Innholdsfortegnelse for May 31, 2017 i The Hollywood Reporter

Phil Griffin The MSNBC chief re-ups his contract amid a Trumpfueled streak of record ratings and victories over longtime leader Fox News. Jon Stewart His long-gestating and pricey animation project for HBO is abruptly scrapped, keeping the king of leftleaning comics off TV as Trump reigns. Kelly Kahl (left) and Thom Sherman The veteran CBS execs ascend as president and senior vp, respectively, while entertainment chief Glenn Geller exits after a heart attack. Jay Z The music mogul’s struggling Tidal streaming service loses its third CEO in two years, leaving its future in doubt amid stiff competition. Showbiz Stocks $18.70 (+13%) TIVO (TIVO) The International Trade Commission says some Comcast set-top boxes violate patents held by the DVR pioneer. $23.33 (-5.4%) AMC ENTERTAINMENT (AMC) Shares of the exhibitor suffer as…

British entertainment executives are keeping a stiff upper lip despite the cancellation of two film premieres (The Mummy and Wonder Woman) and Kiss’ last-minute decision to pull out of a concert following the May 22 Manchester bombing that killed 22 people. The Sundance Film Festival: London screening of Miguel Arteta’s Beatriz at Dinner will still kick off its June 1 to 4 run; Radio 1’s Big Weekend festival still happened May 27 and 28 in Hull, with “various extra security measures,” according to the BBC; and two Iron Maiden gigs went ahead in London (with “enhanced security checks”). At the same time, Aerosmith decided not to cancel any European dates, and Ariana Grande announced a return to Manchester for a benefit concert June 4 with Justin Bieber, Katy Perry, Miley…

W ith Memorial Day in the rearview mirror, Malibu’s high season has arrived, a scene defined by lavish oceanfront rentals and cutthroat reservation scenes at Taverna Tony and Nobu. A hot topic at those tables is likely to be a report, heading to Malibu’s City Council on June 12, about parking along Pacific Coast Highway, referred to by many locals as “Blood Alley” for its long history of vehicular tragedy. Two government agencies have taken exception to a draft version of the report that has circulated for months: The California Coastal Commission and the Mountains Recreation & Conservation Authority are decrying the potential loss of 675 parking spaces along the corridor that stretches 21 miles westward from Topanga Canyon. In separate letters sent to the Malibu planning department in March…

LGBTQ L.A. It has been there since 2005, but the Paul Smith boutique on Melrose has evolved in recent years into a social media mecca, beckoning Instagrammers from around the globe to its sprawling pink exterior. “When I knew I was getting a shop in Los Angeles, I realized I had to do something with impact,” says Paul Smith, who was inspired by Mexican architect Luis Barragan, known for his use of bold colors. “It’s now one of the most Instagrammed buildings in California.” Supermodel Karlie Kloss, YouTube star Cameron Dallas and Hailee Steinfeld are among the notable millennials who have posed there. Now THR has an exclusive peek at plans for the first major makeover of the bubble-gum backdrop. In honor of L.A. Pride (June 5 to 11), the…

A Message of Hope and Wonder Women ruled at the Wonder Woman premiere at the Pantages Theatre, where star Gal Gadot (3) and director Patty Jenkins (1) took the stage to debut the first-ever female-helmed superhero tentpole (see page 56). “Empowerment” and “hope” were the buzzwords of the evening, as Jenkins honored victims of the Manchester terror attack, which had prompted Warner Bros. — execs Sue Kroll (5), Kevin Tsujihara (5), Toby Emmerich (5) and Blair Rich (5) were in attendance, among others — to cancel the film’s London premiere. “Our hearts are all there for them,” Jenkins told the crowd. “We want to teach a better way, and to be a hero, and there’s no one like Wonder Woman to do it.” She also honored Justice League director Zack…

Sony TV’s Zack Van Amburg and Jamie Erlicht held court at Mr Chow. On a different day, producer Tucker Tooley was in and Fox Networks’ Peter Rice stopped by. Florence Sloan sat with Nicole Avant, Lyn Lear and Anjelica Huston. … Marg Helgenberger was at Freds Beverly Hills. … Jay Z popped by Jon & Vinny’s for dinner. … Mike Medavoy lunched at La Scala Beverly Hills. … Alexander Skarsgard was at Luchini Pizzeria. … Nicole Scherzinger, Sarah Hyland, Abigail Breslin and Colt Prattes had a Dirty Dancing reboot reunion at TAO L.A. … Bryan Lourd dined with Brian Grazer at The Palm. Bone Kettle The Quick Pitch Indonesian-born chef Erwin Tjahyadi takes ownership of the local bone broth trend in this minimalist Old Town Pasadena dining room. His flavorful…

SPECIAL FEATURE 10/4 On October 4th, The Hollywood Reporter will pay tribute to the American Film Institute on its 50th anniversary with an expanded special issue. In 1967, the American Film Institute was created in the White House Rose Garden to establish and preserve the art of film in America. The AFI preserves the heritage of motion picture as it honors the artists and their work as well as to educate the next generation of storytellers. Over decades the AFI has evolved to be the home of the world class AFI Conservatory where notable industry alumni teach. The AFI hosts many programs and events that celebrate film and television, including the revered and prestigious AFI Life Achievement Award, AFI Docs program, the hugely successful AFI Film Fest and the AFI…

FIRST LOOK With the opening of Waldorf Astoria Beverly Hills, Los Angeles’ century-old love affair with art deco — a style that animates much of the city’s landscape — is being rekindled at the corner of Wilshire and Santa Monica boulevards with five-star flair. “I don’t think that we have a hotel in Los Angeles that can compare to this one from a luxury standpoint,” owner Beny Alagem tells The Hollywood Reporter, which was granted an exclusive look at the property before its doors open to the public. As workers buzz about the 12-story hotel 10 days ahead of its June 1 debut, buffing floors and unpacking furniture for the brand’s first-ever new build on the West Coast, Alagem sits in a leather booth in the main restaurant, calmly surveying…

Serious questions about mislabeled sushi were widely reported in January after a study published in the journal Conservation Biology concluded that nearly half of the fish served at prominent Los Angeles sushi restaurants did not match the species on the menu. That study got people talking, but the one thing it didn’t do was name names. Now, relying on the same protocol methods and an independent lab, The Hollywood Reporter has replicated that testing, using samples purchased from eight prominent sushi restaurants in L.A.: Asanebo, Hamasaku, Hide Sushi, Jinpachi, Katsuya, Kiriko, Sugarfish and Sushi Sushi. The results, plainly stated, are shocking: Roughly 60 percent of the fish tested did not match what was purported on the menu, and not a single restaurant achieved a perfect score. After consulting with biologists,…

The official winners were unveiled May 28, but THR critics held their own vote. Drumroll, please PALME D’THR First Place The Square Ruben Ostlund’s madly ambitious, savagely funny satire starring Claes Bang and Elisabeth Moss tackles Swedish art, commerce, politics and national identity with queasy wit. GRAND PRIZE Second Place Good Time Robert Pattinson stars as a Queens criminal on a nocturnal odyssey to break his brother out of police custody in Josh and Benny Safdie’s richly textured thriller with a heart. JURY PRIZE Third Place 120 Beats Per Minute Writer-director Robin Campillo delves into his past as a member of AIDS activist group ACT UP in 1990s Paris in this flawed but deeply moving drama of politics and passion. BEST DIRECTOR Ruben Ostlund, The Square Ostlund enriches each scene…

Alow-profile Hollywood account manager is being thrust into the glare of Johnny Depp’s high-stakes legal battles as either a virtuous whistleblower or a disgruntled liar. A judge overseeing Depp’s litigation with his former business managers ruled May 26 that her testimony must be made public as the two sides now seek to validate or discredit her in advance of an anticipated trial in 2018. Janine Rayburn, a former employee of The Management Group, initially was called to testify as part of the Pirates of the Caribbean actor’s lawsuit against the firm and principals Joel and Robert Mandel. Rayburn, who was Depp’s day-to-day account manager, has alleged the star wasn’t filled in on the state of his finances. TMG asked the court to keep Rayburn’s testimony under seal, alleging perjury and…

When I was a kid, my mom was determined to make me a “reader.” By age 8, I was reading multiple children’s books a week. An author named Matt Christopher was my favorite — he wrote children’s sports books with great titles like The Kid Who Only Hit Homers. I positively inhaled them. To this day, I can speed-read an adult novel in just hours. … I retain very little, and it means I have to bring multiple hardcovers on a long plane ride, but reading has always fed me. Ever since I was young. And if reading fed me, television was my dessert. As I got older, my parents began to let me watch two hours of primetime television a week (we weren’t Amish, please don’t get the wrong…

“I got paid, pretty much, more than any guy that’s been on that show.” KATY PERRY The singer, on her fee — a reported $25 million — for judging the first season of ABC’s American Idol reboot. “It is a brand that maybe relied on a positive critical reaction more than we recognized.” MEGAN COLLIGAN The Paramount president of worldwide marketing and distribution, conceding that bad reviews hurt Baywatch, which grossed only $23 million during the Memorial Day weekend. “I won’t lie, chardonnay helped a little, too.” HILLARY CLINTON The former presidential candidate, giving a commencement address at her alma mater, Wellesley College, describing how she recovered from losing the 2016 election. “I guess you can say she tapped me. She tapped this.” ZAC EFRON The Baywatch star, joking with…

Weddings ICM Partners’ Kevin Hussey married Allegra Salke, an account manager at the brandbuilding firm The A List, on May 20 at the Four Seasons Biltmore in Santa Barbara. The ceremony was officiated by Bert Salke, president of Fox 21 Television Studios and the bride’s brother. Birthdays JUNE 1 Morgan Freeman, 80 Amy Schumer, 36 JUNE 2 Lasse Hallstrom, 71 Zachary Quinto, 40 JUNE 3 Anderson Cooper, 50 JUNE 4 Angelina Jolie, 42 JUNE 6 Paul Giamatti, 50 THR reporter Ashley Cullins married Ross Martin, an assistant at Skybound Entertainment, on March 25 at St. Michael’s church in Chicago. The couple, who became engaged in March 2016, will honeymoon in Europe. Births Horrible Bosses actress Lindsay Sloane and her husband, ICM Partners’ Dar Rollins, welcomed daughter Pippa Jean Rollins on…

A s the Waldorf Astoria prepares to open its doors June 1, it joins the limited ranks of Los Angeles hotels angling for a piece of the lucrative press junket pie — with Four Seasons Hotel Los Angeles at Beverly Hills leading, by a wide margin, a pack that includes The London West Hollywood and Montage Beverly Hills. Industry insiders have long relied on the all-day, jam-packed affair that is the press junket, supported by major studios’ marketing budgets and almost reflexively used to promote nearly every release. Post-screening Q&As and back-to-back-to-back interviews with online and TV outlets, from Armed Forces Network to Access Hollywood, process a movie’s star wattage as efficiently as a factory, with many hands on deck, from the “talent, who come with their publicists, studio executives…

Dancing With the Stars’ Tom Bergeron has nine noms, zero wins. Hollywood Game Night’s Jane Lynch took the title in 2014 and 2015. Match Game host Alec Baldwin already has heat for his SNL gig. Tim Gunn (and Heidi Klum) are the only duo to regularly squeak in. Can a RuPaul coup be repeated? The 2016 winner soon will find out. The most eligible Steve Harvey has too many shows to mention. Another manabout- tube, Chris Hardwick, is eligible for NBC’s The Wall.…

As the 70th Cannes Film Festival limped to its end May 28 — by critical consensus, one of the weakest in years (see page 86) — no one film proved a guaranteed awards contender like Luca Guadagnino’s Call Me by Your Name at Sundance. This year’s Cannes prize winners actually may have less Oscar potential than some of the competition entries that the jury ignored. Swedish director Ruben Ostlund’s The Square, which Magnolia Pictures has in the U.S., was crowned with the Palme d’Or. But the 142-minute comedy about a liberal museum director (Claes Bang) who runs afoul of racial and social prejudice, which most critics complained was about 20 minutes too long, may have its best Oscar shot as a foreign-language submission. (Ostlund’s Force Majeure made the foreign-film shortlist…

Think Clint Eastwood and ISIS have nothing in common? Think again. Footage from Eastwood’s Flags of Our Fathers (2006) has found its way into the 22-minute propaganda short Healing of the Believers’ Chests, created by the terror group. And a shot mimicking the 86-year-old director and well-known Republican’s American Sniper (2014) appears in another ISIS video, Shoot to Redeem Yourself 2, which re-creates Sniper’s slow-motion image of a bullet fired from a rifle. Both exemplify the increased use of Hollywood footage in videos made by ISIS, which is “deliberately and strategically using these references,” says Lara Pham, deputy director of the Counter Extremism Project, an organization (co-founded by former Sen. Joseph Lieberman, former Homeland Security Advisor Frances Townsend and other foreign-policy experts) that has analyzed 1,275 films made by ISIS…

A WEAK CANNES ADDS PRESSURE ON FALL FESTS TO DELIVER Deal of the Week This year’s Cannes Film Festival (which concluded its twoweek run May 28) offered few opportunities for the host of new buyers on hand to pick up finished films, ready for release. That could mean price inflation for the top indie product available at the leading fall film festivals: Toronto, Telluride and Venice. And since none of the movies that screened with distribution in place immediately appeared to be awards juggernauts, that also puts pressure on the fall fest circuit to deliver winners. Despite the number of A-listers (Nicole Kidman, Jessica Chastain, Isabelle Huppert) who walked the Croisette, lending their sheen to Cannes’ 70th anniversary celebration, by general consensus both the festival and the market were low-key…

Party Crawler Fundraising Finale Two days after the starstudded Cannes Film Festival’s 70th anniversary celebration May 23 — which featured a retrospective presentation at the Palais that included speeches by Isabelle Huppert (5) and Guillermo del Toro — Harvey Weinstein (3) and Bold Films’ Vincent Roberti, along with Nicole Kidman (1), Diane Kruger (6), Jessica Chastain (2) and Dustin Hoffman (1), hosted the annual amfAR gala, which was at the glitzy Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc for the 10th year. The hotel’s grand tent was transformed into an art deco jazz club, complete with a big band. The fete brought out amfAR staple Leonardo DiCaprio and fest jurors Will Smith (2) and Uma Thurman (2), who declared her jury duty “very intense, very serious.” Kidman and Hoffman opened the evening with jokes,…

Of the top 50 biggest films from the last 15 years, 12 have been animated — nearly a quarter — including billion-dollar blockbusters Frozen, Minions and Toy Story 3. But despite the lack of such hefty budget items as actor profit participation deals and far-flung physical production, CGI cartoon features come with their own steep production price tags. Even at Illumination Entertainment, the Comcast/ NBCUniversal studio behind the Minions movies, boss Chris Meledandri is known for keeping animation costs in check. The studio’s latest release, Sing, cost $75 million to produce at the company’s Paris-based facility, Illumination Mac Guff. Still, that total is a lot less than for recent pictures produced by DreamWorks Animation (acquired by Comcast/ NBCUniversal in 2016): Hit films Trolls and The Boss Baby each had reported…

Patty Jenkins is sipping some sort of healthy soup-like sludge at a restaurant in Burbank called Olive & Thyme. Dressed in black jeans and a white tank top, with a pair of aviator sunglasses perched on her forehead to keep her straight black hair from falling into her brown eyes, she looks like a grad student taking a break between classes. You’d never guess that this petite woman drinking green gunk is actually the most important female film director in the business today. She doesn’t think so, of course. “I can’t take on the history of 50 percent of the population just because I’m a woman,” says Jenkins, bristling when asked about the heavy responsibility of directing Wonder Woman, the most expensive film ever shot by a person with two…

Two decades ago, the places that served raw fish were staid or sakebomb bonanzas. Then came genre-bending Sushi Roku on Third Street near the Beverly Center. On their 20th anniversary, founders Lee Maen and Philip Cummins discuss how they sexed up sushi. MAEN We had a club called The Gem on Melrose, and we didn’t want to be in that business forever. It wasn’t healthy. CUMMINS Back then, there were three kinds of sushi places in L.A.: mom-and-pop strip mall, party places where you’d get hammered and Matsuhisa, which was amazing but pricey. MAEN Our idea was to mix the food from Matsuhisa, its fusion and its quality, with a place that was cool and featured a full liquor license. CUMMINS Also, we wanted to bring the cost of a…