BIZZ BUZZ 01-06 - 13
STORIES FROM BEHIND THE SILVER SCREEN
Hollywood went abuzz this week when rumors began circulating J.J. Abrams would helm the next STAR WARS episode. Abrams is responsible for the resurgence of STAR TREK, and therein may lie the rub. While the folks at Disney, now owners of all things STAR WARS, are anxious to turn the reins over to Abrams (he is not nearly as demanding as Lucas), the fine folks at Paramount aren’t keen on the idea.
My sources say Paramount is very happy with what Abrams has done for TREK, and is not happy about him taking his talents and success to the Mouse Factory. Abrams said, back in October, he had no interest in doing a STAR WARS film, but now, suddenly, he has a change of mind. You can read: Disney offered him a boatload of money. My sources at Paramount have hinted they will give Abrams an all or nothing deal, claiming if he does STAR WARS, he’ll never again do TREK. Lawyers are currently scrutinizing his contract for methods to prevent Abrams from dominating space, the final frontier, including back points and merchandising clauses.
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If you can’t get enough of “Transformers”, and really, who can’t, Warner Brothers is turning the anime clone “Robotech” into a live action flick. It will feature giant mechanical warriors. Wow, where do they come up with these ideas? Nic Mathieu will direct. There have been so many people involved with writing the script, it may take minutes during the end credits just to list them. The “Robotech” characters were a TV mainstay back in the 80’s. Tobey Maguire, who to this day regrets his apathetic and cavalier attitude towards “Spider-Man”, will produce. Mathieu has no experience with a film of this magnitude, so WB is throwing him a few bones to cut his teeth on, attempting to bring him up to speed.
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The shooting at Sandy Hook School in Newtown, CT. like all tragedies of this ilk, spurred a typical knee-jerk reaction from liberals seeking to ban guns. Surprisingly, the movie industry is not a target, despite pleas from the National Rifle Association (NRA) claiming violent movies and video games are more the culprit than gun ownership.
When President Bronco Bama presented his gun control measure to the American public, Hollywood, TV, cable and other media sources were not a major focus. Conservative pundits claim Obama purposely ignored the media, due to the millions various studios, executives and stars poured into his reelection campaign.
The President (but not my President) did send lapdog Joe Biden to launch a long-term study of the effects of violence in media, but the results of the study will be years in the offing. Meanwhile, this bodes well for Hollywood, where a resurgence of action films is currently unfolding. As people become increasingly frustrated with the Administration’s policies and increased taxation, a bevy of films featuring one man anti-heroes fighting the system are sure to be meat and potatoes for hard-earned entertainment dollars.
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TV is worth watching again. NHL games, “Justified” and “Lost Girl” have returned. “The Walking Dead” begins in a few weeks and “Burn Notice” is just around the corner. You can easily tell folks are chagrined over TV offerings because live sports events dominated the ratings through the middle of January. The only show to post substantial numbers out of the sports field was the 70th Annual Golden Globe Awards, which pulled in over 4.5 million viewers. This is drolly ironic as everyone in the industry knows the Golden Globes are a joke; selections made by a panel of a dozen people with minimal film qualifications, save the inability to retire at a decent age.
The Bizz Buzz is a weekly posting of the latest news from behind the Silver Screen, culled from wire services, trade publications and top secret studio informers, all mixed with my keen deductive reasoning and sinister, snarky statements.
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