![jurassic world pic]()
The latest installment in the popular franchise came in with a $204.6 million opening, good for second all-time. It also shattered the previous record for a June opening, owned by 2013’s
Man Of Steel, which did $116.6 million.
Spy came in second with $16 million, with
San Andreas third at $11 million,
Insidious: Chapter 3 fourth with $7.3 million, and
Pitch Perfect 2 rounding out the top five with just under $6 million, giving it over $170 million in 31 days.
(BO)
As
Jurassic World stomped out to global domination, Universal now has bragging rights to the quickest climb to $1 billion domestic — beating the previous record ascendance achieved by Paramount on June 22nd, 2008. The current 2015 domestic gross is an estimated $1.039 billion. What’s more, it has hit $3 billion worldwide, passing Fox’s previous race to the milestone on June 30th, 2010. Universal’s worldwide gross is now an estimated $3.318 billion.
(DH)
Film is said to follow Ferrell’s character and his wife (Poehler) who, after losing their daughter’s college fund, decide that they can earn some money back by opening an illegal casino in their basement. Ferrell is also producing the film, along with Gary Sanchez partner Adam McKay, scripted by the
Neighbors pair of Andrew J. Cohen and Brendan O’Brien. Cohen is also attached to helm, marking his feature film directing debut.
(CS)
Industry veteran Jordan Levin has been tapped to oversee the league's programming efforts
as its first chief content officer. Levin, who starts his new job Monday, will oversee the development of content for NFL Network, the NFL Now online platform and other league-owned properties. He also will supervise the Super Bowl Halftime Show.
(THR)
Demi Lovato, Mandy Patinkin and and Rainn Wilson have boarded the fully computer-animated Smurf reboot. The castings were announced in conjunction with Global Smurfs Day yesterday. Lovato will voice Smurfette and Patinkin will play Papa Smurf. Wilson will lend his voice to the evil wizard Gargamel. Pic will follow Smurfette and her fellow blue creatures as they search the Enchanted Forest for the fabled Smurfs village.
(VAR)
The sequel to the 2013 hit film
Olympus Has Fallen was originally scheduled to come out on October 2nd, but Gramercy Pictures and Focus Features have decided to take it off the 2015 slate and push it to early 2016. Specifically, January 22nd. The new film follows Butler’s Secret Service agent, who attends the funeral of the British prime minister. Terrorists attack, and only Butler can rescue England (including the Queen, perhaps) before sundown.
(CB)
Universal’s 1400 division is remaking the classic 1990 Ivan Reitman film, and the project is currently in pre-production. Michael Don Paul will direct, and David H. Steinberg is writing. Story now follows a lead cop who is paired with an Indian sidekick named Sanjit, and instead of hunting down a criminal’s ex-wife, it’s tracking down a lost flash drive…that finds its way to a kids’ classroom. The film will debut on Blu-ray/DVD.
(EW)
Director Bao Nguyen talks his documentary
Live From New York! which debuted in the spring at the Tribeca Film Festival. He discusses distilling 40 years of
SNL into a feature doc, the keys to the show's longevity and his favorite sketch.
(FCC)
IFC Films has released the first look at the acclaimed Sundance hit, telling the true story of the 1971 experiment by Dr. Philip Zimbardo. Billy Crudup, Ezra Miller, Tye Sheridan, Olivia Thirlby, Michael Anganaro, Logan Miller, Thomas Mann, Keir Gilchrist, Johnny Simmons, Moises Arias, Jack Kilmer, Chris Sheffield, Ki Hong Lee, and James Frecheville star in the film, which hits theaters July 17th.
(TP)
Like any freelance work, carving out a screenwriting career requires a degree of hustling. Even with an agent/manager, most of your work will likely still come via the connections and relationships that you make yourself. So networking, in some form, is an essential tool for screenwriters, which is tricky since for most of us the thought of introducing ourselves to perfect strangers is horrifying.
(SM)
