Universal Studios reopens Backlot After FireChristry Lemire, Movie Writer
UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. (AP) — Hollywood loves a sequel, especially during the summer. It’s familiar, it’s comforting, and most of all, it’s bankable.
Universal Studios got a new chapter of its own Thursday with the reopening of its backlot, which an accidental fire decimated two years ago. The $200 million project will once again allow filmmakers to shoot on the streets of New York without having to leave Los Angeles, and it’ll give visitors on the studio tour a behind-the-scenes glimpse at the moviemaking process.
The new lot features 13 city blocks and 15 shooting areas over four acres. It includes sections that resemble Central Park, Wall Street, a Broadway theater district, brownstones and a courthouse square. The backlot can also stand in for London. And with a pub, cafe, bank, jewelry shop and many other storefronts, it can function as any city anywhere.
The heights of buildings were increased while, at the same time, the streets were narrowed to allow shooting on both sides simultaneously. The revamp also includes improved fire warning and prevention systems.
Steven Spielberg, who has a 40-year history with Universal, was one of the first people who arrived after the fire. He helped reconstruct the lot with a team that included veteran production designer Rick Carter, who won an Oscar this year for “Avatar” and has worked with Spielberg on such films as “Amistad,” ”War of the Worlds” and the first two “Jurassic Park” movies.
The director said when he got to the backlot at 6:30 a.m. the day of the fire, “it was truly an inferno.”
“The flames were hundreds of feet into the air and everything was coming down quickly,” he said. “The smells, the sounds — it was very much like, but actually worse than, 18 years before when the same real estate burned down, burned down to the ground, and had to be rebuilt. I was on that team 18 years ago and I was very proud to volunteer my services to rebuild the lot this time.”
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, who shot five films on the Universal backlot in his previous life as an actor, said the studio helped make him the star he became when it released “Conan the Barbarian” in 1982.
“For me this is kind of a homecoming. …They were the ones that launched my career, and then we did ‘Conan the Destroyer’ and ‘Twins’ and ‘Kindergarten Cop’ and ‘Junior,'” Schwarzenegger said. “I have all kinds of really great, great memories of this studio and, of course, we want to make sure they reopen this backlot as quickly as possible.”
Spielberg also praised firefighters for going into the film vault, which houses all the negatives and was in danger of burning, and hauling out film cans one by one to ensure their safety.
“I looked at all the titles — of course, several of the titles should have burned,” he said, drawing laughs, “but the majority of the titles, I thought, were awesome titles.”
Universal to Distribute 20 films from MRC
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Universal Pictures said Thursday it will distribute up to 20 films from production company Media Rights Capital over five years starting in 2011.
The two companies previously collaborated on “Bruno,” the comedy starring Sacha Baron Cohen, and have two more movies in the pipeline before this new deal kicks in, including the Matt Damon sci-fi romance, “The Adjustment Bureau.”
Under the new arrangement, Universal will pay for film prints and marketing and receive a small percentage of the box office sales after recouping those costs.
Previously, Universal paid for part of the production on top of film prints and marketing, but kept a greater portion of the movie’s sales after recouping costs.
MRC pulls together film financing deals by securing A-list talent and sharing ownership of the project with them. It makes movies in the $20 million to $75 million budget range and is backed by investors such as Goldman Sachs, AT&T Inc., and WPP Group PLC.
“This deal with Universal gives us another choice and tool for distribution of our artists’ films,” Modi Wiczyk, co-chief executive of MRC, said Thursday in an interview.
MRC still has the option to distribute films in the previous fashion and with other studios, Wiczyk said.
The deal will add to the 14 to 16 Universal-produced movies, plus up to four movies from Rogue Pictures that the studio aims to release each year.
In a statement, Universal Pictures Chairman Adam Fogelson said the deal will augment the current film slate, “bringing more value to Universal.”
Luhrmann tackles installation in break from moviesMin Lee, Entertainment Writer
HONG KONG (AP) — Taking a break from movies, “Moulin Rouge” director Baz Luhrmann on Wednesday unveiled a multimedia installation in Hong Kong that he says explores the narrative potential of paintings.
“The Creek,” a collaboration with painter Vincent Fantauzzo, centers on a large oil painting showing rescue efforts for a car that has veered off a bridge. The painting is placed in a narrow dark room decorated with candles and photographs from Luhrmann’s childhood in rural Australia. An audio clip of a car crash plays in the background.
“I am fascinated with how in classical art narrative is dealt with,” Luhrmann told reporters on the sidelines of the Hong Kong International Art Fair, where his piece is being displayed.
“The cathedrals of the 17th century were sort of the cineplexes of their time. The audience went into a darkened room. They contemplated a painting. And in that painting … they had their own cinematic experience. They had their own narrative experience,” the director said.
Known for his flashy visuals and lavish set designs, Luhrmann’s credits also include “Strictly Ballroom,” ”William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet” and “Australia.”
Luhrmann said he hasn’t decided on his next project and is currently choosing between three movie projects and two stage productions, including a possible adaptation of the F. Scott Fitzgerald novel “The Great Gatsby.”
Disney ends Miramax talks with BurkleRyan Nakashima, Business Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Walt Disney Co. has called off talks to sell its Miramax movie division to billionaire Ron Burkle for $625 million, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday.
The deal would have seen the label’s founders, the Weinstein brothers, regain control of the Oscar-laden catalog.
The talks with Burkle and the Weinsteins hit an impasse over how The Weinstein Co. would benefit from the arrangement and how Harvey and Bob Weinstein would spend their time managing two movie studios. Disney called off the talks late Monday, the person said.
A second person familiar with the talks said Disney on Monday reopened negotiations with another pair of brothers who are bidding for the unit, Alec and Tom Gores.
Neither person was authorized to speak publicly and both spoke on condition of anonymity.
A Disney spokesman declined immediate comment.
The Gores, themselves billionaire investors, had earlier bid around $550 million for Miramax and its 600-plus film library plus several films that have been completed but not released.
The Gores’ bid had been put on hold while Disney negotiated exclusively since mid-April to reach an agreement on Burkle’s $625 million bid, which included the Weinsteins as managers.
Hopes had been high that a deal could be announced during the Cannes Film Festival, especially with the Weinsteins in attendance, but the event wrapped up Sunday with no announcement.
The Gores are also in talks to buy Overture Films, a division of Liberty Media Corp., but it is not clear how that might influence a deal for Miramax.
Alec Gores is the head of Gores Group, the majority owner of radio network Westwood One Inc. Tom Gores heads Platinum Equity, whose holdings include The San Diego Union-Tribune newspaper.
The Weinsteins founded Miramax, naming it after their parents, Miriam and Max, in 1979. They sold it to Disney for $80 million in 1993 but continued to manage it.
They left in 2005 to found The Weinstein Co. after years of troubled relations with Disney and a public spat over Michael Moore’s 2004 documentary “Fahrenheit 9/11,” which Disney refused to distribute.
Miramax’s library is full of prestigious films such as “My Left Foot” (1989), “Pulp Fiction” (1994) and “Good Will Hunting” (1997), and still makes money on home video and television.
Disney has been looking to sell the label because it no longer resonates with its other family-centric studio units such as Pixar and Marvel.
Disney stopped investing in new Miramax projects this year, laying off all but a handful of staff beginning in January in a major round of cost-cutting and reorganization under its new studios chairman, Rich Ross.
Iran Releases Renowned Filmmaker on $200,000 Bail
Nasser Karmi
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) — Iran released an internationally renowned filmmaker and opposition supporter on bail Tuesday after more than two months in custody, state TV reported.
Jafar Panahi, who has won awards at the Chicago, Cannes and Berlin film festivals, was freed on bail of about $200,000, but the report said his indictment would be sent to a revolutionary court for future action.
The decision came about a week after the 49-year-old filmmaker began a hunger strike to protest his imprisonment. He also demanded to be allowed to see his family, meet with a lawyer and be set free pending trial.
It was unclear what charges Panahi faces. Cases referred to revolutionary courts are usually security related.
Panahi was taken into custody after Iranian security forces raided the filmmaker’s Tehran home in early March. A state prosecutor has said Panahi’s detention is not political and the filmmaker is suspected of committing unspecified “offenses.”
The filmmaker supported Iran’s opposition following the disputed June presidential election in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was declared the winner. Panahi was briefly detained last summer when he visited the gravesides of the victims of Tehran’s postelection unrest and was later banned from traveling abroad.
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner welcomed the release of Panahi and expressed regret that the filmmaker wasn’t able to attend the just-ended Cannes film festival. Panahi had been invited as a member of the jury and an empty chair was left for him in protest.
“We hope that as quickly as possible he can return to his artistic activities which honor Iranian cinema,” a statement by Kouchner said.
Several of Panahi’s films have been banned from showing in Iran.
Iran has detained more than 80 political activists and figures accused of fomenting postelection unrest since August, sentencing them to death and prison terms, from six months to 15 years.
Tehran’s prosecutor Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi met Panahi in prison after he began his hunger strike.
Ahmadinejad’s re-election has been challenged by a range of public figures, including filmmakers and singers who have expressed support for the opposition and criticized the harsh government crackdown on street protesters.
The opposition contends Ahmadinejad won through fraud and that opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi was the rightful winner.
Former ‘Thundercats’ Writer killed in Fla.ZEPHYRHILLS, Fla. (AP) — Police in a town near Tampa say a missing former writer for the 1980s cartoon series “Thundercats” was killed.
Stephen Perry’s van was found abandoned at a Tampa hotel May 16, with a severed body part nearby. The Zephyrhills mayor has said it was an arm, but police declined to provide details — including whether Perry’s body has been found or why they declared him a homicide victim Thursday.
Perry’s home was found ransacked and two roommates were also missing. They have since been arrested on unrelated charges but called “persons of interest.”
Perry’s wrote for numerous comics and scripted the “Silverhawks” cartoon. But friends say he never made much money. He was recently broke and had trouble finding health care for his potentially fatal bladder cancer.
Google closes AdMob deal, will buy $750M in stockMOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. (AP) — Google has completed its $750 million acquisition of mobile advertising network AdMob and will start buying some of its stock as a result.
The company officially took control of AdMob on Thursday. The purchase closed less than a week after the Federal Trade Commission approved the deal following a six-month investigation into whether Google would gain too much control over mobile ads. The agency concluded that Apple’s recent expansion into mobile ads will ensure ample competition.
AdMob, founded four years ago, has about 160 employees.
The takeover is being paid in Google stock. Google intends to replenish the shares in its corporate treasury by buying $750 million of its stock on the open market.
Appeals judges back Los Angeles billboard ban
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A panel of judges has decided that the city of Los Angeles did not violate billboard companies’ constitutional rights when it enacted a ban on outdoor ads.
The ruling this week by the 9th District Court of Appeals reverses a federal judge’s 2008 decision that exceptions to the ban raised free speech concerns because they gave city officials too much leeway in deciding which signs to allow.
The appeals’ court judges also vacated a contempt order against the city that was issued after it issued citations against outdoor advertising company World Wide Rush, one of the companies that challenged the sign ban.
Messages left with World Wide Rush’s attorney and the Los Angeles city attorney’s office were not immediately returned.
Fla. tourism group runs ads to quell oil worriesMatt Sedensky
KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) — Florida tourism officials are taking to the airwaves to try and combat worries over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association is running radio advertisements across the U.S. that say “our coast is clean and our beaches are open.” It’s also running a full-page ad in USA Today with a similar message.
Association president Carol Dover says those in the tourism industry need to “do everything we can” to combat the image that Florida has been affected by the spill.
She said Panhandle businesses have suffered a roughly 30 percent drop and that hotels in the Florida Keys are beginning to see a decrease in new bookings.
Oil from the five-week-old spill has washed into the marshes of Lousiana but not hit the other Gulf states.
