In What Should Be a Surprise To No One, ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Has Already Shattered Box Office Records
Upcoming film has established a new record, bypassing The Hunger Games to move the most tickets in its first day on sale, Fandango reports. It didn’t just surpass that picture, it shattered its benchmark, outselling The Hunger Games eight times over. Traffic to the online ticketer’s site surged to seven times more than its peak level in less than 24 hours. Film’s presales also broke every Imax record, generating over $6.5 million. (VAR)
Taking a Big Hit: Yahoo Loses $42 Million On ‘Community’ Revival and Other Original Programming
CFO Ken Goldman revealed the news about the video division’s third quarter during an earnings call. He explained that Community, Sin City Saints and Other Space were to blame, noting that Yahoo “couldn’t see a way to make money over time.” Company had dabbled in original video in the past with short-form series, but under CMO Kathy Savitt, the company pushed to compete with streamers like Netflix and Amazon with TV-length series. (HRT)
Paramount Shuffles Its Horror Movies, Finds a Spot For ‘Ring 3’, Pushes New ‘Friday the 13th’ To 2017
Studio’s new Friday the 13th sequel was originally planned for release Friday, May 13th, 2016. Instead, the feature will arrive on the big screen January 13th, 2017. Meanwhile, The Ring sequel, Rings, has taken an April 1st, 2016 spot. Originally intended for release this year, the movie was temporarily removed from Paramount’s schedule earlier this year. (CS)
‘Empire’ Co-Creator Lee Daniels Launches International Talent Search For New Show
Fox announced that the hit show’s executive producer will begin production on his new music drama pilot, Star, in December in Atlanta. He has also launched the search for the show’s four main roles — including a transgender character — who play young artists with chart-topping aspirations who must navigate the pleasures and pitfalls of the music industry. Daniels is writing, directing and executive-producing the pilot. (EW)
Universal’s Hope For a Brand New Franchise Finds Itself a Director
Studio has found a director for Monster High, the live action film the studio hopes will add to its arsenal of movie franchises. Ari Sandel, who won the Oscar for his short film West Bank Story and followed up by directing The Duff for CBS Films will helm the project. This ties into Universal’s effort to revive its library of classic monsters that include Frankenstein, Dracula and Wolfman. Film is tied directly to the Mattel toyline that became a billion dollar franchise. (DH)
Today In Spinoff News: Fox Is Developing a Comedy Series Based On ‘Think Like a Man’ Movies
Project will be executive produced by the author of the book that would inspire a pair of movies, Steve Harvey, as well as the producer of the films, Will Packer. Keith Merryman and David Newman, who scripted both the 2012 hit (which grossed close to $100 million), as well as the 2014 sequel, Think Like a Man Too, will do the same for the TV adaptation, which Tim Story (who helmed both films) will direct. (SAA)
Tom Cruise’s ‘Jack Reacher’ Sequel Heads Into Production and also Nails Down an Official Title
Sequel, to be directed by Edward Zwick, will be called Jack Reacher: Never Go Back. Based on the 18th novel in the Reacher series by author Lee Child, also titled Never Go Back, the script was adapted by Zwick, usual writing partner Marshall Herskovitz, and Richard Wenk. Cobie Smulders, Holt McCallany, Aldis Hodge, Patrick Heusinger, Danika Yorash, and Austin Hebert also star in the film, which will hit theaters October 21st, 2016. (COL)
That New ‘Power Rangers’ Movie Has Found Its Red Ranger and Squad Leader
Following up on Lionsgate casting relative unknown Naomi Scott as the Pink Ranger in their 2017 reboot, they’ve announced the young unknown who will play the Red Ranger: Dacre Montgomery. He’s playing Jason, a former star quarterback whose athletic career ended in a car crash. Now he needs a new purpose and finds it by leading a group who will “shed their individual baggage and find who they truly are.” (UR)
The Big Magic Question: Why Is Luke Skywalker Not On the ‘Force Awakens’ Poster?
The brand new poster that was released on Sunday is packed with all kids of imagery. There’s brand new characters, characters from the original trilogy, recognizable spaceships, and even a massive weapon that looks a whole lot like the Death Star. As much as there is to look at, however, there is one very important piece that appears to be missing, and it forces us to beg a very specific question: where is Luke Skywalker? (CB)
Screenwriters: ‘Anatomy of a Murder’
The 204-page screenplay by Wendell Mayes, adapted from the novel by Robert Traver. Script is labeled Final Draft, and dated February 25th, 1959. (DS)