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Mel Gibson is not having a good month. His ex-girlfriend, Oksana Grigorieva, fighting him in court, taped him saying nasty racist things and went public with them. He's being investigated for domestic abuse. His beloved agent of 32 years, Ed Limato, passed away last weekend after a long illness. And with him no longer providing protection, his agency WME summarily dumped him.

By Anne Thompson
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July 9, 2010 12:30 PM
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9 Comments

Lionsgate Fights Hostile Takeover, Apatow Loves Pee Wee, Mel Gibson in Trouble

Lionsgate is avoiding a hostile takeover with a re-implementation of a poison pill tactic. That's the tactic of selling shares to current shareholders at a price substantially reduced from market value, usually aimed against one shareholder, in this case billionaire investor Carl Icahn. Basically Lionsgate is offering cheaper shares to everyone but him, in an attempt to make a possible takeover too expensive, explains the LAT. Icahn currently holds 37.9% of the company's stake. Lionsgate swallowed the pill once before against Icahn, but the move was invalidated by Canadian authorities. Icahn is also attempting to replace the board of directors.

By Cameron Carlson
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July 2, 2010 5:11 AM
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0 Comments

Of the 40 films on indieWIRE's Cannes wish list--a clever way of reporting what might be going without knowing for sure what will be announced on April 15--I hear that Oliver Stone's Wall Street Never Sleeps and Woody Allen's You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger are going, while Cannes negotiations for The Tree of Life are proceeding smoothly re: Brad Pitt and Sean Penn walking the red carpet and doing a press conference without the retiring director, which is a big concession for Cannes.

By Anne Thompson
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March 30, 2010 5:41 AM
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5 Comments

Jodie Foster has said this before: she's more comfortable in mainstream Hollywood movies as an actress. Some folks got her her talking at the Indie Spirits, where she presented the best actress award. She reveals a bit about directing her latest indie movie starring Mel Gibson, The Beaver.

By Anne Thompson
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March 6, 2010 10:14 AM
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0 Comments

Trailer Watch: HBO's Temple Grandin Stars Claire Danes

At the jam-packed Paramount pre-Golden Globes party at the Chateau Marmont, I was talking with Jodie Foster, who is editing her Summit drama The Beaver, starring old pal Mel Gibson--"you've never seen him like this before," she promised. She also insisted that she will never change the title, which refers to a Beaver hand puppet who tells the Gibson character what to do.