Luke Y. Thompson is contributing to Deadline's Comic-Con coverage.
The Friday schedule primarily illustrates the tension between TV and movies that has become increasingly apparent at Comic-Con and in fanboys' hearts. For the past few years, the major TV panels were held upstairs in Ballroom 20, with movies all in Hall H. Last year, TV took over Hall H on Sunday, a day the space 
The other big movie panel in Hall H on Friday is the 3D stop-motion film ParaNorman, which we can only hope is as much fun as Coraline. Certainly it appears to be trading on that movie's style and acclaim with fans, though we'll see how much of that was the Neil Gaiman name attached.
Related: Arnold Coming To Comic-Con; Does This Make Schwarzenegger Officially Back?
Joss Whedon in previous years would have mostly drawn rabid Buffy and Firefly cultists, but as the director of The Avengers he'll fill Ballroom 20 for sure. And in Friday's biggest WTF moment, Peter Cullen, voice of Optimus Prime in most Transformers iterations including the movies, will be interviewed by none other than Larry King. In Room 23 ABC, which is to say three rooms with their partitions removed.
early Fourth Of July fireworks with total moviegoing a blazing $205M which is +15% from last year. And R-rated raunch ruled today. Universal's Ted is wildly overperforming: $20.5M today for a $51M first weekend. 
The reprobate teddy bear is #1 and outgrossed Hangover today. Playing in 3,239 theaters, it could open the weekend as the biggest original R-rated comedy on record! (Remember, this is the movie that Twentieth Century Fox passed on ' even though Seth MacFarlane is BMOC at 20th TV and FBC and Mark Wahlberg has a growing list of hit movies.) Audiences gave Ted an 'A-' CinemaScore which ensures great word of mouth. The pic debuted with a stunningly strong $2.625M from midnight showings at 1,090 theaters. Seth MacFarlane has now made the successful transition to the big screen, while Mark Wahlberg cements his status as a major star. Ted was acquired by Universal from MRC for $69M and was made for $50M.
Also overperforming is Warner Bros' Magic Mike (2,930 theaters) which is looking at a great $18M opening today and $43M weekend. Domestic matinees for Magic Mike were especially 'crazy', rival studios told me. This is really reminding me and Hollywood of opening day for the first Sex And The City ' though hopefully not as frontloaded. (I loved Warner Bros' marketing line to women for Channing Tatum et al that 'on June 29th tell your boyfriend you're going to the book club'). Audiences gave Magic Mike a 'B' CinemaScore which won't hurt word of mouth. The male beefcake strippers movie directed by Steven Soderbergh took in a huge $2.050M from just one show at midnight in 1,100 locations. Chalk up another hit for new star Tatum but with a twist because he and Soderbergh funded the film themselves ' since Magic Mike is partly based on the actor's experiences as a Tampa stripper at age 19. And this was a low-cost acquisition of domestic rights for the studio for only a $7M investment. On Fandango and MovieTickets, the big online movie tickets sellers, Magic Mike was #1 going into today, representing 60+% of sales and outpacing Bridesmaids and Mamma Mia! at the same point in the sales cycle.
Hollywood thought Ted and Pixar/Disney's holdover Brave (4,164 theaters) would be fighting for #1 and between $30M-$35M this weekend. But, as one rival studio exec told me, the toon took a -57% Friday-to-Friday drop 'mainly because Mom said, 'Screw you. This is my night!' Look for Brave to recover because of the Saturday kiddie matinee bump. Magic Mike and Lionsgate's Tyler Perry film Madea's Witness Protection (2,161 theaters) were expected to battle for 3rd and low- to mid-$20sM. But that began changing hour by hour. 
Lionsgate's PG-13 Madea's Witness Protection from Tyler Perry as his stereotypical cross-dressing alter ego also is doing better than expected by aiming at $30M on this crowded weekend. Major help will be the 'A-' CinemaScore from audiences. (Why oh why haven't they had enough of Medea, pray tell?) Producer/director/star Perry plays 3 parts in this pic, which is 3 too many. Overlooked today is the debut of DreamWorks' PG-13 dramedy People Like Us (2,055 theaters) which distributor Disney always knew was a small movie unlikely to gross beyond single digits. Then why in heck release it in summer when this isn't another Hail Mary like The Help for struggling DreamWorks? But the 'B+' CinemaScore could generate modest word of mouth.
But the 3D toon earned $11M from Wednesday and Thursday openings among only 12 of the 37 international markets releasing this weekend with #1 openings. Highlights included biggest industry animated opening day of all-time in Sweden and Peru; 2nd highest industry animated opening day of all-time in France, Colombia, Argentina and Chile; and Fox's biggest animated opening day ever in Central America. Overall, it's opening on about 8,500 screens, including 4,200 3D screens, this weekend. Fox won't release full numbers until Sunday. But this foreign release includes 5 of the Top 12 markets like Australia, Brazil, France, Mexico and Spain. Fox is quick to note that this release has fewer than half the screens and markets of the day & date release of Ice Age 3 back in July 2009. And an even smaller percentage (less than 50%) of international market share releasing this weekend. So overall comparisons to the opening weekend of Ice Age 3 will be made on a territory by territory basis. In addition, this late June opening weekend puts many of days outside of summer school holidays in France, Belgium, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, etc. More results:
This weekend could begin a tough stretch for AMC Networks ' and for Dish Network customers who enjoy shows such as Breaking Bad. AMC, IFC, and WE will no longer be available to Dish's 14.1M customers beginning tomorrow night at 11:59 PM ET when the companies' carriage contract expires. They aren't talking, so odds are virtually nil that there'll be a last-minute settlement. And Dish this morning continued its attack on the independent programmer, saying that it will replace AMC's channels with what it calls 'stronger movie and entertainment content.' Dish will offer HDNet Movies on Channel 130, Style on Channel 128, and HDNet (which is evolving into an entertainment and music channel called AXS.TV) on Channel 131.
NEW YORK' AOL today announced the promotion of Artie Minson, Jr. from CFO to Chief Operating Officer, overseeing AOL's plan to form three operating units: AOL Membership Group, Content Brands Group, and the Advertising.com Group. This new role and operating structure will allow the company to go deeper on its focus on profitability, coordinated business execution, and resource allocation across its portfolio of brands and services. He will continue to report to Tim Armstrong, Chairman and CEO, AOL and the company is actively interviewing replacement candidates for AOL's CFO position.
FRIDAY 7 AM: R-rated raunch ruled overnight at the domestic box office. Universal's reprobate teddy bear comedy Ted debuted with a stunningly strong $2.625M from midnight showings at 1,090 theaters. TV's Seth MacFarlane has now made the successful transition to the big screen. Better yet, the studio's acquisition from MRC had a budget of only $50M. And Warner Bros' male beefcake strippers Magic Mike directed by Steven Soderbergh took in a huge $2.050M from just one show at midnight in 1,100 locations. Chalk up another hit for new star Channing Tatum but with a twist because he and Soderbergh funded the film since Magic Mike is partially based on the actor's experiences as a Florida stripper when he was 19. And a low-cost acquisition of domestic rights for the studio as well. 'Off to a great start!' a WB exec gushed this morning. Both pics are receiving great reviews and major pre-sales going into this weekend that kicks off Fourth Of July week. (Rarely has there been a Friday when I've wanted to see two opening major studio pics like these.) Also debuting today are Lionsgate's PG-13 Madea's Witness Protection from producer/director/star Tyler Perry as his stereotypical cross-dressing alter ego. And DreamWorks' PG-13 dramedy People Like Us which distributor Disney always knew was a small movie unlikely to get traction at the box office beyond single digits.
The News Corp CEO just said in an interview on Fox News that his son is happy running his businesses in Australia. And there's no decision yet about whether his other kids, including James and Elisabeth Murdoch, might play bigger roles once the media giant is divided into an entertainment company and a publishing one. 'They have to earn it, and they have to want it,' Rupert says. He also told interviewer Neil Cavuto that he's no longer interested in BSkyB. 'We've moved on in our thinking'.I'm much more bullish about America.' Europe is in for 'a tough, long haul' and possibly a recession while 'we've got things to be very bullish about in this country.' No, he isn't tacitly endorsing Pres. Obama. 'I'm taking a medium and long term view' of the economy. Indeed, he says that the presidential election might not have a big impact on News Corp although 'if taxes go up, we'll have less cash. If that happens, the economy will go down.'
EXCLUSIVE: CAA has signed Dan Mazer. The Borat and Bruno screenplay writer, who was also an executive producer on Sacha Baron Cohen's The Dictator, is currently in post-production on his directorial debut. The film, which has the working title I Give It A Year, is about the first year of marriage for two couples. Mazer also wrote the script for the movie, which stars Rose Byrne, Anna Faris, Rafe Spall, Stephen Merchant, Minnie Driver and The Mentalist's Simon Baker. I Give It A Year is scheduled to be released February 14, 2013 in the UK. Formerly with UTA, the Oscar-nominated Mazer will continue to be repped by United Artists in the UK, managed by 3 Arts and attorney Karl Austen.
The News Corp CEO warned analysts this morning that the plan to divide into two companies 'is not a fait accompli. There are a lot of steps to take.' But he says that he's pursuing it because he believes it's a smart business move. 'This is not a reaction to anything in Britain' where his company faces multiple investigations into his newspapers' phone hacking and bribery, says Murdoch. He would continue to be CEO of the media and entertainment operation after a split, and chairman of both companies. COO Chase Carey also says that News Corp has 'no changes' in its plans regarding BSkyB; it had to abandon an effort to buy the UK broadcast power after the scandals became front page news a year ago. Murdoch talked up his belief that the publishing unit wouldn't be a weak orphan adding that the transaction doesn't reflect a lack of faith in the future of the business. 'That could not be further from the truth.' Although 'people are buying fewer papers on crushed wood,' Murdoch says that 'people will pay for news' ' and he plans to push digital distribution 'a lot harder.' The company doesn't have any details about how much cash and debt will go with each entity. Still. Murdoch took pains to emphasize that publishing will be cash positive and a 'well capitalized, well run, scale player.' Will the company lose synergies? 'Just because they're separate doesn't mean the companies can't work together on an arms length basis,' Carey says. 'There will be opportunities for the companies to do things together.' This was a rare opportunity for analysts to quiz Murdoch, who has been absent from most conference calls over the last year. But questioners were told that he would only address questions about the new corporate plans.
This is one of the most interesting stories circulating before the opening today in San Francisco of the Google I/O conference for developers. It seems the search giant will pose a more direct challenge to Amazon's Kindle Fire than to Apple's iPad: Google and computer maker Asus will announce a 7-inch tablet that will sell for about $200, Bloomberg reports. The device will run the latest version of the Android operating system, code-named Jellybean. Microsoft beat Google to the punch last week, announcing its own Windows-based tablets ' Surface and Surface Pro ' each with a more iPad-like 10.6-inch screen. Meanwhile, Amazon is gearing up to launch a revamped Kindle Fire at the end of July, CNET says. Among the changes: it likely will have a camera and a physical volume-control button.
UPDATE, 6:10AM PT: The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is implementing a series of changes for 2013's Orange British Film Awards that include shifts to the voting procedure and a longer period between nominations and the ceremony. The nominations date has been set for Jan 9, six days ahead of the Oscar nominations on Jan 15, 2013. The awards ceremony is set for Feb 10. Meanwhile, uninformed members are being encouraged not to vote for voting's sake and a formal discussion has been opened on what to do about voting members who are no longer active in the industry.
EXCLUSIVE: Director Emmett Malloy's documentary about a train tour by folk bands Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Old Crow Medicine Show, and Britain''s Mumford & Son has been generating strong buzz on the film festival circuit. But regardless of how it performs, S2BN Films' Big Easy Express has the distinction today of being the first feature film distributed globally (in 50 countries) for sale and rental on iTunes ahead of any other platform, including theaters. The producers and the bands were able to make the deal with Apple because they own all of the global rights to the film and music. Apple also will be first to offer the soundtrack when that's released. 'We always wanted to incorporate a global digital platform into our release strategy and to find a novel approach to bringing Big Easy Express to both new and traditional film audiences,' Malloy and the film's producers said in a joint statement. 'We are delighted to be working with all of our partners in crafting an innovative distribution model.' On July 24 Alliance Entertainment will introduce Big Easy Express in a Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack. Later this year it will go to multiple subscription VOD outlets and theaters before moving to conventional television in early 2013.
Rupert Murdoch's company says that The Wall Street Journal, which News Corp happens to own, got the story right: The media giant just put out a statement saying that it 'confirmed today that it is considering a restructuring to separate its business into two distinct publicly traded companies.' News Corp shares are up more than 7% from yesterday's $20.08 closing price in early trading based on the news that Murdoch might divide News Corp ' with one company housing his thriving film and TV properties and another holding his struggling print ones. The few analysts who have already issued reports this morning say that they like the idea. It 'makes sense and would be a significant positive catalyst for the stock,' says Wells Fargo Securities' Marci Ryvicker. Miller Tabak and Co analyst David Joyce says that the change ' which he figures could take about a year to complete ' 'would help (COO) Chase Carey focus on the entertainment assets and not be distracted by the lingering phone hacking scandal in the UK.' Joyce says that the Publishing business would probably be stuck with legal costs and settlement payments. But Credit Suisse's Spencer Wang warns that we don't know enough to say for sure whether a split would benefit investors. A lot would depend on how much debt News Corp attributes to each company, and how the stock ownership arrangements are structured: Each company probably would have two tiers, with Murdoch controlling the one that would enable him to maintain his control. If Sumner Redstone's decision in 2009 to split Viacom and CBS is the precedent, then 'the positive stock reaction could be short-lived,' Wang says.
With $66.7M in domestic ticket sales, the weekend was 'good, but not Pixar great,' Cowen and Co analyst Doug Creutz says this morning. Even though the film will be profitable, 'we remain concerned that the creative direction of Pixar may be wobbling as Brave is now the second consecutive film to receive less-than-rave reviews,' he adds. Brave's 74% positive rating at Rotten Tomatoes makes it one of just three Pixar releases to fall below 90%. 'While it may have been easy to write-off Cars 2 as a toy marketing campaign gone wrong, the fact that Pixar has released a creatively 'average' original film is of incrementally more concern,' Creutz says. He estimates that theaters here sold about 8M tickets for Brave, which is comparable to other recent Pixar films but is 'well below' the levels for films released between 1999-2006. 'Given the price Disney paid for Pixar, and the importance of Pixar as an engine of creative content for the company, we take the risk of erosion of Pixar's creative greatness very seriously.'
Fandango today announced a partnership with MSN to become the web portal's official online and mobile movie ticketer, adding to deals the site already has in place with Yahoo and AOL's Moviefone. MSN's sites reach more than 100 million U.S. users per month, according to comScore. Comcast-owned Fandango had its best ever May results in traffic and ticket sales last month, when sales increase 47% year-over-year ' it's biggest monthly haul ever thanks to box office ruler The Avengers ' and monthly visitors were up 29% to 34 million. The totals were helped by recent deals with AMC Theatres, Regency Theatres and other exhibition chains.
Publicly traded companies ordinarily rejoice when Wall Street analysts upgrade their stock ratings. But I doubt that Netflix execs will take a great deal of pleasure from this morning's note by Janney Capital Markets' Tony Wible raising the home video company to 'neutral' from 'sell.' Wible says that Netflix has become less risky now that its stock price has retreated from a surge early this year: It closed on Friday at $67.86, down 43.5% over the last three months, and -2% since the beginning of 2012. Expectations for the company 'are fairly low after the massive drop in the stock from its recent highs and the street commentary about a looming earnings miss,' Wible says. He adds that Netflix doesn't have to worry about studios backing away from licensing deals because they've become addicted to its payments, despite some signs that the streamed videos are cannibalizing TV ratings and disc sales. Meanwhile, Netflix has benefited from the fact that its Internet competitors ' including cable and satellite's TV Everywhere programs ' have 'moved at an embarrassingly slow pace.' The analyst adds that he's not worried just yet that Netflix's streaming customers will flee as broadband providers ditch all-you-can-eat pricing in favor of plans that charge higher fees to heavy users. With new compression technologies, 'a consumer could stream about 500 hours of content (assuming an equal mix of SD and HD) before hitting a 250 GB cap,' he says. Wible also notes that Netflix's DVD customers, who 'were shunned by last year's price increase,' aren't abandoning Netflix as quickly as he expected. 'While we expect the subs to decline, we believe the decline will be more gradual than is modeled by the Street.' The stock market is down about 1% in trading after the opening bell, Netflix is up about 1.3%.
Michael Kenneth Williams has been added to the cast of Twelve Years A Slave. The actor joins Michael Fassbender, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Brad Pitt in the Steve McQueen-directed film. Raising Hope's Garret Dillahunt, Paul Dano and SNL's Taran Killam are also in Twelve Years. Williams, best known for playing Chalky White on HBO's Boardwalk Empire and Omar Little on The Wire, will play 'Robert,' a mutinous slave in Twelve Years. The film is an adaptation of Solomon Northup's 1853 book about a free black man who is drugged and dragged to the South to be sold into slavery. New Regency is backing the film. River Road and Plan B are producing. Twelve Years A Slave is filming in New Orleans. Williams is repped by The Collective and attorney Elsa Ramo.
Legendary Entertainment chief Thomas Tull tells Deadline that President Obama is hoping to drop by the set of the Jackie Robinson biopic 42 on Tuesday. The President on June 26th will be appearing at fundraisers in Atlanta, where Legendary's film is shooting. Tulls says they'd received a call from the White House earlier this week to see if it would be OK if Obama came by. 'Well, of course I said it would be OK,' said Tull, who has given $35,800 to the Obama Victory Fund 2012 so far. Details of the set visit are still being worked out. In recent campaign speeches, Obama has mentioned Robinson, who broke baseball's color barrier, as 'laying the groundwork' for an African-American to become President. Obama recently has relentlessly been hitting up Hollywood for cash.
EXCLUSIVE: Kelly Asbury is in negotiations to direct Kazorn & The Unicorn for Sony Pictures Animation. Asbury co-wrote and directed 2011 Gnomeo and Juliet for Disney and co-directed Shrek 2 in 2004. Kazorn & the Unicorn follows the adventures of a young man and a unicorn as he seeks to locate a powerful weapon and prove his worth to his true love. Lloyd Taylor is writing the Unicorn screenplay. Sam Raimi, Josh Donen and Russell Hollander are producing. Asbury is already scheduled to work with Sony Animation on Pooch Café, which he is writing. Asbury is also scheduled to direct Will Gallows and the Snake Bellied Troll, a live-action/CGI-animated feature for Elton John and David Furnish's Rocket Pictures. Asbury is repped by UTA and attorney Nancy Newhouse-Porter
After just over three months as CFO and 13 years with the company, Bob Corzo is leaving New Regency. Today's surprise move sees Mimi Tseng hired as the company's new CFO. That makes the former Summit Entertainment's EVP, Finance & Operations the third or fourth person to hold the CFO job in as many months depending how you look at it. Corzo was quietly moved into the CFO job soon after long time COO/CFO Louis Santor resigned on March 12 after 20 years with the company. At the time Jonathan Fisher was named as Santor's successor. It seems the former Groundswell Productions president became COO but never actually CFO.
Two U.S. documentaries and two European-set narratives are among this weekend's roster of new specialty offerings. Of the latter, there's Woody Allen's To Rome With Love, for which Sony Pictures Classics anticipates a warm reception following the success of Allen's last movie, Midnight In Paris. His latest turns to the eternal city with an all-star cast. Veteran documentarian Kirby Dick's The Invisible War debuts following festival screenings at Sundance and Provincetown. The other doc, Kumaré, which opened Wednesday, has been compared to Catfish (2010) in terms of controversy. Tribeca Film is rolling out in limited release the other narrative feature Stella Days starring Martin Sheen.
The Invisible War
To Rome With Love
Kumaré
Stella Days
Lauren Kleiman has joined Landmark Theatres as director of publicity. Overseeing circuit-wide publicity for movies and for individual theaters including the flagship Landmark in West LA, she reports to Landmark President and CEO Ted Mundorff and will be based in New York. Indie publicity veteran Kleiman most recently worked at Frank PR where she worked on campaigns for The Cabin In The Woods and Safe. Prior to Frank, Kleiman worked at FilmDistrict where she led the campaign for Drive, among others.
Mark Pellegrino has been cast in The Trials of Cate McCall. The Lost alumni will join Kate Beckinsale, who plays the title character, Nick Nolte and James Cromwell in the indie redemptive legal drama. Pellegrino who has recurring roles in both The Closer and SyFy Channel's Being Human, plays a rough Detective who is no fan of Beckinsale's once high flying attorney character. Pellegrino is repped by Domain and managed by Framework Entertainment.
Tiya Sircar has joined Fox's Interns. The actress, who has appeared in The Vampire Diaries, will play one of the techheads at the digital corporation in the Shawn Levy-directed film. Interns stars Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn as two middle aged guys who lose their jobs and have to start at the bottom in the new American workforce. Sircar is repped by Talent Works.
After a 13-year absence, French helmer Leos Carax returned to the Cannes competition in May with his well-received Holy Motors. Indomina then acquired the film for the US. It stars Denis Lavant, Eva Mendes and Kylie Minogue. Now, Carax is being honored at Locarno. The Pardo d'Onore award has gone to 'a master of contemporary cinema' for the past 24 years. Marking the honor, the festival will screen Carax's repertoire of five features that includes Holy Motors, 1984's Boy Meets Girl, 1986's 
Bad Blood, 1991's The Lovers On The Bridge and 1999's Pola X. Portmanteau work, Tokyo!, to which Carax contributed a segment, will also run. Previous Pardo d'Onore recipients include Bernardo Bertolucci, Ken Loach, Jean-Luc Godard, Abbas Kiarostami, Aleksandr Sokurov, Hou Hsiao-hsien, William Friedkin and Abel Ferrara. The 65th edition of the Locarno Film Festival runs from Aug 1-11.
Taking on another real-life role, Carlos star Edgar Ramírez will play Simón Bolívar in biopic Libertador. Danny Huston, María Valverde, Imanol Arias and Billy Elliot's Gary Lewis also star. Venezuelan helmer Alberto Arvelo, who directed Ramírez in his last feature, Cyrano Fernandez, is working from a script written by Children Of Men scribe Timothy J. Sexton.
Bolívar was instrumental in Latin America's struggle for independence from the Spanish Empire. Told from his point of view, the film traces his quests, epic military campaigns and vision to unify South America. 
