Sunday, May 17, 2009

Good Luck, Chuck! Renewal News May Come Soon

Chuck fans' consumption of all those Subway foot longs may pay off before NBC is slated to announce the rest of its fall season lineup.

A Season 3 pick-up could come as early as Sunday evening, as NBC and Warner Bros. attempt to hammer out the final details of a deal that would further whittle down Chuck's overhead, sources tell the Hollywood Reporter. Chuck's production bucks already had been trimmed some going into its sophomore run.

Even before spying the game-changing twist uncorked in the final moment of the Season 2 finale, Chuck fans had lobbied hard for a renewal by throwing their support to Subway, one of the series' cross-promotional partners.

Speaking with TVGuide.com earlier this month at NBC's "infront" presentation, network boss Ben Silverman deemed the Subway Save Chuck effort as no less than "amazing," while series creator Josh Schwartz assured us that the Peacock has "always loved" the action-comedy.

One factor perhaps playing in Chuck's favor was NBC's decision to take a pass on David E. Kelley's Legally Mad, thus incurring a financial penalty from Warner Bros. TV. One school of thought is that to "make good" on the amount due, NBC might renew Chuck, which is also a WB production.

Angels & Demons & Trekkers Rule the Box Office

The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend.

Angels & Demons (Sony), Ron Howard and Tom Hanks' adaptation of Dan Brown's novel that acts as a sequel to their 2006 hit The Da Vinci Code, opened with an estimated $48 million in roughly 3,500 theatres, averaging $13.6 million per site. That opening was 38% softer than Da Vinci opened on the same weekend three years ago, which could be due to the fact that Dan Brown's original novel sold only half as many copies as its bestselling follow-up, while also lacking the controversy swirling around it. Even so, $48 million is nothing to be scoffed at, especially when you consider that it grossed more than twice that amount internationally, taking in $104 million from 96 other countries. Word-of-mouth has generally been better due to the sequel's action-driven plot, which could help Angels get to $150 million domestically. Considering that The Da Vinci Code grossed $540 million internationally compared to the $217 million made in domestic grosses, so it's still very likely that Angels & Demons will be a profitable summer hit for Sony.

Meanwhile, J.J. Abrams' relaunch of Star Trek (Paramount) had a fantastic second weekend, dropping just 43% to second place with an estimated $43 million and a total gross of $148 million, well ahead of even the highest grossing movie in the franchise to date. Incidentally, Star Trek will not completely lose all IMAX screens when Fox's Night at the Museum: Battle for the Smithsonian opens this weekend, as theaters will be allowed to continue to play Trek after midnight over Memorial Day weekend and one can expect that it may be able to get more screening times in June if demand continues.

Dropping to third, the 20th Century Fox superhero prequel X-Men Origins: Wolverine, starring Hugh Jackman, also had a smaller drop than last weekend, adding another $14.8 million to its total gross of $151 million.

In fourth place, Matthew McConaughey's romantic comedy Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (New Line/WB) grossed $6.9 million in its third weekend bring its total to $40 million.

The Screen Gems thriller Obsessed took fifth place with $4.5 million and a total of just under $63 million, while Zac Efron's age-switching comedy 17 Again (New Line/WB) dropped to sixth with $3.4 million and a total of $58 million.

The only movie up a notch from last weekend was DreamWorks Animation's 3D hit Monsters vs. Aliens, adding another $3 million to its gross of $190.5 million, which keeps it in the top spot as the highest grossing movie of 2009. (Expect Star Trek to pass it sometime in the next two weeks.)

The Top 10 grossed roughly $130 million, up 4% from the same weekend last year when Disney's sequel The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian also had a disappointing opening following the huge success of its predecessor.

In limited release, the Jennifer Aniston indie comedy Management (Samuel Goldwyn) opened with $378 thousand in 212 theaters, a weak per-theater average of under $2 thousand per venue. Rian Johnson's second movie The Brothers Bloom (Summit) opened decently in four theaters in New York and L.A. with $82,000; it will expand into Top 10 markets on Friday, May 22.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Dollhouse, Castle, Scrubs and More Renewed

Variety reports that Fox has renewed Joss Whedon's "Dollhouse" for a second season. The show has secured a 13-episode order and is likely to continue airing on Friday night.

Fox on Friday also picked up comedy "Brothers" to series with a 13 episode-order.

Meanwhile, ABC has renewed "Castle," "Scrubs" and "Better Off Ted." The network has given the green light to the murder mystery pilot "Happy Town" and an untitled legal ensemble show from writer Dave Hemingson. It's also given the go-ahead to the remake of sci-fi drama "V" as a limited series and the Courteney Cox-starring comedy "Cougar Town."

The networks will announce their fall primetime line-ups next week.

Friday, May 15, 2009

Jason Statham Boards The Killer Elite

Jason Statham will star in the $40 million action thriller The Killer Elite, says Variety.

The movie will be directed by commercials helmer Gary McKendry. It's based on Ranulph Fiennes' best-seller "The Feathermen."

Based on real events, the story follows a group of former British special forces members who are being hunted by assassins. Statham will play a former Navy Seal who is forced out of retirement to save his closest friend.

Filming will begin in the fall in London, Paris and Australia.

Scrubs Actors Making Deals for Ninth Season

The Hollywood Reporter says that ABC has locked in most of the main cast members of "Scrubs" to return for the ninth season.

Star Zach Braff has closed a deal to come back for six episodes to transition the show to its new set-up, which is still being worked out. Also signed for six episodes is Sarah Chalke.

Donald Faison, John C. McGinley and Neil Flynn have all closed deals to continue as regulars in second position to their pilots. Faison and Flynn co-star in ABC pilots, "The Law," which is already unofficially staffing, and "The Middle," respectively. McGinley is on CBS' drama pilot "Back."

Meanwhile, Judy Reyes has not been approached for a deal but may appear as a guest star if "Scrubs" is renewed.

Kung Fu Panda: The Series Coming to Nickelodeon

Nickelodeon has ordered "Kung Fu Panda: The Series," a new CG-animated comedy based on last year's box office hit, says The Hollywood Reporter.

The network has ordered 26 episodes of the series, Nick's second co-production with DreamWorks Animation SKG. The two companies also partnered on "The Penguins of Madagascar," which premiered March 28 on Nick and ranked as the most-watched series premiere in the network's history (6.1 million viewers). Since then, "Penguins" has become the second most-popular program among kids 6-11 on television, behind only "SpongeBob SquarePants."

The series will premiere next year.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Fall TV: Fox Renews Lie to Me, Sets Sights on Human Target and Sons of Tucson

Fox, which is set to announce its complete fall plan at its May 18 "upfront" presentation and just recently renewed Fringe, has proactively filled in a few more blanks.

The network on Tuesday ordered a second, 13-episode season of the midseason entry Lie to Me, starring Tim Roth and Kelli Williams.

Lie to Me will undergo one change for its sophomore run: Shawn Ryan is joining the show as executive producer and showrunner. Should The Unit get picked up, Ryan will juggle both shows — just as he once did with the CBS military drama and The Shield.

Fox also picked up two new series: Human Target, inspired by the DC Comics character and fronted by Mark Valley (speaking of Fringe), and Sons of Tucson, a comedy starring Reaper's Tyler Labine as a con man hired by two brothers to pose as their incarcerated pop.

Monday, May 11, 2009

Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds Prequel?

Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds has yet to premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, but the director is already planning another film in his potential world war 2 franchise. Apparently Tarantino had shelves a huge subplot involving African-American soldiers stuck behind enemy lines, which he hopes to make that part of a prequel, that is, if the first film is popular.

"I have a half-written prequel ready to go if this movie’s a smash," Tarantino tells the New York Times.

Of course, Tarantino is infamous for talking about projects and ideas that never come to be anything more than just that. You might remember the Pulp Fiction / Reservoir Dogs prequel/sequel The Vega Brothers, and the potential sequels to Kill Bill. In fact, when Quentin announced he was directing Inglourious Basterds last year at Cannes, I really didn’t believe him and predicted it would never happen. Thankfully, I was wrong. So what are the chances that we’ll see a Basterds prequel? I’m not quite sure.

Also of note, Tarantino assured the Times that Basterds “will be in the original category at the Oscars.” Wow, it’s as if Babe Ruth pointed to center field before nailing one home. You have to admire someone with that much confidence.

Star Trek Sets Its Phasers on $76.5 Million

The ComingSoon.net Box Office Report has been updated with studio estimates for the weekend.

One of the big question marks this summer was whether J.J. Abrams' relaunch of Star Trek (Paramount) could successfully reboot the franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. With an eclectic cast headlined by Chris Pine and Zachary Quinto and with only one returning actor from the previous movies and television shows, Star Trek went into the weekend with overwhelmingly positive reviews and brisk advance ticket sales. After grossing $4 million in Thursday previews (screenings after midnight counted towards Friday), Star Trek pulled in an additional $72.5 million (estimated) over the weekend, averaging roughly $18.8k in 3,849 venues, including over a hundred IMAX screens. Going by estimates, the $76.5 million grossed by Abrams' relaunch in 3 1/2 days is more than five of the previous "Star Trek" movies made in their entire theatrical runs. Internationally, Star Trek earned an estimated $35.5 million from more than 5,000 screens in 54 markets. A sequel to the movie has already been greenlit, so here's hoping there'll be an announcement soon about a release date.

The 20th Century Fox superhero prequel X-Men Origins: Wolverine, starring Hugh Jackman, took a massive plunge in its second weekend, down 68% to second place with $27 million and a ten-day total of $129.6 million.

Matthew McConaughey's romantic comedy Ghosts of Girlfriends Past (New Line/WB) only dropped 32% in its second weekend, taking third place with $10.4 million and a running total of $30.2 million.

The Screen Gems thriller Obsessed crossed the $50 million mark with an additional $6.6 million, as it dropped to fourth place in its third weekend, while Zac Efron's age-switching comedy 17 Again (New Line/WB) held on well, dropping just one notch to fifth place with $4.4 million and a total of $54 million in four weeks.

Summit Entertainment's crime-comedy Next Day Air didn't bring in the urban audiences expected, opening with just $4 million in 1,138 theaters to take sixth place.

Seventh and eighth place were held by two DreamWorks films. The Robert Downey-Jamie Fox drama The Soloist and the animated Monsters vs. Aliens with $3.6 and $3.4 million, respectively. The Soloist has grossed $23.5 million in three weeks, while Monsters vs. Aliens continues to be the top grossing movie of 2008 with $187 million.

The Top 10 grossed roughly $136 million, up 18% from last year when the Fox comedy What Happens in Vegas and the Wachowski's Speed Racer failed to take down Marvel Studios' Iron Man in its second weekend.

Of the limited releases reporting estimates, Carlos CuarĂ³n's soccer comedy Rudo y Cursi (Sony Pictures Classics), reteaming Y Tu Mama Tambien's Diego Luna and Gael Garcia Bernal, brought in $211 thousand in 70 theaters (average of $3k per site), while the Salvador Dali biopic Little Ashes (Regent Releasing), starring Twilight's Robert Pattinson, took in $77 thousand in 12 theaters in select cities.

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Weekly Ratings: 5/3 – 5/8

Ratings Catch-Up: Cold Case Heats Up, Castle Builds

The Nielsen ratings reporting system is fixed, following a several-day glitch which kept the networks (as well as moi) in the dark.

Now we can bring you highlights from the start of the week; Tuesday and Wednesday's numbers will trickle in over the next day or so.

SUNDAY

9 pm
Desperate Housewives won the 9 o'clock hour with an audience of 13.48 million total viewers, flat week-to-week. The penultimate episode of Cold Case's sixth season drew 12.46 mil, surging 19 percent to deliver its biggest draw since March 15. The Apprentice gained 510K, hitting 8.68 mil.

10 pm
Climbing 12 percent to seize its largest audience in seven weeks, The Unit bested Brothers & Sisters — 9.97 million viewers to 9.11 mil.

MONDAY

8 pm
Dancing with the Stars averaged 20.28 million viewers over its two-hour run, up 6 percent week-to-week. House scored second with 12.05 mil, up 690K. Big Bang Theory (9.25 mil) and Mother (8.89 mil) matched previous tallies. Deal or No Deal returned to an audience of 4.36 mil — or 29 percent fewer viewers than Chuck pulled. Put that in your foot long and smoke it! Gossip Girl (2.22 mil) gained 200 thou.

9 pm
Two and a Half Men (14.17 mil) and Rules of Engagement (11.33 mil) held steady, while 24 (10.11 mil) turned 450 thou fewer head(butt)s. Medium averaged 7.24 mil over its back-to-back episodes, up 520K. One Tree Hill tallied a typical 2.23 mil.

10 pm
CSI: Miami topped the hour with 13.72 mil, surging 15 percent. Gaining DWTS as a direct lead-in, Castle soared 19 percent to flirt with 10 mil.

Thursday Ratings: Big Wedding Turnout Powers Grey's Past CSI

8 pm/ET
Survivor topped the hour with 11.97 million total viewers, up 240K week-to-week. Bones followed with 8.62 mil, dipping 210 thou. Claiming third was Ugly Betty, which surged 10 percent to 7.5 mil. Both NBC's My Name Is Earl (4.43 mil, -16 percent) and Parks and Recreation (4.64 mil, -12 percent) dipped, while Smallville (3.34 mil) inched up 140K.

9 pm
Grey's Anatomy was the night's most watched program, as 15.33 million RSVP'd for not-Meredith's wedding. With CSI dipping 720 thou to 14.57 mil, this marks the first time Grey's has outdrawn the CBS procedural in total viewers since Nov. 1, 2007. Grey's also outperformed CSI in the key demos by its widest margin in two years — 51 percent. NBC's The Office (7.7 mil, +410K) and 30 Rock (6.17 mil, +200K) both saw gains, while Supernatural (2.79 mil) dropped 170 thou.

10 pm
Michael J. Fox's Optimistic special started strong and averaged 10.6 mil for the hour, but ultimately got bested by CBS' CSI repeat come 10:30. NBC's recently renewed Southland slipped 180K, to 6.5 mil.

Friday Ratings: Dollhouse's Engagement Ends with All-Time Low

8 pm/ET
Ghost Whisperer topped the hour with 9.35 million total viewers, dipping 320K week-to-week. (Next week: Season finale!) Prison Break trailed ABC's Happy Feet to claimed third with 3.03 mil, down 5 percent. (Next week: Series finale!)

9 pm
Flashpoint was first with 8.64 million viewers, down 10 percent. Finishing fourth, Dollhouse dropped 11 percent to wrap up its first (only?) season with a series-low audience of 2.76 mil.

10 pm
Numbers was the night's most watched program, adding up 9.52 mil. (Next week: Season finale!)