The Business: News, Rumours, Analysis, and More

[Shannon L.]

3 hours ago, Rick Kitchen said:

There's going to be a gender-reversed remake of Splash, with Jillian Bell in the Tom Hanks role and Channing Tatum as the merperson.

Ok....Now I may just understand what the Ghostbusters haters were going through (just kidding--mostly).

[Trini]

8 hours ago, Rick Kitchen said:

There's going to be a gender-reversed remake of Splash, with Jillian Bell in the Tom Hanks role and Channing Tatum as the merperson.

http://jezebel.com/channing-tatum-will-star-in-a-splash-remake-as-the-damn-1784660746

... Sure...? If they think it will work? Wet, naked Tater* - yes; but they going to need to sell me on the female lead.

*There are definitely better looking, ripped actors out there, but I guess he's the only one with the star power AND the willingness to look silly....

[slf]

9 hours ago, Rick Kitchen said:

There's going to be a gender-reversed remake of Splash, with Jillian Bell in the Tom Hanks role and Channing Tatum as the merperson.

http://jezebel.com/channing-tatum-will-star-in-a-splash-remake-as-the-damn-1784660746

I'm slightly disappointed because I think they're going to play this as a straight comedy whereas I think the dramedy/romance tone of the original would be better, but I cannot tell I lie, I will absolutely show up to see Channing Tatum as a merman. What a genius idea. 

Jillian Bell, was she the one in 22 Jump Street who kept taking shots at Jonah Hill's age? Her line deliveries cracked me up.

[xaxat]

Before Star Trek: Beyond, there was a promo with Simon Pegg thanking the audience for supporting the local theater. 

I was in an AMC movie theater. Their headquarters are located in Kansas City. Not local.

AMC is eighty percent owned by Wanda Group, based in Beijing. Really not local. 

[DollEyes]

I think that Channing Tatum as Madison in the Splash reboot is a great idea. He can do physical comedy, as he proved in Hail, Caesar! and the Jump Street and Magic Mike movies and I would love to see his take on the scene where Madison arrived on Ellis Island stark naked. 

[LeafontheWind]

5 hours ago, xaxat said:

Before Star Trek: Beyond, there was a promo with Simon Pegg thanking the audience for supporting the local theater. 

I was in an AMC movie theater. Their headquarters are located in Kansas City. Not local.

AMC is eighty percent owned by Wanda Group, based in Beijing. Really not local. 

Maybe he meant thank you for watching the movie in a theater instead of illegally downloading it online? I didn't see this message before the showing I went to, but that context makes more sense to me.

[King of Birds]

I saw some "thanks for coming to the theater" before Xmen earlier this summer, I can't recall which actor (or what theater chain). And I saw some trailer previews at Cinemark where there are actors giving an "intro" before the trailer, mentioning the theaters, chains ( but not the manager, usher, cashier)  Most recently it was Mila Kunis for Bad Moms, but she sounded and looked like death warmed over.*  Do they think this helps the theaters?

* it dawned on me before hitting 'submit' to clarify - Whenever they shot the intro for Mila, she was sick, or something. Her promo suffered because of it. Her physical issues in the promo are not what I mean by "does this help theaters" - I just don't know why some corporate intro or name drop would deter piracy or get viewers.

[Athena]

5 minutes ago, King of Birds said:

I saw some "thanks for coming to the theater" before Xmen earlier this summer, I can't recall which actor (or what theater chain). And I saw some trailer previews at Cinemark where there are actors giving an "intro" before the trailer, mentioning the theaters, chains ( but not the manager, usher, cashier)  Most recently it was Mila Kunis for Bad Moms, but she sounded and looked like death warmed over.*  Do they think this helps the theaters?

* it dawned on me before hitting 'submit' to clarify - Whenever they shot the intro for Mila, she was sick, or something. Her promo suffered because of it. Her physical issues in the promo are not what I mean by "does this help theaters" - I just don't know why some corporate intro or name drop would deter piracy or get viewers.

Mila Kunis is pregnant so they probably shot this in the earlier days of her pregnancy too.

I'm not against Tatum being in the Splash remake either. I have heard of worse ideas. It depends on the direction they take and the script. It could be good.

[GHScorpiosRule]

19 hours ago, King of Birds said:

I saw some "thanks for coming to the theater" before Xmen earlier this summer, I can't recall which actor (or what theater chain). And I saw some trailer previews at Cinemark where there are actors giving an "intro" before the trailer, mentioning the theaters, chains ( but not the manager, usher, cashier)  Most recently it was Mila Kunis for Bad Moms, but she sounded and looked like death warmed over.*  Do they think this helps the theaters?

* it dawned on me before hitting 'submit' to clarify - Whenever they shot the intro for Mila, she was sick, or something. Her promo suffered because of it. Her physical issues in the promo are not what I mean by "does this help theaters" - I just don't know why some corporate intro or name drop would deter piracy or get viewers.

Me too! It was at Regal Cinema for me and it wasn't just the actress who played Storm, but a couple of other actors for another movie, which I can't recall and for Tarzan which hadn't even come out yet. 

This must be a new thing, because I've never seen this before.  Then again I haven't been to a movie theatre in a year or so.

[magicdog]

On 8/6/2016 at 2:10 PM, Athena said:

I'm not against Tatum being in the Splash remake either. I have heard of worse ideas. It depends on the direction they take and the script. It could be good.

It might be more interesting if Tatum's character was the offspring of Hanks and Hannah's characters from the first film.  I'd give it a shot either way.

[Bruinsfan]

Based on the success of his last outing as a human-animal hybrid, I don't know what he was thinking when signing on for this.

[NumberCruncher]

11 hours ago, aradia22 said:

I wanted to talk about this take on Meryl Streep's career but I didn't know where else to put it.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/critics-notebook-is-meryl-streep-919051

I brought this over from the Musicals thread since it probably fits in more here, but this is an unnecessary article, IMO.  At 67, I doubt Meryl has that many options in terms of playing an everywoman.  As long as producers and directors come knocking at her door she should take whatever role she wants.  It's not her fault that they choose to work with her over other older female actors, nor is it her fault that the Academy nominates her over other actresses.  Plus it's not as if she wins that often.  There was a 27-year gap between her Oscar wins.  I find that people generally overreact to her success thinking that she's crowding out her fellow thespians when she literally makes 1 or 2 movies a year.  That's hardly unheard of in the acting world.  The problem is that Hollywood isn't making more movies featuring older women and those that are made usually feature larger-than-life characters, not the subtle everywoman.  I blame the system, not the actress.

[aradia22]

Thanks, @NumberCruncher. Sometimes it's hard to find the right thread for something. Anyway, I found that I agreed with a lot of the general sentiment of the article. Not necessarily that she should be looking for small indie projects but that she's wasted in these big projects that require a grandiose acting that doesn't seem very award-worthy. I think it maybe started around The Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia which were both solid hits, the latter being the bigger one (I think). It's not that I'm not interested in her doing comedies. One of my favorite movies that she's in is Death Becomes Her. But unlike in that movie, with these newer projects you do get the sense that she's coasting. She's politically active and at this point I think she's probably amassed enough wealth and clout to be able to take more risks. I wish she would champion better movies and then give more subtle performances in those movies. Catherine Frot is younger than Meryl Streep but compare her Marguerite to Streep's Florence Foster Jenkins. I'm not saying you have to do a little movie but the way she's playing to the rafters doesn't read that well in a movie (at least in my opinion). I haven't had much interest in her recent projects... besides Into the Woods which I still haven't seen because the casting wasn't that exciting.

[NumberCruncher]

1 hour ago, aradia22 said:

Thanks, @NumberCruncher. Sometimes it's hard to find the right thread for something. Anyway, I found that I agreed with a lot of the general sentiment of the article. Not necessarily that she should be looking for small indie projects but that she's wasted in these big projects that require a grandiose acting that doesn't seem very award-worthy. I think it maybe started around The Devil Wears Prada and Mamma Mia which were both solid hits, the latter being the bigger one (I think). It's not that I'm not interested in her doing comedies. One of my favorite movies that she's in is Death Becomes Her. But unlike in that movie, with these newer projects you do get the sense that she's coasting. She's politically active and at this point I think she's probably amassed enough wealth and clout to be able to take more risks. I wish she would champion better movies and then give more subtle performances in those movies. Catherine Frot is younger than Meryl Streep but compare her Marguerite to Streep's Florence Foster Jenkins. I'm not saying you have to do a little movie but the way she's playing to the rafters doesn't read that well in a movie (at least in my opinion). I haven't had much interest in her recent projects... besides Into the Woods which I still haven't seen because the casting wasn't that exciting.

But she has done quite a few recent movies not requiring "grandiose acting".  You mentioned one (Mamma Mia) already but also Hope Springs, It's Complicated, and arguably, Fantastic Mr. Fox.  She played the normal mom-ish role in all of those and each were subtle, delightful performances, IMO.  Just because she also chooses to do big, showy roles doesn't mean she's necessarily interested for the accolades.  Interestingly enough, the author of that article brought up her politically iconic role in Suffragette as a classic example of her pursuit of a show-stopping role when in reality it was rather insignificant component of the movie as a whole.  What we did see was hardly played over-the-top either.  

I haven't seen her Florence Foster Jenkins role yet but I can really only think of 2 roles of hers in the last 5 years that I would categorize as grandiose, scenery chewing performances:  Margaret Thatcher (The Iron Lady) and Violet Weston (August: Osage County), but both roles called for exactly that due to the inherent nature of the characters/people themselves.  I'm not sure where the author is getting this notion that she's coasting when she chooses a higher profile role when she A) really hasn't done that many as compared to her resume at large and B) is playing those roles the way I would expect them to be played by any actor.

Besides seeing a lot of flawed arguments and assumptions, I guess I also find this article rather unfair when the same arguments can be made for some younger actresses (Jennifer Lawrence, Amy Adams, Cate Blanchett), not to mention a whole load of male actors (Leonardo DiCaprio, Tom Hanks, Daniel Day-Lewis, Christian Bale, etc.).  There are an endless number of actors who take role after role in Oscar-bait movies and very few question whether they're just coasting in their choices.

Edited August 16, 2016 by NumberCruncher

[methodwriter85]

I've never thought of Meryl Steep as a scenery chewer. Certainly not on the level of contemporary Sally Field.

[aradia22]

Quote

She played the normal mom-ish role in all of those and each were subtle, delightful performances, IMO.  

I would put Hope Springs and It's Complicated in the same category of roles that aren't challenging. It's the way people accuse Robert de Niro of coasting though he lacks the big projects. I would throw out Pacino but he at least tries some things with theater (unsuccessfully if you followed that last Mamet play, but still). Amy Adams is an interesting comparison because I think she makes similar high profile movies, but then she's always had a mix of commercial and indie on her resume.

[methodwriter85]

Here's a think-piece that ponders the summer 2016 movie slump:

Hollywood Gave Up On You Long Before You Did

Pretty good points, and yeah, the box office was just the pits this summer. Nothing's really had any real staying power.

[topanga]

7 hours ago, methodwriter85 said:

Here's a think-piece that ponders the summer 2016 movie slump:

Hollywood Gave Up On You Long Before You Did

Pretty good points, and yeah, the box office was just the pits this summer. Nothing's really had any real staying power.

Great article. There simply weren't many good movies this summer. And honestly? I don't think studios care about the quality of the movies it makes, as long as the films make money. Great quote from the article:

"studios are not looking for directors, they’re looking for someone who will meet a release date that’s been picked out months or years in advance. It does not matter what they deliver on the deadline, they’ll dump it in the editing room and sort it out into something almost watchable. The idea that scripts need multiple drafts or that projects might need to germinate for a year or two is as foreign now as silent movies."

  

Edited August 25, 2016 by topanga

[thuganomics85]

Yeah, when I think about it, the only film that will be considered a success that might stick with me on any level will be Captain America: Civil War.  The rest were either forgettable, or whatever Suicide Squad was.  The rest of the films I really liked were either disappointments (Star Trek: Beyond), bombs (The Nice Guys), or flat-out failures (Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping.)  My favorite is probably Hell or High Water, but I'm already preparing for that to disappoint as well, despite the critical praise, because that seems to be how things are going this summer.

Interestingly though, pre-summer actually did better then I expected.  I think both Zootopia and The Jungle Book remake or actually going to stick me for a while.

[methodwriter85]

I was somewhat disappointed with Me Before You. It wasn't bad, but I really thought it was going to stick with me like the book did, and it didn't. It didn't hit me like the Fault in Our Stars did, and I expected it to.

Lights Out was pretty fantastic. I also really enjoyed Nerve for what it was.

Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates had the potential to be good, but it tried just a bit too hard.

Neighbors 2 was enjoyable, but I also get why it did like half the business the first one did.

I really liked Ghostbusters and Star Trek, so of course they flopped.

[xaxat]

This is more about business in the movies than the movie business.

The Frozen Concentrated Orange-Juice Market Has Virtually Disappeared

Somehow the author managed to get through the article without mentioning Trading Places. 

A couple of years ago, the NPR podcast Planet Money did an episode explaining the trades made in the movie and interviewed a real life FCOJ trader.

[Lonesome Rhodes]

I've just started James Andrew Miller's new history of CAA.  It's called "Powerhouse..."

If you care about the power and money behind the creative, it is absolutely fabulous!!!!  Run, don't walk, to your local online store and get it.  Or, be cheap like me and see if your library has it.  :)

This is truly a must-read for Hollywood/entertainment mavens. 

[xaxat]

Wang Jianlin plans to bring more Chinese movies to the US cinemas he now owns

Quote

Wang Jianlin, chairman of Dalian Wanda Group, which owns AMC Theatres in the US, said he plans to screen more China-related films in the country.

“(AMC’s) boss is Chinese, so more Chinese films should be in their theaters where possible,” Wang said on a talk show (video, link in Chinese) on Sept. 3. If a proposed acquisition by AMC of Carmike Cinemas successfully closes, Wang will end up being the biggest owner of movie theaters in the US.

[Princess Sparkle]

I debated whether this article should go in the Box Office thread or this one, but it seems a bit more applicable here: Vulture analyzed what it means to be a "record breaking" movie.

[thuganomics85]

The Power Rangers reboot finally has their new Alpha 5.  I guess Bill Hader is the natural choice, if you are not going to take the fan service route and get Aaron Paul, so he and Bryan Cranston can banter back and forth one more time.

[BetterButter]

‘Monster Trucks’ Projected To Lose $115 Million For Paramount Pictures

[xaxat]

35 minutes ago, BetterButter said:

‘Monster Trucks’ Projected To Lose $115 Million For Paramount Pictures

I can see why they think that.

[BatmanBeatles]

My daughter and I were completely speechless during that trailer. And not in a good way.

[dusang]

Poor Lucas Till, he is not having a good 2016.

[methodwriter85]

Lucas Till hasn't really been able to do much aside from being Taylor Swift's adorable music video love interest and being in X-Men. He has worked a lot, but nothing memorable. I don't know if he's just not a good actor, or he doesn't know how to pick good projects.

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 hour ago, methodwriter85 said:

Lucas Till hasn't really been able to do much aside from being Taylor Swift's adorable music video love interest and being in X-Men. He has worked a lot, but nothing memorable. I don't know if he's just not a good actor, or he doesn't know how to pick good projects.

He's the new McGyver! (I'm being sarcastic about that excitement since I'm a fan of the original and hate the reboot)

But his take on the character is an absolute 180 from the sexy, charming character that Richard Dean Anderson played. I'm hoping it BOMBS.

Edited September 23, 2016 by GHScorpiosRule
because 360 makes it sound the same as RDA!

[methodwriter85]

Right. I said memorable projects, not ill-fated reboots.

[AimingforYoko]

1 hour ago, GHScorpiosRule said:

He's the new McGyver! (I'm being sarcastic about that excitement since I'm a fan of the original and hate the reboot)

But his take on the character is an absolute 360 from the sexy, charming character that Richard Dean Anderson played. I'm hoping it BOMBS.

As MacGyver himself would point out, GHScorpiosRule, that's a 180. 360 brings you back to where you started.

[GHScorpiosRule]

1 minute ago, AimingforYoko said:

As MacGyver himself would point out, GHScorpiosRule, that's a 180. 360 brings you back to where you started.

*MEEP*

Went back and corrected! Thanks @AimingforYoko!

[VCRTracking]

Quote

 

He's the new McGyver! (I'm being sarcastic about that excitement since I'm a fan of the original and hate the reboot)

But his take on the character is an absolute 360 from the sexy, charming character that Richard Dean Anderson played. I'm hoping it BOMBS.

 

 

Yeah, Richard Dean Anderson's Macgyver was a more humble type and was a lot less smug than the new guy. The last shot of the old intro is Anderson's Macgyver blowing air out of his cheeks like he's going "Whew! Barely made out of that one!"

while the last shot of the new one, he's smiling all cocky like he's hot shit:

[ribboninthesky1]

Lucas Till has a smug, "I'm an asshole" kind of face, poor thing.  Plus, from the little I remember, wasn't Anderson in his 30s when he did MacGyver? Till is all of 25, so I'm not sure why I'm supposed to buy that this dude has the experience and knowledge that MacGyver is supposed to have. Till has his work cut out for him.   

[xaxat]

China’s influence over Hollywood grows (Wa Po)

Quote

China has never been shy about its desire to acquire “soft power” – the kind of cultural and economic influence that can’t be wielded by military might. And Hollywood has often been a partner in its project.

China’s bid for soft power was on show this week, as Sony Pictures Entertainment formed an alliance with Dalian Wanda, a Chinese company that has become one of the world’s largest media empires, in a deal announced Friday. While the partnership was smaller than some of Dalian Wanda’s previous acquisitions, it attracted attention as the Chinese company’s third major deal in Hollywood this year.

These deals have sparked concern over whether China’s expanding influence in Hollywood could lead to more pro-Chinese propaganda in U.S. films. The Chinese government tightly controls media content, and Hollywood studios have been known to alter films to feature China or the Chinese government in a more flattering light to gain access to the country’s lucrative film market.

[ChelseaNH]

Marvel already removed overt references to Tibet from Dr. Strange in order to avoid offending China.

[BetterButter]

Walt Disney Studios and Director Jon Favreau Reuniting For Live-Action ‘The Lion King’

[SeanC]

It really should be "the CGI remake" of The Lion King, seeing as there are no humans.

[Spartan Girl]

1 hour ago, BetterButter said:

Walt Disney Studios and Director Jon Favreau Reuniting For Live-Action ‘The Lion King’

FUCK.  NO.

Like it was stated above, The Lion King had no human characters, so what's the point of doing a live-action/CGI remake when the original was perfect to begin with?  And are they seriously going to recast James fucking Earl Jones as Mufasa?  Mind you, I still wouldn't be interested even if they did get some of the original people back, but still...

[ChelseaNH]

Maybe they'll just film the Broadway show...

[thuganomics85]

Yeah, I could understand remaking The Jungle Book, but The Lion King is kind of weird; if nothing else, because so much of the original cast is still around.  Because if they're going to end up with another cast, I'm just going to be all "Well, why didn't they just get James Earl Jones again?  Or Jeremy Irons?  Or Nathan Lane?" when it happens.  The casting in the original was spot-on, and I can't see a new one doing it any justice.

But I guess considering it's life action success so far, Disney figures it's on a roll at this point.

[absnow54]

They may as well just CGI the entire film in sync with the original audio instead of trying to (a) recast or (b) get the original band back together. I try not to let nostalgia get to me when it comes to these remakes, but seriously, James Earl Jones as Mufasa is about as iconic as James Earl Jones as Darth Vader for me. And Jeremy Irons gave such a fantastic voice performance for Scar. The rest of the voice talent is probably negotiable, although I'm sure that Nathan Lane has already left several voice messages on Jon Favreau's machine.

[BetterButter]

Disney’s Live-Action ‘Aladdin’ Remake Conjures Director Guy Ritchie

[methodwriter85]

Is it cynical of me to think that Disney is trying their darndest to figure out how they can cast white people as Aladdin and Jasmine without pissing people off?

[katha]

On 16.8.2016 at 6:42 PM, NumberCruncher said:

I brought this over from the Musicals thread since it probably fits in more here, but this is an unnecessary article, IMO.  At 67, I doubt Meryl has that many options in terms of playing an everywoman.  As long as producers and directors come knocking at her door she should take whatever role she wants.  It's not her fault that they choose to work with her over other older female actors, nor is it her fault that the Academy nominates her over other actresses.  Plus it's not as if she wins that often.  There was a 27-year gap between her Oscar wins.  I find that people generally overreact to her success thinking that she's crowding out her fellow thespians when she literally makes 1 or 2 movies a year.  That's hardly unheard of in the acting world.  The problem is that Hollywood isn't making more movies featuring older women and those that are made usually feature larger-than-life characters, not the subtle everywoman.  I blame the system, not the actress.

Sorry for coming back to an old discussion, but I found that article really interesting! Tend to agree, though, that the system itself is the problem, not Streep herself. Though the Hollywood awards circuit has a tendency to nominate her for everything she does, not always warranted. But, again, that's down to the laziness of the establishment and their "must reward everything Meryl does" mindset, not Streep herself. She chooses the projects she thinks are best suited for her career. She's done her fair share of scenery chewing and Oscar bait (I think she didn't deserve an Oscar for that Thatcher thing), but also more subtle things.

She is a very technical actress, I could always see where that criticism came from. At her worst, you do kind of see the wheels turning that put the performance together. But it's not as if she's alone in that either. Someone who interestingly enough sometimes gets similar criticism is DDL. And even though he's Method, he seems similar to her in that there seems to be an almost terrifying level of mastery of technique. Again, at his worst he also tends towards mannerism and scenery chewing. But there's such a level of detail and layers to every performance that when it works (and mostly it does with both Streep and DDL), it's astounding. I think that's also why both of them are such awards darlings, frankly: Their peers recognize the sheer technical skill displayed in every performance.

[Trini]

4 hours ago, BetterButter said:

Disney’s Live-Action ‘Aladdin’ Remake Conjures Director Guy Ritchie

I'm just surprised their even attempting a live-action Aladdin. Wasn't there some backlash at the time the movie came out about Middle Eastern/Asian stereotypes? I'd rather they do an adaptation of a story from 1001 Nights,  or a film version of the Broadway version.

[Ambrosefolly]

On October 10, 2016 at 4:02 PM, methodwriter85 said:

Is it cynical of me to think that Disney is trying their darndest to figure out how they can cast white people as Aladdin and Jasmine without pissing people off?

I wonder if they will try to court Rami Malek for the role of Aladdin?

[methodwriter85]

My thought would be Brenton Thwaites. He's got more of a Disney Prince look, and he's racially ambiguous enough that he could pull off being Middle Eastern.

Edited October 12, 2016 by methodwriter85