paramount
Is Watchmen Review-Proof?
8:12AM STV | The first batch of Watchmen reviews has arrived, drawing the geeks-vs.-trades divide into crisp, predictable relief. And while the critical haters are a minority, it’s their box-office forecasts that could most alarm its producers.
Virtual USS Enterprise Tour Showcases Paramount’s $250 Million Listing
2:50AM STV | The makers of Star Trek have finally caught up with the real-estate vanguard, offering new, 360-degree virtual tours of their lovely, pricey new interstellar property. More »
Lengthy New Deal Requires Referral to Brad Grey as ‘Pope Ceo II’
7:45AM STV | Hooray! Brad Grey will be at Paramount at least as long as his immediate predecessors, with a reported new contract extending his leadership through 2014. More »
Paramount Awards Site Hacked Just in Time For Golden Globe Noms
4:31AM STV | The Curious Case of Benjamin earned five Golden Globe nominations this morning — an achievement celebrated by hackers who promptly wiped the studio’s awards site off the Internet. More »
National Board of Review Makes ‘Slumdog’ 1-For-1 in Best Picture Race
5:28AM STV | Our ongoing Pop Culture Doomsday stroked the infant cheek of awards season this morning when the hooded, cloaked cultists at National Board of Review anointed Slumdog Millionaire as their Best Picture pick for 2008. It’s just the latest setback today for Paramount, which, with one notable exception, will chase the bitter aftertaste of rolling layoffs with an ice-cold glass of Button-Snub Ultra.
It’s Beginning To Look A Lot Like Hollywood Xmas: The Personnel Purging Begins
5:10AM Seth | As you may have already heard, a staggering 850 people were laid off from Viacom today. Torrents of blood washed down the halls of MTV on both coasts of the US, with added security in wading boots posted on every floor for “observation” (translation: making sure downsized employees don’t try to swipe a promotional copy of Trivial Pursuit: TRL Edition on their way out of the building). After the jump: The Universal globe stops spinning for 70 unlucky souls. More »
David Fincher Tries Unique ‘Brutality Method’ of Oscar Campaigning
4:00AM STV | The rimjob ecstasy of that first Benjamin Button screening has worn off for director David Fincher, who is said to be tormenting Paramount underlings just in time for the film’s Oscar push. Studio staffers were encouraged enough in recent days to even sell the notorious taskmaster out to Page Six, which reports today that Fincher has brought his shouty perfectionist passion to Button’s marketing campaign. More »
2:52AM STV | Soloist Silenced Even Longer: Paramount announced Tuesday that it’s pushing back The Soloist yet again, this time to April 24. The studio surprised even its former DreamWorks partners last month by drop-kicking the Robert Downey Jr./Jamie Foxx drama into 2009, culminating in an unceremonious dump-and-run in March and its withdrawal from the opening-night slot at last month’s AFI Fest. The move is yet another slap in the face to the ‘Works, whose loss of an ‘08 Oscar contender is only compounded by The Soloist’s new, utterly insurmountable April competition Vanilla Gorilla. Insult, meet injury. [Variety] More »
New ‘Star Trek’ Trailer Promises Hot Sex, Bad Dialogue
1:55AM STV | The first real trailer for J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek reboot emerged in theatres last Friday, spilling a dark, sprawling shadow over the Bond film that followed it and confirming our suspicions that about .003% of its rumoured $US200 million budget went to anything resembling a screenplay. Like we care: Our audience tuned out every platitude and ultimatum that followed the introduction of young troublemaker James Tiberius Kirk, lapsing into an effects coma from which we’re only beginning to emerge this morning. Paramount will have an official HD trailer online later today, but in the meantime, bask in the bootlegged bombast available now: Monsters! Sex! Simon Pegg! And a pissed-off Spock who puts those uncanny Katie Holmes comparisons to rest in seconds flat, thank God. [YouTube] More »
