HeSaid SheSaid Movie Reviews

Blockbuster and TiVo Join to Deliver Digital Movies

Blockbuster announced an agreement with TiVo today to deliver digital movies over the Internet directly to the televisions of people with TiVo digital video recorders. Blockbuster On Demand will be accessible only to the approximately 800,000 TiVo owners who have broadband Internet connected directly to their TiVo boxes.

Amazon and Netflix both have similar agreements with TiVo, but Blockbuster will also sell TiVo machines at its retail stores and the companies will launch a joint marketing campaign. Blockbuster is offering fewer films than Netflix, but the offerings are newer releases. Blockbuster already offers online rentals through the Movielink service it bought from a group of studios in 2007.

Hockey masks are the new black

 

The 12th entry in the Friday the 13th led a record-setting President's Day weekend box office, with a $45.2 million Friday-Monday take, according to studio estimates compiled by Exhibitor Relations. (That was a record for the horror genre, topping the $39.1 million debut for 2004's The Grudge. Accounting for today's higher admission prices, The Grudge sold slightly more tickets, however.)

E! Online's Joal Ryan has collected a "body count" of Friday the 13th stats:

• From Friday-Sunday, the movie grossed $40.7 million, besting the $36.4 million posted by the Nightmare on Elm Street-associated Freddy vs. Jason in 2003.
• Friday the 13th made so much money, so fast, it had its $16 million budget covered before the close of business on Friday, when it took in $19.3 million.
• After just four days in theaters, Friday the 13th is not far off from matching the five-weekend haul of My Bloody Valentine ($50.9 million)—and doing so without the gimmick or higher ticket prices of 3-D.

Watchmen is on for March 6 after settlement

Watchmen will be released by Warner Brothers on March 6, as planned, after a settlement between Warner and 20th Century Fox in a court battle over which one owned the rights to the story. But the legal drama surrounding the picture is probably only beginning, according to Brooks Barnes of The New York Times.

Terms were not disclosed, and both studios declined to comment yesterday. But people with knowledge of the agreement said Fox could receive up to 8.5 percent of the film’s final theatrical gross after Warner recoups certain costs. (The percentage is lower if ticket sales are poor.) Fox will also get back the $1.5 million it spent developing the movie, and Warner will also foot their multimillion-dollar legal bill.

Warner is making no secret of its intention to cover its payouts to Fox by going after Larry Gordon, the producer who took Watchmen to the studio after attempts to make it with Fox and several other studios failed. Gordon, who a spokesman said was not available for comment, is likely to pursue legal action against a former lawyer whom he contends failed to make Warner aware of Fox’s potential rights on Watchmen.

Will $mith

According to a survey of movie exhibitors, Will Smith's name on the marquee brought in the most box office money in 2008. Smith starred in Hancock and Seven Pounds at the movies in 2008. The results are from an annual survey by Quigley Publishing Co.

Smith is only the second black actor to be chosen in the Quigley poll, which has been conducted since 1932. Sidney Poitier topped the poll in 1968. In 2007, Smith placed second to Johnny Depp.

There were four newcomers to the poll this year (which asks exhibitors to pick their top 10 star moneymakers): Robert Downey, Jr., Christian Bale, Shia LaBeouf and Daniel Craig. Perennial winner Tom Cruise did not make the Top Ten this year. He has been in the Top Ten 20 times since 1983, and been voted number one seven times.

Franco Sacchi: Welcome to Nollywood

 

Franco Sacchi has an interestin video on TED.com about Nollywood, the Nigerian film industry - and now the third-largest film industry in the world.

In this clip, Zambia-born Sacchi tours us through Nollywood, where film crews often shoot a full-length feature in a week. Sacchi is the director of This is Nollywood.

One Track Mind premiering on Facebook Films

Facebook will premiere the new surf movie, One Track Mind, on Facebook Film next week. (Its first movie premiere.) The 48-hour showing will go from 7:30 pm CST on Thursday, October 16, until 7:30 CST on Saturday, October 18.

One Track Mind from Woodshed Films on Vimeo.

Oscars will take movie ads, ending 50-year ban

 
Photo via New York Post

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has lifted its longtime ban on running commercials for movies during the Oscars. Board members voted on Oct. 7 to nix the tradition that stretches back more than 50 years. The move comes amid concerns over the softening TV advertising market and lower ratings for the Oscars.

Under the new rules, a studio will be allowed to buy only one 30- or 60-second spot. However, a media company with multiple distribution arms could buy a commercial for each label. Ads for movies that are up for an award will not be permitted. ABC will determine where the spots are to run.

For the full story from Meg James and Claudia Eller at The Los Angeles Times, click here.