Trade Round-Up: Warner Bros. Courts Perverts With PG-13 "Harry Potter"
· Warner Bros. says it's targeting older audiences with the PG-13 Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, hoping to attract gullible pervs who think the more restrictive rating indicates that Hermione finally flashes a nipple. [Variety]
· NBC is number one! NBC is number one! OK, it's in product placement, but at this point they'll take anything that doesn't involve the words "fourth place." President Kevin Reilly is expected to take the entire company out for cupcakes to celebrate this hard-fought moral victory. [THR]
· Steve Jobs says Pixar is in "deep discussions" with Disney and if the two companies are to hammer out a new agreement, he hopes to have it done by the end of the year. Disney CEO Bob Iger, emboldened by Chicken Little's good enough opening, vows to only "beg a little, with a minimum of crying," and only if Jobs "asks politely." [Variety]
· Showtime reportedly axed 10 percent of its workforce this week; a spokeman says the cuts were in preparation for parent company Viacom's corporate split, not a knee-jerk response to a rumor that HBO was planning to let one of its production assistants go. [THR]
· Bull's Eye Entertainment develops for TV, including comedy project The Group about a rock band in therapy, and a small screen version of Paul Haggis film Crash, the tentatively titled The Racism Is Bad! White Guilt Melodrama Hour. [Variety]