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Ovitz Apologizes; Lorne Michaels on New 'SNL' Trump; Lionsgate's Fraught Fall; Hollywood's Pot Dreams

September 30, 2016

What's news: Hell didn't quite freeze over but former CAA partners Mike Ovitz and Ron Meyer got together for the first time in 20 years last night. Plus: Lorne Michaels reveals whose idea it was for Alec Baldwin to play Trump, 60 Minutes teases its big Nate Parker interview and Fox's Murder on the Orient Express finds a star-studded cast. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman.

OVITZ'S MEA CULPA. Stephen Galloway writes: Anyone expecting fireworks in the public reunion of former CAA chairman Michael Ovitz and his one-time partner Ron Meyer would have been sorely disappointed Thursday night at the Directors Guild of America in Los Angeles, where the two men spoke about their relationship and the company they built, as well as the issues that drove them apart.

The quote: “Now that I’m an old man with a cane — temporarily — you look back and you have to always say to yourself, ‘What could you have done differently?’” said Ovitz, who arrived walking with a cane following a recent surgery. “We were on such a roll, in every aspect of the business, that I was oblivious and insensitive to a lot of the people issues. And the reason was, there weren’t enough hours in the day. I was flying [around the world for] 600 hours a year to do these deals. The economics were huge for us. It helped us. And I was basically myopic in my drive.”

The last question: The evening ended when Powerhouse author James Andrew Miller, who moderated the conversation, asked the two men if they each had $100 million to invest, would they put it in CAA or WME? Both dodged a direct answer, singing each agency’s talents. But Ovitz — who recently took a jab at his old home when he heaped praise on WME’s Ari Emanuel — said “I have a soft spot for CAA.”

Lionsgate's 12 Film High-Wire Act

It's a risky plan: Lionsgate is set to release 12 movies (!!) by Jan. 1, hoping for the next big hit. Pamela McClintock and Paul Bond survey the slate:

After a series of box-office misses and no successor to the Hunger Games and Twilight sagas, Lionsgate movie chief Rob Friedman's exit hardly was a shock. But ironically, Lionsgate's embattled film division is entering its most active period in years, with big questions swirling around the company's place in a tentpole-heavy market.

And they aren't easy sells: Lionsgate's film division will be biting its collective fingernails since Blair Witch failed to restart that dormant franchise. Deepwater Horizon has struggled in prerelease tracking, and Mel Gibson will be a major part of the publicity campaign for Hacksaw Ridge despite personal scandals. Damien Chazelle's feel-good La La Land (Dec. 2) is seen as a potential breakout, but musicals have a checkered past.

"On one hand, you could say [Lionsgate] is committed to passion projects," says box-office analyst Jeff Bock. "On the other side of the coin, if Power Rangers is their only tentpole on the horizon, they're not only in serious financial trouble but in a creative rut."

Elsewhere in film...

► Ava DuVernay's 13th, reviewed. The film, which takes a historical look at the ways the African-American population has been marginalized since the 13th amendment abolished slavery, is called an "eloquently articulated testimony."

► Fox plans star-studded Murder on the Orient Express. Johnny Depp, Michelle Pfeiffer, Daisy Ridley, Michael Pena and Judi Dench have been enlisted for its ensemble adaptation of Agatha Christie’s acclaimed mystery novel that is being directed by Kenneth Branagh.

► Michael Shannon joins Benedict Cumberbatch in period drama. Shannon is in talks to star in The Weinstein Co.'s The Current War. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon is directing the project about the infamous Thomas Edison-George Westinghouse feud.

↱ Nate Parker on 60 Minutes: In excerpts addressing the rape trial, the filmmaker says: "I was falsely accused. I went to court. I was vindicated." Meanwhile, a new Fox Searchlight poster for Birth of a Nation recalls the KKK propaganda in the D.W. Griffith film. ↲

► Lee Daniels is planning a musical about his life. The Empire creator revealed he's hoping to make a musical film with "original music and sort of be like Fellini’s 8 1/2 or All That Jazz."

► Rachael Taylor replaces Kate Bosworth in heist film. Mark Steven Johnson’s upcoming Finding Steve McQueen lost Bosworth, who was replaced by Australian actress Taylor in the starring role. Principal photography on the film recently kicked off in Atlanta.

► Adam Brody, Amanda Crew to star in indie The Wanting. The O.C. and Silicon Valley actors are joining the psychological thriller to be directed by Yam Laranas. The film began principal photography in and around Toronto in late September.

↱ Weekend movies: Fox's Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children turns "tiresomely conventional" and may gross $25M or more. Lionsgate's Deepwater Horizon is "a towering inferno on water" and could nab in the high teens in its debut. Relativity's Masterminds is "disappointingly thin" and is tracking in the $8M to $10M range. ↲

► Is Daniel Craig still in for Bond? Exec producer Callum McDougall, who has worked on every Bond since Die Another Day, said Craig was "absolutely the first choice" for chief producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson.

► Meet Angelina Jolie's London power squad. The star's close friends and supporters include a onetime Bosnian refugee whose story is "more incredible than any Hollywood script" and whose high profile in UK politics, say insiders, has drawn the fury of hard-line Serbs.

► EuropaCorp to sell multiplex business. The studio said Friday it is in talks with France's Cinemas Gaumont Pathe. China's Fundamental Films is set to become EuropaCorp's largest shareholder behind Luc Besson in a $67M deal.

↱ Trailer watch: Warren Beatty's Rules Don't Apply details Alden Ehrenreich and Lily Collins' L.A. love story ... Adam Driver stars as a poetic bus driver in Paterson. ↲

Is Rats the grossest movie ever? The doc from Morgan Spurlock features parasites, skin diseases and millions of the dreaded vermin — and some screenings serve cooked rat. Yep, and here's the trailer.

New 'SNL' Trump Was Tina Fey's Idea

So says Lorne Michaels, who talked to THR about bringing on Alec Baldwin to be the new Trump and shaking up the cast ahead of the season premiere. Q&A excerpt:

When did you come up with the idea to make Alec Baldwin your new Donald Trump?

The idea came out of a conversation with Tina Fey at some point during the summer. Then I mentioned it to Alec but he’d already committed himself to a movie and [he and wife Hilaria] were about to have their third child. There were a lot of obstacles in the way to working it out. But I just thought he’d be brilliant doing it and I thought he and Kate [McKinnon] would be a match.

Have you had “what if” discussions about what direction the humor will take if Trump wins versus if he doesn’t win?

You so don’t understand my life. I’m just thinking right now about Saturday. Next week, [Oct. 8 host] Lin-Manuel Miranda will be sitting in the office and we’ll start again — so, no, we never go that far. There’s no long-range plans. There’s just, you know, Saturday.

There have been some big casting changes this season. Can you explain what happened to Taran Killam and Jay Pharoah?

I think that the lifeblood of the shows change. I love Taran, I love Jay, I think they’re both super-talented. They’ve both been here six years. And if you don’t keep making changes you don’t change.

ICYMI: Donald Trump graces the cover of the New Yorker as a curvy pageant queen.

Elsewhere in TV...

↱ It's Lady Gaga at the Super Bowl: After weeks of speculation, the artist herself confirmed the news that she will headline the Super Bowl halftime show in 2017, tweeting, "This year the SUPER BOWL goes GAGA!" What to expect. ↲

► A Game of Thrones spinoff? HBO boss Casey Bloys: "There are so many properties and areas to go to ... For us, it's about finding the right take with the right writer." As it stands, however, current showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will not be those writers.

► The Westworld rush. Days before HBO rolls out its sci-fi drama, Fox is looking to board the AI train as well. The network has handed out a script commitment with penalty attached for Jessica Alba-produced drama Girl 10. Ken Woodruff (Gotham, The Mentalist) will pen the script and exec produce.

► Designated Survivor and Speechless get commitments. The duo, two of the stronger premieres this young broadcast season, have each earned orders for a back nine. The pair follows NBC's This Is Us as the latest series to get early votes of confidence for 2016-17.

↱ Joe Biden hits late night: During his first Tonight Show appearance, the VP compared Donald Trump to past American Presidents: "Can you think of any President that you've studied about or knew, that would speak like that? It angers me, quite frankly." Watch here. ↲

► ABC teams with Phil Lord and Chris Miller. The network handed out a hefty put-pilot commitment to a single-camera comedy from the producers. The Escape centers on an urban professional who uproots himself and his troubled 19-year-old son to move to rural Idaho.

► Jared Harris is returning to AMC. The Mad Men grad has signed on to star in the network's anthology series The Terror. Production on the 10-part series begins this winter in Budapest for a 2017 debut.

► Fashion soap in the works. Icon received a hefty put-pilot commitment from ABC, with Anne Marie O'Connor penning the script and exec producing alongside Conde Nast Entertainment president Dawn Ostroff and vp scripted Jon Koa.

Jerry Weintraub’s Doheny house has quietly been on the market for eight months; now, courtesy of widow Jane Morgan, THR has a look inside the late producer’s power hub, where a president slept over and Clooney and Pitt planned Ocean’s Eleven. The listing.

Is Hollywood's Marijuana Rush Worth It?

Things could change after November if recreational marijuana is legalized in California. And more stars are investing, Ashley Cullins reports:

From cannabis-infused wine to bath products, there's no shortage of creative ways for celebrities to invest in the marijuana business. Despite the risk, business managers tell THR it's getting harder to dissuade clients as California's marijuana industry is projected to hit $6.6 billion in 2020, according to research firm The Arcview Group.

"We wonder whether the exposure from having a celebrity name involved is effectively a neon 'look here' sign for any prosecutor who's looking to become the next congressman or senator," says a source who has advised multiple stars with pot-related ventures.

The bottom line: There is plenty of risk involved for any big reward. Even if California voters legalize pot this fall, celebs looking to invest in the canna-business will still need expert guidance on tricky issues involving everything from banking to advertising.