Sharon Waxman, is the founder, CEO and Editor in Chief of TheWrap. She is an award-winning journalist and best-selling author, and was a Hollywood correspondent for The New York Times. Twitter: @sharonwaxman
Experience:
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Box Office Slooooow
The first official weekend estimates reflect a slow, leisurely Labor Day weekend. Kind of numbers that put Hollywood on edge. Media By Numbers has the estimated tallies for the weekend, Friday-Saturday-Sunday, not yet including tomorrow’s moviegoing: So far, "Tropic Thunder" has taken in $11.5 million, for a weak $3,311 per theater average. "Babylon A.D." has…
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Obama Snubs Foreign Media. Why?
This seems like myopic behavior by the Obama campaign. At the coming out party for the Democratic nominee — the past week’s Obama-fest in Denver — the campaign declined to give clearance to foreign television media to report live from the floor of the convention. This is like having the Olympics, and making the television…
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Early Weekend Box Office:
The early estimates, according to my studio sources, will put "Tropic Thunder" at the top of the Labor Day weekend box office sweepstakes with a $14.6 million take at the box office. Close behind, competing neck-and-neck, will be: "The Dark Knight" taking in a still-amazing $12 million; "Babylon A.D.," taking $11.8 million; and "The House…
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Pellicano, Christensen Guilty; Wish I Cared More
Private investigator Anthony Pellicano and attorney Terry Christensen were found guilty, guilty, guilty today of illegally wiretapping the ex-wife of billionaire Kirk Kerkorian. Christensen was Kirk Kerkorian’s lawyer, digging up the dirt during a nasty divorce. He hired Pellicano, who was known to get the goods. I know this stuff is important, but it is…
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Obama: Do We Dare Believe?
My husband refused to watch Barack Obama. He stayed in the bedroom, clicking on French television while the first African-American to seriously contest the U.S. presidency accepted the nomination of the Democratic Party before a throbbing wall of humanity in Invesco Field. “This moment, this election, is our chance to keep the American promise alive,”…
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Driving While Surfing: Please, Stop
This is the second time in a few weeks that I’ve nearly been crushed in a head-on collision by a car driving down my quiet, leafy street that inexplicably began to veer into my lane. I’m driving 30 mph. He/she’s driving 30 mph. Except for my reflex to swerve into the curb, honk and pray,…
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Bratz Gets Off Easy; Mattel Sulks
A jury in Riverside awarded Mattel, the doll-making giant, $100 million in damages against MGA Entertainment over similarities between its "Bratz" doll franchise and the Barbie products of Mattel, Marc Lacter reports. That award is far less than the $2 billion award sought by the El Segundo-based toymaker. MGA Entertainment, along with Avi Arad and…
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Hollywood Heavyweight Saban Might Defect to McCain
One of Hollywood’s leading Democrats, billionaire media mogul Haim Saban, has been one of Hillary Clinton’s most stalwart supporters. Now that his gal is out of the running, he is not close to being won over by Barack Obama. Saban has studiously avoided Denver this week, and said today he might even vote for McCain.…
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Defamer Loves Me
See the MGM post below for a genius graphic pitting yours truly against Nikki Finke. And who said I had no sense of humor????
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SHOCKING PRETRIAL NEWS: D.A. TO DROP HALF OF THE CASE AGAINST ANAND JON
On the eve of the trial for serial rape of ex fashion designer Anand Jon, the district attorney on the case has announced her intention to dismiss half of the alleged victims, and more than half of the 59 counts against him — including forcible, rape, sexual exploitation of a child, sexual battery and forcible…
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Obama Documentary Fever: HBO to Buy Behind the Scenes Portrait
When Barack Obama mounts the shimmering blue stage at the Pepsi Center on Thursday night, he’ll be trailed by a film crew, one of six or seven cameras that are following his every step in Denver for a feature-length documentary about his historic journey. With two years of behind-the-scenes access to the candidate the film,…
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No, but Really: MGM Isn’t For Sale
Ron Grover at BusinessWeek and Nikki Finke are convinced that MGM is for sale, and are reporting as much. MGM took the unusual step of issuing an official, strong denial earlier today: "Contrary to recent media reports, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. (MGM) is not for sale. There is no ‘asking price’ for the company. MGM’s existing…
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Box Office: “House Bunny” Gives “Tropic Thunder” A Run for the Money
Update: Final weekend boxo office estimates are out from Media By Numbers. As expected, "Tropic Thunder" won the weekend, bringing its total box office take to $65.6 million: Tropic Thunder: $16.1 million. The House Bunny: $15.1 million Death Race: $12.3 million The Dark Knight: $10.3 million What can we say about our popular culture when…
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Pageant of the Masters: 75 Years
o. This year’s "staycation" has taken me to Laguna Nigel Beach, where the famed Pageant of the Masters has been leaving audiences gasping with amazement for 75 years. Happy anniversary. Hundreds of volunteers and professional crafts people, musicians and technicians create "tableaux vivants," or "living pictures" of famous paintings, and sculptures, and porcelain and fountains.…
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12 Bids for Variety’s parent, Reed; Sale Expected in 3 Months
Variety’s parent company, Reed Business Information, has received 12 offers for the division of trade papers, believed to be valued at about $2 to $2.5 billion, the London Telegraph reports today. The bidders reportedly include McGraw Hill, the U.S. publisher, but as expected come largely from private equity buy-out firms including Advent, Quadrangle, a joint…