
Opening Weekend
An Insider's Look at Marketing Hollywood's Hits and Flops
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
$0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $24.64
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Jim Fredrick
-
By:
-
Jim Fredrick
About this listen
In a world where movie marketers are the stars of the story, Opening Weekend: An Insider's Look at Marketing Hollywood's Hits and Flops recounts Jim Fredrick's journey through the realm of movie marketing. Fredrick offers readers exclusive access to behind-the-scenes anecdotes and firsthand accounts of working with studio executives and navigating relationships with famous movie stars and directors.
After starting his career in 1983 as a trailer editor and producer at famed advertising boutique Intralink, Jim Fredrick went on to serve as president of marketing at Castle Rock Entertainment; senior vice president of creative advertising at Warner Bros.; and executive vice president of marketing at Sony Screen Gems. In 2011, he founded his own company, Jim Fredrick Motion Picture Marketing.
Across a span of thirty-five years, Fredrick's roles as a trailer maker and studio executive allowed him to craft advertising campaigns for a range of movies, from such iconic cinematic gems as The Shawshank Redemption to the widely beloved Harry Potter franchise, to commercial failures like The Adventures of Pluto Nash and Fired Up! Opening Weekend explores the intricacies of the lesser-known business of film distribution and marketing, unraveling the complex mechanisms through which movies are sold to discriminating audiences. Replete with triumphs, setbacks, and the relentless spirit that drives the creation and promotion of cinematic masterpieces, Opening Weekend promises an enthralling glimpse into the previously untold world of Hollywood movies.
©2024 Jim Fredrick (P)2024 University Press of MississippiListeners also enjoyed...
-
Kubrick
- An Odyssey
- By: Robert P. Kolker, Nathan Abrams
- Narrated by: Perry Daniels
- Length: 24 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The enigmatic and elusive filmmaker Stanley Kubrick has not been treated to a full-length biography in over twenty years. Stanley Kubrick: An Odyssey fills that gap. This definitive book is based on access to the latest research, especially Kubrick's archive at the University of the Arts, London, as well as other private papers plus new interviews with family members and those who worked with him. It offers comprehensive and in-depth coverage of Kubrick's personal, private, public, and working life.
-
-
A stellar biography for Kubrick lovers
- By Daniel on 09-10-24
By: Robert P. Kolker, and others
-
The Future Was Now
- Madmen, Mavericks, and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer of 1982
- By: Chris Nashawaty
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1982, eight science fiction films were released within six weeks of one another. E.T., Tron, Star Trek: Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian, Blade Runner, Poltergeist, The Thing, and Mad Max: The Road Warrior changed the careers of some of Hollywood's now biggest names―altering the art of movie-making to this day.
-
-
Great story about an incredible year in sci fi film making.
- By Jesse Poole Van Swol on 10-04-24
By: Chris Nashawaty
-
Box Office Poison
- Hollywood's Story in a Century of Flops
- By: Tim Robey
- Narrated by: Tim Robey
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From grand follies to misunderstood masterpieces, disastrous sequels to catastrophic literary adaptations, Box Office Poison tells a hugely entertaining alternative history of Hollywood, through a century of its most notable flops. What can these films tell us about the Hollywood system, the public’s appetite–or lack of it–and the circumstances that saw such flops actually made? Away from the canon, this is the definitive take on these ill-fated, but essential celluloid failures.
-
-
The ending
- By Anonymous User on 03-13-25
By: Tim Robey
-
Directing Great Television
- Inside TV’s New Golden Age
- By: Dan Attias
- Narrated by: Dan Attias
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether it’s the high-stakes pressure of solving a last-minute problem on set or the joy of pulling off a perfect shot by the skin of your teeth, Attias brings you right into the director’s chair, sharing his knowledge and taking you through the process one challenging episode at a time.
-
-
Great detail and very helpful
- By Stephen Brevig on 12-01-22
By: Dan Attias
-
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
- Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D.
- By: Nicholas Meyer
- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This "rediscovered" Sherlock Holmes adventure recounts the unique collaboration of Holmes and Sigmund Freud in the solution of a mystery on which the lives of millions may depend.
-
-
Did I Get the Same Book Everyone Else Got?
- By Troy on 08-28-13
By: Nicholas Meyer
-
Kill the Dog
- The First Book on Screenwriting to Tell You the Truth
- By: Paul Guyot
- Narrated by: Paul Guyot
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every aspect of screenwriting is covered with an authority and credibility never seen in any book to come before. Told with honesty, humor, and vulnerability from the real-world perspective of a working, professional screenwriter, Kill the Dog reveals the secrets of what it takes to have a successful career as a Hollywood screenwriter.
-
-
Not a lot learned. Here's a summary.
- By Samuel D R on 01-28-24
By: Paul Guyot
-
Kubrick
- An Odyssey
- By: Robert P. Kolker, Nathan Abrams
- Narrated by: Perry Daniels
- Length: 24 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The enigmatic and elusive filmmaker Stanley Kubrick has not been treated to a full-length biography in over twenty years. Stanley Kubrick: An Odyssey fills that gap. This definitive book is based on access to the latest research, especially Kubrick's archive at the University of the Arts, London, as well as other private papers plus new interviews with family members and those who worked with him. It offers comprehensive and in-depth coverage of Kubrick's personal, private, public, and working life.
-
-
A stellar biography for Kubrick lovers
- By Daniel on 09-10-24
By: Robert P. Kolker, and others
-
The Future Was Now
- Madmen, Mavericks, and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer of 1982
- By: Chris Nashawaty
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1982, eight science fiction films were released within six weeks of one another. E.T., Tron, Star Trek: Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian, Blade Runner, Poltergeist, The Thing, and Mad Max: The Road Warrior changed the careers of some of Hollywood's now biggest names―altering the art of movie-making to this day.
-
-
Great story about an incredible year in sci fi film making.
- By Jesse Poole Van Swol on 10-04-24
By: Chris Nashawaty
-
Box Office Poison
- Hollywood's Story in a Century of Flops
- By: Tim Robey
- Narrated by: Tim Robey
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From grand follies to misunderstood masterpieces, disastrous sequels to catastrophic literary adaptations, Box Office Poison tells a hugely entertaining alternative history of Hollywood, through a century of its most notable flops. What can these films tell us about the Hollywood system, the public’s appetite–or lack of it–and the circumstances that saw such flops actually made? Away from the canon, this is the definitive take on these ill-fated, but essential celluloid failures.
-
-
The ending
- By Anonymous User on 03-13-25
By: Tim Robey
-
Directing Great Television
- Inside TV’s New Golden Age
- By: Dan Attias
- Narrated by: Dan Attias
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Whether it’s the high-stakes pressure of solving a last-minute problem on set or the joy of pulling off a perfect shot by the skin of your teeth, Attias brings you right into the director’s chair, sharing his knowledge and taking you through the process one challenging episode at a time.
-
-
Great detail and very helpful
- By Stephen Brevig on 12-01-22
By: Dan Attias
-
The Seven-Per-Cent Solution
- Being a Reprint from the Reminiscences of John H. Watson, M.D.
- By: Nicholas Meyer
- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This "rediscovered" Sherlock Holmes adventure recounts the unique collaboration of Holmes and Sigmund Freud in the solution of a mystery on which the lives of millions may depend.
-
-
Did I Get the Same Book Everyone Else Got?
- By Troy on 08-28-13
By: Nicholas Meyer
-
Kill the Dog
- The First Book on Screenwriting to Tell You the Truth
- By: Paul Guyot
- Narrated by: Paul Guyot
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every aspect of screenwriting is covered with an authority and credibility never seen in any book to come before. Told with honesty, humor, and vulnerability from the real-world perspective of a working, professional screenwriter, Kill the Dog reveals the secrets of what it takes to have a successful career as a Hollywood screenwriter.
-
-
Not a lot learned. Here's a summary.
- By Samuel D R on 01-28-24
By: Paul Guyot
-
Glory Days
- Stories
- By: Simon Rich
- Narrated by: John Mulaney
- Length: 4 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From the Thurber Prize-winning author of New Teeth, hailed as “a triumph of sustained humor” (Sarah Lyall, New York Times Book Review), comes a hilarious and powerful collection of short stories chronicling the plight of aging millennials.
-
-
Genuinely funny!
- By Susan B. on 10-05-24
By: Simon Rich
-
A Disturbance in the Force
- How and Why the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened
- By: Steve Kozak
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even by the standards of the 1970s, even compared to Jar-Jar Binks, the legendary 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special is a peerlessly cringeworthy pop-culture artifact.
-
-
Padded with Information Unrelated to the Special
- By Alan on 12-28-23
By: Steve Kozak
-
Connie
- A Memoir
- By: Connie Chung
- Narrated by: Connie Chung
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Connie Chung is a pioneer. In 1969 at the age of 23, this once-shy daughter of Chinese parents took her first job at a local TV station in her hometown of Washington, D.C. and soon thereafter began working at CBS news as a correspondent. Profoundly influenced by her family’s cultural traditions, yet growing up completely Americanized in the United States, Chung describes her career as an Asian woman in a white male-centered world.
-
-
Superb.
- By Sondra W. Walters on 02-02-25
By: Connie Chung
-
Caddyshack
- The Making of a Hollywood Cinderella Story
- By: Chris Nashawaty
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 7 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Caddyshack is one of the most beloved comedies of all time, a classic snobs vs. slobs story of working-class kids and the white-collar buffoons that make them haul their golf bags in the hot summer sun. It has sex, drugs, and one very memorable candy bar, but the movie we all know and love didn't start out that way, and everyone who made it certainly didn't have the word classic in mind as the cameras were rolling.
-
-
Not Really About Caddyshack Until Hour 5
- By William M. on 07-01-18
By: Chris Nashawaty
-
Adventures in the Screen Trade
- By: William Goldman
- Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one knows the writer's Hollywood more intimately than William Goldman. Two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter and the best-selling author of Marathon Man, Tinsel, Boys and Girls Together, and other novels, Goldman now takes you into Hollywood's inner sanctums...on and behind the scenes for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, and other films...into the plush offices of Hollywood producers...into the working lives of acting greats such as Redford, Olivier, Newman, and Hoffman...and more.
-
-
Stone cold Hollywood classic with one of the better Narrations you’ll ever hear
- By Anonymous User on 10-14-22
By: William Goldman
-
Surely You Can't Be Serious
- The True Story of Airplane!
- By: David Zucker, Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker
- Narrated by: "Weird Al" Yankovic, Arne Schmidt, Barry Diller, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Surely You Can’t Be Serious is the first-ever oral history of the making of Airplane! by the creators, and of the beginnings of the ZAZ trio (Zucker, Abrahams, Zucker) – charting the rise of their comedy troupe Kentucky Fried Theater in Madison, Wisconsin all the way to premiere night. The directors explain what drew them to filmmaking and in particular, comedy.
-
-
Absolutely fantastic
- By A. Soergel on 10-11-23
By: David Zucker, and others
Related to this topic
-
Not a Very Good Murderer
- By: Ronan Farrow
- Narrated by: Ronan Farrow
- Length: 4 hrs and 17 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this wild, genre-bending audio documentary, New York Times best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Ronan Farrow dives deep into the strange and storied life of high-society socialite and former Miss Arizona Celia (Cece) Doane.
-
-
Definitely a Very Good Listen
- By Amazon Customer on 03-24-25
By: Ronan Farrow
-
Into the Madness
- A Killer’s Game, a Woman’s Obsession, a Dark Conspiracy
- By: Trevor Aaronson
- Narrated by: Trevor Aaronson
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On July 4, 2022, a shooter climbed onto a rooftop in Highland Park, Illinois, and opened fire on a Fourth of July parade below, killing seven people and wounding dozens more. Prosecutors charged Robert “Bobby” Crimo III with the mass shooting. But this attack was part of something even more insidious. Bobby had created an elaborate game—complete with cryptic videos, a book of numbers, and an eerie online presence—designed to seed a conspiracy theory about the massacre.
-
-
Interesting story and perspectives.
- By B. Felix on 02-25-25
By: Trevor Aaronson
-
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
- A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
- By: Lori Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
-
-
It was like a hallmark movie being waterboarded into my ears for 15 hours
- By Amazon Customer on 10-01-19
By: Lori Gottlieb
-
You Will Not Recognize Your Life
- By: Micaela Blei
- Narrated by: Micaela Blei
- Length: 2 hrs and 48 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 2006. After a string of rejections from men who tell her they could never, ever, ever see her “that way,” awkward third-grade teacher Micaela Blei signs up for a mysterious course called “The Divine Feminine,” and feels like she might have found the key to the perfect life. Turns out if you’re an A student, you can get an A in anything–including men. Pretty soon she’s learning to "conjure" her desires with vision boards, flirtations, and even a daring jumbotron viewing party for her, ahem ... "divine center."
-
-
Humor, Humanity, and the Heart of Self-Love
- By David on 12-12-24
By: Micaela Blei
-
Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- By: Trevor Noah
- Narrated by: Trevor Noah
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.
-
-
Great book and perfect narration
- By MarilynArms on 12-15-16
By: Trevor Noah
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
Not a Very Good Murderer
- By: Ronan Farrow
- Narrated by: Ronan Farrow
- Length: 4 hrs and 17 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this wild, genre-bending audio documentary, New York Times best-selling author and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporter Ronan Farrow dives deep into the strange and storied life of high-society socialite and former Miss Arizona Celia (Cece) Doane.
-
-
Definitely a Very Good Listen
- By Amazon Customer on 03-24-25
By: Ronan Farrow
-
Into the Madness
- A Killer’s Game, a Woman’s Obsession, a Dark Conspiracy
- By: Trevor Aaronson
- Narrated by: Trevor Aaronson
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
On July 4, 2022, a shooter climbed onto a rooftop in Highland Park, Illinois, and opened fire on a Fourth of July parade below, killing seven people and wounding dozens more. Prosecutors charged Robert “Bobby” Crimo III with the mass shooting. But this attack was part of something even more insidious. Bobby had created an elaborate game—complete with cryptic videos, a book of numbers, and an eerie online presence—designed to seed a conspiracy theory about the massacre.
-
-
Interesting story and perspectives.
- By B. Felix on 02-25-25
By: Trevor Aaronson
-
Maybe You Should Talk to Someone
- A Therapist, HER Therapist, and Our Lives Revealed
- By: Lori Gottlieb
- Narrated by: Brittany Pressley
- Length: 14 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.
-
-
It was like a hallmark movie being waterboarded into my ears for 15 hours
- By Amazon Customer on 10-01-19
By: Lori Gottlieb
-
You Will Not Recognize Your Life
- By: Micaela Blei
- Narrated by: Micaela Blei
- Length: 2 hrs and 48 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s 2006. After a string of rejections from men who tell her they could never, ever, ever see her “that way,” awkward third-grade teacher Micaela Blei signs up for a mysterious course called “The Divine Feminine,” and feels like she might have found the key to the perfect life. Turns out if you’re an A student, you can get an A in anything–including men. Pretty soon she’s learning to "conjure" her desires with vision boards, flirtations, and even a daring jumbotron viewing party for her, ahem ... "divine center."
-
-
Humor, Humanity, and the Heart of Self-Love
- By David on 12-12-24
By: Micaela Blei
-
Born a Crime
- Stories from a South African Childhood
- By: Trevor Noah
- Narrated by: Trevor Noah
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this award-winning Audible Studios production, Trevor Noah tells his wild coming-of-age tale during the twilight of apartheid in South Africa. It’s a story that begins with his mother throwing him from a moving van to save him from a potentially fatal dispute with gangsters, then follows the budding comedian’s path to self-discovery through episodes both poignant and comical.
-
-
Great book and perfect narration
- By MarilynArms on 12-15-16
By: Trevor Noah
-
Going Infinite
- The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon
- By: Michael Lewis
- Narrated by: Michael Lewis
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When Michael Lewis first met him, Sam Bankman-Fried was the world’s youngest billionaire and crypto’s Gatsby. CEOs, celebrities, and leaders of small countries all vied for his time and cash after he catapulted, practically overnight, onto the Forbes billionaire list. Who was this rumpled guy in cargo shorts and limp white socks, whose eyes twitched across Zoom meetings as he played video games on the side?
-
-
really expected more rigor from Michael Lewis
- By Wowhello on 10-04-23
By: Michael Lewis
-
I Can't Make This Up
- Life Lessons
- By: Neil Strauss - contributor, Kevin Hart
- Narrated by: Kevin Hart
- Length: 11 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Superstar comedian and Hollywood box-office star Kevin Hart turns his immense talent to the written word by writing some words. Some of those words include: the, a, for, above, and even even. Put them together and you have the funniest, most heartfelt, and most inspirational memoir on survival, success, and the importance of believing in yourself since Old Yeller.
-
-
Best Audiobook I Ever Listened To
- By Sam Clear on 07-13-17
By: Neil Strauss - contributor, and others
-
The Madman's Hotel
- By: Niall Breslin
- Narrated by: Niall Breslin
- Length: 4 hrs and 4 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the heart of the rolling green hills of Ireland a huge abandoned psychiatric asylum looms large and holds its secrets close, until one family fights to find the truth about their long lost great grandmother. Presented by Irish celebrity and mental health advocate Niall Breslin - this is the untold story of the quest to find patient Julia Leonard, alongside many others, who came to die in St Loman’s Hospital near Dublin. Why was Julia in St Loman’s? And what happened to her and other patients who found themselves within its walls?
-
-
Heart felt Remembrance
- By RosaInGlousta on 11-05-24
By: Niall Breslin
-
The Unusual Suspects with Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell
- By: Kenya Barris, Malcolm Gladwell
- Narrated by: Kenya Barris, Malcolm Gladwell
- Length: 6 hrs and 41 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Join Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell as they bypass pleasantries and promotional banter to deliver raw, unfiltered conversations with some of today’s most influential figures. Featuring titans across a spectrum of professions (from Olympic gold medalists to trailblazing Fortune 500 CEOs and everything in between), The Unusual Suspects with Kenya Barris and Malcolm Gladwell pulls back the curtain to offer listeners unprecedented access to the minds of the world’s most extraordinary individuals and their distinct paths to success.
-
-
UNusually Great!
- By Angela C. on 01-30-25
By: Kenya Barris, and others
-
My Mom's Murder
- By: AYR Media
- Narrated by: Lauren Malloy
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When a mysterious stranger unveils a long-hidden truth, Lauren Malloy’s life is thrown into chaos. For years, Lauren believed her mother, Lori, died of natural causes, but the shocking reality is that her loving mother was brutally murdered when Lauren was just an infant. Now, 30 years later, Lauren is on a relentless quest for justice. Over the past four years, she’s embarked on an emotional journey filled with unexpected twists, recording hundreds of hours of interviews with law enforcement, family, friends, and even potential suspects.
-
-
The raw interviews.
- By knapper on 11-12-24
By: AYR Media
-
Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World
- By: Jack Weatherford
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis, Jack Weatherford
- Length: 14 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Mongol army led by Genghis Khan subjugated more lands and people in 25 years than the Romans did in 400. In nearly every country the Mongols conquered, they brought an unprecedented rise in cultural communication, expanded trade, and a blossoming of civilization.
-
-
Golden Horde/Platinum Listen
- By Cynthia on 12-11-13
By: Jack Weatherford
-
The Demon Next Door
- By: Bryan Burrough
- Narrated by: Steve White
- Length: 2 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Best-selling author Bryan Burrough recently made a shocking discovery: The small town of Temple, Texas, where he had grown up, had harbored a dark secret. One of his high school classmates, Danny Corwin, was a vicious serial killer. In this chilling tale, Burrough raises important questions of whether serial killers can be recognized before they kill or rehabilitated after they do. It is also a story of Texas politics and power that led the good citizens of the town of Temple to enable a demon who was their worst nightmare.
-
-
Odd narration choice
- By Amanda Fredericks on 03-08-19
By: Bryan Burrough
-
Evil Has a Name
- The Untold Story of the Golden State Killer Investigation
- By: Paul Holes, Jim Clemente, Peter McDonnell
- Narrated by: Paul Holes, Jim Clemente
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For his victims, for their families and for the investigators tasked with finding him, the senselessness and brutality of the Golden State Killer's acts were matched only by the powerlessness they felt at failing to uncover his identity. Then, on April 24, 2018, authorities arrested 72-year-old Joseph James DeAngelo at his home in Citrus Heights, Calif., based on DNA evidence linked to the crimes. Amazingly, it seemed, evil finally had a name. Please note: This work contains descriptions of violent crime and sexual assault and may not be suitable for all listeners.
-
-
Audible Raises The Bar On True Crime Genre
- By R. Squyres on 11-16-18
By: Paul Holes, and others
-
Elvis and Me
- By: Priscilla Beaulieu Presley
- Narrated by: Priscilla Beaulieu Presley
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The inspiration for the major motion picture Priscilla directed by Sofia Coppola, this New York Times best seller reveals the intimate story of Elvis Presley and Priscilla Presley, told by the woman who lived it.
-
-
What a story!
- By Pen Name on 08-28-22
-
The Autobiography of Malcolm X
- As Told to Alex Haley
- By: Malcolm X, Alex Haley
- Narrated by: Laurence Fishburne
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Experience a bold take on this classic autobiography as it’s performed by Oscar-nominated Laurence Fishburne. In this searing classic autobiography, originally published in 1965, Malcolm X, the Muslim leader, firebrand, and Black empowerment activist, tells the extraordinary story of his life and the growth of the Human Rights movement. His fascinating perspective on the lies and limitations of the American dream and the inherent racism in a society that denies its non-White citizens the opportunity to dream, gives extraordinary insight into the most urgent issues of our own time.
-
-
it's Nearly perfect
- By Kerry on 09-16-20
By: Malcolm X, and others
-
The Wonder of Stevie
- By: Wesley Morris
- Narrated by: Wesley Morris, Michelle Obama, Barack Obama, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 10 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The year 1972 saw the beginning of a five-year span in which Stevie Wonder released five groundbreaking, critically acclaimed albums, garnering him more than half a dozen Grammys and more than 10 million albums sold, securing his place as one of the most important American musicians and songwriters in history. For the first time, uncover the untold story of an extraordinary artistic journey that shaped the greatest creative era in popular music history.
-
-
Good but not great
- By Anonymous User on 09-14-24
By: Wesley Morris
-
The Phantom Prince
- My Life with Ted Bundy
- By: Elizabeth Kendall, Molly Kendall - contributor
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Kendall, Barrie Kreinik, Molly Kendall
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Phantom Prince chronicles Elizabeth Kendall’s intimate relationship with Ted Bundy and its eventual unraveling. As much as has been written about Bundy, it’s remarkable to hear the perspective of people who shared their daily lives with him for years. This gripping account presents a remarkable examination of a charismatic personality that masked unimaginable darkness.
-
-
Same Planet, Different Worlds
- By Christine E. Lee on 01-29-20
By: Elizabeth Kendall, and others
-
The Story of Grunge
- By: Michael Stewart Foley, The Great Courses
- Narrated by: Michael Stewart Foley
- Length: 3 hrs
- Original Recording
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
You can’t truly understand the last decade of the 20th century without a look at the muddy, electrifying rock music that would come to define it: grunge. For such a short-lived genre—at least in the mainstream—grunge had a lasting impact on American music and culture. It also provides a unique lens through which to examine the post-Reagan, pre-internet America of the 1990s. In the six lectures of The Story of Grunge, you’ll explore the rise and evolution of the genre, tracing it from Seattle subculture to MTV and the Billboard charts, all the way to its decline and evolution into new forms.
-
-
A Scholarly Study of Grunge
- By Mark on 03-07-25
By: Michael Stewart Foley, and others
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Box Office Poison
- Hollywood's Story in a Century of Flops
- By: Tim Robey
- Narrated by: Tim Robey
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From grand follies to misunderstood masterpieces, disastrous sequels to catastrophic literary adaptations, Box Office Poison tells a hugely entertaining alternative history of Hollywood, through a century of its most notable flops. What can these films tell us about the Hollywood system, the public’s appetite–or lack of it–and the circumstances that saw such flops actually made? Away from the canon, this is the definitive take on these ill-fated, but essential celluloid failures.
-
-
The ending
- By Anonymous User on 03-13-25
By: Tim Robey
-
Whenever You're Ready
- By: Rachel Runya Katz
- Narrated by: Dawn Rocker
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nia and Jade had been inseparable ever since their best friend, Michal, introduced them at her tenth birthday party. But now it's been three years since Michal died of cancer—since the brutal fight Nia and Jade had—and they're barely on speaking terms. Until Nia reads a letter Michal wrote for her twenty-ninth birthday, asking her and Jade to go on the southern Jewish history road trip they'd planned before she died.
-
Animal Instinct
- By: Amy Shearn
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s spring of 2020 and Rachel Bloomstein—mother of three, recent divorcée, and Brooklynite—is stuck inside. But her newly awakened sexual desire and lust for a new life refuse to be contained. Leaning on her best friend Lulu to show her the ropes, Rachel dips a toe in the online dating world, leading to park dates with younger men, flirtations with beautiful women, and actual, in-person sex. None of them, individually, are perfect . . . hence her rotation. But what if one person could perfectly cater to all her emotional needs?
By: Amy Shearn
-
Stay Toxic
- Semyonov Bratva, Book 1
- By: Lani Lynn Vale
- Narrated by: Tieran Wilder, J.T. Londale
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There was right, there was wrong, and then there was the in-between. The place where normal people reside, understanding that there are two sides to every coin. People that do bad things for good reasons. People that do bad things for bad reasons. First, I knew that Shasha Semyonov was a bad man. One that did bad things for bad reasons. That didn’t mean that I was rational when it came to him.
-
-
Awesome start to a new series!
- By Cody Gates on 01-09-25
By: Lani Lynn Vale
-
Dream Jungle
- By: Jessica Hagedorn
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Ramón de Ocampo, Rona Figueroa, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a Philippines of desperate beauty and rank corruption, two seemingly unrelated events occur: the discovery of an ancient lost tribe living in a remote mountainous area and the arrival of a celebrity-studded, American film crew, there to make an epic Vietnam War movie. But the lost tribe may be a clever hoax and the Hollywood movie seems doomed as the cast and crew continue to self-destruct in a cloud of drugs and ego.
By: Jessica Hagedorn
-
Stuntwomen
- The Untold Hollywood Story
- By: Mollie Gregory
- Narrated by: Tanis Parenteau
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They've traded punches in knockdown brawls, crashed biplanes through barns, and raced to the rescue in fast cars. They add suspense and drama to the story, portraying the swimmer stalked by the menacing shark, the heroine dangling 20 feet below a soaring hot air balloon, or the woman leaping nine feet over a wall to escape a dog attack. Only an expert can make such feats of daring look easy, and stuntwomen with the skills to perform - and survive - great moments of action in movies have been hitting their mark in Hollywood since the beginning of film.
-
-
Brilliant
- By Xander Turian on 02-13-23
By: Mollie Gregory
-
Box Office Poison
- Hollywood's Story in a Century of Flops
- By: Tim Robey
- Narrated by: Tim Robey
- Length: 8 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
From grand follies to misunderstood masterpieces, disastrous sequels to catastrophic literary adaptations, Box Office Poison tells a hugely entertaining alternative history of Hollywood, through a century of its most notable flops. What can these films tell us about the Hollywood system, the public’s appetite–or lack of it–and the circumstances that saw such flops actually made? Away from the canon, this is the definitive take on these ill-fated, but essential celluloid failures.
-
-
The ending
- By Anonymous User on 03-13-25
By: Tim Robey
-
Whenever You're Ready
- By: Rachel Runya Katz
- Narrated by: Dawn Rocker
- Length: 8 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Nia and Jade had been inseparable ever since their best friend, Michal, introduced them at her tenth birthday party. But now it's been three years since Michal died of cancer—since the brutal fight Nia and Jade had—and they're barely on speaking terms. Until Nia reads a letter Michal wrote for her twenty-ninth birthday, asking her and Jade to go on the southern Jewish history road trip they'd planned before she died.
-
Animal Instinct
- By: Amy Shearn
- Narrated by: Allyson Ryan
- Length: 9 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It’s spring of 2020 and Rachel Bloomstein—mother of three, recent divorcée, and Brooklynite—is stuck inside. But her newly awakened sexual desire and lust for a new life refuse to be contained. Leaning on her best friend Lulu to show her the ropes, Rachel dips a toe in the online dating world, leading to park dates with younger men, flirtations with beautiful women, and actual, in-person sex. None of them, individually, are perfect . . . hence her rotation. But what if one person could perfectly cater to all her emotional needs?
By: Amy Shearn
-
Stay Toxic
- Semyonov Bratva, Book 1
- By: Lani Lynn Vale
- Narrated by: Tieran Wilder, J.T. Londale
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
There was right, there was wrong, and then there was the in-between. The place where normal people reside, understanding that there are two sides to every coin. People that do bad things for good reasons. People that do bad things for bad reasons. First, I knew that Shasha Semyonov was a bad man. One that did bad things for bad reasons. That didn’t mean that I was rational when it came to him.
-
-
Awesome start to a new series!
- By Cody Gates on 01-09-25
By: Lani Lynn Vale
-
Dream Jungle
- By: Jessica Hagedorn
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Ramón de Ocampo, Rona Figueroa, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In a Philippines of desperate beauty and rank corruption, two seemingly unrelated events occur: the discovery of an ancient lost tribe living in a remote mountainous area and the arrival of a celebrity-studded, American film crew, there to make an epic Vietnam War movie. But the lost tribe may be a clever hoax and the Hollywood movie seems doomed as the cast and crew continue to self-destruct in a cloud of drugs and ego.
By: Jessica Hagedorn
-
Stuntwomen
- The Untold Hollywood Story
- By: Mollie Gregory
- Narrated by: Tanis Parenteau
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
They've traded punches in knockdown brawls, crashed biplanes through barns, and raced to the rescue in fast cars. They add suspense and drama to the story, portraying the swimmer stalked by the menacing shark, the heroine dangling 20 feet below a soaring hot air balloon, or the woman leaping nine feet over a wall to escape a dog attack. Only an expert can make such feats of daring look easy, and stuntwomen with the skills to perform - and survive - great moments of action in movies have been hitting their mark in Hollywood since the beginning of film.
-
-
Brilliant
- By Xander Turian on 02-13-23
By: Mollie Gregory
-
The Future Was Now
- Madmen, Mavericks, and the Epic Sci-Fi Summer of 1982
- By: Chris Nashawaty
- Narrated by: Jonathan Todd Ross
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the summer of 1982, eight science fiction films were released within six weeks of one another. E.T., Tron, Star Trek: Wrath of Khan, Conan the Barbarian, Blade Runner, Poltergeist, The Thing, and Mad Max: The Road Warrior changed the careers of some of Hollywood's now biggest names―altering the art of movie-making to this day.
-
-
Great story about an incredible year in sci fi film making.
- By Jesse Poole Van Swol on 10-04-24
By: Chris Nashawaty
-
Under Lock & Skeleton Key
- A Secret Staircase Mystery
- By: Gigi Pandian
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
After a disastrous accident derails Tempest Raj’s career, and life, she heads back to her childhood home in California to comfort herself with her grandfather’s Indian home-cooked meals. Though she resists, every day brings her closer to the inevitable: working for her father’s company. Secret Staircase Construction specializes in bringing the magic of childhood to all by transforming clients’ homes with sliding bookcases, intricate locks, backyard treehouses, and hidden reading nooks.
-
-
Don’t listen at regular speed!
- By Chibiusa on 05-08-22
By: Gigi Pandian
-
Pandora's Box
- How Guts, Guile, and Greed Upended TV
- By: Peter Biskind
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Instead of focusing on one service, like HBO, Pandora’s Box asks, “What did HBO do, besides give us The Sopranos?” The answer: It gave us a revolution. Biskind bites off a big chunk of entertainment history, following HBO from its birth into maturity, moving on to the basic cablers like FX and AMC, and ending up with the streamers and their wars, pitting Netflix against Amazon Prime Video, Max, and the killer pluses—Disney, Apple TV, and Paramount.
-
-
The rise and fall of peak TV
- By AlexBenBlock on 02-16-24
By: Peter Biskind
-
Murder by Memory
- By: Olivia Waite
- Narrated by: Blair Baker
- Length: 2 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Near the topmost deck of an interstellar generation ship, Dorothy Gentleman wakes up in a body that isn’t hers—just as someone else is found murdered. As one of the ship’s detectives, Dorothy usually delights in unraveling the schemes on board the Fairweather, but when she finds that someone is not only killing bodies but purposefully deleting minds from the Library, she realizes something even more sinister is afoot.
-
-
Fun cozy mystery set in space
- By Marie S. on 03-29-25
By: Olivia Waite
-
Adventures in the Screen Trade
- By: William Goldman
- Narrated by: Kiff VandenHeuvel
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
No one knows the writer's Hollywood more intimately than William Goldman. Two-time Academy Award-winning screenwriter and the best-selling author of Marathon Man, Tinsel, Boys and Girls Together, and other novels, Goldman now takes you into Hollywood's inner sanctums...on and behind the scenes for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, All the President's Men, and other films...into the plush offices of Hollywood producers...into the working lives of acting greats such as Redford, Olivier, Newman, and Hoffman...and more.
-
-
Stone cold Hollywood classic with one of the better Narrations you’ll ever hear
- By Anonymous User on 10-14-22
By: William Goldman
-
Hits, Flops, and Other Illusions
- My Fortysomething Years in Hollywood
- By: Ed Zwick
- Narrated by: Ed Zwick
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Though there are many factors behind such success, including luck and the contributions of his creative partner Marshall Herskovitz, he’s known to have a special talent for bringing out the best in the people he’s worked with, notably the actors. In those intense collaborations, he seeks to discover the small pieces of connective tissue, vulnerability, and fellowship that can help an actor realize their character in full.
-
-
Authentic, Sobering & Full of Grace
- By David_Leah Wiley on 02-17-24
By: Ed Zwick
-
The Film Director's Intuition
- Script Analysis and Rehearsal Techniques
- By: Judith Weston
- Narrated by: Judith Weston
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This book is an invaluable and inspirational material for the film, television and theater professional. It helps directors, actors, writers, designers, producers and executives tap into their imagination and instincts, in turn helping them create the films they’ve always dreamed of creating.
-
-
Good Enough
- By Leo McKenzie on 11-11-24
By: Judith Weston
-
A Disturbance in the Force
- How and Why the Star Wars Holiday Special Happened
- By: Steve Kozak
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Even by the standards of the 1970s, even compared to Jar-Jar Binks, the legendary 1978 Star Wars Holiday Special is a peerlessly cringeworthy pop-culture artifact.
-
-
Padded with Information Unrelated to the Special
- By Alan on 12-28-23
By: Steve Kozak
-
The Friedkin Connection
- A Memoir
- By: William Friedkin
- Narrated by: William Friedkin
- Length: 19 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Friedkin Connection takes listeners from the streets of Chicago to the suites of Hollywood and from the sixties to today. William Friedkin offers a candid look at a thrilling era of Hollywood cinema, when traditional storytelling gave way to the rebellious and alternative; when filmmakers like him captured the paranoia and fear of a nation undergoing a cultural nervous breakdown.
-
-
Friedkin shows humility
- By Jeremy Landes on 02-02-25
By: William Friedkin
-
The Path to Paradise
- A Francis Ford Coppola Story
- By: Sam Wasson
- Narrated by: Timothy Andrés Pabon
- Length: 14 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Francis Ford Coppola is one of the great American dreamers, and his most magnificent dream is American Zoetrope, the production company he founded in San Francisco years before his gargantuan success, when he was only thirty. Through Zoetrope’s experimental, communal utopia, Coppola attempted to reimagine the entire pursuit of moviemaking. Now, more than fifty years later, despite myriad setbacks, the visionary filmmaker’s dream persists, most notably in the production of his decades-in-the-making film and the culmination of his utopian ideals, Megalopolis.
-
-
Narrator was awful
- By Cyrus Nowrasteh on 12-17-23
By: Sam Wasson
-
Cue the Sun!
- The Invention of Reality TV
- By: Emily Nussbaum
- Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
- Length: 15 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Who invented reality television, the world’s most dangerous pop-culture genre? And why can’t we look away? In this revelatory, deeply reported account of the rise of “dirty documentary”—from its contentious roots in radio to the ascent of Donald Trump—Emily Nussbaum unearths the origin story of the genre that ate the world, as told through the lively voices of the people who built it. At once gimlet-eyed and empathetic, Cue the Sun! explores the morally charged, funny, and sometimes tragic consequences of the hunt for something real inside something fake.
-
-
Weak, semi-unconnected stories
- By KDN on 07-20-24
By: Emily Nussbaum
-
The Director Should've Shot You
- Memoirs of the Film Trade
- By: Alan Dean Foster
- Narrated by: Stephen R. Thorne
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In The Director Should've Shot You, Foster shares all the colorful stories behind his adaptations of films, TV shows, and video games. He had the honor of working on big-name properties like Star Trek, Terminator, and The Thing. He served as ghost writer for the novelization of the original Star Wars and got to write the sequel—sort of. And in between his work for Hollywood, he managed to become a hugely successful science fiction and fantasy author with series like the Adventures of Pip & Flinx and the Icerigger Trilogy.
-
-
Boring
- By Kezan on 01-26-25
By: Alan Dean Foster
What listeners say about Opening Weekend
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Debbie Miller
- 10-30-24
Amazing Chronicle From An Insiders Experience In Hollywood
Bravo!! I love everything about this book. Jim (the author) is so knowledgeable and honest, and relates all his experiences during his very storied career with intelligence, candor, humor and humility. This is a rare opportunity for readers to get a true behind the scenes look at movie marketing at the highest level. And having the author narrate really makes it feel like you’re just sitting with him, face-to-face, while he shares all his wild stories. I can’t recommend highly enough!
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- J Bomb
- 12-01-24
Excellent, detailed and SO engaging.
This was one of my favorite audio books of the year! It contained an exemplary combination of detail, humor and charm, this is one of the better freshman attempts I’ve read. The author REALLY gives you a feel for the industry through the decades that he worked at different levels and for different companies. He’s really gracious, but also quite candid about his interactions with people from the regular co-workers, to titans in the industry, to the uber famous actors (and there are plenty!). It includes TONS of funny little stories and asides about huge projects, giving a great deal of color to round out the picture of the movie industry that he paints so beautifully. I love it when authors read their own books, particularly when they are autobiographical and Jim’s narration is top notch for a first time narrator.
If you have any question about whether or not to give this title a try, just take a look at the dust jacket recommendations and you’ll see what an amazing story and storyteller you are in for.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!