| | | | What's news: Bron Studios, the co-financier behind Joker, files for bankruptcy. Film production in L.A. marks its sixth consecutive quarterly production drop. Fran Drescher has some memorably harsh words for Bob Iger. Magnum P.I. will return to NBC sooner than expected amid the strikes. — Ryan Gajewski
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Netflix Reports Blockbuster Earnings ►"The cancel reaction was low." Netflix reported a big second quarter, adding 5.9 million new paid subscribers to beat Wall Street expectations and further cement itself as the benchmark company in subscription streaming video. Netflix, led by co-CEOs Ted Sarandos and Greg Peters, reported revenue of $8.2 billion and net income of $1.5 billion. It now has 238.4 million global paid memberships. The Q2 earnings report is the first since the company began its password-sharing crackdown in the U.S., and the strategy appears to be paying clear dividends. The story.
—"This strike is not an outcome that we wanted." In a high-stakes moment for Hollywood amid a double strike of both actors and writers, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos took a conciliatory tone on the impasse while reporting the company's earnings. Notably, Netflix disclosed that it is upping its free cash flow estimate to $5 billion-plus for the full year, citing "lower cash content spend" due to the impact of the Writers Guild of America and SAG-AFTRA work stoppages and "timing of production starts." The story.
—"The last few years have been incredibly difficult." Bron Studios, the Canadian production and financing company, has filed for bankruptcy. The company is known for co-financing on projects such as Joker, the Oscar-winning pic that amassed $1.1 billion at the worldwide box office, and Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza, and had relationships with talent such as Charlize Theron and Jason Reitman. Rumors of financial stresses at the company had swirled for months. The story.
—"Are you an ignoramus?" SAG-AFTRA president Fran Drescher delivered an impassioned livestream interview with Sen. Bernie Sanders, where they discussed the dual strikes that have brought Hollywood to a standstill. Drescher tore into the studios' executives and their negotiating body, the AMPTP. The union chief also criticized Disney CEO Bob Iger, who called the actors' demands "not realistic" last week while attending an exclusive media mogul gathering in Sun Valley hosted by an investment bank. The story.
—"What we bring to the table goes beyond traditional creativity." Dozens of production workers at Warner Bros. Animation and Cartoon Network have gone public with their attempt to unionize with the Animation Guild. Sixty-six staffers at Warner Bros. Animation and 22 at Cartoon Network filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board on Wednesday and simultaneously requested voluntary recognition from management at the Warner Bros. Discovery subsidiaries. The story. |
IATSE Holds Strike Authorization Vote for Theater Workers ►"We need to show strength and unity." THR's Caitlin Huston has the scoop on IATSE conducting a strike authorization vote, after the theatrical crew union says talks with the Broadway League and Disney Theatrical Productions have stalled. The contract negotiations, and the strike authorization vote, concern stagehands, hair and makeup artists, and wardrobe personnel working on a so-called pink contract. About 1,500 workers are directly covered by the agreement, and they work across 45 theatrical shows, with 28 productions on Broadway and 17 on tour. The story.
—"Just flat-out rejection of almost everything." SAG-AFTRA members have now gotten a fuller look at what was on the negotiating table between their union and the AMPTP during more than a month of negotiations. THR's Abbey White hears from members about the 12-page document released late Monday, and they share a mixture of surprise and disappointment over what the studios allegedly proposed or wouldn't engage on, according to the union. In a statement, the AMPTP pushed back against claims that it's been unresponsive to the union. The story.
—"The business of the Union must go on." A slate of candidates challenging Fran Drescher's Unity ticket is beginning to take shape prior to the 2023 SAG-AFTRA election. A group labeling itself a coalition of independents announced that candidates including Rob Schneider, Elliott Gould, Dr. Drew, Diane Ladd and many others would all run for seats on the SAG-AFTRA National Board. Ballots will be counted for SAG-AFTRA's national election, Los Angeles Local and New York Local contests — momentous ones during the union's ongoing strike — on Sept. 9. The story.
—"No permit was issued for any tree trimming at this site." After the actors and writers unions filed a Labor Board complaint against NBCUniversal over alleged infringements on their ability to picket, a local elected official announced a probe into tree-trimming outside of the Universal lot. The studio contends that there is no foul play, while SAG-AFTRA says it has determined "that it cannot safely send its members to picket at NBCUniversal." On Wednesday, an official Writers Guild social media account tweeted that NBCUniversal had placed cooling tents on Barham Blvd. The story.
—Magnum's job is never done. Fall schedule revisions continue at the broadcast networks, with NBC the latest to tweak its lineup. NBC's makeover for its lineup isn’t as drastic as that of CBS, but amid ongoing labor strikes in the industry, the network won't have several shows it planned to roll out in the fall. NBC will move Magnum P.I., which has the back half of a 20-episode order, and Canadian import Transplant into the fall to help plug some of those gaps. The story. |
Film Review: 'Oppenheimer' ►"More slow-burn than explosive." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer. The feature about the origins of the atomic bomb stars Cillian Murphy, Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr. and Florence Pugh. The review.
—"Visually compelling though ultimately disappointing." David Rooney also reviews Samuel Bodin's horror movie Cobweb. Lizzy Caplan, Antony Starr and Cleopatra Coleman star in the haunted-house thriller. The review.
—💅 Barbie vs. Oppenheimer: Which got better reviews? 💣 The reviews are in for the box office head-to-head showdown of the summer. On Tuesday, the critic embargo lifted for Barbie. On Wednesday, reviews were posted for Oppenheimer. THR's James Hibberd collects a roundup of the appraisals and notes which film scored higher on average. The story. |
Inside 'Aquaman 2' Reshoots ►Can it make another splash? THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on the Aquaman sequel, which is set for release in December from Warner Bros. James Wan's Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom is coming off its nearly unprecedented third round of reshoots that occurred in New Zealand in mid-June and involved stars including Jason Momoa and Patrick Wilson. The release for the expensive production will follow Warners' recent DC movies flopping at an unmatched level. The story.
—"This sector's shutdown will be felt in every corner of the regional economy." Nearly 80 days into a strike with no end in sight and another that just started, film production in L.A. has plummeted and will likely keep sinking. The decline in the second quarter of this year marks the sixth consecutive quarterly production drop, which was aggravated by the ongoing writers strike and doesn't include titles stalled by the work stoppage from SAG-AFTRA members. Shooting for TV shows, which drives the most filming in the area, saw the steepest dip. The story.
—"More than 70 percent of the films at the festival are actually non-American films." A long summer standoff between U.S. writers and actors and the studios and streamers could result in fewer U.S. films and a smaller celebrity presence at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, long seen as an awards season launchpad. But TIFF organizers are betting their September event will provide far more value to Hollywood than just glitzy A-listers on its red carpets as they unveiled their industry programming lineup on Wednesday. The 2023 Industry Conference, to run Sept. 8-12, will feature six programs, including the Visionaries informal conversation series presented by THR. The story. |
Adelaide Clemens Talks 'Justified: City Primeval' ►"Her sexuality is her currency." THR's Brian Davids chats with Adelaide Clemens, who plays Sandy Stanton on FX's Justified: City Primeval. During an interview conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike, the performer discusses taking inspiration from Quentin Tarantino, who was previously on board as a director, and also talks about why she had to depart HBO's Watchmen after shooting the pilot. The interview.
In other news...
—Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach quietly welcomed their second child
—Kenneth Branagh battles supernatural forces in A Haunting in Venice trailer
—Keanu Reeves reunites with band Dogstar for first headlining show in 20 years as group announces new album
—Broadway's Grey House, starring Laurie Metcalf and Tatiana Maslany, will close this month after opening in June
What else we're reading...
—Mark Olsen talks to Ira Sachs, director of Sundance sensation Passages, who calls the film's NC-17 rating "censorship" [LAT]
—After the announcement of ABC's Golden Bachelor star, Annabelle Timsit and Adela Suliman hear from experts and fans who praise the show for normalizing finding love later in life [WaPo]
—Dawn Gilbertson examines the lounge battle royale that's coming soon to an airport near you [WSJ]
—Sarah Shaffi explores the rise of ghostwritten celebrity fiction and whether it matters who wrote it [Guardian]
—With the Spongmonkeys (*shudder*) improbably returning to help promote Quinzos amid the brand's comeback efforts, Amy McCarthy chats with the creator of the bizarre characters about the revived campaign [Eater]
Today...
…in 2007, Universal released Dennis Dugan's I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, starring Adam Sandler and Kevin James. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Sandra Oh (52), Omar Epps (50), Dean Winters (59), Judy Greer (48), John Francis Daley (38), Simon Rex (49), Julianne Hough (35), Josh Holloway (54), Gisele Bündchen (43), Chloe Fineman (35), Tantoo Cardinal (73), Frank Whaley (60), Donna Dixon (66), Paige Hurd (31) |
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