Global Showbiz Briefs: ‘Skyfall’, BigTalk, News Corp, Screen NSW, IMAX
‘Skyfall’ Brings Windfall To UK’s Odeon Circuit
On Thursday, Skyfall became the UK’s all-time highest grossing 007 movie, taking £57M ($91.2)in just 12 days. Odeon, Britain’s largest cinema chain, is reaping the benefits of the breakout Bond movie scoring the largest 7-day opening ever for a single film with £11.3M ($18.1M) in takings at its theaters. Its flagship cinema, Odeon Leicester Square, also set a new record with more than £530K ($848K) in Skyfall’s first week to overtake Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2, which took £495K ($792K at current exchange rate) in 2011. Odeon had a 30.5% market share of Skyfall’s UK box office in its first week.
Big Talk Backs ‘The Job Lot’
The UK’s Big Talk Productions, the company with a hand in such films like Shaun Of The Dead, Hot Fuzz and Paul, is producing a new sitcom for ITV. The Job Lot will star Sarah Hadland and up-and-comer Russell Tovey (Effie, Him & Her) as workers at an employment agency in the British West Midlands. Sophie McShera, who plays Downton Abbey’s assistant cook Daisy, also stars. Filming is underway through Christmas for the 6-episode comedy that will air next spring. It’s the first series from the writing team of Claire Downes, Ian Jarvis and Stuart Lane. Big Talk CEO Kenton Allen is exec producing, Rev’s Hannah Pescod is producer and Friday Night Dinner’s Martin Dennis is directing. Big Talk is also behind the upcoming miniseries A Young Doctor’s Notebook starring Jon Hamm and Daniel Radcliffe and features The World’s End with Martin Freeman, Rosamund Pike, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost and Cuban Fury, also with Frost and Rashida Jones, Ian McShane and Chris O’Dowd.
Andy Coulson Wants News Corp To Pay Legal Fees
Andy Coulson, the former editor of News Of The World who is facing criminal charges related to the phone-hacking scandal, is seeking to have the paper’s owner News Corp pay his legal fees. Coulson, who is also the former press chief to Prime Minister David Cameron, is charged with conspiring to intercept communications unlawfully and faces charges relating to the alleged hacking of murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler’s mobile phone. His lawyers today told the London Court of Appeal that his 2007 termination contract with News Corp requires the company to pay legal fees in relation to his duties as editor, Bloomberg reports. But the lawyer for News Corp’s UK press arm News International said the contract covers Coulson “doing his job as editor and it is not part of his job to hack phones.” The attorney added, however, that if any fees are paid, it should be after Coulson is proved innocent. Coulson cited press reports saying News Corp is covering similarly charged former News International chief Rebekah Brooks’ expenses.
Australia’s Screen NSW Hires Matt Carroll To Woo Offshore Productions
Producer Matt Carroll has joined the agency Screen NSW as director of production attraction and incentives with a mandate to lure more film and TV production to Sydney and New South Wales. More than $A315M ($327M) million was spent on productions filmed in NSW in 2011-12, including The Great Gatsby and TV series Puberty Blues, Underbelly: Badness and Rake series 2, and The Wolverine which currently is based at Fox Studios in Sydney. But no further Hollywood studio productions are confirmed and Carroll tells Deadline it’s vital the Australian government increases the location rebate for big budget productions from 16.5% to 30%. The government says it will announce its decision before the end of this year. Carroll, whose credits include Sunday, Too Far Away, Breaker Morant, Storm Boy and TV’s Farscape, most recently produced the ITV/Network Ten telemovie Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback. At Screen NSW Carroll replaces Paul de Carvalho, who left in October after four years in the job. -Don Groves
IMAX, CGV Bolster Ties With 15 New Sites In China
IMAX Corp and a subsidiary of Korean media conglomerate CJ CGV announced an expansion of the companies’ revenue sharing agreement for new theaters to be built in new construction projects throughout the People’s Republic of China. The 15-theater deal brings CJ CGV’s IMAX commitment to as many as 65 theaters in South Korea and China.
Related stories
IMAX Beats Q3 Forecasts As New Theater Orders Remain Strong
IMAX Boasts 26% More James Bond ‘Skyfall’
James Bond Film ‘Skyfall’ Coming One Day Early On IMAX Screens
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