Innholdsfortegnelse for Wednesday, January 29, 2020 i The Hollywood Reporter

Despite a fraught 2019 at the North American box office, when revenue slipped 4 percent to $11.4 billion, the film business could take solace in the fact that worldwide grosses hit an all-time high of $42.5 billion last year. The global uptick was due to a spike in key markets, with China turning in $9.2 billion. Now, in the wake of a coronavirus outbreak that has infected thousands and claimed more than 100 lives in China, the movie industry is grappling with the unthinkable: Nearly every cinema in the country, totaling about 70,000 screens, has shut down. As concerns mount that Beijing’s efforts to contain the virus are falling short, there is growing awareness that the economic damage wrought by the epidemic could potentially drive down 2020 global box office…

The Roxy Letters (SIMON & SCHUSTER, APRIL 7) BY Mary Pauline Lowry AGENCY UTA Amid the rom-com resurgence, Lowry’s novel is the millennial Bridget Jones. As struggling artist Roxy writes letters to her ex-boyfriend, she begins to take control of her life and works to keep her beloved hometown of Austin from becoming corporate. Weather (KNOPF, FEB. 11) BY Jenny Offill AGENCY UTA The novel — about a young wife and mother caring for her addict brother and reclusive mother while juggling the emotional weight of her new job, in which she answers listener letters to a popular political podcast — would lend itself to a star-fronted, low-budget film.…

Forget the slopes of Park City. In the winter of 2020, all roads lead to Iowa for Hollywood’s hard-core political class. “This year’s caucus is truly an open race,” says producer and former Sony Pictures Television chief marketing officer Sheraton Kalouria, who is part of an energized group of industry figures heading to the Hawkeye State to canvas in the days leading up to the Feb. 3 statewide caucuses, the nation’s first presidential contests this year. Kalouria — who is supporting former South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg — says he plans to go door-to-door, hand out flyers and, if necessary, ferry people by car to caucus locations. “Obama winning in Iowa changed the trajectory of the race in 2008, so that adds a level of appeal to me,” says…

Grammy Awards Week Los Angeles, Jan. 22-26 Party Crawler Power of Music Grammys week kicked off with a slew of star-studded music events. Billboard and the National Music Publishers Association partnered for a songwriter showcase (Jan. 22) featuring Lewis Capaldi and Finneas O’Connell (1); the latter went on to nab five Grammy awards alongside his sister Billie Eilish (1), who swept the show’s four major categories. Billboard also hosted its annual Power List Party followed by a Soundcloud showcase (Jan. 23). The same evening, Warner Music Group took over the Hollywood Athletic Club with such artists as Meek Mill and Ed Sheeran, while Spotify’s bash saw all eight best new artist nominees perform, including Lizzo (1), Maggie Rogers (8) and Lil Nas X (1). Instagram honored Billboard’s Gail Mitchell, among…

Weddings Steve Tao, vp current programming at The CW, married private jeweler Gerald David Bauman on Dec. 4 in Beverly Hills. They were first set up by their eye doctor. Pamela Anderson and producer Jon Peters were married Jan. 10 in a private ceremony in Malibu. It’s the fifth marriage for both. Births Lauren Roseman, senior vp publicity for Saturday Night Live, and husband Michael Schwartz welcomed Benjamin Matti Schwartz on Jan. 11 at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York. Model Ashley Graham announced on Instagram that she and filmmaker husband Justin Ervin welcomed their first child Jan. 18. Congrats Cheryl Idell was named exec vp and chief research officer of WarnerMedia Entertainment and Direct-to-Consumer on Jan. 21. Allison Brightman was upped to executive vp business affairs and…

35-Days: The Ratings Long Tail Measurement for four weeks beyond Live +7 adds about 11 percent to the average 18-49 rating and 8 percent to viewer totals Source: Nielsen; network research; 2019-2020 season Season Premieres Grow Larger With Multiplatform Data Delayed viewing makes up more than a quarter of the 35-day audience for several top shows Source: Nielsen; network research Fox’s Animated Comedy Lift Ratings for adult-oriented cartoons dramatically increase when factoring in multiplatform viewing Source: Nielsen; network research NBC’s Viewer Age Gap Demographics change significantly from digital to linear Source: Nielsen; network research…

Every interior designer has “go-tos for perfectly chic home goods,” says Martyn Lawrence-Bullard, who has designed homes for Cher and Ellen Pompeo. With a slew of new design stores opening in L.A., he and other pros pick favorites. BLOCK SHOP “I have long been a fan of Lily and Hopie Stockman’s textiles,” says Queer Eye’s Bobby Berk of the sisters behind Block Shop, known for traditional Indian hand-block printing and Bauhaus-inspired design. The pair have opened their first retail shop, in Atwater Village, which sells pillows, baby quilts, table linens and note cards. Berk (who last year launched a furniture line with A.R.T. Furniture) particularly likes the reversible Sultan dhurrie rug. 3191 Casitas Ave. CARL’S ATELIER In the Westfield Century City mall, Carl’s Atelier is the brainchild of Carl Louisville,…

Anytime Greta Gerwig and Saoirse Ronan are reunited after some time apart, the conversation immediately is taken over by giggles. Their bond is so close, you’d assume they were longtime best friends, rather than a director and her muse. It turns out they’re a bit of both, which is what’s made this partnership so fruitful. Ronan, 25, already has earned her fourth Oscar nomination, and half of those have come from working with Gerwig, 36. Their first collaboration, 2017’s Lady Bird, also earned actress-turned-filmmaker Gerwig her first directing and screenplay nominations. And now, with Little Women, they’ve not only garnered more nominations (lead actress for Ronan, adapted screenplay for Gerwig), but they’ve been able to witness each other grow and, as they put it, “step into yourself a little bit…

Big Deal Film traditionalists can breathe a sigh of relief. The five major studios — Disney, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Sony and Warner Bros. — have inked new deals with Kodak, THR has learned, committing to buying undisclosed amounts of motion picture celluloid, thus guaranteeing its continued use for the foreseeable future. The first such pacts between Kodak and the studios were struck in early 2015, roughly 18 months after the film manufacturer emerged from bankruptcy protection. At the time, its film sales had plummeted as the use of digital imaging technology rose, and the agreements were designed to keep Kodak’s film manufacturing business going. The initial 2015 deals were believed to have covered two years, and the latest pacts, which were set to be officially unveiled at the Kodak Film Awards…

BEST DIRECTOR Sam Mendes 1917 The Brit, who won the DGA Award and the best director Oscar 20 years ago for American Beauty, repeated the first half of that double-double at the DGA Awards on Jan. 25, prevailing over three of his four fellow Oscar nominees. Bong Joon Ho Parasite He may have lost at the DGA Awards on Jan. 25, but the South Korean auteur was feted by the Santa Barbara Film Fest on Jan. 23 as director of the year and got the loudest applause (to my ear) at the Oscar Nominees Luncheon on Jan. 27. BEST ACTOR Adam Driver Marriage Story The Oscar nominee best known for his turn as Kylo Ren in the latest Star Wars films got some exposure ahead of the final voting window…

Lincoln Jones will never forget the first time he saw Fred Astaire dance. “It was from [the 1942 film] You Were Never Lovelier,” the artistic director of American Contemporary Ballet recalls. “It blew my mind.” From Feb. 1 to 16 at Downtown L.A.’s Metropolis Los Angeles (acbdances.com), the company will present Astaire Dances III, a series that re-creates romantic numbers from the star’s musicals, such as The Gay Divorcee and Daddy Long Legs. Jones also has choreographed an original dance, “Oh Them Dudes,” highlighting Astaire’s love of jazz. Audience seating is placed on the same level with the performers for an immersive experience, which includes cocktails. The vibe is meant to echo a night at a classic Hollywood club like Ciro’s. Says Jones, “I want to create a feeling we…

Why Tarantino Won’t Give You His Cell Number Perhaps you’ve heard that Quentin Tarantino has a no-cellphone policy on his movie sets? During awards-season interviews for Once Upon a Time in Hollywood — up for 10 Oscars, including picture and directing — it came to light that the 56-year-old filmmaker sets up a booth, known as Checkpoint Charlie, where cast and crew must surrender their phones before stepping onto his set. But it turns out Tarantino’s distaste for modern-day telephony goes even deeper. According to multiple sources, he doesn’t even own a cellphone. “He has an old-fashioned answering machine with tape,” reveals Once Upon a Time producer David Heyman. “It’s very analog.” Fellow producer Shannon McIntosh confirms it. “He uses a landline,” she says. “I think the creativity comes from…

Over 25 years, Joe Buck — or at least Buck’s signature voice — has become synonymous with American sports. After all, he’s called all the biggest NFL and MLB moments in recent memory, including 22 World Series. And Feb. 2, he’ll be in the booth once more, covering his sixth Super Bowl as the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers face off in Miami on Fox. The biggest challenge, he says of calling something watched by 100 million: “Remembering that it’s just a game.” For Buck, 50, who, sources say, earns between $6 million and $7 million a year, sports is the family business. He’s the son of late St. Louis Cardinals announcer Jack Buck and husband to ESPN reporter Michelle Beisner-Buck. He got his start in 1994, when…

THE 40-YEAR-OLD VERSION Writer-director Radha Blank’s coming-of-age-in-your-40s tale—about a burnt-out playwright (played by Blank herself) who turns to rap to get inspired again—is a love letter to the people of pre-gentrified Harlem, to old-school hip-hop, to struggling artists, to young folks with big dreams and to black women who dare to live life outside the box. With a carefully crafted visual language, an inventive, diverse Greek chorus of characters and a funny yet thought-provoking script, the film creates a world that you want to soak up frame by frame. — BEANDREA JULY DICK JOHNSON IS DEAD Ace documentary maker and cinematographer Kirsten Johnson (Cameraperson) has crafted what might be called a playful, anticipatory filmed obituary of her very lovable aging, and ailing, father — including staged sequences that kill him…

It’s a case of a partly cloudy Sky for Comcast as Wall Street wonders if the benefits of acquiring the European pay TV giant in late 2018 were worth the $40 billion price tag. That’s pretty hefty, considering that Sky, run by CEO Jeremy Darroch, is not expected to boost profits in 2020. Skepticism is mounting, especially because Comcast’s core cable systems financials have grown strongly, driven by broadband, not linear television. Without Sky or NBCUniversal, “Its price chart would look much more like that of Charter,” Bernstein analyst Peter Supino says. Charter shares are up 165 percent in the past 52 weeks; Comcast’s are up 23 percent. In its first full year under Comcast ownership, Sky did manage to grow earnings 12 percent, though only after interest, taxes, depreciation…

With media and telecom mergers the talk of Wall Street — including much ink spilled over the $11.7 billion recombination of Viacom and CBS on Dec. 4 — one would think 2019 was a banner year for such activity. But both the volume and the value of deals were down compared with 2018, and activity isn’t expected to grow in 2020, a Jan. 23 report from PricewaterhouseCoopers predicts. While MGM, Lionsgate and Univision are considered in play, most of the large acquisitions were unveiled in 2018 or before —AT&T buying Time Warner, Disney purchasing most of 21st Century Fox — so M&A has likely peaked in the near term (PwC tracks announcements, rather than closing dates). In 2020, “We do not see any game-changing opportunities. Most of what remains is…

Multiple standing ovations were the order of the evening at the Pre-Grammy Gala on Jan. 25. The annual event at the Beverly Hilton, hosted by Clive Davis and the Recording Academy, got off to a riveting start with a cold open by Beck, whose medley included “Loser” and “Where It’s At.” Brandi Carlile — whose cover of Joni Mitchell’s “A Case of You” was rewarded by a blown kiss from the icon — also partnered with Cyndi Lauper for a rendition of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” For most of the night, the controversy ignited by the Recording Academy’s ouster of CEO Deborah Dugan went unacknowledged, save for Davis’ remark that “this is clearly a very tumultuous time for the Academy, but tonight we come together to celebrate music.”…

As the total volume of scripted TV series hit 532 in 2019, spurred by the rise of direct-to-consumer platforms, the traditional broadcast model has been upended. Now the measurement portion of the TV business is starting to catch up to how viewers actually consume shows in the streaming era. The decades-old viewership model had relied on gathering people to watch a program — and the commercials — at the same time, and measuring that audience as accurately as possible. Delayed viewing and streaming has rendered the “as many people at once” part of the equation harder than ever. Outside of live sports and awards shows, just two primetime series this season, CBS veterans NCIS and 60 Minutes, average more than 10 million viewers for their initial airings. Long-tail ratings data…

On Friday Dec. 13, 2019, at the age of 42, John Oliver became a U.S. citizen. He can vote. He can serve on a jury. He can get arrested — without fear of being deported. Since 2006, when he first came to the U.S. to work as “senior British correspondent” on The Daily Show, Oliver has lived with a pulsating anxiety that his life could be upended at any moment. “There isn’t any part of me that didn’t think I’m a little bit vulnerable. I do talk shit,” he says, as the very visible host of HBO’s Emmy-winning Last Week Tonight. “Under another country’s politics, that would be cause for deportation, or at least [the government] engaging in some form of fuckery. Like something out of Goodfellas: They open a…

CHEECH & CHONG’S NEXT MOVIE, 1980 In one of his earliest screen roles (he’d previously played a waiter in The Blues Brothers), Reubens portrayed a hotel desk clerk checking in “two crazies” whom he reports to the police. “I think they’re Iranians.” BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER, 1992 In the movie that inspired the TV series, Reubens was a vampire who attacks Luke Perry and David Arquette. For his big death scene, the director told him: “Figure it out and die.” MYSTERY MEN, 1999 Reubens shared the screen with Greg Kinnear, William H. Macy, Janeane Garofalo, Geoffrey Rush, Hank Azaria and Ben Stiller, playing a superhero who knocks out bad guys with his powerful flatulence. BLOW, 2001 In a rare dramatic role — alongside Johnny Depp and Penélope Cruz — Reubens…

WGA Awards Feb. 1 Beverly Hilton and Edison Ballroom, New York After an 18-year run with Saturday Night Live — where she co-created such famous recurring skits as Debbie Downer and the Spartan Cheerleaders, while only briefly appearing on camera — Paula Pell was approaching 50 when she began her second act. The celebrated comedy scribe, a frequent collaborator of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler whose credits include 30 Rock, Sisters and several Golden Globes telecasts, Pell is set to receive the WGA East’s Herb Sargent Award for Comedy Excellence on Feb. 1. But this writing honor comes as she’s booking more and more screen time. After a romp with her SNL friends in 2019’s Wine Country, she returns to Peacock-revived A.P. Bio and has a starring vehicle in Quibi…