| | | | | | All eyes are on NBCUniversal now, whether you tuned in for the "Armonia"-themed Olympics opening kick off in Milan or are waiting for the Big Game tomorrow. In this Weekender edition, we're pulling together the threads of a chaotic week, from the Disney C-suite to a telling D.C. Senate hearing. — Erik Hayden
+ Ticker: Kristen Stewart buys a theater; Floyd Mayweather Jr. throws a haymaker at Showtime; Megan Park sparks old-school spec script bidding war.
|
Meet Josh Disney's incoming CEO Josh D’Amaro grew up in Medfield, Massachusetts, a short drive outside of Boston. An avid athlete, he grew up playing basketball and soccer (his dad coached the teams). A graduate of Georgetown University, he started his professional career in Boston as a financial analyst for Gillette, before joining Disneyland in a strategy role in 1998. D’Amaro now lives in Orange County with his wife and kids, though Disney noted in a filing that he is eligible for a relocation benefit, which suggests he could end up moving closer to the company’s Burbank HQ. For the next fiscal year, D’Amaro is set to receive pay of about $38 million. Alex Weprin's longread profile. |
Rethinking Paris Like Britney Spears and Lindsay Lohan — two of Hilton’s closest contemporaries of the mid-2000s, both of whom have since been reevaluated by a culture more willing to acknowledge the excesses of its own scrutiny — it may be time to reexamine the media’s long-standing assumptions about Paris Hilton. “It’s always been my dream to be a pop star,” she says without a flicker of irony, as she settles into a front-row seat in her mansion’s heavily draped screening room. “So, I manifested it. I became a pop star.” Benjamin Svetkey's cover story. |
By the Numbers Super Bowl 30-second ad costs:
$20 million-$25 million - All-in production costs on the high-end, $10-$12 million on the low end.
$8 million-$10 million - Network fee for a 30-second spot
$7 million-$10 million-plus - Additional spend with network (often required to secure spot)
$2 million-$5 million - talent fees for starring roles, $100,000-$1 million for cameo appearances and lesser known talent.
$1 million-$5 million - Additional spend on social campaigns.
$0-$500,000 - Music rights.
+ Plus why talent fees are going down this year. Full breakdown in detail.
|
Snoop Meets Tucci As the Milan-Cortino Winter Olympics kick off, NBCU is betting that high-wattage celebrities, YouTube stars and a plan to turn athletes into social media stars can drive viewer interest in the games themselves. Alex Weprin's report. |
Back in L.A. "Can L.A.'s Graffiti Towers Be Cleaned Up by the 2028 Olympics?"
Indeed, the Games offer a new sense of urgency and a potential hard timeline for a solution. With the world’s attention heading to this city in just over two years, officials and civic boosters are suddenly wondering if the most glaring scar on the city skyline can actually be cleaned up before the Games. Seth Abramovitch's report + Q&A with Rick Caruso.
|
Murdoch Supreme An exclusive excerpt from Bonfire of the Murdochs tells the inside story of the Australian mogul's bumpy introduction to Hollywood, and the origins of his TV empire. Barry Diller became Rupert’s Hollywood whisperer. Rupert complained of inefficiency, but Diller explained that creative output took time to nurture. Gabriel Sherman's book excerpt. |
Lobbying Blitz Multiple sources in the lobbying and public policy space tell THR that Hollywood studios and their Big Tech competitors poured resources into securing a seat at the table when it comes to AI policy, with the entertainment firms trying to protect their IP, even as tech sought to undermine those protections. Alex Weprin's report + spending charts.
|
Quoted “If we had agreed to a five-year contract in March of 2020, where would we be now?" — DGA president Christopher Nolan, musing about a three or five-year deal with the AMPTP. "We can model courage. We should be as brave as the characters we play." — Jane Fonda, asked about celebrity activism during an interview for her new film Gaslit. "What is the point of acquiring cutting edge semiconductors if they are being deployed to repurpose gormless, feckless, feckless content sets." — Robert Thomson, News Corp. CEO, pointedly taking aim at AI piracy. "Today, he’s more relevant than ever, achieving 32% year over year increase in earned media." — SiriusXM CEO Jennifer Witz, touting a new deal with Howard Stern as the audio giant stalls in subscriber gains. "Families can’t pay their rent on what little work is left. Editors are driving Uber instead of cutting reels. Sound designers are selling gear just to eat." — Peter Rotter, president & founder of Encompass, at a postproduction industry event in Burbank. |
Mr. Sarandos In D.C. Inside the Capitol Building on Tuesday during Ted Sarandos' appearance before the U.S. Senate's antitrust subcommittee sat the Monopoly man, complete with a white mustache, top hat and red bowtie. The message, shared by some consumers and large swaths of Hollywood, to lawmakers was unmistakable: Netflix is poised to become an entertainment behemoth if it's allowed to complete a $82.7 billion deal for Warner Bros. and HBO. Winston Cho's report. |
YouTube vs. Netflix Behind Spotify's decision to team up with Netflix: “With YouTube, you’re trading off something for something every time, but Netflix actually cares about having us on the platform. They’re promoting us. We’re working with them. We’re innovating with them,” Spotify's Bill Simmons says. “YouTube has kind of this attitude, like, ‘You’re lucky to be on YouTube,’ which congrats to them, but I’m not sure how long that’s sustainable.” Caitlin Huston's report.
|
MAGA vs. MAGA Tucker Carlson vs Ben Shapiro! Candace Owens vs Mark Levin! A year into Trump 2.0, the country's conservative firebrands are at war over Charlie Kirk, Israel and anti-semitism. Of course, with all of the likes and views, everyone involved can call themselves a victor. Only a citizenry prizing sanity and facts ends up the loser. Steven Zeitchik's feature. |
Beating the Studios The filmmaker and longtime YouTube personality Markiplier (i.e. Mark Fischbach) tells THR about self-distributing the surprise horror hit Iron Lung (now at $21 million globally) after meeting with studio execs who "were 100 percent not about me." Ryan Gajewski's Q&A. |
Broken Hearts As television writers become an endangered species, a veteran comedy scribe finds unexpected clarity — and hope — on a pilgrimage through the wilds of Kenya and Uganda: "Every time Hollywood breaks my heart, I heal it by running away from home." Kristin Newman's column. |
Mighty Mouse After proving themselves with the $500,000 family drama Ghostlight, Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson deliver a sprawling Arkansas coming-of-age story starring Oscar nominee Sophie Okonedo and breakout Katherine Mallen Kupferer. David Canfield's report. |
Around Town SAG-AFTRA president Sean Astin made an appearance at a media event showcasing the making of the solid bronze Actor statuette. Grace Gummer, Paul Anthony Kelly, Sarah Pidgeon and Naomi Watts walked the carpet at the New York premiere of FX's Love Story. Keanu Reeves, Jonah Hill, Cameron Diaz and Matt Bomer were among the stars who took part in the Apple TV Press Day in Santa Monica. Jack Whitehall and Keke Palmer hugged it out at the L.A. premiere of Peacock series The 'Burbs on the Universal lot. Bradley Cooper and Ben Mankiewicz took part in the TCM Classic Film Festival's New York Pop-Up at 92NY. All 23 photos from this week's premieres and parties. |
The Bottom Line Snapshots from THR's team of critics: David Greaves' Sundance doc Once Upon a Time in Harlem is "a triumph of DIY filmmaking and an act of cinematic resistance." Natalie Erika James' Midnight Sundance horror riff Saccharine "navigates the hallucinatory minefield between body image and body horror." Diego Céspedes' first feature The Mysterious Gaze of the Flamingo "turns the AIDS epidemic into a surreal trans Western." Gore Verbinski's Sam Rockwell sci-fi comedy Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die is "only occasionally as funny or fresh as it should be." Luc Besson’s kitschy vampire pic Dracula, starring Caleb Landry Jones, Christoph Waltz and Zoë Bleu, "packs more bodices than bite." Kelly Marie Tran and Benedict Wong grief horror starrer Rock Springs, from director-writer Vera Miao, is "a big swing that pays off." + Today in 1974: Mel Brooks' Blazing Saddles hits theaters — "Brooks' fast-paced direction is a masterpiece of comedy detail." See that original THR review and more classic covers and historical notes from our nine decades since 1930 at the very new The Hollywood Reporter Archives Instagram page. |
| | | |
