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From inside the Steve Jobs Theater in Cupertino, California, on March 25, Apple’s top executives outlined a vision for a future in which live sports events, breaking news, prestige hourlong dramas and kids cartoons can all be accessed through one hub that is available across multiple screens. If that future sounds a lot like cable television’s present, well, that’s because it is. As streaming becomes the primary method through which many households access film and TV programming, Apple is at the center of a new fight to own the living room — not so much directly taking on Amazon, Hulu and forthcoming services from Disney and WarnerMedia, but potentially competing on an even bigger scale with the goal of aggregating content from all those platforms. “Today, there is so much…
TV Disney Castoff Fox 2000 chief Elizabeth Gabler may join a rival p. 22 Tech Game On Apple, Google back streaming services for gaming p. 26 Jordan Peele The Get Out filmmaker’s follow-up, Us, cements him as a brand-name draw with a $71.1 million domestic debut, the best ever for an original horror pic. Jeanine Pirro Fox News yanks the firebrand host for two weeks amid an advertiser exodus after she suggested that a hijab-wearing Muslim lawmaker is anti-Constitution. Jussie Smollett Chicago prosecutors drop all charges against the Empire actor over his claims about being a victim of a hate crime. Michael Avenatti The ex-Stormy Daniels lawyer and cable news star is charged with four counts of extortion in New York and federal wire fraud and bank fraud charges in…
TIM COOK, Apple CEO “Our vision … is to bring together your favorite shows, movies and sports and make them available on all devices.” Sesame Street The slate will feature live-action and animated shows and development on a puppet series. Little America Kumail Nanjiani and Emily V. Gordon are writing the eight-episode anthology. Little Voice Sara Bareilles is teaming with J.J. Abrams for a 10-episode half-hour musical dramedy. Oprah Winfrey Her deal includes scripted and unscripted originals, podcasts and her book club. Amazing Stories This episodic anthology is a reimagining of Steven Spielberg’s series that ran in the 1980s. Morning Show Steve Carell, Reese Witherspoon and Jennifer Aniston star in this drama about TV wars. See The eight-episode epic is set in a dystopian future and stars Jason Momoa and…
In 1997, when James Cameron needed six more months than planned to finish Titanic, he bumped into Rupert Murdoch on the Fox lot and promised the mogul his costly epic would be “good.” “It better be a damn sight better than good,” Murdoch told Cameron, granting his studio’s star filmmaker the time he wanted, a decision that paid off with nearly $2.2 billion in global box office, 11 Oscars and the “I’m the king of the world” speech. Cameron’s relationship with the Murdochs was unusually strong. Now, days after Disney closed its $71.3 billion Fox deal, the Avatar director finds himself in business on the sequels with a very different company, one where intellectual properties like Star Wars and Marvel are valued higher than any star, and where the kind…
There’s no hiding behind dark glasses. After years of steady decline, box office revenue from 3D screens in North America went into freefall last year, hitting its lowest level since 2008 (the year before Avatar) as more and more moviegoers refuse to pay an extra charge of $3 to $4. The findings were included in the March 21 annual report from the Motion Picture Association that provides a snapshot of theatrical spending and habits around the globe. In 2018, 3D box office revenue in the U.S. and Canada totaled $800 million, down a whopping 38 percent from the $1.3 billion collected in 2017. The number of wide 3D releases declined year-over-year from 34 to 27, but that also reflects a retreat from the format. The dip overseas, which has propped…
On the afternoon of March 20, Fox 2000 president Elizabeth Gabler was summoned to a conference room on the Fox lot, where Walt Disney Studios chairman Alan Horn and president Alan Bergman delivered the news: There would be no future for her 20-year-old label now that Disney’s $71.3 billion acquisition of Fox had closed. Sources say she was blind-sided and had been assured that Fox 2000 would have a home within the Magic Kingdom. Now, a tug-of-war likely will ensue for Gabler’s services, pitting former Fox film co-chiefs Jim Gianopulos and Tom Rothman against each other. Both Gianopulos, who heads up Paramount Pictures, and Rothman, chairman of Sony’s Motion Picture Group, are said to be interested in luring the executive behind such breakouts as The Fault in Our Stars, The…
