Tagged: Paramount

Win a Copy of Transformers: The Japanese Collection – Headmasters

transformers_japanese-_headmasters-_product_shot-272x450-5803484Capitalizing on the popularity of Paramount Pictures’ third installment in the live action Transformers franchises, Shout! Factory is releasing the long-awaited Japanese animated series which we talked about previously. The DVD set is coming out on Tuesday and to celebrate, we have one copy to give away to a lucky fan.

All you have to do is give us your best educated guess what the total domestic box office revenue of Transformers: Dark of the Moon will be when the theaters close at the end of business on Monday, concluding the holiday weekend. We want your guess by 11:59 Monday evening and the winning tally will be based on the finals as released by our friends at Box Office Mojo on Tuesday.

Meantime, here’s a look back at The Transformers: The Japanese Collection — Headmasters. The four disc set will come complete with Original Japnese Audio, English Subtitles, and an Art Gallery.

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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles global rights sold to Nickelodeon for $60 million

  • News
  • October 22, 2009

tmnt-1-8390243From Nikki Finke:

Viacom’s Nickelodeon announced today it has acquired the global
intellectual property rights to the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles from
The Mirage Group and 4Kids Entertainment. The purchase price was about
$60 million. Nickelodeon also announced plans to develop a new
CG-animated television series based on the popular superhero franchise
for 2012. Also, in partnership with Viacom’s Paramount Pictures, a new
release of a new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles feature film is also planned for 2012. Nickelodeon has also acquired all merchandising rights to Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,
and will continue to work with its original and long-standing toy
partner, Playmates Toys, which has been the creative force behind the
TMNT master toy program over the last two decades. The deal was done by
Cyma Zarghami, the president of Nickelodeon/MTVN Kids and Family Group,
and Adam Goodman, the president of Paramount Pictures.

Not bad for a little black and white comic from the 80s.

What about Jack? Kirby estate files notice of copyright reversion aainst Marvel, Disney, Sony, Universal, Paramount…

  • News
  • September 20, 2009

And now, the other shoe drops.

Jeff Trexler points to this New York Times piece saying that the Jack Kirby estate sent notice of copyright termination to Marvel, Disney, Sony
Pictures, Universal Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures and
others who have been making films and other forms of entertainment
based on the characters Jack created or co-created for Marvel.

The Kirby estate lawyer is Marc Toberoff, the man representing the Siegel estate in the Superman copyright case, who has already done an excellent job of raking DC and Warner Brothers over the coals. Toberoff has an impressive winning tally; Nikki Finke reminds us that Toberoff has also won or settled lawsuits on Lassie, Get Smart, The Dukes of Hazzard, and The Wild Wild West.

Kirby battled Marvel for years over the return of the physical artwork to his comics,
and was asked to sign documents that would have irrevocable and
specifically signed away rights to the characters, something he refused
to do. This led to heavy coverage in the industry, including the ad at right from 1986.

Two immediate questions come to mind:

  1. Does this potentially sour the Disney-Marvel deal? Disney said in a statement, “The notices involved are an attempt to
    terminate rights seven to 10 years from now, and involve claims that
    were fully considered in the acquisition.” Really? You think Disney shareholders are ready to spend four billion dollars on intellectual properties they’re prepared to lose in seven years? Related: there’s a $140 million dollar kill fee Marvel has to pay if the deal doesn’t go through. Does this mean that Marvel has an extra 140 million reasons to settle with Jack’s kids?

  2. If the copyright reversion is settled with Marvel and/or Disney, does this give them additional leverage in breaking existing contracts with other movie studios? In other words, does that “right to make X-Men movies in perpetuity” hold up if they don’t control the rights to the underlying characters?

Tribbles infesting San Diego Comic-Con

  • News
  • July 15, 2009

I told them they were going to have to spray for those things, now they’re everywhere…

So to promote season 2 of the original Star Trek on BluRay, Paramount is looking for pictures of people with their Tribbles. There’s no way this ends well… the best case scenario is that somebody’s going to grab a few hundred and do this:

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The worst case scenario? Tribble porn.

‘Star Trek’ Beams Down to IMAX Screens

  • News
  • December 13, 2008

Paramount Pictures and IMAX Corporation announced late Friday that Star Trek, directed by J.J. Abrams (Mission: Impossible III, Lost and Alias), will be simultaneously released to both IMAX and conventional theatres worldwide on May 8, 2009. Star Trek, which chronicles the early days of James T. Kirk and his fellow USS Enterprise crew members, will be digitally re-mastered into the unparalleled image and sound quality of The IMAX Experience with proprietary IMAX DMR (Digital Re-mastering) technology. Paramount Pictures will be the exclusive distributor of the film to IMAX theatres worldwide.

Star Trek is of course one of the world’s most successful science fiction entertainment series and media franchises. Created by Gene Roddenberry, the Star Trek phenomenon has lead to six television series, ten feature films, dozens of computer and video games, hundreds of novels and fan stories, as well as a themed attraction in Las Vegas. Star Trek has also inspired a following of millions of “Trekkies” of all ages that span across the globe.

“We’re excited to share the enhanced IMAX version of this film with the millions of dedicated fans who have been anticipating this release since production began,” said Rob Moore, Vice Chairman, Paramount Pictures in a release. “The IMAX Experience adds that extra level of excitement to an already action-packed film, giving moviegoers a premium ‘event’ at the multiplex.”

Added J.J. Abrams, “I’m thrilled that audiences will be able to experience this new, epic world of Star Trek – with an incredible cast and mind-blowing visual effects – on what is, obviously, the most remarkable film format in the world.”

“Star Trek combines top Hollywood story-telling talent with space exploration, and each is very conducive to The IMAX Experience,” said IMAX Co-Chairmen and Co-CEOs Richard L. Gelfond and Bradley J. Wechsler. “Expanding our relationship with Paramount Pictures to include this film strengthens our 2009 slate, and with the continuing rollout of digital IMAX theatre systems, we will be able to offer the fan-base more locations to experience the epic first journey of the USS Enterprise in the most immersive way.”
 
“Both Star Trek and IMAX have taken audiences to far away places they would normally not be able to go, and in this case, it’s space – the final frontier,” added Greg Foster, Chairman and President of IMAX Filmed Entertainment. “J.J. Abrams has created a powerful movie that has fans worldwide feverishly anticipating its release. We are thrilled to partner with Paramount Pictures to bring J.J.’S exciting vision of this incredible space adventure to IMAX screens.”

From director J.J. Abrams and screenwriters Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci (Transformers, MI: III) comes a new vision of the greatest space adventure of all time, Star Trek, featuring a young, new crew venturing boldly where no man has gone before. Star Trek explores the early Starfleet careers of future Enterprise officers Kirk (Chris Pine), Spock (Zachary Quinto), Scotty (Simon Pegg), Amanda Grayson (Winona Ryder), Uhura (Zoe Saldana), McCoy (Karl Urban), Sulu (John Cho), and Chekov (Anton Yelchin). A Romulan, Nero (Eric Bana), and a much older Spock (Leonard Nimoy) are influences, as well as Captain Pike (Bruce Greenwood), the first captain of the USS Enterprise.

 

‘Heavy Metal’ Movie Back at Paramount

  • News
  • November 14, 2008

The on-again, off-again sequel to Heavy Metal the animated feature appears to be on again. HM owner Kevin Eastman announced on his message board, “Well here we are again — and I’m trying to keep you up on the latest, without boring you with the 24/7 issues that are dealt with on this project. Regardless — things proceed — and the good news I have to share is Zack Snyder has said yes to directing one of the segments — so he’s be joining [David] Fincher, and Gore Verbinski as part of the official line up — there’s more on the director front — but I’ll hold off to share more with you shortly.  Also looks like it might end up back at Paramount–gotta love Hollywood.”

The deal was first announcement came March 14 with Variety reporting that Fincher was heavily involved.

Then Paramount seemed to drop out and Eastman posted on July 10, “Yes, it was a fun, funny, interesting ride at Paramount — basically everyone in the company had greenlit the project except on of the new top ‘assholes’ over there, who has a personal beef with Fincher, and killed the HM project over issues with one of Fincher’s other projects.

Not to worry, we have already set it up elsewhere, an announcement will be made soon, and we’ll be in production shortly as well.”

Shortly became August 31, when he said Sony was on board to distribute the animated anthology.  “The journey has been a tough and interesting one, but the film will be worth the wait.”

Thins seem stalled and sounding despondent, Eastman posted on October 08, 2008, “Man, it is a bit frustrating right now, as I have a lot of great new information to share, but am under a zip lip instruction from the rest of the crew for correct timing — I don’t mean to tease you, but do want to let you know the people we are bringing into to work on and direct segments of the film really @#$%& rock — and I should be able to start sharing images soon.”

Sony in Talks to Co-Finance ‘Tintin’

  • News
  • November 3, 2008

tintin-6981505When last we left Tintin, he and Snowy were facing an uncertain future as the famed directors Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson wanted to turn his graphic novel adventures into at least two live-action films.  The forces of corporate evil, though, saw to it that DreamWorks and Paramount Pictures were split asunder, leaving financing for the films up in the air.

Sony, like a white knight, has ridden to the rescue.  According to the scribes at Variety, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Paramount Pictures are now discussing terms to allow them to co-finance the digital 3-D films together.

The hero, created by Belgian artist Georges Remi (a.k.a. Herge), had first thought that Universal Studios, new home to DreamWorks would partner up to ensure audiences around the world got to thrill to his exploits.  Instead, Universal balked so Paramount told Spielberg and Jackson they would front the full $135 million budget in exchange for better profit-sharing terms.  Now it was the directors’ turn to balk forcing Paramount to seek assistance.

The Sony-Paramount deal would be the first film only and would grant Sony international distribution rights while Paramount would retain North American rights in addition to distribution deals in selected English-speaking countries.

While the cash has begun tof low once more, there remains concern over production commencing, as planned, in the fall.  Thomas Sangster, the human selected to portray the teen hero, left the project.  Spielberg remains optimistic they will recast, shoot and still make their 2010 release date. Jackson would then direct a second film.

Although DreamWorks is now no longer a participant, the principal players remain somewhat enmeshed in their lives.  Jackson has delivered The Lovely Bones to DreamWorks which Paramount will release in 2009.

Studios Shuffle Holiday Schedules

  • News
  • October 21, 2008

As films falter in meeting their deadlines to make their scheduled release dates, studios are constantly shuffling the calendar.  This time of years the gamesmanship is especially tough as studios eye projects with the hopes of securing Academy Award nominations. The dominoes have been falling with particular speed in the last week so here’s a recap.

With The Weinstein Company most likely bumping The Road from November to December to 2009, it has put its marketing efforts behind The Reader.

This was seen as a good opportunity for Paramount which had a lot of faith in the Robert Downey Jr. film, The Soloist.  Instead, they surprised prognosticators and moved the film to March 13, 2009. Word is that test screenings did not go well and rather than spend extra dollars to rush, Paramount’s budget cutting has prompted the schedule shift.

The studio has also delayed Defiance, the World War II drama starring Daniel Craig, to open on December 31, just in time to qualify for the Oscars but away from the box office competition in the weeks leading up to Christmas.

What this does is also shift which performers will receive studio dollars behind Oscar bids.  As we wave farewell to Viggo Mortenson, Jamie Foxx and others, the field now turns to focus on Brad Pitt (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button), Mickey Rourke (Wrestler), Josh Brolin (W.), Frank Langella (Frost/Nixon) and Sean Penn (Milk).  Downey is likely to be pushed by Paramount for both Iron Man and more likely a supporting nod in Tropic Thunder while Warner Bros. will most certainly launch a major campaign for Heath Ledger’s role as the Joker in The Dark Knight.

The final bit of scheduling news also involves Downey as his Sherlock Holmes has been pencilled in for November 20 2009.

Marvel extends distribution deal with Paramount

  • News
  • September 29, 2008

Though hard to deny the colossal success of The Dark Knight, it can’t be said that Marvel slept through 2008. Iron Man was the second highest grossing film of the year, taking in $318 million domestically and $571 million worldwide. It wasn’t long after the appropriately Stark-sized success that Marvel Studios announced official development on further film projects. Today, it was announced that Shakespearean director Kenneth Branagh is in talks to direct Marvel’s Thor. Now, only hours later, Marvel has yet another big announcement.

Marvel Studios has extended their distribution pact with Paramount Pictures. Paramount will distribute Marvel’s next five films. These films include Iron Man 2 (May 7, 2010), Thor (July 16, 2010), The First Avenger: Captain America (May 6, 2011) and The Avengers (July 15, 2011). The deal also covers Iron Man 3, which was always an assumed project but is now officially in the woodwork.

The agreement includes theatrical distribution in foreign countries previously uncovered by Paramount. Such territories include Japan, Germany, France, Spain and Australia/New Zealand. Due to a prior arrangement, Iron Man 2 will be distributed in Germany by Telemunchen.

"Coming off of Iron Man’s incredible success this summer, we could not be more excited about extending our relationship with Marvel," Paramount vice chairman Rob Moore said of the new deal. "Marvel’s iconic brand, its popular characters and its proven ability to create compelling and visually spellbinding films complement Paramount’s great history of filmmaking."

Iron Man 2 reunites the creative powerhouse of director Jon Favreau and star Robert Downey Jr. Terence Howard and Gwyneth Paltrow are expeced back and director Favreau has been meeting with Iron Man scribe Matt Fraction top kick around story ideas although the War Machine armor is expected to debut.

Thor, set for release two months after Iron Man 2, was written by I am Legend screenwriter Mark Protosevich. Actor/director Kenneth Branagh is attached to direct.

The First Avenger: Captain America comes from a screenplay by Zak Penn, and is rumored to be a World War II-era period piece. No casting announcements have been made regarding Steve Rogers, but rumors have ranged from Leonardo DiCaprio to Will Smith.

These properties will culminate in 2011’s The Avengers, Marvel Studios’ big team-up epic. Captain America, Iron Man and Thor are set to headline with their respective actors in place. The films leading up to the project will feature interweaving cameos from other Marvel characters, such as Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury appearing after the credits in Iron Man and Robert Downey Jr. at the end of The Incredible Hulk.

Assuming that the remainder of Marvel’s current slate succeeds on the same scale as ol’ Shellhead’s cinema outing, this could be the start of a very long, beautiful relationship between Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures.

Paramount to Fund ‘Tintin’

  • News
  • September 22, 2008

tintin-2615020The saga of Tintin continues to unfold as it now appears that Paramount Pictures will cover the $130 budget for the Steven Spielberg/Peter Jackson Tintin movie. As reported at Deadline Hollywood, the deal calls for Paramount to produce the movie entirely on its own as long as the principals remain on budget. Filming remains on target to begin in October.

Concern remains that the popular European character has yet to penetrate the American consciousness despite previous attempts, which made Universal skittish over the price tag since it meant the film would have to gross in excess of $400 million to show a profit.  Without a huge American contribution, there was concern on this issue.

Meantime, this is only secondary to the split of DreamWorks from Paramount as they ally with India’s Reliance Media to once more become an independent production entity.  The messy breakup will take weeks to resolve all the details including which film properties will remain with DreamWorks and which will be retained by Paramount.  The studio is claiming rights to at least three Spielberg projects including the story of the Chicago Seven trial.

At present they have yet to sign a distribution deal for DW films but Universal remains the odd-on favorite with 20th-Century Fox also reported to be interested.
 

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