Category: media

“Mel Gibson’s The Passion of the Christ has broken the US five-day box office record held by The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Gibson’s controversial religious movie made $125.2m in its first five days, updated figures have confirmed. That pushed it past the Oscar-winning Rings film’s earlier record of $124.1m.”

Is the Canadian government thinking about selling off the CBC to the private sector? “It’s a billion dollars we have put towards CBC television and we witness direct competition between a public broadcaster and the private sector.”

“A California appeals court has ruled a proposed class action filed by filmgoers against Sony Pictures Entertainment can go to trial over the studio’s admission it had created a fake critic to plug its movies. A dissenting Justice Reuben Ortega called the lawsuit “a farce” and “the most frivolous case with which I have ever had to deal.”

More radio stations draft “zero tolerance” policies regarding “obscenity” on the air. “Emmis doubtless thinks this is a good idea. But that’s not why the company is making the declaration. Emmis is doing it because, like Infinity, Clear Channel and others, it has no choice. It’s the ID you have to flash at the door today if you don’t want potential problems with security.”

A new series being shopped around for American TV is about Homeland Security agents. “It’s about two D.H.S. agents who hurry to trouble spots and fight no-goodniks with the help of local police. According to the production company, President Bush and Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge both endorse and contribute sound bites to the introductions of the series. The producers also claim to have ‘clearance’ from the FBI, the California State Counter-Terrorism Unit and the Los Angeles Police Department. Now, you and I might scoff, but this is a serious business.”

“French cinema chains are refusing to distribute or screen Mel Gibson’s controversial film “The Passion of the Christ” because of fears it will spark a new outbreak of anti-Semitism.”

Entertainment companies are fighting hard to get tough laws passed that prohibit copying of music and video. But a new government report says that tightening copyright laws is “bad for business and for the economy.

New Zealand is a country of only 4 million people. And yet, systematically, New Zealand has built a film industry that culminated in its Lord of the Rings success. “This commitment paid off in increased tourism and business creation. It also brought into existence a substantial filmmaking infrastructure: Mr. Jackson has built his own film processing lab and postproduction facility and is about to build a sound stage to service his next production, a remake of “King Kong,” currently scheduled to shoot in Wellington in August.”

Lord of the Rings scores 11 Oscar wins – tying Ben Hur and Titanic for most wins ever. Other than that, it was a tame, uneventful Academy Awards broadcast.

The call for new laws governing “indecency” in the media is gathering heat, and last week Howard Stern was dropped from six radio stations. “One central question is whether the heat generated by these issues will subside without producing lasting change, as it has before, or if a new era of government regulation and media restraint has begun. Despite the current political momentum, nightly programming on the major networks continues to include numerous flash points involving language, sexuality and violence.”