BILLBOARD-2

THЄ ЄXISTЄNTIΛL CHRONICLЄS

►About | ►Explore | ►Links | ►Updates | ►Alerts

How Hollywood Helped Elect Trump; 'SNL' Ratings Run; Box Office Escapism; THR Documentary Roundtable Arrives

November 14, 2016

What's news: Donald Trump may have boosted both film and TV audiences this weekend. SNL ratings hit a new high and box office was up nearly 50 percent over last year, a possible sign of Americans seeking post-election escapism at the movies. Plus: Leonardo DiCaprio is producing for TV and the annual THR Doc Roundtable arrives. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman.

"Don't normalize this." Erik writes: That's the phrase of the moment for those who have deep concerns about President-elect Trump as he taps his rolodex for top White House positions, including adding Breitbart exec Stephen Bannon as chief strategist. Will media outlets — or anyone with a social media megaphone — strike the right tone in coverage of a Commander-in-chief who has refused to play by political norms?

Elsewhere in real-life...

► About that 60 Minutes interview. Frank Scheck writes: The President-elect dialed down the rhetoric in an attempt to seem dignified in his first TV interview since the election, but there was no escaping it: Donald is Donald. Lots of policy questions were vaguely answered though. A critic's take I Full CBS transcript.

► How conservative Hollywood worked to elect Trump. Now that the dust is settling, Paul Bond has the inside story of how a renegade group of conservatives working in the TV and film industry campaigned: Pat Boone made phone calls, Jon Voight worked talk radio, and countless actors and filmmakers worked tirelessly out of the public eye.

► John Oliver unveils post-election take. It's what HBO's Last Week Tonight viewers have been waiting for: "It's true, that happened. It turns out instead of showing our daughters that they could someday be president, America proved that no grandpa is too racist to become leader of the free world." Watch here.

Ratings: Post-Election 'SNL' Hits High

Starting on an uncharacteristically sobering note, the first new Saturday Night Live since Donald Trump's election win brought ratings highs, Michael O'Connell notes:

Comedian Dave Chappelle's first time hosting the venerable NBC sketch show earned an overnight 6.2 rating among households and a 3.9 rating among adults 18-49. That's the best showing in the key demo since the Jimmy Fallon-hosted Christmas episode in 2013.

With Hillary Clinton's surprise loss on Tuesday, Kate McKinnon reprised her take on the former Secretary of State for the somber cold open, where she paid tribute to Clinton and to the late singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen with a cover of his song "Hallelujah."

Season-to-date, Saturday Night Live is having its best run, at this point in a season, in 24 years. With live-plus-seven-day ratings, the show is averaging 11.4 million weekly viewers and a 3.6 rating in the key demo.

► Watch the "Hallelujah" cold open I Chappelle's monologue I A critic's take.

Elsewhere in TV...

► Younger Redstones step up in Viacom drama. According to a new Wall Street Journal report, Summer Redstone's grandson Tyler held a secret meeting that led to the exit of Viacom CEO Philippe Dauman, just one move the younger Redstones have taken in the saga.

► Leonardo DiCaprio adds TV credit to his resume. History has ordered Frontiersmen, an eight-hour doc series from the actor. The doc hails from DiCaprio's Appian Way Productions and Stephen David Entertainment, with Jennifer Davisson on board as an exec producer.

► Amazon renews Tig Notaro's One Mississippi. The series, created by Notaro and Diablo Cody, was greenlit for a second season, which will start streaming in 2017. The project follows Notaro's return to her hometown in Mississippi.

► BBC orders another Mary Berry show. The Great British Bakeoff presenter will star in the six-part Mary Berry Everyday, produced by Endemol Shine Group's Sydney Street. The show will "celebrate the food and ingredients she turns to most."

► Steve Harvey to end his daytime talker. The TV personality has set up a new show with IMG to debut next September as his contract with EndemolShine North America is up next year. The new deal will give Harvey a substantial ownership stake in the show.

↱ On TV last night: HBO's Westworld showrunners Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy explain "terrible," "devastating" game-changing reveal ... A few key moments from AMC's The Walking Dead latest twists. ↲

Bill Maher Invites Trump on Real Time. During his latest episode, the HBO host quipped: "It took me eight years to get Obama on, maybe he'll come on." He ended his show by likening the currently divided nation to living in "some version of roommate hell."

Box Office: Escapism Wins Weekend

After a bruising election week, Americans hit theaters en masse, driving up year over year domestic box office revenue, Pamela McClintock writes in the weekend wrap:

Marvel and Disney's Doctor Strange easily stayed at No. 1 in its sophomore outing, falling a mere 49 percent to $44M. That's the lowest second-weekend decline among the last 10 Marvel Cinematic Universal titles.

Trolls, from DreamWorks Animation and Fox, placed No. 2 with $35.1M after declining just 25 percent, one of the lowest second-weekend drops for an animated film.

Arrival, budgeted at $47M, exceeded expectations and launched with $24M, a needed win for Paramount. It skewed slightly female (52 percent) and older, with 85 percent of ticket buyers over the age of 25. And Universal's Almost Christmas debuted nicely with $15.7M.

All told: Domestic box-office revenue was up 45 percent-50 percent over the same weekend last year, although this year had the advantage of Veterans Day falling on a Friday.

► U.S. top 10 chart I China box office wrap: Ang Lee's Billy Lynn opens strong.

Elsewhere in film...

► Disney unveils full Beauty and the Beast trailer. The live-action remake, starring Emma Watson and Dan Stevens and hitting theaters next March, gets a 1:59 preview today showcasing the scope of the film. Watch here.

► Hayao Miyazaki plans one last anime feature. The iconic Japanese director has been working on a CG short called Boro the Caterpillar (Kemushi no Boro) and is aiming to turn the project into a full-length feature.

► The Making of Neruda. The latest in-depth look at an Oscar contender details how Pablo Larrain and his cast braved snowstorms and hypothermia to bring the tale of Nobel Prize winner Pablo Neruda to the big screen.

↱ Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, reviewed. Warner Bros. is back this Friday with the latest chapter in J.K. Rowling's Potter universe. The takeaway from critic John DeFore: "Far from perfect, but action-packed and splendid-looking." ↲

► Chinese manufacturing firm acquires Voltage Pictures. On Monday, Reuters reported that China's Anhui Xinke New Materials has acquired an 80 percent stake in Midnight Investments, owner of film financing and production company Voltage Pictures, for $350.71M.

► David Yates says he's ready to direct 5 Fantastic Beasts films. The director, who also helmed four Harry Potter installments, told THR that he would be committed to the entire prequel series, whose first film hits theaters Nov. 18. J.K. Rowling plans to pen the remaining four.

► Robert Redford is ready to retire. In an interview with his grandson Dylan Redford, the actor said that after his next two films (Our Souls at Night and The Old Man and the Gun), he will no longer act and instead will shift to helming features.

↱ Robert De Niro's The Comedian, reviewed. The actor stars as a bitter stand-up comic in this Sony Classics character study with a strong supporting cast. The takeaway from critic Stephen Farber: "Fine acting can't quite redeem a sleazy central character." ↲

► Oliver Stone won't plan a Trump biopic. The director, who has made presidential pics JFK and W, told THR: “People are fascinated by him, but I’m not as much ... But he has enormous balls, so you have to give him credit for that.”

► R.I.P., Julie Gregg. The actress, who played the wife of James Caan's character Sonny Corleone in the first two Godfather films, has died after a battle with cancer. She was 79. Full obit.

↱ Jessica Chastain's Miss Sloane, reviewed. The actress stars as a ruthless lobbyist who goes up against the gun industry in John Madden's topical drama. The takeaway from chief critic Todd McCarthy: "Smart and solid, with a smashing Chastain." ↲

► American Honey wins top prize in Los Cabos. The road movie won the official competition at the Mexican fest on Saturday. The film, winner of the jury prize at Cannes earlier this year, is writer-director Andrea Arnold’s first U.S. feature.

► Record 27 animated features race for Oscar. The crowded list reflects major studios' commitment to animation and includes Finding Dory, Zootopia, The Secret Life of Pets, Trolls, Sausage Party and Storks. Full list.

At the Governors' Awards. Scott Feinberg writes: This year's edition was its most polished yet, with eminently worthy honorees, extraordinary clip packages outlining their careers and classy speeches.

New! Documentary Roundtable Arrives

THR gathered six non-fiction filmmakers — Ezra Edelman (O.J.: Made in America), Werner Herzog (Into the Inferno), Kirsten Johnson (Cameraperson), Josh Kriegman (Weiner), Raoul Peck (I Am Not Your Negro) and Roger Ross Williams (Life, Animated) — for its latest roundtable. An excerpt:

Werner Herzog: "In one case [on Into the Inferno], we were filming a volcano in Sumatra, in Indonesia, which had been kind of semidormant. It gave signals, and there was a serious explosion of it in 2010. However, there were farmers back in this restricted, no-go zone. And we decided with a volcanologist, let's move in.

It looks fairly safe. But he would watch the volcano, the summit. And he got nervous because all of a sudden huge boulders, the size of this entire studio, would come loose and tumble down. And he said, "Quick, quick, let's do something." We fled, and it didn't do any harm to anyone.

But three or four days later, it exploded much more violently, and seven people were killed exactly where we had our camera positioned. So sometimes you have to play some sort of lottery." Full THR Documentary Roundtable.