Innholdsfortegnelse for January 3, 2025 i The Hollywood Reporter

For much of the past two decades, if not longer, Hollywood relied on PG-13 fare to rally the masses. Slapping a big-budget event pic with a PG rating could alienate older kids, teens and young adults (the latter are the most frequent moviegoers). Case in point: Remember the choice to change the rating from PG to PG-13 on several Harry Potter movies? The franchise saw a spike in grosses on films that had the more mature rating. The past year upended this long-held theory, with PG fare accounting for as much as 30 percent of domestic ticket sales, a record according to Comscore chief box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “2024 is the year that PG-rated movies showed their undeniable appeal for all age groups and demographics,” he says. “It’s the pizza…

The digs at Hollywood were blunt and unusual. The Apprentice stars were mad — stunned — that so few of their peers would engage with them. “People have been afraid to touch this film, to be seen as complicit in the film, to support the film, to publicly endorse the film and certainly to show the film on a streaming platform,” Jeremy Strong, who plays Roy Cohn in the independently financed Donald Trump origin story, told me recently. “But the role of storytelling is to hold up a mirror. It’s not to make people feel comfortable. It’s not simply to entertain. It is to hold feet to the fire. “I can’t think of a subject more relevant to what all of us are living through,” he added. “Not to be…

As the reclusive Beanie Babies founder Ty Warner was converting his toy-making fortune into a luxury real estate empire in 2000, he bought the historic Four Seasons Biltmore Santa Barbara hotel and a spectacular adjacent seaside conference center property. The more than $160 million he spent for this breathtaking Central Coast pair also bought him a stellar exemplar of Bauhaus art: the monumental 1981 sculpture Walk in Space Painting, by Herbert Bayer. The sculpture apparently disappeared from its idyllic lawn above Butterfly Beach in 2024, which has Bayer’s granddaughter asking: What happened to this once-cherished masterpiece? “I would like to know what their motivation was and why they decided that it was OK to destroy this work of art without consulting with the family,” artist and documentarian Koko Bayer says…

Weddings Actress Yvette Nicole Brown married actor and minister Anthony Roy Davis at The Maybourne Beverly Hills on Dec. 14. At the reception, the couple were serenaded by Leslie Odom Jr. and Deniece Williams in front of guests that included Octavia Spencer, Sheryl Lee Ralph and Lisa Ann Walter. Births  Allysa Mahler, scripted TV partner and co-head of comedy crossover at WME, and Scott Mahler, an executive at AJ Capital Partners, welcomed Gemma Estelle Mahler on Nov. 17. Congrats Eric Pallotta was tapped to oversee Max’s marketing efforts as group senior vp global brand, social and editorial for Warner Bros. Discovery’s direct-to-consumer division Dec. 16. Communications agency The Right Now launched the creative production division Now Studio, spearheaded by Rylee Jean Ebsen as head of digital and creative strategy, on…

A Animated movies, by and large, haven’t been great to moms. In classic Disney films, mothers are usually dead by the time the story starts (The Little Mermaid) or killed as a major plot point (Bambi) or forcibly, devastatingly separated from their children (Dumbo, Sleeping Beauty, etc.). And let’s not even get started on the stepmoms. “I learned way back on Aladdin why there aren’t moms in these films,” says Chris Sanders, the animation veteran who has directed such features as Lilo & Stitch and How to Train Your Dragon. “When I first started working on Aladdin, there was a mom in the story, and almost immediately, she was causing problems. Your protagonist has to be able to make mistakes. And moms are there to keep you from making mistakes.…

As titles go, Doc is as straightforward as they come. It’s simple and inoffensive. It’s accurate (the Fox drama is indeed about a doctor). And it’s so bland, you’re probably going to forget it even as you’re reading this paragraph. The actual show is at least more memorable than that, but only slightly. It’s a painless watch — never too boring or frustrating, but also rarely bold or exciting. Aimed right down the middle, it hits its target perhaps too well. The premise, and its lead actress, deserve better. Adapted by Barbie Kligman from an Italian drama that was inspired by a true story, Doc begins in an intriguingly soapy place. The Dr. Amy Larsen (Molly Parker) we first meet is brilliant but prickly, owing to a tragedy in her…

Disney’s film kingdom, run by Alan Bergman, reclaimed its No. 1 standing in market share, led by a slew of films that shattered record after record, including Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine. They were the only two films of the year to cross $1 billion globally. That’s not to say Disney was the only box office hero. Universal enjoyed another wickedly good year as longtime movie studio chief Donna Langley gained more power in the larger NBCU empire. And while Warner Bros. suffered a major stumble with Todd Phillips’ Joker sequel, it came in No. 2 overseas in market share. Source: Studios, Comscore, revenue Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2024…

Remember when gross-out movies were lowbrow comedies? With hysterical plotlines involving things like intercourse with baked goods or hair gels made from bodily fluids? Those were the days! But now, in a development that would make John Waters wobbly, it seems the humble gross-out film is being elevated to high art, as prestige directors and actors discover that one way to build awards buzz is to turn the audience’s stomach. The trend started in 2023 with Triangle of Sadness, which featured a 15-minute vomit scene that had Cannes crowds running for the exits. But this year there’s The Substance, Coralie Fargeat’s meditation on aging in Hollywood in which Demi Moore injects herself with an iffy youth serum that transforms her into an oozing, decaying blob of human organs and appendages.…

JAN. 3 Palm Springs International Film Awards Timothée Chalamet, Ariana Grande, Angelina Jolie and Adrien Brody → are feted at 2025’s first major red carpet event. JAN. 3 Golden Globes Gala Dinner The Globes will present honorary Cecil B. DeMille and Carol Burnett awards to Viola Davis and Ted Danson, respectively, at the Beverly Hilton. JAN. 4 Spirit Awards Nominee Brunch The Film Independent Spirit Awards aren’t until the end of February, but nominees will start the celebration early at Hotel Casa del Mar in Santa Monica. JAN. 5 Golden Globes  Nikki Glaser will host what has been dubbed “Hollywood’s party of the year,” celebrating 2024’s top performances in TV and film live from the Beverly Hilton. JAN. 7 National Board of Review Awards NBR will toast its winners —…

Montecito is known for money, not modishness. But two newly opened spots — a restaurant as well as a cocktail bar, situated at opposite ends of the main drag, Coast Village Road — are bringing big-city ambition to the oft-hidebound small town. Lion’s Tale, from a husband-and-wife pair behind several drinks-focused venues in Santa Barbara, is in the historic Montecito Inn founded by Charlie Chaplin and Fatty Arbuckle. It’s inspired by the iconic lobby lounges of London, particularly at The Connaught and The Savoy. Expect the dry martini to remain chilled — it’s served pre-batched, pre-diluted and pre-frozen — while the bar’s eponymous rendition of the classic lion’s tail cocktail features a New Britannia twist: “Ours is a nod to modern London, with a blended vadouvan curry-infused scotch,” explains co-owner…

The Golden Globes have been honoring comedies since the 1950s and the days of such Billy Wilder gems as The Apartment and Some Like It Hot. But the category — which for the past 60 years has crowned a single winner among comedies and musicals — hasn’t always experienced smooth sailing. How one defines a comedy — is it punchlines? pratfalls? subtle satire? — has been just one of the issues bedeviling the award. The Hollywood Foreign Press Association began playing even more fast and loose with definitions earlier this century when it increasingly nominated movies that seemed neither particularly funny nor acclaimed, instead using the category to bring popular films and stars into the fold that would otherwise have no way of getting there. At the moment, the smaller,…

Better Man filmmaker Michael Gracey knew it was time to shake up the musician biopic. The subgenre is often knocked for its formulaic, sanitized stories that preserve their subjects’ well-manicured reputations. And after spending six years developing Elton John’s biopic Rocketman only to be replaced by director Dexter Fletcher, the Australian had little desire to tell another performer’s life story — until he befriended U.K. pop sensation Robbie Williams, an inspiration for the 2017 smash hit musical The Greatest Showman, which he directed for Fox. Williams regaled Gracey with evocative tales, and the English singer-songwriter eventually referred to viewing himself as a “performing monkey.” Inspiration struck, and the result is the refreshingly unconventional Better Man — which will open the Palm Springs International Film Festival on Jan. 2. So, Hugh…

Source: Comscore, domestic totals Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2024; *Still in theaters Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs blew past expectations when it opened in July to $22.6 million domestically, the best debut of 2024 for an original horror film amid Neon’s best start ever (that’s saying a lot, considering Tom Quinn’s outfit is home to Oscar winners including Parasite). The R-rated pic became the top-grossing indie movie of the calendar year with $74.6 million in domestic ticket sales and $126.9 million globally. It also reflects the unnerving truth that indie distributors can’t rely on art house and awards fare alone; elevated genre fare like Longlegs or A24’s Civil War can pay for a company to keep the lights on. Focus Features’ vampire pic Nosferatu is yet another example (it debuted to a better-than-expected…

Hypebeast culture in Los Angeles may be most conspicuous in the sneaker-heads queuing out the door of Coolkicks on Melrose. The nearconstant throng of collectors turns up not only to buy, but also to sell. “We could have anywhere from 200 to 600 people bringing shoes to us every day at Melrose,” says Adeel Shams, co-founder of Coolkicks, which also has locations at the Grove and in Las Vegas and runs live online shopping events that regularly draw six-figure audiences. Every pair of sneakers offered to Coolkicks is authenticated before a buy offer is made — a necessary step, given that footwear is among the most counterfeited product categories globally, alongside high-end handbags, watches, fragrances and other designer-driven items in labels ranging from Nike and Off-White to Chanel, Hermès (maker…

So, you survived to 2025. But, now that we’re here, things are looking pretty much the same. The majority of the legacy studios are in free fall, and there are only so many children of billionaires to go around. The content bubble is still burst, leaving Great Recession-levels of cleanup, but instead of abandoned McMansions in Florida, it’s hundreds of pilots promising to be the next Yellowstone stuck on development slates. Your boss just reupped his deals because those three houses and handful of fast-food franchises don’t pay for themselves, but your labor and stagnant wage certainly help! Still, it’s a different year, a fresh fiscal quarter, and a new you. After metabolizing thousands of Hollywood Reporter interviews and articles this past year, yours truly (not an AI) humbly offers…

It was, as Tilda Swinton would say — gazing across the table one Saturday afternoon in November at the Soho House’s Luckman Club in West Hollywood — a room of “scorching glamour.” Amid the heat of all that charisma, there were three cute canines sniffing around: Zendaya’s mini black schnauzer, Noon; Demi Moore’s micro chihuahua, Pilaf; and Mikey Madison’s chihuahua puppy, Jam. The occasion for the gathering of Oscar frontrunners and the dogs who love them was THR’s annual Actress Roundtable, which this year convened Angelina Jolie (Maria), Zoe Saldaña (Emilia Pérez), Madison (Anora), Moore (The Substance), Swinton (The Room Next Door) and Zendaya (Dune: Part Two and Challengers) for a conversation on surviving and thriving in modern Hollywood. “A lot of women in the past didn’t have this table,”…

Those hours spent marathoning ER, House and other medical procedurals during COVID lockdown have finally paid off in a rush of new hospital-set series, including NBC’s slightly above-average Brilliant Minds and the promising St. Denis Medical, ABC’s zany Doctor Odyssey and Fox’s Doc (see review on opposite page). There’s also been speculation about a full-fledged ER revival. But what we’re getting instead is Max’s The Pitt, which — despite the presence of ER favorite Noah Wyle as star, executive producer and writer, plus a behind-thescenes team led by ER veterans John Wells, R. Scott Gemmill and Joe Sachs — definitely isn’t an ER revival, especially for legal purposes. Nope! The Pitt is an autonomous series with a new, barely utilized urban setting, an ensemble of new, vaguely familiar characters and…