Wonder Woman 1984 (Movie)

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    SAG Awards Go to ‘The Trial of the Chicago 7,’ Chadwick Boseman and Viola Davis

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    Daniel Kaluuya and Yuh-Jung Youn took supporting actor honors. On the TV side, “The Crown” and “Schitt’s Creek” won top honors.Aaron Sorkin’s courtroom drama “The Trial of the Chicago 7” finally notched a significant award-season victory Sunday night, winning the Screen Actors Guild Award for best cast in a motion picture.Over the last decade, five of the films that won SAG’s top prize went on to take the best-picture Oscar, including last year, when a big win for “Parasite” gave it a gust of momentum going into the Academy Awards. After “The Trial of the Chicago 7” lost the Golden Globe for best drama to “Nomadland” and the Writers Guild Award for original screenplay to “Promising Young Woman,” the film’s triumph at the SAG Awards could give it a similar jolt.Two men who’ve been sweeping the season continued to steamroll at SAG: The late Chadwick Boseman won the best-actor award for his work in “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” while “Judas and the Black Messiah” star Daniel Kaluuya won the supporting-actor trophy.The actress and supporting-actress races have been more suspenseful this season, and SAG delivered two notable victories in the form of best-actress winner Viola Davis for “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” and “Minari” scene-stealer Yuh-Jung Youn, who won the supporting-actress award.Last year, all four SAG acting winners went on to repeat at the Oscars. If that happens this year, it will be the first time that all the acting Oscars were won by people of color. “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” would also become the first film since “As Good as It Gets” (1997) to win both the best-actor and best-actress Oscars — though unlike that film, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom” missed out on a best-picture nomination. (“As Good as It Gets” lost that prize to “Titanic.”)In the television categories, “Schitt’s Creek” and “The Crown” continued their award-season dominance, winning the comedy and drama categories, respectively.Here is a complete list of winners:FilmOutstanding Cast: “The Trial of the Chicago 7”Actor in a Leading Role: Chadwick Boseman, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”Actress in a Leading Role: Viola Davis, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom”Actress in a Supporting Role: Yuh-Jung Youn, “Minari”Actor in a Supporting Role: Daniel Kaluuya, “Judas and the Black Messiah”Stunt Ensemble in a Movie: “Wonder Woman 1984”TelevisionEnsemble in a Drama Series: “The Crown”Actor in a Drama Series: Jason Bateman, “Ozark”Actress in a Drama Series: Gillian Anderson, “The Crown”Ensemble in a Comedy Series: “Schitt’s Creek”Actor in a Comedy Series: Jason Sudeikis, “Ted Lasso”Actress in a Comedy Series: Catherine O’Hara, “Schitt’s Creek”Actor in a TV movie or limited series: Mark Ruffalo, “I Know This Much Is True”Actress in a TV movie or limited series: Anya Taylor-Joy, “The Queen’s Gambit”Stunt Ensemble in a TV Series: “The Mandalorian” More

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      Watch Gal Gadot Fight Crime at the Mall in ‘Wonder Woman 1984’

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeBest Netflix DocumentariesNew on NetflixAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyAnatomy of a SceneWatch Gal Gadot Fight Crime at the Mall in ‘Wonder Woman 1984’The director Patty Jenkins narrates a sequence from her movie, streaming on HBO Max.Patty Jenkins narrates a sequence from her film.CreditCredit…Clay Enos/Warner Bros. EntertainmentJan. 15, 2021, 7:00 a.m. ETIn “Anatomy of a Scene,” we ask directors to reveal the secrets that go into making key scenes in their movies. See new episodes in the series on Fridays. You can also watch our collection of more than 150 videos on YouTube and subscribe to our YouTube channel.Yes, there are fanny packs and mustaches galore in “Wonder Woman 1984,” but also some breathtaking action. This early scene takes place at a very ’80s mall (complete with Waldenbooks), and gives the hero a chance to shine in a more playful way before the movie heads down a more serious path.Before the scene’s end, Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot) has lassoed a few criminals, while both saving and delighting children along the way. Narrating the scene, the director Patty Jenkins discusses the effort that went into pulling off some of its high-flying stunts, which she says relied not on digital doubles, but talented, malleable stunt performers and intricate wire work.Read the “Wonder Woman 1984” review.Sign up for the Movies Update newsletter and get a roundup of reviews, news, Critics’ Picks and more.AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ | Anatomy of a Scene

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      Film directors walk viewers through one scene of their movies, showing the magic, motives and the mistakes from behind the camera.Film directors walk viewers through one scene of their movies, showing the magic, motives and the mistakes from behind the camera. More

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      Managing Movie Superheroes Is About to Get a Lot More Complicated

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }What to WatchBest Movies on NetflixBest of Disney PlusBest of Amazon PrimeHoliday TVBest Netflix DocumentariesDC Films, led by Walter Hamada, plans to release movies featuring DC Comics heroes like Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman at a much faster pace.  Credit…Elizabeth Weinberg for The New York TimesSkip to contentSkip to site indexManaging Movie Superheroes Is About to Get a Lot More ComplicatedWalter Hamada, who runs DC Films, is overseeing a dizzying number of projects, part of a swarm of comics-based stories coming from Hollywood.DC Films, led by Walter Hamada, plans to release movies featuring DC Comics heroes like Wonder Woman, Superman and Batman at a much faster pace.  Credit…Elizabeth Weinberg for The New York TimesSupported byContinue reading the main storyDec. 27, 2020, 5:05 p.m. ETLOS ANGELES — Walter Hamada is not a typical superhero wrangler.He doesn’t have a booming, fanboy-in-chief personality. His modest home office, at least as it appears on Zoom, is light on the usual cape-and-cowl collectibles. Hollywood was not even his first calling: He set out to be a mechanical engineer.As the president of DC Films, however, Mr. Hamada, 52, manages the movie careers of Wonder Woman, Batman, Cyborg, the Flash, Superman and every other DC Comics superhero. And the new course he has charted for them is dizzying.The most expensive DC movies (up to four a year, starting in 2022) are designed for release in theaters, Mr. Hamada said. Additional superhero films (two annually is the goal, perhaps focused on riskier characters like Batgirl and Static Shock) will arrive exclusively on HBO Max, the fledgling streaming service owned by WarnerMedia.In addition, DC Films, which is part of Warner Bros., will work with filmmakers to develop movie offshoots — TV series that will run on HBO Max and interconnect with their big-screen endeavors.“With every movie that we’re looking at now, we are thinking, ‘What’s the potential Max spinoff?’” Mr. Hamada said.If you thought there was a glut of superheroes before, just wait.To make all the story lines work, DC Films will introduce movie audiences to a comics concept known as the multiverse: parallel worlds where different versions of the same character exist simultaneously. Coming up, for instance, Warner Bros. will have two different film sagas involving Batman — played by two different actors — running at the same time.The complicated plan involves a sharp increase in production. Last year, Warner Bros. made two live-action superhero movies, “Joker” and “Shazam!” In 2018, there was only “Aquaman.” All three were smash hits, underscoring the financial opportunity of making more.For various reasons, including creative misfires and management turnover at DC Films (Mr. Hamada took over in 2018), Warner Bros. has badly trailed Disney-owned Marvel at the box office. Over the last decade, Warner Bros. has generated $8 billion in worldwide superhero ticket sales, including $36 million from “Wonder Woman 1984” over the weekend; Marvel has taken in $20.6 billion.Gal Gadot and Chris Pine in “Wonder Woman 1984,” which arrived to $16.7 million in North American ticket sales over the weekend, the best result for any movie since the pandemic started.Credit…Warner BrosSuffice it to say, Warner Bros., which invented the big-budget superhero movie in 1978 with “Superman,” has been under pressure to get its act together.Disney has succeeded in part because its divisions collaborate in a way that siloed Warner Bros. never has. But that is changing. AT&T mandated greater cross-company synergy when it took over WarnerMedia in 2018.“In the past, we were so secretive,” Mr. Hamada said. “It was shocking to me, for example, how few people at the company were actually allowed to read scripts for the movies we are making.”More than ever, studios are leaning on pre-established characters and brands — especially if their corporate parents are building streaming services. HBO Max has 12.6 million subscriber activations. Netflix has 195 million. How do you delight Wall Street and quickly close the gap? You start by putting your superheroes to work.This month, Disney announced 100 new movies and shows for the next few years, most of them headed directly to its Disney+ streaming service, which has 87 million subscribers. Marvel is chipping in 11 films and 11 television shows, including “WandaVision,” which arrives on Jan. 15 and finds Elizabeth Olsen reprising her Scarlet Witch role from the “Avengers” franchise.Warner Bros. has at least as many comics-based movies in various stages of gestation, including a “Suicide Squad” sequel; “The Batman,” in which Robert Pattinson (“Twilight”) plays the Caped Crusader; and “Black Adam,” starring Dwayne Johnson as the villainous title character.Television spinoffs from “The Batman” and “The Suicide Squad” are headed to HBO Max. WarnerMedia’s traditional television division has roughly 25 additional live-action and animated superhero shows, including “Superman & Lois,” which arrives on the CW network in February.Robert Pattinson in “The Batman,” which is scheduled for release in theaters in 2022.Credit…Warner Bros. Entertainment, via Associated PressSony Pictures Entertainment has its own superhero slate, with at least two more “Spider-Man” movies in the works; “Morbius,” starring Jared Leto as a pseudo-vampire; and a sequel to “Venom,” which cost $100 million to make in 2018 and collected $856 million worldwide. Sony also has a suite of superhero TV shows headed for Amazon Prime Video.And don’t forget Valiant Entertainment, which is turning comics properties such as “Harbinger,” about superpowered teenagers, into movies with partners like Paramount Pictures.Superheroes have long been Hollywood’s most reliable moneymakers, especially when sales of related merchandise are included. (Wonder Woman tiara for cats, on sale for $59.50.) But how much speeding spandex and computer-generated visual effects can audiences take?More than you think, said David A. Gross, who runs Franchise Entertainment Research, a film consultancy. “If the stories are well written and the production values are strong,” he said, “then there will be little sign of fatigue.”Perhaps the biggest challenge facing Warner Bros. involves the recent prioritization of HBO Max. “The risk is, will watching these movies first on television degrade the entertainment experience, and later the value,” Mr. Gross said. “For an individual movie, there is no more profitable business model than a successful theatrical release — creating the biggest pop culture event possible. It’s the locomotive that pulls the entire train: merchandise, theme park licensing, other income.”On Friday, Warner Bros. released “Wonder Woman 1984” in North America, where it collected $16.7 million. Citing the coronavirus pandemic (only 39 percent of cinemas in the United States are open), the studio simultaneously distributed the film in theaters and on HBO Max. Warner Bros. will release its entire 2021 slate in the same hybrid fashion.WarnerMedia provided only vague information about the sequel’s performance on HBO Max, saying in a news release that “millions” of subscribers watched it on Friday. Andy Forssell, WarnerMedia’s direct-to-consumer general manager, said the movie “exceeded our expectations across all of our key viewing and subscriber metrics.”So far, “Wonder Woman 1984” has collected $85 million worldwide, with $68.3 million coming from cinemas overseas, where HBO Max does not yet exist. The film, starring Gal Gadot and directed by Patty Jenkins, cost at least $200 million to make and an estimated $100 million to market worldwide. It received much weaker reviews than its series predecessor.Toby Emmerich, president of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group, said on Sunday that he had “fast-tracked” a third Wonder Woman movie. “Our real life Wonder Women — Gal and Patty — will return to conclude the long-planned theatrical trilogy,” Mr. Emmerich said.Mr. Hamada rose to power through New Line, a Warner Bros. division that mostly makes midbudget horror films and comedies. Among other achievements, he worked with the filmmaker James Wan and others to build “The Conjuring” (2013) into a six-film “world” with $1.8 billion in global ticket sales. (“The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It” arrives in June.)“A lot of times in studio meetings, executives just repeat buzzwords, and it becomes a joke,” Mr. Wan said. “Walt always brings something constructive, useful and important to the table. He talks to me in a language that I understand.”Mr. Hamada and Jason Momoa, the star of “Aquaman,” which was the lone superhero movie from Warner Bros. in 2018.Credit…Kevin Winter/Getty ImagesWhen Mr. Hamada arrived at DC Films in 2018, the division was in urgent need of stability.Two terrifyingly expensive movies, “Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice” (2016) and “Justice League” (2017), both directed by Zack Snyder, were deemed almost unwatchable by critics. Ben Affleck, who played Batman in the films, wanted to move on, complicating sequel plans. At the same time, filmmakers were developing other DC movies that had nothing to do with the existing story lines — and, in fact, contradicted some of them.Mr. Hamada and Mr. Emmerich had two options: Figure out how to make the various story lines and character incarnations coexist or start over.The answer is the multiverse. Boiled down, it means that some characters (Wonder Woman as portrayed by Ms. Gadot, for instance) will continue their adventures on Earth 1, while new incarnations (Mr. Pattinson as “The Batman”) will populate Earth 2.“The Flash,” a film set for release in theaters in 2022, will link the two universes and feature two Batmans, with Mr. Affleck returning as one and Michael Keaton returning as the other. Mr. Keaton played Batman in 1989 and 1992.To complicate matters further, HBO Max gave Mr. Snyder more than $70 million to recut his “Justice League” and expand it with new footage. Mr. Snyder and Warner Bros. had clashed over his original vision, which the studio deemed overly grim, resulting in reshoots handled by a different director, Joss Whedon. (That didn’t go well, either.) “Zack Snyder’s Justice League,” now four hours long, will arrive in segments on HBO Max in March.At least for now, Mr. Snyder is not part of the new DC Films blueprint, with studio executives describing his HBO Max project as a storytelling cul-de-sac — a street that leads nowhere.The multiverse concept has worked on television, but it is a risky strategy for big screens. These movies need to attract the widest audience possible to justify their cost, and too much of a comic nerd sensibility can be a turnoff. New actors can take over a character; James Bond is the best example. But multiple Gothams spinning in theaters?“I don’t think anyone else has ever attempted this,” Mr. Hamada said. “But audiences are sophisticated enough to understand it. If we make good movies, they will go with it.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      Kristen Wiig on “Wonder Woman 1984” and Cheetah

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      #masthead-section-label, #masthead-bar-one { display: none }The Best of 2020Best ComedyBest TV ShowsBest BooksBest MoviesBest AlbumsAdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyKristen Wiig Would Have Said Yes to One Line in ‘Wonder Woman 1984’Getting to play Cheetah was even better for the “Saturday Night Live” star, who loves superhero movies: “It was huge on my list of things I wanted to do.”Told that her performance as the villain recalls her “S.N.L.”  misfits and loners, Wiig said, “They’re all inside me. I don’t know how to get rid of them.”Credit…Mary Ellen Matthews/CPi SyndicationDec. 25, 2020, 7:00 a.m. ET“I want you to know, I dressed up for the interview,” a dryly sarcastic Kristen Wiig said from a computer screen. Clad in a well-worn sweatshirt, she was relating a familiar plight: how a monthslong regimen of video chats and conferences had gradually worn down her efforts to appear presentable on camera.“First you’re fully trying to look normal,” she said Tuesday. “And then you’re only normal from the waist up. And now I’m just like, this is me. I’ve got baby food on me and we just have to accept ourselves.”Wiig had recently returned to Los Angeles, where she lives with her husband, the actor Avi Rothman, and their two young children, after a whirlwind New York trip. She was there to host “Saturday Night Live,” the NBC institution where she was a cast member, playing dozens of endearing eccentrics and likable outsiders.That would be a fitting finale to anyone’s 2020, but Wiig still has one more act: She is a star of “Wonder Woman 1984,” the DC superhero sequel that Warner Bros. will release in theaters and on HBO Max on Friday.This follow-up to the 2017 blockbuster “Wonder Woman,” directed by Patty Jenkins and starring Gal Gadot as the Amazonian champion of the title, might not seem like an obvious fit for Wiig: She is better known for outrageous comedies like “Bridesmaids” (which she acted in and wrote with Annie Mumolo) and melancholy independent films like “The Skeleton Twins” and “Welcome to Me.”Wiig’s Cheetah facing off with Wonder Woman (Gal Gadot).Credit…Warner Bros.But when you look more carefully at her character, it’s not hard to see why Jenkins chose Wiig to play Barbara Minerva, a timid antiquities expert whose desire for acceptance and fascination with her colleague Diana Prince (Wonder Woman’s alter ego) eventually drive her to become the villainous Cheetah. Playing Barbara Minerva lets Wiig trade blows in comic-book action sequences, while also calling upon her finely tuned talents for introversion and extroversion.As Wiig said Tuesday, “I’m excited and equally nervous” to see how viewers will respond to her performance in what’s easily the biggest film of her career.She also spoke about how the role came about, her love of superhero movies and her new life as a mother of twins who were born earlier this year. These are edited excerpts from that conversation.Before “Wonder Woman 1984,” did you ever imagine yourself playing a villain in a comic-book blockbuster or aspire to play one?It was an aspiration, for sure. It was huge on my list of things I wanted to do. I love big action movies and I love superhero movies. I loved all of Chris Nolan’s Batman movies and all the “Avengers” movies, “Deadpool” — you name it, I’ve seen it. I saw “Wonder Woman” in the theater when it opened, and when she came over that trench, the crowd was cheering. And it was a female superhero, so I got really emotional about it.You’ve made a lot of idiosyncratic independent movies, too. Is it now impossible for you to go back to that world?I don’t know if I could say I only want to make a certain type of movie. I’ve done movies with literally no budget and the dialogue was all improvised, like “Nasty Baby,” which I made in Brooklyn with my friends. I always tell myself I want to be happy when I show up on set, and I say yes to things I want to do.Wiig and Tunde Adebimpe in the indie “Nasty Baby.”Credit…The OrchardWiig, opposite Rose Byrne, in her big-screen breakout role in “Bridesmaids,” which she also co-wrote. Credit…Suzanne Hanover/Universal PicturesHow did you find out that you were being considered for “Wonder Woman 1984”?I got a call from my agent that Patty Jenkins wanted to talk to me. And I was like, just tell her yes, no matter what it is. I was hoping it was a “Wonder Woman” thing, but I didn’t know anything about it. I didn’t know if I would have one line — if she wanted me to be the crazy neighbor next door that’s like, “Goodbye, Diana!”Did your feelings change when you learned she was considering you to play Barbara Minerva?I knew about Cheetah, but there are so many different versions of that character and I was curious as to what she was going to be. But when I heard Patty’s ideas, I understood a little bit more why she thought of me. Maybe because Barbara’s really awkward in the beginning — I do have that side to me. And then after I got the part, she got into more detail of who Barbara was.What interested you about the role at that stage?I always love bad guys that you’re rooting for a little bit, where you understand why they’re bad. The thing that I loved about her is that there’s always Barbara in there. Even when she fully becomes Cheetah, you can see Barbara in there and Diana can see Barbara in there. I loved that conflict that it puts her in, and puts the audience in, because she’s so likable and nervous and insecure. We all have moments where we’ve felt like Barbara before.Is it pigeonholing you if I say that I saw flashes of some of your best-known “S.N.L.” characters — uncomfortable loners like Penelope and larger-than-life misfits like Target Lady — in your performance?I mean, they’re all inside me. I don’t know how to get rid of them. [Laughs]The Target Lady (with Justin Timberlake) is one of the comedian’s many “S.N.L.” characters.Credit…Dana Edelson/NBCAre the introverted characters just natural extensions of yourself?On “S.N.L.,” I have to find in me, what does insecurity feel like? And then take it to a 10 or 11. But whether I’m doing a character on “S.N.L.” or in “Wonder Woman,” I have to find what I think that is in me. There’s definitely characters I’ve played where I don’t have anything in common with them, and I still have to figure out how to get there in an authentic way.Do people expect you to be big and boisterous in real life because they’ve seen you play those kinds of characters before?Oh yeah, all the time. When people know you are an actor, period, they think you’re going to tell this amazing story of what happened to you on the way to dinner and it’s going to be captivating. Add the fact that I’m known for doing mostly comedy and it’s like, “OK, where are the voices?” I’m not going to do characters right now. It’s assumed that acting is an extroverted thing. But it’s not, necessarily.So where do you find those qualities in yourself when you’re playing those kinds of roles?It depends on the character, but once I’m doing it — especially on “S.N.L.,” because it’s live and you have millions of people watching — you just get in a zone. And then afterward you snap out of it. It’s funny because even though Barbara in the beginning is nervous and unsure of herself, I found it harder to play that than who she becomes later.Why was that harder?Because I was resistant, at the beginning, to add humor to her. I didn’t want her to seem too much like things I had done before, or to seem like I wasn’t able to do this part without adding something that wasn’t Kristen. But Patty and I had this one talk that completely shifted my brain, where she was like, if you allow yourself to just let that humor come out, it’s going to feel authentic and it’s not going to feel as strange as you think it does. And it completely changed my experience. When Cheetah is evil, it’s like, OK, now I’m this person. Maybe because there is more of me in Barbara, I actually had a more challenging time with that part of the shooting.Was there physical training for this role?[Exhales audibly] Yesss. Almost two months before we started shooting, I got a trainer — the movie wanted me to, just to get started. When you watch the movie, we learned and did all of those fight sequences, in addition to our stunt people. There’s definitely some C.G.I. elements later on, but for the most part it’s wire work. That’s all real people. I was basically sore for like nine months. And it’s very easy to complain and say, oh my God, I can’t even walk up the stairs. But to be honest, being stronger was so helpful, to get into who this character was. It just made me feel really good.[The next few questions contain mild spoilers for “Wonder Woman 1984.”]There’s a scene where Barbara, just starting to come into her powers, enters a party and is delighted to find she’s the center of everyone’s attention. Was that as enjoyable for you to make as it is for her to experience, or do you feel the glare of the spotlight even more?It’s a combination of both. The set was really amazing and whenever you’re in a scene with a lot of background [actors] looking at you, you can’t help but feel a little more self-conscious. But it was the part in the story where Barbara’s really starting to turn and feel it. She probably went to those parties before feeling so invisible. And this is different for her — her life is changing. So that was really fun to play.Wiig as the newly empowered Barbara at a party in “Wonder Woman 1984.”Credit…Clay Enos/Warner Bros.There’s another sequence where, in classic comic-book fashion, Barbara gets to take revenge on a scummy guy who harassed her in an earlier scene. Was that satisfying to make?I loved shooting that scene. Barbara is so sad and has always wanted this other life, and with that comes so much anger that she didn’t even realize she had. And to see her be able to just unleash it, and be like, “Oh, I like how this tastes — I’m going to keep going,” it was really fun to shoot that. I like how it wasn’t just a random person that was robbing someone in an alleyway. As a viewer, you’re a little conflicted — you’re like, oh, I like that she’s doing this to this guy. But then she goes too far. We have to acknowledge that. I’m not condoning it.Is it possible that Barbara doesn’t just want to be Diana’s equal or superior, but that she’s attracted to Diana?Like, attracted attracted? I’ve heard people suggest that. As far as my intentions in how I was playing it, it was really just her seeing Diana as the beautiful, popular girl that has the best life and everything I don’t have. There’s so much admiration there. But if people want to see it that way, it’s definitely up for interpretation.[Spoilers end here.]Warner Brothers’ decision to make “Wonder Woman 1984” and other coming movies immediately available on HBO Max has elicited a wide range of reactions from filmmakers, talent and audiences. How do you feel about it?It’s a complicated question. We’re all still mourning the whole theater experience and it’s hitting a lot of people. But I will say I didn’t personally feel comfortable telling people to go out if it’s not safe, and I’m happy that people can watch it now without worrying about their health. It’s really complicated and no one’s winning right now. But it being out on Christmas and knowing that people get to watch it and be safe is the best scenario, if it has to be this way.Are there any lessons you can take from a movie of this scale and apply to your smaller, more intimate comedy and drama performances?Yes — going into a role and being nervous is probably normal for most actors. It is for me. But when it’s over, that feeling that you did it, it just makes you feel like you can take more risks on the next thing you do. There were definitely times where I was very self-aware of just how big the role was. Truthfully, I don’t go on the internet, but I know there were people that were, like, surprised that I was playing this role. That can get in your head, even though I try not to read any of that. But ultimately I do want to take more risks and I think it’s important for me to feel that nervousness when I’m doing stuff. It makes me find something deep inside that I didn’t know was there.How are you finding motherhood so far?It’s great. Great isn’t even the word — it’s better than great. It’s strange that it’s all in quarantine. That’s a huge negative side to it, because we obviously can’t do anything or go anywhere or see certain family members. But they’re amazing and I’ve never been happier in my whole life. I’m such a homebody. I’m happy to be with them all day. Obviously not under these circumstances, but I love being home with them.What are you hoping to get for Christmas this year?I would love a nice, framed photo of me and my husband and my kids. It would just be a nice thing to have. And maybe some good moisturizer.Now that you’re a mom, is everyone going to get you a robe for Christmas?[Laughs] I hope not!AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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      WarnerMedia Chief Has Become a Movie Villain to Some in Hollywood

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      AdvertisementContinue reading the main storySupported byContinue reading the main storyWarnerMedia Chief Has Become a Movie Villain to Some in HollywoodJason Kilar’s decision to release 2021 movies simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max has angered many in the industry, including some of the star filmmakers his company relies on.Jason Kilar, WarnerMedia’s chief executive since May, has been criticized by agents, theater owners and filmmakers in recent days.Credit…Allison V. Smith for The New York TimesDec. 13, 2020, 5:00 a.m. ETLOS ANGELES — When Jason Kilar began his tenure as the chief executive of Hulu in July 2007, some competitors considered the streaming service so likely to fail that they nicknamed it Clown Co. Yet Mr. Kilar, armed with both the conviction that there was a better way to watch television and the backing of two powerful corporate parents — NBCUniversal and News Corp — sequestered himself and his team in an empty Santa Monica office and got to work. He covered all the windows with newspapers, emphasizing the point that naysayers were to be ignored.“Sometimes in life, blocking out that outside noise is a really good thing to do,” he said in a recent interview.Hulu did not fail, and 13 years later Mr. Kilar (the first syllable rhymes with “sky”) is the chief executive of WarnerMedia. Suddenly, he has a lot of noise he needs to ignore.This month, Warner Bros. announced that its 17 films scheduled for 2021 — including big-budget offerings like “Dune” and “The Matrix 4” — would be released simultaneously in theaters and on the company’s struggling streaming service, HBO Max. The move, orchestrated to deal with the continuing challenges brought on by the pandemic, upended decades of precedent for the way the movie industry does business and sent Hollywood into a frenzy.Powerful talent agents and theater executives publicly blasted it. Perhaps most important, some high-profile filmmakers who have worked with Warner Bros. — and whom the studio is counting on working with again — were sharply critical. Christopher Nolan, whose “Tenet” is just the latest of his movies released by Warner, told The Hollywood Reporter, “Some of our industry’s biggest filmmakers and most important movie stars went to bed the night before thinking they were working for the greatest movie studio and woke up to find out they were working for the worst streaming service.”Denis Villeneuve, the director of “Dune,” wrote in Variety that “Warner Bros. might just have killed the ‘Dune’ franchise.” (“Dune” covers only half of the novel by Frank Herbert. The plan was for Mr. Villeneuve to complete the sci-fi tale in a sequel.) Neither Mr. Nolan nor Mr. Villeneuve, nor most of Hollywood, had been told of Warner’s plans before they were announced.The director Christopher Nolan, whose film “Tenet” was released by Warner Bros. this year, has been a fierce defender of movie theaters. Credit…Melinda Sue Gordon/Warner Bros. Entertainment, via Associated PressMr. Kilar, 49, called the pointed criticisms “painful,” adding, “We clearly have more work to do as we navigate this pandemic and the future alongside them.” But he has spent his career pushing against entrenched systems and was somewhat prepared for the outrage.“There is no situation where everyone is going to stand up and applaud,” he said. “That’s not the way innovation plays out. This is not easy, nor is it intended to be easy. When you are trying something new, you have to expect and be ready for some people who are not comfortable with change. That’s OK.”Mr. Kilar’s boss, John Stankey, the chief executive of Warner’s parent company, AT&T, also defended the strategy, calling it a “win-win-win” at a recent investor conference.Earnest and approachable, Mr. Kilar, who took over WarnerMedia in May, comes across more as an eager do-gooder than a ruthless disrupter. Both the childhood stories he tells about rushing home from school in Pennsylvania to watch “Speed Racer” and the enthusiasm he shows for upcoming projects — he called the adaptation of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s musical “In the Heights” “life affirming” — seem aimed at deflecting the growing narrative that he is the evil villain at the center of a plot to dismantle the very act of going to a theater to watch a movie. (In email exchanges after the interview, he shared a list of movies he had paid to watch in theaters before the pandemic shut things down, writing, “Movie theaters are where I have had some of my most transcendent experiences.”)WarnerMedia’s upcoming film “In the Heights,” which Mr. Kilar called “life affirming.” Credit…Macall Polay/Warner Bros. Entertainment, via Associated PressMr. Kilar has positioned WarnerMedia’s decision to release films in theaters and on streaming as a reaction to the struggles caused by the pandemic, which has shut down the majority of American theaters and prompted most studios to delay releases into next year. (One notable exception to the delay is Warner’s “Wonder Woman 1984,” which will be released in theaters and on HBO Max on Christmas Day.) He has also called the decision an accommodation for audiences, who have become more accustomed to watching films in their living rooms.But Mr. Kilar joined WarnerMedia just two months before the lackluster debut of HBO Max, and it is his job to make the service successful.There are serious challenges. HBO Max is more expensive than other streamers ($15 a month) and has been criticized for lacking any “must see” content. (The mini-series “The Flight Attendant” has recently created some buzz.) Its marketing has confused customers trying to determine the difference between it and platforms like HBO Go and HBO Now. The subscriber total stands at 12.6 million, far behind Netflix (195 million worldwide subscribers) and Disney+ (87 million). Only 30 percent of HBO subscribers have signed up.On top of that, AT&T’s balance sheet features close to $170 billion in debt, prompting some in Hollywood to wonder if the company can invest enough in content to make its objectives a reality.So it’s helpful that beneath that “Ah, shucks, I’m just a kid from Pittsburgh” veneer is a relentlessly ambitious executive who in 2011 wrote, on a Hulu blog, a widely read manifesto that criticized the television business — and that most likely played a significant role in landing him his current job. In his short time, Mr. Kilar has restructured WarnerMedia, laid off about 1,000 employees and begun ridding the company of decades-old fiefs.Business & EconomyLatest UpdatesUpdated Dec. 11, 2020, 6:16 p.m. ETSilicon Valley giant Oracle will move its headquarters to Texas.A surprise savior for Britain’s pubs: Scotch eggs.Stocks dip as Brexit and U.S. stimulus talks remain stuck with time running out.Some employees appreciate his clear direction and focused approach, while others chafe at what they see is a lack of respect for Hollywood tradition. He has become known for sending long emails, often late at night or on weekends, explaining his thinking.“If you were going to design an executive for this day and age on paper, Jason Kilar is the ideal person for the job,” Jeff Shell, the chief executive of NBCUniversal, said in an interview. The two got to know each other this past year while hashing out a deal over the “Harry Potter” series of films that Warner produced and Universal licensed for its various channels.“While it’s well known that he knows tech,” Mr. Shell added, “I do think he has both a respect for content and a relentless desire to pursue where the consumer is going. It was refreshing to see him do such a bold thing.”Mr. Kilar had never run an organization the size of WarnerMedia, nor did he deal directly with talent and other artists in his past work experience.For instance, when asked before Mr. Nolan’s public criticism how he thought the filmmaker, a fierce defender of the theatrical experience, might react to Warner’s move, Mr. Kilar was positive.“I think he would say that this is a company so thoroughly dedicated to the storyteller and the fan that they will stop at nothing to make sure they are going as far as possible to help both the storyteller and fan,” Mr. Kilar said.Whoops.Mr. Kilar does admit that the company should have been more sensitive to how its announcement would be received by actors and filmmakers. “A very important point to make — something I should have made a central part of our original communication — is we are thoughtfully approaching the economics of this situation with a guiding principle of generosity,” he said. That blind spot when dealing with creative talent may point to Mr. Kilar’s emphasis on serving the audience above all else. When making the announcement about “Wonder Woman 1984,” he wrote a memo that used the word “fan” or “fans” 13 times. His most recent one, announcing the 17-picture deal, was titled “Some Big 2021 News for Fans.”Mr. Kilar says that this commitment to the customer took hold during a childhood trip to Disney World. As his story goes, Mr. Kilar, the fourth of six children, was wowed by the company’s attention to detail, from the pristine landscaping to the lack of chewing gum on the sidewalk.A young Mr. Kilar near the entrance of Tomorrowland on a trip to Disney World. “It moved me in ways I had not been moved before,” he said.From there, Mr. Kilar became an expert on all things Walt Disney. He read the biographies, scoured the libraries for more material and finally landed an internship at the company after drawing a comic strip when his letters generated no response. He was most interested in Mr. Disney’s entrepreneurial spirit, a quality Mr. Kilar defines as “the relentless pursuit of better ways.”He sees a direct line from that childhood obsession to his decision as the chief of WarnerMedia to elevate streaming to the level of a theatrical release.The broader movie industry is not as romantic about it. Mr. Kilar’s primary mistake, as the town sees it, is not the deal itself — after all, filmmakers have been making deals with Netflix for years — but rather the nerve to ignore the other stakeholders when making the company’s decision. He is still viewed as an outsider, one who is discussing revolution but, perhaps, really just trying to prop up a faltering streaming product that needs to gain subscribers quickly to earn Wall Street’s approval.“There are some things that you can talk and talk and talk about, but it doesn’t necessarily change the outcome,” Mr. Kilar said. “I don’t think this would have been possible if we had taken months and months with conversations with every constituent. At a certain point you do need to lead. And lead with the customer top of mind and make decisions on their behalf.”AdvertisementContinue reading the main story More

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