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. 10, The Apprentice producer Mark Burnett broke his silence on the “hatred, division and misogyny” associated with Donald Trump’s presidential campaign, just days after the leak of the 2005 Access Hollywood tape in which Trump boasted to Billy Bush of groping women. Burnett’s decision to denounce his longtime collaborator comes at a tenuous time for the Apprentice franchise as NBC gears up to relaunch the show in January with another figure whose treatment of women has come under scrutiny: Arnold Schwarzenegger. The New Celebrity Apprentice boasts a new location (L.A.’s Silicon Beach instead of New York City), fresh advisers (including Warren Buffett, Tyra Banks and Jessica Alba) and, most notably, a new star in the 69-year-old actor and former California governor. But while NBC is touting Schwarzenegger…
Reed Hastings The Netflix CEO rebounds from a soft quarter to report nearly 3.6M new subscribers (3.2M international) thanks to hot series Stranger Things, Narcos and Luke Cage. Jack Dorsey The Twitter CEO’s stock tanks as reports suggest such possible buyers as Salesforce, Google and Disney walk away amid concerns about growth and valuation. Ben Affleck The Accountant star again proves he can open a movie with a $24.7M domestic bow despite a low 49 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating for the Warner Bros. thriller. David Pecker The CEO of National Enquirer owner American Media is forced to issue a rare apology and retraction over stories claiming Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson are divorcing. Showbiz Stocks $44.85 (+2.5%) TAKE–TWO (TTWO) The video game company’s subsidiary Rockstar teases what analysts presume will…
How many billionaires does it take to make a movie about a reclusive billionaire? In the case of Warren Beatty’s Howard Hughes pic Rules Don’t Apply, which Fox has begun screening ahead of its Nov. 23 release, it took 16 credited producers — many of them the richest individuals associated with Hollywood. That number isn’t unusual for a film assembled using financing from multiple sources, but the blue-chip backers all have been given a “produced by” credit rather than the customary “executive producer” given to moneymen and women. The massive list has rankled the Producers Guild of America, which is reviewing contributions of those listed to decide who deserves its “p.g.a.” mark that follows a producer’s name when determined he or she actually has done the heavy lifting of getting…
Aside from preserving the environment, Leonardo DiCaprio has publicly associated himself with no philanthropic cause more than the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Through the starstudded annual Art+Film Gala he’s co-chaired since its launch in 2010, DiCaprio, 41, has helped raise more than $18 million for exhibitions, acquisitions and programming. Yet the Oscar winner’s efforts appear to have resulted in LACMA benefiting from potentially stolen money thanks to his relationship with Red Granite Pictures — the primary backer of The Wolf of Wall Street — whose principals are key figures in a $3 billion Malaysian embezzlement scandal involving public funds. Red Granite co-founder Riza Aziz is at the center of a Department of Justice asset-seizure investigation that became public in July, after which THR reported the Leonardo DiCaprio…
Signaling a quick rise and fall in theaters, Nate Parker’s The Birth of a Nation plummeted 60 percent at the box office in its second weekend, a sharp decline for a film expected to play throughout awards season. The question now is how much Fox Searchlight will lose after paying a record $17.5 million for worldwide rights to the slave-rebellion drama at the Sundance Film Festival and an estimated $18 million more on marketing. Birth had earned just $12.3 million as of Oct. 17. Some box-office observers believe the loss will be at least $10 million, considering the film likely will earn no more than $17 million domestically. Searchlight declined comment, but Fox insiders say the loss will be in the $7 million range — perhaps less than $5…
As Chicagoans Bill Murray and John Cusack know well, it has been 108 years since the Cubs won the World Series. But now the team could be headed to its first Fall Classic since 1945 — and Fox Sports is as happy as any long-suffering fan. The Cubs’ Division Series clincher Oct. 11 delivered a record 6.4 million viewers. Now the team is playing the L.A. Dodgers for a berth in the World Series, which begins Oct. 25 on Fox against the Cleveland Indians or Toronto Blue Jays. Ad sales for the World Series are pacing 30 percent ahead of 2015, with a 30-second spot scoring more than $500,000, say sources. The increase, notes Fox Sports president Eric Shanks, owes largely to the Cubs. “It has all the makings of…
