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Bob Iger has a lot to be happy about, writes Paul Bond:
The Black Panther bump: Walt Disney. Co. posted quarterly profit and sales that bested the expectations of analysts courtesy of Black Panther and strong financial results at the company’s theme parks.
Wrinkle in Time dip: Disney didn’t say exactly how much that movie hurt the bottom line, but acknowledged that the success of Black Panther “was partially offset by the performance of A Wrinkle in Time.”
Breakdown: Studio entertainment boasted the most growth in operating income, at 29 percent, followed by parks and resorts at 27 percent.
Soft spot: Operating income at the company’s cable networks unit fell 4 percent due to some weakness at ESPN.
Talking Fox: Iger also said Disney is “deep into the regulatory process” with the Fox deal and he therefore would not supply any details yet.
He added that Disney isn’t dependent on Fox content to launch its upcoming digital service, and said that if Disney acquires Fox it will suddenly become a 60 percent owner of Hulu and Disney will still fuel that platform as well. Read more.
More Avengers movies? Bob Iger hinted that Avengers 4 may not be the last one: “We’ve plotted out Marvel movies that will take us well into the next decade. I’m guessing we will try our hand at what I’ll call a new franchise beyond Avengers, but that doesn’t necessarily mean you won’t see more Avengers down the road.” Full story.
News from Cannes…
The Man Who Killed Don Quixote updates: Amazon has pulled out of its distribution agreement for the embattled Terry Gilliam film, which is currently the subject of a legal bid to stop its planned Cannes world premiere. Additionally, Gilliam suffered a minor stroke over the weekend. Read more.
Bill and Ted return: The much-discussed third Bill & Ted installment — Bill & Ted Face the Music — is now firmly in the works some 27 years later, with Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter set to reprise their iconic roles as time-traveling metalheads. Original creators Chris Matheson and Ed Solomon have penned the script, with Dean Parisot confirmed to direct. Read more.
Focus Features buys opening-night film: Focus has acquired Everybody Knows (Todos Los Saben), directed by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi and starring Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz and Ricardo Darin.
Cate Blanchett’s opening speech: “Our job as a jury — our joyous task as a jury — is to open our hearts and minds and check our agendas and our preconceptions and our expectations at the door and be alive to the stories being told,” said Blanchett, this year’s jury president. Read more.
Thierry Fremaux personally helps enforce selfie ban: The Cannes artistic director stood at the top of the Palais steps just after 6 p.m. during opening night to ensure his selfie ban was in effect. Read more.
Cannes’ “come to Jesus” moment? After years of being virtually ignored by the market, Christian-themed hits are converting international dealmakers into true believers (even in China). Read more.
Extra! Download the THR day two daily edition, featuring an interview with first-time director Paul Dano about his film Wildlife. Download.
MoviePass stock plunges…
Running out of dough? MoviePass is taking a tremendous toll on parent company Helios and Matheson Analytics, which said Tuesday its cash reserves are running low — a revelation that sent the stock reeling. In a filing, the company said it has $15.5 million in cash, with another $27.9 million owed to it by the merchant processors who have collected MoviePass payments, most of which come from subscribers who pay $9.95 per month.
Next move: Helios and Matheson says it will sell stock to keep MoviePass afloat and that in May it enacted changes that it expects will save the company about 35 percent on those hefty costs it has been racking up, including initiatives to cut down on users sharing tickets and to prevent them from seeing the same movie twice. Read more.
Cinemark earnings….
Falling short: The cinema giant posted lower first-quarter earnings, despite Black Panther‘s performance in the latest quarter. Earnings fell to $62.0 million, compared with a year ago’s $79.7 million.
Six Billion Dollar Man loses its director…
Out: Damian Szifron, who co-wrote the script and was to direct the movie, has fallen off the Warner Bros. project, set to star Mark Wahlberg as Col. Steve Austin. “Creative differences” are being blamed for the exit of Szifron, but the exact nature of the rift remains unknown.
Replacement option: One candidate may already be in the wings: Mel Gibson has already been circling a key role in the film and could be conscripted to hop into the pilot’s seat.
Jordan Peele’s next movie…
Casting buzz: Winston Duke, Lupita Nyong’o and Elisabeth Moss are circling to star in Peele’s latest movie project, the newly titled Us, for Universal.
Details: Peele is once again directing from his own script. He is also producing via his Monkeypaw Productions alongside Sean McKittrick and Jason Blum. Universal has already dated the movie for a March 15, 2019, release.
Plot: The pic is said to center on two couples, one white, one black. If a deal is made, Duke and Nyong’o would play one couple, while Moss would play part of the other duo.
Elsewhere in film…
► Burt Reynolds might join Quentin Tarantino’s latest: The actor is in talks to join Brad Pitt and Leonardo DiCaprio in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Tim Roth, Kurt Russell and Michael Madsen, who all starred in Hateful Eight, also are in talks to play smaller or cameo-style roles in the film.
► Magnolia nabs Love, Gilda: Magnolia Pictures picked up the North American rights to Lisa D’Apolito’s film about comedy trailblazer Gilda Radner and is aiming for a theatrical release later this year.
► A24, Hereditary director team up for another horror film: Ari Aster, the filmmaker behind A24’s buzzy Hereditary, is working with the company on a new horror project tentatively titled Midsommer, which he plans on shooting late summer or early fall.
► James Marsden in talks for Stephen King thriller: The actor is in talks to star in the Netflix adaptation of In the Tall Grass, based on the 2012 novella King wrote with son Joe Hill.
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