Hollywood
Helen Mirren to play art heist hero with Ryan Reynolds
MUMBAI: According to Deadline, the Weinstein Company has set Ryan Reynolds (Two Guys and a Girl, The Proposal) and is negotiating with Golden Globe Award nominee Daniel Bruhl (Inglorious Basterds, Rush) to join Academy award winner Helen Mirren (The Queen, Hitchcock) in Woman In Gold.
In the film, Mirren will play real-life heroine Maria Altmann, a Jewish refugee from Nazi Austria, noted for her ultimately successful legal campaign to reclaim five family-owned paintings by the artist Gustav Klimt, stolen by the Nazis during World War II, from the Government of Austria. Reynolds will play the attorney who took his case despite knowing little about art, and Bruhl will play his adversary.
David Thompson and Kris Thykier are producing, while the executive producers are Harvey and Bob Weinstein, Christine Langan and Ed Rubin. Simon Curtis (My Week with Marilyn) will direct in May.
The script was written by Alexi Kay Campbell (The Golden Lady). Reynolds just finished Mississippi Grind, and he is the lead of Atom Egoyan’s The Captive and in Selfless. Bruhl is coming off Rush and most recently wrapped A Most Wanted Man.
Hollywood
Iger’s final act: Disney boss wraps up epic saga with a new captain at the helm
After 15 turbulent years, two stints in the c-suite, and billions spent on blockbuster acquisitions, Bob Iger is stepping away from the Magic Kingdom.
CALIFORNIA: The 75-year-old chief, hailed as one of the most transformative leaders in modern media, officially hands over to former parks chief Josh D’Amaro on 18 March. And this time, he’s getting the succession right.
Iger’s legacy glitters with big bets and epic wins: the $7.4bn Pixar buy, $4bn Marvel swoop, and the colossal $71bn 21st Century Fox deal. He dragged Disney into the streaming age, fought off activist investor Nelson Peltz, and saw off a political scrap with Florida governor Ron DeSantis.
But it hasn’t all been pixie dust. The forced return of Iger in 2022—after the short, shaky reign of successor Bob Chapek—tarnished an otherwise stellar run.
Now, D’Amaro takes the wheel with a streamlined leadership team and Disney firing on all cylinders. The firm’s streaming business is in the black, theme-park attendance is soaring, and five global films have hit $1billion at the box office in the past two years. Not bad for a firm that was on the ropes just months ago.
D’Amaro’s first move? A slick reorg under new president and chief creative officer Dana Walden, folding film, tv, streaming and gaming into one punchy unit. Sean Shoptaw, heading up the gaming division, now reports directly to Walden—bringing Fortnite and Epic Games collaborations closer to Disney’s creative heart.
Iger isn’t sailing off into the sunset just yet. He’ll keep busy with Angel City FC, the women’s football club he owns with his wife. And as Ann Mooney Murphy of Stevens Institute predicts: “A guy like that never truly retires.”
One era ends. Another begins. And the House of Mouse bets big on a future beyond the king.
