In order to understand why Disney chief exec Bob Iger is handing the reins of the studio over to Rich Ross, all you have to do is read this Time Magazine feature on the success of Disney’s cable division. As Disney Channel chief, Ross nurtured a succession of teen stars (Miley Cyrus, Selena Gomez, the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato), pushing them through the Disney system—TV show, recording contract, concert tour and merchandise—earning literally billions for the studio:
ABC is struggling, sales are way down at Disney’s theme parks and stores, most of its non-Pixar movies have been wan performers, and revenue from DVDs is shriveling. The cable networks, which in addition to the Disney Channel include ESPN, ABC Family, Soapnet and Disney XD, brought in 26% of the company’s $26.3 billion in revenue and 58% of its $4.8 billion in operating income during the nine months ending June 27. In the past three years, they have represented 80% of Disney’s revenue growth.
Since Iger took over the chairman’s reins from Michael Eisner in 2005, he has been more than willing to adapt to the changing technological landscape without regard for the way that things have been done in the past. Studio chairman Dick Cook was out the door two months ago, and after Ross took over the studio, studio president Mark Zoradi also left, followed by marketing chief Jim Gallagher. Miramax head Daniel Battsek is gone, but the specialty division was always a bit of a square peg in a round hole at Disney. The Weinsteins always chafed at corporate oversight. One could hope that this new studio management team—which has just laid off 20 more staffers—would figure out a way to reinvent the label. But that is unlikely.
Ross is overhauling the Disney studio’s marketing, distribution and operations structure.
by Anne Thompson, posted to Studios, Disney/Miramax on November 11, 2009 at 7:03pm PST | Permalink | Comments (0)
BAFTA LA’s Britannia Awards at the Hyatt Regency were a blast Thursday night, as the Brits handed out achievement awards to Kirk Douglas, Colin Firth, Emily Blunt, Danny Boyle and Robert De Niro. The show was far better than last year, which went on “at ass-paralyzing length,” as host Stephen Fry put it.
Ben Stiller Makes Robert De Niro Laugh
Stone-faced throughout the night, De Niro cracked up (along with the rest of the room) as Stiller tweaked him, saying that he was “voted the least likely to twitter,” and admitted that during the Little Fockers sequel, he had given him a shot of adrenaline in his penis. “I’ve seen him fall asleep during a take,” he said. “He was jet-lagged from opening Nobu Antarctica. Even when he sleeps he’s more interesting than most others.”
For his part, De Niro described himself as the “quintessential British actor,” reserved and witty. He imagined doing Taxi Driver as a Brit. “I say, are you speaking to me?” In a more sober moment he said, “I want to thank what’s left of Miramax for their faith in Everybody’s Fine. I got a message to call back after the holidays.”
[More photos on the jump]
Read Moreby Anne Thompson, posted to Awards, BAFTA, Headliners, Chris Pine, Studios, Disney/Miramax on November 6, 2009 at 12:52pm PST | Permalink | Comments (0)
Just weeks after Disney announced that Miramax was scaling back to three releases a year (what’s the point?), the specialty unit’s president, Daniel Battsek, 50, is exiting the company. This is not a surprise, except that like former Disney Studios chairman Dick Cook, Battsek was a company man (18 years). He had been rewarded by Cook for years of service with the Miramax gig in the first place, replacing the Weinsteins in 2005. He had run Disney’s distribution arm in the U.K. But with his protector gone, he was soon out the door.
New Disney Studios chairman Rich Ross said in a statement:
“With the change in direction at Miramax, we have reached a mutual agreement with Daniel Battsek that he will leave his post as president, effective January 2010. During his 18 years of service, he has brought some very prestigious and award-winning films to the studio from ‘Calendar Girls’ to ‘The Queen’ to ‘No Country for Old Men.’ We wish Daniel the very best on his future endeavors.”
Updates, analysis and Battsek’s letter to his staff are on the jump.
Read Moreby Anne Thompson, posted to Studios, Disney/Miramax on October 30, 2009 at 12:14pm PDT | Permalink | Comments (4)
Disney chairman Bob Iger has finally announced that Disney Channel star Rich Ross, a 13-year Disney veteran, will replace Dick Cook as chairman of Walt Disney Studios. As studio chief he will supervise worldwide production, distribution and marketing of the Walt Disney, Touchstone, Miramax and Disney/Pixar labels. He will also take on Disney’s theater and music groups.
The release is on the jump.
Read Moreby Anne Thompson, posted to Studios, Disney/Miramax on October 5, 2009 at 2:37pm PDT | Permalink | Comments (0)
With the departure of Disney studio chief Dick Cook, things were not looking up for Miramax Films, yet another studio specialty division trying to survive some weak boxoffice. (Current release The Boys Are Back, starring Clive Owen, is not taking off.) Disney is dealing with the issue for the moment by restructuring Miramax, consolidating marketing and distribution with the parent studio, and reducing the number of films that Miramax releases every year. (That’s the exact opposite of my solution for what they should do.) Miramax will reduce its output to just three movies a year (including acquisitions), and cut its staff of 75 by some 50 positions, winding up with about 25. (At its peak under the Weinsteins in 2004, when the firm released some 30 films a year, the staff was at 500.) The company had already shrunk considerably since Battsek took over in September 2005, and now releases from six to eight films. UPDATE:
Historically, the most effective specialty units, like Fox Searchlight, Focus Features, the old Miramax and Sony Pictures Classics, have been autonomous, able to operate without too much studio intervention. Obviously they have to make their numbers and meet expectations, but the less interference, the better. Clipping Miramax’s wings, reducing its output (just what the indie sector needs) and bringing them into the studio fold: not good. Big studios don’t know how to do the heavy lifting on marketing and releasing specialty films. Another recipe for success: enlightened bosses who understand the vagaries of the specialty sector. What this reduces Miramax to, finally, is the library of 650 titles, created in most part by the Weinsteins.
The good news: cautious and experienced Miramax chief Daniel Battsek stays in charge at the division, for now. Disney’s press release is on the jump:
Read Moreby Anne Thompson, posted to Studios, Disney/Miramax on October 2, 2009 at 1:19pm PDT | Permalink | Comments (0)
Ever since the Indie Summit last week, something has been nagging at me.
We know there’s a bottleneck in distribution. Small-scale movies with modest prospects are cherry-picked by Magnolia, IFC and Sony Pictures Classics at bargain prices, partly because nobody else is competing with them. But many others go begging.
Focus Features’ James Schamus openly admits that he sees plenty of movies that he loves, but won’t buy. (When he does pay $10 million for Hamlet 2, he gets punished.) Miramax’s Daniel Battsek sits on the sidelines, waiting for various co-productions to be ready (he has a solid 2010 line-up), and says that he too wishes that he could release many of the movies that he declines to buy. As a studio subsidiary, he says, most of the time he would have to overpay. Fox Searchlight jumps in only when they see a marketable breakout opportunity, like Slumdog Millionaire or The Wrestler.
But SPC’s Michael Barker and Tom Bernard don’t spend too much. Is this a question of identity, perception, purpose? In the Weinstein era, Miramax released a wide range of movies of various budgets and genres, some 30 a year, and lived on the proceeds of the breakouts. SPC does something similar, but different: they manage their business so that each movie costs so little to make and/or acquire and release that they can get by with modest profits—and share them with the filmmakers. Do they spend as much as their studio colleagues to build major grosses? Not even close. But should they?
[Photo: At the Toronto Fest, The Weinstein Co. beat out the studio specialty divisions to acquire Tom Ford’s A Single Man.]
Read Moreby Anne Thompson, posted to Festivals, Toronto, Independents, Studios, Disney/Miramax, Fox Searchlight, Sony/Screen Gems/Sony Pictures Classics, Universal/Focus Features on September 30, 2009 at 8:58am PDT | Permalink | Comments (14)
It was a nasty weekend for studio openers. Disney’s $80-million robot thriller Surrogates, starring Bruce Willis, flopped with an estimated $15-million opening; MGM’s sagging fortunes were not buttressed by the ill-conceived $18-million teen musical remake Fame, the only movie they’ve opened in months. They marketed the hell out of it. They just missed the mark with audiences.
Better news for indie fare, as Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story opened magnificently; so did biopic Coco Before Chanel, starring Audrey Tautou as the French fashion icon. (Overture could take comfort in its lousy Pandorum opening with the strong Capitalism numbers.)
New distrib Apparition’s Bright Star recovered from last week’s modest Rosh Hoshanah opening with a strong weekend-to-weekend hold; it seems to be building a following with the smart-house crowd. Saturday marked a 69% increase over Friday, the largest increase of any of the top films in release except family picture Cloudy with Meatballs, which is at this point the brightest star in the box office firmament.
by Anne Thompson, posted to Box Office, Fall, Marketing, Studios, Disney/Miramax on September 27, 2009 at 10:07am PDT | Permalink | Comments (4)
Something had to give at Disney. But motion picture chief Dick Cook was such a fixture at the studio that despite Disney chairman Robert Iger’s public complaints about the quality of the movies, I figured production chief Oren Aviv would be the target. Disney’s output has been suspect ever since Aviv replaced Nina Jacobson at the studio. Cook, who over 38 years rose up through the ranks to run distribution before he took over running movies, was clearly comfortable with Aviv, who came from the marketing side, but had written the high-concept hit, National Treasure. So Cook and Aviv were both strong marketers, but hit a rough box office patch in the last year.
The studio came in fifth in 2009 market share; recent box office disappointments were Jonas Brothers 3-D Concert Experience ($23 million worldwide), rom-com Confessions of a Shopaholic ($108 million worldwide) and the remake Race to Witch Mountain ($106 million worldwide). (UPDATE: Here’s Kim Masters and the LAT on Cook’s unceremonious ouster.)
It makes sense that Iger would want some fresh blood. But it’s surprising that he didn’t give Cook some kind of face-saving job at Disney. The guy was a loyal company man, a lifer. Not that he’s walking away with nothing. He’s a wealthy man. But Cook lived and breathed Disney, he’s an institution there, and a well-liked figure around town. It feels wrong, somehow.
Who will Iger pick to replace him?
[Photo: From left, Disney’s Robert Iger, Dick Cook and John Lasseter with Ratatouille director Brad Bird.]
Read Moreby Anne Thompson, posted to Directors, Bob Zemeckis, John Lasseter, Genres, Animation, Hollywood, Studios, Disney/Miramax on September 20, 2009 at 1:48pm PDT | Permalink | Comments (2)
There was plenty to see in Toronto. Here’s how the films shook out for me.
Best of Toronto
1. A Serious Man
2. Up in the Air
3. A Single Man
4. Get Low
5. City of Life and Death
6. The Damned United
Good, not great
7. Capitalism: A Love Story
8. The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans
9. Whip It
10. The Men Who Stare at Goats
11. The Boys are Back
12. Mother and Child
13. Jennifer’s Body
14. Leaves of Grass
Disappointments
15. The Informant!
16. Creation
Sundance/Cannes Holdovers
1. Bright Star
2. An Education
3. Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
4. Fish Tank
Good, not great:
5. The White Ribbon
6. Samson & Delilah
7. Broken Embraces
Disappointments:
8. Antichrist
9. Agora
Toronto’s impact on the Oscar race is on the jump:
Read Moreby Anne Thompson, posted to Awards, Oscars, Directors, Coens, Michael Moore, Exhibition, Festivals, Toronto, Independents, Apparition, Lionsgate/Roadside, Overture, Weinsteins, Studios, Disney/Miramax, Paramount, Fox Searchlight, Sony/Screen Gems/Sony Pictures Classics, Twentieth Century Fox on September 20, 2009 at 8:20am PDT | Permalink | Comments (0)
Everyone goes into Toronto with a schedule of films to watch. And that list changes with buzz. Some movies fall off due to bad WOM, while others become must-sees. IndieWIRE’s in-progress critics’ poll of 34 films is indicative of the movies that everyone went to see—and the ones that nobody did.
I checked out Scott Hicks’ The Boys Are Back Tuesday night because it’s Miramax’s big fall release starring Clive Owen. Miramax has the North American piece of the BBC/Screen Australia co-production, which is impeccably made. Adapted by Brit Allan Cubitt (Prime Suspect 2) from sports writer Simon Carr’s memoir about raising two boys Down Under after the death of his wife, the movie rings true. My little brother and I were also raised by a writer single father who didn’t care about housekeeping and liked to drink. And as a parent, I could relate too.
But Miramax has its work cut out. So far, Owen has not proved a marquee draw at the box office, nor is he an Oscar perennial (he was nominated once, for supporting actor for Closer). He’s charming here as a free-wheeling clueless ex-workaholic who loves his kids and tries to become a responsible parent. But while the movie played for the Toronto crowd, the endearing PG-13 family film defines the word “soft.” Even if it earns rave reviews, the marketing trick for Miramax will be convincing adult audiences to sample the movie (which opens September 25): no mean feat these days.
[Photo: Newcomer Nicholas McAnulty at Miramax’s The Boys Are Back dinner at Toronto’s Bymark restaurant.]
[The trailer is on the jump]
Read Moreby Anne Thompson, posted to Awards, Oscars, Festivals, Toronto, Genres, Drama, Headliners, Clive Owen, Reviews, Studios, Disney/Miramax on September 16, 2009 at 7:23am PDT | Permalink | Comments (3)
At LAX this morning I chatted with indie press agent Laura Kim and ex-Disney exec Peter Schneider, who produced Don Hahn’s documentary Waking Sleeping Beauty. The doc tells the story of how Michael Eisner, Jeffrey Katzenberg and the 80s generation of Disney animators woke up the sleeping Disney animation giant between 1984 and 1994. Schneider, who has been working on Broadway, showed the film to ex-Disney chairman Michael Eisner, who isn’t a fan. The current Disney management—Bob Iger and Dick Cook—are supportive of the movie, however. In fact, Leonard Maltin told me on the shuttle through the splendid Rockies this afternoon, Cook has been supportive of a number of Disney animation docs that needed help with clips, cooperation, and even release, from Frank and Ollie to Walt & El Grupo, about a Disney excursion to Latin America. It’s in Disney’s interest to keep fanning the old Walt flame.
One of the most anticipated screenings here, John Hillcoat’s adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, debuted at Venice Thursday, which is why Variety ran Todd McCarthy’s review early this morning. It’s a pan. So is Kris Tapley’s review. McCarthy hints that Harvey Scissorhands mucked with the movie, which I saw a few weeks ago right after I read the Cormac McCarthy book, which is brilliant, bleak and beautiful. So is the movie, though it is not as horrific as the book. It couldn’t be.
Viggo Mortensen—who is getting a tribute here at Telluride—plays the father trying to protect his son from a lawless vicious world in just the right tough, anxious, fierce, loving way. The movie is stark and horrifying and brutal, visually stunning. It’s a tough sell, which is presumably why it took so long in the editing room—I hear that Hillcoat is happy with the end result, as is McCarthy—and why the Weinstein Co. is opening it wide October 16. The company zigged and zagged on the opening date, trying to line up a release plan for the pic. They drove agent Binky Urban crazy, trying to hook up the right date for the book tie-in. They can probably make the movie look like more of a genre piece and lure some people in that way. But The Road needs delicate special kid-glove handling, not a throw-it-to-the-winds release. Mortensen is awards-worthy—and has a long career and one Oscar nomination behind him—but he’ll need a proper campaign.
Whether or not the movie hits, or makes it into the Oscar top ten, finally, producers are chasing after the Australian director. I also liked his nasty, compelling western The Proposition, starring Guy Pearce and Danny Huston. His latest film, The Wettest Country, is casting now.
by Anne Thompson, posted to Awards, Oscars, Festivals, Telluride, Genres, Independents, Reviews, Studios, Disney/Miramax, Writers, Roger Ebert on September 3, 2009 at 5:12pm PDT | Permalink | Comments (4)
Thankfully, a cooling marine layer blew in over L.A. Tuesday morning, which shifted the balance a bit for exhausted firefighters battling the huge Station fire which has destroyed some 63 homes and threatens some 12,000. “The Station fire grew to more than 122,000 acres overnight and continued to burn out of control despite some signs of improving weather conditions,” reported the LAT. UPDATE 4:20 PM: “Firefighters made significant progress today in the Station fire, but a tense battle was underway this afternoon to save the communication centers atop Mt. Wilson. By 3 p.m., the fire was approaching closer than ever from two directions: one-half mile to the north and three-quarters of a mile to the west.” Here’s a NASA space photo from Sunday—the fire is now twice as big.
Marvel Update:
Most Hollywood folks seem to understand the need of the guys running to Marvel to cash out while the going was good. I worry that an indie outfit that sought to protect its characters and not play by the Hollywood rules will now succumb to them. Disney came out ahead on the deal, even if they paid dearly. The question remains whether Marvel can keep its autonomy and continue to play smart. Here’s the LAT’s Patrick Goldstein and the WSJ.
Most Hollywood folks know more about Marvel’s Avi Arad and production chief Kevin Feige than Ike Perlmutter, the man behind the $4 billion Disney deal. Kim Masters reveals the man behind Marvel, and the NYT reports that he scored a $1.4 billion payday.
Media Watch
Good news: while newsstand sales are down 12.4% in the first half of 2009, some magazine subscriptions actually went up.
The Future of Music Coalition Policy Summit may offer insight into the future of indie film distribution. [Hat Tip: Ted Hope]
Read Moreby Anne Thompson, posted to Franchises, Hulk, Iron Man, Genres, Comics, Hollywood, Studios, Disney/Miramax on September 1, 2009 at 3:43pm PDT | Permalink | Comments (0)
Going into the fall festival season in Venice, Telluride, Toronto and New York, we know the following:
The film glut is over. There are fewer distributors. The indie market is in transition from a theatrical to a digital distribution model. Of the more than 100 films for sale in Toronto, a fraction will find meaningful theatrical distribution. Of the burgeoning Oscar hopefuls, only a handful will emerge with enough buzz and momentum to push forward through Oscar season.
One indie agent with several films for sale in Toronto feels unaccountably optimistic, citing Overture (The Visitor), Summit (The Hurt Locker) and Apparition (Bright Star) as potential buyers this year. Production-oriented Miramax, Weinstein Co. and Focus Features have been less acquisition-driven. “We haven’t found something we wanted to buy at the last few festivals,” says one Miramax exec. Fox Searchlight will buy (see (The Wrestler) but is picky.
_thumb.jpg "Thompson on Hollywood")
Marketing is the key to the success of the surviving indies, as they struggle to cut through the noise and clutter and get movie fans with attention deficit disorder to pay heed. That’s why Searchlight remains at the head of the pack—with Slumdog Millionaire, The Wrestler and summer hit 500 Days of Summer. The Weinsteins recently recovered their marketing stride with Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds—which may or may not return on their investment, finally.
Most of the buys in Toronto will come from what sellers call the super-ancillaries: Sony Worldwide Acquisitions Group, Anchor Bay, Magnolia and IFC and other smaller distributors who market for video, basically.
I only wish that more filmmakers were willing to take the risk of screening their films in advance for buyers, who could then back them at festivals. Overture, Sony Pictures Classics and Apparition are among the companies willing to go with their gut and buy things without waiting for reviews and fest applause. (UPDATE: In fact, SPC just acquired U.S. and Latin American rights to Toronto title Micmacs, a fantastical ensemble comedy from director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. They had released his The City of Lost Children.) Sales reps hate it when one buyer doesn’t want the movie and then the remaining buyers get angry that they weren’t shown the film as well. “It’s safer to show the film, let them all see it and decide,” says one agent.
TEN HOT TORONTO PICK-UPS on the jump.
Read More
by Anne Thompson, posted to Festivals, Telluride, Toronto, Independents, Overture, Summit, Studios, Disney/Miramax, Fox Searchlight, Sony/Screen Gems/Sony Pictures Classics, Universal/Focus Features on September 1, 2009 at 3:07pm PDT | Permalink | Comments (3)
The reaction around the web to the news that Disney is buying Marvel for $4 billion was swift—and mixed. Here’s a sampling of reporting and culled Tweets:
Cinema Blend offers five reasons not to freak out over the Disney/Marvel deal.
Spoutblog offers the Disney/Marvel crossover films they’d like to see.
Slashfilm reports on the investor call.
UPDATE: Newsweek’s Johnny Roberts analyzes why Disney sought to acquire Marvel.
The LAT’s Joe Flint doesn’t expect another round of mergers and acquisitions after this Marvel/Disney deal.
Tweets:
Has anyone yet made a joke about how now maybe we’ll be able to buy Tony Stark’s portable bar at Disneyland? Because, yes please.
Will Pixar make a Marvel movie?
Why buy Marvel when all the properties anyone beyond Marvel fanboys have heard of are already gone? So Pixar can give us “She-Hulk”?
Disney buys Marvel? Looks like that Iron Man / Pirates of the Caribbean crossover idea isn’t so far fetched!
OK, here’s a game: Name the Marvel characters that the average American would recognize by face, name, costume, or source material.
I love how Marvel claims to own 5,000 characters, but the average person knows like ... 24 of ‘em.
Anybody know if the Inhumans are in the Fox FANTASTIC FOUR package?
Marvel has a number of great horror properties
Disney-Marvel Crossover: I’m looking forward to Wall-E Meets Herbie the Robot
by Anne Thompson, posted to Genres, Comics, Studios, Disney/Miramax on August 31, 2009 at 2:00pm PDT | Permalink | Comments (1)
Marvel Entertainment was so successful as an independent studio that it’s a surprise to see it gobbled up by the Mouse House. Disney announced early Monday that it plans to acquire the comics company that spawned Spider-Man, Iron Man, X-Men and The Hulk, among some 5,000 Marvel characters. “We believe that adding Marvel to Disney’s unique portfolio of brands provides significant opportunities for long-term growth and value creation,” said Disney chairman Robert Iger.
Why would Marvel (which started producing its own movies in 2005) sell with profits rolling in? The economy, stupid. Marvel has financing and investors like everyone else; their main backing came from Merrill Lynch. If it was hard for Steven Spielberg to line up financing for DreamWorks, Marvel also faced tough going. In another environment, it would have made sense to remain in charge of their own destiny.
“Disney is the perfect home for Marvel’s fantastic library of characters given its proven ability to expand content creation and licensing businesses,” said Marvel CEO Ike Perlmutter. “This is an unparalleled opportunity for Marvel to build upon its vibrant brand and character properties by accessing Disney’s tremendous global organization and infrastructure around the world.”
The question going forward: will Disney have the sense to grant Marvel the autonomy that it gives to Pixar? Marvel has operated with a fierce mission: to protect their characters over time. They have not played by short-term Hollywood rules. They haven’t paid out major Hollywood salaries to top stars. They made Robert Downey Jr. into a star with Iron Man, and demanded a level of quality that paid off at the box office. Reaction to the sequel was strong at Comic-Con in July.
For the Disney/Marvel match to work, the studio will want to hang on to current Marvel management and grant them a long creative leash. One can imagine that Pixar and Disney producer Jerry Bruckheimer would be eager to get their hands on some of this material. (UPDATE: In fact, Pixar and Marvel have already met and Pixar can’t wait to get their hands on some of these properties.) “I can’t imagine that Marvel will defer creatively to another corporate entity,” says producer Gale Anne Hurd of Valhalla Motion Pictures (Marvel’s The Punisher). “It’s too important to protect a successful brand. Fans will have the same concerns. It’s important for Disney to say, ‘We’re not going to interfere.’”
Here’s the official press release.
Read Moreby Anne Thompson, posted to Franchises, Hulk, Iron Man, Genres, Action, Comics, Studios, Disney/Miramax on August 31, 2009 at 9:34am PDT | Permalink | Comments (3)
Updated 11/18/2009
