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Since an indie film wave began almost two decades ago, specialty titles like Birdman and The Artist have often relegated major studio movies to the awards sidelines. Along the way, Oscar telecast ratings have plummeted, with viewership hitting an all-time low in February when Guillermo del Toro’s art house fantasy The Shape of Water won the top prize. But this year is looking very different. A pack of commercial hits from the Hollywood majors is holding its own in the awards conversation, and it’s happening as the overall 2018 box office heads for record levels. (That is, unless Netflix makes history and Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma becomes the first best picture in history to have zero reported grosses.) “This year has seen a preponderance of films that have landed critical acclaim…
Ava DuVernay The filmmaker and Queen Sugar creator lands a multiple-year deal with Warner Bros. TV worth in the high eight-figures to develop new projects for the studio. Mark Wahlberg The star’s Instant Family marks his third straight underperformer (after Mile 22 and All the Money in the World), jeopardizing his high salary demands. Jenny Daly The unscripted producer’s T Group is acquired by Tom Forman’s Critical Content, which elevates her to oversee development at the combined indie nonfiction studio. Domenico Dolce & Stefano Gabbana The Dolce & Gabbana co-founders apologize to China and cancel a Shanghai runway show after the fashion house’s Instagram videos were deemed racist. Showbiz Stocks $1,581.33 (+5%) AMAZON.COM (AMZN) The streamer/retailer benefits from soaring online sales, which Adobe predicts will rise 13 percent to $124…
Opinion Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma opened strong at the specialty box office Nov. 23, just behind Fox Searchlight’s The Favourite. At least we think it did; no one knows exactly what the film grossed because Netflix doesn’t reveal numbers. That performance, plus glowing reviews, mean that in Cuaron’s reminiscence of his youth in Mexico City, Netflix has a very serious awards contender. But when it comes to the big one — best picture Oscar — some influential Academy members are not prepared to hand a victory to a disrupter that theater owners and some AMPAS members regard as a mortal enemy of the movie business. Those “Never Netflix” voters won’t endorse Roma, period. But for those on the fence — who love the film but may not love Netflix — well,…
Three years after YouTube launched a subscription streaming service aimed at making it a destination for premium programming, the online video giant is shifting strategy. The Google-owned platform is expected to scale back its scripted output beginning in 2020, a source with direct knowledge of the company’s plans tells THR. The move comes as executives plan to double down on YouTube’s ad-supported business by making all originals — including the Karate Kid spinoff Cobra Kai and the Doug Liman produced Impulse — free to its 2 billion users regardless of whether they pay $12 a month for subscription service YouTube Premium. The YouTube Originals team, led by former MTV executive Susanne Daniels, has started informing creative partners about the shift, per multiple sources, one of whom describes the pullback as…
With all the pieces in place for a hyped pay-per-view golf showdown Nov. 23 between Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson that included camera-drones, mic’d-up participants, side-betting and a winner-take-all $9 million purse, AT&T’s WarnerMedia whiffed on the technical details. Some viewers who paid $20 for live streaming were denied access, necessitating that the pay wall be lifted. Now the debacle has some on Wall Street rethinking assumptions about how the telecom giant handles live sports and whether its John Stankey-led WarnerMedia is up to the challenge of launching a Netflix competitor next year. As to the latter, WarnerMedia shored up its executive ranks Nov. 26 with the appointment of Brad Bentley as GM of the yet-to-be named service. Bentley is a 15-year veteran of DirecTV (like WarnerMedia, owned by AT&T)…
BEST PICTURE The Rider Chloe Zhao’s drama about the struggles of a modern-day cowboy triumphed at the Nov. 26 IFP Gotham Awards in New York, where it was named best feature. The award is all the more important since the film won’t appear at 2019’s Spirit Awards, as it was nominated last year by that awards group. The Favourite After its stellar opening — with more than $422,000 from four theaters — Yorgos Lanthimos’ eccentric costume pic had a mixed night at the Gothams. It didn’t prevail in the three categories in which it was nominated, but it took home a special ensemble award, and star Rachel Weisz was treated to one of the tributes. ACTOR Ethan Hawke First Reformed At 48, with the Before trilogy and Boyhood on his…
