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Studio Franchise Report Card; Can 'Birth' Be Reborn?; Meryl Streep Is Doing TV

September 09, 2016

What's news: Good morning from the Toronto Film Festival, where THR's team of 30 reporters, editors, critics and video producers are waiting to see how Birth of a Nation plays out. Plus: A studio-by-studio report card on franchise fever, Ben Affleck casts his Batman villain and Meryl Streep makes her way to TV. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman.

THE BIG QUESTION: Can Nate Parker's Birth of a Nation be reborn in Toronto?

Etan Vlessing and Rebecca Ford report: Many awards insiders and publicity experts expected Parker to back out of doing press in Toronto (AFI recently postponed a screening of the film and instead hosted a conversation about campus sexual-assault issues). While Fox Searchlight has canceled several interviews at news outlets’ lounges in Toronto, citing time constraints, the distributor has booked Parker and his cast for a full day of TV interviews Sept. 10 and a news conference the following day.

Searchlight may be banking on the fact that TIFF audiences have a reputation for being friendly (there’s rarely booing, like in Cannes), and some insiders say an especially warm reception could put the film back on track. But several top publicists not involved with Birth who spoke to THR believe it will take more than strong applause for the spotlight to move away from Parker’s past, especially if he continues to do interviews on the subject. Full story.

► THR's Toronto newspaper arrives. Hot off the press! Starting today, there are 38 pages of news, analysis, reviews, a daily deals breakdown and a party guide at Toronto. Festgoers can pick up a print version. Everyone else, download here.

► Alfonso Cuaron plans Mexico family drama. The Gravity director is partnering with Participant Media for the untitled drama that will begin shooting in Mexico this fall. The film chronicles a year in the life of a middle-class family in Mexico City in the 1970s.

► Paul Thomas Anderson's next film lands at Focus. The untitled project will reteam the director with his There Will Be Blood star, Daniel Day Lewis, for a plot set in the 1950s fashion world of London. Production is expected to begin in early 2017.

↱ Kareem Abdul-Jabbar reviews Birth of a Nation: In a guest column for THR, the former NBA star says Parker "faces an equal level of harsh public scrutiny that threatens to overshadow his impressive, important and flawed film." And of the movie: "Lopsided racial presentation makes it less accessible." Full column. ↲

► Werner Herzog's Salt and Fire nabbed by XLrator Media. The German auteur's volcano disaster film stars Michael Shannon, Gael Garcia Bernal and Veronica Ferres. The company plans a U.S. theatrical release in spring 2017.

► Jeffrey Tambor, Emma Roberts, Jane Levy board Four Seasons. The project, which Paradigm is selling in Toronto, will be directed by Peter Kline and Pete Shanel based on their own script.

► Bleecker Street nabs Lost City of Z. A week after Amazon Studios picked up North American rights to the hotly contested Charlie Hunnam starrer, the streaming giant has closed a deal with Bleecker Street to release the film theatrically.

↱ The Magnificent Seven, reviewed. Antoine Fuqua's Toronto opener stars Denzel Washington, Chris Pratt and Ethan Hawke in a revisionist take on 1960s classic. The takeaway, from chief film critic Todd McCarthy: "Not so magnificent." ↲

^^First Look: Margot Robbie in Terminal. Vaughn Stein's noir thriller also stars Simon Pegg, Max Irons, Mike Myers and Dexter Fletcher. Highland Film Group is handling international sales and screening select footage of the new film to buyers in Toronto while CAA is selling the U.S. rights.

► Q&A of the day: Michael Bloom. First Look Media's Bloom discusses making movies that matter (like financing Oscar winner Spotlight), Glenn Greenwald's digital disrupter The Intercept and "holding the powerful accountable." Full chat.

► Hidden gem of the day: Una. Australian theater director-turned-filmmaker Benedict Andrews talks about how he landed a red-hot cast (Rooney Mara, Riz Ahmed, Ben Mendelsohn) for his first feature film. Full story.

TORONTO PARTIES: Friday's checklist includes Relativity's cocktail party at Chase Oyster Bar from 5-7 p.m. Ryan Kavanaugh won’t be there, but Dana Brunetti will. Snowden will be feted after its premiere. Joseph Gordon Levitt, Scott Eastwood and Nicolas Cage will join the bash at Lavelle on King Street West. And the sixth annual Producers Ball, hosted by Drew and Jonathan Scott of TV’s The Property Brothers fame, is at IT House on Peter Street.

A Guide to Franchise Fever

There were plenty of box office woes (and a few wins) this summer, but now that Labor Day has come and gone it's time to take a look at what shape the biggest franchises are in, Borys Kit and Rebecca Ford write in their studio-by-studio report card:

Disney: Chadwick Boseman's Black Panther and Brie Larson's Captain Marvel are looking promising, and the Star Wars universe, after some reshoots, is ever-growing. Phil Lord and Chris Miller, who are directing the standalone Han Solo movie, are now on the search for their Lando Calrissian.

Warner Bros.: After a few rocky starts to the DC Cinematic Universe, the studio now has to decide whether all the drama and scathing reviews are worth a Suicide Squad sequel. It’s also casting on The Flash and signed Doug Liman to direct Justice League Dark. Over in the Potterverse, J.K. Rowling's boy wizard is appearing on stage in Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. Fantastic Beasts, opening Nov. 18, has already announced a sequel, set for November 2018.

Universal: The studio is assembling a strong cast for its Monster Universe including Javier Bardem, who is in negotiations to star as Frankenstein as it develops its own cinematic universe of classic horror figures. Bardem will join Tom Cruise and Russell Crowe, who will star in the universe's inaugural film The Mummy.

Fox: While X-Men: Apocalypse grossed a solid $542.8 million, audience enthusiasm was waning and it showed; the previous entry, X-Men: Days of Future Past, grossed a massive $747.7 million by comparison. On top of figuring out ways to rejuvenate the next installment, Fox also has to whether to bring back the franchise’s top stars — Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Nicholas Hoult — all of whom had three-picture deals which have run their course.

Paramount: Buoyed by glowing reviews for Star Trek Beyond, Paramount announced a fourth installment in the franchise. But despite plenty of geek love, this summer's installment is trailing behind 2013's Star Trek Into Darkness’ $467 million global box office. Granted, Beyond still has to open in China but has enthusiasm at the studio, which has been preoccupied by an ugly power struggle at the top ranks, begun to diminish?

Sony: The studio's ambitious plans for a new universe based on the classic 1984 movie were obvious ahead of the release of the new film starring Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones and Kate McKinnon. Sony created Ghost Corps, a collective with Ivan Reitman and Dan Aykroyd, to oversee a potential universe that would include live-action films, TV and animated projects. But when the film stumbled at the box office after hitting theaters in July, the studio went quiet on any sort of sequel. Sources say the stars were signed on for two more sequels, but as of now it's seems unlikely that will be happening.

FYI...

► Ben Affleck's Batman movie casts its villain... Magic Mike actor Joe Manganiello will play Deathstroke in the upcoming solo Batman film, DC Entertainment president Geoff Johns confirmed in an interview with The Wall Street Journal.

► ...and Ben Affleck's gangster movie debuts a trailer. He stars as a 1920s-era gangster in Live by Night, which also features Elle Fanning, Zoe Saldana and Sienna Miller. The actor's latest directorial effort hits theaters Jan. 13, 2017. Watch here.

First Oscar look arrives! Yes, its that time of year again, awards analyst Scott Feinberg has completed his first updating forecast of Academy Award contenders as Toronto gets into full swing. Where the race stands now.

Pay-to-Play Auditions Probe Intensifies

The L.A. city attorney’s office has stepped up its investigation of pay-to-play auditions, spearheaded by the consumer affairs deputy Mark Lambert (pictured), as senior writer Gary Baum reports:

Just last weekend, after casting director Ricki Maslar was questioned by a city investigator — and she and other CDs received a letter from the office that reportedly raised the idea that the workshops potentially break the law — workshop owners and Maslar’s attorneys put out a crowd-sourced request to former students to write character references, in an email obtained by THR.

These workshops have been a Hollywood staple for decades, and ostensibly provide an opportunity for actors to showcase their skill in front of a casting professional and receive constructive feedback. But the sessions, which had proliferated in recent years, frequently are not educational — and potentially run afoul of the 2009 Krekorian Talent Scam Prevention Act.

► ICYMI: The original investigation into the pay-to-play casting workshop issue.

Elsewhere in TV...

► Meryl Streep heads to the small screen. The Oscar winner, who hasn't been on a TV show since 2012's Web Therapy, is nearing a deal to star in a TV series based on The Nix, a novel by Nathan Hill. J.J. Abrams and Hill will exec produce the series.

► Fox lands black superhero drama from Greg Berlanti. The network has given a pilot production commitment to Black Lightning, the black superhero drama from the prolific superhero series producer and The Game's Salim and Mara Brock Akil.

► TNT extends The Last Ship's voyage. The cabler has renewed the drama for a fifth season weeks after ordering a fourth season. The series currently ranks as one of basic cable's top 10 summer dramas among adults 18-49.

► NBC wins (ratings-wise, at least) with joint candidate forum. Fast National returns from Nielsen reported a combined 14.7 million viewers for the NBC-MSNBC simulcast, making it the most watched Big Four telecast of the night. TV ratings.

► USA's Damnation finds director. Hell or High Water helmer David Mackenzie is set to direct the pilot for what's described as a saga of the secret history of the 1930s American heartland.

► Novak Djokovic heads to Amazon. The tennis star will bring cameras along during the 2017 tennis season for his Amazon reality show.

► Law & Order: SVU sets ER reunion. Anthony Edwards and Mariska Hargitay previously played love interests in the fourth season of ER, and Edwards is now set to join her on SVU when he guest stars on an upcoming episode of her series.

In THR, Esq: FCC chairman Tom Wheeler put forward a plan to reshape access to TV programming ... Photos of a Dutch Playboy model spark a major European Union copyright ruling.

Next Big Thing: Trevante Rhodes

In THR's latest issue: Trevante Rhodes, Moonlight's coming-of-age star in Toronto and Telluride, is Hollywood's latest breakout actor. From film reporter Rebecca Ford's Next Big Thing spotlight:

Raised just north of Dallas, Texas where his mom worked as an accountant for an oil and gas company, Trevante Rhodes dreamed of being a petroleum landman. Instead, while studying at UT Austin on a track and field scholarship, Rhodes was working out on campus when he was discovered by a casting agent.

He moved to L.A. three years ago, booking roles on Tyler Perry’s OWN series If Loving You is Wrong and Terrence Malick’s Weightless before landing the lead in Barry Jenkins’s Toronto entry Moonlight, A24's coming-of-age drama about Chiron, a gay man growing up in drug-addled Miami.

His recent job? Working as a waiter at the commissary at The Lot in West Hollywood until he auditioned for the role of Kevin, Chiron’s childhood friend who develops into a love interest. "Not even half way through the audition, Barry stops me and he says, 'I want you to read for the other role,'" says Rhodes. "That was the role I had initially had gravitated towards."