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Costner’s Costly ‘Horizon’ Bites Box Office Dust
“Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1” was a distant third at theaters in North America this weekend, as “Inside Out 2” dominated, reaching $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales.
By Brooks Barnes
I write about Hollywood companies, with a focus on Disney and its many parts, from Marvel movies to ESPN to theme parks. I also cover movie theaters, the Oscars and entertainment-industry culture, including the occasional celebrity escapade.
My stories often focus on tension between Old Hollywood and New. Technology has severely disrupted the once-mighty film and television businesses. Can they adapt? It’s an open question, one that will impact what the world watches and how.
Hollywood being Hollywood, there is also misconduct to investigate — exposing and explaining racist, sexist and generally toxic behavior.
I have covered show business for 20 years. Topics have included movies and the companies and personalities behind them; the cable and broadcast networks; Broadway; the Netflix-led streaming revolution; Disney theme parks worldwide, from the company’s arrival on the Chinese mainland to the fight with Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida over Disney World; #OscarsSoWhite; the Sony Pictures cyberattack; Hollywood labor battles; and the evolving culture wars.
I joined The New York Times in 2007. I previously worked at The Wall Street Journal, starting in 1999 after stints at The Philadelphia Inquirer and The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
I was born in rural Montana. I have undergraduate degrees in journalism and English from Marquette University in Wisconsin and a graduate degree in cultural reporting and criticism from New York University.
I uphold the standards of integrity outlined in our Ethical Journalism Handbook, which means, among other things, that I protect confidential sources and go to great lengths to be fair, especially on tough stories. I strive to give everyone a chance to comment.
I do not accept gifts or money from people who might figure into my reporting, including meals, hotel rooms, airfare or theme park tickets. I do not moderate panel discussions for studios during Oscar or Emmy season. I do not participate in politics or make political donations, nor do I attend fund-raisers unless I am reporting on them.
Email: [email protected]
X: @brooksbarnesNYT (DMs open)
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“Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1” was a distant third at theaters in North America this weekend, as “Inside Out 2” dominated, reaching $1 billion in worldwide ticket sales.
By Brooks Barnes
“The Apprentice,” a dramatized origin story about Donald J. Trump, has faced fierce criticism from the former president and his allies.
By Brooks Barnes
Major U.S. entertainment companies are hiring a former top F.B.I. official and renewing a push for federal legislation to combat online thievery overseas.
By Brooks Barnes
When Walt Disney World replaced a ride that was based on a racist film with a new attraction, Brooks Barnes, who covers entertainment, was first in line.
By Brooks Barnes
The sequel was expected to collect at least $155 million in the United States and Canada over the weekend, about 70 percent more than anticipated.
By Brooks Barnes
The Biden campaign said it raised at least $28 million on Saturday, at a fund-raiser in Los Angeles, where entertainers, Barack Obama and even Jill Biden assailed Donald J. Trump.
By Shawn McCreesh and Adam Nagourney
The deal locks in a 15-year expansion plan for Disney World and clears a path for Disney to restart in-kind political donations in Florida.
By Brooks Barnes
The ride was closed last year because of its connection to a racist film. Disney overhauled it to focus on Tiana, Disney’s first Black princess, drawing praise and backlash.
By Brooks Barnes and Todd Anderson
Mr. Smith’s first wide-release film since he slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars two years ago arrived to a hefty $56 million at the North American box office.
By Brooks Barnes
In a town littered with would-be superstars, he’s trying to beat the odds by giving studios what they crave. It’s no coincidence he’s everywhere.
By Brooks Barnes
Her new “Star Wars” show is a dream come true, but she knows it carries enormous expectations. “I would be lying if I said I wasn’t scared,” she said.
By Brooks Barnes
Plus, the box office battle of “Garfield” and “Furiosa.”
By Tracy Mumford, Damien Cave, Danny Hakim, Brooks Barnes, Ian Stewart, Jessica Metzger and James Shield
Memorial Day weekend ticket sales in North America are expected to total $125 million, down 40 percent from last year.
By Brooks Barnes
The animation studio, which has struggled over the past few years, will stop making original shows for Disney+.
By Brooks Barnes
In a surprise, Disney+ made money for the first time in the latest quarter, but the company said it expected a slowdown in its parks division.
By Brooks Barnes
While enough for No. 1, the big-budget original movie gave Hollywood its lowest start to its summer box office season since 1995.
By Brooks Barnes
I report on Hollywood for the Business and Culture desks. Here are five I’ve watched recently.
By Brooks Barnes
Studios obsessively focused on PG-13 franchises and animation in recent years, but movies like “Challengers” and “Saltburn” show eroticism has returned.
By Brooks Barnes
The app’s influence on Hollywood, school and more.
By Kaitlin Roberts, Larissa Anderson, Diane Wong, Dan Powell, Sapna Maheshwari, Brooks Barnes, Natasha Singer and Amanda Hess
The chief executive’s 2023 pay package rose 26 percent from the year before, while the company’s losses totaled $3 billion.
By Brooks Barnes
Nineteen ways the app rewired our culture.
By Ashwin Seshagiri, Mike Dang, Anemona Hartocollis, Kashmir Hill, Becky Hughes, Santul Nerkar, Jordyn Holman, Michael M. Grynbaum, Ellen Barry, Vanessa Friedman, Dana G. Smith, Amanda Hess, Natasha Singer, David E. Sanger, Ben Sisario, Tiffany Hsu, Sapna Maheshwari and Brooks Barnes
The company had critical and commercial hits over two decades but never made money consistently and faced a challenging entertainment landscape.
By Brooks Barnes
Alex Garland’s movie, starring Kirsten Dunst, surpassed “Godzilla x Kong,” with an estimated $25.7 million in North American ticket sales on its first weekend.
By Brooks Barnes
Plus, aftershocks rattle Taiwan.
By Tracy Mumford, Meaghan Tobin, Brooks Barnes, Ian Stewart, Jessica Metzger and James Shield
Nelson Peltz had campaigned for two seats on Disney’s board of directors, as he sought to shake up the company’s growth plan.
By Brooks Barnes
Individuals hold as much as 40 percent of the company’s shares, and they may decide a proxy battle that is one of the most expensive in history.
By Brooks Barnes and Lauren Hirsch
The entertainment giant and the Florida governor have been sparring for two years over control of a tax district that encompasses Walt Disney World.
By Brooks Barnes and J. Edward Moreno
The theater chain and the entertainment company are teaming up for a five-day festival of old horror films in 40 cities, compensating for a lack of new films.
By Brooks Barnes
Under Donna Langley’s leadership, Universal has managed the rare feat of achieving creative dominance and commercial supremacy at the same time.
By Brooks Barnes
“Oppenheimer”
By Brooks Barnes
The term, borrowed from gaming culture, means trying too hard, to the point of desperation.
By Brooks Barnes
How “Oppenheimer,” a movie about the men who developed the atomic bomb, met the new standards.
By Jeremy W. Peters and Brooks Barnes
The science-fiction sequel sold an estimated $81.5 million in tickets in the United States and Canada, the biggest opening for a Hollywood film since “Barbie.”
By Brooks Barnes
Nine grandchildren of Walt and Roy Disney expressed support for Bob Iger and the company’s board, and criticized Nelson Peltz and others circling Disney.
By Brooks Barnes
The producer behind the streaming company’s new live-actor remake of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” will replace Scott Stuber.
By Nicole Sperling
Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Industries will control what is left of Disney’s grasp at India’s burgeoning media market.
By Alex Travelli and Sameer Yasir
He had hits with live-action versions of “Aladdin” and “The Lion King,” but Disney has been on a box office cold streak more recently.
By Brooks Barnes and Nicole Sperling
“One Love” landed in what has become a box office sweet spot — stories that feel both nostalgic and new — while the Spider-Man spinoff is another sign that the comics-character boom is over.
By Brooks Barnes
The pop star’s hit “Eras Tour” concert film hits the streaming service next month, part of the company’s attempt to revitalize its entertainment lineup.
By Brooks Barnes
The company, facing pressure from activist investors, surpassed expectations for earnings and slowed its streaming losses.
By Brooks Barnes
Gina Carano accused Disney and Lucasfilm of discrimination when they dropped her after she posted baseless conspiracy theories and right-wing views on social media.
By Brooks Barnes
The company had claimed that the Florida governor and his allies violated its First Amendment rights by taking over a special tax district that governs Walt Disney World.
By Brooks Barnes
No American films ranked among the 10 highest grossing in China last year as viewers who once flocked to foreign blockbusters continued to disappear.
By Claire Fu, Brooks Barnes and Daisuke Wakabayashi
This was featured in live coverage.
By Brooks Barnes
“The Holdovers,” “Poor Things” and “Barbie” all won multiple awards in the film categories, while the TV shows “Beef” and “The Bear” each won three.
By Brooks Barnes
This was featured in live coverage.
By Brooks Barnes
An
By Brooks Barnes
This was featured in live coverage.
By Brooks Barnes
The musical adaptation of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel seemed an instant hit, but it sold less than $5 million in tickets in its second weekend.
By Brooks Barnes
Stars are increasingly vocal about political issues, but the Mideast conflict has divided Hollywood, magnifying the choice of whether to discuss the topic or remain silent.
By Brooks Barnes
A shipping advisory that Maersk released on Wednesday showed that several of its vessels were headed for the Suez Canal, which lies at the northern end of the Red Sea and handles about 12 percent of world trade.
By Peter Eavis
Movie audiences flocked to Taylor Swift, “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer” but were cooler toward returning superheroes like the Flash, Captain Marvel and Aquaman.
By Brooks Barnes
She fought to keep control of her family’s media empire. Now she’s considering an exit as financial pressures mount.
By Benjamin Mullin
The animated tale was both controversial and an Oscar-winning box office hit. It’s also one of the rare films from that era that the company isn’t eager to remake.
By Brooks Barnes
Nelson Peltz, who feels the company’s stock is languishing and that leadership succession planning has been mishandled, is in his second proxy battle with the entertainment giant in two years.
By Lauren Hirsch and Brooks Barnes
“Barbie” led the nominations with nine, followed by “Oppenheimer” with eight. In the television categories, “Succession” had the most with nine.
By Brooks Barnes
The SAG-AFTRA vote formally ends six months of labor strife, though some members were not happy about the contract’s artificial intelligence protections.
By Brooks Barnes
James Gorman, Morgan Stanley’s chief executive, and Jeremy Darroch, who ran the British TV company Sky, will join early next year.
By Brooks Barnes
Few misdemeanor cases go this far, but the actor, a rising Hollywood star before his arrest, wants to salvage his reputation.
By Jonah E. Bromwich
Sarandon, the Academy Award-winning actress, was dropped by United Talent Agency. Separately, Melissa Barrera lost her role in the “Scream” movies for Instagram posts about Israel.
By Marc Tracy and Brooks Barnes
Disney, Apple, Paramount and Lionsgate halted marketing on X, formerly Twitter, as Elon Musk faced a furor over antisemitic abuse on his social media platform.
By Ryan Mac, Brooks Barnes and Tiffany Hsu
It will be the late-night comedian’s fourth time as M.C. of the awards ceremony, which won back some viewers last year.
By Brooks Barnes
“The Marvels” cost about $300 million to make and market and arrived to $47 million in domestic sales.
By Brooks Barnes
The SAG-AFTRA board voted on Friday to send the agreement with studios to its members for a ratification process that will end in early December.
By Brooks Barnes and Nicole Sperling
With the industry hustling to make up for months of lost work, juggling production schedules and the availability of actors and crew members will be complicated.
By Nicole Sperling
Celebratory feelings are competing with resentment over the work stoppage and worries about the business era that is coming.
By Brooks Barnes
The agreement all but ends one of the longest labor crises in the history of the entertainment industry. Union members still have to approve the deal.
By Brooks Barnes, John Koblin and Nicole Sperling
The company will pay at least $8.61 billion to Comcast, which owned a 33 percent stake of the popular streaming service.
By Brooks Barnes
The entertainment companies are growing optimistic that the work stoppage may end soon, though some issues remain unresolved, people briefed on the matter said.
By Brooks Barnes
“Five Nights at Freddy’s,” which sold an estimated $78 million in tickets at North American theaters, reinforced moviegoers’ desire for something other than a sequel.
By Brooks Barnes
The response to the Oct. 7 assault, and to Israel’s retaliation, has revealed a schism in the entertainment world that many did not realize was there.
By Nicole Sperling and Brooks Barnes
Grace Jabbari, who accused the actor of assaulting her in a car, was herself arrested on a countercomplaint.
By Ed Shanahan
The lives of hundreds of thousands of crew members have been upended, and even a deal between the actors and the studios might not help much in the short term.
By Brooks Barnes and Nicole Sperling
The pop star’s concert film, arriving in theaters on Friday, is expected to break box office records. “The fever and scale is unprecedented,” one analyst said.
By Brooks Barnes
Ms. Ormond also sued Creative Artists Agency, which represented her at the time, and Disney, which owned Mr. Weinstein’s Miramax.
By Nicole Sperling and Brooks Barnes
The Pixar film struggled at the box office initially. It has now made $500 million, but not before prompting the studio to re-examine its release strategy.
By Brooks Barnes
The session on Monday was the first in more than two months and included top industry executives.
By Brooks Barnes
Duncan Crabtree-Ireland, the lead negotiator for SAG-AFTRA, will be a key player as the guild begins talks with the studios again on Monday.
By Nicole Sperling
The leadership of the Writers Guild of America voted to end a 148-day strike. Members will start voting on the deal’s ratification next week.
By Brooks Barnes
The studios and the actors’ union haven’t spoken for more than two months, but a deal is needed before the entertainment industry can fully return.
By John Koblin, Nicole Sperling and Brooks Barnes
The Writers Guild of America got most of what it wanted. With actors still on picket lines, however, much of Hollywood will remain shut down.
By Brooks Barnes and John Koblin
The writers’ agreement could expedite negotiations, as some of SAG-AFTRA’s concerns are similar to ones raised by the Writers Guild.
By Brooks Barnes
This was featured in live coverage.
By Brooks Barnes and John Koblin
A third straight day of bargaining between the studios and the union ended without an agreement. Talks continued on Saturday.
By Brooks Barnes and John Koblin
The studios and writers plan to return on Friday for a third straight day of talks but remain apart on several points.
By Nicole Sperling
The stalemate is in its fifth month, and talks between the union and the Hollywood studios resumed for the first time since August.
By Nicole Sperling
Amid uncertainty for the company’s film and TV divisions, the investment over the next decade doubles the outlay in the last 10 years.
By Brooks Barnes
Casey Wasserman had long pledged to stay away from the traditional entertainment business, but he said a new media landscape changed his thinking.
By Brooks Barnes
The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers said the union had asked for a meeting, which would be the first in nearly a month.
By Brooks Barnes
Some showrunners, eager for progress in the Hollywood strike, want the Writers Guild of America to meet with studios. How much sway they still have is in question.
By John Koblin, Nicole Sperling and Brooks Barnes