4,555,117
9. College Road Trip: $3,457,756
Total: $38,322,829
10. The Bank Job: $2,780,168
Total: $24,084,605

Credit: BoxOfficeGuru.com

Click here to take part in the latest discussions in the Past/Current Movies Thread at the 411Movies/TV Forum.


THE INTERACTIVE BABE PHOTO NEWS BRIEF

DJStealth delivers once again! My friend Rob Duffy has brought another submission in to the Interactive Babe Photo News Brief. Here we have not only an aspiring model, but also an aspiring singer! Very not bad, my friend. Presenting for your viewing pleasure, Luminex!

Image host

And you can see more of her by joining her MySpace page HERE! And make sure to let her know The UBS sent you!


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MAD PROPHET OF THE AIRWAVES

I'll make this a quick one since I'm already a bit late getting this report in tonight, and besides, a lot of what I've been through this past weekend is similar to what happened the week before at the Ziegfeld.

Since I had such a great time for the Hollywood Classics with screenings of Back to the Future, E.T: The Extra Terrestrial and Jaws, I knew I was going to come back the next week for the 40th anniversary screening of Planet of the Apes. Yes, the original 1968 classic, not the crappy 2001 remake. 411's own Chad Webb joined me that evening and he got to see first-hand what I had been discussing, and more.

What I expected was there. Gary and Seth were there once again, and Gary introduced the screening just like last week. He did a great job with it as well, getting everyone into the proper mindset before the film began. However, there were plenty of people there that were already in the proper mindset long before they made it to the theater. Chad and I got to see a big batch of hardcore Apes fans, and they had organized their own trip to the theater for this. Not only that, but a Yahoo Group that is made up of fans designed, printed and folded their own programs! Yes, not only did we get the movie in a gorgeous theater and a proper introduction, but we also got something to read before the lights went down!

The movie was just as good – if not better – as it was the first time I saw it. And even though there were plenty of moments that come off as a bit weird these days (Charlton Heston laughing uncontrollably at the beginning would be one of them), the ending is still one of the most powerful moments in all of film, and it was terrific to see that the way it should always be seen. When all was said and done, this was another great example of how movies can be enjoyed.

So here's your homework for this week. Go to your local movie theaters, try to get a moment with the managers and ask them if they had ever thought about dedicating one of their screening rooms to showing off old movies. It's possible the idea hasn't come to them, so talk to them about the sort of experience that Chad and I had in New York City. It's very possible for other theaters to follow suit. All they have to do is take one of their rooms, dress that room up a bit, bring in some old prints to some beloved films, and make sure they ADVERTISE IT so fans know where to go.

Just because the first run is finished doesn't mean they can't go back. Trust me, I know.



And that's a wrap for Chapter 59 of The UBS Evening News. I'm George H. Sirois, and I'll see you next week!