| |
|
|
|
|
Strange times in L.A., the beating heart of Hollywood mythmaking where everyone says they're miserable. This edition of The Weekender leads with a production conundrum, as well as some housekeeping advice for our backyard. — Erik Hayden
Ticker: Ted Sarandos' pay drops to $53 million; David Ellison's 45-day vow; Brian Williams goes podcastin'; Jon Feltheimer gets vote of confidence.
|
Shoot Daze
SHOT: L.A.'s production crisis is emerging as a key issue in the city’s mayoral campaign, with Baywatch as the flashpoint. Each of the top contenders — Karen Bass, Nithya Raman and Spencer Pratt — is saying they’re the one who can solve it. And one of the punching bags is the city's film permit office. Gary Baum's report + L.A. Film Czar speaksCHASER: But shoots are migrating to places like New Jersey anyway. Across the U.S., the volume of movie and TV on-location production filming slowed in the first quarter of this year, with the Garden State as an exception. The numbers.
|
Our Backyard...
...needs work. "I managed the intellectual property rights for the Hollywood Sign and the Walk of Fame stars. And I can tell you something that should alarm everyone whose livelihood depends on the Hollywood brand: Hollywood Boulevard feels more soulless and dangerous now than it did 25 years ago." Dylan Kendall's guest column.
|
All the Rage
She had three Oscar nominations. But she’d never done a true comedy, and her oeuvre wasn’t reflective of her off-camera personality. After years of prestige restraint, Carey Mulligan finally lets loose in Netflix’s second installment of Beef, unleashing a dark and "naughty" new side: "I was delighted that she punches someone in the face." Seija Rankin's cover story.
|
CinemaCon Scorecard
Inside the biggest news and boos from Las Vegas' news-stuffed exhibitor conference, as ranked by James Hibberd. Here's the cliffnotes:
WON: Marvel's Presentation, Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, Jason Momoa, Johnny Depp and David Ellison
"It must be nice for Disney to have a film where the question isn’t whether it makes a billion, but exactly how many billions. Hanging over all this was one grim thought: Disney created something this huge and exciting that will make so much money … and they still laid off 1,000 people."
LOST: DC Studios‘ Presentation, Alamo Drafthouse and AMC Moviegoers, Lionsgate
"Any news out of CinemaCon about The Batman Part Two? Nope. Anything exciting from the Superman sequel? How about a video message with stars David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult saying they can’t wait to tell us more “someday”? There was a teaser for Clayface that left the audience mildly intrigued."
The full scorecard.
|
Coachella Math
Headliner Karol G spent three times what Coachella paid her on her production costs alone, which included months of prep and three weeks of rehearsals in Las Vegas. Given that the typical Coachella headliner gets paid in the mid-seven figures (Justin Bieber set the record this year with an estimated $10 million payday), that suggests Karol could've paid into the eight figures. Here's why it makes sense. Ethan Millman's report.
|
End of an Earworm
There’s a vibe shift happening in how the music industry is coping with its ongoing AI revolution, at least if you believe the man who is arguably the most responsible for starting that revolution: Mikey Shulman, CEO and co-founder of Suno, the music industry’s most prominent AI music generation platform. Ethan Millman's feature.
|
They Said It
"All I’ll say is that I’m not retiring from acting anytime soon." — Miles Teller, who cashed out on a canned cocktail company in a $325 million sale, declining to say what his take-home pay was.
"The best scripts that I've ever read are all independent or have never been made." — Lili Reinhart, on the harsh realities of making indie TV projects.
"I saw it’s just a Paramount+ thing, so I decided I’d troll a little bit." — the hacker behind the anonymous X account ImStillDissin, on leaking Legend of Aang: The Last Airbender.
"I don’t think people are leaving the region as quickly as it’s being advertised." — Nancy Paton, a producer and director based in Abu Dhabi, on industry disruption during the Iran War.
"They can have somebody - or something I suppose - that is combing breakdowns for them and really looking out for them." — Emily Roxworthy, dean of the USC School of Dramatic Arts, on its AI "Institute" for actors.
Logline of the Week
"The show is about a burnt-out LAPD detective on the verge of retirement, who’s blindsided when the city extends his service by five years. Determined to get fired, he breaks rules and disobeys orders, which to his dismay makes him an even better cop." — CBS' Flint, starring Matt LeBlanc.
By the Numbers
(Most-read stories on THR.com this week)
1.) "Clavicular Walks Out of 60 Minutes Interview After Being Asked if He’s an Incel"
2.) "SNL Has New Home in Canada"
3.) "Tom Cruise Unrecognizable with Gray Hair and a Gut in New Footage From Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Digger"
|
New Digs
With just nine months remaining before Sundance's first edition in its new home in Boulder, Colorado, staffers are cultivating locals, hosting — and revealing venues to — the industry, and preparing to launch a portal for discounted hotel bookings for attendees. But there are concerns about the quantity, quality and cost of accommodations in the area: "We are capital-S stressed about that." Scott Feinberg's report.
|
Fresh Prince
The Saudis are pouring billions into the Ellisons' Warner Bros. megamerger — and that's just the latest move in a Hollywood takeover that's really about courting Trump, buying influence and giving a restless young population bread and circuses instead of human rights. Scott Roxborough's feature.
|
Guest Star Extraordinaire
“I’m the Go-To Dick Wolf Middle-Aged Traumatized Woman”
A candid chat with Crazy Ex-Girlfriend alum Donna Lynne Champlin on being a working actor in a shrinking Hollywood. Over the past few months, she’s done standout work in installments of CIA and Chicago PD, after movingly portraying a survivor on Law & Order: SVU. “There's not as much work and everyone’s fighting for the same gig.” David Canfield's profile.
|
The Last Dance
No one knew it at the time, but 2014 — more precisely, Ellen DeGeneres' star-studded selfie moment — marked the peak of a monoculture that no longer exists. The numbers show a long decay ever since. A fascinating column (with numbers to back it up). Rick Porter's feature.
|
"It Was a Trap"
In his new memoir The Madness of Believing, Josh Owens details what it was like working for conspiracy theorist Alex Jones — and how it all started to come crashing down: "I knew something was wrong when I heard him breathing heavily, more so than usual, moving quickly down the hallway toward my desk." The book excerpt.
|
Next Big Thing
Barbie Ferreira doesn’t really have a dream role. “That’s anything that’s well written and with a director that I really like,” the 29-year-old actress says. She admits she’s not so concerned with genre, evidenced quite well by the two projects she’s a part of releasing this month — the horror remake Faces of Death and the indie Mile End Kicks. “I’m really open to so much stuff,” she explains. Nicole Fell's Q&A.
|
Around Town
Eli Roth served up some scares and sweet treats at CinemaCon to promote his horror film Ice Cream Man. Ted Sarandos, Nicole Avant and Bette Midler came out for the LACMA's David Geffen Galleries celebration. Stuart Campbell, Richard Gadd and Mitchell Robertson debuted new HBO series Half Man in NYC. Jonathan Tropper, Amanda Peet, Jon Hamm and Olivia Munn came together for a PaleyFest LA event for Your Friends & Neighbors. Sadie Sandler was joined by sister Sunny, dad Adam Sandler and mom Jackie at the L.A. premiere of her Netflix movie Roommates. Tory Burch, Diane von Furstenberg and Fabiola Beracasa Beckman helped Emma Grede celebrate her new book Start With Yourself: A New Vision for Work & Life in NYC. All 58 photos from this week's premieres and events.
|
The Bottom Line
Snapshots from THR's team of critics:Morgan Neville's Lorne Michaels documentary Lorne is "an entertaining but overly reverential portrait of the SNL creator." Anne Hathaway and Michaela Coel "get all worked up over nothing" in David Lowery’s genre-defying drama Mother Mary. Mark Wahlberg and Paul Walker Hauser "bumble their way through Peter Farrelly’s rote raunch-fest" Balls Up. Horror feature Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is "compellingly insane and repulsive." Netflix's season two of Beef features "prime performances by Oscar Isaac and Carey Mulligan." Writer-director Sophy Romvari's impressionistic drama Blue Heron is "Memoir meets meta-fiction." And finally,
|
|
|
|
|
