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.
STEPHEN COLBERT IS FREE AT LAST. FREE, that is, to be Stephen Colbert, 51-year-old father of three, husband of 22 years, professional entertainer, soon-to-be signature star of CBS in late-night television — as opposed to Stephen Colbert, dim-bulb host of a faux right wing talk program, persistently, in every act of comedy or on-air conversation, at a distinct remove from his real reality — as it were. Colbert, who may qualify as the most thoughtful and intellectual figure ever to sit behind a late-night desk and crack Donald Trump hair jokes, has made little secret of the relief he feels at this transition. “Now I don’t have to hold back at all,” Colbert told reporters at the summer press tour. “I had to put everything through, like, an occipital CPU…
KEVIN FEIGE The Marvel Studios film guru pulls off a power move, shifting his boss from micromanaging Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter to Disney Studios chief Alan Horn. ZAC EFRON The actor’s DJ drama We Are Your Friends bows to only $1.8 million, the fourthworst wide domestic opening of all time and the lowest for a major-studio release. DAVID HILL AND REGINALD HUDLIN The Academy gives the veteran producers control of the Oscars telecast, with Hudlin becoming only its second black producer. BILL WOLFF The View’s executive producer exits after a year marked by falling ratings, behind-the-scenes drama and yet another overhaul of the ABC show’s panel. SHOWBIZ STOCKS $27.85 (+6.4%) ACTIVISION BLIZZARD (ATVI) The video game company behind the Call of Duty and World of Warcraft franchises is added to…
WITH JURASSIC World crushing the box office, Steven Spielberg has put himself in a powerful spot as he negotiates a distribution deal for DreamWorks before its Disney pact expires next August. Sources say Spielberg’s The BFG, set for release July 1, will be the last under the Disney deal, which began in 2009. The consensus among insiders: Spielberg’s likely future home is Universal, where he has maintained offices even as DreamWorks distributed films through Paramount, then Disney. Spielberg, 68, was a hands-on executive producer on Universal’s Jurassic World and is essential to future dinosaur movies (the next is slated for June 2018) as well as theme park attractions. Sources say Spielberg commanded his rich director’s fee for World — a percentage of profits worth tens of millions — from which…
IT’S A STAT THAT SHOULD make the TV business very nervous heading into the fall season: Half of the 2015-16 rookie class of broadcast shows has had a retooling, recasting or showrunner switcheroo. Why? Summer tinkering with fall shows isn’t uncommon, of course, but dozens of execs and agents contacted by THR say this season is among the worst they recall, and they cite several key reasons for the turmoil. There’s more pressure than ever on new shows to perform quickly in an environment where ratings for the vast majority of series are tiny. In addition, more shows are being picked up straight to series based on presentations rather than scripts (ABC’s The Muppets, The CW’s Legends of Tomorrow, Fox’s Scream Queens). And with nearly 400 scripted originals in production…
ON AUG. 28, FOX Network Group’s senior strategist retired after a 35-year career as one of TV’s top schedulers. Preston Beckman oversaw NBC’s must-see TV and Fox’s American Idol era. On his final day, Beckman, 65, known on Twitter as The Masked Scheduler, shared tales from the trenches. Securing America’s favorite Friend … “When we picked up Friends, Jennifer Aniston was in second position. She was on a CBS comedy, Muddling Through, and they had six episodes of it. We heard that they were putting the show on Saturday nights. I remember [NBC’s] Warren Littlefield turns to me and said, ‘Kill it!’ So I did. The first one or two weeks that it was on, I put original Danielle Steel movies against it. We wanted to make sure they weren’t…
KA-CHING! WHO’S INKING ON THE DOTTED LINE THIS WEEK NEW TATTOO NOVEL (AND FAMILY DRAMA) SPARKS MOVIE BUZZ THERE IS PLENTY of drama and secrecy concerning the longawaited fourth book in the series started by The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo that hits U.S. shelves Sept. 2 — and not just within its pages. The publication of The Girl in the Spider’s Web is the latest chapter in a feud between franchise creator Stieg Larsson’s family and his longtime girlfriend, Eva Gabrielsson. Larsson and Gabrielsson never married, so after he died of a heart attack at age 50 in 2004, just months before Dragon Tattoo’s release, rights to his estate went to his father and brother, in accordance with Swedish law. But Gabrielsson retained Larsson’s laptop, containing the half-finished fourth…
