| | | | What's news: Twitter users voted overwhelmingly in favor of Elon Musk stepping down as CEO. Sharon Osbourne has returned home after a health scare. Jamie Spears has addressed daughter Britney's conservatorship for the first time. Iran arrested top actress Taraneh Alidoosti. Vamos Leo! 🇦🇷 — Abid Rahman |
'Avatar 2' Makes $435M Global Splash ►Steady as she goes. James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water topped the domestic box office with an estimated $134m opening, less than expected but still a sizable number as the film heads into the busiest corridor of the year in terms of movie going.
THR's Pamela McClintock writes that even rival studios believe Avatar 2 will have robust legs over the holidays and into 2023, thanks to an A CinemaScore and strong audience exit scores. Traditionally, weekdays can be like a Saturday between now and the new year. Distribution sources also say advance ticket sales are spread into this week, versus being front-loaded.
Overseas, Avatar 2 debuted to $301m for a global start of $435m, among the best showings of the pandemic era. The sequel cost $350m too $400m to make, and in press interviews Cameron indicated it would need to gross in the $2b range to be considered a success. The box office report.
—COVID challenges. Avatar 2 opened in China over the weekend to $57.1m, a starting haul that would be considered a heroic comeback for Hollywood in the increasingly choppy China market — if the movie were made by any filmmaker other than Cameron. Presale rates and other online measures of audience interest had suggested Avatar 2 would open in China with well over $100m. But a growing COVID-19 outbreak in Beijing and other major cities appears to have dampened consumer activity. The China box office report. |
Jerry Bruckheimer Has "Never, Ever Done It for the Money" ►"You’re always fighting for the same 15 names." With the massive success of Top Gun: Maverick, Jerry Bruckheimer has had another stellar year, and now ranks as the third-highest-grossing movie producer of all time, his films earning a collective $12b. THR's James Hibberd spoke to the mega producer about he has been able to crush the box office with more original franchises than some studios. The interview.
—The end is nigh? Elon Musk took a big step toward stepping down as CEO of Twitter if the results of a poll the erratic billionaire posted Sunday evening are to be believed. At the end of the voting period, in which over 17 million users had their say, 57 percent voted for Musk to step down, with 43 percent voting for him to stay on. It is unclear if Musk will follow through on his pledge. The story.
—"She has been given the all clear." Sharon Osbourne has returned home after being hospitalized on Friday due to a medical emergency. Her son Jack shared the news that she is now out of the hospital on his Instagram story Saturday, in a message that expressed appreciation for others’ sentiments of “love and support” for his mom. Osbourne experienced the medical event while filming the family’s Travel Channel series The Osbournes: Night of Terror. The story.
—"Not everybody’s going to agree with me." Britney Spears’ father Jamie Spears spoke out publicly for the first time in more than a decade this weekend — over a year after the singer's conservatorship ended. In a new interview, Jamie Spears addressed the court order and defended his role during his daughter’s 13-year conservatorship. He also said he doesn’t know if she would be alive without it. The story. |
Cecily Strong Says Goodbye to 'SNL' ►*DJ Khaled voice* Another one. Cecily Strong became the latest castmember to depart NBC’s Saturday Night Live, with the Dec. 17 episode proving to be her final appearance. Strong said goodbye in character during the "Weekend Update" segment. She played recurring character Cathy Anne who was saying “goodbye” because she was going to prison. The story.
—"I want CNN to be essential to society." Chris Licht has responded to criticisms of CNN’s changes to news coverage, calling some of it “uniformed vitriol” and declaring that much of what “passes for news is name-calling, half-truths and desperation.” In a new interview, the CNN chief said that much of the criticism around the news network's changes, "especially from the left," since his tenure began eight months ago has been "stunning." The story.
—Unspeakable horrors descend on the Philharmonic! THR's Scott Roxborough has the scoop on Ed Wood's cult film Plan 9 From Outer Space being turned into an opera. The legendary, and legendarily bad, 1957 movie — which Tim Burton paid tribute to in his Oscar-winning 1994 feature Ed Wood — will get the classical music treatment courtesy of Thai composer, and B-movie fanatic, Somtow Sucharitkul. The story. |
Netflix Partners With Amazon on 'Glass Onion' Marketing Push ►Strange bedfellows. In an unusual partnership, Amazon and Netflix are teaming up on a promotional effort tied to the upcoming Netflix film Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. The partnership will see owners of Amazon Fire TV devices have access to an exclusive trailer for the film, which hits Netflix Dec. 23, as well as unique behind-the-scenes footage and an interactive mystery. The story.
—First-look. The BBC has released first-look images of the new Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) and his companion (Millie Gibson) for the upcoming 14th season of the long-running sci-fi series Doctor Who. Gatwa will be replacing the outgoing Time Lord Jodie Whittaker as the 15th Doctor of the series, which was revived in 2005. The first-looks.
—Another outrage. Iranian authorities arrested one of the country’s most renowned actresses Saturday on charges of spreading falsehoods about nationwide protests that grip the country. The report by state media organization IRNA said Taraneh Alidoosti, star of the Oscar-winning movie The Salesman, was detained a week after she made a post on Instagram expressing solidarity with the first man recently executed for crimes allegedly committed during the protests. The story.
—"I really, truly regret that." Steven Spielberg has admitted that he deeply regrets giving sharks a bad reputation. In a new interview, the Jaws filmmaker said he felt remorse that his iconic 1975 blockbuster sparked a craze for shark hunting and led to a sharp drop-off in the animal's population. The story. |
THR Critics' Best Episodes of 2022 ►Spreading the wealth. THR TV critics Dan Fienberg and Angie Han have another best of the year selection, this time they choose their standout television episodes from 2022, including installments from The White Lotus, The Bear, The Crown, A League of Their Own and more. The list.
In other news...
—Cillian Murphy is a man with “no choice” in first Oppenheimer trailer
—Rotterdam Film Festival unveils competition lineup
—Pamela Corante joins the Motion Picture Association’s comms team
—Why Promontory Wines are Hollywood’s ($900) bottle of choice
—THR's holiday wine guide for every type of vino lover
—Inside NeueHouse’s new Venice Beach private members’ club
—How Grave Line Tours is revisiting Hollywood’s macabre past — in a stretch limo
What else we're reading...
—Drew Harwell and Taylor Lorenz report that Elon Musk's claims that a stalker incident led to the suspension of an account tracking his jet doesn't really hold up to scrutiny [WaPo]
—Amy Kaufman and Jessica Gelt have an eyebrow raising story on a bombshell lawsuit filed against a popular 15-year-old YouTuber and her mum alleging all sorts of appalling behavior against her teen collaborators [LAT]
—Thomas Buckley looks at Hollywood's unholy love of cheap Christmas movies, with a whopping 150 largely forgettable holiday-themed films released in November and December [Bloomberg]
— With an explosion in sports betting online, Clare Ansberry writes that problem gambling is on the rise among young men [WSJ]
—After his 2022 World Cup heroics, Phil McNulty asks whether Lionel Messi is now the greatest soccer player ever [BBC]
Today...
...in 1997, James Cameron’s Titanic set sail in theaters nationwide. The 193-minute blockbuster epic went on to dominate the 70th Academy Awards, nabbing 11 wins including best picture. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Alyssa Milano (50), Jake Gyllenhaal (42), Jennifer Beals (59), Ronan Farrow (35) Til Schweiger (59), Ken Marino (54), Annie Murphy (36), Khushali Kumar (34), Tim Reid (78), Hermione Corfield (29), Marla Sokoloff (42), Jessica Steen (57), Amy Locane (51), Keiynan Lonsdale (31), Nik Dodani (29), Nico Hiraga (25), Jasmila Zbanic (48), Jack Fisk (77), Tyson Beckford (52) |
| Shirley Eikhard, the singer-songwriter who supplied songs for Cher, Emmylou Harris, Anne Murray, Chet Atkins and found lasting fame penning Bonnie Raitt’s Grammy-winning 1991 hit “Something to Talk About,” has died. She was 67. The obituary. |
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