Trade Round-Up: Jeff Zucker Cracks Down On Wasteful Snickers Subsidies
· Paramount's Oliver Stone project now has competition to be the first to exploit 9/11 for fun and profit (we're calling even money that one studio will announce some kind of donation to charity, if they haven't already), as Universal announces its plans for Flight 93, the story of the heroic passengers who sacrificed their lives once they learned that their hijacked plane was being directed towards a crash in DC. Oh, the film is going for a "gritty feel" with improvisation and handheld cameras. Sounds like a hoot! [Variety]
· From the God We Wish We Were Making This Up Department: "With NBC Universal Television Group suffering through a fiscal downturn, the division's president, Jeff Zucker, is implementing cost-cutting measures affecting everything from travel expenses to the snacks served at meetings." Perhaps even greater savings could be realized if Zucker and Kevin Reilly, the people who oversaw last season's disastrous plummet to the Nielsen basement, had their salaries taken away for a year? Let the people have their fucking Pringles, Jeff! They're not the ones who tied their fortunes to Joey. [THR]
· The (relative) overseas success of domestic box office bed-shitter The Island proves yet again that studios can count on international audiences to bail them out for making crappy movies. [Variety]
· The Canadian Broadcasting Corp. locks out over 5,000 unionized employees in its Biggest. Workstoppage. Ever. We hope someone closes down the border before Hollywood is overrun with workers ready to politely steal our jobs. [THR]
· Following the success of last weekend's release of Four Brothers, Paramount renews producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura's first-look deal—and he didn't even have to take out an ad exploiting his cleavage to get it. [Variety]