Cheil London has appointed Peter Zillig, a former chief executive of Havas Worldwide New York, as the chief executive of its London office. His appointment follows the resignation of Paul Hammersley, the chief executive of Cheil UK, last month. Zillig, who will report to the chief executive of Cheil Europe Kevin Park, will take responsibility for the Cheil London office. BMB, under chief executive Juliet Haygarth, will operate as a separate entity within Cheil UK with Haygarth also reporting to Park.
Zillig has extensive experience both on the client and agency side. He is a former EMEA head of advertising, UK communications director and marketing and communications director for e-commerce for Compaq, working in Munich, London and Houston. As well as working at Havas Worldwide, where he rose from president of global brands to CEO of the New York office, Zillig is a former EMEA chief executive of Tag Worldwide, where he led its digital transformation, and has also worked at Lowe Worldwide as global business director.
“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” Tops Weekend Box Office
In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures' "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" sped past the Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa: The Lion King" to take the top spot at the box office ahead of the lucrative Christmas corridor in theaters.
"Sonic the Hedgehog 3" debuted with $62 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates. With strong reviews (86% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and a high score from audiences (an "A" on CinemaScore), "Sonic 3" is well positioned to be the top choice in cinemas during the busiest moviegoing period of the year.
It was telling of some wider trends that "Sonic 3" — made for $122 million — bested one of Disney's top properties. Videogame adaptations, once among the most derided movie genres, have emerged as one of the most dependable box office forces in recent years. The two previous "Sonic" movies together grossed more $700 million worldwide and the third installment appears likely to do better than both of them. A fourth "Sonic" movie is already in development.
"Mufasa," however, was humbled in its opening weekend, with its $35 million in domestic ticket sales coming in notably shy of expectations . The photorealistic "Lion King" prequel even opened wider than "Sonic 3," launching on 4,100 theaters and gobbling up most IMAX screens, compared with 3,761 locations for "Sonic 3."
Though "Mufasa's" reviews were poor (56% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences gave it an "A-" CinemaScore.
"Sonic 3" nearly doubled the haul for "Mufasa," which cost more than $200 million to make. Disney could look to $87.2 million in international sales to help make up the difference. The third "Sonic" will rollout in most overseas markets in the coming weeks.
In director Jeff... Read More