Understanding the film business / Awards

[jo]

From the WASHINGTON POST --

Fox had a massive day at the Golden Globes. Now it all could end.


By Steven Zeitchik December 12 at 5:00 AM

(Matt Sayles/AP)
When the Golden Globes announced its nominations Monday, it offered a tale of two cities.
In one camp was 21st Century Fox. The company had nothing less than a dominating performance. The three most nominated movies of the day — “The Shape of Water,” “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri” and “The Post” — all came from Fox units. (The most-nominated among them was “The Shape of Water,” the Guillermo del Toro 1950’s-era genre mashup, with seven.) The studio also scored three nominations for the Hugh Jackman circus musical “The Greatest Showman.”

Collectively, Fox had 27 film nominations — more than twice the nearest competitor (Sony, with 12). Sister company FX also had eight nominations on the TV side, driven primarily by “Feud” and “Fargo.” That was good enough for third place, behind just HBO and Netflix. “This Is Us,” produced by Fox’s TV studio division, had three nominations of its own.



In a very different camp sat Disney. The entertainment giant didn’t, well, have much of anything at all. It’s not really in the awards business anymore.

The company landed just two nominations on the film side and three, via ABC, in TV.
This isn’t an idle contrast. Disney is poised to buy much of Fox — both the entire film studio operation and FX. Which means the 2017-2018 Golden Globes powerhouse is about to undergo a major transformation. It raises the question: What would happen to productions like these in a combined Disney-Fox?

The generous read would be that they’d do just fine because Fox complementarily has movies and shows that Disney doesn’t traffic in. Disney could take advantage of Fox’s foothold in this area to beef up its offerings with original intellectual property.


More realistically, according to analysts and insiders, is Disney would take long, close looks at many productions like these, and many of them would struggle to exist in a studio focused on secure, promising productions.
That’s because most of these original movies, though costing a lot less than the sequels and brand-driven productions Disney specializes in, come with much greater risks.

Disney executives, for example, would have loved “Hidden Figures,” the 2016 box-office phenomenon that had a lot of awards traction too. But would they want “Battle of the Sexes” or “PattiCakes,” two highly touted 2017 Searchlight releases that fizzled both with voters and at the box office? Prestige filmmaking is a dice toss even in the best of years. A company like Disney that seeks brands and safety might not want to bother.
In fact, the last time it was seriously in the specialty film game was more than a decade ago, with Miramax. And that didn’t end so well.

Fox’s resurgence has been driven by Stacey Snider, the Universal and DreamWorks veteran who has restored Twentieth Century Fox’s luster with the kind of mainstream but award-friendly material embodied by “The Post.” She also has continued to offer broad support to Fox Searchlight, the long-standing specialty division run by Nancy Utley and Steve Gilula, that has relocated its awards momentum of a few years ago with “The Shape of Water” and “Three Billboards.”



But where will this be in a combined Disney-Fox? Experts say Snider is likely to leave in a merger; she wouldn’t have the necessary latitude with Disney chief Alan Horn already in place. How much Twentieth Century Fox would even exist as a separate studio remains up in the air.

Searchlight, one of the longest running and most successful of Hollywood’s specialty divisions, could continue, though with what staff and mandate also remains an open question.

With some three dozen nominations, Fox could point to the Golden Globes as one of the best arguments for being desired by Disney.

Or it could be its last hurrah.

This is all very sad!

The Murdochs are not just cashing in their investments -- they are selling out a legacy of filmmaking!

But it is also partly the fault of movie audiences -- it is not just the super-young who enjoy the Disney and Disneyfied movies -- there is a seeming infantilization of tastes! Mature people have changed their tastes to something more sophomoric! So much so that while the awards community still shun away from movies made for the tweens and teens, the audiences are lapping them up more and more.

So, will FOX soon churn out the type that made Mr. Mouse rich and popular? The mouse caught the fox in a fox hunt!

Sigh!

Jo

[jo]

Implications of mergers and acquisitions on corporate redundancies --

there's a new movie with a title that is very apt for expected layoffs when company fat arises from combination of similar operations -- it's called DOWNSIZING ... and not as envisioned in the film world of Matt Damon


beta.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-fox-disney-fallout-20171213-story.html

[jo]

Wall Street Journal reports on the finalization of the Disney/Fox deal --

www.wsj.com/articles/disney-finalizing-pact-to-acquire-assets-from-21st-century-fox-1513203075?mod=e2tw

Disney Nears Pact to Acquire Assets From 21st Century Fox

Deal would value assets Disney is acquiring at $60 billion, including debt

The deal would augment Disney’s collection of franchises, including Marvel’s X-Men superheroes, to which Fox has had big-screen rights since the 1990s. Photo: 20th Century Fox/Everett Collection

By Ben Fritz, Dana Mattioli and Joe Flint
Updated Dec. 13, 2017 7:39 p.m. ET


Walt Disney Co. is close to a deal to acquire a large piece of 21st Century Fox Inc., people familiar with the situation say, in a pact that could help the entertainment giant accelerate its ambitions in streaming media, shore up its television business and grab hold of lucrative movie franchises.

The deal, expected to be announced Thursday, would value the assets Disney is acquiring at $60 billion, including debt. Those assets include the Twentieth Century Fox movie and TV studio, cable channels including regional sports networks and key international properties. They don’t include properties such as Fox News and broadcast assets.

The pact would value 21st Century Fox as a whole at around $40 a share, the people said. Disney would pay $28 to $29 a share for Fox assets, and the all-stock deal would leave Fox investors owning about 25% of the enlarged Disney, one of the people said.

21st Century Fox’s shares closed at $32.75 Wednesday.



Most of the assets Disney is buying would be put to use in Chief Executive Robert Iger’s quest to transform his company into a streaming-video giant that can go head-to-head with rivals such as Netflix Inc. He wants Disney to have its own relationships with consumers and a broad array of content to offer them online.


Heard on the Street: Fox-Disney Deal May Get Penalty


Behind the Murdochs’ Sale Talks: Scale, Price and Family Dynamics



Mr. Iger also wants to strengthen Disney’s largest business, television, which has taken a hit as consumers cut back on traditional cable packages and spend more time with digital providers.

The deal would mark a significant turn for Rupert Murdoch’s media empire after decades of expansion that created a titan in the entertainment industry. The remaining Fox assets, which would be spun off as part of the transaction, would include the Fox News cable channel, the Fox broadcast network and the Fox Sports 1 sports channel. Fox also will retain real estate including its studio lot in Los Angeles, people familiar with the situation say.

Mr. Murdoch has contemplated eventually merging the remaining Fox assets with News Corp, parent of The Wall Street Journal, people familiar with the matter say. The Murdoch family owns 39% voting stakes in both companies. Such a merger is unlikely in the near term given complexities including how to manage the potential tax bill, the people say.
21st Century Fox had other suitors for its assets, including cable giant Comcast Corp. One reason it leaned toward Disney was the perception that the deal wouldn’t face as much scrutiny from antitrust enforcers, a person familiar with the matter said.


The Justice Department has sued to block AT&T Inc.’s attempt to purchase Time Warner Inc., signaling that a deal in which a major content distributor, such as Comcast, is buying a big content company could be heavily scrutinized.


The Disney-Fox deal raises the prospect of a future in which media is dominated by a few giants: Comcast-owned NBCUniversal, a combined Disney-Fox, and—if it survives the legal battle with the government—AT&T. A group of smaller companies, including CBS Corp., Viacom Inc., Sony Pictures Entertainment and Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. , could look to do their own deals to gain more scale and leverage in the industry.

Media companies like Disney and Fox are increasingly concerned that the biggest competitive threats in the future won’t come from rival media conglomerates, but rather from technology companies. Netflix and Amazon.com Inc. are building substantial subscription businesses by reaching consumers directly and are investing huge sums in original programming. Meanwhile, Facebook and Google are winning an overwhelming share of digital advertising dollars.


The growth of Netflix and Amazon, in particular, has changed the equation for Mr. Iger. Since becoming CEO in 2005, he has made Disney the most successful collection of brands in Hollywood due in large part to the $7.4 billion purchase of Pixar Animation Studios and subsequent deals for Marvel Entertainment and Lucasfilm Ltd., the maker of “Star Wars,” each for more than $4 billion.

The popular franchises Disney gained in those deals—including Toy Story and the Avengers—have made it the envy of other entertainment companies and have driven substantial growth in its theme parks and consumer-products divisions.

Disney’s television business has faced struggles. It generated two-thirds of the company’s operating income in fiscal 2012 but has fallen rapidly to less than 47%. Cord-cutting and falling ratings for traditional TV networks have battered that business, pressuring Disney’s stock price.

Disney Chief Executive Robert Iger, at left, and Rupert Murdoch. Photo: (l) Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg; (r) Stefan Wermuth/Reuters


To address that challenge, Mr. Iger in August announced Disney is making direct-to-consumer streaming services its top priority. The company is launching one called ESPN Plus, meant to supplement its cable sports giant’s TV offerings, in 2018. The following year, Disney plans to launch a family entertainment service that will include most of its movies and television shows, many of which it currently sells to Netflix in a deal that will expire next year.


Disney also spent nearly $2.6 billion for majority control of streaming technology BamTech, which is powering its new digital services.


The Fox acquisition is an acknowledgment by Mr. Iger that Disney will need more help to seize control of the digital moment. With Fox, his company will gain more market power to compete against Netflix and other digital giants and a larger, more-diverse collection of content to offer on streaming platforms.


Buying Fox also would further augment Disney’s collection of franchises. It would gain “Avatar,” which is already represented in the Walt Disney World theme park in Florida under a licensing deal, and Marvel’s X-Men superheroes, to which Fox has had big-screen rights since the 1990s.

Disney would get majority control of Hulu as well, giving it another streaming service to complement the one it is launching in 2019.

A purchase of Fox also would help Disney strengthen its existing television business. Fox’s Twentieth Century Fox Television is one of the industry’s most prolific producers with successful shows on every major broadcast network. Its hits include NBC’s “This Is Us” and ABC’song-running “Modern Family.”

Disney also will get Fox’s biggest television asset—the animated hit “The Simpsons.”which has generated billions in revenue for the company

The addition of 22 regional sports networks will make Disney an even more-potent force in sports programming and potentially give it more leverage in negotiating distribution deals with cable and satellite operators. ESPN will also now be able to use Fox’s regional sports network as a promotional platform.

Acquiring Fox’s 39% stake in the European broadcaster Star will give Disney a much needed footprint in key regions including the United Kingdom, Italy and Germany. Fox has a deal being reviewed by regulators to acquire the 61% of Sky it doesn’t own.


Fox’s Star India is one of the fastest-growing programmers with revenue of $1.3 billion, up from $570 million in 2010. Its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization are projected to grow from $230 million in the most-recent fiscal year to $1 billion by 2020.

Mr. Iger was previously scheduled to retire from Disney in July of 2019, but as part of this deal he will stay longer to help integrate the assets, people close to the negotiations have said.


—Liz Hoffman contributed to this article.
Write to Ben Fritz at [e-mail], Dana Mattioli at [e-mail] and Joe Flint at [e-mail]

[jo]

Insightful article on what the Disney/Fox deal is mostly about --

www.polygon.com/2017/11/6/16614502/disney-fox-marvel-netflix-hulu-streaming

Disney’s interest in Fox was less about X-Men, and more about Futurama (update)

The word “streaming” is key

By Julia Alexander Updated Dec 14, 2017, 7:27am EST



Fox
Update (Dec. 14): It’s time to put this theory to the test. Disney has announced that it will acquire a majority of 21st Century Fox assets, including the rights to X-Men, Avatar, FX Networks, The Simpsons, and yes... Fox’s investment in Hulu.

Reported conversations that took place between Disney and 21st Century Fox were never about Disney acquiring the X-Men; they were always about Disney clutching Futurama.


An article from CNBC alleges that Disney executives held talks with 21st Century Fox higher ups to discuss the possibility of an acquisition. The deal would give Disney the rights to big film properties, like the X-Men, and television series, such as Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Futurama. It’s the former that seems more exciting, finally giving comic book fans the X-Men/Avengers team-up they’ve been waiting for, it’s the smaller screen series that Disney is justifiably more interested in.


Why? One word: streaming.

Disney announced this year that it was removing its content from Netflix in 2019. This included major franchise films, like Star Wars and Marvel Studios projects. Instead of bringing the films to Hulu, a company that Disney has a 30 percent stake in, Disney’s CEO, Bob Iger, confirmed the company was gearing up to launch its own streaming service.

The news wasn’t too big of a surprise; Disney announced in August 2016 that it had acquired a minor stake in BAMTech, purchasing even more of the company a year later to earn a majority stake. The technology used in BAMTech, an offshoot of the MLB’s Advanced Media, which made waves in 2002 after livestreaming a baseball game to the web, and would become the foundation for Disney’s stand-alone streaming service.

With the technological base already built and a plethora of original films to offer potential subscribers, Disney was only missing one aspect: a foundation of series that people would want to return to time and time again.
It’s not that Disney didn’t have some of this content already, but to get people to pay an additional $8 a month — on top of their subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu, YouTube Red and HBO Now among others — 30 or 40 series wouldn’t do.

“You have to think of the Disney app as a traditional SVOD [streaming video-on-demand] service,” Bob Iger said, as reported by The Hollywood Reporter. And what people want from their traditional SVOD service is to watch their favorite series again and again.


Disney has already accomplished this on the film side. Iger confirmed in the same Hollywood Reporter story that offerings from all of Disney’s arms — past, present and future — would be made available to subscribers, adding that “it will have the entire output of the studio, animation, live action at Disney, including Pixar, Star Wars and all the Marvel films.”
Add in three or four direct-to-streaming original movies, four or five original series and Disney’s already in pretty good shape. Iger reportedly said the streaming service would launch with “500 films from the Disney library ... in addition to around 7,000 episodes of Disney TV.”


All in all, not bad; but what if it could be better?

What if The Simpsons, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Futuama, Family Guy, American Dad, New Girl, How I Met Your Mother, Bob’s Burgers and a sea of other shows could also be on the streaming service? ABC’s publicity team refer to this type of nostalgia-induced watching “Timeless TV.” There’s something comforting about putting on an episode of Friends or Gilmore Girls and being able to just sit back and enjoy. That doesn’t take away from groundbreaking original series like The Handmaid’s Tale or Transparent, but there’s something about watching the same episode of How I Met Your Mother over and over again that feels refreshing.

“Most people also want TV to be entertaining and not feel like work,” Lisa Holme, Hulu’s vice president of content acquisition, told the LA Times. “Nostalgia programming is [like] comfort food.”

That’s what Fox’s catalogue of TV offers to Disney subscribers: an assortment of comfort television to choose from. Disney doesn’t need Fox’s catalogue of titles to survive, but having them doesn’t hinder the company. It might even make the sale of yet another streaming service more appealing to a college student who just wants to watch Futurama without struggling to find a service that carries it.

CNBC noted in its original report that talks are no longer ongoing between the companies, but they could pick it up at any time. Although the idea of Disney having a monopoly on the entertainment industry terrifies me, the realization that I could have almost all my shows on one streaming service — finally — is kind of exciting.

[jo]

So, what's happening at FOX itself ?




www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-fox-deal-marks-seismic-shift-hollywoods-studio-system-1067517



www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/disney-fox-merger-fox-film-chief-stacey-snider-tries-calm-troops-1067738

[jo]

Mike Fleming of DEADLINE.COM shares his outlook of the film industry in 2018 ( which he thinks will be dominated mainly by the implications of the FOX-Disney deal and the continuing interest on the harassment issues) --

deadline.com/2018/01/hollywood-movie-industry-outlook-2018-fox-disney-sexual-harassment-streaming-services-1202234258/


It seems no one in Hollywood is happy or optimistic about the fallout from the FOX-Disney deal.

[jo]

THR reports on how the studios fared in 2017 and future outlook --

www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/box-office-get-ready-hollywoods-shrinking-studio-system-1071457

[jo]

A review of the 2017 box office performance from the international market --

deadline.com/2018/01/highest-grossing-movie-studios-of-2017-record-international-box-office-chart-1202234746/

[jo]

Tracking Board reviews the potential impact of the GOLDEN GLOBES wins on how the OSCAR nominations and wins might shape up --

www.tracking-board.com/what-does-the-lack-of-golden-globes-love-mean-for-the-film-shut-outs/

[jo]

Since CHINA is the largest overseas market, this is an interesting read on the Policies in CHINA for foreign films. It was from a year ago but since no new agreements with the accompanying regulations have been approved, this serves as basic information --

chinafilminsider.com/foreign-films-in-china-how-does-it-work/?utm_source=China+Film+Insider+Newsletter+Update&utm_campaign=1840398524-Sunday+%2801%2F07%29+Newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_9a066b9dc2-1840398524-226845293

[jo]

Comcast may make another offer bid for FOX assets --

www.wsj.com/articles/comcast-considers-reviving-pursuit-of-fox-after-higher-bid-was-rejected-1518397892?mod=e2tw

By Amol Sharma and Shalini Ramachandran
Updated Feb. 11, 2018 8:36 p.m. ET


Cable giant Comcast Corp. CMCSA 1.00% is contemplating reviving its pursuit of 21st Century Fox , FOX 3.23% after its bid for the company’s entertainment assets was turned down despite being over 15% higher than that of eventual buyer Walt Disney Co. DIS 1.72% , according to people familiar with the situation.

Disney struck a deal with Fox in December, agreeing to pay $52.4 billion in stock. Fox turned down a Comcast offer that was in the low-$60 billions range, the people said. The assets on the table in both offers were essentially the same, including the Twentieth Century Fox movie and TV studio, international pay TV properties and some U.S. cable networks.
Fox’s primary concern about the Comcast bid was that a tie-up between the companies would face significant antitrust risks, people familiar with the discussions said.

A Comcast acquisition of Fox would be a “vertical” deal adding more cable TV channels to a company that also is a powerhouse in channel-distribution. The government signaled concerns about vertical deals when it sued to block AT&T Inc.’s acquisition of Time Warner Inc., a case that heads to trial next month. Some Wall Street analysts noted the potential roadblocks in Washington to a Comcast-Fox deal.

Comcast believed it had offered substantial protections in its offer against antitrust risk, some of the people familiar with the situation said.



Fox executives positioned the Disney deal as a chance for its investors to benefit from Disney’s vast content machine and plans to battle the likes of Netflix Inc. with direct-to-consumer streaming services. After an asset sale, the remaining “new Fox” would have properties including the Fox broadcast network, Fox News and Fox Sports 1.



21st Century Fox Chief Executive James Murdoch, son of Executive Chairman Rupert Murdoch, may get a position at Disney if the deal is completed. It is also possible the younger Mr. Murdoch could strike out on his own.

The Murdoch family controls a 39% voting interest in both 21st Century Fox and Wall Street Journal-parent News Corp.
A Disney spokeswoman didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.



Comcast may choose to take no further action. One key development that could influence its thinking is Fox’s release of a proxy statement on the merger, which would likely indicate the general process that led up to sealing a deal. It is unclear when Fox will file its proxy with regulators, ahead of a shareholder vote on the deal.

Though such documents don’t generally use specific company names, they can reveal how many bidders were serious contenders. Comcast will be looking for whether the proxy is clear that its bid was far higher than Disney’s, and for signs that it was considered seriously, some of the people familiar with the situation said.


Another key factor is the AT&T-Time Warner case, as earlier reported by CNBC. If the deal survives the government’s challenge, Comcast would be emboldened because it would believe Fox’s argument of antitrust risk in a Comcast-Fox deal would be weakened, those people said.

Comcast might be prepared to offer protections to Fox such as agreeing to remove certain assets from the deal that prove controversial in Washington, including regional sports channels, one of the people familiar with the situation said. It is also possible that instead of re-engaging in pursuit of all of the Fox assets, Comcast could zero in on something in particular, such as European pay TV giant Sky, some of the people said. Fox’s attempt to purchase the remaining 61% of Sky it doesn’t own has run into turbulence in the U.K.

Comcast, like Disney, believes Fox’s assets could help it bulk up in content production, get more exposure to growing international assets like Fox’s Star India, and allow it to increase its stake in online video service Hulu, which is co-owned by Comcast, Disney and Fox. Consolidation in the cable and media industries has pressured companies to explore big transactions.

There are a range of factors that can influence a company’s decision to turn down a higher purchase offer. In stock deals, the future value of the buyer’s stock is an issue, as is the control powerful constituents would have.
Comcast has a dual-class share structure that gives Chief Executive Brian Roberts one-third of the shares’ combined voting power, while Disney has only one class of shares. The Murdoch family would be influential shareholders at Disney.

Write to Amol Sharma at [e-mail] and Shalini Ramachandran at [e-mail]

[jo]

Why are Hollywood and critics asking these questions ?


deadline.com/2018/02/three-weeks-out-oscar-audience-caught-napping-1202284787/comment-page-2/#comments


www.nytimes.com/2018/02/09/movies/why-do-you-love-the-greatest-showman.html



Is there a growing disconnect between what Hollywood/filmmakers are offering as film fare and what audiences prefer for their entertainment?

Maybe the filmmakers should revisit their cinematic purpose and place less emphasis on their personal artistic expressions and look for artistic material that resonate with audiences!

[jo]

Should studios sell to Netflix or risk a theatrical run?

www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/hollywoods-movie-dilemma-gamble-at-box-office-sell-netflix-1086706


Assuming a production budget of less than $ 100 million is a yardstick --

For a movie like THE GREATEST SHOWMAN, it would be a no-brainer. A splashy musical deserves the big screen treatment (An Imax screening is even better!) ... the sights and sounds and Hugh Jackman on a big wide screen -- it does not compare

Plus would you rather sing along with your private TV or join other Showman fans doing it live


Jo

[jo]

The critics are doomed!

Not really -- but their power has been officially reduced at the Cannes Film Festival!

hollywood-elsewhere.com/2018/03/yea-nay-press-power-officially-reduced-cannes/

[jo]

Cannes has banned NETFLIX to compete for an award...but can show movies as Not In Competition --

www.vulture.com/2018/03/netflix-films-have-been-banned-from-competing-at-cannes.html

[jo]

Some controversies over NETFLIX as a vehicle for Oscar award eligibility --

variety.com/2018/film/news/steven-spielberg-netflix-movies-oscars-1202735959/

[jo]

Home entertainment now becomes a major component of the movies market.

www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/mpaa-touts-netflix-streamers-driving-growth-movie-spending-1099560

[jo]

Growth in domestic vs international market for Hollywood movies --

www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-04-04/hollywood-benefits-from-growth-in-markets-targeted-by-trump

[jo]

More details on home entertainment --

www.darkhorizons.com/mpaa-report-discs-dying-as-digital-soars/


It says physical discs are waning compared to digital release or streaming --

Er... how do you give a digital order as a gift? A disc looks more like a present than a document... And if you happen to run into Hugh ( fat chance, I know ), how do you get him to sign your copy


Maybe at some point, it will become more of a specialized product like a much sought-after VINYL record of the soundtrack?


Jo

[jo]

The Disney/Fox deal will likely be completed likely only a year or so from now --

deadline.com/2018/04/disney-fox-merger-close-idate-summer-2019-fbc-diet-fox-peter-rice-1202363025/


I still feel sad about this, if it means that a film studio like FOX known for its successful varied programming over the years may lose its corporate mission and get dissolved under the only-family-friendly-fare Disney umbrella! So much for artistic versatility for the filmmaking art!



Jo

[jo]

Further streamlining of the AMPAS rules, to be effective this coming awards season --

deadline.com/2018/04/academy-awards-rules-changes-oscars-1202375630/

[jo]

Not sure where to post the account of FOX presenation at CinemaCon 2018. To complicate matters, it seems Hugh joined in a video presentation for theatre exhibitors.

There were also some bittersweet notes as the FOX team made their final presentation as FOX, given the impending Disney purchase!



deadline.com/2018/04/deadpool-2-20th-century-fox-a-chorus-line-chris-aronson-1202377295/

20th Century Fox Kicks Off With Deadpool ‘A Chorus Line’ Number; Stacey Snider Talks Disney-Fox Merger – CinemaCon
by Anthony D'Alessandro

and Amanda N'Duka

April 26, 2018 10:17am


20th Century Fox always starts their CinemaCon presentations with a musical number, and this year it was A Chorus Line of girls in red bustiers dancing along to that Broadway show’s signature song “One” as Deadpool himself came twirling on stage. This was followed by Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) beaming in via video saying that he can’t be there, and that Fox distribution chief Chris Aronson was running late.


Deadpool greeted the exhibitors in the room by saying “when do we get this self congratulatory orgy of non-exhibitionists going?” Aronson than wakes up in bed in a The Greatest Showman get-up and says “I’m totally fucked.”

Hugh Jackman joins the duo in the hotel room, and Deadpool tells him “it looks like Comcast really dodged the bullet” which received a number of laughs from the room. More Disney-Fox merger jokes: a costumed Pluto wakes up in the background of the video and makes his way out amidst debris.


“You try staying up and drinking with those pricks,” said Aronson taking the stage, “at least I don’t have to wear spandex.” Aronson has appeared in Vanilla Ice get-up at previous CinemaCons and has always been a gamer in regards to hamming it up during the studio’s sessions here at Las Vegas.


Motion Pictures boss Stacey Snider,on the Disney-Fox Merger said “we face a potential merger and its lasting implications on the movie business and I have no more insights than you do.” That said she touted the studio’s finesse with sleepers like The Greatest Showman and Fox’s history of pushing boundaries with such non-IP fare. Snider then threw it to a Fox sizzle reel of their greatest hits including Sound of Music, Patton, Empire Strikes Back, Broadcast News, Cleopatra, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Alien, The King and I , etc.

The Fox intro fanfare from Newman soared, and the room here erupted with cheers.

The electricity in the room is bittersweet: This could be Fox’s final CinemaCon session with the merger on the horizon. “I can’t believe it’s been a century of working together with you,” Aronson said on behalf of the studio to the exhibs in the room. He called out and thanked key executives on his Fox team and theater chain executives, giving them props. “It’s an honor to get to work with you and your teams,” said Aronson and then declaring, “We and so many others are 20th Century Fox.”

Oh...what have the Murdochs done

[jo]

The Hollywood Reporter report on the FOX presentation --

www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/stacey-snider-takes-what-could-be-final-turn-cinemacon-stage-fox-1106089



www.nhregister.com/entertainment/the-wrap/article/Fox-Film-CEO-Confronts-Disney-Acquisition-With-12866817.php

[jo]

Posting this on this thread as the article deals with the potential impact of the Disney acquisition of FOX!

Apr 26, 2018 14:58:54 GMT -5 jo said:

An emotional piece from Variety on the presumably pending loss of the artistic contributions from Fox when Disney takes over!

variety.com/2018/film/news/fox-cinemacon-disney-merger-1202788921/

Fox’s CinemaCon Presentation Shows Much Could Be Lost With Disney Merger
By Brent Lang @brentalang

Brent Lang
Senior Film and Media Editor
@brentalang


Twentieth Century Fox’s CinemaCon presentation powerfully illustrated that there are casualties in this current era of media mergers and corporate consolidation. Typically these occasions, intended to highlight the impermeable bond between studios and theater owners, are celebratory in nature. This one was different.

Fox, the studio behind “The Sound of Music” and “Avatar,” is being sold by the Murdoch family to Disney in a $52.4 billion pact. That pending merger hung over the hour-long presentation, giving it the feel of an Irish wake — albeit one with dancing Deadpools.

“We put our chips on vision,” Fox film chief Stacey Snider said during an emotional series of remarks to exhibitors.
“We’ve been making movie and memories for nearly 85 years,” she said. “We took chances, pushed boundaries, and forged the future of the film business… Going forward, let’s stay committed to the vision of cinema. Let’s wear our hearts on our sleeves and aim to please.”


The studio head made it clear that Fox will continue to greenlight and produce movies, both big and small, while awaiting the arrival of its new corporate leaders. To that end, Fox screened footage from the sci-fi thriller “Alita: Battle Angel,” the Freddie Mercury biopic “Bohemian Rhapsody,” and the blood-drenched thriller “Bad Times at the El Royale.” All of these films are the kind of gritty, puckish, often R-rated fare that Disney does not typically manufacture. Save for a trailer for “Deadpool 2,” it was a presentation that was devoid of spandex-wearing superheroes. The X-Men franchise, a big part of the reason Disney wants to get its paws on Fox, barely warranted a mention.


The presentation wasn’t entirely elegiac. Fox did poke fun at the impending mega-transaction. An opening video montage found distribution chief Chris Aronson waking up in a Vegas hotel room with a hungover Pluto, a bathrobe-wearing Hugh Jackman, and Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool gear. As Aronson tried to shake off the after-effects of a night on the town so he could make it to the presentation, Reynolds as Deadpool quipped, “Looks like Comcast really dodged a bullet.”

The Fox group may have been using humor to hide hurt. Snider and much of her film team’s jobs remain in question (though painful rounds of layoffs and staffing cuts seem inevitable). It’s also unclear how Disney will integrate the studio’s various labels and divisions into its operations. Will it continue to back indie arm Fox Searchlight? Will it find a place for politically charged Fox dramas such as “The Hate U Give” on its soon-to-launch streaming service? Will Deadpool be allowed to drop F-bombs when he’s part of the Magic Kingdom?


Those questions should haunt exhibitors. Right now, theater owners adore Disney, and with good reason. The studio has released a dozen $1 billion-grossing movies over the past six years, enriching all of them. Disney controls the Marvel, Pixar, and LucasFilm brands, ensuring that theater owners’ multiplexes will be well stocked with comic book movies, Star Wars sequels, and animated fare during the summer popcorn season and the holidays.


Disney has also endeared itself to exhibitors by opposing the kind of early video-on-demand plans that would see movies premiere in the home within weeks of their theatrical release — a proposal that a Murdoch-controlled Fox once pushed. By taking Fox out of these talks, Disney has slowed the momentum behind that effort. No studio chief got louder applause than Disney film czar Alan Horn when he told the CinemaCon crowd during his studio’s presentation that “The Walt Disney Company is committed to the theatrical window. Period.”

That’s well and good. However, by buying Fox and presumably paring down the number of films it makes, Disney is ensuring that there will be fewer big studio movies to screen in exhibitors’ theaters. Some of those movies are the kinds of artistically challenging, emotionally stirring, big, bold artistic bets that the film business needs if it wants to keep inspiring new generations of artists to pick up a camera and add to the tapestry of cinematic voices that have made this such a rich medium for roughly a century.

That couldn’t come at a more perilous time. Domestic attendance has flatlined in recent years and the film business has had trouble consistently attracting younger crowds. In her remarks, Snider alluded to the challenges facing the film business from streaming services and new media disruptors. In this climate, Snider urged the crowd to “stay dedicated to the future of cinema and passionate about the future to come.”

In the short-term that future will have one fewer major studio spinning dreams out of celluloid. Fox’s presentation ended with a marching band playing the familiar strains of its iconic opening logo fanfare. Usually the crashing symbols and banging drums give off a triumphant air. This time the music sounded like military taps.

[jo]

Apr 26, 2018 16:10:10 GMT -5 jo said:

Another emotional piece, and on a personal level for Pete Hammond of Deadline --

deadline.com/2018/04/20th-century-fox-emotional-show-cinemacon-1202377626/

20th Century Fox Gets Emotional In Powerful Show As Much About Its Past As It Was About The Future – CinemaCon

by Pete Hammond

April 26, 2018 1:25pm




Did CinemaCon save the best for (nearly) the last? In terms of the movies on display we’ll have to wait and see, but in terms of pure emotion I would have to guess there wasn’t a dry eye in Caesars Palace’s Colosseum at this morning’s richly nostalgic, proud and perhaps bittersweet presentation from 20th Century Fox that could — if and when the proposed Disney merger is approved — be the last the iconic studio ever does on of these on its own here as one of Hollywood’s storied six majors.


Afterwards in the lobby, it was hard to find a Fox staffer without tears still in their eyes. Yes, there was the usual slate tubthumping, and a few star and filmmaker appearances (though much lighter compared to what the other studios sans Disney have done here in that regard), but this presentation brilliantly masterminded by Fox Special Events VP Len Iannelli (clearly aware it could be the last hurrah at CinemaCon) stood out just for the sheer emotional power of it all.


A beautifully compiled legacy reel was shown — that was where I started to lose it. With everyone from Shirley Temple and Will Rogers to Titanic to Apes to Deadpool, it was a visual journey through the studio’s mighty and unforgettable 85-year history that didn’t forget the films that got them to this point including How Green Was My Valley, All About Eve, The Grapes of Wrath, The Sound of Music, Star Wars, Avatar, X Men, Hidden Figures, 12 Years a Slave, The Shape of Water and so much more. It was overwhelming to see this studio’s life pass before its eyes in front of 5000 theater owners.

Fox was the very first movie studio I ever got to see when my Uncle Bud got me and my mother a private tour from a publicity VP college friend of his when I was a wide-eyed kid obsessed with movies. I grew up just a couple of miles away from the Pico Boulevard studio and still get a thrill every time I go on that lot. As 20th chairman Stacey Snider eloquently said in her opening remarks, the “proposed merger” is part of the great unknown future for Fox and its employees, but its remarkable history and legacy is something that is always there even if this means the end for one of Hollywood’s giants — at least as its own entity and not a part of Disney.

The other day at Disney’s all-pro, no-frills showcase here there was no mention of Fox, and I predicted that at Fox’s show there would be no mention of Disney. There wasn’t by name, but it unquestionably permeated the room in many ways. How could it not?

As usual, Fox wins Best In Show at CinemaCon, even without the extra emotional layer this year. They regularly come to Vegas and understand the idea of showmanship starting off with a dazzling ode to their May 18 release Deadpool 2, with a Deadpool-style lineup of dancers doing the number “One” from A Chorus Line. This led into a hilarious taped video comedy piece featuring Ryan Reynolds in full Deadpool garb trying to awaken Fox president of distribution Chris Aronson from what was clearly a wild night of partying at Caesars. When he does regain consciousness he is disheveled and wearing Hugh Jackman’s PT Barnum circus outfit from The Greatest Showman. Jackman himself makes a cameo appearance in the video before Aronson finally hobbles live to the stage. Great stuff, and it got big laughs from the theater owners. (By the way Snider made much mention of the surprise worldwide success of Greatest Showman, which she noted remains in theaters after 18 weeks and has grossed $400 million and counting.



Once he got his act together, Aronson and Snider took turns introducing the 2018 slate that featured what could be a couple of Oscar quality entries in George Tillman Jr.’s The Hate U Give for which the director brought along his star Amandla Stenberg and some very powerful footage. Rami Malek also made an impression on stage and on screen as Freddie Mercury in the Queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody, which had its producer Graham King well, rhapsodic over the reception to the footage when I ran into him in the lobby afterwards. He’s been trying to get this made for 12 years and the emotional nature of just getting it on screen fit right in with the feeling of the whole morning. “And now we are finally off,” he told me with some relief, especially after all the production problems during filming where original helmer Bryan Singer was fired and replaced with Dexter Fletcher. There was no mention of either director during the presentation by King and Malek, and on their official credits sheets for today’s lineup it is the only film not to list a directing credit.
Malek touted the fact that Queen’s Brian May himself called to give approval to his performance after seeing the film recently and told the actor Mercury would have been proud.


Among the other films, James Cameron and director Robert Rodriguez’s unique Alita: Battle Angel looked intriguing (producer Jon Landau joined Rodriguez onstage) — it was written years ago by Cameron who went on to direct Avatar instead. Now the time and motion capture technology seems ripe for the Christmas release.

I love film noirish stuff, so the cool-y titled Bad Times at teh El Royale caught my interest, as did Steve McQueen’s Widows with a great ensemble cast in a story of a group of recently widowed women who take matters into their own hands. Fox is also rebooting The Predator, has a new YA franchise hopeful with The Darkest Minds, and of course the driving box office force of Deadpool 2. All of them were on display for exhibitors to see bits and pieces.

But the slate wasn’t the story today it was Fox itself, along with its rich past and uncertain future, that made me feel a sense of sadness underlying the day in what really was tribute to a great institution. Ironically, it was pointed out that 20th Century Fox itself was the result of a merger in the 1930s when 20th Century pictures joined forces with Fox , thus becoming the industry behemoth it has always been.


Continuing the showman-like flair, the breezy presentation came in just under 90 minutes and ended with a local Las Vegas high school’s vast marching band coming in from the lobby to join in the last musical beats of the clip from Bohemian Rhapsody only to segue right into a dynamic performance of that famous 20th Century Fox fanfare to enormous applause and cheers. As the crowd left it was to the strains of “We Are the Champions.”

For today at least, that was the perfect sentiment on which to end it.

Wikipedia lists all the movies produced under the 20th Century Fox banner --

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lists_of_20th_Century_Fox_films

Wow! Reading those film names is enough to draw out an emotional reaction to what the future can bring!


Btw, they produced 5 of the most beloved musicals of all time --

*Oklahoma!
*Carousel
*KingAndI
*SouthPacific
*SoundOfMusic

In my book, I will add the name of THE GREATEST SHOWMAN to the list, as it seems destined to become a film classic!