2019-09-04 The Hollywood Reporter

Deal

of the

Week

7 Days of DEALS

Who’s inking on the dotted line this week

The Report

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 18 SEPTEMBER 4, 2019

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.

while Noah Baumbach’s Marriage Story will

premiere Nov. 6 in cinemas and run for a full

month. Meanwhile, Steven Soderbergh’s The

Laudromat and David Michôd’s The King will

play exclusively in cinemas for three weeks.

(No box office grosses will be reported.)

Netflix will rely on stand-alone indie the-

aters or chains, such as The Landmark, iPic,

Laemmle and perhaps Alamo Drafthouse, as

well as their counterparts overseas. The com-

pany will shell out several million to book

and advertise in select markets, but that’s

a fraction of a studio’s or specialty label’s

typical marketing cost. “They’ll see what

sticks, then spend a lot of money on awards

campaigns,” says a veteran exec. Adds former

Fox distribution head Chris Aronson, “It’s a

volume play.” — PAMELA MCCLINTOCK

NETFLIX DOUBLES DOWN ON

DUAL RELEASE FOR OSCAR PUSH

An Oscar-hungry Netflix will give Martin Scorsese’s

The Irishman (left) 26 days in theaters first and the

Eddie Murphy starrer Dolemite Is My Name three weeks.

Patel

Netflix is playing by its own
rules when it comes to the film
awards race.
The service will give a dual
theatrical and streaming
release this fall to a whop-
ping 10 Oscar contenders, a
huge slate that traditional
awards forces can’t pull off.
(Fox Searchlight and Focus, for
example, each have three mov-
ies dated for the rest of the year.)
Netflix announced Aug. 27 that it still
won’t abide by the traditional three-month
window for Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman.
This means major circuits, including AMC
in the U.S., Cineplex in Canada and key
European chains, won’t carry the streamer’s
upcoming slate after months of talks.
“Despite The Irishman being directed by one
of the true giants of cinema, Netflix has
chosen not to give this film the full theatrical
big-screen release it deserves,” the U.K.’s Vue
said in a statement.
The streamer largely will follow the
course set in 2018 when film chief Scott
Stuber gave Roma and other Oscar hopefuls
an exclusive two- to three-week theatrical
run before launching them on Netflix. This
year, The Irishman will first be available on
the big screen for 26 days starting Nov. 1,

Zellweger

Michael Shannon (CAA,

Wetzel, Morris Yorn) will

star in HBO’s Los Angeles

Lakers drama as team

owner Jerry Buss.

Sarah Michelle Gellar

(ICM, Brillstein, Morris

Yo rn) will star in and exec

produce Fox dramedy

Other People’s Houses.

Renée Zellweger (CAA,

John Carrabino) has inked

a two-year, first-look deal

with MGM Television.

Seth Rogen and Evan

Goldberg (UTA, Principal,

Felker Toczek) are devel-

oping CBS’ United Nations

comedy UNprofessionals.

Lauren Graham (ICM,

John Carrabino, Hansen

Jacobson) has joined NBC

musical dramedy Zoey’s

Extraordinary Playlist.

HBO has renewed

Succession and A Black

Lady Sketch Show for

seasons three and two,

respectively. ... USA has

renewed Queen of the

South for a fifth season.

... Comedy Central has

renewed South Side and

Drunk History and signed

the latter’s creator, Derek

Waters, to a first-look deal.

DIGITAL

Will Forte (UTA, Rise,

Hansen Jacobson) and

Kaitlin Olson (UTA) will

star in Quibi’s Flipped.

Greg Berlanti (WME,

Felker Toczek) and

Julie Plec (Management

360 , Felker Toczek) are

developing The Girls on the

Bus, inspired by the novel

Chasing Hillary, for Netflix.

Carey Mulligan (WME,

the U.K.’s Julian Belfrage)

will star in Netflix period

feature The Dig.

Hulu has ordered car-

toonist Keith Knight’s

autobiographical comedy

Woke to series.

REAL ESTATE

Ron Meyer (Coldwell

Banker) has sold his

Paradise Cove estate in

Malibu for $100 million,

reportedly to WhatsApp

co-founder Jan Koum.

Anthony Russo has

purchased the Pasadena

mansion made famous on

Dynasty for $15.58 million.

FILM
Jill Soloway (UTA,
Jackoway Austen) will
adapt upcoming truck driv-
ing memoir Mothertrucker
and direct the Makeready
feature, which will star
Julianne Moore.

Michael Bay (WME, Sloane
Offer) is in talks to direct
Sony thriller Black Five.

Richard Linklater (CAA,
Cinetic) will helm an
adaptation of Stephen
Sondheim’s musical Merrily
We Roll Along, starring
Blake Jenner, Beanie
Feldstein and Ben Platt,
over a 20-year span.

Ye sterday star Himesh
Patel (WME, the U.K.’s 42 )
has joined Christopher
Nolan’s Te n e t. Anthony Russo’s new home also was featured in Billy Madison.

Eva Longoria (CAA,

Brillstein) will direct Fox

Searchlight’s Flamin’ Hot

biopic about Cheetos

inventor Richard Montanez.

Chef Eddie Huang (UTA)

will make his directorial

debut with Focus’ coming-

of-age film Boogie.

What/If’s Keith Powers

(Paradigm, Megan

Silverman, Stone Genow)

has joined Chris Pratt in

Skydance’s sci-fi thriller

Ghost Draft.

Blades of Glory’s Will

Speck and Josh Gordon

(CAA, Hirsch Wallerstein)

will direct Amblin’s comedic

sci-fi adventure Distant.

TELEVISION

Viola Davis (CAA, Lasher,

Lichter Grossman) will

exec produce Showtime

anthology First Ladies and

star as Michelle Obama.

Naomie Harris (WME, the

U.K.’s Artists Partnership,

Untitled, Ziffren

Brittenham) has joined

Jude Law in HBO/Sky’s lim-

ited series The Third Day.

The Goldbergs exec

producers Chris Bishop

(3 Arts, Hansen Jacobson)

and Alex Barnow (Hansen

Jacobson) will replace cre-

ator Adam F. Goldberg as

showrunners for the ABC

comedy’s seventh season.

Sarah Hyland (WME, RKM,

Gang Tyre) and Emily V.

Gordon (UTA, Mosaic,

Schreck Rose) are teaming

for an ABC multicamera

comedy based on their

lives, starring Hyland.

Hyland Huang

Stuber

Viola

Davis