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.
On July 27, Richard Plepler’s worst corporate nightmare unfolded. The HBO CEO learned that his company’s network had been breached by an apparently coordinated cyberattack that experts explained could expose a staggering 1.5 terabytes of data. That would be roughly seven times the size of the epic 2014 hack of Sony Pictures. The attack was sophisticated, insiders tell THR, targeting specific content and data housed in different locations, suggesting multiple points of entry. Even more chilling, there was no ransom demand, say sources, leaving the motive in question and raising the specter that video footage, internal documents or even email correspondence could be leaked. Two days later, HBO sent an alarming email on a Saturday to its 2,500-plus employees, notifying them that the company had been hit, and a day…
Film Sour Grapes How studios are fighting Rotten Tomatoes p. 10 Deals Fixer Upper ‘Tough times’ ahead for Discovery-Scripps p. 14 Casey Wasserman The L.A. sports exec lands the 2028 Olympics for the city, though his original goal, the 2024 Games, goes to Paris. Alexander Ljung The SoundCloud CEO seeks a cash infusion as the beleaguered Berlin-based music streaming service struggles to monetize its 175 million users. Quincy Jones The music legend wins $9.4M in a jury trial over royalties for his contributions to many of Michael Jackson’s hit songs. David Benioff & D.B. Weiss The Game of Thrones showrunners put HBO on the defensive with a plan for Confederate, a modern slavery drama, as Amazon steals thunder with the reparationsthemed Black America. Showbiz Stocks $391.91 (+12.6%) CHARTER (CHTR) SoftBank…
When Will Packer set a meeting the weekend of July 23 with OWN staff to kick off his new producing deal at the network, Oprah Winfrey was sure to be there in person. The CEO’s presence emphasized the importance of the channel’s relationship with the red-hot Girls Trip producer as it navigates an ultracompetitive market for A-list black talent. Earlier in July, writer-director-producer Tyler Perry, whose partnership with OWN since 2012 had helped the network find stability during its rocky infancy, announced a massive overall deal at rival Viacom under which he will produce 90 episodes of TV annually for BET and other Viacom cable networks and work with the Paramount movie studio. Since then, OWN has unveiled several new collaborations, among them the Packer deal, which will see him…
When former Paramount Pictures president Adam Goodman made the splashy announcement last fall that he was selling his production company Dichotomy Creative Group to Chinese film studio Le Vision Entertainment, he said: “We’re not launching a company that is funded by a Chinese business, but a Chinese movie studio right here in Los Angeles.” The timing of Goodman’s deal wasn’t great, arriving as it did just before Matt Damon’s The Great Wall — co-produced by Le Vision, Legendary East and Universal — flopped spectacularly, and the Chinese studio’s parent company, LeEco, began to slowly implode. Founded in 2004 by Chinese entrepreneur Jia Yueting, LeEco began as a streaming video service that was once dubbed the “Netflix of China.” Having burnt through billions, Jia has since seen Chinese courts seize shares…
The Emoji Movie’s $24.5 million domestic opening during the July 28 to 30 weekend accomplished what no other movie has been able to do during a tough summer season at the box office — survive an abysmal Rotten Tomatoes score (7 percent) and open in line with prerelease tracking. One weapon? Sony wouldn’t let reviews post until midday on July 27, hours before the pic began playing in previews ahead of rolling out everywhere. Sony, like every studio, is looking for its own basket of rotten eggs to throw at review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes in hopes of combating a bad “Tomatometer” score. That means screening some titles later and later for critics. “What other wide release with a score under 8 percent has opened north of $20 million? I don’t…
Remember when 3D was Hollywood’s savior? In 2010, 21 percent of box-office revenue in North America ($10.6 billion) came from 3D ticket sales. Fast-forward to 2016, and 3D’s share of revenue was just 14 percent. So it was not a surprise when Imax announced July 26 that it would be reducing its 3D slate in the domestic market, citing a “clear preference” for 2D. While the format remains popular overseas — globally, 56 percent of all digital screens are 3D, compared to 39 percent in the U.S. and Canada — ComScore senior media analyst Paul Dergarabedian says much of the blame for 3D’s decline in the states falls on Hollywood, thanks to too many shoddy conversions to 3D. “You had many movies that were not originally conceived or shot in…
