Birdman, Downton Abbey, and Orange is the New Black take top prizes at 2015 SAG Awards; Patrick and Sandy lend their voices for SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out Of Water soundtrack; The LEGO Movie wins Best Feature Award at the PGA Awards

 

Welcome to the 2015 SAG Awards edition of Gene Scallop’s entertainment report. Here’s what’s topping today!

 

Birdman took 3 Globes at the Golden Globes this year, but Boyhood robbed them of best flick. Last Sunday, revenge was theirs at the 2015 SAG Awards as they took top honors. On TV, PBS’s Downton Abbey was on the verge of a repeat since the show took the prize last year. Did both Downton and Birdman get it done Johnny?

 

 

Johnny Trout (via The Hollywood Reporter)- Birdman and its ensemble cast took top acting honors at the 21st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, held Sunday night at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, while the winning ensembles in TV were Downton Abbey, a repeat winner for drama, and Orange Is the New Black, for comedy.

Birdman’s win, coming on the heels of its victory Saturday night at the Producers Guild of America Awards, consolidates the Alejandro G. Inarritu film about one actor’s midlife crisis, told with lots of cinematic razzmatazz, as the current frontrunner for the best picture Oscar.

 

And as they accepted the SAG Award, the movie’s cast paid tribute to their fellow actors — which should play well with the Academy’s large actors branch. “It is the ultimate team sport, what we do for a living,” said Michael Keaton, the movie’s star, with castmate Edward Norton adding, “It’s fun to be an actor, but as everyone in this room knows, it’s a true privilege to be a working actor.”

The four SAG Awards in the individual film acting categories all fell in line with the recent Golden Globe Awards, suggesting that all four SAG winners have to be considered the Oscar favorites in their respective categories.

Up against Birdman’s Keaton, The Theory of Everything’s Eddie Redmayne was the victor in the outstanding actor category for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking. He dedicated the award “to those people around the world living with ALS, to those who have lost their lives to this brutal disease.”

The award for outstanding actress went to Julianne Moore for playing a woman confronting early-onset Alzheimer’s in Still Alice. Moore, who previously won a SAG Award for playing Sarah Palin in the TV movie Game Change, spoke about how she has enjoyed working with her follow actors ever since she played twin sisters on the TV soap As the World Turns and “realized it was super boring to act by myself.”

For playing Boyhood’s resilient mom, Patricia Arquette prevailed in the best supporting actress category. “I’m a fourth-generation actor, my family has been committed to acting for over a century, through feast and famine,” she noted as she accepted the trophy, before offering her thanks, which included a shout-out to the film’s director Richard Linklater “for showing me the beauty of the human experience and how we all matter.”

 

J.K. Simmons also claimed his first SAG Award for his supporting performance as a demanding music teacher in Whiplash. Thanking all 49 actors who shared the screen with him in Damien Chazelle’s indie film, he commented, “I feel all of us actors are supporting actors,” supporting each other and the entire film.

The film awards were spread out among a number of indie distributors, with Sony Pictures Classics having distributed two of the films, Still Alice and Whiplash, and Fox Searchlight, Focus and IFC all having released one each. Universal also was repped by a stunt ensemble award.

Downton Abbey followed up its SAG Award win two years ago by once again taking home the prize for outstanding TV dramatic series ensemble, with its cast members who were present offering a tag-team acceptance speech.

Viola Davis, who has two SAG Awards for The Help on her résumé, earned her first SAG Award for TV as outstanding drama series actress for her performance as a legal hotshot in How to Get Away With Murder. She earned a big round of applause from the crowd when she thanked ABC execs and the show’s creators for imagining that the series’ sexualized and mixed-up heroine could be played by “a 49-year-old, dark-skinned African-American woman who looks like me.”

Following up his recent Golden Globe win, Kevin Spacey claimed the prize for best actor in a drama series for his conniving politician in Netflix’ House of Cards, but Spacey — who previously won two SAG Awards for the film American Beauty — wasn’t present to accept.

On the TV comedy side, SAG opted shake things up by giving its ensemble award to the Netflix prison dramedy Orange Is the New Black, nominated for the first time this year. Uzo Aduba accepted for the huge cast, just moments after she also upstaged many more established performers by winning the award for female actress in a comedy series. “Oh my God, I really, truly do not know what to say,” she said as she collected herself at the podium before accepting the best actress award.

William H. Macy took home the award for actor in a comedy series for playing the shambling dad in Showtime’s Shameless. A nine-time nominee — he won once before for the TV movie Door to Door — Macy joked, “I’ve written so many great acceptance speeches that I never got to give, but not tonight!”

The award for actress in a TV movie or miniseries went to Frances McDormand — who previously won a SAG Award for the film Fargo — for her performance as an ornery woman in HBO’s Olive Kittredge. She used her turn at podium to urge viewers to check the telefilm out, saying, “I’m proclaiming if you haven’t seen Olive Kittredge, you need to. You can stream it — I don’t know how.”

Mark Ruffalo joined the list of first-time SAG winners by claiming the honors as actor in a TV movie or miniseries for his turn as an AIDS activist in HBO’s The Normal Heart, although he wasn’t present to accept.

Netflix, with its awards for House of Cards and Orange Is the New Black, could boast of three wins, while HBO also had three, including a stunt ensemble award, and ABC, Showtime and PBS had one each.

Carrie Fisher introduced her mother, Debbie Reynolds, recipient of this year’s SAG Life Achievement Award. Fisher testified, with tongue firmly in cheek, “Actually, she has been more than a mother to me — not much, but definitely more.” And she also poked fun at herself, pointing out that her mother was “co-founder of the Thalians, a group that has raised more than $30 million for mental-health-related causes — and $4.5 million of that money is allocated just to me.” Reynolds, in her acceptance, noted, “I’ve been in this business now 66 years, so I’m very excited to be here.” Citing the song she sang in The Unsinkable Molly Brown called “I Ain’t Down Yet,” she concluded her remarks by saying, “Well, I ain’t. Thank you all very much.”

Prior to the broadcast, SAG Awards committee chair JoBeth Williams and vice chair Daryl Anderson announced that Universal’s Unbroken and HBO’s Game of Thrones had won the awards for outstanding action performances by a stunt ensemble in film and TV, respectively.

 

There were more tracks to be added yesterday on the Sponge Out of Water soundtrack. Pharrell Williams squeezed out the CD’s first track 2 weeks ago. Who’s next to add on the “Sponge”-track Jim?

 

Jim Fish (via The Hollywood Reporter)- Pharrell Williams clearly has a thing for the soundtracks of sequels — writing and recording “Happy” for Despicable Me 2, scoring The Amazing Spider-Man 2 as part of Hans Zimmer’s Magnificent Six, and now contributing songs to The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water as the frontman of the reunited trio, N.E.R.D.

 

Williams, along with Chad Hugo and Shay Haley, channeled his inner child to record the previously revealed and laidback “Squeeze Me,” as well as sweet-sounding theme songs for the Nickelodeon character’s onscreen sidekicks, Patrick Star and Sandy Cheeks. The latter two tracks from the SpongeBob Squarepants Movie follow-up were unveiled Tuesday morning.

 

 

Before Birdman took the top prize at the SAG’s, the cast of the flick faced off against Boyhood which took best pic at the Globes at last Saturday’s PGA Awards. The LEGO Movie, which was out of luck at the Globes, finally broke through after major criticism from movie fans slammed award voters hard. Did the blockbuster get the best animated award Danny? 

 

Danny Angelfish (via Animation World)-  Saturday night, the Producers Guild of America (PGA) announced this year’s winning motion picture, television, and new media productions at the 26th Annual Producers Guild Awards ceremony at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

The Jerry Seinfeld-created web series, Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee won the Producers Guild Award for Outstanding Digital Series.

The television program Breaking Bad and its producers Melissa Bernstein, Sam Catlin, Bryan Cranston, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Mark Johnson, Stewart Lyons, Michelle MacLaren, George Mastras, Diane Mercer, Thomas Schnauz, and Moira Walley-Beckett won the Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama.

Closing the evening, the film Birdman and its producers Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, and James W. Skotchdopole won the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures.  This category is one of the most eagerly-anticipated of season, as it is widely considered a strong prognosticator for the Best Picture Oscar.

In addition to its competitive awards, the PGA presented special honors to Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer with the Milestone Award; producer Mark Gordon (Ray Donovan, Grey’s Anatomy) with the Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television; producer Gale Anne Hurd (The Incredible Hulk, the Terminator trilogy) with the David O. Selznick Achievement Award in Theatrical Motion Pictures; the HBO television motion picture The Normal Heart with the Stanley Kramer Award; and the production company Plan B Entertainment  (Selma, 12 Years A Slave), represented by its principal executives Brad Pitt, Dede Gardner, and Jeremy Kleiner, with the Visionary Award.

Tim Wen and Chidi Onyejuruwa and their film Symphony of Senses were also named the winners of the Make Your Mark short film competition, which is presented by the PGA and Cadillac through the Producers Guild of America Foundation. A portion of the winning short film and the producers’ names will be featured in a Cadillac 30-second spot that will air on ABC during the Oscars ceremony on Sunday, February 22.

The 2015 Producers Guild Awards Co-Chairs are Todd Black (The Pursuit of Happyness, The Equalizer) and Ryan Murphy (American Horror Story, Glee). Sponsors of the 2015 Producers Guild Awards include Cadillac, the Official Automotive Partner of the PGA; PRG, Production Resource Group, a PGA annual sponsor; Delta Air Lines, sponsor of the Visionary Award; Univision Communications, Inc. sponsor of the evening’s cocktail reception; Pacific Mercantile Bank; Bulgari; and PassionRoses.

The Producers Guild of America presents the 2015 Producers Guild Awards honoring excellence in motion picture, television and new media productions, as well as some of the living legends who shape the profession. Considered one of the marquee events of the entertainment industry’s awards season, the PGA held its first ceremony in 1990 when Richard Zanuck and Lili Fini Zanuck took home the motion picture prize for Driving Miss Daisy, establishing the Guild’s awards as a bellwether for the Oscars. In 2014, for the first time in history, the PGA membership honored both 12 Years a Slave and Gravity with the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures. 12 Years a Slave went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture, marking the seventh consecutive year the Producers Guild Awards predicted the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ choice.

 

LIST OF 2015 PRODUCERS GUILD AWARD WINNERS

 

 

The 2015 Producers Guild nominated films and television programs are listed below in alphabetical order by category, along with producers. The producers’ names for each nominated production are listed in alphabetical order and are not necessarily the proper order of credits.

The theatrical motion picture winners are:

The Darryl F. Zanuck Award for Outstanding Producer of Theatrical Motion Pictures:
Birdman (Fox Searchlight Pictures)
Producers: Alejandro G. Iñárritu, John Lesher, James W. Skotchdopole

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Animated Theatrical Motion Pictures:
The LEGO Movie (Warner Bros. Pictures)
Producer: Dan Lin, p.g.a.

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Documentary Theatrical Motion Pictures:
Life Itself (Magnolia Pictures)
Producers: Garrett Basch, Steve James, Zak Piper

The television winners are:

The David L. Wolper Award for Outstanding Producer of Long-Form Television:
The Long-Form Television category encompasses both movies of the week and mini-series.
Fargo (FX)
Producers: Adam Bernstein, John Cameron, Ethan Coen, Joel Coen, Michael Frislev, Noah Hawley, Warren Littlefield, Chad Oakes, Kim Todd

The Norman Felton Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Drama:
Breaking Bad (AMC)
Producers: Melissa Bernstein, Sam Catlin, Bryan Cranston, Vince Gilligan, Peter Gould, Mark Johnson, Stewart Lyons, Michelle MacLaren, George Mastras, Diane Mercer, Thomas Schnauz, Moira Walley-Beckett

The Danny Thomas Award for Outstanding Producer of Episodic Television, Comedy:
Orange Is The New Black (Netflix)
Producers: Mark A. Burley, Sara Hess, Jenji Kohan, Gary Lennon, Neri Tannenbaum, Michael Trim, Lisa I. Vinnecour

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Non-Fiction Television:
COSMOS: A SpaceTime Odyssey (FOX/NatGeo)
Producers: Brannon Braga, Mitchell Cannold, Jason Clark, Ann Druyan, Livia Hanich, Steve Holtzman, Seth MacFarlane

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Competition Television:
The Voice (NBC)
Producers: Stijn Bakkers, Mark Burnett, John De Mol, Chad Hines, Lee Metzger, Audrey Morrissey, Jim Roush, Kyra Thompson, Mike Yurchuk, Amanda Zucker

The Award for Outstanding Producer of Live Entertainment & Talk Television:
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC)
Producers: Rob Crabbe, Jamie Granet Bederman, Katie Hockmeyer, Jim Juvonen, Josh Lieb, Brian McDonald, Lorne Michaels, Gavin Purcell

The Award for Outstanding Sports Program:
Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel (HBO)

The Award for Outstanding Children’s Program:
Sesame Street (PBS)

The digital winner is:

The Award for Outstanding Digital Series:
Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee

 

Let’s see if Birdman gets Best pic at the Oscars. If it does, the Producers Guild will receive honors, unless they have another flick to honor in mind.

 

Checking the Penguins tally, 1,936 fans sign in as DreamWorks closes the book on its PDI library. Luckily, Team Po is still in the running to see if they can Kung-Fu their way out of the studio’s depressing situation in just 2 years.

 

 

We’re still in winter’s icy chill as we end January. TCA coverage is still ongoing to its final week as we feel the love in February with this year’s Oscars where the battle’s getting exciting by the minute. We’ll give the results as we get them to you soon on the next edition of Gene Scallop’s entertainment report.

American Sniper adds 64 million after hitting 200 box office record; DreamWorks adjusts movie schedule to 2 movie releases a year after cutting 500 jobs; Toonami cuts down final hour due to low ratings

 

The troops kill two movies with one stone! I’m Realistic Fish Head. American Sniper reached record territory with 90 million. This week, the damage wasn’t done as the movie scored 64 million which brought it to the 200 million mark in a week’s span With Fox’s Avatar’s record of 68 million, it bows out to the sniper hunters. Does this change everything this awards season Gene?

 

 

Gene:

 

Warner’s American Sniper continued to absolutely dominate the box office this weekend with an estimated first place take of $63.27 million. In the process, the Clint Eastwood directed Best Picture nominee starring Bradley Cooper surpassed the $200 million domestic mark this weekend.  American Sniper was down just 28 percent from last weekend. That represented an extremely impressive second weekend hold, especially for a film with grosses of this magnitude.

Without adjusting for ticket price inflation, American Sniper registered the eighth largest second weekend gross of all-time. American Sniper also registered the third largest January weekend gross of all-time (behind only the film’s performance last weekend and the third weekend performance of Avatar back in 2010). With $200.14 million after just ten days of wide release, American Sniper is currently running a massive 64 percent ahead of the $122.32 million ten-day start of 2013’s Gravity (which fell 23 percent in its second weekend to gross $43.19 million). Given this weekend’s performance, American Sniper is obviously in great position to zoom past the $300 million milestone going forward.

American Sniper took in an estimated $5.8 million from IMAX locations this weekend. That brings the film’s IMAX total to $18.8 million, which represents 9.4 percent of the film’s overall gross thus far.

The Boy Next Door debuted in second place this weekend with an estimated $15.0 million. Universal’s low-budget thriller starring Jennifer Lopez performed on the higher end of pre-release expectations. The film was off to a good start, especially with its low production budget in mind.  The Boy Next Door opened 23 percent ahead of the $12.20 million start of 2010’s The Back-Up Plan (which also starred Lopez) and debuted just 12 percent below the $17.12 million debut of 2013’s The Call. The Boy Next Door received a B- rating on Cinema Score, which is respectable for a thriller. The audience breakdown for The Boy Next Door skewed heavily towards female moviegoers (71 percent) and towards moviegoers 25 years and older (60 percent).

The news was far worse for the weekend’s other two wide releases as Disney’s Strange Magic and Lionsgate’s Mortdecai were both dead on arrival. As was the case with Universal’s Blackhat last weekend, Strange Magic and Mortdecai both had a problem finding an audience due in large part to the breakout performance of American Sniper (with poor critical reviews for both films also not helping).

Strange Magic debuted in seventh place with an estimated $5.53 million. The computer animated film written and executive produced by George Lucas debuted below its already modest pre-release expectations. Strange Magic performed similarly to Legends of Oz: Dorothy’s Return, which opened with $3.75 million back in May of last year. Strange Magic received a B- rating on Cinema Score, which is lackluster for an animated film. The audience breakdown for Strange Magic skewed towards female moviegoers (56 percent) and towards moviegoers 25 years and younger (53 percent). Family audiences represented 71 percent of the film’s overall audience.

Mortdecai landed in ninth with an estimated $4.13 million. Unlike Strange Magic, the comedy starring Johnny Depp and Gwyneth Paltrow had been expected to have somewhat of a presence at the box office this weekend, due in part to strong levels of online buzz. But much like last year’s Transcendence (which debuted with just $10.89 million), Mortdecai failed to live up to expectations. Audiences have clearly lost interest in Depp, especially when it comes to his non-event film roles.  Mortdecai received a soft C+ rating on Cinema Score.

Paddington took third place this weekend with an estimated $12.39 million. The family film from The Weinstein Company was down 35 percent from last weekend’s three-day start. That represented a nice second weekend hold, especially with the added direct completion from Strange Magic. Paddington surpassed the $40 million mark this weekend and has grossed a very solid $40.06 million. That places the film on par with the $40.06 million ten-day start of The Nut Job last January (which fell 38 percent in its second weekend to gross $12.10 million).

Sony’s The Wedding Ringer followed in fourth with an estimated $11.6 million. The modestly budgeted comedy starring Kevin Hart and Josh Gad was down a respectable 44 percent from last weekend. The Wedding Ringer has grossed $39.68 million in ten days, which is on the lower end of expectations. The film is now running 4 percent ahead of the $38.28 million ten-day take of last year’s About Last Night (which declined a far sharper 71 percent in its second weekend to gross $7.53 million).

Fox’s Taken 3 rounded out the weekend’s top five with an estimated $7.6 million. The third installment of the Liam Neeson led franchise was down a significant 48 percent from last weekend.  Taken 3 has grossed $76.05 million in 17 days, which places the film 28 percent behind the $105.83 million 17-day gross of 2012’s Taken 2.

Best Picture nominees The Imitation Game and Selma took in sixth and eighth place with respective estimated takes of $7.14 million and $5.50 million. With aid from expanding into an additional 414 locations, The Weinstein Company’s The Imitation Game was up a strong 5 percent over last weekend. Paramount’s Selma fell 37 percent from last weekend, due in part to last weekend’s performance having been inflated by the Martin Luther King holiday. Respective total grosses stand at $60.64 million for The Imitation Game and at $39.22 million for Selma.

 

 

To recap, American Sniper continues guns a blazing at 1st, The Boy Next Door visits 2nd, Paddington stays at 3rd, The Wedding Ringer rings on in 4th, and Taken 3 still outgunned by sniper troops, stays in 5th. To add on a lighter note, the troops also eliminate Lionsgate’s Mortdecai and Disney’s Strange Magic as both flicks miss the boat on estimate expectations.

 

 

On last week’s entertainment report, an estimated 200 jobs was expected to leave DreamWorks during worker cleanup. We’ve got the final number today as the studio made some important changes last week since Soria and Arnold became double animation exec’s. What was the straw that broke their backs Johnny?

 

Johnny Trout (via The Hollywood Reporter)- DreamWorks Animation has announced a restructuring plan for its film business, including trimming its slate to two films a year. As part of the restructuring, marketing chief Dawn Taubin and COO Mark Zoradi are exiting the company and vice chairman Lew Coleman is retiring.

In an effort to bring down costs as it eliminates about 500 jobs — or 18 percent of its entire staff — the studio said Thursday that, beginning in 2016, it will focus its efforts on one original film and one sequel per year.

The newly announced lineup consists of the sequel Kung Fu Panda 3, set for release on March 18, 2016, followed by an original, Trolls, on Nov. 4, 2016.

The following year will bring Boss Baby on Jan. 13, 2017, and The Croods 2 on Dec. 22, 2017. For 2018, the studio has set The Larrikins on Feb. 16, 2018, and How to Train Your Dragon 3 on June 29, 2018.

DreamWorks is outsourcing another project, Captain Underpants, based on the children’s novel series by Dav Pilkey, which, it said, “will be produced at a significantly lower cost.” It will be released in 2017 and much of the production will take place overseas.

The studio’s next film, Home, its one release for 2015, will be released domestically on March 27.

The new slate will be overseen by Bonnie Arnold and Mireille Soria, who were named co-presidents of DreamWorks Animation on Jan. 4 as chief creative officer Bill Damaschke stepped down from his position.

The studio, which in the past few years has beefed up its TV and digital businesses and acquired companies like Classic Media and Awesomeness TV, may have expanded too quickly, given its declining financial performance of late, and CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg acknowledged as much during a conference call on Thursday, promising to spend more of his time on movies.

“We want to get back to basics here and just do an outstanding job on two movies a year,” Katzenberg said. “Much of my time and efforts in the last couple years have been focused on expanding the company into these other businesses … It’s now time for me to turn my attention back to the core business.”

While DWA’s How to Train Your Dragon 2, which Arnold produced, was the top-grossing animated film of 2014, collecting $619 million worldwide, DWA has taken write-downs on recent underperformers Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Rise of the Guardians and Turbo.

On Thursday, Katzenberg said the company will take yet another write-down, this time $80 million, including $55 million mostly due to weak results for Penguins of Madagascar, though some of that is also related, again, to Mr. Peabody & Sherman.

Katzenberg also said the company’s studio in Northern California will be shut down and consolidated onto its Glendale campus and about half of the “key talent” there will be offered the opportunity to move to that area.

“While I couldn’t be more confident for the future, I’m deeply saddened by the fact that we’ll be losing so many treasured, loyal, inspired and valued members of the DreamWorks Animation family,” Katzenberg said.

The CEO also said the studio plans to spend about $120 million for the production of each original movie, down from $145 million.

The company, which currently has approximately 2,700 employees worldwide, has been contending with poor financial performance. In its first three quarters of 2014, it posted a 10 percent decline in revenue to $450.4 million and a net loss of $46.4 million compared with a profit of $37.9 million a year prior.

Reflecting the poor financial results, the company’s stock has fallen 39 percent in the past 12 months, though shares rose 3 percent on Thursday and an additional 3 percent after the closing bell when the restructuring was announced.

As a result of reducing its feature film production, which will result in the loss of 500 jobs across all divisions of the company, DWA said it expects to incur a pre-tax charge of approximately $290 million, about $60 million of which will go toward severance payments and charges associated with moving employees to Glendale.

“This consolidation will not only lower our cost structure, it will foster better collaboration, maximizing creativity while also driving efficiency,” Katzenberg said.

With the restructuring, the studio should save about $30 million this year and about $60 million annually by 2017, executives said Thursday.

The restructuring comes after negotiations to sell the studio did not yield results. Katzenberg had merger discussions with Japanese telecommunications firm SoftBank, toymaker Hasbro and conglomerate 21st Century Fox.

The company hired Zoradi, a former president of the Walt Disney Studios Motion Picture Group, in July, and Katzenberg addressed his decision to let the COO go after a mere seven months on the job.

‘We were top-heavy,” Katzenberg said. “We have too much corporate staff here.”

After the layoffs, DWA will employ about 2,200 people worldwide.

 

Also, last week, Toonami announced Kill La Kill to premiere on the block 2 week from Saturday. That signaled another change to the schedule which didn’t please Jason De Marco this week. What caused his concern with the schedule Dan?

 

 

Dan Barry (via Nick and More)- For today’s Toonami Roundup, there’s a slew of horrible misfortunes.

First off, Toonami is getting a time reduction. The block, which has run from 11:30pm-6am ET/PT since January 4th, 2014, will have the last hour cut off, meaning the block will now run from 11:30pm-5am ET/PT, effective January 31st, 2015. The time previously occupied by Toonami will now belong to re-runs of the adult swim staple King of the Hill. This unfortunate schedule change is happening due to low ratings, according to Jason DeMarco via Twitter.

What does this mean for the lineup? For starters, Toonami staples Samurai Jack and IGPX will be removed from the line-up completely starting January 31st. Attack on Titan re-runs are also being moved from 11:30pm ET to 2:30am ET starting the same day.

While the majority of the lineup changes take place January 31st, some changes will be taking place today (January 24th). Starting then, the lineup from 12am-6am ET/PT will be shifted up a half-hour (this means Attack on Titan re-runs will be taking a hiatus just for that week. The re-runs will return the following week, as mentioned above). In addition, the last half hour (5:30am) will be cut from the block starting the same date.

These changes also bring wonder to where new acquisition Kill La Kill will be placed on the line-up, and what show will bite the bullet in order for that to happen.

As unfortunate as this news is, do not fret Samurai Jack and IGPX fans! Toonami will be putting up the final 2 episodes of Samurai Jack (the ones they skipped on Cartoon Network) on Adult Swim’s website and on the Adult Swim Video On Demand section (which is available via cable providers). There will also be a home media release of IGPX coming sometime this year from Discotek Media (however, it is currently unconfirmed whether or not the English dub will be the one broadcasted on Toonami previously – the Toonami version contains a different soundtrack and is edited due to profanity).

The new schedules for January 24th and January 31st can be found below (all times Eastern/Pacific):

January 24th, 2015:
•11:30pm – Dragon Ball Z Kai
•12am – Naruto: Shippuden
•12:30 – InuYasha: The Final Act
•1:00 – One Piece
•1:30 – Gurren Lagann
•2:00 – Deadman Wonderland
•2:30 – Bleach
•3:00 – Space Dandy
•3:30 – Cowboy Bebop
•4:00 – Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG
•4:30 – IGPX
•5:00 – Samurai Jack

January 31st, 2015:
•11:30pm – Dragon Ball Z Kai
•12am – Naruto: Shippuden
•12:30 – InuYasha: The Final Act
•1:00 – One Piece
•1:30 – Gurren Lagann
•2:00 – Deadman Wonderland
•2:30 – Attack on Titan
•3:00 – Bleach
•3:30 – Space Dandy
•4:00 – Cowboy Bebop
•4:30 – Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex 2nd GIG

All news in this roundup courtesy of the official Toonami Tumblr page, unless noted otherwise.

 

 

Once Kill La Kill is on the schedule, these changes will be resolved soon.

 

 

Checking the Penguins tally 1,939 fans sign in as Jeffery Katzenberg delivered his decision on Thursday that the Penguins of Madagascar movie will be written off similar to the same way as Peabody and Sherman was last year thus ending rumors of the fate of Team Skipper which left him deeply concerned. By the way, this flick’s the last in line to the DreamWorks/PDI library ever since 20th Fox released it last November. It may’ve be the last time we see the team on the big screen, thanks to tough critics and past headlines which nailed the story from the start, but their run on the small screen might wait a bit longer than expected.

 

 

Awards season continues with the 2014 Annie’s as Birdman fights to take best picture. While on the animation side, DreamWorks Dragons 2 is aiming for best animated feature. Will both movies earn their share of Annie’s or does the criticism continue for the award voters? This is Realistic Fish Head saying, watch the Annie’s and see!

Big changes coming soon for DreamWorks as possible layoffs begin; Boomerang officially rebranded to fit with Cartoon Network’s current graphics package; Cartoon Network takes down Steven Universe repeats in favor of Gumball

 

Welcome to the Boomerang refresh edition of Gene Scallop’s entertainment report. Here’s what’s topping today!

 

 

Another round of layoffs continue this week as DreamWorks begins round 2 of staff cleanup. Last week, Mireille Soria and Bonnie Arnold became co-chairwomen replacing Bill Damaschke for the creative animation team. On an estimation Jim, how many workers will leave the studio once round 2 is finished?

 

 

Jim Fish (via The Hollywood Reporter)-DreamWorks Animation is planning layoffs again, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

The number of workers who will be let go this time has not been finalized, but it could be more than the 350 jobs that were cut in 2014 after the studio shelved the film Me and My Shadow, The Los Angeles Times first reported.

The company has approximately 1,950 employees, and the cuts are expected to hit production staff, including storyboard artists and animators.

In the past two years, the company reported write-downs on underperformers Mr. Peabody & Sherman, Rise of the Guardians and Turbo, while November’s Penguins of Madagascar will likely result in a loss for the studio.

Layoffs come amid poor financial performance and a restructuring. In the first three quarters of 2014, the company posted a 10 percent decline in revenue to $450.4 million and a net loss of $46.4 million compared with a profit of $37.9 million a year prior.

 

The studio recently saw a shakeup in its leadership, with Bill Damaschke leaving his post as chief creative officer and Bonnie Arnold and Mireille Soria installed as co-presidents of feature animation.

When the studio behind the lucrative Shrek and Kung Fu Panda franchises let go about 350 employees last year (the first time in its history it suffered layoffs), CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg told The Hollywood Reporter at the time that laying off staffers is “the hardest thing I’ve had to do since we started DreamWorks.”

This time around, though, DreamWorks Animation had no comment on the layoffs.

The layoffs come after negotiations to sell the studio did not yield results. Katzenberg had merger discussions with Japanese telecommunications firm SoftBank, toymaker Hasbro and conglomerate 21st Century Fox.

The studio’s hard times of late have also affected its stock price, with shares of DreamWorks Animation falling 36 percent in the past 12 months. As of Monday, Wall Street deems the company worth about $1.9 billion.

While a source said 350 or more are set to be laid off, Steve Hulett of the Animation Guild said he expects 150-400. “We do know that layoffs are ongoing. We don’t know how many,” he said.

 

We’ll give you a final tally of layoffs once everything’s neat and tidy. In the meanwhile, let’s just hope that these don’t exceed 350 workers at DreamWorks. if it does, there’s a pretty good chance that the Penguins if Madagascar movie won’t be the end result of this situation.

 

 

Back on week 3 in October, more hints were found on Boomerang’s first rebrand since they first appeared back in early Fall. Last winter, the channel wasn’t up to the holiday mood since Thanksgiving. As of Monday Dan, is it time for the old school Boomerang to set sail to calmer shores?

 

 

Dan Barry (via Nick and More)- Say goodbye to the 15 years of similar packaging and logo for Cartoon Network’s Boomerang channel, because as of 6 a.m. (ET) Monday, Boomerang has officially rebranded.

We first heard of Boomerang’s global realignment plans last February. The rebrand first occurred September 29 in Latin America. Then in October we got word it would officially happen in 2015 for America. Now today, it’s here.

It’s very colorful and has many moving parts. The network’s bumpers and promos are voiced by kids. The now famous “You’re watching Boomerang, from Cartoon Network” voice-over is replaced by kids with the “from Cartoon Network” part being dropped.

The new packaging is made for HD but there is no HD feed for Boomerang in America yet. It’s presented in 4:3 letterbox. New promos have also been created. We’ll see if the new Boomerang follows Cartoon Network’s current HD format.

 

 

 

In addition to the new Boomerang, Cartoon Network did some changes to their schedule concerning encore airings of Steven Universe. Who’s replacing those repeats Dan?

 

Dan Barry (via Nick and More) (continued)- Cartoon Network will no longer air repeat episodes of Steven Universe on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays or Sundays at 6:30pm. The network will replace all those airings with more Amazing World of Gumball.

Steven Universe will have no other airings on the network except for its Thursday night showing at 6:30pm, that consists of a new 11-minute episode followed by a repeat of the previous week’s 11-minute episode.

In other changes on weekdays, the 12-1pm hour will now have Uncle Grandpa repeats instead of Teen Titans Go!. Clarence will now fill the 2-3pm hour each weekday instead of rotating shows. Teen Titans Go! will air 3-4:30pm with another Gumball now at 4:30pm.

All in all, Cartoon Network’s two most-aired shows: Teen Titans Go! and The Amazing World of Gumball will total over 55% of the cartoon channel’s daytime kids programming each weekday. Cartoon Network’s full generic line-up follows (with emphasis on these two overexposed series). Let’s see if the plan works in the coming weeks this year.

 

 

Checking the Penguins tally, 1,943 fans sign in as DVD intelligence informs Team Skipper that the Penguins of Madagascar movie will be released on DVD March 17th. How very lucky!

 

 

With new surprises arriving this month, this month should be in shipshape once February draws closer. For you Pokémon fans out there, new episodes of Pokémon The Series: XY returns in 2 weeks, so look out for it. See you soon for another edition of Gene Scallop’s entertainment report.

American Sniper sets January box office record with 90 million; Philippe Dauman’s contract extended until 2018; Kill La Kill premieres on Toonami February 7th

 

 

Be on the lookout for snipers! I’m Realistic Fish Head! Last year was a disappointment for Warner Bros. after getting themselves in trouble. They had only one way to make up for all of this: American Sniper. The R rated film broke through record territory with 90 million. Is more money ahead for the Warner’s going into MLK day Gene?

 

Gene:

 

Warner’s American Sniper broke out this weekend with a massive estimated $90.21 million in its first three days of wide release. The Clint Eastwood directed Best Picture nominee starring Bradley Cooper had clearly been building up major momentum leading up to its wide release and ultimately exploded out of the gate this weekend to a degree that nobody was expecting. American Sniper easily established a new opening weekend record for the month of January as it outpaced the $41.52 million take of previous record holder, last year’s Ride Along, by an astounding 117 percent.  American Sniper performed 138 percent stronger than the $37.85 million grossed by Lone Survivor in its first weekend of wide release last year. With the addition of a very strong performance in three weeks of platform release (which clearly helped build up buzz for the film), American Sniper has grossed $93.63 million through Sunday. Warner Bros. is estimating a four-day take of $105.2 million for American Sniper.

In a break-out performance of this size, American Sniper clearly appealed to various audience demographics and to moviegoers throughout the country. The audience breakdown for the film skewed towards male moviegoers (57 percent) and towards moviegoers over 25 years of age (63 percent).

American Sniper took in $30.5 million on Friday (which included an estimated $5.3 million from Thursday night shows), increased an impressive 14 percent on Saturday to gross $34.71 million and is estimated to decline 28 percent on Sunday to take in $25.00 million. That places the film’s estimated 3-day weekend to Friday ratio at 2.96 to 1. With no potential blockbuster performers arriving in the marketplace the next two weeks, American Sniper is in position to continue to dominate the box office throughout the rest of January. The film received an exceptional A+ rating on CinemaScore.

American Sniper received an added boost from its fairly last-minute IMAX release. IMAX grosses totaled $9.5 million this weekend, which represented 10.5 percent of the film’s overall gross over the three-day frame.

While it finished in a very distant second place over the three-day frame, Sony’s The Wedding Ringer was off to a respectable estimated start of $21.0 million. The modestly budgeted comedy starring Kevin Hart and Josh Gad opened on the low end of pre-release expectations. The Wedding Ringer opened 18 percent below the $25.65 million three-day start of last year’s About Last Night, but will likely hold up better going forward than About Last Night did (due in part to that film being a Valentine’s Day release). Potential for The Wedding Ringer was no doubt limited at least somewhat by the breakout performance of American Sniper. BOXOFFICE is currently estimating a four-day take of $24.8 million for The Wedding Ringer.

The Wedding Ringer opened with $7.01 million on Friday, increased 20 percent on Saturday to gross $8.44 million and is estimated to fall 34 percent on Sunday to gross $5.56 million. That places the film’s estimated opening weekend to Friday ratio at 3.00 to 1. The Wedding Ringer received a healthy A- rating on CinemaScore.

Paddington finished closely behind in third with an estimated $19.29 million. The family film from The Weinstein Company debuted on the high end of expectations. Paddington opened just 1 percent below the $19.42 million start of The Nut Job over Martin Luther King weekend last year, which was quite respectable given that Paddington didn’t have the added advantage of higher priced 3D admissions that The Nut Job and most other family films have. BOXOFFICE is currently estimating a four-day take of $25.8 million for Paddington, which would move the film into second place over the four-day frame.

Paddington opened with $4.66 million on Friday, increased a very strong 80 percent on Saturday to take in $8.36 million and is estimated to decline 25 percent on Sunday to gross $6.27 million. That gives the film an estimated opening weekend to Friday ratio of 4.14 to 1, which signals just how heavily the film is skewing towards family audiences. Paddington received an A rating on CinemaScore, which is a promising early sign for the film going forward.

On the heels of last weekend’s stronger than expected start, Fox’s Taken 3 was down three spots and a sharp 64 percent to land in fourth place with an estimated $14.05 million over the three-day frame. Audience overlap with American Sniper has clearly led to increased front-loading for Taken 3. The third installment of the Liam Neeson led franchise has grossed $62.84 million in ten days. That places the film 27 percent behind the $86.13 million ten-day take of 2012’s Taken 2 (which fell 56 percent in its second weekend of release to gross $21.87 million). BOXOFFICE is currently estimating a four-day gross of $16.5 million for Taken 3.

Selma rounded out the weekend’s top five with an estimated three-day take of $8.3 million. The Best Picture nominee from Paramount was down just 27 percent from last weekend. The film was helped out this weekend by the Martin Luther King holiday and by its Best Picture nomination.  Selma has grossed $25.96 million after ten days of wide release. While Selma is performing softer than was widely anticipated, the film is still having a respectable run thus far with its modest price tag in mind. Paramount is currently estimating a four-day take of $10.3 million for Selma.

Fellow Best Picture nominee The Imitation Game finished in sixth with an estimated $7.19 million over the three-day frame. The critically acclaimed film from The Weinstein Company was unchanged from last weekend.  The Imitation Game surpassed the $50 million mark this weekend and has grossed $50.79 million to date. BOXOFFICE is currently estimating a four-day gross of $8.8 million for The Imitation Game.

Meanwhile, Universal’s Blackhat was dead on arrival this weekend with an estimated $4.03 million. The Michael Mann directed film starring Chris Hemsworth debuted in tenth place and opened well below its already modest expectations. The decision to open Blackhat against American Sniper (and one week after Taken 3) always seemed like a puzzling one and Blackhat simply couldn’t find an audience this weekend. The film debuted 74 percent below the $15.45 million start of last year’s Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit. Long term prospects for Blackhat are bleak and the film having received a poor C- rating on CinemaScore won’t help matters either. Universal is estimating a four-day start of $4.6 million for Blackhat.

 

To recap as we head to MLK weekend, American Sniper snatches record territory 1st, The Wedding Ringer rings in 2nd, Paddington debuts in 3rd, Taken 3 moves down in 4th as it gets overtaken by the sniper hunters, and Selma, the Oscar nominee for best pic places 5th.

 

 

Last time, Viacom president and CEO Philippe Dauman’s contract was set to expire New Year’s Eve 2016, but he’s staying for an extra 2 years to keep everything in shape. Why is Duman staying at Viacom Johnny?

 

 

Johnny Trout (via The Hollywood Reporter)- Philippe Dauman has extended his contract as Viacom president and CEO for an additional two years, keeping him at the helm of the conglomerate whose assets include MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Pictures through the end of 2018.

Dauman has been a Viacom board member since 1987 and was named CEO in September, 2006, shortly after the company split from CBS. Since then, Viacom shares have more than doubled when stock splits and dividends are taken into consideration, outperforming the 50 percent rise notched by the S&P 500 in that time frame.

Dauman’s extension doesn’t change his base salary and he’ll continue to be eligible for equity awards and other bonuses. He made $37.2 million in total compensation in the company’s most recently reported full year.

“Philippe has been my long-term partner in building Viacom into the global entertainment powerhouse that it is today,” said Viacom executive chairman and founder Sumner Redstone. “He has been an extraordinary CEO over more than eight years and his strategic vision and creative leadership have delivered consistently outstanding operational and financial results.”

That being said, Viacom posted $13.78 billion in revenue in its most recent fiscal year, down slightly from a year earlier, though earnings per share rose a healthy 12 percent.

Before the extension announced on Thursday, Dauman’s contract was set to expire on Dec. 31, 2016.

Separately on Thursday, Viacom said it would pay a quarterly cash dividend of 33 cents per share on April 1 to shareholders of record March 13.

 

 

After a year of schedule changes on Toonami, the block gets its first new show of the year, but where will it land on the schedule Dan?

 

 

Dan Barry (via Nick and More)- Toonami’s first new show of 2015 is certainly a surprise. Studio Trigger’s Kill La Kill will be joining the lineup starting February 7th at 11:30pm ET. The show’s English dub is produced by Aniplex of America. This will be the first time that two Aniplex animes are running simultaneously on Toonami (the other being Gurren Lagann).

This acquisition brings some questions on how the schedule will look, as Toonami has yet to release the new schedule for February 7th. Since 11:30pm ET is the timeslot for Attack on Titan re-runs, one could infer that it will be either pushed down to a later timeslot, or removed entirely from the lineup (the latter is not likely, considering the purpose for another run in the first place was to “get their money’s worth” out of the high-profile show).

This also leads to questioning over what will replace Gurren Lagann. Normally, Toonami replaces Aniplex shows with other Aniplex shows (as seen with Sword Art Online, Blue Exorcist, and Gurren Lagann itself). The 2nd season of Sword Art Online (SAO II) wrapped up its Japanese run on December 20th, 2014, so an English dub will take a while to produce.

With Kill La Kill joining Toonami, the possibilities on what’s to come now are endless…

 

 

Checking the Penguins tally, 1,950 fans sign in as Dragons 2 aims for wins at the Annie’s and the Oscars.

 

 

Cartoon Network’s Thursday night lineup continues this week with new episodes of Regular Show, Gumball, plus Uncle Grandpa and Steven Universe as the network starts to rebound after a lackluster year. This is Realistic Fish Head saying keep rallying those viewers and don’t give up!

Boyhood, Grand Budapest Hotel and Showtime’s The Affair win at Sundays Golden Globes, DreamWorks Dragons 2 wins best animated feature; Sony Pictures, Disney and DreamWorks criticize lawsuit over visual effects, The Late Show with Steven Colbert to air September 8th

 

Welcome to the Golden Globes results edition of Gene Scallop’s entertainment report. Here’s what’s topping today!

 

3 was definitely the charm at the Golden Globes on Sunday as award season got underway. Birdman was the favorite with 7 Globes, but 2 films managed to stop him from getting the most of them. Which 2 films reigned triumphantly Danny?

 

 

 

Danny Angelfish (via The Hollywood Reporter)- Boyhood, the unassuming story of a boy’s passage through 12 years of life, was the big winner at the 2015 Golden Globe Awards, taking home three trophies, including best drama. The film also earned awards for its director Richard Linklater and supporting actress Patricia Arquette.

Linklater, who gambled with the unusual film, filming three to four days a year for more than a decade, was rewarded for that long effort when he was named best director. “The bottom line,” he said as he accepted that prize, “is that we’re all flawed in this world. No one’s perfect. And I just want to dedicate this to my parents, who gave so much love and support, and to parents who are evolving everywhere and families who are just passing through this world and doing their best.” When he returned to the stage to accept best picture honors, he turned the microphone over IFC Films president Jonathan Sehring, who also served as one of the movie’ producers, who said that when Linklater first proposed the project more than a dozen years ago, “We said yes because the man has such humanity. He’s so humble. He put so much of his life in this movie.”

The 72nd annual Golden Globes, held at the Beverly Hilton and broadcast by NBC, could easily have been mistaken for the Film Independent Spirit Awards as small indie and specialty films walked off with the bulk of the night’s hardware. Although it didn’t prevail in any of the other three categories in which it was nominated, The Grand Budapest Hotel, a quirky tale about the concierge of a European hotel on the eve of World War II, won when it mattered, collecting the prize for best motion picture, comedy or musical. And true to his sometimes eccentric ways, director Wes Anderson turned his acceptance speech into a bit of a comedy routine by thanking many members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, which doles out the awards, by their first names.

The trophy for best dramatic actress was presented to Julianne Moore for playing a woman confronting early-onset Alzheimer’s in Still Alice, while Eddie Redmayne was named best dramatic actor for portraying physicist Stephen Hawking as he succumbs to ALS disease in The Theory of Everything.

Moore thanked Alice directors Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland. Glatzer is living with ALS, and Moore praised the two, who are professional and personal partners, for deciding to make the movie “in the middle of their own crisis with degenerative disease,” adding, “I want to thank Rich and Wash for this extraordinary opportunity to work.”

For his part, Redmayne spoke of the “huge privilege” of appearing onscreen as Hawking, whom he came to know in the course of making Everything. He heaped praise on the movie’s cast, especially his co-lead Felicity Jones. And he acknowledged his new wife, Hannah Bagshawe. “We had to cut our honeymoon short to come to Los Angeles,” he confessed, thanking everyone for “giving us a night at the end of our honeymoon that we will always remember.”

Amy Adams could be excused if she experienced a moment of deja vu. The actress, who was named best actress in a comedy or musical last year for American Hustle, was called up to the stage again this year, winning the same award for her performance in Big Eyes. “I didn’t even reapply my lip gloss,” the actress exclaimed, insisting she hadn’t prepared remarks, although she then found time to pay tribute to Margaret Keane, the painter she plays in the film, and also to express her gratitude to “all the women in this room who have such a lovely and beautiful voice.” Adams became the first actress to pull off back-to-back wins in the category since Kathleen Turner, who took home the honors in 1984 and 1985 for Romancing the Stone and Prizzi’s Honor.

Birdman’s Michael Keaton was singled out as best actor in a motion picture, comedy or musical, for his turn as a movie actor trying to win respect by turning to Broadway. After praising his director, Alejandro G. Inarritu, he paid loving tribute to his own family — father, mother, six siblings and, as he started to choke up, his best friend, his son Sean, saying, “I love you with all my heart, buddy.”

Inarritu had his own moment onstage earlier in the evening when Birdman took screenplay honors. Inarritu, who wrote the film along with Nicolas Giacobone, Alexander Dinelaris and Armando Bo, said, “Whatever we have written,” without the film’s actors, the “words have no meaning,” as he offered a shout-out of his own to Keaton and the others in the movie’s cast.

The award for best supporting actress was given to Arquette, who plays a single mom in Boyhood. She took a moment to recognize her fellow nominees, including Meryl Streep, adding, “Meryl, thank you for giving me a hug — I hope your DNA transferred to me”; she hailed “our visionary director Richard Linklater” and said the movie also allowed her “to honor my own mother.”

J.K. Simmons took home the first statuette of the night, earning best supporting actor in a motion picture for Whiplash, in which he plays a tyrannical music teacher. He thanked the movie’s young director, Damien Chazelle, “for the opportunity to be this guy” and the movie’s star Miles Teller, who “inspired me every day to want to scream at him and hit him in the face.”

The award for best score went to composer Johann Johannsson for The Theory of Everything. And John Legend and Common took the prize for best original song for “Glory,” the title tune they wrote for Ava DuVernay’s Selma. Common, who also acts in the film, spoke about the movie’s importance, saying, “Selma has awakened my humanity,” and concluding, “We look to the future, and we want to create a better world. We want to create a better world, and Selma is now.” Legend seconded those thoughts, adding, “We still are in solidarity with those fighting for justice right now.”

The Russian feature Leviathan, which is also on the shortlist for Academy Award consideration, was the victor in the foreign-language film category. Director Andrey Zvyagintsev proclaimed, “We are absolutely happy,” while producer Alexander Rodnyansky observed that the movie about one man who faces off against an indifferent system “is absolutely universal.”

DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon 2 claimed the award for best animated feature, with director Dean DeBlois and producer Bonnie Arnold — who along with Mireille Soria has just been named a co-president at DWA — accepting the trophy.

Julianna Margulies and Don Cheadle were on hand to introduce George Clooney, this year’s recipient of the Cecil B. DeMille Award. Margulies starred with Clooney in ER, while Cheadle appeared with him in the Ocean’s movies. “In a town and an industry where it’s easy to lose touch with who you are and what really matters, he has never been anything but real,” Margulies testified, adding that Clooney has been “tireless in his efforts to help those in need around the globe.”

In his acceptance, Clooney first joked, “Now, that we’ve seen everyone’s been hacked, it’s a good chance to meet face to face and apologize for all the snarky things we said.” Turning serious, he went on to say that the day, which saw marches around the world in response to the recent deadly attack on the offices of French satire magazine Charlie Hebdo, had been “an extraordinary day,” and that “they didn’t march in protest, they marched in support of the idea we will not walk in fear, we will not do it. So, je suis Charlie.”

Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, as the returning hosts, kicked off the evening, with Fey noting, “Tonight we celebrate all the great TV shows that we know and love as well as all the movies North Korea was OK with,” as Poehler cracked that Into the Woods includes Sleeping Beauty, who “just thought she was getting coffee with Bill Cosby.”

Theo Kingma, president of the HFPA, brought the celebrity-studded crowd to its feet when, alluding to recent news events, he voiced support for freedom of expression, saying, “Together, we will stand united against anyone who would repress free speech anywhere from North Korea to Paris.”

 

Heading into the evening, Birdman led its competitors with seven nominations, followed closely by Boyhood and The Imitation Game with five each. But while Boyhood ultimately claimed the night’s biggest award, and Birdman got two major consolation prizes, The Imitation Game, the drama about code-breaker Alan Turing, went home empty-handed, as did other such highly touted movies as Gone Girl and Foxcatcher.

No single distributor dominated the awards. IFC Films could claim three awards, thanks to Boyhood’s wins. Fox Searchlight also picked up three — one for Budapest and two for Birdman. And Sony Pictures Classics also was represented by three awards — the acting honors for Still Alice and Whiplash and the foreign film win for Leviathan.

 

Ouch! Looks like the Globe voters pulled a fast one on Hollywood that time. And the same couldn’t be said for that ratings report on the Globes which missed some factors unlike last year’s Golden Globes. The film companies need to step up their game at the Oscars next month if they can overturn the low turnout.

 

 

Back on January 9th, Sony Pictures, DreamWorks, and Disney were slapped with a big lawsuit concerning their animated movies with stunning 3D effects. Now, the 3 animated companies have taken the lawsuit to court as them along with Blue Sky Studios, try to bring back the visual effects writers that other movie studios have taken away from them. What’s the criticism about Jim?

 

Jim Fish (via The Hollywood Reporter)- On Friday, The Walt Disney Company, DreamWorks Animation, Sony Pictures and Blue Sky Studios fired heavy legal artillery at a proposed class-action lawsuit that aims to punish the studios for allegedly conspiring to deny workers in the visual effects community better work opportunities. The defendants are demanding a dismissal on new antitrust claims as coming too late and being bereft of necessary factual support.

Arrangements to freeze wages and not poach employees were the subject of an investigation and lawsuit by the U.S. Justice Department in 2010. Several companies agreed to a prohibition against enforcing anti-poaching pacts for a period of five years, which ended the DOJ review, but in 2011, a class-action lawsuit was brought against Pixar, Lucasfilm, Apple, Google, Adobe and Intuit. The first two companies settled claims for $9 million while the other companies have gone to an appeals court after a federal judge rejected a $325 million settlement as insufficient.

Meanwhile, Robert Nitsch Jr., a former visual effects worker at DreamWorks Animation, was one of many who aimed to get another chance to dig into how studios were allegedly colluding with each other. He filed a lawsuit in September, which preceded others in the visual effects community doing the same. Many of these lawsuits were then consolidated.

 

 

 

The studios have now filed their first substantive response to the consolidated lawsuit — pretty much deeming it to be a loser that the court shouldn’t waste much time in disposing. According to a motion to dismiss, the DOJ investigation and 2011 lawsuit got broad press attention, and yet, the plaintiffs decided to wait five years until commencing their own lawsuit.

“In an effort to manufacture new claims not covered by the High-Tech lawsuits, plaintiffs assert that animation studios, other than High-Tech defendants Pixar and Lucasfilm, also participated in the alleged conspiracy. However, plaintiffs’ attempt is futile as a matter of law and comes far too late. The statutes of limitations for their claims expired long ago.”

The motion to dismiss continues by pointing out that much of what was uncovered by the DOJ relates to communications prior to 2009 — which the defendants argue is out of bounds for review as well as activity that the DOJ itself declined to prosecute. If the anti-poaching pacts continued after 2010, within the statute of limitations, they say “it is plaintiffs’ burden to allege specific anticompetitive conduct,” and not only haven’t they done so, continues the motion, the studios say it’s also implausible.

“It is highly improbable, to say the least, that parties under a DOJ investigation of their allegedly unlawful conduct would continue to engage in any such conduct while under that scrutiny,” states the motion.

The visual effects workers who are suing can perhaps beat the clock if they can show fraudulent concealment, or that the studio purposely hid their anti-competitive conduct. The studios say that nothing like this is alleged in the complaint.

But the motion to dismiss isn’t merely an attempt to have a judge reject the lawsuit on procedural grounds. The studios go above and beyond the typical route toward defeating a lawsuit by attacking class-action attorneys at the firm of Cohen Milstein as springing into action upon word that a judge rejected Apple’s $325 million settlement as too low. “As for the named plaintiffs, there is no allegation that any of them ever did anything to investigate his or her claim,” they say.

 

 

The studios attempt to pick apart the smoking-gun evidence of an antitrust conspiracy offered up by the plaintiffs.

For example, there’s Blue Sky, the 20th Century Fox-controlled production company behind Rio and Ice Age. The plaintiffs have seized upon a statement from one Blue Sky employee that he did not “want to be starting anything” with DreamWorks over one story guy. That might be an example of Blue Sky’s “unilateral desire” to avoid a wage war with DreamWorks, says the defendant, but not evidence of any agreement that violates antitrust laws.

Similarly, when Chris Meledandri (a former exec at Blue Sky) emails Pixar’s then-CFO Simon Bax and references “our sensitive issue of employee retention,” and quotes an internal Pixar conversation about anti-poaching assurances, he’s not being read correctly, imply the defendants. The lawsuit complaint “omits the portions of this email that make it clear that Meledandri’s concern is simply Blue Sky’s ability to keep certain employees ‘through the completion of ICE 2,'” and further that “not only does this email not suggest Blue Sky’s involvement in some broad anti-solicitation conspiracy, it demonstrates that Pixar frequently hired Blue Sky employees.”

Some of the defendants like Blue Sky might have have refrained from becoming aggressive on the hiring front without any formal agreement — that’s at least the defendants’ read, here — while other studios might have been doing stuff that’s arguably pro-competitive on the hiring front.

“Plaintiffs fail to allege plausibly that Sony Pictures entered into non-solicitation agreements with anyone, let alone that it participated in the purported overarching conspiracy that is described in the [consolidated amended complaint],” states the motion to dismiss. “To the contrary, the picture that emerges from the CAC, and the record it relies upon, is not that Sony Pictures entered into nonsolicitation agreements, but that Sony Pictures consistently engaged in aggressive recruiting practices.”

The basis for asserting that Sony had somehow become part of a conspiracy on the anti-poaching front was a meeting held about a decade ago between Pixar president Ed Catmull and senior executives at Sony Animation for the purpose of reaching some understanding about not soliciting each other’s employees. After the meeting, Pixar human resources employee Lori McAdams is said to have suggested that Sony entered into a “gentleman’s agreement.”

“While plaintiffs are correct in alleging that Mr. Catmull did have such a meeting at which he attempted to persuade Sony Pictures to discontinue its aggressive recruiting conduct, absolutely no change in Sony Pictures’ behavior resulted from his efforts,” says the motion to dismiss.

As evidence that Sony never made an agreement with Pixar, the defendants point to Catmull’s deposition testimony in the earlier lawsuit as well as an email with the subject line “Zemeckis” that Catmull sent to former Disney film chief Dick Cook in 2007. At the time, Catmull wrote, “Every time a studio tries to grow rapidly, whether it is Dreamworks in 2D animation or Sony in 3D, it seriously messes up the pay structure.”

By the end of 2007, Catmull stated in another message, “[G]iven Sony’s extremely poor behavior in its recruiting practices, I would feel very good about aggressively going after Sony people.”

The defendants tell the judge that nothing turned up in the DOJ investigation indicating that Sony agreed not to solicit Pixar employees. (If the plaintiffs are allowed to amend, it will be interesting to see if there’s anything from the hacked documents that turn up — which would raise other serious issues.) “The DOJ recognized this dearth of evidence in documents produced by Sony Pictures, Pixar, Lucasfilm, DreamWorks, Blue Sky and others, so it closed its Sony Pictures file without even requesting a meeting with Sony Pictures’ employees or its counsel,” says the motion.

U.S. District Judge Lucy Koh has scheduled a hearing on March 26 to consider the studios’ motion to dismiss the consolidated lawsuit.

The dispute is bringing to the courtroom some of the biggest law firms in the nation. Disney is represented by Emily Henn at Covington & Burling. DreamWorks is repped by Rod Stone at Gibson Dunn & Crutcher. Sony is being handled by Stephen Bomse at Orrick Herrington & Sutcliffe. Blue Sky is being defended by John Schmidtlein at Williams & Connolly as well as William Faulkner at McManis Faulkner.

 

 

After being criticized by a frenzy of nationwide headlines and tweets on Twitter, Steven Colbert, host of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, promised to get his facts straight after a Sport Report segment on his show concerning the Redskins name sparked outrage. Since then, he’s made his last few episodes to make up for the trouble it caused him and the show to get canned, which is what exactly happened before the Cancel Colbert protest on Twitter began trending. After indisposing the Grim Reaper on his final show which earned him immortality in order to keep his polictical character intact, he’s waiting for David Letterman to do the same since back in April of last year when Colbert met him one time. Now CBS has given him the green light for his own late night comedy series just like Colbert’s idol. What’s the date for the satirists’ debut Johnny?

 

Johnny Trout (via The Hollywood Reporter)- Stephen Colbert has his start date.

The Late Show will premiere Tuesday, Sept. 8, CBS Entertainment chairman Nina Tassler announced Monday morning at the Television Critics Associations’ semiannual press tour. “With an election year ahead, it’s going to be nice to have the smartest guy in the room on at 11:30 p.m.,” she said. The news comes nine months after the April announcement that Colbert would succeed David Letterman, the network’s late-night host for the past 21 years.

The satirist said goodbye to his caricatured conservative character when he signed off last December after a decadelong stint hosting Comedy Central’s hit The Colbert Report (The Nightly Show With Larry Wilmore will replace it, bowing Jan. 19). Colbert had been at the network since 1997, when he began as a correspondent for The Daily Show.

“I have nine months to make a show, just like a baby,” Colbert joked. “So first, I should find out how you make a baby.” Tassler added: “The production office is open, the premiere date is set, and we’re incredibly excited to welcome the creative and comedic genius of Stephen Colbert to CBS late night this fall.”

Between Letterman’s May 20 finale and Colbert’s fall launch, Tassler says they plan to run encore presentations of the network’s new and enduring hit shows during the late-night time slot. The network chief also acknowledged that she’s been in conversation with Letterman about special programming leading up to the veteran host’s spring signoff.

Tassler also revealed that Colbert’s team just moved into their new offices — he’ll be broadcast from the Ed Sullivan Theater in New York City, which has been home to The Late Show since 1993. As far as details about the format of the show go, Tassler couldn’t reveal much except that there will be music, guests and the focus will be on current events.

“There will be parts that are traditional in some context, and then there’s things he’s going to try to do differently. Part of the opportunity of being in business with a brilliant talent like Stephen Colbert is really letting him do what he wants to do,” said Tassler. “We’re sitting back and waiting for him to come to us to say what he has in mind. He’s a real student of the media and knows the format more than anybody else.”

 

 

 

Checking the Penguins tally, 1,953 fans sign in as Team Hiccup, Team Skipper’s team partner, nabbed best animated flick at last Sunday’s Golden Globes.

 

 

 

New faces for toons arrive this year as 2015’s ratings season is underway. We’ll be profiling new and returning shows as Nick, Cartoon Network, and Disney catch up after a lackluster year. Let’s see if these 3 networks get their mojo back. See you next edition of Gene Scallop’s entertainment report!

Taken 3 scores 40 million as it downsizes holiday box office; DreamWorks stock downgraded due to high volatility; Sony Pictures hit again with 2nd class action suit due to last year’s hack attack

 

Bryan Mills takes no prisoners! I’m Realistic Fish Head. As he fights to find his daughter who was taken in Taken 2, Taken 3 rolled in a 40 million box office ransom to take back his daughter from dastardly kidnappers. How will it work for Mills and the movie itself Gene as the saga ends?

 

Fox’s Taken 3 led the box office with ease this weekend with an estimated debut of $40.4 million. The third installment of the Liam Neeson led franchise outpaced pre-release expectations; marking the third time that the Taken franchise has exceeded expectations. Taken 3 hadn’t been expected to open anywhere near as strong as 2012’s Taken 2, but instead opened a reasonable 18 percent below the $49.51 million debut of Taken 2. Without adjusting for ticket price inflation, Taken 3 delivered the second largest opening weekend ever for the month of January (behind only the $41.52 million take of last year’s Ride Along). The film’s debut was especially impressive given that so many holdovers came back down to earth this weekend; due in part to the end of the holiday season and due in part to the strong performance of Taken 3.

Taken 3 opened with $14.8 million on Friday (which included an estimated $1.6 million from late night shows on Thursday), increased 5 percent on Saturday to take in $15.6 million and is estimated to decline 36 percent on Sunday to gross $10.0 million. That places the film’s estimated opening weekend to Friday ratio at 2.73 to 1. Taken 3 received a solid B+ rating on CinemaScore. It is possible that Taken 3 could take a significant hit next weekend from the nationwide expansion of Warner’s highly anticipated American Sniper.

Paramount’s Selma placed in a distant second with an estimated $11.2 million. While Taken 3 outpaced expectations this weekend, Selma debuted below expectations, which were ultimately inflated due in part to the film’s exceptional critical reviews and a larger than originally anticipated location count this weekend. While the Ava DuVernay directed awards season hopeful didn’t light the box office on fire this weekend, the film could still hold up extremely well going forward thanks in part to strong word of mouth (the film received an exceptional A+ rating on CinemaScore) and continued awards season buzz. It is also very possible that many initial moviegoers are waiting until the Martin Luther King holiday weekend next weekend to see the film. With that said, that Selma debuted 54.5 percent below the $24.64 million start of 2013’s Lee Daniels’ The Butler is certainly underwhelming. Selma has grossed $13.49 million to date.

Selma grossed $3.78 million on Friday, increased a healthy 24 percent on Saturday to gross $4.7 million and is estimated to decline 42 percent on Sunday to gross $2.72 million. That gives the film an estimated weekend to Friday ratio of 2.96 to 1. It should be noted that the reported production budget for Selma was a modest $20 million.

Holdovers occupied positions three through six this weekend with the four films fairly bunched together with one another. Disney’s Into the Woods claimed third with an estimated $9.75 million. The Rob Marshall directed musical featuring Meryl Streep was down a significant 48 percent. This weekend’s hold was lackluster given that the film expanded into an additional 295 locations. Into the Woods surpassed the $100 million mark this weekend and has grossed $105.27 million in 18 days. That places the film 6 percent behind the $111.93 million 18-day take of 2012’s Les Misérables.

Warner’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies followed closely behind in fourth place with an estimated $9.44 million. The third installment of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy was down a sharp 57 percent from last weekend. The Battle of the Five Armies has grossed $236.52 million through 26 days of release and is now running just 2 percent ahead of the $231.93 million 26-day gross of 2012’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

Unbroken rounded out the weekend’s top five with an estimated $8.37 million. The Angelina Jolie directed war drama from Universal fell 54 percent from last weekend. Like Into the Woods, Unbroken also surpassed the $100 million domestic milestone this weekend. Unbroken continues to exceed expectations with $101.60 million in 18 days. The film is running 8 percent ahead of the $94.09 million 18-day gross of 2008’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

The Imitation Game placed in sixth with an estimated $7.62 million. The awards season hopeful from The Weinstein Company held up much better than other films in the marketplace this weekend, as it was down just 2 percent. However, the film did expand into an additional 812 locations this weekend, so its location average did see significant slowing over the frame. The Imitation Game surpassed the $40 million mark this weekend and has grossed a promising $40.84 million to date.

Warner’s Inherent Vice took in an estimated $2.9 million this weekend to place in eleventh among all films. The Paul Thomas Anderson directed film generated a respectable per-location average of $4,496 from 645 locations. The film performed on the higher end of expectations, which were subdued from the film’s modest performance in platform release.  Inherent Vice performed 34 percent softer than the $4.39 million take of 2012’s The Master during its first weekend of major release (in 788 locations). Inherent Vice has grossed $4.48 million to date.

Fellow Warner Bros. release American Sniper continued to impress in platform release with an estimated $550,000 from just 4 locations.  That gave the Clint Eastwood directed awards season hopeful starring Bradley Cooper a massive per-location average of $138,750.  American Sniper has grossed $3.15 million to date.  As mentioned, the film will expand into nationwide release this coming Friday.

 

 

To recap, Taken 3 blows in to outpace the kidnappers in 1st, Selma teaches black history in 2nd, In The Woods, Hobbit: Battle of the 5 Armies, and Unbroken get sideswiped in 3rd through 5th as Mills races to find his daughter.

 

 

Last Sunday, Mireille Soreia and Bonnie Arnold took over Bill Damaschke’s animation job at DreamWorks signaling a possible turnaround to fix his mistakes which hurt the box office last year. That was the case on Wall Street last week as its stock was downgraded. What was the cause behind the takeover Stan?

 

Stan Jennings Fish (via Sleek Money)- Zacks lowered shares of DreamWorks Animation Skg (NYSE:DWA) from a neutral rating to an underperform rating in a report released on Friday. Zacks currently has $20.00 price objective on the stock.

Zacks’ analyst wrote, “DreamWorks performed encouragingly in the third quarter of 2014 reporting higher-than-expected revenues as well as earnings. The company’s third-quarter 2014 earnings (excluding special items) of $0.10 per share handsomely beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.04. Higher-than-expected revenues led to the earnings beat. Despite such an impressive show, the company’s movie business is still battling high volatility. Mounting marketing costs, limited number of film releases, stiff competition from large production houses and overdependence on its Feature Film business continue to act as headwinds for the company. Considering such downbeats we downgrade our recommendation to Underperform from Neutral. “

Zacks has also updated their ratings on a number of other consumer discretionary stocks in the last week. The firm reiterated its neutral rating on shares of DISH Network Corp. They have a $72.00 price target on that stock. Also, Zacks upgraded shares of Nexstar Broadcasting Group, Inc. from a neutral rating to an outperform rating. Zacks now has a $54.40 price target on that stock.

Several other analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Analysts at B. Riley reiterated a neutral rating on shares of DreamWorks Animation Skg in a research note on Friday, December 19th. They now have a $25.00 price target on the stock. Finally, analysts at Topeka Capital Markets downgraded shares of DreamWorks Animation Skg from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 9th. They now have a $17.00 price target on the stock, down previously from $23.00. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, six have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $21.40.

DreamWorks Animation Skg (NYSE:DWA) traded up 0.62% during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $22.66. 249,347 shares of the company’s stock traded hands. DreamWorks Animation Skg has a 52 week low of $19.20 and a 52 week high of $35.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $22.35 and a 200-day moving average of $22.46. The company’s market cap is $1.931 billion.

DreamWorks Animation Skg (NYSE:DWA) last released its earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The company reported $0.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the analysts’ consensus estimate of $0.08 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $180.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $182.70 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.12 earnings per share. DreamWorks Animation Skg’s revenue was up 17.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

DreamWorks Animation SKG, Inc. (NYSE:DWA) is engaged in the development, production and exploitation of animated films and their associated characters in the worldwide theatrical, home entertainment, television, merchandising and licensing and other markets.

 

 

Sony’s CEO came clean at CES last week about last November’s hack attack which put Sony Pictures and the entire staff at risk. The situation got worse as the studio was hit with their second class action suit following the attack. What’s going on there this time Angie?

 

 

Angie Angelfish (via Deadline Hollywood)- The legal woes continue to mount in the wake of the cyber attack on Sony Pictures. A former software engineer at the studio has filed the latest class-action lawsuit over the hack, claiming that his personal information “may have been compromised as a result of the security breach.” Anastasio Garcia Rodriguez, who worked at Sony Pictures from February 2011 to May 2013, claims the info obtained by the hackers “includes at a minimum his Social Security number, immigration information and visa, and passport information.”

 

The suit joins a number of others  brought in the wake of the devastating late-November attack, which has crippled Sony Pictures and created an international incident between the U.S. and North Korea, which the FBI says was behind the hack.

Garcia Rodriguez’s January 2 filing in U.S. District Court for Central California  claims Sony Pictures “owed a legal duty to Plaintiff and Class Members to exercise reasonable care in obtaining, maintaining, securing and disposing of personally identifiable information (PII).” Garcia Rodriguez says the studio “failed to exercise reasonable care in the adoption, implementation, and maintenance of IT security procedures, infrastructure, personnel, and protocols” and to dispose of personal info SPE no longer needed. The suit also claims the studio failed “to utilize industry standard methods for timely identifying security breaches” and then was late in informing employees about the hack.

The lawsuit, which seeks a jury trial and class-action status, does not include a dollar amount. But it claims, “Defendant’s breach of its legal duty to Plaintiff and Class Members caused injuries to Plaintiff and Class Members, including, but not limited to: (a) theft of their PII; (b) expenses associated with the detection and prevention of  identity theft and unauthorized use of their personal, financial and medical records; (c) expenses associated with time spent addressing and attempting to mitigate the consequences of the GOP data breach; and (d) injury resulting from fraud and identity theft caused by the use of PII by criminals or others who access PII now available on the internet.”

Attorneys Steven M. Tindall and Valerie Brender of Rukin Hyland Doria & Tindall LPP of San Francisco are representing Garcia Rodriguez in the lawsuit.

 

 

Checking the Penguins tally, 1,956 fans sign in as Team Skipper monitors the pressure from Wall Street as DreamWorks is put through a rollercoaster ride.

 

 

Have you ever seen a cheerleader join a football team before? Well look no further as Bella joins a Bulldog football team. How will she fit in? Find out this Saturday as Bella and the Bulldogs join Nick’s Saturday Night lineup! This is Realistic Fish Head saying, fight on until victory!

Bonnie Arnold and Mireille Soria replace Bill Damaschke as animated production heads; Fox’s 5.5 million breaks new record offsetting box office summer slump; Viacom settles ICA lawsuit

 

Welcome to the shake-up edition of Gene Scallop’s entertainment report. Here’s what’s topping today!

 

There was indeed a shakeup at DreamWorks on Sunday as 2 familiar animation exec’s took animation director Bill Damaschke’s place. Damaschke you might remember was the one behind Peabody and Sherman and Penguins of Madagascar which both flopped the box office last year. That resulted in a quick change of action at the company. Who are the two executives and could this move be a big turnaround for DreamWorks Johnny?

 

 

Johnny Trout (via The Hollywood Reporter)- Looking to restore the luster to the film side of DreamWorks Animation, Jeffrey Katzenberg has tapped veteran producers Bonnie Arnold and Mireille Soria to serve as co-presidents of feature animation, replacing Bill Damaschke.

Damaschke, a DWA veteran, has been with the company since 1995 and was named chief creative officer in 2011. His exit from that post follows a string of box office disappointments for DWA, including Mr. Peabody & Sherman and the spinoff Penguins of Madagascar. He had served in the top post since January 2011.

 

 

 

Soria and Arnold, who are intimately familiar with DWA, will head up creative development and production on all of the studio’s movies. Arnold was the lead producer on the How to Train Your Dragon franchise, including last year’s sequel. Released in June, How to Train Your Dragon 2 was DWA’s one bright spot in 2014, earning north of $618 million globally to become the top-grossing animated title of the year. It also has been nominated for a Golden Globe for best animated feature.

Soria was lead producer of the original Madagascar film in 2005, among other DWA titles. Collectively, the movies they have produced for Katzenberg’s outfit have grossed a combined $3.5 billion globally.

“Mireille and Bonnie are two of the most accomplished and prolific filmmakers working in feature animation today,” Katzenberg said in a statement. “I am confident in their ability to marshal the extensive creative resources available at our studio and lead DreamWorks’ vast ranks of artists and filmmakers as they produce the highest quality entertainment.”

Added Arnold and Soria: “Great storytelling is the heart of DreamWorks Animation, and we are honored and excited to help shape the movies that will entertain audiences around the world.”

Arnold’s credits include Pixar’s Toy Story, DWA’s Over the Hedge and Disney blockbuster Tarzan. She’s also an accomplished live-action producer, and worked on the acclaimed indie drama The Last Station.

Soria’s resume highlights include DWA’s Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron and Fox’s Ever After.

 

Back in2011, Paramount set an 5.17 million smacker record for their big box office hits including Transformers 4: Age of Extinction which was the most expensive flick of 2014. This time, Fox leapt over the mountain with a new market share record! Did X-Men: Days of Future Past took down last year’s summer bummer Danny?

 

Danny Angelfish (via The Hollywood Reporter)- Thanks to a diverse slate that resonated with consumers, Fox set a new industry record at the worldwide box office in 2014.

Fox movies generated $5.5 billion in global ticket sales, well ahead of the previous industry record of $5.17 billion set in 2011 by Paramount, and one of the few times that revenue has hit the $5 billion mark.

The studio’s performance in North America was particularly notable; it bested every other studio with $1.79 billion (the next closest is $1.619 billion for Disney). In recent times, Fox has lagged behind many of the other major studios in terms of domestic revenue. To boot, Fox was able to thrive despite the overall downturn at the domestic box office, where revenue tumbled by more than 5 percent, and attendance hit a two-decade low.

Internationally, where Fox has generally been a market leader alongside Warner Bros., the studio came in at $3.73 billion, besting the previous industry record by more than $500 million.

Domestic revenue was up a staggering 66 percent over 2013’s $1.06 billion, while the international haul was up 60 percent over the $2.33 billion collected in 2013 (a soft year). Globally, Fox was up 63 percent year-over-year.

 

“This was a remarkable year for our studio, thanks to the talent of our filmmakers and our teams’ incredible work ethic, devotion and spirit. We are all very proud of this success, and look forward to an even brighter 2015 and beyond,” said Paul Hanneman and Tomas Jegeus, Fox co-presidents of worldwide marketing and distribution.

Fox’s biggest earner was Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, which earned a franchise-best $748 million worldwide in summer 2014, followed by sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes with $709 million.

And Fox’s The Fault in Our Stars ($304.2 million) is one of the most profitable titles of 2014, costing just $12 million to make, while Gone Girl vastly exceeded expectations, earning $356.8 million globally to become David Fincher’s most successful film of all time, not accounting for inflation. YA film adaptation The Maze Runner likewise overperformed to the tune of $339.8 million.

Warner Bros. — which had a particularly tough year — came in No. 2 in terms of global revenue with an estimated $4.73 billion, but that was down from $4.98 billion in 2013. Overseas, however, the studio narrowly set a new record with $3.17 billion, up 1 percent from the year before. Domestically, the studio fell to No. 3 with $1.56 billion, down from $1.84 billion in 2013.

Enjoying its second-best year in history behind 2013, Disney placed No. 2 domestically with $1.61 billion, up narrowly from 2013, and No. 3 worldwide with $4.44 billion, down from $4.73 billion in 2013. Internationally, revenue fell from $3.13 billion in 2013 to $2.83 billion.

Paramount improved its standing considerably with $2.82 in worldwide revenue, fueled largely by Transformers: Age of Extinction, the only 2014 release so far to hit $1 billion globally. Worldwide, Paramount was up 24 percent from 2013 ($2.27 billion). In North America, Paramount placed No. 4 with $1.05 billion, compared to $967.3 million in 2013.

Landing at No. 5 worldwide was Universal with $2.52 billion, down from $3.68 billion in 2013 (the studio’s biggest year in history). Domestically, revenue fell to $1.12 billion from $1.43 billion, while international dipped to $1.4 billion from $2.26 billion. Still, the studio can boast two of the most profitable films of 2014 with Neighbors and Ouija.

The hack-embattled Sony placed No. 6 globally with $2.49 billion, down from $3.05 billion. Overseas, revenue came in at $1.24 billion, compared to $1.91 the year before. Domestically, however, Sony was up from $1.14 billion to $1.25 billion.

 

Viacom’s once again in legal trouble ever since September 2011, but this time, the big media company is about to abandon ship. Sounds like this lawsuit’s going to be a lengthy process isn’t it Jim?

Jim Fish (via The Hollywood Reporter)- Viacom is about to become the latest media giant to stage an exit from the messy litigation over unpaid internships. On New Year’s Eve, attorneys informed a New York federal judge that the company had come to a deal in principle to settle a class action lawsuit challenging whether its old intern program violated minimum wage and other labor laws.
Terms of the settlement haven’t yet been disclosed, but following the deals made in recent months for ex-interns at NBCU, Conde Nast and ICM, the tentative agreement signals another turning of the page on a tradition once seen as untouchable. The significance of the latest settlement goes beyond money: By reaching peace with Viacom, the plaintiffs have scored a mini cultural milestone. Viacom is owner of MTV, a bastion of youth culture.

The lead plaintiff in the lawsuit against Viacom was Casey O’Jeda, who was an unpaid intern at MTV from September 2011 to January 2012, working on the network’s mobile website. Since the lawsuit was filed, more than 300 other individuals gave their consent to join the collective action against Viacom.

In April, U.S. District Judge Jesse Furman granted conditional class certification in this lawsuit and gave a green light to issue a notice to those covered by the litigation. The judge wrote that for certification purposes, attorney Lloyd Ambinder had offered sufficient generalized proof that plaintiffs were “victims of a common policy to replace paid workers with unpaid interns.”

Viacom could have challenged the ruling as Fox will be doing soon at the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. But Viacom has already made the corporate decision to pay all the interns at its various divisions.

Although the parties now tell the judge there are a number of material terms that remain to be reconciled, the deal in principle has progressed far enough that the attorneys involved are asking for a magistrate judge to assist the parties in effectuating the settlement.

The overall monetary value of the deal will be revealed in a future court filing — the proposed settlement will need to be approved by the judge — but it will likely cover all interns who worked at Viacom after August, 2010 or three years prior to when the lawsuit was filed.

 

We’ll keep an eye on this lawsuit as soon as it’s done.

 

 

Checking the Penguins tally, 1,960 fans sign in as DreamWorks’ feature animation takeover sounds the alarm for Team Skipper of what could mean a big reversal for them and for the rest of animation in Hollywood this year.

 

Old Man Winter arrived just in time as the box office marathon continues on DVD. The list’s very short, so have a look:

 

 

 
1/6/2015
 
Get On Up
Boyhood
Ways to Live Forever
 
1/13/2015
 
The Two Faces of January
Lucy
 
1/20/2015
 
The Boxtrolls

 

 

We’re in winter’s coldest grip folks, so bundle up! In the meantime, we’ll warm up soon on the next edition of Gene Scallop’s entertainment report.

Hobbit: Battle of the 5 Armies rolls into 3rd weekend with 22 million, Woman in Black 2 hits high marks with 16 million; Action, romance, fantasy, and drama from Disney, Marvel, Paramount, and Fox dominate 2014 box office; Pharrell Williams records “Squeeze Me for SpongeBob Movie 2: Sponge Out of Water

 

The Hobbits go for 3. Gene Scallop here on the Hobbit movie finale edition of Gene Scallop’s box office report. Here’s what’s topping the box office this week!

 

When last we left our hero Bilbo Baggins in the box office, he and his fellow friends marched toward their 2nd week with 41 million smackers. This week, the battle continued as Hobbit: Battle of the 5 Armies added 22 million smackers to their stacked collection of box office gold. Let’s check out what other flicks matched the Hobbits’ prowess:

 

Warner’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies took in an estimated $21.91 million this weekend to lead the weekend box office for a third consecutive frame. The third and final installment of Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy was down a significant 46 percent from last weekend. All previous Lord of the Rings and Hobbit films have experienced declines in the 40 percent to 49 percent range the weekend after New Year’s and that tend held up for The Battle of the Five Armies. The film surpassed the $200 million domestic mark this weekend and has grossed $220.77 million in 19 days. That places The Battle of the Five Armies 9.5 percent ahead of the $201.54 million 19-day take of last year’s The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and 7 percent behind the $238.00 million 19-day gross of 2012’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

Disney’s Into the Woods remained in second place this weekend with an estimated $19.07 million. The modestly budgeted Rob Marshall directed musical featuring Meryl Streep was down 39 percent from last weekend. Into the Woods has grossed a strong $91.21 million in eleven days. That places the film 7 percent ahead of the $85.54 million eleven-day gross of 2008’s Bedtime Stories and a slim 1 percent behind the $92.48 million eleven-day take of 2012’s Les Misérables. Into the Woods continued to run neck and neck with Universal’s Unbroken this weekend and the two films are currently separated by just $3.40 million thus far.

Unbroken placed in third with an estimated $18.4 million. The Angelina Jolie directed war drama was down a respectable 40 percent from last weekend. While Unbroken has shown some relative front-loading thus far, in the bigger picture the film has grossed a significantly stronger than expected $87.81 million in eleven days thanks in part to its very strong Christmas weekend start. Unbroken is running 11 percent ahead of the $79.29 million eleven-day take of 2008’s The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and 5 percent behind the $92.45 million eleven-day gross of 2012’s Django Unchained.

The Woman in Black 2: Angel of Death debuted in fourth place with a surprisingly strong estimated start of $15.15 million. The PG-13 rated horror sequel from Relativity exceeded expectations, which had been muted in part from soft pre-release online activity heading into the weekend. The film’s debut was especially good news for Relativity given that the film was an inexpensive acquisition for the distributor. Early January is historically a good time to release horror films and that certainty was the case for The Woman in Black 2. The film opened 27 percent below the $20.87 million start of 2012’s The Woman in Black (a CBS Films release), which was quite respectable given that The Woman in Black 2 doesn’t feature Daniel Radcliffe.

Fox’s Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb claimed fifth place with an estimated $14.45 million. The third installment of the Ben Stiller led franchise continued to display impressive holding power as it was down just 28 percent from last weekend. Secret of the Tomb has grossed $89.73 million in 17 days. That places the film 3 percent behind the $92.73 million 17-day gross of 2011’s Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked. The current total gross to opening weekend ratio for Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb already stands at 5.25 to 1.

Annie placed in sixth with an estimated $11.4 million. Sony’s musical remake starring Quvenzhané Wallis, Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz also held up nicely this weekend as it fell 31 percent from last weekend. Annie has grossed a very solid $72.63 million in 17 days. That gives the film a current total gross to opening weekend ratio of 4.58 to 1. Annie is running 22 percent behind the 17-day take of the mentioned Alvin and the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked.

The Imitation Game continued to impress in moderate release with an estimated seventh place take of $8.11 million from 754 locations. That gave the awards season hopeful from The Weinstein Company a per-location average of $10,757 for the frame, which easily represented the weekend’s strongest location average for films in the top ten. The Imitation Game has grossed $30.78 million to date and appears to be in great shape for a lengthy box office run, especially when considering it was up 2 percent over last weekend without the aid of a major expansion this weekend.

The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 finished in eighth with an estimated $7.7 million. The third installment of Lionsgate’s blockbuster franchise was down a very healthy 23 percent from last weekend.  Mockingjay – Part 1 is currently the second highest grossing release of 2014 domestically with a 45-day take of $323.87 million. That leaves the film just $9.10 million away from the current $332.97 million total gross of Guardians of the Galaxy (through Thursday).

Paramount’s Selma and Warner’s American Sniper both continued to impress on the platform front with respective estimated weekend takes of $645,000 and $640,000. Selma claimed a per-location average of $29,318 from 22 locations, while American Sniper generated a massive per-location average of $160,000 from 4 locations. Respective eleven-day totals for the awards season hopefuls stand at $2.08 million for Selma and at $2.19 million for American Sniper. Selma will be expanding into nationwide release this coming Friday, while American Sniper will receive a nationwide expansion on January 16.

Elsewhere on the platform front, A24’s A Most Violent Year was off to a promising start with an estimated $188,000 from four locations in New York and Los Angeles. That gave the awards season hopeful starring Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain a per-location average of $47,000 for the frame. The film, which opened on Wednesday, has grossed $300,000 in its first five days of release. A Most Violent Year is scheduled to be expanded throughout January, before receiving a nationwide release on January 30.

 

To recap as we calculate the numbers, Hobbit: Battle of the 5 Armies keeps attacking 1st, In the Woods continues rolling in 2nd as does Unbroken in 3rd, Woman in Black 2 checks in with a match of goals in 4th, and Night of Museum 3 closes out in 5th.

 

The year of the Hobbit may’ve started this year, but last year was a bummer in the summer as Hollywood suffered a 10-15% drop as all signs pointed to what happened with Disney/Pixar. Last summer’s box office hits were delayed due in part to the biggest summer gap made by the studio. Plus, big events last summer forced sightseers to get away from moviegoing which made every movie theater empty. As for the good news, some blockbusters such as Transformers 4: Age Of Extinction, which was the only flick to reach the 200 million and the 1 billion smacker mark, and Guardians of the Galaxy made sure that this year, the box office could actually rebound.

 

But before it does, let’s take a look back of what happened in 2014 as superhero movies rescued tinsel town from bottoming out. What were the biggest pops and drops last year Jim?

 

 

Jim Trout (via The Hollywood Reporter)- It was a tumultuous year for the box office. Revenue looks to have come in at $10.35 billion, down more than 5 percent from 2013’s record $10.9 billion. Worse, attendance hit a two-decade low, with roughly 1.27 billion going to the movies, compared to 1.34 billion in 2013. A dismal summer was the biggest culprit (revenues tumbled 15 percent for the season).

Still, there were plenty of happy endings, thanks to a strong international marketplace, especially with China’s growing influence helping to boost some films, like Transformers: Age of Extinction which took in $1.08 billion worldwide for the top spot for the year. And there were unexpected surprises in the U.S. and abroad like Gone Girl and Guardians of the Galaxy. Here, The Hollywood Reporter looks at 2014’s biggest winners and losers at the box office:

 

 

WINNERS:

 

Female Films
It was a strong year for movies starring women or aimed mainly at female audiences. Lucy, the action film starring Scarlett Johansson, stunned many when it out-muscled big-budget actioner Hercules for the top spot at the box office when it opened in July. The Universal movie, which was watched by both men and women evenly, had a stellar $43.9 million debut and went on to earn $458.9 million worldwide, a stunning number for a movie costing $40 million. Fox’s adaptation of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars proved that young women are a desirable moviegoing demographic when they turned out in droves to watch the tearjerker. The Shailene Woodley-starrer saw females make up roughly 82 percent of its opening weekend audience, and earned a stellar $304.2 million worldwide. And a female-led movie took the title of the No. 3 movie of the year. Maleficent, starring Angelina Jolie as the evil witch, cast a spell over audiences worldwide to earn $757.8 million worldwide. Jolie finished off her stellar year with her directorial project Unbroken, which won over the hearts of moviegoers when it began hitting theaters in December. Based on the life of WWII prisoner of war Louis Zamperini, Unbroken earned a strong $30.6 million in its domestic opening weekend, and will continue to thrive into the new year. Jolie’s 2015 is also looking promising: her next directorial project By the Sea, in which she stars alongside husband Brad Pitt, will hit theaters this year.

 

 

Marvel

Marvel had the top movie of 2012 with the star-studded ensemble pic The Avengers, but its accomplishments in 2014 may be even more admirable. Instead of resting on the safety of its already-successful Avengers characters, the studio launched a new franchise with Guardians of the Galaxy. Based on a relatively unknown comic about a ragtag group of space heroes, Guardians starred Chris Pratt, an actor who, at the time, was not considered a movie star, best known for his work on the NBC comedy Parks and Recreation. But the film, directed by James Gunn, rocketed to huge success, earning $772.5 million worldwide to become the No. 2 film of the year (behind Transformers: Age of Extinction’s $1.09 billion). Marvel also launched the next installment in the Captain America series, with The Winter Soldier earning a hefty $714 million worldwide, making nearly twice as much as the first Captain America film ($370.5 million).

 

 

Fox
The studio had quite a year between strong tentpole performances and surprise hits, and will top the domestic box office for the first time in several years. In 2013, Fox placed sixth domestically with a tally of $1.064 billion; its 2014 total is estimated at $1.769 billion. Worldwide, its biggest moneymakers included the star-studded X-Men: Days of Future Past which earned $746 million; sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, which earned strong critical acclaim and a huge box office cume of $708.3 million worldwide; animated sequel Rio 2, which soared to $498.8 million worldwide; and DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon 2, released by Fox, has earned $618.9 million worldwide. And then there were the overperformers. The adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl had amazing staying power at the domestic box office, remaining in the top 10 for 10 weeks. It became David Fincher’s top-grossing film when it earned $356.8 million worldwide. Another book adaptation, tearjerker Fault In Our Stars, also stunned at the box office, with a worldwide total of $304.2 million. And another YA film, The Maze Runner, launched a new franchise when it sprinted to $339.8 million worldwide.

 

China
The world’s second biggest film market surged 36 percent in 2014, raking in $4.76 billion (29.6 billion Yuan) at the box office. The moviegoing power of China helped boost Transformers: Age of Extinction, the only film to cross the $1 billion mark, to the No. 1 spot at the worldwide box office for the year. The film, which featured custom Chinese elements in that market, earned $320 million from China.

 
Kevin Hart
Hart proved his box office power with three successful movies in 2014. He kicked off the year with Ride Along, a $25 million comedy that topped the domestic box office for three straight weekends, a rare feat mostly accomplished by big tentpoles. After a $41.5 million U.S. debut, Ride Along rolled along to a total domestic tally of $134.9 million. Then, he won over Valentine’s Day couples with About Last Night, which had a $25.6 million U.S. debut (with African-Americans making up 72 percent of its opening audience) on its way to $48.6 million domestically. In June, Think Like a Man Too debuted No. 1 domestically with $29.3 million on its way to $65.2 million. Hart’s star will likely continue to rise with two more comedies hitting theaters in 2015: The Wedding Ringer in January and Get Hard, starring Will Ferrell, in March.

 

 

LOSERS:

Sports Movies
Sports movies, overall, weren’t able to score at the box office in 2014. Draft Day, starring Kevin Costner, opened to a soft $9.8 million in its U.S. debut for a fourth place finish. The football film earned $29.5 million worldwide. Another football film, TriStar’s When the Game Stands Tall, earned a nearly identical amount, ending its run with $30 million on a $15 million budget. And Million Dollar Arm, starring John Hamm, debuted to a disappointing $10.5 million, which is low even for baseball movie standards. The $25 million film went on to make just $38.3 million worldwide.

 

 

Sword and Sandal Movies
Moviegoers seem to have little interest in returning to the times of tunics and Hercules. Three sword and sandal movies stumbled at the box office this year.  In January, the first of two Hercules movies marched into theaters. But Legend of Hercules, starring Kellan Lutz, made only $61.3 million worldwide, a poor performance for a film that cost $70 million to make. Then, Pompeii (with a budget of $100 million), starring Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington, only earned $117.8 million worldwide after opening in February. Paramount’s Hercules, starring Dwayne Johnson, also struggled when it opened in July to $29.8 million, losing its opening weekend domestic box office battle to sci-fi action film Lucy ($43.9 million). The film, costing $100 million to make, earned a soft $243.8 million worldwide.

 

 

Male Stars
Some male actors who were at one time considered box office staples couldn’t deliver this year. Johnny Depp, who has raked in huge business as the lead in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, was the star of sci-fi thriller Transcendence, which stalled at the box office when it debuted to only $10.9 million. With a $100 million budget, Transcendence was a big disappointment when it only earned $103 million worldwide. Another male lead with huge international pull, Tom Cruise, lead sci-fi action film Edge of Tomorrow. Although the film had strong reviews, it couldn’t grab the domestic audience, debuting to a soft $28.7 million to place third behind Fault in Our Stars ($48 million U.S. debut) and Maleficent ($34.3 million in its second weekend). The film, costing $178 million, ended up earning only $100 million domestically, but was able to pull in better business overseas for a worldwide total of $369.2 million.

 

 

Seth MacFarlane
MacFarlane’s raunchy comedy Ted was a breakout hit in 2012, but his 2014 effort, A Million Ways to Die in the West, didn’t survive the box office slaughter. MacFarlane, who is considered one of the biggest stars in the comedy TV world with hits like Family Guy, starred in and directed the comedy, which was made for $40 million but only earned $86.4 million worldwide. Several other comedies underperformed this year, including Blended ($126 million worldwide on a $40 million budget), and Sex Tape ($126 million on a $40 million budget).

 

 

Domestic Box Office
There were plenty of empty seats at movie theaters in North America last year. According to estimates, roughly 1.26 billion consumers purchased cinema tickets in 2014, making it the the lowest since since 1.21 billion in 1995. Year-over-year, attendance is about 6 percent lower than 2013, when admissions clocked in at 1.34 billion.

 

 

With only a month left until the Sponge takes a trip to the real world, the biggest music artists are putting their music to work for the soundtrack to SpongeBob Movie 2: Sponge Out of Water. Pharrell Williams, who recently brought out the sensational music for “Happy” for Despicable Me 2, recently recorded a track last week for the “Sponge”-track. What track did Williams bought this time Dan?

 

 

Dan Barry (via Animation World Network)- The composer of this year’s musical hit, “Happy,” returns with a new tune for the soundtrack of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon’s forthcoming feature, ‘The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.’

The composer of this year’s musical hit, “Happy,” is back with a new tune, “Squeeze Me,” for the soundtrack of Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon’s forthcoming feature, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water.

Pharrell Williams has reportedly reunited with his old songwriting partners Chad Hugo and Shay Haley to put out a new N.E.R.D. track for the upcoming CG-live action hybrid feature. The tropical-sounding “Squeeze Me” is the group’s first collaboration since their 2010 album Nothing.

“We’re trying not to think too much in a cartoon sense,” Hugo said in an interview with Variety earlier this year, “but more just like a psychedelic, otherworldly type of thing. If you want to draw a parallel, maybe think of what the Beatles did with Yellow Submarine.”

The Grammy-winning “Happy,” which spent 10 weeks at number one on the Billboard chart, was featured in Illumination Entertainment’s animated sequel Despicable Me 2.

Directed by Paul Tibbitt from a story by Tibbitt and series creator Stephen Hillenburg, The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water was scripted by Kung Fu Panda 2 writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger.

The show’s original voice cast — Tom Kenny, Bill Fagerbakke, Rodger Bumpass, Clancy Brown, Carolyn Lawrence and Mr. Lawrence — reprise their roles alongside Antonio Banderas, who plays Alameda Jack, a pirate captain intent on recovering the last page to his magical book. The CG-live action hybrid feature is a follow-up to 2004’s The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, which grossed over $140 million worldwide.

The SpongeBob Movie: Sponge Out of Water arrives in theaters in 3D on February 6, 2015.

 

Checking the Penguins tally, 1,966 fans sign in as Team Skipper resumes their plan to focus on their next merchandising mission.

 

Before we handover to Fish Head next week, here’s 2014’s ratings recap:

 

 

Before holiday break, Nick was the top network thanks to the network’s Saturday night lineup which recovered a slight drop thanks to Cartoon Network and Disney which was the top network for teens and tweens. The 2014 KCA’s were also the highest watched award show in its history. Over 5 million viewers watched the slime studded event. The 2014 Nick HALO Awards were also the highest awards show which drew 3 million viewers, 2 million less than the KCA’s alone. Not only that, the first ever KCS awards topped younger viewers and teens. The network launched Dora and Friends, Wallykzam, and Blaze and the Monster Machines which entertained preschoolers for plenty of fun.

 

The other Nick networks did well too. Disney Channel’s DCOM Zapped! was the most watched movie while Cartoon Network’s Adventure Time was the most watched CN original for 2014. The 3 networks dropped hard due to tough competition, but Disney Junior managed to beat them out of 33 networks with an 18% pop. Sounds like Nick, Cartoon Network, and Disney have some work cut out for them this year if they can come back with better gains.

 

Team Leo’s back in action next weekend after being taken shelter from out of town since the Krang invaded NYC. What will the Green Machine do when they return to finish where they left off? See the comeback next Sunday with brand new episodes! See you this week for this edition of Gene Scallop’s entertainment report!