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CinemaCon: Can Star-Driven 2013 Slate Power Sony To Top Their Best Year Ever?

By PETE HAMMOND | Thursday April 18, 2013 @ 3:30am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, CinemaCon, Elysium, Grown Ups 2, Rory Bruer, Sony Pictures, The Monuments Men, This Is The End
Pete Hammond

Sony Pictures played it lean and mean with a tightly produced program for exhibitors at CinemaCon on Wednesday evening that put the emphasis squarely where the theatre owners wanted it — on the product. And the studio delivered as promised with an intriguing 51-minute reel showcasing their 2013 movie slate — and in no particular order. Where other studios this week have put the emphasis on summer, Sony presented a year-round picture with a wide diversity of product and more than one potential Oscar contender.

Among the previously unseen footage in the reel were brief snippets from year-end awards contenders The Monuments Men directed by and starring George Clooney and an all-star cast, along with David O. Russell’s newly named American Hustle with virtually the entire cast of last season’s Russell Oscar darling Silver Linings Playbook. Also, Tom Hanks is starring as Captain Phillips (October) from director Paul Greengrass, a true story about a ship hijacked by Somalian pirates. If this weren’t enough to whet Oscar-watcher appetites there was generous footage from 2010 Best Picture Oscar nominee Neil Blomkamp’s (District 9) latest, Elysium, which those who have seen a rough cut tell me could be another contender for the director. Matt Damon and Jodie Foster star. There’s also a Russian production of a World War II epic, Stalingrad, from director Fedor Bonarchuk which the studio is partnering on for fall release that has “prestige product” written all over it. READ MORE »

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CinemaCon: Disney’s Vegas Act Includes Johnny Depp And ‘Lone Ranger’ Footage

By PETE HAMMOND | Wednesday April 17, 2013 @ 3:40pm PDTTags: Alan Horn, CinemaCon, Jerry Bruckheimer, Johnny Depp, Monsters University, Star Wars, The Lone Ranger, Walt Disney Studios
Pete Hammond

Alan Horn today made his CinemaCon debut in his new capacity as Chairman of Walt Disney Studios hosting a long three hour presentation that was a slide show highlighting the studio’s entire slate for the next two years. It … Read More »

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CinemaCon: Warner Bros Wins Strong Exhibitor Reaction To Summer Slate

By PETE HAMMOND | Tuesday April 16, 2013 @ 8:10pm PDTTags: Big Deals Film, CinemaCon, Dan Fellman, Jeff Robinov, Pacific Rim, Superman: Man of Steel, The Great Gatsby, The Hangover Part III, Warner Bros
Pete Hammond

It was Warner Bros Pictures’ turn for studio slate presentations at the CinemaCon convention in Las Vegas Tuesday and President of the Warner Bros Pictures Group Jeff Robinov unveiled the studio’s packed summer lineup with its familiar mix of comedy, horror, superheroes, monsters, and sequels. Robinov looked to the future and thanked all the studio’s partners: New Line, Legendary, Village Roadshow, Alcon, and MGM (on the Hobbit trilogy). He also thanked his new boss Kevin Tsujihara who won the job of Chief Executive Officer replacing Barry Meyer. ”All of us share his vision and this will be an exciting time under his leadership,” Robinov said. Distribution head Dan Fellman initiated a bunch of baseball analogies after the success of Legendary Pictures/Warner Bros’ Jackie Robinson biopic 42 last weekend. It followed a string of 5 straight box office disappointments for Warner Bros and occasional other partners (like New Line). ”Consistency has always been a hallmark of Warner Bros Pictures. But even the most consistent player can hit a few fouls,” Fellman told exhibitors. Fellman emphasized that Warner Bros is the only studio to score $1 billion box office gross domestically 12 years in a row. And International Distrib topper Veronika Kwan Vandenberg pointed out that the studio in 2012 grossed over $4 billion worldwide thanks to hits like The Dark Knight Rises  and The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Add to that the 85th Oscar-winning Best Picture success of Argo. Plus, this year Warners Bros is celebrating the 90th anniversary of its founding by the Brothers Warner in 1923.

The season starts out May 10th with the 3D drama from Baz Luhrmann, The Great Gatsby, originally intended for the 2012 awards season but held for Summer 2013 instead. Luhrmann is still tweaking the movie which will open the Cannes Film Festival on May 15th, but sent along a pre-taped introduction – complete with music underscoring  to the film’s trailer. Footage was shown at last year’s CinemaCon but this was much different and in 3D. No question it looks like another visual triumph for the director of Moulin Rouge  and Romeo And Juliet which starred his Gatsby lead Leonardo Di Caprio. Luhrmann said he was inspired to use 3D when he saw a 3D screening of the Alfred Hitchcock 1950s drama Dial M For Murder (also released by Warners). Even though he said the most special effect in this movie is the acting.

Director Todd Phillips publicly chided Luhrmann before introducing The Hangover Part III trailer. “It would be nice if Baz showed up. There are a lot of directors backstage. We showed up,” he said. Phillips then fed the exhibitors’ egos by saying that comedies should be seen in theaters where everyone can laugh together. Warner’s is now referring to his sleeper smash as the Hangover Trilogy.

Next was Zack Snyder, director of Man Of Steel, who turned up with the world premiere of the film’s new trailer which will play before Oblivion starting on Friday. “There’s no competition between superheroes obviously. But if there were, he would win,” said the unabashed fan of the comic book hero. “I am sorry to even have to say this now but we shot the movie on film and anamorphic. We wanted to give your cinemas a big giant movie movie.” He also acknowledged producer Christopher Nolan’s help during their first meeting in steering him in the right direction on the film. Nolan and his co-producers Emma Thomas and Chuck Roven were in the audience but oddly not introduced to the crowd. The trailer played well and Nolan seemed pleased with the reaction when I saw him afterwards. Read More »

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Oscars Producers: Hawk Koch’s Chutzpah Tops Even Tom Sherak’s

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Tuesday April 16, 2013 @ 6:25pm PDTTags: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Hawk Koch, Oscars, Tom Sherak

Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences president Hawk Koch broke today’s news naming its 86th Academy Awards producers — a rerun of Craig Zadan and Neil Meron – because I’d received a tip this morning and was … Read More »

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BREAKING: Academy Reruns Craig Zadan & Neil Meron As 86th Oscars Producers

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Tuesday April 16, 2013 @ 5:08pm PDTTags: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Craig Zadan, Neil Meron, Oscar producers

BEVERLY HILLS, CA — The acclaimed motion picture, television and theater producing team of Craig Zadan and Neil Meron will return to produce the Oscars for a second time next year, Academy President Hawk Koch announced. The

… Read More »

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CinemaCon: Universal’s Sequel Machine Pays Off With Exhibitors

By PETE HAMMOND | Tuesday April 16, 2013 @ 3:05pm PDTTags: Adam Fogelson, Battleship, Big Deals Film, Denzel Washington, Despicable Me 2, Fast & Furious 6, Kick-Ass 2, Mark Wahlberg, Ron Meyer, Ted, Universal, Vin Diesel
Pete Hammond

It was Universal Pictures’ turn in the spotlight this morning as Chairman Adam Fogelson served up a look at the studio’s sequel-packed summer slate and a summary of the studio’s 2012 hits and even big miss Battleship. He announced sequels in … Read More »

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CinemaCon: Paramount Kicks Off ‘Star Trek’, Brad Pitt, Michael Bay At Convention

By PETE HAMMOND | Monday April 15, 2013 @ 9:29pm PDTTags: Brad Pitt, Chris Pine, CinemaCon, IMAX, Michael Bay, Pain & Gain, Paramount, Star Trek, World War Z
Pete Hammond

CinemaCon kicked off tonight at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas with a presentation from Paramount. In only its  3rd year, what used to be ShoWest is proving to have the magic touch as once again all the major studios plus … Read More »

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Academy Museum Model Unveiled: Photos

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Thursday April 11, 2013 @ 3:14pm PDTTags: Academy Museum Of Motion Pictures

The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is hosting a dinner tonight to give its biggest donors — David Geffen being the most recent with his $25M gift — to say thanks and give an update on the … Read More »

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Hammond On Roger Ebert – An Appreciation

By PETE HAMMOND | Thursday April 4, 2013 @ 3:23pm PDTTags: Life Itself, President Obama, Pulitzer Prize, Roger Ebert, Siskel & Ebert
Pete Hammond

Certainly Roger Ebert will be remembered for many things. Winning an unprecedented Pulitzer Prize in 1975 for film criticism is just one of them. For me, though, beyond that distinction Roger was far more unique in the pantheon of the truly great critics of our time, and all time. Along with Gene Siskel he figured out a way to take film criticism to the masses in a way it never really had been, at least on a national basis. With their patented ’2 Thumbs Up’ and ’2 Thumbs Down’ reviews on their pioneering PBS and later syndicated weekly TV show, this pair not only brought the job of a film critic into the national consciousness, they also made it fun. And accessible. The ‘thumbs’ signature was really the forerunner of a site like Rotten Tomatoes, an instantly recognizable label that moviegoers could use like a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval when it appeared in an ad as it did hundreds of times.

Related: Reactions To Roger Ebert’s Death

Unlike so many critics today Roger Ebert loved movies, even when he hated them, an attribute so many of today’s self-absorbed so-called critics greatly lack. In fact one of my favorite personal Ebert memories happened at the 2003 Cannes Film Festival at a mid-day screening of Vincent Gallo’s unwatchable The Brown Bunny. Not only did he call it then the worst movie in the festival’s history, he added, “I have not seen every film in the history of the festival, yet I feel my judgement will stand”. At one excruciating point in the film he even started singing “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head” out loud, eliciting laughter from what was left of the audience at that point. I wondered at the time “now who has the chutzpah to do that?” only to find it was Roger. Read More »

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Academy Gives Details Of Its May Membership Meeting

By PETE HAMMOND | Thursday April 4, 2013 @ 1:03pm PDTTags: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Dawn Hudson
Pete Hammond

As reported here Sunday the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is having an unprecedented membership meeting and sent out a save-the-date notice for Saturday, May 4th for Los Angeles-, New York- and Bay Area-based members to attend, have conversations and ask questions about “The Future Of Our Academy”. Today the official invite goes out (check it out below) and lifts the veil on exactly what topics will be covered and why the organization is attempting to do this. As Academy CEO Dawn Hudson explained to me this morning, it is an idea whose time has come. “It’s an idea that many members have talked about to me and to the board. The board has brought it up too. We just felt the time was right now. We talked about doing it I guess since last fall,” she said, adding that the Academy has been hosting individual branch get-togethers and, because of positive reaction, members told her they would like to do something across all branches. So this larger meeting idea was hatched.

Hudson said they needed to wait until the Oscars were over and that no subject is off the table. But on the invite highlighted topics include the new museum, programming, new collections, new technology and other areas like the controversial introduction to e-voting initiated for the first time this past Oscar season. “E-voting was quite successful and we will do a little recap for our members. But really this is to give an overview of what’s coming up in the future”, she said. “This is my mantra. It is what the Academy is doing the other 364 days of the year, and when you talk about those things directly it is quite impressive. Read More »

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Battered And Broken Oscar Sells For More Than $100K At Auction

By PETE HAMMOND | Wednesday April 3, 2013 @ 1:25pm PDTTags: Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Big Deals Film, Casablanca, Helen Hayes, Oscars, Steven Spielberg
Pete Hammond

They say you can’t “buy” an Oscar, but that would be a lie. As they do every year, the studios just spent millions in pursuit of them, and Hollywood’s elite seem to covet them more than their first-born. But exactly how much is an Oscar worth? If Tuesday’s latest Nate D. Sanders auction is any indication, it’s a lot.

Screenwriter Charles MacArthur’s 1935 “Academy First Award”, won at the 8th Annual Academy Awards for Best Story for The Scoundrel, sold today for $106,231 While not anywhere near a record for an Oscar statuette, it’s pretty remarkable considering this one was tarnished and had a cracked head and base as well as visible repair done to a break at the ankles. This ‘ol Oscar clearly had weathered a few storms since being presented to MacArthur (he shared the credit with Ben Hecht) on March 5, 1936. The fact it did not come for a major classic film or wildly famous recipient makes the sale even more impressive.

In case any more recent winners are looking to make a fast buck for their Oscar, be warned that a sale like this for any Oscar post-1950 is completely illegal. That is when the Academy started making winners sign an agreement that they or their heirs could not sell their Oscar without first offering it back to the Academy for the paltry sum of $1. Of course, this hasn’t stopped the practice even for those statuettes, and it has been estimated that at least 200 Oscars have been sold in the past and I would guess that a great number of them are post-1950. With this kind of black market in Oscar statuettes, it is obvious that not everyone with the coveted gold man on their mantel actually won it — or was at least related to a winner. But while the Academy may frown, the business of buying and selling Oscars, even as damaged as MacArthur’s, is still a very big one. Read More »

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Oscars: What Is The Academy’s Unprecedented Membership Meeting Really All About?

By PETE HAMMOND | Sunday March 31, 2013 @ 12:40pm PDTTags: Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Dawn Hudson, Hawk Koch, membership, Seth MacFarlane
Pete Hammond

Speculation has been swirling this Easter holiday weekend in the media and among Academy types just exactly what the Save The Date for the “special event”  the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences just sent out to their members (in an email from … Read More »

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Why The Oscars Aren’t Moving Earlier – Analysis

By PETE HAMMOND | Monday March 25, 2013 @ 11:40am PDTTags: Academy Awards, Oscar show date, Super Bowl, The Academy Of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Winter Olympics
Pete Hammond

I hate to say I TOLDJA but the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences today announced its Oscar season schedule for 2014 and, predictably, with the Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl taking every Sunday in February, the Academy moved the Oscar show to the first Sunday in March, the 2nd, as forecast here in a column on March 4th. I also predicted it would give them the opportunity to allow more time for seeing movies by moving the nominations back a week from where they were this year on January 10th (two weeks earlier than usual), and the Academy has done just that, moving the voting period  back to where it has been in previous years with ballots going out December 27 and due back on January 8th (for 2013 ballots were mailed December 17 and came back January 4).

There were complaints from members that there just wasn’t enough time to see all the movies and then vote in that two week Holiday period, especially with so many other distractions of the season. This gives the Academy a lot more breathing room in making nominations but still allows for a six-week period between the announcement and the due date of February 25 for final ballots. This is important because it gives the public a lot more time to see the nominated movies and pleases exhibitors who have two extra weeks to exploit those nominations. Read More »

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OSCARS: 2014 Academy Awards Set For March 2

By THE DEADLINE TEAM | Monday March 25, 2013 @ 11:14am PDTTags: Oscars

The later date for 2014 is not a surprise, with the January 16 nominations announcement coming a week later that the just-completed Oscars. The shift comes thanks to the Winter Olympics being held in Sochi, Russia from February … Read More »

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TOLDJA! The Weinstein Company Finds Oscar Candidate In ‘Grace Of Monaco’; December 27 Limited Release Set

By MIKE FLEMING JR | Monday March 25, 2013 @ 8:37am PDTTags: Big Deals Film, Grace Kelly, Grace Of Monaco, Nicole Kidman, The Weinstein Company
Mike Fleming

BREAKING: The Weinstein Company has confirmed the scoop Deadline Hollywood broke on Oscar morning, that while most people were getting dressed for the Oscars, Harvey Weinstein was wrapping up one of two deals that could give him Oscar contenders for the next race, sewing up distribution rights to Grace Of Monaco. Later, Deadline reported Weinstein closed a deal for the Shane Salerno-directed Salinger, after getting an exclusive first look at that docu on J.D. Salinger the same weekend his team closed the Grace Of Monaco deal. TWC has set a December 27 limited release for Grace Of Monaco, and Salinger will be released September 6. 

I reported that TWC wrapped up a deal to acquire domestic rights to Grace Of Monaco, the Olivier Dahan-directed drama that stars Nicole Kidman as actress-turned-princess Grace Kelly, and Tim Roth as Monaco’s Prince Rainier III. I’m hearing that TWC has made a big bet, paying a $5 million minimum guarantee and a P&A commitment around $10 million for a minimum 800-screen run. CAA shopped domestic rights and established the film as a hot buzz title by showing sizzle reel footage at Berlin. TWC’s Weinstein and David Glasser made the deal Friday night here in Hollywood with CAA on behalf of Pierre-Ange Le Pogam, who produced the film with Uday Chopra and Arash Amel. Amel wrote the script. Here is the official announcement: Read More »

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AMPAS-Funded Projects Include Study On Studio Corporate Mergers

By PETE HAMMOND | Tuesday March 19, 2013 @ 4:38pm PDTTags: Academy Film Scholars, Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, Buffy Schutt, Ric Robertson, TCM Classic Movie Film Festival
Pete Hammond

With the 85th Oscars in the history books The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has gotten back to doing what it does the other 364 days of the year. The organization held its annual lunch Monday honoring the $25,000 … Read More »

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Deadline Awards Watch With Pete Hammond, Episode 17

By PETE HAMMOND | Thursday March 14, 2013 @ 2:16pm PDTTags: 2013 Cannes Film Festival, Deadline Awards Watch, The Great Gatsby
Pete Hammond

Listen to (and share) Episode 17 of our audio podcast Deadline Awards Watch With Pete Hammond. Our awards columnist and host David Bloom discuss this week’s Hall of Fame inductions at the TV Academy, led by one of TV’s controversial creators, Philo T. Farnsworth; the Cannes Film Festival decision to open with Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby, and likely competition films there from auteurs such as the Coen Brothers, Woody Allen, and Sofia Coppola; and Pete’s take on this week’s movies of note, including Reality, Springbreakers and If I Were You.

Deadline Awards Watch, Episode 17 (MP3 format)
Deadline Awards Watch, Episode 17 (MP4A format)
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Deadline Awards Watch With Pete Hammond, Episode 16

By PETE HAMMOND | Thursday March 7, 2013 @ 3:49pm PSTTags: Deadline Awards Watch, Emperor, Oz: The Great and Powerful
Pete Hammond

In episode 16 of our audio podcast Deadline Awards Watch With Pete Hammond, our Awards Columnist talks host David Bloom about Emperor and Oz The Great And Powerful, two big movies debuting this month with some year-end awards potential. They also look at the lingering Oscars controversy over which entertainment notables were left out of this year’s ceremony’s “In Memoriam” segment, and talk about the MTV Movie Awards, which have shifted schedule to adapt to a summer blockbuster season that starts well into spring. With the nomination of Oscar winners such as Daniel Day-Lewis, Anne Hathaway and Jennifer Lawrence and the lack of nominations for the last of the Twilight films, Pete says the MTV Movie Awards also appear to be moving upscale in their choices.

Deadline Awards Watch, Episode 16 (MP3 format)
Deadline Awards Watch, Episode 16 (MP4A format)
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Vanity Fair Pulled Jessica Chastain Criticism While She Chased Best Actress Oscar

By NIKKI FINKE, Editor in Chief | Sunday March 3, 2013 @ 10:21pm PSTTags: Jessica Chastain, Vanity Fair

EXCLUSIVE: We all know that tensions rise during those final weeks leading up to the Academy Awards as media outlets decide who’s worthy and who’s not. So this begs the question: with so much money and prestige at stake, is it possible for even major and reputable media outlets to voice any negativel opinions while Oscar campaigning is underway? Especially if they want Academy Award contenders to take out ads and sit for interviews and come to parties? Increasingly, no.

Jessica Chastain in Zero Dark ThirtyIt’s well known that The Hollywood Reporter and Variety cravenly promise Oscar hopefuls flattering coverage. But Vanity Fair? Granted, its year-round showbiz coverage has all the heft of a marshmallow. But its Deputy Editor Bruce Handy this Oscar season wrote for the magazine’s website one brief but hardly brutal column  dissecting Jessica Chastain‘s body of work. This wasn’t some freelancer: this was the magazine’s #2 who dared to express mild criticism about the Best Actress Oscar nominee for Zero Dark Thirty. ”I’m surprised it’s being hailed as one of the year’s great performances, and that it has earned her an Oscar nomination for best actress,” Handy opined. “It’s not the sort of flashy thing, like playing a transgendered murder victim or quadriplegic boxer, that the Academy normally rewards.” He included much praise but also said Chastain was an “empty vessel”‘ and “recessive presence” who doesn’t “quite hold your eye”.

The piece posted on the VF website January 25th at a pivotal point in Oscar campaigning: just before final paper ballots went out and online voting began. Within a day, the analysis was gone. Not just gone from the VF website but really really really erased from the Internet at large. (Replaced by this sassy VF error message flaunting top editor Graydon Carter.) Publicists for Sony Pictures and Chastain’s BNC flackery told me it was “not true” that VF deleted the article. But, to its credit, Vanity Fair owned up to it. Explained VF spokeswoman Beth Kseniak: “We took it down because it ran counter to what a number of people at the magazine believed.”

Ran counter to what? Its 19th annual Vanity Fair Hollywood issue whose centerpiece was a 44-page Bruce Weber portfolio completed over 8 days photographing 125 people including 75+ actors? Or this year’s crop of invitations to the VF Hollywood party? (Actual attendees, who haven’t been diissed by the magazine in decades, included Ben Affleck, Daniel Day-Lewis, Christoph Waltz, Jennifer Lawrence, Anne Hathaway, Ang Lee, Chris Terrio, Quentin Tarantino, Amy Adams, Jennifer Aniston, Elizabeth Banks, Jason Bateman, Kate Beckinsale, Len Wiseman, Halle Berry, Orlando Bloom, Kate Bosworth, Russell Brand, Adrien Brody, Sandra Bullock, Gerard Butler, Sacha Baron Cohen, Bradley Cooper, Robert De Niro, Michael Douglas, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Chris Evans, Jane Fonda, Jamie Foxx, Richard Gere, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Jon Hamm, Armie Hammer, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Hugh Jackman, Tommy Lee Jones, Taylor Lautner, Michael Pena, Chris Pine, Natalie Portman, Daniel Radcliffe, Jeremy Renner, Seth Rogen, Paul Rudd, Mark Ruffalo, Zoe Saldana, Amanda Seyfried, Hilary Swank, Channing Tatum, Marisa Tomei, Chris Tucker, Naomi Watts, Liev Schreiber, Reese Witherspoon, Judd Apatow, Steve Martin, Melissa McCarthy, JJ Abrams, Jerry Bruckheimer, Tim Burton, Helena Bonham Carter, Cameron Crowe, Tom Hooper, Ron Howard, Penny Marshall, Brett Ratner, David O. Russell, Bryan Singer, Steven Spielberg, Aaron Sorkin, Chris Weitz, Paul Weitz, Barbara Broccoli, Brian Grazer, Kathleen Kennedy, Graham King, Jane Rosenthal, Megan Ellison, Jim Berkus, Ari Emanuel, Kevin Huvane, Bryan Lourd, Richard Lovett, Patrick Whitesell, Michael Barker, Tom Bernard, Rob Friedman, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Donna Langley, John Lasseter, Jeff Robinov, Sir Howard Stringer, Harvey Weinstein?)

Here’s the article which Vanity Fair worked so hard to erase. Judge for yourself:

The Jessica Chastain Conundrum: Greatest Actress of Her Generation or Found Art?

By Bruce Handy

Movie acting is a strange, alchemic art. This weekend, for instance, you can go to your local multiplex and see Jessica Chastain play a credibly fierce C.I.A. officer in Zero Dark Thirty. Then you can go next door and see Mama, in which Chastain plays the least fierce, least credible punk rocker in the history of film. Maggie Smith could have done it with more edge and nerve.

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