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.
Moguls Lynton’s Exit 5 Sony questions as its CEO leaves for Snapchat p. 14 Real Estate Big in Bel Air A peek inside a new $250 million home p. 16 Heat Index Eric Shanks What NFL slump? The Fox Sports chief sees a record 48.5 million viewers for the Packers-Cowboys playoff game, a possible preview for the network’s Super Bowl. Thomas Tull The Legendary Entertainment CEO exits amid pressure from Chinese owner Wanda Group and questions about his pricey Pacific Rim sequel. Mike Fleiss The Bachelor producer is riding strong ratings for the current season (a 2.3 rating for the Jan. 16 episode) and scores a Fox pickup for his Love Connection reboot. Ben Affleck Live by Night, the directorstar’s follow-up to Argo, flops in wide release with just $6.1…
Few on the Sony Pictures lot were surprised when CEO Michael Lynton revealed Jan. 13 that he is leaving to serve as chairman of Snapchat’s parent. (After all, the 2014 Sony hack revealed Lynton, 57, was seeking another job.) But his exit comes at a crucial time, especially for its troubled film studio. 1 Who will take over for Lynton? Sony Corp.’s Tokyo-based CEO Kaz Hirai is taking an office for six months on the Culver City lot “to ensure a smooth management transition.” A widely rumored successor is Andrew House, leader of Sony Interactive Entertainment. House, 51, has made PlayStation one of the top gaming consoles and an entertainment hub. His unit previously made an effort to move into original content, and a Sony insider says there is close…
Come on! This is f—ing nuts, right?” asks developer Bruce Makowsky as he stands on a deck with a 280-degree view of L.A., showing THR what has been known quaintly as a “million-dollar view.” Makowsky, who sold Swedish video game billionaire Markus Persson a Beverly Hills mansion for $70 million in 2016, just put the finishing touches on a $250 million spec home in Bel Air. If that listing price is met, it would beat the previous top U.S. luxury home sale — a $147 million East Hampton pad — by more than $100 million. The home offers 12 bedrooms, 21 baths, seven staffers, an 85-foot Italian glass infinity pool and the helicopter from the ’80s TV show Airwolf. “This is what Hollywood is about,” says Makowsky. “Who is not…
The Emmys’ limited series category, by its nature, constantly reinvents itself. But several recent schedule moves — FX’s American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson follow-up, set during Hurricane Katrina, has been pushed a year, and Showtime’s Twin Peaks revival will arrive too late for 2016 consideration — might alter the 2017 and 2018 races. That, coupled with a second season of AMC’s The Night Manager still in the planning stages, gives a potential boost to a slew of HBO minis — The Night Of, Big Little Lies and The Young Pope — and FX stalwarts American Horror Story and Fargo, along with Ryan Murphy’s new anthology Feud. “I never want to be in a situation of feeling like we have to rush something onto our air because we…
Jeffrey Ubben, the activist hedge fund manager, increasingly is turning his attention to Hollywood. He sits on the board of 21st Century Fox — his $11 billion, San Francisco-based ValueAct owns 7 percent of Fox’s voting shares — and in 2015 he bought a 17 percent stake in UTA. Ubben, 55, and producer Russell Levine, 63, also run the boutique film shingle Route One Entertainment, which heads to Sundance with the comedy Landline and Anne Hathaway’s monster pic Colossal. You have kept your involvement in Route One quiet. Why? UBBEN I have a day job running ValueAct. But I’ve been doing more and more in Los Angeles. Frankly, I think content is king. I love characterdriven literature, movies and TV shows. Why did you decide to invest in Fox? UBBEN…
Reality TV is a lot like Russian roulette — many misfires, very few bang-up hits. Now someone is trying to game the odds. The Nonfiction Producers Association released a first-of-its-kind study Jan. 17 ranking where nonscripted producers like to pitch projects — and where they’d rather skip. Big cable groups dominate the list, with History and A&E occupying the top slots overall and among specific rankings based on executive creativity, the development process and production management. The study, the product of feedback from staff at 41 participating production companies, gave low marks to Viacom channels, with CMT pulling up the rear with an unappealing score of 3.4 out of 10. Notes NPA general manager John Ford: “It’s probably no coincidence that networks that buy the largest volume of programming placed,…
