Morning Call Sheet: Return of 'Color' & 'Titanic', Streaming on the Rise, Sorry Box Office

BOX OFFICE ANALYSIS

IMDB:

Blame the unseasonably snowy weather in the East. Blame the World Series. Blame Halloween parties. Blame the economy. Box office analysts were doing a little of each to explain the lousy weekend that saw blah openings for three new movies and mostly insipid performances from everything else. The No. 1 film, as expected, turned out to be Paramount/DreamWorks Animation’s Puss in Boots, but its $34-million take fell below most pundits’ predictions of $35-40 million. Twentieth Century Fox’s In Time, starring Justin Timberlake and Amanda Siegfried, debuted with $12 million — at the low end of predictions. But FilmDistrict’s The Rum Diary, starring Johnny Depp, tanked with just $5 million — about half what it was expected to earn.

It’s striking that Johnny Depp couldn’t open “Rum Diary” to anything above $5 million.

FOR HOME ENTERTAINMENT RELEASES, A RARE BRIGHT SPOT

LAT:

“Hollywood’s troubled home entertainment business is moving in an unaccustomed direction: Up.

[…]

“In part, the increase reflects a surge in Blu-ray sales, which are expected to reach $1.23 billion for the first three quarters, up from about $1 billion for the same period a year earlier. That puts them on a par with video store rentals, which have been falling, and on-demand revenue, which has grown more slowly.”

CW LEADS WAY INTO AGE OF STREAMING

DHD:

“Within the last couple of weeks, the network was part of two major online distribution deals that take major steps towards resolving both issues. First came the 4-year pact CW’s co-parent companies CBS and Warner Bros. signed with Netflix for streaming previous seasons of the network’s current series. The deal, which analysts estimate could bring CBS and Warner Bros. as much as $1 billion, would help make up for lost syndication revenue because of the serialized nature of the shows. Additionally, the pact doesn’t prevent the studios from pursuing cable syndication deals in the future (not that such deals appear likely.) Then came the Friday’s deal with Hulu, this time made by the CW itself. It will have the episodes of network’s current seasons stream on the Fox-NBC-ABC-owned online hub — right away for subscribers with limited commercials and free for everyone 8 days after the episode’s original airing on the CW with full commercial load.”

Right now, at least with Netflix, it’s extremely difficult to fast-forward through anything, so this would be true if they were to add commercials. If you watch Crackle Streaming, you cannot zip through the commercials. Moreover, if you look at online videos, you are FORCED to suffer through a commercial if it loads prior to the video you want to view.

This could end up being one of the major reasons streaming becomes the future. Advertisers must despise the DVR, and streaming could ensure them a captive audience.

DISNEY-ABC STRIKE DEAL WITH NETFLIX

DHD:

“Disney’s announcement with Netflix this morning extends and expands a current deal, giving the streaming service rights to several shows 30 days after the last episode of the season airs.”

30 days!

‘MARILYN’ POSTER REVEALED

JoBlo is pretty excited and thinks Michelle Williams looks ‘unbelievable.’ I don’t. Monroe had a womanly quality Williams is missing, and that was the second-most important quality the ’50s bombshell possessed. The first was vulnerability. She made you want to swoop in and save her from the big, bad world. This is something else missing from Williams — at least in the film’s poster. Her performance, however, could be everything people are saying it is.

‘IN LIVING COLOR’ RETURNS FOR TWO HALF-HOUR SPECIALS

The original ‘In Living Color,’ which aired in the early 1990s, could never air today because there were no sacred cows. Everyone received a merciless skewering, including gays and blacks. Will these upcoming specials have the nerve to go where television fears to tread today? Do they dare satirize Muslims in a way that would offend CAIR or Jon Stewart?

Do they dare do anything that would offend Jon Stewart?

I doubt it.

‘TITANIC’ IS COMING BACK, HOPING FOR ‘LION KING’ RESULTS

This 3D re-release will tell all of Hollywood whether the re-release success of the ‘Lion King’ can be attributed to it being a family film a new generation of parents wanted to share with their kids or whether this 3D re-release craze is for real. If the answer is the latter, prepare for the onslaught.

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SCOTTDS’ EPIC LINK-TACULAR

‘RIDDICK 3’ SHUT DOWN OVER MONEY PROBLEMS

ROBERT DE NIRO AND JOHN TRAVOLTA TEAM UP FOR ‘THE KILLING SEASON

GALLERY: THE DARK KNIGHT RISES FILMING IN NEW YORK

DORIS DAY TO RECEIVE CAREER ACHIEVEMENT AWARD FROM LA FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION

PRODUCERS OFFER ‘300: BATTLE OF ARTEMISIA’ UPDATE

JAMES CAMERON DEVELOPING A REMAKE OF ‘FANTASTIC VOYAGE

MICKEY ROURKE FURIOUS WITH MARVEL OVER ‘IRON MAN 2

UNIVERSAL AND SYFY CHANNEL TEAM UP FOR FILM VENTURE…

…THEIR FIRST PURCHASE: GEORGE R.R. MARTIN’S ‘WILD CARDS’ ANTHOLOGY

TOP 10 KEVIN COSTNER MOVIES

GERARD BUTLER, SAM WORTHINGTON, AND MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY TEAM UP FOR MOTION CAPTURE IRAQ WAR FILM ‘THUNDER RUN

A SPECIAL NIGHT WITH TOM PETTY

10 THINGS WE HATE ABOUT THE NEW FILM ‘ANONYMOUS

MOVIETRACKER: HAS VIACOM CRACKED THE SOCIAL MEDIA CODE?

FUNNY VIDEO: EVERY TIME KURT RUSSELL ACTS CONFUSED IN ‘BIG TROUBLE IN LITTLE CHINA

NEW STEVE MCQUEEN BIO RELEASED

VISITING THE HOUSE BEHIND THE STORY OF ‘ARSENIC AND OLD LACE

CELEBRATING THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF HOLLYWOOD’S FIRST FILM STUDIO

EXCERPT FROM JUST-RELEASED A MARTY FELDMAN BIOGRAPHY

8 PEOPLE WHO SHOULD’VE BECOME DIRECTORS

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CLASSIC PICK FOR TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 1

TCM:

1:15AM EST: LOST IN AMERICA (1985) — A successful, yuppie couple decide to leave the rat race and take off on a soul searching journey across America. Dir. Albert Brooks. Starring Albert Brooks, Julie Hagerty.

A very funny and original story written and directed by Albert Brooks. You will never think of Las Vegas the same, and the scene where Brooks quits his job is a thing of beauty.

This one gets better every year and competes with “Modern Romance” as Brooks’ most insightful. A true classic.

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-Please send tips/suggestions/requests/complaints to jnolte@breitbart.com

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