COMPANY, headed by executive producers Robin Benson and Richard Goldstein, has signed director Michael Shapiro for commercial representation. Shapiro’s storytelling has recently been highlighted in work for GAP, Goodyear, SIRIUS, JCPenney and Bank Of America….Venice, Calif.-based branded and immersive storytelling studio OffAbbot has been launched. The new venture is led by executive producers Justin Towery and Scott Flor, with Adam Cohen named to serve as head of VR production. OffAbbot opens with a directorial lineup which includes Brendan Beachman, Julian Whatley, Jason Z. Wong, Ryan Pesecky, Andrea Ball, Matt Celia, Ryan Turner and Sabyn Mayfield. Celia recently wrapped a couple of projects for OffAbbot, including Paranormal Activity Seance, a 360 VR narrative horror story created as a co-branded production for gaming network IGN.com and for the on demand/digital HD release of the latest feature in the horror series Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimension….San Francisco-headquartered Wikia, which recently launched entertainment website Fandom, has now opened an office in Santa Monica, Calif., featuring a video production facility. Anthony Cava heads up the new content studio and will serve as head of video. Eric Moro, who currently serves as VP of content for Wikia, will be based in the new office and spearhead all editorial content. Before joining Wikia, Moro was the editor in chief of the movies, TV, Blu-ray and DVD channels for entertainment website IGN.com. Moro said that the Southern California office enables Wikia to be closer to leading entertainment industry entities, opening up opportunities to partner with them….
“Sonic the Hedgehog 3” Tops Weekend Box Office
In the holiday season battle of big-budget family movies, Paramount Pictures' "Sonic the Hedgehog 3" sped past the Walt Disney Co.'s "Mufasa: The Lion King" to take the top spot at the box office ahead of the lucrative Christmas corridor in theaters.
"Sonic the Hedgehog 3" debuted with $62 million in ticket sales over the weekend, according to studio estimates. With strong reviews (86% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes) and a high score from audiences (an "A" on CinemaScore), "Sonic 3" is well positioned to be the top choice in cinemas during the busiest moviegoing period of the year.
It was telling of some wider trends that "Sonic 3" — made for $122 million — bested one of Disney's top properties. Videogame adaptations, once among the most derided movie genres, have emerged as one of the most dependable box office forces in recent years. The two previous "Sonic" movies together grossed more $700 million worldwide and the third installment appears likely to do better than both of them. A fourth "Sonic" movie is already in development.
"Mufasa," however, was humbled in its opening weekend, with its $35 million in domestic ticket sales coming in notably shy of expectations . The photorealistic "Lion King" prequel even opened wider than "Sonic 3," launching on 4,100 theaters and gobbling up most IMAX screens, compared with 3,761 locations for "Sonic 3."
Though "Mufasa's" reviews were poor (56% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), audiences gave it an "A-" CinemaScore.
"Sonic 3" nearly doubled the haul for "Mufasa," which cost more than $200 million to make. Disney could look to $87.2 million in international sales to help make up the difference. The third "Sonic" will rollout in most overseas markets in the coming weeks.
In director Jeff... Read More