MPAA to host Reagan centennial event

The MPAA is joining while using Taxation Foundation for just about any day's occasions to mark Reagan's centennial. On November. 14, the org will gather a panel within the MPAA's headquarters "how Leader Reagan's role inside the film industry created his role as leader and affected modern political communication." Furthermore they'll host a reception with Reagan administration alumni and studio CEOs. MPAA chairman Chris Dodd mentioned, "Leader Reagan frequently stated the capabilities he coded in Hollywood just like a negotiator and communicator offered him well when he found Washington. We anticipate exploring people communications gifts throughout our panel also to then celebrate his contributions for the film and tv industry." Contact Ted Manley at ted.manley@variety.com

U.K. will get YouTube rental service

London-- In another sign the digital sphere in Blighty is obtaining the pace, YouTube has released its movie rental service in the united states. A lot more than 1,000 feature photos, including "The Dark Dark night," "Reservoir Dogs" and "Monty Python's This Is of Existence" are actually readily available for Brit customers to rent through the Google-possessed site, adding another prong as to the has become an progressively competitive VoD landscape within the U.K.: Amazon . com-possessed Lovefilm, that has a lot more than 1.six million customers across Europe, is ramping up its streaming efforts and inking lengthy-term exclusive handles U.K. indie distribs while Netflix is anticipated to reach within the territory the coming year. New releases can be found online for 3.49 ($5.43) and older game titles vary from $3.87 to $5.43 to rent. Audiences can view their selected title inside a 30-day period and 48 hrs once they have started viewing it. The organization has inked handles majors including The new sony, Universal and Warner Bros and indie U.K. distribs for example Metrodome, the distrib behind "I'm Love" and Revolver Entertainment, that has launched photos for example "Anuvahood."Blighty marks the very first territory outdoors The United States that YouTube has released its rental service: early this season the organization revealed the service within the U.S. and Canada. YouTube also offers existing contracts with Brit tv stations, including Funnel 4 and Funnel 5, to stream selected content within the U.K."We are pleased to work with partners of dimensions to create more content to YouTube customers," stated Patrick Master, director of content close ties for YouTube Europe, the center East and Africa. "We are pleased to work with partners of dimensions to create more content to YouTube customers." Contact Diana Lodderhose at diana.lodderhose@variety.com

TCG launches new grant

Theater Communications Group has snagged a hefty $millions of within the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to invest in a grant program that supports legit pros inside the nonprofit sector. Referred to as "Leadership U[niversity]," the program aims to assist early and mid-career theater leaders with gold gold coin and professional development. Most likely the most important slice of change will go to the "One-on-One" initiative for early-career types. TCG will tap six up-and-comers to obtain $75,000 additionally to mentorships at among TCG's member theaters. A $5,000 check will go to the mentor, and there's $14,500 open to assistance with having to pay for student financial financial loans, health care or other expenses. Goal of "One-on-One" would be to make employment in nonprofit theater -- where entry-level jobs are competitive and salaries frequently low -- really a viable alternative for promising candidates. The "Ongoing Erection dysfunction" seg in the grant program will award as much $6,000 each to eight mid-career nonprofit types, to invest in learning options outdoors from the organization which will make them address issues at their property theaters. TCG, the U.S. network of nonprofit theaters, has nearly 700 member orgs. The Mellon Foundation funds numerous legit endeavors, like the Public Theater's Lab program for completely new work. Contact Gordon Cox at gordon.cox@variety.com

Exclusive: Criminal Minds Books Charles S. Dutton

Charles Dutton Three-time Emmy champion Charles S. Dutton will guest-star on Criminal Minds later this season, TVGuide.com has learned exclusively.Fall Preview: Get scoop inside your favorite returning showsThe actor may have Tony Colt, a Philadelphia boxing trainer who finds out that his favorite pupil, whom he's mentored as being a boy, calculates being the violent serial killer that can bring the BAU for the city. Criminal Minds' A.J. Prepare: It appears sensible for Qq being profilerDutton, 60, won two guest-acting Emmys for his target the Practice with no Trace, together with a pointing Emmy for your Cinemax miniseries The Corner. Lately, he's guest-starred on CSI: NY, Law & Order: La and, possibly most memorably, as Foreman's father on House.Criminal Minds airs Wednesdays at 10/9c on CBS. Dutton's episode, the tenth of the year, isn't scheduled yet.

VIDEO: Andy Rooney Signs Off From 60 Minutes

Tonight 92-year-old Andy Rooney made his 1,097th and final regular appearance on 60 Minutes. I wish I could do this forever, he said in his final essay titled My Lucky Life, in which he thanked his viewers and, in his trademark curmudgeonly style also appealed to them, “If you do see me in a restaurant, please, just let me eat my dinner.” Here is the video:

Watch Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Chess

A temperamental American champ takes on an idealistic Russian opponent in Chess. A Michael Harrison presentation, by arrangement with Chess Prods. and Paul Elliott for Triumph Entertainment, of a musical in two acts with music by Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus, book & lyrics by Tim Rice. Directed and choreographed by Craig Revel Horwood. Musical supervision and orchestration Sarah Travis.Freddie Trumper - James Fox Florence Vassy - Shona White Anatoly Sergievsky - Tam Mutu Svetlana Sergievsky - Rebecca Lock The Arbiter - David Erik Walter De Courcey - James Graeme Alexander Molokov - Steve VarnomSince it was released as a concept album in 1984, "Chess" by Tim Rice, Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus has been through more reincarnations than Shirley MacLaine. The latest, getting a run in Toronto prior to a stop on the West End, is helmed by Craig Revel Horwood with a lot of panache, a healthy dose of over-the-top theatricality and a steady stream of actor-musicians driving the engine. He succeeds in making the show two things it has never really been before: semi-coherent and consistently entertaining. In all of its versions, a temperamental American chess champ (Trumper) plays against an idealistic Russian (Sergievsky). The cities they play in, who wins and loses and why it all happens has changed in every draft. The current version starts in Merano, Italy, in 1979 and ends in Bangkok a year later. Along the way, there's a convoluted system of political intrigues, some dating as far back as the Hungarian revolution in 1956, and a fair bit of talk about media manipulation. But what has always sold the story and sells it here is the central saga of a married man (Sergievsky) who gives up his family and country for the mistress (Vassy) of his opponent (Trumper). Shona White, who plays the mistress role, has a wonderful ability to fling herself into emotional ballads. When the big numbers like "Heaven Help My Heart," "Anthem," "Pity the Child" and "I Know Him So Well" come, Horwood is clever enough to keep the stage still and let the powerhouse performers nail the tunes. But during the attenuated sequences of recitative and narration he pulls out all the stops, with chess pieces seemingly dressed by Victoria's Secret and choreography that reveals how you can bump and grind while playing a violin. Depending on your frame of mind, you'll call it superbly theatrical or slightly cheesy. It definitely does play to the British "more is more" school of musical staging. (Production has already had a successful tour of the U.K.) There's much to enjoy in Horwood's over-decoration of the show, which takes its baroque concepts right into rococo. The hit tune "One Night in Bangkok" pulls out all the stops -- if you've never seen a pole-dancing, trumpet-playing monk before, you will here. But when all is said and done, it's the emotional solidity of the four leads (White, Tam Mutu, James Fox and Rebecca Lock) that make you feel by the end of the second act that you've had a satisfying evening. Mutu in particular is a real winner, with a clarion call of a voice, the right kind of rumpled good looks and the intensity that could lead revolutions. As for the rest, Horwood's production is a fun place to visit, but you wouldn't want to live there.Set and costumes, Christopher woods; lighting, Ben Cracknell; video, Jack James; sound, Richard Brooke.. Opened, reviewed Sept. 29; 2011. Runs through Oct. 30, 2011. Running time: 2 HOURS, 45 MIN.With: Curtis Angus, Susannah Van Den Berg, Gregory Clarke, Jennifer Douglas, Peter Dukes, Rebecca Jenkins, Kate Feldschreiber, Robbie White, Rosie Taylor, Verity Jones, Michelle Long, Tarek Merchant, Cameron Ball, Helen Power, Jennifer Saayeng, Kate Robson-Stuart, Sioned Saunders, Alex Tomkins, Richard Colvin, Matthew James Hinchliffe, Holly Ashton. Contact the Variety newsroom at news@variety.com

Dolphin Tale Advances Moneyball To #1 But New Photos Weak: 50/50 #4, Courageous #5, Dream House #6, What is Your Number? #8

SUNDAY AM, sixth UPDATE: Still on holiday inside a different time zone. That’s why I’m past due on some autopsy reviews I guaranteed and haven’t yet shipped. I’ll release them Sunday. My sincerest apologies. (Regrettably, I'm able to’t get accustomed to a meaning of ‘time off’that still makes metoil almost 24/7.)Nevertheless,the latest amounts have transformed the very best 10 order all over again.(It had been another confused weekend such as the 4g iphone!)This crop of 4 freshmen unsuccessful to makemuch of the impressionwith moviegoers because holdovers still ruled its northern border American box office. But overall the weekend expires +10%from this past year: 1. Dolphin Tale (Alcon, Warner Bros) Week 2 [3,515 Theaters] Friday $3.4M, Saturday $6.5M,Weekend $14.2M (-26%), Believed Cume $37.5M Terrific hold as Alcon uncorks anotherfeel goodfavorite. Dolphin Tale was up 88% from Friday evening because of the saturday matinee bump. Now it’splacing above both films it trailed a week ago.However the cume is stilllagging. And DreamWorks Animation/Vital just pressed in the discharge of Puss ‘N’ Boots to October 28th — that will deny Dolphin Tale of the extra week of time alone with families. 2. Moneyball (The new sony) Week 2 [2,993 Theaters] Friday $3.8M, Saturday $5.5M,Weekend $12.5M (-36%), Believed Cume$38.4M Excellent hold specifically for a couple-quadrant pic. ButMoneyball‘s cume needsmore beer and peanuts to fatten. 3. Lion King three dimensional (Disney) Week 3 [2,340 Theaters] Friday $3.3M, Saturday $4.4M,Weekend$11M, Believed Cume $79.6M Spectacular, still, with this juiced uptoon as all releases passDisney/Pixars Finding Nemo being the fourth greatest-grossing animated film ever worldwide.Snarked an adversary studio professional, “I might have said excitedly about this 2-days-only garbage…” Incidentally, help remind me to inform you aboutthe several weeks of meetingswhich Disney’s Frankeneisnerledover the storyline problems resulting from ‘lion cub incest’ for that sequelwasreleased. Onlyon Dopey Drive… 4. 50/50 (Summit/Mandate) NEW [2,458 Theaters] Friday $2.9M, Saturday $3.6M,Weekend $8.8M The very first thingto ponderabout this male Relation To Endearment is the fact that James McAvoy was designed to take part in the guy with cancer. Rather, Frederick Gordon-Levitt arrived in the last second. Now it’s tough to picture this truthful dramedy starring other people. Levitt is actually becoming probably the most interesting youthful stars around even when he’s not box office — yet.Summit Entertainment and Mandate Pictures gave50/50 a remarkably wide release a few days ago: within the past this pic could have been platformed so audiences could “find” it. But nowadays, using the increasing costs of selling, there’s virtually no time or purpose to doing that any longer. (“It was always imagined like a wide release picture instead of platformbecause of their playability,” an insider informs me.) Issue is, Summit thought the film wouldopen round the low double-numbers. Not a chance, despite an ‘A-’ CinemaScore from audiences. Summit states audience rankings & definite suggests were about 20 points over the norm, among the greatest ever within the studio’s exit polling. More women (54%) came thanmales (46%). When it comes to age demos: 83% were between your audience of 18-49,35% under 25,57% under 30, 43% over 30.Studio sources claim the flicks negative price is only $8 million. The question now's whether strong person to person allows this pic toplay for many days and finish up with an above average cume. As you must understand right now,the film writer Will Reiserbased the storyline simply by himself existence, and filmmaker Jonathan Levinepromoted not just the film and but alsocancer awareness.Pre-release, 50/50 was monitoring well with both male and women with older and more youthful audiences showing interest. Butthe really downer disease just stored audiences away despite partnershipswithnationalsupport groups likeStand As Much As Cancer and Lance Remedy’s Livestrongas well asregional orgs.Marketing-smart, the film in the beginning was situated like a broad Seth Rogen comedy (not a different one!). But thenthe studio ingrained it using the feel ofa niche film. TV buys centered on more youthful movie-goers first after which broadened to older males and women in line with the developed positioning. Summit beganan extensive word-of-mouth screening enter in early August and opened it in the Toronto Film Festival to some standing ovation. Hey, don’t complain about Hollywood’s crappy movies should you won’t support thequality ones. I’m truly disappointed this pic didn’t fare better.It warrants to appear. 5. Courageous (The new sony) NEW [1,161 Theaters] Friday $3.1M, Saturday $3.2M,Weekend $8.8M This movie was Fireproof 2 — only substitute fatherhood trouble for marriage worries, and police force officials for firefighters. Like many of these belief-based films, Sherwood Pictures’ Courageous was front-loaded due to pre-sales and chapel groups bussed totheaters. But The new sony initially expected abetter opening weekend despite the fact that it had been playing in just half as numerous locations because the other major studio releases.Still, it made the very best per-screen average and ranked an uncommon ‘A+’ CinemaScoreacross the board with males and ladies of any age.Opening weekend exits show the crowd was fairly balanced in gender (53%was female) and also the achieve hada slightly older skew (77% were aged 25+).These photos cost next-to-nuthin’ — Courageous made back its$two million production budget in the first day ofrelease. Sherwood Pictures relies in Albany, Georgia, where moviemaking ministry Sherwood Baptist Chapel churns out these inspiring films targeted at Christian believers.The new sony Pictures’s secular TV media was concentrated in shops like Dr. Phil, Dr. Oz, Hallmark Funnel, TLC, Lifetime, and TV Land too asmore conservative-leaning shops varying from Fox News, CMT to Christian Broadcasting Network and Gospel Music Funnel. The marketing budgetwas “modest and grassroots’.Like Fireproof (2008), Facing The Titans (2006), Flywheel (2003), the co-authors wereStephen Kendrick, who also created,and Alex Kendrick, who also directed. They, along withproducers Michael Catt and Jim McBridetogethermake every movie decision at Sherwood in which the four-guy team also function as pastors from the chapel.Fireproof opened up because the No. 4 film within the nation this same season, eventually grossing $33 million theatrically.It starred former TV teen hearthrob Kirk Cameron, and Courageous was cast with unknowns. 6. Dream House (Morgan Creek/Universal) NEW [2,661 Theaters] Friday $2.9M, Saturday $3.5M, Weekend $8.2M Jim Robinson’s Morgan Creek shows all over again that it may’t make or market a film in order to save its existence. It may’t even handle publicity:MC’s moronsapparently can’t find my current email address because I’ve received nada from their store relating to this opener.On the other hand the pic wasn’t tested ahead of time for experts — always an indication of the stinker. Don’t blame Universal: it had been just disbursing Dream House. Morgan Creek taken care of and did anything else. Badly. Directed by 6-time Oscar nominee Jim Sheridan and starringDaniel Craig, Naomi W, and Rachel Weisz, all of them should have needed the paydaybecause they’reway toomajor to get this done significantly-panned drivel from the script credited to David Loucka. Sheridan resided to be sorry while he and also the producers fought against over final cut.No surprise no major starspublicized the pic.(FYI, Craig and Weisz met on location and then married…) Seriously, this derivative haunted house tale gives new meaning to the phrase derivative. Worst were individuals TV advertisements thatstole moments in the Shining.It’shigh time that thedistrusted and dislikedRobinson switches professions and begins selling used cars rather than used movies. 7.Abduction (Lionsgate) Week 2 [3,118 Theaters] Friday $1.7M, Saturday $2.5M,Weekend$5.6M (-48%), Believed Cume $19.1M You’ll be reading through my mea culpa Sunday after i release my longautopsy set of this explosive device. 8. What’s Your Number? (Fox) NEW [3,002 Theaters] Friday $2M, Saturday $2.1M, Weekend $5.6M Anna Faris may be the modern-day Goldie Hawn: it’simpossible to not like her. Unless of course you place her inside a reallylousy R-ranked New Regency fully-funded movie such as this that Fox encircled having a muddled advertising campaign vascillating from a female-empowerment pic along with a run-of-the-mill rom-com. Issue is, daters haven’t spoken regarding their “number” because the mid-eighties when sexually-sent illnesses were frightening the bejesus from singles. Audiences gave What’s Your Number? a ‘B’ CinemaScore. Pic cost only $20M.Your buck to Anna’s career might be more.(I’d want to see Faris for the reason that remake of Hawn’sPrivate Benjamin she was designed to do for brand new Line. It gained Goldie a Best Actress Oscar nom.) Directed byMark Mylod and created by Love Flynn and Tripp Vinson with script credit given toGabrielle Allan & Jennifer Crittenden, in line with the book 20 Occasions A Girl by Karyn Bosnak. 9. Contagion (Warner Bros) Week 4 [2,744 Theaters] Friday $1.4M, Saturday $2.3M,Weekend $5M, Believed Cume $64.6M Let’s just say I spent my first day's vacation getting three kinds offlu shots having seen this movie. 10. Killer Elite (Open Road) Week 2 [2,986 Theaters] Friday $1.5M (-57%), Saturday $2.1M, Weekend $4.8M, Believed Cume $17.4M I’m not letting Open Road free about this dead seafood, either. Autopsy reportcoming Sunday, too. FRIDAY 1 PM: They are very early amounts according to matinees. And so the order could change significantly by tonight. My sources state that based on noon earnings, this is just an overview of in which the United States box office is appropriate now: 1. The #1 film at this time around is The new sony’s Courageous that is running 55% in front of where Fireproof was only at that time. (Fireproof continued to gross $6.8m because of its first weekend. Estimations are for Courageous to earn $5M Friday along with a weekend within the mid-teens. Unsurprising it’s trending in-front at this time because belief-based movies engender lots of pre-sales as chapel groups bus towards the theaters. 2. At this time it’s too near to demand second, 3rd, and fourth place as Alcon Entertainment/Warner Bros’ Dolphin Tale, The new sony Pictures’ Moneyball, and Disney’s Lion King 3 are ranking close together. 5. Summit’s 50/50 is believed at $3M for Friday having a weekend of $9M. Observe that this film is R-ranked so matinees are a bad barometer of their strength in the box office. 6. According to noon earnings, Universal’s Dream Home is trending toward a Friday believed gross of $4M having a weekend of $11M when the box office accumulates considerably tonight as predicted. 7. Fox’s What’s Your Number is really a tough refer to this as early. It might visit $3M today and $9M a few days ago.