Cynopsis: Kids!

07/03/09

Good morning. It’s Friday, July 3, 2009, and this is your first early morning Kids briefing.

Fox‘s new animated feature Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs (PG) opened on Wednesday with an estimated domestic box office gross of $13.8 million in 4,099 theaters making it the biggest Wednesday open for an animated movie ever, per Box Office Mojo.  The third movie in the Ice Age series, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs takes over the top animated Wednesday spot from Shrek 2, which opened May 19, 2004 with $11.8 million.  Dawn of the Dinosaurs bested Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (PG-13) on Wednesday, with the second Transformers movie still taking in a respectable estimated domestic gross of $10.9 million for the day, putting its 8-day total at an estimated $239.4 million.  No telling which film might take the holiday weekend crown.

NEW PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

Universal snags the big screen rights to Atari‘s classic Asteroids videogame, beating out several other studios, per THR.  The Asteroids movie will be penned by Matthew Lopez (The Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Race to Witch Mountain) and produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura.  Making a movie based on the Asteroids game will be interesting because the game, released back in 1979, has no storyline associated with it at all.  Other toy-based movies currently in development at Universal include Hasbro’s Battleship and Candyland.

MORE KIDS STUFF

Under a long-term deal with MTV Networks International (MTVNI), Tiao Zhan Xiao Yong Shi, the Chinese format adaptation of Nickelodeon’s GUTS, will premiere on China Central Television (CCTV) this summer.  This is CCTV’s first-ever kids’ format series.

The Bright Agency, part of the Bright Group, inks a deal with Random House USA to publish author/illustrator Sue Hendra‘s new book Barry the Fish with Fingers.  Simon and Schuster UK holds the rights to the title for the UK and the rest of the world.

MARKETING/LICENSING

Earthworks Entertainment‘s Z-Force Enterprises to launch interactive consumer website this August.  The site will offer Z-Force animated DVDs and merchandise and will be marketed via a direct response TV campaign in the Q4 2009.

Cartoon Network Asia Pacific partners with Hewlett-Packard to launch the HP Toon Creator Awards ( www.ToonCreatorAwards.com), an online animation contest for K6-14.  Open to kids from Australia, India, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore, the effort allows kids to direct their own short animated clips featuring characters from the Cartoon Network series.  July 13 through September 30, kids can visit the Cartoon Network website and create their own 25- second ending after viewing a five-second mini-cliffhanger from either Ben 10: Alien Force (available from July 13) and Chowder (to be released in mid-August).

BBC Worldwide is set to take its Tweenies Live! Top of the Tots stage show to Hong Kong, the first time a BBC live show has been performed in Asia.  The show, currently touring the UK through the end of August, will be co-produced in Hong Kong by ABA Productions and BBC Worldwide Live Entertainment with full UK cast and crew. Tweenies Live! Top of the Tots will be performed in English at the Drama Theatre, Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts from September 23 through October 4, 2009.  Tweenies airs five times daily on the CBeebies channel in Hong Kong.

The National Basketball Association (NBA) and Taco Bell Corp. ink a deal making the fast food chain the “Official Quick Service Restaurant” of the NBA.  As part of the multiyear marketing partnership Taco Bell will reach the fan bases of the NBA, Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA) and NBA Development League through a array of assets, including league events, TV and online exposure, and NBA-themed promotions in restaurants nationwide. Taco Bell will also have significant presence on NBA national game telecasts and on the sports group’s websites.  The NBA previously had a sponsorship partnership with McDonald’s.

STONE SOUP

A GfK Roper Poll says that PBS Kids is the top TV network in helping kids realize their potential and getting kids ready for success in school and in life. The survey, which was commissioned by PBS in April, interviewed 1,006 adults over the age of 18.

Dartmouth College researchers have determined that movie characters who smoke, regardless of whether they are “good guys” or “bad guys,” influence teens to try smoking, reports Science Daily.  The survey also reveals that low-risk teens, based on sensation-seeking behavior, are more strongly influenced by “bad guy” movie smoking.  The researchers at Dartmouth College and Dartmouth Medical School (DMS) have been studying the connections between pop culture and risky behavior in adolescents for some time. They have published numerous journal articles that document the link between exposure to smoking and drinking alcohol in movies and teens using tobacco and alcohol.

A CYNOPSIS MESSAGE

Friday Fun Fact:  Independence Day was first observed in Philadelphia on July 8, 1776. In 1941, Congress declared July 4 a federal legal holiday. John Adams said recognition of the day “… ought to be solemnized with pomp and parade, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore.”

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question:   John Reid was the real identity of whom?  THE LONE RANGER  Kudos to: Tom Potter-Radio Disney AM 1560/NY; Andy Krinner-aNb Media LLC/NY; Dennis Nance-Turner Broadcasting, Inc./Atlanta; Gary Shinn-Metrovision Production Group/NY; Michael Hawkins-PromoDoctors/Irving; Jim Wyatt-Film Roman/Starz Media/Burbank; Rob Chatlin-FX Network/LA; Al Ovadia/Hidden Hills; Robin Massey-Warner Home Video/Burbank; Chris Mullin-BashBang Prods/Vancouver; Sherry Lake-Corus Entertainment – Treehouse/Toronto

Today’s Trivia Question:  Who lives in Stars Hollow?   (Email [email protected] with your answer and be sure to include your name, company, city and time zone. Unofficial rules: Only the second four correct answers from each time zone will be mentioned; and once you’ve been mentioned in any of the Cynopsis editions, you can’t be mentioned again that calendar week.)

Later — Gwen
 Gwen Billings for Cynopsis Kids!
07.03.09

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