Looks like season 5 of the Soprano's may not happen afterall.......
03-13-03, 02:50 PM
#51
DVD Talk Legend
Today's Variety story...
'Sopranos' Future Hinges on Tony's Take
Mar 13, 3:12 AM (ET)
By Melissa Grego
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - In true "Sopranos" style, the brouhaha over the fifth season of the hit HBO mob drama has turned into a bare-knuckled brawl -- and could even kill the show.
Production on season five, scheduled to get under way March 24, remained in peril Wednesday, as HBO executives said negotiations with the series star, James Gandolfini, are dead.
The last offer from HBO to Gandolfini on the table for the 13-episode fifth season was for $11 million, part of which was to be paid in profit participation.
But HBO insiders insist Gandolfini's camp was asking for much more than had been reported: $27 million for season five, and $16.7 million for a sixth season should that get ordered, for an average of $21 million per season for a fifth and sixth batch.
HBO executives said they were backed into a corner by the lawsuit Gandolfini filed in a California court last week, claiming his contract for the fifth season of "The Sopranos" is invalid.
The move by Gandolfini's camp, an apparent attempt to further salary negotiations, actually stopped the talks in their tracks, according to HBO execs.
The network said it won't make another offer until or unless Gandolfini withdraws his suit. HBO meanwhile filed a countersuit on Tuesday.
HBO's lawyer, Bert Fields, told Daily Variety Wednesday that the two sides have not been in talks since the actor filed suit late last week.
"Gandolfini's agents believe they're holding a gun to HBO's head to get them to pay this massive salary increase, but it's really a water pistol -- and doesn't even have any water in it."
Were the cable network to be forced to cancel "The Sopranos," it would be forfeiting its highest-rated flagship show a year early and losing millions of viewers who subscribe only to watch the mob series.
The show has already garnered lucrative returns on video and DVD sales as well as foreign TV license fees.
HBO said it has bent over backward to accommodate Gandolfini's schedule when he wanted to do movies, and that it was tolerant of personal problems Gandolfini experienced while starring on the hit show.
Gandolfini's spokesman, Dan Klores, responded Wednesday to HBO's claims, saying: "Let HBO say whatever they want to say. It should be beneath them to treat one of their biggest stars, moneymakers and friends like this."
The actor's lawyer, Marty Singer was traveling and unavailable for comment.
In related news, Singer asked for a new judge to hear both cases, claiming that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Segal is prejudiced against Singer's firm. Such requests are routinely granted.
(Michael Fleming in New York and Janet Sprintz in Los Angeles contributed to this report.)
Mar 13, 3:12 AM (ET)
By Melissa Grego
HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - In true "Sopranos" style, the brouhaha over the fifth season of the hit HBO mob drama has turned into a bare-knuckled brawl -- and could even kill the show.
Production on season five, scheduled to get under way March 24, remained in peril Wednesday, as HBO executives said negotiations with the series star, James Gandolfini, are dead.
The last offer from HBO to Gandolfini on the table for the 13-episode fifth season was for $11 million, part of which was to be paid in profit participation.
But HBO insiders insist Gandolfini's camp was asking for much more than had been reported: $27 million for season five, and $16.7 million for a sixth season should that get ordered, for an average of $21 million per season for a fifth and sixth batch.
HBO executives said they were backed into a corner by the lawsuit Gandolfini filed in a California court last week, claiming his contract for the fifth season of "The Sopranos" is invalid.
The move by Gandolfini's camp, an apparent attempt to further salary negotiations, actually stopped the talks in their tracks, according to HBO execs.
The network said it won't make another offer until or unless Gandolfini withdraws his suit. HBO meanwhile filed a countersuit on Tuesday.
HBO's lawyer, Bert Fields, told Daily Variety Wednesday that the two sides have not been in talks since the actor filed suit late last week.
"Gandolfini's agents believe they're holding a gun to HBO's head to get them to pay this massive salary increase, but it's really a water pistol -- and doesn't even have any water in it."
Were the cable network to be forced to cancel "The Sopranos," it would be forfeiting its highest-rated flagship show a year early and losing millions of viewers who subscribe only to watch the mob series.
The show has already garnered lucrative returns on video and DVD sales as well as foreign TV license fees.
HBO said it has bent over backward to accommodate Gandolfini's schedule when he wanted to do movies, and that it was tolerant of personal problems Gandolfini experienced while starring on the hit show.
Gandolfini's spokesman, Dan Klores, responded Wednesday to HBO's claims, saying: "Let HBO say whatever they want to say. It should be beneath them to treat one of their biggest stars, moneymakers and friends like this."
The actor's lawyer, Marty Singer was traveling and unavailable for comment.
In related news, Singer asked for a new judge to hear both cases, claiming that Los Angeles Superior Court Judge John Segal is prejudiced against Singer's firm. Such requests are routinely granted.
(Michael Fleming in New York and Janet Sprintz in Los Angeles contributed to this report.)
03-13-03, 08:17 PM
#52
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Talk about a show going from the penthouse to the outhouse. After a horrible season 4, maybe no season 5 at all. This show may end up being nothing but the answer to a trivia question.
Greedy, greedy stars.........
Greedy, greedy stars.........
03-14-03, 01:23 PM
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Maybe we're not hearing the whole story, people:
http://www.themediadrome.com/content...sopranos.shtml
Bada-Bye-Bye: Why HBO Is Whacking Its Golden Goose
by Helen Stringer
In true Hollywood fashion, it looks like real life is imitating art again as the fight between James Gandolfini and HBO enters its second week with no end in sight – except perhaps the end of the most successful show in HBO’s history.
How could it have come to this? According to HBO it’s all down to the greed of the Sopranos star and the duplicity of his representatives. But with all the might of Time-Warner at their disposal, it’s been relatively easy for the cabler to make sure that the story that hits the media is the one they want told. And as with all arguments, there’s another side. Not that anyone has been looking very hard for it (except us, of course). Perhaps because it’s seen as just another tinseltown tiff that will blow over in due course. But blow-ups like the current HBO-Gandolfini scuffle give the rest of us a brief glimpse of how Hollywood really works, how careers are made and broken, and how multimillion dollar conglomerates can fall victim to petty jealousies and feuds.
Needless to say, it didn’t actually start last week. The trouble goes all the way back to the beginning when HBO started production on what would become its flagship show. The story of a small-time mobster and his two families quickly caught the public imagination and became a runaway hit, but that didn’t mean that the actors you watched every week were making much money. Notoriously cheap in the payroll department, HBO was paying some of the regular supporting characters less than $10,000 an episode. Even four years into their roles on a hit drama series, some actors have only seen their paychecks increase by 37% (that’s around 9.25% a year – barely over cost-of-living). Factor into that the fact that The Sopranos only shoot 13 episodes a season (as opposed to the 22 of most network shows) and we’re not talking about a lot of cash. Particularly when you take into consideration that those 13 episodes take the same length of time to shoot as 26 episodes of a network show. The casts of Frasier or Friends wouldn’t even get out of bed for the money that the Sopranos gang take home.
After the first season, contract negotiations quickly became annual slugfests as actors tried to get salaries that were at least in the same ballpark as their network colleagues, but even after four seasons of the most successful show the cabler has ever produced, they not only lag far behind, but not a single one has a “back end” deal. (That’s Hollywood-speak for a piece of the action.) HBO, meanwhile is cleaning up, with over $75 million in DVD sales annually, international sales that other shows can only dream of (The Sopranos is a hit in countries as diverse as the UK and Malaysia), and subscription rates that have skyrocketed since the show’s inception. In spite of all the other marketing moolah, subscriptions remain HBO’s main revenue stream and a significant number of their subscribers have pointed out that the only reason they cough up the monthly cash is so that they can watch The Sopranos. Not only that, but when the show enters syndication, the revenues will climb even further as the show has been shooting clean-language, no-nudity versions since episode one, so it is more than ready for prime-time; though the cast won’t see any of that money either as HBO doesn’t pay residuals.
So if paying James Gandolfini (or anyone else) more money isn’t really the issue, what is?
How about personalities? And we’re not talking about the actors here. In spite of everything you may have heard, the people with the really gargantuan egos in this town are not the actors but the executives. In this case the ego in question appears to belong to HBO honcho Chris Albrecht, whose dislike for his biggest star is only exceeded by his loathing for said star’s representatives. This distaste apparently led to the breakdown of negotiations last week not, as HBO has stated, as a result of Gandolfini’s lawsuit, but actually the day before.
The critical day was last Thursday when Gandolfini’s camp reportedly made a counter-offer which purportedly represented a multimillion dollar reduction in their request to HBO. Instead of discussing the issue, however, HBO suddenly pulled all offers off the table and ended the meeting.
The following day Gandolfini filed suit.
Since then things have gone from bad to worse, with HBO bringing in the big guns, in the form of a phalanx of Time-Warner lawyers and publicly attacking Gandolfini personally. All this was set in motion before the actor’s SAG Award win on Sunday night (no-one expected him to win) and his graceful acceptance and thanks to HBO. According to friends, this is typical of a man who, far from being greedy, is known for his generosity to those around him, both cast and crew. Notably, none of his co-workers has come out against him (which should tell the astute observer of the piranha-pool-that-is-Hollywood something), instead calling to let him know that they are rooting for him. Of course, if HBO does eventually succumb and renegotiate his contract, they will probably have to go back to the drawing board with the contracts of the rest of their cast as well.
Even after all this, the Gandolfini camp allegedly reached out again this week with a further reduction in their offer. HBO rejected it out of hand and continued to refuse to negotiate, which can only leave observers wondering if they want to have a fifth season of The Sopranos at all.
As for HBO’s claim that they “made” Gandolfini, a quick visit to imdb.com is all it takes to prove that they can hardly take the credit for that little achievement – the actor had made 20 movies before anyone even heard of The Sopranos. And he’s still making them, though without much help from HBO. Far from “bending over backwards” to accommodate their star’s movie schedule (as they claimed in a story in today’s Daily Variety), the contentious cabler has made even those negotiations a struggle. In what our sources say is only the most recent example of HBO hardball, around Christmas Gandolfini requested a release to shoot Surviving Christmas with Ben Affleck, but HBO refused to release him unless he signed a new contract immediately. If he had done so it would have adversely affected negotiations for the other actors who were then in mid-haggle. In the end it took a personal call to Chris Albrecht from Steven Spielberg, the film’s producer, to get the studio to back off.
According to the Gandolfini camp, far from being unable to reach an agreement, the two sides were in fact reasonably close and should have been able to make a deal. Of course, once HBO filed its countersuit and began bombarding the press with negative Gandolfiniana, that became less and less likely. In an effort to up the pressure, HBO yesterday laid off the crew and postponed the beginning of production on the new season. This morning the most virulent personal attack appeared in Variety. Will there be a fifth season? Your guess is as good as ours. As Gandolfini pointed out on Sunday night when talking about how The Sopranos had changed his life:
“It can change overnight. And when it does, it can get pretty weird.”
http://www.themediadrome.com/content...sopranos.shtml
Bada-Bye-Bye: Why HBO Is Whacking Its Golden Goose
by Helen Stringer
In true Hollywood fashion, it looks like real life is imitating art again as the fight between James Gandolfini and HBO enters its second week with no end in sight – except perhaps the end of the most successful show in HBO’s history.
How could it have come to this? According to HBO it’s all down to the greed of the Sopranos star and the duplicity of his representatives. But with all the might of Time-Warner at their disposal, it’s been relatively easy for the cabler to make sure that the story that hits the media is the one they want told. And as with all arguments, there’s another side. Not that anyone has been looking very hard for it (except us, of course). Perhaps because it’s seen as just another tinseltown tiff that will blow over in due course. But blow-ups like the current HBO-Gandolfini scuffle give the rest of us a brief glimpse of how Hollywood really works, how careers are made and broken, and how multimillion dollar conglomerates can fall victim to petty jealousies and feuds.
Needless to say, it didn’t actually start last week. The trouble goes all the way back to the beginning when HBO started production on what would become its flagship show. The story of a small-time mobster and his two families quickly caught the public imagination and became a runaway hit, but that didn’t mean that the actors you watched every week were making much money. Notoriously cheap in the payroll department, HBO was paying some of the regular supporting characters less than $10,000 an episode. Even four years into their roles on a hit drama series, some actors have only seen their paychecks increase by 37% (that’s around 9.25% a year – barely over cost-of-living). Factor into that the fact that The Sopranos only shoot 13 episodes a season (as opposed to the 22 of most network shows) and we’re not talking about a lot of cash. Particularly when you take into consideration that those 13 episodes take the same length of time to shoot as 26 episodes of a network show. The casts of Frasier or Friends wouldn’t even get out of bed for the money that the Sopranos gang take home.
After the first season, contract negotiations quickly became annual slugfests as actors tried to get salaries that were at least in the same ballpark as their network colleagues, but even after four seasons of the most successful show the cabler has ever produced, they not only lag far behind, but not a single one has a “back end” deal. (That’s Hollywood-speak for a piece of the action.) HBO, meanwhile is cleaning up, with over $75 million in DVD sales annually, international sales that other shows can only dream of (The Sopranos is a hit in countries as diverse as the UK and Malaysia), and subscription rates that have skyrocketed since the show’s inception. In spite of all the other marketing moolah, subscriptions remain HBO’s main revenue stream and a significant number of their subscribers have pointed out that the only reason they cough up the monthly cash is so that they can watch The Sopranos. Not only that, but when the show enters syndication, the revenues will climb even further as the show has been shooting clean-language, no-nudity versions since episode one, so it is more than ready for prime-time; though the cast won’t see any of that money either as HBO doesn’t pay residuals.
So if paying James Gandolfini (or anyone else) more money isn’t really the issue, what is?
How about personalities? And we’re not talking about the actors here. In spite of everything you may have heard, the people with the really gargantuan egos in this town are not the actors but the executives. In this case the ego in question appears to belong to HBO honcho Chris Albrecht, whose dislike for his biggest star is only exceeded by his loathing for said star’s representatives. This distaste apparently led to the breakdown of negotiations last week not, as HBO has stated, as a result of Gandolfini’s lawsuit, but actually the day before.
The critical day was last Thursday when Gandolfini’s camp reportedly made a counter-offer which purportedly represented a multimillion dollar reduction in their request to HBO. Instead of discussing the issue, however, HBO suddenly pulled all offers off the table and ended the meeting.
The following day Gandolfini filed suit.
Since then things have gone from bad to worse, with HBO bringing in the big guns, in the form of a phalanx of Time-Warner lawyers and publicly attacking Gandolfini personally. All this was set in motion before the actor’s SAG Award win on Sunday night (no-one expected him to win) and his graceful acceptance and thanks to HBO. According to friends, this is typical of a man who, far from being greedy, is known for his generosity to those around him, both cast and crew. Notably, none of his co-workers has come out against him (which should tell the astute observer of the piranha-pool-that-is-Hollywood something), instead calling to let him know that they are rooting for him. Of course, if HBO does eventually succumb and renegotiate his contract, they will probably have to go back to the drawing board with the contracts of the rest of their cast as well.
Even after all this, the Gandolfini camp allegedly reached out again this week with a further reduction in their offer. HBO rejected it out of hand and continued to refuse to negotiate, which can only leave observers wondering if they want to have a fifth season of The Sopranos at all.
As for HBO’s claim that they “made” Gandolfini, a quick visit to imdb.com is all it takes to prove that they can hardly take the credit for that little achievement – the actor had made 20 movies before anyone even heard of The Sopranos. And he’s still making them, though without much help from HBO. Far from “bending over backwards” to accommodate their star’s movie schedule (as they claimed in a story in today’s Daily Variety), the contentious cabler has made even those negotiations a struggle. In what our sources say is only the most recent example of HBO hardball, around Christmas Gandolfini requested a release to shoot Surviving Christmas with Ben Affleck, but HBO refused to release him unless he signed a new contract immediately. If he had done so it would have adversely affected negotiations for the other actors who were then in mid-haggle. In the end it took a personal call to Chris Albrecht from Steven Spielberg, the film’s producer, to get the studio to back off.
According to the Gandolfini camp, far from being unable to reach an agreement, the two sides were in fact reasonably close and should have been able to make a deal. Of course, once HBO filed its countersuit and began bombarding the press with negative Gandolfiniana, that became less and less likely. In an effort to up the pressure, HBO yesterday laid off the crew and postponed the beginning of production on the new season. This morning the most virulent personal attack appeared in Variety. Will there be a fifth season? Your guess is as good as ours. As Gandolfini pointed out on Sunday night when talking about how The Sopranos had changed his life:
“It can change overnight. And when it does, it can get pretty weird.”
03-14-03, 02:22 PM
#55
DVD Talk Hero
Not much new story there - just a pro-Gandolfini opinion.
While there's no denying executives can be evil bastards, and HBO isn't particularly playing nice, the fact remains that Gandolfini had a contract and he wanted it changed mid-stream. It would have been great for HBO to be nice and give him what he wanted, but they're really under no obligation to do so. He knew the consequences of signing on to this contract. A lot of great actors on great shows don't make as much money as those on crap like Friends ... deal with it.
It sounds like the chain of events was quite simple:
I want a raise.
You're under contract for another year.
I still want a raise.
OK. How much?
This much.
That's too much.
How about this much?
Still too much.
How about this much?
No. No raise. Sorry.
Fine, I'll sue over something trivial.
Fine, we'll stop the show.
In the end, Gandolfini's sueing because he didn't get a raise. Does he "deserve" one? Probably. But that's life. When you sign a contract for a set number of years, you have to abide by that. Whether it's renting an apartment or signing up for a year of satellite or signing a 6-year deal with the Yankees, that's the way it works.
While it's true HBO could have avoided all of this by giving him a raise, they're not obligated to, and regardless of what has happened since, Gandolfini's the one who lit this fire by filing the public lawsuit.
das
While there's no denying executives can be evil bastards, and HBO isn't particularly playing nice, the fact remains that Gandolfini had a contract and he wanted it changed mid-stream. It would have been great for HBO to be nice and give him what he wanted, but they're really under no obligation to do so. He knew the consequences of signing on to this contract. A lot of great actors on great shows don't make as much money as those on crap like Friends ... deal with it.
It sounds like the chain of events was quite simple:
I want a raise.
You're under contract for another year.
I still want a raise.
OK. How much?
This much.
That's too much.
How about this much?
Still too much.
How about this much?
No. No raise. Sorry.
Fine, I'll sue over something trivial.
Fine, we'll stop the show.
In the end, Gandolfini's sueing because he didn't get a raise. Does he "deserve" one? Probably. But that's life. When you sign a contract for a set number of years, you have to abide by that. Whether it's renting an apartment or signing up for a year of satellite or signing a 6-year deal with the Yankees, that's the way it works.
While it's true HBO could have avoided all of this by giving him a raise, they're not obligated to, and regardless of what has happened since, Gandolfini's the one who lit this fire by filing the public lawsuit.
das
03-14-03, 02:27 PM
#56
DVD Talk Legend
^
^
^ What das said.
(I was typing up a long-winded response, but I see that das just made all of my points -- and then some -- much clearer than I was going to.)
^
^ What das said.
(I was typing up a long-winded response, but I see that das just made all of my points -- and then some -- much clearer than I was going to.)
03-17-03, 12:25 PM
#57
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Report: HBO, 'Sopranos' Star Resume Contract Talks
http://www.nbc4.tv/entertainment/204...103172003&ts=H
POSTED: 8:25 a.m. EST March 17, 2003
NEW YORK -- "The Sopranos" star James Gandolfini and HBO are reportedly considering a deal to drop their dueling lawsuits and proceed with contract negotiations after the actor agrees to return to work.
Both sides negotiated through the weekend.
Gandolfini plays mafia boss Tony Soprano on the award-winning series. He filed a breach of contract lawsuit against HBO earlier this month.
The actor alleged that HBO missed a deadline for advising him that his services would be needed for a fifth season, which is scheduled to begin production next week.
The network has said the lawsuit was linked to Gandolfini's demand for a salary increase.
HBO promptly filed a counterclaim against Gandolfini that would require the actor to settle his contract dispute or risk being liable for more than $100 million in damages.
Gandolfini had been paid $400,000 an episode. He reportedly wanted a raise to $1 million per show. He reportedly since has lowered his demand to $800,000 per show.
The New York Times quotes network executives as saying James Gandolfini has lowered his $20 million annual salary demand to about $16 million.
Chris
POSTED: 8:25 a.m. EST March 17, 2003
NEW YORK -- "The Sopranos" star James Gandolfini and HBO are reportedly considering a deal to drop their dueling lawsuits and proceed with contract negotiations after the actor agrees to return to work.
Both sides negotiated through the weekend.
Gandolfini plays mafia boss Tony Soprano on the award-winning series. He filed a breach of contract lawsuit against HBO earlier this month.
The actor alleged that HBO missed a deadline for advising him that his services would be needed for a fifth season, which is scheduled to begin production next week.
The network has said the lawsuit was linked to Gandolfini's demand for a salary increase.
HBO promptly filed a counterclaim against Gandolfini that would require the actor to settle his contract dispute or risk being liable for more than $100 million in damages.
Gandolfini had been paid $400,000 an episode. He reportedly wanted a raise to $1 million per show. He reportedly since has lowered his demand to $800,000 per show.
The New York Times quotes network executives as saying James Gandolfini has lowered his $20 million annual salary demand to about $16 million.
Chris
03-17-03, 12:39 PM
#59
DVD Talk Legend
Kudos to Gandolfini and his agents. They know the show could not survive without him, so they can get what they want and know HBO wouldn't be crazy enough to drop its bread and butter show.
Furthermore, to avoid crap like this in the future, I think it would be a safe bet to say that if there is a fifth season of Sopranos, it will be the last one. Should Gandolfini return, I am sure he would meet with some animosity from other cast members in less pivotal roles who make less money and have less leverage. Intenisty would grow on the set and cause more problems than it would be worth to keep the show alive.
Furthermore, to avoid crap like this in the future, I think it would be a safe bet to say that if there is a fifth season of Sopranos, it will be the last one. Should Gandolfini return, I am sure he would meet with some animosity from other cast members in less pivotal roles who make less money and have less leverage. Intenisty would grow on the set and cause more problems than it would be worth to keep the show alive.
03-17-03, 02:26 PM
#60
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I guess he figures he better make all the money he can now since nobody will want him later for anything other than a mob or thug role. He was pretty awful in trying to pull off his part in "The Last Castle"......
03-17-03, 02:57 PM
#61
DVD Talk Legend
EW.com says it's a done deal -- production starts next Monday.
http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,4...ltruce,00.html
Thank God -- can you imagine if the last thing we had to remember this fine show by was Season 4? Talk about leaving a bad taste in your mouth... that's like eating gourmet meal at a five-star restaurant, and then diving into the Mouse Turd Parfait.
http://www.ew.com/ew/report/0,6115,4...ltruce,00.html
Thank God -- can you imagine if the last thing we had to remember this fine show by was Season 4? Talk about leaving a bad taste in your mouth... that's like eating gourmet meal at a five-star restaurant, and then diving into the Mouse Turd Parfait.
