UTA growing to Gotham

UTA will open a Gotham office this fall, to become staffed with a mix of agents from La in addition to several new employs. Nancy Gates, co-mind of TV Talent in the tenpercentary, would be the first L.A.-based agent to create the move back East. She'll be became a member of by alternative TV agent Alison Wallach and talent agent Steven Fisher. Agency signed a lease within the 888 Seventh Ave. building near seventh St., that is under restoration. Office opens in November. Plans will be to expand UTA's existing theatre, digital media and corporate talking to practices into Gotham, additionally to its film and TV business there. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Trailer For Winterbottom's Trishna

Freida Pinto takes up Sturdy in IndiaContinuing his pursuit to do strange and interesting things with Thomas Sturdy books, here is a trailer for Michael Winterbottom's Trishna, which transposes Tess from the d'Urbervilles to modern-day India. Following his reasonably straight adaptation of Jude the Obscure, and also the Claim, which switched The Mayor of Casterbridge right into a Western, Trishna stars Freida Pinto because the titular primitive creature from the heath (or its Rajasthan equivalent), who will get into relationship problems with Riz Ahmed's Jay Singh. Trishna goes to dedicate yourself him after any sort of accident destroys her father's jeep (it is a equine within the book) however the pair's love is complicated through the clash between Trishna's rural roots and also the urbanity and education that Jay signifies. This is the official plot summary a minimum of, which does not cover Tess' rape and also the extended aftermath which forms the core of Hardy's novel. There is no trace of this within the trailer either, which seems to visit the star-cross'd enthusiasts route. Jay would appear to become Angel Clare, and it is unclear if there's an Alec d'Urberville whatsoever, but Hardy's theme of the beautiful traditional world versus the evils of modernity certainly appears to become front and center. The dreamy soundtrack, that it's as though you will see much dancing, is as simple as Shigeru Umebayashi, with original tunes by Amit Trivedi, and Trishna is going to be seeking distribution in the Toronto Worldwide Film Festival, where it premieres on September 9.

Consumer options can hurt biz

Technology is altering faster than some companies can adapt. A buddy outdoors the media business -- deeply enamored using the iPad -- lately referred to his version of the killer application: Inserting the iPad interface and Web access straight into his TV. If this was recommended the logical extreme from this type of wedding -- if Web-enabled Televisions become common, and also the public begin watching television like Cruise character in "Minority Report" -- may potentially obliterate satellite and cable companies as you may know them, his response was succinct: "Screw Them." Individuals who work inside a specific vocation are frequently informed with a way of measuring sentimentality. For individuals weaned around or in television, it's not hard to wince in the disappearance of cleaning soap operas or TV movies not always because we are so keen on the genre but since it signifies a whole life-style -- a sub-industry that released careers, put kids in private schools and compensated lots of mortgages. Beyond individuals insular edges, though, customers aren't stricken by such concerns regarding collateral damage. They need what they need when and how they need it, and do not care if economic staples -- whether that's family farms, domestic manufacturing or traditional content distribution -- suffer as a result. Two op-erectile dysfunction pieces in Sunday's New You are able to Occasions each glancingly addressed this time from slightly different angles. One noted the way the public really has little curiosity about compromise, in both the items they consume or their politics. Elsewhere, cultural observer Neal Gabler named us a society of "information narcissists bored with anything outdoors ourselves and our friendship circles." The media, he added, have modified "to service our narcissism." Newspapers, getting the problem personally near to home, have certainly learned this lesson hard way. Regardless of the healthy appetite for information, the need to eat news on the internet and immediately leaves marketers wrestling with how you can be paid out for his or her product. To a lot of customers, such questions are immaterial. Essentially, they are telling companies, "That's your headache. You decipher it out." The entertainment industry came a little late for this party, and it is not completely obvious that showbiz, or at best every quadrant from it, has recognized the natural threat this type of attitude poses. Of course, mind honchos at media conglomerates -- especially individuals within the distribution game -- are weighing options and plotting contingencies. From Comcast's broadened content profile through obtaining NBCUniversal to Time Warner's focus on portability, flexibility and wager-securing would be the order during the day. Still, gleam large amount of lip service compensated to the healthiness of old war horses. Local broadcasting? People still like it. Cable systems? Insight Communications within the Area may be worth $3 billion to Time Warner Cable. The main systems? Lots of existence still inside them. Area of the status quo's long lasting clout has related to sheer inertia. In the end, just holding out to have an installation guy to exhibit as much as change a person's digital services are one half-day commitment along with a colossal discomfort. Despite breath-taking devices and gadgetry, everything doesn't always change as quickly as anticipated. Request Google TV -- where returns from the boxes are really outpacing sales, helping motivate this week's blockbuster purchase of Motorola Mobility -- or anybody except Apple marketing a brand new tablet. Simultaneously, rapid adoption of high-definition Tv's and video recorders illustrate how rapidly habits can alter. Furthermore, the latter's commercial-zapping function underscores how wholly unsympathetic the general public is usually to venerable institutions like marketer-supported systems pleading, "But exactly how shall we be supposed to cover this?" Over time there has been many Chicken Littles warning from the coming storm, combined by having an inevitable insufficient clearness that induce eyes (particularly in creative circles) to glaze over. Nonetheless, then-Disney chairman Michael Eisner's comment in the 1994 Information Superhighway Summit offers a particular resonance: "I seem like an British major within an organic chemistry course." And no surprise. Since the people certifying this exam don't care who passes or fails, reflecting that "Screw Them" attitude. Not because they are not too into you -- actually, many of them love your projects. It is simply that within an atmosphere where customers are familiar with getting things their way, they are a lot more into themselves. Contact John Lowry at john.lowry@variety.com

Rankings: Hell's Kitchen Serves probably the most

Chef Ramsay, Elises Hell's Kitchen was cookin' for six.83 million audiences, winning Monday evening one of the industry-valued 18-to-49-year-olds demographic having a 2.8 rating that matched up its season high, based on Nielsen overnight figures. The penultimate episode of MasterChef that adopted at 9/8c offered 6.04 million people along with a 2.4 demo rating. MasterChef's Joe Bastianich blogs: Now, the ultimate dance Facing that foodie tandem on Fox, a 2-hour Bachelor Pad on ABC averaged 6.32 million audiences, lower in the 6.87 million it attracted to last week's three-hour premiere. Additionally, it slightly rejected within the demo, scoring a couple.1 rating versus. 2.2 the other day. Still, the show wasn't any. 1 in most the feminine demos, and greater in comparison with similar evening this year. One of the trio of reruns in prime time's final hour, CBS' Hawaii Five- (5.05 million, 1.2) outpaced ABC's Castle (3.91 million, .9) and NBC's Harry's Law (3.27 million, .8). CBS had its usual selection of sitcom reruns within the first couple of hrs - two instances of Generate An Income Met Your Mother (4.12 million and 4.56 million), 2 . 5 Males (5.74 million) and Mike & Molly (5.37 million). Meet up with the most recent TVGuide.com news On cable Sunday evening, HBO's True Bloodstream had the greatest audience and demo - 5.3 million and three.1 - as the Next Food Network Star season finale drawn in 4.23 million along with a 1.4 demo rating, which tied for third (with Entourage) behind Maintaining Using the Kardashians (3.16 million audiences).

UPDATE: News Corp Executives Defend Fox Business, Question Hulu Purchase Plans

UPDATE, 3:40 PM: Even though drama in present day analyst call involved this news Around The Globe hacking scandal, News Corp executives designed a couple of interesting points concerning the company's less sensational business activities. COO Chase Carey states the Hulu auction is "advancing largely based on plan." But he left open the chance that it will not create a purchase, rhetorically asking "will it seem sensible to pursue that path or us to remain in an possession position?" He and Rupert Murdoch also stated they offer the Fox Business Network, declaring it had been justan oversight they did not mention it when listing cable channels which are poised to develop. "The rankings are actually enhancing," Murdoch stated, adding that "we want more distribution, it's correct.Inch Still he states Fox Clients are breaking even on the income basis. Carey also states that Forex has got the potential to become bigger revenue generator. All in all, Murdoch states that News Corp procedures were "exceptional" within the last quarter supplying the organization using the "best balance sheet within our history." PREVIOUS, 1:19 PM: The media giant states it did well in the fiscal 4th quarter -- as lengthy while you don't count the $245M earnings hit in the Bebo purchase. The organization had internet profits of $683M, lower 22% in the period this past year, on revenues of $8.96B, up 10.5%. Internet earnings arrived at 26 cents a share -- but when you factor out Bebo they hit 35 cents. Experts expected 30 cents.The organization states it lost 10 cents a share from the purchase of Bebo. Revenues beat the consensus forecast of $8.46B. Cable network revenues rose 14.5% to $2.15B with the aid of greater costs that satellite and cable operators purchase the channels. Shot entertainment was up 13.6% to $2.03B with strong is a result of Rio, Black Swan and also the Stories of Narnia: Voyage From The Beginning Treader. Ad sales and retransmission consent revenues assisted the broadcast TV unit grow 7% to $1.04B. The organization also introduced a 26% rise in its dividend to 9.5 cents a share. News Corpshares are lower about 1.5% in after-market buying and selling.

Live Nation posts gains

Buoyed by enhancing ticket sales, Live Nation Entertainment boasted a 23.1% increase in revenue for that quarter ended June 30, the organization introduced Monday.Overall revenues rose to $1.55 billion, versus. $1.26 billion throughout exactly the same quarter this past year. Revenues from concerts jumped nearly 26%, to $1.08 billion from $859 million within the 2010 quarter.Revenues for that company's ticketing activities rose a somewhat small 7.3%, to $283.8 million from $264.4 million within the same 2010 quarter. The business's Artist Nation management division saw revenues up 33.5%, to $118.4 million from $88.7 million quarter to quarter.Overall operating earnings rose 41.7% to $54.7 million, from $38.six million within the same quarter throughout 2010. Net gain was nearly $13.two million, versus. a loss of revenue of $31.two million in last year's Q2.Believed attendance at United States and worldwide shows arrived at 13 million throughout the quarter, up from 13.3 million exactly the same quarter this past year. Concert ticket sales totaled 17.six million, versus. 15.5 million throughout '10's Q2.LNE leader-Boss Michael Rapino stated inside a statement, "We're seeing the worldwide ticketing business stabilize and concert business grow year-over-year, and that we remain positive about ongoing growth possibilities in the market long-term."Company's stock lost $.60 and closed at $8.78 about the New york stock exchange among a significant market decline Monday. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com

Kenny Ortega Comes Full Circle To Direct 'Dirty Dancing' Reboot

UPDATE: Lionsgate has now confirmed Deadline's Dirty Dancing story. The release appears below the original story. EARLIER EXCLUSIVE: Lionsgate has set Kenny Ortega to directDirty Dancing, the remake of the 1987 Emile Ardolino-directed film about a pampered young girl who summers with her upscale family at an establishment in the Catskills and falls in love with the resident dance instructor. It brings Ortega full circle, since he choreographed and came up with the grinding "dirty dancing" that made the original sleeper hit one of the most profitable independent films ever made to that point. The original, made by Vestron Pictures w, cost $6 million and grossed $213.95 million worldwide, and went on to be a big video title. Unbelievably, Vestron took so long to work out a sequel (some of it was cast salary and I recall Patrick Swayze asking $5 million and Jennifer Grey a comparable amount), that Vestron folded before the movie could be mobilized. Lionsgate first got involved when it released Artisan's 2004 sequel: Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights, but it didn't feature the same cast and it tanked. Lionsgate is starting over. Ortega, meanwhile, went from choreographing to becoming the director of TV series (he did two episodes of a Dirty Dancing TV series) before helming two hit TV installments of High School Musical before the third film was done as a feature film. He followed with the hit Michael Jackson tribute documentary This Is It. After that, he'd been set to direct Footloose before dropping out of that project and into a movie version of the Lin-Manuel Miranda musical In The Heights, only to see the latter film get dropped by Universal. Dirty Dancing is a high priority for Lionsgate, and this one should move quickly. Ortega is repped by Paradigm. SANTA MONICA, CA (August 08, 2011) - LIONSGATE (NYSE: LGF), a leading global entertainment company, is set to produce DIRTY DANCING, based on the classic 1987 film of the same name, it was announced today by Joe Drake, President of Lionsgates Motion Picture Group. The original films choreographer Kenny Ortega (HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL, Michael Jacksons THIS IS IT), will direct. Debra Martin Chase (THE PRINCESS DIARIES, THE SISTERHOOD OF THE TRAVELING PANTS) and Kenny Ortega are producing. The studio is in talks with Eleanor Bergstein, the writer and co-producer of the original film, regarding her involvement in the new film in a producorial capacity. Alli Shearmur, President of Motion Picture Development and Production, is overseeing the project on behalf of Lionsgate. The new film is a celebration of one of the most beloved movies of all time. Paying tribute to the emotional excitement of first love, the thrills and complexity of sexual awakening, the soul stirring power of dance, and the classic tale of teenage Babys forbidden romance with Johnny Castle, the remake will incorporate classic songs from the 1960s, hits from the original film and brand new compositions. Amazingly it has been almost 25 years since the original film was released, but the fans remain legion, and engaged more than ever with a brand that is special and vital to them. We believe that the timing couldnt be better to modernize this story on the big screen, and we are proud to have Kenny Ortega at the helm. said Drake. Said Ortega of the project, The opportunity to direct DIRTY DANCING is like returning home for me. Growing up in the 60s on the dance floor helped define me as a person and as an artist. I am looking forward to assembling a great creative team and an exciting cast to bring DIRTY DANCING to the screen for a new generation. Patrick Swayze set the bar for men dancing in the movies as Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire did before him. I believe everywhere you look there is evidence that the talent is out there and I cant wait to begin the process of discovering the next breakout triple-threats. He continues, I want to thank writer/producer Eleanor Bergstein for originally choosing me to choreograph Dirty Dancing and for her continuous support. Im thrilled to once again be working with my friend and producing partner Debra Martin Chase. My deep appreciation to Alli Shearmur, Joe Drake, and everyone at Lionsgate for their enthusiasm to make the film and for their confidence in me to helm the project. "This remake of DIRTY DANCING presents an exciting opportunity to both celebrate what has made this movie so beloved and refresh and enhance it so that new audiences can claim it as their own, said producer Chase. I am thrilled to be working with Kenny Ortega again and with the dynamic creative team at Lionsgate." Filmmaker deals were negotiated by Senior Exec VP of Lionsgates Motion Picture Group Rob McEntegart, with attorney Steve Warren on behalf of Ortega, and Michael Gendler on behalf of Chase. Ortega is represented by Paradigm and McDonald/Selznick Associates.

'Transformers' Is Summer's Third $1B Movie, So Why Is the Box Office Slumping?

This summer, it's a Tale of Two Box Offices. The best-of-times part of the scenario: Only ten movies have ever made more than a billion dollars in worldwide ticket sales, and three of those have happened this summer. First was 'Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,' then this past weekend, 'Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2,' and now, a couple days later, 'Transformers: Dark of the Moon.' As of August 2, according to distributor Paramount, the robot threequel has scored $1.004 billion. Without adjusting for inflation, that makes it the ninth highest-grossing movie of all time. 'Harry Potter' is slightly ahead at No. 8, with $1.016 billion, and 'Pirates' is in sixth place with $1.033 billion. So how is it possible (and this is the worst-of-times part of the scenario) that 2011's domestic box office is lagging behind 2010's by 4 percent? According to Variety, year-to-date grosses come to about $6.8 billion, nearly $300 million behind the $7.1 billion in tickets sold during the first seven months of last year. What's more, not even this August's handful of potential blockbusters (like 'Rise of the Planet of the Apes' and 'Conan the Barbarian') are expected to be enough to close the gap. How can a summer with an unprecedented number of billion-dollar movies still result in a box office slump? Variety's analysis doesn't provide an answer, but it surely has to do with the changing habits of you, the moviegoer. Despite what has largely been a robust summer, 2011 has been marked by movies that underperformed expectations. The first four months were so full of flops that not even the successes of summer have been able to make up all of the lost ground. (At the beginning of summer, the gap was 7 percent.) Even the movies that did well owe a great deal to overseas audiences. Sure, the fourth 'Pirates' has earned a billion, but 77 percent of that came from outside North America. At home, it grossed $238 million, the lowest domestic take of the four films. This summer has been marked by old franchises that are winding down, like 'Harry Potter,' or running out of steam. At $340 million so far, the latest 'Transformers' (which both Michael Bay and Shia LaBeouf have said will be the last installment for them) is unlikely to surpass the $402 million domestic take of 'Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.' The 'Kung Fu Panda' sequel fell short of the original's American earnings by more than $50 million. Even mighty Pixar failed to drum up much domestic interest in a 'Cars' sequel; of 12 Pixar features released to date, 'Cars 2' ranks 11th. The search for new franchises to replace the obsolescent ones has been hit or miss. There have been a lot of new superhero titles launched this season, but audiences seem to be suffering not just from superhero fatigue, but superhero origin-story fatigue. The highest-grossing comic-book title of the summer to date is 'Thor' (though 'Captain America: The First Avenger' may still surpass it), and its domestic take didn't even top $200 million. Old-school stars have also failed to draw viewers the way they once did. Harrison Ford ('Cowboys & Aliens'), Jim Carrey ('Mr. Popper's Penguins') and Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts ('Larry Crowne') haven't been big box office attractions. Many of this summer's biggest films (including 'Transformers,' 'Thor,' 'Bridesmaids' and 'X-Men: First Class') don't owe their success to star power at all. The other source of disappointment has been 3D. This year has seen more 3D movies than ever, and the novelty seems to have worn off for audiences. There were a lot of slapdash, last-minute conversions from 2D to 3D, and moviegoers haven't taken the bait. But even for big blockbuster movies that were relying on 3D to boost the box office, American audiences tended to prefer the 2D versions. 3D helped make 'Transformers' a hit (60 percent of the opening weekend gross came from 3D screens), but for most movies, 3D represents less than 40 percent of the domestic take. (Overseas, however, audiences are still enchanted with 3D, one reason why the foreign share of their worldwide take has been so lopsided.) There has been one unexpected bright spot this summer: R-rated comedies. 'The Hangover Part II' seemed guaranteed to be a big hit, and 'Bridesmaids' lived up to its strong advance hype, but then came 'Bad Teacher' and 'Horrible Bosses' and 'Friends With Benefits,' and still, the market for raunchy laughs with appeal to older audiences hadn't been saturated. Look for similar success for 'The Change-Up' when it opens this weekend. All these trends suggest that American ticketbuyers have made some changes in their moviegoing habits. It's long been accepted as a truism that the moviegoing experience is increasingly unpleasant (rude audiences, sticky floors, indifferent projection and sound quality), that the slumping economy and rising ticket prices don't help, and that the growing ease of watching movies at home or online (especially with the ever-shrinking window between theatrical and home-viewing release dates) is further keeping people out of theaters. But these newly-observed trends -- dissatisfaction with 3D, disenchantment with old franchises and old stars, lack of interest in new superhero origin stories -- seem to be depressing the domestic box office even further Here at Moviefone, we'd like to know if you think these observations are true. Are you finding you've changed your moviegoing habits in recent months? If so, why? And what is it about the movies you have seen in theaters this summer that made you decide it would be worth it to buck those trends? Let us know in the comments below. Follow Gary Susman on Twitter @garysusman.

New Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy International Trailer Ups the Intrigue

· The second international trailer for Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy has arrived online and it’s just as tense as before, but with one added twist: the music from X-Men: First Class! (Hat tip to Cinema Blend for that pull.) If only Michael Fassbender was cutting his way through Cold War Europe in this one too! Alas, you’ll have to settle for Gary Oldman, Tom Hardy, Colin Firth and a host of other British thespians. While you await the U.S. trailer for the Tomas Alfredson-directed John LeCarre adaptation, watch this bit of exciting marketing ahead. Your Thursday Buzz Break is here. [via Cinema Blend] · Bad news, Steig Larsson fans: there won’t be a posthumous fourth novel in the Dragon Tattoo series. “There’s the beginning of a fourth novel,” Eva Gabrielsson, Larsson’s former girlfriend, told the BBC. “I would estimate it to be about 200 pages, given what I saw in late August during our last vacation, and given what I knew of Stieg’s workload in his last two months. It probably doesn’t hang together. Stieg was a spontaneous writer, he could write scenes and not knit them together until later on - he just liked the scene. You can’t call it a novel.” [BBC via Digital Spy] · Daredevil director Mark Steven Johnson will take the reins on Autobahn, which sounds like Buried in a car. “Autobahn is the story of a washed-up ex-Formula One driver who wakes up trapped inside a BMW on the side of the Autobahn, Germany’s famed high-speed roadway, which has no general speed limit. He answers a phone ringing in the glove box, only to be told that he has 90 minutes to deliver the bomb-rigged car to a target or his wife and daughter will be killed.” [THR/Heat Vision] · Tribeca Film has acquired Edward Burns’ latest film Newlyweds, which closed the Tribeca Film Festival back in April. Look for it to debut on a number of platforms by the end of the year. [Press Release] · You can stop telling J.J. Abrams the ending of Lost was disappointing. “For years, I had people praising Lost to death,” he told The Guardian, “and now they say: ‘I’m so pissed at you for the end of Lost.’ I think a lot of people who were upset with the ending, were just upset that it ended. And I’ve not yet heard the pitch of what the ending should have been. I’ve just heard: ‘That sucked.’” [Guardian UK]

Today on indieWIRE: More Toronto Game titles, Todd Solondz Exclusive, Morgan Spurlock & More

Today on indieWIRE, TIFF introduced more game titles on its massive selection, Todd Solondz shared the poster from his new flick, Morgan Spurlock and Hulu partnered, plus much more. The Toronto Worldwide Film Festival introduced a slew of recent game titles Wednesday morning, including 25 documentaries including work from Werner Herzog, Morgan Spurlock, Jessica Yu, Nick Broomfield, Wim Wenders, Jafar Panahi, Ernest Wiseman, Jonathan Demme, Alex Gibney, Mark Cousins and Gary Hustwit. Particulars here. Lengthy a house to questionable hot-button political paperwork, the 2010 Toronto Worldwide Film Festival promises much of the identical, using the world premieres of, most particularly, Nick Broomfield's Sarah Palin documentary 'You Betcha!' and Werner Herzog's dying row doc 'Into the Abyss.' Visit here to see more about Reel Politik. The Toronto Worldwide Film Festival added 50 plus new game titles to its selection Wednesday morning, including films in the Night time Madness, Vanguard, City to City and TIFF Kids programs. Particulars here. Todd Solondz and the 'Happiness' producer, Ted Hope, reteamed for Solondz's latest, 'Dark Equine,' that will premiere in the Venice Worldwide Film Festival. Even though it's difficult to top the legendary Daniel Clowes' comic-book portraits that marketed their 1998 film, just a little chest hair along with a cursive title necklace will go a lengthy way. The poster's groovy design is courtesy Mojo, exactly the same graphics house that created one-sheets for Hope's 'SUPER' and Solondz's 'Life Throughout Wartime' in addition to 'Greenberg,' 'Where the Wild Things Are' and '300.' Visit here to take a look. Among the oddest and many intriguing documentaries to premiere at Sundance this season, Jon Foy's 'Resurrect Dead: The Mystery from the Toynbee Tiles,' dropped its trailer today also it looks mighty promising. Take a look here. It is a good day within the eventful existence of Morgan Spurlock ('Super Size Me'). In This summer he marketed his latest book and documentary, 'Comic-Disadvantage Episode Four: A Fan's Hope' (2012), starring such fan-friendly fanaticals as Kevin Cruz, Harry Knowles, Eli Roth, Seth Rogen, Stan Lee and Joss Whedon at Comic-Con's Hall H. Now he's using the film towards the Toronto Film Festival, and announces the very first-ever lengthy form original series on Hulu, 'A Day within the Existence.' Find out more on Thompson on Hollywood. Any type of discovery of the lost film is one thing of the victory for movie enthusiasts, but particularly then when among the 17 approximately quiet-era films the master Alfred Hitchcock was involved with -- something of the Ultimate Goal for film restorers -- are dug up, and great news has showed up today thanks to the L.A. Occasions. The paper reviews the National Film Upkeep Foundation has introduced that three reels, amassing about half an hour, of 'The Whitened Shadow,' a 1923 film which Hitchcock was the author, assistant director, editor and production designer, have been located, and will also be opened in the Academy of movement Picture Arts and Sciences in Beverly Hillsides on Sept. 22. Visit here to see more particulars about the Playlist.