As broadcast network executives were leaving for their holiday destinations last week, most of them were certainly glad to get away, and not only because of  the dreary wet Los Angeles weather. The broadcast networks had little to cheer about this fall, which failed to produce breakout hits of the size of Modern Family…

Two days after Michael Jackson’s estate blasted Discovery Channel for their decision to air a documentary about the autopsy of the late pop star, the cable channel has pulled the program off the schedule. "Given the commencement of legal proceedings beginning next week, and at the request of Michael Jackson’s estate…

Fueled by a speculative report in Britain’s Daily Mail that IMAX is being courted by Sony Corporation, the oversized screen company’s stock price rose from $27 to $32 per share, ending at $28.07. The report asserted that Sony would pay $40 per share for the publicly traded company. The pre-holiday stock run prompted…

In a tough blow for the brick and mortar bookstores coming out of the holidays and heading into the new year, Borders has acknowledged that it delayed payments to vendors. In a statement released yesterday to PublishersMarketplace.com, Borders claimed restructuring its vendor financing was part of an ongoing potential…

The movie moguls hate it whenever their studios are judged by market share. Which is why it’s so much fun to spotlight at the end of the year. Final figures aren’t in yet, but the order isn’t going to change: Warner Bros is No. 1 (for the third straight year), followed by Paramount, then Fox, then Disney, then Sony…

And here I thought only Los Angeles flackery mPRm’s name was moronic. Turns out this fish stinks at the head because its co-founder and president Mark Pogachefsky is now blaming his own client for an Oscar rule-breaking situation that the PR firm should have prevented instead of aided and abetted. After a lot of…

UPDATE: This New Year’s UK Honours list from the Queen includes only two names of major film/TV interest for CBEs (one notch below knighthood): film director Steve McQueen (Hunger) who's about to start shooting Shame in January with Michael Fassbender, and actor David Suchet, best known for playing Belgian detective…

UPDATED: The countdown to New Year’s eve is on, and so are the countdowns to a couple of possible channel blackouts as a number of carriage agreements expire at midnight on Dec. 31. Comcast’s E! and Style just issued a statement warning viewers that the two networks may go dark on DISH Network. Also tomorrow night…

THURSDAY AM: Here are unofficial numbers from my sources for Wednesday’s box office as the holidays continue. The Weinstein Co’s Blue Valentine opened in 4 theaters; the Derek Cianfrance film starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams logged an estimated opening day gross of $47K for a best day location average of…

UPDATE: PETE HAMMOND RESPONDS — Some commenters to my post seem to believe it was written with an anti-WGA agenda on my part. I didn't point out in the story – and perhaps I should have – that I am a longtime and proud WGA member and also represented the interests of writers, rather vehemently at times, as one of two…

Here's the story of an Oscar campaign aiming not to be first, but dead last: Academy members have begun receiving what is believed – and intentionally planned – to be the final screener of the season, Peter Weir's independently produced and distributed adventure epic The Way Back. For those with short memories, the…

He was one of George Lucas's original team of F/X wizards who in 1978 took home an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects (which he shared with John Dykstra) for his work on R2-D2 and all those wonderful creatures from the 1977 Star Wars. (In addition to his work as chief modelmaker for the groundbreaking film, he also…