Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer

By STV We knew Fox News gossip and mortal Tom Cruise enemy Roger Friedman was upset last week when MGM denied him an advance look at Valkyrie. Today, he exacted his mouthbreathing, error-packed and all-around vicious revenge. Is Horrible 'Valkyrie' Tom Cruise's Nazi Apologia? [Fox News]

By Seth We hope Santa brought everything you wanted (Wii porn), and nothing you didn't (tongue cancer, American Apparel giftcards). Your B.O., followed by the Top 5 Chinese Dishes Consumed Later by the Jews Who Saw Them: All figures come from Big Hollywood.)

By STV MGM is paying dearly for the rest according to the NY Post, which reports today that the studio has spent $70 million marketing the Tom Cruise thriller in advance of its Christmas opening. That's about twice the average promotional budget for a studio opening expected to gross less than $1...

By STV Kavanaugh currently has long-term deals to co-finance productions at Sony and Universal, the latter of which funds 75 percent of its offerings (most recently Frost/Nixon and Changeling) with money from Relativity Media. The NYT notes that Relativity has projects in development with...

By STV And with the first official press screenings taking place after Whitty's organization votes, that can only mean one thing: MGM and United Artists have no faith in their $90 million Tom Cruise Nazi epic. Of course! Isn't that what you derived from that strategy?

By STV ARE YOU A FAN? THEN YOU SHOULD BE OUTRAGED AT MARVEL! [...] Marvel is under the impression that just any person can play Col. James "Rhodey" Rhodes. They are sadly mistaken. Marvel asked Terrence Howard to be Rhodey. He signed on to play Rhodey. Terrence Howard became Rhodey.

By STV WHAT'S NEW: The first genuine Oscar-chasing release of the fall, The Duchess will likely split its viewership between pro- and anti-Keira Knightley factions before anyone bothers to acknowledge its broader, bodice-ripping appeal. So yes, Team Knightley: She deftly portrays Georgi...

By Seth Indeed, 7 out of 10 Valkyrie viewers rated the film as "as good or better than Babylon A.D.," though a majority of comment cards also found themselves disappointed by the less-than-uplifting ending, in which a captured Tom Cruise is fed to the Führer's sows as punishment for his treasonous...

By STV Well-placed sources indicate MGM is sufficiently capitalized to fund film chief Mary Parent's ambitious new slate of film productions and other studio operations for at least another year. But after that, most believe, the studio likely will need to turn to new equity investors to main...

By STV This Just In: Lest there be any confusion about where things stand at United Artists: "STATEMENT FROM HARRY E. SLOAN, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, METRO-GOLDWYN-MAYER STUDIOS INC. — After reading erroneous reports about Tom Cruise and United Artists, I would like to clarify that we are honored that...

By Seth Paula Wagner, Chief Executive Officer of UA, has decided to leave her day-to-day responsibilities and return to her first love, which is producing films. As such, MGM and UA confirmed today that Ms. Wagner will transition to the role of a producer under her own independent production shin...

By STV We aren't sure if Nikki Finke has confused the continuing exec exodus from United Artists with just another routine bomb and/or anthrax threat, but either way, the 11th floor at MGM Tower is clearing out again: Jeff Kleeman is reportedly evacuating his office as Executive Vice Presiden...

By Mark Graham SUNDAY, JULY 27 · Heidi Klum's current hubby SEAL at the Coffee Shop, downstairs at the BHH. Also spotted, real estate reality TV stars JOHN BERSCHI and KURT RAPPAPORT. JACK OSBOURNE also poked his head in, but wouldn't wait for a stool.

By Molly Friedman As THR reported recently, MGM is planning a musical remake of the cult classic Valley Girl, which became the epitome of everything the magical land of acrylic nails and gum chewing addictions stood for in the early `80s. However, the remake is ruffling the feathers of many an industry insi...

By STV The deal also continues Asia's incursion into Hollywood, perhaps epitomized by Sony's $4.8 billion takeover (with Comcast) of MGM in 2005. But India has been even more active in the last year, with TV producer UTV Software buying into Fox's The Happening and Lionsgate entering a developm...

By STV Amid all of Tuesday's post-holiday hustle and bustle, we regrettably overlooked perhaps the most profound news item of the day: Harvey Weinstein indirectly hopped in the Valkyrie fray at Cannes by picking up US theatrical/DVD rights to Operation Valkyrie, a 2004 German retelling of t...

By Seth · Fox has picked up J.J. Abrams's Fringe, about a female FBI agent who "tackles unexplained medical and scientific phenomena," and Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, both for mid-season debuts meant to be bolstered by American Idol's return, an effect Fox internally refers to as "the Drunk-Paula...

By STV Nevertheless, with everybody else overextended (Warner Bros., Sony) or content with their classier, "independent" outlets (Fox with Fox Searchlight; Disney with Miramax), Universal is the only studio that has would have the 'Works on its own terms. What Universal needs is developmen...

By STV The Tom Cruise Image Rehabilitation Tour rolls on today with a public pardon from Viacom kingpin Sumner Redstone, who followed his prodigal son's subdued Oprah stint with a reassurance that, you know, all that erratic-behavior outrage from a couple years back? Just kidding! And Missi...

By Seth · Tom Wolfe's sex-at-college novel I Am Charlotte Simmons (how's that for distilling 752 pages into one compound modifier?) will be directed by music video vet Liz Friedlander, to be eventually followed by Medusa's Pom Pom, a tell-all exposé detailing what went wrong behind the scenes...

By STV Michael Cieply's latest dispatch from the Tom Cruise beat inventories the wreckage from the mid-air collision that is Valkyrie and United Artists, including exclusive interviews with hobbled pilots Paula Wagner and Bryan Singer. For Singer's part, he's fine to let the film speak for i...

By STV Nikki Finke was first on the scene when news broke on Sunday: Moonves wanted to drastically cut the price for Paramount pics, arguing that "the pay channel world isn't what it used to be" and the value of movies on pay TV has decreased while the importance of hot new scripted original series...

By Mark Graham disappointed at the box office (twice!), he was on the receiving end of a threatening phone call and his sand-loving girlfriend turned his bachelor pad into Yankee Candle outlet. Ah, who are we kidding? He can still pull digits with the best of 'em.

By Paula Dixon When an opening became available for President's Day Weekend, we seized the opportunity," said president of domestic distribution Clark Woods (who presumably won his job in an MGM executive poker game by being the best bluffer). "Moving into a big holiday weekend is the right move." Oh, y...

By STV Delicious as they were, Redstone's takedowns of Cruise during the pair's 2006 bust-up never exceeded the realms of showmanship; the hard feelings that surfaced in the press aren't quite what you'd call insurmountable. Especially under these circumstances, with Paramount facing the...

By Mark The runaway success of NBC perfect storm Ben Silverman's resurrected American Gladiators, the spandex-clad, suspiciously muscled new stud of his network's strike-crippled primetime stable, inspired studio MGM Television to scour its back catalog for a way to further exploit the j...

By Mark Anima Sola and Playtone Productions in association with HBO Entertainment FX Productions and Sony Pictures Television ABC Studios 4. HOUSE (FOX) Heel and Toe Films, Shore Z Productions and Bad Hat Harry Productions in association with Universal Media Studios Lionsgate Television

By Mark · Tom Cruise's career as a studio mogul is off to an inauspicious start, as poor box office results for Lions for Lambs suggest he hasn't quite cultivated the hitmaking instincts MGM believed he had when they handed him United Artists. Next up: Tom tries to kill Hitler! [Variety]

By Mark When MGM turned over the reigns of its moribund United Artists label to Tom Cruise a few short months after the actor/producer/freelance detox technician was cruelly cast out of the Paramount family, we just assumed that the burgeoning mogul would effortlessly greenlight himself up a...

By Defamer Emanuel goes on to point out that Hollywood seems to have forgiven regrettable-explosive-drunken-incident-haver Mel Gibson (a reconciliation no doubt assisted by his own, well-publicized call for compassion), so giving Albrecht a second chance should be a no-brainer. But even if t...

By Defamer As it turns out, Paris Hilton's late Friday sentencing to 45 days in a tragically unfashionable Lynwood jail would kick off something of a blockbuster weekend in Hollywood jurisprudence: The Smoking Gun reports (with unflattering mugshot!) that HBO CEO Chris Albrecht was arrested fo...

By Mark Rocky Balboa picks up $6.2 million on its first day of release, prompting MGM to rush out ads touting the film as the "Number One Movie In America On Wednesday, December 20th." [Variety] NY circuit court judges, network lawyers, and the FCC carry on a lively debate about when people can say "f...

By Mark MGM and Revolution Studios have devised an inspired strategy for marketing Rocky Balboa, the sixth, not exactly long-awaited installment in the saga of cinema's most celebrated, cauliflower-eared pugilist: dispatching Sylvester Stallone to influential media outlets equipped w...

By Mark Producer New Line, distributor MGM, and Peter Jackson are locked in an epic battle over who has control over The Hobbit after Jackson declares that he's not willing to talk about directing the film until New Line coughs up the Lord of the Rings profits they've allegedly screwed him out of,...

By Mark The NY Post reports that Daniel Snyder, the Redskins owner and amusement park magnate who helped suddenly homeless megastar Tom Cruise in his darkest, post-Paramount moments by offering the actor an unconventional exchange of production company overhead for high-profile mascot se...

By Mark That couldn't have been an easy day; no one with dreams of making their way in Hollywood in front of the camera wants an agent to summon her to the office, close the door gently behind her, and say, "Kid, let's face it—this acting thing ain't happening. That dream dies here. But you know what? Yo...

By Mark Les would do anything for the company," continued Redstone, his voice softening. "Just a few moments ago, after we found out about this United Artists business, my little Les asked if I wanted him to 'take care of the Cruise situation' for me. I told him that was very sweet of him to offer, but I...

By Mark We realize that Tom Cruise's newly resurrected United Artists is merely a brand within the MGM family, but we still think that his parent studio needs to recognize their historic partnership with the star in dramatic fashion. What better way to celebrate Cruise's incipient moguldom tha...

By Mark LOS ANGELES, CA November 2, 2006 — United Artists, the studio founded by under a partnership formed between Tom Cruise, Paula Wagner and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. (MGM). The announcement was made today by Harry E. Sloan, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, MGM.

By Mark · Thanks to Beverly Hills-fleeing agencies CAA and ICM and reemerging studio MGM, Hollywood has returned to Century City. But there goes the neighborhood already: Entertainment lawyers have descended to suck the life from he newly vital area. Anon, to Burbank, where the suits won't dare...

By Mark · Sofia Coppola's Marie-Antionette, Richard Linklater's Fast Food Nation, Richard "Donnie Darko" Kelly's Southland Tales, Pedro Almodovar's Volver, and Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu's Babel all land in competition at Cannes, while hack-helmed, big-budget blockbusters Da Vinci...

By Mark We've been dreading this day, though not because we're going to miss Brosnan doing the shaken-not-stirred schtick. Now that he's been officially de-tuxedoed, it's going to be even harder for us to ignore rumors that each and every actor with the kind of accent that sounds acceptably clas...

By Mark · MGM CFO Daniel Taylor will take over as president of the studio. The elevation of the studio's chief bean counter to the top spot makes it painfully clear that MGM is now officially Sony's money-printing bitch. [insert sound of a lion being sodomized] [Variety]