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.
Viola Davis The multihyphenate joins a select club of stars with EGOT status after claiming a Grammy for audiobook narration and storytelling for her memoir, Finding Me. Elon Musk The mogul beats an investor lawsuit over his Tesla tweets, but Twitter’s subscription plan Blue is struggling with only 180,000 U.S. subscribers, per a report in The Information. Ben Winston The executive producer of the Grammys led the show to 12.55 million viewers on CBS and Paramount+, a 31 percent improvement from last year’s 9.59 million. Strauss Zelnick The Take-Two Interactive chief lowers guidance for the Grand Theft Auto company and plans cost-cutting as it swings to a Q4 net operating loss of $172.9 million. Showbiz Stocks $267.56 (+7.9%) MICROSOFT (MSFT) The tech giant’s share price rose after it unveiled plans…
It’s not cost-cutting, it’s efficiency. That’s the idea Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg aimed to sell to investors Feb. 1, when he outlined 2023 as the “Year of Efficiency” for the parent company of Facebook and Instagram. It came after Meta had laid off 13 percent of its workforce and downsized its office space in light of the tough macroeconomic environment and overhiring, alongside other company-specific factors like its pricey foray into the metaverse. Rather than view that as a negative, Zuckerberg positioned it as more of a rallying cry, even while cautioning that there would be more “efficiency” to come. And so far, investors like what they hear. Meta’s stock skyrocketed the day after the earnings report, and Guggenheim analysts praised the new mode of operation in a Feb. 1…
In a rare move, theater chains across the U.S. and Canada lowered the cost of admission for a new Hollywood release, the octogenarian sports comedy 80 for Brady, in partnership with Paramount. That included AMC Theatres, the largest circuit in North America and the world. For years, some distribution executives have argued in favor of variable pricing, whereby ticket costs are lowered depending upon a movie’s target audience. In this case, Paramount presented evidence showing that older demos are more sensitive about ticket prices. But no sooner had 80 for Brady opened over the Feb. 4-6 weekend to a pleasing $12.7 million than did AMC reveal Feb. 7 that it is implementing a hefty $1 and $2 price increase for many seats in the middle and even upper sections of…
When viewers watching the Feb. 12 Super Bowl stick around for the always anticipated commercial breaks, they may find a bit more than they bargained for. With the advertising market in a downturn (Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav said Nov. 15 it was “very weak” and worse than it was during COVID-19 amid a brief, broader pullback), marketers are increasingly looking for partners to mitigate rising costs and to help them stand out on the biggest TV advertising day of the year. So when Will Ferrell needs to escape a swarm of zombies from the universe of Netflix’s Army of the Dead in the second quarter, he will do so in a General Motors electric pickup truck. When Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man needs to get a refresher before saving the…
As the dust settled on Netflix’s latest earnings disclosure — the streaming giant brought in 7.66 million subscribers during the fourth quarter of 2022 and now tops 230.75 million globally, it said Jan. 19 — one region stood out in the company’s closely watched filings. Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) quietly became the streamer’s biggest region in terms of subscribers, overtaking the combined user figure for the U.S. and Canada during the second half of 2022. As of the end of the year, Netflix had about 2.4 million more subscribers in EMEA than North America after being roughly 310,000 behind it as of mid-year 2022. “Netflix is still above and beyond all other subscription video players in EMEA in terms of subscription figures, finishing 2022 with almost as…
BEST PICTURE Tár This sleeper best picture Oscar contender — also nominated for directing, writing and acting Oscars — was the big winner at the London Critics Circle Awards on Feb. 5, winning best film, director (Todd Field) and actress (Cate Blanchett). BEST ACTRESS Andrea Riseborough To Leslie The Academy’s review of the grassroots campaign that led to the actress’ surprise nomination concluded Jan. 31 with no punitive action taken against her. And some Oscar voters who resented the review say they’re now going to vote for her. BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY Living Kazuo Ishiguro, the Japan-born British novelist and sixth Nobel laureate to be Oscar-nominated (after Shaw, Steinbeck, Sartre, Pinter and Dylan — incredible company), visited L.A. for a Jan. 28 Q&A and the AARP Awards, which named him best…
