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MARCH 24, 2014
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B.O. Report: Divergent Breaks
YA Curse With $56 Million Debut
By Pamela McClintock
S
u m m i t En t erta i n m en t ’s
Divergent may not have reached the
heights of Twilight or The Hunger
Games, but its $56 million domestic boxoffice debut broke the curse that has
plagued every other YA film adaptation.
Launching a new franchise for Summit and parent company Lionsgate,
the dystopian sci-fi adventure benefited
from good word of mouth among moviegoers, who gave it an A CinemaScore
despite mostly withering reviews.
As expected, females made up the
majority of the audience (69 percent).
Half of the audience was over the age of
25, easing concerns that Divergent would
only have appeal among younger demos.
And the movie also did big business in
male-driven Imax and Premium Large
Format theaters, which took in a combined $9.3 million, or 16.7 percent of
the overall gross.
Divergent — starring Shailene Woodley
Launching a new franchise for Summit and parent company Lionsgate, dystopian sci-fi adventure Divergent benefited
from good word-of-mouth among moviegoers, who gave the film an A CinemaScore despite mostly withering reviews.
in the lead role — was directed by Neil
Burger and based on the best-selling
book series by Veronica Roth about a
young woman who poses a threat to
society after failing to fit into one of five
strictly controlled factions. The movie,
which cost $85 million to make, doesn’t
begin rolling out overseas in earnest
until April 4.
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MARCH 24, 2014
movie news
F r o m pa g e 1
“This opened exactly where we needed
it to be to launch a new franchise,” said
Summit/Lionsgate distribution chief
Richie Fay.
Interestingly, only 50 percent of ticket
buyers had read the book, compared to
74 percent for Twilight and 76 percent
for Hunger Games.
Summit is certainly well-versed in
selling YA adaptations, being the home
of the Twilight franchise, and Lionsgate is the studio behind Hunger Games.
Summit is set to begin production on Insurgent, the sequel to Divergent, in May.
It hits theaters March 20, 2015.
In November 2008, the first Twilight
debuted domestically to $69.6 million;
four years later, Hunger Games opened
to a massive $152.5 million, one of the
biggest openings of all time. Other YA
film adaptations have failed to make
their mark at the box office, including
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones,
Warm Bodies and Beautiful Creatures.
Divergent also stars Theo James, Ashley Judd, Jai Courtney, Ray Stevenson,
Zoe Kravitz, Miles Teller, Tony Goldwyn,
Ansel Elgort, Maggie Q, Mekhi Phifer
and Kate Winslet.
Among the weekend’s other new offerings, Disney’s Muppets Most Wanted was
a dud in its opening weekend, thanks in
part to a saturated market for family pics.
The sequel, facing competition from
holdovers Mr. Peabody & Sherman and
The Lego Movie, opened to $16.5 million
to come in No. 2, compared to a $41 million launch for The Muppets over the
Thanksgiving holiday in 2011, including
$29 million for the weekend. Nevertheless,
Disney’s financial exposure is limited,
thanks to a reasonable $54 million budget.
And Most Wanted could make up
ground overseas. It opened in its first
eight markets over the weekend, grossing $1.5 million.
James Bobin returned to direct the
Muppets sequel, with Ricky Gervais,
Ty Burrell and Tina Fey replacing Jason
Segel and Amy Adams as the live-action
leads. This time out, Kermit and the gang
Weekend Box Office Top 10
This
week
Movie/Distributor
3-day
gross
Percent
change
# of
theaters
Pertheater
average
Cume
to date
$56.0
—
3,936
$14,228
$56.0
(in mil)
1
Divergent (lionsgate)
2
Muppets Most Wanted (DiSNEY)
16.5
—
3,194
5,170
16.5
3
Mr. Peabody and Sherman (Fox)
11.7
-46
3,607
3,244
81.0
4
300: Rise of an Empire (Warner Bros.)
8.7
-55
3,085
2,809
93.8
5
God’s Not Dead (Freestyle)
8.6
—
780
10,979
8.6
6
Need for Speed (DiSNEY)
7.8
-56
3,115
2,498
30.4
7
The Grand Budapest Hotel (fox searchlight)
7.0
92
304
23,026
13.2
8
Non-Stop (Universal)
6.3
-40
2,945
2,155
78.6
9
The Lego Movie (WARNER BROS.)
4.1
-47
2,501
1,645
243.4
10
The Single Moms Club (lionsgate)
3.1
-62
1,896
1,635
12.9
rentrak
find themselves lured into an international
crime caper while on tour in Europe.
Most Wanted has earned lukewarm-togood reviews, compared to stellar notices
for the orginal Muppets. Audiences gave
the movie a B+ CinemaScore.
Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis
said the opening was “definitely disappointing,” considering prerelease
tracking suggested Most Wanted had
every shot at opening north of $20 milion. However, he said there was never a
comparison between the first film and
the sequel, since Thanksgiving is a concentrated time for family moviegoing.
“They are totally different propositions,”
said Hollis.
He added that Most Wanted should
enjoy strong business in the coming days
because of spring break.
Peabody came in No. 3 with $11.7 million for a domestic cume of $81 million
for DreamWorks Animation and Fox.
Also opening nationwide, although
on a much smaller scale, was Christian
drama God’s Not Dead. From Pure Flix
Entertainment, the movie debuted to a
strong No. 5 with $8.6 million from 780
locations across the country, putting it
on par with such films as 2008’s Fireproof
and 2011’s Courageous.
Based on the book of the same name
by Rice Broocks and Daniel Bashta’s
song “Like a Lion,” God’s Not Dead stars
Shane Harper as a college student whose
philosophy professor forces him to sign
a declaration that “God is dead.” When
the student refuses, he’s required to prove
his position that God exists in a series of
debates. The indie pic, helmed by Harold
Cronk, also stars Kevin Sorbo, Jim Gleason, David A.R. White and Dean Cain.
“We couldn’t be happier with the
huge support God’s Not Dead has experienced in our opening weekend,” said
Mark Borde, co-president of Freestyle
Releasing, which is handling the film
on behalf of Pure Flix. “On such few
screens to compete so strongly on a
national platform says so much about
the film, the filmmakers and the target
audience who love this movie. We plan
to expand next week to reach out to the
tens of thousands demanding to see
God’s Not Dead in their city.”
Another film with biblical themes,
Darren Aronofsky’s event movie Noah,
opened in its first two offshore markets
to impressive results. The Paramount and
New Regency title grossed $14 million in
Mexico and South Korea, where it bowed
a week ahead of its launch in North America and another 20 foreign markets. Noah
is pacing just ahead of Gravity.
Winning the weekend at the overseas
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MARCH 24, 2014
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F r o m pa g e 2
box office was DreamWorks and Disney’s
racing movie Need for Speed. The action
pic starring Aaron Paul grossed a strong
$29.2 million from 55 markets, pushing
its overseas total to a pleasing $93.8 million (Mister Smith Entertainment is
splitting international duties with Disney).
Domestically, Need for Speed is doing
less business, earning $7.8 million in its
second weekend for a total $30.4 million
and coming in No. 6. Worldwide, the film
has earned $126.5 million.
Among other holdovers, 300: Rise of
an Empire remained in the top five in its
third weekend, placing No. 4 with $8.7
million for a domestic cume of $93.8
million. Overseas, the Warner Bros. and
Legendary Pictures title took in another
$21 million from 63 markets for a foreign
tally of $195.4 million and global cume of
$289.2 million.
Placing No. 7 in North America was
Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest
Hotel, which expanded into a total of 304
locations in its third outing. The film
grossed a stellar $7.0 million, and once
again nabbed the top location average
of the weekend with $23,026. Budapest
Hotel, which will expand into additional
markets next weekend, has earned a
total of $13.2 million for Fox Searchlight.
At the specialty box office, Lars von
Trier’s unrated sexual opus Nymphomaniac: Volume I failed to arouse, earning
roughly $132,000 from 22 locations for a
location average of $6,000, well behind
his previous films, 2011’s Melancholia
and 2009’s Antichrist. Magnolia made
the movie available first on VOD.
Sinclair, East finalize
exits from Exclusive
By Pamela McClintock
En di ng w eek s of n eg ot i at ions
over their exit packages, Exclusive Media
co-chairmen Nigel Sinclair and Guy East
are officially out.
Marc Schipper, who previously served
as COO, has been promoted to CEO of
the company, effective immediately.
Giant hedge fund Dasym, which owns
a majority stake in Exclusive, were unhappy with Sinclair and East’s tenure and
losses stemming from a hefty marketing
spend for 2013 racing pic Rush. It’s still
unclear what Dasym has planned for a
pared-down Exclusive, but
insiders say Dasym doesn’t
have much interest in staying in the production business. Instead, it will focus
on monetizing Exclusive’s
East
library and foreign sales
arm, run by Alex Walton.
Sinclair and East are
widely respected in the
indie community and have
worked together for two
Sinclair
decades, first at Intermedia
and then at Spitfire. And while Rush and
historical film Parkland may have been
disappointments, Exclusive’s success
stories include The Ides of March, End of
Watch, Snitch and The Woman in Black,
a low-budget horror pic that grossed a
whopping $127 million worldwide in 2012.
East and Sinclair, who formed Exclusive
in 2008 with Schipper and Simon Oakes,
have already launched their own production company, White Horse Pictures
(per their exit deal, they are being provided office space by Exclusive). The duo
say they will focus on content only.
They have taken several projects that
were previously set up at Exclusive,
including a Julius Caesar origins story.
One director that’s been asked to read
the script is Lee Daniels.
Sinclair said the split with the company
was amicable, and he disputed the notion
Exclusive was top-heavy.
“This is the end of a journey for us,”
he said. “We were blessed with the support of colleagues, our partners and
financial shareholder Dasym, and we
built a great company.”
East said White Horse already has hired
five “millennials,” or creative executives
in their 20s and 30s. “Their mission is to
look for exciting content that surprises,”
he said.
In 2007, Oakes and Schipper bought
British horror label Hammer Films with
backing from Cryte Investments, a predecessor to Dasym. A year later, again
with Cryte’s help, they bought East and
Sinclair’s Spitfire Pictures, which led to
the formation of Exclusive. Oakes serves
as CEO and president of Hammer.
fox’s Fantastic Four 2,
Wolverine 2 due in 2017
By Aaron Couch
Fox is m a k i ng i ts M a rv el FILM
properties a foundation of its upcoming
slate and has announced a release date
for a Fantastic Four movie before the first
has even begun shooting.
The studio announced Fantastic Four 2
will open July 14, 2017, while an untitled
Wolverine sequel will open March 3, 2017.
Fox has also slated an untitled Marvel pic
for July 13, 2018.
Fox controls the rights to the X-Men
and Fantastic Four franchises, so the
mystery 2018 Marvel film could draw
from either of those. It’s not unthinkable that the project might even be a
crossover between the two.
James Mangold is returning to helm the
sequel to The Wolverine, which earned
more than $414 million globally last year.
The Fantastic Four reboot recently solidified its cast, with Michael B. Jordan, Kate
Mara, Jamie Bell and Miles Teller taking
on the roles of the superhero team. It is
slated for a June 19, 2015, release.
Fox also announced a release date for
Liam Neeson starrer Taken 3, slating it
for Jan. 9. An unnamed Ridley Scott film
is set for March 4, 2016.
Fox shifted the release dates for several
pics. Matthew Vaughn’s The Secret Service
has been moved up from March 6, 2015,
to Oct. 24; an untitled Vince Vaughn film
has been pushed back from Oct. 24 to
March 6, 2015; and Frankenstein, starring
Daniel Radcliffe, is moving from Jan. 16
to Oct. 2, 2015.
Borys Kit contributed to this
report.
Page 4 of 8
MARCH 24, 2014
legal news
MGM Sued Over Home Vid Profits
From 1965 Pic What’s New Pussycat?
By Alex Ben Block
Met ro - G ol dw y n M ay er is t h e
latest studio to be hit with a class-action
lawsuit challenging the way home video
profits are parceled out.
In a lawsuit filed Friday in Los Angeles
Superior Court, Joan J. Buck challenges
the industry policy of taking just 20 percent of the receipts from the home video
release of a movie as the basis for determining the payments to profit participants. Buck’s lawsuit says the residuals
should be paid on 100 percent of what the
studio receives from all post-theatrical
release markets.
She is seeking additional residual
payments from the 1965 comedy What’s
New Pussycat?, which her late father,
Jules Buck, produced.
“When home video distribution was in
its infancy, and studios such as MGM had
not yet established in-house home video
departments or subsidiaries, the large,
independent home video distributors paid
a flat 20 percent royalty to the studios
from home video sales,” says the lawsuit.
“The studios, including MGM, then paid
profit participants based on the 20 percent royalty received by the studios.”
Jules Buck produced 1965 comedy What’s New Pussycat?
“However,” continues the suit, “after
the studios established their own home
video divisions, they continue the practice of only reporting 20 percent of actual
receipts to profit participants, as if the
profits earned by these divisions were not
their own and not subject to eventual
disbursement to the profit participants
as well.”
In other words, what became standard
practice in the early days of home video
— paying royalties on 20 percent of total
revenues — has continued.
Buck is suing for breach of contract
and other items relating to money she
says she is due which has been improperly withheld.
At least three similar suits were filed in
early 2013 over the same issue. The estates
of helmer Colin Higgins (Foul Play) sued
Paramount Pictures; the estate of director Stanley Donen (Singing in the Rain,
Lucky Lady) sued Twentieth Century Fox;
and the estate of actor Charles Bronson
(Death Wish, Hard Times) sued Sony Pictures Entertainment. All three lawsuits
continue to wind their way through the
legal system.
The suit by Buck says that anyone who
is a gross-profit participant in a movie
may join in the class action, which seeks
revenues from all domestic and international distribution of their movies.
Buck’s lawsuit claims she was in the
dark about what the studio was doing
until recently because she had relied on
the reports regularly sent by the studio
to represent the full amount due.
“MGM’s accounting practices,” says
the suit, “have allowed MGM to wrongfully withhold a substantial amount of
money it receives from home video distribution at the expense of the plaintiff
and the class.”
There was no immediate response to
a request for comment from a spokesperson for MGM.
Page 5 of 8
MARCH 24, 2014
tv news
Woodard to Play POTUS
in NBC’s State of Affairs
By Lesley Goldberg
N BC’s K at h er i n e Heigl pol i t ica l
drama has found its president in the form
of an Oscar nominee and Emmy winner.
Alfre Woodard has been tapped to
play the leader of the free world in the
network’s drama pilot State of Affairs,
The Hollywood Reporter has learned.
Described as Scandal
meets The West Wing,
the drama revolves around
a maverick CIA officer
(Heigl) who was plucked
from the field to become
Woodard
the president’s daily briefer,
assuming responsibility for targeting
America’s most critical threats while
navigating the unique lifestyle that
comes with such a high-powered job.
Woodard will play President Roberta
Payton, who hired Heigl’s perfectionist
Charleston “Charlie” Whitney Tucker
— her late son’s ex-girlfriend — to be her
legal briefer.
Woodard earned an Oscar nomination
in 1984 for her supporting turn in Cross
Creek. She’s a three-time Golden Globe
nominee, winning in 1998 for Miss Evers’
Boys. The prolific actress has amassed
an impressive 17 Emmy nominations and
four wins for her work on Hill Street Blues,
L.A. Law, Miss Evers’ Boys and The Practice. She was nominated last year for her
role on Lifetime’s Steel Magnolias reboot.
Her credits also include St. Elsewhere,
True Blood and Homicide: Life on the
Street as well as newly minted best picture Oscar winner 12 Years a Slave,
Beauty Shop, The Forgotten and upcoming Annabelle. She’s repped by ICM and
Circle of Confusion.
The casting brings Woodard back into
the NBC fold after her appearances on
Hill Street Blues, St. Elsewhere and shortlived Geena Davis sitcom Sara. Her series
regular roles include ABC’s Desperate
Housewives and TNT’s Memphis Beat as
well as CBS’ Three Rivers.
The Following’s Alexi Hawley will pen
the script alongside Joe Carnahan. Hawley will executive produce alongside Heigl
and her mother/manager Nancy Heigl,
Bob Simonds, Sophie Watts, Henry
Crumpton, Julia Franz and Rodney
Faraon. Carnahan will direct the pilot,
which hails from Universal Television, Bob
Simonds Co. and Abishag Productions.
Woodard joins a cast that also includes
Cliff Chamberlain (The Mob Doctor),
who is set as Brett, a CIA analyst on the
president’s briefing team.
The actress joins a growing roster of
African-American leads on pilots this
season that includes Viola Davis, Romany
Malco, Terrence Howard, Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Jada Pinkett
Smith, among others. Woodard also joins
female high-ranking political characters
portrayed by Julia Louis-Dreyfus (Veep),
Kate Burton (Scandal) and Sharon Stone
(TNT’s pilot Agent X), all of whom play
the Vice President.
USA drama White Collar
renewed for season 6
By Philiana Ng
USA Net wor k is ba n k i ng on mor e
White Collar in addition to greenlighting
two drama series.
Veteran drama White Collar has been
renewed for a six-episode sixth season,
though the NBCUniversal-owned network declined to confirm whether it will
be the final season. The network also has
ordered to series Rush, from Warm Bodies’
Jonathan Levine, and Complications, from
Burn Notice’s Matt Nix, with 10-episode
pickups, including the pilots.
“We are excited to usher in the next
generation of USA dramas, alongside
our signature returning originals that
continue to attract a large and loyal
fan base,” said USA Network president
Chris McCumber. “This year, USA will
be showcasing more hours of original
programming than ever before, including an unprecedented six new series and
six returning shows.”
White Collar’s late renewal comes after
the long-running drama ended its fifth
season with a cliffhanger that left the fate
of former con man-turned-FBI consultant
Neal Caffrey (Matt Bomer) up in the air.
Ratings have sagged late in its run, but
White Collar, from creator Jeff Eastin
(Graceland), remains one of USA’s most
acclaimed series and with the renewal
brings it to 81 episodes. While it is unclear whether season six will be the onehour drama’s last, previous series on the
network have received fitting send-offs
— most recently last year’s swan song for
spy effort Burn Notice.
Rush is described as a fast-paced Hollywood drama centered on Dr. William Rush
(Tom Ellis), who is not your average oncall doctor. He is highly discreet no matter
what the ailment, as long as the client
can pay his cash-only premium, and the
doctor can party with the best of them.
Rush has no desire to change his life or
how he lives it until an old flame and
his conscience begin to stir things up.
The production hails from Fox 21 and
counts Gina Matthews and Grant Scharbo
as executive producers.
Nix returns to USA following seven seasons on Burn Notice with Fox Television
Studios-produced medical drama Complications, which centers on John Ellis
(Jason O’Mara), a disillusioned suburban ER doctor who finds his existence
transformed when he intervenes in a
drive-by shooting, saving a young boy’s
life and killing one of his attackers.
When Ellis learns the boy is still marked
for death, he finds himself compelled to
save him at any cost and discovers that his
own life — and his outlook on medicine —
may never be the same. For Nix, the pickup comes two days after FX greenlighted
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MARCH 24, 2014
tv news
F r o m pa g e 5
his Billy Crystal-Josh Gad comedy series,
on which he is an executive producer.
The new drama pickups join the
untitled Sean Jablonski escort drama
starring The Glades alum Matt Passmore, which was ordered to series earlier
this month for a summer debut, as well
as upcoming “event series” Dig with
Jason Isaacs and Anne Heche, which
hails from Tim Kring and Gideon Raff.
The rookie efforts come as USA readies
to bid farewell to long-running comedy
Psych, which ends its eight-season run
March 26 with a live aftershow, replenishing its originals slate, which includes
Suits, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs and
Graceland. (The network canceled
Necessary Roughness last year.)
USA also continues to build out its
comedy brand, using syndicated acquisition Modern Family as a launchpad,
with Sirens in the post-Suits slot and the
upcoming Playing House and Benched,
as well as expanding its presence in the
reality space with Chrisley Knows Best.
Last Comic standing
Sets New Host, Judges
By Philiana Ng
NBC’s revived comedy competition
Last Comic Standing has unveiled its new
host and judges.
J.B. Smoove will take the
reins as host of the eighth
season 13-episode revamp,
with celebrity judges Roseanne Barr, Keenen Ivory
Smoove
Wayans and Russell Peters.
The new effort, executive produced
by Wanda Sykes, Page Hurwitz and
Javier Winnik, will launch with a twohour premiere on Thursday, May 22,
from 9-11 p.m. ET/PT, with the series
airing in its regular 10 p.m. Thursday
slot beginning the following week.
“We are ready to bring back the
funny with this relaunch of Last Comic
Standing, and can’t wait to discover the
next great stand-up,” said Paul Telegdy,
president alternative and late-night
programming, NBC Entertainment.
“With Keenen, Roseanne
and Russell set as our new
judges, J.B. as host and
Wanda, Page and Javier
at the helm, there will
be plenty of laughter all
Barr
summer.”
Part of the grand prize
on Last Comic includes an
NBC talent deal and a halfhour scripted project to be
developed by sister studio
Wayans
Universal Television.
The show’s return to
television comes after a
three-year absence on
NBC’s schedule. A regular
summer staple, previous
Peters
hosts for the competition
series have included Jay Mohr, Anthony
Clark, Bill Bellamy, Fearne Cotton and
Craig Robinson.
character Actor
Rebhorn Dies at 65
By Erik Hayden and Mike Barnes
Ja m e s Rebhor n, t h e v et er a n
character actor who played the father
of Claire Danes’ troubled CIA officer
Carrie Mathison on Showtime drama
Homeland, has died. He passed away
on Friday, his agent Dianne Busch
confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter.
Rebhorn was 65.
“He died from melanoma, which had
been diagnosed in 1992,” said Busch.
“He fought it all this time. He died
Friday afternoon at his home in New
Jersey, where he had been receiving
hospice care for a week and a half.”
Rebhorn also had a recent recurring
role on USA Network hit White Collar
as Special Agent Reese Hughes, head
of the FBI’s white-collar crime unit in
Manhattan.
During his prolific five-decade career,
the Philadelphia native also was memorable as the district attorney that sent
Jerry, Elaine, George and Kramer to jail
on the Seinfeld finale in 1998, and as the
prosecution’s FBI expert automotive witness in the film My Cousin Vinny (1992).
Rebhorn also had stints as attorneys
on David E. Kelley shows The Practice
and Boston Legal and recurring roles on
Third Watch, The Book of Daniel, Law &
Order and Big Lake.
He played the school’s
headmaster Mr. Trask in
1992’s Scent of a Woman
and was President Signoff
in 2000’s The Adventures
Rebhorn
of Rocky & Bullwinkle.
Rebhorn’s vast film résumé also
includes Silkwood (1983), The House
on Carroll Street (1988), Desperate
Hours (1990), Regarding Henry (1991),
Shadows and Fog (1991), Basic Instinct
(1992), Lorenzo’s Oil (1992), Guarding
Tess (1994), Independence Day (1996),
The Game (1997), The Talented Mr.
Ripley (1999), Snow Falling on Cedars
(1999), Meet the Parents (2000), Far
From Heaven (2002), Cold Mountain
(2003), Real Steel (2011) and The Odd
Life of Timothy Green (2012).
He was a mainstay of the Roundabout
Theatre Company and most recently
starred as a father stricken with Alzheimer’s in Too Much, Too Much, Too
Many, which opened in November at
the Black Box Theatre in New York.
Rebhorn appeared onstage in the
original production of I’m Not Rappaport in 1985 and in the revivals of Our
Town, The Man Who Had All the Luck,
Dinner at Eight, Twelve Angry Men and
Prelude to a Kiss.
He also was seen on the TV shows
Kate & Allie, The Equalizer, Wiseguy,
Enlightened and 30 Rock.
“USA Network is deeply saddened
about the passing of James Rebhorn,
who so brilliantly played Reese Hughes
on White Collar,” the TV network said in
a statement. “Our sympathies go out to
his family, friends and loved ones.”
Rebhorn is survived by his wife,
Rebecca, and daughters Hanna and
Emma.
Page 7 of 8
MARCH 24, 2014
business news
Media General to Buy
LIN Media for $1.6 Bil
By Georg Szalai
TV stat ion grou p Medi a Gen er a l
said Friday it would acquire LIN Media
for $1.6 billion to create what the companies say will be “the second-largest
pure-play television broadcasting company” in the U.S.
The combined company will include
74 network-affiliated owned or serviced
TV stations across 46 markets and will
reach 26.5 million homes, or approximately
23 percent of U.S. TV households, subject
to certain divestitures.
The deal is the latest in the ongoing
consolidation of the TV station business
as broadcasters have looked for scale to
strengthen them in dealings with networks and pay TV operators and the like.
Last year, Tribune agreed to acquire 19
TV stations in 16 markets in a $2.725 billion acquisition that the company said
made it the top independent owner of
U.S. TV stations.
That deal followed Gannett’s $1.5 billion acquisition of TV station group Belo
Corp., which at the time was the largest
station deal in more than a decade and
created the fourth-largest station group
in the country behind CBS Corp., Fox and
Sinclair Broadcast Group. And Sinclair
Broadcast agreed to acquire the Allbritton
TV stations for $985 million in another
large deal.
Media General will pay $1.6 billion in
cash and stock. LIN Media shareholders
will get $763 million in cash and a total
of 49.5 million Media General shares.
Including debt, the total transaction
enterprise value amounts to $2.6 billion.
Media General shareholders will retain
approximately 64 percent ownership, and
the combined company will retain the
Media General name.
Upon closing of the transaction, Vincent Sadusky, LIN president and CEO,
will become president and CEO of the
new company. Media General chairman
J. Stewart Bryan III will continue to
serve in that role.
The transaction is expected to close
in early 2015. It is subject to approval of
shareholders and regulators, including
the FCC. The companies said they “anticipate that station divestitures in certain
markets will be required in order to address
regulatory considerations.” They didn’t
immediately provide further details.
Bryan said the deal will “a financially
strong organization that will have opportunities for profitable growth greater than
either company could achieve on its own.”
He added: “Our two companies share a
deep commitment to operating top-rated
stations, to providing our local markets
with excellent journalism and to engaging
in meaningful ways with the communities we serve. The prospects for digital
media growth are particularly exciting.”
“This is an exciting and historic day for
both companies,” said Sadusky. “The
merger of two highly respected broadcasters with superior television and digital
assets creates maximum value for shareholders and provides us the scale, breadth
and resources to compete more effectively
in the rapidly evolving media landscape.
Together, we will be able to better serve
our local communities throughout our
significant and diverse geographic footprint and further grow our national digital business.”
De Niro’s Tribeca Sells
50 Percent Stake to MSG
By Erik Hayden
T h e M a dison Squa r e Ga r den Co.
is buying a 50 percent stake in Tribeca
Enterprises, which has put on the Tribeca
Film Festival in New York since 2002.
Tribeca Enterprises on Saturday confirmed the news in a statement. The deal
values the company at $45 million.
“Bob De Niro and I have built a brand
that supports community, artists, filmmakers and storytellers — we are thrilled
to be a member of MSG’s
family of iconic entertainment brands,” said
co-founder Jane Rosenthal
in the statement. “Our
partnership will allow us
De Niro
to grow the festival and
enhance the experience for
our audience and provide
more opportunities for the
creative and filmmaking
community nationally and
Rosenthal
internationally.”
Rosenthal and COO Jon Patricof will
continue to manage the company.
Tribeca Enterprises was founded by
Rosenthal, De Niro and investor Craig
Hatkoff. This year’s festival is set to run
April 16-27 with a lineup that includes
87 films and 55 premieres. It also boasts
a new presenting sponsor, AT&T, which
took the place of credit card company
American Express.
MSG, which owns the Fuse and MSG
networks as well as the NBA’s New York
Knicks and NHL’s New York Rangers,
operates multiple large venues in
New York and Los Angeles, including
the arena that bears its name and the
recently acquired Forum in L.A.
“We look forward to supporting Tribeca’s ambitious vision — to honor not
only movies, but the future of storytelling
— while utilizing the tremendous platforms of both brands to drive the value
and growth of our respective businesses,”
said MSG president Tad Smith.
Page 8 of 8
MARCH 24, 2014
film review
God’s Not Dead
By Stephen Farber
A w eek befor e pa r a mou nt ’s
Noah hits multiplexes across the country,
a much smaller religious-themed movie
is sneaking into a few theaters. God’s Not
Dead seems unlikely to provoke the controversy that Noah is generating in some
conservative religious circles, In fact,
the film seems clearly designed as propaganda to counter Hollywood’s more
typical “godless” efforts. But is it effective propaganda? Sometimes it is, to be
honest, but the pic will speak mainly to
those who already define themselves as
true believers.
God’s Not Dead is slickly produced,
with a competent cast, and although it
sometimes stacks the deck shamelessly
in defense of its credo, it does allow a few
dissenting voices to slip into the debate.
The protagonist, Josh Wheaton (Shane
Harper), is a freshman at the fictional
Hadleigh University in Louisiana, who
locks horns with an atheistic and dictatorial philosophy professor. On the first
day of class, the haughty professor Radisson (Kevin Sorbo) asks that all students
sign a paper affirming that “God Is Dead,”
so that he will not have to spend time
arguing with traditional believers. Josh
refuses to sign, and the professor reluctantly offers to let him have a portion of
three classes to try to win the other stu-
Shane Harper’s faith is
challenged in God’s Not Dead.
dents over to his devout point of view.
While it may be true that some college
professors challenge religious conservatives, it’s a stretch to believe that such an
atheistic pledge would actually be a course
requirement anywhere. Nevertheless,
when Josh and Radisson begin their
debate, it’s somewhat refreshing to hear
intellectuals like Stephen Hawking and
Richard Dawkins quoted and discussed.
Radisson is a pretty one-dimensional
tyrant, though it helps that Sorbo gives
such a smooth, effective performance.
When a third-act revelation provides personal motivation for his fervent atheism,
the plot gimmick is pretty tacky. It cheapens the issues to suggest that anyone who
doubts the existence of God came to that
conclusion because of a personal trauma.
Although the heart of the film is this
argument between cynic and believer,
the pic introduces quite a few characters
and subplots, padding the running time
unnecessarily. We have a journalist with
a cancer diagnosis, a brother and sister
caring for a mother with dementia and a
Muslim girl who defies her overbearing
father by embracing Christianity. This
last subplot is seriously offensive in suggesting that Muslims are the only religious group intolerant of other faiths.
Despite its dubious theology, God’s
Not Dead is well-paced, even if it makes
some editing blunders, like intercutting
daytime and nighttime scenes that are
supposed to be occurring simultaneously. Harper makes a likable, low-key
protagonist, and Sorbo a vigorous antagonist. Trisha LaFache as the stricken
reporter and David A.R. White as the
college pastor both give engaging performances, and Dean Cain is convincing
as a corporate hotshot without much
of a belief system. Willie Robertson of
Duck Dynasty fame appears as himself,
and the movie climaxes with a musical
performance by Christian rock group
Newsboys.
Opened: March 21 (Freestyle Releasing).
Production: Pure Flix, Check the Gate
Prods., Red Entertainment Group.
Cast: Shane Harper, Kevin Sorbo, David
A.R. White, Dean Cain, Trisha LaFache,
Paul Kwo, Cory Oliver, Hadeel Sittu,
Willie Robertson, Korie Robertson.
Director: Harold Cronk.
Rated PG, 112 minutes.
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