Lionsgate Entertainment (NYSE: LGF) came out on top this past weekend. According to Boxofficemojo, the studio's film The Forbidden Kingdom took in about $20.9 million at domestic movie theaters, driven perhaps by the star power of Jackie Chan. That's more than I thought it would do. (I should point out, though, that all the numbers discussed here are based on estimates -- finalized figures will be out at a later date.)
Forgetting Sarah Marshall, from General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal Pictures, was second with $17 million (I also thought this might do less). Jason Segel is the star of the TV series How I Met Your Mother and was also on one of my favorite TV shows, Freaks and Geeks. Then we have Sony's (NYSE: SNE) Prom Night, which came in third with $9 million. That was quite a drop from last week's $20 million debut. In fact, going back to the spiel about estimates vs. final numbers, when I covered the box office winners last week, Prom Night was originally credited with a $22.7 million take -- this was eventually reduced to $20.8 million. I went and saw the movie last Thursday afternoon by myself -- I literally walked into a completely empty auditorium, first time that ever happened in my life (it was a large auditorium, too). Talk about creepy. Nevertheless, I guess I can see why Prom Night is fading so fast (it wasn't that bad of a film, I should mention). Sony's 88 Minutes and News Corp.'s (NYSE: NWS) Nim's Island took fourth and fifth places, respectively.
But the big story of the weekend could be found in Lions Gate's triumph. The little studio scored again. One has to wonder when one of the majors, or perhaps a consortium of private equity concerns, is going to finally step up to the plate and buy it out. Those speculating on such an outcome have been waiting a long, long time. I like to follow Lions Gate, and I'm waiting for its stock to break out at some point -- it's got to happen one of these days.
Disclosure: I own shares of General Electric; positions can change at any time.
NBC Universal Chief Executive Jeff Zucker made it clear at a conference yesterday that GE (NYSE: GE) had no interest in selling the media business. Referring to GE CEO Jeff Immelt, Zucker said, "He has said numerous times that NBCU is not for sale. It is not for sale after the Olympics." Some press reports have indicated that GE would take the big money from the sports event and then dump the business on some sucker.
It is odd that the head of a GE division should have to make this kind of comment at all. The head of the locomotive division probably wouldn't make comments about the future of his business. Meanwhile, NBC Universal can go on operating as usual whether Wall Street thinks it is for sale or not.
The argument for selling NBC is that the unit does not fit with the conglomerate's industrial and financial operations. That is true, but owning a network does mean tickets to the Super Bowl and the Oscars.
NBC is a $15 billion business with operating income running about $2.5 billion, making it a modest part of GE's overall earnings. Still, the business is about the size of CBS (NYSE: CBS), which has a market cap of $21 billion and debt of $7 billion.
For the $28 billion enterprise value of CBS, GE would sell NBC tomorrow.
Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor of 247wallst.com.
The Resorts World is a cooperative venture of Genting Int'l (75% stake) and Star Cruises (25%). The 120-acre, $5.2 billion development will include casinos, a Universal Studios theme park, hotels, a marine park, and other resort entertainments. Las Vegas Sands is constructing the Marine Bay Sands, investing over $3 billion in the facility. Early projections point to a 2009-2010 time frame for its opening.
Universal has promised to not build any other parks in SE Asia for 30 years as part of its agreement to build a $1 billion theme park.
All these grand plans, however, rest on successful completion of the infrastructure by Genting RWS owners, and they are just now reaching the point where final total costs can be estimated. If the partners have developer has to reach deeper for additional cash, investors in LVS and GE may become a bit nervous about the amount of money these companies have already thrown in the pot.
General Electric Co. (NYSE: GE) CFO Keith Sherin defended his company's continued holding of NBC Universal and gave the media conglomerate a surprisingly high valuation of between $40 billion and $45 billion.
GE has been getting plenty of flack about holding on to NBC since it is not #1 or #2 in its market, as previous CEO Jack Welch would have wanted it to be. Sherin pointed out during a lunch meeting with me, my fellow blogger Jon Ogg and a few other writers that NBC is "priceless waterfront property." Sherin argued that Welch had picked up NBC from RCA at a relatively low price -- increasing its value from $3 billion to $10 billion. And in 2004, after forming NBC Universal with Vivendi Universal, the new entity was worth $32 billion. Sherin now estimates that NBC Universal is worth between $40 billion and $45 billion, although I am not sure I understand how he arrived at this figure.
Spoiler alert – if you have not yet read the conclusion to the Harry Potter saga, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, you may want to skip this post, in which the ending is discussed.
For companies such as publisher Scholastic Corp. (NASDAQ:SCHL), the US publisher of the books, Time Warner (NYSE:TWX), whose Warner Brothers Studios produces the hugely profitable Harry Potter movies, and General Electric's (NYSE:GE) Universal Studios, which will open a Harry Potter theme park in 2009, the seventh and final Harry Potter book must have come as a great relief.
Despite rumors to the contrary, the title character did not die, and thereby cast a pall on the series and its offshoots. Rather, as I expected, Harry prevailed, and in general the core cast lived happily ever after. Even Snape, as I predicted, achieved redemption, but at a mortal cost.
In the coda to the novel, Harry Potter and his wife, the former Ginny Weasley, watch their children depart for Hogwarts. Also placing their children on the Hogworts train are Harry's best friends, the married couple Ron Weasley and Hermoine Granger.
This final scene, nineteen years after the climax of the book, will no doubt inspire a great deal of conversation, as it keeps open a couple of possibilities for future novels in the Potter universe. Harry is still young enough to have more adventures, perhaps as he takes on the role of the era's greatest wizard, much as Albus Dumbledore was in Potter's youth. Rowling could also, should she decide to continue the series, reboot the series with the next generation of Hogwarts students.
I don't expect her to return to the Potter storyline for a long time, if ever, but the lure will always be there; a huge, thirsty audience ready to demonstrate their devotion with their pocketbooks.
Ben Silverman has been handed a Herculean task, to drag General Electric Co's (NYSE: GE) NBC network out of the ratings basement. The entertainment co-chairman has begun his reign by buying the rights to the Colombian television hit, "Without Breasts There is No Paradise" ("Sin Tetas No Hay Parasio").
The series, based on a Latin America hit novel of the same name by Gustavo Bolívar Morenao, follows the adventures of a young hooker involved with a drug dealer, and her pursuit of implants as her ticket out of her seamy world. Silverman was also the producer that anglicized the world hit Ugly Betty for the American screen.
Silverman has been quoted as bragging that his reality shows are uplifting, a sobriquet that might also be applied to this show. As Slate magazine reminds us, Silverman also vowed that NBC would be about quality programming. It seems appropriate here to note that quality is an ambiguous word – for example, a lemon/liver shake-up is a quality beverage, and that quality is nauseating.
Summer is upon us, and for those of you who like to invest in companies you can examine up close, this is the perfect opportunity to expense some travel to the nation's amusement parks. For research, of course. One way to judge the quality of these stocks is how nauseous they makes you (in a good way, of course). For example, here are the 2006 top 10 steel roller coasters in the country as rated by The Internet Best Roller Coaster Poll.
Time Warner's (NYSE: TWX) Warner Brothers and General Electric's (NYSE: GE) Universal Studios have pulled off the magic trick of the decade by gaining the rights to create a theme park based on J. K. Rowling's Harry Potter book series. "The Wizarding World of Harry Potter" will be created in Universal's "Islands of Adventure" theme park at the Universal Orlando Resort in Florida. Completion is expected in 2009.
The park will offer rides and interactive attractions, as well as shopping and restaurants based on the novels. Expect Universal to put huge money into this development to make it a world-class experience.
WB and Universal are betting that, even though no new HP books will be forthcoming, the product will remain popular. With the continuation of the profitable film series keeping Harry in the public eye, I'll bet demand for the park will still be strong in 2009.
The film, starring Katherine Heigl and Seth Rogen, opens today. As part of the fanfare, Universal has created a web site where you can create a mashup showing how the offspring of you and anyone you choose might appear.
Unfortunately, this feature doesn't work as well as one might wish. For example, check out this result, supposedly the visage of a child from a coupling of yours truly and Miss Universe Rita Mori (I can dream, can't I?) Even given that my gifts are not physical, the alien creature that resulted doesn't serve as a good advertisement for the film.
Nonetheless, early reviews for the film are good, and gives Universal hope that this summer will offer strong returns. In a couple of weeks they will premiere another potential hit, Evan Almighty, the sequel to Bruce Almighty starring Steve Carrell (of the 40-Year-Old-Virgin, another film by Knocked Up Director Judd Apatow).
In this week's episode of the Bloggingstockcast we cover Photobucket and News Corporation's (NYSE: NWS) MySpace's new truce, Suze Orman's Caribbean cruise of debt, Buyyourfriendadrink.com, the General Electric Company (NYSE: GE) NBC's Universal Studios collaboration to make the Simpson rollercoaster, and celebrate our one year anniversary of blogging.
Want to be featured on BloggingStockcast? Post a link in the comments section to a video for our consideration. Tell us your favorite stock and why in one brief line and make sure to say "And you're watching the BloggingStockcast!"
Using an amusement park ride concept envisioned by The Simpsons, Krusty the Clown, theme park enthusiasts shall be dazzled with a full field of view, visual presentation which simulates the stimulation of a true motion experience. As riders view the surrounding scene in real time, their seats shall provide the appropriate shake rattle and roll affects and give the impression that riders are actually in the company of television's most beloved modern cartoon family while on an amusement ride. In reaction to the announcement, Bart Simpson was heard to say simply, "Kawabunga dude!"
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Spoiler alert – if you have not yet read the conclusion to the Harry Potter saga, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, you may want to skip this post, in which the ending is discussed.
Ben Silverman has been handed a Herculean task, to drag 
Summer is upon us, and for those of you who like to invest in companies you can examine up close, this is the perfect opportunity to expense some travel to the nation's amusement parks. For research, of course. One way to judge the quality of these stocks is how nauseous they makes you (in a good way, of course). For example, here are the 2006 
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