The Wednesday Hodgepodge

EDITOR'S NOTE: A FEW MORE ITEMS OF THE ODDS-N-ENDS VARIETY ----

THIS JUST IN:
'Cinderella' guaranteed
Universal Pictures' "Cinderella Man" may have lost a few bouts at the boxoffice, but AMC Theatres hopes to keep the film from throwing in the towel.

In an effort to spread positive word-of-mouth about the boxing drama that stars Russell Crowe, AMC is making moviegoers an unusual offer of a money-back guarantee.

Ticket buyers who don't like the film are promised that their money will be refunded, no questions asked.

The theater chain, the country's second largest, began the promotion Friday, explaining in newspaper ads and on its Web site, amctheatres.com:

"AMC believes 'Cinderella Man' is one of the finest motion pictures of the year! We believe so strongly that you'll enjoy 'Cinderella Man,' we're offering a MONEY BACK GUARANTEE."EDITORS' NOTE: TOOOOO FUNNY. (AND THE SAD THING IS? IT IS A GENUINELY GOOD MOVIE).

TELEVISION STUFF:
Cuoco is CHARMED by WB
Kaley Cuoco will join the cast of the WB's CHARMED for next season.

The 8 SIMPLE RULES star will play "a young witch under the tutelage of the Charmed ones (Alyssa Milano, Holly Marie Combs and Rose McGowan)."

Mark McGrath has also signed on to the series and will be featured in a multi-episode arcEDITOR'S NOTE: NO ONE CARES ABOUT THIS, DO THEY? (JUST IN CASE.....)

NBC gets into pilot spirit
NBC is taking an early start to the next development cycle with two drama pilot orders.

The network has given the green light to a project from Oscar-nominated "Million Dollar Baby" writer Paul Haggis, and to a retooled version of the Fox pilot "Windfall."

The untitled Paul Haggis project, which will be produced by NBC Universal TV Studio, revolves around two Irish brothers who grow up against a backdrop of organized crime in the Hell's Kitchen area of New York. Haggis and Bobby Moresco, who wrote and produced the summer indie hit "Crash," penned the project on spec. The two will exec produce the pilot, with Haggis also set to direct. Another "Crash" producer, Mark Harris, is on board as a co-exec producer, while Jeff King ("EZ Streets") is in talks to serve as a producer

MOVIE STUFF:
Fox Gets STRANGE

20th Century Fox has picked up the rights to Rob Reger's EMILY THE STRANGE. The film will be a mix of live-action and animation.

The story centers on Emily the Strange, a rail-thin 13-year-old whose clothes are as black as her hair and as dark as the tone of her adventures.

Since its creation in 1993, Reger's character has turned into a multimillion-dollar industry.
Reger told the Hollywood Reporter, "I've been approached by many studios and producers, but only Fox was willing to make me a true partner in the process, and thus ensuring the integrity of the character."

Starbuck Strikes Back
Time to throw some streamers around the room pursits. Looks like the original "Battlestar Galactica " is returning to the screen. The 'Big' Screen. EDITOR'S NOTE: SO WE WILL HAVE TWO SEPARATE AND DIVERGENT CASTS AND STORIES GOING AT ONCE? YEAH...THAT'LL WORK.

A scooper tells Aint it Cool, that series creator Glen A. Larson was at the London Film & Comic Con and announced a feature film version of the classic TV series, hoping to have it off the ground within the next twelve to eighteen months.

Dirk Benedict just attempted at back flip. EDITOR'S NOTE: OF COURSE, AT HIS AGE, THAT'S PROBABLY NOT A GOOD IDEA.

Boyd on Master and Commander 2

Lord of the Rings" star Billy Boyd says he might be joining Russell Crowe for another cruise.

Talking to The Hollyood News, the actor says there's rumblings of a "Master and Commander" sequel.

"There are like 21 books of Master and Commander, and Fox already own the ship so a lot of people, I think were confused as to why there hasn't been a sequel yet", says Boyd. "We'll just have to wait and see. There is talk of it and Peter Weir said that I won't die in the next one, but he said I will die in the third one. So I've still got another movie, and then I've got a death scene! So great! I do hope they make some more as I had great fun making that film."

Di Caprio draws Blood
Leonardo DiCaprio has announced his next project.

The busy 30-year-old has signed to do "The Blood Diamond", says Variety, a dramatic thriller from director Ed Zwick.

According to the trade, the film will have DiCaprio as a smuggler, in Sierra Leone circa 1999, who deals in the sale of "blood diamonds", or "conflict diamonds" - stones that are used to finance rebellions, privateers and terrorists. Our smuggler friend bumps into an indigenous Mende farmer whose kid has taken off with the RUF's army, and suddenly, the two men are linked.

After "Blood", DiCaprio is likely to start filming a remake of "For Whom the Bell Tolls".

HARRY POTTER STUFF:

Amazon announces panel of 'HP Experts'

For those of you who missed it, Amazon has announced their "Panel of Harry Potter Experts," a panel of 10 kids who will be reviewing Half-Blood Prince for them shortly following its release.

Also, Amazon is already offering a book 7 notification sign up. You can sign up here.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/13875891/ref=me_hp6_krp/103-3283528-8123040

EDITOR'S NOTE: AND REMEMBER THAT SHIPMENT OF BOOKS STORY RECENTLY? WELL....HERE COMES HARRY!!!!

DA BIZ:

32 films get Gold Reels for $100 mil mark
An all-time high of 32 movies grossed more than $100 million at the overseas boxoffice during the past 12 months, up from 21 the year before, researchers Nielsen EDI said Tuesday.

Nielsen handed out its Gold Reel Awards to honor the high-grossing pictures at an annual lunchtime ceremony during Cinema Expo.

Several of them went to newcomers, including Japan's Toho Company and a pair of U.S.-based companies -- Lakeshore Entertainment Group and the Fellowship Adventure Group.

Nielsen Entertainment International president Nick King told an audience of largely European-based theater operators that of the 32 honorees, five had hit $100 million in the first five months of 2005 alone.King said the number of movies crossing that mark internationally now outweighed the number doing that kind of boxoffice in the U.S. and Canada.

King also said research shows concrete evidence that movies no longer need big U.S. launches to enjoy big international boxoffice success.EDITOR'S NOTE: FINE. BE THAT WAY. HARUMPH.

This year, United International Pictures reeled in a record-breaking nine awards, the distributor's personal best and a record for any one company. UIP distributes the output from three separate studios: Universal, Paramount and DreamWorks.

The UIP titles hitting pay dirt internationally were "The Bourne Supremacy," "Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason," "Collateral," "Meet the Fockers," "The Phantom of the Opera," "Shark Tale," "Shrek 2," "The Terminal" and "Van Helsing."

Accepting the awards, UIP president and chief operating officer Andrew Cripps promised not to go through each title one by one and thanked the exhibitors for their efforts in posting the returns for what was a marked improvement on last year's total of four awards.

Twentieth Century Fox International followed last year's tally of two awards with six this time around, including one for "Robots," which still is to be released in key international territories. Twentieth also walked off with awards for "The Day After Tomorrow," "Garfield," "I, Robot," "Kingdom of Heaven" and "Star Wars Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith."

EDI's King noted that, of the six, only "Robots" had failed to surpass its U.S. domestic gross, and it still had territories including Japan and South Korea to come.

Warner Bros. Pictures swept up five awards for "Constantine," "Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban," "Ocean's Twelve," "The Polar Express" and "Troy." Warner representatives also took home the evening's award for Intermedia's "Alexander," which scored more than $100 million.EDITOR'S NOTE: SO YOU FERRINERS MIGHT NOT NEED US FOR BOX OFFICE, BUT MAYBE FOR TASTE?

Buena Vista International walked away from the luncheon with awards for "The Incredibles," "King Arthur," "National Treasure" and "The Village."

BVI president Mark Zoradi praised Pixar Animation and Touchstone Pictures, and name-checked producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director M. Night Shyamalan for "important relationships."

The company also accepted stablemate Miramax International's plaudit for "Shall We Dance?"

Sony Pictures Releasing International reeled in a pair of awards, with "Spider-Man 2" and "Hitch" hitting the benchmark for the renamed Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International. SPRI senior executive vp Mark Zucker joked that the performance of "Hitch" was excellent because "it's not easy to do (romantic comedy) without Hugh Grant and Julia Roberts."

Newcomers to the reel show, Toho International and reps for Initial Entertainment Group and Lakeshore Entertainment Group, all took to the stage to accept one award each. Toho's "Howl's Moving Castle" achieved the benchmark from its Japanese release alone.Initial picked up an award for "The Aviator," while Dutch distributor A-FILM landed a trophy for Lakeshore's "Million Dollar Baby."

This year's Gold Reels also saw one final first as a documentary took home an award. The prize for Fellowship's "Fahrenheit 9/11" was handed out in a separate ceremony in the U.S., organizers said.

Panel: DVD 'at the plateau'

After years of smooth sailing behind the DVD, the home entertainment industry is beginning to spot the first clouds on the sales horizon.

Eight years into the format, growth -- though still strong -- is slowing, the boxoffice pipeline is faltering and a next-generation format war is approaching.

"Y'all are crazy," retailer Kevin Cassidy told high-definition backers unwilling to agree on a unified format. EDITOR'S NOTE: YOU'D THINK THEY WOULD HAVE LEARNED FROM PAST EXPERIENCE, EH?

The comment came during the Next Generation Supersession at the fourth annual Home Entertainment Summit: DVD Magic 8, which is produced by Home Media Retailing magazine in cooperation with The Hollywood Reporter and DEG: The Digital Entertainment Group