Trade Round-Up: Will Hollywood Put Aside Gibson's Anti-Semitic Baggage Long Enough To Enjoy 'Apocalypto'?
Can Hollywood forget about the small matter of Mel Gibson's drunk-driving-related tirade and evaluate his demanding, ambitious, "fiercely original" Apocalypto on its own merits? Perhaps, but we wouldn't bet on it. The local sugartitted community is notorious for holding grudges against those who would slander their sweet-breasted tribe. [Variety]
Tom Freston's ginormous severance package puts a dent in Viacom's profit numbers for the quarter. Please join us in shedding a tiny little tear for the plight of the beloved, faceless multimedia conglomerate over this sad news. [THR]
Prepare yourselves for many more millions of people learning the joys of endlessly mimicking Borat's catchphrases, from "High five!" to "Do not shrink me, gypsy!" as Fox triples the number of theatres showing the the film. [Variety]
After shitcanning the story editors that The CW wouldn't allow to join the Writers Guild, the network continues to flip off the WGA by taking steps to unionize "almost the entire production" of ANTM under IATSE. [THR]
CBS tries to salvage something from the wreck of the swiftly canceled Smith, trying to sell some commercials around the seven episodes (four of which never made it to air) it will stream on its Innertube broadband channel. [Variety]
Fox manages to beat Univision in the Nielsen race Thursday night, reversing last week's unspeakable ratings disaster. [THR