Luca Guadagnino believes filmgoers will endorse his Zendaya movie Challengers because it delivers “a canon of Hollywood golden age comedy – seductive fun with queerness.” The movie’s “big sell” is a shot of Zendaya, Mike Faist and Josh O’Connor kissing one another in various configurations.
Challengers is establishing itself as a Gen Z “date movie,” with a 75% female audience, mostly under the age of 24. Its high-powered social media campaign triggered a $25 million opening weekend globally, defying the pre-summer box office torpor.
The movie has also been well received by Gen Z reviewers who are faithful to their lexicon of film criticism – male characters are approvingly deemed “heteroflexible,” females “polyamorous,” etc.
It was a surprise to his fans that Guadagnino, an Italian filmmaker, set out to make an American-set sports movie (he is not a sports fan) about a tennis world to which he was alien. As with his other films,...
Challengers is establishing itself as a Gen Z “date movie,” with a 75% female audience, mostly under the age of 24. Its high-powered social media campaign triggered a $25 million opening weekend globally, defying the pre-summer box office torpor.
The movie has also been well received by Gen Z reviewers who are faithful to their lexicon of film criticism – male characters are approvingly deemed “heteroflexible,” females “polyamorous,” etc.
It was a surprise to his fans that Guadagnino, an Italian filmmaker, set out to make an American-set sports movie (he is not a sports fan) about a tennis world to which he was alien. As with his other films,...
- 5/2/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Editors note: This is one of those moments when the flow of news seems like an assault on the senses. The Donald trump trial, the student protests, Gaza, the election campaigning — will our trust in the media survive these traumas? Can our pop culture assimilate them? Peter Bart, based on the West Coast, and Ted Johnson, Deadline’s political and media editor in Washington DC, lend their perspectives to these questions.
Ted Johnson: The Trump trial augurs badly for the public paying attention to balanced, in-depth coverage. This is, after all, the first time that a former President has faced a criminal trial and I fear the takeaway will be — well, exhaustion.
With cameras barred, the TV networks are trying to achieve a sort of blanket coverage, with scrolls delivering legal analyses occasionally interrupted by Trump’s bursts of hallway rhetoric. Saturday’s White House Correspondents Dinner will be...
Ted Johnson: The Trump trial augurs badly for the public paying attention to balanced, in-depth coverage. This is, after all, the first time that a former President has faced a criminal trial and I fear the takeaway will be — well, exhaustion.
With cameras barred, the TV networks are trying to achieve a sort of blanket coverage, with scrolls delivering legal analyses occasionally interrupted by Trump’s bursts of hallway rhetoric. Saturday’s White House Correspondents Dinner will be...
- 4/26/2024
- by Peter Bart and Ted Johnson
- Deadline Film + TV
David Pecker stabbed impatiently at his veal piccata. We’d been having a cordial business lunch, but he was growing frustrated. The publisher of the National Enquirer was pitching an ambitious deal to me involving major money — not a Stormy Daniels sort of deal — but my disinterest in it puzzled him.
“This could be an important journalistic venture,” he said.
“That may be true,” I replied, “but I don’t care to be part of it.”
We exchanged a friendly handshake and he picked up the tab, but no deal was made.
A decade later, Pecker is wallowing in another journalistic venture, albeit perversely different. The Donald Trump hush-money criminal trial, in which he is a key witness, hinges on a controversial Pecker deal, this one with Trump. It involves a “catch and kill” genre story — one at which Pecker had become a master.
Pecker, having made a deal with prosecutors,...
“This could be an important journalistic venture,” he said.
“That may be true,” I replied, “but I don’t care to be part of it.”
We exchanged a friendly handshake and he picked up the tab, but no deal was made.
A decade later, Pecker is wallowing in another journalistic venture, albeit perversely different. The Donald Trump hush-money criminal trial, in which he is a key witness, hinges on a controversial Pecker deal, this one with Trump. It involves a “catch and kill” genre story — one at which Pecker had become a master.
Pecker, having made a deal with prosecutors,...
- 4/24/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
I never liked Tom Ripley but I keep meeting him.
I’ve “met” Ripley in five films, and he’s now the protagonist of a somber eight-part Netflix series. So filmmakers clearly find his character intriguing. Even though he has no character.
That, in itself, reminds me that Hollywood is suffering the same problem as Washington: an absence of vital young protagonists. Voters are confronted by an election that’s really a rerun, likely opened by a debate no one wants to witness.
In filmmaking, the worldwide success of Oppenheimer told us that a complex story becomes more interesting if it’s also about someone interesting. Yet movies with vibrant young protagonists seem to be losing their moment.
Dan Lin, the new chief of film at Netflix, confides a desire — since rebutted by Ted Sarandos on Thursday’s Q1 earnings call — to steer away from mindless mega-budget action films like...
I’ve “met” Ripley in five films, and he’s now the protagonist of a somber eight-part Netflix series. So filmmakers clearly find his character intriguing. Even though he has no character.
That, in itself, reminds me that Hollywood is suffering the same problem as Washington: an absence of vital young protagonists. Voters are confronted by an election that’s really a rerun, likely opened by a debate no one wants to witness.
In filmmaking, the worldwide success of Oppenheimer told us that a complex story becomes more interesting if it’s also about someone interesting. Yet movies with vibrant young protagonists seem to be losing their moment.
Dan Lin, the new chief of film at Netflix, confides a desire — since rebutted by Ted Sarandos on Thursday’s Q1 earnings call — to steer away from mindless mega-budget action films like...
- 4/19/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
To outsiders, Eleanor Coppola, who died Friday at age 87, presented as soft spoken and unassuming, yet as someone who always understood exactly what was going on. When I first met her she was playing the role of the perfect ’60s “hippie chick” who hung with young filmmakers, tolerated their ego trips but also had a keen sense of talent.
She herself had a degree in design from UCLA and had landed some good startup jobs when she met an ambitious if socially awkward wannabe director named Francis Coppola. He was struggling through a haphazard horror flick titled Dementia 13 and he clearly needed both a girlfriend and some savvy in navigating the system.
He shortly delivered his first movie and she their first son.
Some two decades later her husband hit an anguished impasse while shooting a pricey war movie, inevitably turning for stability and sanity to Eleanor. She’d...
She herself had a degree in design from UCLA and had landed some good startup jobs when she met an ambitious if socially awkward wannabe director named Francis Coppola. He was struggling through a haphazard horror flick titled Dementia 13 and he clearly needed both a girlfriend and some savvy in navigating the system.
He shortly delivered his first movie and she their first son.
Some two decades later her husband hit an anguished impasse while shooting a pricey war movie, inevitably turning for stability and sanity to Eleanor. She’d...
- 4/13/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Even as he collected his martini, the burly stranger who introduced himself as “Joe” exuded an aura of belligerence. We were standing on the fringe of a post-screening reception, so, hand extended, I blurted, “Did the movie work for you?”
“It was blah,” he replied. “Given what they spent for the script, they should have made a powerful f*ckin’ movie.”
At the time I didn‘t realize I was talking with Joe Eszterhas, who had made $4 million from sale of his script — more an auction than a sale and hardly “blah.” Joe and several estimable writing colleagues were participants in what came to be known in the mid-‘80s as the “Writers Rebellion,” a moment when top screenwriters decided to reinvent what they considered a broken system for propagating their creative product.
The rebellion was not as momentous as, say, the French Revolution, but its drama and rhetoric for...
“It was blah,” he replied. “Given what they spent for the script, they should have made a powerful f*ckin’ movie.”
At the time I didn‘t realize I was talking with Joe Eszterhas, who had made $4 million from sale of his script — more an auction than a sale and hardly “blah.” Joe and several estimable writing colleagues were participants in what came to be known in the mid-‘80s as the “Writers Rebellion,” a moment when top screenwriters decided to reinvent what they considered a broken system for propagating their creative product.
The rebellion was not as momentous as, say, the French Revolution, but its drama and rhetoric for...
- 4/11/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
It had all the elements of a good action movie – jeopardy, revenge, a mega budget – with even some casualties thrown in (albeit corporate).
The Bob Iger vs Nelson Peltz (who?) war is over now and Iger has won. But some filmmakers and ticket buyers might wonder: Did any of it matter? Would a modest change on the Disney board of directors have had any impact on the future of entertainment? (Peltz himself runs a hedge fund called Trian Partners and has no background in entertainment.)
To be sure, it’s been a good show, albeit a throwback to an era when Hollywood was run by Big Personalities, not monoliths like Amazon or Apple. The battles of that era were ego wars, not proxy wars — Redstone vs Diller or Murdoch vs Ted Turner, with bewildered stars and their reps huddled in the middle.
But now Iger has won – again. The onetime...
The Bob Iger vs Nelson Peltz (who?) war is over now and Iger has won. But some filmmakers and ticket buyers might wonder: Did any of it matter? Would a modest change on the Disney board of directors have had any impact on the future of entertainment? (Peltz himself runs a hedge fund called Trian Partners and has no background in entertainment.)
To be sure, it’s been a good show, albeit a throwback to an era when Hollywood was run by Big Personalities, not monoliths like Amazon or Apple. The battles of that era were ego wars, not proxy wars — Redstone vs Diller or Murdoch vs Ted Turner, with bewildered stars and their reps huddled in the middle.
But now Iger has won – again. The onetime...
- 4/4/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
With at least 10 sequels awaiting our imminent attention, here’s the challenge for filmgoers: Viewing each sequel means mastering a new code. Dune: Part Two becomes more accessible once you’ve learned why the Chakobsa-speaking characters are frustrated by their stalled kirzibs. For that matter, the fifth Ghostbusters makes more sense if you understand why an old Ectomobile is crucial to harpooning geriatric ghosts.
Each sequel, prequel or miquel is built around its own backstory and idiosyncratic characters. Even the succession of Donald Trump trials and litigations, ongoing or “paused,” are unfolding like sequels, with each scheduled “performance” boasting a familiar plot turn (more on that below).
The present slate of entertainment thus essentially belongs to the past. Audiences won’t be in culture shock this year because of a new Barbenheimer; they’ll more likely be revisiting older, semi-forgotten brands.
Full disclosure: I’m comfy sitting through the new Jokers,...
Each sequel, prequel or miquel is built around its own backstory and idiosyncratic characters. Even the succession of Donald Trump trials and litigations, ongoing or “paused,” are unfolding like sequels, with each scheduled “performance” boasting a familiar plot turn (more on that below).
The present slate of entertainment thus essentially belongs to the past. Audiences won’t be in culture shock this year because of a new Barbenheimer; they’ll more likely be revisiting older, semi-forgotten brands.
Full disclosure: I’m comfy sitting through the new Jokers,...
- 3/28/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
In Irish Wish, a new Netflix rom-com, a bride-to-be is dumped by her lover on wedding day — but, with steely determination, she quickly closes in on a handsome replacement. Consistent with rom-com protocol, her “Irish wish” is realized.
Going back to When Harry Met Sally…, there’s always been something cozy and likable about the rom-com genre. No Hard Feelings starring Jennifer Lawrence did well last year as a feature and now is up for a sequel.
And Anyone but You has surprised rom-com experts. Its numbers are impressive – 2.8 billion hashtag views on TikTok and a worldwide box office that has surpassed $200 million. The data reminds some of a throwback to the Bridget Jones cycle.
To be sure, rom-coms have become formulaic, especially the Netflix model. But a case could be made that they now emerge as a positive social resource now.
“The Gen Z-ers need prods of positivity,” observes one psychologist.
Going back to When Harry Met Sally…, there’s always been something cozy and likable about the rom-com genre. No Hard Feelings starring Jennifer Lawrence did well last year as a feature and now is up for a sequel.
And Anyone but You has surprised rom-com experts. Its numbers are impressive – 2.8 billion hashtag views on TikTok and a worldwide box office that has surpassed $200 million. The data reminds some of a throwback to the Bridget Jones cycle.
To be sure, rom-coms have become formulaic, especially the Netflix model. But a case could be made that they now emerge as a positive social resource now.
“The Gen Z-ers need prods of positivity,” observes one psychologist.
- 3/21/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
The Greek provocateur seemed to be smiling throughout Oscar night. In the past he’d delivered films with titles like Dogtooth and The Lobster, and his newest, Poor Things, was now stockpiling the statuary even as Hollywood’s filmmaking elite looked on, perplexed.
Yorgos Lanthimos’ code-busting Poor Things was winning not only successive awards (four in all) Sunday but also the exuberant applause from an audience that seemed to welcome change. Even chaotic change.
Oppenheimer won the big prize on Oscar night, of course, but Oscar voters once again demonstrated their support for the product of the filmmaking underclass. The Scorsese-Spielberg-Ridley Scott fraternity looked on while dark horses like Lanthimos, or, a year earlier, the Daniels (Kwan and Scheinert) from Everything Everywhere All at Once, stole the action. Coda from Sian Heder was the surprise of 2022.
Does all this reflect a restive mood? “The power of Poor Things stems...
Yorgos Lanthimos’ code-busting Poor Things was winning not only successive awards (four in all) Sunday but also the exuberant applause from an audience that seemed to welcome change. Even chaotic change.
Oppenheimer won the big prize on Oscar night, of course, but Oscar voters once again demonstrated their support for the product of the filmmaking underclass. The Scorsese-Spielberg-Ridley Scott fraternity looked on while dark horses like Lanthimos, or, a year earlier, the Daniels (Kwan and Scheinert) from Everything Everywhere All at Once, stole the action. Coda from Sian Heder was the surprise of 2022.
Does all this reflect a restive mood? “The power of Poor Things stems...
- 3/14/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
“That movie was the President’s idea, not mine, but it was a demand, not a suggestion.”
The speaker was Jack Warner in a 1947 foreshadowing of his Donald Trumpian style. I recalled his remarks this week as I drove onto the Warner Bros lot, the fabled arena where Warner long reigned.
In his heyday, Warner was a Trump pre-clone in terms of temperament and rhetoric – a man who boasted about his mental acuity yet, to Hollywood’s power players, seemed occasionally unhinged.
I was visiting Warner Bros this week to spend some time with David Zaslav, a figure who, in temperament and politics, is the mirror opposite of Warner but whose empire is nonetheless a product of Warner’s erratic vision. Some believe that Zaslav’s studio – Hollywood in general – might still glean some insight from its founder’s idiosyncrasies.
A career maverick, Warner promoted gangster movies like Public Enemy...
The speaker was Jack Warner in a 1947 foreshadowing of his Donald Trumpian style. I recalled his remarks this week as I drove onto the Warner Bros lot, the fabled arena where Warner long reigned.
In his heyday, Warner was a Trump pre-clone in terms of temperament and rhetoric – a man who boasted about his mental acuity yet, to Hollywood’s power players, seemed occasionally unhinged.
I was visiting Warner Bros this week to spend some time with David Zaslav, a figure who, in temperament and politics, is the mirror opposite of Warner but whose empire is nonetheless a product of Warner’s erratic vision. Some believe that Zaslav’s studio – Hollywood in general – might still glean some insight from its founder’s idiosyncrasies.
A career maverick, Warner promoted gangster movies like Public Enemy...
- 3/7/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
“I despise auditions,” Marlon Brando barked as he launched into the audition for his role in The Godfather. It was his idea, I reminded him, so he himself had caused his actors angst, not the studio.
Actors’ angst was much in evidence yet again last weekend at the SAG Awards. Brilliant performances were being honored, formidable talent was on display, and Barbra Streisand clearly owned the room.
But the evening had a problematic subtext: The anticipated turnaround in job opportunities hadn’t happened across Hollywood. The epoch of “peak TV” seems to be drifting away, with words like “contraction” echoing in the trade.
To be sure, none of this inhibited SAG honorees from thanking their casting directors for their good picks and even endorsing the Academy’s decision to create a new entity: a casting branch.
Related: Casting Society Sets Its Artios Awards...
Actors’ angst was much in evidence yet again last weekend at the SAG Awards. Brilliant performances were being honored, formidable talent was on display, and Barbra Streisand clearly owned the room.
But the evening had a problematic subtext: The anticipated turnaround in job opportunities hadn’t happened across Hollywood. The epoch of “peak TV” seems to be drifting away, with words like “contraction” echoing in the trade.
To be sure, none of this inhibited SAG honorees from thanking their casting directors for their good picks and even endorsing the Academy’s decision to create a new entity: a casting branch.
Related: Casting Society Sets Its Artios Awards...
- 2/29/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Peter Bart: In A Buzz-Less Market, Smart New Movies Must Overcome Critics’ Disdain & Audience Torpor
“Uninspired.” “Never catches fire.” “Non-memorable.”
I was sifting through reviews last weekend as the first step in my mission to re-discover the habit of moviegoing. With Barbenheimer finally behind us, I decided to see three new movies on successive days – yes, buying tickets and going to theaters.
But first come the critics: Their reviews, I assumed, would be tepid (excerpts above.) Box office results over the Presidents Day weekend were the lowest in 23 years, down 17% from a year ago — not a good portent. If there are some promising new movies out there, why are they hitting the wall?
Here’s a clue: Remember wide openings and buzz? Well, welcome to the new age of nonbuzz – new releases are greeted by the sounds of silence.
I decided to be resolute, anyway. I’m buying tickets.
Spoiler alert: I thoroughly enjoyed my filmgoing adventure. But there seems to be a...
I was sifting through reviews last weekend as the first step in my mission to re-discover the habit of moviegoing. With Barbenheimer finally behind us, I decided to see three new movies on successive days – yes, buying tickets and going to theaters.
But first come the critics: Their reviews, I assumed, would be tepid (excerpts above.) Box office results over the Presidents Day weekend were the lowest in 23 years, down 17% from a year ago — not a good portent. If there are some promising new movies out there, why are they hitting the wall?
Here’s a clue: Remember wide openings and buzz? Well, welcome to the new age of nonbuzz – new releases are greeted by the sounds of silence.
I decided to be resolute, anyway. I’m buying tickets.
Spoiler alert: I thoroughly enjoyed my filmgoing adventure. But there seems to be a...
- 2/22/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
“It was a dream job. Except it was the job from hell.”
That was the assessment of Michael Ovitz after he was anointed, then dis-anointed, as president of Disney in 1995. The “dream job” lasted barely over a year.
Some insiders reflect on the Ovitz embarrassment in the context of the present decision at Netflix. Scott Stuber’s dream job as chief of film is vacant. Interviews with successors are underway. Some guess it will be an internal promotion; a few outsiders like Disney’s Sean Bailey are rumored to be candidates.
“Will it be an opportunity or a trap?” asks one Hollywood CEO, who, like other power players, is weighing the post-Stuber challenges. The Stuber gig allegedly pays between $15 million-$20 million a year and empowers green lights for as many as 40 films – less than half of Netflix’ 2021 output but still more than that of prolific MGM in Irving Thalberg’s prime.
That was the assessment of Michael Ovitz after he was anointed, then dis-anointed, as president of Disney in 1995. The “dream job” lasted barely over a year.
Some insiders reflect on the Ovitz embarrassment in the context of the present decision at Netflix. Scott Stuber’s dream job as chief of film is vacant. Interviews with successors are underway. Some guess it will be an internal promotion; a few outsiders like Disney’s Sean Bailey are rumored to be candidates.
“Will it be an opportunity or a trap?” asks one Hollywood CEO, who, like other power players, is weighing the post-Stuber challenges. The Stuber gig allegedly pays between $15 million-$20 million a year and empowers green lights for as many as 40 films – less than half of Netflix’ 2021 output but still more than that of prolific MGM in Irving Thalberg’s prime.
- 2/16/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Once the hottest writer in town, Truman Capote also was a master at self destruction.
Cut to The Bistro, Beverly Hills circa 1973. Cradling his cocktail, Capote was at once amiable and petulant. I was sitting across from him at the elegant café to discuss his new screenplay, but the discussion soon became an argument.
Capote, always theatrical, finally turned to strangers at the next table. “I wrote a brilliant screenplay and this man from Paramount is telling me that I didn’t write it, I simply typed it,” Capote complained, an edge to his high-pitched voice. “What should I do to him?”
The strangers smiled. “Order another martini,” said one. “Better make it a double.”
A superstar writer and raconteur, the late Capote needed more than a drink at this point in his life, and our meeting was not helping him. I thought of him this week as his “character...
Cut to The Bistro, Beverly Hills circa 1973. Cradling his cocktail, Capote was at once amiable and petulant. I was sitting across from him at the elegant café to discuss his new screenplay, but the discussion soon became an argument.
Capote, always theatrical, finally turned to strangers at the next table. “I wrote a brilliant screenplay and this man from Paramount is telling me that I didn’t write it, I simply typed it,” Capote complained, an edge to his high-pitched voice. “What should I do to him?”
The strangers smiled. “Order another martini,” said one. “Better make it a double.”
A superstar writer and raconteur, the late Capote needed more than a drink at this point in his life, and our meeting was not helping him. I thought of him this week as his “character...
- 2/8/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Given the strong slate of this year’s Oscar nominees, the pre-Academy Awards season has been devoid of the intrigues and mud-slinging of previous epochs. Oops! – could a new outbreak of Barbie-phobia break the harmony and bring naysayers out of the shadows?
I already hear a few negative murmurs: Not only is Barbie suddenly “a bad movie,” but Leonardo DiCaprio should have played the FBI agent in Killers of the Flower Moon, as his director originally planned. And Oppenheimer was a brilliant movie but arguably could have focused on a different physicist.
While most of us are disposed to admire the Oscar Best Picture nominees, and may even vote accordingly, this is the moment when we always hear from grumpy film nerds. They led the wave of indignation in 1982 when Et was critiqued for lacking the cultural depth of Gandhi. Et made us smile, not yawn, it was later pointed out,...
I already hear a few negative murmurs: Not only is Barbie suddenly “a bad movie,” but Leonardo DiCaprio should have played the FBI agent in Killers of the Flower Moon, as his director originally planned. And Oppenheimer was a brilliant movie but arguably could have focused on a different physicist.
While most of us are disposed to admire the Oscar Best Picture nominees, and may even vote accordingly, this is the moment when we always hear from grumpy film nerds. They led the wave of indignation in 1982 when Et was critiqued for lacking the cultural depth of Gandhi. Et made us smile, not yawn, it was later pointed out,...
- 2/1/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Peter Bart: A Biden-Trump Rematch Dims Cable News Prospects And A Print Media Biz Already In Trouble
“Sequels suck, whether you’re making them or watching them.” So said one storied filmmaker in rejecting a rich movie deal (details below), and he’d likely react the same if offered Biden vs. Trump.
The New Hampshire primary results this week reinforced media alarm over a projected 2024 rerun that could fracture ratings and reduce print coverage to “meaningless dribble,” in the words of one publisher.
Can there be a fix? Mark Thompson, the new CNN chief who has seen half his linear audience disappear, optimistically promises a digital upheaval not only in election coverage but beyond.
On the print side, however, chaos prevails: The Los Angeles Times has lost its top editors and roughly half of its news staff and sold off the San Diego Union-Tribune. Meanwhile, the Baltimore Sun, once also owned by the Times, has been acquired by Sinclair, a TV station behemoth whose leader, David Smith,...
The New Hampshire primary results this week reinforced media alarm over a projected 2024 rerun that could fracture ratings and reduce print coverage to “meaningless dribble,” in the words of one publisher.
Can there be a fix? Mark Thompson, the new CNN chief who has seen half his linear audience disappear, optimistically promises a digital upheaval not only in election coverage but beyond.
On the print side, however, chaos prevails: The Los Angeles Times has lost its top editors and roughly half of its news staff and sold off the San Diego Union-Tribune. Meanwhile, the Baltimore Sun, once also owned by the Times, has been acquired by Sinclair, a TV station behemoth whose leader, David Smith,...
- 1/25/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Norman Jewison, who directed Best Picture Oscar winner In the Heat of the Night and nominees Fiddler on the Roof, A Soldier’s Story, Moonstruck and The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming, also producing the latter four, died peacefully Saturday, January 20. He was 97.
Jewison’s film career spanned more than four decades and seven Oscar nominations — three for Best Director and the four for Best Picture. His films received a total of 46 nominations and 12 Academy Awards. In 1999, Jewison was honored with the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award at the Academy Awards. He also collected three Emmy Awards for his work in television.
A smattering of his other wide-ranging work includes The Hurricane, Agnes of God, Rollerball (1975) and Jesus Christ Superstar, all of which he also produced. As a producer, Jewison had an eye for talent, as well.
Jewison’s film career spanned more than four decades and seven Oscar nominations — three for Best Director and the four for Best Picture. His films received a total of 46 nominations and 12 Academy Awards. In 1999, Jewison was honored with the prestigious Irving G. Thalberg Award at the Academy Awards. He also collected three Emmy Awards for his work in television.
A smattering of his other wide-ranging work includes The Hurricane, Agnes of God, Rollerball (1975) and Jesus Christ Superstar, all of which he also produced. As a producer, Jewison had an eye for talent, as well.
- 1/22/2024
- by Tom Tapp
- Deadline Film + TV
The reminders are relentless, but the mission under-exciting: Academy voting is “obligatory” for members this week. It’s time to conjure up those lists of “bests.”
Ok, I respect the ritual but – candidly — my attention is drifting. Instead of creating more Barbenheimer lists, I may decide to buy a ticket to a live Squid Game. Or catch the shrieking monsters at a Stranger Things show. Or share some immersion therapy with my kids by visiting Stars Wars: Galaxy’s Edge or The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Or even visit The Sphere before it succumbs to the laws of financial probity.
With cinema fading and streamers struggling, the brave new world of “experiential show business” offers some welcome relief. Besides, that’s the universe that the mega-companies are now bent on capturing.
As even the once-stodgy Economist puts it, ”Studios are concocting novel ways to soak up demand for live experience.
Ok, I respect the ritual but – candidly — my attention is drifting. Instead of creating more Barbenheimer lists, I may decide to buy a ticket to a live Squid Game. Or catch the shrieking monsters at a Stranger Things show. Or share some immersion therapy with my kids by visiting Stars Wars: Galaxy’s Edge or The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Or even visit The Sphere before it succumbs to the laws of financial probity.
With cinema fading and streamers struggling, the brave new world of “experiential show business” offers some welcome relief. Besides, that’s the universe that the mega-companies are now bent on capturing.
As even the once-stodgy Economist puts it, ”Studios are concocting novel ways to soak up demand for live experience.
- 1/18/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
“Satire is a dangerous game In Hollywood,” Billy Wilder once observed. “It invites self-immolation.” Still, the satiric spirit looms large in many of this year’s buzzworthy movies: American Fiction, Poor Things, Saltburn, Air, The Holdovers and even Barbie.
All mobilize satiric weaponry — humor, irony, even ridicule — in advancing their perspectives. The clever corporate barbs in Barbie are soothingly pink-coated, but by contrast the protagonist in American Fiction is a blunt and self-destructive novelist. His work supposedly is not satiric enough nor Black enough for him to register success.
Barbie was heralded at the Golden Globes while American Fiction was snubbed. The latter still earned the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, a SAG Awards Cast nomination and a spot on the AFI’s Top 10 Films of 2023.
If Wilder were around to see this year’s slate, I think he’d admire the seditious scientist in Poor Things,...
All mobilize satiric weaponry — humor, irony, even ridicule — in advancing their perspectives. The clever corporate barbs in Barbie are soothingly pink-coated, but by contrast the protagonist in American Fiction is a blunt and self-destructive novelist. His work supposedly is not satiric enough nor Black enough for him to register success.
Barbie was heralded at the Golden Globes while American Fiction was snubbed. The latter still earned the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival, a SAG Awards Cast nomination and a spot on the AFI’s Top 10 Films of 2023.
If Wilder were around to see this year’s slate, I think he’d admire the seditious scientist in Poor Things,...
- 1/12/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
If Hollywood truly suffers from a leadership malaise, as some charge, would the return of Monroe Stahr resuscitate the system? Filmmakers respect his judgment, stars his panache and investors his discipline, so Stahr’s return may ignite a new Irving Thalberg-like era.
Whoops — he’s not available.
The manic and manipulative hero of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon ruled MGM in its ‘30s heyday, but Stahr’s fictional reign was short-lived. So was Fitzgerald’s brilliant but never completed 1939 novel, which modeled Stahr after Thalberg.
Having achieved literary stardom with The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s decision to write a Hollywood novel, while simultaneously working as a script doctor, plunged the novelist into alcoholic paralysis. He never managed to finish his book and even his screenplays were unrealized.
The Last Tycoon briefly flickered back to life as a movie thanks to the great Elia Kazan, who cast Robert De Niro,...
Whoops — he’s not available.
The manic and manipulative hero of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Last Tycoon ruled MGM in its ‘30s heyday, but Stahr’s fictional reign was short-lived. So was Fitzgerald’s brilliant but never completed 1939 novel, which modeled Stahr after Thalberg.
Having achieved literary stardom with The Great Gatsby, Fitzgerald’s decision to write a Hollywood novel, while simultaneously working as a script doctor, plunged the novelist into alcoholic paralysis. He never managed to finish his book and even his screenplays were unrealized.
The Last Tycoon briefly flickered back to life as a movie thanks to the great Elia Kazan, who cast Robert De Niro,...
- 1/4/2024
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
The sound of music was back with us this week in the form of two polar opposite productions that may intrigue audiences but challenge marketers.
Maestro started streaming on Netflix after auditioning in a (very) few select theaters. Will its narcissistic protagonist, Leonard Bernstein, prove bigger than life on theater screens but too big for the tube?
Wonka, by contrast, is a study in promotional ubiquity, fragments popping up on everything from TBS to the Food Network. Its campaign reflects the determination of Warner Bros Discovery, like Netflix, to overcome the genre funk (think West Side Story or Dear Evan Hansen).
Hovering in the background are the bakeoffs, recaps and revisits fostered by an Academy eager to get out the vote for international candidates, fulfilling its global scenario.
Gil Cates, the colorful impresario who presided over 14 Oscar shows and rescued the genre from the Snow White debacle, would likely have been delighted by Barbenheimer.
Maestro started streaming on Netflix after auditioning in a (very) few select theaters. Will its narcissistic protagonist, Leonard Bernstein, prove bigger than life on theater screens but too big for the tube?
Wonka, by contrast, is a study in promotional ubiquity, fragments popping up on everything from TBS to the Food Network. Its campaign reflects the determination of Warner Bros Discovery, like Netflix, to overcome the genre funk (think West Side Story or Dear Evan Hansen).
Hovering in the background are the bakeoffs, recaps and revisits fostered by an Academy eager to get out the vote for international candidates, fulfilling its global scenario.
Gil Cates, the colorful impresario who presided over 14 Oscar shows and rescued the genre from the Snow White debacle, would likely have been delighted by Barbenheimer.
- 12/20/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
“Why is this like a dark secret? It’s just a movie.”
Ryan O’Neal, who died this week at 82, was a smart, good-natured man who was bemused by the contradictions of Hollywood. As he nervously awaited the release of Love Story five decades ago, he respected its shroud of silence but also was perplexed by it.
“Love Story is on its own blacklist, but I don’t get why,” he observed.
The movie, of course, was the surprise hit of its year, but even the bestseller on which it was based had suddenly appeared on the “don’t talk” list.
Why the mystery?
Related: Remembering Ryan O’Neal: A Film & TV Career In Photos
Hollywood circa 1970 was a small town compared with the Amazon-and-Apple world of this moment, and Love Story had been preordained as an embarrassment. Every studio had rejected the screenplay, and seemingly every “money” actor had turned down the lead.
Ryan O’Neal, who died this week at 82, was a smart, good-natured man who was bemused by the contradictions of Hollywood. As he nervously awaited the release of Love Story five decades ago, he respected its shroud of silence but also was perplexed by it.
“Love Story is on its own blacklist, but I don’t get why,” he observed.
The movie, of course, was the surprise hit of its year, but even the bestseller on which it was based had suddenly appeared on the “don’t talk” list.
Why the mystery?
Related: Remembering Ryan O’Neal: A Film & TV Career In Photos
Hollywood circa 1970 was a small town compared with the Amazon-and-Apple world of this moment, and Love Story had been preordained as an embarrassment. Every studio had rejected the screenplay, and seemingly every “money” actor had turned down the lead.
- 12/11/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
When Barbra Streisand delivered her 992-page memoir to her editor at Viking earlier this year, did anyone urge her to cut? Even gently?
Not that it would have done any good, for Streisand has a lot to say and her opus was termed “exhausting, ecstatic and undeniably moving” by the New Yorker this week.
Streisand hasn’t changed. On her first day of shooting On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970), when her director Vincente Minnelli shouted “cut,” she shook her head, saying she intended to keep going.
Minnelli had made great movies like An American In Paris and Gigi and had even survived working with (and being married to) Judy Garland. “One doesn’t say ‘no’ to Minnelli,” Streisand was warned by legendary writer Alan Jay Lerner (My Fair Lady).
Neither had as yet learned their Barbra lesson. Nor had her agent, Sue Mengers, who later tried to...
Not that it would have done any good, for Streisand has a lot to say and her opus was termed “exhausting, ecstatic and undeniably moving” by the New Yorker this week.
Streisand hasn’t changed. On her first day of shooting On a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970), when her director Vincente Minnelli shouted “cut,” she shook her head, saying she intended to keep going.
Minnelli had made great movies like An American In Paris and Gigi and had even survived working with (and being married to) Judy Garland. “One doesn’t say ‘no’ to Minnelli,” Streisand was warned by legendary writer Alan Jay Lerner (My Fair Lady).
Neither had as yet learned their Barbra lesson. Nor had her agent, Sue Mengers, who later tried to...
- 12/7/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Having won an Oscar for her gritty first film about a revenge murder, Emerald Fennell’s second movie, out this week, reminds us that she doesn’t believe in happy endings. Saltburn is about a vengeful college student who aspires to an even wider death toll.
Why would this charismatic young British actress want to become cinema’s doyenne of dark?
It’s not that she’s adrift in indie obscurity. Saltburn is funded by Amazon MGM Studios with Warner Bros International distributing overseas. And her co-producer is Margot Robbie, the effervescent Barbie who made the world blink pink.
Fennell, like Greta Gerwig, who directed Barbie, is a mega talented actress who also managed to hit the mark as a filmmaker. Before Barbie, Gerwig created a touching mother-daughter drama Lady Bird and then adapted and directed Little Women which scored six Oscar nominations including for Best Picture.
By contrast, Fennell’s debut film,...
Why would this charismatic young British actress want to become cinema’s doyenne of dark?
It’s not that she’s adrift in indie obscurity. Saltburn is funded by Amazon MGM Studios with Warner Bros International distributing overseas. And her co-producer is Margot Robbie, the effervescent Barbie who made the world blink pink.
Fennell, like Greta Gerwig, who directed Barbie, is a mega talented actress who also managed to hit the mark as a filmmaker. Before Barbie, Gerwig created a touching mother-daughter drama Lady Bird and then adapted and directed Little Women which scored six Oscar nominations including for Best Picture.
By contrast, Fennell’s debut film,...
- 12/1/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Peter Bart: Hollywood Hopes A New Round Of “Fixes” Can Cure Its Malaise Rather Than Prolong The Pain
The consensus is clear: Hollywood feels it must pursue what Bob Iger tactfully (or ominously) calls “some fixes.”
The “fixes” post-strike hopefully will move beyond cutbacks and delays — we’ve already been absorbing their impact. Disney alone has cut 8,000 jobs and $7.5 billion in costs. High-profile movies ranging from Disney’s Snow White to Paramount’s Mission: Impossible 8 to Sony’s Spider-Verse have again been shoved back a year.
More complex “fixes” already are hinted at: Netflix pledges a new approach on content – a “half as many but twice as good” mandate. Its viewers worldwide will be fascinated to see how that plays out.
Other major brands, too, are under scrutiny: The opening numbers for The Marvels dented that legacy. The HBO label once dominated the “for your consideration” ads, but this year’s ads will carry a pleading subtext: If you can’t “consider” it, at least find it.
For industry veterans,...
The “fixes” post-strike hopefully will move beyond cutbacks and delays — we’ve already been absorbing their impact. Disney alone has cut 8,000 jobs and $7.5 billion in costs. High-profile movies ranging from Disney’s Snow White to Paramount’s Mission: Impossible 8 to Sony’s Spider-Verse have again been shoved back a year.
More complex “fixes” already are hinted at: Netflix pledges a new approach on content – a “half as many but twice as good” mandate. Its viewers worldwide will be fascinated to see how that plays out.
Other major brands, too, are under scrutiny: The opening numbers for The Marvels dented that legacy. The HBO label once dominated the “for your consideration” ads, but this year’s ads will carry a pleading subtext: If you can’t “consider” it, at least find it.
For industry veterans,...
- 11/16/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
The Israeli-Gaza morass this week seemed to defy coherent media coverage, reminding me of critic David Thomson’s conclusion about Hollywood war movies and how they “used to celebrate courage, not confusion.”
Thomson’s new book, The Fatal Alliance, deals with the history of the war movie from Gallipoli to Saving Private Ryan, guiding readers from “war is hell” to “war is a blur.”
The war movie once constituted a reliable genre product for Hollywood, along with the Western and the musical. To be sure, Israel-Gaza is a tragedy of enormous and dramatic proportions, as symbolized by its chaotic cross-cutting from drones to tunnels.
From Paths of Glory to Dunkirk, war movies once set forth a structure and pathos to guide audiences through the nihilism of combat.
Thomson reminds us of the pageantry of the knights on horseback in Olivier’s Henry V, the churning helicopters in Apocalypse Now or...
Thomson’s new book, The Fatal Alliance, deals with the history of the war movie from Gallipoli to Saving Private Ryan, guiding readers from “war is hell” to “war is a blur.”
The war movie once constituted a reliable genre product for Hollywood, along with the Western and the musical. To be sure, Israel-Gaza is a tragedy of enormous and dramatic proportions, as symbolized by its chaotic cross-cutting from drones to tunnels.
From Paths of Glory to Dunkirk, war movies once set forth a structure and pathos to guide audiences through the nihilism of combat.
Thomson reminds us of the pageantry of the knights on horseback in Olivier’s Henry V, the churning helicopters in Apocalypse Now or...
- 11/2/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
The angriest filmmaking fights that I’ve witnessed over the years have not been about cost or cast; they were about length. The movies were too long but so were the fights.
I re-lived some of them this week when I saw Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. It’s is a big success with audiences at 3 hours and 26 minutes. That’s about an hour longer than Napoleon, Ridley Scott’s epic that opens next month, and half an hour longer than Oppenheimer.
My confession: I start getting twitchy when movies lunge pass the two-hour mark — an attention deficit problem that supposedly affects Gen Z more than geriatrics. I’ve been influenced by filmmakers like Hal Ashby, who started as an editor and believed that “films should tell their story and move on” (I worked with him on Harold & Maude and Being There).
Given my twitchiness, I suspected...
I re-lived some of them this week when I saw Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon. It’s is a big success with audiences at 3 hours and 26 minutes. That’s about an hour longer than Napoleon, Ridley Scott’s epic that opens next month, and half an hour longer than Oppenheimer.
My confession: I start getting twitchy when movies lunge pass the two-hour mark — an attention deficit problem that supposedly affects Gen Z more than geriatrics. I’ve been influenced by filmmakers like Hal Ashby, who started as an editor and believed that “films should tell their story and move on” (I worked with him on Harold & Maude and Being There).
Given my twitchiness, I suspected...
- 10/26/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
I think Walt would be grumpy.
This is the week when the media celebrates the Magic Kingdom’s 100th birthday, but Walt Disney were around today, I think he’d cringe at the state of guild negotiations, fights with politicians and jumps in theme park prices (or streamer fees).
Having gained immortality for entertaining kids, he might still agonize about the major new commitment to sports betting made through ESPN, a Disney asset.
As one of the few people still around who actually spent time with the shy and media-averse studio pioneer, I found myself reflecting this week on those topics that Walt liked (and disliked) talking about.
I’m a fairly good note-taker, and as such I can report precisely what he was excited and angry about in December 1965 – one year before he died. Although he looked a bit weary and struggled with a chain-smoker’s cough, he had...
This is the week when the media celebrates the Magic Kingdom’s 100th birthday, but Walt Disney were around today, I think he’d cringe at the state of guild negotiations, fights with politicians and jumps in theme park prices (or streamer fees).
Having gained immortality for entertaining kids, he might still agonize about the major new commitment to sports betting made through ESPN, a Disney asset.
As one of the few people still around who actually spent time with the shy and media-averse studio pioneer, I found myself reflecting this week on those topics that Walt liked (and disliked) talking about.
I’m a fairly good note-taker, and as such I can report precisely what he was excited and angry about in December 1965 – one year before he died. Although he looked a bit weary and struggled with a chain-smoker’s cough, he had...
- 10/19/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
With both Disney and Warner Bros. turning 100 this year, it’s a great time to remember the Golden Age of moviemaking. The business is changing at a precipitous rate, and recent studio mergers have forever altered the longtime map of Hollywood production.
Actors and crew members, like armies, march on their stomachs, and since the dawn of the industry, it’s been up to the studios where they’re shooting to keep them well fortified. Studio executives and office workers, too, needed a convenient place to eat on the lots.
While researching the recent Culinary Historians presentation “Lunching on the Lot,” a 1997 quote from Variety story turned up which deftly explained what studio commissaries meant to the business. “After a gourmet tour of studio eateries, however, one thing is clear — It ain’t the chow that’s important. When the tribe hunkers down for its daily repast, ritual and symbolism are the rule.
Actors and crew members, like armies, march on their stomachs, and since the dawn of the industry, it’s been up to the studios where they’re shooting to keep them well fortified. Studio executives and office workers, too, needed a convenient place to eat on the lots.
While researching the recent Culinary Historians presentation “Lunching on the Lot,” a 1997 quote from Variety story turned up which deftly explained what studio commissaries meant to the business. “After a gourmet tour of studio eateries, however, one thing is clear — It ain’t the chow that’s important. When the tribe hunkers down for its daily repast, ritual and symbolism are the rule.
- 10/16/2023
- by Pat Saperstein
- Variety Film + TV
“Politics is poisonous – even in making movies.”
Those were the words of William Goldman, the gifted screenwriter, who was finishing his script for All the President’s Men in 1972, when his director told him to quit writing. It seems Robert Redford, the co-star, had a new take on his character and he would take over the writing.
Goldman was shocked. His director, Alan Pakula, was depressed. The movie was stalled. Ultimately, Redford pumped up the polemics, the script was finished and the movie was a hit. But for Goldman and Pakula, the lesson was clear: No more political movies; too up tight and personal.
I was reminded of this incident this week when a network executive told me, “Objective coverage won’t stand a chance in the 2024 election. Look at the early mess in covering the Trump trials” – week two of the civil trial began Tuesday, with four criminal trials to come.
Those were the words of William Goldman, the gifted screenwriter, who was finishing his script for All the President’s Men in 1972, when his director told him to quit writing. It seems Robert Redford, the co-star, had a new take on his character and he would take over the writing.
Goldman was shocked. His director, Alan Pakula, was depressed. The movie was stalled. Ultimately, Redford pumped up the polemics, the script was finished and the movie was a hit. But for Goldman and Pakula, the lesson was clear: No more political movies; too up tight and personal.
I was reminded of this incident this week when a network executive told me, “Objective coverage won’t stand a chance in the 2024 election. Look at the early mess in covering the Trump trials” – week two of the civil trial began Tuesday, with four criminal trials to come.
- 10/12/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Exclusive: The Best Picture Oscar winners One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest, The English Patient and Amadeus have a new owner.
The Saul Zaentz Company has sold its film library, which also includes titles such as The Mosquito Coast, The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Wattstax, to Teatro della Pace Films.
The films are staying in the family, though, as Teatro della Pace is owned by Zaentz’s nephew, producer Paul Zaentz. Acf Investment Bank advised The Saul Zaentz Company on the deal alongside Arnold & Porter as legal advisers.
It comes three months after The Saul Zaentz Company sold the rights to The Lord of the Rings, via its Middle-Earth Enterprises, to Sweden’s Embracer for nearly $400M. Those rights included motion picture, video game, board game, merchandising, theme parks and stage production rights relating to the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit franchises.
Terms of the Teatro...
The Saul Zaentz Company has sold its film library, which also includes titles such as The Mosquito Coast, The Unbearable Lightness of Being and Wattstax, to Teatro della Pace Films.
The films are staying in the family, though, as Teatro della Pace is owned by Zaentz’s nephew, producer Paul Zaentz. Acf Investment Bank advised The Saul Zaentz Company on the deal alongside Arnold & Porter as legal advisers.
It comes three months after The Saul Zaentz Company sold the rights to The Lord of the Rings, via its Middle-Earth Enterprises, to Sweden’s Embracer for nearly $400M. Those rights included motion picture, video game, board game, merchandising, theme parks and stage production rights relating to the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit franchises.
Terms of the Teatro...
- 10/3/2023
- by Peter White
- Deadline Film + TV
With guild agreements being signed and production ramping up, Hollywood hopefully awaits a moment of youthful innovation.
Oops: The most newsworthy films set for imminent release are directed by filmmakers in their 80s – grizzled veterans who understand their muscle but, like the neophytes, are perplexed by the chaotic landscape.
Will this become a Back to the Future moment?
Ageism debates about Biden (80) and Trump (77) may prompt political headlines, but it’s not intruding on either The Golden Bachelor (Gerry Turner is 72) or the movie release date calendar.
Still, talk to Michael Mann (Ferrari), Ridley Scott (Napoleon) or Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon) and you won’t encounter the sort of “we own the system” bluster held by the old-time studio directors. Behind them is an even older lineup of vintage filmmakers: Woody Allen (87) and Roman Polanski (90), whose movies await release dates, and Francis Coppola (84), who would welcome distribution...
Oops: The most newsworthy films set for imminent release are directed by filmmakers in their 80s – grizzled veterans who understand their muscle but, like the neophytes, are perplexed by the chaotic landscape.
Will this become a Back to the Future moment?
Ageism debates about Biden (80) and Trump (77) may prompt political headlines, but it’s not intruding on either The Golden Bachelor (Gerry Turner is 72) or the movie release date calendar.
Still, talk to Michael Mann (Ferrari), Ridley Scott (Napoleon) or Martin Scorsese (Killers of the Flower Moon) and you won’t encounter the sort of “we own the system” bluster held by the old-time studio directors. Behind them is an even older lineup of vintage filmmakers: Woody Allen (87) and Roman Polanski (90), whose movies await release dates, and Francis Coppola (84), who would welcome distribution...
- 9/28/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
To state the obvious, this is a dicey moment in the job market. Amid cutbacks and strikes, even headhunters are job hunting. Those hot USC graduates who once lined up for CAA internships are now foraging for a TikTok moment. YouTube is swamped by a confluence of influencers.
“Step up your networking” used to be the common advice in a tough job market, but cocktail parties today have become all work and no play. Extroversion thus becomes the most important trait for networking success, according to a LinkedIn study as reported in The Economist. Bartleby, its business columnist, admitted that his introversion is now badly inhibiting his networking prowess.
“The sweet spot in networking is to get in the line for coffee, then you can have built-in exchanges with someone in front or behind you,” he advises. Job hunters who can mobilize superficial ties to lots of sources have a...
“Step up your networking” used to be the common advice in a tough job market, but cocktail parties today have become all work and no play. Extroversion thus becomes the most important trait for networking success, according to a LinkedIn study as reported in The Economist. Bartleby, its business columnist, admitted that his introversion is now badly inhibiting his networking prowess.
“The sweet spot in networking is to get in the line for coffee, then you can have built-in exchanges with someone in front or behind you,” he advises. Job hunters who can mobilize superficial ties to lots of sources have a...
- 9/21/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Will the Hollywood studio become extinct?
One hundred years ago, Louis B. Mayer unfurled his grand idea to mobilize “all the stars in heaven” for his filmmaking adventure. His dream factory, once prolific, now seems adrift amid the economic debris of streamerville and linear TV.
The studio system still has its advocates, one of whom, Francis Coppola, attempted to re-invent the studio on three occasions. He’s still trying.
His intriguing, if bizarre adventure, is told in a gripping new book by Sam Wasson titled Path to Paradise, vividly chronicling how the director leveraged his two great movies into an assembly line of cinema.
Well, almost. Coppola’s effort to orchestrate the genius of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now into an enduring filmmaking enterprise was defeated by two realities: The eccentricity of his management style and the frailty of his infrastructure.
Zoetrope was to be owned and run by creatives...
One hundred years ago, Louis B. Mayer unfurled his grand idea to mobilize “all the stars in heaven” for his filmmaking adventure. His dream factory, once prolific, now seems adrift amid the economic debris of streamerville and linear TV.
The studio system still has its advocates, one of whom, Francis Coppola, attempted to re-invent the studio on three occasions. He’s still trying.
His intriguing, if bizarre adventure, is told in a gripping new book by Sam Wasson titled Path to Paradise, vividly chronicling how the director leveraged his two great movies into an assembly line of cinema.
Well, almost. Coppola’s effort to orchestrate the genius of The Godfather and Apocalypse Now into an enduring filmmaking enterprise was defeated by two realities: The eccentricity of his management style and the frailty of his infrastructure.
Zoetrope was to be owned and run by creatives...
- 9/14/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
The film festivals can always be counted on to deliver surprise hits at this time of year, but meanwhile Hollywood must deal with another issue: Its Barbitude hangover.
Barbie’s billions will importantly impact upon how decision-makers frame future strategies on budget, content and promotion.
The megahit could also cast a pink cloud over awards season: Will message-minded Academy voters levitate Barbie to the same somber stratum as Nomadland?
Further, will Greta Gerwig, its auteur, become a victim of the Tom Cruise syndrome – a filmmaker-star whose work we are encouraged to admire but not honor?
Complicating matters, the bizarre lure of Barbie clearly encouraged ticket buyers to rally behind another assured Oscar nominee, Oppenheimer. It’s hard to find a precedent for feminist frivolity stoking an appetite for nuclear terror.
As such, battles over Barbitude might open a unique opportunity for a reborn Golden Globes. If 300 or so Globe voters,...
Barbie’s billions will importantly impact upon how decision-makers frame future strategies on budget, content and promotion.
The megahit could also cast a pink cloud over awards season: Will message-minded Academy voters levitate Barbie to the same somber stratum as Nomadland?
Further, will Greta Gerwig, its auteur, become a victim of the Tom Cruise syndrome – a filmmaker-star whose work we are encouraged to admire but not honor?
Complicating matters, the bizarre lure of Barbie clearly encouraged ticket buyers to rally behind another assured Oscar nominee, Oppenheimer. It’s hard to find a precedent for feminist frivolity stoking an appetite for nuclear terror.
As such, battles over Barbitude might open a unique opportunity for a reborn Golden Globes. If 300 or so Globe voters,...
- 9/1/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Visit https://podnews.net/update/comedy-podcasts for all the links, and to get our newsletter.
Media and entertainment company Global has released a report on advertising within comedy podcasts. 68% of listeners prefer host reads where it's clear that the host uses the product or service. On Air Fest has announced On Air LA Annex 2023, a four day festival presenting live podcasts in Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles. Did you make it into the Podcast Movement Denver highlights video? The Podnews Puppies did… Classifieds - your job or ad here...
Media and entertainment company Global has released a report on advertising within comedy podcasts. 68% of listeners prefer host reads where it's clear that the host uses the product or service. On Air Fest has announced On Air LA Annex 2023, a four day festival presenting live podcasts in Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles. Did you make it into the Podcast Movement Denver highlights video? The Podnews Puppies did… Classifieds - your job or ad here...
- 8/31/2023
- Podnews.net
Don’t Kill the Messenger, an Apple Top 100 podcast hosted by entertainment research expert Kevin Goetz, celebrates its one-year anniversary and its milestone 25th episode with special guest legendary studio executive, producer, and journalist Peter Bart.
Over the past year, “Don’t Kill the Messenger” has given listeners an insider’s look at the world of movie audience research and testing. Goetz has interviewed a diverse range of acclaimed Hollywood guests, including director David Leitch (Bullet Train), producers and former studio executives Amy Bear and Jon Glickman, thriller master producer Jason Blum, former studio chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos, and Academy Award-winning editor Billy Goldenberg. From directors, producers, and studio executives to editors, post supervisors, and writers, the show’s guests are some of the most prominent names in the industry.
For the special 25th episode, Goetz welcomes iconic studio executive and journalist Peter Bart. Bart shares fascinating stories from...
Over the past year, “Don’t Kill the Messenger” has given listeners an insider’s look at the world of movie audience research and testing. Goetz has interviewed a diverse range of acclaimed Hollywood guests, including director David Leitch (Bullet Train), producers and former studio executives Amy Bear and Jon Glickman, thriller master producer Jason Blum, former studio chairman and CEO Jim Gianopulos, and Academy Award-winning editor Billy Goldenberg. From directors, producers, and studio executives to editors, post supervisors, and writers, the show’s guests are some of the most prominent names in the industry.
For the special 25th episode, Goetz welcomes iconic studio executive and journalist Peter Bart. Bart shares fascinating stories from...
- 8/31/2023
- Podnews.net
With festivals beckoning and box office wobbling, this obnoxious question looms ever larger: What’s next?
The strikes will end and a new season will begin but where’s that next cycle of movies and streaming content that represent groundbreaking ideas? Where will they come from?
A quick survey of past groundbreakers poses some answers, all of them disturbing.
Breakthrough movies of years past have represented the unpredictable product of corporate guile (The Avengers), artistic monomania (Avatar) or accidents of history (Barbie).
Some hits invaded the zeitgeist because they were relentlessly defiant (Midnight Cowboy) or simply inevitable (Harry Potter). Ironically, some of Hollywood’s most culturally ambitious movies were distributed at moments when films were being largely ignored by the filmgoing public – Doctor Zhivago (1965) or Lawrence of Arabia (1962).
Cinema, as with every form of pop culture, has gone through cycles of bold innovation as well as pervasive failure. Hollywood, circa the early 1960s,...
The strikes will end and a new season will begin but where’s that next cycle of movies and streaming content that represent groundbreaking ideas? Where will they come from?
A quick survey of past groundbreakers poses some answers, all of them disturbing.
Breakthrough movies of years past have represented the unpredictable product of corporate guile (The Avengers), artistic monomania (Avatar) or accidents of history (Barbie).
Some hits invaded the zeitgeist because they were relentlessly defiant (Midnight Cowboy) or simply inevitable (Harry Potter). Ironically, some of Hollywood’s most culturally ambitious movies were distributed at moments when films were being largely ignored by the filmgoing public – Doctor Zhivago (1965) or Lawrence of Arabia (1962).
Cinema, as with every form of pop culture, has gone through cycles of bold innovation as well as pervasive failure. Hollywood, circa the early 1960s,...
- 8/24/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
“I know how to change bad news into good news,” Edward L. Bernays, the father of public relations, used to boast. Since he was a nephew of Sigmund Freud, I wonder how he’d find a positive mind-set among today’s practitioners of his craft.
During these times of gridlock, PR reps are widely forbidden from hustling the wares of their star clients. Further, free-spending corporate clients, once focused on image building, are now running for cover and laying off PR teams.
Sign of the times: The mega-publicized company WeWork that raised billions and helped foster its own TV profile has told its PR reps to confirm its last rites.
PR firms, like talent agencies, are laying off staff and canceling leases. Giant companies like Disney and Comcast confront a media landscape that has quickly turned from benign to belligerent. Even Target is taking a hit.
Publicists for the Magic...
During these times of gridlock, PR reps are widely forbidden from hustling the wares of their star clients. Further, free-spending corporate clients, once focused on image building, are now running for cover and laying off PR teams.
Sign of the times: The mega-publicized company WeWork that raised billions and helped foster its own TV profile has told its PR reps to confirm its last rites.
PR firms, like talent agencies, are laying off staff and canceling leases. Giant companies like Disney and Comcast confront a media landscape that has quickly turned from benign to belligerent. Even Target is taking a hit.
Publicists for the Magic...
- 8/17/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
“Try to Remember,” the most famous song to have come out of the stage musical “The Fantasticks,” was noted for its autumnal feel, sung by someone reflecting back on youthful days. The happy irony is that Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt wrote that song prior to the show’s original 1960 staging when they were both still relatively young men of about 30, fellows who still had about two-thirds of their lives ahead of them. Schmidt, who wrote the music, died in 2018 at age 88, and Jones, who penned the show’s lyrics and book, died Friday at 95.
Here’s to it having been a heck of a long way from September to December.
When the movie version of the show came out in the fall of 2000, I wrote about it for Entertainment Weekly and said that “for my money, ‘The Fantasticks’ is the best pure live–action movie musical since ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show.’” Now,...
Here’s to it having been a heck of a long way from September to December.
When the movie version of the show came out in the fall of 2000, I wrote about it for Entertainment Weekly and said that “for my money, ‘The Fantasticks’ is the best pure live–action movie musical since ‘The Rocky Horror Picture Show.’” Now,...
- 8/13/2023
- by Chris Willman
- Variety Film + TV
“How did I become Tom Joad? I used to write for a living.”
Tom Joad was the hapless farmer in The Grapes of Wrath who fled the Dust Bowl to find a better life in California. The man who cited him this week is a successful screenwriter who’s been walking the picket line and asked that I not use his name.
While the cast of pickets might not mirror John Steinbeck’s characters in his great novel, still “the rhetoric of this strike has taken on a ‘rich against the poor’ obsession,” in the words of one studio CEO.
The bargaining jargon once focused on residuals, but now it’s about “land barons” and “tone-deaf greedy bosses” (the words of SAG-AFTRA’s Fran Drescher). Little wonder polling shows only 7% of the public siding with the “bosses.” The “class warfare” has passed the 100-day mark, with L.A. city workers joining in Tuesday.
Tom Joad was the hapless farmer in The Grapes of Wrath who fled the Dust Bowl to find a better life in California. The man who cited him this week is a successful screenwriter who’s been walking the picket line and asked that I not use his name.
While the cast of pickets might not mirror John Steinbeck’s characters in his great novel, still “the rhetoric of this strike has taken on a ‘rich against the poor’ obsession,” in the words of one studio CEO.
The bargaining jargon once focused on residuals, but now it’s about “land barons” and “tone-deaf greedy bosses” (the words of SAG-AFTRA’s Fran Drescher). Little wonder polling shows only 7% of the public siding with the “bosses.” The “class warfare” has passed the 100-day mark, with L.A. city workers joining in Tuesday.
- 8/10/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Editor’S Note: William Friedkin’s passing is a gutting experience for anyone lucky enough to have sat as he reminisced over his classic movies, with measures of regret for the recklessness, humor, and keen observations of why Hollywood’s Auteur Era gave way to the global blockbuster, and whatever it is we have today as two guilds strike seeking transparency, and residuals for writers and actors. This interview was originally published August 6, 2015 under the title ’70s Maverick Revisits A Golden Era With Tales Of Glory And Reckless Abandon. I am feeling a bit gutted by Friedkin’s passing. I looked forward to a long interview with him for his Venice-bound Showtime remake of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial. After spending time with Billy and his elegant wife Sherry Lansing at Peter Bart’s 90th birthday where the back and forth between them proved the highlight of the evening, I wanted...
- 8/8/2023
- by Mike Fleming Jr
- Deadline Film + TV
Billy Friedkin, who died today at 87, remains a uniquely unforgettable figure to his friends and colleagues — an eternal contradiction, both cantankerous yet kindly, argumentative yet thoughtful. He was a brilliant creator of popular entertainment but, to his close friends, also was brooding and cerebral.
Typically in his final days, Friedkin was looking forward to visiting Venice for the festival screening of his newest movie, a remake of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial for Showtime. At the same time, he was prepping an opera that he would direct in Florence.
Friedkin loved talking about film and filmmakers but was equally comfortable discussing the literary works of Marcel Proust, the revered French novelist, or the intricacies of Mozart. His 1991 marriage to Sherry Lansing, one time Paramount studio chief, created a power couple of vast influence in film, music and philanthropy (she was a former studio chief at Paramount and is chairman of Universal Music...
Typically in his final days, Friedkin was looking forward to visiting Venice for the festival screening of his newest movie, a remake of The Caine Mutiny Court-Martial for Showtime. At the same time, he was prepping an opera that he would direct in Florence.
Friedkin loved talking about film and filmmakers but was equally comfortable discussing the literary works of Marcel Proust, the revered French novelist, or the intricacies of Mozart. His 1991 marriage to Sherry Lansing, one time Paramount studio chief, created a power couple of vast influence in film, music and philanthropy (she was a former studio chief at Paramount and is chairman of Universal Music...
- 8/7/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
Ellen Burstyn has paid her respects to William Friedkin, the filmmaker who guided her to a second Oscar nomination with his classic 1973 horror The Exorcist.
“My friend Bill Friedkin was an original; smart, cultured, fearless and wildly talented,” said Burstyn on Monday. “On the set, he knew what he wanted, would go to any length to get it and was able to let it go if he saw something better happening. He was undoubtedly a genius.”
Related: Peter Bart Remembers His Friend William Friedkin: Brilliant, Brooding, Cerebral & A Lover Of Film
Friedkin died in Los Angeles today, aged 87, of an unknown cause. Burstyn starred as Chris MacNeil, the mother of possessed teenager Regan (Linda Blair), in the filmmaker’s adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist, and is reprising her role in a new trilogy that David Gordon Green is helming for Blumhouse and Universal.
Related: New ‘Exorcist’ Trilogy...
“My friend Bill Friedkin was an original; smart, cultured, fearless and wildly talented,” said Burstyn on Monday. “On the set, he knew what he wanted, would go to any length to get it and was able to let it go if he saw something better happening. He was undoubtedly a genius.”
Related: Peter Bart Remembers His Friend William Friedkin: Brilliant, Brooding, Cerebral & A Lover Of Film
Friedkin died in Los Angeles today, aged 87, of an unknown cause. Burstyn starred as Chris MacNeil, the mother of possessed teenager Regan (Linda Blair), in the filmmaker’s adaptation of William Peter Blatty’s The Exorcist, and is reprising her role in a new trilogy that David Gordon Green is helming for Blumhouse and Universal.
Related: New ‘Exorcist’ Trilogy...
- 8/7/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Jason Blum and David Gordon Green have addressed the passing of William Friedkin, the iconic filmmaker whose 1973 classic The Exorcist is the basis for their forthcoming trilogy of films for Universal.
“I am personally indebted to William Friedkin and saddened by his loss,” said producer Blum in a statement obtained by Deadline. “More than any other filmmaker, he changed both the way directors approached horror films and also the perception of horror films in the broader culture. We are deeply saddened to hear of his passing and intensely grateful for the body of work he has left behind.”
Added the new Exorcist trilogy’s director, Green, “William Friedkin was an inspiration to me. I am saddened that our community lost a brilliant artist. The Exorcist is one of the finest films ever made, along with The French Connection, Sorcerer and so many others. His bold and visionary work will influence filmmakers forever.
“I am personally indebted to William Friedkin and saddened by his loss,” said producer Blum in a statement obtained by Deadline. “More than any other filmmaker, he changed both the way directors approached horror films and also the perception of horror films in the broader culture. We are deeply saddened to hear of his passing and intensely grateful for the body of work he has left behind.”
Added the new Exorcist trilogy’s director, Green, “William Friedkin was an inspiration to me. I am saddened that our community lost a brilliant artist. The Exorcist is one of the finest films ever made, along with The French Connection, Sorcerer and so many others. His bold and visionary work will influence filmmakers forever.
- 8/7/2023
- by Matt Grobar
- Deadline Film + TV
Refresh for updates… Horror film director Eli Roth is among the colleagues, friends and fans paying tribute to the late William Friedkin, the great director of The Exorcist and The French Connection who died today.
“Rip to the legend William Friedkin,” Roth wrote on Instagram. “One of the most impactful directors of all time and certainly set the course of my life in a different direction with The Exorcist. He was so incredibly nice and supportive the few times I was lucky enough to meet him. Watch Sorcerer if you’ve never seen it. He was one of a kind. Legend.”
Scott Derrickson, the director of The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Sinister, tweeted, “It was an honor to have numerous lengthy chats via Twitter with William Friedkin. He also sent word through his wife to one of my producers that he watched & loved The Black Phone...
“Rip to the legend William Friedkin,” Roth wrote on Instagram. “One of the most impactful directors of all time and certainly set the course of my life in a different direction with The Exorcist. He was so incredibly nice and supportive the few times I was lucky enough to meet him. Watch Sorcerer if you’ve never seen it. He was one of a kind. Legend.”
Scott Derrickson, the director of The Exorcism of Emily Rose and Sinister, tweeted, “It was an honor to have numerous lengthy chats via Twitter with William Friedkin. He also sent word through his wife to one of my producers that he watched & loved The Black Phone...
- 8/7/2023
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
William Friedkin, who won an Oscar for directing The French Connection, scored a nomination for The Exorcist and also helmed The Boys in the Band, Cruising, To Live and Die in L.A., Rules of Engagement and many others, died today in Los Angeles of heart failure and pneumonia. He was 87.
His death was confirmed by CAA via his wife, Fatal Attraction producer and former studio chief Sherry Lansing.
Friedkin beat out some serious heavyweights to win the Best Director Academy Award for The French Connection at the 1972 ceremony. Also up for the statuette that year were Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange), Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show) and Norman Jewison (Fiddler on the Roof). He would go up against more heavy hitters with The Exorcist two years later. George Roy Hill won that year for The Sting, also besting Bernardo Bertolucci (Last Tango in Paris), Ingmar Bergman (Cries & Whispers...
His death was confirmed by CAA via his wife, Fatal Attraction producer and former studio chief Sherry Lansing.
Friedkin beat out some serious heavyweights to win the Best Director Academy Award for The French Connection at the 1972 ceremony. Also up for the statuette that year were Stanley Kubrick (A Clockwork Orange), Peter Bogdanovich (The Last Picture Show) and Norman Jewison (Fiddler on the Roof). He would go up against more heavy hitters with The Exorcist two years later. George Roy Hill won that year for The Sting, also besting Bernardo Bertolucci (Last Tango in Paris), Ingmar Bergman (Cries & Whispers...
- 8/7/2023
- by Erik Pedersen
- Deadline Film + TV
Barbie is confounding: In addition to setting box office records, the movie has also inspired a flood of commentaries about its presumed “message.”
Yes, there have been more editorials about a doll than about a bomb. Why did Barbie complain about “cognitive dissonance” at a Mattel corporate meeting? Or denounce “sexualized consumerism”? For that matter, was it rude to joke about Proust, the revered French novelist?
Were director Greta Gerwig and her co-screenwriter, husband Noah Baumbach, nurturing a hidden subtext in their script?
And should we care? The big news on Barbie: it’s headed for $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales by this weekend, vastly surpassing Oppenheimer, which has a longer running time and more limited release schedule (it’s at $181 million U.S.).
Even Barbie swag is as inescapably pervasive as it is numbingly pink. The caps, T-shirts, tote bags, sunglasses and toy cars have arrived like a wave of Pepto Bismol.
Yes, there have been more editorials about a doll than about a bomb. Why did Barbie complain about “cognitive dissonance” at a Mattel corporate meeting? Or denounce “sexualized consumerism”? For that matter, was it rude to joke about Proust, the revered French novelist?
Were director Greta Gerwig and her co-screenwriter, husband Noah Baumbach, nurturing a hidden subtext in their script?
And should we care? The big news on Barbie: it’s headed for $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales by this weekend, vastly surpassing Oppenheimer, which has a longer running time and more limited release schedule (it’s at $181 million U.S.).
Even Barbie swag is as inescapably pervasive as it is numbingly pink. The caps, T-shirts, tote bags, sunglasses and toy cars have arrived like a wave of Pepto Bismol.
- 8/3/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
The mysterious sanctuary hidden away in the Jemez mountains was known only as Box 1663 in the mid 1950s. The mission of its 13,000 residents was to create “the gadget.” Living there was a challenge. “It’s a prison camp for eggheads,” whispered one scientist.
As a young newsman, I decided I had to find a way to visit Los Alamos, even though I knew it would take time — perhaps years. I finally made it in 1956 (details below). And I re-visited it this week when I viewed Christopher Nolan’s new epic Oppenheimer, a brilliantly engrossing movie receiving unstinting raves from the critics.
Audiences worldwide will discover not one movie but two with contrasting themes – one a gripping heroic thriller about the dawn of a troubled nuclear age, the other an absorbing, if talky, political drama steeped in Cold War politics.
Cinephiles will be thrilled with Nolan’s succinct, if choppy, scenes...
As a young newsman, I decided I had to find a way to visit Los Alamos, even though I knew it would take time — perhaps years. I finally made it in 1956 (details below). And I re-visited it this week when I viewed Christopher Nolan’s new epic Oppenheimer, a brilliantly engrossing movie receiving unstinting raves from the critics.
Audiences worldwide will discover not one movie but two with contrasting themes – one a gripping heroic thriller about the dawn of a troubled nuclear age, the other an absorbing, if talky, political drama steeped in Cold War politics.
Cinephiles will be thrilled with Nolan’s succinct, if choppy, scenes...
- 7/24/2023
- by Peter Bart
- Deadline Film + TV
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