Director Henry Lu has signed with bicoastal Moxie Pictures for exclusive representation in the U.S. Lu first established himself on the agency side of the business, most notably as a producer at Wieden+Kennedy, Portland, Ore….The Film Company, New York, has opened as a satellite of EUE Screen Gems. The new division is comprised of director David McNamara and executive producer Lora Nelson….Editor Peter Mostert has come aboard mad. house, New York….Protean Image Group/P.I.G., Venice, Calif., has signed Swedish director Filip Nilsson….Jean Lane has joined bicoastal Lost Planet as a producer. Lane, who will be based in the shop’s New York office, was formerly an assistant producer at Red Car, New York….San Antonio-based Cibolo Films has added director Charlie Watson to its roster for the U.S. Hispanic and Latin American markets….Bob Isherwood, New York-based worldwide creative director, Saatchi & Saatchi, has been named to chair the TV & Radio Jury for the 2004 Clio Awards. Also, Paul Rothwell, managing director of Gorgeous Enterprises, London, will chair Clio’s Technique Jury. Chairing the Internet Jury is Lars Bastholm, creative director, Framfab, Copenhagen. And heading the Content & Contact Jury is Nick Brien, president, corporate business development, Starcom MediaVest Group, Chicago….Budweiser’s "Reggae," out of DDB Chicago, and directed by LeMoine/ Miller—Steve and Rick, respectively—won best of show in the TV category at the first-ever Chicago Creative Club Awards, held on Thursday, Nov. 13 (LeMoine/Miller no longer co-direct; both are still with bicoastal/ international @radical.media)….Partners Joey Levine and Mary Wood of New York-based Crushing Music Enterprises are teaming with West Coast producers Steve Lindsey and Matt Kahane to launch Crushing Blueprint. The new company will have a stable of hip-hop composers, including Jurassic 5, Mike Elizondo, DJ Hi-Tek, T-Ray, Bud’da, DJ Revolution and Ming+ FS, available for spots. Additionally, Blueprint will work in conjunction with P. Diddy’s Bad Boy Entertainment, Dr. Dre’s Aftermath Records, and Timbaland and the Camp, to bring their talent to the ad market…. Larry Chernoff and Joshua Touber, who both most recently served as execs at Santa Monica-headquartered Ascent Media Creative Services, have formed Los Angeles-based Chernoff Touber Associates. The team intends to use its expertise in technology, software, postproduction and facility design and management to advise entertainment studios, advertising agencies, broadcasters and commercial/promo edit houses. The new venture will also offer consulting for digital asset management, video and data convergence and facility management software requirements. Ad agency Rubin Postaer and Associates, Santa Monica, recently named Chernoff Touber Associates to design a state-of-the-art, in-house facility. Chernoff Touber is also involved in a three-month consultation for Ascent Media’s U.K. creative operations….
“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