Epstein Dead; All-Digital Actors; TV's Ad Surge; Trump Trashes 'The Hunt'; Hollywood Sneaker Culture

What's news: Jeffrey Epstein is dead, Trump trashes Hollywood, TV ad sales are strong despite cord-cutting. Plus: The rise of the all-digital actor, and a look at Hollywood's sneaker culture. --Alex Weprin [The Hollywood Reporter]( [The Hollywood Reporter]( Today In Entertainment AUGUST 10, 2019 What's news: Jeffrey Epstein is dead, Trump trashes Hollywood, TV ad sales are strong despite cord-cutting. Plus: The rise of the all-digital actor, and a look at Hollywood's sneaker culture. --Alex Weprin What's news: Jeffrey Epstein is dead, Trump trashes Hollywood, TV ad sales are strong despite cord-cutting. Plus: The rise of the all-digital actor, and a look at Hollywood's sneaker culture. --Alex Weprin [Rise Of The All-Digital Actor] Rise Of The All-Digital Actor New technologies are presenting new opportunities for filmmakers and for actors, Carolyn Giardina writes. VFX techniques now allow for actors to play a character at any age — regardless of their own. +The movies: Two tentpole films this year will test this new paradigm: Martin Scorcese's The Irishman, which will see Robert De Niro and Al Pacino playing characters in a story spanning multiple decades; and Gemini Man, in which Will Smith faces off against a version of himself that could have been pulled straight from 1996's Independence Day. +The cost: $500,000 to $1 million to create "the asset," which is "effectively a movable model of the human." $30,000 to $100,000 per shot, after the asset has been created. +The tech: "More often, filmmakers use what has been broadly described as 'digital cosmetics,' which could be thought of as a digital makeup applications — for instance, removing wrinkles for smoother skin. This means that age is becoming less of an issue when casting an actor. 'It's safer and cheaper than plastic surgery,'" says Chris Nichols, a director at Chaos Group Labs and key member of the Digital Human League, a research and development group. [The full story](. ►Just in: Jeffrey Epstein is dead. The disgraced financier died by suicide in his jail cell in New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center overnight. His body was discovered this morning. Epstein was accused of running a sex trafficking ring involving underage girls, and had been connected to a number of powerful people in finance, politics, science, and entertainment. [More](. +On Friday evening, a Manhattan federal appeals court unsealed a [number of records]( related to Epstein, including a deposition from accuser Virginia Giuffre. The deposition includes the names a number of other men that she says she was instructed to have sex with. [Tweet of the day:]( "Hey, while everyone seems to be on this Equinox thing, it might be a good time to mention that one of Trump’s largest financial contributors is the chairman of Marvel Entertainment (Isaac Perlmutter)..... jussayin." --Actor Armie Hammer, in response to the anger over Related CEO Stephen Ross' Trump fundraiser. +Ross' fundraiser was held as schedule in the Hamptons last night. Among the attendees: former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, and current Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera. [Here's what happened in the room](. +Meanwhile, in L.A.: A protest was held outside the West Hollywood Equinox on Friday afternoon, in protest of Ross' event. [More](. There's a new G.I. Joe spinoff movie in the works, Borys Kit reports. Paramount and Hasbro have Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, who wrote the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies as well as Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, writing a script for what is described as an ensemble piece. [More details here](. +Why a rebooted Blade [doesn't need]( to be rated R. ^Violent video games are back in the hot seat. In he aftermath of the shootings in Texas and Ohio, President Trump and other politicians said that violent video games may be partly to blame. Patrick Shanley takes a deep dive look at the decades-old debate. Quote: "The official ratings board for video games (the ESRB) was actually founded in 1994 in direct response to advocacy groups decrying the violence in games such as Mortal Kombat. In the intervening 25 years, politicians on both sides of the aisle have signaled rallying cries to their bases against video games and, largely, such calls have been made in response to real-world shootings." [The story](. +In other gaming news: Twitch streamer "BrookeAB" has [signed a deal](with UTA for representation in all areas... Twitch this week [released]( Twitch Studio, the company’s first broadcasting software... Box office: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is poised to reign atop the box office in its second weekend, but the race for second place is wide open. In Thursday previews, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark earned a solid $2.3 million, while family flick Dora and the Lost City of Gold earned $1.25 million, The Art of Racing in the Rain earned $450,000. [The numbers](. Elsewhere in film... --Jackie Collins' life will be [getting the documentary treatment]( from the Oscar-winning producers behind Searching For Sugar Man and One Day In September. --Lionsgate says [the follow-up comedy](from Bridesmaids duo Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, Barb and Star Go to the Vista del Mar, will hit theaters on July 31, 2020. --Baywatch is [being revived]( as a documentary feature film. Rise Of The All-Digital Actor New technologies are presenting new opportunities for filmmakers and for actors, Carolyn Giardina writes. VFX techniques now allow for actors to play a character at any age — regardless of their own. +The movies: Two tentpole films this year will test this new paradigm: Martin Scorcese's The Irishman, which will see Robert De Niro and Al Pacino playing characters in a story spanning multiple decades; and Gemini Man, in which Will Smith faces off against a version of himself that could have been pulled straight from 1996's Independence Day. +The cost: $500,000 to $1 million to create "the asset," which is "effectively a movable model of the human." $30,000 to $100,000 per shot, after the asset has been created. +The tech: "More often, filmmakers use what has been broadly described as 'digital cosmetics,' which could be thought of as a digital makeup applications — for instance, removing wrinkles for smoother skin. This means that age is becoming less of an issue when casting an actor. 'It's safer and cheaper than plastic surgery,'" says Chris Nichols, a director at Chaos Group Labs and key member of the Digital Human League, a research and development group. [The full story](. ►Just in: Jeffrey Epstein is dead. The disgraced financier died by suicide in his jail cell in New York's Metropolitan Correctional Center overnight. His body was discovered this morning. Epstein was accused of running a sex trafficking ring involving underage girls, and had been connected to a number of powerful people in finance, politics, science, and entertainment. [More](. +On Friday evening, a Manhattan federal appeals court unsealed a [number of records]( related to Epstein, including a deposition from accuser Virginia Giuffre. The deposition includes the names a number of other men that she says she was instructed to have sex with. [Tweet of the day:]( "Hey, while everyone seems to be on this Equinox thing, it might be a good time to mention that one of Trump’s largest financial contributors is the chairman of Marvel Entertainment (Isaac Perlmutter)..... jussayin." --Actor Armie Hammer, in response to the anger over Related CEO Stephen Ross' Trump fundraiser. +Ross' fundraiser was held as schedule in the Hamptons last night. Among the attendees: former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly, and current Fox News personality Geraldo Rivera. [Here's what happened in the room](. +Meanwhile, in L.A.: A protest was held outside the West Hollywood Equinox on Friday afternoon, in protest of Ross' event. [More](. There's a new G.I. Joe spinoff movie in the works, Borys Kit reports. Paramount and Hasbro have Josh Appelbaum and Andre Nemec, who wrote the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movies as well as Mission: Impossible: Ghost Protocol, writing a script for what is described as an ensemble piece. [More details here](. +Why a rebooted Blade [doesn't need]( to be rated R. ^Violent video games are back in the hot seat. In he aftermath of the shootings in Texas and Ohio, President Trump and other politicians said that violent video games may be partly to blame. Patrick Shanley takes a deep dive look at the decades-old debate. Quote: "The official ratings board for video games (the ESRB) was actually founded in 1994 in direct response to advocacy groups decrying the violence in games such as Mortal Kombat. In the intervening 25 years, politicians on both sides of the aisle have signaled rallying cries to their bases against video games and, largely, such calls have been made in response to real-world shootings." [The story](. +In other gaming news: Twitch streamer "BrookeAB" has [signed a deal](with UTA for representation in all areas... Twitch this week [released]( Twitch Studio, the company’s first broadcasting software... Box office: Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw is poised to reign atop the box office in its second weekend, but the race for second place is wide open. In Thursday previews, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark earned a solid $2.3 million, while family flick Dora and the Lost City of Gold earned $1.25 million, The Art of Racing in the Rain earned $450,000. [The numbers](. Elsewhere in film... --Jackie Collins' life will be [getting the documentary treatment]( from the Oscar-winning producers behind Searching For Sugar Man and One Day In September. --Lionsgate says [the follow-up comedy](from Bridesmaids duo Kristen Wiig and Annie Mumolo, Barb and Star Go to the Vista del Mar, will hit theaters on July 31, 2020. --Baywatch is [being revived]( as a documentary feature film. [TV's Surprise Ad Sales Boom] TV's Surprise Ad Sales Boom ►Ad sales have been a bright spot for TV companies. The growth in the TV ad market is somewhat surprising, given continued ratings troubles at many networks, and concerns over cord-cutting. Paul Bond and Georg Szalai dig into what may be behind the boom. “There appears to be some pent-up demand in the TV advertising market partly due to an influx of new buyers, including digital and direct-to-consumer companies, as well as increased digital sales,” along with new data and analytics services, says CFRA Research analyst Tuna Amobi. [The story](. ►Trump lashes out at Hollywood. During an impromptu press conference outside the White House, President Trump attacked Hollywood after being asked about the impact his rhetoric has on gun violence. "Hollywood is really terrible," he said. "You talk about 'racist.' Hollywood is racist. What they're doing, with the kind of movies they're putting out, it's actually very dangerous for our country. What Hollywood is doing is a tremendous disservice to our country." [More](. +What was he talking about? In tweets Friday afternoon, Trump suggested that the upcoming Universal film The Hunt was what spurred the comments on. "The movie coming out is made in order to inflame and cause chaos," he said. The film had been discussed on Fox News throughout the week. [More](. +Expect to see at least one Democratic presidential nominee on Fox News in the coming weeks. The campaign of New York City mayor Bill de Blasio tells Jeremy Barr that after his Hannity appearance this week, he is planning more. "The mayor is running for president to talk to stand up for all working people, regardless of what cable news they watch," the spokesperson said. "We are willing to go back to talk to working people who have been lied to by Fox News for years." [More](. In this week's TV Long View column, Rick Porter breaks down the upcoming broadcast Monday night schedules. Will any of the four new shows break out? Quote: "The 10 o'clock hour on Monday was the biggest single delayed-viewing hour in primetime last season, and there's a good chance it will repeat that feat as The Good Doctor and Bull have well-established patterns of picking up large DVR audiences. Bluff City Law may be able to hang with those two shows in the same-day ratings, but it remains to be seen whether it can even approach the massive levels of after-air viewing that Manifest did. [The column](. +In other ratings news: Discovery's Serengeti [hit a 6-year ratings high]( for TV nature documentaries... A majority of NFL teams played their first preseason games Thursday night, [inflating ratings]( across the broadcast networks as stations in a host of markets. Elsewhere in TV... --Robyn Bahr [reviews]( HBO's Our Boys. --Universal Content Productions is adapting Wondery's podcast Dr. Death for the small screen and [has tapped]( Jamie Dornan, Alec {NAME} and Christian Slater to star in the series. --Sisters Sara and Erin Foster [are joining]( Disney's 20th Century Fox TV. The duo have signed a three-year pod deal with the studio to create and develop TV projects. TV's Surprise Ad Sales Boom ►Ad sales have been a bright spot for TV companies. The growth in the TV ad market is somewhat surprising, given continued ratings troubles at many networks, and concerns over cord-cutting. Paul Bond and Georg Szalai dig into what may be behind the boom. “There appears to be some pent-up demand in the TV advertising market partly due to an influx of new buyers, including digital and direct-to-consumer companies, as well as increased digital sales,” along with new data and analytics services, says CFRA Research analyst Tuna Amobi. [The story](. ►Trump lashes out at Hollywood. During an impromptu press conference outside the White House, President Trump attacked Hollywood after being asked about the impact his rhetoric has on gun violence. "Hollywood is really terrible," he said. "You talk about 'racist.' Hollywood is racist. What they're doing, with the kind of movies they're putting out, it's actually very dangerous for our country. What Hollywood is doing is a tremendous disservice to our country." [More](. +What was he talking about? In tweets Friday afternoon, Trump suggested that the upcoming Universal film The Hunt was what spurred the comments on. "The movie coming out is made in order to inflame and cause chaos," he said. The film had been discussed on Fox News throughout the week. [More](. +Expect to see at least one Democratic presidential nominee on Fox News in the coming weeks. The campaign of New York City mayor Bill de Blasio tells Jeremy Barr that after his Hannity appearance this week, he is planning more. "The mayor is running for president to talk to stand up for all working people, regardless of what cable news they watch," the spokesperson said. "We are willing to go back to talk to working people who have been lied to by Fox News for years." [More](. In this week's TV Long View column, Rick Porter breaks down the upcoming broadcast Monday night schedules. Will any of the four new shows break out? Quote: "The 10 o'clock hour on Monday was the biggest single delayed-viewing hour in primetime last season, and there's a good chance it will repeat that feat as The Good Doctor and Bull have well-established patterns of picking up large DVR audiences. Bluff City Law may be able to hang with those two shows in the same-day ratings, but it remains to be seen whether it can even approach the massive levels of after-air viewing that Manifest did. [The column](. +In other ratings news: Discovery's Serengeti [hit a 6-year ratings high]( for TV nature documentaries... A majority of NFL teams played their first preseason games Thursday night, [inflating ratings]( across the broadcast networks as stations in a host of markets. Elsewhere in TV... --Robyn Bahr [reviews]( HBO's Our Boys. --Universal Content Productions is adapting Wondery's podcast Dr. Death for the small screen and [has tapped]( Jamie Dornan, Alec {NAME} and Christian Slater to star in the series. --Sisters Sara and Erin Foster [are joining]( Disney's 20th Century Fox TV. The duo have signed a three-year pod deal with the studio to create and develop TV projects. [Hollywood Sneaker Culture] Hollywood Sneaker Culture From the magazine: Inside Hollywood's sneaker obsession. The athletic shoes have become more than a fashion statement, with a resale market now estimated to bring in $1-2 billion annually. In Hollywood stars and executives use the kicks to show off their status and access. Quote: "Sneakers' global popularity is matched by the obsession that is cresting both in Hollywood C-suites and on film and TV sets: Mark Wahlberg, Lena Waithe, Zendaya, Kristen Stewart, Tracee Ellis Ross, Pete Davidson and Serena Williams are known to be sneakerheads who could easily talk kicks ad infinitum with execs like Makeready's Brad Weston, Macro's Charles D. King, Jason Blum and Spike Lee." [The story](. +The videos: Stranger Things star Caleb McLaughlin shows off his kicks collection. [Watch](... Oscar-nominated Little Miss Sunshine producer David Friendly shows his collection. [Watch](... THR Esq.: "With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, and possibly more, AMC could be headed to trial early next year over its zombie hit, Walking Dead," Eriq Gardner writes. "On Thursday, a Los Angeles judge expressed his inclination to begin a so-called 'mini-trial' examining the contract enjoyed by Robert Kirkman, who created the comic franchise and is one of the executive producers now suing over profits." [The story](. +Facebook must face biometric privacy class action after losing appeal. [More](. Revolving door: Disney is [installing top animation executives]( at Fox's Blue Sky. Walt Disney Animation Studios president Andrew Millstein will join Blue Sky as co-president. Meanwhile, Disney also said Friday that Zootopia producer Clark Spencer has been named president of Walt Disney Animation Studios... JP Richards has been promoted to co-president of worldwide marketing at Warner Bros. Pictures... What else we're reading... --"By design, Long Beach-set Lodge 49 is the ‘least aspirational show on TV’" [[LA Times](] --"Apple turns Central Park into an augmented reality gallery" [[NY Times](] --Some fans of Netflix's The OA believe that the show's cancelation is secretly a meta-plotline for the show. [[Truth Or Fiction](] --"The Casual, Increasingly Rare Brilliance of 2009’s A Perfect Getaway" [[The Ringer](] From the archives... On Aug. 10, 1984, MGM/UA unveiled the war drama Red Dawn, featuring Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen, in theaters. [The Hollywood Reporter's original review](. Today's birthdays: Josh Gates, 42, Justin Theroux, 48, Kylie Jenner, 22, Suzanne Collins, 57. Have a great weekend! Hollywood Sneaker Culture From the magazine: Inside Hollywood's sneaker obsession. The athletic shoes have become more than a fashion statement, with a resale market now estimated to bring in $1-2 billion annually. In Hollywood stars and executives use the kicks to show off their status and access. Quote: "Sneakers' global popularity is matched by the obsession that is cresting both in Hollywood C-suites and on film and TV sets: Mark Wahlberg, Lena Waithe, Zendaya, Kristen Stewart, Tracee Ellis Ross, Pete Davidson and Serena Williams are known to be sneakerheads who could easily talk kicks ad infinitum with execs like Makeready's Brad Weston, Macro's Charles D. King, Jason Blum and Spike Lee." [The story](. +The videos: Stranger Things star Caleb McLaughlin shows off his kicks collection. [Watch](... Oscar-nominated Little Miss Sunshine producer David Friendly shows his collection. [Watch](... THR Esq.: "With hundreds of millions of dollars at stake, and possibly more, AMC could be headed to trial early next year over its zombie hit, Walking Dead," Eriq Gardner writes. "On Thursday, a Los Angeles judge expressed his inclination to begin a so-called 'mini-trial' examining the contract enjoyed by Robert Kirkman, who created the comic franchise and is one of the executive producers now suing over profits." [The story](. +Facebook must face biometric privacy class action after losing appeal. [More](. Revolving door: Disney is [installing top animation executives]( at Fox's Blue Sky. Walt Disney Animation Studios president Andrew Millstein will join Blue Sky as co-president. Meanwhile, Disney also said Friday that Zootopia producer Clark Spencer has been named president of Walt Disney Animation Studios... JP Richards has been promoted to co-president of worldwide marketing at Warner Bros. Pictures... What else we're reading... --"By design, Long Beach-set Lodge 49 is the ‘least aspirational show on TV’" [[LA Times](] --"Apple turns Central Park into an augmented reality gallery" [[NY Times](] --Some fans of Netflix's The OA believe that the show's cancelation is secretly a meta-plotline for the show. [[Truth Or Fiction](] --"The Casual, Increasingly Rare Brilliance of 2009’s A Perfect Getaway" [[The Ringer](] From the archives... On Aug. 10, 1984, MGM/UA unveiled the war drama Red Dawn, featuring Patrick Swayze and Charlie Sheen, in theaters. [The Hollywood Reporter's original review](. Today's birthdays: Josh Gates, 42, Justin Theroux, 48, Kylie Jenner, 22, Suzanne Collins, 57. Have a great weekend! [Image] [Facebook]( [Twitter]( [Instagram]( [LinkedIn]( Is this e-mail 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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