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Oscar's Amazon vs. Netflix War; Wanda's "Six Studio" Investment Plan; Agencies Brace for Election Day

November 02, 2016

It's a jam-packed magazine day: This week THR goes to Beijing to sit down with China's richest man, who reveals he plans to invest billions in "all six" studios. Plus: Netflix and Amazon duke it out for a coveted first Oscar, Johnny Depp joins J.K Rowling's magical world and agencies brace for Election Day. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman.

In the China issue: Wanda Group CEO Wang Jianlin candidly outlines his ambitious plan to pour billions into Hollywood. An excerpt:

The chairman has made no secret of his desire to own a major American studio. But rather than wait idly for one of the majors to make itself amenable to a takeover, Wang has, in characteristic fashion, decided to take aggressive action now. He is preparing to establish a new multibillion-dollar investment fund to pour capital into the film slates of all six major Hollywood studios.

"I wanted to acquire one of the big six, but whether we can is a different story — it's uncertain," Wang says matter-of-factly one October afternoon in Beijing while sitting in a huge boardroom on the 20th floor of his corporate headquarters.

"I might as well start from wherever I can, such as through investment with all six," he says, bluntly outlining his strategy. "We will continue to work on a potential acquisition. But it won't hurt to start by doing what we can. Participating via investment seems like a wise choice for the time being."

► Cover story | Top 10 China power players | Inside Wanda's movie metropolis.

The Battle for Oscar: Amazon vs. Netflix

The battle begins. This year there's a new high-stakes contest as Jeff Bezos' Amazon and Reed Hastings' Netflix, already Emmy players, square off in the Oscar ring, Gregg Kilday writes:

Netflix and Amazon have both also dipped their toes in the Oscar race with Beasts of No Nation and Spike Lee's Chi-raq, but both have failed to gain Academy traction. This year, however, both streaming services are promoting high-profile contenders.

Netflix is zeroing in on feature docs again. Topping its list is Ava Du Vernay's 13th, which got a splashy start at the New York Film Festival and plenty of celebrity admirers. Amazon, meanwhile, is making its major push in the feature film categories, where its marquee title Manchester by the Sea, starring Casey Affleck, doesn't hit theaters until Nov. 18, but already has earned four Gotham Award noms.

The two streaming giants have every reason to mount expensive campaigns, since awards attention arguably means more for them than for any of the studios. Spotlight, last year's best picture winner, collected $16M of its $45M domestic gross after attracting noms and ultimately the big prize.

Elsewhere in film...

► What's going on at the American Film Market. With uncertainty surrounding the indie film sector, insiders say AFM's usual genre fare is making way for prestige pics. The first of this year's THR daily print fest paper (64 pages of insider news) can be downloaded here.

► Johnny Depp joins Fantastic Beasts sequel. Depp will be making a cameo in the first installment of Fantastic Beasts, hitting theaters Nov. 18, but his character is being kept under wraps. David Yates return to the directors chair for the sequel.

► Oscar Isaac to star in Life Itself. The Star Wars actor will be a lead in the multi-generational love story. Dan Fogelman, who created the buzzy fall TV shows This Is Us and Pitch, will direct the ensemble drama, which he also wrote.

► Liam Neeson to play a horse trainer. The Taken actor is reteaming with director Neil Jordan for The Trainer, which is to be written by Sully scribe Todd Komarnicki, alongside David Donahue and James Villemaire. The project is being shopped at AFM.

► Alexander Skarsgard, Cara Delevingne to star in Fever Heart. The action-thriller, co-written by Ben Briand and Kevin W. Koehler, is slated to begin shooting in 2017.

↱ Fifty Shades producer sparks Produced By credit debate. "I'm making this a platform because I think everyone knows that Fifty Shades Darker isn't going to be considered for an Oscar, so I really don't give a f— about the mark," Dana Brunetti says as he promises to battle his own guild over its denial of the credit "with a vengeance." ↲

► Michael Pena to star in military drama Horse Soldiers. The actor joins Chris Hemsworth and Michael Shannon in the Nicolai Fuglsig film, which tells the true story of U.S. Special Forces deployed to the mountainous regions of Afghanistan on horseback.

► Ryan Phillippe joins thriller Wish Upon. The actor joins a cast including Elisabeth Rohm, Joey King and Shannon Purser. The horror film is to be directed by John Leonetti (Annabelle) from a script written by Barbara Marshall.

► Warner Bros. unveils directors' workshop class. The filmmakers, chosen from 5,000 applicants, will get seven months and $100,000 to make a short film, to be shown at a film festival at the studio in June 2017.

New: Oscar standings so far. In the latest heat index of awards contenders, analyst Scott Feinberg checks in on which titles are benefiting as November begins (Mel Gibson's Hacksaw Ridge is moving up). Full forecast.

AT&T Chief's Charm Offensive

In private meetings, CEO Randall Stephenson has been looking to reassure the industry since AT&T revealed it would pay about $85B to acquire Time Warner. Paul Bond has details in his new profile:

On Oct. 25, Stephenson, Time Warner chief Jeff Bewkes and about 15 top Warner Bros. managers gathered in a conference room on the studio lot in Burbank. AT&T's Dallas-based boss has no direct experience running a content company and, for that matter, is a Midwestern MBA, a registered Republican and president of the squeaky-clean Boy Scouts of America. But, says a person who was there, Stephenson put the room at ease, noting clearly he was no fan of Donald Trump.

"It was a cultural signal," an insider tells THR, adding: "He reassured the team that the value of our brands depends on the expertise of our team and that they were committed to retaining our executive and creative talent."

"Hollywood should look at him with overwhelming excitement," says former News Corp exec Peter Chernin, declining comment on whether he would join the merged company. "If being a media mogul means you understand great content, can effectively manage creative people, are bold and innovative and have an instinct for consumer desires, he's already proved this in spades."

↱ Early today: Time-Warner beats earnings expectations. Revenue grew 9 percent to $7.2 billion, with HBO revenue up 4 percent, Warner Bros. up 7 percent and Turner up 9 percent. The exec sound bite from Bewkes: “We had a strong third quarter, which keeps us on track to exceed our original 2016 outlook." ↲

Elsewhere in TV...

► TV Ratings: World Series stays high. Ratings may not yet have reached their peak, but they certainly held strong in Game 6. Overnight returns have the Cubs' victory averaging a 14.8 rating among metered market households, only off three percent from the most recent game.

► NBC gives more episodes to Timeless. The network has extended the freshman run of the drama to 16 hours. The series is averaging 11.2M viewers in the latest live-plus-seven day stats from Nielsen, one of the stronger debuts of the broadcast season.

► Behind Jimmy Fallon's senior staff turnover. The NBC late-night leader is adapting to the exits of two longtime power players in as many weeks, as election season boosts buzz for his rivals and their barbed political humor.

Maybe an image tweak? Fallon is also switching personal publicists from Claire Mercuri to Matthew Hiltzik, known as a crisis manager for Brad Pitt and Ryan Lochte (as well as noncrisis clients like Katie Couric). Hiltzik declined comment.

► Viacom's new boss to make at least $5.25M annually. Bob Bakish officially takes over as acting CEO of Viacom, succeeding Thomas Dooley, on Nov. 15. He'll serve in that role until the board of directors elects a permanent replacement. More salary details.

► Fox picks up Page Six TV syndicated series. The order for fall 2017 comes after a successful summer trial run for the show, based on the popular gossip column from the New York Post. So far it is set for 17 markets, including New York and Los Angeles.

↱ The Crown, reviewed. Debuting Nov. 4, Netflix's "compelling drama," which follows the rule of Queen Elizabeth II, "should be an awards contender," writes critic Daniel Fienberg. ↲

► Hulu's live TV service adds channels. Fox, ABC and ESPN will all be offered as a part of Hulu's new skinny bundle when it launches next year. Combined, the deals represent the addition of more than 35 channels.

► CAA sets later working hours on Election Day. The talent agency is joined by Paradigm in the Take Tuesday voter campaign, as other agencies and film studios offer concessions to employees encouraging them to vote.

► R.I.P., Don Marshall. The actor, who appeared on the 1960s ABC sci-fi series Land of the Giants as well as in Star Trek, Bewitched, Good Times and Police Story, died on Sunday. He was 80. Full obit.

↱ Stan Against Evil, reviewed. The IFC horror-comedy, debuting today and starring John C. McGinley, is "sometimes fun, but not quite a scream," writes Fienberg. ↲

In THR, Esq: Ennio Morricone sues to reclaim rights to film scores ... ACLU challenges California's "ballot selfies" ban ... Appeals court upholds Warner Bros.' victory over Gone With the Wind merchandise.

China's Answer to the Hollywood Sign

Look familiar? In China, high above the $8.2 billion Qingdao Movie Metropolis, sits a giant sign that Wanda hopes will become as iconic as the celebrated Los Angeles landmark, Patrick Brzeski writes:

Overlooking it all, perched on the upper portion of a rocky mountaintop Wanda calls "Movie Metropolis Hill," sits a gigantic sign made of four Chinese characters in white: 东方影都. In translation, they read: "Movie Metropolis of the East."

Dubbed the Wanda Qingdao Movie Metropolis, the finished project will span 408 acres and comprise 45 state-of-the-art sound stages, including the world's largest, as well as China's biggest indoor and outdoor water tanks.

"You can see it from almost anywhere you are in the studio," says Morgan Hunwicks, a Canadian and production veteran who spent 10 years working at Fox Studios in Sydney before joining Wanda Studios Qingdao as head of production.

"It's fun to be a part of a project that was built from the ground up," added Hunwicks. "During my time at Fox, I think the most we ever built was a storage shed, because the studio had been around for a while and was in an existing footprint — there's just no space. But here the horizon is the limit."