Steve Pond's Blog, page 2004
January 23, 2020
Ousted Grammy CEO Deborah Dugan Says General Counsel Propositioned Her in ‘Power-Setting Move’ (Video)
Ousted National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences CEO Deborah Dugan said Thursday the Grammy organization’s general counsel Joel Katz propositioned her in a “power-setting move” just after she accepted the gig last spring.
In a “Good Morning America” interview, she told anchor George Stephanopolous that Katz propositioned her — an accusation he has denied. “Starting with calling me babe and saying how attractive I was and how pretty was, the evening went on to a kiss — trying to kiss me. All the way through I felt like I was being tested in how much I would acquiesce,” she said. “I realized that was a power-setting move on the onset just as I was coming in.”
She also renewed her criticism of the integrity of the Grammy Awards themselves, particularly a nominations process that she found to be “tainted.” “The system should be transparent and there are incidents of conflict-of-interest that taint the results,” she said, noting that Ed Sheeran and Ariana Grande this year missed out on a Song of the Year nomination because another artist — who did get a nomination — sat on the committee’s nominating category and is represented by a board member of the Recording Academy.
Also Read: Deborah Dugan's Push for Grammy Voting Reform Rattled Recording Academy's 'Boys Club'
But she declined to name the artist on Thursday. “For the artist’s privacy and for the integrity of all those artists who are going to perform and get nominations this year, I don’t want to say, but it’s not even just that one room,” she said, noting she has “evidence” of other voting irregularities in the Grammy nominations process.
“It’s very serious and I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I could make a difference,” said Dugan, who told the anchor she’s filed a claim with her evidence.
Dugan, who was ousted after less than a year, sent a detailed email to human resources outlining many instances of what she called corruption and misconduct at the organization that hands out the Grammy Awards — refuting a claim by the Recording Academy that she only complained after she was ousted from the organization.
The email — dated December 22, 2019 — touched off a series of events that led to Dugan’s departure from the organization and served as the basis for an EEOC discrimination complaint she filed on Tuesday.
The Recording Academy has disputed Dugan’s account though it has not directly addressed her accusations about irregularities and conflicts of interest in the Grammy voting process.
Watch the full interview below.
FULL INTERVIEW: “I have evidence…”
Ousted #Grammys CEO Deborah Dugan speaks out on bombshell allegations of “vote rigging” in the Recording Academy. https://t.co/KIQ3IyMxRG pic.twitter.com/CUanT3XuMO
- Good Morning America (@GMA) January 23, 2020
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Grammy Awards 2020: Pre-Parties Make Beautiful Music in Los Angeles
Deborah Dugan's Push for Grammy Voting Reform Rattled Recording Academy's 'Boys Club'
Grammy Drama: 7 Most Explosive Accusations by Ousted Recording Academy CEO Deborah Dugan
Comcast Tops Q4 Revenue, Earnings Marks Despite ‘Cats’-Led Box Office Decline
Comcast topped analyst expectations for both revenue and earnings in the fourth quarter of 2019, though cord-cutting and a big box office decline provided some serious challenges. We’re (partially) looking at you, “Cats.”
Wall Street had forecast earnings per share (EPS) of 76 cents on $28.17 billion in revenue, according to a consensus compiled by Yahoo Finance. The NBCUniversal parent company actually reported EPS of 79 cents on $28.398 billion in revenue.
Both of those markers were up single digits on a percentage basis from the final quarter of 2018, though the adjusted earnings growth of 9.7% sure came close to making it double digits.
A net income increase of 25.9% should make investors happy this morning. As will Comcast’s announcement that it is upping dividends to 10%.
Also Read: Tina Fey-Produced Pop Star Comedy 'Girls5Eva' Ordered at Peacock
Universal’s theatrical revenue dropped 59.1% from the comparable quarter last year, when “Halloween” and “The Grinch” did a heck of a lot better than anything the studio released this time around. “Cats,” a high-budget flop, was released by Universal with just 11 days left in calendar and fiscal 2019. More like litter box (office).
On a net basis, Comcast shed 149,000 video customers in Q4. It made up for that elsewhere.
Comcast increased its fourth-quarter revenue for its largest business, cable communications, as well as from cable and broadcast television and theme parks. The movie-ticket sales fell so far, however, that NBCUniversal as a whole saw revenue decrease 2.6%.
Sky revenue was basically flat for Comcast on a comparable basis.
Also Read: Comcast Shares Get Small Boost After NBCU Unveils Peacock
“We delivered strong operational and financial results in the fourth quarter, capping another great year for Comcast, including double-digit growth in full-year adjusted EPS, record free cash flow and 1.4 million broadband net additions in the U.S.,” Brian L. Roberts, chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation, said in a statement accompanying the financials. “Our teams at Cable, NBCUniversal and Sky continued to execute at a high level, strengthening our leadership position in our markets.”
“Looking ahead, in 2020 we are leaning into exciting opportunities, including: further differentiating our broadband product in the U.S. through innovations like Flex and xFi Advanced Security; accelerating the deployment of Sky Q; launching a new broadband service in Italy; debuting Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan; and introducing a world-class streaming service — Peacock — which leverages capabilities from across Comcast,” Roberts continued. “Underscoring our confidence in the continued success of our company, we are pleased to announce a 10% increase in our dividend, our 12th consecutive annual increase.”
Also Read: 'Two and a Half Men' to Stream Exclusively on NBCUniversal's Peacock, Instead of HBO Max
Shares of Comcast (CMCSA) closed Wednesday at $47.44 apiece. The U.S. stock markets reopen for regular trading at 9:30 a.m. ET today.
In pre-market trading, CMCSA stock is up more than 2%.
Executives will host a conference call at 8:30 a.m. ET to discuss the fourth quarter and full year in greater detail.
One week ago, Comcast unveiled its upcoming streaming platform, Peacock. Read all about that future offering here.
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January 22, 2020
‘The Turning’ Film Review: Mackenzie Davis Grapples With Ghosts and an Unflattering Hairdo
Henry James’s novella “The Turn of the Screw” has inspired many screen adaptations, most notably Jack Clayton’s “The Innocents,” which starred Deborah Kerr, and a live TV version with Ingrid Bergman that was directed by John Frankenheimer. In the early ’70s, Marlon Brando headlined a memorably nasty prequel called “The Nightcomers,” and movies from this story have been made all over the world. You have to go out of your way to screw up this material.
“The Turning” is an adaptation of “The Turn of the Screw” that takes place in 1994; we hear over the radio that Kurt Cobain has just committed suicide as we meet our heroine Kate (Mackenzie Davis), a cheerful, slightly nerdy woman who has just received a job as a nanny to an orphaned young girl and boy. In most versions of this story, the governess goes to meet the uncle of these orphans, but in this movie Kate goes to see her mentally-ill mother, who is played by Joely Richardson, the granddaughter of Michael Redgrave, who played the uncle in “The Innocents.”
Like the best screen versions of this story, “The Innocents” is a psychological horror movie and very subtle and very open to interpretation. But “The Turning” director Floria Sigismondi (a TV and music video vet making her feature debut) and screenwriters Carey Hayes and Chad Hayes (“The Conjuring”) have a definite slant on “The Turn of the Screw” that they make obvious at the outset, and there is nothing subtle about it.
Also Read: 'Station Eleven': Mackenzie Davis, Himesh Patel to Star in HBO Max Adaptation
From the scene with her mother onward, Davis’s Kate is set up as someone who might be mentally unbalanced, even if Davis herself often incongruously behaves like the lead in a romantic comedy rather than a gothic horror movie. She has not been helped by a blonde coiffure that is so rigid and harshly cut that it makes it look like she is trying to act under an enchanted cottage.
Kate drives to the estate where her charges live and meets the foreboding Mrs. Grose (Barbara Marten), who has been with the family for generations. She refers to the orphaned Miles (Finn Wolfhard) and Flora (Brooklynn Prince) as “thoroughbreds”; there is an attempt to set up a clash between Mrs. Grose’s old-fashioned British standards of behavior versus Kate’s much more confessional and lackadaisical American attitude, but it doesn’t quite gel.
Also Read: Jim Sturgess to Star Opposite Brooklynn Prince in Apple Drama About 9-Year-Old Journalist
Sigismondi sets up several “gotcha” scares in a row as Kate begins to see the ghosts of the abused Miss Jessel (Denna Thomsen) and the abusive Peter Quint (Niall Greig Fulton), who had once been in charge of the children, and these scares might be more effective if they were spaced further apart. When Miles and Flora pull a prank on Kate, and she dives into a pool because she thinks Flora might be drowning, the sequence backfires because it is only possible to feel relief that Davis’s unnervingly thick hairdo is finally wet, slicked-down, and not getting in her way.
“The Turn of the Screw” is most modern and most disturbing in its portrayal of the sexual contamination of children by the influence of a brutish male adult, but Sigismondi generally flinches from the implications of the relationship between Miles and Kate and the way he flirts with her in a menacing way that he can’t seem to help. In that sense, “The Innocents” is far more unsettling because it makes us question what is learned and what is innate in children, and if evil is there waiting to be brought out or if it has to be implanted.
Also Read: Finn Wolfhard on 'Stranger Things 3' Finale's Post-Credits Cliffhanger, Mike and Eleven's Future
Around halfway through “The Turning,” it is made clear that Kate is unstable, and this is even hit home with dialogue to that effect by Mrs. Grose, who wonders aloud about Kate’s connection to her ill mother. And so all of the life and the fear and complication drain out of the story because there is very little left to wonder about. If she is ill and only seeing things, why does Kate fear Peter Quint so much? We learn nothing at all about Kate’s past experience with men and why she might conjure up the ghost of a man who abused women and children.
“The Turning” is not a total loss. There are some stylish, nearly giallo-like sequences and sensitive performances from both Wolfhard and Prince, both of whom look like they could go further with their roles if the script didn’t eventually limit them to reactions in the second half. There needs to be a growing panic in the last third of this story, but in “The Turning,” all the terror and the doubt is removed by a script that calls its heroine mad outright and doesn’t let the implications of her possible madness resonate.
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Colbert Is a Huge Fan of How Adam Schiff Is Handling Trump’s Impeachment Trial (Video)
Stephen Colbert isn’t just a fan of impeaching Donald Trump, he’s also a huge fan of how Adam Schiff has been handling the prosecution’s case in the ongoing impeachment trial in the senate. He even gave Schiff a rock star welcome during his opening monologue on Wednesday’s episode of “The Late Show.”
“It was gratifying to see someone taking the constitutional responsibility of their office seriously. He laid out the case against the president clearly, passionately, cogently, and I believe courageously,” Colbert began. “Because whether or not President Trump is removed from office, history will not forgive those who looked the other way at his abuses, or forget those who stepped into the breach at this moment of crisis.”
But the bad news? “So no surprise, the number one trending topic on Twitter was: Mr. Peanut. Evidently he died,” Colbert joked. “OK, OK. But number two … is Gritty,” a reference to a story that someone accused the NHL mascot of pushing a child.
Also Read: Former Trump Chief of Staff Reince Priebus Named Political Analyst for CBS News
After lamenting “we’re doomed,” Colbert noted that even before the trial started, Schiff shot down a rumor that Republicans in control of the senate would allow John Bolton to be called as a witness if they were allowed to call Joe Biden. About that, Schiff said: “Trials aren’t trades for witnesses, this isn’t like some fantasy football trade.”
“He’s right. The senate trial isn’t like fantasy football,” Colbert joked. “For one thing, if you start talking about the senate trial, I won’t leave the room.”
That’s when the rock star welcome happened. Colbert played a supercut of Schiff’s opening statements in which he recounted the many crimes Trump is credibly accused of, or, as Colbert put it, the impeachment’s “hits.”
“WHOOOOO! Do quid pro quo!” Colbert joked after the clip ended. “Do drug deal! WHOOOOO!”
Watch the clip below:
TONIGHT: It's Day Two of Trump's impeachment trial and Rep. Adam Schiff is not messing around. #LSSC pic.twitter.com/duJAmdmTir
— The Late Show (@colbertlateshow) January 23, 2020
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Juice WRLD Died of an Accidental Drug Overdose, Medical Examiner Says
Chicago-based rapper Juice WRLD died from an accidental overdose, the Cook County medical examiner’s office announced in a statement Tuesday.
Juice WRLD, born Jarad Anthony Higgins, “died as a result of oxycodone and codeine toxicity. The manner of death is accident,” the ME’s office said in a statement posted on Twitter.
Known as one of the brightest new rappers in the burgeoning SoundCloud rap genre, Juice WRLD was just 21 years old when he died on December 8. The rapper was reported to have suffered a seizure after his private plan landed at Chicago’s Midway International Airport. Witnesses said at the time that he ingested prescription pills in order to hide them after police, tipped off by the pilots, searched the plane with drug-sniffing dogs. TMZ reported that police found codeine cough syrup, and seized 70 pounds of marijuana.
Also Read: Terry Jones, Monty Python Member and Director, Dies at 77
His 2017 EPs, “Nothings Different” and “JUICEWrld 9 9 9,” caught the eye of the music business at large, which he parlayed into a huge deal with Interscope Records. His debut album, “Goodbye and Good Riddance,” which featured “Lucid Dreams,” was released a year later. The single was wildly popular and ultimately landed at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100. The album peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Top 200 album charts.
Additionally, “All Girls Are the Same,” the first single from that same record, hit No. 41 on the Billboard Hot 100 as well.
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TV Pilot Season 2020: TheWrap’s Complete Guide
It’s pilot season — when broadcast networks decide which of dozens of prospective shows should become full-fledged series.
TheWrap’s complete network pilot guide will keep you up to speed on the status of every project under consideration by ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC. In cases where they’ve already ordered a show to series, we’ll say so.
Check back often for regular updates.
The CW: Drama
Fox: Comedy / Drama
ABC COMEDY
PROSPECT
Writer(s): Sherry Bilsing-Graham, Ellen Kreamer
Director: Randall Einhorn
Studio: ABC Studios
Logline: A comedic western with a feminist twist: an idealistic young woman moves to the frontier to be a schoolteacher, but her ideals are quickly tested when she learns that her students are rowdy ranch hands, not children. (Single camera)
ABC DRAMA
THE BRIDES
Writer(s): Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa
Producer(s): Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter
Director: Maggie Kiley
Studio: ABC Studios, Warner Bros. Television, Berlanti Productions
Logline: A sexy contemporary reimagining of “Dracula,” is a family drama with a trio of powerful female leads at its heart. With strong horror elements, “The Brides” is a vampire soap about empowered, immortal women and the things they do to maintain wealth, prestige, legacy — and their nontraditional family.
HARLEM’S KITCHEN
Writer(s): Zahir McGhee
Producer(s): Marcus Samuelsson, David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman, Laurie Zaks
Studio: ABC Studios
Logline: An ensemble family drama set in a fine dining restaurant in Harlem. Ellis Rice, Executive Chef and patriarch, runs a successful restaurant with his wife and three daughters. But an unexpected death thrusts the family into turmoil and puts the restaurant’s future in jeopardy as long-buried secrets are revealed.
THIRTYSOMETHING(ELSE)
Writer(s): Marshall Herskovitz, Edward Zwick
Director: Edward Zwick
Studio: ABC Studios, MGM Television
Logline: A sequel to the groundbreaking series “thirtysomething,” which follows an ensemble of new faces playing the grown-up, 30-something children of the original cast. Apparently, raising children (even grown children) never ends, but who could have known how hard it would be for them to raise their parents?
Cast: Ken Olin, Mel Harris, Timothy Busfield, Patty Wettig
CBS COMEDY
THE UNITED STATES OF AL
Writer(s): David Goetsch, Maria Ferrari
Producer(s): Chuck Lorre, Reza Aslan, Mahyad Tousi
Studio: Warner Bros. Television, Chuck Lorre Productions
Logline: a comedy about the friendship between Riley, a Marine combat veteran struggling to readjust to civilian life in Ohio, and Awalmir (Al), the Afghan interpreter who served with his unit and has just arrived to start a new life in America. (Multi-camera)
CBS DRAMA
CLARICE — Series Commitment
Writer(s): Alex Kurtzman, Jenny Lumet
Producer(s): Heather Kadin, Aaron Baiers
Studio: MGM Television, CBS Television Studios, Secret Hideout.
Logline: It’s 1993, a year after the events of “The Silence of the Lambs.” CLARICE is a deep dive into the untold personal story of Clarice Starling as she returns to the field to pursue serial murderers and sexual predators while navigating the high stakes political world of Washington, D.C.
CW Drama
SUPERMAN & LOIS — Series Order
Writer(s): Todd Helbing
Producer(s): Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Geoff Johns
Studio: Berlanti Productions, Warner Bros. Television
Logline: Follows the world’s most famous Super Hero and comic books’ most famous journalist as they deal with all the stress, pressures and complexities that come with being working parents in today’s society. Based on the characters from DC created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster.
Cast: Tyler Hoechlin, Elizabeth Tulloc
WALKER — Series Order
Writer(s): Anna Fricke
Producer(s): Dan Lin, Lindsay Liberatore, Jared Padalecki
Studio: CBS Television Studios, Rideback.
Logline: A reimagining of the long-running series “Walker, Texas Ranger.” Centers on Cordell Walker, a widower and father of two with his own moral code, who returns home to Austin after being undercover for two years, only to discover there’s harder work to be done at home. He’ll attempt to reconnect with his children, navigate clashes with his family, and find unexpected common ground with his new partner (one of the first women in Texas Rangers’ history), while growing increasingly suspicious about the circumstances surrounding his wife’s death.
Cast: Jared Padalecki
UNTITLED THE 100 PREQUEL — Backdoor Pilot Production Order
Writer(s): Jason Rothenberg
Producer(s): Leslie Morgenstein, Gina Girolamo
Studio: Alloy Entertainment, Warner Bros. Television, CBS Television Studios
Logline: Set 97 years before the events of the original series, this project — which is currently being developed as a planted spinoff and will air as an episode of THE 100’s final season — starts with the end of the world, a nuclear apocalypse that wipes out most of the human population on Earth. The epic adventure follows a band of survivors on the ground as they learn to cope in a dangerous world while fighting to create a new and better society from the ashes of what came before.
UNTITLED ARROW SPINOFF — Backdoor Pilot Production Order
Writer(s): Beth Schwartz, Mark Guggenheim, Jill Blankenship, Oscar Balderrama
Producer(s): Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter
Studio: Warner Bros. TV, DC Entertainment
Logline: Spinoff following the women of Arrow.
Cast: Katherine McNamara, Katie Cassidy, Juliana Harkavy
FOX COMEDY
CARLA — Series Commitment
Writer(s): Darlene Hunt
Producer(s): Jim Parsons, Todd Spiewak, Angie Stephenson, Miranda Hart, Eric Norsoph, Mackenzie Gabriel-Vaught, Mayim Bialik
Studio: Warner Bros. Television, FOX Entertainment, That’s Wonderful Productions, Sad Clown Productions, BBC Studios
Logline: Carla is a 39-year-old woman who struggles every day against society and her mother to prove that you CANNOT have everything you want — and still be happy. Which is why she spent the money her parents set aside for her wedding to open a Cat Café in Louisville, KY. Based on the BBC UK original seriesMiranda, created by Miranda Hart. (Multi-camera)
Cast: Mayim Bialik
HOUSEBROKEN — Series Order
Writer(s): Clea DuVall, Jennifer Crittenden, Gabrielle Allan
Producer(s): Sharon Horgan, Clelia Mountford, Aaron Kaplan, Dana Honor
Studio: Fox Entertainment, Kapital Entertainment, Bento Box
Logline: Explores human dysfunction and neurosis through a group of neighborhood animals who live in the suburbs. (Animated)
Cast: Lisa Kudrow, Clea DuVall, Sharon Horgan, Nat Faxon, Will Forte, Tony Hale, Jason Mantzoukas, Sam Richardson, Bresha Webb, Greta Lee
NBC COMEDY
THE KENAN SHOW — Series Order
Writer(s): Jackie Clarke
Producer(s): Lorne Michaels, Andrew Singer
Director: Chris Rock
Studio: Universal Television, Broadway Video.
Logline: Kenan Thompson strives to be a super dad to his two adorable girls while simultaneously balancing his job and a father-in-law who “helps” in the most inappropriate ways. (Single camera)
Cast: Kenan Thompson, Punam Patel, Dani Lockett, Dannah Lockett, Andy Garcia.
NIGHT SCHOOL
Writer(s): Chris Moynihan
Producer(s): Kevin Hart, Will Packer, Malcolm Lee
Studio: Universal Television, Hartbeat Productions, Will Packer Productions, Bicycle Path Productions
Logline: An adaptation of the 2018 film, “Night School” centers on a unique mix of adults at a night school GED prep class who unexpectedly bond over their shared experience and find themselves helping each other both inside and outside of the classroom. (Multi-camera)
YOUNG ROCK — Series Order
Writer(s): Nahnatchka Khan, Jeff Chiang
Producer(s): Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Hiram Garcia, Brian Gewirtz, Jennifer Carreras
Studio: Universal Television, Seven Bucks Productions, Fierce Baby Productions.
Logline: Inspired by the formative years of Dwayne Johnson. (Single camera)
Cast: Dwayne Johnson
UNTITLED TINA FEY/ROBERT CARLOCK — Series Order
Writer(s): Tina Fey, Robert Carlock
Producer(s): Jeff Richmond, David Miner, Eric Gurian
Studio: Universal Television, 3 Arts Entertainment, Little Stranger
Logline: A wealthy businessman runs for mayor of Los Angeles for all the wrong reasons. Once he wins he has to figure out what he stands for, gain the respect of his staff and connect with his teenage daughter, all while humanely controlling the coyote population. (Single camera)
Cast: Ted Danson, Holly Hunter, Bobby Moynihan
NBC DRAMA
AT THAT AGE
Writer(s): Carla Banks-Waddles
Producer(s): Malcolm D. Lee, Debra Martin Chase
Studio: Universal Television, Blackmaled Productions
Logline: An exploration of an African-American family’s legacy. After the Cooper family’s golden child suffers a catastrophic event, seven family members face a foundational shift, make life-altering decisions and deal with deep secrets coming to light.
DEBRIS
Writer(s): J.H. Wyman
Producer(s): Jason Hoffs
Studio: Legendary Television, Frequency Films
Logline: Two agents from two different continents, and two different mindsets, must work together to investigate when wreckage from a destroyed alien spacecraft has mysterious effects on humankind.
ECHO
Writer(s): JJ Bailey
Producer(s): John Davis, John Fox
Studio: Universal Television, Davis Entertainment
Logline: A high-concept, genre procedural revolving around a team of investigators who solve the highest-profile crimes by sending our heroes 36 hours into the past … in the body of the victim. They assume the victim’s identity and must race against time to prevent the crime before it happens.
LA BREA
Writer(s): David Appelbaum
Producer(s): Avi Nir, Alon Shtruzman, Peter Traugott, Rachel Kaplan, Ken Woodruff
Studio: Universal Television, Keshet Studios
Logline: When a massive sinkhole mysteriously opens in Los Angeles, it tears a family in half, separating mother and son from father and daughter. When part of the family find themselves in an unexplainable primeval world, alongside a disparate group of strangers, they must work to survive and uncover the mystery of where they are and if there is a way back home.
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Sundance Box Office: Will 2020 Entries Thrive Compared to 2019’s Under-Performers?
Once again, the Sundance Film Festival will play host to another round of negotiations and bidding wars amongst studios and streamers hoping to find the next big indie hit. But there’s no guarantee that Park City will produce any big box office winners, as last year’s Sundance proved.
Among the highest-grossing films that debuted at Sundance in 2019, Lulu Wang’s “The Farewell” earned $17.7 million in North America after being acquired by A24 for a reported $6 million. And “Fighting With My Family,” a biopic that premiered at Sundance but had its distribution rights acquired by MGM in 2017, grossed $23 million domestic and $39 million worldwide.
By comparison, three films from Sundance 2018 topped the $20 million mark: A24’s “Hereditary” ($44 million), Sony’s “Searching” ($26 million) and Focus’ “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” ($22.8 million). Overall, seven films that year grossed more than $10 million in North America while all films that were acquired and/or screened at Sundance grossed just over $200 million. In 2019, that total fell to around $125 million.
Also Read: Netflix Buys Sundance Midnight Thriller 'His House' Ahead of Festival
So what happened? Part of it is that, as always, festival acquisitions are like panning for gold. Amazon Studios, who had big success at Sundance in the past with Oscar winner “Manchester By The Sea,” spent $13 million each for the comedies “Late Night” and “Brittany Runs A Marathon,” but failed to find theatrical success with either film.
“Late Night” failed to make back its marketing costs with $22.9 million grossed worldwide while “Brittany Runs A Marathon” flopped with only a bit over $7 million grossed. By the end of the year, Amazon had ended its policy of full theatrical runs for all its films, releasing their other $14 million Sundance acquisition, “The Report,” in theaters for two weeks before a late November streaming launch.
“I think that after the big bets that some studios, particularly Amazon, didn’t pay off, we’re going to see buyers being a lot more selective this year,” Exhibitor Relations analyst Jeff Bock told TheWrap. “There’s always the possibility of a film really performing well with Sundance audiences that ends up with the right distributor and finds a wider audience, but that is becoming harder to find.”
Bock does note that there are some genres that are an exception. One of them is horror, which relies less on big name stars to bring in fans of the genre and more on a strong concept that can be easily conveyed by a trailer. This is what allowed “Hereditary” to have a solid run in 2018 despite polarizing audiences.
The other category is documentaries, which had a big boom in 2018 with “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” and “Three Identical Strangers” but had no comparable hits in 2019. The closest was NEON’s “Apollo 11,” which grossed a respectable $9 million in North America.
Also Read: Davis Guggenheim, Jonathan King Launch Concordia Studio at Sundance
“When made or bought for the right price, horror and docs can become low-risk, high reward opportunities for indie studios to have a breakout success. In the case of docs, it will need to likely have a topic that taps into the zeitgeist like biographics about Mister Rogers.”
But even if there end up being those kinds of films available, will they even end up in the hands of a distributor that will release it theatrically? One film that might have been a success theatrically was the documentary “Knock Down The House,” which followed Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez’s unexpected rise to Congress as it happened. Premiering at Sundance just as the newly-elected congresswoman was beginning her term in office, it had the same feeling of political immediacy that 2018 hit doc “RBG” had.
Instead of hitting theaters, Netflix bought the rights to the film for a $10 million sum, sending it to streaming. While Netflix and other streamers are providing more opportunities for up-and-coming filmmakers to find a buyer for their work, they have become more competition for the traditional distributors to get the films with the biggest box office potential to theaters.
If those populist docs go to home release only, there’s still another reason buyers might keep digging in the doc section: awards potential. NEON found the hidden gem of Sundance 2019 with “Honeyland,” a film that didn’t make much at the box office — just $726,129 — but made history by becoming the first documentary to be nominated for both Best Documentary Feature and among scripted films for Best International Feature.
Also Read: Sundance 2020: 6 Things to Expect From Indie Film Sales Market
Combined with the success of “Parasite” — a Cannes acquisition for Tom Quinn and Tim League’s studio — “Honeyland” has helped NEON make a name for itself as a place for quality indie work in much the same way that films like “Ex Machina” and “Amy” helped put A24 on the map.
We won’t know which festival entries might have a chance of turning around Sundance’s box office slump until interviews and buzz start pouring in this weekend. But if this year’s most popular films end up performing more like “Late Night” instead of like “The Big Sick,” then it might be time to really start talking about whether Sundance is transitioning from feeding arthouse theaters to debuting content for the plethora of streamers that will be taking the 2020s by storm.
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‘Captain Marvel 2': ‘Wandavision’ Writer Megan McDonnell to Write Sequel Script
“Wandavision” writer Megan McDonnell is in talks to write the sequel to “Captain Marvel,” according to an individual with knowledge of the project.
“Captain Marvel” made $1.1 billion in 2019.
Directors Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, who co-wrote and directed the first “Captain Marvel,” will not return to direct the sequel but are in talks to still work with Marvel Studios and direct a possible Disney+ series. Marvel is hoping to land a female filmmaker for the sequel and is eyeing a potential release in 2022.
Also Read: Disney+ Moves 'WandaVision' From 2021 to 2020
“Captain Marvel” starred Brie Larson as Carol Danvers, an Air Force pilot who was recovered by the Kree after mysterious circumstances and was transformed into the titular superhero at the cost of her memories. After crash-landing back on Earth during the 1990s, Carol must recover her past self and save the planet from getting caught in an intergalactic conflict with the help of future SHIELD director Nick Fury.
Marvel studios head Kevin Feige teased the sequel at last year’s San Diego Comic Con, “We didn’t even mention that we’re making Black Panther 2and we didn’t mention that Guardians of the Galaxy 3 is coming. We didn’t even have time to talk about Captain Marvel 2, by the way. I didn’t even have time to talk about the Fantastic Four. And there’s no time left to talk about mutants.”
McDonnell got her first writing credit on “WandaVision” and the series is just one of multiple Marvel Studios projects in development at Disney+. “Falcon and the Winter Soldier” — starring Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan — will also debut this year. Starring Paul Bettany and Elizabeth Olsen reprising their roles as Vision and the Scarlet Witch from the Marvel film franchise, “WandaVision” is set to debut on Disney+ in 2021. Few story details have been made public so far, but Marvel said at Comic-Con that the show would lead directly into the events of “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.” It was also announced at the time that the show would feature Photon, a grown-up version of the “Captain Marvel” character Monica Rambeau.
McDonnell is repped by Verve.
Marvel had no comment.
The Hollywood Reporter first reported the news.
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Terry Jones, Monty Python Member and Director, Dies at 77
Terry Jones, a beloved member of the Monty Python comedy troupe who directed many of its classic films, died Tuesday at age 77.
According to the Associated Press, his family said he died “after a long, extremely brave but always good humored battle with a rare form of dementia, FTD.”
In 1969, Jones joined with Michael Palin, Eric Idle, John Cleese, Graham Chapman and lone American Terry Gilliam to form the Monty Python comedy troupe, launching a sketch series, “Monty Python’s Flying Circus,” that revolutionized comedy with its offbeat, nonlinear sensibility.
Also Read: Hollywood's Notable Deaths of 2020 (Photos)
Movies soon followed, with Jones and Gilliam co-directing “Monty Python and the Holy Grail” (1975) and “Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life” (1983). Jones was also the solo director of 1979’s “Monty Python’s Life of Brian,” the biggest box office hit of the troupe’s history.
In addition to his work in entertainment, Jones was also a medieval historian who published scholarly books like 1980s “Chaucer’s Knight: The Portrait of a Medieval Mercenary” and hosted documentary series about medieval life and the so-called “barbarian” cultures conquered by the Roman Empire.
Tributes quickly poured in for Jones from the showbiz world.
Director Edgar Wright remembered Jones for some of his most beloved characters: “Not only 1/6 of the Pythons, Mr Creosote, Arthur Two Sheds Jackson, Dino Vercotti, Mandy Cohen, Prince Herbert, Cardinal Biggles & the Nude Organist, but also esteemed director of all time comedy classic; ‘Life Of Brian’.”
Actor and writer Stephen Fry tweeted: “My god what pleasure you gave, what untrammelled joy and delight. What a wonderful talent, heart and mind.”
A very fond farewell to Terry Jones: Not only 1/6 of the Pythons, Mr Creosote, Arthur Two Sheds Jackson, Dino Vercotti, Mandy Cohen, Prince Herbert, Cardinal Biggles & the Nude Organist, but also esteemed director of all time comedy classic; 'Life Of Brian'. He will be missed. pic.twitter.com/PeBDlvGfsD
— edgarwright (@edgarwright) January 22, 2020
Farewell, Terry Jones. The great foot has come down to stamp on you. My god what pleasure you gave, what untrammelled joy and delight. What a wonderful talent, heart and mind
— Stephen Fry (@stephenfry) January 22, 2020
36 years ago I met Terry Jones. I was meant to interview him. I asked for tea, so he opened a bottle of Chablis & got me drunk. He was funny, brilliant and honest. He was irrepressible and is seen here repressing the very young me. Rest in Peace, Terry. You were an inspiration. pic.twitter.com/fNBJZwOFcX
— Neil Gaiman (@neilhimself) January 22, 2020
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January 21, 2020
Saudi Crown Prince Hacked Jeff Bezos’ Phone in 2018, According to UN Investigation
A United Nations investigation has determined that Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman was directly involved in an effort to hack Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ phone in 2018, the Washington Post reported Tuesday night.
And The Guardian, which first reported the story, said Tuesday that digital forensic analysis has determined malware was installed on Bezos’ phone during a May 1 conversation Bezos had with an account belonging personally to bin Salman on the instant messenger service WhatsApp. According to The Guardian, the two conducted “a seemingly friendly” conversation until the account belonging to MBS sent an unsolicited file to Bezos, who opened it and infected his phone with the malware.
And according to The Post, the U.N. report will back up Bezos’ accusation that Saudi Arabia “launched a cyberattack on him as part of a complex series of conflicts among Bezos, the Saudis, President Trump and the National Enquirer tabloid.”
Also Read: Elizabeth Warren's Health Plan Could Cost Jeff Bezos Billions (He'd Still Be the Richest Man Alive)
The investigation found that an unspecified but “large amount” of personal data was lifted off of Bezos’ phone within a matter of hours. The nature of the data or how it may have been used is not known.
It isn’t known if the U.N. conducted its own investigation or made use of work completed by a consultant hired by Bezos.
The Saudi government has denied the accusation, saying in a statement posted on Twitter: “Recent media reports that suggest the Kingdom is behind a hacking of Mr. Jeff Bezos’ phone are absurd. We call for an investigation on these claims so that we can have all the facts out.”
Representatives for Bezos did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TheWrap.
The report is only the latest public relations black eye for bin Salman, who is attempting to promote himself as a reformer even while overseeing a brutal crackdown of dissent in the kingdom. Among other things, he has been implicated by American and U.N. reports in the brutal murder of dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
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