Innholdsfortegnelse for 3/4/2016 i The Hollywood Reporter

CHANNING DUNGEY The veteran ABC drama executive (and “Shonda Rhimes whisperer”) becomes the first black chief of a Big Four network. Now she has to figure out how to dig the net out of fourth place. MICHAEL MOORE The Oscar winner’s Where to Invade Next grosses less than $2 million in its first 10 days and generates the lowest perscreen averages of his career. STEPHEN CHOW The Chinese director’s fantasy comedy Mermaid crosses $400 million at his country’s box office, becoming the highestgrossing film of all time in China. A U.S. release via Sony is next. ROBERT SCHWENTKE The director of The Divergent Series: Allegiant (March 18) drops out of making Ascendant, the finale of the Lionsgate franchise, amid insider buzz of problems on the movie. SHOWBIZ STOCKS 31.17 (+15.3%)…

Weekend Numbers BY THE NUMBERS 135% The massive rise of Netflix stock price in 2015 $10B Market value Netflix lost so far this year 4.9M Cord-cutting U.S. homes in 2015 AMONG THE WORLD’S many partisan divides, a passionate new one is between the longs and shorts in the media business. It’s two sides locked in a bitter war that reflects an ongoing propaganda campaign and selfinterested agitprop. It’s FANGA (Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google and Apple) against Time Warner, Disney, 21st Century Fox, Viacom, CBS, Comcast/NBC (the Congloms). Bolsheviks against the Mensheviks. So far, FANGA, with its simple mantra —“We are the future, you are the past”— is way ahead. And the Big Media stock prices seemingly are in freefall. The Congloms are at a further disadvantage: While trying to defend…

WHEN CHATTER FIRST surfaced the morning of Feb. 17 that ABC Entertainment Group president Paul Lee was being pushed out, the timing — before the annual May upfronts and in the middle of TV’s frenzied pilot season — was more surprising than the news itself. After all, rumors about Lee’s fate at the Disney-owned network had circulated since Ben Sherwood assumed the top job of Disney/ABC TV Group president in February 2015. Sherwood, 52, a gregarious and hypercompetitive Beverly Hills native, was said to be at odds from the start with Lee, 55, a guarded and at times inscrutable Brit, with several ABC executives suggesting it wasn’t a partnership that could sustain itself long-term. But even less surprising than Lee’s ouster was the decision to name his top drama executive…

WHETHER YOU’VE BEEN DEPLOYING INCREMENTAL procedures all along, A-lister style, or just want a boost the day of, this compilation of recommendations from top L.A. docs and beauty pros can be a handy reference for right now — or the next time red-carpet duty calls. 8 WEEKS OUT New York derm Dr. David Colbert recommends a jump-start to body contouring: Vanquish ($1,000 per session), Coolsculpting, Trusculpting or a combo for faster results ($1,500 per session). For 40-year-old+ actresses who want a mild mini-facelift, Dr. Jason Diamond has done the four-hour surgery in as few as 10 days before an event, “but then they need to be strategic about hair and makeup for the bruising. Safest is to do this a few months to six weeks before” (starting at $25,000). ✓…

ALL THROUGH AWARDS SEASON, actors and actresses are besieged by publicists bearing largesse — couture gowns, hand-tailored tuxedos and blinding jewels. Then there are the “civilians” — studio heads, actors’ wives, writers, producers and agents. “People see clothes flying around town and think everything is up for grabs, that it’s open season on clothes and everything is free. Guess what? It’s not,” says stylist George Kotsiopoulos. “People are loaning stuff for publicity. If you are an agent, nobody cares if you’re wearing their tuxedo. Designers just want a great picture of an actress who looks hot in their dress.” Yet even though it’s PR and social media that are driving the world’s most powerful runway, it’s not impossible for noncelebrities to score some swag. Here’s how: 1 Cultivate a stylist…

IN THE YEAR OF #OscarsSoWhite, it might seem preposterous to think of a time when there were jokes about the prevalence of African-American actors nominated for Academy Awards. But it happened at the 2002 Oscars. In her opening monologue, Whoopi Goldberg — hosting for the third time — cracked of the Oscar campaigning, “So much mud has been thrown this year, all the nominees look black.” But what was hailed as a historic moment for African-Americans in the movie industry was rightly met with some skepticism. Here, figures behind the telecast and some of Hollywood’s top black stars and creators recall the night that was supposed to change everything. AUNJANUE ELLIS (Actress, Quantico) Halle Berry was incredibly brave in what she did. To get validated by that Oscar win, it…

How do you turn a mall into the most glamorous place on Earth? Construction begins 14 days out, when a crew of 250 start laying down red carpet, building risers and stages, and installing design elements such as the 38-by-40-foot gilded curtain draped across the entrance to the Dolby Theatre, home of the Academy Awards since 2002. The Dolby was designed with the Oscars in mind, which is why the nearly 100 tenants in the surrounding Hollywood & Highland Center don’t object when the entire mall shuts down every Oscar Sunday — it’s written into their leases. Louis Vuitton employee Winston So estimates the store loses around $80,000 of weekend business, but notes that the location “brings a lot of tourists we might not otherwise get, because they want to…

THINK ABOUT the Oscar speeches you remember. Not many, right? Now think about what you remember from those speeches. Probably nothing more than a single line, a brief story or a holy-shit-I-won show of emotion. The joyful freak-outs of Cuba Gooding Jr. or Roberto Benigni. Tom Hanks’ tribute to his acting coach, or Matt and Ben’s shoutout to Boston (OK, maybe that’s just me). Halle Berry’s tears over the door that had just been opened for black actresses. Patricia Arquette’s plea for equal pay and equal rights. And, my all-time favorite, Imitation Game writer Graham Moore’s potentially life-saving advice to all those kids who’ve often felt like they never fit in: “Stay weird. Stay different.” I realize it’s an honor just to be nominated, and you don’t expect to actually…

AN EVENING WITH CANADA’S STARS FEB. 25 FOUR SEASONS, BEVERLY HILLS NORTHERN LIGHTS WILL appear Feb. 25 to honor Canadian comic legends Eugene Levy, 69, and Catherine O’Hara, 61, — SCTV alums and co-stars of Pop’s Schitt’s Creek — as they receive Legacy Awards from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television. An Evening With Canada’s Stars, now in its third year hosted by Telefilm Canada, also will celebrate the Canuck talents who contributed to this year’s Oscar-nominated films — from Torontoborn Spotlight supporting actress nominee Rachel McAdams, who still calls Toronto home, to original song nominee (for Fifty Shades of Grey’s “Earned It”) The Weeknd. Levy spoke to THR about the career honor — “It’s recognition from the country that you still have a great attachment to,” he says…

1 JON FAVREAU As President Obama’s director of speechwriting from 2009 to 2013, Favreau knows a thing or two about what to say (and, more importantly, what not to say) at the Oscars podium (page 156). “I’ve written everything from inaugural addresses to wedding toasts,” explains the 34-year-old communications guru. “So I thought I’d offer a few tips on how to deliver a decent acceptance speech.” A Boston native, Favreau now lives in West Hollywood and runs Fenway Strategies, a communications and branding firm. 2 STEVE FRIEDMAN The two-time National Magazine Award finalist says the biggest challenge to writing “So, It’s Not Exactly Leo’s Revenant …” (page 128) was in evaluating “all the juicy but not-entirely-verifiable” details. (For example, did a Sioux warrior “grab a dismembered leg with his teeth…

WITH DEADPOOL CROSSING $500 MILLION AT THE global box office in less than two weeks, 20th Century Fox is sitting pretty considering the movie cost a mere $58 million to make. Now the game of how to divvy up the spoils begins. According to sources, star and executive producer Ryan Reynolds was paid $2 million upfront and is said to be the only actor eligible for boxoffice bonuses and backend compensation. He’s now likely to make more than $10 million from the movie, especially if it reaches $800 million in global sales as projected. The big payday is impressive considering Reynolds, 39, was ice cold after Green Lantern (2011) and R.I.P.D. (2013) flopped. He’s signed for a sequel, though sources say his WME agents already are preparing for a big…

Christian Bale, The Big Short He has two Terrence Malick projects (Knight of Cups and Weightless) in the can and has finished work on The Promise, with Oscar Isaac. The 42-year-old voices panther Bagheera in Jungle Book: Origins and will shoot Scott Cooper’s Western, Hostiles, this summer. Cate Blanchett, Carol Blanchett, 46, voices Kaa in Warner Bros.’ 2017 pic Jungle Book: Origins. She next shoots Thor: Ragnarok in Australia this summer and is attached to a Lucille Ball project from Aaron Sorkin. Bryan Cranston, Trumbo The former Breaking Bad star has been busy filling his film slate with roles in New Line’s upcoming The Disaster Artist, starring James Franco, and the moneylaundering crime drama The Infiltrator. The 59-yearold next segues to comedy in John Hamburg’s Why Him? with Megan Mullally…

“I can say truly I am in awe of your bravery.” LADY GAGA The singer, showing support on Twitter for Kesha, in a contract battle with producer Dr. Luke, whom she claims sexually and physically abused her. Other supporters include Taylor Swift, who donated $250,000 to cover the “Tik Tok” singer’s expenses. “When I was 19, I was going out with a 32-year-old.” HENRY CAVILL The 32-year-old Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice star, on his new relationship with a 19-year-old college student. “It’s one of the realities of the business we’re in.” DON CHEADLE The Miles Ahead director and star, explaining why casting a white co-star — Ewan McGregor — was critical in getting funding for his Miles Davis biopic. “It’s a very handsome dick. It’s just as veiny…

Brad Grey broke bread with Jeff Shell at The Palm as Ted Sarandos lunched with Michael Eisner a few seats away. That evening, Grey returned to join Jimmy Fallon, Lorne Michaels and Ron Meyer at another table. Jim Gianopulos was in at another time. … Jennifer Lawrence and Laverne Cox shared the room at Soho House. … Emily Blunt, Maya Rudolph, Anne Hathaway, Zac Efron, Sarah Silverman, Michael Sheen and Megan Fox all have stopped by the M Cafe on Melrose Avenue of late. … Toni Howard met with Aleen Keshishian at Il Piccolino. … Taylor Swift alighted at Katana. … Alejandro G. Inarrtitu ate at Ray’s & Stark Bar one day, while Owen Wilson, Lisa Ling, Jane Fonda and Timothy Olyphant also have been in. Nicole Kidman and Keith…

ILOVED BIRDMAN, AND I COULDN’T WAIT for The Revenant, but I’m not a fan. I liked Leo and the cinematography better than I liked the movie, which I just felt was over the top — I don’t believe for one minute that someone in that condition could go over a waterfall in subzero conditions and survive. I’m also really bored with all the publicity about how hard it was to make the film— why the f— didn’t you get a better location manager then? I watched The Big Short twice because I had a hard time figuring out what was happening, and I’m nobody’s fool; I’ve decided that I actually liked it, but I don’t really think it’s a best picture for me. I loved Bridge of Spies — it’s…

STEP INTO THE lobby of the four Seasons in Beverly Hills during Oscar weekend, and you will see a parade of visiting esthetic experts hurrying in and out of elevators, armed with all manner of beautifiers, from brushes to portable lasers. “I bring everything that’s not nailed down,’’ says Joanna Vargas, a New York facialist who is heading west to perfect the porcelain complexions of Julianne Moore and Brad Goreski, among others. “I go to L.A. for every awards show, but the Oscars is my longest visit; I stay for a week,’’ she says. Among her cuttingedge tools are microcurrent, oxygen, microdermabrasion and radio-frequency devices. “I use microdermabrasion on the whole body because it’s nice to prep the skin everywhere, and radio frequency increases collagen production by 20 percent,’’ she…

I ALWAYS SEEM to be there for the crises. I wrote on the Oscars the year President Reagan was shot, and then the Emmys after 9/11. As I recall, Reagan was shot on a Monday, and the show was supposed to be that night. The question became: Do we do the show or do we just suspend it and give everything over to the news department? I remember we were in rehearsals [with host Johnny Carson] at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, and everyone was running around with an opinion. I’m sure there were network people running around, too, trying to appear human but really just protecting their investment. The ultimate decision was to postpone it one day. But nobody knew as we were holding these meetings whether Reagan was going…

WHEN THE HONORARY OSCAR belonging to Sid Grauman of Chinese Theatre fame turned up at an estate sale after his death in 1950, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences board members called an emergency meeting. Then-executive director Margaret Herrick was dispatched to bid whatever it cost to retrieve the wayward Oscar. From that time onward, trackable serial numbers were added to statuettes, and honorees had to sign a “winner’s agreement” specifying that Oscars may be bequeathed to an heir or nonprofit institution — but not sold without first being offered back to the Academy for the token sum of one dollar. The Academy’s hope, of course, is for the Oscar to remain something to earn, not buy, and for many grateful winners, keeping the statuette in the family is…

1. Henry Xavier Estrada On Dec. 27, Estrada, 27, and his girlfriend were at a house party when they were lured outside by her exboyfriend, who shot and killed Estrada and attempted to kidnap her. Two days later, a SWAT team shot the perpetrator at his parents’ house in Rosemead, Calif. • 2. Joel Fraticelli On April 22, Fraticelli, 27, was fatally stabbed by a man who then escaped in the victim’s Ford F-150 pickup truck. The suspect was later arrested. • 3. Jose Manuel Silva-Nieves On Aug. 23, the 20-year-old DJ got into a brawl inside the Cashmere Club. He was declared brain dead at a nearby hospital that day. • 4. Kapre Maurice Brown On his way to a friend’s birthday party on Feb. 8, Brown, 31, was…

THE GODFATHER OF INDEPENDENT FILM, AND MENTOR TO LEGIONS OF GREATS FROM COPPOLA TO CAMERON, HAS AN HONORARY OSCAR, 400-PLUS MOVIES TO HIS NAME, THE ORIGINAL FAST AND THE FURIOUS FRANCHISE, A FAMILY FEUD AND, NOW, A COURT CASE INVOLVING HIS MISSING $170 MILLION AND SOMEONE WHO INSISTS HE’S ‘NOT THE BLACK BERNIE MADOFF’ ROGER CORMAN’S LIFE is a tale in three acts. The first tells how the 89-year-old director and producer made more than 400 B-movies, reaping far more than $100 million in an extraordinary career that saw him help invent the independent film business; tutor such talents as Francis Ford Coppola, James Cameron and Ron Howard; and win an honorary Oscar along the way. In the second act, he lost most of the money; it’s a tragic twist…

IN LATE 1941, Hollywood was rocked by two big headlines that appeared less than two months apart on the front page of The Hollywood Reporter: Nov. 7’s “Davis First Femme to Prexy Academy,” followed by Dec. 26’s “Davis Resigns as Academy Prexy.” The Davis in question? Bette, a hugely popular 33-year-old Warner Bros. star who already was a two-time winner of the best actress Oscar. How did she come to lead the then-500-member Academy, founded by the studio chiefs only 14 years earlier, and why was her time at the top so short? That seems a question worth answering 75 years later, as people focus on the relationship of today’s Academy — again led by a woman — with diversity. The Academy usually chooses its president from its board of…

GREATEST MOMENT IN OPPORTUNISM Critics’ Choice Awards for reopening its best picture voting to consider Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which screened after its deadline. (Director J.J. Abrams later returned the favor and showed up at the telecast.) MOST PASSIVE-AGGRESSIVE RESPONSE TO AN ANGRY JOURNALIST “Best regards and thanks for calling me an asshole a lot.” Tom Hardy, ending a lengthy open letter to film critic Drew McWeeny, who complained on Twitter that The Revenant star had made reporters wait four hours for an interview at a junket. MOST QUICKLY RESCINDED TAKEDOWN ATTEMPT Songwriter Linda Perry, whose Jan. 18 Twitter rant attacked Lady Gaga’s best song nomination alongside Diane Warren: “Gaga contributed a few words. Is that writing? Not in my book.” Less than an hour later, Perry relented: “My…

WHEN HBO launched Vinyl, the ambitious rock drama from Martin Scorsese and Mick Jagger, on Feb. 14, its ratings — even with three days of DVR viewing — were wan. But the network promptly renewed the series. As the motto used to go, “It’s not TV, it’s HBO.” And that’s still true. Yet the pay TV service, with 36 million U.S. subscribers and a nearly year-old streaming service that CEO Richard Plepler said Feb. 10 has 800,000 subs, no longer is alone in the premium space. As Netflix and Amazon, not to mention Showtime, AMC, FX and others, fight it out for prestige projects, HBO still is the first choice for many A-listers. In 2015, it mopped up 43 Emmys with such diverse offerings as Game of Thrones, Olive Kitteridge…

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk (Sony, Nov. 11) Ang Lee’s first film since winning best director for 2012’s Life of Pi is a war dramedy that, like Pi, stars a newcomer (Joe Alwyn). The Birth of a Nation (Fox Searchlight, TBD) Sundance raves and a $17.5 million price tag have put big expectations on Nate Parker’s drama about the slave uprising led by Nat Turner. The Girl on the Train (Universal, Oct. 7) If done well, Tate Taylor’s adaptation of the smash book starring Emily Blunt could be as much of an awards player as his best picture nominee The Help was in 2012. Lion (The Weinstein Co., TBD) Harvey’s big Oscar play could be this drama from The King’s Speech producers about an Indian kid (Dev Patel) who searches…

TOM ORTENBERG HAS COME A LONG WAY from running Lionsgate’s first Los Angeles office out of a cramped apartment in Santa Monica. It was the late 1990s, and he used his bedroom as an office, making phone calls as his newborn son slept in another room. Ortenberg, now 55, stayed at Lionsgate as it grew over the next decade, serving as president of its film division and helping win the studio its first best picture Oscar for Crash in 2006. Now, after a short stint with The Weinstein Co., he’s running Open Road Films and he’s back in the best picture hunt with Spotlight, the film exposing the Catholic Church abuse scandal that is nominated for six Oscars and had grossed $37.4 million as of Feb. 17 in the U.S.…

IDON’T THINK I’VE WORN A TUXEDO since my college formal, and it was rented,” says Oscar-nominated screenwriter Jonathan Herman, 42. This awards cycle is a season of firsts for the scribe, whose version of the script got the Universal production greenlighted after it spent years in turnaround. Not only is it his first Academy Award nom, it also is the first time Herman is attending the ceremony. And now, standing in the Ermenegildo Zegna boutique in Beverly Hills — he had bought a Zegna suit “at Nordstrom by my house” for the Compton premiere in the fall — Herman is about to pick out the first tux he’s ever owned. Joining him is The Weitz Effect’s Andrew Weitz, a former talent agent (and brother to WME’s Richard Weitz) who, as…

THE YEAR WAS 2002. It was the blackest Academy Awards in history. And that record-breaking blackness boiled down to the number four. Just four African-Americans, and that year’s Oscars was talked about like it was the NAACP Image Awards. Denzel Washington won best actor for Training Day. Halle Berry won best actress for Monster’s Ball. Sidney Poitier received an Honorary Oscar for a lifetime of being Sidney Poitier. (Why that took until 2002 is worth a Michael Moore fulllength documentary.) And the whole evening was hosted by Lady EGOT herself, Whoopi Goldberg. And yes, like a latenight infomercial, there was more. Will Smith was nominated for Ali, and … Well, actually, I think that was pretty much it, unless I’m missing a black sound effects editor or something. But the…

1 Mark Roman, 44, does a spin on Thomas Lennon’s Reno 911 character, Lt. Jim Dangle. “The place to be is everywhere from Highland Avenue to Orange Drive,” says the Las Vegas transplant, who’ll move business down the street seven days before the Oscars, when the north stretch of Hollywood Boulevard sidewalk becomes barricaded. 2 Christopher Mitchell, 55, a former Soul Train dancer dressed as Darth Vader, embraces the pre-ceremony hoopla: “The buildup, the press, the interviews — we love it.” 3 “I try to exude positive energy,” says Theresa Ireland, a Marilyn Monroe impersonator, who compares the Oscars to another global event: “During the Star Wars [premiere], I didn’t work that day. I did some auditions and modeling gigs. I filled my schedule with things other than this.” 4…

KUMAIL NANJIANI, SILICON VALLEY STAR AND NOTED X-FILES podcaster, is not coming to his first awards hosting gig completely blind. The Pakistan-born star, 38, who will co-host the Feb. 27 Film Independent Spirit Awards with Saturday Night Live scene-stealer Kate McKinnon, is uniquely qualified — having spent his early adolescence compulsively rewatching old Oscar telecasts. Ahead of his big debut, Nanjiani traced the roots of his awards-show affection and explains how he recently booked a gig on his favorite TV series of all time. So you’re a fan of awards shows? I am. I love them. When I was a kid, I had a VHS tape of two years of Academy Awards [1988 and 1989]. I don’t know why. It was almost psychotic. I remember Chevy Chase hosted one. Is…