Innholdsfortegnelse for January 27, 2021 i The Hollywood Reporter

Despite more delays, don’t expect Hollywood studios to abandon ship and offload their most precious cargo — event tentpoles. They’re still willing to wait for a proper theatrical run, and are hopeful that COVID-19 vaccines may calm the waters and allow moviegoing to resume in earnest by fall, if not late summer. Throughout the pandemic, the vast majority of big-budget event pics have seen their releases repeatedly pushed back amid ongoing theater closures in major markets and other locales, versus being sold off to a streamer or sent to an in-house streaming service. That’s because a $200 million movie capable of earning $1 billion at the global box office cannot achieve its full financial potential without a robust theatrical release, which triggers lucrative ancillary streams, merchandising and sequels. Smaller franchises,…

When Gov. Gavin Newsom lifted regional stay-at-home orders across California on Jan. 25, one sector that didn’t see much impact was the entertainment industry, which has been allowed to keep working under its essential status. In fact, the major studios moved forward with resuming production in Los Angeles after extending their holiday hiatuses to mid-January. They did this at the request of the L.A. County Department of Public Health and leading unions, including SAG-AFTRA and the Producers Guild, which recommended filming be paused until the city’s COVID-19 surge eased. On Jan. 11, department director Barbara Ferrer wrote a letter addressed to her “music, TV and film production colleagues,” thanking them for taking a longer hiatus. “I wanted to offer my sincere thanks to so many of you who have done…

SAG-AFTRA hasn’t expelled a member since its merger nearly a decade ago, and neither union had done it since 2002. But, on Jan. 19, the union disclosed that its National Board voted “overwhelmingly” that a member — Donald Trump — should face expulsion in a disciplinary hearing for alleged violations of the organization’s constitution. The charges were initiated by national executive director David White at the request of president Gabrielle Carteris. They cite not only Trump’s alleged role in inciting the deadly Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, for which he has been impeached, but also his war on the media. As White noted, “This individual’s words and actions over the past four years have presented actual harm to our broadcast journalist members.” SAG-AFTRA’s constitution states that a member…

As the pandemic leads to a rise in comfort-focused clothing, one Beverly Hills designer is amping up the trend. Daddy Robes — founded in 2016 by musician Harvey Justice III — began to gain a following in October with styles that can only be described as plush on steroids. The robes, weighing up to 11 pounds, are made in fleece, velvet and mink, and cost from $555 to $1,111, with custom looks going higher. The label’s clientele includes YouTuber Logan Paul, singer Trey Songz and actor Shemar Moore. Rapper Trippie Redd notably paid $11,111.11 for a custom robe in November. “I’m the most comfortable man in the world. I’ve worn a robe every day for over the past decade,” says Justice, who’s known for the style choice as well as…

With a halved program that will be screened virtually, the 2021 Sundance market is understandably expected to be a more muted affair than last year, which included record-breaking deals in both narrative and nonfiction sales. This year is described by buyers and sellers as a “festival of discovery,” with half the program coming from first-time feature directors. Heading into Sundance last year, many of the biggest domestic titles already were spoken for, including A24’s Minari and Zola. This year, only one of the dramatic competition titles (Together Together) has been presold out of all the films in the dramatic competition section. Doc titles will continue to be of major interest, with selections from Edgar Wright (The Sparks Brothers) and Questlove (Summer of Soul) on offer. “The nonfiction world has continued…

When I wanted to be a cinematographer, somebody said to me, ‘Girls don’t do that job,’ ” Disney’s Mulan director of photography Mandy Walker admits, adding that she’s recently seen an uptick in representation. “It’s a little slower in our world, but it’s definitely changing.” Agreeing with Walker at THR’s virtual Cinematographer Roundtable on Dec. 12 were DPs Damian Garcia of Netflix’s I’m No Longer Here; Erik Messerschmidt of Netflix’s Mank; Tami Reiker of Amazon’s One Night in Miami and Netflix’s The Old Guard; Joshua James Richards of Searchlight’s Nomadland; and Dariusz Wolski of Universal’s News of the World. Inspiration, diversity and the future of theatrical exhibition drove the conversation. “Seeing people congregate together wearing masks in the middle of a plague … was one of those moments for me…

In writer-director Channing Godfrey Peoples’ debut feature, Miss Juneteenth, Nicole Beharie stars as Turquoise Jones, a single mom to teenager Kai (Alexis Chikaeze) living in a suburb of Fort Worth, Texas. Balancing two jobs, Turquoise does her best to set high standards for her daughter, hoping Kai will stray from her own path and go off to college and seek a career. What will set Kai on that path (or so Turquoise believes) is the local Miss Juneteenth pageant, an event that honors the historic day — June 19, 1865 — when enslaved people in Texas finally learned about the Emancipation Proclamation two years after the fact. The pageant also earns the winner a college scholarship, a prize that Turquoise herself won as a teen when she was crowned Miss…

Promising Young Woman began as a single scene rattling around inside Emerald Fennell’s head. It went something like this: A drunk woman is sprawled out on a bed, when a young man starts removing her clothes. “What … what are you doing?” the woman asks, her words slurring. She waits a beat and then asks again — except this time she’s upright, starring him straight in the face, pronouncing each word clear as day: “I said, what are you doing?” That kernel of an idea would become Fennell’s directorial debut, a darkly comedic, subversive play on the revenge thriller genre. Carey Mulligan stars as Cassie Thomas, a med-school dropout who spends the bulk of her free time at bars, pretending to be fall-on-the-floor drunk, until some guy inevitably brings her…

The Tokyo Olympics, set to begin July 23, are six months away. But with COVID-19 cases surging in Japan and around the world and vaccine supplies falling short, the Olympic torch is in danger of going unlit. While the Games have not been canceled, reports suggest the Japanese government and public are uncomfortable with where things stand. The torch relay is slated to start in northern Japan on March 25, and a decision should come before that date. That uncertainty gives heartburn to media executives who had banked on the Games — which have already been delayed a year — marking a return to normal for the sports TV business. Cancellation would mean billions of dollars flushed away, as the spend from Tokyo organizers, Olympic committees and TV and media…

Picture Soul Pixar’s imaginative riff on the meaning of life earned a spot on the AFI’s movies of the year list, revealed Jan. 25, alongside live-action films ranging from Da 5 Bloods to The Trial of the Chicago 7. It’s the first toon to make the list since 2016’s Zootopia. Promising Young Woman Producer Margot Robbie moderated a BAFTA Q&A with writer-director Emerald Fennell and the movie’s star, Carey Mulligan, on Jan. 21, but the film surprisingly missed out securing a spot on the AFI’s top 10. Actor Ben Affleck The Way Back His agency, WME, hosted a Jan. 22 Q&A moderated by Michael B. Jordan for the actor, who’s mounting something of a comeback for his performance as an alcoholic basketball coach. Live-Action Short Two Distant Strangers Jeffrey Katzenberg…

Big Deal Seven months after its lackluster May launch, HBO Max is taking a page out of Disney+’s playbook and leaning harder into its beloved intellectual property. A Harry Potter live-action TV series is in the nascent stages of development for HBO Max, and premium cable network HBO is rapidly expanding the world of Game of Thrones with multiple series in the works. Sources say HBO is developing an adult-leaning animated Game of Thrones series as well as a live-action take on novella series Tales of Dunk and Egg as part of a strategy to expand the world of creator George R.R. Martin’s fantasy drama. HBO drama execs are working with Martin (who remains under a rich overall deal with the cabler) on the expansion, which starts with House of…

To a young generation, The Standard was where they all came of age in Hollywood. They spent all their 20s at the pool and then they spent their 30s or 40s at Giorgio’s. They grew up with that hotel. On opening night in 1999, I helped with the door for [then-owner] André Balazs, and I’m not a door-person. Monica Lewinsky showed up with a camera crew. I guess she was doing a documentary. She was not on the list and I told her firmly that she needed to go away. The next day, it said, “Yes, We Turned Her Away,” on the sign. The thing about The Standard, it was very much like what Ian Schrager and Steve Rubell did with the Royalton in New York. They created the first…

How Producers Pulled Off Starry Inauguration Special Hosted by Tom Hanks and featuring Bruce Springsteen, Katy Perry, Justin Timberlake and John Legend, Celebrating America proved Hollywood is again welcome in the White House after a divisive four years. Veteran producers Ricky Kirshner and Glenn Weiss say it’s a new day in D.C. “We produced The Kennedy Center Honors, and the past four years have been tough to get people there,” says Kirshner. Landing Hanks to host went like this: “Honestly, we asked him and he said, ‘Yes.’ What’s better than that?” The duo managed to keep secret the Lincoln Memorial location and fireworks timed to Perry’s “Firework” while not being allowed to scout the White House ahead of time. Says Weiss, “We didn’t have access because no one on Team…

It’s the witching hour here,” says Focus Features chairman Peter Kujawski during a late-afternoon Zoom from his home office in Toluca Lake, as the tail of an indeterminate animal whizzes by. “This is when the dogs start to go crazy and then the children go crazy with the dogs and it just …,” he trails off. Despite the daily dose of chaos — with two daughters under the age of 7, two dogs and a cat — the specialty label maven may have just wrapped his most productive and profitable back-to-back years ever with a 2020 slate that included Emerald Fennell’s Promising Young Woman, Eliza Hittman’s Never Rarely Sometimes Always and the Dawn Porterhelmed doc The Way I See It — all of which racked up impressive results on premium…

For the past decade, sustainability in Hollywood has revolved around a handful of environmental pillars: reducing waste, conserving energy, curbing the carbon footprint and donating leftover food and goods. Then came COVID-19. “So many of the advances that we’ve had — especially around craft services — have just been shattered,” says Environmental Media Association CEO Debbie Levin, who has worked with studios on their green practices since 2003. The pandemic has overturned what once was considered de rigueur for many film and TV productions: Sets are axing reusable water bottles and going back to single-use; shifting buffet-style craft services tables to individual meals wrapped in plastic; restricting food and clothing donations because of possible contamination; and generating an unexpected level of medical waste with masks, gloves and coronavirus tests. As…

Entertainment has long held the ability to influence and set trends, particularly in fashion and home decor. Case in point: the recent Netflix series Bridgerton, where high society’s romantic trials and tribulations in Regency-era London are set off by glittering jewelry, sumptuous costumes and period furnishings. Luxury online marketplace 1stDibs has seen an interest in all things Regency (early 1800s) ever since the Shonda Rhimes series debuted Christmas Day. “The success of Bridgerton has arguably been the reason we’re seeing large jumps in sales of 18th and 19th century furniture, Regency-style jewelry, and even vintage fashions sporting high waists and puffed sleeves,” says Anthony Barzilay Freund, editorial director and director of fine art for 1stDibs. “We’re always amazed at the way a popular film or television series can spark interest…

During the same summer as Woodstock in 1969, Nina Simone, Sly and the Family Stone, Stevie Wonder and more played a series of free concerts in Harlem intended to be a celebration of Black pride. Called the Harlem Cultural Festival and attended by more than 300,000 people, the shows were largely forgotten, and the recordings languished in a basement for decades. More than 50 years later, Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson tells the story of the 1969 event known colloquially as the “Black Woodstock” in a new film heading to Sundance entitled Summer of Soul (…Or When the Revolution Could Not Be Televised). On a lunch break from his day job providing the music for The Tonight Show with The Roots, the musical polymath spoke with THR about how his directorial debut…

E ddie Redmayne, a 2015 Oscar winner for playing Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, once again takes on the role of a historical figure in Netflix’s The Trial of the Chicago 7. As Tom Hayden, the late anti-war activist who was charged alongside six others for inciting riots during the 1968 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Redmayne stands out in a star-studded cast that includes Sacha Baron Cohen, Mark Rylance, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Frank Langella and Michael Keaton — all while delivering dialogue written by Oscarwinning screenwriter Aaron Sorkin, who also directs. Redmayne spoke to THR about the camaraderie on set, the ways in which the film parallels America today and some words of wisdom from Hayden’s former wife Jane Fonda. What were your first reactions to the…

Twenty-two-year-old Amanda Gorman was the youngest poet to ever read at a presidential inauguration and — even with megastars abounding — stole the show at the 59th one, reciting her poem “The Hill We Climb.” She was the country’s first National Youth Poet Laureate in 2017 and the first Los Angeles Youth Poet Laureate in 2014. According to Gorman (who’s repped by WME and lit agency Writers House), her 2012 enrollment in the L.A. nonprofit WriteGirl made all the difference. “It’s been thanks to their support that I’ve been able to chase my dreams as a writer,” she’s said. Founded in 2001 by former singer-songwriter Keren Taylor, WriteGirl’s mission is to empower teen girls through creative writing and one-on-one mentoring. The organization holds weekly mentoring sessions and monthly creative workshops…

The Affair showrunner Sarah Treem has partnered with Adam Shapiro and his Shappy Pretzels to support local kids in need. The Partnership for Los Angeles Schools — serving more than 14,000 kids as one of the largest public school transformation organizations — has launched the Families First Campaign, which provides students with technology, support and resources for online learning amid the COVID-19 crisis. Treem and Shapiro (who played Joel on The Affair) are giving donors Shappy Pretzels in return for their contributions. For $100, givers receive three of his Philly specials, while a pretzel party is awarded for donations of $3,000 and more. More than $37,000 has been raised toward a $150,000 goal. “An education cannot be a privilege of the rich in a society that considers itself civilized. These…

There are Sundance movies and there are Oscar movies, and if you were to create a Venn diagram of the two, there are years when the two circles have overlapped and years when they’ve maintained their distance. Richard Linklater’s decades-spanning Boyhood, for example, which debuted at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, went on to earn six Oscar noms, including best picture, and scored a win for supporting actress Patricia Arquette. By contrast, none of the major prize winners at the 2019 festival — Clemency, Brittany Runs a Marathon, The Last Black Man in San Francisco — or critically hailed premieres like The Farewell were welcomed at last year’s Oscar ceremony. This year, though, there could be a significant overlap between last January’s Sundance and the 93rd annual Academy Awards, which…

For the pivotal role of Minari’s unconventional grandmother who shakes up the Yi family in more ways than one, director Lee Isaac Chung turned to Korean screen legend Youn Yuh-jung, who has built a career out of playing daring, unorthodox women. After winning Korea’s Blue Dragon Award for best actress in her film debut as the country girl turned femme fatale in 1971’s Woman of Fire (part of director Kim Ki-young’s iconic Housemaid trilogy), Youn quit acting in her prime to immigrate to the U.S. A decade later, she returned to Korea and mounted a comeback, continuing to shatter conventions and earning acclaim in such films as A Good Lawyer’s Wife, The Taste of Money and The Bacchus Lady. Now 73, Youn finds herself on her biggest stage yet. Like…

It’s glorious to watch Zendaya cementing her arrival as a movie star in Malcolm & Marie. She indeed is the main draw in Sam Levinson’s chamber drama exploring the complex contracts of partnership and, more generally, life inside the bubble of the entertainment business — in particular, the way artists can suck up all the oxygen in a relationship. The artist in question here is emerging filmmaker Malcolm, played by John David Washington in a performance that’s forceful and convincing while not escaping a certain studied athleticism that points out the very actory nature of Levinson’s undertaking. All that emphatic gesticulation has a way of making some monologues play like audition pieces rather than organic speech. This seems clearly an homage to John Cassavetes, contoured around the personas of two…

In 1991, Sundance took place at the height of the AIDS epidemic, which, unlike the COVID-19 pandemic, was propelled by a disease that is sexually transmitted and was predominantly killing gay men. (By year’s end, the U.S. death toll would reach 29,850, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.) Amid that politically charged public health catastrophe, a 30-year-old filmmaker debuted his first feature, Poison. Todd Haynes — who had become an underground sensation with his 1987 short, Superstar, a retelling of the life and death of Karen Carpenter using Barbie dolls — drew from the writings of French novelist Jean Genet for the experimental Poison, a triptych of interwoven stories that explored themes of disease, deviance and alienation. In “Hero,” filmed like a vox pop documentary, suburban Americans…