Arnon Milchan's 'The Reverent' Nominated for 12 Oscars, including 'Best Picture'

Arnon Milchan, the lead producer and financier of The Reverent, has been personally nominated for an Academy Award, and his film has been nominated for 12 Oscars in total, leading all other 2016 nominees. The nominations came in almost all of the leading categories such as Best Director, Best Actor, and Best Cinematography.... and of course, Best Picture.

Milchan-produced films have won 'Best Picture' in the past two years, including Twelve Years a Slave and Birdman. But with 12 nominations in hand, The Reverent seems to be the favorite going in, which would make it the third Best Picture in a row should it win. What sets this year apart, however, is that Milchan has been personally nominated, which means that should The Reverent win, he will accept the Oscar on stage and will likely take the opportunity to speak.

People who have read the book Confidential and are familiar with Arnon Milchan's backstory will understand the significance of such a moment. As the recent article in New York Magazine states;  "...the 71-year-old Milchan himself proves to be a character worthy of an epic."
 

Milchan, the owner of New Regency is surrounded by his filmmakers
during the 2014 Academy Awards 'Best Picture' win for '12 Years a Slave'. 

     

New York Magazine: Meet the Billionaire Film Mogul and Former Israeli Spy Who Paid for The Revenant

New York Magazine knows a good story when they see one. Arnon Milchan's career and the book Confidential prove to be "worthy of an epic".  

Arnon Milchan Pulls the Plug on North Korean Film

New Regency  Chairman, Arnon Milchan has ditched plans to produce a paranoid thriller starring Steve Carell  that was to be set in North Korea.

The decision came after hackers calling themselves the 'Guardians of Peace' threatened to attack theaters showing “The Interview,” which centers on an assassination attempt against dictator Kim Jong-un. The country has denied involvement but praised the hackers.

New Regency announced the project in October with plans for director Gore Verbinski  to start shooting in March. The untitled film was the first in a multiyear deal between Verbinski’s Blind Wink and New Regency. Steve Conrad (“The Secret Life of Walter Mitty”) was writing the screenplay.

New Regency had no comment. This news was first reported by Deadline.com. 

Arnon Milchan Produces World's Top Hits 'Gone Girl' & 'Birdman'... Honored at The Israeli Film Festival...

As usual, Arnon Milchan's accomplishments come in waves... and once again he sits at the top of the cinematic world, however temporarily. With two tremendous, high-quality productions; Gone Girl and Birdman, Milchan's New Regency has moved firmly in the direction of Milchan's roots as an artsy risk-taker. Gone Girl has already passed $300,000,000 in world wide box office sales, making it currently the top grossing film in the world.

Mr. Milchan will also receive the 2014 Israel Film Festival Visionary Award in Los Angeles on October 23rd.

Arnon Milchan's 'Noah' Gaining Momentum for Strong Opening on March 28th

Arnon Milchan's Darren Aronofsky extravaganza, Noah, is gaining momentum towards a strong opening on Friday, March 28. Many in the faith community have begun to rally around the message of the movie, despite some naysaying by conservative commentators. With less than one week until the release, a new promotional video has been released featuring Christian leaders who have nothing but high praise for the feature film. Paramount has asked Phil Cooke, a Christian who has publicly touted the film, to produce an explanatory video. This is the result:


NOAH FEATURETTE with Quotes from Cooke Pictures on Vimeo.

The film has story, action and special effects qualities that should be appealing to a wide audience. However, if the Evangelical communities rally behind movie, and there is a good possibility that they will, Noah has all the makings of a real blockbuster. Stay tuned. 

Arnon Milchan's New Regency, Penguin Books and the National School Board Assoiciation to Distribute 12 Years a Slave to High Schools Thoughout America

 

The National School Boards Association (NSBA) is partnering with Arnon Milchan's New Regency and Penguin Books to distribute copies of the acclaimed film, book, and study guide of 12 Years a Slave to America's public high schools.

 

The initiative, coordinated by Montel Williams, will start to distribute 12 Years a Slave nationwide in September 2014 in concert with the new school year.

 

NSBA President David A. Pickler stated that; "We believe that providing America's public high school students the opportunity to bear witness to such an unrelenting view of the evils of slavery is essential toward ensuring that this history is never forgotten and must never be repeated."

 

12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen stated that; "Since first reading 12 Years a Slave, it has been my dream that this book be taught in schools.  I am immensely grateful to Montel Williams and the National School Boards Association for making this dream a reality and for sharing Solomon Northup's story with today's generation."

Arnon Milchan Takes Center Stage as New Regency's '12 Years a Slave' Wins Best Picture at the 2014 Academy Awards

New Regency's 12 Years a Slave wins the 2014 Academy Award for Best Motion Picture. Producer Arnon Milchan thus completes an amazing journey from his controversial role in South Africa of the 1970's to the very pinnacle of Hollywood success and recognition, with a film that depicts the evil of racial discrimination in the starkest possible form. Some will view all of this with cynicism, others will see a strong measure of redemption... either way, it is a hell of a story.    

 

Milchan's 'Noah' to air Super Bowl ad

News Corp's Fox will be broadcasting the Super Bowl this year. Milchan's New Regency is a partner of Fox, which distributes New Regency productions. It is a little surprising that New Regency and Fox will be airing an ad on the largest and most expensive advertising platform in the world for a movie distributed by competitor Paramount. It will be interesting to see what kind of discount was offered. The ad will air between the national anthem and kick-off. Few films get this kind of pre-release promotion. Below is the ad to be aired:
   

THE RACE IS ON: Milchan and Pitt's '12 Years a Slave' in Epic Awards Season Faceoff with 'American Hustle'. Milchan's Past will be Tested.

By Eric Wilder - Hollywood

It may be early, but clearly, an epic battle for the Best Picture Academy Award is now on.... and everybody in the industry knows it. Arnon Milchan and Brad Pitt's 12 Years a Slave, will face off with Columbia Pictures' American Hustle, in an awards-season clash of the titans. Both movies have picked up the bulk of the Golden Globes and Screen Actors Guild top nominations... which are historic barometers for the Oscars.

If 12 Years a Slave pulls it off, it will be the first Academy Award for Arnon Milchan, one of the most successful and prolific independent producers in Hollywood history. An award that would be long overdue, considering his massive portfolio. It is unknown how recent publicity surrounding Mr. Milchan's extracurricular biography as a former spy will affect the voting. Co-Author of Milchan's biography, Joseph Gelman, said the following:

"Given his massive body of work and contributions to the industry, if there is one person in Hollywood who deserves an Academy Award, it would be Arnon. 12 Years a Slave is a worthy and meaningful candidate for Best Picture. It is a movie that will stand the test of time as perhaps the definitive cinematic portrayal of America slavery, the most problematic institution in American history.  

I don't think that American Hustle, a fun movie, brings that kind of gravitas to the table. It's not a serious movie. It is not a movie that people will look back on 20 years from now, or even a year from now, and say 'wow!' Hollywood likes to think of itself as a meaningful industry, in addition to being an entertainment industry.  

Somewhere deep in Arnon's conscience, I know that he sees 12 Years a Slave as a small measure of repentance for past transgressions involving his activities in South Africa. It's an interesting story of redemption, and Hollywood loves stories of redemption. If Milchan wins the Oscar for this important movie, I would put that as the final scene in the movie version of his biography. A real closing of a circle. A "Hollywood ending" if you will.   

Meir and I will be pulling for 12 Years a Slave, not because of Arnon, but because frankly, it's the best movie of the year. It's that simple."      

Brad Pitt Moves in With Arnon Milchan.... Again!

Following his breakup with Jennifer Aniston in 2004 and hounded by the paparazzi, Brad Pitt moved to Arnon Milchan's house in Malibu. As described in Confidential, Top secret "Operation Brad" involved Pitt traveling to and from the studio by entering and exiting Milchan's garage on a motorcycle with a black full-face helmet, rendering him unrecognizable. Pitt met Angelina Jolie on the set of  Milchan's Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

Almost ten years later, Pitt is moving in with Milchan again, this time to his movie production company New Regency.

Hollywood Reporter: "Pitt's Plan B production company, which is riding high on recent hits 12 Years a Slave and World War Z, will exit its home of eight years when its deal with Paramount expires at the end of 2013. Plan B, which Pitt runs with Dede Gardner and Jeremy Kleiner, is headed toward a three-year deal with Arnon Milchan's New Regency, producer of 12 Years."

Israel's Channel 2 to Air Lengthy Interview with Arnon Milchan, Possibly about Subjects Raised in 'Confidential'

Israel's Channel 2 Ilana Dayan is not a pushover. She Interviewed Arnon Milchan for the Investigative show 'Uvda'. It has the potential to be a blockbuster of an interview if she did not hold back, and no back-room deals were cut.  

A bird has just whispered in our ear, informing us that a lengthy interview with Hollywood Producer Arnon Milchan has been given to Israel's premier investigative journalism show 'Uvda', a few days ago. The show will air in prime time, 9:00 PM, in approximately two weeks. Channel 2 is Israel's most watched station, and Uvda is it's most important investigative show. The interviewer, Ilana Dayan is one of Israel's most respected investigative journalists. Channel 2 will begin promoting the show, which will also be its season premier, in the coming days.

Clearly, a number of crucial elements exposed in the book 'Confidential' will be discussed, and this may represent the first time that Arnon Milchan has agreed to discuss such matters publicly. We do not know exactly what was said in the interview, but we do know that the book 'Confidential' served as the significant resource for the interviewer. Ilana Dayan is not known to throw soft-balls, or to be used as a PR tool, so there is a good chance that the interview will be authentic and impactful. Stay tuned.

Austrailia's James Packer Takes a Big Gamble on Movies... With Arnon Milchan's Help

Australia's James Packer is planning Hollywood movie projects with screen legends Clint Eastwood and Warren Beatty as part of a $450 million film deal which will deliver spin-off benefits for his new Sydney casino resort. Mr Packer, whose Crown Ltd has increased in value by $3 billion in the last four months, said he "could not be thankful enough" to Mr. Arnon Milchan who helped seal the deal with Warner by vouching for his business acumen.

Arnon Milchan Opens His Latest Hit 'Runner Runner'

In a script that is very different from, yet matches the feel of his own biography, Runner Runner brings it home.

Arnon Milchan and Anthony Mackie open Runner Runner in Las Vegas

 

 



A Fantastic Interview with Arnon Milchan at Locarno Film Festival

Arnon Milchan basically confirms every word in the book Confidential about his Hollywood career. A fascinating interview if you have a little time.

Personnel Chaos at Milchan's New Regency as CFO Resigns....Again

After just over three months as CFO and 13 years with the company, Bob Corzo is leaving New Regency. Today’s surprise move sees Mimi Tseng hired as the company’s new CFO. That makes the former Summit Entertainment’s EVP, Finance & Operations the third or fourth person to hold the CFO job in as many months.

A lot of bad karma is in the air. Besides Corzo and Santor, company chairman Bob Harper and Hutch Parker exited in late 2011 as Milchan, who owns 80% of the film and financing company, took direct control again and installed himself as Chairman. Milchan, who’s known to send out a mean-spirited email or two to staff, brought former Paramount production president Weston in as CEO in the fall of last year. Alexandra Milchan rejoined her father’s company as EVP Production in mid-September last year. Former Fox 2000 EVP Carla Hacken became New Regency’s production president in late November last year. Andrew Plotkin was named EVP Television earlier this month as the company relaunched their TV division.

Producer Arnon Milchan to Receive Best Producer Honor at Locarno

Congratulations to Producer Arnon Milchan for receiving the well deserved 'Best Producer' title at the Lacarno Film festival this summer... where his masterpieces King of Comedy, Once Upon a Time in America, and Brazil will all be shown. Lacarno's bio of Mr. Milchen, found here, is mildly amusing in what it left out. None the less, a well deserved award.


Update: Arnon Milchen attends the opening of Madonna's world tour concert in Tel Aviv.
Update: Israel's 'The Marker Magazine', mentions the book Confidential as part of its biography of Arnon Milchen. 
Update: New Regency taps Syfy exec to oversee TV productions. 

New Regency Staffers Whine about Arnon Milchan's Internal E-mail... And Leak It!

One would think that it is not unreasonable during these difficult economic times for the owner of any business to ask his staff to step it up a notch. And that is exactly what Arnon Milchan did in an internal e-mail. Apparently, one of his staff members felt so offended by the e-mail that they felt the need to leak it to a Hollywood gossip web site. A remarkably disloyal act. The e-mail:

From: Arnon Milchan
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2011 3:46 PM
To: * Group -Internal ALL NRP Only (Bldg.12)
Cc: Chase Carey; Tom Rothman; Jim Gianopulos; Oren Aviv
Subject: New Regency
I’ve committed $300M in fees which translates to $5 billon in movies and TV over the next 10 years, which forces me to have sleepless nights. I’d like to know what the 3-5 best connections you have in the movie industry, that can move the needle and create added value beyond what Fox does. I’d like to be reassured that if I don’t sleep, you don’t sleep. I can afford not to – you cannot. I’m contemplating a major decision, and before I do that, I need your feedback.
As a reminder, the world is heading into a huge financial crisis. I have only one request – be honest. I expect caring, pro-activity, creativity and thinking outside the box with tangible results. We’re not here to continue the old regime creatively, but to create a new world. If this is not within your reach, please be honest with me. I’ve done it for the last 35 years and built a great company – I do not feel I deserve to have it evaporate. I need a timeline for Regency to become the home of great TV and movie makers.
I expect you to improve on a conscious basis with our friends at NewsCorp and Fox. They’re our friends. I need accountability and responsibility. Anything less doesn’t work for me. This is not pep talk – this is serious. I’m just now finishing my day job at 2am, which are my regular working hours because of the time difference. I expect resolutions by the end of next week.
Arnon