The Morning Fix: Circling ‘Idol’ owner CKX! ‘Eclipse’ rules July 4. Relativity’s new stream. Disney’s ‘Millionaire’ fight
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After the coffee. Before starting a nice short week!
For a song. Simon Cowell’s exit is not the only big change coming to Fox’s ‘American Idol.’ The show may have a new owner before it returns in January. CKX, the parent of 19 Entertainment, is in play. Those circling include ‘American Idol’ creator Simon Fuller, Hollywood wheeler and dealer Allen Shapiro and Bob Sillerman, the founder of CKX who resigned in May. But buyer beware. That ‘American Idol’ cow can only be milked so much because of the complex deals between Fox, 19 Entertainment and Fremantle, the show’s other producer. More on the fate of CKX from the Los Angeles Times.
Showing bite at the box office. Summit’s latest ‘Twilight’ movie, ‘Eclipse,’ drew a lot of blood at the box office over the July 4 weekend, taking in about $175 million. That easily beat ‘The Last Airbender,’ but the $70.5 million that movie took in was much stronger than many industry observers were expecting. Details on the holiday box office from the Los Angeles Times, Hot Blog and a look at the international scene from the Hollywood Reporter.
It’s all relative. Hollywood player Ryan Kavanaugh has signed a deal with Netflix to stream movies from his production company via Netflix before the pay TV window on cable channels such as HBO and Showtime opens. There is a lot of debate over whether this is a groundbreaking deal or if the devil is in the details. For starters, the deal appears to be only for movies that Relativity has distribution rights for and not all of the movies it makes with Universal and Sony. There will be a lot of noise about this being a big blow to HBO and certainly it is something to be watched, but this deal may be the game-changer before the game-changer. More from the Wrap, Deadline Hollywood, Hot Blog and the Wall Street Journal’s All Things Digital blog.
Nickelodeon tries big screen again. The success of ‘The Last Airbender’ is good news for Nickelodeon, which is using the property to once again jump-start its film operation. Long a force in TV, Nickelodeon has had a mixed record on the movie side but has what on paper looks to be a strong slate that may have rival Disney looking over its shoulder. The New York Times takes a look at Nickelodeon’s big-screen dreams.
Your ad here! Remember a few years ago when News Corp.’s MySpace did a big ad deal with Google? Well, that $900-million pact is finally expiring. MySpace is, as everyone knows, struggling and the social networking site has not been delivering what Google hoped. Now MySpace is looking to strike a smaller deal and the Wall Street Journal looks at the talks going on between Google, Microsoft and Yahoo.
R.I.P. Legendary agent Ed Limato, whose clients over a lengthy career included Steve Martin, Richard Gere and Denzel Washington. Deadline Hollywood has a thorough look at Limato’s career and life.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: A legal battle over how much money ABC’s ‘Who Wants to be a Millionaire’ makes reveals a lot about TV economics. Actor Don Johnson is in a similar fight over ‘Nash Bridges.’ Patrick Goldstein on Rob Reiner’s new movie.
-- Joe Flint
It’s July already; what are you waiting for? Follow me on Twitter at twitter.com/JBFlint
