Fixing the Oscars Telecast; Elton John's Party Oral History; Michael Moore Revisits Infamous Speech; Colbert's Late-Night Run

What's news: Former Oscars producers reveal how to fix the telecast (Hint: Don't ignore politics). Plus: An oral history of Elton John's Oscar party as it turns 25, Stephen Colbert tops late-night for three weeks and Netflix adds Louis C.K. to its stand-up lineup. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman. [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( February 23, 2017 What's news: Former Oscars producers reveal how to fix the telecast (Hint: Don't ignore politics). Plus: An oral history of Elton John's Oscar party as it turns 25, Stephen Colbert tops late-night for three weeks and Netflix adds Louis C.K. to its stand-up lineup. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman. A quarter century (!) of Elton John Oscar parties. To commemorate, Degen Pener and Chris Gardner have a [new oral history:]( Attending the Elton John AIDS Foundation Oscar viewing party is sort of like going to the Golden Globes — while the Academy Awards are happening. Champagne is flowing, there are stars at every table and the TV people always are invited. So are supermodels, musicians, athletes, reality stars, gay icons and designers. Many are John's friends who walk the white carpet every year in support of the Elton John AIDS Foundation. "I think it's an equal opportunity star night," says filmmaker John Waters, who has rarely missed the event since 2002. Adds longtime HIV/AIDS fundraiser Sharon Stone, "People have to go to other parties, but people want to go to Elton's party." UTA's Oscar rally protest plans this year: Jodie Foster, Michael J. Fox and Keegan-Michael Key are among the speakers set to appear Friday at the agency's "United Voices" rally, which will supplant its annual Oscar party. [Details.]( Box Office: 'Get Out' Set to Impress Look for Universal and Jason Blum to score another win at the box office this weekend, Pamela McClintock [forecasts:]( The micro-budgeted Get Out, a thriller and social commentary on race relations that marks the feature directorial debut of Jordan Peele (Key & Peele), has buzz on its side. Pre-release tracking suggests the film, costing under $5M to make, could approach or cross $20M in its debut. Universal is being more cautious and suggesting high teens. Get Out, which premiered in a secret midnight screening at the Sundance Film Festival in January, is getting a berth in 2,777 theaters. Peele's film — boasting a rare [100 percent fresh]( rating on Rotten Tomatoes — hopes to steal the crown from holdover The Lego Batman Movie, which enters its third weekend. Elsewhere in film... ► Kristen Stewart in talks to star in adventure thriller. The actress is in negotiations [to star]( in Underwater, a Twentieth Century Fox thriller that is being produced by Chernin Entertainment. Will Eubank (The Signal) is directing. ► Ryan Reynolds sci-fi thriller Life to close SXSW. Life follows a team of scientists who discover what caused extinction on Mars. Terrence Malick's Song to Song will open the fest, which runs [March 10-19.]( ► Rachel Bloom and Adam Pally to lead comedy Most Likely to Murder. Dan Gregor [will direct]( from a script he co-wrote with Doug Mand, his writing partner on Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Production is set to begin next month in New York. ► Yvonne Strahovski joins Shane Black's The Predator. The Chuck alum is in final talks [to join]( the star-studded cast of 20th Century Fox’s reboot of the sci-fi action franchise. Strahovski will play the mother to Jacob Tremblay. ↱ [Brad Grey bids adieu to Paramount](: Grey, exiting his post as CEO, sent out a memo to staff yesterday afternoon: "Above all, I am indebted to all of you, the wonderful people here at Paramount." ↲ [^Exec suite, Michael De Luca](. This year's Oscars producer teases a stunt planned for this year's show, opens up about the best and worst things about his job and talks about what's next for Fifty Shades. ► The Promise proceeds to be donated to nonprofits. Survival Pictures has vowed [to donate]( all proceeds from the theatrical run of the drama, starring Oscar Isaac and Christian Bale. Terry George's film recounts the Armenian Genocide in Turkey. ► Ben Foster to star in My Abandonment from Winter's Bone director. Newcomer Thomasin McKenzie also [will star](in the project from director Debra Granik, which will be exec produced by Bron Creative and First Look Media. ► R.I.P., Trevor Habberstad. The stuntman and stunt coordinator who worked on X-Men: Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse, died Sunday at 27 after a battle with cancer. [Full obit](. Camille Paglia: What happened to Oscar glamour? In a guest column, the critic writes: Elizabeth Taylor's 1961 win was "a huge cultural watershed, a prefiguration of the coming sexual revolution," which predated a new generation of "[hip, smart and cynical.](" How to Fix the Oscars Telecast So what do Michael De Luca and Jennifer Todd, who are producing the 89th Academy Awards telecast, need to know? Former producers offer advice on [how to best run the show:]( 1. Don't ignore events in the outside world. "One of the issues any year, but certainly this year, is how to place the show in the context of the current climate, so I'm sure that's an issue Michael and Jennifer are wrestling with," says Bruce Cohen, a producer of the 2011 ceremony. 2. Don't ignore the audience at the Dolby. "Make sure it's good in the room first. You can't have someone who's too hip in that job as host, because with all those nervous people in the audience, if you have someone who has a kind of snark, it shuts something down," says Bill Condon, who produced in 2009 with Laurence Mark. 3. Do be prepared to make cuts on the fly. Lili Fini Zanuck, who produced the 2000 Oscars with late husband Richard, says "you think you have it tight and slick, but after the first couple of people win, it starts to fall apart. If you don't play them off, you're a couple of minutes over." Elsewhere in TV... ↱ [In development: Projects tackling race.]( Idris Elba and John Ridley are working on projects at Showtime, Dear White People is a go at Netflix, and Whoopi Goldberg is teaming with Bravo for a potential drama as the small screen takes on the country's racial tensions. ↲ ► FX's AI comedy Singularity finds its leading man. Damon Wayans Jr., who has been fielding multiple broadcast pilot offers, has been [tapped to star](in the FX comedy from producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg. ► Netflix plans pair of Louis C.K. specials. The comedian has set two new stand-up specials at the deep-pocketed streaming giant. The first special, titled 2017 and filmed in Washington, D.C., will premiere [April 4](. ► Fox renews Star and Lethal Weapon for season 2. Lee Daniels' girl-group drama is getting a second act with [13 episodes](. Meanwhile, the action reboot series will will be back for a [22-episode]( second season. ► NBC comedy enlists Paula Abdul to star as herself. The singer-dancer-actress has been tapped [to star]( in the pilot from Fresh Off the Boat's Kourtney Kang and Nahnatchka Khan, which is based on Kang's life. [Ratings: Stephen Colbert tops late-night for three weeks.]( The Late Show averaged 3M viewers last week, extending its winning margin to 296,000 viewers. It marks the show’s largest margin of victory since Colbert’s premiere week back in September 2015. [A Trump bump?]( That's what NYT critic James Poniewozik speculates. Recently, "Mr. Colbert brought a carving knife, and Mr. Fallon brought a butter knife" to criticize the President. ► NBC's For God and Country adds Anne Heche. The actress [will return](to the network to star opposite Mike Vogel in a military drama pilot, which is described as a look into the complex world of the country's military heroes. ► CBS' journalism drama The Get adds Brad Garrett. The Everybody Loves Raymond grad [will star]( in The Get, which centers on a team of tireless internet journalists. ► Jordan Peele inks TV deal with Sonar Entertainment. The Key and Peele grad and his Monkeypaw Productions banner [will create]( and develop new projects for television and digital outlets. ► R.I.P. Alan Colmes. The Fox News contributor, and former host on Hannity & Colmes, has died at the age of 66, the network [said]( on Thursday. IMDb age censorship law update. Hollywood stars wanting to remove their ages from IMDb will have to wait until the website resolves its legal battle with the state of California after a federal judge granted an injunction staying enforcement of [a new law.]( "Millions Are Watching!" Looking for advice on that political speech? Michael Moore, in [a new guest column](, reveals the full, wild story behind his infamous 2003 anti-Bush Oscar acceptance for best doc, how he (didn't) prepare and what happened right afterward. What else we're reading... — "The art of the Oscars long-shot." Cara Buckley writes: "Some campaigns are decided long before a film is released, written into acquisition agreements that oblige distributors to run ads." [[The New York Times](] — "Kenneth Lonergan, apolitical bard of service workers." Daniel Levinson Wilk contends: He "has a long history of portraying the lives of doormen, janitors, and waiters. But he seems uninterested in social change on their behalf." [[The Atlantic](] — "Harry Belafonte and the social power of song." Amanda Petrusich writes: "Belafonte was strikingly prescient about the ways in which taste could and would be politicized, and especially about how treacherous it is to confuse consumption with action." [[The New Yorker](] —"A Bob Marley mystery." John Clarke's A-Hed column: "Water-damaged reels salvaged from a hotel had labels suggesting they might be lost masters of the reggae king’s most storied concerts. It was up to sound engineer Martin Nichols to find out." [[The Wall Street Journal](] — "Desert X aims to be the Coachella of the art world." Deborah Vankin reports: "The indoor and outdoor pieces ... are staged on public and private lands. Artists have responded to various aspects of the desert: history, mythology, topography, socioeconomic climate." [[The Los Angeles Times](] Today's Birthdays: Dakota Fanning, 23, Emily Blunt, 34, Aziz Ansari, 34, Josh Gad, 36, Niecy Nash, 47, Marshall Herskovitz, 65, Peter Fonda, 77. Follow The News Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2017 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Preferences]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Use]( February 23, 2017