Hollywood's Age Of Anxiety; Parsing a "Tough Year"; Sinclair Pain; HFPA Aids Border Refugees; Comic Con Genre Roundtable

What's news: Hollywood is trying to cope with widespread anxiety at all levels of the industry. Plus: The uncertain TV landscape, streaming leads in the U.K. and masters of genre storytelling discuss dealing with fan culture. — Will Robinson [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( July 18, 2018 What's news: Hollywood is trying to cope with widespread anxiety at all levels of the industry. Plus: The uncertain TV landscape, streaming leads in the U.K. and masters of genre storytelling discuss dealing with fan culture. — Will Robinson [On the cover:]( Disruption. Uncertainty. Consolidation. Amid unprecedented tumult in entertainment (and the world), THR talks to execs and underlings struggling to cope, the experts soothing nerves and the fortunate few who are finding peace in troubled times: "You learn to not let your stress control you." Stephen Galloway reports: + Anxiety on the rise worldwide: "The World Health Organization showed that globally the rates of depression and anxiety increased from 15 to 18 percent from 2005 to 2015," says Michelle Craske, director of the Anxiety and Depression Research Center at UCLA, a port of call for many industry members dealing with mental-health issues. + Industry shifts lead to uncertainty: The business has been rocked by the arrival of deep-pocketed digital players such as Amazon, Apple and especially Netflix that threaten to transform not only the cozy old relationships of buyers and sellers but even the way viewers consume (and pay for) product. Historic studios that once represented the pinnacle of the culture business are being swallowed by vast corporations that think nothing of merging these long-discrete entities together. + Source of the angst: For a third consecutive year, revenue in the traditional TV market (including pay TV, DVDs and VOD) will fall in the U.S., and is expected to decline through 2022. Meanwhile, OTT offerings like Netflix, Amazon and Hulu continue their robust year-over-year growth, disrupting the industry and forcing sales, takeovers and consolidation. + How to cope: People have turned to therapy, drugs and virtual reality — among other remedies — to improve their mental health. Meditation has also caught on. NBCUniversal and OWN have offered meditation programs, and even Ari Emanuel, the type-A CEO of WME, has expressed support for it — he attended an Indian retreat in 2017 and had One World Academy guru Preethaji lead a staff meditation. [Full feature.]( The "Tough Year" Ahead Uncertain landscape: In a desperate attempt to compete with Netflix (and each other), moguls like AT&T's John Stankey are talking big, flying blind and generally giving their staffs a bad case of angst, Kim Masters reports: + "Top-to-bottom transformation": Industry insiders have been anticipating this moment of disruption for a long time, but now it's really here. "We're changing out of a 20th century media paradigm, and that's what's got everyone's heads spinning," Chris Smith, a professor at USC's Annenberg School, says. + Stankey's uneasy address: The vision of Stankey telling HBO employees that they were going to face a "tough year" rattled people who have never worked for or even done a lick of business at the premium channel. "I'm old enough to remember when a meeting like that was to make people feel good," says one such executive, a broadcast-network veteran. "The whole thing was a disaster." * Why this shook outside observers: Because HBO has long been known as the crown jewel of the Time Warner empire, pulling in $516 million in profit on $1.6 billion in revenue in just the first quarter of 2018. And CEO Richard Plepler actually has the gigantic breakout show that Amazon's Jeff Bezos lusts after: Game of Thrones. + The way forward: It sounded like Stankey was urging HBO to be more like Netflix, which will spend some $8 billion this year and take on even more massive debt (currently about $6.5 billion) to create content. But Stankey's warning of a year ahead that's "not going to feel great" struck people as a tone-deaf way to motivate employees in a creative business. As one film executive who is pondering an uncertain future puts it, "The culture that is most friendly to talent is going to prevail, regardless of scale and technology. Nobody is focused on that." [Full story.]( + Other possible players: Walmart is considering launching a Netflix and Amazon Prime competitor priced below the former, Jessica Toonkel, Tom Dotan and Priya Anand report. However, the retailer is still discussing the service, which might not be realized. [[The Information](] + Fight for time spent watching: Engagement has been in both Stankey's and Netflix CEO Reed Hastings' crosshairs. Stankey made that clear during his discussion with HBO employees, while Hastings mentioned Netflix's engagement has ticked up. [[THR](; [CNBC](] Elsewhere in TV... ► Netflix gets termination of TWC output deal. Netflix will have [no obligation]( to accept delivery or make payments with respect to motion pictures, television shows, or any other content that hasn't already been delivered by July 11, including season three of MTV's Scream. ► Netflix acquires Warner Bros.' Korean tentpole. Illang: The Wolf Brigade will bow in South Korea on July 25, but Netflix will allow a 10-month [holdback time]( for streaming the actioner at home, a source close to the deal confirmed for THR on Wednesday. ► Netflix adds two film stars to Narcos. Michael Pena (Crash) and Diego Luna (Rogue One: A Star Wars Story) are set to [star]( in the fourth season of the Netflix drug-cartel drama, which will also shift the Colombia-set series to Mexico. Both will be series regulars. ► FCC roadblock halts Sinclair's growing empire (for now). The agency chief's "serious concerns" about the $3.9 billion deal could [scrap]( plans for the conservative broadcast group to dominate its U.S. rivals in local television, Jeremy Barr reports. * Plan B. Sinclair proposed changing its Tribune acquisition deal, by altering or abandoning sales of Chicago and Texas stations, to revitalize their big buy. [[Bloomberg](] ► Hulu snags Anne Rice's series. Two years after being put in development, the Vampire Chronicles TV series has [found]( a home at Hulu and has been put in development, Lesley Goldberg reports. Paramount Television and Anonymous Content is searching to replace Bryan Fuller as showrunner, who departed six months ago. ► Amazon orders up Tales From the Loop. The retail giant and streamer has handed out a straight-to-series order for a drama based on Simon Stalenhag's [art](. The series, with its eight-episode first season, will explore the town of people who live above "The Loop," a machine built to unlock and explore the mysteries of the universe. ► Charter negotiating for Manhunt. The company is in [advance talks]( with Lionsgate on a two-season order for the show, though a deal is not final, THR has confirmed. Manhunt began life as a limited series on Discovery in 2017 and would be an anthology drama detailing law enforcement's search for notorious criminals. ► Streaming rules in U.K. Streaming video have [overtaken]( traditional pay TV services in terms of subscribers in the U.K. for the first time, according to a new report from British media regulator Ofcom, reaching 15.4 million subscribers versus 15.1 million pay TV subscribers in the country in the first quarter. [Quoted](: "Well, I love Apu. I love the character, and it makes me feel bad that it makes other people feel bad. But on the other hand, it’s tainted now — the conversation, there’s no nuance to the conversation now. It seems very, very clunky." — Simpsons creator Matt Groening to the New York Times on the [Apu controversy](. ^Who Is America? hype exceeds ratings. Sacha Baron Cohen's Showtime series' 10 p.m. debut [delivered]( 327,000 total viewers and a modest 0.1 rating in the adults 18-49 demographic. While additional airings and streaming push the total just above 1 million, the first airing lags far behind Homeland and Shameless (about 1 million same-day viewers). ► Grammys 2019 set. The music awards show will [return]( to Los Angeles and air on CBS on Feb. 10, 2019. Nominations will be announced on Dec. 5. ► The CW developing Batwoman series. Greg Berlanti and Caroline Dries (The Vampire Diaries) are [developing]( the drama ahead of the lesbian character's debut in the network's DC crossover event in December. ► Authentic Entertainment co-founder departing. CEO Lauren Lexton, a trailblazer in reality TV programming, is set to [depart]( after a 18-year tenure with the production company. Helga Eike, the company's former head of development, returns to step in for Lexton. ► Univision content chief steps down. Isaac Lee, after seven-plus years at the Spanish-language broadcaster, [plans]( to start his own television production company. ► Fox settles Muhammad Ali/Super Bowl lawsuit. Fox Broadcasting and Muhammad Ali Enterprises reached a [settlement]( on the $30 million lawsuit over the boxer’s image in a Super Bowl promo, Eriq Gardner reports. ► China pulls localized SNL. China's local version of NBC's classic satire show has been temporarily [removed]( from its online streaming home, Alibaba’s flagship video site Youku. A spokesperson for Youku told THR on Wednesday that the show was "removed so adjustments could be made to its content." Netflix sets slate for first Mark Millar content. The streamer has [picked up]( two dramas (Jupiter's Legacy and American Jesus) and three feature films (Empress, Huck and new title Sharkey the Bounty Hunter) from the comic book author's Millarworld. Viacom Holding Steady No imminent change: Viacom CEO Bob Bakish on Tuesday didn't directly address his company's legal tug-of-war with CBS, but he did predict Shari Redstone's push for a recombination of the companies will not happen anytime soon, Etan Vlessing reports: + Unlikely vertical integration: Bakish discounted any talk of a vertical integration play for Viacom where, should Redstone get her way and merge CBS with Viacom, she would then sell the combined entity to a phone giant or John Malone's Liberty Media: "This whole notion of vertical integration and consolidation goes in waves. You see stuff get put together and you see stuff taken apart," Bakish told Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado. + Push for "relevant scale": "There's plenty examples of scale where there's actually no value to the combination. We see that today in some assets where they own both media and distribution, but there really isn't a lot of crossover," Bakish said. [Full story.]( * CBS and Viacom's long way to go: The fight for a Viacom/CBS merger has been intense. Vanity Fair's William D. Cohan reported on the Redstone family [drama](, while THR's Kim Masters dug into CBS CEO Les Moonves' [battle]( with Redstone. Elsewhere in film... ► HFPA gives $250K to help border refugees. The Golden Globes group, which most often donates to entertainment schools and nonprofits at its annual Grants Banquet, will [present]( the gift to legal assistance group RAICES, Joelle Goldstein reports. ► Bohemian Rhapsody trailer arrives. 20th Century Fox [dropped]( the official trailer for its Queen biopic, with Rami Malek as late frontman Freddie Mercury. ► Code Black star tapped for David Cronenberg remake. Ben Hollingsworth [joins]( Laura Vandervoort in the Soska sisters' version of the 1977 classic horror pic Rabid, currently shooting in Toronto. Back 40 Pictures is producing; Shout! Studios' Scream Factory is distributing in the U.S. ► RLJ lands Bella Thorne thriller. The Bella Thorne- and Jessie T. Usher-starring pic Ride has been [acquired]( by RLJ Entertainment for North American rights. RLJ plans a fall theatrical, VOD and digital release. ► LA Film Festival taps former AFI Fest director. Jacqueline Lyanga will [serve]( as guest director of the festival's new VR and immersive storytelling program. [Quoted:]( "[John Carpenter] tapped into something very intimate and personal and iconic. ... Going back to the simplicity of this character, it's so not extraordinary that you can forget it. It gets under your skin in this way that people keep wanting to relive." — David Gordon Green, director of the new Halloween, on legacy of Carpenter's franchise and villain Michael Myers. ^No need to take a chance. Reviews for Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again following Monday's London premiere are very positive. The musical sequel boasts a 94% score on Rotten Tomatoes and 66 on Metacritic. THR's Leslie Felperin has more reservations: "The movie’s biggest failing is that so much of its soundtrack, the very engine that propels it, is made up of far too many actual B sides, or at least lesser-known tunes from the back catalogue of [ABBA members] Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus." [Full review.]( * Headed to China. Unlike the first movie, Universal's ABBA-imbued pic will [descend]( on Chinese cinemas on Aug. 3, at the tail end of Beijing's usual summer blackout on Hollywood film imports. ► Focus Features unveils gay conversion drama trailer. Boy Erased stars Lucas Hedges as the titular young man [pressured]( to attend a gay conversion therapy program, risking losing friends and family if he doesn't. Nicole Kidman, Russell Crowe and Cherry Jones are in the cast; Joel Edgerton starred, directed, produced and wrote the film. ► Sony hires senior vp intersectional marketing. Ellene V. Miles is [joining]( Sony Pictures’ motion picture marketing team in the newly created position, charged with creating multicultural and inclusion-based strategies for all the studio’s films. She starts Aug. 13. MGM, Fox end James Bond class action lawsuit. The two companies will [pony up]( $8.7 million worth of digital copies of Casino Royale and Never Say Never Again to consumers who bought the Bond 50 box set that touted: "All the Bond films gathered together for the first time." Heroes of Horror, Sci-Fi and Supervillains Genre roundtable: With genre fare dominating the box office and ratings, THR gathered Shawn Levy (Stranger Things), Salim Akil (Black Lightning), Jason Blum (The First Purge), Jonathan Nolan (Westworld), Melissa Rosenberg (Jessica Jones), Robert Kirkman (The Walking Dead) and Simon Kinberg (the X-Men films) for a thought-provoking discussion about how the geeks have come to rule Hollywood, Rebecca Ford reports. + Taking fan feedback?: "Fanboys and girls did not love the movie [X-Men: The Last Stand]," Kinberg says. "When I wrote X-Men: Days of Future Past years later — it was a time travel story — I thought, 'Well, here's an opportunity to rewrite this mistake — bring Jean Grey back to life.' I got to go back and essentially erase a $200 million movie." + Pushing for diversity: Nolan, on finding female directors for Person of Interest's debut season: "I couldn't hire one female director. The ones that the studio and the network would sign off on were all booked. In terms of getting women in the director's chair, it goes all the way down the line. You have to hire women in your camera department, in your AD department, in your writing staff. It's up to us." [Full interview + video.]( What else we're reading... — "How The Dark Knight Gave an Actor a Brighter Life." Aaron Couch reports: "... a few years earlier, struggles with drug addiction left [David] Dastmalchian homeless, estranged from friends and family and living out of his car, sometimes parked just feet away from where [Heath] Ledger is standing." [[THR](] — "The Simpsons Wouldn't Exist Without Yellow Submarine." Matt Miller muses: "In that sense, it's remarkable that the film not only influenced a generation of cartoonists and writers but also captured the spirit of the 1960s—this notion of rigidity versus creativity and calm amid the chaos." [[Esquire](] — "Celebrities Keep ODing on Opioids and No One Cares." Benjamin Ryan opines: "The overall reaction to Prince and [Tom] Petty’s overdoses — and to the opioid-driven losses before them of such other popular performers as Philip Seymour Hoffman and Heath Ledger — has amounted to nothing much when it comes to awakening Americans to the scope of the national crisis." [[Village Voice](] — "How Sacha Baron Cohen fooled the nation’s leaders." Ben Schreckinger and Didi Martinez report: "Cohen’s team used fake identities and dummy websites, and concocted media opportunities over the course of several months. It also leaned on flattery, intrigue and the disarming use of the word 'Liberty' to reel the former congressman [Joe Walsh] into a TV appearance in which he endorsed arming young children with heavy weaponry." [[Politico](] — "Every Rob Reiner Movie, Ranked." Will Leitch and Tim Grierson settle it: "But for a stretch of nearly a decade, Reiner was part Frank Capra, part Billy Wilder. It all got away from him, but in recent years, he has shown a hankering to try different projects — projects that bring him at least a little closer to the star he once was." [[Vulture](] What else we're watching... + "Trump walks back his 'would' for a 'wouldn't.' " [[Late Show](] + "Trump blames a slip of the tongue for Putin summit debacle." [[Daily Show](] + "Lily James performed music with ABBA." [[Tonight Show](] + "Jonah Hill does karate with Joaquin Phoenix." [[Jimmy Kimmel](] From the archives... + On July 18, 1986, Ripley returned in the space actioner Aliens: "[James] Cameron isn't as concerned with scares or atmosphere, the staples of traditional horror films, as he is with setting up difficult situations for his characters to get out of, leaving audiences deliciously on edge." [Flashback review.]( Today's birthdays: Priyanka Chopra, 36, Kristen Bell, 38, Kelly Reilly, 41, Elsa Pataky, 42, Vin Diesel, 51, Wendy Williams, 54, Margo Martindale, 67, James Brolin, 78, Paul Verhoeven, 80. 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]( July 18, 2018