'Skywalker' Soars Lower; 'Cats' Declawed; Comcast's Starz Deal; Director Roundtable; Hollywood Faves of 2010s

What's news: Comcast and Lionsgate make a deal for Starz carriage. Plus: Cats bombs, overall U.S. box office declines year-over-year and THR unveils its industry poll of film and TV favorites of the decade. — Erik Hayden

Today In Entertainment DECEMBER 23, 2019 What's news: Comcast and Lionsgate make a deal for Starz carriage. Plus: Cats bombs, overall U.S. box office declines year-over-year and THR unveils its industry poll of film and TV favorites of the decade. — Erik Hayden What's news: Comcast and Lionsgate make a deal for Starz carriage. Plus: Cats bombs, overall U.S. box office declines year-over-year and THR unveils its industry poll of film and TV favorites of the decade. — Erik Hayden  "A Revolution of Cinema" Director Roundtable debuts: Martin Scorsese, Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, Todd Phillips, Fernando Meirelles and Lulu Wang in conversation. + The directors sound off on Netflix pros and cons, Marvel as "amusement park" and "that bullshit thing where the media picks a movie and declares it means something it doesn’t." — Baumbach: "In a sense, Netflix reflects the traditional independent cinema model. You get to play exclusively in theaters and then the wide break is Netflix. It's a more democratic break for these movies." — Scorsese: "The studios just weren't interested in The Irishman. What they'd make back on something like that, they figured wasn't enough, particularly because I had to do the CGI." Full conversation. Holiday box office watch... + How well will Rise of Skywalker hold? Though coming in notably behind the last two films in the trilogy, Skywalker easily launched to $175.5 million at the North American box office and $373.5 million globally. *Notably, it's the first Star Wars pic made by Lucasfilm and Disney not to earn an A or A- from audiences. (Exit scores on PostTrak are more promising.) + Cats (budgeted at $100 million) scratched in its debut with $6.5 million after landing a C+ CinemaScore. + Bombshell came in slightly behind expectations in its nationwide expansion with $5.1 million. + Jumanji 2 held well, grossed a sturdy $26.1 million to pass the $100 million threshold domestically. + Ford v Ferrari also zoomed past the $100 million mark domestically for a worldwide haul of $193 million to date. Weekend wrap. — The big picture: With Dec. 31 fast approaching, industry leader Comscore projected that box office revenue in North America will hit $11.45 billion for the full year, a decline of 3.6 percent from 2018's record bounty of $11.88 billion. Yearly wrap.  "A Revolution of Cinema" Director Roundtable debuts: Martin Scorsese, Greta Gerwig, Noah Baumbach, Todd Phillips, Fernando Meirelles and Lulu Wang in conversation. + The directors sound off on Netflix pros and cons, Marvel as "amusement park" and "that bullshit thing where the media picks a movie and declares it means something it doesn’t." — Baumbach: "In a sense, Netflix reflects the traditional independent cinema model. You get to play exclusively in theaters and then the wide break is Netflix. It's a more democratic break for these movies." — Scorsese: "The studios just weren't interested in The Irishman. What they'd make back on something like that, they figured wasn't enough, particularly because I had to do the CGI." Full conversation. Holiday box office watch... + How well will Rise of Skywalker hold? Though coming in notably behind the last two films in the trilogy, Skywalker easily launched to $175.5 million at the North American box office and $373.5 million globally. *Notably, it's the first Star Wars pic made by Lucasfilm and Disney not to earn an A or A- from audiences. (Exit scores on PostTrak are more promising.) + Cats (budgeted at $100 million) scratched in its debut with $6.5 million after landing a C+ CinemaScore. + Bombshell came in slightly behind expectations in its nationwide expansion with $5.1 million. + Jumanji 2 held well, grossed a sturdy $26.1 million to pass the $100 million threshold domestically. + Ford v Ferrari also zoomed past the $100 million mark domestically for a worldwide haul of $193 million to date. Weekend wrap. — The big picture: With Dec. 31 fast approaching, industry leader Comscore projected that box office revenue in North America will hit $11.45 billion for the full year, a decline of 3.6 percent from 2018's record bounty of $11.88 billion. Yearly wrap.  "Racial Progress But at a Glacial Pace" Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's latest on the decade's movement toward inclusion in the film and TV industry:  "There have been impressive moments of success the past decade, and for that Hollywood deserves credit. As far as I can see, the industry is committed to making substantial and lasting changes — but at its own pace. For 50 years I've been talking about the issue and, though there has been progress, it's been as glacial as an Ingmar Bergman film marathon." Full column. Elsewhere in film... ► Universal notifies theaters it is improving Cats VFX. The studio notified thousands of theaters they will be receiving an updated version of Tom Hooper's troubled film with "some improved visual effects." An unusual move. ► International breakout talents this year. A look at twelve creative talents — from Atlantics director Mati Diop to Parasite actress Park So-dam — who took the leap onto the world stage in 2019. The list. ► Column: How female alliances influenced movies this year. Instead of portraying a lone-wolf woman out to make it on her own, this crop of films centers on the way women work together in very different settings, Robyn Bahr writes. + Trailer roundup: New clips for Onward, Top Gun: Maverick, Tenet, The Woman in the Window, 1917 and Respect. Watch.  How the Oscar odds are narrowing. Scott Feinberg looks at the state of the race after the nominations have been revealed for the American Cinema Editors Awards, Art Directors Guild Awards, Cinema Audio Society Awards and Costume Designers Guild Awards. The list.  "Racial Progress But at a Glacial Pace" Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's latest on the decade's movement toward inclusion in the film and TV industry:  "There have been impressive moments of success the past decade, and for that Hollywood deserves credit. As far as I can see, the industry is committed to making substantial and lasting changes — but at its own pace. For 50 years I've been talking about the issue and, though there has been progress, it's been as glacial as an Ingmar Bergman film marathon." Full column. Elsewhere in film... ► Universal notifies theaters it is improving Cats VFX. The studio notified thousands of theaters they will be receiving an updated version of Tom Hooper's troubled film with "some improved visual effects." An unusual move. ► International breakout talents this year. A look at twelve creative talents — from Atlantics director Mati Diop to Parasite actress Park So-dam — who took the leap onto the world stage in 2019. The list. ► Column: How female alliances influenced movies this year. Instead of portraying a lone-wolf woman out to make it on her own, this crop of films centers on the way women work together in very different settings, Robyn Bahr writes. + Trailer roundup: New clips for Onward, Top Gun: Maverick, Tenet, The Woman in the Window, 1917 and Respect. Watch.  How the Oscar odds are narrowing. Scott Feinberg looks at the state of the race after the nominations have been revealed for the American Cinema Editors Awards, Art Directors Guild Awards, Cinema Audio Society Awards and Costume Designers Guild Awards. The list.  Poll: Hollywood's Favorites The decade’s best-loved movies and TV shows were ranked by 3,500 industry professionals (the people who actually made them) in The Hollywood Reporter’s exclusive survey: + In film, the top 5 in order are Get Out, 12 Years a Slave, Black Panther, Inception and Avengers: Endgame. List. + In TV, the top 5 in order are Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Downton Abbey and Stranger Things. List. Late night watch...  ► Eddie Murphy gives SNL best ratings in two years. The Dec. 21 episode of the variety sketch series, with host Murphy and musical guest Lizzo, averaged a 2.5 rating in adults 18-49 and 9.921 million viewers overall.  + Murphy's curse during Weekend Update was bleeped out ... Bill Cosby's publicist wrote a lengthy retort to Murphy's jab on SNL. The note. ► On the "pseudo live" TV economy. While Jimmy Fallon has 12.7 billion YouTube views, many people are watching late night TV late at night, and it's still where the shows generate the lion's share of their revenue. Rep Sheet Roundup: Pose star Mj Rodriguez has signed with BWR PR ... CAA has signed Andy Fleming and YouTuber Kristin Johns ... Katz PR has signed Aria Brooks ... Blacksmiths Entertainment has signed Jose Pozo. More.  Poll: Hollywood's Favorites The decade’s best-loved movies and TV shows were ranked by 3,500 industry professionals (the people who actually made them) in The Hollywood Reporter’s exclusive survey: + In film, the top 5 in order are Get Out, 12 Years a Slave, Black Panther, Inception and Avengers: Endgame. List. + In TV, the top 5 in order are Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Mad Men, Downton Abbey and Stranger Things. List. Late night watch...  ► Eddie Murphy gives SNL best ratings in two years. The Dec. 21 episode of the variety sketch series, with host Murphy and musical guest Lizzo, averaged a 2.5 rating in adults 18-49 and 9.921 million viewers overall.  + Murphy's curse during Weekend Update was bleeped out ... Bill Cosby's publicist wrote a lengthy retort to Murphy's jab on SNL. The note. ► On the "pseudo live" TV economy. While Jimmy Fallon has 12.7 billion YouTube views, many people are watching late night TV late at night, and it's still where the shows generate the lion's share of their revenue. Rep Sheet Roundup: Pose star Mj Rodriguez has signed with BWR PR ... CAA has signed Andy Fleming and YouTuber Kristin Johns ... Katz PR has signed Aria Brooks ... Blacksmiths Entertainment has signed Jose Pozo. More.  What Happens to Gaming History? Archiving: Progress on cataloguing influential video game titles has been halting as major studios fail to lead preservation efforts, Patrick Shanley finds:  + One of the most valuable pieces of information for conservation is a game’s source code, essentially the blueprint of how a game was made, from its concept art to the actual lines of code written to make it playable by audiences. That information, however, is something many game companies are reluctant to share. + “One of the things, long term, for the video game industry is when it wants to take its own history seriously,” Saisha Grayson, curator of time-based media at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Full feature. Elsewhere... +  Just in: Comcast, Lionsgate reach new deal for Starz. The deal includes continuing access of Starz networks on Xfinity TV and future carriage on Comcast's Peacock streaming service. It will also see NBCUniversal license content from Lionsgate for Peacock. Story.  + CA freelancers pitch amendment to gig economy law. The group is asking for an end to a cap of 35 submissions per employer per year, and a new system for classifying employees and independent contractors. Story.  Reading... — "How 200 historic Hollywood backdrops were saved from the dumpster." Mary McNamara documents "a two-year attempt to keep a relatively few pieces of irreplaceable art and Hollywood history from the fate of so many sets, props, costumes and backdrops: the studio dumpster." [Los Angeles Times] — "As Endeavor tries to right Itself, Ari Emanuel's rivals close in." William D. Cohan writes: "Fidelity wrote down its investment, some employees aren’t happy campers, and ICM and others are ready to pick them off." [Vanity Fair] — "#MeToo clashes with 'bro culture' at ad agencies." Tiffany Hsu reports: "Campaigns promoting female empowerment are all the rage. But women in advertising say they still have to navigate Mad Men workplaces." [New York Times] — "Advertisers pounce on TV’s discounted holiday rates." Tim Peterson reports: "While the holiday period can be great for discerning ad buyers, it can be tough for ad sellers." [Digiday] From the archives... + Today in 1997, Columbia Pictures unveiled James L. Brooks' As Good As It Gets in theaters, where it would go on to gross $314 million globally: "It's an acidic love story." Original review.  What Happens to Gaming History? Archiving: Progress on cataloguing influential video game titles has been halting as major studios fail to lead preservation efforts, Patrick Shanley finds:  + One of the most valuable pieces of information for conservation is a game’s source code, essentially the blueprint of how a game was made, from its concept art to the actual lines of code written to make it playable by audiences. That information, however, is something many game companies are reluctant to share. + “One of the things, long term, for the video game industry is when it wants to take its own history seriously,” Saisha Grayson, curator of time-based media at the Smithsonian American Art Museum. Full feature. Elsewhere... +  Just in: Comcast, Lionsgate reach new deal for Starz. The deal includes continuing access of Starz networks on Xfinity TV and future carriage on Comcast's Peacock streaming service. It will also see NBCUniversal license content from Lionsgate for Peacock. Story.  + CA freelancers pitch amendment to gig economy law. The group is asking for an end to a cap of 35 submissions per employer per year, and a new system for classifying employees and independent contractors. Story.  Reading... — "How 200 historic Hollywood backdrops were saved from the dumpster." Mary McNamara documents "a two-year attempt to keep a relatively few pieces of irreplaceable art and Hollywood history from the fate of so many sets, props, costumes and backdrops: the studio dumpster." [Los Angeles Times] — "As Endeavor tries to right Itself, Ari Emanuel's rivals close in." William D. Cohan writes: "Fidelity wrote down its investment, some employees aren’t happy campers, and ICM and others are ready to pick them off." [Vanity Fair] — "#MeToo clashes with 'bro culture' at ad agencies." Tiffany Hsu reports: "Campaigns promoting female empowerment are all the rage. But women in advertising say they still have to navigate Mad Men workplaces." [New York Times] — "Advertisers pounce on TV’s discounted holiday rates." Tim Peterson reports: "While the holiday period can be great for discerning ad buyers, it can be tough for ad sellers." [Digiday] From the archives... + Today in 1997, Columbia Pictures unveiled James L. Brooks' As Good As It Gets in theaters, where it would go on to gross $314 million globally: "It's an acidic love story." Original review.   Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? View it in your browser.  ©2019 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. DECEMBER 23, 2019 UNSUBSCRIBE  MANAGE PREFERENCES PRIVACY POLICY TERMS OF USE