BOB IGER'S CHRISTMAS CAROL
The CEO faces a new year full of hard choices that will be shaped by specters from disney's past, present, and future |
Disney CEO Bob Iger will wake up on Christmas morning facing a new year full of economic austerity and hard choices as the company and the entertainment business head deeper into choppy waters.
Perhaps in his sleep, Iger will have heard whispers from ghosts like onetime heir presumptive Tom Staggs, real-life successor Chapek, and Apple boss and pal Tim Cook. Perhaps such ghosts recited Percy Bysshe Shelley’s poem “Ozymandias” and, as in Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, showed the 71-year old Iger frightening visions of the past, present, and future. Perhaps he will be haunted by sins of the past that could determine his and the company’s next era.
It’s a “Bah Humbug” state of affairs that puts Iger’s shortcomings as well as his strengths in the spotlight, as his latest turn at the top commences. >>>Three Ghosts |
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Give My Regards... Broadway in 2022 welcomed some truly wonderful productions, from the big-name commercial enticements of Some Like It Hot, The Piano Lesson and Into The Woods to thought-provoking and sometimes difficult work that rewarded audience attention and willingness to take chances. Here, then, is Deadline's ranking of the 10 Best Broadway Shows of 2022. Each entry includes an initial reaction to the show, as written in reviews, and a “further thoughts” update. >>> See The List
For The Record - HBO is not moving forward with a third season of Back On the Record With Bob Costas. The four-episodes-a-year program marked the veteran sportscaster’s third show on HBO, where he has a long history. It earned multiple sports Emmy nominations. >>>"Important Part Of HBO Sports' History"
'Woman King' Crowned Top Film - The Black Film Critics Circle has voted The Woman King its Best Film of 2022 and Gina Prince-Bythewood Best Director, declaring 2022 "a banner year for films by and starring people of color." >>> Full Winners List
No More Kidding Around - Natalie Engel is stepping down from her post as senior director development, PBS Kids Content. While overseeing content for children’s programming, Engel worked with series creators from pitch to pilot, helping shape their projects for the PBS Kids audience. >>>Will Transition To Consultant Role
It's A Wonderful List - Deadline's Pete Hammond and Todd McCarthy offer their thoughts on the best Christmas movies of all time - including their preferred iteration of A Christmas Carol - and wade into the ongoing debate about whether Die Hard is or isn't a Christmas movie. >>> Watch
Pandora Vs. Three Prestige Films - James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water has been ablaze across the media but, by contrast, the very personal recent work of Sam Mendes, James Gray and even Steven Spielberg has done a fade-out. The newest works by those latter three explore the efforts of young filmmakers trying to discover the language of film. None so far has discovered an audience. >>> Peter Bart's Column
True 'Blue' - Scott Cooper's The Pale Blue Eye starring Christian Bale is a fancifully gruesome account of killings at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, circa 1832, that adeptly juggles the dramatic balls most of the way but drags out the final act. >>>Todd McCarthy's Review
In Brief - BAFTA winner After Love is getting a Stateside release from Vertigo…On Deadline's Scene 2 Scene Podcast, Stephanie Hsu talks about the relatability of her characters in Everything Everywhere All At Once. |
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After some 50 years in the business, Bill Nighy is used to people getting his surname wrong. It actually rhymes with ‘sigh’: the ‘y’ is silent. “My dad was very particular about it,” he says, “and for a while, I used to correct people on his behalf, because he couldn’t bear it when people said ‘Nigh-y’. It really got to him. But I’m very, very accustomed to it. The first time I was ever in a show that was reviewed in a paper, I was Bill Nigby. I’ve been Bill Nighty — that’s a regular one — and if there’s one more than any other, it’s Nighly. It’s funny, when people get things wrong, they don’t get them wrong by simplifying them, they get them wrong by making them more complicated. So, they lengthen my name. It’s always slightly longer than it should be.” >>>Read The Interview |
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More News
🎯 "He is unfit for any office,” writes Rep. Liz Cheney in the 845-page final report from the January 6 Commission. The document released late yesterday, like the hearings themselves, is designed to lay out its findings in an easy-to-understand way, even in mammoth length. The committee also released a set of recommendations, including barring Trump and others from holding office under Section 3 of the 14th Amendment.
😈 Daredevil: Born Again star Charlie Cox said Marvel’s upcoming revival series on Disney+ "will be dark but it probably won’t be as gory" as previous iterations. He also revealed production will span most of 2023: "I start shooting in February and finish in December."
🎄 While CNN, MSNBC and the rest of the usual cable suspects carried Joe Biden's Christmas address live, Fox News played Scrooge and ignored the whole thing. Instead, it focused on topics like the crisis at the southern border — which is literally frozen right now — the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and running a lot of ads for a home security system.
🤖 Channel 4's alternative to the BBC’s annual Royal message — which will be delivered by King Charles III for the first time this year — will come from an AI robot named Ameca. The robot is being brought in to calm the world by telling us that 2022 was a "learning opportunity, a chance to change the way we think about the world and a reminder to help those in need whenever we can."
✂️ "Well, it’s been a great 18 1/2 years, but my job was cut in a company restructure recently which means tomorrow is my last day at TCM," TCM Underground programmer Millie De Chirico announced yesterday which, of course, was just days before Christmas. TCM is part of Warner Bros Discovery, which has had several rounds of layoffs this year as it pursues cost-cutting targets.
❄️ KWWL-TV sports reporter Mark Woodley did a series of live remotes in the middle of a blizzard for the Iowa channel’s morning show Thursday and was unusually candid with his feelings about the assignment: "Tune in for the next couple hours to watch me progressively get crankier and crankier."
🎥 Jaclyn Philpott has been named executive director of the Association of Film Commissioners International, a newly created post. As the new leader of the organization, she succeeds former AFCI President Eve Honthaner, who stepped down in September for personal reasons.
In Brief - The Society of Composers and Lyricists unveiled its award nominations…Three first-look images from Yellowjackets S2 revealed Lauren Ambrose as the adult Vanessa "Van" Palmer. |
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Obituaries
🕯 James J. Murakami, an art director, production designer and set designer on numerous film and television projects, died Dec. 15. He was 91 and suffered complications from a fall, according to his wife. Murakami earned an Emmy for his work on HBO’s Deadwood and an Oscar nomination for the film Changeling, one of many films he worked on with director Clint Eastwood. 🕯 Former Denver Broncos running back Ronnie Hillman , who played for the Peyton Manning-led team when it won Super Bowl 50, died Wednesday after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of kidney cancer in August. He was 31. 🕯 Thom Bell , who helped to create the soul songs style that became known in the 1960s and 1970s as “The Sound of Philadelphia,” died Thursday in Bellingham, WA. He was 79 and no cause of death was given. Dyanna Williams, a music journalist and broadcast personality, announced Bell’s death on her social media accounts Thursday afternoon. "Beloved songwriter arranger, producer Thomas aka Randolph Bell aka Thom Bell, co-architect of The Sound of Philadelphia with Gamble & Huff. Soundtrack to our lives music The Delfonics The Stylistics The Spinners Deniece Williams Dionne Warwick Johnny Mathis has transitioned." 🕯 See the 400-plus influential figures we've lost this year in Deadline's 2022 Hollywood & Media Deaths photo gallery. |
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Trending  After years of wrangling and unrest, workers at Chateau Marmont “overwhelmingly ratified” their first-ever union contract with the Hollywood hotspot in what UNITE HERE Local 11 called “a historic breakthrough.” Offerings under the contract will include an immediate 25% wage increase for returning workers not receiving tips as well as free family health insurance for workers on the clock for 60 or more hours per month.
🔻 Viewers who tuned in to see Harry & Meghan, Netflix’s widely successful docuseries that offered a look into the lives of the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, were treated to scenes of family life in their luxurious Santa Barbara mansion, including the duo running around with son Archie and hiding Easter eggs in a humongous backyard with stunning views. Turns out, they don’t own the fancy manse featured in the six-episode series. It’s actually a 12,804-square-foot home in Montecito, CA that’s currently selling for $33.5 million. |
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On the Radar
Sat - Santa Tracker livestream on Hulu; It's A Wonderful Life on NBC
Sun - Christmas Day
Mon - Hanukkah ends |
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Smells Like Teen Spirit - While a lot of familiar faces are back, the first trailer for That '90s Show showcases the kids, specifically Leia Forman (Callie Haverda) who is desperate for some adventure in her life or at least a best friend who isn’t her dad (Topher Grace). When she arrives in Point Place to visit her grandparents, Red and Kitty, Leia finds what she’s looking for right next door when she meets the dynamic and rebellious Gwen (Ashley Aufderheide). |
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