Chris Nolan’s Win, Wes Anderson's Scheme
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Good morning: In today's edition of The Industry, we look at:
Universal's rise, Wes Anderson's latest film, Emily Blunt: Lincoln Detective, Godzilla reigns, and a tricky tombstone.
Let’s go!
THE INDUSTRY NEWS
The Oscars were watched by 19.5M viewers, a 4-year high. Here are some other metrics about Sunday’s big night:
-290 K person drop in 18-49-year-old viewers since last year’s Oscars
2/2 Billie Eilish becomes the youngest winner of 2 Oscars (out of two nominations) at 22 years old.
Listen to What Was I Made For? From Barbie
Listen to No Time to Die From James Bond (2022)
1st SNL Cast Member to win an Oscar - Robert Downey Jr.
Bill Murray (SNL 1977-1980) almost clinched an Oscar in 2003 for Lost in Translation but lost to Sean Penn in Mystic River
2nd highest-grossing Best Picture. Here are the top three:
$1.15 bn - LOTR (2003)
$958 M - Oppenheimer (2023)
$424 M - King’s Speech (2010)
3 Oscars for Cannes films
2x for The Zone of Interest (Grand Prix)
1x for Anatomy of a Fall (Palme d’Or)
5 foreign language films win Academy Awards, the most ever:
Anatomy of a Fall (Best Original Screenplay)
The Zone of Interest (Best Foreign Language Film, Best Sound)
The Boy and the Heron (Best Animated)
20 Days in Mariupol (Best Doc)
Godzilla Minus One (Best VFX)
8 Academy Awards for Universal (Oppenheimer) + Focus Features (The Holdovers)
1M UK viewers for the Oscars, although the coverage was abysmal
Wes Anderson was absent from accepting his award because he was in Germany directing The Phoenician Scheme starring Benicio Del Toro, Bill Murray, and Michael Cera.
Also encouraging was the shift into honoring more foreign fare, a result of the international make-up of the Oscar voters.
The pre-ordained Oppenheimer win solidified Christopher Nolan as the definitive filmmaker of the generation able to weave artistry and Box Office allure.
Warner Bros.'s post-pandemic decision to pivot to streaming caused Nolan to cut his 20-year relationship with the studio and move to Universal under the stewardship of Donna Langley, who threw the studio’s entire machinery behind the film.
Here's a snippet of the thank you note Langley sent her team:
It started with a visit to Chris and Emma’s home, back in 2021. Reading the script for Oppenheimer in Chris’s office, I was mesmerized as one of the most impactful moments in history felt overwhelmingly resonant today. Soon after, our entire Film group — and the entire company — rallied around this piece. From production to marketing to distribution, MSNBC to Peacock to our full Symphony effort, our teams came together to share this story and show what makes this company unique.
Top marks.
This goes to 11… again. Music Mockumentary Spinal Tap has started production with Rob Reiner directing. The original was a hilarious look into rock music culture with countless quotables:
Despite initial confusion at its premiere in Dallas, Texas, This Is Spinal Tap eventually gained a cult following and critical acclaim (read the original review). Spinal Tap 2 will star the original cast plus cameos from Paul McCartney, Elton John, Garth Brooks, and Questlove.
Verve settles with CEO Bill Weinstein. Last month, Bryan Besser and Adam Levine, co-founders of Verve, ended Weinstein's 14-year tenure as CEO. Under Weinstein's leadership, the agency grew to represent over 1000 clients, including celebrities like Josh Hartnett, Heather Graham, and Sean Bean.
Weinstein had stated that he was removed: