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Growing up, the Oscars meant one thing in my family: Chinese food. Initially, my parents used chicken fried rice to lure my sisters and me into watching, mostly in disbelief, as three-hour biopics like Gandhi and Amadeus won all the awards over the truly deserving films like Gremlins and The Goonies (which weren’t even nominated!). Then it became a tradition. We’d open the moo shu pork and root for the stars we liked, howl in disbelief at those mid-’80s Cher outfits and admire how even a rich and famous actor could be brought to tears by the recognition of his peers. As I got older, and my taste caught up with the Academy’s (though I like to think it was vice versa), the Oscars became somewhat of an inspiration. When…
Film Angie’s Choice Jolie is back in the spotlight with Cambodia pic p. 34 Television Judge Judy Payday How a shrewd move could lead to $200 million p. 36 Heat Index Donald Glover The Atlanta creator’s wins for best new series and comedy series at the Writers Guild Awards position the FX show as a frontrunner to end Veep’s streak in the Emmys comedy race. Matt Damon His $150 million The Great Wall topples with an $18.5 million U.S. debut, which followed a disappointing run internationally for the Chinese epic. Keith Cox The TV Land executive will take over Viacom’s rebranded Paramount Network as longtime Spike TV exec Sharon Levy exits. Jack Ma The Chinese mogul’s film unit, Alibaba Pictures, warns investors of a possible $140 million loss due to…
Hollywood and Asian royalty rubbed shoulders Feb. 18 at the Cambodian premiere of Angelina Jolie’s new directorial endeavor, First They Killed My Father. But noticeably absent were Hollywood A-listers, including Netflix’s chief content officer, Ted Sarandos, who, sources say, paid a whopping $25 million for the Khmer-language release, due out this fall. Netflix executive Sarah Bowen stood in for her boss, joining the evening’s hosts, Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni and Queen Mother Norodom Monineath Sihanouk. Jolie’s Cambodian odyssey could mark her last red carpet for a while (certainly funded by Netflix, which paid more than $1 million to fly her entourage into the province of Siem Reap and even granted an executive producer credit to the actress’ 15-year-old son, Maddox Jolie-Pitt). Holding the premiere near the famed Angkor Wat temple…
Judge Judy has moved from the bench to the negotiating table. In addition to churning out new daily episodes of her top-rated court show for CBS TV Distribution, creator/host Judith Sheindlin now is looking to cash in on her reruns. As part of her most recent contract renegotiation, she locked in a cool $47 millionplus a year along with rights to her library, which includes thousands of old episodes. And if all goes as Sheindlin hopes, she’ll soon sell that catalog for as much as $200 million — and in doing so throw cold water on a long-held theory that there’s little to no aftermarket for such syndicated shows. Shopping the library on Sheindlin’s behalf is former Bear Stearns banker Lisbeth R. Barron, who in recent months has approached a…
CASEY AFFLECK, 41 Manchester by the Sea He’ll star in and direct Light of My Life, then shoot David Lowery’s The Old Man and the Gun with Robert Redford. MAHERSHALA ALI, 43 Moonlight Now shooting Robert Rodriguez’s Alita: Battle Angel, he joins Tom Hardy and Channing Tatum in J.C. Chandor’s Triple Frontier. JEFF BRIDGES, 67 Hell or High Water Bridges has three films in 2017: The Kingsman sequel, Joseph Kosinski’s Granite Mountain and Marc Webb’s The Only Living Boy in New York for Netflix. VIOLA DAVIS, 51 Fences She’ll star in Steve McQueen’s Widows, while ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder has been renewed. ANDREW GARFIELD, 33 Hacksaw Ridge He’s got Andy Serkis’ directorial effort Breathe and David Robert Mitchell’s Under the Silver Lake in the can. He’s onstage…
Box-office source: comScore; estimates in $ millions as of Feb. 20; ( )Weekends in release; *Territories. Broadcast source: Nielsen, live-plus-3, week of Feb. 6. Cable TV source: Nielsen, live-plus-3 scripted series, week of Feb. 6. CALL ME BY YOUR NAME (Sony Pictures Classics, TBA) The critical hit of Sundance, director Luca Guadagnino’s erotic tale of gay summer love amid the Italian countryside stars Armie Hammer and Timothee Chalamet (Homeland) in a breakout role. THE CURRENT WAR (The Weinstein Co., TBA) AC or direct electrical current? Benedict Cumberbatch as Thomas Edison and Michael Shannon as George Westinghouse stake out opposing turf in Alfonso Gomez-Rejon’s drama. DOWNSIZING (Paramount, Dec. 22) Having directed three successive best pic nominees, Alexander Payne will go for four with this sci-fi comedy starring Matt Damon and Kristen…
