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.
Rachel Zegler The West Side Story star nabs the lead role in Lionsgate’s Hunger Games franchise prequel The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, directed by Francis Lawrence. J.J. Abrams As new Warner Bros. Discovery chief David Zaslav reviews deals, sources say Abrams’ $250 million Bad Robot pact is being scrutinized for lack of output. Ruben Östlund The director’s Triangle of Sadness, a satire on modern-day capitalism, won the Palme d’Or at Cannes. Neon picked up domestic rights to the feature. Jeffrey Hirsch As Lionsgate puts an end-of-the-summer timeline on a spinoff of Starz, the chief of the pay TV brand is in limbo while multiple bidders weigh in. Showbiz Stocks $14.34 (+26.6%) AMC ENT. (AMC) The theater giant is coming off a huge holiday weekend propelled by Top Gun: Maverick,…
Bigger, better, fewer. That is the refrain inside Netflix that feature film executives, led by division chief Scott Stuber, are grappling to operate under as the digital streaming giant changes course and confronts new realities, such as lagging subscriber growth (it lost 200,000 subs in its latest quarter) and rising competition (Disney’s bundle of Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ now has 205 million subs combined, just behind Netflix’s 221 million global subs). THR spoke to multiple sources, ranging from executives to producers to agents with ties to the company, to paint a picture of a streaming giant that is trying to get its mojo back after a shocking earnings disclosure April 19 (Netflix has lost 44 percent of its stock value since that day). “Morale is stuck at stock level,” says…
A few months ago, Netflix began circulating an internal Google Doc containing revisions to its culture memo. The document garnered some 10,000 comments from employees before the final product was released to the public early in May. One section in particular, on “artistic expression,” stood out. “Not everyone will like — or agree with — everything on our service,” the note specifies, ending with a message aimed directly at staffers: “Depending on your role, you may need to work on titles you perceive to be harmful. If you’d find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you.” The updated entry appeared to be a response to internal criticism at the streamer following The Closer, a Dave Chappelle comedy special unveiled in October…
Frayed nerves can’t begin to describe the mood as Paramount and Skydance fired up the engines to release the $170 million Tom Cruise starrer Top Gun: Maverick after a decade in the making and two years of release delays due to the pandemic. Worry not. Top Gun 2 more than delivered over the long Memorial Day weekend, earning a massive $160.5 million to secure the biggest opening of all time for the holiday, not adjusted for inflation. The key reason: Moviegoers over the age of 35 — a demo that has been largely MIA since the pandemic struck — turned out in force. Until now, the big box office winners of the pandemic era have been superhero films fueled by moviegoers in the 18-34 age group (think Spider-Man: No Way…
In May, MSG Entertainment cleared two milestones in its audacious plan to launch what it describes as a “new medium” in immersive entertainment. It finished the primary structural work on the MSG Sphere at The Venetian in Las Vegas, a massive entertainment venue expected to be completed in late 2023, and officially opened MSG Sphere Studios, a smaller-sized dome with adjacent production and office space near the Hollywood Burbank Airport, which will house development of original content and immersive experiences for the Sphere. MSG believes that, when completed, its Las Vegas Sphere — an estimated $1.865 billion investment — will become the largest spherical structure in the world at 336 feet tall and 516 feet wide. It will accommodate up to 20,000 standing spectators or 17,500 seated guests and include…
NBC 6.37 million viewers The NBC tearjerker ended its six-season run with its top total-viewer count since November 2020 and the highest same-day rating among adults 18-49 — 1.27 — of any network drama episode this season. (Only Fox’s Next Level Chef and The Simpsons scored higher ratings in the key ad demo, and both had NFL games as lead-ins.) This Is Us also ranked as the top network drama with adults 18-49 for every one of its six seasons; it peaked with a 5.4 rating in 2017-18. And the show helped New Amsterdam (3.45 million viewers) hit its best same-day ratings since the first episodes of its season.…
