Production designer Todd Fjelsted, whose credits include the HBO series Looking and the Gregg Araki-directed feature White Bird In A Blizzard, has signed with Dattner Dispoto and Associates for representation. Also at Dattner Dispoto, DP Maryse Alberti has been booked for the Ryan Coogler-directed Creed, DP Bojan Bazelli, ASC, for Pete’s Dragon directed by David Lowery, and DP Florian Sadler for the Santiago Rizzo-directed Quest. New bookings for Dattner Dispoto costume designers include Paco Delgado securing director Tom Hooper’s The Danish Girl, Meghan Kasperlik tabbed for the Lee Kirk-helmed Geezer, and Kameron Lennox landing director Matt Ross’ Frank and Lola….Carlos Arambula has joined R&R Partners in the new position of VP of Hispanic marketing. Based in the firm’s L.A. office, he will provide leadership and insight to the firm’s nine offices, especially R&R’s new office in Mexico City. Prior to joining R&R, he served as partner/VP marketing & business development, MarcasUSA LLC, a Pan-American OTC pharmaceutical import/distribution company based in El Segundo, Calif., which he also co-founded. Also during this period, he ran his own consulting firm, Arambula-Phillips Communications, serving as managing partner/lead marketing strategist, introducing and establishing foreign brands. Arambula brings deep experience in marketing to Latin American and the domestic Hispanic consumer markets, working on brands such as Toyota, Mars, Unilever, Hormel, ConAgra, and Nestle. Past affiliations include Saatchi, Grey, WPP, and Publicis….Greg Holland has become worldwide VP of sales for Digital Vision, a supplier of color grading, restoration and film scanning solutions for the broadcast, film, commercial and archive industries. Holland is part of a company management team which acquired Digital Vision from Image Systems….
“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