Innholdsfortegnelse for Aug-28-15 i The Hollywood Reporter

ON THE MORNING OF AUG. 17, A PALL SETTLED over the half-dozen or more Warner Bros. executives gathered for their weekly senior staff meeting in chairman and CEO Kevin Tsujihara’s conference room. After a quarter-century in which the studio often had dominated the box office, with successive regimes that took one victory lap and then another (first Bob Daly and Terry Semel, then Barry Meyer and Alan Horn), even the most cockeyed optimists had to admit things didn’t look great. With two back-to-back summers in which Warners — typically the No. 1 studio in market share — had trailed at No. 3, this weekend seemed especially depressing. It wasn’t just that the big-budget spy caper The Man From U.N.C.L.E. imploded with a $13.4 million domestic opening (hope that it might…

Overwatch (Atria) BY Matthew Betley AGENCIES CAA, Gernert American Sniper has made Iraq War stories hot again. In this novel set for March, two Marines return home with an Iraqi flag taken from a raid on a terrorist compound. The flag turns out to hide the location of a nuclear bomb, which they must find while being chased by mercenaries desperate to get to it first. ‘It Ain’t the Police Who Was Helping Us’ BY Joel Anderson AGENT Joe Veltre (Gersh Straight Outta Compton’s success and Hurricane Katrina’s 10th anniversary should make this July 29 BuzzFeed article, about a lowlevel drug dealer who heroically rescues the storm-stranded residents of a New Orleans public housing complex, a timely pickup.…

“Google me, I’m not hiding.” KRISTEN STEWART The actress, shutting down an interviewer who tried to elicit a clarification about her sexuality amid reports that she is dating a woman. “You may have seen that I recently launched a Snapchat account. I love it. Those messages disappear all by themselves.” HILLARY CLINTON The presidential candidate, at a campaign stop in Iowa, in a nod to accusers who claim she deleted classified emails from a personal account. “As @FATJEW once said, ‘I have a dream.’ ” KUMAIL NANJIANI The Silicon Valley star, one of many comedians to accuse Internet star the Fat Jew (aka Josh Ostrovsky) of joke-stealing after THR reported Ostrovsky signed with CAA and news broke he had a Comedy Central show in development. “I was made to look…

Bob Daly broke bread with Dodgers adviser Ned Colletti at Mr Chow. Also in as of late: Jackie Collins and Tom Hoberman. … Elon Musk ordered at Cooks County. … Guillermo del Toro ordered pancakes at John O’Groats for breakfast with FX’s John Landgraf. … Sylvester Stallone dined at The Palm. … Taylor Swift and Calvin Harris checked out Giorgio Baldi. … Woody Allen and Soon-Yi Previn joined his longtime agent John Burnham of ICM Partners for dinner at Craig’s with Amazon’s Roy Price. … Rihanna popped in to the new MAMO in New York’s SoHo neighborhood. Evangelista, Steven Meisel and Lori Goldstein shared the truffle raviolini on another day. … Jimmy Kimmel Live! exec producer Jill Leiderman ordered at BLD. … CAA’s Jimmy Darmody and Nick Ogiony had Tuscan…

The hit show I don’t really get is … COLLIER … likely not really a hit. Care to share the numbers? HOLLAND Game of Thrones LEFEVRE 19 Kids and Counting HOOGSTRA Big Brother PEDOWITZ The Affair HOWE Two and a Half Men. And it’s colossal! COX I applaud any show that can become a hit today, however I never understood the appeal of Duck Dynasty. The most worrisome or dangerous TV trend is … LANDGRAF So much television that you can’t guide an audience that would love a show because all of the good gets in the way of the great. LEVISON The rise of “cord nevers.” BARNETT Spiraling costs of scripted hours. HOLLAND I think most networks would say it’s Netflix, but I don’t see worrisome or dangerous trends for us. COX The shared…

“What the Fulfillment Fund has is stick-with-it-ness. They keep at it year after year. Change is hard to come by. But if you stay with it, then amazing things can happen.” Rothman “Basic Jewish upbringing.” That’s what made Sony Pictures motion picture group chairman Tom Rothman, 60, a supporter of the Fulfillment Fund. “The Jews believe if you get an education, anything is possible,” he says. The Fund has tackled an institution that needs believers: the Los Angeles Unified School District. With a $6.3 billion annual budget, the district spends roughly $10,000 per year on each of its 655,494 students — but only about two-thirds graduate from high school and only half of those grads go on to college. To help turn those numbers around, the Fulfillment Fund, which has…

The Entertainment Industry Foundation is going big with its new education initiative. Think It Up — EIF’s first major effort since creating Stand Up to Cancer in 2008 — will be featured on a Sept. 11 telecast on ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC and supported by a roster of stars and influencers, including Scarlett Johansson and Stephen Colbert. EIF describes Think It Up as “a first-of-its-kind platform to fund student-powered, teacher-led learning projects” in partnership with crowdfunder Donors Choose. Lisa Paulsen, CEO and president of the EIF, credits the high-profile launch to CAA’s Richard Lovett, Ryan Seacrest, Sherry Lansing, Nick Jonas and “every leader in town,” including heads of programming and specials at the networks. “We want to see fewer disengaged students, more students prepared for college and careers,” she…

COMEDY SERIES Louis C.K. Louie (FX) The 35-time Emmy nominee (35!) and five-time winner earned his sixth directing nomination for season five’s “Sleepover,” in which C.K.’s alter-ego shleps his daughter and her friends to jail so he can post bail for his brother (Robert Kelly), after which the group shares a celebratory frozen yogurt. Armando Iannucci Veep (HBO) The six-time nominee (and now departed showrunner) helmed the C-SPAN-esque episode “Testimony,” which infused congressional testimony with the show’s signature hysterics. Mike Judge Silicon Valley (HBO) The EP-writer-director was behind the camera again for “Sand Hill Shuffle,” the first episode of season two, in which late actor Christopher Evan Welch’s character Peter is eulogized via PowerPoint. Phil Lord and Christopher Miller The Last Man on Earth (Fox) The duo behind Sony’s hit…

THE LAST PICTURE SHOW (1971) We had such a bunch of good actors in that film. [The scene in which] Cloris Leachman [who won the best supporting actress Oscar for her role] throws that coffee pot and yells at Timothy Bottoms — Cloris did it brilliantly. She wanted to rehearse it, and I kept saying, “I don’t want to rehearse it; I want to see it for the first time when we roll.” So I said “Action!” and she was extraordinary. [But] she said, “I can do it better.” I said, “No, you can’t; you just won the Oscar.” Jeff Bridges told me that he [recently] ran into Cloris and that she said: “Oh, I’m so angry at Peter. That was the first take. I could have done it better.”…

F. GARY GRAY After a rocky decade in development, the director’s Straight Outta Compton opens to awards-worthy reviews and a massive $60.2 million weekend, by far the biggest for a musical biopic. MERYL STREEP After a low $6.6 million opening weekend, her Ricki and the Flash fails to improve in week two despite adding screens, bringing its total to just $15.2 million box office. JIMMY FALLON The Tonight Show star scores a big new contract with NBC, keeping late-night’s top-rated host locked in through 2021. EMILE HIRSCH The actor pleads guilty to assault for choking Paramount exec Daniele Bernfeld at a Sundance party and is sentenced to 15 days in jail. SHOWBIZ STOCKS $15.25 (+6.3%) NEWS CORP (NWSA) The publishing company beats quarterly earnings expectations, announces its first cash dividend…

AFTER 18 DAYS AND JUST AS MANY cracks about its duration, summer’s grueling gathering of the Television Critics Association finally wrapped up Aug. 13 in Beverly Hills. Not exactly the most newsworthy iteration of the biannual event, it nonetheless set the tone for the upcoming fall season — one that FX CEO John Landgraf was quick to point out is more bloated with original scripted programming than ever before (his words: “There is simply too much television”). The volume of panels (nearly 200) is commensurate with that spike in original series, so it can be hard to break through all the noise. Still, a handful of shows, executives and talent managed to do just that — by turns both impressive and unfortunate. So before the book is (finally!) closed on…

WITH THE CHINESE CURRENCY suffering its biggest drop in more than 20 years — its valuation had decreased this month by 4.4 percent as of Aug. 15 — Hollywood studios are facing bad news and good news: A struggling Chinese economy could result in lower box-office revenue, but buying into the world’s second biggest market suddenly has become cheaper. “China’s currency change will likely hurt foreign revenue and cash flow generated overseas,” notes the debt ratings agency Fitch, adding that “some beneficiaries [will] gain from cheaper imports.” No major U.S. tentpole has opened in China since the crisis (Terminator: Genisys and Mission: Impossible — Rogue Nation could be test cases). And with the yuan, also known as the renminbi, now worth less against the dollar, this could mean cost-conscious Hollywood…

WHEN SESAME STREET INKED A five-season deal with HBO on Aug. 13, the pact meant more than giving the premium cable network a foothold in the children’s TV space, where Netflix and Amazon already are developing programs. The agreement, which allows the iconic kids’ franchise to deliver nearly twice as much new content per season, as well as a Muppets spinoff, is a lifeline for Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit that produces the show. Audited financial statements reveal that the organization has operated at a loss in recent years ($11 million in fiscal 2014). PBS, which will air the new episodes nine months after they first run on HBO, reportedly pays a license fee that covers about 10 percent of the show’s annual $40 million production cost. Meanwhile, DVD sales, once…

I’M SITTING IN THE RECEPTION AREA OF DONALD TRUMP’S OFFICES ON the 26th floor of Trump Tower in New York when an assistant comes to fetch me: “Mr. Trump would like to see you,” she says, as if I were a contestant on The Apprentice, the NBC reality series that brought the real estate mogul’s bravado and business savvy to 20 million Americans each week at its peak. She leads me to a vast conference room where cameras click as Trump, 69, signs papers with another man. Standing at attention are two of his children, Ivanka, 33, and Erik, 31, and about a dozen others. The scene has the pomp of historical significance one might associate with the Yalta Conference. Except this agreement being signed is for new Trump hotels…

COMEDY DRAMA…

122 People who described their experience as rewarding 44 Claims that their current project is the “favorite” script they’ve read 37 Instances of network notes and the note-giving process described in a positive way 34 Times someone claimed to have “creative freedom” 27 Descriptions of the series’ locale as “a character” in the show 26 Mentions of Donald Trump 25 Claims that Nielsen ratings don’t tell the whole story 23 Jokes about the lack of applause (TCA has a “no clapping” rule) 22 Actors who claimed their cast is like “family” 20 Cracks about the length of the press tour 13 References to the “golden age” of television 7 Ways in which execs proclaimed that their outlet is No. 1 by some metric Stat of the Summer: ‘There’s Too Much…

FANBOYS WEREN’T THE only ones excited about the idea of bicoastal Star Wars-themed lands at Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland. Disney CEO Robert Iger’s Aug. 15 reveal at the D23 convention in Anaheim got Wall Street’s heart racing, too. Even though Disney probably won’t break ground on the new initiatives until 2017, the conglomerate’s stock rose 2 percent on Aug. 17. It was a small reversal of its 9 percent plunge Aug. 5, the day after Disney disclosed its quarterly earnings and investors panicked over the cable TV business, where growth of its ESPN-led media networks has slowed. “Growing theme parks relative to traditional media assets diversifies the company away from the troubled asset,” says Northlake Capital Management’s Steve Birenberg. The operating income for Disney’s parks and resorts grew…

FILM Jurassic World’s Colin Trevorrow (Verve, 3 Arts, Ginsburg Daniels) will direct Star Wars: Episode IX. Martin Scorsese (WME, LBI) will direct and Billy Ray (CAA, Lichter Grossman) will write Paramount’s nonfiction adaptation The Devil in the White City, with Leonardo DiCaprio starring. Warner Bros. is developing The Libertine, a script by newcomer Ben Kopit about the scandal surrounding French economist Dominique Strauss-Kahn, and an animated Scooby-Doo feature. Stephen Daldry (CAA, Ziffren Brittenham) will direct the kids fantasy novel adaptation The Wonderling for Fox 2000. The Big Number 625K Subscribers the U.S. pay TV sector lost in the second fiscal quarter, the biggest quarterly drop ever, reports research firm SNL Kagan. Zach Galifianakis (UTA, Brillstein, Morris Yorn) will voice the Joker in Warner Bros.’ Lego Batman. Rosario Dawson (CAA, Untitled) and…

John Green Promotes ‘Virtual Assistant’ The Fault in Our Stars writer John Green’s first-look producing deal with Fox 2000 and Temple Hill came with a big promotion — for his indispensable assistant Rosianna Halse Rojas, who in the span of two years has gone from Londonbased long-distance assistant to producing partner. Their working relationship was born when Rojas, an early fan of Green’s first book, Looking for Alaska, arranged for the author to attend a Swindon Town soccer match while on a hectic U.K. promo tour in 2013. (Green is a devoted British soccer fan.) Green offered her the job to be done remotely, with Rojas coming on board just before near back-to-back filming of Stars and Paper Towns. When Fox 2000 and Temple Hill approached Green for the deal,…

THEY’LL BE SALUTING LIONEL RICHIE ALL NIGHT long Feb. 13 when the Recording Academy honors the famed singer-songwriter as the 2016 MusiCares Person of the Year. “Lionel is supportive of so many worthwhile causes and is a perfect representation of an honoree we would like to showcase,” says MusiCares vp Dana Tomarken. The 26th annual gala, held in L.A. two nights before the Grammy Awards, benefits MusiCares, which provides financial, medical and personal support for musicians in need. Says Richie, 66, who has won four Grammys and an Oscar and sold 100 million-plus albums, “When you get recognition like this, it’s everything.” To submit, send email to HHH@THR.COM.…

IT’S NOT EVERY DAY THAT A sequel to an Oscar-winning film goes up for auction. But bidders soon will have an opportunity to own a piece of The Fighter 2, which presumably would allow Mark Wahlberg to reprise his role as boxer Micky Ward. In the wake of Relativity Media’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection filing July 30, the spotlight has revolved around debt troubles plaguing Ryan Kavanaugh’s company. But potential buyers — speculation ranges from MGM to investor Ron Burkle — are taking a closer look at what Relativity’s assets and unreleased films, including Masterminds and Kidnap, actually are worth. Bids are due Sept. 25, with the auction set for Oct. 1. According to documents made public in the bankruptcy, Relativity has 27 film projects in development that are up…

ARE WE IN A reality show?” asked NBC’s Chuck Todd on Aug. 16 on Meet the Press. “No. This is not a reality show. This is the real deal,” replied Donald Trump. Trump was dissembling. Of course we are in a reality show. Trump’s answer implied a binary: Either he is a reality TV character or his candidacy is authentic. The choice is false: His candidacy is authentic, and the campaign is structured according to the principles of reality television. Just as in reality TV shows, modern presidential campaigns are a series of ordeals that place candidates under such a spotlight that we can glimpse their true character. So far in Campaign 2016, only Trump’s persona — as the nativist populist with no time for political correctness — has captured…

This summer, the University of Oxford’s Wildlife Conservation Research Unit was close to shutting down its anti-poaching team, part of a $235,000-a-year lions project in Africa. “We are very lean,” says WildCRU director David Macdonald of his overall group of about 60 conservation scientists plus field workers, all funded via financial aid. So after American hunter Walter Palmer shot and killed Cecil, the most famous lion at Zimbabwe’s Hwange National Park, WildCRU had to work overtime to deal with unprecedented attention. A donation drive and its mention on Jimmy Kimmel Live! meant “our website had 4.5 million hits one day and collapsed,” says Macdonald, who founded WildCRU in 1986. “We haven’t seen anything like this before.” The site was fixed, and the donations drive became a roaring success. As of…

“Till It Happens to You,” the haunting theme song composed by Diane Warren and recorded by Lady Gaga for Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering’s campus rape documentary The Hunting Ground, still hasn’t been released as a single, though the film hit theaters in January. But it will be heard in the coming weeks — as college students head back to school — in a powerful video PSA directed by Twilight helmer Catherine Hardwicke to raise awareness of campus sexual assault. Hardwicke, Warren and Gaga (who has spoken about being raped at age 19 by a record producer) all donated their time for the project. “The movement is important,” says Warren. “The song is important — Gaga took it and made it her own.” Adds Hardwicke: “You can’t watch the documentary…

“Two alcoholics talking to each other is a big deal. It helps a lot. I’m a fan of treatment centers. I’ve been to a couple myself — but they’re not a finished product. You have to follow it up with a lot of hard work.” Perry It’s not often in Hollywood that you hear an actor say winning an award is “silly.” But that’s how Matthew Perry describes his recent honor from Phoenix House, a wide-reaching nonprofit drug and alcohol rehabilitation organization. “I’m an award-winning alcoholic, I guess,” he says with laugh, sitting inside Phoenix House’s residential treatment center in Venice and recalling the June 15 gala where he was presented with the 2015 Phoenix Rising Award. “I shouldn’t be getting an award; Phoenix House should be getting an award.”…

$113M ▲ Barry Diller & Diane von Furstenberg NYC’s Hudson River Park $100M David Geffen Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts $75M Mark Zuckerberg & Priscilla Chan San Francisco General Hospital, where the Facebook founder’s wife received medical training $42.5M John Malone Colorado State University $25M Barbara Walters $15M to Sarah Lawrence College, her alma mater; $10M to NY-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center $20M Len Blavatnik Tel Aviv University $10M Steve Tisch Tel Aviv University $9M Ike Perlmutter NYU Langone Medical Center and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology $5M Mark Cuban Indiana University $4.5M Sean Parker U. of California, San Francisco, for malaria research $3.3M James Kennedy (Cox Enterprises chairman) Clemson University $3M Charles Barkley $1M to Morehouse College, $1M to alma mater Auburn University and $1M to the Wounded Warrior…