Paramount Pictures turns 100!

Anyone seen this nifty picture taken for Vanity Fair magazine in celebration of Paramount Pictures centennial anniversary.  Kind of awesome in its mixture of new and older top drawer talent in front and behind of the camera.  And the biggest plus of all is that it was done live without photo-shopping-- what a barrage of awe, excitement and awkwardness that must have been.  I've been thinking of doing a big post in celebration of Paramount's anniversary, as well as Universal Picture milestone (2012 is kind of heavy that way.)  Any interest?

G.I. Retaliation was slated open June 29, but has moved out of its prime summertime slot in order to retrofit the film into 3-D.  While the first film was a modest hit when it premiered back in 2009, I'm sure no one was exactly clamoring for a sequel, and the cynic in me rises a thought.  Was this sudden transition, a mere month before its impending release a calculated strategy to milk every single 3-D-inflated dollar out of an inferior product, or perhaps a studio head getting ideas after an early screening.  Either way, this doesn't appear a story that ends well creatively, more like a studio craving hard to earn coin in markets where 3-D hasn't been totally dismissed...the US box office is likely more irrelevant now than ever before.

In a swift movie, Universal's R-rated Ted, written and directed by Family Guy's Seth MacFarland swiftly moved into G.I. Joe's slot to take advantage of the pre-Fourth of July slot.  Still even in Hollywood's movie making, this marks a fairly significant change of gears, especially considering the top money spent by Paramount (including a pricy Super Bowl commercial) spent by Paramount.  Perhaps the bad taste left by Battleship's middling opening numbers made Hasbro want to create some distance.  G.I. Joe: Retaliation is now slated for bow next March.