Entertainment industry reporter @wsj. Formerly AI editor. My podcast: "With Great Power." My book: "The Big Picture." My email: ben.fritz@wsj.com
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I'm back! After 6.5 fulfilling years of editing, today I'm returning to what I did for most of my career: Reporting on the entertainment industry. I've always loved covering Hollywood and I'm psyched to be doing it again for @WSJ.
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Trump campaign examples of alleged voter fraud in Nevada turn out to be members of the military and their families who legally voted after being transferred to serve elsewhere. wsj.com/articles/nevada-elec…
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Two colleagues and I spent months reporting on allegations of sexual misconduct at Activision and what CEO Bobby Kotick knew and did about them. I hope you’ll read the story we just published. I’ll also thread key findings… wsj.com/articles/activision-…
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Bobby Kotick has himself been accused of mistreating women who worked for him, including telling a former assistant in a voicemail that he would have her killed.
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In August, Activision named Jen ONeal the first female co-head of World of Warcraft studio Blizzard. The next month, she sent an internal email criticizing the company’s top management and recounting her own experiences of harassment.
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Los Angeles public health dept just announced masks will no longer be required outdoors at K-12 schools starting tomorrow.
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A woman who worked at Call of Duty studio Sledgehammer said she was raped twice by her supervisor after she was pressured to drink heavily. She reported the incidents to HR, but the company took no action.
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After the co-head of Activision’s Treyarch studio was accused of sexual harassment, HR recommended he be fired, but Bobby Kotick intervened to keep him.
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That time Sony turned down an opportunity to buy movie rights to virtually every Marvel superhero for $25 million. Check out this exclusive excerpt from my book "The Big Picture: The Fight for the Future of Movies." wsj.com/articles/the-black-p…
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Last year, about 30 women who worked in Activision’s esports division sent a letter to their supervisors saying female employees had experienced numerous instances of harassment.
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Planning to be on here less for a while due to a new demand on my time and attention.
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Employees pointed to two reasons for the misconduct at Activision: Workplace drinking and a culture in which game studios long operated with little interference in their operations, including HR, in the belief it would help them make hits.
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I normally edit now, but was honored to report this story with @kirstengrind and @saraheneedleman. All kudos go to the sources who shared information and docs with us despite fearing retribution. Now please read! wsj.com/articles/activision-…
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This seems relevant for everyone in Los Angeles to read today. wsj.com/articles/masks-could…
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David O Russell, Robert De Niro, Julianne Moore are pulling out of their Amazon-Weinstein Co TV series. Was huge project for both companies
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Disney also just announced new movie dates through 2023, most of which are "untitled." Including three Marvel movies in 2021 and 2022. Also moved the live action "Mulan" to March 27, 2020.
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Weinstein Co has filed for bankruptcy and released all Harvey Weinstein victims from NDAs they signed
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In a montage of titles of upcoming DC movies, "Flash" became "Flashpoint." Which I think fans might dig.
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Iger specifically calls out "Deadpool," wants to keep making sequels. "There may be an opportunity for an R-rated Marvel brand as long as we let audiences know what’s coming."
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"Hamilton" is finally headed to the movies! But instead of an adaptation, studios are bidding on rights to a 2016 recording of the stage musical. Price could exceed $50M. Scoop: wsj.com/articles/hamilton-ma…
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Not a hallucination! Today I start a new job as editor of @wsj's coverage of the AI industry. To say I'm very excited (and a little daunted) to take on this huge beat and join our super talented tech team would be an understatement. Stay tuned for some great stories!
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Super excited to share that starting today, I am the west coast bureau chief for US News @wsj. It's an awesome job overseeing a crack team that covers 14 states. And it means that after covering Hollywood for 15 years at 3 newspapers, I must bid that beat a bittersweet adieu.
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Disney severs ties with YouTube mega-star PewDiePie after WSJ inquiry about his anti-semitic posts. Scoop: wsj.com/articles/disney-seve…
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Also no longer required at outdoor "mega-events," three days after what was probably the most mega outdoor mega-event of the year in L.A.
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Disney has delayed the reopening of Disneyland, previously scheduled for July 17, indefinitely.
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"Wonder Woman 1984" delayed from November 1, 2019 to June 5, 2020. "Six Billion Dollar Man," which was to come out June 5, 2020, now has no date.
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It will now cost $50 to apply for asylum in the U.S. We are one of four nations in the world to charge for asylum applications (along with Australia, Fiji and Iran). wsj.com/articles/u-s-to-rais…
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If you're wondering what Pattinson might be like as Batman, be sure to watch "Good Time" (streaming on Amazon Prime). Also a great and too-little-seen film period.
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Warner Bros. will release the Todd Phillips-Joaquin Phoenix movie titled simply "Joker" on October 4, 2019, it just announced.
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Han Solo movie will follow him from age 18 through 24 and show him finding the Falcon, meeting Chewbacca, and getting his name, Iger says
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Frances McDormand is the first person at the Oscars this year to mention movie theaters. Seems like an important year to highlight them. Maybe even repeatedly.
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Disney cancels struggling Infinity video game line. Takes $147 million charge. End of Disney as video game publisher.
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"Game of Thrones" showrunners David Benioff and D.B. Weiss will write and produce a new series of "Star Wars" movies, Disney just announced. Separate from the Rian Johnson trilogy also in development.
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And here's a detail from the end of our story that I think many gamers will find interesting:
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With no federal agents on the streets, protests were VERY different in Portland last night. wsj.com/articles/portland-pr…
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“He always liked money,” said Elaine Gill, his mother. As a child, she said, “he would get money from those scratch tickets that people didn’t know they’d won. People would throw them on the ground…A lot of times there was still money on them.” wsj.com/articles/keith-gill-…
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If Finn was trained a stormtrooper, why does he have such good aim while all of them still in the armor appear to be legally blind?
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Weinstein Co. has terminated Harvey Weinstein "In light of new information about misconduct that has emerged," board just announced
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As I reported back when Universal bought "Red Notice," Dwayne Johnson was supposed to get $21M plus 30% of the profits. Now that Netflix is presumably buying out his profit points in advance, that could be a VERY big check. wsj.com/articles/how-much-do…
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Berry Creek, Calif. spent two years working to get approval from the state for a plan to thin trees and protect itself from wildfires. It was finally ready to go on Sept. 4. Four days later, the town burned down. Truly a must-read story by @jimcarltonsf wsj.com/articles/a-californi…
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WSJ news reports on errors in an essay by Vice President Pence that ran in the WSJ opinion section. wsj.com/articles/pence-overs…
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Wow, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution hired Marty Singer to demand Warner Bros. add a disclaimer to "Richard Jewell" that the film's portrayal of a deceased reporter sleeping with a source for a key tip is made up. variety.com/2019/film/news/c…
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@Sk8j well obviously I'm not counting jokes about black people. Those are just funny
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"Wonder Woman" final gross higher than reported yesterday. Fell only 43%, Smallest super-hero 2nd weekend drop since "Spider-Man" in 2002
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Disney has held talks to buy cable, international, and TV/Film studio assets of 21st Century Fox, as CNBC reported. Talks no longer active.
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Disney creating new "Star Wars" live action series, one based on "Monsters Inc.," "High School Musical" TV series and Marvel series for its streaming service launching in 2019, says Iger
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Why did Activision sell to Microsoft? Why is Bobby Kotick planning to leave? Why now? We've got the scoop. w/ @CaraRLombardo and @KirstenGrind wsj.com/articles/activision-…
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New California Gov. Gavin Newsom's first actions are making the state America's biggest purchaser of prescription drugs, expanding health coverage to undocumented young adults, and a long-shot bid to start on a single-payer health care system. wsj.com/articles/california-…
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Bottom line: Warner Bros. has no plans to release any new versions of "Justice League," including a "Snyder Cut," a senior executive confirmed to me. Which will disappoint some VERY passionate people including this guy wsj.com/articles/holy-direct…
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"Justice League" cost almost $300M, Tsujihara insisted it be <2 hours, and WB is VERY high on Ezra Miller's Flash: wsj.com/articles/offbeat-sup…
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In 16 days, "Captain America: Civil War" has outgrossed "Batman v Superman" at international box office (currently $551M v $541M)
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Love this detail from @AllisonPohle's story on overcrowding at our national parks. One spills into another spills into another. wsj.com/articles/national-pa…
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Why were Lord & Miller fired from "Solo?" What led them to feud with Kasdan during writing and on set? How much of the final movie belongs to Ron Howard? Why was Trevorrow fired from Episode IX after three script drafts? All your Star Wars answers below!
wsj.com/articles/intrigue-an…
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The number one killer of police officers is a disease for which many of them don't want a vaccine. wsj.com/articles/police-depa…
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"Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" will be "at least a trilogy," says Tsujihara. First 3 movies in 2016, 2018 and 2020
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Here's one pretty striking section of the WSJ's exclusive excerpt of John Bolton's book about working in the Trump administration wsj.com/articles/john-bolton…
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Also I think getting lost a bit: Warner's movies will come out normally in theaters overseas. And international is the majority of the box office. So the cinema business is hardly being dealt a deadly blow, if we think bigger than the U.S.
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"If you’re a film fan, The Big Picture is a must-read. It’s an informative, entertaining, often maddening look at how the film industry ended up where it is today." Wow, thanks! slashfilm.com/the-big-pictur…
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Corporate advertisers try to avoid Black Lives Matter-related controversy and journalism suffers. wsj.com/articles/target-mtv-…
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“We’re creating a modern DC cinematic universe accessible to the whole family,” says “Shazam” director David F. Sandberg, presenting perhaps a new, or rather newest, approach for DC movies
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Disney has signed a deal with Rian Johnson to develop "a brand new 'Star Wars' trilogy" says Bob Iger, presumably coming after 2020. Whoa!
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Follow the money: How $155 million from Malaysia made its way to the producers of "The Wolf of Wall Street." wsj.com/articles/malaysias-1…
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Interesting details on the San Jose shooting from our A-plus team of reporters: wsj.com/articles/san-jose-sh…
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"Black Panther" had the biggest Monday of all time, grossing $40.17 million and making its final 4.5 day opening weekend total $242 million. Starting to think Disney/Marvel may have a hit on its hands.
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As of Oct. 30, more than seven million mailed ballots had not been returned in the 13 most competitive states that require ballots to arrive on or before Election Day. wsj.com/articles/millions-of…
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Detail not in story: WB's Toby Emmerich said "close to hiring a director" on "Flashpoint," hopes to greenlight soon wsj.com/articles/offbeat-sup…
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Advocates for the "Snyder cut" deride the "Justice League" movie we got as "Josstice League" and believe original director Zack Snyder has a brilliantly unrealized version that deserves to be released. But does it even exist? wsj.com/articles/holy-direct…
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Says the director of Disney's "A Wrinkle in Time." This is turning into quite the PR fiasco for Disney. nitter.app/ava/status/92774663398…
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If Arclight ends up announcing that it worked things out with its landlord and this whole thing was a public negotiating tactic, the city of L.A. should sue for emotional abuse
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Netflix is developing a live action "Legend of Zelda" series, based on Nintendo's beloved video games. Scoop: blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2015…
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"La La Land" just passed $400M worldwide. More than "Star Trek Beyond," "Trolls," Independence Day: Resurgence," "Tarzan."
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Despite a smaller opening weekend, "Wonder Woman" outgrossed "Batman v Superman" and "Suicide Squad" on its first Tuesday in theaters
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Affleck confirms he'll be starring in "The Batman" movie: "I would be a fucking ape on the ground for Matt Reeves, let alone Batman."
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Netflix CEO says his competition is sleep and now the Discovery/Warner CEO-to-be says his competition is food and housing. What's next? Our children's lives?
Discovery CEO David Zaslav on need to combine with WarnerMedia during investor call: "You gotta have content people love so much they would run home and pay for it before they pay for dinner or a roof over their head."
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Nintendo close to a deal for a Super Mario Bros. animated movie with Universal's Illumination. Huge for both companies. Scoop: wsj.com/articles/mario-bros-…
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"Finding Dory" grosses more on 2nd weekend than the openings of "ID: Resurgence," "Shallows," "Free State of Jones" + "Neon Demon" combined
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JJ Abrams says Overlord is a “crazy sci-fi action horror film” and emphasizes it’s not a Cloverfield movie. Adds, “we’re actually developing a true, dedicated Cloverfield sequel.”
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MoviePass lost $98.3 million last quarter on $48.6 million of revenue. Which makes it a great value for subscribers (as long as it lasts), but is killing investors wsj.com/articles/moviepass-p…
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This story by @iglovett on what Liberty University under Jerry Falwell was really like and how he was allowed to behave the way he did while running America's largest evangelical university for years with virtually no oversight is a must-read. wsj.com/articles/after-jerry…
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“I’ve been hanging around this building for 12 years,” said Mr. Himes, who was first elected in 2008, “and I’ve always assumed there’s a big red button that gets pushed, and everything is sealed and nobody gets anywhere. And that turns out not to be true.” wsj.com/articles/lawmakers-w…
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California's affordable housing crisis is pushing people to move to the exact communities that are burning in wildfires. wsj.com/articles/they-moved-…
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She rushed to Robb Elementary to find her children. Federal marshals handcuffed her. wsj.com/articles/uvalde-resi…
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AND... Warner confirms "Justice League" movie plans for first time. Zack Snyder will direct after Batman v Superman. blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2014…
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Netflix is paying a lot of money to make the types of movies hollywood studios don't anymore wsj.com/articles/netflix-is-…
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Weinstein Co. board's plan now is to either sell the entire studio or shut it down and sell it in pieces. Scoop: wsj.com/articles/weinstein-c…
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