| | | | What's news: Donald Trump's Truth Social has lost $73m. Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua are making a film about Carthaginian general Hannibal for Netflix. CBS is firming up its lineup of scripted originals. Michael Imperioli is set to make his Broadway debut. CAA has launched an investment bank and advisory firm. — Abid Rahman
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Marvel Taking Stock Amid 'The Marvels' Meltdown ►Shifting strategy. The anything-but-marvelous performance of The Marvels at the box office is a moment of reckoning for Marvel Studios, the production house that has been the superhero of the box office for much of the past 15 years since Iron Man burst onto the scene in 2008. THR's Aaron Couch and Pamela McClintock dig into Disney and Kevin Feige's shifting strategy for Marvel that will see the release of only one superhero pic next year — Shawn Levy and Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool 3 — instead of three. The analysis.
—Write them off at your peril. After bombing with The Marvels and releasing a glut of projects in recent years, it's become du jour to think Marvel is heading into an era of decline. For THR, Richard Newby writes that people are all too quick to grab a shovel and start digging a grave for the MCU, and that the studio will move forward, having learned from the disappointments of the last year. The analysis.
—Some good news, kinda. The season two finale of Marvel's Loki drew an audience in line with that of its premiere — a pattern that repeated throughout the season. According to figures from Disney+, the finale brought in 11.2m views worldwide in the three days after its Nov. 9 premiere, with a “view” defined by the increasingly standardized method of dividing total viewing time by running time. The view count is up slightly from the 10.9m views for the season premiere of Loki in early October, per Disney+. The story. |
WB U-Turns on 'Coyote vs. Acme' ►Cartoonish fumble. Warner Bros. Discovery has reversed its decision to bury Coyote vs. Acme. The studio will now allow director Dave Green to shop his live-action/animation hybrid movie to other potential buyers instead of shelving the project for a tax write off. Amazon is said to be a contender in the mix, with screenings for potential buyers taking place this month. Sources tell THR's Aaron Couch and James Hibberd that after the Coyote vs. Acme news broke last week, several filmmakers instructed reps to cancel meetings they had on the books with WB. The story.
—Hell yeah! Denzel Washington and Antoine Fuqua are reteaming once more for the epic drama Hannibal for Netflix. Fuqua will direct the film based on a script by John Logan, with Washington also producing. There’s no word on Washington’s role in the movie based on the real-life Carthaginian general Hannibal, but expect lots of characters atop elephants crossing the Alps. Washington and Fuqua have worked together on five movies already including Training Day, The Magnificent Seven and The Equalizer trilogy. The story.
—Wasting no time. With the SAG-AFTRA tentative agreement still yet to be officially ratified, CBS is fixing the return of its scripted originals. The network on Monday announced that the bulk of its scripted roster will return with new episodes in February, with comedies like Ghosts and Young Sheldon and dramas including the NCIS and FBI franchises running between 10 and 13 episodes each and run through May. CBS has also pushed rookie drama Matlock and freshman comedy Poppa’s House to the 2024-25 season. The story. |
Trump's Truth Social Has Lost $73M Since Launch ►The failing Truth Social. Since launching in early 2022, Donald Trump's Truth Social took in $3.7m in net sales, and lost $73m. The numbers are the first time that any internal financial details on the social platform have been shared publicly, and they suggest that while Trump has made Truth Social his primary social media platform, it has not been translating into meaningful revenue for the tech startup, which is owned by Trump Media & Technology Group. The story.
—New venture. On Monday, talent agency CAA announced CAA Evolution, an investment bank and advisory firm focused on sports, entertainment and media clients, one predicated on navigating a rapidly-evolving market for the sector. CAA Evolution brings together Evolution Media Capital, CAA’s merchant bank, with Michael Klein’s M. Klein & Company, to super-serve that client base through CAA’s relationships in Hollywood, and Klein’s expertise in big-dollar dealmaking. The story.
—New rules. As YouTube rolls out generative AI technology to its creators, it is also placing new guardrails on the technology’s use. The company on Tuesday set new rules on content created with the help of generative AI, including rules that crack down on videos that use someone else’s likeness, and giving music labels the ability to remove videos that feature the voice or a well-known musician or performer created without their permission. The story.
—"Those movies are ridiculous. They’re not universal. They’re an escape." Jacob Elordi doesn’t currently see superhero roles or parts in franchises like The Kissing Booth in his future. In a new interview, the Priscilla actor reflected on his whirlwind year and rapid rise to Hollywood stardom. As part of the discussion, he discussed his past and possible future in performance, revealing a few of the kinds of jobs he’s, at present, avoiding including the Superman role that "was immediately, ‘No, thank you.’ That’s too much. That’s too dark for me." The story.
—"Healthy boundaries." Taylor Swift has waded into the discussion around fans throwing items at the stage during live performances, telling her Buenos Aires fans that “it really freaks me out” when gifts are hurled on stage. The singer-songwriter paused during her Sunday night appearance at Argentina’s River Plate Stadium to ask fans to refrain from throwing items — even if they are gifts — while she and her dancers are performing. The story. |
Inside the Battle Over Fran Drescher's "Robin Hood Fund" ►The Nanny state. In the final days of negotiations, SAG-AFTRA President Fran Drescher held out for a fund which will redistribute some of the money actors earn on streaming. THR's Rebecca Keegan writes that some studio sources call the fund "socialist," some guild members worry it could be abused and SAG says it's just "a little less elitist." The story.
—A bit more on that fund. THR's Rick Porter writes that actors will get a somewhat larger piece of the streaming pie under the tentative agreement they made with studios and streamers — and the deal has a wrinkle that sets it apart from other recent contracts between Hollywood guilds and the AMPTP. The actors union will set up a fund to distribute extra residuals from successful SVOD shows and movies. The explainer.
—"This show has meant the world to me." Following the end of the actors strike, The Great star Elle Fanning is speaking out about the show being canceled at Hulu. The actress, who starred opposite Nicholas Hoult in the series about Catherine the Great, took to social media to share her thoughts about the show’s somewhat sudden ending now that she can talk about her projects. The story.
—"I cried for real when she died and I cried when I saw it on screen." The Crown cast is opening up about the emotional moments of filming the Netflix hit’s sixth and final season, which follows Princess Diana’s final days and her fatal car crash in Paris. Elizabeth Debicki joined her co-stars on the Los Angeles red carpet on Sunday, and spoke about playing Diana during the tragic events. The story.
—"It’s really scary to feel idle." After the box office success of her monster hit Barbie, Greta Gerwig says she doesn’t want to stop directing movies. In a new interview, Gerwig said she's keen to direct movies into her 70s, adding that "the terror of never making anything becomes much bigger than the terror of making something bad." The story. |
Meet the 30 Major Players Aiming for Best Picture ►It’s (finally) Oscar season! From Air to The Zone of Interest, THR's Tyler Coates looks at the films that are at the front of the race to the Dolby Theatre — a list that includes box office smashes, festival darlings and critical favorites. The list.
—Feinberg Forecast. THR's executive editor of awards coverage Scott Feinberg is out with his first post-strike assessment of the Oscar race. Scott updates his read of 11 categories with the 96th Academy Awards only 118 days away. The forecast.
—Plan Broadway. The Sopranos star Michael Imperioli will make his Broadway debut in An Enemy of the People this winter, opposite Jeremy Strong. The production of Henrik Ibsen’s play, adapted by Amy Herzog, will play the Circle in the Square Theatre for a 16-week engagement starting Feb. 27, with an opening night on March 18. Brad Pitt’s Plan B Entertainment has joined the lead producing team for the show, which includes the previously announced producers Seaview and Patrick Catullo. This is the first Broadway venture for Plan B. The story. |
TV Review: 'Fargo' S5 ►"Less ambitious but lots of fun." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews FX's Fargo. Jon Hamm, Juno Temple and Jennifer Jason Leigh star as Noah Hawley's anthology series goes back to 2019 for another tale of kidnapping, murder and funny regional accents. The review.
—"Effective as a biography and an ode to alt-weeklies of yore." Dan reviews D.W. Young's Uncropped. Executive produced by Wes Anderson, the doc film puts Village Voice photographer James Hamilton in the spotlight. The review.
—"A rich and rewarding overview." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Stephen Soucy's Merchant Ivory. The illuminating doc examines the prolific company founded by producer Ismail Merchant and director James Ivory who became synonymous with elegant literary adaptations in the 1980s and 90s. The review. In other news...
—The Garfield Movie trailer teases new era of lasagna-loving cat
—Bachelor in Paradise stars Kenny Braasch, Mari Pepin marry in Puerto Rico
—Nicole Kidman AFI Life Achievement Award gala rescheduled for April
—Hussain Currimbhoy named new Hot Docs Festival artistic director
—Reel Works Film Festival announces 2023 lineup
What else we're reading...
—Jim VandeHei and Mike Allen have an extremely troubling scoop that Trump allies are pre-vetting people for an army of up to 54,000 loyalists to install across the government if he wins in 2024 [Axios]
—Dennis Romero reports that ex-Fox News reporter Jason Donner is suing the network, alleging he was fired for challenging lies about the 2020 election [NBC News]
—Jenna Fryer reports that Liberty Media seriously overestimated the demand for F1 in Las Vegas and is now slashing prices for tickets and scrambling to keep locals on side [AP]
—Nick Newman has a fascinating interview with Alden Ehrenreich on his directing debut Shadow Brother Sunday, having Francis Ford Coppola as a mentor and his thoughts on Tetro [Film Stage]
—Imran Rahman-Jones and Shiona McCallum look at how Bumble boss Whitney Wolfe Herd changed the dating scene [BBC]
Today...
...in 2003, 20th Century Fox unveiled the naval epic Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World in theaters. The drama, unarguably the greatest film of this century (no, really), went on to be nominated for 10 Oscars at the 76th Academy Awards, winning for cinematography and sound editing. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Josh Duhamel (51), Vanessa Bayer (42), Travis Barker (48), Olga Kurylenko (44), Patrick Warburton (59), Ivanna Sakhno (26), Laura San Giacomo (61), D.B. Sweeney (62), Paul McGann (64), Russell Tovey (42), Laura Ramsey (41), Stella Maeve (34), Sandahl Bergman (72), Graham Patrick Martin (32), Mason Gooding (27), Brooke Satchwell (43), Harland Williams (61), Brian Dietzen (46), Brian Gleeson (36), David Moscow (49), Dimitri Leonidas (36), Cory Michael Smith (37), Gary Grubbs (74), Matt Cedeño (49), Jeff Wilbusch (36), Marco Leonardi (52), George Sear (26), Delphine Chanéac (45) |
| Stephen Kandel, the prolific screenwriter whose work over four decades in television spanned Sea Hunt to Star Trek, Batman to Barnaby Jones and Mannix to MacGyver, has died. He was 96. The obituary. |
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