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internationally with The Hobbit: The Bat-tle of the Five Armies, which launched in China to an impressive $49.5 million — the studio’s biggest three-day opening of all time and bringing the movie’s foreign

$47.5 million and worldwide cume to $247.6 million. The film is a tough sell abroad, but is pulling in solid numbers in Australia and Europe (it’s a blockbuster in Italy, where Eastwood is an icon).

Warner Bros. scored a second victory

JANUARY 26, 2015

BLUE

RUINT H E ROVER

FEINBERGFORECAST

The latest prognostications

from awards analyst Scott Feinberg

THR.COM/THERACE

Within a matter of days, Clint Eastwood’s American Sniper (shown) will overtake Steven Spielberg’s WWII pic Saving Private Ryan to become the top-grossing war-themed movie of all time in North America, not accounting for inflation.

By Pamela McClintock

C lint Eastwood’s war drama American Sniper remained a phe-nomenon in its second weekend,

earning a stunning $64.4 million from 3,705 theaters and quickly becoming the No. 2 war film of all time at the domestic box office, not accounting for inflation. The pic’s domestic total through Sunday stands at $200.1 million for Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow.

In only 10 days in release, Sniper has eclipsed the $198.5 million earned all in by Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor, and it will soon overtake the $216.5 million grossed by Steven Spielberg’s Saving Private Ryan in 1998. Taking inflation into account, Private Ryan would have earned more than $300 million by today’s terms; Sniper is sure to eclipse that number when all is said and done.

Overseas, the decidedly pro-American Sniper earned another $17.6 million from 26 markets, bringing its foreign total to

Sniper Continues to Sizzle, Mortdecai Fizzles at Box Office

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movie news

total to $616.9 million and global tally to $866.5 million.

Domestically, Sniper fell just 28 per- cent in its second weekend — the best hold ever for a movie opening to more than $85 million. The film’s ongoing strength underscores its appeal in Middle Amer-ica and the boost it is getting elsewhere from its six Oscar nominations, includ-ing ones for best picture and best actor (Bradley Cooper).

At the other end of the spectrum, Johnny Depp’s newest film, Mortdecai, tanked in its domestic launch, earning an estimated $4.1 million from 2,648 loca- tions, the actor’s worst bow in the post- Pirates of the Caribbean era. Moreover, it’s his third big-budget dud after Tran-scendence and The Lone Ranger, and is his lowest nationwide launch since 1999’s The Astronaut’s Wife ($4 million). Mort-decai earned a dismal C+ CinemaScore.

Lionsgate and OddLot Entertainment had high hopes for the $60 million film, directed by David Koepp and starring Depp as a debonair art dealer and part-time rogue who races to recover a stolen painting rumored to contain the code to a lost bank account filled with Nazi gold. Gwyneth Paltrow, Ewan McGregor, Olivia Munn, Jeff Goldblum and Paul Bettany co-star in the film adaptation of Kyril Bon- figlioli’s novel Don’t Point That Thing at Me.

In more bad news, Mortdecai also fell flat overseas, where Depp has remained a bigger draw. The movie grossed just $5.2 million from 33 territories.

Domestically, Mortdecai lost handily to an unlikely competitor — The Boy Next Door, starring Jennifer Lopez. The psychological thriller, co-starring Ryan Guzman, opened to a solid $15 million from 2,602 theaters to place No. 2. The film, earning a B+ CinemaScore, was a big draw among Hispanics (45 percent).

Boy Next Door is the latest title from Universal’s deal with Blumhouse Pro-ductions. Directed by Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious), the $4 million film explores what happens when forbidden attraction goes too far.

Also opening over the weekend was George Lucas-produced Strange Magic, an animated family film that placed No. 7, earning just $5.5 million from 3,020 loca-tions — one of the worst debuts ever for a title opening in more than 3,000 venues.

From a story by Lucas, Strange Magic, which earned a B- CinemaScore, is an animated romp set in a whimsical land of potions, goblins and fairies that is loosely inspired by William Shakespeare’s A Mid- summer Night’s Dream. The movie was already in the works when Disney swooped in and bought Lucasfilm in 2012, but it was kept on the QT until last fall, when Disney announced a Jan. 23 release. The voice cast includes Evan Rachel Wood, Alan Cumming, Kristin Chenoweth, Maya Rudolph, Sam Palladio, Meredith Anne Bull, Alfred Molina and Elijah Kelley, who sing new versions of pop and classic-rock songs.

Holdover British family film Paddington was the family offering of choice ahead of Strange Magic and placed No. 3 with $12.4 million from 3,355 theaters, falling only 35 percent. The movie, distributed by The Weinstein Co. in the U.S., has now grossed a better-than-expected $40.1 million domestically.

The Wedding Ringer fell 44 percent in its second outing with $11.6 million from 3,003 locations for a domestic total

of $39.7 million. Screen Gems made the R-rated comedy starring Kevin Hart and Josh Gad for a modest $23 million.

In its third weekend, Taken 3 rounded out the top five with $7.6 million from 2,909 venues for a sturdy domestic cume of $76 million for Fox and EuropaCorp.

Like Sniper, Oscar best-picture con-tender The Imitation Game continues to see the biggest gains after landing a number of top nominations. The British drama, starring Benedict Cumberbatch, earned $7.1 million as it expanded into a total of 2,025 theaters for a domestic cume of $60.6 million — overtaking The Grand Budapest Hotel ($57 million) to become the top-grossing indie film released in 2014 (the pic first debuted in select theaters over Thanksgiving ).

Among other specialty offerings, Cake, starring Jennifer Aniston, made a muted showing as it launched in 482 theaters, taking in an estimated $1 mil-lion for a screen average of just $2,074. Usually, indie films open in far fewer theaters in hopes of building word of mouth, but distributor Cinelou opted for a larger footprint.

Kevin Macdonald’s submarine action- thriller Black Sea opened in five locations, earning a subdued $35,000 for a screen average of $7,000. Jude Law stars in the film, distributed by Focus Features.

F r o m pa g e 1

Weekend Box Office Top 10This

Week MOvie/DisTriBuTOr3-Day grOss

(in mil)

PercenT change

# Of TheaTers

Per-TheaTer average

cuMe TO DaTe

1 american sniper (Warner bros.) $64.4 -28 3,705 $17,372 $200.1

2 The Boy next Door (universal) 15.0 — 2,602 5,765 15.0

3 Paddington (Weinstein) 12.4 -35 3,355 3,693 40.1

4 The Wedding ringer (sony) 11.6 -44 3,003 3,863 39.7

5 Taken 3 (fox) 7.6 -48 2,909 2,613 76.1

6 The imitation game (Weinstein) 7.1 5 2,025 3,524 60.6

7 strange Magic (disney) 5.5 — 3,020 1,832 5.5

7 selma (Paramount) 5.5 -37 2,046 2,688 39.2

9 Mortdecai (lionsgate) 4.1 — 2,648 1,558 4.1

10 into the Woods (disney) 3.9 -43 2,270 1,712 121.5

rentrak

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awards news

JANUARY 26, 2015

By Gregg KildayBirdman and its EnsEmblE cast

took top acting honors at the 21st annual Screen Actors Guild Awards, held Sun-day night at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, while the winning ensem-bles in TV were Downton Abbey, a repeat winner for drama, and Orange Is the New Black for comedy.

Birdman’s win, coming on the heels of its victory Saturday night at the Pro- ducers Guild of America Awards, consol- idates the Alejandro G. Inarritu movie about one actor’s midlife crisis, told with lots of cinematic razzmatazz, as the cur- rent front-runner for the Academy Award as best picture.

And as they accepted the SAG Award, the movie’s cast paid tribute to their fel- low actors — which should play well with the Academy’s large actors branch. “It is the ultimate team sport, what we do for a living,” said Michael Keaton, the film’s star, with co-star Edward Norton seconding, “It’s fun to be an actor, but everyone in this room knows, it’s a true privilege to be a work-ing actor.”

The four SAG Awards in the individual film acting categories all fell in line with the recent Golden Globe Awards, suggesting that all four SAG winners have to be considered the Oscar favorites in their respective categories.

Up against Birdman’s Keaton, The Theory of Everything’s Eddie Redmayne was the victor in the outstanding actor category for his portrayal of Stephen Hawking. He dedicated the award “to those people around the world living with ALS, to those who have lost their lives to this brutal disease.”

The SAG award for outstanding actress went to Julianne Moore for playing a woman confronting early-

onset Alzheimer’s in Still Alice. Moore, who previously won a SAG Award for playing Sarah Palin in the HBO telepic Game Change, spoke about how she has enjoyed working with her fellow actors ever since she played twin sisters on the TV soap As the World Turns and “real-ized I was super-bored to act by myself.”

For playing Boyhood’s resilient mom, Patricia Arquette prevailed in the best supporting actress category. “I’m a fourth- generation actor — my family has been committed

to acting for over a century, through feast and famine,” she noted as she accepted the trophy, before offering her thanks, which included a shout-out to the film’s director Richard Linklater “for showing me the beauty of the human experience and how we all matter.”

J.K. Simmons also claimed his first SAG Award for his supporting perfor-mance as a demanding music teacher in Whiplash. Thanking all 49 actors who shared the screen with him in Damien Chazelle’s indie film, he commented, “I feel all of us actors are supporting actors,” propping up each other and the entire film.

The film awards were spread out among a number of indie distributors, with Sony Pictures Classics having dis-tributed two of the films, Still Alice and Whiplash, and Fox Searchlight, Focus and IFC all having released one each. Universal also was repped by a stunt ensemble award.

Downton Abbey followed up its SAG Award win two years ago by once again taking home the prize for outstanding TV dramatic series ensemble, with its cast members who were present offering a tag-team acceptance.

Viola Davis, who has two SAG Awards for The Help on her résumé, earned her first SAG honor for TV as outstanding drama series actress for her performance as a legal hotshot in How to Get Away With Murder. Davis earned a big round of applause from the crowd when she thanked ABC executives and the show’s creators for imagining that the series’ sexualized and mixed-up heroine could be played by “a 49-year-old, dark-skinned African-American woman who looks like me.”

Following up his recent Golden Globe win, Kevin Spacey claimed the trophy for best actor in a drama series for his

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ages

The cast of Birdman accepts the SAG Award for outstanding performance by a cast in a motion picture. From left: Andrea Riseborough, Naomi Watts, Emma Stone, Amy Ryan, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton and Michael Keaton.

Redmayne

SAG Awards: Birdman, Redmayne, Moore Continue Winning Ways

Moore

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awards news

JANUARY 26, 2015

conniving politician in Netflix’s House of Cards, but Spacey — who previously won two awards for the film American Beauty — wasn’t present to accept.

For TV comedy, the SAG Awards, instead of going to the usual suspects, opted to shake things up by giving its ensemble award to Netflix prison dramedy Orange Is the New Black, nominated for the first time this year. Actress Uzo Aduba accepted for the huge cast, just moments after she also upstaged many better established performers by winning the award for female actress in a comedy series. “Oh, my god, I really, truly do not know what to say,” she said as she collected herself at the podium before accepting the best actress honor.

William H. Macy took home the prize for actor in a comedy series for playing the shambling dad on Showtime’s Shameless. A nine-time nominee — Macy won once before for 2002 TV movie Door to Door — he joked, “I’ve written so many great acceptance speeches that I never got to give, but not tonight!”

The award for actress in a TV movie or miniseries went to Frances McDormand — who previously won a SAG Award for 1996 film Fargo — for her role as an ornery woman in HBO’s Olive Kittredge. She used her turn at the podium to urge viewers to check out the telefilm, saying, “I’m proclaiming if you haven’t seen Olive Kittredge, you need to. You can stream it — I don’t know how.”

Mark Ruffalo joined the list of first- time SAG winners by claiming the honor for best actor in a TV movie or miniseries for his turn as an AIDS activist in HBO’s The Normal Heart, although he wasn’t present to accept.

Netflix, with its awards for House of Cards and Orange is the New Black, could boast three wins, while HBO also had three, including a stunt ensemble award, and ABC, Showtime and PBS earned one each.

Carrie Fisher introduced her mother Debbie Reynolds, recipient of this year’s SAG Life Achievement Award. Fisher

testified, with tongue firmly in cheek, “Actually, she has been more than a mother to me — not much, but definitely more.” And she also poked fun at her-self, pointing out that her mother was “co-founder of the Thalians, a group that has raised more than $30 million for mental-health-related causes — and $4.5 million of that money is allocated just to me.”

Reynolds, in her acceptance, noted, “I’ve been in this business now 66 years, so I’m very excited to be here.” Citing the song she sang in The Unsinkable Molly Brown called “I Ain’t Down Yet,” she concluded her remarks by saying, “Well, I ain’t. Thank you all very much.”

Prior to the broadcast, SAG Awards committee chair JoBeth Williams and vice chair Daryl Anderson announced that Universal pic Unbroken and HBO’s Game of Thrones had won awards for out-standing action performances by a stunt ensemble in film and TV, respectively.

Click here to see a complete list of SAG Award winners and more coverage.

PGa awards: Birdmanwins best Picture PrizeBy Alex Ben BlockthE fantastical dr ama Birdman,

starring Michael Keaton, flew to new heights Saturday evening when it won the Darryl F. Zanuck Award for outstanding producer of theatrical motion pictures during the 26th Producers Guild Awards, held at the Hyatt Regent Century Plaza in Los Angeles.

The award positions the film as the current front-runner for best picture heading into the Academy Awards. The last seven movies to win the PGA award have gone on to take the Oscar, and over the years nearly three quarters of the PGA winners have also won the Academy Award. Since many had been predicting a PGA win for Boyhood, Birdman’s victory was regarded as a surprise.

Alejandro G. Inarritu — who directed the film and who was honored for his

role as producer along with John Lesher and James W. Skotchdopole — accepted “on behalf of all of us whose only ambi- tion was to this risky and experimental kind of exploration of cinematic lan-guage through the mind of an artist.” The director said the movie, released by Fox Searchlight, would not have been possible without Keaton, who he said “gave us that honesty he played with a nd represented all of us.”

Inarritu also expressed his joy at being part of the group of films that were nominated this year: “All these films differently have a believable voice and would not exist if there were not an ex- pression behind them. And only the peo-ple who make it could have made it and they were not designed as products but as real expressions of human emotions.”

In something of a rebuke to the Acad- emy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the PGA members gave awards to two other films that were snubbed by the Academy, which didn’t nominate them for Oscars.

The award for outstanding producer of documentary theatrical motion picture went to Steve James, Garrett Basch and Zak Piper for Life Itself, the documen-tary about late film critic Roger Ebert. And The Lego Movie, produced by Dan Lin, won for outstanding producer of an animated theatrical motion picture.

Chaz Ebert, who accepted the docu- mentary prize with James, who also directed the pic, said of her late husband: “[Roger] said movies really are the key

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Birdman director-producer Alejandro G. Inarritu accepts the top PGA Award on behalf of his fellow producers.

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awards news

JANUARY 26, 2015

to developing empathy and passion and changing people and changing the world.”

Lin, in accepting for Lego Movie, said, “The real win has been the friends I’ve made along the way.”

Breaking Bad continued its winning streak when it was honored with the Norman Felton Award for outstanding producer of episodic television, drama, and Netflix’s Orange Is the New Black won the Danny Thomas Award for outstanding producer of episodic television, comedy.

Star Bryan Cranston accepted the award for Breaking Bad, saying, “I have been asked if we knew this show was going to be a big hit while we were making it? And of course we did not … you only know your show is a big hit when all of your location signs are stolen.” Cranston, who thanked the show’s creator Vince Gilligan for writing the character he played, noted Breaking Bad was turned down by several networks before AMC said yes. “Their courage was beyond words.”

FX’s Fargo was honored with the David L. Wolper Award for outstanding producer of long-form television, and Cosmos was the winner for producer of non-fiction television.

NBC’s The Voice earned the award for outstanding producer of competi-tion television. Producer Mark Burnett thanked the guild for protecting the work of producers, saying, “A lot of people in this town put their names on a project who have nothing to do with that product, but these people [standing with him on stage] are real producers.”

In its first year since Jay Leno’s depar-ture, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon won for outstanding producer of live entertainment & talk television.

The award for outstanding sports pro-gram went to HBO’s Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel, and PBS’ Sesame Street won the award for outstanding children’s

program. Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee, starring Jerry Seinfeld, was given the award for outstanding digital series.

A number of honorary awards also were distributed throughout the program.

Prolific show creator Shonda Rhimes presented the Norman Lear Achieve-ment Award in Television to producer Mark Gordon. Rhimes recalled meeting with Gordon when she first came to Holly- wood, observing that she was “a shy black woman and he wasn’t,” but that he believed in her and gave her a chance. “It was the most important meeting of my career — and I think, when all the checks are cashed, of his, too,” she said, calling Gordon “my dragon always ready to fly out and breathe fire at anybody who tries to stop me from doing my vision.”

Said Gordon in response: “She’s right — no Shonda, no Mark up here tonight.”

Hunger Games star Jennifer Lawrence presented the Milestone Award to Lions-gate CEO Jon Feltheimer. The executive thanked former MGM head Harry Sloan for giving him his first job at New World Entertainment and remaining a mentor to him. He also expressed thanks to pro- ducer Peter Guber, who hired him to head TV at Sony, because he “taught me when people come to you with a problem, listen, help them, but make sure they leave with the problem.” Feltheimer noted it takes a lot of people to make a movie or TV show: “Part of the real power of an executive is to know when to stand aside and let talented writers, directors and actors do what they do so well.”

Brad Pitt and his partners at Plan B — Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner — were honored with the Visionary Award, which was presented by 92-year-old pro- ducer Norman Lear. Pitt recalled growing up watching Lear’s shows like All In the Family: “I grew up in the Bible Belt, and not just the Bible Belt, but on the buckle of the Bible Belt, and I can’t say enough about the effect on me of Norman Lear.”

In concluding his remarks, Pitt added, “If anyone out there can tell us how to make a visionary film and not cut our price, it would be appreciated.”

Edward Norton presented the David O. Selznick Achievement Award in thea- trical motion pictures to producer Gale Anne Hurd.

“I had the pleasures of working with her on The Incredible Hulk,” said Norton. “She was the only person smiling through-

out that production.” He called Hurd a role model for everyone in the business, but especially for the “young women she has helped suc-ceed in this industry.”

Hurd said “the past five years have been the best of her life” because she has been producing The Walking Dead. She also used her time at the podium to issue a warning that the industry is at a crossroads because a lot of people believe “film product should be free” on the Internet. “It’s up to all of us to make them aware of the work of this industry,” she said, “and to spread our message — intellectual property should be protected. The very fate of our business is at stake.”

Sharon Stone presented the Stanley Kramer Award to the HBO film about the AIDS crisis, The Normal Heart. She observed that Heart’s writer Larry Kramer is no relation to the late pro-ducer after whom the award is named. “They have no physical relationship,” said Stone, “but both Larry and Stanley are voices that refused to bestilled.”

Normal Heart castmember Matt Bomer accepted the honor and continued the theme, saying, “The Kramers — Larry and Stanley — use their craft to promote justice, tolerance and understanding.” He pointed out it took 30 years to get the telefilm version of Normal Heart made and thanked HBO for doing it.

Tim Wen and Chidi Onyejuruwa won the Make Your Mark short film compe-tition for Symphony of Senses. A portion of the winning short will be featured in a Cadillac ad during the Oscars ceremony.

The 2015 PGA Awards co-chairs were producers Todd Black and Ryan Murphy.

Click here to see a full list of nominees and winners.

Burnett

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sundance 2015

JANUARY 26, 2015

By Borys KitPARK CITY, Utah — A24 Films and DirecTV have acquired U.S. rights for The Witch, the buzzed-about horror movie from Robert Eggers.

Sources told The Hollywood Reporter the deal is in the low seven-figure range, but exact terms have not been revealed.

The deal is for U.S. rights only. Foreign rights are still in play. A24 fended off competition from IFC and Magnolia, according to sources.

“The Witch is one of the most fasci-nating and accomplished debut features we have ever seen,” A24 and DirecTV said Saturday in a statement. “We are honored that we get to say we released the very first Robert Eggers film, know-ing this is the beginning of many great things he has in store for all of us.”

The pic doesn’t premiere until Tues-day but screenings have taken place, with the movie and the filmmaker gener-ating terrific word of mouth. Eggers has already lined up a studio project.

“I am honored to be a first-time film-maker at the Sundance Film Festival, and humbled to know that this labor of love will now have the opportunity to reach a wide audience,” said Eggers.

The Witch foreshadows the 1692 Salem trials in an eerie horror story that depicts a New England town immersed in a witch myth. When a family experiences crop shortage on their farm and a family mem- ber later goes missing, superstition set-tles and they begin to fall victim to their own inner fears, turning on one another.

The slow-burn horror and meticulous re-creation of the times are some of the aspects of the film that are winning praise from critics.

“A24’s vision, ambition and out-of-the box thinking made them the clear choice as a theatrical partner on this film. We have been a fan of the work they do,

and the films they release, and of their inspired devotion to filmmakers,” Parts & Labor’s Jay Van Hoy said on behalf of the producers.

Anya Taylor Joy, Ralph Ineson, Kate Dickie, Harvey Scrimshaw, Ellie Grainger and Lucas Dawson star in the pic.

WME Global made the deal on behalf of the filmmakers.

A24 is owned by Guggenheim Partners, parent company of Prometheus Global Media, which publishes THR.

black comedy d Trainstationed at iFc FilmsBy Borys KitPARK CITY, Utah — IFC has acquired U.S. rights to The D Train, a black comedy starring Jack Black and James Marsden.

The movie premiered Friday night and drew immediate interest from Fox Searchlight and Lionsgate. Other players soon jumped on the Train car as well.

IFC plans to release the movie theatri-cally later this year.

D Train centers on high-school reunion committee chairman Dan Landsman (Black), who is still in search of popularity and set on a mission to get peer-turned-failed actor Oliver Lawless (Marsden) to attend their 20-year reunion.

The comedy marks the directing bow of Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel. Black also produced the pic with David Bernad,

Mike White, Priyanka Mattoo, Ben Latham-Jones and Barnaby Thompson.

“Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel prove with this film that they have arrived as one of the great new filmmaking teams in Hollywood,” said Sundance Selects/IFC Films president Jonathan Sehring in a statement. “They have crafted a smart, sensitive and hilarious film which features a terrific ensemble, led by the immense talent of Jack Black and James Marsden. Our team fell in love with this film and we are planning to put the full weight of the studio behind it with the goal of rolling the film out in theaters across the country.”

D Train co-stars Kathryn Hahn, Jeffrey Tambor and Kyle Bornheimer.

The movie is the first acquisition of the festival for IFC, which last year picked up Richard Linklater’s Boyhood, now a major Oscar contender.

relativity snaPs uP Bronze For $3 millionBy Tatiana Siegel and Borys KitPARK CITY, Utah — Bryan Buckley’s directorial feature debut The Bronze has been picked up by Relativity.

The indie will partner with Stage 6 Films on releasing the pic domestically. Sony already has foreign rights. Sources told The Hollywood Reporter that the deal comes with a sizable P&A commitment.

“The Bronze fits into Sundance’s long history of discovering new and unique comedic talent that can find its way to a broader audience,” said Relativity presi-dent Tucker Tooley in a statement. “The filmmakers did an incredible job creat-ing a wholly unique identity for the film, which we’re certain will have audiences laughing and talking for a long time.”

The Big Bang Theory actress Melissa Rauch wrote the script with husband Winston Rauch and also stars in the comedy. Stephanie Langhoff produced.

The deal is in the $3 million range, sources told THR, but there is a sticking point when it comes to its release plan.

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The Witch foreshadows the 1692 Salem trials in a story set in a New England town immersed in a witch myth.

A24 Films Snatches Hot Horror Title Witch

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sundance 2015

JANUARY 26, 2015

The filmmakers are hoping to release the movie on 600 screens, but Relativity wants wiggle room.

Bronze begins in 2004, when Hope Ann Gregory (Rauch) is pegged as an American hero for winning the bronze medal for the women’s gymnastics team. But the former gymnast currently lives in her father’s basement, stuck in her past glory. When a new hopeful comes into view, Hope has to decide whether or not to coach the teen or sabotage her chances.

The comedy co-stars Cecily Strong, Gary Cole, Thomas Middleditch, Sebas-tian Stan and Haley Lu Richardson.

WME Global made the deal on behalf of the filmmakers.

duPlass bros., netFlix ForGe Four-movie deal By Erik HaydenJay and mark duplass havE inkEd a four-movie deal with Netflix, the stream- ing media company confirmed Friday to

The Hollywood Reporter.The titles will be small-

budget films, Netflix said, and the duo are not on a timetable, so they can continue with their HBO series Togetherness, which premiered Jan. 11.

“Our relationship with Mark and Jay Duplass began nearly 10 years ago with our acquisition of The Puffy Chair and continues

with this four-picture deal,” said Netflix chief content officer Ted Sarandos in a statement. “Independent films are an important part of our DNA, and we plan to make these films more globally accessible than ever.”

The deal is the latest big move for Net- flix, which announced Oct. 1 that it had booked Adam Sandler for a four-movie deal and also unveiled a deal Sept. 29 to release a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon sequel with The Weinstein Co.

Netflix ended 2014 with 57.4 million subscribers. In a letter to shareholders last week, CEO Reed Hastings pledged that Netflix would continue to invest heavily in original content.

alchemy set to acquirekidman’s STrangerland Staff reportnicolE k idman-starring dr ama Strangerland is selling to Alchemy, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Reps for the thriller, which premiered Friday at the Sundance Film Festival, are negotiating with Alchemy, the indie distributor formerly known as Millennium Entertainment. The price for North American rights is said to be just under $1.5 million, according to sources. A multi- platform component is involved as well.

The feature debut of Kim Farrant centers on a man-crazy teenage girl and her younger brother, who go missing in the Australian outback. Joseph Fiennes co-stars.

THR film critic Boyd van Hoeij wrote in his review that “Kidman and Fiennes don’t exactly combust onscreen,” and he added that the “film’s theatrical prospects aren’t huge, some gorgeous widescreen photography notwithstanding.”

drama dial a Prayer Picked uP by vertical By Erik Haydenwilliam h. macy and brittany Snow’s drama Dial a Prayer has been acquired by Vertical Entertainment with plans for a spring release, the company announced Saturday.

The deal was said to be made during a meeting at the Sundance Film Festival. The film was written and directed by Maggie Kiley, with producers includ-ing Jason Potash and Paul Finkel from Storyboard.

“What struck us from the beginning with this film is how it was able to pull

us in so many different directions emo-tionally,” Rich Goldberg, co-president at Vertical Entertainment, said in a state-ment. “This wasn’t something we wanted to be a part of; it was something we had to be a part of and are extremely pleased that we are partnering on Dial a Prayer with a very creative team in Maggie, Jason and Paul.”

The movie revolves around a woman (Snow) who answers phones at a prayer call center operated by a religious leader played by Macy.

tribeca Film nabs doc miSery loveS ComedyBy Rebecca Ford and Borys KitPARK CITY, Utah — Tribeca Film has acquired North American rights to Misery Loves Comedy ahead of its premiere at Sundance.

The documentary follows the jour-neys of American and Canadian funny people, exploring their unique paths and lives devoted to making strangers laugh, and features Jimmy Fallon, Whoopi Goldberg, Matthew Perry, Jon Favreau, Judd Apatow, Martin Short and more.

Kevin Pollak directed and co-wrote the film with John Vorhaus. Becky Newhall and Burton Ritchie produced, with Ben Galecki as executive producer.

“Misery Loves Comedy is a fascinating, unparalleled look inside the minds of some of the greatest and most beloved comedians of our time,” Tribeca Film GM Todd Green said Friday in a state-ment. “Kevin Pollak has made a ‘must watch’ on the art of comedy, for casual enthusiasts, to connoisseurs, to aspiring comedians.”

The deal was negotiated for Tribeca Film by Alison Diviney, manager of acqui- sitions, along with Nick Savva, vp acqui-sitions, and UTA Independent Film Group on behalf of the filmmakers.

M. Duplass

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Click here for more news and reviews from Sundance.

J. Duplass

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FOR UP-TO-THE-MINUTE INDUSTRY COVERAGE

THR.COM/BUSINESS

JANUARY 26, 2015

business news

By Georg Szalaisony corp. said friday that thE

hacking attack on its film studio will cause it to delay its next full quarterly

earnings report.It also said that it expects

the hack to have no mate-rial impact on its financials. “While Sony continues to evaluate the impact of the cyberattack on its financial

results, it currently believes that such im- pact is not material,” said the company.

Sony said it has filed for an extension on usual reporting deadlines with the Financial Services Agency of Japan. Affected is the report for the fiscal third quarter ending March 31. The company was expected to report results on Feb. 4.

Sony said the hack attack left the com-pany unable to produce a full financial report by a Feb. 16 deadline, leading it to ask financial regulators for permission to file by March 31.

The company, led by CEO Kazuo Hirai, said it would still issue a release and hold a conference call on Feb. 4 to provide “updated forecasts of Sony’s consolidated financial results for the third quarter,

to the extent reasonably possible.”“In November 2014, Sony Pictures

Entertainment Inc., a consolidated sub- sidiary of Sony that is reported as the Pictures business segment, identified a cyberattack on SPE’s network and IT infrastructure,” the company also said in a statement. “As a result of the cyber-attack, which has been now recognized as a highly sophisticated and damaging cyberattack, a serious disruption of SPE’s network systems occurred, including the destruction of network hardware and the compromise of a large amount of data on these systems. In response to this cyber- attack, SPE shut down its entire network. Since that time, SPE has worked aggres-sively to restore these systems.”

Sony continued: “However, most of SPE’s financial and accounting applica- tions and many other critical information technology applications will not be func- tional until early February 2015 due to the amount of destruction and disruption that occurred, and the care necessary to avoid further damage by prematurely restarting functions.”

Once the systems are up and running again, the studio unit will enter and

verify data for the two months that it was off-line. Sony didn’t identify the attack-ers beyond calling them a “third party.”

teamsters ratiFy commercial dealBy Jonathan HandelmEmbErs of tEamstErs local 399 “overwhelmingly” ratified two agreements with commercial producers on Saturday, union secretary-treasurer Steve Dayan told The Hollywood Reporter, averting a threatened strike. The agreements cover drivers and location manager scouts.

The deal had been recommended by the union and the negotiating commit-tee, the latter unanimously. Dayan had previously told THR he was optimistic that members would ratify the deal.

The ratification comes two weeks after members rejected an earlier, “last, best and final offer” from the producers, a deal which the union recommended but the committee was split on. The “no” vote automatically served as a strike authori- zation, raising the possibility of a Feb. 1 walkout.

Hirai

Sony Hack Causes Company to Delay Earnings Report

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JANUARY 26, 2015

By Lesley Goldbergabc thrEw its hat into thE pilot

mix late Friday, adding five dramas — including one previously developed at Fox.

The pickups included Quantico, from Josh Safran (Gossip Girl) and Mark Gordon; arms-dealing drama Runner (previously developed at Fox); biblical entry Of Kings and Prophets; procedural L.A. Crime; and Mix, a restaurant dramedy from Rashida Jones.

Quantico hails from ABC Studios and the Mark Gordon Co., which, after a long tenure with the studio, recently departed in favor of forming a film and TV studio with Entertainment One. The drama has been described as Grey’s Anatomy meets Homeland, and centers on a group of young, sexy FBI recruits, all with specific reasons for joining, who go through training given by current special agents at the college- like Quantico base in Virginia. One of the recruits turns out to be a sleeper terrorist who created the most severe attack on U.S. soil since 9/11.

Safran (Smash) will pen the drama — which landed at the network in September with a script commitment — and exec produce alongside Gordon and the Mark Gordon Co.’s Nick Pepper. It was one of eight projects the company developed this past season. Gordon remains an exec producer on ABC’s long-running Grey’s Anatomy as well as CBS’ Criminal Minds and Showtime’s Ray Donovan. This marks the company’s second pilot this season, joining CBS’ Criminal Minds spinoff starring Gary Sinise. Last sea-son, Gordon had three shows go to pilot: ABC’s Agatha and Clementine as well as NBC’s Fifth Wheel. Both ABC dramas

were passed over, while the comedy was rolled to this development season.

Runner, meanwhile, was originally set up at Fox and rolled from last season with a cast contingency attached. The drama was initially picked up under former network president Kevin Reilly during his “no pilots” period.

Based on the Turkish series Son, Runner — which is to guns what Traffic was to drugs — centers on the traditionally masculine world of arms dealing through the unexpected lens of a woman. After a simple twist of fate, Lauren Marks learns her husband is not the person she believed him to be. Faced with the harsh reality that her life is forever changed, she goes on a truth-seeking journey that entrenches her in a U.S.-Mexican war over weapons and terrorism. Michael Cooney (Identity) is attached to write the script and execu-tive produce alongside Ian Sander, Kim Moses and Peter Horton, with the latter previously attached to direct the pilot.

The drama, from 20th Century Fox Television, was originally picked up off- cycle with an eye toward series produc-tion in summer 2014. Fox handed out a cast-contingent pilot order to Runner in September, with Christina Applegate, Katie Holmes, Mireille Enos and Jessica Biel among the actresses who had been eyed for the leading role at the time.

Of Kings and Prophets hails from the scribes behind last year’s Ridley Scott movie Exodus: Gods and Kings starring Christian Bale. The film’s writers, Adam Cooper and Bill Collage, are on board to pen the script and executive produce alongside Jason Reed, Reza Aslan and Mahyad Tousi. The ABC Studios drama is described as an epic biblical saga of faith, ambition and betrayal as told through the eyes of a battle-weary king, a powerful and resentful prophet and a resourceful young shepherd on a collision

course with destiny.Of Kings and Prophets marks the latest

in a wave of biblical dramas across cable and broadcast networks following the success of History’s record-breaking 10-part miniseries The Bible.

L.A. Crime also hails from ABC Studios. Written by Steven Baigelman (Feeling Minnesota), the drama is a character-driven, true-crime procedural that explores sex, politics and popular culture across various noteworthy eras in Los Angeles history. Season one focuses on two cops in search for a Bonnie & Clyde-esque serial-killing team amid the rock ’n’ roll, cocaine-infused revelry of the 1980s Sunset Strip. The drama is exec produced by ABC Studios-based Mandeville Television.

For its part, Mix hails from Rashida Jones and Will McCormack’s Le Train Train (A to Z) banner and is described as a one-hour dramedy that explores the realities of modern-day families — multicultural, multigenerational, built through divorces, affairs and adoptions — set against the backdrop of a revered family restaurant at a crossroads. Written by Jennifer Cecil, the restaurant dram-edy marks the second year in a row that the two-year-old company has scored a pilot pickup. Cecil, who was a co- showrunner on ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy spinoff Private Practice, will exec pro-duce alongside Jones and McCormack via their Warner Bros. Television-based banner. As for NBC’s A to Z, the series finale aired Thursday night and regis-tered a 0.6 among adults 18-49.

Friday’s pilot orders mark ABC’s first of the traditional season and join Irreversible, the remake of the Israeli drama that was rolled from last year. The single-camera comedy, starring Justin Long, has a contingency attached and is pending finding a female lead.

Biblical, Terrorism Dramas Among ABC Pilot Orders

Safran

Gordon

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stamos, wells Projects snaG Fox Pilot PickuPsBy Leslie Goldbergfox continuEd to mak E good on its vow to do business with outside studios Friday, adding a comedy starring John Stamos from ABC Studios as well as dramedy Studio City from John Wells and Warner Bros. Television.

Fox has handed out pilot orders to an untitled comedy starring Full House and ER alum Stamos as well as Wells and Krista Vernoff’s Shameless-like dramedy Studio City, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

Executive produced by The Neighbors and Galavant creator Dan Fogelman, the Stamos com- edy landed at Fox in a competitive situ- ation with ABC among those vying for the single-camera entry that would mark Stamos’ first series regular role since ER. Written by The Office alum Danny Chun, Stamos stars as a version of him- self: a longtime bachelor whose life is upended after he learns he’s a father and grandfather. The actor also will exec produce the untitled comedy via his St. Amos banner alongside Chun and ABC Studios-based Fogelman. The untitled pilot marks Stamos’ latest reunion with Fogelman after a guest role on ABC’s midseason musical fairy tale Galavant.

The Stamos pilot pickup comes two months after ABC scrapped its straight- to-series dramedy Members Only — a co-production of ABC Studios and CBS Television Studios — in which he was set to star. The actor, meanwhile, is also involved with a potential Full House revival rumored to be in the works with Warner Bros. Television and Netflix. For his part, Fogelman’s Galavant is still in contention for a second season at ABC.

Studio City, meanwhile, is described as Shameless for broadcast. The dram-edy, which landed at Fox with a hefty put-pilot commitment, is inspired by Vernoff’s (Grey’s Anatomy) life and tells

the story of a young singer’s path to star- dom as she comes of age living with her songwriter father — who turns out to be a drug dealer to the stars. Wells will executive produce via his Warner Bros. Television-based John Wells Productions banner. The hourlong dramedy expands Vernoff’s relationship with Wells and WBTV after she wrote multiple episodes of Showtime’s critical darling Shameless starring Emmy Rossum. Vernoff, Wells and JWP’s Andrew Stearn will exec pro-duce. Should it go to series, Wells would have two shows on the air as Showtime has already renewed Shameless for a sixth season in 2016.

Studio City and the Stamos entry also mark the latest pilots to be based on the lives of its creators this season as semi-autobiographical fare continues to be a mainstay among the broadcast nets. CBS has a multicamera pilot starring and based on the life of comic Tommy Johnagin as well as drama Austen’s Razor, which is inspired by the life of bioethics expert-turned-writer Arthur L. Caplan, while NBC has a half-hour based on stand-up comedian Jerrod Carmichael’s life and family.

The Stamos comedy and Studio City are the second and third pilots from outside studios ordered at the network this season under former 20th Century Fox Television CEOs and Fox Television Group co-CEOs Gary Walden and Dana Newman. Of the network’s other seven pilots, only one — comedy 48 Hours ’Til Monday (Universal Television) — hails from an outside studio. The Stamos vehi-cle represents Fox’s third comedy order (including Ryan Murphy’s straight-to- series Scream Queens), while Studio City is its sixth drama overall this season.

nbc adds medical soaP,burnett drama PilotsBy Lesley Goldbergnbc continuEd to grEEnlight

drama pilots late Friday, picking up two hourlong projects from a pair of real-life

couples: a guardian angel entry from Mark Burnett and Roma Downey as well as a medical soap from Private Practice alum Amy Brenneman and Brad Silberling.

Burnett and Downey’s Unveiled hails from Universal Television and is described as a one-hour drama following an ensem- ble of flawed guardian angels who inter- vene in the lives of those who find them- selves facing crises in an attempt to restore their faith and, often, save their lives.

John Sakmar and Kerry Lenhart (The Glades, Psych) will pen the script and exec produce alongside Burnett and Downey and their Lightworks Media banner.

Unveiled marks NBC’s latest pairing with Burnett and Downey and comes ahead of A.D., their April follow-up to History’s record-breaking miniseries The Bible. The duo also has an adapta-tion of The Dovekeepers set up at CBS, scheduled for a March 31 debut.

Brenneman and Silberling’s Heart Matters, meanwhile, also hails from Universal Television and is described as a medical soap inspired by the life of Dr. Kathy Magliato and her 2011 book Heart Matters: A Memoir of a Female Heart Surgeon. It follows the outspoken Alex Panttiere, one of the rare female heart transplant surgeons. Alex brings an innovative eye to treating patients week to week while also balancing the complications of her professional and romantic life.

Jill Gordon (My So-Called Life, The Wonder Years) will write the script and executive produce alongside Brenneman and Silberling (Jane the Virgin). Co-exec producers include Susan Carlson, Eric Carlson, Kelly Meyer and Magliato.

Brenneman, who counts medical soap Private Practice among her acting credits, will not have an onscreen role. She is currently a regular on HBO’s The Leftovers. (The latter drama, also based on a book, will return for its sec-ond season this year.) Brenneman and Silberling most recently worked together when the actress guest-starred on The CW’s hit period-drama Reign.

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JANUARY 26, 2015

Earlier on Friday, NBC gave a pilot order to Blindspot from Greg Berlanti’s Berlanti Productions, currently housed at Warner Bros. TV. The project, written and executive produced by Martin Gero (Bored to Death), centers on a woman with no memory who wakes up naked in Times Square. The nude amnesiac is covered in detailed tattoos that immedi- ately catch the eye of the FBI. Once her ink is revealed to be some sort of road map, a conspiracy much larger than her mys-terious appearance emerges. Blindspot has been in development since August.

Also on Friday, NBC added Endgame, a Las Vegas-set conspiracy thriller from The Blacklist’s Davis Entertainment and Leverage co-creator John Roger about a former sniper-turned-security expert who’s wrongly accused of killing his wife.

The additions bring NBC’s drama pilot haul to eight, one shy of last year’s slate. (On the comedy side, the network has seven half-hours in comparison to a whopping 18 last season.)

o’neal comedy Shaq inq.Gets trutv Pilot order By Lesley Goldbergtrutv is pushing into scriptEd

fare with former NBA great Shaquille O’Neal.

The former All-Star will star in a workplace comedy pilot called Shaq Inq., loosely based on his business empire, The Holly-wood Reporter has learned.

The comedy is inspired by the wild and frenetic business he has built follow-ing his 19-year basketball career.

The half-hour comedy will follow O’Neal and the team who runs his sprawl- ing business empire. The offbeat yet capable group juggles the mayhem of managing his existing products and endorsements while implementing his latest batch of sometimes eccentric busi-ness ideas. But while they’re all working

toward the same goal, each employee is constantly jockeying for the power and recognition to make the big guy proud.

Jeremy Garelick (The Wedding Ringer, The Break-Up) will pen the script, while John Fortenberry (Galavant) will direct. O’Neal will executive produce alongside Mike Tollin (Smallville, Arli$$). The com- edy hails from Tollin and Peter Guber’s Mandalay Sports Media, founded in 2012 and specializing in sports programming including Undrafted, Sin City Saints and its upcoming Kareem Abdul-Jabbar doc-umentary. Perry Rogers, Colin Smeeton and Michael Parris are on board to pro-duce. Dan Kaplow (Trophy Wife, Sin City Saints) and Jon Weinbach (The Other Dream Team) will co-executive produce.

“Shaquille and I have been friends for 20 years, and his growth as a business-man never ceases to amaze and amuse me,” Tollin said Friday in a statement.

Added TruTV president and head of programming Chris Linn: “There is no denying Shaq’s multifaceted appeal. Thus, we couldn’t be happier to be collaborat-ing with him, as well as Mike Tollin and Mandalay Sports Media, as we continue to push into new formats.”

Shaq Inq. expands O’Neal’s relation-ship with Turner-owned TruTV, where he currently hosts viral-video prank show Upload With Shaquille O’Neal. It is also O’Neal’s latest acting endeavor following movies Steel, Blue Chips and Kazaam, among other film and TV roles including many where he played himself. He is also an NBA analyst for TNT.

TruTV becomes the latest cable network to push into scripted originals, following Bravo (Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce), WEtv (The Divide) and E! (The Royals).

Franklin, lonGtime talk-show host, dies Staff reportJoE fr ank lin, who hostEd a bargain-basement TV talk show in New York for four decades, died Satur-

day of prostate cancer in a hospice in Manhattan, his friend and producer Steve Garrin told The New York Times. He was 88.

Franklin, who often is credited with developing the standard TV talk-show format, began with the afternoon show Joe Franklin — Disk Jockey on the local ABC station in 1951 and did his last show, then airing on WOR after midnight, in 1993. He claimed that he had hosted 300,000 guests during his career and never missed a show.

In an interview with the Associated Press, Garrin recalled how Franklin, who was parodied by Billy Crystal in the 1980s on Saturday Night Live, hired a young Bette Midler as his studio singer and gave a chance on his show to every up-and-comer trying to make it big: Bruce Springsteen, Woody Allen and Dustin Hoffman among them.

“He was a wonderful guy,” said Garrin. “He gave everybody an opportunity.”

From a tiny basement studio on West 67th Street in Manhattan, Franklin also booked Barbra Streisand, Bill Cosby and Liza Minnelli as guests when they were just starting out. But he also had guests on after they had “made it,” including Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Bing Crosby and John F. Kennedy.

A native of The Bronx, Franklin started out in radio, working as a writer for singer Kate Smith’s 1940s variety program and then hosting a radio show called Vaudeville Isn’t Dead. In the mid- 1960s, he landed at WOR with a late-night show, Memory Lane, en route to become a New York institution.

Franklin, who appeared as himself in such films as Ghostbusters (1984), Broadway Danny Rose (1984) and the 2005 documentary The Aristocrats, most recently was heard on Bloomberg Radio and hosted a Saturday night oldies pro-gram on WOR Radio. He was working until this past week.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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sundance reviews

The d TrainBy Todd McCarthyPARK CITY, Utah — The D Train is a feel-bad comedy, in that one feels bad for what happens to every character in the film and bad for sometimes being taken to places that feel more implausible than just transgressive. After not getting the career bump he should have for his great performance in Richard Linklater’s Bernie four years ago, it’s good to see Jack Black front-and-center again playing a very strange man in a feature film. But his character is so harmful to so many people for no reason other than his own unfinished business from high school that it’s a legitimate impulse just to want to get away from the guy much sooner than the film permits. The talented cast and per-vasive waywardness will appeal to some, but commercial prospects look limited.

Although he has what appear to be a nice wife (Kathryn Hahn) and teenage son (Russell Posner) and a steady job at a consulting firm, the paunchy Dan Landsman (Black) remains beset by a sort of inferiority complex carried over from school days, when he was considered desperately uncool. This is exacerbated whenever he participates in high-school reunion organizing, which forces him to deal with the very same people who scorned him years before.

You’d think he’d learn. But this year Dan seizes upon a far-fetched chance to finally turn the tables on his nemeses; chancing to see a TV suntan lotion com- mercial starring hunky former classmate Oliver Lawless (James Marsden), Dan figures that, if he can deliver this “star” to the reunion, he himself will at long last also become cool in the eyes of those who have so long disdained him.

To this end, Dan concocts an excuse to make a business trip from Pittsburgh to Los Angeles, where he will personally convince Oliver to make the reunion scene. Unfortunately, the ruse involves pretending to Dan’s boss Bill Shurmur (Jeffrey Tambor) that a potential lucra-tive deal awaits them on the Coast, but

it sounds so appealing that Bill decides he’s got to go, too.

Bill is one of the numerous amusing small conceits concocted by screenwriters Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel, here mak-ing their joint directorial debuts. Bill is charmingly and hopelessly antiquated; there are no computers in his offices, he personally still uses a rotary phone and he likes to conduct business man- to-man, with handshakes at the end. Dan will probably be fired if he can’t produce a man for his boss to meet with in Los Angeles, but he finds a solution worthy of a good farce.

That would be Oliver. The one stu-dent from high school who got out and, to his former fellow students, looks to have made good is actually a dissolute and infrequently employed pretty boy on the downswing. If he were successful, Oliver would have no time for the likes of Dan. But he’s able to impress him by say- ing hi to Dermot Mulroney (in a cameo) at a nightclub and takes the bug-eyed Dan on a whirlwind nocturnal tour of Hollywood, even if it projects a rather antiquated notion of what’s hot in town — the Strip, the Roxy, the Whiskey?

It would be uncivilized to reveal what happens next, other than to say that it greatly changes the dynamic between the two men, and no one could be more surprised at the developments than Dan. Still, they pull off the business ruse with

Bill, and Dan gets what he came for: Oliver’s attendance at the reunion.

Inevitably, the reunion is destined to climax the film. But if one imagines a raucous event at which Dan is finally accepted into the fold due to his new Hollywood association, one would be more than a few degrees off course, as there is a great deal that happens back in Pittsburgh before that. Lead charac-ters in farce are almost by definition put into dire jeopardy in the final act, but very possibly never in the manner Dan is here. Some may buy it, but from several perspectives what takes place simply seems beyond the pale dramati-cally; it’s hard to believe things would go as far as they do. Granted, some of this is farce, but if the spectator loses the willingness to invest in the conceits of the authors of farce, then all is lost.

To be sure, there are funny moments, and the actors make sure there’s some-thing worth watching here nearly all the time. Playing a man who can scarcely conceal his multiple resentments under his oddly prim, fastidious, sometimes even mincing mannerisms, Black demon-strates that his comic reflexes remain very sharp.

Marsden is magnetic and completely convincing as the hardly working actor who, for reasons of his own, finds Dan worth hanging out with for a time. Once

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Jack Black (center) tries to get his life on track in The D Train.

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sundance reviews

the action returns to Pennsylvania, a very odd side plot mushrooms into Oliver becoming a sexual adviser to 15-year-old Zach, whose girlfriend wants to have a three-way with another girl. Music, much of it from songs, plays a substantial role here. New Orleans doubled for Pittsburgh, of all places, in much of the film.

Venue: Sundance Film Festival (U.S. Dramatic Competition). Production: Electric Dynamite, Ripcord, Londinium Productions. Cast: Jack Black, James Marsden, Kath- ryn Hahn, Mike White, Kyle Bornheimer, Henry Zebrowski, Russell Posner, Jeffrey Tambor. Directors-screenwriters: Jarrad Paul, Andrew Mogel. Not rated, 100 minutes.

The BronzeBy Todd McCarthy PARK CITY, Utah — The Bronze is a strident comedy made in accordance with the sole guiding principle of, when in doubt, go even more vulgar. Co-written by and starring The Big Bang Theory’s Melissa Rauch as a frightful creature who makes Melissa McCarthy’s trademark characters look like the quintessence of elegant sophistication, the pic stews in the bile of a small-town former gym-nastics medalist who’s lived in the past ever since and feels the need to spread her misery to everyone she encounters. Fans of the comedy of meanness and pure gross-out humor will provide a certain commercial base, although the film could easily use at least 10 minutes removed to cut down on the redundant jokes and scenes.

The opening scene basically tells you all you need to know about Hope Ann Gregory: She’s seen pleasuring herself in her memorabilia-strewn bedroom while watching, for the thousandth time, the video tape of her valiant routine on the uneven bars that won her a bronze medal back in 2004 and made her the

best thing that ever happened to Amherst, Ohio. She lives with, and receives a hefty allowance from, her pathetic postman father (Gary Cole), whom she ridicules mercilessly, and is alarmed that the town has now produced another precocious female gymnast, 16-year-old Maggie (Haley Lu Richardson), who might well eclipse her.

Anyone who as much as talks to Hope is liable to get their head bitten off, even if she does speak in an annoyingly harsh and squeaky voice that emerges from a thin, tightly pursed mouth. For years, she’s benefited from the largesse of local merchants who give her stuff for free, but that’s drying up now, and she hasn’t spoken with her old Coach P, who guided her to semi-glory, in a long time.

When Coach P suddenly dies, Hope receives an offer she would love to refuse but really can’t: A letter from the deceased informs her that, if she coaches the prom- ising Maggie and gets her on track for the upcoming Toronto games, Hope will receive $500,000. The Bronze enters its best stretch here, partly due to the un- restrained adolescent boisterousness of Richardson’s performance, as well as to Hope’s malevolent scheme of putting Maggie on an extra-fat diet, advising that she start getting it on with her boy- friend and otherwise doing all she can to insure that Maggie becomes such a dissolute cow that a continued athletic

career is out of the question.Also livening things up is Hope’s hand-

some ex and gold- and silver-winning gym- nast, the aptly named Lance (Sebastian Stan), who swoops in to snatch Maggie from Hope’s grasp and prepare her for Toronto. Furious as Hope is at this be- trayal, it doesn’t stop her from giving Lance another tumble. This is the money scene, one that gives the term “gymnastic sex” new and quite literal meaning as the two go at it in a swirl of amusingly athletic positions.

The script by Rauch and her husband Winston Rauch finally sobers up to invest Hope with some lessons learned and even a possible but not very credible future with a bashful, twitchy young gym assis-tant (Thomas Middleditch).

Longtime commercials ace Bryan Buckley, whose Africa-set short Asad was Oscar-nominated in 2013, brings energy to his directorial feature debut but precious little style.

Venue: Sundance Film Festival (U.S. Dramatic Competition). Production: Stage 6 Films, Duplass Brothers Productions. Cast: Melissa Rauch, Gary Cole, Thomas Middleditch, Sebastian Stan, Cecily Strong, Haley Lu Richardson, Dale Raoul. Director: Bryan Buckley. Not rated, 108 minutes.

Melissa Rauch is green with envy in The Bronze.F r o m pa g e 1 2