The Biggest Entertainment News Stories Of 2017

‘Batman’: Matt Reeves enters the picture, Ben Affleck leaves? DC doesn’t know what it wants
It’s been a bad year for Warner Bros.’ DC Entertainment Universe. You have “Wonder Woman” course correct that negative narrative in a big way with its summer box office bonanza, but all that good will earned is pretty much torn down when “Justice League” disappoints big time and is laughed at for its various issues including embarrassing sort-of-erased-out Superman mustache. But don’t forget things were a mess at the beginning of 2017 too and it was a roller coaster for Batman. Ben Affleck dropped out of directing “The Batman” early in the year, stoking rumors he was leaving the role, then Matt Reeves, the celebrated director of the ‘Apes’ movies that came aboard “rescuing” the movie in many fans’ minds. But then Reeves was planning on doing a complete stand-alone movie totally separate for the “Justice League” films and he allegedly wanted a different actor entirely to make that clear (Jake Gyllenhaal’s name was floated), so where does that leave Affleck? The bottom line? It sure sounds like the DCEU has no idea what it wants other than hits. When “Wonder Woman” hits? Pivot towards her, expand her role in “Justice League” and make sure “Wonder Woman 2” is the universe’s first proper sequel out of the gate. But how is that a way to work? Just drive in whatever direction works at the box office? This seemingly desperate approach is further illustrated with what’s going on in the DCEU development world. So Matt Reeves is doing a stand-alone Batman film because Affleck is eventually leaving? Or because they could pivot to that world in case that Batman takes off? Then DCEU is developing ALL kinds of movies including a separate Joker movie (huh?) that won’t feature Jared Leto from “Suicide Squad” and a whole cadre of seemingly disparate films, “Shazam,” “Nightwing,” “Gotham City Sirens,” “Flashpoint” (which could reboot the whole universe and basically help them jettison whatever isn’t working) and “Green Lantern” to name just a few. WB will tell you it has a plan, but from the outside, it sure looks like a “throw everything at the wall and see what sticks” approach.

Jim Gianopulos takes over Paramount
To quote a famous Paramount release, “Just when I thought I was out they pull me back in!” No, Jim Gianopulos didn’t have to be coaxed into taking the reigns of Paramount Pictures from Brad Grey (he actually went up against some stiff competition for the job), but as with Alan Horn’s hiring at Disney a few years ago it proves that for all of the “change” in the industry good managers are hard to find.  Gianopulos spent over 20 years at 20th Century Fox and ran the studio alongside Tom Rothman (now at Sony Pictures) for 12 years and then on his own for another four. He was eventually pushed out and replaced by former Universal and DreamWorks topper Stacy Snider. At Paramount, he inherits a studio that is starving for franchises and his first order of business was to let go of president of the motion picture group Marc Evans and the head of marketing and distribution, Megan Colligan, who championed prestige players such as “Fences,” “The Big Short” and “Nebraska” over the years (Colligan has said she intends to sue over gender bias and discrimination). Her absence is a bad sign for a studio that was consistently trying to balance “Transformers” and “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles” installments with adult skewing dramas (many of which were actually profitable). Viacom has dictated that Paramount develop more tentpoles around properties from their Nickelodeon and MTV brands (a staple of the late ‘90s and early ‘00s, but hardly inspiring). 2018 will let the industry and Viacom’s shareholders know whether Gianopulos can really guide the studio back in a more corporate friendly direction.

“The Good Doctor” and “Young Sheldon” are massive hits
If you’re not watching the new Freddie Highmore drama “The Good Doctor” you can probably find someone in your family who is. Inspired by a Korean production of the same name, the ABC series has reached 9-11 million viewers a week in the coveted 18-49 demo and 15-19 million overall. The show had declined slightly since its premiere, but no one expected this sort of response and its the biggest hit ABC has had in years. At CBS, they have their own breakout with “Young Sheldon.” After a 17 million viewer debut in the 18-49 demo (22.4 million overall) “The Big Bang Theory” spin-off has settled into 11-12 million (15-16 million overall) viewers every week. It isn’t what it was, but both series proved that despite the impact of streaming services network TV isn’t dead yet.

“Wonder Woman” becomes a cultural phenomenon
DC Entertainment and Warner Brothers had a tough go at it with “Justice League” (more on that later), but Patty Jenkins’ “Wonder Woman” surprised even the most optimistic pundits.  Not only did the film gross $821 million worldwide (it will rank behind just “Beauty and the Beast” and “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” among the biggest hits that opened in 2017), but it won over even the most skeptical critics (76 on Metacritic, 92% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes). Jenkins’ origin tale hit a nerve in a global political environment that saw women’s rights under fire and a burgeoning movement for genuine equality across the board. Little girls flocked to theaters and politicians looked to it for inspiration. Even Marvel heroes praised its success. The movie has been cited as inspiring women in numerous endeavors and has transcended its original commercial aspirations becoming a social justice rallying cry . Warner Bros. needs massive credit for beginning an out of the box marketing campaign over a year beforehand, but the success of “Wonder Woman” proved once again that female directors should be given the same opportunities white male directors are (without going to movie jail after one misfire) and that the movies can inspire like almost no other art form today.

“Girls Trip” proves to Hollywood that women can fuel the box office…again
After the “surprise” success of Universal Pictures’ “Girls Trip” ($115 million in the U.S. alone), there were a slew of news reports about how the movie industry doesn’t understand the power of female driven comedies with non-white leads at the box office. Almost six months later and there’s still a question of whether that message will register. You only have to look at the career of one of “Girls Trip” leads, Queen Latifah, to see how easy it is for executives to dismiss WOC as mainstream movie stars. After some supporting roles in a number of smaller studio flicks, the former MC was in another “surprise” blockbuster, 2003’s “Bringing Down the House.” For some reason, however, a majority of the credit for that flick’s success went to co-star Steve Martin. Latifah had a misfire with 2004’s “Taxi” (thanks Jimmy Fallon), but hit a triple with “The Last Holiday” two years later.  Still, Latifah’s big screen career seemed to fade for no apparent reason.  Not only was she mostly relegated to supporting roles in “broad” movies (see “Hairspray,” “What Happens in Vegas”) but her leading roles were lower budget comedies marketed almost entirely to African-American audiences. It was almost like the studios just began to assume films Latifah toplined couldn’t cross over to other moviegoers. It almost sounds like a self-fulfilling prophecy doesn’t it?  (Intriguingly, Latifah’s “Bessie” only got made at HBO after 22 years of studio turnaround).  The question is whether an industry almost entirely focused on tentpoles and cheap horror films/thrillers will finally figure it out.  Considering there hasn’t been a hint of a “Girl’ Trip” sequel or even reuniting the four actresses in another film we’re slightly concerned. Then again, “Girls Trip” breakout Tiffany Haddish does star opposite Kevin Hart in next year’s “Night School.” But another movie with WOC driving the story? Again, we’re concerned.

Annapurna roars to life with James Bond in its sights
Megan Ellison is making her move. After six years financing and developing acclaimed films such as Paul Thomas Anderson’s “The Master,” Spike Jonze’s “Her” and Mike Mills’ “20th Century Women” her Annapurna shingle expanded to house its own marketing and distribution departments. The bet is that Ellison’s good taste (she’s approaching Rudin-level at this point) and (almost) limitless financial backing can turn Annapurna into a mini-major along the lines of Lionsgate or The Weinstein Company at its height. In 2017 the company had three releases including Kathryn Bigelow’s “Detroit.” They were hardly box office successes, but set the stage for a deal with MGM to distribute the lion’s new releases and, potentially, the next James Bond film.  If the latter truly comes to pass than Annapurna will have more clout — especially with distributors — than Ellison and her team ever dreamed of.