Advertisement

The Morning Fix: ‘Fast Five’ will race to top. CW has new boss. HBO goes mobile.

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 wishing I’d taken a mental health day.

The Skinny: I am happy to say that I have not watched any wedding coverage. I think I can make it through the whole day! Unfortunately, I can’t say the same when it comes to Charlie Sheen stories. And now neither can you. Also, a new boss at the CW Network, a look at HBO’s mobile and online strategy, and box office previews.

Advertisement

Gossip guy. Mark Pedowitz, who for years ran much of ABC’s entertainment business operations and later headed the network’s production unit, is the new president of the CW Network, home of teen dramas including ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘Vampire Diaries.’ A partnership between CBS and Time Warner’s Warner Bros., the CW has a very small audience. But while the network itself is not a money-maker, some of the shows on it have become cash cows from sales around the globe. Pedowitz succeeds Dawn Ostroff, who is relocating from Los Angeles to New York for family reasons. Coverage from the Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Deadline Hollywood, Variety and Hollywood Reporter.

Cars and girls and violence, what else do you need? Looks like Universal’s ‘Fast Five,’ the latest chapter in the ‘Fast and Furious’ series, will put the pedal to the metal this weekend. Also opening this week is Disney’s ‘Prom’ and Weinstein Co.’s oft-delayed ‘Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil’ sequel. Box office projections from the Los Angeles Times and Variety. Since ‘Prom’ is the first Disney movie created under studio chief Rich Ross, the Wrap looks at his management style.

Millionaire vs. billionaires. Don Bellisario, the creator ‘NCIS,’ has filed a lawsuit against CBS charging that he was denied a chance to participate creatively or financially from the spinoff ‘NCIS: Los Angeles.’ Bellisario, who was fired from ‘NCIS’ in 2007, claims his contract gave him a ‘first opportunity’ to be involved in future projects. CBS laughed off the suit, saying ‘the courts won’t need Naval intelligence to conclude that the case has no merit.’ Coverage from Deadline Hollywood and Los Angeles Times.

Will Brian Williams make a cameo on ‘Keeping Up with the Kardashians’? The marriage of Prince William and Kate Middleton has given new siblings E! and NBC News a chance to work closely together. Ad Age looks at the new BFFs that have emerged from the Comcast-NBC Universal merger.

Is there another way to cry? Although there has been lots of attention given to the idea of Arnold Schwarzenegger returning to the ‘Terminator’ franchise, his first project will be a movie called ‘Cry Macho,’ according to Vulture.

Stop the presses! ‘Two and a Half Men,’ whose star Charlie Sheen was fired from the hit earlier this year, is made by CBS and Warner Bros., the same companies that own the CW. One of the executives from one of those companies was talking Thursday to reporters, who naturally asked about the ‘Two and a Half Men’ situation. The executive said, duh, the obvious. Warner Bros., CBS and show creator Chuck Lorre are trying to figure out how to proceed without Sheen, which has been written a million times already. Apparently that was enough for folks to rush their non-news onto the Web. But I won’t deny you your Sheen stories from the Hollywood Reporter and New York Times.

Advertisement

Inside the Los Angeles Times: HBO looks beyond the TV screen for its future. Grauman’s Chinese Theatre has been sold to a couple of producers.

-- Joe Flint

Follow me on Twitter. No tweets about Prince William and Kate! Twitter.com/JBFlint

Advertisement