Monty Python remembers Monty Python
A new documentary is being created for air on the IFC and release on DVD and Blu-ray later this year looking back on the history of Britain's most successful comedy group in Monty Python: Almost the Truth (The Lawyer's Cut). Forty years after the premier of Flying Circus, the living members of the group collaborate with interviews from comedians and celebrities on the impact of the long running nonsense. It's a figurative Holy Grail of information.
The disc will arrive in October with a suggested retail price to be set.
Global box office hits record $28 billion in '08
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) – The global movie box office rose 5 percent to a record $28.1 billion in 2008 as fans sought to escape tough economic times through the triumphs of superheroes in films like "The Dark Knight," and "Iron Man."
The Motion Picture Association of America on Tuesday said domestic ticket sales in the United States and Canada reached $9.8 billion, up 1.7 percent from 2007, and accounted for 35 percent of the worldwide total.
The box office in international markets, excluding Canada, climbed to a record $18.3 billion, up 7 percent from 2007, and accounted for 65 percent of the global total.
"Movies can still be counted on to boost people's spirits as well as the economy," said Dan Glickman, the chairman and chief executive of the movie trade group, in prepared comments for ShoWest, an annual convention held in Las Vegas.
Glickman said the domestic box office has remained strong in 2009, surging 11 percent in the first 10 weeks of the year.
David Miller, analyst with Caris & Co, said the lineup for the U.S. summer movie season looks exceptional with many big titles set for release, including "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," "Star Trek" and the newest "Harry Potter" installment.
"We believe the Street now has (a) little more comfort with the summer...lineup out of the studio system, which looks outstanding," Miller said in a report.
But strong ticket sales have not always helped Hollywood.
Citing strong box office trends, lawmakers recently stripped from the $900 billion U.S. economic stimulus plan a provision to provide $246 million in tax breaks for movie makers that would help fund production.
In his statement, Glickman said it was not only in Hollywood's interest, but in the U.S. interest, to have constructive policies that protect intellectual property and encourage the economic growth the industry can deliver.
"When folks talk about how well the box office is doing, it's nothing to apologize for," Glickman said in a statement.
"Whether we build cars or make movies shouldn't matter. What matters is getting folks back to work and reviving our economy," he said.
Unlike previous years, the MPAA did not provide data on the average cost to make and market films -- figures that mostly have been on the rise and have offset solid box office.
In last year's report, the MPAA said the average cost to make and market a film grew to $106.6 million in 2007 for the major studios, up 6.3 percent from $100.3 million in 2006.
An MPAA spokeswoman said the group did not track these figures in 2008 due to an evolving marketplace.
"The industry, the wide diversity of films produced, the labels used for distribution and a host of other factors are all changing so rapidly that year-to-year average cost comparisons are relatively useless and misleading," said the spokeswoman.
While domestic admissions fell slightly to 1.4 billion in all of 2008, they remained relatively equal to recent years, with the exception being 2002's high of 1.6 billion admissions.
Admissions rose 7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2008 and eight percent in the first 10 weeks of 2009, the MPAA said.
The rise underscores an old rule in Hollywood that in tough times, people go to the movies for escape.
Average ticket prices in 2008 rose by about 30 cents to $7.18, a 4.4 percent increase roughly comparable to the consumer price index increase, the MPAA said.
The number of films released domestically in 2008 rose slightly from the previous year to 610 compared to 599 in 2007, but films produced in the U.S. dropped 20.7 percent in large part due to economic and labor issues, the MPAA said.
The MPAA said its major studio members released 27 fewer films, while non-MPAA-affiliated independent companies released 38 more new films in 2008, making up the difference.
The MPAA represents major studios like General Electric Co's Universal Pictures, Time Warner Inc's Warner Bros, Viacom Inc's Paramount, which distributes DreamWorks films, News Corp's Twentieth Century Fox, Sony Corp and Walt Disney Co.
Another Ghostbusters Sequel Update
About a month ago, Dan Ackroyd gave an update on the next Ghostbusters movie. Now another star and co-writer from the original movies is offering his take on the new sequel, and when we can expect it.
Harold Ramis, Egon Spengler for those familiar with the jumpsuit-wearing Ghostbusters characters, talked with MTV’s Splash Page about that long-talked about sequel. His take is pretty similar to Ackroyd’s: the sequel is coming, the script is underway, and the original players will all be involved, albeit passing the torch to new characters.
"We're all going to be in it in different kinds of roles. We're going to be the sage mentors. There are going to be young Ghostbusters," Ramis declared. When he says “we” he means all of the originals, even the notoriously difficult Bill Murray. "Bill Murray is just waiting for the truckload of money to arrive to get him out of his office," Ramis jabbed, before turning a bit more serious. "I haven't talked to him about it. I want to talk to him about it eventually. I think we just need a script, because he's the thorniest of the group."
As for who those younger Ghostbusters will be, Ramis pointed out that rumors have been going on as far back as including Chris Farley in the cast (along with Ben Stiller, and Chris Rock). The truth is nobody’s been cast, and the movie is still in the script phase, with Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky handling the script duties while Ramis, Ackroyd, and director Ivan Reitman serve as consultants.
The actors aren’t the only thing up in the air for the third movie in the series. Reitman is not planning on returning to direct, nor does Ramis want the task, leaving the director’s chair open. With Judd Apatow already signed on to produce, somehow I don’t think finding a director is going to be all that difficult.
Little Steven Ready To Hit The Road With Springsteen
With opening night on Wednesday in San Jose, the E Street Band is ready to rock with Bruce Springsteen. And Little Steven Van Zandt anticipates giving the crowds a healthy dose of the new "Working on a Dream" album.
"We usually want to get the new album in," the guitarist told Billboard.com while in Austin, Texas, to promote his "Underground Garage" radio show and Wicked Cool record label at this year's South By Southwest Music & Media Conference. "We usually play more of our new record than most groups do, and our audiences are used to it and they really like it, which is a wonderful thing. So we'll probably go out and do half the record, like we usually do."
Of the songs from the album, which came out in late January and debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, Van Zandt said that " 'Lucky Day' just kills, as you expect. 'Surprise Surprise' has been fun. '(Kingdom of) Days' was coming out really great...They're all sounding great. It's just a matter of seeing where (Springsteen) wants to go theme-wise...and we fit the rest of the show around it, more or less. That's all developing as we speak, literally."
After the highly spontaneous shows on the last North American leg of Springsteen's "Magic" tour in 2008, Van Zandt said he expects at least the early shows will "probably (be) coming back to more of an organized set for a minute." But, knowing Springsteen, he adds, "Who really knows?"
Van Zandt added that he does expect the group will play more shows than the currently announced North American and European dates. "I would think there's a bit more than that. I gotta believe we're gonna (tour) until at least Thanksgiving or Christmas, somehow, somewhere. I hope so. I hope we take a month off and then go back out."
He's also not fazed by the idea of not having drummer Max Weinberg out of some shows in order to help launch Conan O'Brien's run on "The Tonight Show," while his son Jay Weinberg takes over his stool.
"I think it's gonna be fine," said Van Zandt, who produced the new album by Norway's the Cocktail Slippers, "St. Valentine's Day Massacre," due out April 28. "And knowing Max, he's not going to miss much...He is the E Street Band. Conan has been absolutely terrific about this...I don't think we thank him often enough. Max is a big part of that show, and for (O'Brien) to just say, 'Go whenever you feel like it,' I mean, Jesus, how nice. So we'll see."