Alana Semuels reports in the Los Angeles Times that Britain’s EMI Group has rejected a $4.1-billion takeover proposal from Warner Music Group. Analysts said any sale was unlikely to go through until issues clouding a planned merger between Sony Music and Bertelsmann’s BMG were resolved. On Thursday, the European Commission opened an in-depth investigation of… Read More »Time For Disney’s to Expand Its Record Business?
As John posted earlier, the City of Garden Grove, California, which is just south of Anaheim, is trying to get a Hollywood studio to participate in a proposed theme park project. Deepa Bharath of the Orange County Register drops in the MGM name in an update article today.
MGM representatives seemed impressed with the city’s proposal and feasibility study, Yoshizaki said. The study identified two sites that could be developed into theme parks – the 100-acre Willowick Golf Course and 30 acres adjacent to the course, and 139 acres adjacent to the Garden Grove (22) Freeway at Harbor.
The study, released in October, says the park could attract 4.6 million people and generate about $350 million a year.
A spokesman for MGM in Los Angeles said Wednesday that his company has no immediate plan for theme parks in Southern California or elsewhere in the country.
Keep reading for my analysis.
Sony’s "Open Season" was at the top of the box office this weekend. This is Josh Friedman’s take on the weekend box office in the Los Angeles Times. Fourteen animated movies have been released already this year, including this summer’s smash "Cars" and a parade of animal adventures such as "Over the Hedge," "Barnyard" and… Read More »So Much For “Too Much Computer Animation This Year”
The next film from The Jim Henson Company is Mirrormask based on Neil Gaiman‘s novel. It opens to limited release on September 30th, which means it will face some stiff competition from Joss Whedon’s Serenity. It’s going to be a touch choice for me on which to see first. Of course, the fact that Mirrormask… Read More »MirrorMask coming soon
I don’t know what Pixar’s plans are after their Disney deal is finished. Disney is still the best studio for supporting, distributing, and publicizing animated films. Rumors are flying that they will end up with a sweet deal (ala George Lucas) at Fox or Sony or Warner Bros. Jerry at CartoonBrew, consistantly the best animation… Read More »Pixar surprising hits? I think not.
In listening to the Pixar quarterly analyst meeting, I came away with the distinct impression that Steve Jobs was willing to wait until the next CEO of Disney was announced. Jobs said he expected a game of musical chairs would occur in the film industry and it didn’t make sense to finalize a deal until… Read More »The Pixar Mating Season
The Vero Beach Disney Vacation club announce it’s open for business (mostly) after repairing damage from Hurricane Frances. “On Monday, September 20, 2004, Disney’s Vero Beach Resort will reopen after a brief closure due to the impact of Hurricane Frances, which made landfall near Vero Beach, Florida, earlier this month. While limited repair work continues… Read More »Disney’s Vero Beach re-opens
Lance is back from his vacation to the world and asks a question that the Disney Company has been trying to figure out for about a decade now. How is the future represented at Disney themeparks now that technology is developing so rapidly? The answer is still evolving, but more and more the answer appears… Read More »EPCOT and the future