4 - INDUSTRY NEWS
Warner Bros.’ Executive Shuffle Overshadowed a Significant Restructuring That Should Benefit the Studio
The studio’s movies grossed $5.1 billion worldwide in 2017, but when you’re spending over $4 billion to accomplish that, and you have significant money losers like King Arthur and Geostorm sprinkled in among the smash hits, you’re simply not doing as well as you could,” writes Neil Turitz.
“As many new subscribers might have signed up for Netflix to watch Bright, and who might now stick around and become paying customers, more money would be made by putting its sequel into theaters either as part of a day-and-date release, or three works before releasing it on the streaming service,” writes Neil Turitz.
“There is a case to be made that movie studios should be decried for trying to profit off of real-life tragedies, but movies and television shows based on devastating true events have been a mainstay of pop culture for 100 years. You wouldn’t tell Steven Spielberg not to make Schindler’s List, or Paul Greengrass not to make United 93, would you? 
The first real sleeper of early 2018 may be Clint Eastwood’s thriller The 15:17 to Paris, which chronicles the true story of three American soldiers who prevented a terrorist attack on a train. The best part? The main roles are filled by the real heroes, playing themselves. The question is whether real heroes can compete with superheroes at the box office. 
Blumhouse’s slasher movie Happy Death Day joins awards favorites such as Steven Spielberg’s The Post, Guillermo del Toro’s The Shape of Water and the “beautiful” Call Me by Your Name.
“The simple truth of it is that network president John Landgraf is perhaps the finest, smartest, and most talented TV executive working right now. No matter how hard other networks try, it’s almost impossible to match FX/FXX’s recent record of success,” writes Neil Turitz.
Names like Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Louis B. Mayer, Mary Pickford and Jack Warner come to mind for the inaugural class, just to name five people who were integral to the birth and growth of the medium.
If Freeform’s upcoming Marvel series Cloak & Dagger hews closer to the superhero shows on Netflix and the CW, rather than sister network ABC’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. or The Inhumans, then it should be a winner when it debuts in 2018.
“People may be designing and buying Bitcoin, but the fact that it is not tangible would seem to imply that it remains open to potential sabotage, especially in a digital world without any regulation,” writes Neil Turitz.
One has to wonder if Disney is interested in spending the money required to help James Cameron see through his ambitious vision for Avatar, which has staked out four December release dates that would coincide with more than a few Star Wars films.
Five Christmas releases could be on the path to profitability right now if any of their distributors had opted to take advantage of the calm before the Star Wars storm. So why didn’t they? Neil Turitz questions Hollywood’s December release strategy in his new column.
Why aren’t more publications writing about the women of Time’s Up, who reportedly include Kathleen Kennedy, Oprah Winfrey, Amy Pascal, Shonda Rhimes, Reese Witherspoon, Megan Ellison and Natalie Portman?
Spike will soon relaunch as the Paramount Network, which will introduce a plethora of new shows, including Taylor Sheridan’s ranching drama Yellowstone, adaptations of the movies Heathers and The First Wives Club, the comedy American Woman from legendary creator John Wells, and the star-studded limited series Waco.
What’s the difference between Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel, Jude Law’s Mar-Vell and Zachary Levi’s Shazam, who’s also known as Captain Marvel even though he’s in the DC Comics universe? Neil Turitz, who’s a marvel in his own right, has the answer.
The thriving network has several interesting projects on the horizon, including an adaptation of Howard’s End from Oscar winner Kenneth Lonergan and starring Hayley Atwell, and the sci-fi series Counterpart starring Oscar winner J.K. Simmons.
The embattled filmmaker is at a career crossroads following Justice League‘s disappointing opening weekend, making his next movie that much more important in the eyes of the industry.
“Podcasts are sort of perfect for TV adaptations, since they have set story structures, they’re often serialized, and they come with a built-in audience, which is exactly what IP-hungry networks are looking for,” writes Neil Turitz.
It’s unclear how much money the network spent on its Twin Peaks sequel, but whatever the figure was, it doesn’t appear to have been a great investment. The 18-part series was hardly watched at all, averaging less than 300,000 viewers per episode. 
“I really like the idea of giving a single, skilled filmmaker the opportunity to oversee a story of this scale. It almost feels like a television-inspired take on things, but on the big screen it’s downright revolutionary, and it gives me hope that this could become an industry-wide trend,” writes Neil Turitz.
“Universal needs to do whatever it takes to keep Bill Condon onboard to direct Bride of Frankenstein and take the time to get the script right before moving forward with someone like Jennifer Lawrence, Scarlett Johansson or Emma Stone in the title role,” writes Neil Turitz.
With both Veep and Game of Thrones, coming to a close, there are a few projects that could potentially fill the void — chief among them, the third season of True Detective starring Oscar winner Mahershala Ali.
