Telluride Takeaways; Farrow Fires at NBC; 'Asians' Records; HBO's Italian Wager; Fall TV Preview

What's news: With Telluride in the books, the early Oscars race comes into view. Plus: Crazy Rich Asians busts comedy slump, Ronan Farrow responds to NBC News and HBO's Italian gamble. — Will Robinson [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( September 04, 2018 What's news: With Telluride in the books, the early Oscars race comes into view. Plus: Crazy Rich Asians busts comedy slump, Ronan Farrow responds to NBC News and HBO's Italian gamble. — Will Robinson ^Telluride's a wrap: The Awards Pundits, Scott Feinberg and Stephen Galloway, discuss the news and developments from the long weekend in the Rockies, including the Oscar chances of Roma, First Man and Cold War. + Roma's roadblocks: "Netflix, its distributor (or, more aptly, its streamer), won’t have long to celebrate [the acclaim], because it quickly needs to convince Academy members to watch a black-and-white, Spanish-language film starring nobody they’ve ever heard of. It’s a tall task, but not an impossible one. The Artist wasn’t an easy sell, either," notes Feinberg. + Split on The Favourite: "I’m predicting it’s a lock for a best-picture nomination," Galloway contends. "It’s going to scoop up a host of other nominations, too, including many below-the-line and Olivia Colman in either the lead or supporting actress category. My understanding is that Searchlight is still deciding how to classify her, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz." * Feinberg's take: "I didn’t dislike The Favourite — I’m just skeptical that an eccentric costume drama set in the 18th century about a queen and two women competing for her affection will be able to score a best picture nomination with an organization that is still 69 percent male." + Biggest surprise: "I read the book [Can You Forgive Me? is] based on when it came out years ago, and the story is so thin I never imagined it could be this well-adapted. [Melissa] McCarthy was great in an unusual dramatic role, but [Richard E.] Grant was remarkable," Galloway writes. "He’s going to be a major contender for supporting actor, which would be his first-ever Oscar nomination." [Full debate.]( + A cut above the rest: Todd McCarthy admired the Colorado fest's slate of films, but noted one major standout: "Roma, with its exquisite black-and-white visuals used to evoke highly selective and expressive youthful memories of Cuaron’s Mexico City childhood, was the one that inspired the most universal enthusiasm." [Full analysis.]( More from Telluride... + Cold War's promising uphill climb: Since it arrived at Telluride and began screening in North America for the first time on Friday, Pawel Pawlikowski's romance has only [continued]( to pick up steam. + With White Boy Rick, Matthew McConaughey could score a supporting actor nom: Otherwise, Yann Demange's first Hollywood pic, is going to be a [tough sell]( to the Academy. + Hugh Jackman angles for second Oscar nod with The Front Runner: The drama about the political [downfall]( of Gary Hart could also bring Vera Farmiga — who plays Hart's wife — her second nom for a Jason Reitman film, following 2009's Up in the Air. + Nicole Kidman's Destroyer tour de force could return her to Oscar contention: The dark drama [divided]( critics and audiences in some respects, but attracted nearly universal applause for Kidman's powerful turn, which could return the 2003 Oscar winner to the best actress race. Comedy Royalty Crazy summer gets crazier: Crazy Rich Asians closes summer with $28 million, finishing Monday with $117 million, eclipsing Girls Trip ($115.2 million) to become the top comedy in two years at the North American box office, Pamela McClintock reports: + Another strong hold: The Warner Bros. comedy's three-day gross of $22.1 represented a scant 11 percent drop from last weekend. Overseas, the rom-com opened to a stellar $5.4 million in Australia for an early foreign tally of $19.9 million and $136.9 million globally. + Rest of the top five: The Meg ($13.4 million)... Mission: Impossible — Fallout ($9.1 million)... Operation Finale ($7.8 million)... Searching ($7.7 million). [Full analysis.]( + Biggest rom-com in nine years: Crazy Rich Asians [boasts]( the top showing for a rom-com — an endangered genre, at least on the big screen— since Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds' The Proposal earned $164 million in North America in 2009, not adjusted for inflation. + Summer box office's roar: comScore predicts an uptick of 14.4 percent, the best summer-over-summer increase in at least 20 years. Domestic revenue for the May 1-Sept. 3 corridor is an estimated $4.394 billion, the fifth-best of all time. * Missed Avengers bump: It almost would be a record summer if including the first weekend of Avengers: Infinity War, which unfurled April 27. (Summer 2013 remains the record holder with $4.731 billion). Elsewhere in film... ► Mission Impossible — Fallout scores $77M, Ant-Man 2 crosses $100M in China. It was the biggest three-day bow to date for the Mission: Impossible franchise, and the best August opening ever for Imax in China, which [pulled]( in $7.4 million from the Paramount tentpole. To date, Fallout has earned $649 million worldwide. * China box office finishes summer up 16 percent; Hollywood revs slip. Imported titles had [earned]( 18.77 billion RMB by the end of summer in 2017 ($2.74 at current exchange rates), but they have taken only 15.36 billion RMB ($2.25 billion) during that period this year, Patrick Brzeski reports. ► Dave Bautista still on the fence about returning to Guardians. "To be honest with you, I don’t know if I want to [work]( for Disney... I’ve been very vocal about the way I feel. I’m not afraid to admit the way I feel," the actor said during The Jonathan Ross Show. ► Elle Fanning responds to reports of Amazon axing her Woody Allen pic. “You just have to try to come to terms with it,” she said of Rainy Day in New York. “I feel like the [experience]( that I had matters the most at the end of the day, and you do some great work and literally no one is going to see it … but that's the way it is.” ► Buzz Aldrin weighs in on First Man flag controversy. The iconic astronaut on Sunday [tweeted]( photos of himself standing on the lunar surface, planting the flag, along with a number of hashtags, including "ProudToBeAnAmerican" and "OneNation." ► Ethan Hawke, Louis Black, Charlie Sexton create record label. The trio came up with the name SexHawkeBlack for their new endeavor while [promoting]( Hawke's Sundance darling Blaze. The star of that film, Ben Dickey, will be the first musician signed to the label. ► Steve Guttenberg says new Police Academy movie is coming. [Responding]( to a Twitter user who asked the star to please film another installment and do it in London, Guttenberg responded, "Adam , the next Police Academy is coming, no details yet, but it is in a gift bag being readied!" [Quoted:]( “I don’t think I’ve ever had that orgasmic, democratic experience in the cinema. Maybe that’s my problem. I have to talk to some shrink about that. My movie The Fly, a lot of people fainted, that was very gratifying." — David Cronenberg, debating the future of cinema and streaming with Spike Lee. ^Blessing and curse of Venice. The "Floating City" is one of the world’s most picture-perfect locales, but filmmakers who attempt to shoot there must dodge backdrops of giant cruise ships, wannabe tourist paparazzi and logistical nightmares, Ariston Anderson reports: + Sights don't mean ease: In the pedestrian city there's no room for trailers or any other vehicles, logistics are a headache to map out, streets are overrun with tourists to ruin even the tightest of shots, and even with a healthy tax credit, it’s still one of Italy’s most expensive cities. * Strong benefits: Among filmmakers who manage to make it work, however, most would argue that there are many more advantages than disadvantages, such as picture-perfect period sets and unique locales. + Tourist trap: On the most controlled set, it’s impossible to account for what goes on in the waters beyond. “We had the most beautiful shots of Vanessa going through San Michele island, just in the magic hour,” says director Julien Landais. “And two motor boats sped through the canal behind her which we had to erase then in post.” + Play within the rules: Producer Enrico Ballarin says that the city is also relaxing laws to make shooting in the city even easier going forward, such as easing up on drone restrictions. “If you do things by the book,” he says, "you can always find a way to do the things you need to do." [Full story.]( More from Venice... ► Art house cinemas call for Netflix ban. CICAE, the International Confederation of Art Cinemas, [argues]( that instead of screening Netflix-backed films like Alfonso Cuaron's Roma, Venice should reserve competition slots for “works of art that will be seen in cinemas internationally.” ► Directors, screenwriters call for EU to back new copyright law. Filmmakers including Mike Leigh, Paolo Sorrentino, Agnieszka Holland and more have [signed]( the so-called Venice Declaration, calling to adopt the legislation that “puts authors at the heart of copyright and of the European cultural and creative industries, including online.” For your consideration... ► Latvia selects To Be Continued for foreign-language Oscars. Shot over the course of two years, the doc [follows]( seven children from various social backgrounds who live in different parts of Latvia in a bid to explore the skills, values and hopes instilled into them by the legacy of the past and the reality of today. * Venezuela picks The Family. Rondon Cordova's debut film, which [premiered]( in the Critics' Week sidebar at Cannes in 2017, tells the story of a father and his 12-year-old son who have to run away after the boy stabs a peer from a potentially vengeful family in the slums of Caracas, setting out on a life-changing journey. Rep Sheet Roundup: To All The Boys I've Loved Before's Anna Cathcart has signed with NMA PR. … Mother's Day screenwriter Anya Kochoff Romano has signed with ICM Partners, as has pop duo MKTO (comprised of Lost alum Malcolm Kelley and fellow actor Tony Oller). … 9-1-1 regular Oliver Stark has signed with Persona PR. [More here](. Farrow Lashes Back NBC News' detailed rebuttal: In a Monday memo, NBC News chairman Andy Lack defended the way his network handled Ronan Farrow's aborted broadcast reporting on Harvey Weinstein, to which Farrow objected, Jeremy Barr reports: + Lack's defense: "For the past nine months, it has been our belief that the ‘story’ here is about Harvey Weinstein’s horrendous behavior and about the suffering and bravery of his victims, rather than a back-and-forth between a reporter and his producer and a news network. However, we’ve watched with disappointment as unfounded intimations and accusations have traveled through media circles." + Few sources: In the memo, Lack reiterates that NBC News dubbed the Weinstein exposé unfit for air due to lack of on-the-record sources, even gathering an "independent group of the most experienced investigative journalists in our organization to review his material with fresh eyes." They, according to Lack, arrived at the same conclusion. + Farrow's rebuttal: "I've avoided commenting on the specifics of NBC's role in the Weinstein story to keep the focus on the women and their allegations. But executives there have now produced a memo that contains numerous false or misleading statements, so I'll say briefly: their list of sources is incomplete and omits women who were either identified in the NBC story or offered to be." * Farrow's former producer joins in: Rich McHugh, a former NBC News producer who worked with and backed Farrow, criticized NBC's report. "I'm not clear how NBC's report can be considered objective and thorough given I was never interviewed for the report and only learned about it when asked for comment by reporters last week," he said in part. [Full story.]( * Emily Nestor backs Farrow: Nestor says that she, along with another Weinstein accuser, Ambra Battilana Gutierrez, were willing to go on-camera with their [allegations]( against Weinstein after Rose McGowan pulled out of the story. "However, [NBC was] not interested in this interview." + Listen: THR’s Matthew Belloni and Kim Masters [debate]( the Farrow vs. NBC claims on this week’s episode of Masters’ The Business podcast. Elsewhere in TV... ► Fall TV preview: Rick Porter [examines]( potential breakouts, tough time periods and the outlook for Monday nights in 2018-19, including ABC's smash hit The Good Doctor and CBS freshman Magnum P.I. ► Roseanne Barr says she's moving to Israel when The Conners airs. "I have saved a few pennies and I'm so lucky I can go...and study with any rabbi that I can ask to teach me, and it's my great joy and privilege to be a Jewish woman," the actress said in a new podcast with Rabbi Shmuley Boteach. [More.]( ► Sky expands startup investment activity with Berlin office, $4M Israel venture fund commitment. The pay TV giant [grows]( its reach to get "access to the most relevant and exciting startups from across Central Europe, Northern Europe and Israel." ► Japan's Fukushima considering action over Netflix's Dark Tourist nuclear episode. The episode, the second in the series [released]( on the streaming giant July 20, sees New Zealand journalist David Farrier visit Japan, with just more than half of the program following him on an organized bus tour through areas near the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant. ► CNN pulls Parts Unknown episodes featuring Asia Argento. Argento, who was dating Parts Unknown host Anthony Bourdain at the time of his death in June, [appeared]( on a number of episodes of the travelogue series. "In light of recent news reports about Asia Argento, CNN will discontinue airing past episodes of Parts Unknown that included her, until further notice," the network said in a statement. ► Downton Abbey exhibition to land in Florida. Downton Abbey: The Exhibition closed Monday in New York City after a nine-month run. The exhibition, a fully immersive experience set inside the world of the Emmy-winning historical period drama from Carnival Films, is set to [land]( in CityPlace in downtown West Palm Beach on Nov. 10. [Quoted:]( "That's bullshit. It's a smaller pool and you have to do a little bit more work — you have to dig a little deeper and you have to make choices outside your comfort zone, but that's bullshit." — Kurt Sutter, on idea that hiring Latinx writers are hard to find. ^HBO's Italian bet. The network's first-ever non-English series My Brilliant Friend, produced with Italy's RAI network, is the adaptation of Elena Ferrante's novel following the friendship of two girls growing up in 1950s Naples. + Authentic details: “One of the first questions HBO asked me was to make sure that the series would be spoken in a strong Neapolitan dialect,” recalls Italian director Saverio Costanzo. “There, in that moment I understood why HBO is HBO.” + International investment: HBO has given a 10-episode series order to an Israeli drama from The Affair and In Treatment co-creator Hagai Levi and Noah Stollman, inspired by the true story of the disappearance of three teens in Israel. Israeli filmmaker Joseph Cedar (Beaufort) is directing the series. + Following Fauda: Before My Brilliant Friend, it was only HBO's international operations — HBO Europe, HBO Asia and HBO Latin America — that did foreign-language original series. Francesca Orsi, HBO’s co-head of drama, notes that the success of foreign-language shows, such as Netflix's Israeli drama Fauda, in reaching an American audience also encouraged the pay-TV giant to make the jump. + Grand scale: With some 150 actors and more than 5,000 extras, My Brilliant Friend is one of the largest and most ambitious TV series ever attempted in Europe. Production designer Giancarlo Basili built up Ferrante's world of 1950s Naples from scratch, spending four months constructing a 215,000-square-foot set recreating the 14 blocks that make up the Naples subdivision of Rione, which Elena and Lila call home. [Full story.]( Talking points... ► New Yorker festival drops Steve Bannon from lineup amid backlash. The news came after several famous faces, including Judd Apatow, Jim Carrey, Patton Oswalt and John Mulaney, all tweeted that they were canceling their scheduled appearances at the event. The New Yorker [tweeted]( late Monday that Bannon's removal was New Yorker editor David Remnick's decision. In memoriam... ► RIP Carole Shelley. The Tony Award-winning actress [portrayed]( one of the giddy Pigeon sisters in the stage, film and television versions of Neil Simon's The Odd Couple. She died Friday at 79. ► RIP Susan Brown. The actress was best known for her role as Dr. Gail Adamson {NAME} on General Hospital. She [died]( at 86 Business of college sports trial starting. On Tuesday, college athletes deliver opening statements in a potential landmark lawsuit aimed at stopping the NCAA from enforcing rules that limit compensation or benefits, Eriq Gardner reports. [Details.]( 'Taxi' Turns 40 Bright and fast: The cast and crew of the seminal series Taxi recall working with Andy Kaufman, the wild parties and two cancellations as the ABC-turned-NBC sitcom celebrates 40 years since its series debut, Marc Freeman reports: + The origin: "There was an article in New York magazine about a cab company where everybody worked at night because they wanted to be something else," James L. Brooks says. "They were chasing dreams while locked in a hard reality made better by their relationship with each other. It's comedy with a Eugene O'Neill element in it." + Dealing with Kaufman: "I had an attitude with him for a long time," Tony Danza recalls. "I grabbed a fire extinguisher once when he was late and started shooting him with it. He just stood there. I couldn't get a rise out of him. Later, I saw his show where he took the audience out for milk and cookies afterward. I realized he was trying a different kind of comedy. It was so brave and amazing." [Full story.]( What else we're reading... — "Norm Macdonald, Still in Search of the Perfect Joke." Dan Brooks profiles: "Two decades later, he has yet to recapture the fame he enjoyed when he left [SNL]. To his thinking, though, he has moved steadily closer to his own ideal of what comedy can or should be." [[New York Times Magazine](] — "Amazon Sets Its Sights on the $88 Billion Online Ad Market." Julie Creswell reports: "Thanks to its wealth of data and analytics on consumer shopping habits, [Amazon] can put ads in front of people when they are more likely to be hunting for specific products and to welcome them as suggestions rather than see them as intrusions." [[New York Times](] — "What Do You Expect From Jonah Hill?" Adam Sternbergh details: "[Superbad] was over ten years ago, but it’s possible that this version of Hill — the portly, funny, teenagerish, brash comedic actor — is still the one embedded in your head. ... But I should warn you: That version of Jonah Hill is about four versions of Jonah Hill ago." [[Vulture](] — "How the Magazine Industry’s Identity Crisis Is Playing Out on Its Front Page." Alyssa Bereznak writes: "Magazines may not be nearly as fat and happy as they were before the internet, but they live on, sometimes even after they’ve officially left their print corpses." [[The Ringer](] — "Point Break Is the Greatest Female-Gaze Action Movie Ever." April Wolfe revisits: "The 1990s would be the decade of the soft-boy heartthrob, and the then-27-year-old actor [Keanu Reeves'] casting was Exhibit A; only a few years earlier, the role would have gone to a more brutish, lone-wolf figure like Jean-Claude Van Damme. ... Reeves, on the other hand, possessed a mug so boyish and vulnerable, one could believe a razor had never touched it." [[Rolling Stone](] What's ahead this week... Tuesday: BET's miniseries The Bobby Brown Story begins... FX revs Mayans MC... USA begins The Purge. Wednesday: The CW brings Back to School Just for Laughs. Thursday: The NFL season kicks off with the Atlanta Falcons at the Philadelphia Eagles on NBC. ... New York Fashion Week begins. Friday: New Line's latest scare his with The Nun... STX Entertainment features Jennifer Garner as the action hero of Peppermint... Netflix bows its latest rom-com Sierra Burgess Is a Loser... The Stand Up to Cancer telethon airs on the big four plus certain cable outlets. Sunday: Jim Carrey returns to TV in Showtime's Kidding... HBO's The Deuce starts season two... Fox's Rel, starring Lil Rel Howery, debuts. From the archives... + On Sept. 4, 1972, Bob Barker first told fans to come on down on The Price is Right. In its 40-plus years on the air, the game show has become a life goal for some: "For every American who dreams that a singing voice, dance skills or back-stabbing boardroom tactics will earn him a piece of prime-time fame, thousands more have dreamed smaller, longing only to guess the price of a sectional couch or a pint of heavy cream." [[New York Times](] Today's birthdays: Kyle Mooney, 34, Whitney Cummings, 36, Beyoncé, 37, Max Greenfield, 38, Wes Bentley, 40, Ione Skye, 48, Noah Taylor, 49, John DiMaggio, 50, Damon Wayans, 58. 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]( September 4, 2018