Word is that Michael Bodnarchek, co-president/CEO of A Band Apart, Los Angeles, has departed the production company. In a related development, Jeff Armstrong, who previously held the title of executive producer at A Band Apart, has been promoted to managing director of music videos and commercials….The ABC TV network has entered into a program development deal with media agency Mindshare North America, a unit of WPP Group. The two firms’ initial focus will be on creating scripted series designed to appeal to family audiences. Per the arrangement, ABC and Mindshare will share in development costs. Earlier this year, Mindshare hired former CBS Entertainment president Peter Tortorici, who is now slated to work with ABC and Mindshare clients on the TV program initiative. He is based in Mindshare’s Los Angeles office. Mindshare handles media buying for such clients as Sears and Unilever….Director Mat Kirkby has signed a deal for commercial representation with Little Minx@ RSA, the Los-Angeles based satellite of bicoastal RSA USA and RSA Films, London…. Director Kathi Prosser has come aboard bicoastal/ international Chelsea Pictures for exclusive spot representation in the U.S…. Michael Patti, chairman/CEO/worldwide creative director at Young & Rubicam, will chair the advertising judging for the 83rd annual Art Directors Club (ADC) Awards….Online editor Jay Tilin has joined R!OT Manhattan….Director Lionel Coleman has joined Santa Monica-based production house Uncle….Editor Jeff Grippe has joined Swietlik Inc., Santa Monica….San Francisco agency Odiorne Wilde Narraway + Partners is changing its name to See….Robert Richardson is again available to direct commercials via bicoastal Tool of North America after wrapping cinematography on the Martin Scorsese-directed feature, The Aviator…. Due to incorrect information provided to SHOOT, the Crushing Blueprint item that ran in Street Talk (11/21, p. 22) contained an inaccurate reference. Timbaland’s camp will not be working out of Crushing Blueprint. For the complete story, see page 7….
“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