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.
WITH SOME $9 BILLION UP FOR GRABS AT the 2016 broadcast upfront, TV network chiefs are in New York touting live programming and the “stability” of their fall schedules, even though many are poised to shake them up considerably come midseason. To the delight of the media-buying audience, a handful of new offerings, including Fox’s 24: Legacy and Lethal Weapon as well as NBC’s Mike Schur comedy The Good Place, already are generating heat. What didn’t garner much talk during the dog and pony show was the rash of cancellations (35 in total) and inevitable future flops, save for a Seth Meyers quip during NBC’s May 16 presentation: “Watching sizzle reels at the upfronts is like meeting your brother’s new girlfriend at Thanksgiving. She seems great, but you don’t want…
MEGYN KELLY’S VERY PUBLIC FEUD WITH Donald Trump might have come to an end May 17, when the two had a congenial sit-down during her Fox primetime special, but the spat served to establish the Fox News anchor as the face of feminism in the political media. Still, when it comes to guests on her popular show The Kelly File, she’s not exactly a crusader for women, according to a report on the proportions of male and female analysts on TV. Data collected from Feb. 29 through May 13 reveals Kelly File had the lowest percentage of female analysts (15 percent) compared with five other Fox, CNN and MSNBC shows observed in the study. Even more, when Trump accused Hillary Clinton of playing “the woman card,” Kelly File was one…
AS THE 69TH CANNES FILM Festival heads toward its close May 22, there has been a noticeable lack of fireworks - literally and figuratively. An incendiary May 11 THR essay written by Ronan Farrow and a rape joke from the opening-night emcee overshadowed Woody Allen’s Cafe Society premiere, and Julia Roberts walked the Money Monster red carpet barefoot (a not-too-subtle jab at last year’s “flatgate” flap). But since then, shenanigans and controversies have been few. Terror threats seemed to have sapped attendance on the Croisette, and the scrum to get into parties appeared less intense - with a few festival veterans complaining that the Vanity Fair fete at the Hotel du Cap didn’t live up to past glories. The China delegation canceled its annual fireworks display over safety concerns, and…
THE PRODUCERS WHO took a Papillon remake to Red Granite, the Wolf of Wall Street production banner now embroiled in an FBI investigation over allegations of money laundering, claim their passion-project picture isn’t in jeopardy. “There’s no reason to think that [the situation] is going to impact the film directly in terms of the production and distribution,” producer Roger Corbi tells THR. But the scandal heated up as Corbi and his partner Yan Fischer-Romanovsky supported Red Granite at Cannes as they pushed it to buyers from a luxury yacht moored by the Palais. On May 11, The Wall Street Journal reported that the FBI was looking into the purchase of luxury properties in New York and Los Angeles by Red Granite head Riza Aziz, with allegations that money was siphoned…
DISNEY CEO BOB IGER can’t seem to shake his ESPN problem. During a May 10 conference call to discuss financial results, analysts asked multiple questions about the sagging cable channel but never mentioned the blockbuster Lucasfilm or Marvel movie franchises. The oversight was so stark that at the end of the call, he scolded the Wall Street participants: “I’m actually kind of surprised that after almost 45 minutes of questioning, we didn’t get one question about our studio,” which he said is “firing on more than all cylinders.” But Disney’s studio entertainment sector is dwarfed by its media networks segment, where growth in operating income was a far more modest 9 percent to $2.3 billion, while revenue was flat at $5.8 billion. Analysts are a careful lot nowadays, looking for…
WANDA SAYS Legendary Pictures racked up a $555.6 million loss in 2015, slammed by film writedowns and stock option vesting as senior management cashed out ahead of Wanda’s $3.5 billion acquisition in January. The disclosure came May 12 in a regulatory filing offering a rare glimpse into Thomas Tull’s onceprivate company. Among the write-downs Legendary invested in were flops Seventh Son, Blackhat and Crimson Peak (though movie profits are always uncertain). Potential good news? Profit for 2016 to 2018 is forecast at $474.8 million.…
