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 Oct. 11, nine days after Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi went missing, Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel had made up his mind. As news reports implicated the Saudi government in the disappearance and likely murder of the U.S. resident, Emanuel began exploring the company’s options for extricating itself from a $400 million investment made in March by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, overseen by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. The only problem: The deal had funded, and finding an out wouldn’t be simple. Four days later, Emanuel said during a keynote session at the MIPCOM conference in Cannes that he was “monitoring” the situation and the events were “very, very concerning” and “upsetting,” as the deal unwinding continued behind the scenes. Endeavor found its out, and the $400 million,…
Reed Hastings The Netflix CEO beats Wall Street estimates as the streamer tops 137 million members and $4 billion in revenue in the third quarter. Ken Jautz The HLN head axes three shows and overhauls his anchor lineup after conceding the cable network has “not benefited” from a viewer shift to political shows. Megan Colligan The former Paramount marketing and distribution exec lands as the new entertainment chief at Imax, succeeding Greg Foster, who’s exiting at the end of the year. Jeph Loeb In a rare defeat for the Marvel television chief, Netflix pulls the plug on the superhero series Iron Fist after just two seasons. Showbiz Stocks $40.40 (+1%) AMC ENT. (AMC) The theater chain boasts 400,000 subscribers for its MoviePass-like service in 14 weeks after setting a goal…
AMC AMC was the first international theater owner to dive into Saudi Arabia, announcing a deal just hours after the cinema ban lifted and opening the country’s first cinema in more than 35 years in April (and saying it planned for up to 100 sites by 2030). Vue Pan-European theater giant Vue unveiled in February that it had signed a deal for a proposed joint venture with a Saudi conglomerate for “up to 30” multiplexes to be built over the next three years. As yet, no construction has begun. Imax Imax has actually had one screen in Saudi Arabia — in a science park — for years. But at Cannes (in Saudi Arabia’s hospitality tent), CEO Richard Gelfond unveiled a deal for four more, plus an arrangement to develop local…
As Disney’s blockbuster acquisition of 21st Century Fox assets enters the home stretch, one lingering risk to the deal has some industry watchers holding their breath: pending regulatory clearance from China. With President Trump escalating his trade war against China by the week, Beijing has been scrambling to retaliate. Multiple U.S. investors are on edge over the prospect that China could resort to weaponizing its antitrust approval process to stymie the ambitions of America’s corporate giants. By far the most high-profile such deal under review by Chinese market regulators is the $71.3 billion Disney-Fox merger, which has a deadline of Oct. 19. “The talk is that China will consider all available options to respond to Trump’s tariffs, including using Chinese antitrust laws to target deals that are perceived to have…
When Roku priced its stock at $14 in September 2017, few predicted that the streaming TV device maker would quadruple in market value in 12 months. How did the company, led by CEO Anthony Wood, do it? Roku devices have sold well despite competition from the likes of AppleTV, Google Chromecast and Amazon’s Fire TV. It may be a plus that Roku offers everyone’s apps and channels instead of just promoting one company’s offerings. Roku also started seeing revenue from its platform — by licensing its technology to TV set makers and striking ad revenue-sharing deals with companies that license content to the free Roku Channel — become a big growth engine and exceed its player sales. All that has led to growth in users, streaming hours and revenue. Some…
Megan Ellison has a reputation for impulsive decision-making and erratic communication skills. So perhaps it’s not entirely surprising that when her Annapurna Pictures abruptly dropped its star-studded Gretchen Carlson-Roger Ailes movie on Oct. 9 — a few short weeks before it was to go into production — the company didn’t actually inform its own executives. The job fell to key talent on the project, who had learned the news from their representatives. That seems like bad form, especially for a film starring Charlize Theron, Nicole Kidman, Margot Robbie and more. But Annapurna is going through troubled times. Though some insiders say they remain upbeat about Annapurna’s prospects, the company’s operations now are being reviewed by an executive (with experience in business but not in Hollywood) dispatched by Ellison’s father, Oracle…
