Bad Education - Festivals and Awards Watch

[jo]

There's some conflict in understanding what the record-breaking deal is. Deadline did NOT say exactly it was for $ 17.5 million. It only said it is in the range of the amount paid for Birth of A Nation ( which was a Sundance festival record amounting to $ 17.5 million)

HBO Closing Record Worldwide Deal For ‘Bad Education’ – Toronto

By Mike Fleming Jr

Mike Fleming Jr
Co-Editor-in-Chief, Film


EXCLUSIVE: HBO is nearing the big deal of the Toronto Film Festival, acquiring for a sum nearing $20 million world rights to Bad Education, the Cory Finley-directed fact-based dark comedy that stars Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney as supervisors in the Roslyn, Long Island, school district who masterminded the largest public-school embezzlement scandal in American history, to the tune of $11.2 million.

The WarnerMedia-owned company will air the feature globally where it has networks and streaming services. I’m told the deal is in the rarefied range of the $17.5 million at Sundance for The Birth of a Nation, which was the fest record.


Heading into Toronto, the film came in with the best chance of being an eight-figure festival acquisition. This one quickly came down to the producers and financiers faced with making a choice that will be more commonplace as fests go forward. Did they want a streaming deal, gamble for less money for a theatrical release with companies like 101 Studios, which seemed favored by Jackman and Janney, the latter of whom came out of the Toronto Festival two years ago when Neon bought the black fact-based comedy I, Tonya, and rode it all the way to a Best Supporting Actress win, with Margot Robbie also getting a nom for Best Actress. Or choose an alternative, which they did with HBO, which has a star-studded original that it can play on the network and its other platforms in 2020 and which will be Emmy, SAG and Golden Globes contenders for next year for HBO as it moves forward from the Game of Thrones era.


Scripted by Mike Makowsky — who attended school at Roslyn as the scandal unfolded in the early 2000s — the film also stars Ray Romano as the school board president who becomes an unwitting participant as he and board members give in to the prodding of superintendent Dr. Frank Tassone (Jackman) to fire the assistant superintendent Pam Gluckin when it is unmasked she dipped into taxpayer school funds to renovate her homes, but not report it to anyone outside the circle. The school board and student parents are obsessed with an upcoming school budget vote they hope will lead to the appropriation of $7.5 million for a “skywalk,” and the report that as Roslyn climbs to the top of nearby schools the property values of homes in the district are soaring.


The plan begins to crumble because of the dogged work by a student newspaper reporter –Geraldine Viswanthan — who is initially deemed harmless and given carte blanche access to eyeball school purchase orders. She questions the obsession with a “skywalk” and boasts of school excellence when it is so clear that the school roof is practically falling in, with drop ceilings stained and mottled from water that drips into strategically placed trash baskets each time it rains. She discovers a scandal that goes far beyond the fired administrator.

The smokescreen allows for a tour de force for Jackman to do a slow peel of a man who starts out the ultimate administrator, a meticulously coiffed and dressed symbol of positivity and authority, who remembers the name of every student he meets and is the one who tells the student journalist that her assessment of her assignment as a puff piece can be much more.

The slow reveal is that Jackman’s administrator has appropriated millions of dollars to finance a double life. While he leaves in plain view a desk photo of a woman in a wedding dress he says is his late wife who died of cancer, Tassone has a secret identity as a closeted gay man who is not at all monogamous and not shy about having taxpayers foot his bills, including for plastic surgery to keep his face tight. He has a lot to lose, in a fascinating depiction of entitlement and corruption of the American dream that seems to have connective tissue to the elite college admissions scandal that continues to play out.

The film made its debut September 8 at the Princess of Wales Theatre in TIFF’s Special Presentations section. Some buyers felt it wasn’t flashy enough, but it was very clear that the film would emerge with the festival’s largest deal, not counting the one that Fox Searchlight made on the eve of Toronto for The Personal History of David Copperfield, a film that will come out next year. The rest of the festival produced on average a solid deal each day, as buyers were clearly wary after the eight-figure sums paid for Sundance movies that didn’t pan out at the box office.

While most of the Toronto films were in the low-seven figures, there are good movies that found distribution homes, from the Bleecker Street-bought Military Wives to the Amazon-bought Sound of Metal to the likes of Greed, Lyrebird and The Burnt Orange Heresy. Film financiers didn’t get the numbers they hoped for, but there is less pressure on these and other films to perform, and backend upside if they do excel in their box office runs.

Bad Education is a co-production between Automatik and Sight Unseen, produced by Fred Berger, Eddie Vaisman, Julia Lebedev, Brian Kavanaugh-Jones, Oren Moverman, and Mike Makowsky, with Leonid Lebedev and Caroline Jaczko the exec producers.

CAA Media Finance and Endeavor Content brokered the Bad Education deal.

The HOLLYWOOD REPORTER said it heard that the deal was pegged at $ 20 million. Variety said it is near $ 20 million.

It could very well be in the $ 17.5 to $ 20 million range! After the devastating box office reception of THE FRONT RUNNER, I was apprehensive some buyers might be reluctant to bet on another Jackman indie. This record-breaking deal proves otherwise! Hope this is actually a silver lining -- as the TV exposure will open up the vista further on Hugh Jackman's burgeoning popularity and reputation for performing versatility!

Is this a coincidence - HBO is a Warner media company. WarnerBros is the studio which bought the distribution rights for Reminiscence!

Jo

[jo]

Denofgeek Daylimotion


HBO Landing Hugh Jackman’s Bad Education in Major Deal
HBO picking up Hugh Jackman's Bad Education for a record-setting price tag suggests big things for WarnerMedia's HBO Max.

News
David Crow
Sep 17, 2019



What constitutes the difference between “cinema” and television continues to be an open debate, and the lines might blur even further with the newest fall festival season in full swing. Fresh off getting some very buzzy, positive notices out of the Toronto International Film Festival, Cory Finley’s Bad Education is being picked up by HBO in what might be the festival record.


News is swirling that the premium cable network—which is also about to be spearheading the brand name of WarnerMedia’s streaming service—is closing a deal for Bad Education, which stars Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney. More intriguingly though is that depending on which trade you read, the figure for the purchase is anywhere between $11.2 million (Deadline) and $20 million (The Hollywood Reporter). The current festival record is when Fox Searchlight bought the rights to The Birth of a Nation at Sundance 2016 for $17.5 million.

The film is Finley’s follow-up effort to the superb cult indie darling, Thoroughbreds. While that movie was a pitch black comedy (that we also believe had subtle noir undertones) about two bored, blue blood teens deciding to murder one of their fathers, Bad Education apparently dials back the satirical bleakness slightly. The film is based on a true story about a Long Island superintendent named Frank Tassone (Jackman) and his assistant Pam Gluckin (Janney) who, despite running a prestigious academic community that produces Ivy League-bound students, comes into scandal when it’s revealed they have been supplementing their income via extracurricular means. A film about fraud and corruption, even as it is set a decade ago, Bad Education obviously has appeal in a modern world where graft and corruption at the highest levels of American society is not only becoming common… it’s been scarily normalized.

That theme earned a lot of attention from reviewers at TIFF and has also clearly gained the interest of HBO. Just five years ago, this type of movie would’ve certainly been bound for an at least respectable run in the speciality market and perhaps even a dark horse award contender. (It almost certainly would’ve been noticed by the Spirit Awards.) Yet as audiences increasingly seem to abandon seeing films devoid of intellectual property at the movie theater in favor of streaming, HBO is now making at least one of the largest offers that a film festival breakout has ever seen. Notably this is a further sign about how much WarnerMedia’s HBO is aiming to compete in a new media landscape that hasn’t even been truly explored yet.

David Crow is the Film Section Editor at Den of Geek. He’s also a member of the Online Film Critics Society. Read more of his work here. You can follow him on Twitter @dcrowsnest.

Okay -- this is intriguing! It could very well be that WarnerMedia is now very much prepared to launch its own streaming services as media companies begin to show very muscular competition in this area. Disney+, Amazon, Netflix are well on their way... now comes another media giant WarnerMedia! The probable reason why they were paying such a huge amount for an indie, considered a record at Toronto International Film Festival ... could be... that it will be used as the big launch event for the emerging streaming service!

Consider the subject -- school scandals is current news, with the publicized prison term for Felicity Hoffman. Consider that corruption scandals are pervasive...and in some cases, they are of ordinary people, people you may know from your own neighborhood. Consider that it is a story where the idealistic young people help ferret out a scandal involving someone highly regarded in the community. May sound all too familiar? May sound all something that could be the subject of gossipy conversations? In coffee klatches? In across-the-fence chats?

Consider the creatives - Cory Finley and Mike Makowsky. A young filmmaker who impressed very much with his first movie ( Thorougbbreds)! A screenwriter who was actually part of the scene ( although not an active participant ) when it happened because he was a student in the school then.

Consider the talent - Hugh Jackman ( Wolverine/GreatestShowman/Prisoners's Dad/Les Misérables Oscar nominee/Broadway star/Oscars host/advocate for many causes! Allison Janney ( Oscar winner/TV and screen favorite), Ray Romano ( TV legend), young actors who play key roles!

Consider the reviews - Many top critics saying this could be Hugh Jackman's best career performance! Many putting the movie itself as very worthwhile entertainment!

Hope they make a very big fuss over it


Jo

[jo]

the figure for the purchase is anywhere between $11.2 million (Deadline)…

LOL - Deadline did not quote an exact figure. The $ 11.2 million amount refers to the total embezzlement of funds committed by Tassone and cohorts!


Jo

[njr]

Sept 17, 2019 13:21:24 GMT -5 hughmanity said:

So, as the auctioneers say, "Sold! To the highest bidder". (And it certainly was)
At least with Netflix or Amazon there could have been some sort of theatrical release.
Here is IndieWire's  headline stating the reality.  

TIFF Breakout ‘Bad Education’ Sells to HBO in Near-$20 Million Deal, but That Means No Oscars

On the other hand, it could become a real HBO event, provided there are still HBO subscribers after the ending of GOT.  Lol.

www.indiewire.com/2019/09/tiff-breakout-bad-education-acquired-hbo-no-oscar-campaign-1202174342/

I still subscribe to HBO even though GOT ended. There are still several shows I watch: Ballers, Big Little Lies, Bill Maher, etc. Plus I watch movies from previous years (I rarely go out to the movie theater - the last 2 films I saw at the theater were Yesterday and The Greatest Showman!)

[hughmanity]

Stated with tongue planted firmly in cheek. 😁
I still subscribe too and to be honest, I never even watched GOT! (although hubby did)

Sept 18, 2019 12:35:07 GMT -5 njr said:

Sept 17, 2019 13:21:24 GMT -5 hughmanity said:

So, as the auctioneers say, "Sold! To the highest bidder". (And it certainly was)
At least with Netflix or Amazon there could have been some sort of theatrical release.
Here is IndieWire's  headline stating the reality.  

On the other hand, it could become a real HBO event, provided there are still HBO subscribers after the ending of GOT.  Lol.

www.indiewire.com/2019/09/tiff-breakout-bad-education-acquired-hbo-no-oscar-campaign-1202174342/

I still subscribe to HBO even though GOT ended. There are still several shows I watch: Ballers, Big Little Lies, Bill Maher, etc. Plus I watch movies from previous years (I rarely go out to the movie theater - the last 2 films I saw at the theater were Yesterday and The Greatest Showman!)

[jo]

Let's support Ellen's initiative! Join the Twitter brigade

[njr]

Sept 19, 2019 8:07:51 GMT -5 jo said:

Let's support Ellen's initiative! Join the Twitter brigade

Tweeted and re-Tweeted!

Nancy

[njr]

Sept 18, 2019 18:08:23 GMT -5 hughmanity said:

Stated with tongue planted firmly in cheek. 😁
I still subscribe too and to be honest, I never even watched GOT! (although hubby did)

Sept 18, 2019 12:35:07 GMT -5 njr said:

I still subscribe to HBO even though GOT ended. There are still several shows I watch: Ballers, Big Little Lies, Bill Maher, etc. Plus I watch movies from previous years (I rarely go out to the movie theater - the last 2 films I saw at the theater were Yesterday and The Greatest Showman!)

You didn’t watch GOT? Sacrilege!! 😂

[hughmanity]

Haha! It must be sacrilege!  Especially to an owner of a Jon Snow Funco figure!  😉

Sept 19, 2019 13:46:11 GMT -5 njr said:

Sept 18, 2019 18:08:23 GMT -5 hughmanity said:

Stated with tongue planted firmly in cheek. 😁
I still subscribe too and to be honest, I never even watched GOT! (although hubby did)

You didn’t watch GOT? Sacrilege!! 😂

[hughmanity]

I might just have to get a twitter account.  Good initiative, Ellen.

Sept 19, 2019 8:07:51 GMT -5 jo said:

Let's support Ellen's initiative! Join the Twitter brigade

[jo]

I responded to the article on Den of Geek ( a site which I find astute in the few times I have read their features) -- I posted their article earlier -- which had this headline and further comments, thus :

Denofgeek Daylimotion


HBO Landing Hugh Jackman’s Bad Education in Major Deal
HBO picking up Hugh Jackman's Bad Education for a record-setting price tag suggests big things for WarnerMedia's HBO Max.

News
David Crow
Sep 17, 2019

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News is swirling that the premium cable network—which is also about to be spearheading the brand name of WarnerMedia’s streaming service—is closing a deal for Bad Education...
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That theme earned a lot of attention from reviewers at TIFF and has also clearly gained the interest of HBO. Just five years ago, this type of movie would’ve certainly been bound for an at least respectable run in the speciality market and perhaps even a dark horse award contender. (It almost certainly would’ve been noticed by the Spirit Awards.) Yet as audiences increasingly seem to abandon seeing films devoid of intellectual property at the movie theater in favor of streaming, HBO is now making at least one of the largest offers that a film festival breakout has ever seen. Notably this is a further sign about how much WarnerMedia’s HBO is aiming to compete in a new media landscape that hasn’t even been truly explored yet.

My comments --

Jo • 18 hours ago • edited
What you are suggesting is very intriguing. Did HBO categorically say that Bad Education will be shown on their regular cable channel offerings...or was this just movie press speculation? What you're suggesting that Bad Education could be used to launch WarnerMedia's HBO Max seems to make more sense. Why pay nearly $ 20 million for an indie film with a newbie director if it was not the intention to use it as the major inaugural event to launch or relaunch their streaming service? They could even go the Netflix and Amazon way. Work out an AMPAS qualifying run in LA...and then offer it as the major movie offering for HBO Max! That would result in maximum exposure for their streaming service especially if the movie and its key actors become part of the Oscar conversation! Unless they were categorical in saying this movie is simply intended for the HBO regular cable channel, which would not make sense from a financial viewpoint.

[jo]

Sept 19, 2019 8:07:51 GMT -5 jo said:

Let's support Ellen's initiative! Join the Twitter brigade

bump

[jo]

It looks like the streaming service of WarnerMedia called HBO Max ( a new service, not the same as current cable subscriptions) is going full blast for its inaugural service, scheduled for SPRING 2020 --

www.rappler.com/entertainment/tv/240392-big-bang-theory-heads-to-hbo-max


And BAD EDUCATION will be part of that barrage of shows/films to mark its entry to the very competitive streaming services market!

It does not necessarily preclude letting BAD EDUCATION from being shown for the qualifying 7-day screening in LA! The publicity, if the theatrical screening results in the film and its major stars becoming part of the Oscar conversation, may actually enhance the inclusion of the movie in the inauguration of HBO MAX!


But if doesn't pan out that way ( Bad Education getting a qualifying theatrical release and WarnerMedia wants full attention to HBO MAX when it inaugurates the streaming services in spring 2020), then we can look at a new phase in the widening popularity base for Hugh Jackman! The movie may reach a larger audience beyond cinema visits, assuming streaming services become the real platform or at least become a very competitive platform for watching movies!

Jo

[jo]

Requirement is only for an LA screening. In the past, it included NYC as a qualified setting, but not anymore. Although it does not say it cannot include other places like NYC, but it will not be considered as compliance.

The Academy's Board of Governors voted to maintain Rule Two, Eligibility for the 92nd Oscars. The rule states that to be eligible for awards consideration, a film must have a minimum seven-day theatrical run in a Los Angeles County commercial theater, with at least three screenings per day for paid admission.Apr 23, 2019

[njr]

So, is this HBO MAX available free for HBO subscribers, or just something else to nickel and dime us? If the latter, I’m pissed! 😡

[carouselkathy]

I'm pissed too! All of these channels used to be part of your cable package. Now you have to have 3 or 4 remote controls just to keep everything straight. I changed cable companies in order to watch the Dodger games ( the previous owner made a stupid deal with Time/Warner Spectrum). I wouldn't be a bit surprised if HBO MAX costs more. The theatrical release is crucial, but the studios care more about money that Oscar recognition.

[jo]

A spokeswoman for HBO has made it official that there will be NO theatrical release for BAD EDUCATION.

As streaming services become more and more important as a competitive platform for watching movies, how is success measured for providers of the service?

Indiewire tackles the issue on the emerging marketplace for film distribution --


www.indiewire.com/2019/09/hbo-bad-education-tiff-purchase-theatrical-streaming-1202174626/

HBO’s $20 Million ‘Bad Education’ Buy Shows Success Metrics in Streaming Era Are Growing Murkier

The film, among the most expensive festival buys ever, can't win any Oscars and won't be shown in theaters. So how will HBO know if it's a success?

Chris Lindahl
5 hours ago

“Bad Education”
TIFF


The highest-profile acquisition out of the Toronto International Film Festival won’t be shown in theaters despite it’s record-breaking price tag, won’t be eligible for Oscars despite its acclaimed cast, and it’s performance definitely can’t be judged using the old measurements of success.

“Bad Education,” the fact-based dark comedy starring Hugh Jackman and Allison Janney, has found a home alongside prestige content like “Game of Thrones” and “Succession” on HBO, which reportedly spent nearly $20 million for worldwide rights of the Cory Finley-helmed film.


The movie will get no theatrical release and HBO’s awards push will include Emmy campaigns, a spokeswoman confirmed.


It’s believed to be among the most — if not the most — expensive festival acquisitions ever. For what essentially is a streaming service to spend such an enormous sum on a film, winning a bidding war against traditional theatrical distributors, HBO’s “Bad Education” pickup casts a recent wave of head-scratching sales activity in a new light.



Take, for instance, the box-office performance of titles Amazon bought during its Sundance spending spree: “Late Night” (acquired for $13 million, grossed $15.49 million in wide release) and “Brittany Runs a Marathon” (acquired for $14 million, has grossed $2.85 million so far in limited release).

The obvious analysis (and the lens most frequently applied to those two titles) is that the films bombed. But sales agents say in dealing with Amazon, the company always knows its price ceiling — however high that may seem to the outside observer.

While box office grosses remain the most publicly accessible way to judge a movie’s success, the fact is very few understand the increasingly important barometers the likes of Amazon, Netflix, and HBO use when crunching the numbers. For streamers, theatrical returns on investment are either a piece of a much larger subscription-driven pie or, in the case of this HBO acquisition, irrelevant.


The HBO-Amazon comparison isn’t apples to apples — theatrical marketing costs for the latter surely raised the box office stakes — but it speaks to an important theme taking hold as streaming competition heats up: Exclusive content is key and it better be damn good, or at least in demand, factors that often require a lot of money.

“It’s going to turn into a war,” said Jimmy Schaeffler, CEO of media consultancy the Carmel Group. “It’s going to turn into a battle of who’s going to spend the most.”

The fighting is already taking shape on the TV side. Just this week, WarnerMedia picked up the rights for “The Big Bang Theory” for streaming on the soon-to-launch HBO Max and traditional syndication on TBS for $600 million, while Netflix spent $500 million for “Seinfeld.”

While HBO Films was the division that picked up “Bad Education,” the film will surely be hawked on HBO Max and on cable when it’s released next year, just one of several planned streaming services vying to take subscribers away from Netflix.


The deal was an evolution of HBO’s 2018 purchase of Jennifer Fox’s breakout Sundance drama “The Tale,” for which there was early Oscar buzz for star Laura Dern. But with no theatrical release, Dern’s lauded performance was instead honored with an Emmy nod.


Unlike traditional film releases, where a cushy profit margin after production and marketing costs is the measure of success, streamers are playing for something different. Just as the peak TV era has blurred the line between TV and cinema, a move deeper into the era of streaming means success can no longer be judged based on ratings or box office grosses.

The new goal? “Get as much data, as many subscribers as you possibly can,” Schaeffler said.

Smart analysis of viewers’ preferences and habits will help executives make good decisions about which content — whether made in-house or bought at festivals — will land on the platform to an eager audience, he said.

What remains unclear is whether streamers will cultivate a big enough appetite to prop up future festival markets, should theatrical distributors retreat.


“Bad Education” topped IndieWire’s list of hottest sales titles ahead of TIFF. Other acquisitions of that stature included Fox Searchlight picking up North American rights to Armando Iannuci’s “The Personal History of David Copperfield” two weeks ahead of its TIFF premiere and Sony Pictures Classics’s acquisition of “The Burnt Orange Heresy,” starring Claes Bang, Elizabeth Debicki, Mick Jagger, and Donald Sutherland.

That means there won’t be many mid-range films out of TIFF feeding theaters. Amazon picked up Darius Marder’s hearing-loss drama “Sound of Metal,” but that’s set only for a limited theatrical release. The Bryce Dallas Howard documentary “Dads,” which offers a lighthearted look at modern fatherhood, is heading to Apple TV+ after the tech company acquired it at TIFF. (Apple requires worldwide rights.)


Netflix has retreated from the festival market as it ramps up original production. It bought the Spanish-language “The Platform,” a TIFF Midnight Madness sci-fi title.


With plenty of original, high-quality content being the mandate for any successful streaming platform, the question that remains is what role theatrical releases will play in achieving that primary goal.

If the goal for HBO MAX is to drive new subscriptions as the metric of success --

*Will Hugh Jackman et al be asked to be part of the pubicity drive to raise the public profile of BAD EDUCATION? His film contract usually includes the obligatory media tour. How will this work out?

*Will he be asked to participate in any EMMY Awards campaign, just as potential Oscar candidates go the rounds of awards discussion panels?


Also, as the viewing platforms for films expand -- how will organizations devoted to recognizing film quality and preserving the film's legacy, such as the AMERICAN FILM INSTITUTE, expand its definition of film and now include films either originally made by streamers's studios or made elsewhere but made available to the public not through the usual route of theatrical distribution?

How does this translate to the strategy for foreign markets? Will comparable streaming services also be formed for this kind of exposure to movies?


Will home videos (BluRay/DVD), as post-exhibition products, be still be made available?



Jo

[luzie]

That all sucks so bad! We don't even have HBO here in Germany, so unless the movie won't be released on DVD some day later, we aren't able to watch it! It's a shame that one of his best critical acclaimed movies with a supposed career-best performance doesn't get at least a limited theatrical run to be eligible for the awards season - not necessarily (only) for the Oscars but at least for the Golden Globes, SAG Awards, some critics awards etc. Once again it's a bad timing for him and one of his movies! The supposed Emmy campaign is only a sort of consolation, IMO. Plus, a nomination or a win is anything but a safe bet - it might happen that movie and his performance pass unnoticed (once again).

Also, I'm no fan at all of this new trend to stream more and more movies and watch them on any devices - it may be outdated, but I prefer to watch movies, that are made for the big screen, in the cinema! That's why I don't have any streaming services!

As side effect would a new movie with proper promos and a premiere here and there attract at least a bit media attention again for him. Since his tour went more or less unnoticed by the media here in Germany and Front Runner wasn't promoted at all, he is quite out of the public eye and media interest - currently it's like he doesn't exist anymore. With no new movie in sight (who knows what happens with Reminiscence ...) and his (overlong) Broadway commitment next year, it could become even worse. Who knows when (or if) he makes another movie after his long Broadway gig, that hopefully will be wide and globally released and will generate positive buzz again - hopefully it doesn't take forever. I know, theatre is what he loves doing, but the majority of his (global) fans simply don't have the means and chances to come to New York and buy any costly tickets for his show - they have to rely on any movies to see anything new with him.

[jo]

Reminiscence ( may be titled as The Jade Earring) has sent out casting/crew calls now - as the movie is supposed to start filming from the latter part of October to be completed in January 2020. That is a Warner Bros-supported project which ensures a proper distribution route for theatrical distribution.

But the changing shifts cannot be ignored. I think the older generation ( like me) is probably a bit more reluctant to change our set forms of entertainment...but the business is really looking at the desired demos ( 18-49 yo) and younger for tentpoles and kid-friendly movies... to enhance their revenue generation ability immensely.... It is the younger generation which welcomes the changes being driven by the seismic changes brought on by technology, either because of the innovation, the convenience, and effective cost! And streaming services are a major part of this change. Look at Disney - they bought Fox assets for something like $ 72 billion just so they can go fully on their forthcoming streaming services ( Disney+), which together with Apple are launching their businesess later this year. It is the media companies who are driving the rest - the studios are losing their grip on the movie business. It is not HBO per se which will stream BAD EDUCATION -- it is a new streaming service called HBO MAX of WarnerMedia which will launch in spring 2020!

Re Hugh's career activities --

*His tour has generated $ 59 million for 56 shows accounted for, with another 34 dates to account for ticket sales. His shows are averaging at $1 million per show. This will likely bring the overall receipts to the $ 90+ million territory when his 90-show tour ends. Not bad at all for our Rock Star

*Hugh paved the way for the major rebirth of movie musicals with the success of Greatest Showman! Now, a slew of new or remake of movie musicals are being filmed, put on the production line, or being planned. But Hugh is a step ahead - he is going live - he is going back to Broadway with a revival of a well-loved musical ( Did you know The Music Man beat West Side Story for the TONY Best Musical way back then?). So many social media messages of people ( even from overseas and across the USA) having already bought tickets - even if the musical is still a year ahead and a theatre has not even been named! One of the funniest social media posts was one saying that at the same time he got his tickets, he also reserved for lunch at a restaurant for early 2021 ( the restaurant could not believe it ...and could not stop laughing!)...Check out the day after Opening Night - the orchestra and mezzanine sections are practically sold out!

Well... Hugh has indeed become like a bellwhether performer ---

*He became the first superhero superstar ( a theatre degree with a drama major becoming Wolverine!)
*He went to Broadway for a year when his Hollywood career was on the rise (Boy From Oz)
*He hosted the Oscars differently ( song and dance and full-on charisma for good measure)
*He returned to the movie musical genre in a big way (the sung-thru Les Misérables, landing an Oscar nod) and The Greatest Showman has set all kinds of records worldwide.
*He has played many villain roles ( despite his qualification for classic leading man roles).
*He has worked with many auteur directors ( despite being more known for superhero roles) - Nolan, Aronofsky, Hooper, Allen, Luhrmann, Villeneuve...and Mangold increasingly) and has produced well-received acting performances in those movies ( Prestige, Les Miserables, Fountain, Prisoners, Logan)
*He has interspersed his film career with occasional shows on Broadway ( a book musical, a variety show, 2 dramas) - many Hollywood actors who dabble in Broadway usually chose only either the play or the musicals route. Hugh has shown versatility...and has also hosted 4 TONYs.
*He did a biopic of a relatively unknown persona ( Gary Hart) because he believed in the man and his story.
*He did a biopic of another persona which is completely different from his other roles. Too bad that it will not get screened the usual way and may be denied the usual awards glory -- but maybe this will turn out to be a tremendous opportunity to widen his burgeoning fanbase as Bad Education will be used to launch a new distribution platform from WarnerMedia, called HBO MAX!

Just some random thoughts

Jo

[jo]

In all these seismic shifts happening to the film business -- the only permanent and welcome status quo is :

the content!

The creatives and the performers/actors will be the most sought out talent and business providers! Without them, the cinemas, the stage, regular TV, and the streaming services will have nothing to support their business!

This opens immense vistas for talented actors/performers! And when you have someone like Hugh who has worked so well in almost all genres ( hey, maybe Ven Helsing qualifies as a horror movie ).

Look at it that way for performer/actor Hugh Jackman!

He is so talented and appealing that even a very different platform like the concert stage is so easily conquered! I think, despite his age, he might be in greater demand.


Jo

[luzie]

Well, I still belong to the so-called "desired demos" with my 44 years and still dislike this streaming movies trend! I don't care if Bad Education is streamed on HBO, HBO MAX or whatever - it is NOT available here or around the world! And only that matters.

Re his Broadway gig, all those on social media who posted about their tickets are only a minority among ALL his fans in the end! For various reasons many fans couldn't even attend (or afford) one of his concerts on his tour. Fine for you and some others, if you have the means and possibility to come to New York and buy tickets for even more than one show, but that's not the standard or take-for-granted! For most people it's just not possible! Period. I've seen that even some people who live in New York can't afford these ticket prices. For all these less fortunate fans his movies are the only way to enjoy his work.

We have to wait and see what happens with Hugh's career, but at the moment I'm just very frustrated and less optimistic. Having said that, of course I'd loved to be proved wrong at the end.

[njr]

Sept 21, 2019 9:14:29 GMT -5 jo said:

Reminiscence ( may be titled as The Jade Earring) has sent out casting/crew calls now - as the movie is supposed to start filming from the latter part of October to be completed in January 2020. That is a Warner Bros-supported project which ensures a proper distribution route for theatrical distribution.

But the changing shifts cannot be ignored. I think the older generation ( like me) is probably a bit more reluctant to change our set forms of entertainment...but the business is really looking at the desired demos ( 18-49 yo) and younger for tentpoles and kid-friendly movies... to enhance their revenue generation ability immensely.... It is the younger generation which welcomes the changes being driven by the seismic changes brought on by technology, either because of the innovation, the convenience, and effective cost! And streaming services are a major part of this change. Look at Disney - they bought Fox assets for something like $ 72 billion just so they can go fully on their forthcoming streaming services ( Disney+), which together with Apple are launching their businesess later this year. It is the media companies who are driving the rest - the studios are losing their grip on the movie business. It is not HBO per se which will stream BAD EDUCATION -- it is a new streaming service called HBO MAX of WarnerMedia which will launch in spring 2020!

Re Hugh's career activities --

*His tour has generated $ 59 million for 56 shows accounted for, with another 34 dates to account for ticket sales. His shows are averaging at $1 million per show. This will likely bring the overall receipts to the $ 90+ million territory when his 90-show tour ends. Not bad at all for our Rock Star

*Hugh paved the way for the major rebirth of movie musicals with the success of Greatest Showman! Now, a slew of new movie musicals are being filmed, put on the production line, or being planned. But Hugh is a step ahead - he is going live - he is going back to Broadway with a revival of a well-loved musical ( Did you know The Music Man beat West Side Story for the TONY Best Musical way back then?). So many social media messages of people ( even from overseas and across the USA) having already bought tickets - even if the musical is still a year ahead and a theatre has not even been named! One of the funniest social media posts was one saying that at the same time she got her tickets, she also reserved for dinner at a restaurant for early 2021 ( the restaurant could not believe it ...and laughed at her!)...Check out the day after Opening Night - the orchestra and mezzanine sections are practically sold out!

Well... Hugh has indeed become like a bellwhether performer ---

*He became the first superhero superstar ( a theatre degree with a drama major becoming Wolverine!)
*He went to Broadway for a year when his Hollywood career was on the rise (Boy From Oz)
*He hosted the Oscars differently ( song and dance and full-on charisma for good measure)
*He returned to the movie musical genre in a big way (the sung-thru Les Misérables, landing an Oscar nod) and The Greatest Showman has set all kinds of records worldwide.
*He has played many villain roles ( despite his qualification for classic leading man roles).
*He has worked with many auteur directors ( despite being more known for superhero roles) - Nolan, Aronofsky, Hooper, Allen, Luhrmann, Villeneuve...and Mangold increasingly) and has produced well-received acting performances in those movies ( Prestige, Les Miserables, Fountain, Prisoners, Logan)
*He has interspersed his film career with occasional shows on Broadway ( a book musical, a variety show, 2 dramas) - many Hollywood actors who dabble in Broadway usually chose only either the play or the musicals route. Hugh has shown versatility...and has also hosted 4 TONYs.
*He did a biopic of a relatively unknown persona ( Gary Hart) because he believed in the man and his story.
*He did a biopic of another persona which is completely different from his other roles. Too bad that it will not get screened the usual way and may be denied the usual awards glory -- but maybe this will turn out to be a tremendous opportunity to widen his burgeoning fanbase as Bad Education will be used to launch a new distribution platform from WarnerMedia, called HBO MAX!

Just some random thoughts

Jo

If those are your “random” thoughts, I’d hate to see your “non-random” ones! 😂
Btw, it’s “bellwether.” 😉

[jo]

We have to wait and see what happens with Hugh's career, but at the moment I'm just very frustrated and less optimistic. Having said that, of course I'd loved to be proved wrong at the end.

I'm resigned to the fact that I will likely see BAD EDUCATION only on BluRay/DVD - just as I did for Eddie The Eagle and The Front Runner. Yes, that is the way with indie or indie-like productions these days. It's likely that I'd get to see Hugh movies only if it has tentpole or tentpole-like appeal ( like the recent MISSING LINK). The Front Runner was a good film but like many indies, it did not get the attention it deserved ( or did not attract the audience that it was addressing) and it was devastating to read that it only attracted $ 2 million at the box office. But it is a risk that Hugh has chosen to take as he moves on with his new career directions. Bad Education was another indie which was lucky to have been better received at a film festival. Maybe the producers/financiers were more gun-shy about taking the regular theatrical distribution route and decided to cash in their investments in a surefire way? We don't know how Hugh is reacting to that - maybe he is also pesonally disappointed...buy maybe he is also looking at it as his dramatic entrance ( look at all the buzz on the HBO purchase) in the world of streaming services!

But if Hugh has decided that his new career path is along a mix of indies and mass appeal movies...and the occasional Broadway forays, that is the decision from him that I will respect if I want to continue to follow his career.



Jo

[jo]

The debate on the BAD EDUCATION HBO fate continues!

Owen Gleiberman brings in some insights on to the implications --

variety.com/2019/film/columns/bad-education-goes-to-hbo-a-sign-of-the-future-1203344297/#article-comments

HOME Film Columns
September 22, 2019 11:18AM PT
Toronto’s Biggest Deal Goes to HBO: A Sign of the Future? (Column)
By Owen Gleiberman

Owen Gleiberman
Chief Film Critic




When it comes to how we’ll be watching movies — or, at least, watching serious dramas for adults — in the future, here are two stark and timely contradictory facts:

1. Last week, as the Toronto International Film Festival drew to a close, a deal that had been in the rumor stage for a while was finally announced: “Bad Education,” a tense and enthralling Long Island white-collar-crime noir, starring Hugh Jackman in a head-turning performance (and Allison Janney in a memorable follow-up to her Oscar-winning turn in “I, Tonya”), was sold for a whopping $17 million — the kind of deal that makes headlines out of Sundance, and that in Toronto may stand out even more, since TIFF, with so many major films coming into the festival already having distributors, is less of a high-profile market. That said, the “Bad Education” deal, juicy as it sounds, was not (in all likelihood) for theatrical release. The film was sold to HBO, which means that it will probably be shown only on HBO. It will likely be a contender not for the Oscars but for the Emmys. That makes it sound like a game-changer, a cutting-edge example — or maybe you could call it a casualty — of the shifting sands of movie distribution.


2. If the “Bad Education” deal can be read as a symbolic sign that in the streaming/why-should-I-bother-going-out-when-I-have-my-big-screen-TV? era, serious dramas for adults at the megaplex could be going the way of the dodo bird, here’s what actually happened at the megaplex this weekend. In the third frame of September, the number-one movie in America, coming in with a rock-‘em sock-‘em $31 million gross that outstripped “Rambo: Last Blood” and the Brad Pitt space opera “Ad Astra,” is “Downton Abbey,” a four-years-after-the-fact adaptation of the stiff-upper-lip TV series. That’s called serious-drama-for-adults power.

Speaking of which, the other major hit of the early fall is “Hustlers,” the J. Lo-led true-life tale of New York strippers turning the lap-dance tables on the Wall Street players who treat them as fleshpot utensils. The fact that “Hustlers” has such a sensationalized subject hardly guaranteed that it would be a success. “Striptease” and “Showgirls” were infamous bombs, and the film career of Jennifer Lopez, as terrific an actress as she is, has been on a slow slide ever since “Monster-in-Law” (2005). “Hustlers” is a serious drama that has succeeded on the strength of its reviews, its awards chatter, and the way it taps into an up-to-the-minute mood of women’s economic aggrievement.

So which of those scenarios is the harbinger of the future? They both are. That’s the way movies have always worked, their success (or failure) sending out mixed signals that the industry reads however it wants to. In this case, though, it’s important to clarify that neither scenario is happening in a vacuum.

“Bad Education” is a hard movie to sum up in a sentence (it’s a true-life tale about a school-system budget scandal, and hidden sexuality), but the fact that a drama this brilliantly executed, and with this kind of pedigree, will probably never see the inside of a movie theater feels like a symptom of the choppy waters of the indie world in 2019. There’s a shadow story behind the deal — the fact that in the previous eight months, too many of those highly touted Sundance movies failed to perform.




I personally think too much expectation was placed on the shoulders of “Late Night,” a movie that never struck me as much of a crowd-pleaser. I was one of the few people at Sundance who didn’t like it, but the fact that it was bought for $13 million and talked about as “the new ‘Big Sick'” wasn’t a great sign. The movie didn’t have that kind of romantic hook at its center — and frankly (though this is always subjective), given the smart-mouth star moxie that Emma Thompson brought to it, the picture wasn’t funny enough. Even a good movie can disappoint at the box office, but the relative failure of “Late Night” seemed to nudge the entire indie world off course. Too many Sundance films after that (“Brittany Runs a Marathon,” “David Crosby: Remember My Name,” “Luce”) never found their audience. Even the rousing Bruce Springsteen-fueled drama “Blinded by the Light” couldn’t start a fire without a spark.

Yet it wasn’t all gloom and doom. “The Farewell” has been a triumph, and for good reason. It’s a transporting movie, one that announced the arrival of Awkwafina as a major dramatic actress. “The Farewell,” which has already outstripped the success of the 2018 Sundance breakout “Eighth Grade,” is a sign that a Sundance film can still connect in a major way. (And there’s one more superb Sundance movie to come: “The Report,” a U.S.-torture-policy whistleblower drama of gripping resonance, starring Adam Driver, who is having quite a year.)


So based on all that, what does the future look like?

It looks like a future in which we’ll surely see more deals like the one struck for “Bad Education.” We appear to be in the thick of the streaming era, but the truth is that we’re just in the opening seconds of it. Once the streaming arms of Disney, Apple, and others are up and running, with Netflix suddenly looking like a big fish in a pool with many other big fish, those services are going to need prestige product to feed them. They’ll create a great deal of it, but they’ll purchase it too — at festivals like Sundance and Toronto. Limited theatrical windows will often (though not always) be part of the deal. The new credo could be: Not every good movie has to be in the Oscar race.


Does this make me fret a bit? Frankly, it does. Much as I love HBO, it’s no slur against that cable behemoth to say that I wonder about the fate of a movie like “Bad Education” once it’s no longer quite…a movie. That sounds like old-school thinking, and I get it. It’s still a movie, in the same way that films going all the way back to the ’80s were still movies when people watched them on VHS. But when I saw “Bad Education” in a theater in Toronto, the effect was galvanizing. The film will work just fine at home (in the same way that “Election,” the 1999 classic that “Bad Education” often recalls, works fine at home), but in its intimate way it deserves the enveloping qualities of the big screen. I worry about it getting lost.

If the industry looks at “Bad Education” selling to HBO as a paradigm for what it might like to follow in the future, then we’ll have one kind of future, with big spectacle movies in theaters and realistic dramas for adults tending toward the small screen. I hope that’s not the case. Then again, the real message of this past week isn’t necessarily about headline indie deals. The message is that studios, having all but cancelled the mid-budget drama for adults, would do well to reconsider that strategy. Viewed strictly as products, films like “Downton Abbey” and “Hustlers” have done too well to ignore. And even the upcoming dark-event movie “Joker,” in a highly paradoxical way, reinforces that lesson. It is already the most talked about, the most debated, the most anticipated comic-book blockbuster in years. Yet in so many ways, it’s not a comic-book movie at all. It’s a film without superhuman fantasy, without zappy visual effects, made for a relatively modest budget ($55 million). Whatever one ends up thinking of “Joker” (and I loved it), it is — dare I say it? — a serious drama for adults. If the film turns out to be as big as some predict, then that could be more than a trend. It could be the start of a revolution.

Owen makes several excellent points --

*It is the attitude of the major studios towards mid-budget films ( realistic adult drama) which is disappointing. They only prefer tentpoles or tentpole-like movies for multiplex release. It is ironic that a once-producer of quality films, 20th Century Fox, sold its creative assets ( its studios and film library) to DISNEY, so it can help kickstart DISNEY+ ( Disney-Plus, the streaming services to start streaming in November).

*The film studios let themselves be outbid by the likes of HBO and/or streamers.


*BAD EDUCATION deserves "the enveloping qualities of the big screen".





Did Owen think that the movie is meant for release on the cable channel of HBO? Wasn't the official info leaning towards the movie being part of HBO MAX, which is the streaming services arm? It is meant for a 2020 release, when the streaming service will start operations in the spring?

Someone in the Feedback section made a comment that the movie, which is essentially a US story, may not work out well in the overseas market and may not have much box office appeal.

But Owen made a good point that quality products will also become a staple for streaming services! I had made a point in some other follow-up articles that the one aspect that will benefit in all these shifts are the creatives who deliver the content - and that includes actors/performers like Hugh Jackman!

I did wonder how much the abysmal failure of THE FRONT RUNNER at the box office ( a SONY-distributed movie) had an impact on the appeal of BAD EDUCATION?


Jo

[hughmanity]

I did wonder how much the abysmal failure of THE FRONT RUNNER at the box office ( a SONY-distributed movie) have an impact on the appeal of BAD EDUCATION?


Jo

Read more: ozalots.proboards.com/posts/recent#ixzz60IWItNs6

I think it could have been that along with the failures of recent indie purchases from Sundance