Warner Bros. traded South Park and Friday the 13th for Interstellar stake

Film properties aren't like baseball cards or Pokemon, but I guess word didn't get to Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures. Christopher Nolan's upcoming film, Interstellar (which I talked about a bit awhile back), is set to be a huge blockbusting, money-making machine when it hits theaters in 2014. Interestingly, the film is being co-produced by Warner Bros. and Paramount Pictures, two rival studios that don't normally work together. In fact, it's practically unheard of for two different studios to co-produce films, especially films with the level of magnitude that Interstellar has.

Today, The Hollywood Reporter found out exactly what happened that allowed such a move to be made. When Paramount distributed Friday the 13th domestically, Warner Bros. handled international distribution, which complicated who exactly held the rights for the franchise. Freddy vs. Jason, however, was purchased by Warner Bros, but Paramount still had a 50% stake due to the initial Friday the 13th film rights. Something similar took place with South Park, as Comedy Central used to be co-owned by Time Warner and Viacom, Paramount's parent company. When Viacom split its TV networks from Time Warner, WB still possessed rights to the South Park film, handling international distribution.

Because of these joint ventures, each studio had a claim in the franchises, complicating future projects. Paramount, trusting in both Nolan's talents and  Interstellar's box office potential, offered to let Warner Bros. get a percentage of the return if they relinquished their hold on future Friday the 13th and South Park films. However, if Paramount doesn't produce a sequel for the films within the next five years, co-ownership will return to WB.

It's all complicated Hollywood business deals, but money talks, and in the case of Interstellar, it's doing more than just talking. This news also brings the prospect of big screen returns for Stan, Kenny, Kyle, Cartman, and Jason Voorhees, which should be great news for both horror and South Park fans.

[via The Hollywood Reporter]


Chris LeSage: "Home Alone" (prod. by Tha Hydrox)

Over the weekend, MikeJaxx gave us a glimpse at a new sound with ShowYouSuck's "Watching Walking Dead." The song also introduced some of us to local singer, Chris LeSage, with that ridiculously catchy R&B-inspired "Pretty brown round/Driving me wild" hook. LeSage and Jaxx's production team, Tha Hydrox, are back for more with "Home Alone."

The song represents a huge musical change from what we're used to with Tha Hydrox's production, but I love their willingness to expand into more music. Also, LeSage is doing his part to bring R&B back. Ladies and fellas, prepare yourself, because this dude's voice is smooth. "Home Alone" is just a glimpse into what LeSage is capable of as he prepares to release his album Alpha, Violet later this summer.


[EP] Icky Blossoms: "Revisions"

There was a time when Saddle Creek was one of the most influential indie band labels. In my personal experience, Cursive's The Ugly Organ kind of represented a growth in my musical discovery. Other Saddle Creek bands, like Azure Ray, The Faint, and especially Bright Eyes, paved their own ways in the indie rock music scene. A lot of time has passed since then, yet the Omaha-based label is still trucking on, introducing new generations to their outstanding back catalog of artists, as well as presenting new bands.

One such band is Icky Blossoms. Their debut album, Icky Blossoms, released yesterday. The trio plays a fusion of genres they're both collectively and individually influenced by, such as avante-garde pop, electronica, new wave, and indie rock. To commemorate their debut release, they've released an EP of remixes entitled Revisions. Composed of six remixes that you can listen to below, each song has been selected from Icky Blossoms and remixed by such artists as Them Jeans, Enso, Ghosteffects, Haunted Gauntlet, Jeffrey Jerusalem, and Depressed Billionaires.

You can buy Icky Blossoms' Revisions EP separately on both iTunes and Saddle Creek's website or together with their self-titled debut album also on iTunes and Saddle Creek's website.


WHITE-OWL: "WAX TRAP VOL. 4 (AMSTERDAM EDITION)"

WHITE-OWL returns to the scene with his new mix, "WAX TRAP VOL. 4 (AMSTERDAM EDITION)." In contrast to his last mix, "WAX TRAP VOL. 3 (TURNT UP EDITION," "(AMSTERDAM EDITION)" is a bit more chill and laidback. Suddenly, the name becomes more evident. WHITE-OWL himself calls it a mix of other stuff and "Future Bass." I call it "Bump n Grind" music. Get it!

"Let's get ratchet! Let's get ratchet! Let's get, let's get...!"


[Trailer] The To Do List

[yahoo id="movies.yahoo.com/video/list-redband-trailer-2-195016428"]

Back in 2011, there was this lovely little movie being developed called The Hand Job that was gonna star Aubrey Plaza (Safety Not Guaranteed) as an inexperienced high school graduate desperate to have her first sexual experiences to prepare herself for college. Of course, MPAA wasn't going to green-light the name of the film, and it was unceremoniously changed to The To Do List. Sure, it still carries the sexual innuendo of the original title, but come on... imagine watching a film starring Plaza discovering her sexuality.

Fast forward two years, and the first footage of the film has been released. Joining Plaza in the film is an ensemble cast that includes Donald Glover (AKA Childish Gambino), Rachel Bilson (The O.C.), Johnny Simmons (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World), Alia Shawkat (Arrested Development), Clark Gregg (The Avengers), Bill Hader (SNL), and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (Superbad). Given the film's premise, a majority of the jokes will be raunchy, but from a female protagonist's perspective. If Bridesmaids has proven anything, it's that Hollywood really needs more female-driven comedies. Hopefully The To Do List will be a good step in the right direction.

You can check The To Do List off your own to-do list when it hits theaters on July 26th.


[Video] Chance the Rapper: "Acid Rap Live"

Chance the Rapper has been blowing up since Acid Rap dropped. Appearing in a plethora of mainstream publications and top-rated lists with scheduled festival shows later this summer, culminating in a nationwide and European tour, Chano's everywhere these days. Of course, he puts on for his hometown, as evident at his two sold-out shows at the Metro, one of Chicago's most celebrated venues for music.

If you missed either of these shows, frequent Chance collaborator Austin Vessely compiled a documentary-style video of Chance's sets that you can watch below. Intermixed with some behind the scenes clips are performances of "Smoke Again" and "Pusha Man," as well as some cameos from notable Chicagoan musicians Macie Stewart and Greg Landfair.

Be sure to check out his remaining tour dates if you live outside of Chicago and haven't had a chance to check out Chance live.

http://youtu.be/N36QcJbWLyo


Viacom and Amazon enter multi-year agreement, spurning Netflix in the process

Today, Viacom and Amazon announced their multi-year agreement to stream Viacom TV shows exclusively on Amazon's Prime Instant Video service. Viacom is one of the largest media conglomerates in the world, comprised of a large number of TV networks including MTV, BET, Nickelodeon, and Comedy Central. The agreement also comes at Netflix's expense whose own agreement with Viacom recently expired.

It's a huge blow for Netflix subscribers, as shows broadcast on any of the aforementioned networks (like South ParkRocko's Modern LifeWorkaholics, Teen Mom, etc.) will be unavailable to them. At the same time, it's a huge gain for Amazon, as Prime Instant Video hasn't had access to worthwhile content. Does this mean Netflix, who's experienced a bit of a subscription bump with exclusive series like Arrested Development premiering, will lose a large number of its 20-something demographic with this huge exodus of shows? We'll see. I know one thing: I finally have a good reason to actually use my Prime Instant Video subscription.

[via Deadline]


[Trailer] Coffee Town

http://youtu.be/MagOLStZWvs

CollegeHumor has been arguably one of the destinations for online comedy for years. I remember watching all of the Derrick Comedy videos years back before Donald Glover won everybody over with his hilarious portrayal of Troy Barnes on Community (let alone taking us to Camp as Childish Gambino). With a series of funny video shorts under their belt, the brand is ready to take the next step in entertainment: films. CollegeHumor is teaming up with independent movie distributor FilmBuff for its feature-length film debut, Coffee Town.

Starring It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia's Glenn Howerton, Coffee Town is about Howerton's Will, a website manager whose "office" is a table at a local coffee house. However, when the cafe begins plans to grow into a bistro, threatening Will's entire business, he enlists the aid from his friends (Parks and Recreation's Ben Schwartz and Eastbound & Down's Steve Little) to stage a break-in at the cafe in an attempt to sway investors away from the neighborhood.

Coffee Town is looking really funny, which honestly can't be said for most film trailers. Hopefully, the best jokes weren't featured in this first look at the film, which will be released on digital platforms July 9th with CollegeHumor-hosted limited theatrical screenings throughout North America before it debuts at Montreal's Just for Laughs festival on July 27th.

You can watch the trailer in full HD on iTunes Movie Trailers.