‘Bad Grandpa’ to take down ‘Gravity’; Twitter hires Vivian Schiller

After the coffee. Before riding a shopping cart to work.

The Skinny: “Ender’s Game” looks like it’s pulling in some decent early reviews. Hope it’s good; the novel is still a favorite of mine. Today’s stories include a look at the weekend box office, Vivian Schiller’s next gig and an interview with Clear Channel CEO Bob Pittman.

Daily Dose: Dick Robertson, a former Warner Bros. syndication executive, now has a school named after him. Robertson has been a longtime philanthropist of Virginia Commonwealth University, which has approved a new name for its School of Mass Communications: the Richard T. Robertson School of Media and Culture.

PHOTOS: Billion-dollar movie club

Back to Earth: Looks like the person who will finally end “Gravity’s” reign at the box office is -- who would’ve guessed? -- Johnny Knoxville, whose new prank comedy “Bad Grandpa” might make $30 million this weekend. The “Jackass” star will probably top “Gravity’s” projected $22 million. Good thing, because we’re all running out of space puns. More from the Los Angeles Times and Variety.

On the Twitters: Soon-to-be-public Twitter has hired Vivian Schiller, currently NBC News’ digital chief, to become the head of the social media company’s news partnerships. Schiller was earlier CEO of NPR, a post she left amid controversy. The New York Times describes the Twitter hire as reinforcement of the mutually beneficial relationship between Twitter and the news business, which is probably true insofar as a lot of journalists goof around on the site while working. By the way, it looks as though Twitter is valuing itself at more than $11 billion.

PHOTOS: Hollywood backlot moments

Radioactive: No, this interview wasn’t just an excuse to go to the Katy Perry album release party this week. Bob Pittman is probably best known as the co-founder of MTV. Now, as the CEO of Clear Channel, he’s building out the radio giant into digital music, live events and TV. The Los Angeles Times asked him about the future of the company during an interview at the new iHeartRadio Theater in Burbank.

Building blocks: Forget “Stretch Armstrong.” The people who really seem to know how to turn a toy business into a film franchise are the folks behind Lego. The toy line has two hit Cartoon Network shows and a movie coming out in February: “The Lego Movie,” with Warner Bros. More pieces from the Hollywood Reporter.

Inside the Los Angeles Times: Mark Swed on the Frank Zappa piece “200 Motels”; Robert Lloyd on NBC’s new series “Dracula.”

Follow me on Twitter: @rfaughnder. If I don’t make it to 1,000 by year’s end, I’m going to start podcasting.