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.
Kevin Merida After being courted by Los Angeles Times owner Patrick Soon-Shiong, the ESPN executive lands the top editor job at the paper, succeeding Norman Pearlstine. Daniel Ek While Spotify ended its latest quarter with 158 million paid subscribers, the CEO said its 356 million total active monthly users were “below our internal expectations.” The Weeknd/Ariana Grande A remix of “Save Your Tears” sends the original to No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100, with all versions drawing 30.4 million U.S. streams in the week ended April 29, per MRC Data. Jack Dorsey The Twitter CEO saw the platform miss analysts’ revenue expectations in the first quarter as daily active users rose slightly to 199 million. Showbiz Stocks $36.52 (+1.4%) DISCOVERY INC. (DISCA) A new carriage deal with Hulu will…
While promoting his Amazon Prime film Tom Clancy’s Without Remorse in late April, Michael B. Jordan put a Kryptonite pin in any rumors that he might suit up as Warner Bros.’ next Superman. “I’m flattered that people have me in that conversation,” Jordan told THR. “It’s definitely a compliment, but I’m just watching on this one.” With that, a whole new guessing game has kicked off centered on who will play the Man of Steel. And arguably more pressing: Who will direct? Sources say J.J. Abrams, who is producing the film, is not among the many possibilities being considered. When Warners announced in February that celebrated author Ta-Nehisi Coates is writing the screenplay and Abrams is producing, it did not address the matter of helming. But insiders say Warners and…
With 18 months left on his contract, is Warners film studio chairman Toby Emmerich exploring job opportunities? While it is far from clear that Emmerich will leave the studio after more than 20 years, sources tell THR that David Geffen in recent weeks placed a call to Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos to inquire whether there might be a possible role for Emmerich at Netflix. Geffen, 78, and Emmerich, 58, were both guests at a January dinner hosted by music mogul Jimmy Iovine; Emmerich started out in the music world and worked at Atlantic Records from 1987 to 1992; Geffen has credited Atlantic cofounder Ahmet Ertegun with giving him a start in the record business. Sources close to Emmerich say he had no knowledge of Geffen making any calls on his…
It took only 24 hours after Thomas Vinterberg’s Another Round won the Oscar for best international feature April 25 before news of a remake broke. Appian Way, Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Davisson’s production company, together with Endeavor Content and Brad Weston’s Makeready, won the bidding war — beating out Jake Gyllenhaal and Riva Marker’s Nine Stories, as well as Elizabeth Banks, who was working with Universal Pictures — for the right to adapt Vinterberg’s Danish drinking dramedy into English. DiCaprio is eyed to star as a version of the character played by Mads Mikkelsen in the original: a high school history teacher who uses day-drinking as a means to escape his midlife crisis. Vinterberg gave his blessing and is on board to executive produce the remake, but the timing of…
The pandemic hit many media and entertainment giants’ operations and earnings hard in 2020, leading to furloughs and layoffs. Yet a majority of big Hollywood CEOs’ pay packages for the latest year actually rose — some considerably. And a vast majority came in above the median $15.5 million pay seen in the Equilar 100, an annual study of big companies across all sectors. “We saw CEO pay at the largest U.S. companies decline slightly, by 1.6 percent, in 2020,” explains Amit Batish, director of content at data firm Equilar. “During the pandemic, most executives took pay reductions in the form of salary and bonus cuts,” which allowed firms to “conserve immediate cash.” But “long-term stock awards remained intact for the most part.” That’s why well-publicized temporary salary sacrifices early in…
Guest Column The recent verdict in Mr. George Floyd’s assassination case was a relief, but it also marks the harrowing perpetuation of past injustices that keep Black people in a state of constant anger, frustration and fear. Like some emotional “carpet-bombing,” this rage is pinning us down and obstructs our ability to see that the king is naked. In my recent HBO film, Exterminate All the Brutes, where I explore the origin of white supremacy, the late author Sven Lindqvist — whose book of the same name inspired the movie’s title — rightly observes: “It is not knowledge we lack. What is missing is the courage to understand what we know and to draw conclusions.” Demonstrations and angry slogans can help move us toward a more righteous nation — but…
