Showbiz Sandbox 464: Warner Bros. Gets the Last Laugh With “Joker”

October 7, 2019

After winning the top prize at the Venice Film Festival last month, “Joker” shattered October box office records around the world. This was despite mixed critical reviews and concerns about violence that led to heightened security at movie theaters. The question remains whether the movie will be too dark for Oscar voters come awards season.

The box office in China also made headlines over the past week as the country celebrated National Day by heading to the movies. China’s biggest release for the holiday week even made it onto the North American box office charts.

Meanwhile, one of Hollywood’s biggest talent agencies was hoping to raise a lot of money by going public and ultimately change how agents do business. However, Endeavor wound up pulling its initial public offering at the last minute as market makers began raising doubts.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including how who will be performing at next year’s Super Bowl Halftime Show, Spider-Man rejoins Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and Apple will release (some of) its movies in theatres with a 90-day theatrical window.

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Showbiz Sandbox 459: Jay-Z Gets Played By The NFL

August 19, 2019

In a win-win for the American football and artist Jay-Z (or a lose-lose depending on your point of view), the National Football League is working with one of its biggest critics. Jay-Z has historically been very supportive of the NFL players who have used their visibility to bring attention to issues like police brutality. He also made clear that he wouldn’t perform at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Now he’s signed a deal with the NFL to consult on the Halftime Show, NFL music in general and assist with other efforts to make the NFL and its entertainment more inclusive.

Many wondered why Jay-Z would enter into such an agreement when it seemed he had so much to lose and little to gain, especially when it appears as if the NFL is co-opting him. Perhaps the rumors that the rap and entertainment mogul wishes to to buy a significant stake in an NFL team are actually true.

Meanwhile in China, streaming giants such as Netflix, YouTube and eventually Disney+ were granted permission to launch their platforms in the country. That is so long as these companies play by some strict government rules. But what exactly that means, both in regards to mandated propaganda content and censorship remains to be seen.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment headlines including CBS and Viacom get remarried, why Hong Kong protesters want to boycott the live action adaptation of “Mulan” and sales at bookstores decline this year.

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Showbiz Sandbox 234: Scandal and Politics Invade Hollywood (Again)

May 5, 2014

Two real-life controversies are presently complicating life in Hollywood where studios prefer to make lots of money and ignore complicated social issues or the sometimes tawdry private lives of their executives and talent. The first involves accusations of forcible rape by movie director Bryan Singer. The second involves boycotting a historic Tinseltown hotel over its owners politics.

In less contentious news it appears our prediction about the future of Craig Ferguson as host of the “Late Late Show” was correct, and he will indeed be departing by the end of this year. The host says the decision was entirely his own, despite what it might look like with David Letterman retiring from his show’s lead in, “Late Night”.

Tony nominations were announced last week to honor some of this year’s best and brightest Broadway productions and performers. We give you a rundown of all the front runners as well as a look at a few that didn’t make the cut.

Of course, we also cover the week’s top entertainment news stories including the “Star Wars Episode VII” casting announcement, AT&T’s acquisition offer of DirecTV and Ben Affleck’s blackjack trouble.

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Showbiz Sandbox 77: It’s Official – Hollywood To Make Nothing But Sequels

November 1, 2010

With the seventh installment of the Saw franchise and Paranormal Activity 2 topping this week’s box office, it’s not hard to see why Hollywood studios have been greenlighting sequels and prequels. They range from high profile titles such as “The Hobbit” and “Avatar”, to questionable projects such as “Top Gun 2”. Don’t even get us started on the prequel to Martin Scorsese’s “Goodfellas”.

If big budget Hollywood movies aren’t your thing, you could always stay home and watch television, provided the broadcast networks don’t get into a carriage dispute with your cable provider and black out their signal. Fox did just that to Cablevision subscribers recently and we’ll explain why. Meanwhile, Conan O’Brien prepares for his new late night talk show with a Rolling Stone interview.

During Big Deal or Big Whoop we provide analysis of the week’s top entertainment headlines, including Charlie Sheen’s latest trouble, a new hit for AMC and a film based on Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”. Our Inside Baseball discussion focuses on why consumers prefer to rent digital movies rather than purchase them.

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