TUESDAY PM:  The Wall Street Journal announced this evening that News Corp.'s $5 billion purchase of Dow Jones has been approved by the boards of both companies, which met separately over the past few hours. After three months of drama in the Bancroft family and public debate about journalistic values, the two companies are expected to sign a merger agreement and issue statements in the next few hours. The deal ends a century of Bancroft-family ownership at Dow Jones.

TUESDAY AM: News reports this morning say News Corp's last-minute $30 million bribe to the Bancroft family worked, and Dow Jones & Co will become a cog in the wheel of Rupert Murdoch's Behemoth Media empire. Now he can use the Wall Street Journal brand to help launch his Fox Business Channel later this year. Gee, most people would have been offended that Rupert was treating them like prostitutes -- in effect, saying: we've already established that you're a whore, now we're just negotiating the price. But the Bancrofts let greed be their guide instead of their conscience. So now we know: $30 mil is the current price of the principle of press independence. I'm still sure key holdout Christopher Bancroft didn't give up the good fight. But news reports say Bancroft family members owning 32% (of the clan's 64.2%) of Dow Jones's overall votes have agreed to support Rupe's $5 billion bid -- more than enough to clinch the deal. News Corp has scheduled a board meeting for 4 p.m. this afternoon, and Dow Jones's board is due to meet this evening. (I'll analyze later.) Previous: Murdoch Offers Bancrofts $30+ Mil Bribe

These things really do come in threes: Tom Snyder, Ingmar Bergman, and now Italian filmmaker Michelangelo Antonioni, dead late last night at age 94. Film critics praised his portrayals of modern angst and alienation which won him a cult following as well as global fame for a career spanning six decades. He received an Oscar for Lifetime Achievement in 1995, after he'd suffered a stroke and could barely talk. His work included the Oscar-nominated Blow-Up, Zabriskie Point and L'Avventura. Gilles Jacob, the veteran president of the Cannes Film Festival, told world media that Antonioni was the "alchemist of intimacy, the architect of space and time in contemporary cinema." Italian President Giorgio Napolitano said Italy had "lost one of cinema's greatest protagonists and one of the greatest explorers of expression in the 20th century." Antonioni's body will lie in state on Wednesday at Rome City Hall. His funeral is scheduled for Thursday in his native Ferrara.

 

Respects poured in from world cinematic headliners today for Ingmar Bergman who died at his Swedish home at age 89. Here's a brief round-up from news reports:

Max Von Sydow (who appeared in 11 Bergman films) spoke of his "infinite gratitude" not only for the professional opportunities but also "the immense privilege to have been his friend." As an actor, he said, "no one counted as much for me as Ingmar Bergman."

Bibi Andersson, who made 13 movies with Bergman,: "It's very sad, but he was an old man, so we were prepared that he would die. I knew him well and will miss him very much."

Michael Apted, head of the Directors Guild of America: "Bergman was the epitome of a director's director -- creating beautiful, complex and smart films that imprinted permanently into the psyche." The DGA gave Bergman its highest honor, the Lifetime Achievement Award in 1990.

Woody Allen bid him farewell with a final joke. "I was very saddened by the death of Ingmar Bergman. He was a friend and certainly the greatest film artist of my lifetime. He told me that he was afraid that he would die on a very, very sunny day. and I can only hope it was overcast and he got the weather he wanted." 

Gilles Jacob, president of the Cannes Film Festival, said "modern cinema has lost one of its last pioneers, a pioneer of genius."

Sir Richard Attenborough: "The world has lost one of its very greatest filmmakers. He taught us all so much throughout his life."

Bille August, the Danish director: "He was one of the world's biggest personalities. There were Kurosawa, Fellini and then Bergman. Now he is also gone. It is a great loss. I am in shock."

Astrid Soderbergh Widding, president of The Ingmar Bergman Foundation, which administers the directors' archives: "Ingmar Bergman's passing away represents a loss of unfathomable magnitude. His artistic accomplishments were ground-breaking, unique -- but also of a scope that covered film and theatre as well as literature. He was the internationally most renowned Swede, and just a few months ago his artistic achievement was incorporated into the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. We remember him as a very bold person, always present, often biting in his comments. But he was often one step ahead of his contemporaries. Even when he grew old surprises from Fårö were not unexpected. I believe it will take some time before we fully understand that he is no longer with us, but also the importance of his art to other people. The steady stream of letters arriving here at the Ingmar Bergman Foundation since its inception testifies to that." 

Jorn Donner, producer of Fanny and Alexander, Bergman's last work for the big screen which won four Oscars: "He was one of the great ones."

Cissi Elwin, chief executive of the Swedish Film Institute, said Bergman, in a wheelchair and seeming very tired, had appeared briefly this month at an annual celebration of his career on Faro Island. "It's a very big loss today. It's very, very strange and very unreal because Ingmar Bergman is so much Swedish film."

Andrzej Wajda, the Oscar-winning Polish director, said it was Bergman's "absolute isolation" that impressed him: "He created great art, and for us -- movie directors -- he gave hope, a belief, that if we wanted to say something about ourselves, the world would notice."

After all News Corp's big talk how it wasn't going to raise its price for Dow Jones & Co, tonight comes news that Rupert Murdoch is now talking about a sickening payoff to the Bancroft clan. That's right, an out-and-out bribe in the neighborhood of $30+ million for the family holdouts to either forget about the principle of press independence or else forget about the idea of a richer offer. It's not surprising, though it is disgusting, that Rupe is using greed as a way to appeal to those Bancrofts who don't want to sell out to him. Gee, most people would be offended that Rupert is treating them like prostitutes -- in effect, saying: we've already established that you're a whore, now we're just negotiating the price. But leave it to the Wall Street Journal to describe the News Corp bribe oh-so-delicately as "an unusual deal for the company to cover advisory fees for the Bancrofts in exchange for some holdout family members supporting the deal... The late-night proposal under discussion was for the Dow Jones board to create a fund to cover payments to firms advising Bancroft family members, including Merrill Lynch and the law firms Hemenway & Barnes and Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. News Corp. would assume these liabilities if it bought Dow Jones. The fees could total at least $30 million, according to people familiar with the situation.

"Dow Jones is expected to argue that the Bancrofts deserve help with their advisory fees because their trusts are so complicated. Common shareholders don't face many of these fees... The money would be paid only if at least one of two key holdout shareholders agreed to the deal: Christopher Bancroft (photo right) and a group of trusts managed by Denver law firm Holme Roberts & Owen. With at least one of these shareholders in agreement -- more likely the Denver trusts -- News Corp. would have enough support from the Bancroft family to seal the deal. Late Monday, however, neither of the shareholders had agreed."

I'd say that, judging from the very principled stand he's taken already, Christopher Bancroft looks the least likely to take the payoff. As for the other holdouts, the question is whether their conscience or their greed will be their guide. 

(Refresh for latest...) Publisher John Kilcullen kept saying for months and months he was looking for a "star" to be the next editor of The Hollywood Reporter. He even delusionally told job candidates he wanted someone "along the lines of Ken Auletta". No, he wasn't joking. But it does seem like a joke that he's now hired Elizabeth Guider, an unimpressive choice who sources tell me was passed over and demoted at Variety. In short, this looks to be far less of a get and more like an also-ran. But Kilcullen inexplicably needed to hire not one but two high-priced executive search firms to choose an editor who was right under his nose. Guider's selection also continues the increasing "Variety-zation" of THR starting with parent company Nielsen Business Media's hiring of Variety publishing bigwig Gerry Byrne as a consultant and Variety veterans Eric Mika as senior V-P and publishing director and Rose Einstein in the role of V-P and associate publisher. Of course, what's especially amusing about Guider's selection is that she used to trash THR at every public opportunity while at Variety. One source recalls a 2000 USC entertainment industry confab composed of showbiz journalism panelists from the Los Angeles Times and trades, including Guider. "Everyone was surprised by the verbal grenades and utter contempt she had for The Hollywood Reporter. And it is all on camera. Good thing the trades don't do TV ads," an eyewitness said. Another insider tells me, "Elizabeth over the years was particularly outspoken in her competitive feelings about THR. So this really is the loyal general switching armies."

Among the 40 or so candidates for editor on Kilcullen's original list were ex-THR editor Alex Ben Block, New York Times Hollywood correspondent Sharon Waxman, NYT movie editor turned Hollywood correspondent Michael Cieply, THR freelancer Stephen Galloway, Los Angeles Times business writer Claudia Eller, LA Times ex-senior Calendar editor Lennie LaGuire who appeared to be the leading candidate but obviously wasn't (thus deepening the mystery of what she'll do after she's done consulting to the paper). But Kilcullen made it clear to everyone inside the business who called him suggesting names that he was looking for a softball editor, someone who wouldn't ruffle advertisers' feathers.

Of course, Guider is not without her defenders who say she's liked and respected. "At least she's a mature woman who really knows the business, so I can't argue with her selection," one insider told me. "She's a good journalist and a good human being." But others make the point that she's a journalism lightweight despite her many years of experience. In any case, her profile at Variety, while once high, had been lowered recently. She was long loyal to Peter Bart (he liked to call her by the nickname "Guido" while staffers called her "Blanche", after Blanche DuBois, because of her Southern accent.) Yet Bart passed her over for Tim Gray for Variety's top editor job. She was also moved off the important in-the-line-of-fire job of Executive Editor to the amorphous out-of-the-line-of-fire position of Editor At Large. Sources tell me it was Guider's expertise in the international arena, especially overseas TV markets, that was the reason for her selection today. "THR wants to be the international paper," an insider told me. Indeed the PR announcement said she was hired to lead strategic editorial direction globally.

But this is more of the same of what I and everyone else have come to expect from the trades who ferociously guard their insularity and rarely allow new blood to infiltrate. "It's basically the same five people at the top. All they do is migrate from one trade to another and back again!," one trade veteran remarked. Which is why sources tell me Guider's hiring is the unseen handiwork of Gerry Byrne (photo right), who retired as group vice president of Variety and Daily Variety after 11 years in that post and is now a so-called senior adviser to Nielsen, THR's owner. "He's the secret power with no official title calling the shots," an insider described. I'm told it was Byrne who helped engineer THR's hiring of Mika (from London), and Einstein, and now Guider.

One thing is certain: she takes on THR at one of its lowest ebbs. See my previous:

1. The Hollywood Reporter vs Variety, Part 2
2. H'Wood Reporter Seeks 'Big Name' Editor
3. H'Wood Reporter Editor Cynthia Littleton Jumps To Variety; Anne Thompson Also
4. Newest Bloodbath At Hollywood Reporter + Here's Why Howard Burns Got Burned
5. New Hollywood Reporter Publisher

That seems to be the word from Paul Haggis. The director and screenwriter gave an interview to Entertainment Weekly (not yet published) about his September 14th film, In The Valley Of Elah, and Clint Eastwood's name came up. Remember, the 77-year-old icon has not acted in anyone else's movie since 1993's In the Line of Fire and only his own films after that (and not in his last two). I know what you're thinking: there's a scoop in the official magazine of receptionists? (Well, even the reporter Gregory Kirschling admits on EW's blog that he "stumbled across the news" for the mag's upcoming Fall Movie Preview issue.) But Haggis appears to confirm Clint quietly joined the Paul Newman/Sean Connery retirees club:

EW: There was talk of Clint playing the Tommy Lee Jones part. Is that true?
Paul Haggis: Well, that was my idea, but it was never his. (Laughs.) [Eastwood] told me from the beginning he was never gonna act in anything else. He said, "Well, Paul, I was in retirement, I came out of it to do Million Dollar Baby. I don't think I can go out better, do you?" I went, "Oh, damn, how can I argue with that?"

EW: I didn't realize he'd retired from acting.
PH: Yeah! [Million Dollar Baby producer] Al Ruddy, who was his friend, sent him the script [for Baby] and talked him into considering it again.

EW: Is that widely known?
PH: No, I don't think so.

 

SUNDAY AM: A toon triumph! I'm told 20th Century Fox says its four quadrant hit The Simpsons Movie shred the competition for No. 1 with a $71.8 million North American weekend, or more than double what the studio hoped. After a stunning $30 million on Friday from 3,922 North American theaters, Homer and the family fell 23% Saturday to take in $23.1 million. The studio projects an $18.7 million Sunday (-17%). Overseas, The Simpsons Movie is also No. 1 by a wide margin with an average 55% market share. The toon grossed a phenomenal $96 million in 71 day and date markets, despite debuting in only 8 of the top 15 markets: UK, Germany, France, Spain, Belgium, Sweden, Australia and Argentina. Opening day records included: biggest industry opening day ever in Australia, Argentina, Columbia and Chile; and biggest animated opening day ever in Australia, Belgium, Finland, Germany, New Zealand, Peru, Sweden, Uruguay, Venezuela. Sources told me that CinemaScore had U.S. audiences giving big screen Simpsons an "A-", with families particularly loving it. There had been early concern inside the studio with tracking showing that the "parents taking their kids" score was lower than execs wanted. But, aided by its brief 87 minute running time, The Simpsons Movie smashed record books for toons. According to Fox, it opened bigger than any Pixar film and bigger than any non-sequel animated film ever. It's also the biggest opening for a non-CGI animated film including sequels (the previous record holder was Disney's The Lion King).

The Simpsons Movie's $30 million Friday was a shock to the Industry because it was more than Transformers made on its opening day and best single day this summer, and good enough for The Simpsons to slot into the Hollywood's Top 17 opening days of all time (right behind the $30.1 mil of Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones). But the well reviewed (a score of 88% positive critiques on Rotten Tomatoes) and wide release (playing in 3,922 North American theaters) pic managed an outstanding per screen average of 7,649 Friday and ended the weekend with a high $18,320 3-day per screen average. Some naysayers didn't believe the movie could pack a punch, given that The Simpsons is all over television on network and in syndication. Hah! The analysts I'm talking to attribute the film's success to Fox's omnipresent marketing (including Homer opening this week's Tonight Show and earlier American Idol as well as that inspired 7-Eleven cross-promotion). Pic insiders have nothing but praise for the year-long marketing and distribution campaign which Fox orchestrated throughout the News Corp empire. "The old saw of synergy within media companies, that was never full realized before, paid off here," a source told me. And remember: Fox says the pic cost only $75 million (without marketing) because so much animation work was done in South Korea.

The No. 2 movie, Universal's buddy comedy with Adam Sandler and Kevin James I Now Pronounce You Chuck And Larry stayed strong (dropping only -44%) and made $19 million this weekend from 3,501 venues. Its new cume is a great $71.6 mil because there haven't been enough laffers at the box office this summer. Warner's Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix scored a big kiddie matinee Saturday and jumped up to No. 3 its 3rd weekend out raking in $17.6 mil from 4,005 runs. Its hot new cume is now a whopping $242.3 mil. New Line's Hairspray slowed for its 2nd weekend (-44%) to No. 4 and took in $15.4 mil from 3,121 runs for a new cume of $59.4 mil. Jumping into 5th place was the DreamWorks and Paramount coproduction Transformers which added another $11.5 mil from 3,349 dates its 4th weekend in release for a blistering new cume of $284.6 mil. Warner's No Reservations, starring Catherine Zeta-Jones, opened in the 6th spot (with a CinemScore of "B+", sources say) with $12 mil this weekend from 2,425 runs.

After five weekends, Ratatouille still managed to rake in $7.4 mil from 2,934 theaters for the 7th spot and a healthy new cume of $179.8 mil. Fox's Live Free Or Die Hard hangs in for a 5th weekend in 8th place, taking in $5.3 mil from 2,271 runs for a new cume of $125.1 mil. Insiders told me that CinemaScore's polling of moviegoers resulted in an "F" to Lindsay Lohan's horror flick I Know Who Killed Me, which opened in 9th place to only $3.4 mil from 1,320 venues. No question she's killing her career with her off-screen behavior. Rounding out the Top 10, horribly reviewed Who's Your Caddy? from The Weinstein Co debuted with $2.9 mil from 1,019 venues.

Here's the Top 10 chart:

1. 1. Simpsons Movie $30M Fri, $23.1M Sat, and est $18.7M Sun. (cume $71.8M)
2. 2. Chuck And Larry $6.2M Fri, $7.2M Sat, and est $5.8M Sun. ($71.6M)
3. 3. Harry Potter Phoenix $5M Fri, $7M Sat, and est $5.6M Sun. ($242.3M)
4. 4. Hairspray $5.2M Fri, $6M Sat, and est $4.5M Sun. ($59.5M)
5. 5. Transformers $3.2M Fri, $4.6M Sat, and est $3.6M Sun. ($284.5M)
6. 6. No Reservations $4M Fri, $4.5M, and est $3.5M Sun ($12M)
7. 7. Ratatouille $2.2M Fri, $2.9M Sat, and est $2.2M Sun. ($179.8M)
8. 8. Live Free Or Die Hard $1.5M Fri, $2.2M Sat, and est $1.5M Sun. ($125.1M)
9. 9. I Know Who Killed Me $1.3M Fri, $1.1M Sat, and est $905K Sun. ($3.4M)
10. 10. Who's Your Caddy?  $950K Fri, $1.1M Sat, and est $850K Sun. ($2.9M)

(more...)

I don't do geek. But that doesn't matter because this weekend most Hollywood studios are pushing ALL their movie and other entertainment product at Comic-Con in San Diego. It's like, let's throw mud against the wall and see what sticks. (Which explains why Owen Wilson's latest comedy Drillbit Taylor to the Get Smart remake are poised for convention traction.) The result is that the true Comic-Con oriented product gets lost in the orgy of all the other stuff being promo-ed. On the other hand, the 120,000+ fans are incredibly grateful since they don't get out much. (Just kidding.) Said one Warner's insider to me, "So cool to see fans respond to content. There's a great energy and makes me proud that I work in this biz. Some days it can feel like I'm just in insurance." Check out my sister paper OC Weekly's Comic-Con blog. In the meantime, here's my studio-by-studio roundup:

SONY
There's a hot ticket screening of Superbad tonight followed by a Q&A with Judd Apatow, Greg Mottola, Seth Rogen, etc. The trailer for Walk Hard will be shown beforehand. On Saturday, Sony's panel starts with footage of Resident Evil: Extinction, with a special appearance by Milla Jovovich as well as the world premiere of the trailer. Sony is also showing footage of 30 Days Of Night with an appearance by producer Sam Raimi. Sony's home entertainment division is hosting a “Blu-ray Experience” event including director Eli Roth and Ray Harryhausen (his legendary 20 Million Miles To Earth is being released on Blu-ray). Imageworks and Sony Online Entertainment divisions hold a panel discussion and screening of special footage of Spider-Man 3. Also, Sony will preview its hottest upcoming games.

DISNEY
Walt Disney Pictures is presenting The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and Disney / Pixar’s WALL•E in Hall H on Saturday. The Caspian filmmakers will present never-before-seen footage of the second installment of the epic fantasy-adventure series, with appearances by director Andrew Adamson, producer Mark Johnson, WETA Workshop’s Richard Taylor, creature supervisor Howard Berger, visual effects supervisor Dean Wright, and costume designer Isis Mussenden. For WALL•E , Academy Award-winning director Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo) and Academy Award-winning sound designer Ben Burtt (Star Wars, ET) present exclusive footage of Disney / Pixar’s next adventure.

WARNER
Some people don't realize that Warner Bros owns DC Comics, the ground zero of Comic-Con. So tons of panels and activities around the DC Comics' books and projects are planned. On the movie side, the studio held its theatrical preview featuring The Invasion, One Missed Call, 10,000 BC, Whiteout, Speed Racer, Get Smart, Trick R Treat and Watchman.  Steve Carell and The Rock from Get Smart were huge hits there. Clips played great. (But the studio made the decision early on not to use Comic-Con to present The Dark Knight or its highly anticipated I Am Legend.) Other promos include TV previews of some of Warner's new and returning shows as well as DVD pushes (300 includes a huge screening at Petco Park), animation series and games previews.

PARAMOUNT
Paramount's slate totally killed at Comic-Con. The studio pulled out all the stops promoting its J.J. Abrams' reimagined Star Trek with surprise star Leonard Nimoy as one of two Mr. Spocks (the other is Zachary Quinto, who plays Sylar on Heroes) appearing to wild surprise, Iron Man, and Indy 4 complete via satellite with Harrison Ford and Steven Spielberg who intro'ed Karen Allen with much fanfare. Altogether, Paramount, DreamWorks and Nickolodeon unveiled exclusive movie footage and major casting announcements. First scenes of Iron Man was shown by director John Favreau as was the world premiere trailers for Beowulf and Drillbit Taylor. The afternoon panel included appearances by Hot Rod director Akiva Schaffer and actors Andy Samberg and Jorma Taccone, Neil Gaiman with a clip from the film version of his graphic novel Stardust screened Thursday. A trailer from The Spiderwick Chronicles was followed by a Q&A with the film’s director Mark Waters, Oscar-winning special effects whiz Phil Tippett and authors of the books. And the first poster art for Tim Burton’s Sweeney Todd starring Johnny Depp was revealed.

MGM
MGM is bringing down talent from Pathology for a panel on Sunday with a sizzle reel and Q-&-A. The film stars Milo Ventimiglia, Alyssa Milano, Michael Weston, Lauren Lee Smith, was written and directed by the writers of Crank, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor and directed by Marc Schoelermann. There'll be a lot of promotion around Stargate and its various series and titles.

UNIVERSAL 
The studio is staying low-key. There's just a Q&A panel with the cast and filmmakers of The Incredible Hulk including Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, director Louis Leterrier and producers Avi Arad and Gale Anne Hurd as well as Kevin Feige of Marvel.

20TH CENTURY FOX
There were "aw's" when fans heard that 20th cancelled its big theatrical preview without giving a reason to the assembled masses. But Hollywood had already been told one week before the confab kickoff. Problem was the footage Fox wanted to show for several of its pics just wasn't ready or else too violent. So no studio push for Alien vs. Predator 2, Hitman, Jumper, Babylon A.D., The Dark Is Rising and City of Ember. Also no planned Fox montages for R-rated AVP and Hitman. Instead, 20th's home video division, Fox TV, Fox Atomic and Fox Searchlight are presenting.

The Simpsons Movie is still looking at a great opening this weekend with wide distribution domestically (3,922 theaters) and omnipresent marketing. My box office gurus are predicting at least a $50 million and maybe even a $60 million opening -- even though 20th Century Fox internally projects only high $30s. Once again, the studios keep playing this game of lowered expectations. The story here is that Fox is claiming the toon cost just $75 million to make thanks to so much of the animation work being done in South Korea. That's a bargain! As for Warner's No Reservations (2,425 venues), my box office analysts predict an opening of only $10 mil. This is such a predictable chick flick with one of the worst trailers, not to mention miscast with Catherine Zeta Jones, that it defies explanation. Some media have asked me whether Lindsay Lohan's troubles will help her Sony horror flick I Know Who Killed Me (1,320 runs). Nah, it'll be stillborn at the box office making only $3 mil. And The Weinstein Co's MGM-distributed comedy Who's Your Caddy? should eke out only $2.5 mil.

Next weekend (August 3rd), my box office gurus are starting raise their estimates for The Bourne Ultimatum which is getting rave reviews. The Matt Damon quintessential action pic looks more like "mid-$50s at least" now instead of just $40+ mil. One of the film's producers is trying to sucker-bet me that it'll do $60+ mil. As for Lionsgate's Bratz, it looks like a flop.

Sony's summer sleeper Superbad (August 17th) from the Judd Apatow comedy wheel just came on tracking. "With pretty low awarness but high definite interest from the ones who are aware," I'm told.

New Line's Rush Hour 3 (August 10th) is still huge.

Warner's The Invasion (August 17th) came on "soft in all areas".

Now the Denver branch of the Bancroft family will vote against accepting News Corp's $60-a-share offer, putting pressure on Rupert Murdoch to raise its offer, according to a news alert by the Wall Street Journal this morning. But News Corp has no intention of raising the price of its offer. The Denver clan, which holds 9.1% of Dow Jones's voting stock, is seen as an important faction within the Bancroft family and has been one of the most closely watched among Dow Jones management and News Corp executives. Though the outcome is seen as too close to call, there's increasing doubt the deal will get done.

Previous: Are Bancrofts Leaning 'No' To Rupe Deal?

Last night Michael Moore was again a guest on The Tonight Show and announced that he's been subpoenaed by the Bush administration investigating his filming trip to Cuba for his health care documentary Sicko. (Hey, I said the director was a marketing genius.) "I haven't even told my own family yet." Moore began, "I was just informed when I was back there with Jay that the Bush administration has now issued a subpoena for me." Moore took 9/11 rescue workers with him to "Guantanamo Bay because I heard the Al Qaeda terrorists we have in the camps there, detained, are receiving free dental, medical, eye care, the whole deal, and our own 9/11 Ground Zero rescue workers can't get that in New York City." Moore said that, as a result, the film's producer The Weinstein Company will be donating 11% of its portion of Sicko's box office from August 11 (a Saturday) to "help these workers and the other workers who need help". Frankly, I find it amazing how willing the Bush administration has been to help market Moore's movie when presumably their real objective seems to be to stifle Moore and his movie. But we all know that, without this continuing controversy surrounding the Cuba trip, Moore wouldn't be able to make news like this everytime he goes on national television.

Moore also repeated on national TV something that The Weinstein Co has confirmed to me: that Harvey Weinstein asked him to cut the Sicko segment on Hillary Clinton because he's a big supporter of her presidential campaign. She "did something very courageous 14 years ago, saying all American's should be covered. She got beat up badly for it. Now she's the second-largest recipient of health care industry money in the U.S. Senate," Moore said. "For the months leading up to the release of the film, he kept calling me every day saying, 'I want you to take that scene out of the film, attacking Hillary.' I said, 'I'm not attacking her, I'm just telling the truth.'" The segment stayed in.

Viacom shareholders are going to jump for joy when I tell them that recently Bob Evans' deal at Paramount was renewed yet again. And best buddy Sumner  Redstone is the reason, even though Evans has had exactly one movie producer credit for the studio since 1999 (How To Lose A Guy In 10 Days) and legend has it he's rarely even allowed on the set of a film anymore. So why is old coot Sumner carrying basket case Bob? "Because, among other things, he helped build the place and I think that counts, don't you?" a Paramount insider tells me. Despite all attempts by others to rehabilitate his image, I wrote off Evans ever since Heidi Fleiss back in the early 1990s shared much more than I ever cared to know about him. But here's my favorite Industry story about Bob: I was waiting to interview a Paramount mogul who was 45 minutes late, so I started chatting up the secretaries in the office. And one of them leaned over to me and whispered, "I have a question maybe you can answer. There's this guy with long stringy hair and weird dirty clothes who stops by from time to time. Someone told us he used to run Paramount." I thought hard for a half a second, and then I brightened. "Oh, it's Bob Evans. Yeah, he ran production at the studio. Got convicted for cocaine. And then was implicated in a murder. Welcome to Hollywood." The secretary's eyes went wide. All I can say is how unreal that this guy has such staying power  -- or that Redstone can be so loyal to Evans and not to his own children. 

As I expected, the Los Angeles Times finally swallowed its pride and today posted a "For The Record" correction fixing several facts in its story about the Chicago Films Critics Association and 20th Century Fox. I'm told there will also be a follow-up story. Previous: Chicago Film Critics Assn Says LA Times Story On 20th Fox Wrong 

Given how protective he is of his public image, it's far from surprising that Steven Spielberg is increasingly public about his behind-the-scenes role to convince the Chinese government to influence its largest oil supplier Sudan to stop the Darfur genocide. "We're making our voice heard," Spielberg's political adviser Andy Spahn told me today. He confirmed that they expect a Chinese statement on the issue in the next weeks.

But Spahn denied an ABC News website article today claiming Spielberg is thinking of quitting his post as an unpaid artistic adviser to the 2008 Beijing Olympics in response to pressure from Darfur actrivists. "I made no reference to the Olympics," Spahn told me. As Spahn explains it, "We are doing what we can to engage the Chinese. We'll made a decision how productive those efforts are in the very near future." As to Spielberg continuing his work with the Beijing Olympics, "we'll cross that bridge when we get to it. We'll look at all our options if that path doesn't prove to be productive."

Spahn tells me that Speilberg has been consulting with Darfur activists "every step of the way" of both the crisis and his ongoing private back-and-forth dialogue with the Chinese. "I would say we've been in touch with every major organization engaged in this issue as well as leading academics and individuals guiding these organizations. And, in Hollywood, we've been in regular touch with George Clooney and Don Cheadle." (But not Mia Farrow, who recently blindsided Spielberg with public criticism of him on the China/Darfur issue.) The result, says Spahn, is that "we are doing what we can to engage the Chinese on this issue. No one can tell us what the best way to use our influence is today, assuming we have some influence. But we're working our way through it and attempting to determine how we can make the greatest contribution to ending the genocide."

Spahn points to "what some say has been some movement there" and cited news reports saying Chinese ministers visited Sudan after Chinese President Hu Jintao received Spielberg's open letter on Darfur. ("I am writing you not as one of the overseas artistic advisors to the Olympic Ceremonies, but as a private citizen who has made a personal commitment to do all I can to oppose genocide. Accordingly, I add my voice to those who ask that China change its policy toward Sudan and pressure the Sudanese government to accept the entrance of United Nations peacekeepers to protect the victims of genocide in Darfur." ) But Spahn draws no direct correlation between the two events.

Spielberg's missive followed Farrow publicly accusing the director of complicity by not using his prominence and position to pressure the Chinese government to change course. "Is Mr. Spielberg, who in 1994 founded the Shoah Foundation to record the testimony of survivors of the holocaust, aware that China is bankrolling Darfur's genocide?" Farrow and her son Ronan wrote in a March Wall Street Journal editorial. "Does Mr. Spielberg really want to go down in history as the Leni Riefenstahl of the Beijing Games."

Spahn would only characterize Farrow's position as "extreme".

NBC's Ben Silverman is traveling in the South Of France with his TV idol Norman Lear (someone emailed me claiming it was with American Idol's Ryan Seacrest) and therefore can't defend himself. But ABC Entertainment chief Steve McPherson basically called Ben a big pussy today. Believe me, nothing on the networks is as interesting as what went on after the official ABC exec's press conference at the Television Critics Association confab at the Beverly Hilton. These suits are suddenly acting like rappers with Glocks. My analysis coming...