[Smells Like News] Hollwood Contemplates a Saw-less Future; Orders Just One M...

Hollywood will always remember where it was when it first heard the news that Saw 6 had underperformed at the box office. Yes, times, are tough. Sure, media is in freefall; but who imagined it would come to this?

• Across showbiz, executives are being shuttled to emergency power retreats. With the collapse of the Saw franchise, studio chieftains are ordering the rule book shredded, the box torn up and thrown into the dumpster while development teams embark on vision quests to imagineer an industry not based on Saw sequels. First order of business: order up some Paranormal Activity sequels. While Saw raked in a mere $14 million this weekend, the still expanding Paranormal stole the top slot from the venerable horror stalwart, earning $22 million and bringing its total to $62.5 million, putting it safely in that rarefied Blair Witch category of no-budget movies that went on to make amounts impressive even by Hollywood standards. [Box Off! ice Mojo]

• Elsewhere in in the weekend results, the alternately heralded and reviled Where the Wild Things Are dropped off "an alarming 56 percent" from last weekend's grosses. [Box Office Mojo]

• Sunday Night Football retains its slot as the most expensive real estate currently on television according to an Ad Age survey of ad rates "with a 30-second ad commanding an average of $339,700," American Idol, which is off the air until January regularly tops Football however, with an ad rate between $360,000 and $490,000 for 30 seconds of its airtime. Scripted shows can still bringing in big bucks however, with Grey's Anatomy charging $240,462. On the other end of the spectrum, The Jay Leno show is the cheapest real estate to be had, with "an average cost between $48,803 and $65,678." [Ad Age]

• Bravo has ordered another spin-off of its Top Chef hit. Just Desserts, will feature a battle of the pastry chefs. "Their Achilles heel is usually the desserts" said Bravo's VP of the Top Chef flagship competitors. Variety notes however that TC:JD enters a crowded television dessert category, already packed with Ace of Cakes, Cake Boss and Ultimate Cake-Off to name a few. [Variety]

• Completing the Discovery's transition from quaint host of nature shows to extreme programmer, the network has announced plans to turn two of its shows, Deadliest Catch and Man vs. Wild into video games. [Hollywood Reporter]

• Micheal Eisner isn't giving up on his straight-to-web production dreams. The former Disney boss signed a deal Canadian Rogers Communications to fund up to 30 new internet series. [Variety]

• The Wrap reports on the flight not just production, but of post-production houses overseas. [The Wrap]

• In a pairing sure to launch a thousand Stuff covers, January Jones and Diana Kruger have announced they will team up to make a thriller Unknown White Male for Dark Castle films [Variety]

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Posted By sysop to Smells Like News at 10/26/2009 09:36:00 A
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