Advertisement

The Morning Fix: Rupert’s secret plan; Anne Sweeney gets a bump; Leno gets ready to run; A-list isn’t!

Share

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

After the coffee. Before the ‘Project Runway’ numbers come in.

Rupert Murdoch’s secret plan. News Corp., parent of The Wall Street Journal and New York Post, is looking to team up with other major publishers including The New York Times Co., Washington Post, Tribune (hey, that’s us!) and Hearst Corp. to figure out how to squeeze cash out of online content, reports Los Angeles Times ace Dawn Chmielewski. This comes on the heels of Steve Brill’s similar effort which claims to have signed up 500 newspapers but just doesn’t want to say who they are.

Murdoch’s wallet gets smaller. Maybe if Rupert Murdoch’s save-the-papers effort is successful he can get his bonus back up. According to News Corp.’s proxy statement, Murdoch took home $18 million last year, a 40% drop from 2007 as his bonus dropped to $5.4 million from $17.9 million. Details from Dow Jones.

Advertisement

Tarantino to the top. Director Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Inglourious Basterds’ is expected to be No. 1 this weekend and could take in more than $30 million. Whether that’ll be enough to give its producer The Weinstein Co. some breathing room is another story. Predictions, projections and the word from abroad from the Los Angeles Times, Variety and Hollywood Reporter.

Leno’s new exercise regime. Jay Leno has been running four miles a day and honing his act in anticipation of his new NBC prime time show and tells The Wall Street Journal that when he hears Paula Abdul complaining about her ‘American Idol’ deal, ‘it just looks bad to real people.’

Falling Stars. The A-list is becoming the B-list or even C-list this summer as big stars for the most part did not deliver the big bucks at the box office, reports The New York Times. This is a trend that’s been playing out for awhile now as our own Claudia Eller noted earlier this summer.

More cuts at WME? Deadline Hollywood Daily says there are big shake-ups going at the newly merged William Morris-Endeavor shop. DHD says Morris vets Jim Griffin and Paul Bricault are out and as many as 18 more agents may soon be hitting the streets.

Moving on up! Disney TV chief Anne Sweeney got a nice bump on the Forbes most powerful women list after some digging by our own Meg James as to why she’d fallen so far in just one year.

In today’s Los Angeles Times: The Michael Jackson movie ‘This Is It’ will have a limited run. Our parent Tribune wants to stay in charge after we emerge from bankruptcy. Kenneth Turan on ‘Inglourious Basterds’

Advertisement

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter.

Advertisement