When Cannes rolls out the red carpet May 13, it also will be on red
alert. The festival long has been a target for petty crooks and big-time
criminals drawn in by the rich and famous that descend on the city each
May, but security this year is taking a more serious turn. Following
the gruesome Charlie Hebdo shootings in and around Paris that
shocked the world in January — and a subsequent series of several
smaller attacks against religious targets — the country is on edge. "Since the January attacks, we are at the highest level of security at public events or in public spaces," says Jean-Charles Brisard,
a security expert and the chairman of the Paris-based Center for the
Analysis of Terrorism. Under the nationwide alert, bag searches are
commonplace at venues as varied as movie theaters and public buildings, a
relatively new development in France. There are no specific known threats to the fest, but having the
world's spotlight on Cannes' celebrities could be a liability. "These
are very sensitive potential targets, so the security will be higher
than at any other event during the year," says Brisard. That translates
to up to 400 SWAT-style CRS officers descending on the city to beef up
patrols of the municipal police, who will be on daily duty for the
festival's 12 days — new police chief Philippe Jos has
forbidden officers from taking time off.
Plainclothes national police
also will be on patrol, as will an additional 400 private security
guards.
They'll be licensed to carry — a rare arrangement in gun-shy
France. Mayor David Lisnard will meet with the various security personnel for a briefing every morning, his office tells THR,
and representatives from the hotels will supply information about the
stars and VIPs present on their property that day. "Safety is always a
big stake for the festival, not only because of the famous people, but
the number of visitors every year creates pressure on the police," says
city communications director Audrey Bel. (The tiny
seaside town's population triples for the fortnight around the fest.)
"But security around the Palais is specifically increased." The city also has beefed up its CCTV system with 465 cameras — that's
one for every 156 residents, the highest ratio in the country. Many are
pointed at the high-traffic Croisette to ensure that everyone is on
camera, not just the stars.
by Todd McCarthy
The Bottom Line:After a long absence, Mad Max is back and in fine form
Opens:May 15 (Warner Bros.)
Cast:Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult
DirectorGeorge Miller
Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron headline George Miller's reboot of his cult postapocalyptic franchise.
Thirty years after surviving Thunderdome, the reluctant
warrior of modern movies' first and most memorable postapocalyptic
action-fantasy series is finally back and ready for more in Mad Max: Fury Road. George Miller
has directed only five films in that time ― three of which starred pigs
and penguins ― but it can safely be said that this madly entertaining
new action extravaganza energetically kicks more ass, as well as all
other parts of the anatomy, than any film ever made by a 70-year-old —
and does so far more skillfully than those turned out by most young
turks half his age. Although the earlier entries were made before the target audience for
this one was even born (its new leading man was just a baby when the
first one was released), Mad Max has lingered in the zeitgeist through the years, and a fair portion of the international public that has just wound down from Furious 7 will be happy to suck in the fumes from this equally action-packed and infinitely superior film. One could plausibly observe that Fury Road is basically The Road Warrior
on a new generation of steroids, and no doubt some critics will leave
it at that; like the second and best film in the series, this one is
mostly devoted to maniacal anarchic goons chasing Max and his small
group of rebels across a scenically parched desert and leaving some
spectacularly destroyed vehicles in their dust. The new film certainly
boasts a higher percentage of flat-out amazing action than any of its
predecessors, and that's probably enough said for most of its potential
audience. Perhaps the long gestation period served it well. While very similar
to its predecessors in almost every way, the film has devilishness in
its details: the tribal-style makeup, the endlessly inventive vehicles
and armaments, the wild costumes and facial adornments, radiantly
scorched locations that resemble ― and yet go beyond ― the series'
previous wasteland evocations, and a society equally lawless but more
entrenched than those seen in earlier films (one that is, in fact,
presided over by the same imposing actor who played the chief bad guy in
the original Mad Max in 1979). And then there's the new leading actor,Tom Hardy, who's so ideal a replacement for Mel Gibson
that one wouldn't want to imagine anyone else having taken over the
role. Rewatching the initial two installments today, it's striking to
see how little Max Rockatansky (whose name is uttered just once, in the
first film) actually does during long stretches of them, and so it is
here; at the outset he's captured by soldiers of the Citadel and
detained in a rocky hellhole where thousands of wailing captives perform
slave labor while awaiting small rations of precious water dispensed by
their tyrannical captor from his looming cliffside headquarters. When the time comes to hit the road, Max, his face confined behind a
trident-like mask, is strapped like a grille ornament on the front of a
marauding car, a predicament he is not expected to survive. But emerge
from it he does, of course, and slowly the man behind the victim emerges
— first to exciting, then to ultimately touching effect in the final
scene. It's as if Hardy was cast for his brawn, but ultimately used for
his soul. Except for its mechanized details, the heavy chains, pulleys and
steam-punk/heavy metal aspects of which lend a certain 19th century
feel, the world on display here is straight out of dire early biblical
times. Presiding over the Citadel is the fearsome Immortan Joe (Hugh Keays-Byrne, the nasty Toecutter in Mad Max),
who has grotesque offspring, sports flowing gray locks and wears a
toothsome facemask fed by large oxygen tubes. The slaves are covered in
ashen white powder and live in a state of starvation and terror enforced
by violent punks known as War Boys. The story cooked up by Miller and co-screenwriters Brendan McCarthy and Nico Lathouris is
no more complex than this: Entrusted by Immortan Joe with driving the
large War Rig truck across the desert to an oil-producing outpost, tough
ruling-class babe Imperator Furiosa (Charlize Theron,
with close-cropped hair and raccoon eyes) instead diverts it across the
desert with an illicit cargo — Immortan's harem of breeding wives, who
have memorable names such as Capable, Cheedo the Fragile and, best of
all, Toast the Knowing. When first glimpsed, they look like a bunch of
supermodels strewn across the desert for an exotic fashion shoot,
although one of them, the Splendid Angharad (Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, a real-life supermodel), is soon due to give birth. The first two Max features ran barely 90 minutes, and it
takes guts and real confidence to dare push a straight chase film with
very little dialogue to two hours. But Miller has pulled it off by
coming up with innumerable new elements to keep the action compelling:
the pitiless mindset of a brutish society; bending poles sticking up
from vehicles that allow marauders atop them to be lowered into enemy
trucks for hand-to-hand combat; an insane heavy metal guitarist affixed
to one of the Citadel's rigs, whose raucous wailing and flame-throwing
ability perfectly express this world's extremity; and a central woman,
missing one arm, who's as tough-minded as any man but also retains a
special link to a remote society of women she intends to find. During the first extended, high-speed, jaw-dropping chase of Furiosa
by the goon squad, which only ends when it's engulfed by an enormous
desert dust storm, Max remains frustrated by the chain linking him to
his tormentors' rig. But developing any trust with Furiosa takes
considerably longer; she wants to kill him immediately and be done with
it. They are, it would seem, potential soul mates, but the world they
inhabit is not exactly conducive to developing trust, much less anything
of a more amorous nature. Life is, in this world, not only cheap but
almost assuredly very short. If one wanted to map out a chronology of Max's life and adventures,
it would no longer make any sense in terms of the man's age, nor does it
matter at all. Miller recently absolved himself of any need to somehow
explain the character's newfound youthfulness by comparing him to James
Bond; Max just goes on and on, with perennial access to rejuvenation via
new actors. The difference between this and Bond and many other such durable
series is that it's so palpably the product of one man's imagination, a
man who also possesses the skill, discipline and energy to put it all up
on the screen so convincingly. Mad Max films are known for the
moments when the cars' superchargers are engaged for surges of speed,
and it's clear that Miller's personal superchargers are in excellent
working order. The colors are bold, the Namibia locations look like
Arizona on steroids, virtually all the action looks real (thoughts of
CGI only intrude with the massive dust clouds and certain personal and
vehicular wipeouts), cinematographer John Seale's cameras are everywhere they need to be to record the action maximally, and Junkie XL's score hammers and soars. Second unit director and stunt coordinator Guy Norris
clearly deserves major credit for delivering much of what's most
eye-popping onscreen, and the film never sits still for more than a
moment or two. Miller originally spoke of filming a sequel called Furiosa
back-to-back with this one, so presumably he has material more or less
ready to go, and Hardy has claimed he's signed for three more
installments. In other words, the world may not have heard the last of
Mad Max. Production company: Kennedy Miller Mitchell ProductionsCast: Tom Hardy, Charlize Theron, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh
Keays-Byrne, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Riley Keough, Zoe Kravitz, Abbey
Lee, Courtney Eaton, Josh Helman, Nathan Jones, John Howard, Richard
Carter, iOTA, Angus Sampson, Jennifer Hagan, Megan Gale, Melissa Jaffer, Melita Jurisic, Gillian Jones, Joy SmithersDirector: George MillerScreenwriters: George Miller, Brendan McCarthy, Nico LathourisProducers: George Miller, Doug Mitchell, PJ VoetenExecutive producers: Iain Smth, Chris deFaria, Courtenay Valenti, Graham Burke, Bruce Berman, Steve MnuchinDirector of photography: John SealeProduction designer: Colin GibsonCostume designer: Jenny BeavanEditor: Margaret SixelMusic: Junkie XLMakeup/hair designer: Lesley VanderwaltSecond unit director/stunt coordinator: Guy Norris Rated R, 120 minutes
By Tony Maglio ESPN is making moves, literally: morning radio/TV show “Mike &
Mike” is packing up and heading to Times Square, an effort to borrow
more guests and talent from sister network ABC’s “Good Morning America,”
the massive cable channel announced during its Tuesday upfront event.
In other news, Scott Van Pelt (pictured above) has signed a multiyear extension with his employer, making him the solo anchor for “SportsCenter’s” weekday midnight ET show.
Speaking
of “SportsCenter,” the so-called Worldwide Leader in Sports’ flagship
news and highlights show, two more hours are being added from 7 a.m. to 9
a.m. ET. The cable giant plans for the new version — which replaces
reruns — to be “fast-paced, designed for viewers who are on the move and
don’t have much time early in the morning.”
“The new live show
will take the popular ‘SportsCenter Top 10’ franchise and turn it into a
program with the previous night’s top plays, story lines, quotes,
blunders and more,” ESPN explained.
Beginning
Feb. 8, 2016, “Mike & Mike” will reside directly above the “GMA”
studios. Bringing the Disney channels even closer together, the
respective sales teams will sell packages across networks, “allowing
advertisers to take advantage of the scale of The Walt Disney Company
and reach valuable audiences across multiple demographics and
platforms,” ESPN execs touted.
On the movie side, ESPN Films
announced Volume 3 of its lauded “30 for 30” franchise, which will
include 30 new docs covering stories such as Mike Tyson vs. Evander Holyfield, football coach Pete Carroll and the Buffalo Bills’ four consecutive Super Bowl losses.
Sticking
with football for a moment, ESPN will again televise an NFL Wild Card
playoff game during the 2015 season. That said, it will be simulcast on
ABC for the first time during Wild Card Weekend in January 2016 —
another shred of evidence that the Disney companies are willing to use
each other more than ever before.
On to America’s pastime,
baseball. ESPN touted that it will “own” the final week of the 2015
Major League Baseball regular season by televising up to seven
“Postseason Impact Games,” three of which are new this season. That
fancy phrase basically means the channel will pull match-ups with direct
postseason implications. ESPN has the exclusive rights to the American
League Wild Card Game to follow.
ESPN also announced the following new research initiatives, in its own words:
Set Top Box Agreements with Cablevision and Rentrak -
Working with Cablevision, ESPN will be able to marry significant off
channel video scale and first party data with Cablevision’s census-level
audience tuning data and insights on channel, creating the first true
multiscreen video offering to advertisers. – With Rentrak, ESPN will
be able to describe the TV audiences in ways beyond simple demos and
can match with third party sources to provide even richer targeting
capabilities. – These new data sets will also serve to enrich
existing cross platform effectiveness modeling (XPe), informing partners
of the best way to utilize ESPN to drive their business. Data Management Platforms -
Application that will allow ESPN a richer and more efficient means of
creating and managing ad targeting segments in a central, integrated
platform. – Partnering with BlueKai, which has an extensive list of
integration partners, including all major DMP, DSP, exchanges, and
agency trading desks.
TheWrap has learned that network is
looking to reteam with former judge after year-long break following
“Idol’s” 15th and final season
Fox may be looking to get back in bed with Simon Cowell after “American Idol” wraps its 15-season run.
An
insider close to the network told TheWrap that top brass are
considering a reteam with the mega-producer and outspoken former judge
after Fox rests the talent competition format for a year. The project
would be eyeing a 2017 TV Season launch, according to the insider.
A
spokesperson for Fox declined to comment. A rep for Cowell’s SYCO
Entertainment has not yet returned TheWrap’s request for comment.
“Word
all over the lot is that they’re going to take a year after ‘Idol,’ let
the time slot breathe, and then they’re going with another Cowell reality project,” the individual said.
“Idol”
came to North America in 2001 via 19 Entertainment and FremantleMedia,
who have replicated the successful format all over the world. Fox
premiered “American Idol” in 2002, where it’s been a flagship series for
the network in good times and bad.
Cowell
became a household name in the States as the mouthy centerpiece of the
original judges panel — which also included Paula Abdul and Randy Jackson
— quickly elevating the series in the zeitgeist thanks to his blunt
critiques and cutting one-liners. Cowell left the show in 2010 to
partner again with Fox on a sibling competition series, “The X Factor.”
Launching in
2011, “X Factor” was positioned as the heir apparent to “Idol,” which
itself was grappling with waning audiences. It failed to meet
expectations and was cancelled after three seasons. News
of the “Idol” end made waves in the entertainment industry and pulled
audience heartstrings on social media, instantly becoming a trending
topic worldwide.
Meanwhile, Cowell has set up an online competition show
in “Ultimate DJ,” a global electronic music series set to air on Yahoo
Live! The winner will be crowned the Ultimate DJ and be offered an
opportunity to headline a major Electronic Music festival and a record
contract with Ultra Records and Sony Music.
by
Lesley Goldberg The Aldous Huxley novel was ranked fifth among the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th Century by Modern Library.
The Emmy-winning team behind Syfy'sTaken is reuniting for another science fiction classic. Steven Spielberg's Amblin Television is adapting Aldous Huxley's novel Brave New World as a scripted series for the NBCUniversal-owned cable network, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Brave New World — ranked fifth among the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th
Century by Modern Library — is set in a world without poverty, war or
disease. Humans are given mind-altering drugs, free sex and rampant
consumerism are the order of the day, and people no longer reproduce but
are genetically engineered in "hatcheries." Those who won’t conform are
forced onto "reservations," until one of the "savages" challenges the
system, threatening the entire social order. First published in 1932, Brave New World will be adapted by writer Les Bohem, who penned Taken, which won the 2003 Emmy for best miniseries and racked up six other nominations. Amblin TV co-presidents Darryl Frank and Justin Falvey will executive produce alongside Bohem. The drama hails from Universal Cable Productions. Brave New World marks a reunion for Taken producers Frank and Falvey with Bohem, NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment Group chairman Bonnie Hammer and Syfy president Dave Howe, as well as with Universal Cable Productions executive vp development Dawn Olmstead, with whom they produced ABC's summer drama The Whispers. "Brave New World is one of the most influential genre
classics of all time," Howe said. "Its provocative vision of a future
gone awry remains as powerful and as timeless as ever. Promising to be a
monumental television event, Brave New World is precisely the groundbreaking programming that is becoming the hallmark of Syfy."
For Syfy, Brave New World joins a rapidly growing roster of original scripted programming as the cabler renews its focus on science fiction. That lineup includes the newly ordered series adaptation of Lev Grossman's The Magicians as well as 12 Monkeys (already renewed for season two), big swings The Expanse and Childhood's End, Hunters (from The Walking Dead EP Gale Anne Hurd, due in 2016) as well as Olympus, Defiance, Haven, Z Nation and Dark Matter, among others. For Amblin, meanwhile, should Brave New World go to series, it would join a roster that includes the final season of TNT's Falling Skiesand freshman Public Morals, ABC's The Whispers, CBS' Under the Dome and Extant as well as FX's The Americans. They'll likely add to that already impressive roster with Fox's Minority Report reboot, which is considered a lock to go to series. Bohem is repped by UTA and Linda Lichter.
By Michael Lewittes Jamie Foxx didn’t fight Floyd Mayweather, but social media has clobbered him for his rendition of the National Anthem before Saturday’s fight between Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao
in Las Vegas. The Grammy Award-winner got knocked out hard on Twitter
for his lackluster performance of the Star-Spangled Banner. In fact, Foxx trended on Twitter for hours, while Mayweather, who
beat Pacquiao in a unanimous decision, did not. A Twitter user, who goes
by Campbell, wrote, “The only fight that took place in that ring was
between Jamie Foxx & the American national anthem.” “maypac
should’ve been the undercard, the real fight was Jamie Foxx vs the
National Anthem,” echoed another Twitter user by the name of Keith. A woman by the name of Regine tweeted, “So can we talk about how
horrible Jamie Foxx’s performance was?” Similarly, a Twitter user named
Kathleen commented, “If there’s anything we all learned from this, it’s
that Jamie Foxx can’t sing.” Taja felt, “Jamie Foxx, you tried but that
anthem was dreadful to watch.” And a guy named Mitchell expressed,
“Let’s all just erase Jamie Foxx’s appearance from our collective
memory.”
And those were hardly the meanest tweets about Foxx’s singing on
Saturday night. Check out the video below of Jamie Foxx singing the
National Anthem before the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight, and
tell us what you think.
Illustration by: John Ueland by Alex Ben Block The allure of the daytime talk show is undeniable: a daily platform, a
set schedule and, in success, tens of millions of dollars. But since Oprah Winfrey ended her game-changing gabfest in 2011, the single-host talk show has fallen out of favor.
This coming fall, for the first time in years, no talk show fronted
by a high-profile host is scheduled to launch. And the only such show
from fall 2014 still on the air, NBCUniversal'sThe Meredith Vieira Show, is struggling.
On the flip side, consider the dozen or so contenders whose pricey shows haven't lasted more than two years: Katie Couric, Jeff Probst, Anderson Cooper, BethennyFrankel, Bonnie Hunt, Nate Berkus, Ricki Lake and Queen Latifah. In fact, only Steve Harvey and Wendy Williams have thrived in the space as daytime's landscape has become dominated by The Ellen DeGeneres Show (variety as much as talk), probing psychological analysis (Dr. Phil), medical mysteries (The Dr. Oz Show), food talk (Rachael Ray, The Chew), panels (The View, The Real, The Talk) and so-called conflict talkers (Maury, The Jerry Springer Show).
Why are so many star-driven talk shows failing? Many blame the cost
of launching with an A-list personality and a chasm between modern
celebrity and the appeal required to keep viewers day in, day out. "It's
the chemistry between the host and the producers and with the
audience," says CBS daytime head Angelica McDaniel. "Viewers pick up on that."
Latifah
received a huge promotional launch from Sony TV and a strong station
lineup but lasted only two seasons. "People liked the personality she
demonstrated in movies," says a TV syndication distribution executive,
"but that's not who she is. One thing about daytime: You can't fake it."
"These talk shows are with celebrities who have huge name value," says David Perler, executive producer of Wendy,
"but the name value doesn't hold up. If you can't deliver and you don't
have strong opinions and you just want to talk niceties with
celebrities on the couch about their upcoming projects, I don't think
people want that anymore."
"We have so much access to stars," says Sean Compton, Tribune Broadcasting Co.'s president of production. "You can watch TMZ
or five other shows and see what they ate for dinner last night. So I
don't think being a celebrity is enough. It's really in the subject they
are talking about. It's how they deliver. Their personalities have to
resonate with the audience."
We see actors and celebrities more in real life than in their work environment," adds Perler,
"because of the exposure in social media, the tweeting, Facebook and
all the shows that show them unmasked.
So it's not fascinating to tune
in just because Harrison Ford is on the couch."
Networks also are dealing with aging viewers. In 2011, 64 percent of
the daytime audience was over 50, according to Nielsen. That number now
is 71 percent. Advertisers in daytime covet viewers 25 to 54, especially
women. That demo has fallen from 38 percent to 33 percent since 2011.
To woo younger viewers, distributors are turning to such gossip and panel shows as TMZ Live (Warner Bros.), The Real (Warner Bros.) and Dish Nation (Fox). Stephen Brown, Fox TV's executive vp
programming and development, says his studio no longer seeks big stars.
"The Fox philosophy is, we don't rely on big personalities to drive our
shows," he says.
"It's hard for one personality to carry a talk show on their own," adds Brown. "We saw that with Anderson Cooper, with Latifah, with Katie and Ricki."
That's why, says Brown, the current trend is panels — or at least
couples. Fox also has taken to doing limited-run summer tests for shows
on a handful of stations before making a big commitment. That was how Wendy started and what propelled The Real to become one of the surprise hits of the past season.
This summer Fox is testing two talk shows with couples: the first stars little-known actors Boris Kodjoe and Nicole Ari Parker while the other features Ice-T and his wife, Coco.
"When you're matching people up you have to rely on chemistry," says
Brown. "That's one of the bigger reasons we're going with a married
couple — because they have instant chemistry." Studios that have had success with stars are hesitant, too. "The ambition of an Ellen, Dr. Phil, Katie or Meredith
is that they are very expensive, come with high expectations that they
will be successful and involve an elevated level of risk," says Ken Werner, president of Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution.
Werner also warns that station groups have become more risk averse in
the wake of the failure of many of these high-profile shows.
"If stations are reluctant to share in that risk in terms of cash
license fees and time periods," says Werner, "that will undoubtedly
affect the supply. On the other hand, once one has an established
franchise like Ellen they pay elevated dividends for stations, distributors and talent for many, many years."
Disney's Katie was said to have cost $30 million to $40
million a year to produce (including $10 million for the host). "It's
got to work really big, or you have a really big deficit," says Debmar-Mercury co-president Ira Bernstein.
Debmar-Mercury, a division of Lionsgate,
has worked with Fox on a number of summer test runs.
"We pound the
table about testing," says Bernstein. "You go out with something for
four or five weeks and at least you can make an objective judgment on
ratings. Also creatively you can look at it and say, 'Does the person
have it or not?'"
Wendy Williams wasn't a big national name when she did her test run
on Fox, just a local radio personality. "We learned a lot through the
test," says Williams. "It gave me a chance to sort of polish myself a
little bit for middle America. Here comes the black girl with big boobs
and wigs and she's laughing too loud. I'm a lot and I know it."
Couric, looking back, feels "the expectations might have been a little to high given the shifting landscape of television."
"Also for me, I wanted to do a show that had high production values,
so we did many taped pieces," she adds. "I really wanted it to feel like
a news magazine. … As a result I think the production costs were pretty
high."
Couric also feels she may have asked too much of the audience.
"People like to have fun in daytime, and I think that's one of the
reason Wendy and especially Ellen are so successful.
They're really fun, a nice breather. I was asking a lot of viewers to
say, 'Let's talk about sexual assault in the military' or interviewing
someone who was wrongly convicted. I don't think there was enough of an
appetite for that during the day."
Even star-driven shows are changing. The Wendy Williams Show,
which lures more than 2.1 million viewers a week, took off when the
host extended her "Hot Topics" chat segment to as long as half of the
program. It also went live.
"If you're not live, you just miss the boat," says Williams, "and the
ability to talk about things like what happened last night on Dancing With the Stars."
That's a big change from past hits, which avoided topicality to allow for airing summer reruns. Wendy produces as many as 260 new shows a year, compared with about 170 for most syndicated talkers.
"We try to take even less time off in the summer than in the past," says Perler.
"When we do repeats, we try to repeat recent shows. For instance if we
have repeats on Friday, we try to repeat an episode from earlier that
week so the Hot Topics is still current."
The celeb-talk genre isn't dead, of course. Newcomer hosts eyed for fall 2016 include Harry ConnickJr. for NBCU and SuzeOrmanfor
Warner Bros. But neither is guaranteed; more panel shows and
news-driven half-hours likely will take their place. Says McDaniel,
"It's what is resonating today with our viewing habits and our social
engagement patterns."
