The Morning Fix: ‘X-Men’ on top! Cole-Cowell drama rolls on. Couric finds new home.
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After the coffee. Before the body shop.
The Skinny: So much for getting out of work early. I was supposed to see Adele tonight, but she canceled the rest of her U.S. tour! In real news: ‘X-Men’ was No. 1 at the box office. Katie Couric has found a new job, and the bidding for the 2014 and 2016 Olympics is going on right now!
‘X-Men’ storms the box office. The latest ‘X-Men’ picture took in about $56 million, a big number that helped drive weekend ticket sales to a 27% gain from the same weekend a year ago. Still, it wasn’t all good news. ‘X-Men: First Class’ had the lowest premiere performance of any movie in the 20th Century Fox film franchise. Coming in at second place was ‘The Hangover 2,’ which took in $32.4 million, a drop of 62% from its Memorial Day weekend premiere. Box-office analysis from the Los Angeles Times and Movie City News. Variety notes that ‘Bridesmaids,’ which unlike ‘Hangover 2’ was actually funny, has cleared $100 million in domestic box office.
Still looking for super box office. Participant Media, a studio that tries to make movies with a message, has yet to find the right combination of entertainment and enlightenment. Its most recent movie -- ‘The Beaver’ -- flopped. Of course, that film (about a guy going through a mental breakdown who finds peace by communicating through a puppet) probably wasn’t helped by having Mel Gibson in the lead role. Their biggest commercial feature success was ‘Charlie Wilson’s War,’ which if you haven’t seen it is worth catching next time it’s on HBO. A look at the ups and downs of Participant Media from the New York Times.
Get your bid in now. The International Olympic Committee will hear bids over the next two days from media giants Comcast (NBCUniversal), Disney (ESPN and ABC) and News Corp. (Fox) for rights to the 2014 and 2016 games. Of course, given that NBC lost more than $230 million on the 2010 Games and will likely bleed red ink on the 2012 London Games, the media giants are looking to exercise extreme caution while making offers. The latest previews on the bids from the Philadelphia Inquirer, Deadline Hollywood and the New York Times. For a look at new NBC Sports chief Mark Lazarus, here’s a Los Angeles Times profile.
She’s out. She’s in. She’s out. Cheryl Cole is apparently out for good from Fox’s ‘The X Factor,’ its musical talent show starring former ‘American Idol’ judge Simon Cowell. I can’t keep up with all this, and fortunately no one has asked me to do so. The Hollywood Reporter with this latest on the Cole drama.
Next stop ION? Katie Couric will announce Monday what everyone has known and reported for weeks: that the former NBC ‘Today’ co-host and CBS News anchor will host a syndicated daytime talk show as well as take on a role at ABC News. The syndicated show will premiere next fall. Everyone thinks hosting a daytime show is easy, but lots of big names have tried and failed. This is Couric’s third network, and she may be hoping to make people forget her five-year stint as anchor of the ‘CBS Evening News.’ Given how few watched it, that shouldn’t be too much of a problem. The New York Times on Couric’s latest move.
No a la carte for you! The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals tossed a suit that sought to force cable and satellite distributors to stop selling bundles of channels and instead offer networks on an individual -- or a la carte -- basis. If you can’t convince the 9th Circuit that big business is doing something bad, you’re really out of luck. More on the decision from Reuters.
The Skipper did it! A new take on some classic sitcoms has popped up around the country in the form of plays that add a bit of cloak and dagger to some old hits. The Wall Street Journal reports on several productions of sitcoms -- including a version of ‘Gilligan’s Island’ in which the Howells are murdered -- that are becoming cult classics in their own right. Of course, the studios are looking around to see if there is anything legal they can do to stop the parodies. If that doesn’t work ,the next step will be to see if they can find a way to get a cut.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: Some big-screen directors are embracing the small screen.
-- Joe Flint
Follow me on Twitter. The revolution may not be televised, but it will be tweeted: twitter.com/JBFlint
