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<strong>The</strong> Report<br />
7 Days of DEALS<br />
Who’s inking on the dotted line this week<br />
HOW PARAMOUNT AND NETFLIX PULLED<br />
OFF THAT CLOVERFIELD SUPER BOWL JUKE<br />
Deal<br />
of the<br />
Week<br />
Stuber<br />
Paradox is<br />
the third film<br />
in Abrams’<br />
sci-fi horror<br />
anthology<br />
franchise<br />
Cloverfield.<br />
HGTV Lays New Foundation With Property Brothers<br />
Big<br />
Deal<br />
Super Bowl viewers were shocked when Netflix<br />
dropped an ad for <strong>The</strong> Cloverfield Paradox, revealing<br />
that the J.J. Abrams-produced movie heretofore<br />
known as God Particle would forgo a theatrical<br />
release and instead debut on the streaming service<br />
immediately following the big game Feb. 4.<br />
<strong>The</strong> marketing stunt capped a rescue plan<br />
hatched by Abrams, Paramount chairman-CEO Jim<br />
Gianopulos, Netflix chief Ted Sarandos and head<br />
of original films Scott Stuber, among others. Worried<br />
that Paradox would perish at the box office — it<br />
was set to hit theaters April 20 after several delays<br />
— Paramount and Abrams handed it to Netflix,<br />
which is willing to shell out big bucks for high-profile<br />
content. Sources say the deal, broached over the<br />
holidays and finalized in January, is worth north of<br />
Amid the looming departure<br />
of Fixer Upper stars<br />
Chip and Joanna Gaines,<br />
HGTV is not risking losing<br />
any more top-tier talent.<br />
Cable’s fifth-most-watched network has<br />
inked a multiyear extension with Property<br />
Brothers’ Drew and Jonathan Scott (CAA,<br />
Canada’s Stohn Hay), who first came<br />
to the Scripps Interactive-owned network in<br />
2011. <strong>The</strong> twins, 39, are responsible for an<br />
atypical share of HGTV output: the original<br />
Property Brothers, the spinoffs Buying<br />
& Selling and At Home and the competition<br />
series Brother vs. Brother — which,<br />
with a reach of 13 million cross-platform<br />
viewers per episode, is Scott Brothers<br />
Entertainment’s top series. “<strong>The</strong>y can<br />
produce and star in an incredible amount<br />
of content in a very short period of time,”<br />
says Scripps U.S. programming GM Allison<br />
Page. “It’s a scale we haven’t achieved<br />
with anyone else.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> exclusive pact comes as the<br />
Canadian imports become an increasingly<br />
mainstream presence. Drew placed fourth<br />
on the most recent season of ABC’s Dancing<br />
With the Stars, and both frequently appear<br />
on NBC’s Today to promote their series and<br />
licensed products.<br />
HGTV is aggressively fortifying its slate<br />
amid Scripps’ pending $11.9 billion sale to<br />
Rights Available! Hot new books with <strong>Hollywood</strong> appeal BY ANDY LEWIS AND TATIANA SIEGEL<br />
Everything Happens for a Reason:<br />
And Other Lies I’ve Loved (RANDOM HOUSE, FEB. 6)<br />
BY Kate Bowler AGENCY Gotham Group<br />
<strong>The</strong> Duke Divinity School professor chronicles her stage 4<br />
colon cancer diagnosis at age 35 and how it upended her beliefs.<br />
Her Jan. 26 New York Times op-ed furthered the conversation.<br />
$50 million, with Paramount retaining rights for<br />
China and home entertainment. It makes the movie<br />
instantly profitable for the studio, which avoids a<br />
(likely) misfire and costly marketing campaign.<br />
And Netflix got what it was looking for, regardless<br />
of withering reviews (18 percent on Rotten Tomatoes<br />
at press time): buzz. “It gets them attention and<br />
captures some viewing right off the bat,” says<br />
eMarketer’s Paul Vern. And even if the streamer<br />
doesn’t ultimately get the viewership it hoped for<br />
Paradox, “they still got a brand jolt,” he adds.<br />
Paradox, which finished principal photography in<br />
September 2016, was part of the successful and popular<br />
Cloverfield series, but sources say Gianopulos,<br />
who joined the studio six months later, was worried.<br />
Despite additions to clarify character beats and<br />
tie the film to the franchise’s universe, it was ultimately<br />
deemed unsalvageable despite a cast led by<br />
Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Elizabeth Debicki, David Oyelowo<br />
and Daniel Bruhl. Netflix was an obvious destination,<br />
having already taken over international rights<br />
to the Natalie Portman starrer Annihilation, which<br />
Paramount will release domestically Feb. 23.<br />
Paramount retains rights to future Cloverfield<br />
films. Overlord, a World War II zombie pic from<br />
Abrams that has scored high in test screenings, could<br />
be a contender, although sources say that its fate is<br />
undetermined. — BORYS KIT AND PAMELA MCCLINTOCK<br />
Discovery Communications. New siblingcentric<br />
series Restored by the Fords is<br />
retaining 60 percent of its Fixer Upper leadin,<br />
and the network has another 50-odd<br />
pilots (some with the Scotts) in development.<br />
— MICHAEL O’CONNELL<br />
Jonathan<br />
(left) and<br />
Drew Scott<br />
have been<br />
spending<br />
more time<br />
in L.A. and<br />
onscreen.<br />
Lone Stars (PHILOMEL BOOKS, SEPT. 12, 2017)<br />
Lane<br />
FILM<br />
Suki Waterhouse (CAA,<br />
the U.K.’s Independent,<br />
Untitled, Jackoway<br />
Tyerman) has joined<br />
Legendary’s Detective<br />
Pikachu movie along<br />
with Bill Nighy and You’re<br />
the Worst’s Chris Geere.<br />
Jim Parsons (CAA,<br />
Gang Tyre) has joined Zac<br />
Efron in the Ted Bundy<br />
biopic Extremely Wicked,<br />
Shockingly Evil and Vile.<br />
Riverdale star Cole<br />
Sprouse (WME, Authentic,<br />
Greenberg Traurig) is<br />
in talks to topline the CBS<br />
Films romantic drama Five<br />
Feet Apart.<br />
Big Boi (UTA, Career<br />
Artists) has joined Sony’s<br />
Superfly remake.<br />
Michelle MacLaren (ICM,<br />
Stone Genow) will direct<br />
Chris Pratt in Universal’s<br />
Cowboy Ninja Viking.<br />
BY Mike Lupica AGENCY ICM Partners<br />
Shopped as Friday Night Lights meets Concussion, this YA<br />
novel from the best-selling sports columnist follows a middle<br />
schooler who suspects his beloved football coach, a former pro<br />
player, is suffering from CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy).<br />
CLOVERFIELD: SCOTT GARFIELD/NETFLIX. STUBER: ALBERTO E. RODRIGUEZ/GETTY IMAGES. PROPERTY: GILLES MINGASSON/VERBATIM PHOTO AGENCY/HGTV. BOOK: COURTESY OF PENGUIN RANDOM HOUSE. SPROUSE: MONICA SCHIPPER/WIREIMAGE. MACLAREN: FRAZER<br />
HARRISON/GETTY IMAGES FOR ELLE. GRAY: PASCAL LE SEGRETAIN/GETTY IMAGES. SUTTER: TASIA WELLS/FILMMAGIC. IGER: COURTESY OF STRIBLING. DAVIS: COURTESY OF SUBJECT. WATERHOUSE: JIM SPELLMAN/WIREIMAGE. SMOLLETT: ARAYA DIAZ/GETTY IMAGES.<br />
THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER<br />
20<br />
FEBRUARY 7, <strong>2018</strong>