Box Office Weekly #062 (MP3 - 13.7 MB - 20 min)
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In todays show: Police Academy and the Bible have one thing in common… Disturbia proves that a bad title doesn’t mean bad ticket sales… and in my commentary; I look into that Don Imus thing. All this and Edward Norton In the role he [...]

Ah, the movie package deal. When I was growing up my brain was irreversibly scarred by one such arrangement. Channel 44, a local independent, had made a deal with American International Pictures for the broadcast rights to most of their back catalog. Every movie Roger Corman ever made was was in that package (BUCKET OF [...]

Lawrence Kasdan - screenwriting hero. You know who wrote RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK? Lawrence. THE BIG CHILL? Lawrence. LAWRENCE OF ARABIA? Robert Bolt. But Lawrence did write THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, which is not dissimilar.
Now after years of MUMFORD, WYATT EARP, BODY HEAT and the ACCIDENTAL TOURIST, Kasdan is returning to less refined fare. [...]

The other day I gave you the story of Dave Diamond, cable TV producer who is trying to win a posthumous pardon for Jim Morrison. The original post can be found here. It drew a particularly unflattering response from “Bob”, which Mr. Diamond addresses below. In the interest of fairness, I will point out that [...]

IMUS LOSES SHOW OVER OFFENSIVE PHRASE
No, Imus cost too much and his demographics sucked. The phrase just allowed CBS to back out of the contract.
KURT VONNEGUT, 83, DIES OF BRAIN INJURY
It’s the only thing that could have killed him.
HEATHER LOCKLEAR AND RICHIE SAMBURA DIVORCE
Blame Richie.
DANNY AND GRETCHEN BONADUCE DIVORCE
Blame Danny.
JOHNNY CASH’S HOME DESTROYED BY FIRE [...]

The SAHARA trial continues. As you may recall, novelist Clive Cussler is suing producer Phil Anschutz over breach of contract because Anschutz wrested creative control from away from him. The Anschutz defense has been that Cussler’s version of the script was just too awful to film. In any screenplay, you have to address the most [...]

I read the top ten ratings on the weekly podcast (see previous entry) but I don’t go in-depth, which is how I missed this - not only were several series at their lowest rating all season, but NBC had its lowest weekly overall numbers since 1991.
The weekly average breaks down as follows:
CBS (11.5 million, 3.2/9); [...]

Box Office Weekly #061 (MP3 - 14.4 MB - 21 min)
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In todays show: The Chinese rigidly suppress unpleasantness… the Malaysians refuse to give up their piracy-sniffing dogs… and in my commentary; a review of GRINDHOUSE, the good movie for people who love bad movies. All this and we raise a lamp shaped like a [...]

Dave Diamond, an Ohio “cable television producer”, is petitioning Florida Governer Charlie Christ to issue a pardon to the late Jim Morrison, who was convicted of indecent exposure during a concert 38 years ago. Petition the Governer for leniency? You cannot petition the Governer for leniency! 
Or perhaps you can. Frankly, I’m writing this whole story [...]

I don’t know anyone who isn’t filled with dread at the sight of CAVEMEN coming down the pike. The sitcom based on characters in a series of commercials for Geico has just announced that Bill Martin and Mike Schiff will be producing the show. Formerly of GROUNDED FOR LIFE and 3RD ROCK FROM THE SUN, [...]