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.
Theatergoers screamed and ducked when 1903’s The Great Train Robbery showed a sinister outlaw aiming a revolver straight at the camera and firing point-blank at the audience. The fourth-wall-breaking shock shot became one of the most iconic moments in cinema history, and the film was credited with launching the first hit genre: the Western. It also arguably started the love affair between Hollywood and firearms, with guns becoming as commonplace and everlasting on film sets as gaffers tape and catering. Yet an Oct. 21 tragedy on the set of another Western, Rust — where Alec Baldwin accidentally shot and killed cinematographer Halyna Hutchins and wounded director Joel Souza while practicing a cross draw with a loaded gun he had been told was safe to handle — might very well change…
In Cameron Crowe’s 1996 movie Jerry Maguire, Tom Cruise’s character opines on which young athletes will turn pro: “It’s like popcorn in the pan. Some pop … some don’t.” It’s a line Warner Bros. Motion Picture chairman Toby Emmerich and his boss, Warner Bros. Entertainment chairman-CEO Ann Sarnoff, can relate to. Aside from Godzilla vs. Kong and Dune — which were produced by the creative team at Legendary, not Warners — nearly every 2021 release hasn’t lived up to already modest box office expectations, including In the Heights and The Suicide Squad and adult-skewing dramas like Cry Macho and The Many Saints of Newark. But there was a major upside, according to Sarnoff and WarnerMedia chief Jason Kilar. All of the studio’s 2021 theatrical releases are being offered simultaneously on…
As the furor over Dave Chappelle’s Netflix special The Closer — widely criticized as transphobic — roils the industry weeks after its Oct. 5 premiere, the town’s opinions remain mixed on Netflix co-chief Ted Sarandos’ insensitive but forcefully artist-first handling of the situation. While a number of LGBTQ stars and allies took to Twitter to voice solidarity with Netflix trans staffers’ Oct. 20 protest — Elliot Page, Jonathan Van Ness, Wanda Sykes, Ava DuVernay, Billy Eichner, Lilly Wachowski and Dan Levy, among them — just as notable were the Hollywood thought leaders, several of whom have rich deals with the streamer and remained silent throughout the controversy. As one top publicist says of their high-profile writer-producer client: “I don’t think he would ever support limiting the rights of an artist…
While the members of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees demanded sweeping changes to work conditions in their 2021 round of contract negotiations amid a larger nationwide labor resurgence, it’s unclear whether this zeitgeist will be replicated in other entertainment unions’ talks, several of which aren’t set to begin for another two years. Not long after negotiations with studios began in May on a new IATSE Basic Agreement, which happens every three years, labor shortages across multiple industries and “The Great Resignation” — coined to describe a surge in workers quitting — began making headlines in earnest. As talks stalled this summer, IATSE members became increasingly vocal about working conditions, mobilizing on social media and overwhelmingly voting to authorize a strike if their union leaders deemed one necessary (thus…
Harvey Weinstein is in prison, but his presence in showbiz lingers. Next up could be a high-stakes trial that focuses on the months following the revelations in 2017 of his monstrous behavior toward women. That was when Weinstein’s film and television company went into a tailspin, and observers wondered if any investor would step in to salvage it and whether Weinstein victims would be compensated accordingly. In October 2017, Ron Burkle, the supermarket billionaire, reportedly had strong interest in acquiring The Weinstein Co. It didn’t happen. As more and more Harvey Weinstein accusers came forward and as the New York attorney general got involved, TWC declared Chapter 11. Months into the bankruptcy proceedings, the company’s main assets — including a library of 270 films — were sold to Dallas-based private…
How high can Disney+ soar in the next couple of years? The streamer, with 116 million paying global subscribers, has a goal of 230 million to 260 million by the end of fiscal 2024. But Wall Street isn’t as bullish as it had been. Ahead of Disney’s Nov. 10 earnings update, several analysts have cut their Disney+ subscriber forecast estimates. Downgrades began after Disney CEO Bob Chapek said in September that the company was expecting a “low single-digit millions” gain in subscribers in the quarter that was about to end; Wall Street’s consensus had called for about 17 million. Factors in the slowdown include the COVID-related suspension of the cricket league in India (available on Disney+ Hotstar), production delays and a slower-than-hoped Latin America rollout, but analysts also cite longer-term…
