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George Harrison Stabbed By Intruder
30 December 1999
George Harrison, the former Beatle and film producer, has been hospitalized in London after he and his wife Olivia were attacked by an intruder, believed to be a burglar, at their home Wednesday night. A hospital spokesman said that Harrison, who was stabbed in the chest several times, was in stable condition. His wife did not require hospitalization.NOTE: Studio Briefing will not be published on Friday, Dec. 31. We will resume publication on Monday, Jan. 3. Happy Y2K!
Company To Buy Back Movie Chain At Half Price
30 December 1999
A U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Denver has approved plans for WF Cinema Holdings to purchase the bankrupt Mann Theatres chain for $91 million, Denver's Rocky Mountain News reported Wednesday. The chain is currently owned by WestStar Cinema, which bought it from a group that included WF Cinema for $162.5 million in 1997. Any rival bid (of at least $95 million) must be submitted by Tuesday, Jan. 4.
Computers Make Fantasia 2000 A Reality
30 December 1999
The difference between creating the original Fantasia and the new Fantasia 2000 (1999) is that much of the new film is created on computers, according to Disney vice chairman Roy Disney. Appearing on CNN Wednesday, Disney, who produced the sequel, remarked: "Now we can add a lot more elements, of course, like if there are bubbles in the water, the computers can make all the bubbles that you want." All of which increases the esteem with with which Disney regards the studio's original animators. "One of my more favorite scenes of all time was in Cinderella when she's scrubbing the floor and the soap bubbles were coming up, and the reflections of her in each bubble floating around, all hand-drawn."
Affleck: I Am Not Batman
30 December 1999
Ben Affleck has denied published reports that he is likely to become the screen's next Batman and that he wants his girlfriend, Gwyneth Paltrow, to play Catwoman. In a note posted on his Web site, Affleck said: "As I'm sure most of you might infer, this story is absurd. There is no Batman script, no movie being planned, they have not called me or my agent and Gwyneth is much more the Electra another comic-book character type. I really have no idea where they get this stuff. It is as if someone sits in a room and quite literally invents it."
Jodie's Pull-Out Fosters Anger
30 December 1999
Producer Dino Di Laurentiis is reportedly "outraged" and actor Anthony Hopkins "furious" over word that Jodie Foster has decided to pass on Hannibal (2000), the planned sequel to Silence of the Lambs, The (1991), the London Daily Express reported today (Thursday). The newspaper observed that the screenplay had been rewritten to accommodate Foster's objections to the way her character, FBI agent Clarice Starling, was treated in the original novel and film script. The Express quoted an unnamed source close to Hopkins as saying, "Tony is absolutely furious. There had been a great deal of trouble coming up with the right script, but the latest version is superb. Everyone thought Jodie was happy. Tony thought it essential to reprise the chemistry between the two characters for Lambs II to work, but she has pulled the rug from under everyone. ... He feels hugely let down by the woman. She gave every indication she was happy with the new script and shooting was to begin in spring."
France Takes To Satellite Providers
30 December 1999
Twenty-seven percent of the French population now receives TV programming via cable or satellite, according to a report issued today (Thursday) by European satellite operator Eutelsat. The report said that the number of households receiving satellite service increased 69 percent to 3.5 million during the past year and that satellite overtook cable during the period.
CBS & Viacom Boards See Eye To Eye
30 December 1999
The proposed merger of CBS and Viacom, Inc. came one step closer Wednesday as shareholders of both companies voted, nearly unanimously, to approve the union. If pending reviews by the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department are favorable, the transaction is expected to be completed within the first quarter of next year.
MSNBC To Show A Profit
30 December 1999
MSNBC has just completed its first profitable quarter in its three-year history, the cable network reported Wednesday. Deals signed last month will stretch the NBC-owned cable network's reach from 53 million to 68 million homes within two years. The network also claims the youngest average audience among cable news networks.
Ally Shortened To Nothing
30 December 1999
Ally, the compressed, 30-minute version of David E. Kelly's Ally McBeal, has been canceled by Fox, effective immediately, the network announced Wednesday.
Mora To Occupy Bullpen For Y2K
30 December 1999
Good Morning America news reader Antonio Mora has been designated Peter Jennings' backup in case ABC 2000's headquarters in Times Square should crash Friday night during the network's 24-hour millennium coverage, the Philadelphia Daily News reported today (Thursday). Mora told the newspaper that he feels like a relief pitcher, "except they have a good sense they're going to get thrown into the mix. I don't think that's going to happen here. I really hope it doesn't happen. They've planned this incredibly well. It would be a shame if it gets blown up in any way."
Producer Calls Off The Millennium
30 December 1999
The Los Angeles-based Millennium Television Network has canceled a previously announced 24 hour, multi-million dollar telecast of this year's millennium festivities that was to have been relayed from 50 broadcasters around the world, including the BBC. The Carmen Electra-hosted telecast was to have been carried in the U.S. on the Pax TV network, which now plans to air vintage movies instead. MTN president Joseph Medawar was quoted as blaming ``circumstances beyond our control'' for the company's inability to raise sufficient money to finance the ambitious, $44-million broadcast. He added that the company now plans a similarly spectacular telecast for Dec. 31, 2000, which, he accurately pointed out, marks the real millennium, anyway. Meanwhile, Canada's TV3 has been forced to abandon plans for a live satellite broadcast from New Zealand's remote Pitt Island, which will witness the first sunrise of the year, New Zealand's Millennium Office announced today (Thursday). It said that pictures of Pitt's dawn will be carried later in the day.
Top Imax Theaters Refuse Fantasia 2000
29 December 1999
Several Imax theaters, most of which are located in or near museums or science centers, have refused to agree to Disney's terms for the screening of Fantasia 2000 (1999), the Associatged Press reported Tuesday. The wire service said that Imax theaters in Boston, Cleveland, New Orleans and Portland, OR refused to go along with Disney's requirement that they show nothing but the movie for four months. Meanwhile Imax exec Brian Weisfeld has told today's (Wednesday) Hollywood Reporter that advance ticket sales for the movie are "off the charts, " with some theaters reporting sales 20 times greater than average.
Whither Disney?
29 December 1999
Disney opened fractionally lower at $28.8125 this morning (Wednesday) following comments by Salomon Smith Barney analyst Jill Krutick on Tuesday that while she continues to rank the stock as an Outperform, "It's a little premature to be very aggressive" about it. She explained: "It remains unclear whether earnings will be up, down or flat next year because there are so many variables. ... Key animated features still to come include Fantasia 2000 (1999) and summer 2000's release of Dinosaur. Fantasia could prove to be a catalyst for the stock."
Movie Reviews: The Hurricane
29 December 1999
Critics, by and large, have been blown away by Hurricane, The (1999), the film biography of fighter Rubin Hurricane Carter, played by Denzel Washington. Washington, in particular, is receiving rave notices, with many writers predicting that he may be the actor to beat for the Oscar. Liam Lacey in the Toronto Globe & Mail (much of the film is shot in Toronto) heaps praise on Canadian director Norman Jewison for avoiding "the heavy weather of its title" and focusing on character. "This is hardly ordinary, crowd-pleasing stuff, " Lacey writes, "but it touches deeper levels, a battle of heart and mind rather than fist." Lou Lumenick in the New York Post concludes: "Make no mistake about it, thanks to Washington's layered acting Hurricane, The (1999) packs a real punch." Stephen Holden in the New York Times suggests that one way to look at the film is "to see it as the cinematic equivalent of an inspirational pop song. Proudly old-fashioned and unabashedly sentimental, Hurricane, The (1999) pulls out every stop to make our eyes misty and bring us to our feet in a standing ovation as it rises in a predictable courtroom crescendo." Kenneth Turan in the Los Angeles Times, while critical of the script, insists that its failings are offset by Washington's performance. "It's Washington's gift to be able to connect us with Carter even when he's at his angriest and most hostile and to make all the stages of his gradual evolution distinct and believable, " Turan writes. "He even takes what could be a clichéd scene, Carter's personality splitting into three parts during a particularly harsh stretch of solitary confinement, and makes it an unforgettable moment. This is the last great performance of 1999, and arguably the best of the lot as well." And Glenn Whipp in the Los Angeles Daily News adds that if Washington "does not earn at least an Oscar nomination, it will be an injustice, although a minor one compared to the injuries suffered by the man he so movingly portrays in The Hurricane."
TV's Original Lone Ranger Dies
29 December 1999
Clayton Moore, best known of the actors who played The Lone Ranger died Tuesday of heart failure in suburban Los Angeles. He was 85. Moore took over the character when the show, a long-time radio favorite, came to television in 1949, and except for a two-year period when John Hart played the role, continued to be seen as the masked man with a white hat for more than a decade.
Need A Job? Turn On The TV!
29 December 1999
The British government is planning to launch a new channel called JOBS-TV to help lower unemployment. Gordon Brown, the government official who is pushing for the channel, is being quoted as saying that it was a simple way of getting people without jobs matched to positions going open.
Cable Company Calls In Its Troops For Y2K
29 December 1999
Time Warner is dropping its pay-TV service in New York from 11:30 p.m. New Year's Eve until 6:00 a.m. on Jan. 1, the New York Post reported today (Wednesday). The move will allow the cable system to re-assign its computer staff to deal with any Y2K problems if they crop up, a spokesman told the newspaper.
Fox Signs Deal With Time-Warner; Cox Balks
29 December 1999
Fox has renegotiated "retransmission consent" deals with Time Warner Cable, under which the cable operator has agreed to carry two additional Fox cable networks, FXM, a movie channel, and Fox Sports World. Meanwhile, today's (Wednesday) Wall Street Journal reports that Cox cable is balking at carrying the two new Fox channels, calling them "unproven." Fox's retransmission deal with Cox is due to expire on Friday.
WWF Keeps USA In Cable Lead
29 December 1999
World Wrestling Federation coverage helped USA Network lead all cable networks in primetime ratings for 1999, according to data gathered by Nielsen Data Research. WWF broadcasts (Smackdown) also helped the UPN Network reach record overall ratings for the week of Dec. 20-26, an increase of 60 percent.The top-ten shows of the week according to Nielsen Research: 1. NFL Monday Night Football, Greenbay vs. Minnesota, ABC, 15.1/26; 2. 60 Minutes, CBS, 11.8/22; 3. NFL Monday Showcase, ABC, 11.1/18; 4. Everybody Loves Raymond, CBS, 10.9/17; 5. Frasier, NBC, 10.7/19; 6. E.R., NBC, 10.4/19; 7. CBS Sunday Movie, The Marriage Fool, CBS, 10.1/17; 8. Touched By an Angel, CBS, 9.8/16; 9. Friends, NBC, 9.7/18; 10. Becker, CBS, 9.6/15; 10. Everybody Loves Raymond (Special), CBS, 9.6/15.
CBS Remains Tops
29 December 1999
The Christmas holiday week saw the familiar drop in viewers during the closing days of the year, but most of those who tuned in watched CBS, according to figures released Tuesday by Nielsen Research. The network scored a 7.6 overall rating and a 14 share. It was well in front of second-place NBC, which earned a 6.8/12. ABC pulled a 6.7/12, while Fox drew a paltry 4.9/9. ABC and NBC tied for first among the key demographic of 18-49 during the same period, followed by Fox and CBS.
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