The Morning Fix: Box office preview. Sunny Sky for James Murdoch
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After the coffee. Before hearing the latest spin from Oprah Winfrey’s OWN.
The Skinny: It’s press tour time again. Twice a year networks parade executives and shows out to the media and spin how they’re doing. Friday morning, Rosie O’Donnell will talk about her new show for OWN and later in the day Mike Judge will give details on his new version of ‘Beavis & Butt-head.’ In Friday’s headlines, James Murdoch got some good news for a change. There should be something for everyone at the movie theater this weekend and there’s been an executive shakeup at Current TV.
Good news, bad news. News Corp. and the Murdoch family, which has been beaten down by the phone hacking scandal that destroyed its News of the World tabloid, finally got some good news Thursday, only to be hit with potentially bad news later in the day. First, the board of British satellite broadcaster BSkyB, which is 39% owned by News Corp., did not make any moves to remove embattled James Murdoch as its chairman. There had been speculation that his job might be in jeopardy because of the News of the World investigation. However, later that day another horrible hacking story broke that, if true, will be a big black eye for the company. The latest from the New York Times, Los Angeles Times and The Guardian.
Action, romance or smurfs? This weekend’s box office battle is among ‘Cowboys & Aliens,’ ‘Crazy, Stupid Love’ and ‘The Smurfs.’ I’ll be an adult this weekend and go with ‘Crazy, Stupid Love.’ Box office projections from the Los Angeles Times, Hollywood Reporter and Variety.
Singing a different tune. A few weeks ago, ‘Glee’ co-creator and executive producer Ryan Murphy did an interview with the Hollywood Reporter and said some key cast members, including Lea Michele, would be leaving after their characters graduated high school. After that, there were denials from others associated with the show and poor gleeks (what ‘Glee’ fans are called) were left dazed and confused. Now Murphy comes clean to Deadline Hollywood and says those cast members were actually going to be part of a ‘Glee’ spinoff that has now hit the skids.
Marvel TKO. Marvel prevailed in a legal battle with the estate of comic book artist Jack Kirby over who has the rights to some of its most enduring characters, including Iron Man and the Incredible Hulk. The fight heated up not long after Walt Disney Co. shelled out $4 billion for Marvel. Details from the Los Angeles Times and New York Times.
Current shift. Mark Rosenthal is exiting his role as chief executive of Current TV, the cable network founded by Al Gore that recently signed Keith Olbermann in an attempt to rebrand itself as a political chat channel. Rosenthal kept bumping up against Joel Hyatt, who co-founded the network with Gore and has recently taken a more active role in the day-to-day running of Current. More from AdWeek.
Inside the Los Angles Times: Can’t decide what to see? Here are our reviews of ‘Crazy, Stupid, Love’ and ‘Cowboys & Aliens.’
-- Joe Flint
Follow me on Twitter. I don’t retweet stuff that’s not confirmed. Twitter.com/JBFlint
