News Reel

The Predator Beats The Nun with $2.5M in Thursday Previews

For the weekend, The Predator has a shot at grossing $30 million or more from 4,037 theaters, the fifth-widest release ever for an R-rated pic.

[via The Hollywood Reporter]

Comcast Says Live TV Grabs High Ratings on College Campuses

Students on college campuses really enjoy watching live TV, mainly on their laptops, according to Comcast statistics. The company released a summary of aggregated from its Xfinity On Campus service show that college students prefer watching live television, then video on demand, followed by DVR content.

[via TV Technology]

Sure, It’s Only September, but the Oscar Race Is in Full Swing

The 2018 award-season aspirants will include superheroes, space travelers and Lady Gaga, but will their movies prove popular enough to assuage the fears of an academy that nearly introduced an Oscar just for blockbusters? With three significant fall film festivals now on the books, including the Toronto International Film Festival heading into its final weekend, and with a few impressive holdovers from earlier in the year still making waves, it’s time to take a look at the clarified landscape of Academy Award contenders.

[via The New York Times]

Thad Mumford, Pioneering African-American Writer for MASH, Electric Company, Dies at 67

Thaddeus Q. Mumford, a pioneering African-American TV writer-producer who worked on shows ranging from MASH to The Electric Company to Blue’s Clues, has died after a long illness. He was 67.

[via Variety]