‘Hunger Games: Catching Fire’ scorches; Katie Couric nears Yahoo deal
After the coffee. Before pitching my young-adult novel.
The Skinny: I saw “Catching Fire†on Saturday and enjoyed it, though I set a high bar for dystopian fiction. Oh, and for the sake of self-promotion, I’m writing the weekly box-office projections now, so watch out for that. Monday’s stories include the box-office wrap-up, Katie Couric’s latest career move and the two Hercules movies coming out next year.
Daily Dose: The possible courting of Time Warner Cable by Comcast and Charter Communications could mean another squaring off between media moguls Brian Roberts and John Malone. The executives’ brushes date back two decades, to when Malone’s Liberty and Roberts’ Comcast were shareholders in Turner Broadcasting. Read Joe Flint’s analysis here.
“Ka-ching Fireâ€: The “Hunger Games†sequel has blazed into theaters, cooking up the best November opening ever with a weekend take of $161 million domestically. It’s the second-biggest debut of the year, behind “Iron Man 3,†but predictions that it would outdo the Marvel movie proved a bit too optimistic. “Thor: The Dark World†came in second, shattering my guess that the superhero movie would fall below “Best Man Holiday.†Coverage from the Los Angeles Times and Variety.
On the move again: It looks like Katie Couric is on the way out at ABC News and nearing a deal to join not another TV network but Marrisa Mayer’s Internet giant Yahoo. There aren’t many details yet, but this comes just two seasons into Couric’s daytime talk show and also cuts short Couric’s three-year deal with ABC News, which was expensive for the network. More on the negotiations from the Hollywood Reporter.
By the beard of Zeus! Next year will see the release of two Hercules movies, one starring Dwayne “the Rock†Johnson and the other starring Kellan Lutz, setting the stage for a battle of mythological proportions. As we saw with “White House Down†and “Olympus Has Fallen†(hey, another Greek reference!), one movie ends up stealing the other’s thunder. The half-god, half-man has long been silver-screen fodder, but it’s been 16 years since Disney set the story of Hercules to music. Details from the New York Times.
Animals harmed?: The Hollywood Reporter has published a big investigative story on the American Humane Assn. It opens with a harrowing anecdote about the apparent near-drowning of the Bengal tiger used for Ang Lee’s “Life of Pi.â€
Inside the Los Angeles Times: Rebecca Keegan assesses “Catching Fire’s†politics, and Yvonne Villareal has a behind-the-scenes look at TNT’s “Mob City.â€
Follow me on Twitter at @rfaughnder. You’ll be just in time for live-tweeting of holiday specials.
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