Thompson on Hollywood

CinemaCon Panel Decries Hollywood's Underserving Women, Chasing Young Males

Interviews

At CinemaCon, The Hollywood Reporter editorial director Janice Min assembled and moderated a terrific panel, "Driving Financial Success: Women + Movies = Bigger Box Office," including Geena Davis, who runs the influential Institute on Gender and Media, director Paul Feig ("Bridesmaids," "The Heat"), Nina Jacobson ("The Hunger Games"), Amy Miles (CEO Regal Entertainment Group), and Vanessa Morrison (President, Fox Animation Studios), addressing the myriad issues women have with Hollywood, both behind and in front of the camera, including why the media likes to hate Anne Hathaway and Gwyneth Paltrow so much.

By Anne Thompson
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May 2, 2013 4:18 PM
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CinemaCon: Lionsgate Puts 'Hunger Games: Catching Fire' Front and Center

Box Office

At CinemaCon 2013, the Lionsgate movie that was front and center--even if star Jennifer Lawrence wasn't able to join the company jet--was "Catching Fire" (November 22) which is in post-production. Doing the honors in Las Vegas were director Francis Lawrence, replacing Gary Ross for the final two films in the trilogy, Elizabeth Banks and and Australian star Liam Hemsworth. "We're going to ratchet up the emotion and scope and action," said Lawrence. The CinemaCon trailer will go out on "Iron Man 3."

By Anne Thompson
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April 30, 2013 4:28 PM
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CinemaCon: Directors Raimi, Stone and Del Toro Argue Horror, Provoking vs. Pleasing Audiences, Seeing Red

Interviews

At CinemaCon last year the Filmmaker Forum included Martin Scorsese and Ang Lee, while this year directors Oliver Stone, Guillermo del Toro and Sam Raimi submitted to questioning by moderator Elvis Mitchell. Not surprisingly, all three reveal very different takes on how to please audiences--or whether to please audiences. And when Stone complained about bad conditions in some theaters around the country, the exhibitors weren't offended: they applauded.

By Anne Thompson
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April 29, 2013 6:20 AM
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CinemaCon Heavyweight Panel Debates Windows, Social Media, State of Industry

Box Office

It's easy to look at the Hollywood studios and national theater chains as old sticks-in-the-mud who are refusing to change with the times, but truth is, a lot of smart folks are trying to get ahead of the game--in order to beat out their rivals.

By Anne Thompson
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April 26, 2013 9:04 PM
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CinemaCon: Warner Bros. Reveals Slate Led by Nolan/Snyder 'Man of Steel,' 'Pacific Rim,' 'Gatsby'

Box Office

Warner Bros. believes in franchises, none more than Superman, which studio chief Jeff Robinov has been struggling to reboot for some time now--after audiences protested Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns." Thus "Man of Steel" was the high point of the 90-year-old studio's CinemaCon presentation this week, hosted by always awkward Robinov--who might as well let his popular distribution czar Dan Fellman do the honors. Robinov boasted about the studio's fourth year marking over $4 billion worldwide in 2012, and being the only studio to pass the $1 billion mark domestically 12 years in a row, as well as current hit "42," which pulled the studio out of a post-"Argo" box office dip.

By Anne Thompson
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April 19, 2013 4:29 PM
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Universal's Adam Fogelson Makes a Splash at CinemaCon

Box Office

Universal Pictures chairman Adam Fogelson has been playing nice with national exhibitors ever since he tried to make "Tower Heist" available on VOD three weeks after the theatrical opening back in 2011. The exhibitors pushed back, and Fogelson backed off--for the moment.

By Anne Thompson
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April 18, 2013 2:08 PM
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CinemaCon: Fithian Looks Back at 2012, Universal New Model Studio

Box Office

Every year CinemaCon rolls out the $100 Million Reel; it's a tradition to remind the exhibitors of the movies that scored in their theaters. "Something for everyone" is the theme that rang out Tuesday. The 2012 boom, said NATO chief John Fithian and others, was about delivering a diversity of high quality product.

By Anne Thompson
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April 17, 2013 11:12 AM
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CinemaCon: MPAA Head Chris Dodd Urges Parents to "Check the Box," Descriptors on Film Ratings Blocks Now More Prominent

News

During MPAA Chairman and CEO Senator Chris Dodd's remarks today at CinemaCon (the national theater owners' convention), a new campaign was revealed intended to remind parents to "Check the Box" (being the ratings box) so they can make informed decisions about the content of a movie before determining if it's appropriate for their children.

By Beth Hanna
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April 16, 2013 1:30 PM
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CinemaCon Announces 2013 Dates

News

Next year's theater convention CinemaCon will take place on April 14-18, 2013, at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas. The largest gathering of cinema owners and operators from around the world, the convention is on track to bring in 5,000 motion picture professional attendees in its upcoming installment.

By Anne Thompson and Beth Hanna
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September 26, 2012 2:08 PM
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CinemaCon 2012: Sen. Chris Dodd's Opening Remarks: 'A Time of Transformative Change'

Festivals

This speech was given by Sen. Chris Dodd (Chairman and CEO, MPAA) on Tuesday, April 24, 2012, at CinemaCon 2012 and is reprinted here with his permission...