Amazon took its first stab at original programming last weekend with 14 new pilots. By the time those shows actually make it to series, customers may also have a new box to watch them on. According to a recent report, the e-tailer is working on a streaming device to compete with Apple TV, Roku, and Boxee, and the like, with plans to introduce it this fall.
Posted on Wednesday, April 24th, 2013 by Germain Lussier
Wal-Mart has it all: food, clothes, toys, sporting equipment, electronics… and soon they’ll add advance movie tickets. Warner Bros. is conducting a little experiment next month, as Wal-Mart will be the first place fans can buy advance tickets to see Zack Snyder‘s Superman film Man of Steel. On May 18, tickets will be available at select Wal-Mart stores for special advance screenings of the film taking place on June 13, a day before its scheduled June 14 opening. General advance ticket sales aren’t expected to start until May 21 or 22.
There will be a total of 6,372 advance screenings at 2,379 different theaters and each person will be able to buy four tickets for either a 2D or 3D screening. Each ticket will also include a special code to pre-order Man of Steel on Blu-ray or digital download as well an exclusive Man of Steel comic written by screenwriter David Goyer. Read More »
Posted on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013 by Germain Lussier
Sylvester Stallone played a little game with his Twitter followers Tuesday and the result was his disclosure of the director for The Expendables 3. That name? Patrick Hughes, best known for the small Australian film Red Hill, which starred True Blood‘s Ryan Kwatten. Check out Sly’s tweets below. Read More »
Posted on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013 by Germain Lussier
In 2012, Daredevil got extremely close to a reboot. David Slade was attached and working on it, then Joe Carnahan was in the mix with a decidedly dark vision. Unfortunately, 20th Century Fox couldn’t agree on a script or direction and, as a result, the character rights were likely to revert back to Marvel. We all assumed that happened, but it wasn’t like Marvel and their parent company, Disney, ever made an official announcement.
Now Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, has confirmed that the rights to Daredevil are, indeed, back in the Disney and Marvel family. Will he factor into the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Let’s speculate below. Read More »
Posted on Tuesday, April 23rd, 2013 by Angie Han
As other streaming services scramble to catch up to Netflix, Netflix has long eyed HBO as its biggest rival. And if Netflix isn’t hasn’t pulled off a decisive win quite yet, it is at least closing in. The company reported that it had 29.17 million domestic subscribers in the first quarter of 2013, surpassing the 28.7 million reported by HBO at the end of 2012. Netflix’s numbers represent an increase of 2 million domestic and 1 million foreign subscribers since the end of 2012.
Those figures come with a couple of caveats, however. SNL Kagan, which compiled the data, has not yet offered information on Netflix’s first quarter of 2013, so it could turn out that Netflix has grown as well. Additionally, while the two companies are neck-in-neck for subscribers in the U.S., HBO is trouncing Netflix worldwide, with 114 million subscribers globally compared to Netflix’s 7.14 million. [Variety]
After the jump, Netflix reveals in a letter to investors that it’s not renewing its Viacom deal, but is adding a new plan for families.
Posted on Monday, April 22nd, 2013 by Angie Han
Marvel fans’ plans to watch Iron Man 3 on opening weekend may be stymied by a dispute between Disney and the country’s two biggest movie theater chains, AMC and Regal. The exhibitors have halted advance ticket sales of the Marvel Studios sequel in response to an argument over how box office revenue is split.
If a resolution is not reached, Iron Man 3 may not play at all on AMC and Regal’s combined 800+ theaters nationwide. And even if it is, missing so many days of pre-sales could take a big bite out of Iron Man 3‘s opening weekend box office. Hit the jump to keep reading.
Posted on Tuesday, April 16th, 2013 by Russ Fischer
Rupert Murdoch has just changed the conversation about his various companies in a slight manner. Murdoch and News Corp. are splitting the publishing and entertainment divisions of News Corp into separate entities, and one of those big entities is getting a new name in the process. The publishing side will still be News Corp. while the entertainment division, which includes the movie studio Twentieth Century Fox, often called simply Fox, and Twentieth Television, gets the new title.
The entertainment company will be named 21st Century Fox, but the movie studio and TV company are keeping their names, “in recognition of their rich histories and strong connections with audiences across the globe.”
Murdoch said in a memo ”21st Century Fox is a name that draws upon the rich creative heritage of Twentieth Century Fox, while also speaking to the innovation and dynamism that must define each of our businesses through the 21st Century. Our new name is inspired by the very first company we acquired nearly thirty years ago as our initial foray into the awe-inspiring world of entertainment.”
Read the entire memo below. Read More »
Posted on Tuesday, April 16th, 2013 by Germain Lussier
This year’s Sundance Film Festival was full of great films, but the one that stood above the rest for me was Stuart Zicherman‘s A.C.O.D. The film stars Adam Scott as an adult child of divorce, who weaves his way through life between parents who hate each other (Richard Jenkins and Catherine O’Hara). It co-stars Amy Poehler, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Jessica Alba, Clark Duke, Jane Lynch and is as funny and poignant as you can possibly image.
Four months after its premiere in Park City, the film has finally been picked up for distribution. The Film Arcade will release A.C.O.D. in North America and Paramount Home Media Distribution will handle international bookings, and the home market and digital distribution.
Click here to read our rave review of the film, and read more about the deal below. Read More »
