Memo: To Rich Ross
From: Peter Bart

Now that you have joined the elite fraternity of studio chiefs, Rich, I trust that you are prepared, not only for the highs of the job, but also for the hazards. The Disney empire embodies a great brand, but these are tough times to take over any top corporate job. Apart from the soft economy, you must also confront the residual shockwaves triggered by the abrupt departure of Dick Cook, who had his long-term allies in your corporate family.

The creative community is eager to find out, Rich, how you will go about balancing the formidable power players of the Magic Kingdom — Lasseter, Spielberg, Bruckheimer and the like. They, and others, will compete for resources, prime release dates, generous P&A allocations and plain old ego space. Cook seemed talented at managing these power pods even though he was not great at returning phone calls.

And while Bob Iger has gained respect for infusing corporate discipline and civility, he has yet to demonstrate his skills at mobilizing creative energies. Michael Eisner, who came to power 25 years ago at Disney, emphasized toleration  for a “core of craziness” within any creative business — one that must be leveraged with appropriate controls and limitations. While Eisner won admiration for instilling innovative energy, some felt he also exacerbated the “craziness” by his own idiosyncratic behavior.

Traumatic events like the death of Frank Wells, the departure of Jeffrey Katzenberg and the operatic fall of Michael Ovitz created a certain paranoia within the Disney organization, one that Iger has seemed successful in overcoming. But, still, Disney is a company that is re-inventing itself, and that process itself causes a systemic nervousness that can inhibit creativity.

These are issues you will have to deal with, Rich, along with the customary tribulations of your position. For example:

- As deals get tougher at every level of the entertainment economy, you will be the “heavy,” not the hero, in most negotiations.

- You are regarded as a “TV person,” Rich, and filmmakers are worried whether you understand their problems. “He’s great at kids’ TV, but can he cope with the stresses of $100 million movies?” asks one of your producers.

- You’ve operated in the past within a protective corporate cocoon, Rich, but in your new job your every comment will be magnified by the press and by snarky bloggers. You will feel that the media wants you to fail, and to some degree you are correct.

Though your road ahead is filled with potholes, here’s the good news: The Disney empire, Rich, is the powerhouse of global entertainment. Roy Disney liked to say that he hated the concept of “branding,” but you have an amazing brand on which to build and the worldwide family audience has proved to be a loyal one.

That will provide you with an enormous cover, Rich, but that protection has its limits. The explosion of the DVD business helped fuel a spectacular boom in Hollywood, one that lifted the community’s expectations and appetites. But now that the air has gone out of the DVD balloon, and the gap between the demands of the corporations and those of the artists who contribute the content is causing a toxic atmosphere.

So that’s the potential trap, Rich: You can’t let the toxic times ruin the great gig. We wish you good luck on that venture, ’cause you’ll need it.

While speculation is running high on who’ll host the Oscarcast, it won’t be Hugh Jackman.

Jackman, who’s currently starring on Broadway with Daniel Craig in the drama “A Steady Rain,” quietly turned down the job within the past several weeks, sources said.

Jackman made his first hosting appearance last year, for exec producers Laurence Mark and Bill Condon, in an inspired turn. He may return in the future, but didn’t want to go back to back, sources said.

Once his Broadway run ends, Jackman will take time off and prepare for “Real Steel,” the Shawn Levy-directed DreamWorks drama that will begin production next spring.

The Oscarcast will be exec produced by Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman.

Anthony Hopkins has been cast in “Thor,” the Marvel Studios production that begins production in January.

Hopkins will play Odin, the king of Asgard and the father of Thor and Loki. Chris Hemsworth is playing Thor, and Tom Hiddelston plays his nemesis, Loki. The pic is directed by Kenneth Branagh.

Natalie Portman is also set to play Thor’s love interest, Jane Foster.

The pic was scripted by Mark Protosevich and Zack Stentz & Ashley Miller. The Mighty Thor is a powerful but arrogant warrior of Asgard, but after his reckless actions reignite an ancient war, his father banishes him to Earth to live among humans. He learns the meaning of heroism when he stands tall as his arch enemy from home sends the darkest forces of Asgard to invade Earth.

Kevin Feige is producing.

Stentz & Miller are "Fringe" writer/producers.

Paramount Pictures will distribute the film May 20, 2011.

Hopkins will next be seen starring with Benicio Del Toro in the Joe Johnston-directed "The Wolfman," which Universal releases next February, and the Woody Allen-directed "You Will Meet A Tall Dark Stranger." He's repped by UTA.

In his first big deal since staking his GK Films to a three-year multi-pic output deal with Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group, Graham King has committed to finance and produce “The Tourist,” the Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck-directed thriller that will star Angelina Jolie and Sam Worthington.

Production begins February, and Sony Pictures Entertainment will release in 2011.  

King emerged with a film that had three other studios chasing it.

King’s GK Films will produce with Spyglass, which developed the remake of the 2005 French thriller “Anthony Zimmer.”

King will produce the picture with Tim Headington, Gary Barber, Roger Birnbaum and Jonathan Glickman. The pic was originally scripted by Julian Fellowes, with rewrites by Christopher McQuarrie and Jeffrey Nachmanoff.

Deal gives Sony Pictures Entertainment two films in a row with Jolie, who most recently completed “Salt,” the Phillip Noyce-directed thriller.

The deal ends a long twisting road for a picture that, like “Salt,” was once built around Tom Cruise but now has the Oscar-winning Jolie as its catalyst. Cruise once planned to star with Charlize Theron for director Bharat Nalluri, a scheme that went south when Cruise instead committed to team with Cameron Diaz on the James Mangold-directed “Knight & Day” for Fox. 

Jolie’s interest kick-started the project recently, and she sparked to working with von Donnersmarck, whose last film, the 2006 “The Lives of Others,” won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film. 

GK Films COO Bahman Naraghi made the deal with Spyglass.

King most recently produced the Martin Campbell-directed “Edge of Darkness,” the Mel Gibson-starrer that Warner Bros. releases January 29, 2009. With Johnny Depp’s Infinitum Nihil, King produced “The Rum Diary” with Depp starring, and wrapped the William Monahan-directed “London Boulevard” with Colin Farrell and Keira Knightley. King also produced with Martin Scorsese, Headington and Sarah Fergun “The Young Victoria,” which Bob Berney’s Apparition opens in December, with Emily Blunt starring.

The Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions Group continues to add solid pictures to the Columbia Pictures release schedule. SPWAG, which got in on the ground floor of the sleeper hit "District 9," pacted with CBS Films for the George Tillman-directed "Faster," which has Dwayne Johnson and Billy Bob Thornton starring. The pic also begins production early next year and will be ready for 2011. 

 
Any day now we’ll learn how Vivendi plans to deal with its holdings in NBC Universal, but to my mind the lasting image of Vivendi remains that of Jean-Marie Messier holding forth on the glories of “convergence.”

The one-time Vivendi boss and “master of the universe,” has just been ordered to stand trial in Paris, accused of misleading investors in what was formerly a stodgy water utility. Messier may also stand trial in a class action lawsuit filed in New York.

A short, arrogant man with limitless self-confidence, Messier would have loved to be guiding the fusion of NBC Universal with Comcast, but instead is facing a sea of legal problems.

Messier was the subject of one of the most unpleasant interviews I ever had – a meeting at Universal’s Black Tower when he was the reigning boss of Universal. I went up to see Messier with my then colleague, Elizabeth Guider, who’s now editor of the Hollywood Reporter.

I had invited Guider to join me because I had heard Messier was difficult and contentious and I could depend on Guider’s gifts of diplomacy to keep me out of trouble.

About fifteen minutes into our meeting I knew I’d guessed wrong. Messier was lecturing us both about his vision of how convergence would transform the global media industry, and how he would emerge as the winner, and Guider was becoming agitated.

Messier was holding forth nonstop. There was no pause for questions. His tone was magisterial. His treatise was dogmatic and fatuous.

Finally both Guider and I lost it. We found ourselves engaged in an open argument with Messier, and not a courteous one. He was interrupting us and we were interrupting him.

After about ten disputatious minutes, Guider and I got to our feet, thanked him for the meeting and marched out. Messier seemed both puzzled and pissed. Why were these journalists walking out on him?

Within months the Messier Myth was in collapse. Vivendi shares lost more than 80% of their value. Investigators charged that the company had issued false financial data.

I never really understood Messier’s message of convergence. All I really understood was that his vision and his career imploded.

The Hollywood Awards show will always have its detractors, but it has settled into its own idiosyncratic groove. As Nora Ephron said, in accepting the screen writers award, “thanks to whatever it is” – the “whatever” being the organization voting the award. “Star Trek” received an online award, but the constituency was unclear, and the director and star of “Precious” won all sorts of accolades, even though only one or two people in the room had heard of it or seen it.

Still, the redoubtable Carlos de Abreu keeps bringing out the celebs – Hillary Swank, Steven Spielberg, Robert De Niro et al – even though it’s all a bit impromptu. Two of the major “presenters” with whom I spoke were notified of their assignments less than two hours before the event.

Still the mood was cheerful at the Starz After Party, and much of the assemblage seemed grateful that the award season had gotten underway. The grumpiness of past years protesting that the awards were premature – the two biggest months of the year are still at hand – have faded. Bolstered by a three-year Starz deal (2 years left), the Festival clearly is now a fixture.

What ever happened to Anderson Cooper? A couple of years ago he was the bright new face of cable news, the man who was going to dent the doldrums at CNN with his wit and wisdom. According to the New York Times, Cooper, who a year ago was the ratings leader at 10pm, is now in fourth place among cablers behind, of all people, Nancy Grace on CNN-owned HLN, Greta Van Susteren on Fox and Keith Olbermann’s repeats on MSNBC.

There are explanations, to be sure. CNN as a whole has tumbled into last place in cable news and its apologists (including Jon Klein, the boss) keep telling us it’s just the news cycle – CNN needs elections or disasters to remain pertinent.

Then, too, there’s the issue of ideology. Fox’s ratings have benefited from its sheer shrillness – Sean Hannity’s voice is measurably close to the sound of chalk on a blackboard – and MSNBC has been energized as the voice of the counter-culture. Keith Olbermann in particular spends more time ridiculing Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly than he does presenting the news.

Still, it’s surprising to see Anderson Cooper disappear into the ideological mist. Cooper himself seems bored, if not robotic from time to time. Further, the convention of “panels” seems pathetically outdated – the same talking heads saying exactly what you know they will say. Cooper’s format is failing him, and so are his producers.

Though development has all but disappeared at some studios, New Regency is putting a busy development program in place and plans to produce as many as four movies during the first half of next year.

Since undergoing a top-to-bottom management makeover last year, the company has put 25 projects into active development. It’s also canceled some 40 others.

Among the films slated to start production, to be distributed through 20th Century Fox or Fox Searchlight, are these:

- “Medieval,” a period action film to be directed by Rob Cohen;

- “Salmon Fishing in the Yemen,” to be directed by Bill Condon and penned by Simon Beaufoy;

-  “Mother Trucker,” to be directed by Craig Brewer.

Also on the immediate horizon are “Beat the Reaper,” with Leonardo DiCaprio attached and Julie Yorn and Appian Way producing; “Flying Tigers,” scripted by Christopher McQuarrie, as a star vehicle for Tom Cruise, who is attached; and “The Last Man,” with David Ayer writing and directing for producers Scott Stuber and Erwin Stoff.

“Our aim is to build a program with a mix of established directors with commercial records and promising young filmmakers who have groundbreaking sensibilities,” said Hutch Parker, the former vice chairman of 20th Century Fox Film Group who was named chairman of Regency in May 2008 alongside Bob Harper.

New Regency is 20% owned by News Corp., and its controlling shareholder is Arnon Milchan. It aims to finance one-third of its films on its own, with one third co-financed with Fox and the remainder backed totally by Fox.

While the company has had a quiet year, it has been involved in three major hits over the past five years. “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” was developed at New Regency and totally funded by the company, while “Marley and Me,” was developed at Fox 2000 and “Alvin and the Chipmunks” was also developed by Fox.

While amping up its features program, New Regency says it’s withdrawn from the television business, where it was once home to the hit Fox laffer “Malcolm in the Middle.”

“We felt that the TV business model has simply not caught up with the marketplace,” Harper said.

New Regency remains one of a small tribe of indie shingles that are substantially self-funded. While Spyglass, Relativity and Summit produce and finance their films at several studios, New Regency has long had its exclusive base at Fox.

As such, it competes for prime dates with other Fox units, such as Fox Searchlight, Fox 2000 and Peter Chernin’s new label, which is becoming active in the feature arena.

 Not that there was ever much doubt about it, but James Cameron clearly has earned the title of King Curmudgeon among the current crop of filmmakers. In a profile in the current issue of The New Yorker, the 55 year old director spews invective, ridicules his critics, chats about his five marriages and admits that, when one studio official offered his friendship, he responded, “Friend? I don’t need friends.”

To be sure, Cameron has admirers but there’s not a long line of candidates for friendship. As such, he seems a likely successor to such tempestuous filmmakers of the past as John Ford or even David Lean, who bridled at any form of creative interference, real or imagined.

Cameron is presently battling execs at Fox over the final details of "Avatar," his $300 million 3-D megapicture which is scheduled for a Dec 18 release. I would not like to be in their shoes.

Cameron admits to what he describes as his “blue collar sensibility,” adding “I do not like it when people are deferential to me because I’m an established filmmaker.” His response is often either to ignore, or insult, anyone who tries deference, or even random conversation.

Leonard Goldberg, former president of Fox, recalls his first meeting with Cameron about “The Abyss,” when Cameron warned “once we embark on this adventure the only way you’ll stop me is to kill me.” Said Goldberg: “You looked in those eyes and you knew he meant it.”

The New Yorker profile, by Dana Goodyear, pays homage to Cameron’s successes and technical proficiency, but concludes “Cameron has an uncanny ability to make people want to see him fail. This is an unheroic characteristic.”

Matt Damon and Josh Brolin are in discussions with Joel and Ethan Coen to join Jeff Bridges in “True Grit,” the re-imagining of the iconic 1969 Western that Paramount Pictures will put into production next March for late 2010 release. 

The Coens, who previously attached their “Big Lebowski” star Bridges to play U.S. marshal Rooster Cogburn, are in talks with Damon to play the lawman (played by Glen Campbell in the original) who teams with Cogburn and a 14-year old girl to track her father’s killer into hostile Indian territory.

In a turnabout, Brolin is in talks to play the killer. The actor’s recent rise was greatly helped playing the good guy in the Coens' Oscar-winning contemporary Western “No Country for Old Men.” Jeff Corey played the killer in the original, and Robert Duvall and Dennis Hopper also played outlaws.

They haven't yet cast the young girl.

The Coens are producing with Scott Rudin and Steven Spielberg. The Coens wrote a script which is more faithful to the Charles Portis novel that inspired the original. 

Though their current pic "A Serious Man" isn't chock full of stars, the Coens continue to draw top actors who want to work in their films.

Damon just wrapped the Clint Eastwood-directed “Invictus” and is shooting the George Nolfi-directed “The Adjustment Bureau.” He's also set to re-team with Eastwood in “Hereafter.” Brolin is shooting the Oliver Stone-directed “Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps,” and then will star in the Asger Leth-directed drama “Cartel.”

Both actors are repped by WME.