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.
Unprecedented” has become a buzzword amid the pandemic, but when it comes to the financial fallout from business interruptions and the resulting landscape of lawsuits against insurance companies that are denying claims, there truly has never been a fight of this scale. The 1970s brought a wave of business interruption suits against insurers involving asbestos contamination; in the ’80s, environmental pollution led to courtroom fights; and the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, launched a litany of legal disputes, the last of which didn’t end until 2018. Yet the legal war over COVID-related insurance claims is expected to dwarf any of those battlefields, according to those entrenched in this niche of law. “What you see with COVID-19 is, it affects everyone, not just companies that have asbestos or environmental issues,”…
Harvey Mason Jr. The interim Recording Academy chief oversees the postponement of the Grammys from its Jan. 31 date amid a rise in COVID-19 cases in L.A. and calls for events and productions to pause. Ari Greenburg The WME president faces a setback after the agency loses its bid in court for a preliminary injunction to halt a boycott by the Writers Guild of America. Playboi Carti The rapper’s Whole Lotta Red hits No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart with 100,000 equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Dec. 31. Jack Ma Amid an aggressive China government crackdown on Alibaba, the billionaire mogul retreats from the public eye, raising questions for his business empire. Showbiz Stocks $29.26 (+2%) AT&T (T) It remains to be seen…
When consulting for the Directors Guild in 2006, I was asked to help formulate clauses that would establish objective standards for determining fair market value when a studio is licensing rights to affiliated or related entities. The clauses we came up with — known as the “three-pronged test” — were negotiated as a Side Letter to the DGA’s 2008 collective bargaining agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, and were adopted by both the Writers Guild and SAG. The clauses have survived in later guild negotiations through 2020. On Dec. 3, WarnerMedia revealed plans to exhibit its slate of 2021 features simultaneously in theatrical venues and on its affiliated streaming platform, HBO Max. Its announcement triggered hostile responses from the guilds and representatives of profit participants on…
In the Before Times, the year-end holidays brought predictions of prosperous times to come, or hyperbolic doom and gloom. In the case of 2020, the forecast was rosy a year ago, with box office analysts forecasting a record year. Then the pandemic struck. The North American box office tumbled 80 percent in 2020 to an estimated $2.28 billion, compared with the near-record $11.4 billion collected in 2019, according to Comscore. Globally, ticket sales fell to an estimated $11.5 billion to $12 billion, down about 70 percent year-over-year. And for the first time, China — where moviegoing rebounded in late summer — ranked as the top box office market in the world with an estimated $3 billion (seven of the year’s top 20 grossing titles were from China or Hong Kong).…
Little Engines That Survived the Pandemic The War With Grandpa U.S. GROSS $18.7M Father There Is Only One 2 Spain GROSS $11.7M Another Round Denmark GROSS $10M 365 Days Poland GROSS $9.5M Asphalt Burning Norway GROSS $4M Source: Comscore, Artisan Gateway, Studios. Jan. 1, 2020-Jan. 2, 2021. *Still in theaters.…
China finally usurped North America as the world’s biggest box office territory in 2020, generating an estimated $3 billion in ticket sales compared with about $2.28 billion stateside. All it took was a global pandemic. Ticket sales in China last year slumped 68 percent from 2019’s $9.2 billion. But by mid-August, Beijing’s aggressive tactics had suppressed the novel coronavirus within the country’s borders to an extent that cinemas could return to 75 percent capacity. The result was a robust four and a half months of sales for local studios and exhibitors. Chinese blockbusters included The Eight Hundred — which topped the year’s global chart — My People, My Homeland and The Sacrifice. And by December, the Chinese film market had recovered to a monthly earnings level of 92 percent compared…
