Thompson on Hollywood

WonderCon Sneak Peeks Inception, Sorcerer's Apprentice, Toy Story 3, Prince of Persia

This weekend, San Francisco played host to a big multi-studio fan press junket at WonderCon, a pint-sized adjunct to July's giant ComicCon in San Diego. Disney imported producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Nic Cage and Jake Gyllenhaal and screened footage from Sorcerer's Apprentice, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Toy Story 3 (which they have now tantalizingly screened in its entirety thrice, at Showest, International YouTube vloggers day and a Pixar screening for long-lead press). They also staged a viral event for Tron Legacy (see video below).

By Anne Thompson
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April 4, 2010 7:13 AM
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Andreessen Talks Tech Turkey on Charlie Rose

I saved this Marc Andreessen Charlie Rose interview on TiVo because Andreessen is brilliant and loves to share his insight. Months later, as the iPad is coming out and the internet continues to dominate our lives, this Silicon Valley maverick reveals how much he knows about how start-ups and the Internet work from in front. He just gets it. He co-founded and sold Netscape to AOL for $1 billion, and more recently, created Ning and a start-up fund (Andreessen/Horowitz). As an investor and/or board member, his fingers are in many pies, from Twitter to Facebook.

By Anne Thompson
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April 4, 2010 6:23 AM
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Clash of the Titans Breaks Easter Weekend Record; Tyler Perry, Miley Cyrus Score

Clash of the Titans smashes Easter weekend records, while Tyler Perry and Miley Cyrus also delivered strong holiday grosses, reports TOH box office analyst Anthony D'Alessandro:

By Anthony D'Alessandro
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April 4, 2010 3:36 AM
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Clash of the Titans Trashes Greek Myths in Eye-Rolling 3-D

I've already weighed in on why Clash of the Titans is a must-to-avoid in 3-D, and why I detest retrofitted 3-D in general.

By Anne Thompson
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April 3, 2010 7:23 AM
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Jimmy Fallon Tries Out iPad Plus Reviews

Do I absolutely need an iPad? No, I have a MacBook and a BlackBerry. But I really want one. Can I afford $500 for an iPad? Yes. How many dinners out would pay for it? Not so many. It's totally tax-deductable, I need to write about it for my work. I could kill all my subscriptions and save lots of trees, sit in my breakfast nook every morning and read the iPad instead. And I could carry it in my purse with me instead of packing up the laptop. I just might be getting up to join the throngs tomorrow morning.

By Anne Thompson
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April 3, 2010 6:42 AM
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Things I Learned at Lunch This Week, from Black Swan to Bono

In recovery from awards season, I'm back to eating the occasional meal with folks like Phoenix Pictures honcho Mike Medavoy, who met me for lunch at Fraiche in Culver City. He brought along production exec David Thwaites (a one-time child actor in Britain who started as assistant with Medavoy) and French photographer Brigitte Lacombe, who was taking Medavoy's portrait. (If you missed it, treat yourself to her delightful interview on Charlie Rose, dishing on her celebrity photos.)

By Anne Thompson
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April 1, 2010 12:49 PM
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Produced By Books Scott, Grazer, Weiner, Zanuck, Brooks

It looks like the Producers Guild's second annual fund-raising Produced By Conference, to be held June 4 to 6 on the Fox lot, is likely to be sold out again. (If they don't have to sell discounted tickets, they might make money this year.)

By Anne Thompson
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April 1, 2010 8:06 AM
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Leaves of Grass Wows SXSW, Lands New Distrib

The folks at WME were scrambling this week in the wake of some very good news for client Edward Norton: Tim Blake Nelson's stoner comedy Leaves of Grass, which stars Norton as two very different pot-loving twin brothers, had landed a new distributor. It meant scrambling to pull Norton out of appearances on Jimmy Fallon and other TV shows and unbooking NY's Angelica and other commitments.

By Anne Thompson
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April 1, 2010 7:17 AM
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Internet Goes Nuts Over iPad

Reviews of the new multi-media iPad are flowing in.

By Anne Thompson
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April 1, 2010 5:30 AM
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Duncan Jones is Unhappy About Moon

In a series of tweets this morning UK filmmaker Duncan Jones--who won an emerging filmmaker prize from BAFTA for his low-budget sci-fi film Moon---bares his rage about not making money on the film. Sorry, but these days few indies do. Sony Worldwide Acquisitions Group acquired the film in many territories, some of which were sold to various distribs. Sony Pictures Classics liked the film and asked to release it in the US. Among theatrical distribs SPC is relatively good about not overspending and sharing money with their filmmakers, although there wasn't much to share in this case.