Jon Stewart extends 'Daily Show' contract through 2010 originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Fri, 19 Oct 2007 16:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Evan Almighty, sequel to the 2003 hit Bruce Almighty, is opening this weekend to some bad reviews. The estimated $175 million price-tag, which earned itself the title "the most expensive comedy story ever told," had to raise some eyebrows from the beginning.

Still, Universal executives Marc Shmuger and David Linde think they're going to rake in the dough with the Almighty sequel. "This movie is a great bet," Universal Chairman Marc Shmuger told the LA Times last year. "It's a spectacle fantasy and also a comedy. And a sequel to one of the most successful hits in the studio's history."

If Tom Shadyac's Evan Almighty turns into a hit, as Shumger and Universal hopes, the movie could put big-budget comedies on the front burner. If it flops, don't expect to see another big comedy for a while. Remember how Kevin Costner's Waterworld flopped in 1995? Costner's budget was also estimated at $175 million (back then), however, the U.S. box office only raked in $88 million. We didn't see too many high budget sci-fi flicks for a while after that one.

Who does this hurt? Well, it hurts General Electric (NYSE: GE) for one, parent company of Universal Pictures. Outside of the possibility of it hurting Steve Carell's career, it hurts you, the viewer. If Evan flops, don't expect to laugh while munching on your popcorn at the movies anytime soon.

What happens if Universal Pictures' Evan Almighty flops? originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Sat, 23 Jun 2007 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Girls Gone Wild flashes onto fashion scene originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Tue, 20 Feb 2007 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

In its never-ending quest to capture eyeballs, Time Warner is going for laughs. DCComics, home of Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman, has teamed up with Warner Books to cross promote a pre-publication version of Brad Meltzer's The Book of Fate, a graphic novel thriller chocked full of American historical tidbits.

Also on a comedic note, Turner Broadcasting System announced it will distribute two "very funny broadband destinations: veryfunnyads.com and Laugh Lab." Veryfunnyads.com will be the world's largest online collection of humorous commercials. Viewers will be able to email links to their favorite commercials. Veryfunnyads.com will offer periodic updates to its collection. This just could replace fantasy football leagues as many people's favorite work-time activity. Veryfunnyads.com launched today via a one-hour World's Funniest Commercials show on TBS. Laugh Lab will feature original materials from well known stand-ups, as well as encore performances of comedy materials already distributed by TBS. Viewers will be able to customize their choice of comedy videos.

Using the capabilities provided by its purchase of Truveo, Time Warner subsidiary AOL aims to be the premier web video site. AOL Video will provide online video search capabilities and will also carry thousands of hours of programming by partnering and sharing revenue with Arts and Entertainment network, the History Channel, Nickelodeon and MTV channels. The initial 30,000 videos also include on-demand news segments from ABD, CNN and Reuters. AOL plans to increase its sale of video ads to over $1 billion in the next few years as additional programming, both original and encore performances, is put on the Web. TV ad marketing is already a $60 billion per year industry.

Time Warner going for laughs originally appeared on BloggingStocks on Thu, 24 Aug 2006 06:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.