Cynopsis: Kids!

06/23/08

Good morning. It’s Monday, June 23, 2008, and this is your first early morning Kids briefing.

On Friday morning Cookie Jar Entertainment and DIC Entertainment announced they had inked a deal to merge two companies.  The deal would see Cookie Jar pay US $31.5 million for all of the issued and outstanding equity in DIC in a deal valued at some US $87.6 million.  Bringing these companies together would establish a kids animation library of 6,000 half-hours of programming, and give Cookie Jar access to merchandising and licensing rights to such brands as American Greetings’ (AG) Strawberry Shortcake, as well as Inspector Gadget, Horseland and Mommy & Me among others.  Under the proposed deal DIC will be a subsidiary of privately held Cookie Jar.  DIC’s Chairman and CEO Andy Heyward will enter into a new employment and non-competition deal with DIC. If approved the merger would also include DIC’s subsidiary Copyright Promotions, a Europe-based licensing agency, and DIC’s one-third interest in KidsCo, the international kid’s TV channel, which also includes NBC Universal and Corus Entertainment as partners. Fast-forward an hour or two after the initial announcement – AG said it had obtained a temporary retraining order blocking the proposed the sale of DIC, explaining that it had not agreed to the deal, a right AG says it has under its long-term agreement with DIC.  AG explained its concerned the sale, would “cause irreparable damage” to its Strawberry Shortcake brand. 

NEW PRODUCTION & DEVELOPMENT

Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man 4 is currently slated for release in May 2011, according to the LA Times, which reported on remarks made by Laura Ziskin, producer of the movie franchise, while speaking to movie theater owners.  Of course we still don’t know if director Sam Raimi will return or, for that matter, Spidey star Tobey McGuire.

Universal Pictures has picked up a spec script titled Family Bond from Jeff Lowell (John Tucker Must Die, Hotel for Dogs) per Variety.  An action/adventure comedy movie about a spy and his daughter will be produced by Marc Platt through Marc Platt Productions and Miles Millar and Alfred Gough under their Millar/Gough Ink company.

MORE KIDS STUFF

The short-form, non-verbal HD 3D animated series Angus & Cheryl (104×2) bows for in Spain for the first time on in open broadcasting channel on Channel K3, via a deal with Televisio de Catalunya, beginning today.  The BRB Internacional project, co-produced with Screen 21, Tub Entertainment and Televisio de Catalunya, will air Monday-Friday at 9:30p.  Angus & Cheryl will also air in Spain on Nickelodeon in various time slots, and in other countries such as France on Nickelodeon and Russia on 5 Channel.  Angus & Cheryl can also be accessed via mobile phones.

Reka Simonsen, Sr. Editor, Henry Holt Books for Young Readers, acquires the young adult-targeted The Inquisitor’s Apprentice by Chris Moriarty.  The six-figure deal includes three books.  Dressler Verlag picked up German rights for The Inquisitor’s Apprentice.  Moriarty is best known for her Sci-Fi books Spin State and Spin Control, both published by Bantam Spectra in 2003 and 2006 respectively.  Set in 1905, The Inquisitor’s Apprentice is a fantasy that follows Sacha Kessler, a young kid growing up on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, and the immigrant communities there  each with their own views on witchcraft and the city’s effort to get rid of all “Un-American Magic.”

Warner Home Video will release the TV series Tiny Toon Adventures and Freakazoid on DVD this July 29.  Tiny Toon Adventures Season 1, Volume 1 includes 35 episodes and of course bonus content on the four disc set.  Freakazoid!: The Complete First Season is comprised of 14 episodes across two discs.

Two Tomatoes Records will release the new CD from The Laurie Berkner Band with Susie Lampert and Adam Bernstein, Rocketship Run, on August 5, 2008.  Distributed and marketed by Razor & Tie Entertainment, this is the first CD from the band since 2002.

STONE SOUP

Weekend Box Office Estimates for kids/tweens/teens rated G, PG or PG-13; June 20-22, 2008:
Get Smart (Warner Bros.) PG-13                                                        Opening Weekend $39.2m
Kung Fu Panda (Paramount (DreamWorks)) PG                                     $21.7m-3 wk total $155.6m
The Incredible Hulk (Universal) PG-13                                                 $21.6m-2 wk total $96.5m
The Love Guru (Paramount) PG-13                                                     Opening Weekend $14.0m
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Paramount) PG-13    $8.4m-5 wk total $290.8m
You Don’t Mess with the Zohan (Sony/Columbia) PG-13                        $7.2m-3 wk total $84.1m
Iron Man (Paramount) PG-13                                                           $4.0m-8 wk total $304.8m
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Buena Vista) PG                    $1.7m-6 wk total $135.5m
What Happens in Vegas (Fox) PG-13                                                 $770,000-7 wk total $77.5m
The Visitor (Overture Films) PG-13                                                    $381,000-11 wk total $7.2m
Source: Box Office Mojo

RATINGS

Disney Channel’s premiere of its new original TV movie Camp Rock on Friday, June 20, 8-10p, was watched by an average 8.9 million Total Viewers, of which 3.4 million were Tweens 9-14, making it the top entertainment telecast (not including sports programming) in 2007-08 in cable TV, and number one overall in Tweens 9-14.  Camp Rock ranked as the network’s second most watched debut of one of its original TV movies behind the premiere of last year’s High School Musical 2 (August 17), which earned 17.2 million Total Viewers.  That said, Camp Rock outperformed the premiere of the original High School Musical (January 20, 2006), which delivered 7.7 million viewers.

The following night, Saturday, June 21, 8-10:30p, ABC replayed Camp Rock during The Wonderful World of Disney franchise, where the movie was watched by an average 3.6 million viewers, and was tops for the night among K2-11 (2.3 rating), K6-11 (3.1 rating), Tweens 9-14 (3.2 rating) and Teens 12-17 (2.6 rating), according to the fast affiliate live + same day ratings. 

Live + Same Day Ratings Kids Cable Network Averages (000) for Thursday, June 19, 2008, 6am-11pm, ranked by K2-11:
NICKELODEON:         K2-11 1027; K6-11 557; TWEENS 9-14 417
DISNEY CHANNEL:     K2-11 1069; K6-11 797; TWEENS 9-14 672
CARTOON NETWORK: K2-11   804; K6-11 581; TWEENS 9-14 433
TOON DISNEY:           K2-11   193; K6-11 104; TWEENS 9-14   76
Source: MTVN Research from Nielsen Media Research Data

Answer to Yesterday’s Trivia Question: On the TV series Weird Science, based on the 1985 movie, what was the name of the High School that Gary and Wyatt attended?  FARBER HIGH Kudos to: No One.

Today’s Trivia Question: Jaleel White provided the voice of the title character in what cartoon? (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 — Cyn
06.23.08

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