Showbiz Sandbox 415: Along With Box Office, Movie Star Salaries Are On The Rise In China

We’ve been told for years now that the theatrical box office in China will ultimately surpass that of North America, probably by 2017… or 2018, or definitely by 2020. But higher grosses have pushed the salaries for the country’s most sought after movie stars to astronomical proportions, something frowned upon in China. In fact, the Chinese government has now stepped in with a new set of regulations capping the salaries paid to talent on movies and television shows and have begun to scrutinize contracts more closely.

On the other hand, The Grammys have decided bigger is better. The Grammys are following the lead of most major awards and expanding its top categories. Instead of announcing the Best Five Album Of The Year nominees, they’ll be announcing eight. The same goes for Best Record and Best Song and Best New Artist. All other categories remain the same.

Meanwhile the group that votes on each year’s most coveted movie awards just got a little bigger. The Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences invited a record 928 people to their club with half the invites going to women and 38% to people of color.

Of course we also cover the week’s top entertainment news including how Spotify hopes to earn revenue by selling movie tickets, credible rumors about new “Star Trek” series and MoviePass officially adopts surge pricing.

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AT&T Promised Lower Prices After Time Warner Merger—It’s Raising Them Instead
https://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2018/07/att-promised-lower-prices-after-time-warner-merger-its-raising-them-instead/

World Cup: International Ratings Strong, Not Historic, for Group Stage
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/world-cup-international-ratings-strong-not-historic-group-stage-1124109

California Extends Film Tax Credits to 2025
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/california-extends-film-tax-credits-2025-1123674

comScore Announces Official Worldwide Box Office Results for Weekend of July 8, 2018
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/comscore-announces-official-worldwide-box-office-results-for-weekend-of-july-8-2018-300677445.html

Box Office: ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp’ Buzzes to $76M in U.S., $161M Globally
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/box-office-ant-man-wasp-crushes-first-purge-76m-1125547

How Drug Smuggler Dramedy ‘Dying to Survive’ Became a China Box-Office Phenomenon
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/how-drug-smuggler-dramedy-dying-survive-became-a-china-box-office-phenomenon-1125299

In China’s ‘Money Worshiping’ Movie Industry, Stars’ High Pay Becomes a Target of the Central Government
http://www.latimes.com/world/la-fg-china-actors-pay-20180705-story.html

Legendary Lands $1 Billion Revolving Credit Facility
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/legendary-lands-1-billion-revolving-credit-facility-1123948

NATO Elects Ellis Jacob As Chairman, Rolando B. Rodriguez As Vice Chairman
https://deadline.com/2018/06/national-assn-of-theater-owners-chairman-vice-chairman-ellis-jacob-rolando-b-rodriguez-1202419296/

Chinese Authorities to Enforce Rules on Celebrity Compensation and “Yin Yang” Contract
http://chinafilminsider.com/headlines-from-china-zhang-yimous-next-film-unveiled/

Chinese Authorities Issue Rules on Actors’ Pay Following Fan Bingbing Controversy
https://variety.com/2018/film/news/fan-bingbing-china-rules-actors-pay-1202859221/

China’s Biggest Movie Stars Get a Pay Cut (From the Government)
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/world/asia/china-fan-bingbing-movie-tax.html

Disney Agrees to Sell 21st Century Fox’s Regional Sports Networks to Secure Justice Department Approval of Acquisition
https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/disney-21st-century-fox-justice-department-approval-1202859241/

MoviePass Starts Adding “Peak Pricing” Surcharges
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/moviepass-starts-adding-peak-pricing-surcharges-1125143

MoviePass Parent to Raise $1.2 Billion in Bid to Keep Company Growing
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/moviepass-parent-raise-12-billion-bid-keep-company-growing-1124275

Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
http://bookfilter.com/2018/02/08/spinning-silver/

B&N Fires CEO
https://www.publishersweekly.com/pw/by-topic/industry-news/people/article/77440-b-n-fires-ceo.html

Harvey Weinstein Charged With More Sex Crimes in New York
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/harvey-weinstein-charged-more-sex-crimes-new-york-1124417

Kevin Spacey Faces Three New Sexual Assault Allegations in London
https://variety.com/2018/film/news/kevin-spacey-new-sexual-assault-allegations-london-1202864931/

Fantastical Festival
https://fantasiafestival.com/en/festival-2018

Academy Invites Record 928 New Members
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/new-academy-members-2018-revealed-1123069

Time Out New York Moves to a Regular Publishing Schedule
https://www.timeout.com/newyork/news/time-out-new-york-moves-to-a-regular-publishing-schedule-062718

Report: A Next Generation Sequel Could Be Included in Alex Kurtzman’s Expansive New Star Trek Deal
https://io9.gizmodo.com/report-a-next-generation-sequel-could-be-included-in-a-1826956945

Apple Signs Deal with Sesame Workshop, But it Won’t Include ‘Sesame Street’
http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-apple-sesame-20180620-story.html

Fortnite Is Generating More Revenue Than Any Other Free Game Ever
https://www.recode.net/2018/6/26/17502072/fortnite-revenue-game-growth-318-million

The Rise of Female Filmmakers in China
https://www.scmp.com/magazines/post-magazine/arts-music/article/2153756/rise-chinas-female-filmmakers-three-women

Why the Hollywood ‘Resistance’ Must Abandon Trump-Friendly AMI
https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-resistance-hollywood-celebrities-must-abandon-trump-friendly-ami

Instagram Launches IGTV App for Creators, 1-hour Video Uploads
https://techcrunch.com/2018/06/20/igtv/

Sony Pictures Merges TV Divisions in Major Step to Secure its Digital Future
http://www.latimes.com/business/hollywood/la-fi-ct-sony-pictures-restructuring-20180620-story.html

Grammy Awards Expand Nominees for Top Album, Song, Record & New Artist From 5 to 8: Exclusive
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/grammys/8462824/grammy-awards-nominees-rules-expand-changes-recording-academy

Drake Crushes Spotify and Apple Music’s One-Day Streaming Records
https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/drake-crushes-spotifys-one-day-streaming-record-1202862742/

Spotify Names Dawn Ostroff Chief Content Officer
https://variety.com/2018/biz/news/spotify-names-dawn-ostroff-chief-content-officer-1202857843/

Big Four Networks Press for Emmy Telecast Format Changes as Condition of New Rights Deal
Big Four Networks Press for Emmy Telecast Format Changes as Condition of New Rights Deal

Spotify Generated $40M+ In Ticket Sales Last Year, Now It’s Accelerating Its Presence In Live Music https://www.musicbusinessworldwide.com/spotify-generated-40m-in-ticket-sales-last-year-now-its-accelerating-its-presence-in-live-music/

The Times Have Changed: What ‘I Like It’ Hitting No. 1 Means to Latin Music
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/latin/8463929/-i-like-it-hitting-no-1-means-to-latin-music-billboard-chart-cardi-b-j-balvin-bad-bunny

CDs at Best Buy Are Going the Way of the Dodo
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cds-at-best-buy-are-going-the-way-of-the-dodo/

Steve Ditko, Spider-Man Co-Creator and Legendary Comics Artist, Dies at 90
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/steve-ditko-dead-spider-man-creator-was-90-1125489

Steve Ditko Was a Creator Ahead of His Time
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/steve-ditko-was-a-comic-creator-time-1125510

Robby Muller, Cinematographer on ‘Paris, Texas’ and ‘Breaking the Waves,’ Dies at 78
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/robby-muller-dead-paris-texas-breaking-waves-cinematographer-was-78-1124987

Harlan Ellison, Intensely Prolific Science Fiction Writer, Dies at 84
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/29/obituaries/harlan-ellison-intensely-prolific-science-fiction-writer-dies-at-84.html

Claude Lanzmann, Epic Chronicler of the Holocaust, Dies at 92
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/05/obituaries/claude-lanzmann-dead.html