General
Rose McGowan Wants Lisa Bloom Disbarred
Kate Aurthur, Variety
“She Said,” Jodi Kantor and Megan Twohey’s account of reporting their New York Times investigation of Harvey Weinstein that helped reignite the #MeToo movement, will be published on Tuesday — but a story about the book in the New York Times on Sunday has already set off a firestorm on the internet. In an interview with Variety, Rose McGowan said that the revelations about her from the news story were “deeply wounding.”
California Law Censoring Ages on IMDb Faces Skepticism From Appeals Court
Eriq Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter
According to IMDb, Tom Cruise was born on July 3, 1962. That makes him 57 years old.
Concerts Are More Expensive Than Ever, and Fans Keep Paying Up
Lucas Shaw, Bloomberg
It’s not your imagination: Concert ticket prices are going through the roof. And not just for the super wealthy who pay thousands of dollars to see the best acts from the front row.
Film
Why ‘It: Chapter Two’ Conquered the Box Office
Rebecca Rubin, Variety
Warner Bros. and New Line’s “It: Chapter Two” provided a necessary lift to a lagging domestic box office, dominating over the competition with $91 million in North America. Though it fell short of the first film’s record-breaking $123 million debut in 2017, those figures still represent a promising result.
‘Joker’ is projected to break multiple box-office records when it hits theaters
Travis Clark, Business Insider
Buzz is growing for “Joker” a month before its theatrical release. The upcoming origin story about Batman’s greatest nemesis, directed by “The Hangover” director Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix, could break multiple records when it comes to theaters on October 4.
How AMC Theatres Is Promoting Indie Movies
Brent Lang, Variety
AMC Theatres isn’t known for arthouse fare, but the world’s largest exhibitor has started to heavily promote indie movies. In June, the company unveiled AMC Artisan Films, a programming and marketing initiative, that has spotlighted quirkier, more adult-oriented fare that arrives without the benefit of a Marvel superhero in the title.
‘Knives Out’ Sequel Starring Daniel Craig Already Being Eyed by Rian Johnson
Zack Sharf, IndieWire
A couple days after world premiering “Knives Out” to rave reviews at the Toronto International Film Festival, Rian Johnson is already kickstarting sequel talk.
Disney’s newest challenge from its Fox purchase: A funny movie about Nazis
Steven Zeitchik, The Washington Post
The marketing materials for “Jojo Rabbit,” the new World War II comedy that premiered at the Toronto Film Festival Sunday, contain an unusual proclamation. “An anti-hate satire,” reads the message above the more traditional actor information.
At TIFF, Small Movies Rule a Marketplace That’s Reluctant to Take Risks
Chris Lindahl, IndieWire
Box office is down. Streaming services aren’t yet willing to take center stage.
London’s Selfridges to Become First Department Store to Open Permanent Cinema
Alex Ritman, The Hollywood Reporter
Selfridges, the iconic British department store that was first opened in 1908, is to launch a permanent cinema within its flagship premises on London’s Oxford Street. The move will make Selfridges the first department store anywhere in the world to install a permanent theater.
The Women of ‘Hustlers’ on Making a ‘Female Goodfellas’
Trish Bendix, The Wall Street Journal
Lorene Scafaria’s Hustlers fictionalizes the true story of a group of exotic dancers who lured wealthy Wall Street men into unknowingly spending hundreds of thousands of dollars at their strip club. The film, based on journalist Jessica Pressler’s 2015 investigative New York magazine piece, “The Hustlers at Scores,” stars Constance Wu as Destiny, a new dancer struggling to pay rent for the apartment where she cares for her grandmother—until she meets Ramona, played by Jennifer Lopez.
Action! Nigeria’s film industry draws global entertainment brands
Alexis Akwagyiram, Reuters
“Oya!” shouts the director in Nigerian Pidgin English. Actors take their marks.
Television
Can the Kings Be TV’s Next Super Producers?
John Koblin, The New York Times
For the last decade, the television producers Robert and Michelle King have thrived in the courtroom. The husband-and-wife duo created the celebrated CBS legal drama “The Good Wife,” which lasted seven seasons and won five Emmys.
Anthem Sports Buys Majority Stake in AXS TV
Michael Farrell, Broadcasting & Cable
Anthem Sports and Entertainment, on the prowl for scale-building assets over the past several months, agreed to purchase a majority interest in AXS TV and HDNet, two cable channels owned and created by internet guru Mark Cuban, in a deal that will substantially boost the reach of the fledgling sports and entertainment networks.
FCC Proposes $272,000 Fine Against CBS for ‘Young Sheldon’ Alleged Emergency Tone Misuse
Elaine Low, Variety
The Federal Communications Commission continues to crack down on misuse of the Emergency Alert System tone on television. The government agency has proposed a $272,000 fine against CBS Broadcasting for allegedly airing a simulated emergency alert tone during a nationally televised episode of “Young Sheldon” on April 12, 2018.
All of these super long movies should just be TV miniseries
Sangeeta Singh-Kurtz, Quartz
Quentin Tarantino’s summer hit, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, might be coming to Netflix—as a mini-series. In an interview with the New York Times, Brad Pitt, who co-starred alongside Leonardo DiCaprio and Margot Robbie in the film, suggested that Tarantino had discussed the possibility of converting his nearly three-hour tale to the small screen.
Scholar Jacqueline Stewart makes history as TCM’s first African American host
Sonaiya Kelley, Los Angeles Times
Author, film professor and archivist Jacqueline Stewart first fell in love with classic cinema as a kid staying up past bedtime to watch old movies with her aunt on television.
Marital bliss or nah: ’90 Day Fiance’ becomes hit for TLC
Jonathan Landrum Jr., The Associated Press
“90 Day Fiance” is becoming more popular by the spinoff for TLC. The docu-series follows different couples involving an American and a foreigner who are searching for love while trying to overcome cultural barriers in a race to marry.
Technology and New Media
Dawn Ostroff’s plan to turn Spotify into the ultimate podcast hub
Wendy Lee, Los Angeles Times
When Dawn Ostroff began working the graveyard shift at a Miami radio station, her parents assumed her career in radio would be short-lived. The college student was awkward reading the news, but she honed her skills and kept her job.
Snapchat readies 2020 news push
Sara Fischer, Axios
Snapchat is creating a dedicated news channel specifically for the 2020 debates. It is also working with candidates to increase their visibility on Snapchat through efforts with augmented reality and even merchandise sales.
Toronto International Film Festival Screening Venue Refuses to Show Netflix or Amazon Films
Halle Kiefer, Vulture
Attendees at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival might not have noticed an odd discrepancy as they sprinted from film to film, but in a festival lineup packed with Netflix and Amazon offerings, eventually moviegoers were bound to notice: One of TIFF’s official screening venues is refusing to show movies released by streaming platforms.
Ad buyers and media execs shrug off Quibi’s executive departures
Tim Peterson, Digiday
Within the past month, Jeffrey Katzenberg’s yet-to-launch mobile video service Quibi has lost two of its top execs — head of advertising and partnerships Tim Connolly and Janice Min, who had been in charge of the company’s daily programming deals with media companies — but ad buyers aren’t ready to hit the panic button.
‘The Muppets’ Disney+ Comedy Series Scrapped
Lesley Goldberg, The Hollywood Reporter
Disney+ is changing gears with its planned new scripted take on The Muppets. Creators Adam Horowitz and Eddy Kitsis (Once Upon a Time) and Josh Gad (Frozen) have walked away from the scripted comedy, called Muppets Live Another Day, which they had been quietly at work on for months, and Disney+ has opted to abandon work on the series.
How Streaming Math Could Hurt AT&T
Martin Peers, The Information
Activist investor Elliott Associates, which on Monday said it had bought a stake in AT&T, homed in on the flaws in the telecom giant’s growth strategy of recent years: it spent a total of $163 billion buying DirecTV and Time Warner just as cord-cutting was starting to eat away at the foundations of those companies’ businesses.
Opinions, Editorials, Perspectives and Research
Why the CASE Act?
Jonathan David Neal, Morning Consult
The internet has unleashed an amazing new era of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship. From Tik Tok micro-videos to the Etsy “everything store,” thousands of Californians are finding new ways to share, connect, and deal online.
How a Groundbreaking Partnership Behind The Goldfinch Could Alter Hollywood
Chris Lee, Vulture
It was November 2016 and producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson had already put nearly three years into developing a film adaptation of Donna Tartt’s Pulitzer Prize–winning The Goldfinch. They’d enlisted BAFTA-winning screenwriter Peter Straughan, who spent more than a year winnowing the sprawling 771-page novel down to manageable movie length.
Jeremy Renner and the New Walled Garden of Celebrity
Jonah Engel Bromwich and Niraj Chokshi, The New York Times
It doesn’t matter how many people know your name. It matters how people care about you.
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