Reading the tea leaves with regard to China in 2023 is even more difficult than usual. The country’s about-face on its longstanding zero-Covid policy has implications from geopolitics to economics and, closer to home for Hollywood, the state of the market after a dismal 2022.
On the one hand, the loosening of restrictions already seems to have led to more tickets being sold in local cinemas. On the other, the sudden reemergence of a massive population with little natural or vaccine-derived protection will likely provide kindling for a wildfire of infection and emerging variants the likes of which have not been seen since the very beginning of the pandemic.
Avatar is seeing strong holds, but there were very few studio movies that gained entry in 2022 (compared to 30-plus in 2019) and there still hasn’t been a Marvel title cleared in the market since Spider-Man: Far From Home. Even local films struggled with short lead times in 2022. >>>How Chinese New Year Factors In |
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Doll Parts - The Universal, Blumhouse and Atomic Monster title M3GAN blew away its $17M-$20M projections this weekend with a $30.2M start domestically, no mean feat in a box office dominated by the soon-to-be $2B-grossing Avatar. Per Deadline sources, a sequel is already in early development. >>>Scary, Creepy & Touching
The Film That Lit My Fuse - The Mosquito Coast star Melissa George says two very dark films, one starring Jessica Lange and the other starring Jennifer Jason Leigh, sparked her interest in acting as a teen. >>>Video Interview
15th Time's The Charm - Deadline's Ted Johnson was in the House chamber for the (eventual) vote confirming Kevin McCarthy as that body's speaker. Here, he gives a firsthand account of the dramatic and dysfunctional hours as Republican officials wrestled for power. >>> "Excited To Get To Work, And Excited To Sleep"
Miller's Crossing - Tim Miller has stepped in to handle two weeks of reshoots on the long-gestating Lionsgate vidgame adaptation Borderlands so that pal (and the film's director) Eli Roth can get going with Thanksgiving, the horror film based on a mock trailer that Roth made for the Quentin Tarantino & Robert Rodriguez Grindhouse film. >>>Begins Shooting In March
'Armageddon Time' On The Page - Armageddon Time is an autobiographical story that pulls from writer-director James Gray’s own upbringing in a multi-generational Jewish-American family in Flushing, Queens. It centers on Irving Graff (Jeremy Strong) taking his son Paul (Banks Repeta) from public school to a private school supported by Fred Trump, Donald Trump’s father (played by John Diehl). >>> Read It |
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Aimee Lou Wood describes the young woman she plays opposite Bill Nighy in the acclaimed movie Living as the film’s “character of life.” It’s a performance that’s been steadily attracting awards season buzz, and is recognized in the BAFTA longlist, announced last week.
However, Wood says that her other gig, as schoolgirl Aimee Gibbs in Netflix comedy Sex Education, is a very different matter because she finds herself playing someone "frozen in time." >>>Read The Interview |
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More News
📈 Another shot across the bow of Nielsen was fired this morning. Fox, NBCUniversal, Warner Bros Discovery, Paramount and TelevisaUnivision say they are teaming with measurement consortium OpenAP and the Video Advertising Bureau on a new committee dedicated to exploring alternate ratings methods by the 2024 upfront.
⚖️ Camille Vasquez, who gained fame recently as Johnny Depp's attorney in his defamation trial, has joined NBC News as a legal analyst.
🎞️ Specialty film and streaming company Kino Lorber has appointed AMC Networks alums Ed Carroll and Lisa Schwartz to C-suite exec roles.
⚽ Wrexham, the fifth-tier Welsh soccer club recently bought by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney and the subject of their FX/Hulu show Welcome to Wrexham, pulled off a massive upset on Saturday in the third round of the FA Cup, holding on to beat Coventry 4-3. The English club plays in the Championship, three tiers higher than their opponents. Should provide pretty juicy material for the show's forthcoming Season 2.
📺 France's Canal Plus is acquiring pay-TV channels from telecom firm Orange as well as Orange Studio, the company's film and TV co-production subsidiary.
🌶 Pippo Zeffirelli, son of Romeo and Juliet director Franco Zeffirelli, called the lawsuit brought by that film's stars, Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting, "embarrassing" for the two actors. They are alleging sexual exploitation and child abuse in a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures over a famous nude scene in the 1968 film. The stars were 15 and 16 at the time.
🎻 Elon Musk wants to move a shareholder class action lawsuit from San Francisco to West Texas, claiming a lack of unbiased jurors in the Bay Area. Musk and other Tesla board members are confronting claims that he manipulated Tesla’s stock in 2018. In 2018, Musk lived in California and Tesla was headquartered in Palo Alto.
💪 Hugh Jackman will reprise his Wolverine character in the upcoming third installment of Deadpool and opposite Ryan Reynolds. He spoke about the time he'll need to dedicate to get into mutant-level shape again. "I've learned you can’t rush it," said Jackman. "That’s going to be my job for six months."
🚦 50 Cent dropped the news that he is working on a TV show adaptation of the 2002 film 8 Mile which was based on Eminem’s life. The Power producer said he is collaborating with the "Lose Yourself" rapper to bring the story to the small screen. "I'm gonna bring his 8 Mile to television. We're in motion," he said. "It's gonna be big." |
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Obituaries
🕯 Adam Rich, best known for starring in the television drama-comedy Eight Is Enough, has died. He was 54. He died Saturday at his Los Angeles area home. Rich portrayed Nicholas Bradford, the youngest son. 🕯 Owen Roizman, the Oscar-nominated cinematographer whose work was seen in The French Connection and The Exorcist , has died at 86. The ASC, where Roizman was a member and served as president from 1997 to 1998, confirmed the news. 🕯 Bernard Kalb, a veteran television journalist who worked at CBS and NBC News, has died. He was 100. The Washington Post reported his passing following "complications from a fall." Kalb's career in journalism started at the New York Times at the end of World War II and after serving in the Army. Kalb became the host of CNN’s Reliable Sources in 1993 and remained there until 1998. | |
Trending  After years of bad news, the U.S. box office is humming at multiple levels. Beyond Avatar, which is obviously a smash, counterprogramming like M3GAN is flourishing. The horror pic took in $30M+ over the weekend. And Tom Hanks' prestige pic A Man Called Otto did very well with adults, pulling a $6,600 per-screen average.
🔻 AMC Networks has scrapped yet another show. Deadline reported exclusively that Pantheon has been canceled after one season. It joins shows such as Demascus, Invitation to a Bonfire and the second seasons of 61st Street and Moonhaven, which were all axed as part of a one-time tax write-down at the end of last year. CEO Christina Spade left in late November after three months on the job. The company also announced large-scale layoffs. |
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On the Radar Tue - Golden Globes
Wed - DGA & SAG Awards nominations
Thu - PGA nominations |
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Magic Moment - Nearly a week after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin collapsed on the field and required life-saving CPR, Hamlin watched from his hospital bed as the team took the field carrying flags bearing his jersey number. A tribute to him garnered a standing ovation. Then came what play-by-play man Jim Nance called a "storybook" moment, as the Bills' Nyheim Hines returned the opening kickoff 96 yards for a touchdown. After all the team had endured, the moment left Buffalo coach Sean McDermott — and many watching — with tears in their eyes. |
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