Super Bowl: Ratings, Top Ads, Halftime Review; Amazon's Sundance Spree; New Box Office Low; Grammy Parties

What's news: The New England Patriots won yet another Super Bowl, giving Tom Brady and Bill Belichick six rings. Plus: The best from Sundance, a dismal weekend at the box office and Jussie Smollett returns to the stage. — Will Robinson [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( February 04, 2019 What's news: The New England Patriots won yet another Super Bowl, giving Tom Brady and Bill Belichick six rings. Plus: The best from Sundance, a dismal weekend at the box office and Jussie Smollett returns to the stage. — Will Robinson ^Super snoozer: The New England Patriots beat the Los Angeles Rams 13-3 to win Super Bowl LIII, the lowest score ever for the NFL title game. + Leading the way: The win at Mercedes-Benz Stadium gave the Patriots their sixth Lombardi Trophy, [tying]( the Pittsburgh Steelers for the most Super Bowl titles. This was the Patriots' fourth Super Bowl appearance in the last five years, and the Rams' fourth appearance ever. Wide receiver Julian Edelman walked away with MVP honors. + Early ratings: Bad news for CBS. The game scored a 44.9 overnight rating, according to Austin Karp, the lowest rating since the 2009 bout between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the Arizona Cardinals (42.1). L.A. market drew a 44.6, while the Boston market garnered 57.4. [[Sports Business Journal](] + Broadcast review: "I know I keep repeating myself since last year but [Tony] Romo not taking things so NFL serious makes for such a good listen," The Athletic media reporter Richard Deitsch [tweeted]( during the game. "Yes, this is subjective: But I think [Jim] Nantz and Romo have approached this game perfectly. More humor than I've ever heard in a Super Bowl -- and rightly so." + The big spots: Game of Thrones [lands]( with fiery Bud Light crossover... Marvel [invades]( ad time with Avengers: Endgame and Captain Marvel [spots](... Hulu [dropped]( a Handmaid's Tale teaser early on... The first Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark trailers [arrive](... Toy Story 4 [brings]( playful ad... Tom Hanks [narrates]( a Washington Post spot. [Watch all the ads.]( + Maroon 5 delivers non-offensive halftime show: "Maroon 5 weren't indecent. They weren't political. They were available and willing to appear in a spotlight that [nobody wanted]( a piece of this year," Daniel Fienberg writes. "I don't know if we've seen a less interesting Super Bowl halftime since the glory years when Up With People made this event their personal playing field." [Watch]( | [Photos]( -> Adam Levine's stylist reveals secrets behind show's looks: “He’s very specific, because he moves a lot and he is energetic,” says Adam Goldman. “You can’t just throw anything on him. So we ended up with something that looks very natural and has a nice ease to it." [Details.]( * Pre-game performances: Gladys Knight [performed]( a sweeping national anthem, while Chloe x Halle admirably [took on]( "America the Beautiful." Kevin Hart, Ellie Kemper, Jon Bon Jovi among stars who hit the big game. Woody Harrelson, Danny DeVito and Sarah Hyland were among the other famous fans in Atlanta. [Photos.]( Sundance Wrap Amazon takeover: With Jen Salke at the helm, the studio spent some $47 million on five films — more money than any other studio has ever shelled out in a single year at the festival, Tatiana Siegel reports: + Fast and furious: Amazon struck first, closing a $13 million deal early on Jan. 26 for the Emma Thompson-Mindy Kaling comedy Late Night, a Sundance record-setting sum for U.S. rights. That record would be eclipsed by snagging the rights to the Scott Z. Burns political thriller The Report for $14 million, which was quickly bested with $15 million for Gurinder Chadha's coming-of-age drama Blinded by the Light. + Park City talk: Privately, Amazon's rivals were critical of the studio's seismic moves, saying that Salke was disrupting a delicate indie film ecosystem given that the fest has a poor track record of turning mammoth buys into breakout box office hits. Still, others concede that Amazon has enjoyed its biggest box office successes with Sundance acquisitions, such as Manchester by the Sea and The Big Sick. [Full story.]( Leaving Utah... + Clemency wins Dramatic Grand Jury Prize: Chinonye Chukwu’s pic, which stars Alfre Woodard as a warden at a maximum security prison struggling with an approaching execution, nabbed the top prize. [Full winners list.]( -> What is a "Sundance movie" in 2019?: This year's Sundance Film Festival featured movies both good and bad, but was — with one conspicuous area of exception — a model of inclusivity, continuing to expand and challenge its own identity, THR critics [debate](. [Top 20 films.]( Elsewhere in film... ► Glass tackles Miss Bala on worst SB weekend in two decades. Overall, domestic ticket sales for the frame plummeted to an estimated $68 million-$70 million — the worst showing for Super Bowl weekend in 19 years, and among the top 20 slowest weekends for any time of the year since 1997. It's also the rare instance where no movie made more than $10 million. [Weekend box office.]( * Good box office news: Deadpool 2 overtakes first pic with $784 million globally. The unexpected feat comes after the PG-13 cut of the film, Once Upon a Deadpool, was allowed to play in China. [Details.]( ► Tencent-backed Chinese movie ticketing app Maoyan makes lackluster IPO debut. Shares of China's top movie ticketing platform [opened]( less than 1 percent higher than its offer price. ^Roma's Alfonso Cuaron takes top honor at DGA Awards: Also honored Saturday night were Bo Burnham for Eighth Grade, and Adam McKay and Bill Hader in TV categories. [Full winners list.]( And the winners are... ► Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse wins best animated feature at Annie Awards. The Sony pic collected trophies in seven categories, including directing and writing. [All the winners.]( ► The Favourite, Black Panther, Crazy Rich Asians pace Art Directors Guild Award winners. Over the past five years, the winner of the ADG's period film category went on to win the Oscar in production design three times. During the ceremony, Rob Marshall received the ADG's Cinematic Imagery Award. [Winners list.]( ► Bohemian Rhapsody, The Favourite top editors' ACE Eddie Awards. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse, Free Solo also win trophies, while Guillermo del Toro was presented with the Golden Eddie. [Who won?]( Musical notes... ► Rapper 21 Savage detained by ICE. The rapper was purportedly "an 'unlawfully present United Kingdom national' who legally entered the United States in 2005 but was supposed to leave the next year." [[The New York Times](] From the stage... ► Tony-winning musical The Band's Visit sets Broadway closing date. The critically adored show by composer David Yazbek and writer Itamar Moses [will play]( its final performance April 7 at the Barrymore Theatre, before launching a national tour on June 25. In memoriam... ► RIP Julie Adams. The comely brunette with the cascading curls best remembered as the damsel in distress in the 1954 horror classic Creature From the Black Lagoon died Sunday at 92. [Obit.]( Coming attractions... ► Teaser: Jordan Peele drops new Us spot. The filmmaker unveiled the new 1-minutes look on Reddit on Sunday morning. [Watch.]( Rep Sheet Roundup: Songwriter, music producer and artist David Foster has signed with ICM Partners... Iris Apfel, 97,has signed with IMG Models... Digital talent agent Eman Redwan has left CAA for UTA... Ska-punk act Sublime With Rome has signed with APA... Veronica Mars’ Enrico Colantoni has signed with Wallman PR. [More here](. Enjoy reading this? Six days a week, look for Today in Entertainment in your inbox to stay up-to-date on the industry. Sign up for this newsletter (and others) at [THR.com/Newsletters](. Gadsby's Follow-Up After Nanette: Comedian Hannah Gadsby talks about returning to stand-up with Douglas, named after her beloved dog, after she said was quitting comedy in Nanette — the show-turned-Netflix special that put her on the map, Lesley Goldberg reports: + Why touring was right: "I feel like I had every opportunity thrown at me at once [after Nanette]. Everyone wanted a piece of this pie, so to speak," Gadsby says. "My whole life and world has changed, so there's no real reason to change absolutely everything. There's a certain amount of comfort in going back on stage in an environment that I'm somewhat familiar with — although it's my first U.S. tour. It's still new." + Focus of material: "It's not about Hollywood, per se. There is a little bit of insight into the clash of cultures," Gadsby explains. "In Australia, it's an understating sort of a culture. That's my chief form of communication — understatement — and I think the way I described Nanette was, 'It did alright.' (Laughing.) My time in the U.S. has been a cultural experience for me because everyone is so positive!" [Full interview.]( -> Tour dates: Gadsby premieres Douglas in Melbourne (March 27-April 7) before embarking on the U.S. tour, which will kick off April 30 in San Francisco. Elsewhere in TV... ► President Trump plays nice in pre-Super Bowl interview with CBS News. The president was interviewed by Face the Nation anchor Margaret Brennan. Trump [made headlines]( when he was asked if he would allow his son, Barron, to play football. "If he wanted to? Yes. Would I steer him that way? No, I wouldn't," Trump responded. ► Jussie Smollett takes stage in L.A. days after attack. Smollett on Saturday [performed]( a mix of songs from his debut album and Empire. “I had to be here tonight. I couldn’t let those motherfuckers win," he said to the crowd that cheered and applauded. -> How HBO is trying to make Monday its new Sunday. Josh Koblin reports on the cabler's plans to expand prime programming into the week: "'There’s obviously only so many Sundays in a year,' [Casey Bloys] said in an interview. Consider this statistic: This year, HBO will have 150 hours of original scripted content, a 50 percent increase from last year. Mr. Bloys said he anticipated that number would rise again in 2020." [[The New York Times](] ^Game of Thrones Final Path: The journey of Cersei Lannister: Responsible for a body count that rivals even the most skilled swordsmen in Westeros, Cersei Lannister stands out as the most recognizable face of human villainy still active on the HBO blockbuster. Josh Wigler ponders her future in season eight. [Spoilers.]( Digital digest... ► Gannett rejects Digital First Media's buyout. The hedge fund-backed company reportedly offered $1.4 billion for Gannett, Kimberly Chin reports. [[The Wall Street Journal](] -> "Meet the Creator of the Egg That Broke Instagram." Jonah Engel Bromwich and Sapna Maheshwari chat with London advertising creative Chris Godfrey: “It’s not really about me. It’s just about the egg and sort of where we can take it and what we can do with it.” [[The New York Times](] -> Facebook at 15: A timeline. Andrew Greiner, Seth Fiegerman, Ivory Sherman and Tiffany Baker track the history of the social media giant through its decade-and-a-half of successes and controversies. [[CNN Business](] Console wars... ► Sony reports drop in PlayStation business. "Operating income in games fell 14 percent to 73 billion yen ($666 million) for the holiday quarter. The Tokyo-based company sold 8.1 million PS4 consoles, down from 9 million a year ago." [[Bloomberg](] From the Live Feed... ► The World's Best premiere features singers, martial artists, escape artists and more. Taekwondo experts, underwater escape artists and singing preteens competed in the new talent competition from Mark Burnett and Mike Darnell, Jean Bentley details. [Recap.]( ► Russian Doll star on how that surprise arrival changes everything. Charlie Barnett, who becomes a major player mid-way through the Netflix dark comedy, talked to Jackie Strause about his turn. [Spoilers.]( Complete guide to Grammy events and parties. From Kacey Musgraves and Dolly Parton to Alicia Keys and Kendrick Lamar, find out where music stars [will be partying]( in the days leading up to Sunday's music awards show. Why The Rock Went Indie No studio buy-in: Dwayne Johnson's Seven Bucks Productions — accustomed to spearheading the actor's own massive blockbusters — tries its hand at lower budget filmmaking with the wrestling comedy Fighting with My Family, which was a surprise hit at Sundance, Rebecca Keegan reports: + Hard sell: "We got passed on everywhere. It was a small British comedy about a crazy wrestling family that wasn't famous," Johnson says. One stumbling block for studios that looked at the film was the very same issue that had dogged Johnson earlier in his career. "Wrestling is the conduit for Paige's journey," says Dany Garcia, who is Seven Bucks' co-CEO, with Johnson. "And that has a certain stigma." + Company strategy: Seven Bucks doesn't finance films itself but rather finds partners for projects that fit Johnson's distinct tastes, such as Universal's Hobbs & Shaw and Sony's Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle sequel. The company also is entering new terrain, launching a digital channel for original content like the 14-minute Millennials the Musical Johnson made with Lin-Manuel Miranda and developing material outside the studios, like a John Henry film at Netflix. [Full story.]( What else we're reading... — "How Liam Neeson Learned Revenge Doesn't Work." The actor opens up to Clémence Michallon: "I had acquaintances who were very caught up in the Troubles, and I understand that need for revenge, but it just leads to more revenge, to more killing and more killing, and Northern Ireland’s proof of that." [[The Independent](] — "Vice, BuzzFeed and the Reckoning for New-Media Companies." Keach Hagey and Lukas I. Alpert report: "Each company has its own distinct factors contributing to its problems, but the common threads are the increasingly difficult online-advertising market and pressures from investors whose influx of money came with expectations of red-hot returns." [[The Wall Street Journal](] — "One Way The Social Network Got Facebook Right." Megan Garber on the 2010 film: "[The film], as horror by another means, explores the human dimensions of the tragedy. It’s interested in misalignments of interest between the good of the network and the good of the people who populate it." [[The Atlantic](] — "Leslye Headland Doesn’t Mind Repeating Herself." Katie Knibbs profiles the writer-director — Jason Sudeikis: "You can’t deny talent. Even if someone has a different résumé or genitalia. Anybody who gives her a job is catching up to the kinetic potential she has." [[The Ringer](] — "Green Day’s Explosive Dookie, 25 Years Later." Alan Siegel reflects: "Whether or not you liked the frenetic band, it was different. That helped the trio stand out above a batch of comically moody alt-rock wannabes." [[The Ringer](] What else we're watching... + "Conan O'Brien's DNA test stunned his doctor." [[Late Show](] + "Strangers think they're best friends with Busy Philipps." [[Late Night](] + "Chris Pratt has a dirty English accent." [[Graham Norton](] What's ahead this week... Monday: Oscars nominees luncheon will be held at the Beverly Hilton... Alphabet earnings... Man With a Plan returns to CBS. Tuesday: Big earnings day: Disney, 21st Century Fox, Viacom, Electronic Arts and Snap all report... Fox premieres Alita at the Westwood Village Theatre. Wednesday: Criminal Minds season finale on CBS. Thursday: Earnings from Twitter and Spotify. Friday: Warner Bros. opens The Lego Movie 2... Cold Pursuit opens for Lionsgate... Paramount bows What Men Want... Orion debuts The Prodigy... HBO airs its 2 Dope Queens special... Hulu premieres PEN15... Netflix returns One Day at a Time. Sunday: AMC brings back The Walking Dead... BAFTA Awards... The Grammys air on CBS. From the archives... + Today in 1977: Fleetwood Mac released its signature album, Rumours, which has sold over 45 million copies since its release: "As much as the record lives on for the lore of the drugs and tangled-web heartbreak that fueled its writing and recording sessions, it's the unnervingly raw emotion and performance ... that the album's soap-opera surroundings inspired that makes it still worth writing about." [[Billboard](] Today's birthdays: Lauren Ash, 36, Hannibal Buress, 36, Jim Jefferies, 42, Rob Corddry, 48, Gabrielle Anwar, 49, Patrick Whitesell, 54, Jim O'Heir, 57, Jerry Adler, 90. Follow The News Is this email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2019 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. 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