| | | | What's news: It's magazine day! This week's cover star is Andrea Riseborough, who gives her first major interview since that surprise Oscar nom. Alec Baldwin's Rust will resume production. The BBC is producing a Kanye West doc and podcast series. Searchlight acquires Magazine Dreams. European box office sales jumped to over $7b in 2022. — Abid Rahman |
Andrea Riseborough's Wild Ride to the Oscars ►On the cover. In an exclusive interview, THR's Seth Abramovitch spoke to Andrea Riseborough, the 95th Academy Awards' most talked-about nominee. The Brit actress discusses making the ultra-low-budget indie To Leslie, her shape-shifting career and the debates surrounding her nomination, her first, no less, after 20 prolific years of dues-paying: "It not only makes sense that this conversation would be sparked, but it is necessary." The cover story.
—Back in production. THR's Winston Cho has the big scoop on production resuming on Rust this spring with a mix of new and old crewmembers, including embattled star and producer Alec Baldwin. Bianca Cline will join the film as its new cinematographer. A documentary on the life and work of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer fatally shot on the film set, will also start shooting "with the full support of the production" and Hutchins' widower. The story.
—"You saved Hollywood’s ass." Steven Spielberg was overheard giving a massive compliment to Tom Cruise at the Oscar Nominees Luncheon on Monday. The iconic filmmaker told Cruise in his ear in what was seemingly intended as a private exchange that last year’s blockbuster sequel Top Gun: Maverick might have single-handedly saved theatrical moviegoing. The story.
—"It is clear that our behind-the-scenes outreach has had zero impact." Judd Apatow, Gabrielle Union, Tommy Dorfman and Wilson Cruz are among the members and allies of Hollywood’s LGBTQ community calling on The New York Times to stop reporting “bias, fringe theories and dangerous inaccuracies” in its coverage of transgender people. The letter includes more than 100 individual and organizational signatories declaring a need for significant changes to how the Times reports on the trans community. The story.
—Ill-fated love. To mark Valentine's Day, director Todd Phillips shared a first-look of Lady Gaga in his upcoming film Joker: Folie à deux. Gaga is believed to be playing DC mainstay Harley Quinn in the sequel to Joker, the 2019 film that grossed $1b and earned star Joaquin Phoenix a best actor Oscar. The story. |
Disney's New Balance of Power Raises Succession, Spinoff Questions ►"The marriage of Walden and Bergman seems logical and even formidable." THR's Caitlin Huston, Lacey Rose and Pamela McClintock team up to breakdown Bob Iger’s reorganization of Disney, writing that the changes could elevate Dana Walden or Alan Bergman as potential successors (or even co-CEOs). They add that the possible sale talk on ESPN financially doesn’t make sense. The analysis.
—Reckoning. The BBC is set to produce a documentary and eight-part podcast about Kanye 'Ye' West amid the ongoing controversy around the rapper and mogul's repeated antisemitic comments. With the working title We Need to Talk About Kanye, the BBC Two film will be produced by investigative journalist Mobeen Azhar, who explored Britney Spears’ conservatorship in another documentary, The Battle for Britney. An eight-part podcast series The Kanye Story, will also be released along with the doc. The story.
—🤝 Broadcast deal 🤝 Curtis '50 Cent' Jackson has found a new TV partner for his G-Unit Film & Television company. The rapper and producer has signed a non-exclusive, broadcast direct deal with Fox. As part of the deal, Jackson and G-Unit will develop scripted series, both live-action and animated, for the network. The broadcaster will own any series greenlit under the deal, and its in-house Fox Entertainment Studios will produce, along with G-Unit Film & Television. The story.
—It's official. Pharrell Williams is taking over the role of menswear creative director at Louis Vuitton. The rapper, producer and fashion entrepreneur will present his first collection for LV in June during men’s fashion week in Paris. Williams takes on the job which was last filled by the late designer Virgil Abloh. The story. |
From Emmett Till to Tyre Nichols, Another Wakeup Call to Take Action ►"It must be our responsibility not just to entertain the masses but to educate them as well." In a guest column for THR, Till writer-producer Keith Beauchamp writes that the coverage of Tyre Nichols' fatal beating has tragic callbacks to Emmett Till's death — as well as yet another opportunity to galvanize the movement for justice. The column.
—Huge get. Searchlight Pictures has acquired Jonathan Majors' body-building feature Magazine Dreams, which earned strong reviews last month at Sundance. Elijah Bynum wrote and directed the film in which Majors plays Killian Maddox, a man determined to make it in the world of bodybuilding even as he faces a number of struggles, from dealing with feelings of alienation to anger issues, and looking after his ailing grandfather. The story.
—Snapped up. Sony Pictures Classics has acquired the Sundance audience award winner Shayda for North America and other international territories. Cate Blanchett executive produced Noora Niasari’s debut feature that stars Zar Amir Ebrahimi, who won best actress at Cannes last year for her performance in Holy Spider. The story.
—First feature. Ishana Night Shyamalan will make her directorial debut with The Watchers, which New Line has picked up in a bidding war. Shyamalan will write and direct the feature, based on A.M. Shine’s novel, which according to the log-line, centers on Mina, a 28-year-old artist who gets stranded in an expansive, untouched forest in western Ireland. The filmmaker, who is the daughter of director M. Night Shyamalan, cut her teeth helming episodes of Servant, the Apple TV+ series created by her father. The story. |
New Redstone Book: The Collision of #MeToo With Corporate Governance ►"A cross between King Lear and Weekend at Bernie's." THR's Gary Baum spoke to Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalists James B. Stewart and Rachel Abrams about their new book Unscripted: The Epic Battle for a Media Empire and the Redstone Family Legacy. The book is an investigative chronicle of media mogul Sumner Redstone’s final years, that freshly explores questionable conduct in his corporate realm as well as the lurid drama that engulfed his personal life. The interview.
—"On the road to full recovery." European cinemas showed signs of a return to health last year, with box office revenue jumping from $4.7b in 2021 to $7.08b last year, according to figures from Gower Street Analytics, a box office analyst group. That positive news corresponds with preliminary figures released Wednesday by the International Union of Cinemas which show that theater admissions across the continent jumped 36.5 percent compared with 2021, while box office revenue was up 55.6 percent to more than $6b. The story.
—No brainer. Reelz has ordered 90 more episodes of On Patrol: Live, the police ridealong series from the team behind A&E’s similar Live PD. The order will extend the show through January 2024. The show is the independent cable outlet's highest rated series. Recent episodes of On Patrol: Live have averaged better than 800,000 same-day viewers, leagues ahead of the audience for other programming on Reelz. The story. |
Berlin 2023 Hot List ►"The market right now is concept-driven." THR's Scott Roxborough writes that with the indie sector struggling, dealmakers heading to the European Film Market are ready to get weird. There are certainly plenty of star-studded surprises on THR's annual hot list of EFM market titles, including a high-concept sci-fi comedy with Octavia Spencer, an opera-themed revenge thriller, and a new Korean dark comedy from the producer and star of Parasite. The list.
—The industry's supply-side conundrum. Scott writes that a lack of new films has made it harder for distributors to bounce back post-COVID, but this year's EFM is awash in new projects, big and small. The analysis.
—The horse to bet on. Jackie Chan’s upcoming stuntman-horse buddy action movie Ride On has sold wide ahead of the EFM. Hong Kong sales outlet Golden Network has inked distribution deals for the film across North America, Europe and Asia. The film is being sold as an homage to Chan’s classic stuntman movies. The story. |
Film Review: ''Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania' ►"Trades humor for scale and extravagance." THR film critic Frank Scheck reviews Peyton Reed's Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. Paul Rudd and Evangeline Lilly reprise their roles as the titular characters in this latest Marvel offering, with Jonathan Majors playing a genuinely scary villain. The review.
—"Could stand to be wilder." THR TV critic Angie Han reviews Fox's Animal Control. Joel McHale’s star headlines a show about public servants who deal with all manner of critters gone wild, from weasels to snakes to ostriches. The review.
—"Its reach exceeds its grasp." Angie reviews Apple TV+'s Hello Tomorrow! Billy Crudup plays a traveling salesman whose job pushing timeshares on the moon pulls him back into the orbit of his estranged son (Nicholas Podany). The review.
In other news...
—Netflix's Queen Charlotte makes her debut with trailer
—Oscars: Jimmy Kimmel and Jon Hamm poke fun at Top Gun 2 and The Slap in first promo
—TV Academy adds new category, reverses doc campaign rule
—Sean “Diddy” Combs rebrands company
—Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Tilda Swinton among keynote speakers at SXSW
—Chef José Andrés and his production company sign with UTA
—Reservation Dogs composer Mato Wayuhi signs with CAA
—Jeff Vlaming, X-Files, Lois & Clark and Hannibal writer and producer, dies at 63
What else we're reading...
—Another banger from Zoë Schiffer and Casey Newton, who report that Elon Musk did indeed fiddle with Twitter's algorithm, so that users will see more of his tweets [Platformer]
—Lucia Moses and Elaine Low report that unclear creative direction, leadership shifts, and tech bureaucracy is threatening to drive talent and staff away from Amazon Studios [Insider]
—Erica Pandey looks at the rise of anti-influencers on social media (basically people telling us not to buy stuff) [Axios]
—Mark Gurman reports that Apple is set to scrutinize customer spending history on apps for its new ‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ service [Bloomberg]
—Lauren Theisen laments the quality of this year's Super Bowl ads and the trend for popular stars to shamelessly sell out [Defector]
Today...
Today's birthdays: Jane Seymour (72), Miranda July (49), Megan Thee Stallion (28), Matt Groening (69), Alex Borstein (52), Joseph R. Gannascoli (64), Tsui Hark (73), Natalie Morales (38), Zuri Reed (27), Jessica De Gouw (35), Lynn Whitfield (70), Zachary Gordon (25), Greer Grammer (31), Amber Riley (37), Shaun Toub (65), Brooke Markham (35), Maddie Baillio (27), Steven Michael Quezada (60) |
| Tom Luddy, the understated co-founder and artistic director of the Telluride Film Festival who championed world cinema, spotlighted overlooked gems and saluted legends during his near half-century run with the event, has died. He was 79. The obituary. |
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