Office Sale

Hundreds of people pawed through former White House aide Michael K. Deaver's empty trappings of power today at an office sale held to help defray more than $1 million in legal costs left from a court battle that resulted in his perjury conviction. "Not your typical garage sale, huh?" said a smiling saleswoman as $100,000 worth of Deaver's office furnishings were put on the block at the abandoned headquarters of his high-priced lobbying firm in this Washington suburb.

Warner Bros.' New Line division may be let down over the underwhelming opening of its big-budget "Jack the Giant Slayer," but the company has something to celebrate: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" crossed the $1-billion milestone Sunday. The first in Peter Jackson's 3-D film trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's 1937 kids novel is  the 15th film to gross more than $1 billion worldwide at the  box office. The filmmaker's "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" is also a member of the club, as the 2003 release ended up with a staggering worldwide tally of $1.1 billion.

Hundreds of people pawed through former White House aide Michael K. Deaver's empty trappings of power Friday at an office sale held to defray more than $1 million in legal costs from a court fight that resulted in his perjury conviction. "Not your typical garage sale, huh?" said a smiling saleswoman as $100,000 worth of Deaver's office furnishings were put on the block at the abandoned headquarters of his lobbying firm in this Washington suburb.

The announcement of the Tony Award nominations last Tuesday gave a box-office boost to "Once," the new musical whose 11 nominations make it the early Tony frontrunner this year. " Once ," which is playing at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in New York, saw its box-office gross for the week ending May 6 rise to $707,302 from $609,412 in the previous week, according to data provided by the Broadway League. The musical's attendance rose more than 9% from the previous week to reach 93% capacity.

A Westwood office building occupied by 20th Century Fox Studios and other entertainment industry tenants was sold for $39.5 million to Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada, brokers said. The financial services company bought 10351 Santa Monica Blvd., also known as Santa Monica Comstock Plaza, from a joint venture of Cambra Realty & Angelo Gordon, brokerage Madison Partners said. The 101,000-square-foot building was completed in 1984 at Santa Monica Boulevard and Comstock Avenue near what is now the Westfield Century City shopping center.

Warner Bros.' New Line division may be let down over the underwhelming opening of its big-budget "Jack the Giant Slayer," but the company has something to celebrate: "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" crossed the $1-billion milestone Sunday. The first in Peter Jackson's 3-D film trilogy based on J.R.R. Tolkien's 1937 kids novel is  the 15th film to gross more than $1 billion worldwide at the  box office. The filmmaker's "The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King" is also a member of the club, as the 2003 release ended up with a staggering worldwide tally of $1.1 billion.

Sales in the U.S. and Canada: Note: A movie may be shown on more than one screen at each venue Source: Media by Numbers *--* Movie 3-day gross Venues Average Weeks Total (studio) (millions) per venue (millions) 1 Knowing $24.6 3,332 $7,384 1 $24.6 (Summit) 2 I Love You, $17.8 2,711 $6,570 1 $17.8 Man (Paramount) 3 Duplicity $14.0 2,574 $5,425 1 $14.0 (Universal) 4 Race to Witch $12.8 3,187 $4,012 2 $44.5 Mountain (Disney) 5 Watchmen $6.8 3,510 $1,938 3 $98.1 (Warner Bros.) 6 The Last House $5.

The announcement of the Tony Award nominations last Tuesday gave a box-office boost to "Once," the new musical whose 11 nominations make it the early Tony frontrunner this year. " Once ," which is playing at the Bernard B. Jacobs Theatre in New York, saw its box-office gross for the week ending May 6 rise to $707,302 from $609,412 in the previous week, according to data provided by the Broadway League. The musical's attendance rose more than 9% from the previous week to reach 93% capacity.

Big hair and big '80s rock hits are what makes the musical " Rock of Ages " so retro fun. The show is set to come to the Venetian in Las Vegas starting Dec. 18, and Cyber Monday brings this box-office sale: two-for-one tickets for future performances. The deal: The musical will be performed at the Sands Theatre at the Venetian Tuesdays through Fridays and on Sundays at 8 p.m.; Saturdays at 7 p.m. and 10 p.m. The show, which has a play list of rock anthems including "We Built This City" and "Don't Stop Believin'," tells the story of the quest for musical success circa 1987.

If Hollywood learned anything at the box office in 2010, it's to be grateful for the higher price charged for 3-D movie tickets. Total movie ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada are projected to end the year slightly below last year's record of $10.6 billion. Many in the movie industry consider that good news, given the tough economy and the way the industry's revenue can swing widely based on the popularity of its releases. But from another angle the picture is more troubling.

A Westwood office building occupied by 20th Century Fox Studios and other entertainment industry tenants was sold for $39.5 million to Sun Life Assurance Co. of Canada, brokers said. The financial services company bought 10351 Santa Monica Blvd., also known as Santa Monica Comstock Plaza, from a joint venture of Cambra Realty & Angelo Gordon, brokerage Madison Partners said. The 101,000-square-foot building was completed in 1984 at Santa Monica Boulevard and Comstock Avenue near what is now the Westfield Century City shopping center.

Actor Pierce Brosnan has sold his Malibu beach retreat for $2.6 million. Brosnan and his wife, environmental activist and former broadcast journalist Keely Shaye Smith, put the property on the market at $3.9 million in 2010 while building another house nearby. The gated Mediterranean they sold has separate space for use as an office or media room and sits on more than a quarter of an acre with lawn space and a courtyard fountain. The flower boxes and hydrangea-lined pathways may have been a nod to Brosnan's Irish roots.

Thanks to the swan song of a boy wizard and encores by alien robots and pirates, Hollywood dug itself out of a big hole this summer. But it still has a ways to go to reach the surface. With the year's most popular moviegoing season coming to an end, total box-office receipts in the U.S. and Canada are on track to finish up 3.5% from last summer, according to Hollywood.com. Attendance — the number of tickets sold — will climb a little more than 1% for the season, the first rise since 2007.

If Hollywood learned anything at the box office in 2010, it's to be grateful for the higher price charged for 3-D movie tickets. Total movie ticket sales in the U.S. and Canada are projected to end the year slightly below last year's record of $10.6 billion. Many in the movie industry consider that good news, given the tough economy and the way the industry's revenue can swing widely based on the popularity of its releases. But from another angle the picture is more troubling.

Snow on the East Coast put a dent in the domestic opening of "Avatar" but wasn't enough to keep the hugely expensive movie from the global launch it needed. The 3-D epic from director James Cameron, which cost $430 million to make and market, launched with a studio-estimated $232.2 million in worldwide ticket sales. It was the biggest debut ever for a movie that wasn't a sequel. In the U.S. and Canada, bad weather limited the haul for the film to a solid but far from spectacular $73 million.

Beleaguered Los Angeles commercial landlord Maguire Properties Inc. on Wednesday sold one of its prized properties: the Lantana Media Entertainment Campus in Santa Monica, home to several prominent entertainment firms. The deal, valued at more than $200 million, was the largest office property sale of the year in Los Angeles County, real estate brokers said. Selling some properties such as Lantana and defaulting on others is part of a strategy by Chief Executive Nelson Rising to relieve debt and keep the company solvent.

"Basic Instinct," "Wayne's World" and "My Cousin Vinny" powered the box office to its highest level in weeks, but overall it still lags behind last year. "Basic Instinct" pushed "Wayne's World" out of the first-place position after five weeks there. "Vinny," starring Joe Pesci, showed staying power, while "Lawnmower Man" business dropped about 30%. * Woody Allen's "Shadows and Fog" and a multistar comedy, "Noises Off," opened to so-so business.

Local and Asian investors bought a prominent Pasadena office complex for $52 million in what may be the largest office property sale of the year in Los Angeles County, a real estate brokerage said Tuesday. The 11-story tower was acquired by Singpoli of Arcadia with financial partners in Hong Kong and Taiwan, according to brokerage CB Richard Ellis. Also included in the sale of the property at the northeast corner of Colorado Boulevard and Lake Avenue was the two-story Lieberg Building, a historical landmark that was built in 1926 as the city's first department store and now is home to the Pasadena Star-News.

Sales in the U.S. and Canada: Note: A movie may be shown on more than one screen at each venue Source: Media by Numbers *--* Movie 3-day gross Venues Average Weeks Total (studio) (millions) per venue (millions) 1 Monsters $59.3 4,104 $14,454 1 $59.3 vs. Aliens (Paramount/ DreamWorks) 2 The Haunting in $23.0 2,732 $8,420 1 $23.0 Connecticut (Lionsgate) 3 Knowing (Summit) $14.7 3,337 $4,406 2 $46.2 4 I Love You, Man $12.7 2,717 $4,664 2 $37.1 (Paramount) 5 Duplicity $7.7 2,579 $2,975 2 $25.