Business

Monday, February 22, 2010

Major spec script sale for new agency Verve

 The newly-minted Verve Talent and Literary Agency closed a huge script deal with Lionsgate over the weekend that included big paydays for the screenwriter, Shawn Christensen, and hot teen star, Taylor Lautner. The Internet has been buzzing with chatter about the studio bidding for this project for nearly two weeks now. Nikki Finke’s deadline.com/ Hollywood launched a play-by-play of the auction, who’s in and […]
Sunday, February 21, 2010

“Shutter Island” thrills moviegoers at the Box Office

A super opening for the latest teaming of Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio. The suspense thriller, “Shutter Island” debuted with an estimated $40.2 million this weekend at the domestic Box Office, to become the number one film in the country. “Shutter Island,” set in the 1950s, is about the investigation of a murder and some bizarre medical practices at a hospital for […]
Sunday, February 21, 2010

“The Hurt Locker” wins big at the WGA Awards

The 2010 Writers Guild of America Awards were handed out at simultaneous ceremonies in Los Angeles and New York last night for outstanding achievement in writing for the screen, television, radio, news, promotion, and videogames. “The Hurt Locker” grabbed the major prize — best original screenplay. The awards are piling up and the momentum building for “The Hurt Locker, ” which is nominated for nine Academy […]
Thursday, February 18, 2010

Showbiz Bytes: Hollywood movie deal, Tori Spelling, Kathryn Bigelow, & “Valentine’s Day” a record breaker

Director Steven Soderbergh’s action thriller sells to Warner Bros. The sluggish Hollywood film script market is picking up. After some bidding, Director Steven Soderbergh’s movie project, “Contagion,” sold to Double Feature Films at Warner Bros. The budget $60 million. The script, written by Scott Z. Burns, revolves around a viral outbreak. Several top notch stars are attached to the project including, Gwyneth […]
Sunday, February 14, 2010

“Valentine’s Day” rules at the Box Office

          Female ticket buyers showed their power at the domestic Box Office once again this weekend as not one but two chick flicks landed in the top five. Leading the way and ranking number one, the new star-packed romantic comedy, “Valentine’s Day” with a huge debut of $52.4 million.    V-Day is about couples and singles dealing with romance and the pressure of […]
Sunday, January 31, 2010

“Avatar” rules the Box Office and claims another record

The sci-fi epic “Avatar” has rolled right over that other James Cameron mega-hit, “Titanic” to become the highest grossing movie of all time. “Titanic” held that record with $1.843 billion. No more. That record has been shattered by the alien adventure film. After 45 days, the worldwide gross for “Avatar” stands at an incredible $2.039 billion, according to Box Office Mojo.   Amazingly, “Avatar” is still […]
Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Major troubles for Toyota

2010 Camry from Toyota.com The Big Three Detroit automakers are not the only vehicle manufacturers who have hit a few bumps in the road. In an unprecedented move industry leader, Toyota, is telling dealers to temporarily suspend sales of eight of its models, in the wake of a massive safety recall, that according to a news release yesterday from Toyota Motor Sales USA, headquartered in Torrance out […]
Thursday, January 14, 2010

President Obama tells the big banks: “We want our money back and we’re going to get it!’

White House photo by Samantha Appleton 01/14/10: President Obama calling for new bank fees. Some “fat cats” on Wall Street got a rude whack upside the head from President Obama today. A tough talking Obama put the big banks on notice that he wants them to repay “every dime” of our money they got in that huge financial bailout. The president wants to slap the […]