The all-new Hollywood Reporter offers unprecedented access to the people, studios, networks and agencies that create the magic in Hollywood. Published weekly, the oversized format includes exceptional photography and rich features.
For much of the past two decades, if not longer, Hollywood relied on PG-13 fare to rally the masses. Slapping a big-budget event pic with a PG rating could alienate older kids, teens and young adults (the latter are the most frequent moviegoers). Case in point: Remember the choice to change the rating from PG to PG-13 on several Harry Potter movies? The franchise saw a spike in grosses on films that had the more mature rating. The past year upended this long-held theory, with PG fare accounting for as much as 30 percent of domestic ticket sales, a record according to Comscore chief box office analyst Paul Dergarabedian. “2024 is the year that PG-rated movies showed their undeniable appeal for all age groups and demographics,” he says. “It’s the pizza…
Disney’s film kingdom, run by Alan Bergman, reclaimed its No. 1 standing in market share, led by a slew of films that shattered record after record, including Inside Out 2 and Deadpool & Wolverine. They were the only two films of the year to cross $1 billion globally. That’s not to say Disney was the only box office hero. Universal enjoyed another wickedly good year as longtime movie studio chief Donna Langley gained more power in the larger NBCU empire. And while Warner Bros. suffered a major stumble with Todd Phillips’ Joker sequel, it came in No. 2 overseas in market share. Source: Studios, Comscore, revenue Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2024…
Source: Comscore, domestic totals Jan. 1-Dec. 31, 2024; *Still in theaters Osgood Perkins’ Longlegs blew past expectations when it opened in July to $22.6 million domestically, the best debut of 2024 for an original horror film amid Neon’s best start ever (that’s saying a lot, considering Tom Quinn’s outfit is home to Oscar winners including Parasite). The R-rated pic became the top-grossing indie movie of the calendar year with $74.6 million in domestic ticket sales and $126.9 million globally. It also reflects the unnerving truth that indie distributors can’t rely on art house and awards fare alone; elevated genre fare like Longlegs or A24’s Civil War can pay for a company to keep the lights on. Focus Features’ vampire pic Nosferatu is yet another example (it debuted to a better-than-expected…
The digs at Hollywood were blunt and unusual. The Apprentice stars were mad — stunned — that so few of their peers would engage with them. “People have been afraid to touch this film, to be seen as complicit in the film, to support the film, to publicly endorse the film and certainly to show the film on a streaming platform,” Jeremy Strong, who plays Roy Cohn in the independently financed Donald Trump origin story, told me recently. “But the role of storytelling is to hold up a mirror. It’s not to make people feel comfortable. It’s not simply to entertain. It is to hold feet to the fire. “I can’t think of a subject more relevant to what all of us are living through,” he added. “Not to be…
Remember when gross-out movies were lowbrow comedies? With hysterical plotlines involving things like intercourse with baked goods or hair gels made from bodily fluids? Those were the days! But now, in a development that would make John Waters wobbly, it seems the humble gross-out film is being elevated to high art, as prestige directors and actors discover that one way to build awards buzz is to turn the audience’s stomach. The trend started in 2023 with Triangle of Sadness, which featured a 15-minute vomit scene that had Cannes crowds running for the exits. But this year there’s The Substance, Coralie Fargeat’s meditation on aging in Hollywood in which Demi Moore injects herself with an iffy youth serum that transforms her into an oozing, decaying blob of human organs and appendages.…
I wanna start being in stuff that I would wanna watch.Margaret Qualley The Golden Globe nominee, in Vogue Australia, describing most of her work prior to horror hit The Substance as “a lot of obscure, arty movies.” Talk about dodging a bullet.Chris Columbus The Nosferatu producer, on THR’s Awards Chatter, reflecting on his “bizarre” meeting with a combative Chevy Chase that led him to direct Home Alone instead of Christmas Vacation. The economics would never have worked.Dana Walden The Disney Entertainment co-chair, in Vulture, suggesting that big (and expensive) swings like FX’s Shogun are no longer feasible for linear TV unless the parent company also owns a streamer. Watch Bozo the Clown or something you can relate to.Tina Knowles Beyoncé’s mother, on Instagram, responding to rampant trolling of the Cowboy…
