English Entertainment
AXN acquires exclusive TV rights for ‘Kung Fu Hustle’
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MUMBAI: AXN has acquired exclusive television rights of the blockbuster action comedy movie Kung Fu Hustle. |
| Produced by Bill Borden and directed by Asia’s top comedy star, Stephen Chow, Kung Fu Hustle will be released in India on 27 May. The television premier will be aired on AXN in the second quarter of 2006. |
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Kung Fu Hustle is touted to be a new kind of comedy and Chow is undoubtedly one of cinema’s funniest men, whose brand of comedy that includes slapstick, absurdity and action provides a breath of fresh air for Asian viewers. His talents and innovative film-making instincts are finally recognised by the global audience in this much anticipated action comedy. Kung Fu Hustle has been a major box-office hit in the US, winning accolades in numerous categories, including Best Picture, Best Action Choreography, Best Visual and Sound Effects, at the recently concluded 2004 Hong Kong Film Awards.  The film broke all previous box office records in Singapore, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and China, achieving the numero uno position for 2004 in all the countries except Malaysia, where the movie ranked second only after Spider-Man 2. Sony Pictures Entertainment (SPE) Networks Asia general manager Ricky Ow said, “We have no doubts that Kung Fu Hustle will wow the Indian viewers. The long list of credentials it has achieved – which includes winning multiple prestigious awards, breaking box office records all across Asia and an outstanding performance in the USA – speaks volume for itself. In typical Stephen Chow style, with a brilliant combination of action and comedy, Kung Fu Hustle will touch the hearts of the Indian viewers like it has done all around the world. In fact, cinema goers across Asia couldn’t get enough of the movie that they made repeated visits to the cinema just to enjoy it over and over again. With a class act like this, once is never good enough.” “We are very excited about Kung Fu Hustle making its TV premiere exclusively on AXN. We have big plans to create a huge buzz around it. We will be adopting Stephen Chow’s style in all our promotion and communication and we believe that this will make a strong impact,” he added. |
Set in Canton, China in the 1940s, Kung Fu Hustle revolves around a hapless wannabe gangster, Sing (Stephen Chow), who aspires to become a member of the notorious “Axe Gang”. When the “Axe Gang” sets out to take control of the village where Sing and his buddy are creating trouble impersonating members of the “Axe Gang”, residents of the seemingly ordinary and laid back village turn out to be Kung-Fu masters in disguise and exhibit extraordinary powers to defend their turf. Sing, forced to take sides in the ensuing battle, discovers his own Kung-Fu talents.
English Entertainment
Warner Bros. Discovery shareholders approve Paramount deal
Investors wave through a $111 billion megamerger but deliver a stinging, if toothless, rebuke over half-a-billion-dollar goodbye packages
NEW YORK: The shareholders said yes to the deal. They said no to the cheque. At a virtual special meeting on Thursday that lasted barely ten minutes, Warner Bros. Discovery investors voted overwhelmingly to approve Paramount Skydance’s $111 billion acquisition of the company — and then turned around and voted against the lavish exit pay packages lined up for chief executive David Zaslav and his fellow outgoing executives.
Not that it will make much difference. The compensation vote is purely advisory and non-binding. The Warner Bros. Discovery board can, and almost certainly will, pay out as planned.
But the symbolism stings. It is the second consecutive year that WBD shareholders have voted against the executive compensation packages, and this time they had good reason. Zaslav’s exit deal is, by any measure, extraordinary. Under the terms filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, he is set to receive $34.2 million in cash severance, $517.2 million in equity in the combined company, and $44,195 in continued health coverage — a total of at least $550 million. On top of that, Warner Bros. Discovery has agreed to reimburse Zaslav up to $335 million for taxes assessed by the Internal Revenue Service on his accelerated stock vesting, though the company says that figure will decline depending on when the deal closes. As of March 11, Zaslav also held $115.85 million in vested WBD stock awards — and last month sold a further $114 million worth of WBD shares.
Shareholder advisory firm ISS recommended voting against the compensation measure, citing “problematic” tax reimbursements to Zaslav and the full vesting of his stock awards.
Zaslav will be bound by a two-year non-competition covenant and a two-year non-solicitation of customers and employees after the deal closes.
His lieutenants are not walking away empty-handed either. J.B. Perrette, chief executive and president of global streaming and games, is in line for $142 million, comprising $18.2 million in cash severance and $123.9 million in equity. Bruce Campbell, chief revenue and strategy officer, will receive an estimated $121.5 million, including $18.8 million in severance and $102.7 million in equity. Chief financial officer Gunnar Wiedenfels is set for $120 million, made up of $6.6 million in cash severance and $113.1 million in equity. Gerhard Zeiler, president of international, will get $82.6 million, including $11.9 million in severance and $70.7 million in equity.
The deal itself, clinched in February after Netflix declined to raise its bid for Warner Bros., still needs regulatory clearance from the Justice Department and European authorities. Several state attorneys general are also weighing legal action to block it.
Senator Elizabeth Warren, Democrat of Massachusetts, was unsparing. “The Paramount-Warner Bros. merger isn’t a done deal,” she said after the shareholder vote. “State attorneys general across the country are stepping up to stop this antitrust disaster. We need to keep up this fight.”
If it does go through, the combined entity would be a formidable beast, bringing together Paramount Skydance’s stable — CBS, CBS News, Paramount Pictures, Paramount+, BET, MTV and Nickelodeon — with WBD’s portfolio of HBO, Max, Warner Bros. film and TV studios, DC, CNN, TBS, TNT, HGTV and Discovery+. Paramount has said it expects $6 billion in cost savings from the merger, which is Wall Street shorthand for mass layoffs on a significant scale.
The ten-minute meeting was presided over by chairman Samuel Di Piazza Jr., with Zaslav, Campbell, Wiedenfels and chief communications officer Robert Gibbs in virtual attendance. Di Piazza was bullish. “We appreciate the support and confidence our stockholders have placed in us to unlock the full value of our world-class entertainment portfolio,” he said. “With Paramount, we look forward to creating an exceptional combined company that will expand consumer choice and benefit the global creative talent community.”
Zaslav echoed the sentiment. “Over the past four years, our teams have transformed Warner Bros. Discovery and returned the company to industry leadership,” he said. “Today’s stockholder approval is another key milestone toward completing this historic transaction that will deliver exceptional value to our stockholders.”
Paramount Skydance struck a similar note. “Shareholder approval marks another important milestone towards completing our acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery,” it said in a statement, adding that it looked forward to “closing the transaction in the coming months.”
The shareholders have spoken on the merger. On the pay, they were ignored before the vote was even counted.
