Director Peter Kagan has joined bicoastal Celsius Films. Kagan had a longstanding relationship with Stiefel+Company, but decided to explore his options when Frank Stiefel shuttered that shop to become an executive VP at bicoastal/international @radical.media. Several other Stiefel helmers opted to move over to @radical (SHOOT, 9/13, p. 1)….Keith Comrie, former chief administratrive officer for the City of Los Angeles, has been named to serve in a key role—as an outside consultant to the Entertainment Industry Development Corp. (EIDC), the entity that oversees the joint Los Angeles City/County Film Office. The hiring of Comrie by the EIDC executive committee is in response to the controversy over the EIDC’s financial dealings, which are under investigation by the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office (SHOOT, 9/20, p. 1). The EIDC is being scrutinized for alleged misapprorpriation of funds, related to certain entertainment and travel expenses, as well as political contributions. The EIDC contends it has done nothing wrong in that such expenditures—designed to promote filming in Greater Los Angeles—are within the organization’s province as a private entity. Comrie’s duties will include recommending an auditor to analyze the EIDC’s budget, suggesting changes in EIDC bylaws and operating procedures, developing fiscal policies and working with attorneys to determine if indeed the EIDC is a public agency or a private corporation…..Bicoastal/international Chelsea Pictures has launched Chelsea Digital, a creative post company under the aegis of Thor Raxlen, lead effects artist/editor….Edit Decisions Ltd., New York, has formed a strategic alliance with NewYorkDVD, a provider of DVD development services. The two companies remain separate entities but will partner on jobs that require both editorial and DVD design…. Director Francis Lawrence of DNA, Hollywood, took home a Latin Grammy for best music video on the strength of the clip "Suerte," featuring Latina performer Shakira….
“Mickey 17” Tops Weekend Box Office, But Profitability Is A Long Way Off
"Parasite" filmmaker Bong Joon Ho's original science fiction film "Mickey 17" opened in first place on the North American box office charts. According to studio estimates Sunday, the Robert Pattinson-led film earned $19.1 million in its first weekend in theaters, which was enough to dethrone "Captain America: Brave New World" after a three-week reign.
Overseas, "Mickey 17" has already made $34.2 million, bringing its worldwide total to $53.3 million. But profitability for the film is a long way off: It cost a reported $118 million to produce, which does not account for millions spent on marketing and promotion.
A week following the Oscars, where "Anora" filmmaker Sean Baker made an impassioned speech about the importance of the theatrical experience – for filmmakers to keep making movies for the big screens, for distributors to focus on theatrical releases and for audiences to keep going – "Mickey 17" is perhaps the perfect representation of this moment in the business, or at least an interesting case study. It's an original film from an Oscar-winning director led by a big star that was afforded a blockbuster budget and given a robust theatrical release by Warner Bros., one of the few major studios remaining. But despite all of that, and reviews that were mostly positive (79% on RottenTomatoes), audiences did not treat it as an event movie, and it may ultimately struggle to break even.
Originally set for release in March 2024, Bong Joon Ho's follow-up to the Oscar-winning "Parasite" faced several delays, which he has attributed to extenuating circumstances around the Hollywood strikes. Based on the novel "Mickey7" by Edward Ashton, Pattinson plays an expendable employee who dies on missions and is re-printed time and time again. Steven... Read More