Thompson on Hollywood

Buzz Boosts Zombieland, Moore, Paranormal Activity; Whip It Limps

Lessons learned from the weekend box office:

By Anne Thompson
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October 4, 2009 9:49 AM
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Indie Fallout: Should Studio Specialty Units Change Focus?

Ever since the Indie Summit last week, something has been nagging at me.

By Anne Thompson
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September 30, 2009 3:58 AM
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Toronto: Winners, Losers, Oscar Contenders

There was plenty to see in Toronto. Here's how the films shook out for me.

By Anne Thompson
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September 20, 2009 3:20 AM
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Toronto Wrap: Indie Bloodbath

If industry-watchers didn't see it coming, they figured it out at this year's Toronto Film Festival.

By Anne Thompson
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September 19, 2009 9:09 AM
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Festival Season: Feast and Famine, Ten Hot Toronto Pick-Ups

Going into the fall festival season in Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York, we know the following:

By Anne Thompson
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September 1, 2009 10:07 AM
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Each day brings more news of a troubled company needing debt restructuring or a management overhaul. The Weinstein Co. and MGM are just the latest examples. All the studios face pressure from their corporate parents in a grim recession amid declining ad and DVD revenues. Sales are down across the board, including classic rereleases, and less precipitously, specialty titles.

By Anne Thompson
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August 18, 2009 7:43 AM
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Fox Searchlight's Crazy Heart Acquisition Marks Changing Market

In one of the first acquisitions since Peter Rice left Fox Searchlight to run Fox TV, Searchlight co-presidents Nancy Utley and Steve Gilula acquired worldwide rights to rookie director Scott Cooper's Crazy Heart, which stars Jeff Bridges as an aging country star and Maggie Gyllenhaal as a young reporter. T-Bone Burnett supervised a country music soundtrack. The distrib paid low seven figures. "We just liked it," says one Searchlight executive.