Top Story
MGM has postponed John Woo‘s World War II drama Windtalkers, starring Nicolas Cage, for a second time. Originally scheduled for release this past summer, the movie was delayed first to Nov. 9 and now is set to hit theatres on June 14, 2002, reports the Associated Press. MGM distribution and marketing president Robert Levin told the Associated Press that the delay is the result of a crowded fall and holiday release schedule–not a response to the Sept. 11 terrorist attack.
Births
Two-time Oscar-winning actress Jodie Foster gave birth to her second son, Kit Foster, on Saturday, AP reports. Her first son, Charles, is now 3.
In Courts
Courtney Love has sued Universal Music Group and remaining Nirvana members Krist Novoselic and Dave Grohl on Friday for control of Nirvana’s master recordings, Reuters reports. Love wants to ban the music company from releasing any music by her former husband and Nirvana lead singer Kurt Cobain. She is also asking that all the master copies of Nirvana’s tunes be returned to her. The suit claims that Universal has failed to account for $3.1 million in royalties.
Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling won a case on Wednesday against British celebrity magazine OK! after it published pictures of her with her 8-year-old daughter on a tropical beach, invading the author’s privacy, Reuters reports.
In General
The Emmy Awards show, to be held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on Sunday, will cost the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and CBS about an extra $1 million. Awards officials told AP on Tuesday the extra cost is due to increased security and a three-week postponement caused by the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Comedian Jerry Seinfeld is organizing Stand Up for New York, a benefit comedy show to raise money for the families of firefighters and police officers lost in the Sept. 11 attacks on America. According to ABCNews.com, the Oct. 8 show will be held at New York City’s Carnegie Hall and will feature comedians Chris Rock, Bill Cosby, Colin Quinn, Will Ferrell and George Wallace. Tickets, priced from $500 to $2,500, can be purchased at Carnegie Hall.
Andy McNab, who in 1999 wrote Crisis Four, in which a certain Saudi-born dissent – Osama bin Laden – plots to blow up the White House and kill the president, will soon see his novel be turned into a film, Reuters reports. Miramax Films is aware of the sensitivities and has appointed a scriptwriter, but has no date yet for production.
Clear Channel Communications Inc. lost $20 million in ad revenues due to its decision to switch to ad-free radio news coverage immediately following the attacks, Reuters reports. Clear Channel also lost an additional $25 to $30 million from cancellations and its entertainment division lost about $8 to $10 million in revenues after events were canceled or rescheduled following the attacks.
Speaking at a Goldman Sachs conference in New York, Viacom’s president Mel Karmazin said that the company would reportedly loose about $500 million in attack-related costs, Reuters reports. Karmazin said he expects Viacom Inc. to lose about about $200 million in the third quarter — $85 million in lost advertising revenues at its CBS television network – and estimates a $300 million loss in the fourth quarter.
EMI Recorded Music has signed a deal with Online Music Co., becoming the first of the five major labels to sign with both Pressplay and MusicNet and allowing its artist catalog to be featured online, AP reports. MusicNet is a joint venture between BMG, Warner and RealNetworks. Sony and Universal are the venture partners behind Pressplay and have promised their catalogs to that service, which will be available by the end of the year.
After Jennifer Lopez married her choreographer Cris Judd in Los Angeles last Saturday, the newly weds kicked of their Italian honeymoon with a party thrown by designer Donatella Versace. Backstage after the Versace show on Tuesday night, Lopez told Reuters that her wedding had been “magical, really romantic.”
