TUESDAY PM: The Wall Street Journal announced this evening that News Corp.’s $5 billion purchase of Dow Jones has been approved by the boards of both companies, which met separately over the past few hours. After three months of drama in the Bancroft family and public debate about journalistic values, the two…

These things really do come in threes: Tom Snyder, Ingmar Bergman, and now Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni, dead late last night at age 94. Film critics praised his portrayals of modern angst and alienation which won him a cult following as well as global fame for a career spanning six decades. He received an…

Respects poured in from world cinematic headliners today for Ingmar Bergman who died at his Swedish home at age 89. Here’s a brief round-up from news reports: Max Von Sydow (who appeared in 11 Bergman films) spoke of his “infinite gratitude” not only for the professional opportunities but also “the immense privilege…

After all News Corp’s big talk how it wasn’t going to raise its price for Dow Jones & Co, tonight comes news that Rupert Murdoch is now talking about a sickening payoff to the Bancroft clan. That’s right, an out-and-out bribe in the neighborhood of $30+ million for the family holdouts to either forget about the…

(Refresh for latest…) Publisher John Kilcullen kept saying for months and months he was looking for a “star” to be the next editor of The Hollywood Reporter. He even delusionally told job candidates he wanted someone “along the lines of Ken Auletta”. No, he wasn’t joking. But it does seem like a joke that he’s now…

That seems to be the word from Paul Haggis. The director and screenwriter gave an interview to Entertainment Weekly (not yet published) about his September 14th film, In The Valley Of Elah, and Clint Eastwood’s name came up. Remember, the 77-year-old icon has not acted in anyone else’s movie since 1993’s In the Line of…

SUNDAY AM: A toon triumph! I’m told 20th Century Fox says its four quadrant hit The Simpsons Movie shred the competition for No. 1 with a $71.8 million North American weekend, or more than double what the studio hoped. After a stunning $30 million on Friday from 3,922 North American theaters, Homer and the family…

I don’t do geek. But that doesn’t matter because this weekend most Hollywood studios are pushing ALL their movie and other entertainment product at Comic-Con in San Diego. It’s like, let’s throw mud against the wall and see what sticks. (Which explains why Owen Wilson’s latest comedy Drillbit Taylor to the Get Smart…

The Simpsons Movie is still looking at a great opening this weekend with wide distribution domestically (3,922 theaters) and omnipresent marketing. My box office gurus are predicting at least a $50 million and maybe even a $60 million opening — even though 20th Century Fox internally projects only high $30s. Once…

Now the Denver branch of the Bancroft family will vote against accepting News Corp’s $60-a-share offer, putting pressure on Rupert Murdoch to raise its offer, according to a news alert by the Wall Street Journal this morning. But News Corp has no intention of raising the price of its offer. The Denver clan, which…

Last night Michael Moore was again a guest on The Tonight Show and announced that he’s been subpoenaed by the Bush administration investigating his filming trip to Cuba for his health care documentary Sicko. (Hey, I said the director was a marketing genius.) “I haven’t even told my own family yet.” Moore began, “I was…

Viacom shareholders are going to jump for joy when I tell them that recently Bob Evans’ deal at Paramount was renewed yet again. And best buddy Sumner  Redstone is the reason, even though Evans has had exactly one movie producer credit for the studio since 1999 (How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days) and legend has it…