AT&T's Miss; Megyn's Apology; 'Rhapsody' Reviews; Pixar Exit; 'TWD' Ratings Tumble

What's news: Despite WarnerMedia's strong quarter, AT&T just missed Wall Street expectations. Plus: Open Road finds a secret buyer for its remaining assets, The Walking Dead's falling ratings and reviews arrive for Bohemian Rhapsody. — Will Robinson [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( October 24, 2018 What's news: Despite WarnerMedia's strong quarter, AT&T just missed Wall Street expectations. Plus: Open Road finds a secret buyer for its remaining assets, The Walking Dead's falling ratings and reviews arrive for Bohemian Rhapsody. — Will Robinson ^Imax, Sony global deal: Following the box-office success of Venom, Spider-Man: Far From Home will be supersized as the Hollywood studio signs its first long-term deal with the giant screen exhibitor, Etan Vlessing reports: + Expansion plans: Under the agreement, Imax screens will be part of Sony's release strategy for Spider-Man: Far From Home starring Tom Holland, set for a July 5, 2019 release, the upcoming Men in Black spinoff out on June 14, 2019 and the sequel to the 2017 hit, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle, out on Dec. 13, 2019. The Sony films will be digitally remastered and released in Imax's giant-screen format worldwide. + What led to deal: The record-breaking first weekend release of Venom reached $15.4 million on Imax screens and overall, became the biggest October global opening weekend at $207 million. That box office performance convinced Imax to move from releasing Sony tentpoles one by one to solidifying ties with a global slate deal. + Tying up loose end: "What we realize with one-offs is you work on one thing, and move on. Because we have other slates deals with Warner Bros, Disney, Fox, Paramount, it made sense to solidify the relationship with Sony," Greg Foster, Imax Entertainment CEO, explained. Imax's creative czar oversees Imax's commercial slate and forging relationships with studios. [Full story.]( AT&T Earnings Miss Off the mark: AT&T fell short of profit expectations when it disclosed its third quarter earnings on Wednesday, its first financial report that includes a full three months of Time Warner ownership., Etan Vlessing reports: + Just short: The telecommunications giant earned an adjusted 90 cents per share on revenue up 15.3 percent to $45.7 billion, which included $8.2 billion in new revenue, compared to 2017, from the Time Warner acquisition. Analysts expected AT&T to report 94 cents in per-share earnings on revenue of $45.65 billion. + WarnerMedia's strong debut: For the third quarter, WarnerMedia posted revenue of $8.2 billion, up 6.5 percent from a year-earlier $7.7 billion on higher subscription revenues and increased licensing revenue from Warner Bros. AT&T indicated Turner revenue was up 3.9 percent to $3 billion, while HBO was up 2.4 percent to $1.6 billion. * Solid investment: “I’m pleased with the progress we made on a number of fronts in the third quarter,” Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO said in a statement. “WarnerMedia was immediately accretive in its first full quarter, contributing 5 cents to EPS, and our free cash flow grew by double digits." [Full story.]( Elsewhere in TV... ► Hulu's PR head Barrie Gruner expands purview. As part of a restructuring of the streamer’s content marketing team, Gruner will [add oversight]( of originals marketing to her purview. As newly titled VP of originals marketing and publicity, she’ll also continue to oversee publicity, awards and talent relations as well as have dotted-line oversight of social strategy on the service's original fare. ► Tommy Mottola inks first-look TV deal with Entertainment One. The first series from [the pact]( involving the veteran music exec and former husband of Mariah Cary is Harlem High for Freeform. ► Steve Carell set as male lead in Jennifer Aniston-Reese Witherspoon Apple drama. The Office grad [has joined]( the untitled morning show drama, marking his first TV regular role since the NBC comedy. ► Jerry Springer looks to headline court show for NBCUniversal. Springer's long-running daytime show is set to end in 2019, but NBCUniversal is [working]( on a new show that would have him as a TV judge. Legal briefs... ► Bravo can't force arbitration with surrogate whose childbirth was shown on Flipping Out. A California judge [found]( the contract she signed to be unconscionable and refused to send the matter to arbitration. ► Fox News host Jeanine Pirro scolded by sitting judge in defamation lawsuit. Two weeks after Pirro [prodded]( President Trump to reaffirm his punitive approach to free speech, an attorney for the former Westchester County judge appeared in court in a bid to get her out of a defamation lawsuit brought by Black Lives Matter activist DeRay Mckesson. ► Bill Cosby denied bail; legal team challenges "biased" judge in appeal. The defense team wants the legally blind, 81-year-old actor [released on bail]( while he appeals over alleged trial errors. [Quoted:]( "Our talent is saying, 'Should this be a movie? Should this be six episodes? Should this be a special event for two hours?' There's fluidity in the delivery system which I love. So I do think the lines are blurred. The language is all about stories and, what is the form that those stories should take to be told in the best interest of those stories and that vision?" — Jennifer Salke, on finding the right medium for a story. ^The Walking Dead's decline: After kicking off season seven with near series-high numbers, AMC's blockbuster drama has been all downhill for the show the past two years, Rick Porter reports: + The drop, in numbers: From season seven to now, average same-day ratings for The Walking Dead have declined by a precipitous 60 percent in adults 18-49 (5.4 average for season seven, 2.1 thus far in season nine) and 53 percent in viewers (11.35 million to 5.35 million). The show has recorded its two smallest same-day audiences ever in the past two weeks. + In comparison: THR compared the season seven-to-season nine declines for dramas Grey's Anatomy, NCIS and Law & Order: SVU, comedies The Big Bang Theory and Modern Family and singing competition American Idol. On average, the other shows fell by 22 percent of their 18-49 rating over those years (SVU was excluded, as full 18-49 ratings for the mid-2000s aren't easily found online) and 16 percent in viewers. [Full story.]( Digital digest... ► Refinery29 to lay off 10 percent of staff. The cuts account for more than 40 employees at the New York-based company, [primarily affecting]( people in the product, engineering and video divisions. The cuts come as the company expects to miss revenue projections for the year. ► Twitter removes accounts linked to Alex Jones, InfoWars. Though the InfoWars founder and his website [were banned]( from the platform in September, several accounts were suspected of circumventing the ban. Talking points... ► Megyn Kelly apologizes to colleagues for blackface comments. The NBC host sent an internal email shortly after she faced intense backlash for her comments on air. "What is racist?" she [asked]( panelists during a segment. "Because truly you do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface at Halloween or a black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween. Back when I was a kid, that was okay as long as you were dressing up as like a character." * Kelly apologizes on air. "I want to open with two words: [I’m sorry](," she began on Today. After her speech, Kelly then began a panel about race with Roland Martin and Amy Holmes, co-host of PBS' In Principle. Martin and Holmes then talked about the history of blackface and why it's considered offensive, while Kelly mostly listened. Coming attractions... ► Trailer: R. Kelly called "monster," "puppet master" in Surviving docuseries. The Lifetime show, set to air in January, recounts the singer's legal troubles and includes interviews with a range of people, including John Legend and Tarana Burke. [Watch.]( Sacha Baron Cohen's show made donation to anti-gay marriage group to woo Roy Moore. Showtime [filed]( its first substantive legal brief in the $95 million defamation suit from Roy Moore. As a condition for his appearance, the producers made a $200 donation to Foundation for Moral Law, a charity chosen by Moore. Pixar Co-Founder Retiring End of an era: Ed Catmull, who co-founded Pixar along with Steve Jobs and John Lasseter and in doing so revolutionized the animation industry, is retiring after a ground-breaking five-decade career, Borys Kit and Gregg Kilday report: + The timing: Catmull, who acts as president of both Walt Disney and Pixar Animation Studios, will step down from his current roles at the end of this year, according to a Disney announcement on Tuesday, and then stay on as an adviser through July 2019 before formally retiring. + Career snapshot: Catmull was hired by George Lucas in 1979 to lead Lucasfilm's computer division before then going on to co-found Pixar with Jobs and Lasseter in 1986. In 1995, Pixar released Toy Story, the first computer-animated hit, the first of 20 Pixar features, which have collectively won 15 Academy Awards and earned more than $13 billion at the worldwide box office. + Iger's praise: "Ed Catmull’s impact on the entertainment industry is immeasurable,” commented Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger. “A pioneer of the intersection of creativity and technology, Ed expanded the possibilities for storytellers along with the expectations of audiences. We’re profoundly grateful for his innumerable contributions." [Full story.]( Elsewhere in film... ► Open Road reaches $87.5 million deal with stalking horse bidder. The identity of the buyer isn't yet known, and according to new court filings, there are 11 companies with [interest]([in buying]( assets from the bankrupt indie studio at an auction next month, Eriq Gardner reports. ► Fox film exec Daria Cercek joins New Line. The move occurs [under the cloud]( of Disney’s acquisition of Fox and the murky future of the film team at the Century City-based company. Cercek’s move has been in the works for some time. Disney announced this week that key top Fox execs would be retained under a new reporting structure. ► Terminator, Charlie's Angels pounce on old Wonder Woman 1984 release date. The high-profile Terminator project is only [shifting]( its November 2019 date by two weeks to Nov. 1, 2019, while Charlie's Angels was originally set to open in September 2019. ► John Lennon, Yoko Ono film in the works with Jean-Marc Vallee directing. Universal is [negotiating to option]( the rights to Michael De Luca Productions and Immersive Pictures’ project about the epic love story. ► Naomi Kawase to direct official film for 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The festival favorite [will follow]( in the footsteps of Kon Ichikawa, who created the classic Tokyo Olympiad for the 1964 Games. ► Lionsgate renews IDC Film distribution pact in Latin America. IDC’s upcoming release slate includes Robin Hood, Chaos Walking and The Kingkiller Chronicle. Lionsgate [first inked]( a movie output deal with IDC in 2005, and its Latin American partner has generated around $1.3 billion at the regional box office during that period. ► European exhibitor Vue puts Saudi deal on hold in wake of Khashoggi scandal. The European giant becomes the first cinema chain to put its Saudi plans — which would see would see "up to 30 world class multiplex cinemas in existing and new developments" — [on ice](. ► Hollywood payroll service Cast & Crew buys live theater firm. Checks & Balances, which [handles]( payroll functions for live theater productions, was sold to the Burbank-based company. ► China, Japan studio giants team on big-budget animation The Monkey Prince. John A. Davis (Ant Bully) [will direct]( from a script written by Academy Award-nominees J. David Stem and David N. Weiss (Shrek 2), with Beijing-based Bona Film Group and Japan's Toei Animation producing. ► Cobweb leads 2018 BloodList. The horror genre's version of the Black List highlights 10 unproduced scripts from the past year. [The list.]( Casting call... ► Johnny Depp to play war photographer W. Eugene Smith in Minamata. The film [will document]( how Smith and his wife helped expose the devastating annihilation of a Japanese coastal community by big business and pollution. ► Katie Holmes to star in horror thriller The Boy 2. The sequel, [to be directed]( by William Brent Bell for STXfilms and Lakeshore Entertainment, follows from the 2016 hit The Boy. ► Rupert Friend to star in divorce-themed horror film Separation. Director William Brent Bell is one of today’s most in-demand genre filmmakers thanks to the microbudget horror hit The Devil Inside, which cost $1 million to make and [earned]( $102 million worldwide for Paramount. ► Joker finds its young Bruce Wayne and Alfred Pennyworth. Dante Pereira-Olson and Douglas Hodge are joining Joaquin Phoenix in the Warner Bros. film. Pereira-Olson has [previously shared]( a project with Phoenix, playing a young version of Phoenix's character Joe in the 2017 crime drama You Were Never Really Here. [Quoted:]( "One of the things that was exciting about doing this movie is that it was more than an artistic endeavor. It feels like it has a historical significance and certainly a political significance. It's special to work on something in which the motivation is greater than asking myself, 'How can I get my kicks artistically?'" — Lucas Hedges, on power of Boy Erased. ^Real life or fantasy?: With Rami Malek as Queen frontman Freddie Mercury, Bohemian Rhapsody focuses more on the spectacle of rock than the true substance of the musicians, Sheri Linden reviews: + Fun, superficial biopic: To the filmmakers' credit, and even though they don't entirely avoid the clunky factoid-itis that often plagues the genre, this is a biopic that favors sensory experience over exposition. It understands what pure, electrifying fun rock 'n' roll can be. The rough edges of Freddie Mercury's story might be smoothed over in this telling, the indulgences and debauchery sugarcoated. [Review.]( + What critics are saying: At the time of sending, Fox's film boasts a mediocre 52 percent on Rotten Tomatoes and 50 on Metacritic. [Roundup.]( Oscars planning... ► Paramount's A Quiet Place reverses plans, entire cast to compete as supporting. The campaign is [adopting]( the same playbook previously employed — to good effect — by Crash, Little Miss Sunshine, Babel and Spotlight, Scott Feinberg reports. Honorees... ► Hayao Miyazaki to receive career achievement award from L.A. Film Critics. The famed animation director will be [honored]( at the critics' Jan. 12 awards dinner. LAFCA president Claudia Puig: “The way in which Miyazaki inspires an audience’s sense of wonder is unmatched. ► Green Book to get ensemble honor at Hollywood Film Awards. Its screenplay, written by Peter Farrelly, who also directed, along with Nick Vallelonga and Brian Currie, will also [be recognized]( with the Hollywood Screenwriter Award on Nov. 4. On the festival circuit... ► The Wife star Glenn Close tapped for Santa Barbara's highest honor. The fest's highest honor is [annually presented]( to "an individual who has enriched our culture through his/her multifaceted accomplishments in the motion picture industry." ► Funan wins Animation is Film Festival grand prize. First-time director Denis Do's feature [also won]( the audience award at the fest, which wrapped Sunday at the TCL Chinese 6 Theater in Hollywood. Additionally, Bunuel in the Labyrinth of the Turtles took home a special jury prize "for its innovative handling of unexpected subject matter.” Musical notes... ► Beyonce & Jay-Z's On the Run II tour finishes with more than $250 million. The trek [wrapped]( Oct. 4 at Seattle's CenturyLink Field, the last of the 48 stadium dates they played, after beginning June 6 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff, Wales. ► Nicki Minaj track "Sorry" sparks Tracy Chapman lawsuit. Over the summer Minaj and her reps made multiple requests [to license]( Chapman's work, after having recorded "Sorry," according to a lawsuit filed Monday in California federal court. Despite Chapman denial, the suit claims Minaj gave a copy of the track to New York radio DJ Funkmaster Flex who teased the song on social media before playing it on his station. ► Rapper falls to death while filming stunt on plane's wing. Canadian musician Jon James McMurray [was walking]( on the wing of a small Cessna aircraft for a stunt in a music video. Coming attractions... ► Trailer: Latest Mary Poppins Returns clip teases new song. The trailer for the Emily Blunt-led sequel to Disney's 1964 classic features deep sea exploration, lively animation and a magical new musical number. [Watch.]( ► The Reckoning: Hollywood’s Worst Kept Secret shines a spotlight on Weinstein. Featuring interviews with accusers, journalists and insiders, the new doc takes aim at formerly "invincible" men in Hollywood during the #MeToo era. [Watch.]( California Make-A-Wish boy becomes honorary Ghostbuster for a day. After [undergoing]( four open-heart surgeries and spending 121 days in the hospital, London Green is finally "healthy and happy." Fox News' Reboot 2014 on repeat: As the midterm elections approach, Fox News and the Republicans are going back to their playbook from four years ago, James Poniewozik writes. + Refresher: "In the fall of 2014, with the midterms approaching, Fox and other conservative media went in overdrive on the 'border crisis' and ISIS — two issues that Republicans were using to suggest that the Obama administration was failing to protect America from teeming hordes. As the election approached, the two stories merged into a single Frankenfear." + Danger to discourse: "[Fox News] may responsibly note that his allegations are 'without evidence.' And that may make a difference to an attentive audience. But there are also casual news consumers who simply hear 'caravan' and 'border' and 'terrorism' and take away a vague sense of encroaching danger. "And if politicians are interested in pushing the story, and audiences like Fox’s are eager to hear it, there’s nothing to stop the caravan of fear from marching on and on." [[New York Times](] What else we're reading... — "The Unreality of Racial Justice Cinema." Reggie Ugwu examines: "[This year's] films’ common dependence on the tropes of superhero stories and revenge fantasies, whether explicit or in disguise, suggests the difficulty of making reality-based cinema out of the history we’re currently living through." [[New York Times](] — "Horror Cinema Has a Gatekeeping Problem." David Sims contends: "[Jason] Blum and other mega-producers can help open these sorts of transformative career paths to new filmmakers—and to female storytellers in horror, of which there are many beyond [Jennifer] Kent." [[The Atlantic](] — "Can The Hate U Give Make Its Own Word-of-Mouth Wave?" Nicole Sperling interrogates its box office prospects: "Sometimes, critical praise and positive word of mouth aren’t enough to move the needle to create a box-office sensation or even a modest hit. Because The Hate U Give centers on a contemporary African-American experience, there aren’t a lot of comparisons for the studios to use in predicting its ultimate outcome." [[Vanity Fair](] — "LeBron James Is More Than An All-Time Great — He's a Mogul." Jason Parham writes: "For an athlete who makes in excess of $50 million yearly from endorsements, voicing conviction is always a calculation. For James, though, legacy has always trumped risk." [[WIRED](] — "An oral history of '...Baby One More Time.'" Jessica M. Goldstein tells the whole story — Rolling Stone's Joe Levy: "Britney Spears is someone who, from the time she was a child, wanted to be a star. The drive, the determination, the ambition — you have to give this woman the same sort of respect that Justin Timberlake gets." [[EW](] What else we're watching... + "Jamie Dornan rehearsed 50 Shades Freed with Peter Dinklage." [[Late Late Show](] + "Jimmy thinks Kobe Bryant is a lunatic." [[Jimmy Kimmel](] + "Pod Save America hosts detail what changes if Dems win midterms." [[Late Show](] + "Lucas Hedges ruined Dan in Real Life." [[Tonight Show](] From the archives... + On Oct. 24, 1962, United Artists' political thriller The Manchurian Candidate hit theaters, eventually earning two Oscar noms at the 35th Academy Awards and plaudits from critics despite a wild conceit: "The premise is somewhat far-fetched, and its development strains belief in the final sequences, but accepting it on its own terms it sustains interest." [Flashback review.]( Today's birthdays: Eliza Taylor, 29, Drake, 32, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, 32, Casey Wilson, 38, Raul Esparza, 48, Zahn McClarnon, 52, BD Wong, 58, Kevin Kline, 71, F. Murray Abraham, 79. Follow The News Is this email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2018 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Preferences]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Use]( October 24, 2018