Rumors started going around on Friday afternoon about a huge bit of good news for writers: United Artists is poised sign a deal with the WGA, marking the first major studio to split from the pack at the AMPTP.
United Artists is now headed by one Tom Cruise, and given that this deal (if true) would be a major victory for the screenwriter's side in the WGA-AMPTP war, I'll refrain from making any Cruise jokes.
Meanwhile, Wired News is reporting that indie studio Lionsgate also appears close to inking a pact with the Guild.
Could this mark the beginning of a slew of companies breaking from the company line to start protecting their own interests? Could their greed be greater than their loyalty to their robber baron brethren? If so, then Gordon gekko is again proven right:
"Greed... is good. Greed works."
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7 comments:
Let's hope so.
At least Tom Cruise is getting some positive press for once too.
Brett, Billy Mernit just referenced your post on his weekly offering at:
http://livingromcom.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/01/good-greed.html?cid=96123208
So you MIGHT want to give him a little shout-out. He did, however, refer to you as a "her," BUT I highly advice being very careful about any potential retort you might have... I know I've learned my past mistakes...
- E.C. Henry from Bonney Lake, WA
Come on, just one Cruise joke, please?
OK.
Word I hear is that they cut a deal with him as it was the only way to stop him from hopping up and down on Patrick Verrone's sofa, begging "can I deal? can I deal? can I deal? can I deal?"
Five weeks of that would start to grate on anyone's nerves.
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Hmmm...isn't it a little suspicious that this is all happening right before his "unauthorized" biography is to be released?
I'd rate myself as slightly more cynical than the next guy, but even I have a hard time believing that Paula Wagner would break ranks and ink a deal with the WGA just to help deflect possible negative PR from Tom due to some most recent trashy unauthorized "tell-all."
Whatever else is said about Cruise-Wagner, they are smart business people, and this deal puts them in position to be pretty much the only game in town for the immediate future.
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I'd have a hard time believing it too, but it's funny to think about.
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