'The X-Factor' Musical Headed To London's West End
The show's creator Simon Cowell has granted permission for a London stage version of the TV singing competiton. Cowell and Sony Music's joint venture Syco Entertainment are partnering with Stage Entertainment UK (Oliver!, Hairspray, Singin In The Rain) to launch the musical next year, Reuters reports. What they're calling an affectionate poke at Cowell's TV show, X Factor ' It's Time To Face The Musical! will hit London's West End in early 2014. British comedian Harry Hill is writing with Steve Brown handling music and Sean Foley is directing. Story centers on fictional character Chenice who finds herself and her talking dog in line waiting for an audition that will change her life.
Bertelsmann To Reduce RTL Stake To Raise Cash
German TV and publishing group Bertelsmann, Europe's biggest media company, plans to reduce its stake in RTL Group to 75% from 92.3% to raise money for an overhaul of its business. That means Bertelsmann could sell as much as 17.3% of RTL which would have a market value of more than 
'1.5 billion ($2 billion). Luxembourg-based RTL owns TV and radio stations in 10 contries across Europe. Bertelsmann will sell the shares by means of a so-called re-IPO process, which is similar to an initial public offering except that RTL is already a pubicly traded company. RTL's rarely traded free-floated shares amount to about 7% of the total, so Bertelsmann needs to educate potential investors in order to get the best price. Deutsche Bank, Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, Citigroup and Credit Suisse are running the sale, according to Reuters. Bertelsmann aims to expand into digital content and into emerging markets to complement its sagging publishing business, where it is planning a merger with Pearson Penguin.
50 Years Of MipTV Presents A Show For Each Year
Celebration of MipTV's 50th anniversary will highlight 50 shows that have shaped the history of television worldwide over the past half-century. Content tracking company The Wit has selected 50 emblematic shows, one for each year starting from 1963. From the '60s shows include the Japanese anime Astro Boy, quiz show Jeopardy and cult series Star Trek. From the 1970s, the shows selected are ITV's Coronation Street, game show The Price is Right, soap opera The Young & The Restless and German police series Derrick. Additional series highlights from the 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and more recent hits will be unveiled soon. In parallel to its anniversary, MipTV is renewing the MipCube event themed the Future of TV. New talent will be showcased in the Content 360 Pitch Competition for transmedia producers and creative agencies. MipTV takes place April 8-11 in Cannes.
continuing what has been an abysmal beginning of the year. Despite Warner Bros' Best Picture Oscar win for Ben Affleck's Argo, the studio's woes began with Gangster Squad in January and continued with Bullet To The Head and Beautiful Creatures through February, and festered with the $200 million flop Jack The Giant Slayer on March 1st. Now the studio is counting on May to deliver big grosses again with The Great Gatsby, The Hangover Part III, and the much anticipated Man Of Steel. Any hope for an upside because of the casting of Steve Carell and Jim Carrey (who's in the Witness Protection Program in the trailers) 
is gone even with a modest $32M production budget. Those stars should have delivered at least a $20M if not $30M opening. Instead their pic only maxed $10.3M for its first weekend after grossing only $3.7M Friday and $4.1M Saturday. And, remember, that includes 1,800 Thursday late shows, too. Even worse, pic scored a 'C+' CinemaScore which will hurt word of mouth along with a dismal 25% positive reviews from top critics on Rotten Tomatoes. What's interesting to me is how many famous names are on the movie. Carell and Steve Buscemi play a washed-up Las Vegas magician duo, with Carrey in a small but flashy role as a rival street performer. It also starred Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin and James Gandolfini. It was directed by veteran TV helmer Don Scardino while Tyler Mitchell is credited with the story, Jonathan Goldstein and John Francis Daley credited with rewrites, and no less than Jason Reitman credited with the polish. There's a long list of credited producers, including Chris Bender and JC Spink of the management firm Benderspink, and Carell's banner Carousel Productions which he runs with Vance DeGeneres who is Ellen's older brother. Burt Wonderstone was picked to open the SXSW film festival even though anyone could see that this movie was going nowhere. Everyone I talked to thought it would be weak from the get-go because magic just doesn't sell at the box office. The marketing campaign fell on Carell's shoulders with Carrey just a hired hand and not plugging the pic.
Friday box office and $6.8M Saturday for a $17.1M first weekend. Even though the low-budget kidnap thriller is playing in 653 fewer locations. 'Huge credit to Halle and all her hard work,' a Sony exec gushes. Grosses are coming in higher than expected by Sony which acquired U.S., Canada and a few other territories like South Africa and Scandinavia. The film was produced for mere mid-teens. That said, its plot was a lot like 2004's Cellular starring Kim Basinger and Chris Evans only with the roles reversed. This time, kidnap victim Abigail Breslin is young and Veteran 911 operator Berry is tracking her down. Naturally Sony's media campaign targeted females as well as the African American audience. TV ads ran on crime/thriller shows but also The Bachelor and Army Wives while Berry pulled out all the talk show stops. The campaign began early with a teaser trailer on Yahoo in January. There also was an online game called 'You Make the Call' which put users in the 911 operator's chair. Brad Anderson (The Machinist) directed the screenplay written by Richard D'Ovidio.
juggernaut at the box office had a strong midweek performance now that about 18% of kids are out of school for spring break. And there's still little else in the way of family fare in the marketplace at this time. Now expect a 10-day domestic total of around $145M with $11.4M Friday and $18.2M Saturday for $42.2M for this second weekend ' down only -46.6%. This Wizard Of Oz prequel crossed the $100M domestic mark in only 6 days and North American cume now stands at $145M. 'We benefited by the fact that that we were the first big event film which had the halo effect of people talking about it over the weekend and wanting to go see it if they didn't have the chance,' a Disney exec analyzes. Oz crossed $100M international on Friday with 80% of the marketplace open and big countries like France & China left to go. Currently in release in 55 territories representing about 85% of all foreign, overseas gross is $136.8M and worldwide cume is $281.8M and counting. I'm told international drop off is about -43% with a slightly larger expected drop in Russia (-68%). (If you take Russia out, the drop was only 35%.) Pic was still #1 in UK, Australia, Brazil, Italy, Germany, and Spain.
Dressed as a Boy Scout, Madonna presented the previously announced Vito Russo Award to CNN's Anderson Cooper. Russo, who died in 1990, was a film historian who voiced concerns about how gays and lesbians are portrayed in the media. Movie director Brett Ratner received GLAAD's inaugural Ally Award. The award for Ratner represented a turnaround from a little over a year ago when he dropped out as producer of last year's Academy Awards after joking at an early press conference that 'rehearsing is for fags'. Ratner since worked with the group to produce a public service campaign, GLAAD Coming Out For Equality.
Gov. Susana Martinez opposed the so-called 'Breaking Bad bill' that would have raised the state's film tax credit to 30% from 25% for TV series shooting at least six episodes in New Mexico, AP reported. Martinez told the Legislature she supports the film industry but objected to a subsidy just for Hollywood rather than making it part of an overall package of economic incentives she's backing. With New Mexico-filmed Breaking Bad in its final season and In Plain Sight already wrapped, backers of the incentive are worried about attracting new productions. The bill's sponsor House Majority Whip Antonio 'Moe' Maestas, D-Bernalillo, said he still hoped to pass some form of the incentive before lawmakers adjourn Saturday.
Current CEO Jason Kilar who is leaving at the end of the month revealed the news today on Hulu's website. 'You know Andy well', Kilar said, 'he's been a critical senior executive and has been here from the start of this great adventure. As the company's SVP of content, Forssell helped build Hulu grow from a startup in 2007 to about $700 million in revenue in 2012, Kilar added. Hulu stakeholders ABC/Disney and Fox/News Corp are in discussions with Hulu management about their plans for the company. Once those plans are finalized, the company will make a permanent decision about the CEO. Fellow stakeholder NBCU/Comcast Corp. is barred from an active role at Hulu. ABC and Fox are in talks that may lead to one buying out the other's interest. The companies, which each own about one-third, are also discussing selling Hulu or changing the business model.
A24 Films will release two of its brood this weekend including Harmony Korine's anticipated Selena Gomez/Vanessa Hudgens/James Franco starrer Spring Breakers, which had its U.S. debut this past week at the SXSW Film Festival. The new distribution company will also roll out Ginger & Rosa, although it sees the titles as appealing to different audiences. Also in this weekend's specialty slate is Millennium Films' Kirsten Dunst starrer Upside Down, which may had the largest number of opening cities among the limited release debuts, though it will still be under a dozen runs. And Oscilloscope's Reality has a unique story of its own, with a convicted prisoner as a star ' filmmaker Matteo Garone made an arrangement with Italy's prison system.
Spring Breakers
Ginger & Rosa
Upside Down
Reality
Ahead of Cannes, Ashok Amritraj's Hyde Park Entertainment Group has picked Stephen Gary as VP of its international sales division. He comes from IM Global, where he worked on titles like Before Midnight Dead Man Down. He'll report to Hyde Park International's president Eric Christenson. The company's current slate includes Every Secret Thing with Diane Lane and Elizabeth Banks, Adult World with Emma Roberts and John Cusack and Sunlight Jr. with Naomi Watts and Matt Dillon, as well as an untitled Elmore Leonard project that stars Jennifer Aniston, John Hawkes and Tim Robbins. Gary's career began in the global finance and distribution department at William Morris Endeavor and includes a stint at Essential Entertainment, where he executed sales on The Expatriate and Barney's Version. - Joe Utichi 
Caroline Skinner is stepping down as executive producer of Doctor Who, the BBC confirmed today. The EP, who has worked alongside Steven Moffat on the show since 2011, will take up a job at the BBC's drama production department in London. She leaves ahead of production on the show's 50th Anniversary special, for which she'll be replaced by Faith Penhale. But she will continue to work on An Adventure in Space and Time, a docudrama themed around the show, which she's EPing with Moffat and writer Mark Gatiss. 'It has been an honour to have been a part of Doctor Who,' she said, 'and a privilege to have worked with Steven Moffat and Matt Smith on this extraordinary show.' - Joe Utichi
The American independent and art house distributor has secured a multiyear distribution deal with Raro Video U.S., the American branch of the Italian home video company. The European boutique label Raro Video is known for its library of Italian cinema classics including Michelangelo Antonioni's The Vanquished, Federico Fellini's The Clowns, Alberto Lattuada's The Overcoat and Luchino Visconti's Conversation Piece plus works by Pier Paolo Pasolini, Roberto Rossellini, Tinto Brass, Lucio Fulci and Mario Bava.
The retail giant's UK entertainment service LoveFilm has gained streaming and VOD access to 20 years' worth of episodes of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers plus the live-action Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation. The Saban Brands shows join LoveFilm's library of children's content including titles from the likes of Aardman, Marvel and DHX Media. The Power Rangers franchise first aired on TV screens in 1993. The new deal will enable LoveFilm members to view the very first episodes of Mighty Morphin' Power Rangers right through to the most recent Super Samurai season in HD.
Warner Bros International Television Distribution has renewed its programming deal with Viacom International Media Networks Polska. The two-year deal extends the relationship between WBITD and the owner of MTV Polska,
VH1, Viva Polska, Comedy Central Polska, and Nickelodeon, which will be licensing all-new half-hour comedy series produced for broadcast seasons 2012-13 and 2013-14. Comedy Central Polska will launch The Big Bang Theory season six in its first-run in the territory. Additional titles include Friends and spin-off Joey, as well as additional seasons of Two and a Half Men.
Thomas Brodie-Sangster has joined the cast of Fox's The Maze Runner. Soon to be seen in the upcoming third season of HBO's Game of Thrones in the role of Jojen Reed, the British actor will play Newt in the film. Maze Runner is directed by Wes Ball in an adaptation of the James Dashner novel. Produced by The Gotham Group and overseen by Peter Kang and Daria Cercek at the studio, the film is a post-apocalyptic tale about a group of boys trapped in an enormous maze who seek their freedom. Noah Oppenheim wrote the first draft of the script and Grant Myers wrote the next draft. Brodie-Sangster is repped by WME and Curtis Brown in the UK.
Scott Glenn has signed on to star in Trigger. The Right Stuff and Bourne franchise veteran actor will join Deadwood alumni Stephen Tobolowsky and Little Birds' Chris Coy in the Chapman Filmed Entertainment thriller. Trigger focuses on a father and a son both obsessed with understanding evil and the chaos that causes for them. Produced by The Bucket List executive producer Travis Knox with Bob Yari and William Immerman executive producing, the micro-budget film is the first project from Chapman University's Dodge College of Film and Media Arts. The film is being directed by Chapman alumnus Basel Owies from a script by Max Enscoe. Glenn is repped by Innovative Artists and Parseqhian/Planco
News Corp warns that media reforms introduced to Parliament on Thursday local time could harm the company's new publishing spinoff and may be challenged in the High Court. Kim Williams, CEO of Australia's News Limited, attacked the proposal to create a public interest media advocate, which would have the power to approve or reject mergers and takeovers and oversee self-regulatory bodies such as the Australian Press Council. He described the legislation as an attempt by the Labor Government to 'constrain and harness News Limited' and said the reforms may hurt the asset values of the new News Corp. The government also proposes creating a parliamentary committee to examine abolition of the rule prohibiting a broadcaster from reaching more than 75% of the country. The Liberal/National Party Coalition, which is heavily favored to win the federal election in September, has vowed to block or repeal the legislation. - Don Groves
Tudou.com founder Gary Wang is gearing up to launch an animated film studio in Beijing on April 1, making movies primarily for the domestic market. The entrepreneur told The Wall Street Journal he has secured tens of millions of dollars in funding from a group of international investors. With China now the world's second biggest movie market at $2.74B in sales last year, the time is ripe, Wang believes. Movie theaters are opening at a breakneck pace and the environment has improved for distribution, promotion and copyrights, Wang said. China does not have a large animation sector but DreamWorks is now in a joint venture with China Media Capital, Shanghai Media Group and Shanghai Alliance Investment on Oriental DreamWorks, a Shanghai studio that will develop and produce original Chinese animated and live-action content. Wang is recruiting local talent, but also scanning Los Angeles and San Francisco for directors, storyboard artists and senior animators. Because the Chinese animation market is underdeveloped, Wang's new studio will face fierce competition from Hollywood majors. 'We need to take a very long-term view,' given that each film will take several years to produce,' he told The Journal. 'There are very few animation movies that Chinese people can call their own. It will take time, but this could be potentially bigger than Tudou.' Wang left Tudou last year after it merged with Youku.
Franco-American actor and producer Christophe Lambert will preside over the TV Series Jury for the 53rd Festival de Télévision de Monte-Carlo in June. Lambert follows American producer Josh Schwartz who was President of the TV Series category last year. The fest runs from June 9-13 in the principality.
the Chinese vampire movies of the 70s and 80s. Starring Fist Of Legend's Chin Siu-ho, the film was produced by Japanese director Takashi Shimizu along with Mak and his Kudos Films. The story is set in a modern-day housing estate and revolves around Chin Siu-Ho, playing himself as a down and out actor/vampire hunter who moves into a rundown public housing flat only to discover that his apartment is haunted and he is not alone. The film will receive an international festival launch later this year followed by its Hong Kong theatrical launch.
The second Sundance London film and music festival will host a musical performance by Gregg Allman and John Paul White of The Civil Wars. The pair will share a stage for the first time on April 27 April at IndigO2 in London's O2 Arena. The performance will take place in conjunction with the UK premiere of Greg 'Freddy' Camalier's music documentary, Muscle Shoals. Allman is a founding member of the Allman Brothers Band and White still lives in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. The film, just acquired by Magnolia, unearths the rich musical history of the tiny Alabama town. Sundance London runs from April 25-28.
Hong Kong's Emperor Motion Pictures has partnered with UA Cinemas for expansion into exhibition in in mainland China, FilmBiz Asia reports. The first complex to open under the partnership will be a 12-screen, 1500-seat luxury cinema in Nanhai VivoCity in Foshan in early 2014. 1,500. Emperor and UA are looking at additional sites in Foshan, Dongguan, Shenzhen, Wuhan, Chongqing and Shanghai. UA has used the 
Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement between Hong Kong and China to open mainland cinemas in Shanghai, Wuhan, and Chongqing under the Studio City Cinemas brand. Recently, it opened UA Cinemas in Shenzhen and Guangzhou, Guangdong. Emperor has financed movies including Let the Bullets Fly, (2010), The Viral Factor, and CZ12. As co-distributors Emperor and UA have handled foreign films including The Hunger Games, Departures (2008) and Confessions (2010).
The highly promoted videogame had been targeted for June to coincide with the release of Monsters University. Disney Infinity will include a host of Disney characters including Jack Sparrow from Pirates of the Caribbean, Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story as well as members of The Incredibles. Players personalize the game by collecting characters, vehicles, and gadgets and saving them to a virtual Toy Box they use in the game ' sort of like Activision Blizzard's Skylanders which has generated more than $1 billion in sales since its 2011 arrival, according to the New York Times. Disney Interactive Co-President John Pleasants told the NYT that retailers had pushed for an introduction date closer to the holiday season. The August 18 rollout means much less of the major release of the game will be counted in Disney's fiscal year that ends in September. The interactive unit, which also includes Disney's web and mobile platforms, hasn't had a profitable year since it was formed in 2008. It generated $9 million in operating income on $291 million in revenue last quarter.
This will 'make it easier and more fun to find TV shows and movies to watch and discuss with friends,' Netflix says this morning. Starting today, streaming subscribers in the U.S. can add 'Friends' Favorites' and 'Watched by your friends' rows to their search screens. They can choose whether to share info about the videos they watch just in Netflix, or to also add Facebook. By the end of this week, Netflix says the social network tie-ins will be available to all of its U.S. members. The features have been available in other countries for more than a year; Congress' amendment in January to the 1988 Video Privacy Protection Act made it possible to introduce them here. 'There are few better ways to find a movie or TV series you'll love than hearing about it from your friends,' says Tom Willerer, Netflix VP Product Innovation. The company says that members will have to opt in if they want the Facebook integration: They can go to 'Social Settings' on Netflix.com to make the change. The company says that by default, 'members share what they watched only on Netflix.' It plans to test features that enable members to 'explicitly share their favorite titles on Facebook and discuss with their friends.' The changes provide Netflix with 'a new opportunity to reach the more than 1 billion people on Facebook,' says Justin Osofsky, director of the social network company's Platform Partnerships and Operations.
Listen to (and share) the SXSW edition of our occasional audio podcast series Deadline Festivals & Markets Watch. Just back from Austin, reporter Jen Yamato talks with host David Bloom about the evolving nature of the festival's film and interactive segments, Hollywood's growing awareness of the festival as a place to build brand awareness for its big movies and TV series (a la Comic-Con), and online video service Vimeo's announcement of a new DIY service that allows filmmakers to sell their movies on-demand.
EXCLUSIVE: Jamie Bialkower's Melbourne-based Jump Street Films has optioned New York writer Peter Cameron's novel Andorra and will produce the film adaptation in partnership with Cargo Entertainment. Cameron is writing the screenplay for the saga of Alexander Fox, an elegant gent who leaves the States to start a new life in the tiny nation of Andorra. He's quickly drawn to two women ' a tall, cool Australian blonde with a giant dog, and the reserved, heartbroken daughter of the town's matriarch. When a dead body turns up in the harbor Fox finds he's the prime suspect. Bialkower tells Deadline production is scheduled for 2014 in Europe and Australia. No director is set yet. Andorra was originally published in 1997 and re-issued in 2009. Cameron's novel The City Of Your Final Destination was made into a 2009 film by Merchant Ivory. The Andorra deal was negotiated with Cameron's agent Irene Skolnick. Cargo and Jump Street pacted to co-fund films late last year, with Cargo handling international sales and Jump Street releasing 6-8 Cargo titles annually in Oz.
The French attorney for Carlos the Jackal, Isabelle Coutant-Peyre, is reportedly in Tehran talking to officials about filing a lawsuit against Hollywood over Argo's 'unrealistic portrayal' of Iran. According to The Associated Press, which cites Iranian media, a decision to investigate how and where to file a suit came after cultural officials and movie critics screened the film on Monday at an event titled 'The Hoax of Hollywood.' Which parties would be sued, by whom and under what jurisdiction have yet to come to light. A Paris-based attorney who is not involved in the affair suggests Iran may have to go 'jurisdiction shopping' if it proceeds. 
Steven Spielberg's international tour of newsy tidbits continues. Speaking to France's Canal Plus recently, the filmmaker dropped info about his development of a Napoleon miniseries based on a screenplay by Stanley Kubrick. Yesterday, Spielberg was in India to talk about Lincoln, meet with the local industry and attend a party hosted by Anil Ambani, the head of DreamWorks partner Reliance Entertainment. He also spoke to The Times Of India about a project that DreamWorks plans to make locally. 'We have finalized a script for a movie that DreamWorks and our partners Reliance Entertainment plan to make together. Part of it will take place on the India-Pakistan border in Kashmir. But we're still trying to figure out the casting, locations and who's going to direct it,' Spielberg told the paper. He also renewed talk of a long-gestating Martin Luther King project saying 'DreamWorks-Reliance is also planning a movie on Martin Luther King Jr. I wouldn't call it a biopic, it's more a story of King and the movement and also about how his admiration for Mahatma Gandhi helped to shape his moral core.' DreamWorks acquired the civil rights leader's life rights from the King Estate in 2009 and later set Ronald Harwood to pen a film. Scribe Kario Salem boarded the project in a 2011 incarnation for DreamWorks and Warner Bros.
Of the next Adventures Of Tintin movie, which Peter Jackson is directing, Spielberg said performance capture would start 'probably at the end of this year' Don't hold me to it, but we're hoping the film will come out around Christmastime in 2015.' And, in a Q&A session with local star Amitabh Bachchan, next seen in Baz Luhrmann's Cannes opener The Great Gatsby, Spielberg waxed on his earlier ambitions to make a James Bond movie. According to The Times, Spielberg said he twice offered to direct a 007 pic, but was turned down by producer Albert 'Cubby' Broccoli. 'I spoke to him after making Jaws, which was a huge hit, but Cubby said I wasn't experienced enough and they'd call me if they did a Bond film on water. After Close Encounters, I told him that by now I had two Oscar nominations. And he asked 'Did you win'? And I hadn't. So that was that.'