Cannes Jury Secrets; Redstone's Next Moves; Steven Bochco's Touching Cancer Story

It's Tuesday, and we're looking into the secret rituals of Cannes juries as the film festival is set to kick off. Plus, what's next in the Sumner Redstone saga and a look at James Corden's viral video machine — executive editor Matthew Belloni, assignment editor Erik Hayden [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment] May 10, 2016 It's Tuesday, and we're looking into the secret rituals of Cannes juries as the film festival is set to kick off. Plus, what's next in the Sumner Redstone saga and a look at James Corden's viral video machine — executive editor Matthew Belloni, assignment editor Erik Hayden Secret Rules of a Cannes Jury There are few clubs more exclusive, or more secretive, than the Cannes Film Festival jury. Correspondents Scott Roxborough and Etan Vlessing peer [behind the curtain]: The nine members who pick the Palme d'Or every year swear never to reveal the reasons behind their decrees, and their methodology remains as shrouded from public scrutiny as that of a papal enclave. Like members of any secret society, jurors don't even know they're being considered until they are "tapped" for the honor. And some jury members have disputed the festival's claim of [neutrality.] Elsewhere on the Croisette... ► Meet the Jury: watch a video primer on who is [judging] this year's competition titles, from president George Miller to juror Kirsten Dunst. ► What increased security looks like. A force numbering [about 500] will be responsible for guarding the Palais and "drastic security measures at the foot of the red carpet" are to be expected. ► For talent: How to deflect fest presser questions. The festival's media events are often forums for odd, tangential queries. This is how to handle questions [beyond] "Do you have a message for the people of [insert country here]?" ► Starbucks (finally) conquers Cannes. America’s dominant coffee purveyor [quietly] bowed in a new development abutting Cannes’ train station just ahead of the annual film festival. Cannes Ticker: Jean-Pierre Leaud to get honorary [Palme d'Or] ... 10 market titles [to watch for] ... who is on the Un Certain Regard, Camera d'Or [juries]. George Miller Revs Up In a frank conversation, Mad Max: Fury Road director George Miller opens up to Stephen Galloway about his shock at Mel Gibson's meltdown, venturing into comedy (his wife thinks it's to prove to her he's funny) [and what's next:] The filmmaker and Cannes jury president is well into writing a new script but prefers not to reveal its title or plot. This will be his next project, he hopes, on a much smaller scale than Fury Road. He intends a follow-up to the latter, using an already written screenplay or an adaptation of a novella by co-writer Nick Lathouris. Elsewhere in film... ► Amazon's first original film nabs lead. Brit star Aaron Taylor-Johnson is [in talks] for The Wall, a war-set thriller from Doug Liman that will mark the debut film for the streamer. ► X-Men: Apocalypse gets scorched by critics so far. Fox can't be pleased with mixed early reviews of the May 27 tentpole as the embargo lifted on Monday. THR [deemed] it "narratively jumbled and jammed with so many characters." ► Why Hollywood is mad about manga. With a number of adaptations in the works, Tinseltown finally is [catching on] to the vast potential of Japanese comics. Film Ticker: Tatiana Maslany to star in [Why We're Killing Gunther] ... James Norton joins Ellen Page in remake of [Flatliners]... Gael Garcia Bernal to play Zorro in Jonas Cuaron reboot [Z] ... Larry Charles teams with Luke and Owen Wilson on prison [comedy]. James Corden's Viral Hit Machine James Corden, late night's king of viral videos (see: Carpool Karaoke) and Tonys host, chatted in a new podcast with Scott Feinberg about the process behind the creation of The Late Late Show, and he doesn't even know how to measure his full audience: "The truth is I don’t really know how many people watch our show," he says. "I've got no idea, I couldn't tell you. But what I do know is our ratings haven't really changed whether we were following CSI: Miami or Stephen Colbert's show." Listen to the full Awards Chatter [podcast here.] Elsewhere in TV... ► Comedy Central exec shake-up. Network president Michele Ganeless is [stepping down] and will be replaced by her second-in-command, original programming president Kent Alterman. ► Bryan Cranston plans Philip K. Dick anthology. The Breaking Bad star partnered with Sony Pictures Television and U.K.'s Channel 4 to star in and exec produce a [10-part series], Electric Dreams: The World of Philip K. Dick. ► Sylvester Stallone is headed for Netflix. The streamer [ordered] a competition series from the Rocky actor titled Ultimate Beastmaster with 10 hourlong episodes and 12 competitors running obstacle courses. ► What's next for The Good Wife cast? Julianna Margulies is taking the summer off. Christine Baranski is set to appear in theaters in Trolls and wants to return to stage. Alan Cumming is developing a dark restaurant comedy at Showtime. More on [their moves here]. ► Ratings: Good Wife ends with season high. The drama improved [20 percent]in the key demo for its swan song. TV Ticker: Syfy picks up to pilot Superman prequel [Krypton] ... Adaptation in the works at IDW for [Locke & Key] ... ESPN adds Sean McDonough to [Monday Night Football]. Redstone Twist? A $100M Spying Suit The end of a trial over control of Sumner Redstone's health care is the beginning of a new legal fight between his former companion and his daughter, reports staff writer Ashley Cullins: Former companion Manuela Herzer kicked off a new round of legal actions on Monday aimed at the mogul's daughter, grandsons and several of his employees. She's suing daughter Shari Redstone for more than $100 million, claiming the elder Redstone is "a captive of a daughter whom he loathed and a nursing staff [who betrayed him.]" ► Meanwhile, Sumner Redstone's granddaughter, Keryn, compared Shari [to a vampire] in a series of tweets. Elsewhere in THR, Esq... ► A posthumous Prince publicity rights statute: Minnesota lawmaker Rep. Joe Hoppe is [proposing] a "Prince Act" so others can't exploit the legendary artist in his home state. ► Ryan Kavanaugh takes aim at Netflix. A judge is asked [to stop] the streaming giant from jumping the theatrical release of Relativity films Masterminds and The Disappointments Room. Theaters Get Superhero Relief Exhibitor results this earnings season were boosted by the super-powered box office for such films as Deadpool and Batman v. Superman, with some companies reporting first-quarter records in key metrics, Georg Szalai reports: ► Cinemark gets boost from superheroes. Before Walt Disney’s financial update after the market close, movie theater operator Cinemark reported a [38 percent]jump in first-quarter earnings amid strong North American box office. ► But comics can't save exhibitors alone. B. Riley analyst Eric Wold warns that the current quarter will be different despite some early magic. "Consensus estimates still call for flat/higher second-quarter earnings per share for AMC, Cinemark and Regal, which, we believe, seems unrealistic given the potential for a double-digit box-office decline," he said. ► An original content spending crunch. Tribune Media’s quarterly earnings fell, with spending on WGN America’s original shows [dragging down] the bottom line. Expect questions about possible asset sales. TV Producer Meets Life-Saving Donor Legendary TV producer Steven Bochco (L.A. Law, NYPD Blue) finally met the young man, 25-year-old Jon Kayne, who saved his life a year and a half ago, Rambling columnist Chris Gardner writes: Kayne had donated a stem-cell transplant, helping Bochco beat a rare form of leukemia that caused him to endure three rounds of chemo, 70 days in the hospital and a 40-pound weight drop: “When I was his age, I had my head up my ass. I never thought of doing something as [selfless as he has done.]” **Programming note — if you like what you're reading in this newsletter, think it could be improved or have any other tips/suggestions, email newsletter@thr.com. Follow The News Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.] ©2016 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. [Unsubscribe] | [Manage Preferences] | [Privacy Policy] | [Terms of Use] May 10, 2016