The Morning Fix: Lions Gate sharpens claws! Why so many TV remakes in development? Do Charlie Sheen and Howard Stern deserve raises?
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After the coffee. Before realizing that yes, baseball season actually started.
Lions Gate sharpens claws for Icahn fight. Lions Gate toppers Jon Feltheimer and Michael Burns fired back at investor Carl Icahn, who has launched a hostile takeover effort for the company. The duo tells the Los Angeles Times that they have accomplished most of what they set out to do and counter Icahn’s complaints that they spend too much on movies. Burns says a settlement with Icahn is ‘unlikely.’
MGM and Miramax having trouble finding love. The sale of MGM has been delayed and while bids were due Monday for Disney’s Miramax, it still isn’t a given that the price Disney wants will be met. The Daily Beast on why these two assets are not necessarily seen as, well, assets.
Call it the ‘300’ effect. After the success of ‘300’ and, more recently, ‘Clash of the Titans,’ look for a slew of movies about myths. USA Today says there are at least a half-dozen projects in the works. As usual, some look for a deeper meaning. ‘Something clearly is in the air,’ Focus Films boss James Schamus told the paper. ‘We Americans are wondering about just what phase of our own empire we’re in. And those anxieties certainly fuel mass culture’s fantasy life.’
Sheen and Stern underpaid? The Daily Beast’s Peter Lauria does some math and determines that Charlie Sheen, who currently makes just over $800,000 on CBS’ ‘Two and a Half Men’ and Sirius XM radio star Howard Stern, who makes $500,000 every morning, per Lauria, both deserve raises. If they do, then so do their publicists.
Extreme foreclosure. The Wall Street Journal reports that many of the contestants who appeared on ABC’s reality show ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ may have to have their finances made over as well. That’s because they borrowed against their new super-size homes and have fallen into hot water or had trouble with the bigger bills that come with bigger houses. The producers told the WSJ that they warned participants about refinancing. The story does not say just how many people have gotten new homes out of the show and how many of those are having money troubles because of it.
Sounds like a good episode. Nicollette Sheridan, who played Edie the temptress on ABC’s ‘Desperate Housewives,’ has filed a $20-million suit against the show’s executive producer Marc Cherry. In it, she alleges that Cherry was both verbally and physically abusive toward her and other cast members, including Teri Hatcher. She said her character was killed off of the hit show after she complained about Cherry’s behavior. Details from the Associated Press.
Inside the Los Angeles Times: In remake central in TV land, NBC wants a new version of ‘The Rockford Files’ while CBS tries another ‘Hawaii 5-0.’ Patrick Goldstein on why 3-D is bad news for actors. Liz Claman is making a name for herself on Fox Business Network.
-- Joe Flint
