The Hollywood Reporter – 28.02.2018

Behind the Headlines

The Report

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 40 FEBRUARY 28, 2018

OLYMPICS: MATTHIAS HANGST/GETTY IMAGES.

HEART

: CROWN MEDIA UNITED STATES LLC/RICARDO HUBBS.

PRESIDENT

: COURTESY OF SHOWTIME. CAGE: DIA DIPASUPIL/GETTY IMAGES.

JONES

: MURRAY CLOSE/PARAMOUNT PICTURES/PHOTOFEST.

BOND

: BRAVO TELEVISION/PHOTOFEST.

SUPERMAN

: BOB PENN/WARNER BROS. PICTURES/PHOTOFEST.

GAME

: HOPPER STONE/WARNER BROS.

ANNIHILATION

: PETER MOUNTAIN/PARAMOUNT PICTURES.

EVERY

: PETER H. STRANKS/ORION PICTURES.

In a major disconnect, critics embraced Alex
Garland’s sci-fi epic — it has an 86 percent
Rotten Tomatoes rating — while moviegoers
snubbed the film, giving it a C+ CinemaScore.

The YA film adaptation is the first release from
MGM’s relaunched Orion Pictures, which intends
to focus on low-budget, targeted fare. The movie
cost less than $5 million to make.

Never underestimate the power of
period schmaltz. Hallmark’s signature
drama returned for a fifth season,
2017 audience intact, climbing to the
top of a competitive cable ranking.
Is the notion of game night a relic from the past?
The R-rated comedy played notably older, with
a mere 14 percent of ticket buyers under the age
of 25, and 30 percent under 30.

NBC averaged 18.3 million viewers over

two weeks of Pyeongchang coverage,

but the addition of streaming and

NBC Sports Network views raised that

number by 13 percent to 20.6 million.

5.4 21.3M

1. Winter Olympics Feb. 13 NBC

2008 2009 20112010 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017

Box-office source: comScore; estimates in $ millions; ( )Weekends in release; *Territories. Broadcast source: Nielsen, live-plus-3, week of Feb. 12. Cable TV source: Nielsen, live-plus-3 scripted series, week of Feb. 12.

The machine-learning

algorithms behind deepfakes

could be a cheaper way to

modify actors’ appearances

Face-Swapping

Tech Eyed

by VFX Studios

How Low Will Oscar Ratings Go?

Closer

Look

Source: Nielsen

Viewership has slid since a spike with Ellen in 2014

1. Black Panther DISNEY
   111.7403.6(2) -47 83.8*55 304 707.6


2. Game Night WARNER BROS.
   17 17 (1) -- 5.7*22 5.7 22.7


3. Peter Rabbit SONY
   12.5 71.3(3) -28 N/A N/A 71 .3


4. Annihilation PARAMOUNT
   11 11 (1) -- N/A N/A 11


5. Every Day ORION
   3 3 (1) -- N/A N/A 3


6. Fifty Shades Freed UNIVERSAL
   7.2 89.6(3) -60 22.5*61 231.2 320.8


7. Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle SONY
   5.7 387.3(10) -29 3 *86 532.7 920


8. La Boheme THE MET: LIVE IN HD
   1.9 1.9(1) -- 1.8*6 1.8 3.7


9. Early Man LIONSGATE
   1.8 6.9(2) -47 3.2*22 24.3 31.2


10. The 15:17 to Paris WARNER BROS.
    3.6 32.3(3) -53 1.2*30 12.8 45.1


11. The Greatest Showman FOX
    3.4 160.8(10) -33 7.9*42 208.8 369.6


12. Three Billboards FOX SEARCHLIGHT
    1.22 50.1(16) -19 4.6*55 71.4 121.5


13. The Post FOX
    1.2 78.8(10) -40 4.8*31 64.8 143.6

18-49 Audience

Live+3 Live+3

Broadcast TV

5.3 20.9M

2. Winter Olympics Feb. 12 NBC

1.7 6.4M

9. Big Brother Feb. 14 CBS

1.7 6.1M

10. Big Brother Feb. 12 CBS

4.1 17.7M

3. Winter Olympics Feb. 14 NBC

4.1 16.8M

4. Winter Olympics Feb. 15 NBC

1.6 5.97M

11. Big Brother Feb. 18 CBS

1.6 5.88M

12. Big Brother Feb. 16 CBS

4.0 17.2M

5. Winter Olympics Feb. 16 NBC

3.9 16.9M

6. Winter Olympics Feb. 18 NBC

1.6 6.5M

13. Daytona 500 Post-Race FOX

3.6 15.0M

7. Winter Olympics Feb. 17 NBC

2.0 7.0M

8. The Bachelor ABC

Live+3

Viewership

Cable TV

3.02M

1. When Calls the Heart HALLMARK

2.99M

2. The Alienist TNT

1.9M

6. Homeland SHOWTIME

1.6M

7. Waco PARAMOUNT

2.94M

3. Haves and the Have Nots OWN

1.4M

8. Nashville CMT

2.5M

4. ACS: Versace FX

2.0M

5. If Loving You Is Wrong OWN


6. The Shape of Water FOX SEARCHLIGHT
   1.1 55.3(13) -33 11.8*56 55.6 110.9


7. Samson PURE FLIX
   971K 3.7(2) -51 N/A N/A 3. 7

1.4 5.9M

14. The Amazing Race CBS

1.3M

9. The Magicians SYFY

1.3M

10. The Detour TBS

Gross Cume % Chg Gross Cume

Domestic International

Box Office

To ta l

D

eepfakes — viral clips and

GIFs that use artificial intel-

ligence technology to swap faces

— are being banned by online

platforms over pornographic con-

tent featuring star actresses. But

their machine-learning approach

might have increasing applica-

tions in Hollywood as a cost-cutter

for VFX studios.

Execs at Industrial Light & Magic

and Digital Domain say they are

exploring machine learning as a way

to save on production costs. “It’s

been talked about here,” says John

Knoll, chief creative officer of ILM. “If

there’s technology that potentially

allows us to get a satisfactory result

with a lot fewer man-hours, there’s a

desire to [use that].”

Knoll says that the concept of

face-swapping, which had limited

use in films with AI — since 1993’s

Jurassic Park — could potentially

be used for background characters

in the near future, but not anytime

soon for feature characters in films.

Darren Hendler, head of the digital

humans group at Digital Domain

(Disney’s A Wrinkle in Time), says

the company is actively work-

ing on an application based on AI to

do something similar to deepfakes’

face-swapping.

While deepfakes have been

used by fans to insert, say, Nicolas

Cage into iconic roles he never

actually played (like Superman),

experts see machine-learning rap-

idly becoming more widely adopted

in the industry. Siraj Raval, a data

scientist and AI educator, envi-

sions a future where a small team of

developers could rival established

players. He notes, “This is one of

those disruptive industries for sure.”

— KATIE KILKENNY AND PATRICK SHANLEY

1.1 4.7M

15. 20/20: Roseanne Returns ABC

One to Watch

Our Cartoon President SHOWTIME

Stephen Colbert’s animated Donald

Trump is pulling a fraction of his

comedic inspiration. Live-plus-3 day

returns are below 400,000 viewers.

↑ Deepfakes

of Cage’s

face were

added to

iconic films.

50M

40M

45M

37.9M

41.7M

39.3M

40.4M

43.7M

36.6M

34.4M

32.9M

36.3M

32M