UPDATE: Mark Pedowitz Takes Stand In Desperate Housewives Trial

Freelance writerDominic Pattenis a Deadline contributor UPDATE, 4 PM:Mark Pedowitz says Marc Cherry never discussed financial ramifications or Nicollette Sheridan’s alleged “unprofessional behavior” when the Desperate Housewives executive producer asked the then-ABC Studios president for permission to kill off the Edie Britt character in May 2008. Contradicting testimony from Cherry that money and Sheridan’s professionalism were reasons for getting rid of the Britt character, Pedowitz did confirm today that he gave Cherry studio permission in a small meeting on May 22, 2008, to get rid of the character. “They were seeking permission from the studio to kill off the character,” Pedowitz said. Pedowitz, who left ABC Studios in January 2009, said Cherry told him the character was to be killed off because “there were no more stories to tell.” Later, Pedowitz told the jury, under questioning from defense attorney Adam Levin, that he had rejected an earlier attempt by Cherry to kill off the Britt character in season 3 of the series but he approved killing her off in season 5 because “the character in my mind had run its course.” Pedowitz also testified this afternoon that in a later meeting that same day, then-ABC Entertainment president Steve McPherson “blessed” the decision to kill off the Britt character. Pedowitz said that in the meeting with McPherson, Cherry and others, there were “ongoing conversations” about if the Britt character was to leave the series, “sooner or later.” Pedowitz said that both he and McPherson wanted it to happen “later, “preferablyin May,” around the time of the season finale. Pedowitzacknowledgedthat Sheridan was not informed of the decision for many months. “The delay in telling her was because we hadn’t determined when we were” going to kill off the Britt character. “By the time they did,” Pedowitz, who is currently the president of the CW, said “I was no longer in that position.” Sheridan was informed on February 10, 2009 that her character was to be written off of the show. Earlier in his testimony, Pedowitz emphasized his anger that he only found out about the alleged Sept. 24, 2008, hand-hitting incident between Cherry and Sheridan a month after it occurred from a story in the National Enquirer.Pedowitz declined, citing attorney-clientprivilege, to reveal what he discussed on the phone with ABC Studios business affairs lawyer Howard Davine about the incident shortly after reading the Enquirer story. However, the former ABC Studiospresidentdid say he ordered a meeting and an HR investigation into the matter the next day. Pedowitz added that he received “an oral report” in early November 2009 from human resources executive Lynne Volk about the investigation ABC HR subsequently conducted on the incident. Volk told Pedowitz that allegations that Sheridan was hit hard on the head were “baseless.” Volk, who is scheduled as a witness in the trial, never informed Pedowitz the former ABC Studios exec says, of an email she received on Sept. 24, 2008 about an incident from Desperate Housewives line producer George Perkins. Pedowitz concluded his testimony this afternoon and Cherry resumed his testimony at 4 PM today and will be on the stand first thing tomorrow morning. UPDATE, 3 PM:Pedowitz said he “was not pleased” to first hear about the alleged on-set incident between Cherry and Sheridan from the National Enquirer. “That would be an understatement,” testified the former ABC Studios president and current president at The CW, who took the stand this afternoon in Sheridan’s $6 million wrongful termination and battery case. Pedowitz, who said his role on Desperate Housewives during his time at ABC was to “oversee the creative, the business and the production for the studio,” is a pivotal witness as his testimony is expected to confirm Cherry’s contention that the decision was made in May 2008 to kill off Sheridan’s character on the hit series. Sheridan claims she was forced off the show because of the September 2008 altercation. Pedowitz, who answered plaintiffs lawyers’ questions in a concise, clipped manner, was seen earlier in the day in the halls shaking hands and laughing with Cherry and his lawyers. His testimony is expected to take the rest of today, with Cherry expected to take the stand afterward. PREVIOUS, 11:49 AM: Nicollette Sheridan‘s longtime entertainment lawyer Neil Meyer testified this morning that the actress”was afraid she’d lose her job” the day after Desperate Housewives creator/executive producer Marc Cherry allegedly struck her in the head onset in September 2008because Cherry “was a vindictive man”. Meyer said today on the stand in Sheridan’s wrongful termination and battery trial that the actress “was extremely upset” by the incident, and that Meyer told ABC business affairs executive Howard Davine soon after that “he needed to know” what had happened between Cherry and Sheridan. Davine told Meyer he would look into it, the lawyer testified. “Nicollette was concerned about this behavior,” he said he told Davine in a phone conversation, “and if this could happen to her, it could happen to other people.”Judge Elizabeth Allen White ruled last year that examples of other alleged abusive behavior by Cherry can’t be brought up in court by Sheridan or her co-counsels. “We weren’t looking to ABC/Disney to do anything,” Meyer also told the court, “because Nicollette was concerned about retaliation. Marc Cherry had apologized, and she was prepared to put her head down and go back to work”. An official ABC human resources investigation into the incident was launched after a story in the National Enquirer was published in early October 2008. The investigation, which never questioned Sheridan or Cherry directly, concluded in early December of that year stating Sheridan “was not mistreated”. During his testimony today, Meyer said he had not been successful in finding Sheridan either an agent or a job in the past two years; Sheridan was informed by Cherry on February 10, 2009, that her character was being eliminated.Earlier in the trial, Sheridan testified that she worked recently on a Hallmark movie and a CBS pilot. Former ABC executive Mark Pedowitz, now president at The CW, is expected to take the stand later today, with Cherry to continue his testimony after Pedowitz. (Photo: Getty Images)

Niche Box Office: The Performers Along With A Separation Money In Oscar Wins

UPDATE, 5:32 PM PST: Oscar clearly demonstrated lucrative for that Weinstein Company and The new sony Pictures Classics. Best Language champion A Separation added 160 locations in the first publish-Oscar weekend outing, grossing over $a million for that Farsi-language feature, calculating over $4 1000. Best Picture champion The Artist, meanwhile averaged $2,171 from 1,756 theaters, up in the previous week’s 966 locations. The large box office story obviously was Universal’s The Lorax. The studio’s niche division Focus Features also folded out a title of their own, Being Flynn, at four theaters having a moderate $11,386 average. Also debuting a few days ago were Paladin’s Boy at two location, grossing $45,000 – arriving using the greatest per screen average from the game titles we’re presently confirming – and Zeitgeist’s The Salt Of The World also in 2 theaters, consuming $21,000. Fox Searchlight’s The Descendants, which won Best Modified Script finally weekend’s Academy awards, dropped 195 theaters from a week ago, grossing over $1.3 million from 694 theaters. The film directed by Alexander Payne has cumed nearly $80.5 million. 1. Being Flynn (Focus Features) NEW [4 Theaters] Weekend $45K, Per Screen Average $11,386 2. Boy (Paladin) NEW [2 Theaters] Weekend $23K, Per Screen Average $11,695 3. Last Days Here (Sundance Chooses) NEW [1 Theater] Weekend $3K 4. The Salt Of Existence (Zeitgeist) NEW [2 Theaters] Weekend $21K, Per Screen Average $10,500 5. The Forgiveness Of Bloodstream (Sundance Chooses) Week 2 [6 Theaters] Weekend $19,200, Per Screen Average $3,200, Cume $50K 6. Bullhead (Drafthouse Films) Week 3 [17 Theaters] Weekend $17K, Per Screen Average $1,045, Cume $118K 7. Undefeated (The Weinstein Company) Week 3 [13 Theaters] Weekend $84K, Per Screen Average $6,485, Cume $166K 8. In Darkness (The new sony Classics) Week 4 [25 Theaters] Weekend $93K Per Screen Average$3,752, Cume$297K 9. Rampart (Millennium Entertainment) Week 4 [52 Theaters] Weekend $117, Per Screen Average $2,253, Cume $537K 10. W.E. (The Weinstein Company) Week 5 [19 Theaters] Weekend $42K, Per Screen Average $2,213, Cume $326K 11. Coriolanus (The Weinstein Company) Week 7 [14 Theaters] Weekend $37K, Per Screen Average $2,685, Cume $410K 12. Crazy Equine (Zipporah) Week 7 [10 Theaters] Weekend $12K, Per Screen Average $1,256, Cume $90K 13. We Have To Discuss Kevin (Oscilloscope) Week 8 [40 Theaters] Weekend $132K, Per Screen Average $3,300, Cume $817K 14. Pina (Sundance Chooses) Week 10 [64 Theaters] Weekend $153,600, Per Screen Average $2,400, Cume $2.8M 15. A Separation (The new sony Classics) Week 10 [243 Theaters] U.S. weekend $1M Per Screen Average $4,122, Cume $3.7M 16. Iron Lady (The Weinstein Company) Week 10 [511 Theaters] Weekend $900K, Per Screen Average $1,761, Cume $27M 17. The Artist (Weinstein) Week 15 [1,756 theaters] Friday $938K, Saturday $1.6M, Weekend $3.8M, Cume $37M 18. A Harmful Method (The new sony Classics) Week 15 [38 Theaters] U.S. weekend $52K Per Screen Average $1,386, Cume $4.1M 19. My Week With Marilyn (The Weinstein Company) Week 15 [120 Theaters] Weekend $133K, Per Screen Average $1,108, Cume $14.3M 20. The Descendants (Fox Searchlight) Week 16 [694 Theaters] Weekend $1.3M, Per Screen Average $1,967, Cume $80M

Exclusive 'John Carter' Clip Seeks Out Solutions

Taylor Kitsch's MTV First appearance didn't just yield several memorable zingers and sports assaults against host Josh Horowitz furthermore, it presented fans getting a totally new clip from "John Carter," in theaters next Friday (March 9). Inside our exclusive have a look at "Carter," the titular Civil War veteran was already knee-deep around on Mars or Barsoom, as it is termed as with the natives. Carter is seeking solutions together with a sometime ago where you can Earth, not necessarily because order. He might get what he's trying to find, too if Princess Dejah Thoris (Lynn Collins) want to trust him, that's. Have a look below and reveal what you consider inside the comments and also on Twitter!