Palomar Commercials, Los Angeles, has signed director Gary McKendry, formerly of bicoastal Go Film.….Director Elma Garcia has joined bicoastal/international Morton Jankel Zander…. Directors Anthea Benton, formerly of bicoastal/international Partizan, and Pucho Mentasti (a.k.a. Pucho), whose last U.S. spot roost was Los Angeles-based Palomar Pictures, have joined bicoastal/international Believe Media for spot representation….Director/cameraman Bruce Nadel and exec producer Rick Katzen have linked with bicoastal Cohn+Company….Director Wayne Robins has come aboard Blind Spot Media, Santa Monica and Dallas….Cody Cluff has officially stepped down as president of the Entertainment Industry Development Corp (EIDC), the entity which oversees the joint Los Angeles County/City Film Office. Cluff resigned effective Dec. 16 after reaching an agreement with the EIDC executive board that calls for him to receive some $87,000 in severance pay and benefits, as well as $200,000 for legal fees. The attorney costs stem from Cluff being the ongoing focus of a Los Angeles County District attorney’s investigation over alleged misappropriation of EIDC funds (SHOOT, 9/20/02, 11/29/02, p. 1). Cluff denies any wrongdoing….Adrian Harrison has exited as managing director of RSA Films, London, a post he had held for the past six years. Executive producer Kai-Lu Hsiung has been promoted to succeed Harrison, who will remain on board as a consultant to the company for a transition period. Additionally, former head of production Debbie Garvey has been upped to deputy managing director of RSA Films….Hollywood-based Level 7 has signed directors Alan Douglas and Jim Kealy for exclusive representation in North America…..Venice, Calif.-based audio post house RavensWork has diversified into music and sound design for commercials, bringing composer/sound designer Johannes Hammers on board…The Costume Designers Guild has created a commercials category for its annual competition, which continues to honor outstanding work in theatrical feaures and in television. The fifth annual Costume Designer Guild Awards are slated for Sunday, March 16, at the Regent Beverly Wilshire Hotel, Beverly Hills….Kevin Prendiville, formerly visual effects supervisor at Ring of Fire Advanced Media, West Hollywood, has joined Santa Monica-based The Syndicate as visual effects supervisor/ lead Flame artist….
“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