Lions Gate Sues Icahn For Playing ‘Double Game’LOS ANGELES (AP) — Niche movie studio Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. on Thursday sued its biggest shareholder, Carl Icahn, saying he played a “double game” by first opposing a merger with struggling studio MGM, then backing it when he had bought a large portion of its debt.
Lions Gate said in a complaint filed Thursday in New York that Icahn so vehemently opposed the combination that he caused talks to fall apart this summer.
The studio said it was only after he acquired more than 10 percent of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc.’s publicly traded debt and amassed greater than one-third of Lions Gate shares that he backed the plan, seeking to maximize his profits.
The company sued for “tortious interference” and various violations of Securities and Exchange Commission rules regarding public disclosures. It sought rulings that could force Icahn to unwind much of his stake in Lions Gate.
Icahn said in a statement that the lawsuit’s claims were “completely without merit.” In the same statement, he said he was extending his offer to buy Lions Gate shares that he doesn’t own for $7.50 apiece through Nov. 12.
A Lions Gate spokesman declined to comment.
The company’s lawsuit came a day before MGM creditors must vote on a plan to combine with Spyglass Entertainment in a prepackaged bankruptcy, and throws a wrench into Lions Gate’s own merger proposal, although it remains on the table.
Half of the creditors controlling more than two-thirds of the more than $4 billion owed must approve any bankruptcy plan.
In the Spyglass plan, creditors are to take a 95 percent stake in the new company with Spyglass owning the remainder. Lions Gate proposed offering creditors a 55 percent stake, although its merger would create a larger entity.
Icahn and Lions Gate have been at each other’s throats since early 2009 after Icahn began adding to his holdings and pressing for greater control of the company. This spring, he successfully annulled a “poison pill” plan Lions Gate adopted to keep him from increasing his stake.
The sides are awaiting court decisions in New York and British Columbia over Icahn’s suit against Lions Gate over a debt-for-equity swap that caused his stake to shrink and boosted that of rival shareholder Mark Rachesky.
Schuyler Moore, an entertainment attorney who has observed developments in the MGM case, said the internal bickering at this late hour would likely sink Lions Gate’s bid.
Lions Gate said this week that its proposal to merge with MGM would save more than $100 million annually and create the world’s largest library of 20,000 movies and TV show episodes, bringing its “Saw” and “Tyler Perry” movies together with MGM’s James Bond franchise. MGM also owns half of the upcoming “The Hobbit” movies with Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros.
But MGM’s creditors committee had already gone a long way toward promoting the offer from Spyglass, a production company behind such movies as “Seabiscuit” and “The Insider.”
In soliciting votes on the plan Oct. 15, MGM said it would install Spyglass co-CEOs Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum as the new co-CEOs of MGM if their offer were accepted. A Spyglass representative said Thursday evening that neither man was available to comment.
Fox Rejects Cablevision’s New Offer To End ImpasseLOS ANGELES (AP) — Fox on Wednesday rejected a last-ditch offer from Cablevision Systems Corp. to pay it more for its TV stations’ signals, a move that could leave some 3 million Cablevision subscribers in the New York area with few options besides heading to a bar to watch baseball’s World Series on TV.
In preparation for an extended blackout, Cablevision e-mailed its customers Wednesday saying it will reimburse them $10 to cover the cost of paying to watch the games online through MLB.com.
Cablevision said earlier in the day that it offered to pay the same rate as Time Warner Cable Inc. for signals from Fox 5 in New York and Fox 29 in Philadelphia for one year, even though the rate is more than it pays for any other New York broadcast station.
The cable operator did not explain what it was offering for My 9 in New York and cable channels Fox Business Network, NatGeo Wild and Fox Deportes, which are also part of the fee dispute.
Fox, a unit of News Corp., said the rate was meant as a package deal, and called Cablevision’s statement “yet another in a long line of publicity stunts.”
“Cablevision is seeking a discounted ‘package rate’ without buying the entire package,” Fox said in a statement.
Cablevision’s subscribers, mostly in New York, have been without Fox signals since Oct. 16.
On Tuesday, Cablevision CEO James Dolan sent a letter to FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski urging him to mediate the dispute. Fox has consistently rejected mediation and Genachowski has urged both sides to negotiate rather than attack each other publicly.
Last week, the FCC asked both companies for proof that they were negotiating in good faith.
Antennas Direct, an online retailer, said it sold around 8,000 units in the New York area this month, up from an average between 1,700 and 2,100. On Wednesday, the site said it sold 500 antennas in the New York area, volume it typically handles in a week.
Ang Lee to shoot ‘Life of Pi’ in Taiwan and IndiaTAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – Oscar-winning director Ang Lee said he is counting on the innocent looks and storytelling ability of an Indian boy to assure the success of Yann Martel’s “Life of Pi,” the fantasy book he is making into a film.
Lee has chosen 17-year-old Suraj Sharma from 3,000 candidates for the title role of the boy who drifts on the open sea with a Bengal tiger and a hyena, saved after a ship carrying the rest of his family sinks.
“There is no dialogue, and he is not Tom Hanks,” Lee said of the boy. “The film is about humankind’s spiritual pursuit, and he must have an appealing temperament.”
Newcomer Sharma “showed the storytelling ability, and you will believe this is a true story,” he said.
Lee will shoot the entire film in 3D in his home of Taiwan and in India. Filming is to start in January.
Lee said that at first he did not believe a fantasy story of a boy surrounded by nothing but water could be made into a film.
“I have not seen any good movies about water,” he said. “Then I realized 3D could be a way to break the dilemma.”
With new technologies, Lee said, “I hope to take viewers to the sea so they can feel for themselves the relationship between humankind and their beliefs.”
‘Tron’ appetizer: Fans get early look at new film
By Sandy Cohen, Entertainment Writer
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) – “Tron” fans worldwide are being invited to step into the Grid of the anticipated sequel, “Tron: Legacy.”
Walt Disney Pictures is hosting “Tron Night” on Thursday, where fans in 48 countries can see 23 minutes of footage in IMAX 3-D for free. Disney employees also got an early look at the film Thursday at screenings in Burbank.
Selected scenes from the first half of the film take viewers into an updated, three-dimensional version of the digital world that dazzled moviegoers in the 1982 original.
The footage opens with Sam Flynn, played by Garrett Hedlund, accidentally discovering the high-tech landscape where his father disappeared decades earlier.
One moment Flynn is sitting at his dad’s dusty old computer, and the next he is a prisoner aboard a spaceship soaring through a dark, geometric world where people wear illuminated suits and one wrong move can be fatal. He’s thrown into a room where four women emerge to outfit him with his own body-hugging light suit and “identity disc.”
“What am I supposed to do?” Flynn asks.
“Survive,” one woman replies.
With that, he’s dropped into a high-stakes Frisbee-type battle where the loser is shattered into bits.
Another scene shows the iconic light cycles updated from the original film and a light-up dune buggy that’s able to travel off the Grid and onto a rocky landscape, where Flynn’s father, played by Jeff Bridges, appears to be meditating and setting off his own glow.
Father and son share an awkward embrace.
“He never thought he’d see you again,” says Quorra (played by “House” star Olivia Wilde), who appears to be a friend of the elder Flynn.
Viewers also see electronic rockers Daft Punk, who appear wearing light suits and helmets, in a scene that features the duo’s thumping score.
There are speeding light cycles, fireworks and an evil-looking Michael Sheen. There are also light jets and a quic k glimpse at Bridges playing a younger version of himself.
“Tron: Legacy” is due in theaters Dec. 17.
“Last Night” Opens Rome Film Fest
ROME (AP) – The marital drama “Last Night” deals with questions of temptation, betrayal and defining infidelity, and its stars Keira Knightley and Eva Mendes say there are no easy answers.
The movie is about a married couple struggling to confront temptation: For Knightley’s character it’s an old, never-quite-forgotten French love; for her husband, played by “Avatar” star Sam Worthington, it’s a work colleague played by Mendes.
Their moral struggle plays out over the course of one night they spend apart.
The movie opened the Rome film festival on Thursday.
At a press conference, Knightley says each situation is different and the movie doesn’t take a view on whether one is worse, physical infidelity or an unconsummated affair.
Lisa Blount, Arkansas Actor-Producer, Dies at 53
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) – A publicist for Lisa Blount confirms that the Arkansas-born actor and Oscar-winning filmmaker has died at age 53.
Steve Rohr’s statement did not provide a cause of death.
Pulaski County coroner Garland Camper told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette there were no signs of foul play.
Blount won an Academy Award in 2001 for best live-action short film as producer of “The Accountant.” Her husband Ray McKinnon directed and starred in the film.
She also earned a Golden Globe nomination for playing Debra Winger’s best friend in “An Officer and a Gentleman” in 1982.
Blount was born in Fayetteville and grew up in Jacksonville before moving to Los Angeles. Blount and McKinnon moved to Little Rock in 2005.
Russian Arctic Drama Wins London Film Fest Prize
LONDON (AP) – Judges have awarded the London Film Festival’s best-picture prize to the Russian drama “How I Ended This Summer.”
Actress Patricia Clarkson, who headed the judging panel, praised Alexei Popogrebsky’s movie about two meteorologists who clash at a remote Arctic research station as “a cinematic tour de force.”
British director Clio Barnard won the best debut feature and best British newcomer awards Wednesday for “The Arbor.” The film is an innovative docudrama about the short life and troubled legacy of English playwright Andrea Dunbar.
“Slumdog Millionaire” director Danny Boyle received a lifetime achievement award.
The two-week London festival ends Thursday with Boyle’s latest film, “127 Hours.”
Cameraman Sues Sacha Baron Cohen Over ‘Bruno’ Spat
By Anthony McCartney, Entertainment Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A cameraman sued Sacha Baron Cohen on Tuesday, claiming his civil rights were violated when he was roughed up by a film crew shooting the comedian in character as “Bruno” during a gay marriage rally.
Mike Skiff, a self-described gay journalist, sued Baron Cohen and others involved in the 2009 film “Bruno” for more than $25,000 in damages for alleged physical and emotional pain and suffering.
His lawsuit claims he was shoved, pulled and threatened with wooden signs as he filmed the comedian in character as gay Austrian fashion journalist Bruno.
The lawsuit said Skiff recognized Baron Cohen during the pro-gay marriage rally in downtown Los Angeles in Nov 2, 2008, and began filming him.
Footage posted on YouTube by Skiff’s company, Third Rail Media, showed the actor-comedian standing among anti-gay marriage protesters who had also assembled in the streets.
A man is heard shouting, “I know that’s Bruno — I can get as much as I want,” before being harangued by the crew. One portion of the video shows Skiff pulled away from Baron Cohen before police intervene.
An e-mail sent to Baron Cohen’s publicist, Matt Labov, was not immediately returned.
Skiff also claimed the actions of the “Bruno” crew violated his civil rights and that their appearance at the rally was intended solely to create conflict for the film.
Baron Cohen’s in-your-face comedy has provoked several lawsuits since his 2006 film, “Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan,” became a smash hit, but courts have sided with the comedian.
“Bruno” also has sparked its share of legal wrangling.
In June 2009, Richelle Olson sued, claiming she suffered brain injuries when Baron Cohen caused her to fall after a confrontation at a charity bingo tournament in Lancaster, Calif. The case is on hold while the woman’s attorney appeals a court ruling.
In December, a Palestinian shopkeeper portrayed as a terrorist in “Bruno” sued Baron Cohen and others for libel and slander.
The Bethlehem shopkeeper and father is identified in the film as a member of the militant Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade. He is seeking $110 million, and the case remains pending in a Washington, D.C. court.
Batman Sequel Gets A Name: ‘Dark Knight Rises’
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The next Batman sequel has a title: “The Dark Knight Rises.”
Distributor Warner Bros. confirmed the name for director Christopher Nolan’s third adventure about the DC Comics vigilante hero, which follows “Batman Begins” in 2005 and “The Dark Knight” in 2008.
“The Dark Knight Rises” is due in theaters July 20, 2012.
Bucking Hollywood’s current wave of 3-D movies, Nolan is not planning to shoot the film in 3-D.
Warner Bros. had agreed with Nolan’s argument that the sequel should resist the 3-D craze, the director told the Los Angeles Times’ Hero Complex blog, which first reported the title.
Nolan would not reveal what villain might appear in “The Dark Knight Rises,” but he said it would not be the Riddler, one of the key bad guys in the comics and past film and TV Batman tales.
Earlier this year, Nolan said he would not resurrect the Joker, the cackling villain played by Heath Ledger in “The Dark Knight.” L edger won the supporting-actor Academy Award for the role, a year after he died of an accidental overdose of prescription drugs.
Creator of TV Cartoon Rocky and Bullwinkle DiesCARMEL, Calif. (AP) – Pioneering TV cartoon artist Alexander Anderson Jr. – who created Rocky the flying squirrel, Bullwinkle the moose and Dudley Do-Right the Canadian mountie – has died at age 90.
Anderson’s wife, Patricia, said that her husband, a longtime resident of Pebble Beach, Calif., died Friday at an assisted living facility in Carmel. He was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.
With the goggle-wearing Rocky leading his somewhat slow but good-natured friend, Bullwinkle, the duo battled villains Boris and Natasha, agents of the nation of Pottsylvania, in the fictional town of Frostbite Falls, Minn.
The show spawned movies and memorable phrases, such as Rocky’s “Hokey smoke” and Bullwinkle’s “Hey, Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of a hat.”
The inspiration for Bullwinkle came from a dream Anderson had in which he was playing poker with friends and a moose doing “silly card things” was sitting next to him, P atricia Anderson said.
The character’s name came from a car dealership in Berkeley called “Bullwinkel Motors,” which her husband thought was funny, she said.
Anderson told the San Francisco Chronicle in 1991 that he found there was “something majestic” about a moose.
As for Rocky, Anderson told the newspaper he couldn’t quite understand how a mouse or Superman would be able to fly. But some squirrels, in fact, could fly.
“That gave (Rocky) the mantle of superness without having to stretch the truth,” he said.
Before Rocky and Bullwinkle, Anderson worked on “Mighty Mouse” while apprenticing for his uncle, Paul Terry, whose Terrytoons cartoons were distributed in movie theaters by 20th Century Fox. Anderson worked with Terry before and after World War II, when he worked as an intelligence officer with the U.S. Navy in San Francisco.
Anderson began his own company with former University of California, Berkeley fraternity brother, Jay Ward, after Terry refused his suggestion to produce cartoons specifically for television.
The duo worked out of a garage behind Anderson’s family’s Berkeley home. There, they created Crusader Rabbit and his friend Rags the Tiger along with Dudley Do-Right of the Mounties and Rocky and Bullwinkle.
“Crusader Rabbit” was among the first animated series produced for television and aired on NBC in the 1950s.
Ward would go on to produce “Rocky and His Friends” on ABC in 1959. Anderson had decided to pursue a career in advertising and was not involved in the venture.
He later said he felt he had not received credit for his creations and won a lawsuit against Jay Ward Productions in 1993 that recognized him as the creator of the first versions of Rocky, Bullwinkle and Dudley Do-Right.
Movie Gallery Selling Brands, Like Hollywood Video
RICHMOND, Va. (AP) – Rental video chain Movie Gallery is selling off its store brands Hollywood Video, Movie Gallery and Game Crazy as part of its bankruptcy proceedings.
A federal bankruptcy judge in Richmond on Monday approved an auction for its brand names, Internet domain names and customer databases. The auction being handled by advisory firm Streambank is set for Nov. 9.
A hearing to confirm the results of the auction is scheduled for Nov. 15 in Richmond.
Movie Gallery was once the nation’s second largest video and game rental chain with more than 4,000 stores in the U.S. and Canada. It was based in Dothan, Ala., then Wilsonville, Ore.
It filed for bankruptcy in February as its retail sales slipped against Netflix’s mail-order business, DVD kiosks and Internet-based services.
What Show Gains Most from DVRs? ‘Hawaii Five-0’NEW YORK (AP) – The CBS remake of “Hawaii Five-0” is getting a bigger benefit from DVRs than any other show on prime-time television.
Through the first three weeks of the TV season, the Monday night drama picked up an average of 3.3 million viewers when the Nielsen Co. added in people who saw the show on their digital video recorders. Nielsen says it’s not a top 10 show based on live viewing, but it is when the DVR numbers are added in.
“Hawaii Five-0” is popular with men. CBS speculates that many viewers watch “Monday Night Football” live and record the drama for later.
Two Thursday night dramas – CBS’ “The Mentalist” and ABC’s “Grey’s Anatomy” – were the next two biggest gainers from DVR usage. The only comedy among the top 10 is ABC’s “Modern Family,” which is having a strong sophomore season.
Indie Spirit Awards Head Back to BeachfrontLOS ANGELES (AP) – The Spirit Awards honoring independent film are going back to the beach.
Organizers said Tuesday the honors next Feb. 26, the day before the Academy Awards, will once again be handed out at an afternoon ceremony along the beach in Santa Monica.
The Spirit Awards had moved to an evening event in downtown Los Angeles last winter to mark the 25th anniversary of the show, which honors lower-budgeted films made outside the Hollywood studio system, such as 2009’s big winner, “Precious.”
The Feb. 26 ceremony will air later that night on IFC.
