Obama State of the Union Threatens Lost Premiere
Lost has had to overcome many obstacles through its first five seasons, but never before has it been threatened by the Commander-In-Chief.
News is circulating the Internet today that the White House is considering either January 26 or February 2 for President Obama's State of the Union Address.
Losties know full well February 2 is the season six premiere which would mean if that date is chosen, the planned 3-hour event would be preempted in favor of a political speech. Doesn't anyone in the White House watch Lost? Ouch!
ABC is surely monitoring this situation closely and has a backup plan in place should they lose their date. I have a hard time imagining Lost starting after the Address, which would leave either the previous or following Tuesday evenings as likely candidates.
Of course there is a big Twitter movement underway with a hashtag of #NoStateofUnionFeb2 to stop this television travesty in its tracks. Personally I favor returning to Lost on schedule rather than another update on the improving economy and the latest anti-terrorist measures.
"Avatar" ready for four-peat at box office
LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – "Avatar" is poised to become the first film to log four consecutive weekends atop the North American weekend box office since "The Dark Knight" managed the feat in summer 2008.
James Cameron's sci-fi phenom also is stalking "Dark Knight" and other all-time domestic top grossers, all while racking up an even more impressive global tally.
A 40% drop from last weekend's holiday-fueled total would mean a $40 million-plus haul for "Avatar" this session. That would take its domestic total well over $400 million, placing the Fox film smack in the midst of Hollywood's top 10 all-time grossers -- a list topped by the $600.8 million haul for Cameron's "Titanic" in 1997-98.
Fox also could wind up with the weekend's No. 2 picture as its family comedy "Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel" shows signs of sustained playability.
As for the weekend's wide openers, Lionsgate's futuristic vampire actioner "Daybreakers," starring Willem Dafoe and Ethan Hawke, should break into the mid- to high-teen millions through Sunday, and Dimension's teen comedy "Youth in Revolt" has good prospects of hitting double-digit millions.
But Universal's romantic comedy "Leap Year," starring Amy Adams and Matthew Goode ("A Single Man"), is tracking softly and likely will open in the single-digit millions.
Also Friday, Paramount expands its George Clooney vehicle "Up in the Air" to a total of about 2,200 engagements. Through Sunday, the total for the awards-season favorite stood at $44.4 million after five weekends of a platform campaign.
Terry Gilliam's "The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus," from Sony Picture Classics, will expand after four weekends of bicoastal exclusives to 550 U.S. locations. And Fox Searchlight broadens its Jeff Bridges vehicle "Crazy Heart" by 21 theaters to a total of 33, with the music-filled drama toting a haul of $702,188 through three sessions.
Cameron, Tarantino score Directors Guild nods
LOS ANGELES – The science-fiction blockbuster "Avatar" has earned James Cameron his latest nomination for the top honor from the Directors Guild of America.
Cameron won the guild prize 12 years ago for "Titanic." Also nominated are Kathryn Bigelow for the Iraq War drama "The Hurt Locker," Lee Daniels for the Harlem teen tale "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire," Jason Reitman for the recession-era story "Up in the Air" and Quentin Tarantino for the World War II hit "Inglourious Basterds."
Like the Golden Globes on Jan. 17, the awards put Cameron up against ex-wife Bigelow, a first-time Directors Guild nominee.
Daniels and Reitman also earned their first guild film nominations, while Tarantino previously was nominated for 1994's "Pulp Fiction."
Directors Guild picks usually are a good reflection of how the category will shake out at the Academy Awards. The winner at the guild awards usually goes on to win the directing Oscar, as Cameron did for "Titanic" and last year's guild winner, Danny Boyle, did for "Slumdog Millionaire."
The guild announces TV, documentary and commercial nominations Friday. Awards will be presented at a banquet Jan. 30 in Los Angeles, three days before Oscar nominations come out.
If the Oscar nominees match the guild picks, it would be one of the most diverse lineups ever in the directing category, which usually consists of five white men.
Daniels would follow John Singleton ("Boyz N the Hood") as only the second black filmmaker nominated for best director. Bigelow would be only the fourth woman nominated for director, following Lina Wertmuller ("Seven Beauties"), Jane Campion ("The Piano") and Sofia Coppola ("Lost in Translation").
Director Norman Jewison, whose films include "In the Heat of the Night," "A Soldier's Story" and "Moonstruck," will receive the guild's lifetime-achievement award.
Reports: Jay Leno's future on NBC up in the air
NEW YORK – The future of "The Jay Leno Show" was in question Thursday, even as NBC defended its prime-time talk-show star amid Web site reports the program will soon be canceled or shifted into late night.
An industry Web site called FTV declared that Leno's show would be canceled as soon as the Winter Olympics begin next month, when much of the regular programming on NBC will be pre-empted for Olympics coverage.
Then the TMZ Web site, citing undisclosed sources, said Leno's show would go on hiatus Feb.1. Following the Olympics (which take place in Vancouver from Feb. 12-28), Leno will take back the 11:30 p.m. EST time slot he occupied for 17 years that ended last May.
This would make Leno's successor at "The Tonight Show," Conan O'Brien, "the odd man out," TMZ said.
Late Thursday, The New York Times reported that NBC executives held discussions with both Leno and O'Brien earlier in the day about the future of the network's late-night lineup. Those executives said that no final decision has been made, but did not deny that the network is considering options that could include returning Leno as host of the "Tonight Show."
Since September, Leno has hosted an hour-long talk and comedy show weeknights at 10 p.m. EST. But his lackluster ratings in prime time have upset NBC affiliate stations who complain they are getting weaker lead-in audiences for their local late newscasts than from past NBC fare.
In a statement released Thursday, NBC said, "Jay Leno is one of the most compelling entertainers in the world today. As we have said all along, Jay's show has performed exactly as we anticipated on the network. It has, however, presented some issues for our affiliates. Both Jay and the show are committed to working closely with them to find ways to improve the performance."
While this statement didn't clearly refute the Web reports that Leno's show would be dropped, a clarification from NBC executives denied "The Jay Leno Show" has been canceled.
During his monologue Thursday, Leno milked some laughs from the "rumor floating around that we were canceled. I heard it coming in this morning on the radio. So far, no one has said anything to me."
But if it's true, he joked, "it will give us time to do some traveling. I understand that (the) Fox (network) is beautiful this time of year."
"I don't think there is any truth to the rumors," he went on, referring to his frontrunner status in the ratings when NBC took him off "The Tonight Show."
"See, it's always been my experience that NBC only cancels you when you're in first place," Leno cracked. "So we are fine. We are OK."
O'Brien made no mention of the scuttlebutt in his monologue.
Thursday night, NBC issued yet another statement expressing the network's commitment "to keeping Conan O'Brien on NBC. He is a valued part of our late-night lineup, as he has been for more than 16 years and is one of the most respected entertainers on television."
On Thursday, the rumors surrounding Leno's fate left industry analyst Shari Anne Brill mystified.
"For me, the big question is what is going to happen at 10 p.m. going forward," Brill said, "because that's a critical time period to promote the late local news, and it was the affiliates' dissatisfaction with their lower audience numbers that was the catalyst for speculation on this purported move (for Leno) into late-night."
"The unsolved mystery is what happens at 10 p.m." said Brill of Carat USA.
What sparked Thursday's flurry of Web reports was unclear, but coincided with reports this week that NBC has as many as 18 pilots for prospective new series — presumably more than would be needed to replenish a prime-time schedule for a network that expected to continue filling five hours weekly with Leno's show.
The speculation may also be a run-up to the winter TV Critics Press Tour, which begins this weekend in Los Angeles. At this annual conclave, network programming initiatives are unveiled for media reporters. In turn, reporters have a forum to grill network brass on programming questions. NBC's session is scheduled for Sunday.