Welcome back to the delayed post-Oscars edition of What I’m Hearing. Honestly, I’m pretty exhausted, so it’ll be a somewhat shorter issue today…

🚨🚨Oscar ratings contest winners! Congrats to Hannah Kitziger, a development executive, and Janie Smith, a Toronto fan of The Town, who both guessed 19.3 million viewers, which was the closest to the actual 19.5 million number without going over. Some status-defining Puck merch is in the mail, and my take on the Oscar numbers is below…

Programming note: I did a bunch of Oscars-related media hits this week that nobody cares about after the show, but NPR’s Planet Money episode on awards campaigning is worth a listen. On The Town, Lucas Shaw and I gave our post-Oscars studio rankings and looked for meaning in the film hires at Netflix and Disney, Lauren Sherman explained which fashion brands won the season, and manager Michael Lasker provided a primer on how to gamble on the Oscars. Take notes for next year! Subscribe here and here.

Also, my Puck colleague Tara Palmeri was great on Real Time With Bill Maher on Friday. You can get her election podcast Somebody’s Gotta Win here, and the Puck politics newsletter, The Best & The Brightest, is free for Puck members. Just go to your settings and add it.

Not yet a Puck member? Click here to fix that problem. Got a news tip or an idea for me? Just reply to this email.

Discussed in this issue: Brian Roberts, Jimmy Kimmel, Bryan Lourd, Christopher Nolan, Nelson Peltz, Al Pacino, Nate Parker, Ron Burkle, John Branca, Bob Iger, Ryan Gosling, Mark Shapiro, Jason Kilar, Diane Warren, and… Beyoncé’s caviar bowl.

But first…

Funny: Like everyone, Langley was confused by Al Pacino’s bizarre “and my eyes see Oppenheimer” reading. So much so that, per one eyewitness, she had to be tapped on the shoulder and told that her movie had indeed been named best picture. (More on Langley and the strategy that led to this moment, below.)

Speaking of…maybe Joe Biden should present?: After the Pacino and Warren Beatty flubs, many seem to think the Academy should ban 80-plus acting legends from presenting best picture. I’m as ageist as anyone in this town, but let’s not forget that Jane Fonda, then 82, had zero problems announcing Parasite in 2020, and Harrison Ford, then 80, was slow yet flub-free last year, despite the mouthful of Everything Everywhere All at Once. Maybe if there’s a competence question, the Academy can designate a helper—call it a “vice presenter”?—like how Liza Minnelli had Lady Gaga for support in 2022.

Runner-up: “I think this WBD-ESPN combination with Fox is a big nothing. That’s what it is. It’s a big nothing.”
—Mark Shapiro, the Endeavor president, on the new “Spulu” sports bundle that Fox C.E.O. Lachlan Murdoch predicted would sign up only 5 million subscribers in the first five years. (Increasingly, I’m inclined to agree.)

Now a few more light observations on last night’s show from inside the Dolby Theater… I promise no more Oscars stuff, starting Thursday…

Granted, most multiplexes were closed then, and the move did benefit what was then a fledgling streaming service in those heady days of the streaming wars. But not only did the move leave no doubt that Hollywood intended to nuke its former, very good business model in favor of a decidedly less good business model, it also pissed off the town so badly that Nolan felt compelled to become its spokesman. Warner Bros., the Tenet filmmaker announced, had gone from the “greatest movie studio” to “the worst streaming service.” It was a great quote—even if there were (and still are) a couple far worse streamers at the time—and one that was indicative of the 100 percent predictable anger among the creative class. A 20-year relationship had been severed, Nolan took his next film to Universal, and film chair Donna Langley and her marketing and distribution teams hit Oppenheimer out of the park—helped in part, and more than a bit ironically, by the Warner Bros. hit Barbie.

Now, even with Kilar long gone, WarnerMedia pawned to Discovery, the direct-to-streaming strategy reversed, and the film leadership of Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy offering overtures from the “new” Warner Bros., Nolan seems entrenched at his neighboring home. Hollywood itself is not what it was in those stock-inflated days of Project Popcorn—now it’s a business in search of a viable business model. But it’s notable that Nolan and his studio benefactor succeeded creatively and financially the old-fashioned way, not via some innovative strategy. They went super old-school at a time when the studios were all-in on “the future.” Now what’s the future?

A few other light Oscars observations from my seat in the mezzanine at the Dolby…

• Barbenheimer ratings barely bounced: Honestly, I thought the tune-in of 19.5 million for last night’s show would be higher, given that two of the top three highest-grossing movies of the year were battling for best picture. (Last year lured 18.8 million Live+Same Day, so this is a 4 percent bump… yawn.) The early start time and daylight saving probably played a role, and there wasn’t a lot in the first hour of the telecast to pop on social media and lure a casual viewer. One veteran of awards shows wondered via text why producers didn’t put Ryan Gosling’s “I’m Just Ken” song earlier to generate more social buzz. It might have helped the show pick up audience. Instead, producers chose to tease and delay the big lure, hoping to keep existing telecast viewers tuned in. Very traditional… but with middling results.
• More ratings red flags: Not mentioned in the academy’s press release: viewership in the 18-49 demo actually declined, to 5.03 million from 5.32 million last year. Not putting the show live on Hulu is obviously hurting younger tune-in, as I’ve been shouting about.
• The kost of all that Kenergy: As I mentioned a couple months ago, Warner Bros. and the Academy disagreed on who should pay the lion’s share of the production costs for the Barbie songs during the show. It’s become customary for the studio behind the film to share the load, especially when Gosling was joined by the well-known (and expensive) Slash and Wolfgang Van Halen, plus dozens and dozens of tuxedoed dancers. The solution? Mattel paid for a big chunk of the showstopper, I’m told.
• Speaking of…: Did anyone else notice that winners Billie Eilish and Finneas thanked Mattel C.E.O. Ynon Kreiz but nobody at Warner Bros.? Also hilarious: Finneas thanked Paul Wachter, his investment adviser, before thanking anyone else. (Yes, yes, I did notice that Chris Nolan thanked his agent Dan Aloni and lawyer Michael Schenkman but not his publicist Kelly Bush Novak.)
• There’s always a better party, CAA edition (part two): Since the Motion Picture & Television Fund launched the Night Before event in 2003, there’s always been a quasi-unwritten rule that the studios and agencies avoid throwing big competing parties on Oscars Eve. (By the way, congrats to the MPTF for raising $4.3 million at this year’s event.) As I mentioned Thursday, CAA violated that ceasefire with a starry get-together at C.E.O. Bryan Lourd’s house on Saturday, the night after CAA’s supposed Oscar party at Sunset Tower. Who went? I was not invited, but per multiple sources, J.J. Abrams and Barry Diller (in a tracksuit!) were both falling over themselves to chat up V.P. Kamala Harris; Margot Robbie had a hard time getting in her car to leave because of paparazzi outside; a full Disney contingent of Bob Iger, Alan Bergman and Dana Walden attended; Paramount’s Brian Robbins; plus a host of producers both relevant (Jason Blum) and, uh, less relevant (Brian Grazer); Universal’s Donna Langley, Warners’ Pam Abdy, CAA stalwarts like Harrison Ford, Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, and Demi Moore, holding court with Salma Hayek-Pinault, wife of Lourd’s new boss, luxury goods billionaire François-Henri Pinault.
• Fifteenth time wasn’t the charm: Diane Warren gets dragged sometimes for attaching her awards-bait power ballads to random movies in pursuit of an Oscar. But it’s not her fault she’s been nominated a record 15 times without winning, this year for “The Fire Inside” from the Flamin’ Hot Cheetos movie (which I promise was a real movie and not, as someone joked on Twitter, a Jenna Maroney gig on 30 Rock). What was Warren’s fault, however, was the mini-tantrum she threw after presenter Ariana Grande skipped the names and credits of all five best original song nominees before revealing “What Was I Made For?” as the winner. According to two eyewitnesses, Warren was so pissed at not being mentioned there, she leapt from her seat and started running around the orchestra level looking for board of governors members to complain to. Eva Longoria, director of Flamin’ Hot, saw the unfolding scene and bailed for the lobby.
• AND he was in Shawshank: Nobody ever tips the staff at the Governors Ball. Nobody except Tim Robbins, who nobly slipped a bartender a $20 bill for a cocktail.
• As many expected, Killers of the Flower Moon’s non-nominated star Leonardo DiCaprio indeed no-showed the Oscars in favor of a few afterparties. But Matt Damon’s absence from the show, while popping up at Vanity Fair, was a bit more surprising. He’s buds with Kimmel, and his movie, Oppenheimer, was a shoo-in to win picture. A few people have told me that Damon was really put off by how the Academy handled The Slap two years ago, but who knows if that’s the reason he’s avoided the show since.
• How big were the spoons?: I also wasn’t invited to Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s Gold Party, held as usual in the basement parking lot at the Chateau. But it featured a caviar bowl that was described to me as “soccer ball-sized.”
• Oddest sighting: Yes, that was Nate Parker, the Birth of a Nation filmmaker whose resurfaced college rape trial derailed his Oscar run back in 2016, cruising around the Governors Ball. I was surprised to see him, but apparently Parker is a semi-regular at Academy functions, and he popped up at the Governors Awards as well. No word why, but he’s often chatting with Bird Runningwater, an AMPAS member.
• And finally, the biggest flex of the night: Amid the commotion and all the huge names swirling around in the green room backstage, Al Pacino was sitting alone, casually reading the Sunday New York Times, not talking to anyone.

TruTV is now a sports network! It’s gonna be amusing to watch all these pointless cable networks try to similarly rebrand themselves to avoid being dropped by distributors. [L.A. Times]

Jason Cloth, the Canadian banker who funneled money into Joker producer Bron Studios and a bunch of other indie outfits, is accused of bilking unsuspecting Illinois investors in a Ponzi scheme. [ABC Chicago]

Bowie Bonds for the masses: A startup is offering securities backed by the royalty revenue streams of hits by Beyoncé, U2, and Taylor Swift, many from a catalog sold by producer Ryan Tedder. [WSJ]

Casey Wasserman details the coming chaos in the world of college sports as TV money basically destroys everything. [Bill Simmons Podcast]

Good candidate for who won awards season: Matt Friend, the young impressionist whose red carpet mimicry of Paul Giamatti, Kieran Culkin, and Howard Stern is getting him a ton of offers. [WaPo]

And now here’s our box office expert Scott Mendelson with a little more analysis on Donna Langley’s big night…

That victory rested upon releasing 12 films in 2023 (and another 10 from Focus) compared to 12 films from Disney (including three 20th Century titles) and another four from Searchlight, which makes market share a historically inelegant way to declare who “won” a year. But those Universal releases were big (Fast X, with $705 million in box office on a whopping $340 million budget) and small (Five Nights at Freddy’s, with $291 million on a $20 million budget), and somewhere in the middle. (The Super Mario Bros. Movie, which earned $1.36 billion, and Oppenheimer, at $960 million, cost around $100 million each.) When paired with last night’s Oscar triumph, these wins essentially affirm that Universal is not just the top-earning theatrical studio, but also the healthiest, the most diverse, and, with the backing of Comcast C.E.O. Brian Roberts, likely the safest.

Studio chief Donna Langley’s decades working in the film division, and the long tenures of key lieutenants, has helped her sell Universal as a safe place for prestige filmmakers like The Daniels, Jordan Peele, James Wan, and Nolan, who want to make non-franchise films at studio programmer budgets. It’s hardly a surprise that she was recently elevated to chief content officer, charged with overseeing all of NBCUniversal’s entertainment division, including much of the television unit.

But Universal’s recent success isn’t just about Langley’s mastery of the Polo Lounge air-kissing scene. It’s also rooted in tactical management, like Universal’s PVOD plan, a pet project of former NBCUniversal C.E.O. Jeff Shell, which saw the studio offering theatrical releases for digital rental at $20 per, as little as 17 days after they debuted on the big screen. Four years in, this maneuver (which has been broadly copycatted) has not seemed to cannibalize theatrical success and has also provided a new revenue stream that supports projects like Ambulance. And since films rarely score on PVOD without first hitting theaters, this strategy has widened the safety net for a variety of projects.

Continue reading online...

“This attempted rehabilitation of a full-on child molester is nauseating and needs to be resisted. The evidence could not be more clear. My only criticism is of your attempt to walk the line on [Howard] Weitzman and other enablers. Yes, everyone deserves a defense, but what he, [John] Branca, all the producers, record companies, and trust beneficiaries have done is no different than what the Republican politicians are doing in ignoring January 6th: putting self-interest in front of public interest. Squelching of those who speak out leads to more staying silent. Why do you think Russell Simmons is still out eating at vegan restaurants?” —A filmmaker

“I really encourage you to do more research on the Jackson cases and the evidence actually submitted [at trial]. Nothing was ever proven beyond bad optics.” —A lawyer

“LGF [Lionsgate] has done this many times, taking films that are too controversial for studios and making tons of money [Examples: Michael Moore’s Fahrenheit 9/11, Bill Maher’s Religulous, Lee Daniels’ Precious.] The chattering class will clutch their pearls, but LGF will moonwalk all the way to the bank.” —An investor

“When I shared my story in 2017, I was terrified to say it out loud. I consulted a lawyer. He said it very simply: They can’t win a defamation suit against you if you are telling the truth.” —A Hollywood childhood sexual assault survivor

“If what you reported stays in the film, sounds to me like a boon for lawyers. You can't defame a dead person, but most of Jackson’s alleged victims are still alive. And, if the film says or implies they are lying about their allegations against Jackson, they are presumably off to the legal races. If E. Jean Carroll can get nearly $100 million from Donald Trump when he said she lied about being assaulted, how much will a jury award individuals who are abused children portrayed as lying about their accusations in a film that grossed a billion dollars, for companies that have much more?” —A former executive

“Is it weird that Ron Burkle bought Neverland?!” —An executive

A quick fix: One of the links in Thursday’s item comparing the white papers of Nelson Peltz’s “Restoring the Magic” crusade at Disney and Elliot Management’s “Restoring the Castle” campaign deck was broken. Here’s Peltz’s missive and the Elliot presentation. Notice anything similar?

Got a question, comment, complaint, or your secret Oscar night odyssey? Email me at Matt@puck.news or call/text me at 310-804-3198.