"Dear John,” the surprise hit romance that opened over the weekend, might not have been as big a hit if it had the 
original ending.
Waxword
It was with a feeling somewhere between nausea and fascination that I watched Larry King’s exclusive interview with Brittany Murphy’s husband Simon Monjack and the actress’s mother Sharon on Saturday night.
When celebrity tragedy meets the spin machine, truth never ensues – only more sad spectacle.
And so it was. Monjack, a mysterious figure and presumed villain of the story, was there to change his public image, well-established by the tabloids and all those pictures of him as a dark, hulking presence beside the petite Britney.
And he brought with him a B player from central casting – the distraught, bereaved stage mother without the sense to know how she was being used.
But clearly no one coached the guy to spout the proper platitudes. Instead, he pouted and like an oversized baby, mixed melodrama with fact and generally made much ado about himself.
“I suffer seizures and migraines,” he confessed, explaining why TMZ got it wrong – that the long list of drugs found in the house, including anti-seizure, anti-depression and prescription painkillers, were actually his.
We learned that he had a heart attack in the wake of her death. It was hard to take all this very seriously – he kept referring to various ‘bar mitzvas’ apropropos of, um, I have no idea.
But the portrait of widower and mother-in-law didn’t add up as grieving adults beset by freakish circumstances. Brittany’s mother Sharon came off as a naïve and rather lost. Monjack said of Sharon Murphy: “We cling to each other.” She said of her daughter: “We were inseparable. We grew up together.”
Brass tacks - here’s what we learned: Murphy, as TheWrap reported early on, had a heart murmur. She was not supposed to be taking drugs because of that condition.
She was ill on the day she died with laryngitis.
Simon recounted that when Murphy woke up on the Sunday morning, she couldn’t breathe. He recounted: “She said, ‘Mom I’m dying, I love you.’”
Monjack, mixing imminent death with the absurd: “She ran to the bathroom. Brittany’s safe haven was the bathroom. She was pulling herself together, reading Vogue, and putting on lipstick….”
Then: “Sharon screamed ‘Simon!’ I ran as fast as my large frame could take me. And she was on the floor.” He called 911, which took nine minutes to get paramedics to the house.
Mother: “I knew from when she collapsed. I was with her in the bathroom. I was sitting across from her with little puppy Clara. She said, ‘Mom please hug me.’”
The coroner has ruled that Murphy, 32, died of pneumonia and “multiple drug intoxication.”
But Monjack denied any drug use, along with widespread reports that Murphy was losing jobs because of her erratic behavior. It was all the tabloids’ fault, he said.
“Someone runs a story saying she was fired from a movie in Puerto Rico. They pulled the offer from a second movie because of that stupid item.“ He said that the complaint was: “Her bathroom breaks were too long….” After that, “She cried and cried and cried. She was a flower. “
He added: “Hollywood broke her heart.”
This reads like a bad script. Murphy, whose death is entirely tragic, did get fired or pulled from one project after another. TheWrap already reported that Murphy had been disoriented and zoned out on a recent film, to the point of having to have her part rewritten.
And her husband was making things worse. The professional managers and representatives on Murphy’s team regarded Monjack as a Svengali, and as an impediment to her getting work.
“He showed increasingly bad behavior on her last four or five films,” said one person in her camp who was incensed by Monjack’s behavior. As a business manager, Monjack pulled infuriating stunts like agreeing to a business fee, then doubling it at the last minute.
The two of them consistently showed up late to meetings. Monjack was so distrusted among Murphy’s work colleagues that few believed in the immediate wake of her death that he had nothing to do with it.
He may not have. But with the quantity of drugs lying around the house, it certainly doesn’t sound like he promoted clean living.
Monjack just exudes distrust. But he was no ‘Svengali,’ he insisted. Well, it was true, that he and Britney did used to sequester themselves in her trailer on movie shoots.
“That was our magic time,” he said. “That’s where ‘Svengali’ comes from.”
‘Dear John’ may well be Ryan Kavanaugh’s first legitimate hit as a producer – a project that he brought to Sony’s Screen Gems fully loaded, and that this weekend will hit it out of the park.
But it’s also another on the list of successful films that New Line had in the pipeline, or nearly did, before being shut down and folded into Warner Brothers.
The story goes like this. It was early 2007. New Line was on a losing streak. “Golden Compass” had just opened to bad reviews and disastrous domestic box office. The studio’s next big movie (which turned out to be its last as a distributor), “Semi-Pro,” was tracking poorly and poised to be a dud.
At the studio, tension was high and Bob Shaye was nervous. And ‘Dear John’ was ready for a greenlight.
New Line’s head of production Toby Emmerich and agent-turned-producer Marty Bowen had flown to North Carolina to convince author Nicholas Sparks to sell them the rights, which the author did for about $1 million. (Sparks’ bestseller ‘The Notebook’ had been one of New Line’s most profitable releases of the recent previous years.)
The script was done and the project was a go with Channing Tatum in the lead, and actress Amanda Seyfried and two others on a shortlist to co-star, according to people close to the project. Miguel Arteta was attached to direct. (Update: Relativity has called to say that Seyfried was not attached when they were handed the project.)
At a development retreat for New Line executives, Shaye and his partner Michael Lynne both told Emmerich that they didnt like the project, according to those involved with the project.
Shaye thought that Emmerich was trying to recreate the success of “The Notebook” with an inferior script. And he instructued Emmerich to pass.
Instead, New Line gave Relativity Ryan Kavanaugh six months to get the project greenlighted at a major studio. In short order, Kavanaugh cut the budget by $15 million, brought in the director Lasse Hallstrom, polished the script and sold the project to Screen Gems as a rent-a-distributor deal. (Sony put up the cash for prints and advertising.)
A month after instructing Emmerich to pass, Shaye was fired by TimeWarner chief Jeff Bewkes.
'Dear John' opened huge this weekend, with a likely box office total of $35 million. (Sunday update: $32.4 million.)
It will be the biggest opening in Screen Gems history.
New Line, the once-and-shrunken studio, still owns 7.5 percent of the film. Kavanaugh looks like a genius.
That’s Hollywood, folks.
I'm relieved and thrilled to see that justice has prevailed in the newspaper wars in Santa Barbara.
It's been four years since I went up to cover the newsroom revolt at the Santa Barbara News-Press against a mercurial and ethically tone deaf owner, Wendy McCaw. I'm fairly certain that New York Times publisher Arthur Sulzberger regrets having sold her the newspaper, since the wealthy grandee McCaw set set out to run the 
newspaper like her own personal political blotter.
Problem was, the staff wasn't used to taking orders from the publisher.
Jerry Roberts, the editor she had taken on board to lead the place, balked at her tactics. That involved firing reporters who she disagreed with, issuing imperial orders about what stories ought to be covered and generally bulldozing the wall between editorial and advertising.
So McCaw reacted with a vengeance. Her tactics almost always include wielding a lawsuit, and in Roberts' case it was $25 million worth.
I wrote in the New York Times back in 2006:
"Members of the newsroom, and many former reporters, are at odds with Ms. McCaw over their vote to unionize last fall, which she has so far declined to recognize. The publisher has also stirred broader tension in the community with threats of legal action against local merchants who hung signs sympathetic to the union cause, and she has filed a $25 million claim against Mr. Roberts for breach of contract.
"But the latest twist struck many as a step beyond the antagonisms to this point. In the unsigned article, the newspaper wrote that Ampersand Publishing, the parent company of the News-Press, was seeking to retrieve from police the hard drive of the computer used by Mr. Roberts, 'which contains according to the police more than 15,000 images of child and adult pornography.'"
The pornography thing - a complete chimera - went away, eventually. But Roberts' health, both physical and emotional, have suffered mightily. He countersued, and now he has won.
He writes it about it here on his Facebook page, and the AP writes it up today thusly:
An arbitrator has rejected the Santa Barbara News-Press' $25 million claim against its former editor and ordered the newspaper's owner to pay more than $900,000 in fees stemming from their dispute.
Arbitrator Deborah Rothman said Ampersand Publishing, parent company of the News-Press, believed it "lost prestige and credibility in the Santa Barbara community" from comments former editor Jerry Roberts made, and it went after the journalist in a "scorched-earth, take-no-prisoners, go-for-broke fashion." She said the company spent about $2.4 million litigating the claim against Roberts.
Rothman decided that Ampersand should pay nearly $750,000 in legal fees Roberts incurred and about $167,000 in arbitration fees and expenses. Her 68-page decision was made available Friday; a judge will have to decide whether to confirm or vacate the judgment.
A phone message left for Ampersand's attorney, Barry Cappello, was not immediately returned.
Roberts quit his job at the News-Press in 2006 amid complaints that the newspaper's publisher, Wendy McCaw, was interfering with editorial content. Dozens of other staffers either quit or were fired thereafter.
Ampersand filed a $25 million claim against Roberts, saying he violated his contract through defamation by speaking about the newspaper after he left, and he breached his fiduciary duty and a confidentiality agreement. Roberts filed a counterclaim, but Rothman dismissed it. Both sides agreed to binding arbitration.
Roberts said he felt vindicated by the arbitrator's decision and said he was grateful to those who supported him through the lengthy legal battle.
Also, Roberts notes on Facebook: For those who haven't seen "Citizen McCaw," the documentary that's been made about the whole matter, you can get a DVD copy at the website set up by the filmmakers.
It's official: DreamWorks will make its big-budget action picture 'Cowboys & Aliens' with Universal, its old dancing partner, not with 
Disney, its new dancing partner.
(I can't figure out these dance partnerships. Why did Disney make a deal with DreamWorks if it can't get the next one, two or three of Steven Spielberg's movies?)
Anyway, Universal announced Friday that the release date will be July 29, 2011. That's the date they just vacated with 'Battleship,' which has been moved to May 2012.
Daniel Craig will star in the live-action adaptation of the graphic novel. Jon Favreau ("Elf") will direct. Mr. Spielberg will co-produce.
Now go and enjoy your weekend.
He's 17 and hot and - now he's in 3D!
That would be 'Twilight' star Taylor Lautner playing the lead in 'Stretch Armstrong,' which Universal is pushing to 2012 to turn it into a major 3D action hero blockbuster.
We told you that Hollywood has the 3D bug. Just two days Warner Brothers moved 'Clash of the Titans' to turn that into a 3D project.
Meanwhile, the studio also announced that it had chosen Pete Berg to direct another big-budget adventure story, "Battleship," and moved its release to May 25, 2012.
“Universal has put all the elements in place to successfully launch two of our classic Hasbro brands on the big screen,” said Brian Goldner, President and CEO of Hasbro, Inc, in a news release. “The addition of Taylor Lautner and the 3-D twist to Stretch Armstrong, in addition to giving Pete Berg and the filmmakers the extra time and resources to make Battleship an even bigger summer blockbuster, is sure to pay dividends when the film is released in 2012.”
The choice of Lautner will certainly make the Twilight blogosphere giddy.
“In the past two years, Taylor has emerged as a real star at the global box office. He brings the perfect balance of energy and athleticism to the role of an unlikely super hero with a fantastic super power,” said Donna Langley, Universal's head of production. “We couldn’t be more pleased that he has agreed to be our Stretch.”
The movie is being moved to 2012 to fit Lautner's schedule, and to prep the project as a 3D extravaganza.
Producer Brian Grazer (A BeautifuStretch," based on a Hasbro figure who was popular in the 1970s. l Mind, 8 Mile, American Gangster) will team with Hasbro to bring Stretch Armstrong to life. Steve Oedekerk (Bruce Almighty) has written the screenplay, and Hasbro’s Goldner and Schneir also produce. No director has been chosen.
Ryan O'Hara, the president of TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com, is leaving the company, Lionsgate announced on Friday.
No replacement was named. O'Hara was said to be leaving for a new position elsewhere.
“Ryan will be missed, but Jon Feltheimer and I have tremendous confidence in the team of talented and entrepreneurial executives who will continue to build on TVGN and TV Guide.com's momentum," said Allen Shapiro, TV Guide Network chairman, in a statement.
Lionsgate acquired the TV Guide Network nine months ago and has been reprogramming the channel from the Lionsgate library and with shows like "Ugly Betty," and did away with the scrolling listings that had been part of the network.
The veteran magazine associated with the brand was sold for $1 in 2008.
The studio reported net income of $31.7 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, compared with a net loss of $51.8 million for the same period last year, propelled partly by revenue from the TV Guide Network.
Here's the full release:
Ryan O'Hara, President of TV Guide Network and TV Guide.com, is leaving effective immediately to take a new position in New York that will be announced next week, it was announced today by Lionsgate Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Jon Feltheimer and TV Guide Network Board Chairman Allen Shapiro.
During the nine months since TV Guide Network was acquired by Lionsgate and One Equity Partners was brought in as a partner, the network has acquired new programming such as ABC's longrunning series Ugly Betty and HBO's acclaimed hit Curb Your Enthusiasm, achieved back-to-back record ratings weeks with the December airings of the films DIRTY DANCING and DIRTY DANCING: HAVANA NIGHTS from Lionsgate's library and the Susan Boyle story, and forged new long-term distribution agreements with Comcast and Charter. TV Guide.com has also achieved explosive growth, increasing from five to 21 million unique monthly users in the past three years.
TV Guide Network recently strengthened its management team with the announcement that respected industry veteran Diane Robina has been named Executive Vice President of Development, Acquisition and Programming Strategy. Robina also continues as President of Lionsgate's branded multiplatform horror/thriller network FEARnet with partners Sony and Comcast. TV Guide Network and TV Guide.com will continue under the leadership of their current management teams under the overall direction of Feltheimer and Shapiro.
"Ryan and his management team have led TV Guide Network to a strong year of growth in both programming and distribution," said Feltheimer. "He has been a key architect of the channel's continued evolution into a fully distributed, full screen general entertainment network that will play an important role in the cable landscape of the future."
“Ryan will be missed, but Jon Feltheimer and I have tremendous confidence in the team of talented and entrepreneurial executives who will continue to build on TVGN and TV Guide.com's momentum," said Shapiro.
"We have a strong leadership team and a focused strategy to build TV Guide Network into a branded celebration of entertainment and fandom, so this is the right time for me to move on to another new entrepreneurial opportunity that has arisen," said O'Hara. "I enjoyed my eight years at TV Guide tremendously, and I believe the trajectory of the business has never been better. It is in perfect hands with Lionsgate and One Equity Partners."
Late tonight comes the word that my friends over at HBO are doing something beneath contempt: mashing up a character based on Nikki Finke, Anne Thompson and me.
All I can ask is: Please. Don't.
Maybe I'm reading the story wrong. But here's what it says in the Hollywood Reporter:
"The pay cable network is developing "Tilda," a half-hour comedy series with Oscar-winning writer-director Bill Condon and "Tell Me You Love Me" creator Cynthia Mort.
"The project centers on a powerful female online showbiz journalist with a no-holds-barred style."
Then it says this: "It comes at a time of booming Internet showbiz journalism as a number of veteran Hollywood print reporters, including Nikki Finke, Sharon Waxman and Anne Thompson, have migrated online." Just wait, tomorrow there'll be a tetra-headed hydra-blogger in Gawker.
Seriously, guys, there's nothing narratively interesting going on at WaxWord. Just sowing our little news garden over here. On the other hand, no one can deny the evil entertainment value of Nikki Finke (8,000 words in the New Yorker could barely cover it). That's got to be tempting.
And a hint of Anne Thompson? Why the heck not?
Just folks (and my friends at HBO, you know who you are): leave me out of it.
