Happy Friday! The sun has returned to New York and my succulents are thriving once more. Plus, I’m not at Fyre Festival, so the day’s off to a great start.
Yohana Desta here today (don’t worry, the inimitable Rebecca Keegan is postin’ below). We’ve got a Stephen King renaissance, insane Donald Trump satire, and some wondering about Wonder Woman.
VF.com’s Rebecca Keegan e-mails:
There’s a little movie called Wonder Woman coming out in five weeks, which some folks have been waiting for since they were six. (Like me. Hello! Hi there!) That anticipation may help explain a hot debate percolating online about how much Warner Bros. is or isn’t marketing Wonder Woman relative to its other DC Comics titles. “You Aren’t Imagining It, ‘Wonder Woman’ Really Isn’t Being Well Promoted” reads a headline for a Donna Dickens piece on Uproxx comparing the number of trailers and promotional videos for Wonder Woman relative to last summer’s Suicide Squad and next fall’s Justice League. “The lack of marketing worries me,” writes Shana O’Neil at SyfyWire. “It worries a lot of people who are invested in the success of female superheroes in film and television.”
So… is Warner’s really burying Wonder Woman? Five weeks is a long way out in movie-marketing land. Especially during the crowded popcorn season we’re entering. Let’s look at some data: according to iSpot, which tracks TV advertising, W.B. has spent $3,043,212 so far on ads for Wonder Woman. At five weeks out, the studio had spent $2,645,643 on ads for Suicide Squad. Wonder Woman ads aired during the Kids Choice Awards and the N.C.A.A. finals, and there were promotions for the film at South by Southwest and Wondercon. On Thursday—perhaps hearing the call from fans—the studio dropped two new trailers for the film, one heavy with action and another with wit. So far, at least, Warner Bros. seems to be giving Wonder Woman a fair deal. But if the studio falters in its release, it’s clear there will be an army of braceleted fists shaking about it.
If you’re a classic-film lover, chances are you’re already obsessed with the podcast You Must Remember This, Karina Longworth’s deep dive into Old Hollywood history. The cast celebrated its third anniversary on Thursday, so Longworth spoke to VF.com contributor Elyssa Goodman about the juiciest stories she’s uncovered over the course of her research. The responses are varied and fascinating, ranging from the surprise depth of Carole Landis to the graphic details of the Sharon Tate murder. Step into the past here.
Is Stephen King the most omnipresent author of our time? He’s consistently churning out new material and his work serves as the basis for a number of classic films, from The Shining to Carrie to Stand by Me. His status as a pop-culture icon is strong and certain—but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to stop working any time soon. Blumhouse is getting in on the King proliferation, recently announcing a new remake of the 1984 film Firestarter, based on the King book of the same name. Deadline’s Anthony D’Alessandro has the scoop, noting that Jason Blum made the announcement on Thursday night at the Overlook Film Festival at the Timberline Lodge (yes, the same place Kubrick got exterior shots for The Shining). The new adaptation joins a number of King productions in the works, including the new It remake, the Dark Towers adaptation, and the Hulu series Castle Rock, co-executive produced by J.J. Abrams. In the time it took me to research and write this post, Stephen King has already written, edited, and delivered a new future best-seller to his editor.
Speaking of omnipresent figures . . . Donald Trump sure isn’t going anywhere, is he? Satire about the ratings-obsessed president is becoming its own cottage industry, and Comedy Central has decided to latch onto the craze. On Thursday night, the network launched The President Show, a comedy starring Anthony Atamanuik as the orange commander in chief. VF.com’s Laura Bradley took a look at the inaugural episode, noting that Atamanuik’s Trump impression is a world away from Alec Baldwin’s famous take on Saturday Night Live. Atamanuik does a more literal, full-bodied impression, nailing the presidential man-baby’s grimace and sweeping hand mannerisms. The first episode sees “Trump” grading his first 100 days, giving viewers a tour of New York City (“from the East 50s to the West 50s”), and contemplating the sweet release of death.
It must hurt to be Sony right now. The company’s Pictures division just reported a loss of $719 million for the year of April 2016 to March 2017, per Patrick Frater of Variety. As Sony said in a filing, the loss is a result of low box-office performance from films like Ghostbusters and T2 Trainspotting, plus fluctuating exchange rates and the high cost of network and theatrical marketing and video-on-demand licensing. In case you were wondering, the fourth quarter (this January to March) was the division’s best, raking in “$2.66 billion of revenues and $298 million of operating profit,” Frater writes. Movies released in this period include Life, the space flick starring Ryan Reynolds and Jake Gyllenhaal, Resident Evil: The Final Chapter, and T2 Trainspotting.
That’s it for today! Send your Wonder Woman conspiracy theories and Stephen King recommendations to yohana_desta@condenast.com.
