  |  | | | | | | What's news: CBS' first earnings after Leslie Moonves' departure detail a record-breaking Q3. Plus: Ridley Scott's developing a Gladiator sequel, CNN flourishes in the Trump era and Oprah hits the (canvassing) trail in Georgia. — Will Robinson |  | | ^Producers roundtable: Ridiculous requests, inclusion riders and that "patronizing" popular Oscar: Producers behind Black Panther, A Star Is Born, Crazy Rich Asians and more reveal the new challenges of guiding great films, from streamer-vs.-studio dilemmas to social media spoilers, Rebecca Ford reports: | | + Injecting diversity: "Well, one question really is: Should people be forced to do it?" Marvel boss Kevin Feige poses. "And maybe the answer is yes, maybe the answer is no. If you're in a position of power and you're the one doing the hiring, we have learned — on our last number of movies and a number of movies that haven't come out or haven't been announced — that the more diverse the group of people around the table, the better the movie." | | + The popular Oscar: "It feels patronizing. And especially this year — it felt like a way of ghettoizing movies that succeeded with people of color, which is to say, 'Well, these films can't be judged just on their own merits, but they were popular,'" Crazy Rich Asians producer Nina Jacobson says. "The work that you end up making and believing in, it comes from the inside out." | | + Netflix going theatrical: "From my point of view, this particular film [22 July], I wanted it watched by young people. And the challenge that we faced was that young people sadly don't go to see art house movies," director Paul Greengrass asserts. "I remember talking to my son, who's a college-age young man, and he said, 'Well, if you do it art house, my friends will never see it. If you put it on Netflix, we'll all see it.'" Full roundtable. | | | | | | CBS' Smash Earnings |  | | | | Beating expectations: Reporting its quarterly results for the first time since embattled former CEO Leslie Moonves stepped aside amid allegations of sexual misconduct, CBS said Thursday it earned slightly more than analysts had predicted on more revenue than anticipated, Paul Bond reports: | | + Best Q3 ever: CBS was expected to earn $1.22 per share on revenue of $3.24 billion, but it posted $1.24 on $3.26 billion. Ianniello boasted Thursday that CBSN, the digital news service launched in 2014, has an audience of 1 million streams per day with viewers who are an average age of 38. | | + One miss: In the third quarter, CBS posted higher revenue and operating income in all its segments but one: cable networks. The company attributed the decline to higher programming and advertising costs associated with Who Is America? and Kidding on Showtime, and because last year the quarter included Showtime's distribution of the Floyd Mayweather-Conor McGregor fight. | | * No questions about Moonves: In its earnings three months ago, shortly after The New Yorker reported the Moonves allegations, CBS warned that Moonves would not answer questions unrelated to the financial report. While there was no similar admonition this time, analysts still did not ask how the ongoing investigation into whether or not Moonves will receive a severance of $120 million is progressing. Full story. | | CEO update... | | ► HBO chief approached for CBS job. Before departing the board, Richard Parsons floated the idea of leading CBS to Richard Plepler, but he was not interested and no formal offer was ever made, Edmund Lee reports. The CEO search is expected to take four months. [New York Times] | | Other earnings... | | ► Apple hits $10B in revenue from services like iTunes. The milestone, which represents growth of 27 percent from $7.9 billion during the same period last year, shows that the iPhone and MacBook maker is successfully diversifying from the hardware that was once its bread and butter. | | * Devices still fuel revenue. The growth was spurred by not just services but also Apple's iPhone division, which saw a 29 percent increase in revenue to $37.2 billion. The revenue gains came despite a lower-than-expected 46.9 million iPhones sold during the period. Investors had been looking for sales of 48.4 million. | | Elsewhere in TV... | | ► Inside CNN during the Trump era. Joe Pompeo reports on the inner workings of the news network and the success it's enjoyed during Jeff Zucker's tenure: "The average prime-time audience is around a million, compared to fewer than 600,000 when Zucker arrived, in 2013. ... CNN is projected to turn a $1.2 billion profit on $2.5 billion in revenue this year, making 2018 its most profitable year ever." [Vanity Fair] | | ► HBO goes direct to consumer in Canada to challenge Netflix. Rights holder Bell Media for the first time will bundle new episodes of Game of Thrones and Big Little Lies in a $9.99 per month streaming package. | | ► Amazon inks Barry Jenkins to first-look TV deal. The Oscar winner will create original series for the streamer via his production company, Pastel. | | ► Lionsgate, SonyLIV sign TV content deal for India. Lionsgate Play has launched in India with around 500 hours of Lionsgate and Starz series like Power and Vida on the SonyLIV streaming platform. | | ► Dolly Parton Netflix series Heartstrings sets cast for Jolene. Julianne Hough, Kimberly Williams-Paisley and Dallas Roberts will star in the first episode of the anthology series. | | ► Daniel Kaluuya, Rosamund Pike join animated Netflix/BBC miniseries Watership Down. Taron Egerton, Gemma Chan, Tom Wilkinson and Rory Kinnear also will voice characters in the CGI miniseries adapted from Richard Adams' allegorical bunny adventure novel, with Sam Smith recording the theme song. | | ► Showtime's Halo series will feature Master Chief. The network is looking for a leading man with a large build to play the iconic character for its upcoming action series based on the popular video games. | | ► Penny Dreadful revived at Showtime. John Logan will return as showrunner for City of Angels, a new chapter set in 1930s L.A. with different characters. | | ► Hulu snags King of the Hill, locks down Family Guy, Futurama. The streaming service also gets exclusive rights to Bob's Burgers as part of an expanded deal with 20th Century Fox. | | ► Diana Ross, John Legend set for Macy's Thanksgiving Parade. Bad Bunny, Kane Brown, Ella Mai, Martina McBride, Pentatonix, Rita Ora, Sugarland and Anika Noni Rose will also participate in the holiday celebration. | | ► Game of Thrones stars Kit Harington and Emilia Clarke tease "relentless" final season. "They want to get it right, they want to shoot everything every single way so they have options," Harington says. Clarke adds: "[Every] choice, every conversation, every attitude, has this air of 'this is it.' Everything feels more intense." | | Quoted: "I like her a lot. We didn't want her to leave Fox when she did. Having said that, I'm very happy with our current lineup on Fox, and we won't be making any changes there." — Lachlan Murdoch, speaking on Megyn Kelly's future at Fox News. |  | | ^How Julia Roberts became the heartbreaking hero of Amazon's Homecoming: The Oscar-winning star speaks with Josh Wigler about what drew her into the Amazon thriller, directed by Sam Esmail: | | + Why she signed on: "This was really two parts for me," says Roberts, discussing why Homecoming as a series and Heidi as a character were compelling enough to draw her into her first-ever series regular commitment. "I see her very much as two different people. There's the beautiful, therapist version of Heidi [in 2018] who is just so sincere, almost like a girl scout." | | * The other side: As for the future, 2022 version of Heidi, Roberts describes her as "complacent and lacking a full understanding. There's no point in really going over [what had happened to her]. She's got a robotic life: she goes to work at the diner, and then she goes home. There's something so heartbreaking about that.". Full story. | | Will & Grace's cultural moments... | | Jackie Strause emails: Will & Grace revisited Will's coming out episode 18 years after it first aired. The episode, "Who's Sorry Now?," unearthed a letter Will had written to Grace where he opened up about his experience after he told her he was gay back in 1985. The creators tell THR that the inspiration for the story was personal, as the message comes at a crucial time. Full interview. | | Strause again: Debra Messing's Grace Adler came forward with her #MeToo story, revealing that her father's friend had sexually assaulted her when she was 15. The episode, titled "Grace's Secret," saw Grace recounting the assault in detail, a powerful scene that the creators say was inspired by the #MeToo movement, Bill Cosby’s accusers and Christine Blasey Ford’s Senate testimony. More. | | From last night... | | ► Grey's Anatomy boss discusses those surprise returns. Showrunner Krista Vernoff talks with Lesley Goldberg about the Day of the Dead episode, the same-sex storyline she's looking to explore and what's next for the ABC drama's two emerging love triangles. Spoilers. | | Ratings notes... | | ► Fox's Empire, Star hit series low. Empire was down four-tenths of a point from a 1.6 rating to a 1.2 rating among the adults 18 to 49 demo. In addition, Star dropped three-tenths of a point, down to a 0.9 rating in the key demo. | | Digital digest... | | ► Google CEO responds to worldwide employee walkout. "Obviously, it's been a difficult time. There's anger and frustration in the company. We all feel it. I feel it. At Google we set a high bar and we didn't live up to our expectations," Sundar Pichai told the DealBook Conference. | | ► Robert Rodriguez, Vice Media to target Hispanic audience with creative agency La Reyna. Based in Austin, La Reyna will work with brands to connect with the U.S. Hispanic market. | | ► Snap CEO praises exec that he rescinded a job offer for. Snapchat's parent company in July brought in Kristen O'Hara, a veteran media marketer, to lead the sales operations at the maker of the popular messaging app. O'Hara was offered a promotion to become chief business officer, only for CEO Evan Spiegel to rescind the offer two days later. | | Latest reviews... | | ► Amazon's The Man in the High Castle. "Clearly sensing an opportunity, The Man in the High Castle has smartly seized the moment to align itself in a more pronounced way with the fear, despair and, increasingly, the sense that a change to the narrative of horror might actually be on the horizon," Tim Goodman praises. Full review. | | ► Showtime's Shut Up and Dribble. "Given today's relentless political maelstrom and that we're long past basketball's 1990s heyday, the serial feels more akin to a chalky afterthought than a rousing moment — a 'Hey, we count, too!' response to football's current political prominence," Robyn Bahr writes of the LeBron James-executive produced series. Full review. |  CBS' new board chief is 60 and has 8 percent body fat. Strauss Zelnick, the new chairman of the board of directors, says that his shirtless photos in his Becoming Ageless book are not retouched, Chris Gardner reports. | | | | | | | | CA Filming Boom |  | | | | Staffing up: According to a new report from the California Film Commission, the third year of the state's expanded incentives program has beefed up crew employment, lured bigger-budget projects in-state and increased filming outside the 30-mile-zone, Bryn Elise Sandberg reports: | | + Working hours boosted: The program has helped to increase the hours worked by below-the-line crew members in California. The third year continued that long-term growth trend with a 15.6 percent increase in hours worked in 2017 compared to 2014, the year before the new program took effect. That growth builds on 2016’s 12 percent increase over 2014. | | + Leaving L.A.: The new program has also prioritized lifting production state-wide, meaning getting projects to shoot outside the production hub that is Los Angeles. During the first three fiscal years, tax credit projects spent a total of more than $78 million in 19 counties outside the 30-mile zone. That figure is expected to rise as more tax credit productions in the third year (and even prior years) report their out-of-zone spending. Full story. | | Elsewhere in film... | | ► Gladiator sequel in the works from Ridley Scott. The project is in early stages of development with Paramount currently in negotiations for the follow-up. | | ► Cinemark Q3 earnings beat estimates. The company posted earnings of $50.2 million, or 43 cents per share, compared with $38.1 million in the year-ago period, or 33 cents. Wall Street had on average forecast earnings of 34 cents per share. | | * Subscription play. Members of Movie Club can see one regular movie a month for $8.99 and receive a 20 percent discount on concessions, among other benefits. CEO Mark Zoradi said new sign-ups for Movie Club have "held strong and steady" as his chain added 27 percent more subscribers during the latest quarter to get to 445,000 members in all across the U.S., or 1,003 members for every theater location. | | ► Ewan McGregor to play Batman villain Black Mask in Birds of Prey. The Warner Bros. film stars Margot Robbie as Harley Quinn. Birds of Prey is set to open Feb. 7, 2020. | | * Who is the villain? New DC movie villain Roman Sionis has a suitably melodramatic comic book past, Graeme McMillan details. | | ► Frozen sequel gets new 2019 release date. The follow-up to Disney's 2013's mega-hit will slide into theaters a week earlier, on Nov. 22, 2019. | | ► Leonardo DiCaprio, Andy Muschietti tackling H.G. Wells' The Time Machine. Muschietti will direct the feature project, and produce along with his sister Barbara Muschietti. DiCaprio is producing with partner Jennifer Davisson. The new adaptation will be a team-up between Warner Bros. and Paramount. | | ► Antoine Fuqua in talks to direct Paramount thriller Infinite. Transformers franchise maestro Lorenzo di Bonaventura is producing with Mark Vahradian. John Zaozirny at Bellevue Productions is also producing. Rafi Crohn will executive produce. | | ► Viral ghost story Dear David headed to big screen. New Line picks up the horror package inspired by a ghost story tweeted out by a BuzzFeed contributor. | | ► A24 poaches Nat Wolff, Alexander Skarsgard's Kill Team. Dan Krauss' film — set during the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan — is based on his feature documentary of the same name. | | ► Silence ep acquires Anna David novel Party Girl. Niels Juul picked up the book about a sober celebrity journalist who has to play the part of a party hopper. | | ► DOJ brings criminal charges in 1MDB scandal. Jho Low, who remains at large, was charged with conspiracy to launder money that was used to fund Wolf of Wall Street and a lavish lifestyle. | | ► Wesley Snipes must pay IRS millions, tax court rules. The actor's settlement offer of $850,000 was rejected by the IRS. A settlement officer in 2013 determined that the reasonable amount that could be collected was about $17.5 million | | ► Hunter Killer premiere canceled in Russia, Ukraine. The action pic starring Gerard Butler and Gary Oldman was due to hit cinemas in Russia on Thursday. | | ► Ubisoft Film and Television Women's Fellowship recipients score script deals. Mishna Wolff and Tasha Huo will adapt two of the company's games into a feature film script and television pilot, respectively. | | ► New Netflix movie Tall Girl launches talent search for title role. In order to cast the title role, Netflix is putting out a worldwide call for young women who are 5’10” or taller and between the ages of 13- and 21-years old. Nzingha Stewart is directing the movie, written by Sam Wolfson, on which the streamer is collaborating with McG's Wonderland. | | AFM developments... | | ► Bryan Singer appears at AFM to pitch Red Sonja. The director, who faces rape allegations and was dropped from Fox's Bohemian Rhapsody, will shoot the comic book adaptation for Millennium Films in the spring. | | ► Kate Mara, Simon Pegg tapped for thriller Inheritance. British filmmaker Vaughn Stein is set to direct, fresh from his recent work with Pegg and Margot Robbie in his noir thriller and directorial debut Terminal. UTA and Highland Film Group are co-repping U.S. rights, with Highland Film Group handling foreign sales. | | ► Noomi Rapace boards revenge thriller The Secrets We Keep. Stuart Ford's AGC Studios is fully financing the Holocaust-themed revenge thriller from director Yuval Adler, with RoboCop actor Joel Kinnaman in talks to co-star. | | Quoted: "My kids think I’m a titanic dork." — Alex Winter, on his kids' thoughts on Bill & Ted movies, with the new one set to shoot in 2019. |  | | ^It Happened in Hollywood: Once a notorious Hollywood figure, screenwriter Joe Eszterhas discusses the complicated legacy of Basic Instinct and gives his side of the legendary feud with super-agent Michael Ovitz, Seth Abramovitch and Chip Pope detail: | | + Scene that didn't age well: Eszterhas, 73, estimates the controversial thriller would likely be met today with "serious #MeToo protesters," particularly over one scene in the Paul Verhoeven-directed film in which star Michael Douglas, playing an alcoholic cop, appears to date-rape the character played by Jeanne Tripplehorn, his psychiatrist. Listen | Subscribe | | On the festival circuit... | | ► France's Amanda wins Grand Prix and best screenplay. Vice of Hope, a story of prostitution and human trafficking set in Naples, wins best director and best actress, while Ralph Fiennes' Nureyev biopic The White Crow wins best artistic contribution. More. | | ► Margot Robbie's Mary Queen of Scots to open Whistler. Barry Jenkins' If Beale Street Could Talk, Alfonso Cuaron's Roma and the Felicity Jones-starrer On the Basis of Sex also join the lineup. Details. | | For your consideration... | | ► Awkwafina to host 22nd Hollywood Film Awards. The actress has enjoyed a breakout year with roles in Ocean's 8 and Crazy Rich Asians, as well as a recent hosting stint on Saturday Night Live. | | Latest reviews... | | ► Paramount's Nobody's Fool. "Few mainstream romantic comedies are so brazen or as unconvincing in their third acts," John DeFore writes. "As if the movie were embarrassed about the tidy way it wraps things up, it trots Haddish out for a silly coda that reminds us how little we saw of her during the film's final hour." Full review. | | Musical notes... | | ► Barbra Streisand's Walls drags Trump — and reminds the world of her artistic powers. Streisand’s moody and effective new record takes pointed aim at the president, but its pleasures also stem from its lack of pretentiousness, Jonny Coleman writes. Review. | | Coming attractions... | | ► Trailer: Kurt Russell's Santa steals a car in Christmas Chronicles. The actor brings the edge to St. Nick in the new preview for Netflix's holiday movie. Watch. |  Hollywood's rising stars explain why they're voting. Stars from films such as If Beale Street Could Talk, Aquaman and more sat down with THR on the set of the Next Gen shoot, which showcases up-and-coming talent under 35 in Hollywood, to share why they will be making their voices heard at the polls on Nov. 6. Watch. | | | | Oprah on the Trail |  | | | | Stumping for Abrams: Oprah Winfrey has been going door to door in Georgia and gave a rousing speech Thursday in support of Stacey Abrams, the Democratic gubernatorial nominee. | | + Passionate case: "Stacey Abrams' values are in alignment with the consciousness in which our democracy has been founded. The very foundation of our democracy is to think about other people — to live a life in service to others," said Winfrey. The media mogul also noted that she reached out to Abrams and paid her own way to help the campaign. Speech. | | + Oprah next door: Richard Fausset tracked down Kassie Jones, a 66-year-old Marietta, Ga. resident who was surprised to see none other than Winfrey stop by her house. “I said, ‘I hope you run in 2020,’” Jones recalled saying to Winfrey. “She said, ‘No, no.’” [New York Times] | | What else we're reading... | | — "Don't Get Rid of Apu." Bhaskar Sunkara contends: "To be represented at all seemed like progress. My relationship with Apu was like my relationship with my Indian-born father or my Indo-Trinidadian mother: filled with moments of cringeworthy embarrassment, but also moments of pride and gratitude." [The Guardian] | | — "My Life Cleanse: One Month Inside L.A.'s Cult of Betterness." Rosecrans Baldwin goes all in: "Self-help has become a habit in America, but it's pathological in Southern California." [GQ] | | — "Liane Moriarty's Hollywood Angst: It's Complicated." Damien Cave profiles the Big Little Lies author: “I don’t think it’s a healthy thing for me as a writer, to keep talking about myself. Narrating myself, I sort of can’t stand it.” [New York Times] | | — "The True Story Behind Freddie Mercury’s Relationships." Yohana Desta details: "'He was like no one I had met before,' [ex-fiancee Mary Austin] told the Daily Mail in 2013. 'He was very confident—something I have never been. We grew together.'" [Vanity Fair] | | — "Hot List 2018." Rolling Stone lays its claim: "We tour the most exciting corners of pop culture, where the weirdest and freshest ideas are coming from. We check out the voices that are giving us reason to get excited about the future – the musicians, the filmmakers, the activists" [Rolling Stone] | | What else we're watching... | | + "Fox News' Chris Wallace faces fact-check with Stephen." [Late Show] | | + "Kurt Russell kicked Elvis Presley in the shin." [Graham Norton] | | + "Justin Timberlake has a silent interview with Jimmy Fallon." [Tonight Show] | | + "Julia Roberts still has pink hair from Halloween." [Jimmy Kimmel] | | From the archives... | | + On Nov. 2, 1959, Charles Van Doren admitted during a congressional hearing to being a participant in the quiz show scandal that rocked TV in the 1950s. Ten years ago, he reflected on the experience — on meeting producer Albert Freedman: "I leaned my elbows on the table, resting my head in my hands. He was telling me, in so many words, that the show was fixed." [The New Yorker] |  Today's birthdays: Karamo Brown, 38, Jon M. Chu, 39, Marisol Nichols, 45, David Schwimmer, 52, Shah Rukh Khan, 53, Peter Mullan, 59, | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
