| | | | What's news: The backlash to the Barbie snubs continues. The Los Angeles Times is set to cut at least 115 newsroom positions. Netflix now has 260m global subscribers and is looking to phase out its Basic tier. Over 50m people watched the Chiefs' win over the Bills on CBS. — Abid Rahman
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Gerwig's Oscar Snub Slammed ►"How is this even possible?" It was a big morning for Barbie when the 2024 Oscar nominations were announced on Tuesday, but there were some glaring snubs for director Greta Gerwig and star Margot Robbie. It was Gerwig being shutout of the best director category that raised the hackles of social media, particularly after she helmed a film that not only was the biggest box office hit of 2023, but also a film that received eight Oscar nods, including best picture. The backlash.
—"To say that I’m disappointed... would be an understatement." Ryan Gosling, who was nominated for best supporting actor, issued a statement about the prominent Barbie snubs on Tuesday. The actor had some strong words following Gerwig and Robbie missing out on director and actress noms, respectively: "There is no Ken without Barbie, and there is no Barbie movie without Greta Gerwig and Margot Robbie," Gosling said, adding, "No recognition would be possible for anyone on the film without their talent, grit and genius." The story.
—"It was unexpected, if I’m being perfectly honest." THR's Ashley Cullins spoke to Barbie star America Ferrara, who scored a surprise best supporting actress nomination. Ferrera discussed her shock and excitement at being nominated, reflected on her character and weighed in on the snubs for Gerwig and Robbie. The interview.
—"Their spirit is in every single piece." Mark Ronson scored his second Oscar nomination Tuesday for best original song for the Barbie track, “I’m Just Ken,” which he co-wrote with Andrew Wyatt. The songwriter and producer spoke to THR's Tiffany Taylor and Lesley Corral about how Ryan Gosling made the song his own and shared his thoughts on Robbie and Gerwig's respective omissions. The interview.
—Scott's take. THR's executive editor of awards coverage Scott Feinberg dissects the 2024 nominations and what they could mean for the best picture category, in particular. Scott also tries to explain why Gerwig and Robbie missed out on noms and how the increasing internationalization of the Academy is impacting voting on certain categories. The analysis. |
Oscar Nominees React ►"We never imagined this level of success." THR's Beatrice Verhoeven spoke to Christopher Nolan on Tuesday morning not long after he found out Oppenheimer landed 13 Oscar nominations, including three nods for him personally. The Brit filmmaker said he is still “somewhat amused” by the film’s level of success, given it’s an R-rated, three-hour black-and-white biopic about nuclear physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer. The interview.
—"I was surprised because there are no more women beside me." Beatrice also spoke to Justine Triet on scoring a best director nomination for Anatomy of a Fall. The French filmmaker shared that she cried on hearing her nominations for best director and best original screenplay but also a nomination for the film's editor Laurent Sénéchal "because it was so surprising." The interview.
—"I am limitless." Colman Domingo became a first-time Oscar nominee for his leading role in Rustin. THR's Hilton Dresden spoke to Domingo on Tuesday about the importance of Rustin, sharing the moment with his husband and the banner year he’s had with the joint release of The Color Purple. The interview.
—"I’m continuously surprised and moved by how much of an impact this story." Hilton spoke to The Holdovers star Da’Vine Joy Randolph on her first Oscar nomination. Randolph opened up about the awards recognition, which other Oscar nominees she reached out to when the news broke, and what will stick with her from taking on the role of Mary. The interview.
—"It feels nice coming at this time of my life." Hilton also spoke to Randolph's Holdovers co-star Paul Giamatti on his second Oscar nomination and his first for best actor. Giamatti discusses being woken up with the news, his joy at the recognition for the film's editor Kevin Tent and how the nom gives him the feeling like he "did the right thing with my life." The interview.
—"I’m doing this for everybody." The Color Purple star Danielle Brooks reveals to THR's Christy Piña that it was 2:30 a.m. when she got the call that she had been nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actress. Brooks, currently in New Zealand filming the Minecraft movie, opens up about being the film's only Oscar nod and how the role of Sofia is the gift that keeps on giving. The interview.
—"I could barely hear my name through the phone, but their reaction told me that it was a nod." Christy also spoke to Lily Gladstone who shares she was FaceTiming her parents when her best actress Oscar nomination for Killers of the Flower Moon was announced. Gladstone revealed she wanted to be on the Osage reservation Tuesday in case the film was nominated, so she could celebrate with all the people who made the movie come to life. The interview.
—"I might have had a heart attack if I was watching it live." American Fiction writer-director Cord Jefferson was another who was asleep when the Oscar nominations were revealed, after staying up late with anxiety. Jefferson, who was nominated for best picture and best adapted screenplay, told THR's Julian Sancton that he hopes his film's total of four nods will open the door to a wider variety of Black stories in Hollywood. The interview.
—"Representing Japan is a deep honor for me." THR's Scott Roxborough spoke to Perfect Days director Wim Wenders on the film's best international feature nomination. The 78-year-old German director has three Academy Award nominations to his name, but all have come in the best documentary category. The interview. |
Netflix Adds 13M Subs In Blockbuster Earnings Report ►Firing on all cylinders. Netflix reported a blockbuster quarter, with subscribers surging, and its profit margin staying strong. The streaming giant reported 13m new subscribers, with revenue of $8.8b and operating income of $1.5b. The company had reported 9m new subscribers last quarter, as its crackdown on sharing passwords continued. In fact, Q4 was the second-best quarter ever for subscriber sign-ups, only falling short of Q1 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic led to a surge in sign-ups as people stayed home. Netflix now has 260m global subscribers. The results.
—Phasing out Basic. Netflix revealed that its ad tier has 23m monthly active users in the 12 countries where it offers the plans, and they expect that number to continue growing. With the growth in the ad tier, the company repeated its plans to phase out its Basic membership tier in the coming months. It will retire the plan — currently the least expensive ad-free option at Netflix — for all subscribers in Canada and the U.K. in the spring. The story.
—"I would not look at this as any change to our sports strategy." After Netflix nabbed rights to the WWE's Monday Night Raw in its biggest commitment so far to live programming, the streamer's co-CEO Ted Sarandos played down hopes that it will bid for more live sports rights anytime soon. Sarandos made the distinction between the scripted "sports entertainment" aspect of pro wrestling and other sports, and added the WWE's content is "historically under-distributed outside North America." The story.
—Brutal. The Los Angeles Times is set to cut at least 115 positions, more than 20 percent of the newsroom, in a round of layoffs that have been anticipated since last week. In an interview Tuesday, the paper's billionaire owner Patrick Soon-Shiong said that the LAT needs to bring in more readers who could help build subscription and advertising revenue and stem losses of $30m to $40m a year. According to Soon-Shiong, he has invested almost $1b in the paper since acquiring it in 2018. The story. |
NFL Keen on More Streaming Exclusive Games ►"It’s a testament to what Comcast did to really build awareness there." Despite complaints from fans, the Peacock exclusive game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins was an unabashed success for both the NFL and the streamer. Top NFL executive Hans Schroeder tells THR's Alex Weprin that the league is already thinking about how it will expand its digital presence next season, while keeping broadcast at the forefront. The story.
—Massive. Back on traditional TV, CBS drew the largest audience on record for an NFL divisional playoff game with Sunday’s telecast of the Chiefs' win over the Bills. The game averaged 50.39m viewers, surpassing the previous divisional round high of 48.52m for a 2017 game between the Cowboys and Packers (with the significant caveat that Nielsen didn’t measure out of home viewing prior to 2020). CBS’ telecast was up about 10 percent over last year’s Sunday primetime game (45.64m for the Cowboys and 49ers on Fox). The ratings.
—🎭 A father's search for justice 🎭 Colin Firth will star in the limited event series Lockerbie about the December 1988 terrorist attack on Pan Am Flight 103 for Comcast’s Peacock and Sky. In the attack, a Pan Am transatlantic flight from Frankfurt to Detroit was destroyed by a bomb 38 minutes after take-off while flying over the Scottish town of Lockerbie, killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members. Parts of the aircraft crashed into a residential area, killing an additional 11 people. Firth will portray Dr. Jim Swire, who lost his daughter Flora in the tragic event. The story. |
TV Review: 'Masters of the Air' ►"Flawed but powerful." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Apple TV+'s Masters of the Air. Austin Butler, Barry Keoghan and Callum Turner lead a vast ensemble in a World War II epic series from the executive producers of Band of Brothers and The Pacific. The review.
—"Sure to leave viewers sobbing, despite some odd choices." Dan reviews Angela Patton and Natalie Rae's Sundance U.S. documentary competition entry Daughters. The filmmakers look at a program that reunites girls with their incarcerated fathers for an emotional daddy-daughter dance. The review.
—"Poor writing and basic direction saved by capable actors." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Laura Chinn's Sundance U.S. dramatic competition entry Suncoast. Laura Linney, Nico Parker, Woody Harrelson star in Chinn’s first feature as writer-director, inspired by her own family’s painful personal history. The review. |
Film Review: 'Will & Harper' ►"A friendship for the ages." THR's Lovia Gyarkye reviews Josh Greenbaum's Will & Harper. After former SNL writer Harper Steele came out as trans, she and her best friend Will Ferrell traveled across America to process her transition and reaffirm their friendship. The review.
—"An admirable investigation." Lovia reviews Jazmin Jones' Seeking Mavis Beacon. In this doc, two women investigate the real person behind an educational software from the '80s, raising urgent questions about our relationship to technology. The review. In other news...
—Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Airbender reveals new official trailer
—Cesar nominations: Anatomy of a Fall, The Animal Kingdom lead French film awards
—Extreme sports YouTube collective CboysTV signs with UTA
—David Beckwith, publicist and gatekeeper of Graceland, dies at 67
—Charles Osgood, the unhurried host of CBS News programs, dies at 91
—Julian Senior, longtime Warner Bros. publicity exec in Europe, dies at 85
—John Bush, Emmy-winning producer on The Simpsons, dies at 69
What else we're reading...
—Mark Gurman writes that Apple’s testy relationships with developers is threatening to hamper the success of the Vision Pro headset [Bloomberg]
—Constance Grady dives into the internet created conspiracy theory that Taylor Swift is really the author featured in the upcoming spy flick Argylle [Vox]
—Following the grim news at Sports Illustrated, Pitchfork and now the L.A. Times, Derek Thompson and Bryan Curtis discuss why the U.S. media industry is in meltdown [Ringer]
—Hoai-Tran Bui passionately argues that Richard Linklater's Hit Man should be shown on the big screen, rather than inevitably being buried on Netflix [Inverse]
—Ceylan Yeginsu looks into whether the 250,800-ton Icon of the Seas cruise ship can really be climate friendly as Royal Caribbean claims [NYT]
Today...
...in 2020, STX Films released Guy Ritchie's The Gentlemen in theaters. The gangster comedy, starring Matthew McConaughey, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Golding, Michelle Dockery, Jeremy Strong and a scene-stealing Hugh Grant, was a box office hit, making $115m worldwide and spawned an upcoming Netflix series. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Carrie Coon (43), Kristen Schaal (46), Daveed Diggs (42), Ed Helms (50), Tatyana Ali (45), Neil Diamond (83), Matthew Lillard (54), Mischa Barton (38), Justin Baldoni (40), Nastassja Kinski (63), Michael Provost (26), Julie Dreyfus (58), Callan McAuliffe (29), Phil LaMarr (57), Jonah Bobo (27), Michael Des Barres (76), Jordan Claire Robbins (34), Adrian Edmondson (67), Daniel Auteuil (74), Lucy Montgomery (49), Kenya Moore (53), Craig Horner (41), Guz Khan (38) |
| Gary Graham, who starred as the human detective who partners with an extraterrestrial newcomer to solve crimes on the Fox sci-fi television franchise Alien Nation, has died. He was 73. The obituary. |
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