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One of the main reasons Variety is currently for sale is that it’s no longer read 
by the Hollywood community. And one of the main reasons for that is because it’s no longer trusted by the Hollywood community. That’s what happens when a trade can’t report accurately by printing rumor as fact or spinning bullshit as news. So The Hunger Games producer Nina Jacobson has come to me to set the record straight about what she called ‘Variety’s 50 Shades Of Bullshit’. Variety on Thursday claimed Jacobson and her banner Color Force were not just on a shortlist but the frontrunners in the 50 Shades Of Grey derby to produce the Universal/Focus Features movie of the bestselling book. Jacobson calls the Variety article “totally false. While it is flattering to read that I am a frontrunner for 50 Shades Of Grey, the truth is that I am not in the mix, have not met with anyone, nor do I have plans to pursue it. Color Force is in full swing on a number of projects but I wish great success to whomever lands what has become one of the most sought-after films in development.” FYI, this is yet another error from one Variety jackass whose reporting is regularly wrong and has generated myriad complaints from the Hollywood community. But the trade does nothing to rein him in. The result is that the reputation of the entire publication keeps getting more tarnished and less respected.
Editor-in-Chief Nikki Finke - tip her here.
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Every article I have ever had in variety they have somehow messed up. They publish old, inaccurate news. They are slipping away like so many other dinosaur publications that either refuse to get with the times or don’t understand how to. Whatever, no loss, something better will take its place. Everything has a lifecycle. Deadline is where I get my entertainment news anyway.
“Deadline is where I get my entertainment news anyway.”
For now.
Everything has a lifecycle.
Wow…you take no prisoners…and I love it!
I canceled my Variety subscription a long time ago. I don’t pay for PR bullshit disguised as editorial articles.
Nor do you pay for anything on this site. Isn’t free great?!
Yes it is! Free movies, TV and music!!!!
Either you’re joking, you’re incredibly naive, or you feel like spitting in the eyes of everyone whose work costs money to make… If you’re not joking, you are a moron. Stuff that is good costs money, generally speaking. Particularly movies and music.
Would love to see her use her clout to produce something of real substance, like Gary Shteyngart’s The Russian Debutante’s Handbook.
Good book, not something that translates. Besides, do you know how hard it is to find good scripts? No matter how big a producer you are, you’re competing with every other big producer for the few well-written scripts that are out there.
If it were that easy to write a quality script, they wouldn’t pay so much for them.
Sorry. There are many terrific scripts out there.
Too many producers/execs who don’t know how to read OR lack the imagination on how to put something together. This is why they continue to go back to the same pool. It relieves their anxiety. They don’t have to take a risk.
True, very true, but if there is one person who we can count on to make something original and of quality, it’s a Nina Jacobson. I remember when she made THE LIFE AQUATIC at the studio. It was one of Anderson’s worst, but coming off of his success, it was a smart bet. That movie would never get made at a big studio today. An N.J. is someone who recognizes the value of a good script, and certainly has the imagination and guts to put one together. True, she’s only put together book adaptations, but she’s smart and does read.
“only put together book adaptations”
The Godfather
Gone With The Wind
Jaws
Goodfellas
The Shawshank Redemption
Vertigo
To Kill A Mockingbird
Just a few movies you might want to see to get you going.
I don’t think ONE DAY, HUNGER GAMES or DIARY OF A WIMPY KID compares in any way to the books mentioned above. WIMPY KID and book after book after book, it’s just widgets at some point.
“N.J. is someone who recognizes the value of a good script, and certainly has the imagination and guts to put one together. True, she’s only put together book adaptations, but she’s smart and does read.”
The thread is saying that book adaptations are inherently inferior, hence my comment.
Damn girl!
Newspapers both entertianment and MSM are cutting staff, they’re waitting for storys to be brought to them. There are fewer reporters doing leg work, and the few that do arn’t very good at it.
Good for her. Too many sequels and re-boots as it is. Everything she’s produced has been a book adaptation. Probably gets old after awhile, and you don’t get cred for bringing Diary of a Wimpy Kid 8 to life. Would love to see her produce an Aaron Sorkin original.
So why didn’t they go after Nina? Considering the success of ‘Hunger Games,’ etc, it surprises me that she’s not been pursued. I would have expected it.
Well whoever lands these movies will be laughing all the way to the bank. I predict $150 opening weekend for the first film. Called it
Either you are hilariously joking or you are gravely mistaken, Jenna. The book generated more revenue from digital copies than physical ones for a reason.
Just wanted to point out that the Fifty Shades series has sold over 10 million physical copies since Fall 2011. The Hunger Games Trilogy has sold over 20 million copies only so far. I’m not saying the movies will do as well as Hunger Games but it definitely has a large fanbase. There’s a reason why studios were fighting over the rights to these books. They’re not dumb lol.
There are hundreds of amazing scripts out there that are sitting in stacks in storage rooms or who knows where. Instead, producers go to the same sources over and over. Boooooring.
You mean you aren’t excited about the up coming reboot of Trasnformers?? /sarc
This kind of reporting also makes Focus and Jeb Brody look bad–the original story made it seem like it came from the studio (referencing a “shortlist”).
And even though the book is huge, when was the last time an R-rated erotic drama made any kind of profit? This sounds like a money-loser.
It’s kind of a shame any one of the recent owners didn’t push
Peter Bart out. Whatever it is now, Variety is a helluva brand. Run right, who knows.
Bart did everything he could to ensure the Internet didn’t happen at Variety (I believe he either used a typewriter or even dictated his copy). He also ran the place like an oldtime studio boss, with his favorites and factions, all being played off one against the other. He should have been kicked upstairs much sooner than he was. Then came a whole series of publishers, each one banging more nails into the coffin. Now Stiles, whom some say did more damage than others (I think it was he who put up the paywall and called it “a velvet rope”!) is charged with selling the burning wreck; ironic, given he has already secured himself a decent exit. There have been some fantastic people at Variety, most of whom are now working elsewhere, and there still are; they just don’t seem to be in managerial or editorial positions.
Tradition and age is no guarantee of a future, but I agree with you The Right Coast, Variety is a helluva brand that deserves a future and I think it’s healthier to have a plurality of media, one of the reasons I still subscribe. That doesn’t go for THR though, which Min has turned into her own personal payday. That’s now a complete irrelevancy. I cover a lot of overseas in my work, especially Europe. Variety is still excellent here, THR (and especially their Germany guy here) are dead and gone. Deadline, in the shape of the excellent Nancy Tartaglione, continues to get better and better.
Agreed.
Why doesn’t someone like Nikki, or somebody who the industry now trusts to just flat-out buy the trade and publish it they way they want to? Why let the name and its brand fade away into the night; just run in differently.
Until it’s in Deadline, I don’t believe anything. TMZ, US Weekly, Variety. It’s all noise in the background.
I just hope Deadline stays relevant.
50 Shades of Shit is going to be produced by Shamberg & Sher. They already have the job. The book is awful it’s trash but it’s popular so good luck to them. I’m sure they’ll have fun producing it.
Hollywood doesn’t know how to recognize great scripts… They are out there but Hollywood is so political that many talented writers never get their shot because they don’t have the connections which is what Hollywood relies on since they can’t recognize a great script.
Agreed. I understand that TV was literally created to sell products to a wider base of consumers; the great moments and shows over the history of the medium are almost incidental to the bottom line.
However, I thought movies were more focused, in the main, on telling great stories and uplifting the entertainment experience. The only way to to advance the level of cinema is to TAKE A CHANCE ON SOMETHING NEW. Producers who are willing to read a compelling, inspiring or even flat-out funny script that may not have an action figure fast food tie-in, (or a franchising sequel)are rare and, as Greg said, not accessible to most writers.
Welcome to Hollywood, wear a cup.
Who care who produces/directs (though adrian lyne would be nice)…so long as AARON JOHNSON plays Christian