Deadline.com: Michelle Obama is guest of honor at a fundraiser underway at Warner Bros chief Barry Meyer‘s home. It started at 4 PM and was a sellout even though ticket prices ranged from $2,500 to $25,000. Among the guests spotted are Warner Bros
President Obama’s latest fundraising email has moved away from the pathetic and crazed attempts to guilt Americans into donations, and back toward the Obama-as-celebrity meme. This time, Obama’s telling you that if you give money, you might get to meet
Remember folks, trickle-down economics only works in the entertainment business. Remember folks, tax cuts for the rich are evil, unless they go to rich people in Hollywood. Remember folks, big business is greedy and corrupt and evil — except for
From the very outset of the financial crisis, we were told if the federal government did not “invest” massive amount of taxpayer funds to bail out failing companies, the entire world economy would grind to a halt. And what was
DHD: Right now it looks like the PG-13 rated TDKR (4,242 theaters) bounces back for $10.2M Friday and $36M for the weekend. PG-13 Total Recall (3,601 theaters) will gross $9.5M Friday and $26.5M for the weekend. But rival studios point
A report issued Thursday by the House Energy and Commerce committee documents the extent to which political concerns trumped due diligence in the Solyndra loan approval. The report shows that the initial announcement of the DOE loan guarantee to the
The network which gave us the short-lived “GCB” is back with a series targeting a Texas-based militia group. Courtesy of Deadline.com: The network has bought drama pitch Founding Fathers, from Di Bonaventura Pictures TV and ABC Studios. Written by feature scribe
David Axelrod’s anxiety over Barak Obama’s reelection chances is now on full display. In the latest personal e-mail from the Obama campaign, Axelrod starts to act paranoid: You know what’s kind of amazing? That we’re not getting blown away in
President Obama is about to hit the Big 5-1. And he’s feeling pretty sorry for himself. At least that’s what readers can gather from his latest campaign missive, titled simply “Hey”: Benjamin — My upcoming birthday next week could be
Judicial Watch on Wednesday filed a motion in reaction to the Justice Department asking a U.S. District Court judge to give the government until August 24 to turn over recently-discovered CIA documents concerning the Obama administration’s collaboration with producers of
When former New York Congressman Anthony Weiner resigned in disgrace after conceding he had sent lewd photos of himself to women on the internet, his political future seemed doomed. Six weeks after the New York Democrat resigned, a Marist poll
With the country mired in debt, the Obama administration had until July 16 to submit their mid-session budget review to Congress. And they failed to meet the deadline. According to The Hill, the “document is supposed to contain revised spending,
Huffington Post is launching an opinion site called HuffPost Live 3,2,1 … on August 13 that is indicative of the new direction the Internet is heading. The site is designed to allow ordinary people, rather than professional pundits, to submit
Deregulation is the future for video and retransmission of broadcast signals by cable and satellite firms. That is the message from the House Energy and Commerce Committee Communications Subcommittee’s “Future of Video” hearing last Wednesday, led by Rep. Greg Walden
“Family Guy” creator Seth MacFarlane has a monster hit on his hands with “Ted,” which he both wrote and directed. After only two weekends, the raunchy R-rated comedy will haul in $122 million, which puts it $18 million ahead of where “The Hangover” landed
The network that gave us such fair and balanced projects as “Game Change,” “Recount” and “The Newsroom” is scrapping plans for a Fox News film because it “could never be seen as objective.” It’s a shame the network doesn’t use
They’re working hard at Obama for America. Just read what Rufus Gifford, National Finance Director, has to say about it in the campaign’s latest email plea: Hey, I’m not going to lie. It’s been a long, long week. I went
What’s the newest approach in the email fundraising campaign of Barack Obama? Poor suffering Michelle is sacrificing her seat on the campaign bus so that two lucky winners can join her husband on the campaign trail: Dear William, Our family
Californian foie gras fans stuffed themselves at gastronomic last suppers this weekend, as a ban on the delicacy finally came into force after years of wrangling. But even before the midnight Saturday (0700 GMT Sunday) deadline, devotees of the prized
DHD: The domestic box office is exploding with early Fourth Of July fireworks, with total moviegoing a blazing $205M, which is +15% from last year. And R-rated raunch ruled today. Universal’s Ted is wildly overperforming: $20.5M today for a $51M
Stockton, California became the largest city to seek bankruptcy protection on Tuesday night. According to the AP, “the economic downturn, soaring pension costs and contractual obligations” left the city so in debt that they could not come to terms with
The desperate Obama campaign e-mails are coming fast and furious these days. Today, Julianna Smoot, the Deputy Campaign Manager, drew the short straw. Mitt Romney, she warned, would win “If we’re drastically outspent”: Benjamin — If we’re drastically outspent in
The news just keeps getting uglier for CNN. The network’s ratings plummeted to record lows in the last television quarter, March 26-June 22. According to Deadline.com, CNN was coming off its “least-watched month in primetime in 20 years in May”
Officials in Stockton, California had until 11:59 p.m. on Monday to reach a deal to restructure the city’s debt to avoid bankruptcy under a new California mediation law. That deadline has passed and, according to the Associated Press, a Stockton spokesperson
Another day, another desperate Obama campaign e-mail. Today’s missive of panic, following directly on the heels of news that the Democratic National Convention is downscaling due to fundraising concerns, comes directly from the President of the United States. Obama informed
With all the hype and publicity, there’s no way to spin 2.1 million viewers into anything other than a disappointment. As Deadline points out, “Newsroom” did better than “Luck” and “Treme,” which both premiered to 1.1 million viewers, but less than “Game of
In late March, the Obama campaign sent out one of their numerous “personal e-mails” from Michelle Obama delineating a reason for the American electorate to send them campaign money. What was the reason that time? “Michelle” said: Every night in
Have to say, I’m legitimately surprised “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” flopped. The reviews weren’t bad, the concept seemed like a no-brainer, and the trailers looked pretty good. Just goes to show, you never know. But I’m sure the film’s star,
DHD: Contrast that with today’s newcomers which each should have earned over $20M this weekend because of their star power. But New Line/Warner Bros’ Rock Of Ages (3,470 theaters) is falling to earth with a thud. Which Hollywood expected because
Just as the teachers of the Los Angeles Unified School District were forced to make concessions by tentatively agreeing to take furlough days in order to help solve the district’s budget crisis, California Highway Patrol officers have also tentatively agreed to take
Current TV is reaching out to a failed TV show host to help its ongoing ratings woes. Joy Behar, the far-left comedienne best known for her work on “The View,” will join the liberal “Murderer’s Row” over at Al Gore’s
The Obama administration in general, and the State Department in specific, has a vested interest in a successful outcome for nations that were involved in the Arab Spring. After all, we didn’t just watch the political purging of that season
DHD: My sources now say Universal’s PG-13 Snow White And The Huntsman (3,773 theaters) will climb to $21M for today and $55+M for this domestic weekend. That result is better than expected for the 2D original fantasy actioner that cost
Armed rebels have given Syria’s regime until Friday noon (0900 GMT) to observe Kofi Annan’s plan for ending bloodshed in Syria, warning they will take “courageous decisions” if the deadline is not met. The ultimatum by the Free Syrian Army
What started out as a banner year for Hollywood is now not looking so hot. “Men In Black 3” is no flop, but it looks like a disappointment — Hollywood’s fifth in a row. A film budgeted at $300 million
Oprah Winfrey’s OWN network is hemorrhaging money, and her popularity has yet to recover after her public embrace of then-Sen. Barack Obama’s race for the White House. Fellow Obama backer Arianna Huffington’s much-balleyhooed deal with AOL hasn’t worked out as
After a dismal 2011, Hollywood’s had an incredible run in 2012 with all kinds of unlikely hits. But this weekend is down 18% over last year because four seemingly sure-fire entries have tanked. “Battleship,” “The Dictator,” “What To Expect When
A simmering row between animal rights campaigners and a handful of California’s top chefs is coming to the boil, ahead of a looming ban on foie gras in the western US state. Protestors took their message to the streets this
Harvey Weinstein may have a second October Surprise up his sleeve to help the flailing Obama administration earn a second term. Weinstein’s “Butter” feature, a not so thinly veiled attack on the Tea Party, is set to bow before November’s
DHD: Yes, the biggest North American movie is getting still bigger and still setting records. Playing very wide in 4,349 theaters, The Avengers looks like around $28M for Friday and approaches a gargantuan $100M second weekend. This will be far-and-away
