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Murdoch on CNN's "Failed" Strategy; Brutally Honest Emmy Ballot; 'Bridget Jones' Box Office

September 15, 2016

What's news: Lachlan Murdoch thinks CNN has a "failed" strategy? He said as much yesterday just as Fox News placed a vote of confidence in its leadership team. Plus: THR's film critics break down their favorites of the fall festivals, a look inside Fox's unique MLB partnership for Pitch and American Horror Story finally reveals this season's theme (spoiler alert!). — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman.

Lachlan Murdoch Takes on Rivals...

Lachlan Murdoch appears to have had a very quotable day at an exec conference yesterday, business editor Paul Bond reports:

The Fox executive chairman dismissed Viacom's channels as "add-on fixer-uppers" that the company built by his father, Rupert Murdoch, does not want. "We don't need them and we wouldn't be interested in them," he said when asked if Fox may buy any of Viacom's channels.

He also isn't impressed with CNN or MSNBC, both of which compete with the more right-leaning Fox News Channel, so he sees no reason for new FNC co-presidents Bill Shine and Jack Abernethy to emulate either of those channels.

He added that FNC should not "follow a failed strategy rather than stick with the winning strategy."

Biz briefs...

► Disney lays off 250 employees. In an ongoing effort to boost the financial performance at an underperforming segment, the conglomerate made cuts to 5 percent of the staff at the segment now known as Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media.

► NBCUniversal CEO says Rio profit exceeded $250M. Despite lower ratings, Steve Burke says "we made over $250 million in Rio." The company, before being owned by Comcast, had lost as much as $200 million on past Games, Burke said. Ad sales were up over 20 percent from London 2012.

► BBC to disclose more on-air talent pay. Karen Bradley, Britain's new culture secretary, publishes a draft of a new charter for the U.K. public broadcaster, which calls for it to disclose which show hosts, news anchors and other stars are paid more than $198,000.

Fox News leaders sign long-term deals. Jack Abernethy and Bill Shine have now inked multi-year deals after the ouster of CEO Roger Ailes. The move signals that there is no rush to name a permanent CEO.

'Bridget' vs. 'Blair' vs. 'Snowden'

Box office preview: Three new films opening could have a tough time toppling Clint Eastwood's Sully, Pamela McClintock forecasts:

Among new offerings, Lionsgate's horror sequel entry Blair Witch could debut to $20M, topping Oliver Stone's true-life thriller Snowden, which tracking suggests will open in the $10M range.

Meanwhile, Bridget Jones's Baby, reuniting Renee Zellweger with Colin Firth and introducing Patrick Dempsey, looks to open in the mid- to high-teens for Universal and Working Title.

To watch: Warner Bros.' Sully flew high with a $35 million debut last weekend and has enjoyed record September midweek business so it could hold decently.

Elsewhere in film...

↱ THR critics' top 10 festival films. After hitting Toronto, Telluride and Venice, the on-site reviewers rank their favorites — from a portrait of a gay black man to biopics of Jackie O and Barack Obama to a Stones doc that rocks. The favorites. ↲

► Tom Cruise's American Made producers face lawsuit. The producers of the film formerly called Mena are facing a second wrongful death lawsuit following a plane crash in Colombia last fall that killed two crew members and injured a third. Full document.

► David O. Russell teams with Prada for short film. The Joy and American Hustle director has created a special multi-screen film installation for the fashion brand, which will launch in conjunction with the debut of the Women’s Spring/Summer ’17 collection in Milan.

► Margot Robbie sets down roots at Warner Bros. The Aussie actress is signing a first-look deal with the studio behind her summer Suicide Squad to develop and produce feature films through her LuckyChap Entertainment banner, in post-production on the neo noir thriller Terminal.

► Kiersey Clemons in talks for Marc Webb's new film. The Dope actress will star opposite Assassin’s Creed's Callum Turner, who replaced Miles Teller in the starring role of the untitled Amazon-backed coming-of-age feature.

↱ MPAA vs. USC over film tax incentives: Hollywood's lobbying arm is less than pleased with the results of two recent USC studies that find that state tax incentives for film and television productions have "no effect" on employment numbers, wage growth or the overall health of a state's economy. Full story. ↲

► American Honey breakout lines up next project. Sasha Lane, who was plucked from obscurity to star in the Cannes darling opposite Shia LaBeouf, will lead the cast of Shoplifters of the World Unite. Production is scheduled to begin in winter 2016.

► Mystery buyer of Anne Hathaway's Colossal revealed. Sources tell THR that a new company formed by Radius co-founder Tom Quinn and Alamo Drafthouse owner Tim League nabbed the film on the ground at the Toronto Film Festival. More details.

► New Batman suit unveiled Justice League director Zack Snyder shared a shot of Ben Affleck donning a tactical suit for the film, currently shooting in London. Is it time to stop redesigning the Batsuit for every movie?

Felicity Jones to get Britannia honor. The Rogue One actress will awarded for British artist of the year at a gala celebration in October at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Ewan McGregor will be honored with the Britannia humanitarian award. Details.

Brutally Honest Emmy Ballot Arrives

It's that time of year: Leading up to the awards show Sunday, an anonymous Emmy voter shares thoughts on this year's contenders. Full Emmys ballot:

Drama series: "The biggest omission this year in any category was Jessica Jones from this one. Instead, defying all logic, people nominated a different Netflix show, House of Cards, that had its worst season yet — the reason you tune in to that show is to see Kevin Spacey, and he was in a f—ing coma for half the season."

Limited series: "How's this for a controversial opinion: I thought War and Peace was truly amazing and deserved a nomination — and the O.J. Simpson miniseries was vastly overrated and should never have been nominated ... Fargo was heads and shoulders above the rest. I don't know how you could vote for anything else."

Variety talk series: "Bottom line? Samantha Bee [of TBS' Full Frontal] got shafted, so I'm voting for the last remaining tie to the godfather of this category, Jon Stewart: John Oliver, who does this sort of humor better than anybody and is my only appointment television."

► Emmy guest column: End 'For Your Consideration' gravy train parties.

Elsewhere in TV...

► CBS delays Star Trek launch. CBS All Access' new Star Trek: Discovery will launch later than originally announced at the request of the creative team, now premiering in May. Its still-untitled Good Wife spinoff is bowing earlier than expected with a February premiere.

► American Horror Story finally reveals theme. After weeks of mysterious teasers, the sixth cycle of Ryan Murphy's FX anthology series unveiled its theme and main cast with Wednesday's premiere. Spoilers ahead.

↱ Inside Fox's Pitch-MLB partnership: The upcoming series about baseball's first female player marks a historic pact between the sport and Hollywood with open use of real stadiums, logos and teams for production. How they make it work. ↲

► Bloodline will end after season 3 on Netflix. The third season of the twisted family drama starring Kyle Chandler will be its last on the streaming service. The Sony Pictures Television-produced series was renewed in July, shortly after the second season debuted on May 27.

► Woody Allen's Amazon series releases first trailer. Crisis in Six Scenes debuts Sept. 30 for Prime subscribers. Set in the '60s, Allen's series follows a middle class suburban family and stars Miley Cyrus, Elaine May, Rachel Brosnahan and John Magaro.

↱ On TV last night: Blindspot creator looks at an "accelerated" season 2 ... a Mr. Robot star comes out of hiding ... You're the Worst stars find humor in dark places ... Suits creator discusses the midseason finale's surprise exit. ↲

► Suits star Gina Torres lines up next gig. Less than 24 hours after being written out of the USA Network drama, the actress has been hired on ABC's Shondaland sophomore The Catch as a recurring guest star.

► Mad Men creator is writing his first novel. Matthew Weiner's Heather the Totality will be published in fall of 2017. Publisher Little Brown describes it as "a dark fable set in contemporary Manhattan."

↱ ICYMI: Kim Masters on Netflix backlash: As the streamer heads into the Emmys on Sunday with 54 noms it also stokes fears of becoming an entertainment monopoly. John Landgraf at this summer's TCA press tour warned: "I think it would be bad for storytellers in general if one company was able to seize a 40, 50, 60 percent share in storytelling." Full story. ↲

Dr. Oz scores Donald Trump stunt. The candidate says he will release his records and recent physical exam on today's Dr. Oz Show. Also: Amid Clinton's health scare, Jeffrey Katzenberg counters: "Hillary is the rock of Gibraltar."

The Great Emmys Tux Divide...

What to wear for the Emmys: Color, old-school double-breasted jackets and pocket squares are the current go-tos for younger guys on the red carpet — details that would make "an older guy" look dated, Pret-a-Reporter's Ingrid Schmidt observes:

When male nominees walk the red carpet at the Emmys, chances are certain style details will belie their age, says Hollywood stylist Jeanne Yang, whose clients, including Michael Keaton, George Clooney, Scott Eastwood and Alexander Skarsgard, range in age from late 20s to mid-60s.

"Younger guys like to do a pocket square or add a lapel pin, like a punctuation mark," she says. "But most guys over 40 tend to think little extras are over the top."

Unsurprisingly, the over-40 crowd likes to stick with classic gray, black or navy single-breasted suiting. But traditional doesn't have to mean boring. Nominees Idris Elba, 44, Bryan Cranston, 60, and Liev Schreiber, 48, do it right with contrasting shirt studs and other subtle details, such as the black shirt that Elba swapped in with his black tie at the BAFTAs.

"Bryan Cranston certainly dresses with a gentlemanly aesthetic, but he likes everything pretty slick and trim," says his stylist Michael Fisher. "It's not your father's tuxedo."