Peter Bart: Academy Reminds Voters That Oscars Still Matter Even In Moment Of Cutbacks, Strike Talk And Crushing Corporate Debt

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor Rob King, a senior executive at Walt Disney’s ESPN who had oversight of much of the company’s sports journalism, has abruptly left the Disney-backed sports-media giant. “After nearly 20 years with ESPN, I have decided the time is right for me to leave the company,: King said on Twitter on Tuesday “I’m looking forward to spending more time with my family and friends, and wish the company continued success.” The New York Post reported Tuesday that King departed after complaints were made to ESPN about harassing social-media posts. An ESPN spokesperson said the company would not comment on personnel matters.

Jennifer Maas TV Business Writer Warner Bros. Discovery received stock upgrades from two media analyst firms Friday for, among other things, making the decision to tie bonuses for CEO David Zaslav and his team to free cash flow performance. “We threw everything and the kitchen sink at a Downside Case scenario for WBD, and it still delevers to 3x by ’25E,” Wells Fargo analysts wrote in a research note published Friday, in which they upgraded WBD’s stock to “overweight” with a price target increase from $13 to $20 per share. “We now have conviction in FCF to limit downside, while the stock has asymmetric upside.” Meanwhile, Wolfe Research moved WBD from its “peer perform” rating to “outperform” and also upped the price target to $20. (At time of publication Friday, WBD stock was trading at $14.51 per share.)

series of layoffs and reshuffled top executives last year, and in the fourth quarter of 2022 it booked $3.05 billion in charges related to the merger.“Last year was a year of restructuring, 2023 will be a year of building. And off we go,” Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav told analysts on the company’s earnings call.

Now that the noise has subsided, were there any helpful takeaways from the Oscars?

In what should come as no surprise, James Gunn will be directing his own script for Superman: Legacy, a major lynchpin project which will off the the multi-platform connected DC universe – “Chapter One, Gods and Monsters” ­– which he and his DC’ Co-Chairmen & CEO Peter Safran are launching.

When Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav installed the new leadership of James Gunn and Peter Safran at DC, heavy decisions were promptly made from the unplugging of Patty Jenkins’ Wonder Woman 3 to Henry Cavill losing his Superman cape.

A24, the scrappy indie studio that has built a brand for itself as a home for hip and cutting-edge movies, triumphed over its deeper-pocketed rivals at the Oscars on Sunday. It scored a leading nine wins, topping that of its closest competitor, Netflix, which had to settle for six trophies. Plus, A24 not only captured best picture for “Everything Everywhere All at Once” but also pulled off the incredibly rare feat of winning every major acting category, with three statuettes coming for the cast of the head-spinning adventure film and the other one recognizing Brendan Fraser’s work in “The Whale.” But don’t expect the studio to do a victory lap. Co-founders David Fenkel and Daniel Katz (who named their shop after the highway that connects Rome to Teramo) shun the spotlight and have done almost no interviews or profiles, though they have certainly been asked. Rather, the indie moguls say they prefer to let their films speak for themselves — an anomaly in Hollywood, where executives usually push one another aside to claim credit for successes.

Ramin Setoodeh Co-Editor-in-Chief At 11:30 p.m., Daniel Kwan was ready for a late dinner. The movie that he co-directed — “Everything Everywhere All At Once” — had swept the 95th annual Academy Awards, winning a historic seven statues, including best picture and best director. But he hadn’t had a bite to eat in hours. So at Vanity Fair’s annual Oscars party, he grabbed an In-N-Out burger from a tray to refuel. But before he could dig in, he was greeted by one of his many fans — named Steven Spielberg. The man who saw his cinematic memoir, “The Fabelmans,” get crushed by the Daniels (as Kwan and his collaborator Daniel Scheinert are called) didn’t seem the least bit upset.

Jamie Lee Curtis expressed support for the push to de-gender acting categories following her win for Best Supporting Actress at the 2023 Oscars.  «As the mother of a trans daughter, I completely understand,» Curtis said of the question regarding the gendering of Best Actor and Actress categories. «In all the areas, in all the branches...we're not anywhere near there.» Curtis also acknowledged the difficulty of still maintaining opportunities for women while expanding categories to include the larger gender spectrum. «To de-gender the category, I'm also concerned will diminish the opportunities for more women, which is something I have also been working hard to promote,» Curtis said.

It was inevitable: one year after the Will Smith-Chris Rock slap incident at the 2022 Oscars, there’s been no shortage of moments making light of the situation at the incident one year later at the 2023 Oscars.

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The verdict seems clear: Mel Brooks continues to thrive as the auteur of disorder. Further, his blasphemies on Hulu this week serve as a welcome distraction from the numbing debates that usually dominate Oscar Week.

Peter Debruge Chief Film Critic As a critic, I’m always looking for a fresh challenge, which is one reason I took up writing about theater: It still has the capacity to scare me. I’ve reviewed nearly 1,700 movies in my time at Variety, but how to weigh in with authority on stage productions of William Shakespeare or Samuel Beckett when I haven’t seen most of their work performed, but know it only by reputation? Last year, I was nervous going in to a fresh revival of “Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?” at Los Angeles’ Geffen Playhouse, as I had only the Mike Nichols movie as a reference point. How to judge Calista Flockhart’s performance, and what might I compare it to, not having seen Uta Hagen play Martha on Broadway? (I did manage to track down a vinyl recording of that show, but still…

Comedian Wanda Sykes remembers Will Smith’s Oscars slap of Chris Rock well, and she thinks even Troy Kotsur, the deaf actor who won Best Supporting Actor for “CODA” last year, heard it.But did she really need to go there with it?The actress, who hosted last year’s ceremony, appeared on the 100th episode of the Sherri Shepherd Show Friday to discuss her comedy career, retirement and more. Shepherd asked her about Rock’s live comedy special coming out Saturday on Netflix.“We love Chris Rock. You have a close relationship with Chris, but are you happy that this special is coming out?” Shepherd asked Sykes.

Rebel Wilson has learned that when it comes to rules, Disney does not play around.  The actress revealed on "The Daily Show with Hasan Minhaj" that she was banned from Disneyland for an unauthorized selfie. "I did get banned from Disneyland for 30 days because I took a photo inside a secret bathroom, which is illegal at Disneyland," Wilson shared with a laugh. She continued, "I got officially banned for 30 days.They called me up and said, 'Rebel what 30 days did you not want to come to Disneyland because you’re away filming a movie or something?' And I was like, 'Oh, well, June would be fine.'" The Disneyland Park and Resort did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.

Brian Steinberg Senior TV Editor ESPN is getting in on the biggest game at corporate parent Disney: shuffling top executive ranks in the wake of the return of CEO Bob Iger. ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro handed oversight of content and newsgathering to Burke Magnus, a veteran executive who has helped the sports-media giant strike sports-rights deals with most of the major sports leagues as well as set in motion new content initiatives. Magnus has been named president of content, according to a new memo from Pitaro reviewed by Variety, and will supervise studio shows, live events, newsgathering, investigative journalism, original content/ESPN Films, talent, audio, digital, and social media. Meanwhile, Rosalyn Durant, a Disney veteran who has been overseeing Disney facilities in its parks division, will return to ESPN as executive vice president of programming and acquisitions, the ESPN position that negotiates for the rights that keep a significant chunk of live sports on Disney’s media portfolio.

Amazon Studios head Jennifer Salke feels about Warner Bros. making competing projects based on J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Lord of the Rings.” Salke, who has held the top content job at Amazon since 2018, walked a Monday red carpet for the premiere of Michael B. Jordan’s “Creed III” where she spoke with Variety about last week’s news that Warner Bros. had secured film rights to some of Tolkien’s books. One of Salke’s defining moves at Amazon was to secure television rights to the same literary works, which she achieved at great expense. The first season of Amazon’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power” premiered in 2022 with a big global marketing push and critical acclaim — as well as a reported budget north of $450 million for the first batch of episodes. Previously, Warner Bros. pushed out two massively successful film franchises with auteur Peter Jackson beginning in 2001. Those films grossed over $5 billion at the worldwide box office and brought home a best picture Oscar for one of the entries.

Lord Of The Rings films, but not everyone is happy about it.Warner Bros Discovery’s CEO, David Zaslav, announced on an investors’ call on Thursday that a deal had been brokered to make “multiple” films based on J. R.

Middle Earth is returning to the big screen.

The annual Oscar melee always reminds us of this mandate: Never believe the “buzz.” Every important movie arrives with an aura – and it’s usually wrong or misleading.