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New THR Cover Reveal; Meet Hollywood's Treasury Secretary; 'Rogue One' Mega-Payday; Trump's Twitter Tussles

November 30, 2016

It's magazine day at THR, with Fences stars Denzel Washington and Viola Davis sitting for an expansive talk with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on race and family in the Trump era. Plus: An in-depth look at the President-elect's Treasury secretary pick Steven Mnuchin, Jamie Foxx plans a Marvin Gaye limited series, and is Amazon TV going global? — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman.

On the cover: NBA legend and cultural commentator Kareem Abdul-Jabbar gets a byline for his discussion with Fences' Denzel Washington and Viola Davis. A few quotes:

► Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on August Wilson's play: "Here we are 30 years after that first production, 60 years after the play's setting, still frustratingly aware that black Americans are stuck on the social and political treadmill."

► Denzel Washington on directing Fences: "Scorsese probably could have directed Schindler's List and Spielberg probably could have directed Goodfellas. But it's as much to do with the difference in culture as it is with race."

► Viola Davis on "black life" in the film: "I think sometimes what people miss about black people is that we’re complicated, that we are indeed messy, that we do our best with what we’ve been given. We come into the world exactly like you. It’s just that there are circumstances in the culture that are dictated and put on our lives that we have to fight against."

Full cover story | What to expect from the film | Fences cast talks Denzel.

'Rogue One' Writer's Reshoot $$$

Tony Gilroy, who was brought in to rewrite and help oversee reshoots for the Gareth Edwards-directed Star Wars film, will pocket north of $5 million for his efforts, Borys Kit finds:

Gilroy, writer of several Bourne movies and director of best picture Oscar nominee Michael Clayton, first was brought in to help write dialogue and scenes for Rogue’s reshoots and was being paid $200,000 a week, according to several sources.

That figure is fairly normal for a top-tier writer on a big-budget studio film. But as the workload (and the reshoots) expanded, so did Gilroy's time and paycheck.

Gilroy started on Rogue One in June, and by August, he was taking a leading role with Edwards in postproduction, which lasted well into the fall. The reshoots are said to have tackled several issues in the film, including the ending.

↱ Lucasfilm has no plans for Rogue One sequel. President Kathleen Kennedy broke the news in Empire mag, explaining that no matter how well the first standalone Star Wars performs at the box office, there won't be a follow-up. ↲

Elsewhere in film...

► Jodie Foster to star in Hotel Artemis. The actress has signed up for Iron Man 3 and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation screenwriter Drew Pearce's directorial debut. Foster will play a character called "The Nurse" in the near-future thriller.

► Lin-Manuel Miranda tackling Kingkiller Chronicle. The Hamilton creator is partnering with author Pat Rothfuss to serve as the creative producer on the Lionsgate adaptations of the best-selling book trilogy. He'll also lead musical development on the projects.

► Bradley Cooper to star in World War II drama. Cooper is also exec producer on Atlantic Wall alongside partner Todd Phillips. Gavin O’Connor is set to direct the project, which has a script by Zach Dean.

► Joaquin Phoenix to tackle cartoonist biopic with Gus Van Sant. The long-brewing biopic of quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan, Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot, is back on track with star Joaquin Phoenix. Robin Williams tried to adapt the story in the '90s.

► Florence Foster Jenkins plans return to theaters. The Meryl Streep-starrer will return to select AMC theaters Dec. 2. Locations include Chicago, Boston, Dallas, San Francisco, New York and Seattle, among other cities. In its initial run, the Paramount film grossed $27M.

Manchester by the Sea gets a big win. The National Board of Review on Tuesday revealed its year-end awards, naming the Amazon Studios' title as the best film. The Kenneth Lonergan-directed film received three other accolades while fellow Oscar frontrunner Moonlight won two awards. Full list | Analysis

Trump Tweets Are TV's New Normal

Trump's outrageous tweet-storms pose a dilemma for anchors geared for sound bites, but post-inauguration, the rules (and coverage) will change, analyst Andrew Tyndall writes:

Donald Trump's rhetoric originates in reality TV, where he became a star. Everything is in service of the buildup to the climactic revelation that closes each episode. Thus, misdirection, confusion, suspense and contradiction are not the bugs of Trump's policy pronouncements but their core features. Only the facts of the actual reveal count.

The astonished attention paid to this behavior amounts to nothing more serious than the shock of the new. Trump seems destined to become the first president to present newsmaking positions via social media. His late-night tweets, the apparent thin-skinned ease with which he seems to take offense, his fascination with the trivialities of popular culture, will just have to take some getting used to.

"Don't normalize" will become the new normal? In time, once the business of governing begins, their novelty will wear off. Journalists will learn not to transform such silliness into matters of state and will assign them to the late-night comics and to the gossips of social media. Sooner or later, the business of politics will reach television, too.

Elsewhere in TV...

► CBS enlists two for new Star Trek. Anthony Rapp (Rent) and Doug Jones (Hellboy) have joined Michelle Yeoh in CBS All Access' forthcoming TV reboot of the classic sci-fi series, which recently pushed its debut from January to May. Who they're playing.

► MTV president Chris McCarthy outlines strategy. "The opportunity for MTV is to embody everything it is to be young — optimistic, hopeful, idealistic, diverse, messy and fun," the exec tells THR. VH1 rising star Nina L. Diaz has been tapped to head unscripted.

► E! denies halting Kardashians production. The cabler rebutted a TMZ item saying that production had temporarily ceased on the reality TV series in the wake of Kanye West's recent hospitalization. The show recently aired its season 12 finale.

↱ Will Amazon go global to challenge Netflix? Jeremy Clarkson's tweet that "Amazon has gone global" sparked industry buzz that The Grand Tour star might know something that CEO Jeff Bezos has yet to reveal. If it does, it would boost content costs by $1B to $2B in 2017, say analysts, bringing it in line with Netflix's planned $6B spend next year. ↲

► Amazon, NBC, ABC, Fox, CBS execs to skip January TCA tour. Instead, insiders say, each of the Big Four networks want to focus on their midseason fare. The networks are expected to resume exec panels during the summer as they look to heavily promote their 2017-18 fall lineups.

► Syfy is keeping Z Nation. The cabler has renewed the zombie apocalypse drama for a 13-episode fourth season to air in 2017. Since its premiere, the series regularly ranks among cable's top 10 most-watched scripted shows.

► Jamie Foxx to producing Marvin Gaye limited series. "This project will be a powerful and definitive telling of Marvin Gaye's life story," says the singer’s son Marvin Gaye III, an exec producer on the new project, blessed by the late singer's family.

► R.I.P., Keo Woolford. The Hawaii Five-0 actor who wrote, directed and produced the uplifting 2013 independent film The Haumana died Monday at 49. Full obit.

Deal of the day: NBC keeps Matt Lauer at Today. The anchor signed a new deal for two more years at NBC's morning mainstay, keeping him on the thriving talker through at least 2018 (and earning him reported at $20M a year). Season-to-date, Today is the undisputed A.M. leader among adults 25-54. The contract.

Steven Mnuchin's Path to Treasury

In-depth: As word spread of Trump's top pick for Treasury secretary, Kim Masters had been readying a profile of Mnuchin, long considered an important but relatively low-profile industry moneyman. What to know:

From losing millions in the failed Relativity studio to backing Warner Bros. flops and hits with high-flying producers Brett Ratner and James Packer, the former Goldman Sachs banker has done business with Donald Trump (and been sued by him) and had a cameo (with his actress fiancée) in Warren Beatty’s new movie.

Now, if Mnuchin faces questions on Capitol Hill as a Trump appointee, they likely will center on controversies involving practices of Pasadena-based OneWest during his time as chairman rather than his dealings in Hollywood.

But for entertainment industry insiders, his relationship with Kavanaugh and his dual roles at the bank and Relativity have raised eyebrows. “I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with it necessarily,” says one senior figure in the financial world, “but you don’t see that very often."

// Caption contest winner. "Only 2.5 million likes? Twitter is rigged." — from reader George Nejame, commenting on this photo of Trump and advisor Kellyanne Conway. Thanks again for all the replies! //

Today's Birthdays: Elisha Cuthbert, 34, Gael Garcia Bernal, 38, Robert Kirkman, 38, Chris Weitz, 47, Ben Stiller, 51, Ryan Murphy, 51, David Yates, 53, Mandy Patinkin, 64, Terrence Malick, 73, Ridley Scott, 79.