Lionsgate Seals Output Deal With France's Metropolitan Filmexport

Lionsgate and Samuel and Victor Hadida's Metropolitan Filmexport have formalized their relationship with an output deal for France. The two companies have long worked together with Metropolitan releasing all of Lionsgate's major titles in recent years including The Hunger Games. Lionsgate has been busy securing deals with offshore partners to create an international distribution network. The Metropolitan pact follows recent agreements with StudioCanal in Germany, Nordisk Films in Scandinavia, Aurum Producciones in Spain and Roadshow Pictures in Australia. The deal with Metropolitan covers only Lionsgate's slate. Summit's titles have traditionally gone through SND in France, a company that held about 10% of Summit until it cashed out during the Lionsgate/Summit merger.

Air New Zealand Gets In 'Hobbit' Spirit: Video

To say the Kiwis are all-in over native son Peter Jackson's locally shot The Hobbit trilogy is putting it lightly. Wellington, New Zealand's capital city, is calling itself The Middle Of Middle-earth, and there's a giant clock atop the Embassy adorned with an image of Martin Freeman as Bilbo counting down the minutes to the premiere of the first film, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, in December. Now even Jackson (see if you can catch his Hitchcock-esque cameo) and Andy Serkis are aboard with Air New Zealand's new pre-flight instruction video. Maybe these branded pre-flights will catch on (Denzel Washington's Flight, we're not talking to you).

Ridley Scott To Exec Produce Slate Of Low-Budget Genre Pics Made In Ireland

October 31, 2012 ' Academy-Award nominated director and producer Ridley Scott (Prometheus, Blade Runner) and Scott Free London are partnering with Orchard Media and Focus Features International on a slate of six genre low-budget feature films over a period of three years. Ridley Scott will executive produce and present the slate which will be focused primarily on horror, thriller and science fiction. The films will be in association with Northern Ireland Screen and will shoot primarily in Northern Ireland using resident crew, cast, services and facilities. Focus Features International will handle world-wide sales.

Ridley Scott said: 'Our target is to create a structure that enables filmmakers to push boundaries and to excite audiences. Our proposed model of filmmaking allows us to give directors the opportunity to really innovate through narrative, production techniques and distribution strategies.'

Focus Features International's Alison Thompson commented: 'There's an appetite and market for high-concept low budget films ' that combined with Ridley Scott's pedigree will be very attractive to international buyers.'

Scott Free London's Liza Marshall and Jack Arbuthnott said: 'This slate is a fantastic opportunity to work in a genuinely liberating and creative way to make distinctive, commercial films.'

The deal was brokered by Orchard Founder Adam Kulick and Chris Billows, Orchard's Head of Media. They commented: 'We believe this is a very exciting opportunity for talent, distributors and investors. Filmmakers often spend a great deal of time and energy raising and closing financing. By funding the slate up front we can allow filmmakers to focus entirely on the creative aspects of the filmmaking process.'

Head of Production for Northern Ireland Screen, Andrew Reid, said: 'We have been looking for a model which would allow us to forecast future production in Northern Ireland over the next few years. Orchard and Scott Free brought us a compelling proposition to complement our other large incoming productions, such as Game of Thrones. It also potentially provides an outlet for developing Northern Ireland creative talent.'

For Scott Free London, Liza Marshall will produce and Jack Arbuthnott will oversee development and co-produce. For Orchard, Chris Billows will produce and oversee development and Adam Kulick will executive produce.

UPDATE Hurricane Sandy: NY, NJ Declared Disaster Areas; 6-Alarm Fire Rages In Historic Section Of Queens; No Filming Tuesday In NYC Boroughs; Morning Shows To Go On; Lower Manhattan Dark As 7.5 Million Easterners Without Power; Some Media Sites Knocked Offline; NYSE, Broadway Closed

11TH UPDATE, 5:34 AM PT' Keep refreshing for latest' Television, radio, and online news outlets are racing to keep up with the breaking Frankenstorm crisis as its core moves inland to Pennsylvania and New York State ' with effects as far as the Midwest. President Obama this morning declared both New York and New Jersey as major disaster areas as the death toll rose to at least 16 U.S. deaths in Sandy's wake. Meanwhile, more than 200 firefighters have been battling a 6-alarm fire in Rockaway, Queens throughout the night which has already destroyed at least 50 homes in the beach community that was featured in Woody Allen's Radio Days and TV series including Rescue Me and Seinfeld. Flooding also continued overnight along the East Coast and notably in Delaware and New Jersey where there have been dam breaks in the northern part of the state and water rising to the top of local street signs in the south at Seaside Heights, home of The Jersey Shore.

It's clear from early assessments that this superstorm will impact all facets of entertainment ' especially TV sweeps schedules and ratings as well as box office receipts ' and cause huge dollar losses.

An estimated 7.5 million people up and down the East Coast and beyond are now without power, according to the Associated Press and it could be a week before power is restored, including in Lower Manhattan (south of 40th Street, the largest power outage in NYC history). All outdoor filming permits for today have been revoked across NYC's five boroughs, but morning talk shows Good Morning America on ABC, Today on NBC and CBS This Morning were expected to air live as usual, the AP said.

Last night, a facade flew off a Chelsea apartment building and a fireman was injured. As day breaks this morning, Manhattan residents are waking to find debris, dangerous downed power lines and flooding with bridges and the subway still closed. The chairman of the Metropolitan Transit Authority said the storm was the most destructive in the 108-year history of the subway system, The New York Times reports. Joseph J. Lhota released this early morning statement: 'We are assessing the extent of the damage and beginning the process of recovery.' He did not give any indication of when mass transit would come back online.

Related: Watch David Letterman Without Audience
Related: Watch Jimmy Fallon Open Without Audience

A flooded data center in Lower Manhattan took down the media websitesGawker, Buzzfeed and the Huffington Post on Monday as Hurricane Sandy made landfall in New York City. Datagram, the ISP whose Manhattan servers host those and other sites, said it lost power and was pumping out 5 feet of water from its basement. ConEd said it was beginning to shut off power in some areas of Manhattan to protect equipment and be able to reboot faster, and TV reports showed flooded streets around Wall Street and throughout Manhattan. 'Gawker is temporarily down because the 57th Street Crane just flooded our servers with sea foam, or something. Back with you shortly,' the site tweeted at 4:04 PM PT. 'Our site is down. Problems with NY-area servers due to Sandy. Be Back. ASAP,' Buzzfeed tweeted. HuffPo also had no connectivity, but came back up in skeleton form Tuesday morning, telling readers the site was having technical difficulties. 'There are some things you learn best in calm, and some in storm. ' Willa Cather,' the site posted on its Twitter page at 4:36 PM PT on Monday. Sandy was downgraded to a tropical storm as it approached land Monday evening but still featured sustained winds of 85 mph.

On the broadcast side, CBS said it was replacing its primetime schedule of new shows Monday during sweeps with comedy repeats and a Hurricane Sandy news special from 10-11 PM ET hosted by Scott Pelley. It marked the first broadcast network to make such changes, with NBC and ABC saying they planned no alterations to their scripted lineups as of Monday afternoon. 'Many stations in the Northeast will be pre-empting or cutting in with breaking news coverage, and even if a station isn't pre-empting the network, it's unclear how many areas will still have power,' one network insider told Deadline. CBS aired repeats of How I Met Your Mother, Partners, 2 Broke Girls and Mike & Molly from 8-10 The CBS News special replaced Hawaii Five-0. Fox intended to play an encore of The X-Factor.

ABC News was to air a one-hour version of World News With Diane Sawyer and expand Nightline to a one-hour show dedicated to storm coverage. Nightline was planning live East Coast and West Coast versions at 11:35 PM, cutting into the Jimmy Kimmel Live repeat scheduled earlier when the late-night show's Brooklyn taping Monday was cancelled. Fox News Channel said it would not air The O'Reilly Factor , opting to extend The Fox Report with Shepard Smith from one to two hours to cover the storm live. Hannity was still scheduled to air in its regular 9 PM ET slot, followed by Greta Van Susteren's On The Record. Both shows will provide storm coverage. O'Reilly is expected to return Tuesday.

What won't be returning Tuesday: the New York Stock Exchange. Trading will be suspended for a second day because of weather for the first time since 1888. 'It's a monumental event, and we take it very seriously,' said Larry Liebowitz, COO of NYSE Euronext, the company that operates the NYSE. 'It's not a hyped-up drama.' Leibowitz spoke shortly at 2 PM ET Monday after conference calls with stock brokerage firms, regulators and officials during which a 'consensus' emerged to close markets for a second day. He was 'optimistic' the markets would reopen Wednesday.

Broadway also will remain closed Tuesday after shutting down performances Sunday afternoon. The Broadway League is offering refunds for tickets on those days and expects shows to reopen on Wednesday.

On the daytime side, Live With Kelly And Michael said it will not be in production Tuesday, airing a rerun instead.

On Monday, Hurricane Sandy sank the tall ship constructed for 1962's Mutiny On The Bounty and used in Disney's Pirates Of The Caribbean, according to reports. One crew member, Claudene Christian, 42, was pulled from the water and later died, the Coast Guard said. Fifteen other crew members were rescued but the Coast Guard is still looking for the captain of the 180-foot vessel, which went down off the coast of North Carolina.

Earlier in the day, the threat of the storm forced the cancellation of Jimmy Kimmel Live's New York City show Monday at the Harvey Theatre at Brooklyn Academy of Music. His late-night counterparts Jimmy Fallon and David Letterman taped their shows without studio audiences. Monday's Kimmel was supposed to the first of a five-night stint in the borough for the Brooklyn-raised host. 'We are hopeful to be back on the air tomorrow night with Howard Stern, Tracy Morgan and Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings,' the ABC show said in a statement. It will air its show last week with Michelle Obama instead. Fallon sent its audience home ahead of the taping. Letterman's guests included Denzel Washington, whose film Flight opens Friday.

Related: UPDATE: 'Letterman' EP Says Tonight's Show 'Bizarre And Beautiful'

Among other shows, The Daily Show With Jon Stewart and The Colbert Report were cancelled Monday.

Meanwhile, Monday's Washington DC premiere of Seal Team 6: The Raid On Osama Bin Laden, which was postponed until Thursday, was back on. The screening was to be held 6 PM ET at the Hay Adams Hotel. 'The show must go on,' said Harvey Weinstein, whose Weinstein Company is behind the action pic. 'We don't want anybody to be unsafe, but if you're just walking across the street or down the block, why not come?' Weinstein, who is staying at the hotel, said the plan to wait until Thursday is now on hold, because it looks like attendance will be pretty good. The movie is set to air on Nat Geo on November 4, two days before the presidential election.

The American Film Market said Monday that about 15 companies have said they may be delayed making it for the October 31 opening due to the storm. 'It's primarily New York-based companies or those connecting through New York from Europe,' an AFM spokesperson said. Approximately 350 companies are exhibiting this year at the Santa Monica-based confab.

Earlier Monday, the New York Stock Exchange ditched its plan to provide electronic trading on its NYSE ARCA exchange. Following NASDAQ's decision Sunday night to close because of Hurricane Sandy, it means that Monday was  the first unplanned day without stock trading since 9/11, the AP reported. It was also the first time weather has closed the markets since Hurricane Gloria in 1985. Several companies have delayed their planned quarterly earnings releases including DreamWorks Animation, Pfizer, Thomson Reuters, and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia. DWA's third-quarter announcement and conference call, originally scheduled for Tuesday, was pushed to Thursday.

Also Monday, the New York Times and Wall Street Journal dropped their paywalls to give readers access to coverage.

Moviegoing from Washington DC to Connecticut was slammed Sunday and continuing Monday. Many theaters in the lucrative NYC market ' 2nd biggest in North America after LA ' already were dark until today after sending employees home early. AMC stopped selling tickets after 3 PM Sunday, and Clearview Cinemas and City Cinemas and Angelika Film Center soon after. Regal theatres planned to keep open Sunday night but were closed. Monday. All Gotham public transportation shut down as of 7 PM Sunday night and mandatory evacuations were ordered for low-lying areas. Box office nationally was slammed anywhere from 12%-25% on what already was a weak weekend.

Warner Bros. TV and CBS TV Studios suspended production on their New York-based TV series and pilots. NBCUniversal also halted all East Coast production for Monday. WBTV's impacted shows are 666 Park Avenue, The Carrie Diaries, The Following, Golden Boy, Gossip Girl and Person of Interest plus the pilot The Secret Lives of Husbands And Wives. The affected CBS Studios series are The Good Wife, Blue Bloods and Elementary. NBCU's affected shows are New York-based series 30 Rock, Law & Order: SVU and Smash; Infamous, which films in Philadelphia and Do No Harm, which shoots in Connecticut; as well as syndicated shows Maury and Steve Wilkos. Status of TV production will be updated as more information becomes available. Showtime's Nurse Jackie and The Big C also have been shut down today due to the storm.

Meanwhile, several film shoots in the storm's path were suspended, including Darren Aronofsky's Noah, which has a massive ark constructed at Oyster Bay, NY. Star Emma Watson tweeted the news about the production shutdown, writing, 'I take it that the irony of a massive storm holding up the production of Noah is not lost.' Warner Bros' feature film Winter's Tale was scheduled to begin shooting Monday in New York but has been delayed until Wednesday. The production team is rushing to secure sets located in flood-prone areas, particularly Red Hook in Brooklyn. Actors are hunkered down in hotels and will be staying put until further notice.

Global Showbiz Briefs: Eureka Acquires 'Magnificent Eleven', 'Downton Abbey' UK Ratings Down, French Directors Visit US, '7 Boxes' Honored, Status Quo Docu

Eureka Finds 'The Magnificent Eleven'
Eureka Distribution has acquired UK theatrical rights to The Magnificent Eleven, a modernization of classic The Magnificent Seven by co-writers Pete and John Adams in collaboration with Trainspotting author Irvine Welsh. Directed by Jeremy Wooding, the new story follows a band of Brits and one American (played by the original film's Robert Vaughn) in London's East End where the heroes are an amateur soccer team that reluctantly comes together to save a Tandoori restaurant from local thugs. Keith Allen and Philip Rhys also star. Plumcourt Production produced for the Adams' Angry Badger Pictures in co-production with Filmgate Films and the Swedish regional film board and in association with Skyline Entertainment, Premiere Picture and Pure Film Productions. International sales are handled by Stealth Media Group. Eureka is looking at a March release.

'Downton Abbey' UK Ratings Down From Last Week
Season 3 of Downton Abbey is drawing to a close on the UK's ITV with Sunday's penultimate episode pulling in softer numbers than last week's ratings-buster. The show drew 9.24M for a 35.7% share in the overnights on ITV1. An additional 277,000 watched on ITV+1 an hour later. Last week, the sixth episode of the season hit an overnight ratings high of 9.69M during the 9 PM hour to beat the season's previous top performer which drew 9.66M viewers in the overnights on October 1. Simon Cowell's X Factor lead-in averaged 8.88M, lower than last week's 9.33M. Still, ITV1 won the night with 26.2% of the audience ahead of BBC One's 21%.

French Directors To Visit U.S. Universities
French film export body Unifrance is notoriously one of the world's most effective at promoting the home industry. Next month, as part of its On Set With French Cinema program, directors Benoît Jacquot, Claire Denis, Olivier Assayas and Leos Carax are heading to several U.S. film schools and universities to meet with students. Farewell My Queen helmer Jacquot will have to reschedule his first visit to the School of Visual Arts in NY which was planned for today and cancelled in light of Hurricane Sandy. But he's set to show the film at Wellesley on November 6 and will bring his 2004 A Tout De Suite to a Rhode Island School of Design class on November 5 and his 1995 Virginie Ledoyen-starrer La Fille Seule to Boston University on November 8. White Material director Denis will also visit Indiana University, Emory and Notre Dame in November ahead of a retrospective of her works at the Walker Arts Center in Minneapolis and a conversation with Kent Jones at the Film Society Of New York. Assayas will bring his most recent film, Après Mai, to USC on November 1 and Carax will present his I to AFI students on November 5.

Inaugural Cockatoo Island Film Festival Honors Paraguay's '7 Boxes'
Paraguayan drama 7 Boxes was named best dramatic feature film and German documentary This Ain't California took the docu prize at the inaugural Cockatoo Island Film Festival, which ran October 24-28 on an island in Sydney Harbour and drew 34,000 people. Staged by filmmakers Allanah Zitserman and Stavros Kazantzidis, the fest kicked off with the Australian premiere of The Master, attended by director Paul Thomas Anderson, and closed with the world premiere of Benjamin Epps' Family Weekend aka Queen Freak, which stars Kristin Chenoweth and Matthew Modine. More than 200 features, short films and documentaries were screened in four purpose built cinemas. The drama competition jury included cinematographer Don McAlpine, director Peter Andikidis, Matchbox Pictures' Helen Bowden and actor Alex Dimitriades. The fest, which also included live music, master-classes by directors Peter Weir, Gillian Armstrong and Jane Campion, script readings and a classic yacht race, cost $A2Mn ($2.07M). Juan Carlos Maneglia and Tana Schembori's 7 Boxes is the saga of a Paraguayan wheelbarrow porter who dreams of becoming a star. Marten Persiel's This Ain't California deals with the cult of skateboarding in the former East Germany. Special jury prize for artistic vision went to Breathing, Austrian director Karl Markovics' study of a boy who searches for the mother who abandoned him.- Don Groves

Status Quo Doc Finds Buyers In Europe
Hello Quo, the rockumentary about English boogie rock band Status Quo, has been picked up by Anchor Bay in the UK and Studiocanal in Germany. K5 International is handling worldwide rights. Directed by Alan G. Parker, the film looks at the 50-year long career of the band from its origins in 1962 to its current status as one of the UK's most successful bands with worldwide album sales topping 120M. Brian May, Thin Lizzy, The Buzzcocks, Slade and Paul Weller all appear in the film that includes never-before-seen footage.

NBCUniversal And Fox Agree To Provide Content For NOOK Tablets

NBC Universal and 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment will supply standard definition and HD movies and TV shows to the NOOK Video download and rental service ' just as Barnes & Noble prepares this week to ship its NOOK HD and NOOK HD+ tablets and offer them in its stores. The bookstore retailer's release skimps on details about the agreements, including how much content the studios will provide, how much titles might cost, and what other devices might be able to handle Nook Video streams and downloads. But it says that titles include Snow White And The Huntsman, Battleship, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, Ice Age: Continental Drift, and Diary Of A Wimpy Kid: Dog Days. Along with its previous deals with HBO, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment, STARZ, Viacom, Warner Bros, and Disney, Barnes & Noble says it will offer 'thousands of movies and TV shows for all ages and interests.' The new agreements, and tablets, also are designed to make it easy for NOOK owners to stream videos from their UltraViolet accounts.

As for the tablets: The NOOK HD has a 7-inch screen and weighs 11.1 oz, which B&N says is 20% lighter than its chief competitor, Amazon's Kindle Fire HD. A model with 8 GB of memory costs $199 while one with 16 GB goes for $229. And the NOOK HD+ has a 9-inch display and weighs 18.2 oz, making it 'the lightest full HD Tablet ever invented.' It costs $269 with 16GB of memory and $299 with 32GB.

U.S. Financial Exchanges Closed For Hurricane Sandy

The New York Stock Exchange ditched its plan to provide electronic trading on its NYSE ARCA exchange. Following NASDAQ's decision last night to close because of Hurricane Sandy, it means that today will be the first unplanned day without stock trading since 9/11, the AP reports. It's also the first time weather has closed the markets since Hurricane Gloria in 1985. If the markets are closed tomorrow, then it will be the first time the stock exchanges have been shuttered for two days due to weather since the blizzard of 1888. NASDAQ says that it is 'likely' that it will be closed tomorrow. Meanwhile, the Chicago Board Options Exchange is dark today. And the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association has recommended that bond trading end by noon ET. Several companies have delayed their planned quarterly earnings releases including Pfizer, Thomson Reuters, and Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia.

Related:
DirecTV Launches Hurricane Sandy Channel
Hurricane Sandy: Movie Theaters Closing; East Coast TV Production Halted; Broadway Canceled

Hot Trailer: Dustin Hoffman's 'Quartet'

Seven-time Best Actor Oscar nominee and two-time winner Dustin Hoffman waited a long time to make his feature directing debut. Here's the trailer for Quartet, in which the arrival of a new diva stirs up trouble in a home for retired opera singers. Maggie Smith, Billy Connolly, Michael Gambon, Pauline Collins, Tom Courtenay and Sheridan Smith star in the December 28 release from The Weinstein Company.

George Clooney Sets Daniel Craig, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, Jean Dujardin For WWII Drama 'Monuments Men'

EXCLUSIVE: What a killer cast George Clooney has put together for The Monuments Men, the period drama he will direct in a coproduction between Sony Pictures and 20th Century Fox. Clooney will star with Skyfall's Daniel Craig, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett, The Artist's Jean Dujardin, Argo's John Goodman, Hugh Bonneville and Bob Balaban.

The drama, which was scripted by Clooney and partner Grant Heslov, confronts the final chapter of Germany's rule, which came down to the absolute destruction of everything that makes a culture keep its standing, including the lives that are lost and the sacrifices that are made. All of this is in danger of being lost forever as Hitler and the Nazis try to cover the tracks of a murderous regime. A crew of art historians and museum curators unite to recover renown works of art that were stolen by Nazis before Hitler destroys them.

The film will begin production March 1 in Europe. Heslov is producing through their Smokehouse banner. Alexander Desplat is doing the score, and the crew is the same as from the Ben Affleck-directed Argo, which Clooney and Heslov produced and Desplat did the score. That latter film finished number one in the box office standing in its third weekend. Granted it was not a strong weekend, but Argo became the first film to do that since The Blind Side.

'Skyfall' In UK Smashes Opening Records

EXCLUSIVE: There's no doubt that strong film reviews and advance buzz are giving the 23rd James Bond movie a big thumbs-up. But this weekend is the first indication of how well the Sam Mendes-directed pic will do at the box office with the Eon Production Skyfall opening in the UK, France and other Euro territories for Sony Pictures and MGM. Sony won't divulge official international grosses until Sunday morning. But sources tell Deadline now that Skyfall opened as Britain's all-time biggest Friday opening and biggest opening weekend. It smashed previous records set by the two other Daniel Craig as 007 movies. Skyfall's UK total is expected to be £20M weekend ($32.2M) compared with the first installment Casino Royale's opening weekend of £13.37m ($21.53M) and Quantum Of Solace's £15.38m ($24.77M) which broke UK box office records for the biggest opening weekend when it was released in 2008. Skyfall's Friday opening day of £6.2M ($9.99M) also shattered Quantum Of Solace's previous recordholder of £4.9M. Saturday was expected to be higher and Sunday's about the same. (Numbers may be refined on Sunday') Helping total grosses, Skyfall was expected to be shown almost 75 to 100 times in round-the-clock screenings over its opening weekend at some UK cinemas in London, Manchester, Liverpool, and Southhampton. Skyfall doesn't open in the U.S. and Canada until November 9th (a day earlier, November 8th, on IMAX screens). But Hollywood expects it to top both Quantum Of Solace which went on to gross $586M (£367.4M) worldwide and 2006's Casino Royale which grossed $594.2M (£372.5M) making it the highest grossing film in the Bond franchise (not adjusted for inflation or higher ticket prices).

Related: IMAX Boasts 26% More James Bond 'Skyfall'

That includes the United States where all-in guesstimates top $215M ' much better than

Quantum Of Solace's $168.3M or Casino Royale's $167.4M. Even better for the studios and filmmakers, Skyfall cost much less than both other films. But not to market, which is why the British press is saying that Skyfall 'raises the bar' for onscreen product placement and offscreen brand alliances, from 007's Tom Ford-tailored suits to Q's Sony Vaio hardware, to Coke Zero to perfume retailers. Dutch beermaker Heineken reportedly paid over £28M for Bond to sip from its green bottle in an early scene. Grammy multi-winner Adele sang the Bond theme. Daniel Craig reprises his role as 007, while Javier Bardem playing the villain Raoul Silva, and Naomie Harris and Bérénice Marlohe as Bond girls. Sam Mendes was the first Oscar-winner to direct a Bond pic. Meanwhile, Sony, MGM, and Eon are so pleased with Skyfall that its screenwriter John Logan already is writing the next two installments, Bond 24 and 25.

20th Century Fox Putting End Cards On Films Now To Explain True Cost Of Piracy

It's hard for Hollywood to explain to consumers about the losses to the movie industry caused by piracy. Especially when talking heads likestudio moguls and government officials try and fail. So kudos to Ted Gagliano, president of 20th Century Fox feature post-production, who began putting end cards on the studio's movies like this one. It's on Walden Media/Fox's Chasing Mavericks now in theaters. It explains the work and jobs involved in making movies and indicates how they will be lost through piracy. 'This is something we instituted starting with Taken 2,' 20th Century Fox distribution boss Chris Aronson tells me. 'I think it's a fantastic initiative and am glad we are doing it. More should.'

Related:
MPAA Tells Candidates That Anti-Piracy Measures Remain A 'Critical' Priority

Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.

Weak Pre-Uberstorm Box Office: 'Argo' #1, 'Cloud Atlas' Low Grossing #2, 'Silent Hill' #5, 'Fun Size' #11, 'Chasing Mavericks' #12

SATURDAY PM/SUNDAY AM, 5TH UPDATE: Abbrevated box office tonight because of tsunami evacuation for all islands of Hawaii where I'm vacationing.

But this was a lame weekend for newcomers at the domestic box office after a string of strong weekends - only $90M, which is -12% down from last year. The question mark is Hurricane Sandy's impact on grosses even though it's just beginning to move up the Eastern Seaboard. 'Nothing called Frankenstorm is inviting people to go out of their houses,' rued one movie executive predicting 25% less grosses than forecast for this weekend. 'It looks like people are shopping for bottled water and putting up their storm shutters instead of going to the movies.' Final numbers depend on whether the storm hits the most populated areas Sunday or Monday. 'OK, people ' let's step away from The Weather Channel and go to a theater!!!' one studio exec implored by email. We'll see soon enough.

Related: 'Skyfall' In UK Smashes Opening Records

Interestingly, 4 of the Top 5 films are all R-rated  Ben Affleck's Oscar-buzzed holdover Argo (2,855 theaters) easily won the weekend with $12.5M. But that's still the 2nd lowest #1 of the year.  The Wachowskis' epic drama Cloud Atlas (2,008 theaters, including 105 IMAX screens) starring Tom Hanks and Halle Berry received a mountain of pre-release press and was #2 this weekend even with only a 'C+' CinemaScore from audiences. Problem is, pic cost $100+M. Even with #1 and #2 at the box office, Warner Bros has no bragging rights given these low grosses.

Halloween holdovers follow - Sony Animation's Hotel Transylvania edged out Paramount's Paranormal Activity 4. Rounding out the Top 5 is Open Road Films' horror opener Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (2,933 theaters) which debuted #5 with the worst CinemaScore of all the newcomers: a 'C'. . The other newcomers fell apart: Paramount's small Victoria Justice teen comedy Fun Size debuted #11th with a CinemaScore of 'B'. While the Gerard Butler surfing newcomer Chasing Mavericks from Walden Media and distributed by Fox arrived only 12th. Shame because it had the best CinemaScore of the bunch ' 'B+'.

Here's the Top Ten based on weekend estimates. Full analysis later:

1. Argo (Warner Bros) Week 3 [Runs 2,855] R
Friday $3.9M), Saturday $5.5M, Weekend $12.5M, Cume $61.0M

2. Cloud Atlas (Warner Bros) Warner Bros NEW [Runs 2,008] R
Friday $3.4M, Saturday $9.5M,

3. Hotel Transylvania (Sony Animation) Week 5 [Runs 3,276] PG
Friday $2.5M, Saturday $4.0, Weekend $9.0M, Cume $129.9M

4. Paranormal Activity 4 (Paramount) Week 2 [Runs 3,412] R
Friday $3.1M, Saturday $3.5M, Weekend $8.6M (-70%), Cume $42.5M

5. Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (Open Road) New [Runs 2,933] R
Friday $3.5M, Saturday $3.2M, Weekend $8.5M

6. Taken 2 (Fox) Week 4 [Runs 2,995] PG13
Friday $2.6M, Saturday $3.6M, Weekend $8.0M, Cume $117.4M

7. Here Comes The Boom (Sony) Week 3 [Runs 2,491] PG
Friday $1.6M, Saturday $2.5M, Weekend $5.5M, Cume $30.6M

8. Alex Cross (Summit/Lionsgate) Week 2 [Runs 2,541] PG13
Friday $1.7M, Saturday $2.3M, Weekend $5.2M (-55%), Cume $19.5M

9. Sinister (Summit/Lionsgate) Week 3 [Runs 2,347] R
Friday $1.7M, Saturday $2.1M, Weekend $5.0M, Cume $39.4M

10. Pitch Perfect (Universal) Week 5 [Runs 1,999]
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $1.7M, Weekend $4.0M, Cume $51.3M

11. Fun Size (Paramount) NEW [Runs 3,014] PG13
Friday $1.3M, Saturday $1.6M, Weekend $3.8M

12. Chasing Mavericks (Walden/Fox) NEW [Runs 2,002] PG
Friday $825K, Saturday $875K, Weekend $2.2M

Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.

Jeff Berg's Internal Memo To ICM Staff

From: Berg, Jeff
Sent: Friday, October 26, 2012 5:00 PM
To: #All ICM
Subject:

Dear Colleagues,

This is where I leave you.

Following the conclusion of the management buyout last May I have spent the past few months seriously evaluating my personal goals and objectives and those of the agency. I need to create my own structure that addresses a different strategy and mind set about our quickly evolving industry.

I will be available to you over the next few weeks and will be announcing my plans shortly.

To those of you with whom I've worked for years this has been a valuable association and I will make a point of speaking with you directly.

Best wishes and good luck.

Jeff

Deadline Advisory: Nikki On Jeff Berg & ICM

I'll weigh in on Jeff Berg's ICM exit with exclusive details along with a retrospective. I'll also look at the status of ICM Partners. Stay tuned.

Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.

Weak Weekend Box Office Pre-Uberstorm: 'Argo' #1, 'Cloud Atlas' Low Grossing #2; 'Silent Hill' Edged By 'Paranormal Activity 4'

SATURDAY AM, 4TH UPDATE: This will be a lame weekend for newcomers at the domestic box office after a string of strong weekends - maybe only $95M split in a lot of ways, which is -10% down from last year. The question mark is Hurricane Sandy's impact on grosses even though it's just beginning to move up the Eastern Seaboard. 'Nothing called Frankenstorm is inviting people to go out of their houses,' rued one movie executive predicting 25% less grosses than forecast for this weekend. 'It looks like people are shopping for bottled water and putting up their storm shutters instead of going to the movies.' Hour by hour Friday night, estimates dropped for weekend box office depending on whether the storm hits the most populated areas Sunday or Monday. 'OK, people ' let's step away from The Weather Channel and go to a theater on Saturday!!!' one studio exec implored by email. We'll see soon enough.

Interestingly, the top 4 films are all R-rated  Ben Affleck's Oscar-buzzed holdover Argo (2,855 theaters) won Friday with $3.9M and looks like it will win the weekend with anywhere between $12M-$13.2M. But that's still the 2nd lowest #1 of the year. The next trio of pics are bunched together in the $8.8M-$9.5M range. The Wachowskis' epic drama Cloud Atlas (2,008 theaters, including 105 IMAX screens) starring Tom Hanks and Halle Berry received a mountain of pre-release press. It should be #2 this weekend, moving up from today's #3, even with only a 'C' CinemaScore from audiences. Problem is, pic cost $100+M. Even with #1 and #2 at the box office, Warner Bros has no bragging rights.

Open Road Films' Halloween horror opener Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (2,933 theaters) debuted #2 but should fall a notch or two by the weekend with the worst CinemaScore of all the newcomers: a 'C'. It will be edged out by Paramount's Halloween holdover Paranormal Activity 4. Rounding out the Top 5 will be still another Fright Night holdover, Sony Animation's Hotel Transylvania. The other newcomers fell apart: Paramount's small Victoria Justice teen comedy Fun Size debuted #11th with a CinemaScore of 'B'. While the Gerard Butler surfing newcomer Chasing Mavericks from Walden Media and distributed by Fox arrived only 12th. Shame because it had the best CinemaScore of the bunch ' 'B+'.

Here's the Top Ten based on Friday estimates. Full analysis later:

1. Argo (Warner Bros) Week 3 [Runs 2,855] R
Friday $3.9M (-22%), Weekend $13.2M, Cume $61.7M

2. Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (Open Road) New [Runs 2,933] R
Friday $3.5M, Weekend $9.4M, Cume $10.4M

3. Cloud Atlas (Warner Bros) Warner Bros NEW [Runs 2,008] R
Friday $3.4M, Weekend $10.2M

4. Paranormal Activity 4 (Paramount) Week 2 [Runs 3,412] R
Friday $3.1M (-79%), Weekend $9.1M, Cume $43.0M

5. Taken 2 (Fox) Week 4 [Runs 2,995] PG13
Friday $2.6M, Weekend $8.2M, Cume $117.6M

6. Hotel Transylvania (Sony Animation) Week 5 [Runs 3,276] PG
Friday $2.5M, Weekend $9.1M, Cume $130.1M

7. Sinister (Summit/Lionsgate) Week 3 [Runs 2,347] R
Friday $1.7M, Weekend $5.2M, Cume $39.7M

8. Alex Cross (Summit/Lionsgate) Week 2 [Runs 2,541] PG13
Friday $1.7M (-58%), Weekend $5.4M, Cume $19.8M

9. Here Comes The Boom (Sony) Week 3 [Runs 2,491] PG
Friday $1.6M, Weekend $5.2M, Cume $30.4M

10. Pitch Perfect (Universal) Week 5 [Runs 1,999]
Friday $1.3M, Weekend $4.2M, Cume $51.6M

11. Fun Size (Paramount) NEW [Runs 3,014] PG13
Friday $1.3M, Weekend $4.0M

12. Chasing Mavericks (Walden/Fox) NEW [Runs 2,002] PG
Friday $825K, Weekend $2.5M

Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.

Comcast Beats Q3 Revenue Estimates With Help From Olympics And Films

It must feel good for the executives from Philadelphia to issue a quarterly earnings report that doesn't have to urge investors to be patient with NBCUniversal. The cable and entertainment giant generated net income in Q3 of nearly $3B, up 155.4% vs the period last year, on revenues of $16.5B, +15.4%. The revenue figure was well ahead of the $16.1B that analysts expected. And after factoring out one-time gains from the sale of wireless spectrum to Verizon Wireless, and NBCUniversal's interest in A&E Networks, earnings per share came in a 46 cents ' just what the Street anticipated. NBCUniversal more than held its own this time, although with some caveats. The cable networks delivered $2.2B in revenues (+3.2%) and $809M in operating cash flow (+7.6%) as increases in payments from pay TV distributors compensated for what the company says were 'flat' advertising sales in the quarter. NBC's broadcast operations, puffed up by the Olympics, generated $2.8B in revenues (+83.8%) with operating cash flow of $88M (up from a $7M loss last year). The picture looks far less cheery, though, if you take away the impact of the London games: That would have left broadcast revenues of $1.6B (+5.2%) and a cash flow loss of $25M due to the high programming costs for fall season shows and news expenses to cover the presidential election. At the Universal Studios film unit, hits including Ted and The Bourne Legacy contributed to revenues of $1.4B (+23.6%) and operating cash flow of $72M (+31.1%). And Universal's theme park revenues came in at $614M (+5.8%) with operating cash flow of $316M (+11.2%).

Comcast also has a relatively upbeat story to tell at its core cable operations business. It ended up with 22M video customers, a loss of 117,000 ' which is a bit smaller loss than many analysts expected. It more than made up for that with gains in broadband subscribers (+287,000 to 19M) and phone customers (+123,000 to 9.8M). Video revenues came in at $5B (+2.7%) with broadband at $2.4B (+8.8%) and voice at $895M (+1.5%).

CEO Brian Roberts says that the numbers 'show real strength in every part of the business.' He adds that the Olympics 'exceeded all our expectations and our entire company contributed to their success, proving how effective we can be when we bring together our unique assets and capabilities.'

Global Showbiz Briefs: Seven Lineup, 'How We Invented The World', 'Birthright'

Seven Network Unveils New And Returning Lineup
Australian Seven Network has commissioned Eyeworks to produce a local version of Celebrity Splash, a Dutch format that U.S. network ABC also has embraced, and it will co-produce The Mole-Culture Clash with FremantleMedia Australia. These were among the new shows for 2013 unveiled by Seven, the top-rated prime-time network for the past six years, on Tuesday night. Debutantes include A Place to Call Home, an Australian drama series about a woman whose privileged family is rocked by scandal, set in a rural town in the 1950s, created by Bevan Lee (who created Seven's hit Packed to the Rafters); and Mrs. Biggs, a British drama series starring Sheridan Smith as the woman who married notorious train robber Ronnie Biggs, a co-production between ITV Studios, Seven and December Films. Among the fresh U.S. series will be Last Resort, Red Widow and Zero Hour. Returning shows include Revenge, Downton Abbey, The X-Factor, Dancing with the Stars and Australia's Got Talent. Celebrity Splash will see celebrities perform complicated dives with the help of professional instructors. The Mole-Culture Clash will feature contestants from different religions, cultures and socio-economic backgrounds. Seven also announced an exclusive contract with Melbourne-based market research group Neuro-Insight, which measures how the brain responds to communications. That firm operates in the U.S., UK and Germany. ' Don Groves

Discovery's 'How We Invented The World' Goes Global
Discovery Networks International announced the launch of its first ever global Facebook page and a dedicated YouTube channel for its new landmark series: How We Invented The World which will premiere next month on Discovery Channel worldwide in 209 countries. How We Invented The World will look at the four inventions that define the modern world ' cell phones, cars, planes and skyscrapers ' and the people and process that lead to their development. Each episode in this 4-parter highlights stories of human ingenuity, extraordinary connections, unprecedented experimentation and jaw-dropping events that have shaped the world as we know it.

Marc Evans To Direct Israeli-Palestinian Comedy 'Birthright'
Welsh film director Marc Evans (Hunky Dory, Patagonia) has been signed to direct the Israel-Palestinian comedy Birthright to be made by New York-based BoomGen Studios. Producer and BoomGen Studios chief Mahyad Tousi presented the project at last week's Pixel Pitch during the BFI London Film Festival. BoomGen is a leading producer and marketer of commercial entertainment focused on the Greater Middle East and has worked on a number of marquee projects including Disney's Prince of Persia, Julian Schnabel's Miral and the TLC Television series All-American Muslim. Tousi says 'Birthright is a multi-narrative story franchise that explores the intersection of politics, identity, and love.' Evans' credits include Snow Cake which screened in competition at Berlin and My Little Eye. His most recent, Hunky Dory written by Laurence Coriat and starring Minnie Driver and Aneurin Barnard is set for a U.S. release in the first quarter of 2013. He is currently filming Doors Open for British broadcaster ITV, an adaptation of the Ian Rankin novel starring Douglas Henshall and Stephen Fry.

Fox International Productions, China's Bona Film Group Pact For Local Language Movies

FOX INTERNATIONAL PRODUCTIONS (FIP), a division of 20th Century Fox Film Corporation, and BONA FILM GROUP LTD. (Nasdaq:BONA), one of China's largest motion picture producers and distributors, today announced a multi-picture deal in which the two companies will together produce Chinese language films.

Under the agreement, the two companies will develop, produce and distribute films throughout China.

'This is a significant step in what we believe will be a long-term, multi-faceted collaboration with News Corp. and its subsidiary companies,' said Mr. Dong Yu, Founder, Chairman and CEO of Bona Film Group Limited. 'The films released under this partnership will combine Bona's deep understanding of production, distribution and audience preferences in China with FIP's international expertise to create movies that satisfy audiences' growing demand for blockbuster characteristics. We look forward to the cooperation and anticipated opportunities with FIP.'

The announcement follows an agreement forged earlier this year by which Bona secured a strategic investment from News Corporation (Nasdaq:NWS); (Nasdaq:NWSA); (ASX:NWS), (ASX:NWSLV), the parent company of 20th Century Fox Film. Under that investment agreement, News Corp. acquired a 19.9% equity stake in Bona directly from Mr. Yu, which enabled News Corp. to gain a strategic advantage in China's burgeoning film industry. The new partnership between Fox International Productions and Bona furthers that relationship and enhances Fox's position in China.

Sanford Panitch, President of Fox International Productions, stated: 'We continue to be excited about the opportunities in the world's fastest growing market. Mr. Yu's vision for Bona combined with the company's stature as one of the leading distributors makes for great opportunities to co-produce and co-distribute Fox International Productions films in China.'

Box office receipts in China increased nearly 30% in 2011 over 2010 to more than U.S. $2 billion, according to EntGroup, making China the world's third largest film market behind the United States and Japan. Industry growth is expected to accelerate even further over the next several years, moving China into the number two slot in worldwide box office revenue.

According to China'sState Administration of Radio, Film and Television (SARFT), the gross box office for the first half of 2012 totaled RMB 8.1 billion ($1.3 billion), up 41.7% from the same period in 2011, when the box office gross was RMB 5.7 billion ($904.5 million). (USD 1 = RMB 6.3).
As of the end of June 2012, China had over 3,000 cinemas with nearly 11,000 screens (including over 7,000+ 3D-capable screens) nationwide. More than 1,600 screens were added during the first six months of the year, with an average of nine screens built each day.

Al Pacino Pocketing One Of Broadway's Top Pay Packages For 'Glengarry Glen Ross'

Bloomberg reports that Al Pacino is receiving a minimum of $125,000 a week and also is entitled to 5% of profits for the 10-week run of David Mamet's drama now in previews. Pacino's profit participation is contingent on the roughly $2.3M production paying back investors, according to the operating agreement obtained by Bloomberg for Glengarry Broadway LLC, the limited liability company formed to mount the revival. Should weekly ticket sales exceed $1.25M after deducting for commissions, Bloomberg says Pacino enjoys another revenue stream: 10% of box office above $1.25M. Bloomberg says it's one of the biggest-ever pay packages for a Broadway star. Pacino is playing washed-up huckster Shelly Levene on Broadway in David Mamet's Pulitzer Prize-winning Glengarry Glen Ross. (Ricky Roma was the role that earned Pacino an Academy Award nomination in the 1992 film version.) Pacino's pay tops that of Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, who each were paid $100,000 a week plus a sliver of profits when they returned to The Producers for three months in 2004, Bloomberg says. While for 2009's A Steady Rain, Hugh Jackman and Daniel Craig each earned as much as $120,000 per week or 10% of the box office, Bloomberg adds.

'Bones' Author Kathy Reichs Makes Bantam Deal For Next Three Novels

EXCLUSIVE: Ballantine Bantam Dell has acquired North American rights for three new novels from Kathy Reichs, who aside from being a bestselling suspense novelist is also a forensic anthropologist whose novels inspired the Fox TV series Bones. The deal was negotiated by Gina Centrello, President and Publisher of The Random House Publishing Group, with WME's Jennifer Rudolph Walsh. The novels will be published under the Bantam label, according to Libby McGuire, EVP, Publisher of Ballantine Bantam Dell. The first comes out in 2014, and Jennifer Hershey will edit them. Her last novel, Bones Are Forever, was published by Scribner.

Reichs will continue the forensic exploits of Temperance Brennan, who has been the centerpiece of 15 bestsellers. As for her day job, Dr. Reichs has been Vice President of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences and the American Board of Forensic Anthropology, and still serves on the Canadian National Police Services Advisory Council and is professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte.

'Kathy Reichs is one of the sharpest and most entertaining suspense novelists writing today. We are thrilled to welcome her to our list and expand her readership,' says McGuire. 'Kathy's ability to weave science, forensics, and suspense is unmatched. We are all excited to collaborate with her on these new novels.'

Netflix Says It Now Has 30M Subs Worldwide

Investors see Netflix's disappointing subscriber growth as a glass half empty, and today CEO Reed Hastings apparently wants to persuade the public that it's more than half full. That's the only reason I can think of for announcing that the company has more than 30M subs globally including more than 25M in the U.S. It's no surprise. The number is just a tad higher than the figures Netflix reported two days ago for the end of Q3: It said that it had 25.1M domestic streaming subscribers and an additional 4.3M abroad. That irked Wall Street because it meant the company had to cut its forecast for domestic sub growth in 2012 to about 5M from 7M. 'We own it in terms of a bad forecast,' Hastings said on Tuesday. 'But in terms of actual performance of the business, to grow 5 million net adds domestic is substantial and we feel good about that and about the growth next year.' That's the theme he's reinforcing today in a Facebook posting thanking Netflix customers. 'Your choice to be a Netflix member helps us get more content every year, and helps us further improve our member experience,' he says. 'You make it possible for us to offer the most amazing internet television experience ever.' Netflix shares are up about 1% in early trading today, slightly ahead of the market.

'Boardwalk Empire's Shea Whigham Joins 'Wolf Of Wall Street'

Shea Whigham has parlayed his work in the Terrence Winter-Martin Scorsese series Boardwalk Empire into a costarring role in The Wolf Of Wall Street, which Winter wrote and Scorsese is directing. Whigham, who plays a big role in the upcoming David O Russell-directed Silver Linings Playbook, is shooting the Terrence Malick film Knight Of Cups with Christian Bale, and is reprising his role in The Fast And The Furious 6.  Whigham most recently was in the Sean Penn-starrer This Must Be The Place. He is represented by CAA and Principal.