Latest in Geffen

TUESDAY 5:45 PM: Hollywood VIP David Geffen was seated at President Obama’s table. TUESDAY UPDATE: The White House announced today that also invited from showbiz were GE chairman Jeff Immelt whose corporation runs NBC Universal, Oprah Winfrey galpal Gayle King, director M. Night Shyamalan, and actors Alfre Woodard and…

Now that others are hinting at this, I can confirm what I’ve known for two months: that David Geffen isn’t interested anymore in buying the Los Angeles Times. David Geffen Goes After LA Times…

I give TV and movie fans a lot of credit: when they get mad, they scare the crap out of the moguls. That’s happening at Lionsgate where the studio’s phones and email accounts are jammed with angry fans for the past week. They’re making a stink because new Lionsgate topper Joe Drake appears to be dumping all of ex-prez…

So now we know with whom David Geffen has been negotiating all these many months. And the newest Hollywood mogul names to put on speed dial are Rajesh Sawhney and Anil Dhirubhai Ambani (one of the world’s Top 10 richest men). I can confirm that DreamWorks has secured $500 million to $600 million from India’s media and…

  SUNDAY AM: North American box office gross expanded bigger than expected this weekend — a gargantuan 25% more dollars taken in than the same weekend last year. DreamWorks Animation’s feisty pot-bellied Kung Fu Panda distributed by Paramount led the way, fighting to a $60 million finish after opening to $20.3…

So here’s The Women trailer that was playing with Sex And The City over the weekend. I find it funny, but I’d redo it to appeal more to the psychographic of SATC‘s two-quadrant audience. (Did you notice that the main lyrics to the Duffy song “Mercy” on the soundtrack of the trailer for The Women were: “Why won’t you…

I’ve written here again and again how much David Geffen wants to own the Los Angeles Times and put it back under local control as well as make it a real must-read. But the Hollywood mogul was rebuffed first by the Tribune Co’s CEO Dennis Fitzimmons and then by current owner Sam Zell. Now Geffen may be looking for a…

It appears David Geffen’s recent rapprochement dinner with GE chairman/CEO Jeffrey Immelt went well. Today, Jeff Zucker told an investor conference that NBC Universal would consider buying DreamWorks from Viacom. “If the opportunity were to arise, it’s something obviously we would look at. We know them well, we have…

I’ve just been slipped an early copy of “Showdown At Fort Sumner” by Bryan Burrough in the latest issue of Vanity Fair about the DreamWorks-Paramount-Viacom warring. David Geffen goes on the record and rips Sumner Redstone a new one. “Nobody is going to treat me or my partner [Spielberg] in that manner and stay in…

In addition to my own postings about DreamWorks moguls David Geffen and Jeffrey Katzenberg in Malibu during the fires here and here and here, I’ve just combed other news stories and culled this showbiz-related coverage: Perhaps the hardest-hit entertainment company was Sony Online Entertainment, maker of computer…

My spies tell me that Jeff Zucker and Ron Meyer had lunch in the Universal Studios commissary today with Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider — and everybody was all smiles. Talk about a virtual public announcement that a reunion between the studio and DreamWorks isn’t far behind! “I can’t imagine GE will blow it a…

More news from Deal Beach, aka Billionaires Beach. David Geffen, whose Malibu Beach Inn recently underwent a major renovation, has opened the landmark hotel to evacuees for free as well as to firefighters who sleep there in shifts during the inferno. “Why be empty? I’d rather it go to good use,” managing director Alan…