ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
June 4
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Entertainment News June 4

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INDIE FILMS GET SAG WAIVERS

If the top movie stars plan to keep working after June 30, they may have to resign themselves to living in what agents are calling "Waiverland."

That means they'll sign onto one of the 300 waiver deals that the Screen Actors Guild has been carving with indie producers. These deals will allow features to continue shooting after June 30 if there's a strike by agreeing in advance to adhere to whatever deal SAG negotiates.

The prevailing sense among studio toppers is that a strike's unlikely, and a few projects currently shooting -- "Transformers 2," "Terminator Salvation," Eddie Murphy starrer "A Thousand Words" -- have a built-in hiatus so shutting down won't be costly. Several other tentpoles -- Roland Emmerich's "2012," Sony's "Da Vinci Code" sequel "Angels and Demons," Disney's "Prince of Persia" and Universal's "Nottingham" -- are set for late summer on the presumption there won't be a strike.

The stars and studios are nonetheless gearing up for the worst possible scenario. The current number of waivers is triple what SAG had signed three months ago -- and an indication there will be a modicum of feature shooting in the coming months.

Even if there's no SAG strike, the major studios will probably need a few months to slot in production starts, so indie projects will dominate activity in the late summer and early fall.


DAILY BOX OFFICE RESULTS

CLICK HERE to read the WEEKEND Box Office Results! See how much IRON MAN and NARNIA made.

Read reviews of the top 6 films at the box office this weekend

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Directed by Steven Spielberg Starring Harrison Ford Shia LaBeouf	The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian Directed by Andrew Adamson Starring Ben Barnes Sergio Castellitto

Speed Racer Directed by Andy Wachowski Larry Wachowski Starring Emile Hirsch Christina Ricci	What Happens in Vegas Directed by Tom Vaughan Starring Cameron Diaz Aston Kutcher

Iron Man Directed by Jon Favreau Starring Robert Downey Jr. Gwyneth Paltrow	Made of Honor Directed by Paul Weiland Starring Patrick Dempsey Michelle Monaghan

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MAY BOX OFFICE MEASURES UP TO PAST!

Despite economic woes and tough comparisons with last year, the May box office stayed competitive with previous years and managed to create a new film franchise in "Iron Man."

Through Memorial Day, box office revenues totaled roughly $780 million, with "Iron Man's" boffo perf contributing a hearty $258.3 million, followed by "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" at $151.9 million.

Both tentpoles are distributed by Paramount, putting the studio far in the lead in terms of market share with 51.9% through Memorial Day, which this year fell on May 26.

Heading into the month, studios were nervous about starting the summer without titan franchises "Spider-Man," "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Shrek," which combined to give Hollywood its best May on record last year at $855.2 million through Memorial Day.

Studio honchos knew that no matter what the outcome, the strength of May 2007 would make year-over-year comparisons tough. The question was whether May 2008 -- which was down 9% from a year earlier -- would match up with other recent years. It did.

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The May box office came in ahead of the month through Memorial Day in 2006 ($751.1 million) and 2005 ($725.7 million) but trailed slightly behind 2004 ($784.3 million).

"We did consistent business overall, and May remains one of the great all-time places to release movies," one studio distribution topper said. "It began with firepower ('Iron Man') and ended with firepower ('Indiana Jones')."

Figures don't include grosses from New Line and Warner Bros.' "Sex and the City," which opened the first weekend after Memorial Day on May 30 to a boffo $57 million.

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