Jeff Zucker's Year-End Letter to NBCU Employees

Holiday tidings segue to Comcast/GE merger as company waits government 'green light.'

On Wednesday, outgoing NBC Universal CEO Jeff Zucker offered his own sort of NBCU's Best of 2010 list in a year-end letter to staffers, before getting down to serious business. He wrote:

"As the year draws to a close, I wanted to extend to you, and your loved ones, the happiest of holidays and wish you each a very Happy New Year.

"This has been a fantastic year for our company, on both creative and business levels.

"Whether you think about the unbelievably successful Vancouver Olympics ... the worldwide sensation of the despicably adorable Minions ... Butterbeer and Chocolate Frogs flying off the shelves at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter ... and so much more ... 2010 was a year to remember for NBC Universal. And that is a complete tribute to each of you, whose hard work and dedication has made it all possible. Like the entire media industry, we are not without our challenges, but we are as well situated for them as anyone. Thanks to you.

"As you know, we are still awaiting government approval of the new joint venture between Comcast and GE, which will mark a whole new era for NBC Universal. We have made substantial progress this month with both the FCC and the Department of Justice, and expect that we will get a 'green light' in January. The official close of the transaction would happen shortly after government approval. Until then, of course, business continues as normal. And we will give you frequent updates once the new year begins.

"Meanwhile, I do hope that each of you will find some time in these next few weeks to be with family and loved ones, and to remember how fortunate we are.

"I send you my best wishes, wherever you are, for a wonderful holiday and very Happy New Year."

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'How Do You Know' Price Tag: $120 Million, $50 Million Just for Talent

This week's The Hollywood Reporter looks at the James L. Brooks dramedy featuring Reese Witherspoon ($15 million) and Jack Nicholson ($12 million).

Oscar-winning filmmaker James L. Brooks doesn’t work often, and he doesn’t work fast. And when he does work, he commands a budget as jaw-dropping as his history of brilliant work (Terms of Endearment, Broadcast News). When many studios are shying away from star-driven adult dramedies, Sony lavished a budget on Brooks’ How Do You Know that even has talent reps with clients in the movie marveling.

THR has learned that the film, which centers on a love triangle, cost $120 million to make, though the studio drove that down to about $100 million thanks to tax rebates from Pennsylvania and D.C. One reason for the price tag is old-fashioned salaries for the pic’s talent: Reese Witherspoon ($15 million), Jack Nicholson ($12 million), Owen Wilson ($10 million) and Paul Rudd ($3 million) received their quotes, and Brooks will earn about $10 million plus backend for writing, producing and directing. That’s about $50 million for the major talent alone.

The cost also was high because of the time Brooks devoted to production and postproduction and his decision to reshoot the beginning and end of the movie. “He’s slow and meticulous,” a person familiar with the production says.

Another challenge: How Do You Know opens Dec. 17 against Tron: Legacy, Gulliver’s Travels and Yogi Bear. “That’s a big weekend,” sighs a talent rep with a star in the film, which could have the slow-but-steady adult space to itself. Brooks’ 1997 holiday release As Good as It Gets rode Oscar buzz to $314.2 million worldwide, but his most recent December effort, 2004’s Spanglish, fizzled. “They thought it would do a couple hundred million worldwide,” a source says. “It did $55 million all-in.”

But Sony hopes How Do You Know will perform like It’s Complicated, an $85 million-budgeted Universal pic from Nancy Meyers.That film pulled in nearly $220 million worldwide last winter.      

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Mexican Cinema Claims Small Percentage of Country's Total 2010 Box Office

MEXICO CITY -- Theater chains in Mexico are enjoying a record-breaking year in admissions, yet homegrown fare continues to struggle at the box office.
 
Exhibitors here expect to close out the year with 191 million tickets sold, which positions Mexico as the world's fifth largest exhibition market in terms of attendance figures, according to an annual report by the National Film Chamber. The report ranks Mexico fifth behind India, the U.S., China and France.
 
Despite the upswing in revenues, domestic releases captured a mere 5.6% of the box office share, a disappointing result when compared to double-digit market share figures reported in other top Latin American film-producing nations such as Argentina and Brazil.
 
Opinions vary on why Mexican cinema, which has seen a spike in production volume in recent years, has come up short at the box office. Some industry players blame Hollywood, saying studio fare is gobbling up the bulk of Mexico's 5,000-plus screens. Marina Stavenhagen, head of state-run financing agency Imcine, believes that's only part of the problem.
 
"Eight-nine percent of public film funding goes toward production development and only 11% goes toward distribution, but there are many other factors," she said at a Friday news conference.
 
No Mexican films appeared on the list of the year's top 10 highest-grossing films. Of the 310 titles screened here this year, Disney's Toy Story 3 topped the charts with 777 million pesos (about US $63 million).
 
The two biggest local hits of the year were the romantic comedy No Eres Tu, Soy Yo (It's Not You, It's Me) and the narco-themed political satire El Infierno (Hell). All told, Mexico produced 68 features and released 54 pictures, yet only No Eres Tu exceeded the 100-million-peso mark.
 
The National Film Chamber projects continued growth for next year, estimating that theater operators in Mexico will sell nearly 205 million tickets.

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3D TV Channel Announces Six New Series

Joint venture of Sony, Discovery and Imax expects to have an estimated 200 hours of 3D programming by the end of 2011.

For emerging 3D channels -- including the 24/7 entry slated to launch in early 2011 as a joint venture of Sony, Discovery Communications and Imax -- one of the key challenges is to make available a steady stream of content.

The joint venture on Monday announced six new titles to its planned network programming slate, and it expects to have an estimated 200 hours of 3D programming by the end of 2011.

The result could be among the world's largest libraries of 3D content, and the majority of it would be original productions commissioned by the channel, according to Tom Cosgrove, president and CEO of the venture.

As the channel is for the U.S. market, this library may also become available to 3D ventures launching in other countries.

"We are certainly considering it," Cosgrove told The Hollywood Reporter. "We are in initial conversations with folks about doing that. ... The big complaint that most people have about 3D is that there is just not enough to watch, so part of the mission of the channel is to fill that gap."

At this stage, the venture is focused on creating native 3D content rather than converting 2D material to 3D.

"We are still evaluating (conversion) technology," Cosgrove said. "For us, the sweet spot of an affordable price to do this as close to flawless as possible hasn't quite come together. ... At this point, our emphasis has been on native 3D productions or acquiring content that was shot in native 3D.

Production for the venture is testing a Sony prototype camcorder that was previewed this year. It also is putting through the paces another prototype of a 3D camera that was built by Sony and co-developed with Discovery, also unveiled this year.

However, Cosgrove said that his venture is "fairly agnostic in terms of the brands of cameras that we use. There's lots of different rigs out there and single-body cameras."

Cosgrove also noted that Imax is working on proprietary conversion technology to prepare its large-format films for the small screen.

"What is meant to be seen on a 70-foot screen requires some changes to the convergence," he said. "They have been able to bring it into that television format."

To speed production, the venture has encouraged training at Sony's 3D Technology Center on the Culver City lot. "We have sent through hundreds of people already for those classes," Cosgrove said, adding that the organization has paired new 3D filmmakers with experienced ones for field training.

Content announced Monday included three original series -- with the working titles Bullproof, High Octane and Making the Brand -- and three acquisitions: Discovery's Ghost Lab, Sony Pictures' Open Season and Imax's Space Station.

This programming will be added to a lineup of previously announced content including African Wild (working title), China Revealed (working title), Jewels of the World (working title), Attack of the Giant Jellyfish, The Haunted, Into the Deep 3D, Magnificent Desolation: Walking on the Moon 3D, Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs and Monster House.

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Ryan Gosling: Indie Films Don't Pretend to Know Everything

"Things like a Golden Globe help raise awareness for the film that is immeasurable," the "Blue Valentine" star tells THR.

Ryan Gosling, reeling from a long day of promotion for Blue Valentine, was a little knackered but still thrilled at the movie’s twin nominations, one for him, the other for Michelle Williams, since it would shine a spotlight on the little movie that could.

 

It’s great for the film,” he said. “When you make a small move like this, things like a Golden Globe help raise awareness for the film that is immeasurable. You can go out and promote the film all you want, but it can’t give the film as much of a voice as something like this.”

Gosling said he loves to work in the indie sphere since their smaller budgets equate, to him, creative freedom.

“Not to discriminate against budgets, I feel that independent films tend to ask more questions and don’t pretend to know as much as the bigger films, which tend to think they know everything.”

Gosling planned on resting up for a Blue Valentine reception being thrown by Ben Kingsley. “I’ve never met him so I’m excited.”

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'Social Network' Tops Boston Critics Awards

David Fincher's Facebook movie starring Jesse Eisenberg wins five prizes, including best picture, director and actor.

With film critics groups around the country beginning to anoint their favorite films of the year, the Boston Society of Film Critics, which voted Sunday, friended The Social Network in a big way.

Sony Pictures' drama about the founding of Facebook took home five prizes, including best picture, best actor for Jesse Eisenberg, best director for David Fincher, best screenplay for Aaron Sorkin and best use of music in a film for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. [Related: Social Network named best picture by the L.A. Film Critics Assn. and the N.Y. Films Critics Online.]

Natalie Portman was named best actress for her neurotic ballet dancer in Black Swan. That film's Andrew Weisblum also took the award for film editing.

The Fighter claimed two distinctions: Christian Bale earned best supporting actor honors, and the pic also took the prize for best ensemble cast.

Juliette Lewis, who plays a woman who recants her testimony in Conviction, was singled out as best supporting actress.

Toy Story 3 was crowned best animated film, while Bong Joon-ho's Mother and Jeff Malmberg's Marwencol were named best foreign film and best documentary, respectively. Malmberg was also hailed as best new filmmaker.

Best cinematography laurels went to Roger Deakins for True Grit.

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Twilight: Eclipse Sells 3 Million on DVD, Blu-ray in First Two Days

"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" and "Knight and Day" round out the top three on the sales chart.

Eclipse, the third film in the Twilight vampire saga, topped the national home video sales charts the week ending Dec. 5 even though it arrived in stores at midnight Friday instead of the customary Tuesday. Summit Home Entertainment says consumers bought 3 million DVDs and Blu-ray Discs of the film its first two days in stores.

Two other new releases, Walt Disney Studios’ The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and 20th Century Fox’s Knight and Day, captured the No. 2 and No. 3 spots on the Nielsen VideoScan First Alert sales chart, each selling about 30% as many units as Eclipse.

The previous week’s top seller, Disney’s Toy Story 3, slipped to No. 4, just ahead of yet another Disney new release, an anthology of the original 1940 Fantasia and its belated sequel, Fantasia 2000.

On Nielsen VideoScan’s dedicated Blu-ray Disc chart, Sorcerer’s Apprentice also debuted at No. 2, followed at No. 3 by Fantasia and No. 4 by Knight and Day.

On Home Media Magazine’s video rental chart for the week, Eclipse debuted at No. 3, right behind the Lionsgate actioner The Expendables, which repeated at No. 1, and The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, which finished the week at No. 2.

Neither of those three titles has a rental window — unlike Knight and Day, which for 28 days is only available at Blockbuster and other brick-and-mortar stores. Despite debuting at No. 1 on both the Blockbuster and IDEA rental charts, Knight and Day could only muster a weak No. 9 on Home Media Magazine’s overall rental chart because it cannot yet be rented at Netflix or Redbox.

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Cate Blanchett Revisiting 'Rings' Role In 'Hobbit'

Cate Blanchett has joined the cast of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit, where she will again play the role of Galadriel, the Lady of Lothlorien, who also appeared in The Lord of the Rings trilogy.

"Cate is one of my favorite actors to work with," Jackson said, "and I couldn't be more thrilled to have her reprise the role she so beautifully brought to life in the earlier film."

The latest additions to the cast also include Ken Stott as the Dwarf Lord Balin; Sylvester McCoy as the wizard Radagast the Brown; and Mikael Persbrandt as the shape-shifter Beorn.

Ryan Gage will play Drogo Baggins, while New Zealand actors Jed Brophy will play the role of the dwarf Nori and William Kircher will appear as the dwarf Bifur.

The Hobbit, which will be comprised of two films shooting back-to-back, begins principal photography in February.

The actors join the previously announced cast that includes Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Aidan Turner, Rob Kazinsky, Graham McTavish, John Callen, Stephen Hunter, Mark Hadlow and Peter Hambleton.

The two films are targeted for release in December 2012 and December 2013.

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Women's Image Network to Honor Elizabeth Taylor, Philanthropist Suzanne Fleisher Roberts Jan. 18

"Glee," "Secretariat" and actresses Jennifer Aniston, Jane Lynch and Susan Sarandon are among 2011 WIN Awards nominees.

Elizabeth Taylor and philanthropist Suzanne Fleisher Roberts, mother of Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, will be among the honorees next month at the 2011 Women's Image Network Awards.

WIN founder Phyllis Stuart said Monday that Taylor is being honored for her "artistic genius and her HIV/AIDS activism." The two-time Oscar-winning actress agreed to be honored but is ailing and might not be able to attend the Jan. 18 ceremony in Santa Monica.

Roberts is expected to fly in from Philadelphia, where she is well-known for her philanthropy and work in the arts. The wife of Comcast founder Ralph Roberts, she hosts a cable TV show called Seeking Solutions With Suzanne.

WIN presents awards in 13 categories. The 2011 nominees include Temple Grandin, Glee, Made in Dagenham and Secretariat and actresses Diane Lane, Sally Hawkins, Jennifer Aniston, Maggie Smith, Jane Lynch, Susan Sarandon and Selena Gomez.

Presented since 1993, the WIN awards celebrate film, television and advertising artists who "create dimensional female media images which shape positive public opinion about the value of women and girls."

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Djimon Hounsou Circling Black Panther?

io9 recently spoke with actor Djimon Hounsou, who revealed that he is interested in portraying Black Panther for Marvel Studios. Here's what he told the site below:

"He's a king, he's a man of the people, and he's very powerful - he challenges himself throughout his kingdom, and I think that's rare when the king puts his own life [on the line] and challenges [people] to beat him, in order to see [who's] the best out there... He's really cool. He comes from a world in Africa that is cool, and has all those minerals and it's very exciting. It's just a matter of time for that to be realized."

If he does portray T'Challa in the Marvel movie, it wouldn't be his first time as the character. He provided the voice for the animated Black Panther TV series. He added that the animated series was used to drum up interest for the movie: "That was the idea: using it as a leverage to tell a feature story."

We reported last year that Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje was in talks to play Black Panther, but it is unclear if he's still in contention for the role. We'll be sure to keep you posted with any future details on a Black Panther movie as soon as we have more information. Black Panther is in development .

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The Three Stooges Shoots in March

Because MGM is moving towards a more stable financial situation as a studio, 20th Century Fox is now able to announce a start date for its long-gestating comedy The Three Stooges, which will be directed by Peter Farrelly and Bobby Farrelly. According to Deadline, the Farrelly brothers ten-years-in-the-making passion project will begin principle photography on March 14th.

The Farrelly brothers will be directing from a script that they wrote with long time collaborator Mike Cerrone. There is no cast in place at this time, as previously announced Stooges Jim Carrey and Sean Penn have dropped out. Benicio Del Toro, who was set to play Moe, may still appear. Casting will begin immediately.

The story begins with the stooges being dumped off at an orphanage as babies. Richard Jenkins is in talks to play the head of the orphanage, who is terrorized by the Stooges as they grow up. The Stooges will be followed through adulthood, where this blue-collar trio will act out against a wealthy society that aims to keep them down. The gags will arrive at a rapid-fire pace, and the structure of the jokes will adhere closely to the original short films upon which this comedy is based.

Peter Farrelly stated, "The script is ready to go, and we are opening up these roles to the world right now. We'll make it with the best possible people. Our feeling is that no star is too big to audition and no matter who it is, we're going to have to see him in the role. This is not The Flintstones. You've got to be Moe, Larry and Curly, and that could be a major movie star or an unknown. There will be non-stop slapping, more in the tone of Dumb and Dumber than anything. Our goal is 85 minutes of laughs in a film that will be very respectful of whom the Stooges were. It's by far the riskiest project we've ever done, without question, but it is also the one closest to our hearts."

The movie will be split into three twenty-seven minute segments, which will allow the Farrelly brothers to use all three original The Three Stooges theme songs. It will be rated PG despite its strong physical comedy. The directors are hoping to shot in Atlanta.

The Three Stooges comes to theaters in 2012. The film is directed by Bobby Farrelly, Peter Farrelly.

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Superman Solely in the Hands of Zack Snyder

At a recent reception in Hollywood for the Blu-ray and DVD release of Inception, which hits on December 7th, Hitfix caught up with Christopher Nolan's wife and producing partner Emma Thomas, who revealed that her husband will have no creative input when it comes to Zack Snyder's reboot of Superman.

While Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer wrote the screenplay for Superman, it will be completely in the hands of Snyder. Emma explained that Christopher and David have hit upon an idea that has never been explored by Warner Bros. before. But Nolan is far too busy with his own sequel The Dark Knight Rises to offer any further help in getting the project off the ground. They have completely handed off the idea to Snyder, who will be the sole creative force behind getting it to the screen. There will be no collaboration between the two maverick directors.

In other news stemming from the Inception reception, Thompson on Hollywood learned that Hans Zimmer will be scoring the Superman reboot.

Superman comes to theaters in 2012. The film is directed by Zack Snyder.

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