Innholdsfortegnelse for September 27, 2017 Double Issue i The Hollywood Reporter

The tragic death of a Mexican location scout on the hit Netflix show Narcos has led to soul-searching in the scout community, even as questions remain about the circumstances of the shooting. Carlos Munoz Portal, 37, likely was a victim of a random act of violence, according to a production source on Narcos apprised of the ongoing local investigation. “The show has never received a threat from any narco-traffickers in four years, and that includes currently,” says the insider. The scout was found in his car Sept. 11 on a remote stretch of road near Temascalapa, about 40 miles northeast of Mexico City. According to local reports, his body and car were riddled with bullets. The area is one of Mexico’s most dangerous, with cartels and criminal gangs vying for…

I have never been prouder to be a part of the athletic community than I was on Sept. 24 as players and owners in football, basketball and baseball displayed public unity in their resistance to racist, anti-veteran and anti-American statements by President Trump. Talk show hosts and entertainers from Stevie Wonder to Eddie Vedder to Samuel L. Jackson added support. This marks a decided shift in their resistance to the administration’s assault on American values and constitutional civil liberties, from quiet protest and heckling sarcasm to respected leaders informing the public what’s at stake. What makes this uprising of moral indignation and political zeal so significant is that those speaking out do so with the full realization that they have something to lose. Players risk their entire futures, jobs as…

If the creation of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences’ museum were itself a movie, then the long-running saga could be said to, finally, be entering its climactic third act as it heads for a planned opening in the middle of 2019. At the $388 million museum’s site on Wilshire Boulevard and Fairfax Avenue, the old May Company building has been hollowed out and seismically retrofitted while, beside it, the Renzo Piano-designed sphere that will house a 1,000-seat theater is taking shape. Right now, mid-construction, comparisons to the Star Wars Death Star are inescapable, though when complete, it’s meant to take on a less threatening profile. And, as work continues on what is officially to be called the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures, on Sept. 27 AMPAS is…

In the ongoing battle for the soul of Los Angeles, a growing coalition of the city’s most prominent homeowners are taking the side of tradition. In April, the Beverly Hills City Council granted Taylor Swift landmark status for the Samuel Goldwyn mansion, built for the film pioneer during the 1930s and purchased by the pop star two years ago. In June, Angelina Jolie bought Cecil B. DeMille’s Los Feliz estate for $24.5 million, with plans for an extensive renovation that honors its Golden Age glory (DeMille lived there from 1916 until his death in 1959). Ditto for The Voice’s Adam Levine, who in August bought an $18 million French Regency-style home by architect Caspar Ehmcke in Holmby Hills and has plans for a historically faithful redo. Meanwhile, Tom Ford is…

TAX TIPS FOR INDUSTRY EARNERS 1 Claim your Rolls-Royce as farm equipment “You can get a 50 percent deduction on a Rolls-Royce,” says business manager Evan Bell. “We consider a Bentley and Rolls farm equipment, and the government supports us.” 2 Rent out your Malibu beach house “I’m a big fan of 280A(G), which allows for the rental of one’s home for up to 14 days per year without needing to recognize the income,” says manager Steves Rodriguez. 3 Move to Nevada (or another tax-free state) “I have no idea why anyone would want to live in a state as tax-aggressive as California or New York,” says manager David Weise. “Unfortunately, I have to live here.” 4 Give your stuff away “Lots of clients make noncash donations, but they don’t…

On Oct. 3, the annual Global Gaming Expo (G2E) rolls into Las Vegas. With celebrity cameos, zombie cosplayers, set props from hit entertainment properties such as Game of Thrones and about 30,000 attendees, one would be forgiven for mistaking it for a fanboy convention — but this con is all about casino gaming machines. In 2016, Tim McGraw descended from the ceiling to sing about his new slot machine. This year’s big draw? The unveiling of Madonna’s game. Living up to her name, the Material Girl signed a licensing agreement (projected to be worth more than $10 million, according to an industry expert) with casino gaming manufacturer Aristocrat Technologies for slots inspired by her hits (although she won’t be descending from any ceilings, or likely appearing at all, at G2E). Ever since a Wheel of…

By the time Will & Grace ended in 2006, I found it nearly unwatchable. A show that was boundary-pushing and fresh when it premiered had slipped into lazy comic rhythms. Its characters had become calcified, and its procession of guest stars had turned into a transparent attempt to stave off stagnation. Happily, in the new Will & Grace, creators Max Mutchnick and David Kohan do several things surprisingly and satisfyingly right. It doesn’t start smoothly. Eleven years later, nothing seems meaningfully changed: Will (Eric McCormack) is still lawyering, and Grace (Debra Messing), while settling her divorce, is living with him. Across the hall, Jack (Sean Hayes) is still struggling to make it as an actor, while Karen (Megan Mullally) remains independently wealthy but is ostensibly employed as Grace’s assistant. The…

In Spitalfields … THE MAYOR OF SCAREDY CAT TOWN Inside a retro fridge at the hipster-friendly Breakfast Club are the stairs to this dimly lit basement speakeasy. (Yes, you enter via the fridge.) Remember to ask for “The Mayor.” 12-16 Artillery Lane In Soho … THE VAULT The ground floor may offer whiskey and whiskey only, but if you’ve got another spirit in mind, a hidden door in a bookcase leads down to a quiet cocktail hideaway in one of London’s busiest areas. 3 Greek St. In Chinatown … EXPERIMENTAL COCKTAIL CLUB A dark, unmarked door on a street covered top to bottom with illuminated Chinese restaurant signs opens the way to three floors of sophisticated cocktail bliss. Look out for the bouncer as a marker. 13A Gerrard St. In…

As far as The Hollywood Reporter was concerned, 1990’s Flatliners was dead on arrival. The Joel Schumacher film’s title comes from ER slang for someone whose absence of vital signs produces a straight line on the EKG — i.e., they’re a goner. In the movie, a group of medical students (Kiefer Sutherland, then 23; William Baldwin, 27; Kevin Bacon, 32; Oliver Platt, 30; and Julia Roberts, 22, who’d just had a massive hit with Pretty Woman) perform experiments where they stop one another’s hearts, rendering themselves technically dead. After being resuscitated, they have memories of the experience. Schumacher once explained the film this way: “The movie’s about atonement and sins from the past.” THR, however, was unmoved. “If you hooked this script up to a dramatic life indicator, it would…

Want teenagers to put down their gadgets? Give them R-rated horror. Teens are a big part of why New Line and Warner Bros.’ $30 million film adaptation of Stephen King’s It has become a box-office smash despite the restrictive rating (no one under the age of 17 can watch in theaters unless they are with a parent or guardian). In three weeks, It has amassed $477 million worldwide, including $266 million domestically. During It’s opening weekend, 15 percent of ticket buyers were between the ages of 13 and 17, according to comScore. The second weekend, that stat jumped to 21 percent, by far the biggest growth spurt of any demo and an almost unheard-of share for any new movie. All told, a stunning 77 percent of It’s initial audience was…

Guest Column My cousin Daniela is studying to be a veterinarian. Her parents’ home in the hills of Vega Alta, Puerto Rico, is like a tiny animal sanctuary — two goats, some cats, several bunnies and birds, nine dogs (!) and a couple of horses. Her older sister Camila has been studying for the MCAT exam — she wants to be a doctor. Across the street is my Aunt Yamilla’s home, formerly the home of my grandparents, where my sister and I spent every summer as children. I remember when my grandfather Guisin was building it — at last, moving up to the peaceful hills after a life in town. There’s no shortage of stories about the devastation experienced in my beloved Puerto Rico recently. From the children still searching…

Strange Pen Pals: Stephen King and the Duffer Brothers Although the Duffer brothers won’t say who reached out first, Matt and Ross — the brains behind Netflix’s phenomenon Stranger Things, which returns for a second season Oct. 27 — tell THR that they’ve become email buddies with Stephen King, a major inspiration. “It still blows my mind because growing up he was like a god to us,” says Ross, 33. “So it’s been surreal just communicating with him at all.” He adds that he and twin Matt put their heads together when composing a reply. “We spend a lot of time and make sure the grammar is right. We ran the first email by our writers just to make sure it was good.” Adds Matt: “He probably writes his email…

Movie Star TOP DOLLAR Even in these belt-tightening times, it’s still possible for film stars to get paid like it’s 1999. A-listers hover around $20 million a picture — like Jennifer Lawrence for Red Sparrow, Will Smith for Netflix’s Bright and Dwayne Johnson for Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle — and can take home tens of millions more in backend. The $15 million club is slightly less exclusive but by no means crowded: Harrison Ford reportedly made that much for The Force Awakens as did Robert Downey Jr. for Spider-Man: Homecoming. MIDDLE DOLLAR Gone are the upfront paydays for even reliable draws. Emma Watson got just $3 million up front for Beauty and the Beast (but ended up pocketing nearly $20 million thanks to her backend). Jessica Chastain got $700,000…

Paranoia is rife in America. Is the president an agent of a foreign power? Is the economy due for imminent collapse? In this climate, Bruce Wiseman, the Church of Scientology’s longtime go-to celebrity money manager whose firm’s clients have included everyone from Jenna Elfman and Kirstie Alley to Beck and Lisa Marie Presley, is stepping out with urgent advice: Take your money offshore. Nominally out of the game (the state of California told Wiseman to stop advising clients in 2011, but he says he had quit years earlier), he now is preaching his peculiar prosperity gospel under a pen name in books and a newsletter. Get him going, as THR did over lunch at Musso & Frank, and he’ll explain why it’s time to airlift your assets, citing a quadrillion-dollar…

President Donald Trump has yet to announce a definitive tax reform plan, and world leaders fear the threat of a nuclear attack is the greatest it has been since the Cold War. So THR asked each of its Power Business Managers to answer, honestly and anonymously, whether the change in administration is affecting how their entertainment industry clients are managing their money. More than half said yes, while others say the stars and behindthe- scenes players they rep have adopted an attitude of “this too shall pass.” Notes one manager, “I don’t think anybody has really changed their portfolios because of it, but I think people are being much more aware and skeptical of how quickly and badly things can change.” Some worry about missing the upside of the bull…

The first few episodes of Star Trek: Discovery, which premiered Sept. 24 (the first hour on CBS, the second on CBS All Access), establish one thing: Sonequa Martin-Green is a star. The actress never stood out for me on AMC’s The Walking Dead, but she looks to have the intelligence and presence a good Star Trek series needs at its heart. But should Discovery have done more than that? The show comes with a lot of pressure: It has to calm fans freaking out after Bryan Fuller’s departure as showrunner and months of delays; it has to woo the Star Trek ambivalent, since no franchise should survive on diehards alone; and the first episode had to hook audiences so they’d follow the show to subscription streaming platform CBS All Access.…

Busan Int’l Film Festival South Korea’s Busan International Film Festival is set to open its 22nd edition with one of its starriest lineups of international guests to date, from Oliver Stone heading the main competition jury to Jennifer Lawrence attending the gala presentation of mother! But for the second consecutive year, South Korea’s most acclaimed filmmakers will be conspicuously absent, as the 300-plus members of the Directors Guild of Korea, led by Okja director Bong Joon Ho, are boycotting BIFF, along with two other major industry associations. The hollowed-out industry attendance is indicative of even greater challenges ahead for Busan, as the fest’s chairman and director have both announced plans to resign after this year’s edition. What exactly happened to Asia’s largest and most prestigious film festival? The trouble dates…

Guest Column While Peak TV has been great for fans, it has been a double-edged sword for the people who create it. More shows mean more work. But as we’ve seen too often in recent months, physically producing television (and film) can be a dangerous job. On Sept. 21, after reportedly working a 16-hour day, K.J. Apa, a young actor on The CW’s Riverdale, fell asleep at the wheel and crashed his car. Thankfully, he wasn’t hurt. But his near-death experience shines a light on the long hours of production. Sadly, this has been a serious issue for decades with little done to address it. Nothing is more important than the safety of the actors and crew. And yet the pressures on production can put that safety in jeopardy. This…

RÉSUMÉ CURRENT TITLE President, Fox Business Network PREVIOUS JOB Executive vp, FBN BIG HIT 13.5 million people watched the first debate aired by the net in the 2016 GOP primary. Brian Jones, who has been the president of Fox Business Network since May following the exit of Roger Ailes deputy Bill Shine, didn’t take the usual route to the top. He dropped out of the University of Oklahoma to work so he could send money to his single mother and younger brother in East Baltimore. His first job was at KTLU in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and he came up through local news before joining Fox News in 1995 in the business development unit. When FBN launched 10 years ago, it was easily dismissed as an also-ran to market leader CNBC. But…

Daytime Photocall All clothes are Waititi’s. The director, who was photographed Sept. 17 at The Hollywood Roosevelt hotel, found this Chinese-design vest at a yard sale. “I was like, ‘I have to have this.’ It has this amazing pattern on the back.” The sweatshirt underneath is from Uniqlo. T-shirt by Barneys New York. Jeans by Ksubi. Nike shoes. Business Meeting Even for a studio sit-down, Waititi says he focuses on what he prefers to wear. He likes this jacket because “it reminds me of a jacket that Paul Newman wore in The Hustler. It’s a kind of ’50s look.” Shirt by APC. Jacket by Saks Fifth Avenue. Pants by Steve Allen. Shoes by Topman. Taika Waititi is a fashion superhero. The proof: When the New Zealand native and director of…

By all objective measures, The Terminator represents the most feared cautionary tale of modern Hollywood: a broken franchise. Thirtythree years after Arnold Schwarzenegger became an international star playing a killer robot sent from the future to kill the mother of the leader of a postapocalyptic rebellion, there have been four sequels (and one TV series), and the three films without the involvement of creator James Cameron have turned off fans and led the property to bounce from studio to studio and reboot to reboot. Terminator: Genisys, a 2015 installment made by financier David Ellison’s Skydance Media (Ellison bought rights from his sister, Megan Ellison, who acquired them in a 2011 auction for $20 million), seemingly, uh, terminated the prospect of future films. But this is Hollywood 2017, and no major…

Remember the glory days of TV and movie bonuses? Like 1995, when NBC gave each of the Friends Porsche 911s? And 1999, when Will & Grace actors all got Porsche Boxters? Turns out the good old days never really went away — it’s just the cars that have changed. According to sources, Warner Bros. purchased trendy Tesla electric vehicles for both Gal Gadot and Patty Jenkins after Wonder Woman shattered box-office records, and another for The Conjuring director James Wan, who is shooting Aquaman for the studio, while Lionsgate gave one to Jenji Kohan in 2013 after Orange Is the New Black became an overnight phenomenon. Of course, Teslas aren’t the only extravagant thank-you gifts networks and studios are gifting to their top talent. Sometimes they offer sentimental props: Universal…

In March 1960, an elegant if somewhat fragile actress in her mid-40s boarded a PanAm flight from London to New York. Dressed in a form-fitting suit, her face masked by an overlarge pair of sunglasses as if she hoped they might afford her a modicum of privacy, she slipped into her firstclass seat and readied herself for the hours-long journey. Under normal circumstances, she would have relished the trip. She was about to go on tour with a bona fide hit, her first in several years, a production of the Jean Giraudoux melodrama Duel of Angels. She had performed the play to great acclaim in London’s West End and now was taking it to Broadway, where she would go face-to-face onstage with Mary Ure, one of the most gifted actresses…

BFI London Film Festival BFI London Film Festival Oct. 4-15 Odeon Leicester Square In 1967, the Sexual Offences Act came into force in England, partially decriminalizing homosexuality and proving to be a turning point in LGBT history. Fifty years later, the BFI London Film Festival is helping to mark the law’s 50th anniversary with a bumper selection of LGBT titles in its lineup, with many of those films being given the glittering red carpet treatment. “It’s a profoundly strong year for LGBT cinema,” says festival director Clare Stewart. “And we are starting to see that emerge in more cultures and also in more mainstream films.” Luca Guadagnino’s story of sexual awakening, Call Me by Your Name, will have a gala screening in London, while Sebastian Lelio’s trans tale, A Fantastic Woman…

SARAH SHAHI The Fairly Legal and Person of Interest actress, 37, got her start cheering during the 1999-2000 season. JILL MARIE JONES The Girlfriends star, 42, most recently of Ash vs Evil Dead, cheered for the Cowboys and NBA’s Dallas Mavericks. BONNIE-JILL LAFLIN The Basketball Wives castmember and actress, 41, spent time with the Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers.…