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      They Resurrected MGM. Amazon Bought the Studio. Now What?

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      Paul Thomas Anderson and Michael De Luca are film geeks with a shared history. As a studio executive, Mr. De Luca championed Mr. Anderson’s “Boogie Nights” and “Magnolia,” films that established the director’s reputation as a creative force. So when Focus Features said it would postpone the production of Mr. Anderson’s new film because of the pandemic, it was Mr. De Luca, in his new role as chairman of MGM’s Motion Picture Group, who swooped in and pledged to get the movie into production in Los Angeles when Mr. Anderson wanted to shoot.And being that the two men can’t resist the pull of old Hollywood, Mr. De Luca made sure to amp up the nostalgia associated with his efforts to reinvigorate MGM, the once mighty studio that in recent decades has been reduced to a financial Ping-Pong ball, volleyed back and forth by various investors eager to turn the company’s 4,000-film library into a cash cow.“I said, ‘This will be fun. Come make your movie at Metro,’” Mr. De Luca recalled with a laugh, referring to the studio’s former moniker of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.Mr. Anderson was game.“If Mike says something will happen, it happens,” he said. “It’s hard not to stress how rare of a quality that is.”The question now is, in light of Amazon’s decision last month to acquire MGM in an $8.45 billion deal, will Mr. De Luca still be able to keep his promises? Or will he simply be part of a corporate hierarchy less prone to taking chances on films and filmmakers?In the past 15 months, MGM has experienced a resurgence, led by Mr. De Luca, a one-time brash and reckless young executive who introduced filmmakers like Mr. Anderson and David Fincher to the culture when he was president of production at New Line Cinema, and now, after 36 years in the business, is seen as one of its most reliable statesmen. His deputy, Pamela Abdy, produced “Garden State” when she was at Jersey Films and amplified the career of Alejandro González Iñárritu, among others, during her time as a Paramount executive and later at New Regency.At MGM, the two have compiled a heady mix of A-list directors and compelling material they hope hearkens back to the days when Fred Astaire and Judy Garland roamed the once-hallowed studio’s hallways. The next six months will show if their strategy pays off. Mr. Anderson’s movie will debut on Nov. 26. It will follow Ridley Scott’s pulpy drama “House of Gucci,” starring Lady Gaga and Adam Driver. In December, Joe Wright’s musical adaptation of “Cyrano,” with Peter Dinklage and featuring music from The National, will be released.Daniel Craig as James Bond in “No Time to Die,” which is scheduled to be released Oct. 8.Nicola Dove/MGMAnd then there is “No Time to Die,” the long-awaited 25th installment of the James Bond franchise and Daniel Craig’s swan song in the role, which is scheduled for theatrical release on Oct. 8.“Mike and Pam understand that we are at a critical juncture and that the continuing success of the James Bond series is dependent on us getting the next iteration right and will give us the support we need to do this,” Michael Wilson and Barbara Broccoli, the sibling producing team who have long overseen the Bond franchise, said in a statement.They added that “Amazon has assured us that Bond will continue to debut” in movie theaters. “Our hope is that they will empower Mike and Pam to continue to run MGM unencumbered,” they said.Still, Amazon’s priorities are inherently different from a traditional studio’s.In 2019, Amazon Studios, under the leadership of Jennifer Salke, shifted away from exclusive theatrical windows, opting instead to make movies available in theaters and on Amazon Prime the same day, the strategy preferred by the prominent streaming platforms. The pandemic turbocharged that approach. Ms. Salke was able to buy films like “Coming 2 America” and the recently released “The Tomorrow War” from studios looking to offload their movies because theaters were largely closed. Viewership on Amazon Prime skyrocketed and movies, which had previously taken a back seat to television shows, suddenly became a much more attractive opportunity. Anemic overall film output would no longer do.Mr. De Luca and Ms. Abdy stress that even in light of the pending acquisition, which still needs government approval, their philosophy of movie theaters first will remain.“There is theatrical in our near future, there will be theatrical after the deal closes,” Mr. De Luca said. “There will always be theatrical at MGM.”It’s not clear how the management of MGM will be handled once the acquisition is complete. Amazon declined to comment on the record for this article. There are some in Hollywood’s film community who are hopeful that Mr. De Luca and Ms. Abdy will oversee Amazon’s movie business once the merger is complete.“Flag Day,” directed by Sean Penn, will mark MGM’s first release under its new executive leadership.Allen Fraser/MGMMs. Salke has led both divisions for the past three years, managing an $8 billion annual content budget, and Amazon has made no indication that will change. Before joining Amazon, Ms. Salke spent seven years as president of entertainment at NBC. (In an interesting twist, Ms. Salke’s biggest bet is a $450 million television adaptation of J.R.R. Tolkien’s “Lord of the Rings,” which Peter Jackson previously adapted into a series of blockbuster films at New Line when Mr. De Luca was an executive there.) Her upcoming films include the Cannes Film Festival opener “Annette”; Aaron Sorkin’s “Being the Ricardos,” about Lucy and Desi Arnaz; and George Clooney’s “The Tender Bar,” starring Ben Affleck.The producer Matt Tolmach, who has two projects in the works at MGM, including the horror film “Dark Harvest,” set for release on Sept. 23, said Mr. De Luca’s passion for good stories is infectious. “He read the script and he called me, and we had an hourlong conversation just about the possibilities and how amazing it would be and how we can push the boundaries,” he said of “Dark Harvest.” “That’s what he does. He makes your movie better.”As Mr. De Luca sees it, the new MGM is about “treating the filmmakers like the franchise,” he said. When he and Ms. Abdy first joined forces, the duo compiled a list of 36 directors they were hoping to lure to the studio. In 15 months, they’ve nabbed 20 percent of them, including Darren Aronofsky, Sarah Polley, Melina Matsoukas and George Miller.“We don’t mind taking big swings and gambling because I think it’s either go big or go home,” he added. “I think the audience rewards you if you are really original, innovative, bold and creative.”In a shareholder meeting last month Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s founder and executive chairman, called the reason behind the acquisition “very simple.” He said MGM had a “vast, deep catalog of much beloved” movies and shows. “We can reimagine and redevelop that I.P. for the 21st century.”That runs counter to the approach Mr. De Luca and Ms. Abdy have primarily taken.“Mike and I did not sit down and say let’s raid the library and remake everything,” Ms. Abdy said. “Our focus is original ideas with original authorship and real filmmakers, but you know every once in a while something will come up that’s fun and we’ll pursue it if we think it makes sense.”Those ideas include a hybrid live action/animated remake of “Pink Panther”; Michael B. Jordan directing the third installment of the “Rocky” spinoff “Creed”; and “Legally Blonde 3” with Reese Witherspoon and a script co-written by Mindy Kaling.“Our focus is original ideas,” Ms. Abdy said of the approach she and Mr. De Luca have taken.Maggie Shannon for The New York TimesOf course, all of MGM’s success is hypothetical, as none of the projects initiated by Mr. De Luca and Ms. Abdy have been seen yet. The company’s recent acquisition of Sean Penn’s directorial effort “Flag Day,” which is set to debut at the Cannes Film Festival before opening on Aug. 20, will mark the regime’s first release. The studio also has high hopes for “Respect,” an Aretha Franklin biopic starring Jennifer Hudson, which comes out in August (and was in motion when Mr. De Luca and Ms. Abdy came to MGM).But they said their efforts to reinvigorate the studio were more than just an attempt to make the company attractive to buyers. Anchorage Capital, the majority owners of MGM, put the studio up for sale in December and the speed with which a deal was made surprised Mr. De Luca and Ms. Abdy.Both said they were in for the long haul. “If it works, I feel like it could go on forever,” Mr. De Luca said. Ms. Abdy added, “Until they carry us out.”As part of their efforts, Mr. De Luca and Mrs. Abdy even had MGM’s logo reworked: Leo the lion is now digital and the gold film ribbons that encircle him have been sharpened “to own gold the way Netflix owns red,” Mr. De Luca said. The three Latin words encircling the lion — “Ars Gratia Artis” — are first spelled out in English: “Art for Art’s Sake.”That’s music to Mr. Anderson’s ears.“Long live the lion!” he said. “Whether it’s ‘The Wizard of Oz’ or ‘Tom & Jerry’ cartoons, the lion is a symbol of our business. The healthier, the better.”And how does he feel about MGM being sold to Amazon?“Who?” he responded. More

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      Stereotypes Are Rife Among Asian and Pacific Islander Film Roles, Study Finds

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      Two-thirds of characters reflect stereotypes, and just 3.4 percent of movies had leads or coleads who were Asians or Pacific Islanders, the study of 1,300 movies found.Of the 1,300 top-grossing films released from 2007 through 2019, just 44 featured an Asian or Pacific Islander character in a leading role — and one-third of the roles went to a single actor, Dwayne Johnson, a study has found. More

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      MGM Looks to Amazon as the Hollywood Studio Tries to Find a Buyer

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      A deal would add Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer’s 4,000 films to Amazon’s streaming library, including the James Bond, Rocky and “Legally Blonde” franchises.LOS ANGELES — Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer has been in talks to sell itself to Amazon, according to three people briefed on the matter. If completed, a deal would turbocharge Amazon’s streaming ambitions by bringing James Bond, Rocky, RoboCop and other film and television properties into the e-commerce giant’s fold. More

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      ‘Transformers’ and a Zombie Comedy: What ‘Invincible’ Is Made Of

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      The writer behind the Amazon Prime superhero show ‘Invincible’ shares the films, comic books and characters he drew on to create the new series.Comics-to-screen adaptations are tricky to pull off — and hard-core comic book fans can be exacting — but Robert Kirkman has now been the writer behind two of them.First, he masterminded the comic book “The Walking Dead,” then helped turn it into one of the most popular TV series of the 21st century. Now Kirkman is executive producer of “Invincible,” an animated Amazon Prime show based on a superhero he created with the illustrator Cory Walker. Loaded with top-shelf voice talent led by Steven Yeun as the title’s teenage superbeing (real name: Mark Grayson) and J.K. Simmons as his father, Omni-Man, the new series is irreverent and dramatic, funny and graphically violent, and never less than gleefully entertaining. The comic book was published from 2003 to 2018 by Skybound, an Image Comics imprint.In a video call from Los Angeles, Kirkman, 42, discussed some of what inspired him in his work on “Invincible.”Marvel ComicsAn interior page from “Amazing Fantasy” #15 (1962), by Stan Lee, writer, and Steve Ditko, artist.MarvelRight, Mark Grayson/Invincible (voiced by Steven Yeun), with his parents, Debbie Grayson (Sandra Oh), and Omni-Man (J.K. Simmons).Amazon Prime VideoNaturally, a superhero story is going to draw from one of the biggest publishers of the genre, but Kirkman zeroed in on a specific side of Marvel Comics. “Their big innovation in the ’60s was to treat the superhero characters as if they were human beings,” he said. “There were stories dealing with trouble at work and having to make rent. So ‘Invincible’ tries to dig deep on the family aspects and portray inhuman characters as deeply human.”“When superpowered characters go on dates they can have lunch in Rome or their favorite bistro in France. They’re not constrained by the same realities of time and distance as we are,” Kirkman said. If Mark is falling short as a boyfriend, he added, “it’s not because he forgot to text before he went out with the boys; it’s because he had to do a quick mission on Mars. We’re able to use the fantasy elements of a superhero world to heighten the everyday relatable drama.”The non-superheroic folks don’t get ignored, either. Invincible’s mother, Debbie (Sandra Oh), for example, has issues of her own. “Her main story line in the first season is a suspicion over her husband doing something that could be potentially very bad,” Kirkman said. “A wife suspicious of her husband is a very real thing that a lot of people deal with — a somewhat grounded conflict in this crazy superhero world.”DC Comics’ Silver AgeFrom “The Girl in Superman’s Past” (An Untold Tale of Superman) written by Bill Finger, penciled by Wayne Boring and inked by Stan Kaye. #129 (May,  1959).DCFrom left, Invincible, voiced by Steven Yeun, with Allen the Alien (Seth Rogen), in “Invincible.” Amazon Prime VideoKirkman is a fan of the lighter aspects of superhero stories, especially as they flourished at DC Comics in the 1950s through 1970s; he singles out Superman’s romance with the mermaid Lori Lemaris, and also mentioned his turning back time by flying around the Earth at super-speed in the Richard Donner film “Superman,” from 1978. “By embracing the sillier aspects of Silver Age comic books, we’re not telling silly stories — I don’t think anyone would ever say that ‘Invincible’ is silly,” Kirkman said. “But holding your breath and speaking telepathically while you fight around the orbit of the planet is goofy, a father and son playing catch by throwing a ball around the curvature of the Earth is ridiculous,” he continued, referring to events in his new show. “Playing those scenes straight shines a spotlight on how unique and how cool the world of superheroes can be.”‘The Transformers: The Movie’ (1986) by Nelson ShinSunbow ProductionsOmni-Man in a scene in Episode 1 in which the Guardians are killed.Amazon Prime VideoVisible behind Kirkman was a poster of this animated feature, which he saw when he was 8. The movie dispatches Optimus Prime, the heroic leader of the Autobots, early on, a storytelling decision that made a big impression on the future writer. “By giving the audience something they would tell you they absolutely don’t want, you can actually give them something that is really fulfilling and better than anything they could have imagined,” he said.“The Walking Dead” is famous for abruptly killing off fan favorites, and the first episode of “Invincible” ends in a startling massacre. “The stories that come after that are richer because of that loss,” Kirkman said.‘Dead Alive’ (1993) by Peter JacksonWingNut FilmsOmni-Man in the gore of the Guardians’ battle, a scene not unlike the shocking gore inspired by the movie “Dead Alive,” above.Amazon Prime VideoWith its crushed skulls and geysers of blood, “Invincible” does not shy from violence. Kirkman, however, claims that he gets queasy easily.“I’m not great at realistic gore, but I do enjoy the shockingness and startling aspect of when unrealistic gore happens,” he explained. Once again, a childhood experience proved formative.He was about 15 when his father came in with a VHS tape, saying, ‘I’m supposed to take this back to the video store, but this movie’s insane, you’ve got to watch it,’” Kirkman said fondly.It was this delirious low-budget zombie-comedy hybrid by the director who would later deliver the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, and Kirkman was not disappointed. “The climax is, there’s a house full of zombies and a guy ties a lawn mower around his neck and runs around hacking people up,” he said.Rob Liefeld“New Mutants” #100 by the artist Rob Liefeld.MarvelMonster Girl, far left, in a soap-opera moment.Amazon Prime VideoKirkman picked Liefeld not because he was one of the founders of Image Comics (which published both the “Invincible” and “The Walking Dead” comic books) but for his storytelling chops. “If you look at how fast-paced ‘Invincible’ is, that is something Rob very much established in his work,” Kirkman said.He also enjoys Liefeld’s taste for plotting antics, singling out a big reveal in issue 100 of “The New Mutants,” from 1991, in which the villainous Stryfe takes off his helmet, revealing himself to be the gun-toting warrior Cable — or is he?“Seeing that kind of stuff and how it works in comics has led to some of those bigger cliffhangers and wackier soap-opera moments in ‘Invincible,’” Kirkman continued, mentioning Monster Girl, “who is trapped in a youthful body,” as an example. She turns into a big beast, but each time she transforms, she returns looking even younger, which presents complications — it’s hard to date when you’re a 20-something who looks 12.‘Savage Dragon’ by Erik Larsen“Savage Dragon” #103 cover, art by Erik Larsen.Image Comics“Invincible” #113 interior page, art by Ryan Ottley.Image ComicsKirkman praises this comic book as his favorite of all time, and a big reason is that the title character aged over the years — just like the “Invincible” books introduce a 17-year-old Mark Grayson who eventually grows older, marries, becomes a father. “That’s something that’s definitely pulled from Erik Larsen,” Kirkman said.While the series has just started, he and Yeun already have Mark’s future in mind. “In the very earliest recording sessions, Steven pulled me aside and said, “I’m trying to play him as very young and naïve because I know where the character goes and I want to be able to change my voice over time,’ ” Kirkman said. “I don’t know exactly how many seasons the show will run at this point, but the goal is to tell that complete story.” More

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      The Best Movies and TV Shows Coming to Amazon, HBO Max, Hulu and More in April

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      Every month, streaming services add movies and TV shows to its library. Here are our picks for some of April’s most promising new titles.(Note: Streaming services occasionally change schedules without giving notice. For more recommendations on what to stream, sign up for our twice-weekly Watching newsletter here.)Ann Skelly in “The Nevers.”Keith Bernstein/HBONew to HBO Max‘Exterminate All the Brutes’Starts streaming: Apr. 7The filmmaker Raoul Peck, perhaps best-known for his Oscar-nominated 2016 documentary “I Am Not Your Negro,” tackles his most ambitious project yet with the four-part cinematic essay “Exterminate All the Brutes,” based in part on Sven Lindqvist’s book of the same name about Europe’s domination of Africa and in part on the scholarly work of the historian and Indigenous rights activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz and the Haitian anthropologist Michel-Rolph Trouillot. Relying on a mix of clips from old movies and new dramatizations of historical incidents — all overlaid with the director’s discursive narration — Peck considers how pop culture and the literary canon have shaped the narratives around Indigenous people and their colonial invaders. Equal parts informative and provocative, this project is aimed at changing the way viewers think about who history’s heroes and villains are.‘The Nevers’Starts streaming: Apr. 11There’s a bit of steampunk and a lot of X-Men-like energy in “The Nevers,” a semi-comic action-adventure series created by Joss Whedon, the man behind “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” and “Firefly.” Whedon’s contributions have been downplayed by HBO’s promotional departments, in part because he left the production in the middle of its first season — and perhaps because of recent accusations of mental abuse from his past employees. Nevertheless, “The Nevers,” set in Victorian Britain, very much feels like one of his shows, with its alternately angsty and witty characters. Laura Donnelly plays Amalia True, a superhero who leads a team of strange and powerful women referred to by London aristocrats as “the touched.” As the ladies tackle supernatural phenomena, they also clash with an establishment that wants to keep them marginalized, because of what they can do and because of who they are.‘Mare of Easttown’Starts streaming: Apr. 18Kate Winslet plays a dogged small-town Pennsylvania police detective with a messy home life in “Mare of Easttown,” a crime drama created by Brad Ingelsby, a screenwriter of the films “Out of the Furnace” and “The Way Back.” As with Ingelsby’s movies, this mini-series uses a pulpy premise — a murder mystery — as an entry point to a complex and absorbing study of a place at once familiar and unique. The director Craig Zobel and a top-shelf cast (including Jean Smart as the heroine’s opinionated mother and Julianne Nicholson as her former high school basketball teammate) capture the limitations and comforts of a community where everyone knows each other’s painful secrets. The gray tones and the procedural plot resemble those of a grim European cop show, but the performances and dialogue exhibit a lot of vitality.Also arriving:Apr. 1“Made for Love”Apr. 13“Our Towns”Apr. 15“Infinity Train” Season 4Apr. 16“Mortal Kombat”Supposed Sasquatch footprints, as seen in “Sasquatch.”HuluNew to Hulu‘WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn’Starts streaming: Apr. 2Like many stories about cutting-edge business ideas, the saga of the real-estate-sharing company WeWork ultimately comes down to the disconnect between its bosses’ public ideals and the ugly practical realities of making money. Directed by Jed Rothstein, “WeWork: Or the Making and Breaking of a $47 Billion Unicorn” features a wealth of insider interviews and behind-the-scenes footage, all describing a start-up that began by touting a clever solution to the modern urban problem of overpriced office space but then tried to evolve into an entire unwieldy lifestyle brand. Rothstein’s film focuses mainly on the charismatic co-founder Adam Neumann, and how Neumann and his fellow execs were spending like billionaires while misrepresenting — even to their faithful employees — what was really happening.‘Sasquatch’Starts streaming: Apr. 20The journalist David Holthouse has spent much of his career investigating odd American subcultures, spending time with people whose lives have revolved around drugs, violence or the arcane. In the three-part docu-series “Sasquatch,” Holthouse heads into Northern California’s so-called Emerald Triangle — one of the most storied cannabis-growing regions of the world — to look into a legend he heard decades ago, about a trio of farmers who were dismembered by the infamous cryptid known as Bigfoot. The director Joshua Rofé follows Holthouse into the wild as he interviews locals who are enthusiastic about both marijuana and the paranormal. The stories they unearth are partly about eerie phenomena and partly about the very real dangers of a community teeming with crime.Also arriving:Apr. 3“Hysterical”Apr. 8“Glaad Media Awards”Apr. 9“The Standard”Apr. 12“Spontaneous”Apr. 15“Younger” Season 7Apr. 16“Fly Like a Girl”“Songbird”Apr. 21“Cruel Summer”Apr. 22“Greta Thunberg: A Year to Change the World”Apr. 25“Wild Mountain Thyme”Apr. 28“The Handmaid’s Tale” Season 4From left, Deborah Ayorinde, Melody Hurd, Shahadi Wright and Ashley Thomas in “Them.”Amazon StudiosNew to Amazon‘Them’Starts streaming: Apr. 9The first season of the new horror anthology series “Them” has the subtitle “Covenant,” referring to the rules for residents of a middle-class suburban subdivision in the early 1950s. Deborah Ayorinde and Ashley Thomas play a married couple with two young daughters, who move from North Carolina to an all-white neighborhood in Los Angeles looking for their piece of the American dream. They meet open hostility from their new neighbors (including the local housewives’ cruel ringleader, played by Alison Pill), while also being haunted by strange supernatural forces. Created by Little Marvin and produced by Lena Waithe, “Them” uses the discomfiting facts of racial discrimination to unsettle the audience, even before the nonhuman monsters arrive.Also arriving:Apr. 2“Moment of Truth”Apr. 16“Frank of Ireland”Apr. 30“Without Remorse”Justin Theroux and Melissa George in “The Mosquito Coast.”Apple TV+.New to Apple TV+‘The Mosquito Coast’Starts streaming: Apr. 30Justin Theroux is both a producer and the star of the mini-series “The Mosquito Coast,” an adaptation of an acclaimed 1981 novel by his uncle Paul Theroux. The show’s co-writers Neil Cross and Tom Bissell, with the director Rupert Wyatt, have updated the story to the 21st century, but its still about the idealistic and eccentric inventor Allie Fox, who hates modern technology as much as he detests American materialism. Chasing his dreams — and dodging the federal authorities — Allie packs his family onto a rickety boat and floats them down to Latin America, where he plans to live off the land. The TV version deviates sometimes significantly from the book, but its heart is the same: a rich portrait of a brilliant madman, and of the people he’s dragged into his delusions.Also arriving:Apr. 2“Doug Unplugs” More