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Do not Strip Down paramount global & Sell It For Parts, Argues BilL mechanic IN A GUEST COLUMN, THE EX-PARAMOUNT, DISNEY AND FOX Exec BEMOANS THE CHANCE OF ANOTHER FABLED HOLLYWOOD STUDIO BEING GUTTED |
Deadline's guest columnist notes that LA was once called the Movie Capital of the World, though by now that is the hollowest of crowns. Few movies are made here and fewer still are worth talking about. In fact, Hollywood is fast becoming a place where movie studios rest before dying.
In the past few years, independents have been shuttered, while one major, 20th Century Fox, was dumped by Rupert Murdoch and devoured by Disney like a shark devours chum - one hundred years of history eviscerated. Rumors currently abound about another of the original studios being acquired by Warner Bros. Discovery. If that happens, you can stop looking for it on Melrose. Look instead on Boot Hill.
For the corporate owners of the studios, this is all about a quest for content, a quest to own what flows through their own pipes so revenue doesn’t get shared. With talent. With theaters. With cable. Greed, as Gordon Gekko said, is good. Today, when a film doesn’t reach one billion in revenue, it’s a waste of resources. Good never enters the equation. If it breaks a billion and no one likes it, don’t worry. Make a sequel. >>>Saving The Ecosystem |
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| Deadline Exclusives & Originals |
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Taking To The Skies - Topher Grace (Home Economics) and Michelle Dockery (Downton Abbey: A New Era) have been tapped for roles opposite Academy Award nominee Mark Wahlberg in Flight Risk, the suspense thriller that Mel Gibson is helming for Lionsgate. The project marks Gibson’s first outing behind the camera since Oscar-nominated war drama Hacksaw Ridge for the same studio. >>> Suspenseful Thriller
After 'Everything Everywhere' - Ke Huy Quan has carefully considered his next career move since landing an Oscar with the Daniels' A24 smash Everything Everywhere All at Once. Deadline revealed his next feature lead, With Love, a Universal action pic from David Leitch and Kelly McCormick’s 87North. >>>In Demand
All Aboard - Adam Rejwan, the rising manager-producer behind REJ Entertainment, has renamed the company Time Train. Launched in 2016, Rejwan has managed to cultivate a successful business by seeking out behind-the-scenes talents with no resumes or networks to tap into. >>>All Aboard
Stahr Quality - Could the return of Monroe Stahr resuscitate the system? That is the question posed by Peter Bart in his column this week, as he ponders how the manic and manipulative hero of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon would fare as a Hollywood head honcho. >>>Leadership Malaise
Zone Of UN-terest - Jonathan Glazer's hard-hitting Holocaust drama Zone of Interest will screen at the UN in New York today, marking a first for A24. The screening, organized by the studio with support of the UK and Polish Missions, will host UN Ambassadors, journalists, student groups, and more. >>>Bringing More Attention
WME Defection - Trey Cannon, the CAA talent agent that has repped stars including Taraji P. Henson, Octavia Spencer and Laurence Fishburne, has joined rival WME. He previously worked for Gersh, where he was once the company's youngest agent at 24. >>>Ready Aim Fire
Meta-Reverse - Meta, parent company of Facebook, is closing its Frank Gehry-designed London base. It will further reduce the number of offices it occupies in London, where the tech giant has its largest staff presence outside of the U.S. >>>Dramatic Headcount Cuts |
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QUOTABLE
“When Rex Reed takes a sh*t on your film, he doesn’t ask you to work out!”
-Christopher Nolan recalling a Peloton instructor criticizing his movie Tenet. |
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Tania Watson, Corina Bradley and Laura Gordon have joined Danny Pino, Yul Vazquez, Michael Chiklis and Mark Feuerstein as series regulars in the MGM+ series Hotel Cocaine.
Olivier Award nominee Moe Bar-El (The Peripheral) has been tapped for a major recurring role in the first season of Noah Hawley’s Alien series for FX. Details on characters remain under wraps.
BAFTA Film Awards hosting duties have been handed to former Doctor Who actor David Tennant, who will oversee proceedings on February 18 at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall in London. |
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BY THE NUMBERS
$33.9 billion - Analysts’ estimate of the total global box office for 2023, a 30.5% surge over the previous year. |
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More News 🏆 The BAFTA Film Awards have unveiled this year’s longlists for 24 categories, and in the lead are Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, Greta Gerwig’s Barbie, and Martin Scorsese’s Killers Of The Flower Moon. Click for lists in full.
🏆 The honorary Cecil B. DeMille and Carol Burnett trophies will not be handed out at this year's Golden Globes ceremony. The two life-achievement awards, given to Eddie Murphy and Ryan Murphy, respectively, last year, are expected to return in the future. ⚾ New York Yankees and Knicks games could one day be housed on a single service via a new JV from The Yes Network and MSG Networks. Gotham Advanced Media and Entertainment, or GAME, is the new 50-50 venture, which is aiming for technical and operational synergies.
📖 Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with The Color Purple, the music-filled film that boasts a stacked cast including Fantasia Barrino, Danielle Brooks, Taraji P. Henson, Colman Domingo, Halle Bailey, Corey Hawkins and more. 🖊️ Former Amblin and Paramount Pictures vet Matt Andrée Wiltens is joining Gersh as their new SVP and Head of Global Corporate Communications. During his five years with Amblin, he served as a publicist for the company’s film and TV divisions as well as for Steven Spielberg and Kristie Macosko Krieger.
🏈 ESPN and the NCAA have agreed to an eight-year media rights deal, extending a run for college sports that began in 1979. The pact, which takes effect September 1, was valued at $920 million.
📱 Speaking with Wall Street analysts about the forthcoming split of Lionsgate's film and TV operations from Starz, CEO Jon Feltheimer said the key for the studio's film prospects is to avoid “crazy risk” that can cause financial pain in a volatile marketplace. |
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Trending
 Anderson & Andy - CNN said its New Year’s Eve Special topped by Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen drew 2.33 million viewers. The figure is up 12% year-over-year and marks their second most-watched NYE special since its 2007 debut.
🔻 BBC News Spend - In a New Year's memo to staff, BBC News Deputy CEO Jonathan Munro warned that an anticipated "very busy news year" will be paired with cuts. "The bar for discretionary spending will have to rise," he said, adding, "Every pound, dollar or rupee we spend has got to contribute to the heavy lifting which is needed throughout the year." |
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Obituaries
🕯️ Glynis Johns, remembered by movie audiences as Mrs. Banks from Mary Poppins and by Broadway devotees as the first person to sing Stephen Sondheim’s “Send in the Clowns” on a national stage, died Thursday of natural causes at an assisted living home in LA. She was 100. 🕯️ Ernst Goldschmidt , the sales agent who co-founded Orion Pictures and oversaw distribution of some of last century’s biggest movies, died last month from heart failure in his hometown of Badenweller in Germany. He was 92. 🕯️ Harry Johnson, an actor with scores of credits ranging from the original Battlestar Galactica to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, died January 2 in Los Angeles after a long illness. He was 81. |
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On the Radar
Sat - Creative Arts Emmys
Sun - Creative Arts Emmys & Golden Globes
Mon - College Football National Championship; Paramount+ with Showtime launches
Tue - Governors Awards; CES begins
Thu - National Board of Review Gala |
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Golden Meal Ticket - Seating arrangements at a table for Sunday’s Golden Globe Awards at the Beverly Hilton (Credit: Michael Bruckner for Penske Media). |
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