'Disclosure Day' Comes Up Short, 'Cape Fear' Series Delivers, 'Euphoria' Finale Lands Somewhere in Between

Happy Wednesday, folks!

This weekend, I rewatched Ang Lee’s 1997 drama The Ice Storm, which moved me to tears, as it so often does. It’s easy to forget how packed that movie is with talent — the kids and the adults — and not only does it remain one of Lee’s best films, but it’s nuts that we haven’t gotten one from him since 2019’s Gemini Man. I don’t care how badly that movie flopped, we need Ang Lee making movies again, god dammit!

Meanwhile, I’m going to out myself here as a big old softie, but I also cried watching Office Romance, the new Netflix movie starring Jennifer Lopez and Ted Lasso breakout Brett Goldstein. Office Romance is surprisingly good, and if we’re talking about the best performances of the year, don’t sleep on Betty Gilpin in this movie, as she really brings it and goes for broke. Goldstein is a very charming presence, and with that thatch of chest hair, I really think Marvel should be looking at him for the new Wolverine. As for J-Lo, she’s still got it, honey. Expect huge viewing numbers, as usual…

Elsewhere, there’s a rumor going around that Emma Stone is in talks to star in the Daniels’ new movie featuring Matt Damon. Now, I’ve heard the same rumor, I must admit, but I didn’t think there was much to it, given that Stone is about to start shooting Universal’s romantic comedy The Catch with Chris Pine and… Druski, sigh. Plus, if Stone is in talks, then why was it so important for Universal to find a movie star like Ryan Gosling or Damon to justify the film’s budget? Wouldn’t she justify it on her own?

We’ll see whether that one pans out, but I’m doubtful. I love SNL’s Ashley Padilla as Stone’s sister in The Catch, though!

Finally, there’s been an awful lot of chatter about who made what on Obsession, and TheWrap’s Umberto Gonzalez breaks down the numbers. He reports that Focus will walk away with $125 million, Capstone will take home $45-50 million, and producer Jason Blum made himself a cool $17 million by adding his name to the movie after it was already shot — more than director Curry Barker and the film’s actual producer, Haley Nicole Johnson.

Now, I’ve seen Blum catch shit for this online, but I have to give him credit — he did a hell of a job of helping to sell this movie and turn it into a bona fide event. The Blumhouse imprimatur means something to horror fans, and I think it helped legitimize this low-budget film in their eyes. It may be the easiest $17 million that Blum ever makes, but he made a smart deal for himself, and he certainly earned the money by elevating this film’s profile.

In fact, he may want to give the film’s embattled art director, Sally Choi, a raise, given how she helped keep the chatter going by fanning the flames on social media about her salary — $6700 after taxes for a month’s work, which isn’t bad at all, by the way.

I’ve talked to a bunch of industry folks about this, and we all pretty much settled on the same take.

I’m not sure what Choi was expecting. She took no risk whatsoever. If the movie had tanked or performed as expected, she wouldn’t have said a peep. But it becomes a juggernaut, and suddenly, the rate she agreed to two years ago is bullshit?

99 times out of 100, I’ll side with labor, but in this instance, Choi did a job and got paid for that job. She’s complaining about a bonus in the name of fairness, but since when did fairness have a place in Hollywood?

The biggest bonus I’ve ever received was a $100 Visa gift card from Variety. Maybe a $300 traffic bonus from TheWrap. A lot of people work on indie movies — or run websites, ahem — and never get paid at all.

Choi should be thanking her lucky stars that she has Obsession on her resume, as no one will ever be able to take that credit away from her, even though I do think she shot herself in the foot with her outburst on social media, as that movie might’ve opened a ton of doors for her, many of which may slam shut in the wake of her public tantrum.

Take it from me, Twitter’s not the place to make your stand. These matters are always better dealt with behind closed doors…

By the way, Capstone has said it’s going to spread the wealth among “the creative team,” though in industry speak, that typically means above-the-line players, not below-the-line. However, it’s possible that department heads may receive bonuses. Stay tuned…

Speaking of Obsession, CAA and WME may have passed on Barker back in the day, allowing him to sign with UTA, but believe me, there are war rooms of agents at CAA and WME strategizing how they can poach Barker from their crosstown rival. And if there aren’t, well, there probably should be, as he’s going to be booked for the foreseeable future.

As for the past, there was once an earlier version of Obsession where, like many A24 movies that Barker grew up watching, the writer-director kept us guessing whether everything was in Bear’s head or not — that’s what the director sets up with the pills early on. Ultimately, he was convinced to lean into the horrifying reality of the situation, and that decision appears to have paid off at the box office, where the film’s worldwide gross is at $230 million and headed toward $300 million. Incredible.

Today, I’ve got reviews of Steven Spielberg’s new sci-fi movie Disclosure Day, Apple’s new Cape Fear series, and Season 3 of Euphoria, which, to its credit, went out with a bang, not a whimper.

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