The all-new Hollywood Reporter offers unprecedented access to the people, studios, networks and agencies that create the magic in Hollywood. Published weekly, the oversized format includes exceptional photography and rich features.
LIKE MANY, I FOLLOWED THE Kobe Bryant adulation tour that led up to his final game April 13. Unlike many, I was focused on why such homage was being paid to this particular man. Of course, as a Lakers season-ticket holder for the first seven seasons of his career, I’m well aware of what a great player Kobe was. He also was, in my opinion, and that of many others, guilty of rape. According to court documents, the facts of the June 30, 2003, incident to which I refer are that Bryant showed up at the Cordillera Spa in Edwards, Colo., ahead of a knee surgery. A 19-year-old female concierge brought Kobe to his room. He asked her to return later to give him a tour of the hotel. She…
BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN, R INGO STARR AND Pearl Jam may have canceled performances in North Carolina to protest new anti-LGBT legislation, but it appears to be business as usual for most Hollywood studios that film in the state and others in the South that have pushed through (or are considering) similar legislation. Among the projects that quietly are proceeding in North Carolina: TNT’s Michelle Dockery drama Good Behavior, History’s military drama Six, Lionsgate’s TV remake of Dirty Dancing and Fox’s police-shooting drama Shots Fired. And in Mississippi, which passed a “religious freedom” law April 5 allowing businesses to deny services to members of the LGBT community, filming will go on for programs like HGTV’s renovation show Home Town and Lifetime’s dance-competition docuseries Bring It! Though Hollywood executives privately have expressed shock…
DEAL OF THE WEEK “WELCOME TO the fempire” has become as much an internal rallying cry as an unofficial tagline as Lifetime looks to get a bit younger, edgier and more focused on female empowerment. Accompanying a new on-air look and a smattering of ads is a sizable collection of new development centered on the type of strong women who populate the network’s critical breakout UnREAL. Among the highest-profile additions: a scripted series inspired by Selena Gomez’s life (she’ll executive produce with Kevin Spacey and Dana Brunetti); a trio of movies from UFC’s Ronda Rousey; an UnREAL web spinoff about fan favorite Faith and girlfriend Amy; and a push into comedy with the acquisition of Amazon’s half-hour series Catastrophe. The guiding principles of the slate, spearheaded by executive vp Liz…
Consequence BY Eric Fair (Henry Holt) AGENCY APA Michiko Kakutani praised this memoir of an Abu Ghraib interrogator as a “profoundly unsettling book.” Fair details not only the harsh techniques used on prisoners but also the emotional and physical toll the guilt took on his marriage and his health (he eventually needed a heart transplant). Mars One BY Jonathan Maberry (Simon & Schuster) AGENCY CAA The next novel (due in 2017) from the bestselling author of Patient Zero is a high-concept YA about a teen who leaves everything (including a girlfriend) behind to join his family on the first Mars colony.…
UBERS ARE EVERYWHERE, MUCH to the dismay of taxi drivers — and now Hollywood executives as well. In the span of 24 hours in mid-April, two competing Uber-themed film comedies sold to Universal and Fox, leaving both studios feeling a little carsick. On April 14, Universal plunked down seven figures for an untitled comedy pitch with Will Ferrell attached to star. Brendan O’Brien, who co-wrote Universal’s Seth Rogen-Zac Efron comedy Neighbors as well as its upcoming sequel, is writing the screenplay, which will be produced by Ferrell and Oscar winner Adam McKay and the duo’s Gary Sanchez banner. That film will see Ferrell playing (you guessed it) an Uber driver stuck with a deranged escaped-convict passenger (naturally). The next morning, Fox paid mid-six figures for Tripper Clancy’s spec script…
FILM Mark Rylance (the U.K.’s Hamilton Hodell, Peikoff Mahan) will star in Steven Spielberg’s Ready Player One and The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. The Impossible’s J.A. Bayona (CAA, Sloane Offer) will direct Universal’s Jurassic World sequel. Michelle Pfeiffer (CAA, Management 360, Hirsch Wallerstein) and Domhnall Gleeson (Paradigm, Ireland’s The Agency) will join Darren Aronofsky’s new drama. The Big Number Netflix’s worldwide subscribers, revealed April 18, up more than 6 million from last quarter, but slower growth projections pummeled the stock. 81.5 M The Dear White People and Creed breakout may be playing the new female lead in Marvel’s third Thor installment. Disney is in talks to reteam with Jungle Book director Jon Favreau and writer Justin Marks for a sequel and will develop Peter Pan as its next live-action remake. Fox is in…
