Top Stories:

'Thunder' may strike 'Knight'

'Dark Knight' After four weekends at the top, "The Dark Knight" should finally get washed out of first place.

Clooney up for 'The Challenge'

Actor buys rights to Mahler's legal thriller

Warner Bros. sets date with 'Glory'

O'Connor sets up 'Warrior' with Lionsgate

Dafoe, Gainsbourg set for 'Antichrist'

Lars von Trier to direct psychological thriller

Hilary Swank, Alcon speak 'French'

Production co. nabs rights to bestselling book

'Changeling' highlights N.Y. festival

Darren Aronofsky's 'Wrestler' to close event

'Knight' wins at Korean B.O.

Batman sequel tops opening frame

Universal spinning 'Wheel of Time'

Studio nabs film rights to Robert Jordan book

Universal raises David O'Connor

Exec named senior VP of brand management

Ghent to honor Parkes, MacDonald

Festival fetes pair with Plateau Award

San Sebastian unveils more of lineup

'Amateurs,' 'Boys' and 'Manco' compete

Sony TV nets Asian rights to 'Slam'

Basketball becoming booming business in Asia

'Pokemon' sets record box office

Animated series breaks the bank

HBO picks up 'Omar Broadway'

Film unit nabs prison documentary

Kinology takes Dupeyron's 'Help'

Pic is first completed pick-up for new outfit

'Tropic Thunder' plays with fire

Justin Theroux defends controversial tactics

Korean fund set to bank Hollywood

Details of $100 million investment unveiled

Pusan Fund picks projects

27 'creative film efforts' to recieve funding

'Mummy' battles to top spot in Europe

Strong opening in U.K., Germany and France

Hot Topics:

Beijing 2008 Olympics News

To get an idea of what the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games mean to China and Chinese broadcasting, it's useful to recall that the world's most populous nation has only been competing in the global event since Los Angeles 1984, when China resumed its seat on the Intl. Olympic Committee.

Digital Cinema

It's not your parents' 3-D, but whether the once-gimmicky technology is the movie industry's new savior remains to be seen.

Legal News

Studios and industry folks certainly like to keep their legal departments busy. Legal news covers all those in trouble with the law, which Hollywood denizen is suing who, and the ins and outs of business dealings.

Charts & Data:

SUNDANCE SCORECARD
Sundance 2007 saw a record $50 million-plus in acquisitions, but the box office grosses mostly didn't match.
LESS OF AN ISSUE: Unlike previous years when “Fahrenheit 9/11” and “An Inconvenient Truth” were among the issue-oriented documentaries to score record B.O. grosses, just two of last year’s titles crossed the $1 million mark. Here are the top 10 of 2007: Less of an issue chart

Global Box Office Charts
Dive into weekly, weekend and daily box office data.
Film Production Chart
The most up-to-date global listing of films in production.

Reviews:

Another Gay Sequel: Gays Gone Wild!

This strenuously unfunny follow-up to the uneven but often uproarious "Another Gay Movie" duly maintains the original's levels of raunch and gross-out gags, but it all feels perfunctory, with comic inspiration distinctly lacking.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

Fly Me to the Moon

Un monde a nous

The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2


Variety's Summer Blockbusters: Complete film profiles including film review, video, photos, related articles and more.

CHARTS:

  • FILM BOX OFFICE
  • TV RATINGS
Daily
Monday, August 11, 2008 (*millions)
  FILM GROSS TOTAL*
1 Pineapple Express $3,848,972 $45.1677
2 Dark Knight, The $3,742,198 $445.3706
3 Mummy: Tomb Of The Dragon Emperor, The $1,983,455 $73.0323
4 Sisterhood Of The Traveling Pants 2 $1,895,365 $21.5154
5 Step Brothers $1,440,553 $82.5726
6 Mamma Mia! $1,389,390 $105.5338
7 Journey To The Center Of The Earth $746,302 $82.5216
8 WALL-E $561,058 $210.7676
9 Hancock $443,178 $222.1699
10 Swing Vote $409,791 $12.4306
LATEST NEWS: WEEKEND B.O > FOREIGN B.O. >
 
TV Ratings
Sunday, August 10, 2008 (*millions)
Top Show Total
Summer Olympics (NBC) 32.6 mil
Top Shows A18-49
Summer Olympics (NBC) 11.0/30
Family Guy (FOX) 1.8/5
Big Brother (CBS) 1.7/5
Networks
NBC 11.0/30
CBS 1.3/4
ABC 1.1/3
FOX 1.0/3
from Nielsen Media Research - preliminary results

DAILY POLLS:


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Tressa, one of the many stars of A&E;'s 'Intervention,' talks about her lengthy battle with methamphetamine. ; reality show; intervention; A&E; emmy contenders; drug addicts; variety; Interviews with Erick McCormack, Daniel Dae Kim & Christa Miller, stars of A&E;'s new sci-fi thriller, 'The Andromeda Strain.'; Erick McCormack; A&E; tv; sci-fi; The Andromeda Strain; variety; Daniel Dae Kim & Christa Miller;


VPage Photos

Lucas, Horn, clone troopers
George Lucas and Warners Bros.' Alan Horn are flanked by clone troopers at the 'Clone Wars' premiere in Hollywood.
McDonald, Rashad
Audra McDonald and Phylicia Rashad at the opening of 'Hair.'
Brolin, Biel
Josh Brolin and Jessica Biel at the HollyShorts Film Festival.
Festival Central: Film festival news and reviews

Trailers:

Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy star in this action-apprentice tale of justice. ; angelina jolie; James McAvoy; wanted; action; Morgan Freeman; movie; Thriller; Based on the classic 1960's Japanese animated series chronicling the aspirations of a young race car driver as he attempts to obtain glory, with the help of his family and the Mach 5.; Marvel Comics returns to the bigscreen with the second installment of the action/fantasy thriller. ; Hellboy 2; Marvel Comics; movie; Selma Blair; sequel; The Golden Army; Jack Black and Ben Stiller topline this jungle comedy about a group of Hollywood actors getting caught in the action.; Ben Stiller; comedy; Jack Black; Matthew McConaughey; movie; Robert Downey Jr.; Tom Cruise; Tropic Thunder; Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: Movie Trailer; Physicist Bruce Banner takes flight in order to understand -- and hopefully cure -- the condition that turns him into a monster.; 88 Minutes - Movie Trailer; Forgetting Sarah Marshall - Movie Trailer; Trailer for the "The Visitor", directed by Tom McCarthy.; The Forbidden Kingdom - Movie Trailer; Sex and the City Movie Trailer; Get Smart: Movie Trailer; The year is 2700. WALL*E, a robot, spends every day doing what he was made for. But soon, he will discover what he was meant for.; The tale of one apathetic nobody Wesley Gibson (James McAvoy) transformation into an unparalleled enforcer of justice.; When Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is forced to create a life support suit to keep him alive after he decides to use the technology in his suit to bring justice to crime. ; Leatherheads Trailer; Story about six MIT students who were trained to become experts in card counting and subsequently took Vegas casinos for millions in winnings.; Dreamworks Animations presents Kung Fu Panda.; Single business woman who dreams of having a baby discovers she is infertile and hires a working class woman to be her unlikely surrogate.; Three kids hire a low-budget bodyguard to protect them from the playground bully.; A team of people work to prevent a disaster threatening the future of the human race.; Two sisters Anne Boleyn (Natalie Portman) and Mary Boleyn (Scarlett Johansson) contend for the affection of King Henry VIII (Eric Bana) ; Jack Black destroys every tape in his friend's video store. In order to satisfy the store's most loyal renter, an aging woman with signs of dementia, the two men set out to remake the lost films.; The attempted assassination of the president is told from five different perspectives.; A genetic anomaly allows a David Rice ( Hayden Christensen) to teleport himself anywhere.; Once moving into the Spiderwick Estate Jared and Simon Grace find themselves in an alternate world.; A story about family, greed, religion, and oil, centered around a turn-of-the-century prospector in the early days of the business.; Amir (Khalid Abdalla) has spent years in California and returns to his homeland in Afghanistan to help his old friend Hassan.; Sydney Wells (Jessica Alba) receives an eye transplant that allows her to see into the supernatural world.; Back home in Texas after fighting in Iraq, a soldier refuses to return to battle despite the government mandate requiring him to do so.; An attorney known as the "fixer" in his law firm, comes across the biggest case of his career that could produce disastrous results for those involved; George Clooney; Michael Clayton; sydney pollack; High school student Dawn (Jess Weixler) discovers she has a physical advantage when she becomes the object of male violence.; John Rambo (Stallone) assembles a group of mercenaries and leads them up the Salween River to a Burmese village where a group of Christian aid workers allegedly went missing.; Trailer to Iron Man Video Game; Trailer from video game; "Margot at the Wedding" is a circus of family neuroses and bad behavior that perhaps a therapist could make sense of better than Noah Baumbach can. ; Margot at the wedding; Nicole Kidman; jennifer jason leigh; movie review; review; vareity review; variety; A young man from the South Bronx dreams of making it as a rapper, until a run-in with local thugs forces him to hide in Puerto Rico with the father he never knew.; You have to believe it to see it.; The last man on earth is not alone.; How many wrongs to make it right?; Prepare for Glory!; A classic Disney fairytale collides with modern-day New York City in a story about a fairytale princess (Amy Adams) from the past who is thrust into present-day by an evil queen (Susan Sarandon).; The rebellion begins. ; Theatrical trailer; Two fathers are forced to make the hardest choices of their lives.; Variety presents a special screening of "The Darjeeling Limited" with Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola and Adrien Brody.; A CIA analyst questions his assignment after witnessing an unorthodox interrogation at a secret detention facility outside the US.; A freak storm unleashes a species of blood-thirsty creatures on a small town, where a small band of citizens hole-up in a supermarket and fight for their lives.; A scorching blast of tense genre filmmaking shot through with rich veins of melancholy, down-home philosophy and dark, dark humor, "No Country for Old Men" reps a superior match of source material and filmmaking talent.; No Country for Old Men; Tommy Lee Jones; Variety review; movie review; variety; A widower finds out the woman he fell in love with is his brother's girlfriend.; Directors: Vincent Paronnaud & Marjane Satrapi Starring: Catherine Deneuve, Danielle Darrieux, Tilly Mandelbrot...; Trailer from video game; "American Gangster" wants to be a great epic crime saga so badly you can feel it.; American Gangster; Denzel Washington; Russell Crowe; The surviving crew members from NASA's Apollo missions tell their story in their own words.; A brass band comprised of members of the Egyptian police force head to Israel to play at the inaugural ceremony of an Arab arts center, only to find themselves lost in a foreign city.; Robert Ford, who's idolized Jesse James since childhood, tries hard to join the reforming gang of the Missouri outlaw, but gradually becomes resentful of the bandit leader. ; Brad Pitt; Casey Affleck; the Assassination of Jesse James; Variety Screening Q&A; with director Sidney Lumet.; Before the Devil Knows You're Dead; Philip Seymour Hoffman; Sidney Lumet; movies; The search for true love begins outside the box. A delusional young guy strikes up an unconventional relationship with a doll he finds on the Internet.; Craig Gillepsie; Lars and the Real Girl; Patricia Clarkson; movies; ryan gosling; trailer; During her 16th Century reign, England's Queen Elizabeth I strikes up a relationship with Sir Walter Raleigh.; Cate Blanchett; clive owen; elizabeth the golden age; geoffrey rush; movies; trailer; A Christmastime drama centered around the Whitfield family's first holiday together in four years.; Trailer for Todd Haynes' Bob Dylan biopic "I'm Not There"; Bob Dylan; Film; I'm Not There; Todd Haynes; movie; trailer; variety; Sleuth Trailer Starring :Jude Law; Bob Dylan/Jude (Cate Blanchett) tries to shake off a reporter's inquiries in this scene from "I'm Not There."; Bob Dylan; Cate Blanchett; Film; I'm Not There; movie; trailer; variety; Survivors of the Raccoon City catastrophe travel across the Nevada desert, hoping to make it to Alaska. Alice (Jovovich) joins the caravan and their fight against the evil Umbrella Corp.; Director: Sean Penn Starring: Emile Hirsch, Hal Holbrook, Vince Vaughn; A pair of well-meaning, but socially inept brothers try to find their perfect mates in order to provide their dying father with a grandchild.; THERE WILL BE BLOOD chronicles one Daniel Plainview (Daniel Day-Lewis), who transforms himself from a silver miner into a self-made oil tycoon. ; There Will Be Blood; Director: Paul Haggis Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Charlize Theron; Kathy Baker, Maria Bello and Emily Blunt star in this drama "The Jane Austen Book Club". Six friends start a club to discuss the works of Jane Austin and find that their relationships are much like the novels.; Reese Witherspoon fights Washington¿s to get her husband back while CIA analyst Jake Gyllenhaal questions his assignment.; George Clooney is an in-house "fixer" at a troubled New York law firm.; James Spooner¿s film follows AJ, a black man entrenched in the New York rock scene, who runs into the industry¿s racist ceiling.; Robert Duvall, Mark Wahlberg, Bobby Green and Eva Mendez star in this compact action/drama "We Own The Night". A nighclub manager attempts to save his brother and father from the mafia.; Jodi Foster sets out for revenge after a vicious attack.; New York writer-director Noah Baumbach's edgy family drama starring Nicole Kidman and Jennifer Jason Leigh as two sisters. ; Jack Black; John Turturro; Margot at the wedding; Nicole Kidman; movie; trailer; Here's an exclusive look at Joel and Ethan Coen's trailer for their Cannes hit "No Country for Old Men," starring Tommy Lee Jones, Josh Brolin and uber villain Javier Bardem. ; Ethan Coen; Javier Bardem; Joel Coen; Josh Brolin; No Country for Old Men; Tomy Lee Jones; movies; trailer; Lions Gate Films: Don Roos, Director; Tom Arnold; Jesse Bradford ; Don Roos; Jesse Bradford; Lions Gate Films; Lisa Kudrow; Tom Arnold; happy endings; jason ritter; maggie gyllenhaal; steve coogan; sundance film festival official selection; the opposite of sex; Palm Pictures: Sebastian Cordero, Director; John Leguizamo ; John Leguizamo; Palm Pictures; Sundance Film Festival; Toronto Film Festival; Y Tu Mama Tambien; cannes film festival; journalism; media; sebastian cordero; Fine Line Features: James D. Stern & Adam Del Deo, Directors; Yao Ming; Adam Del Deo; Charles Barkley; China; Fine Line Features; James D. Stern; Michael Jordan; Taco bell; center; chinese culture; language barrier; nba; nba draft; phil jackson; rookie; the year of the yao; yao ming; Directors: Nadia Conners & Leila Conners Petersen Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sylvia Earle Ph.D., Mikhail Gorbachev...; Directors: Nadia Conners & Leila Conners Petersen Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sylvia Earle Ph.D., Mikhail Gorbachev...; Directors: Nadia Conners & Leila Conners Petersen Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Sylvia Earle Ph.D., Mikhail Gorbachev...; Mariane (ANGELINA JOLIE) in A MIGHTY HEART, a story of a Wall Street Journal reporter Danny Pearl's life and death.; Asra (ARCHIE PANJABI) Captain (IRRFAN KHAN) Dost (ADNAN SIDDIQUI) and Marianne (ANGELINA JOLIE) in Michael Winterbottom's A MIGHTY HEART.; Director: Anton Corbijn Starring: Sam Riley, Samantha Morton, Craig Parkinson...; control; joy division; rock; Directors: Ethan Coen & Joel Coen Starring: Starring: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin...; No Country for Old Men; Bardem on phone w/ Brolin; Sicko; USA; health care; moore; Director: Ken Burns Cast: Adam Arkin, Bobby Cannavale, Keith David, Tom Hanks...; Ken Burns; The War; documentary; Before the collapse of the Berlin Wall, East Germany¿s population was closely monitored by the State Secret Police (Stasi)...; Aliens in America: Premieres Oct. 1st at 8:30/ 7:30 c; Aliens in America; cw; The Big Bang Theory: Premieres Sept. 24th 8:30pm; A collection of movie trailers featured on the Film page on Variety.
Q What are the top 3 things affecting our industry today?
A. Lisa K. - This past WGA writers strike, the present SAG strike situation, and the constant layoffs a... more >


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