Behind the Scenes Buzz

HOLLYWOOD STARS CAN MAKE $200K ON RED CARPET: Luxury brands eager for hot stars to wear their goods on the red carpet are offering major endorsement deals to them, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Placing a gown or statement jewelry with an A-Lister like Emily Blunt, Lady Gaga or Rachel Weisz can be worth between $50,000-$200,000 for a single appearance, per THR.

AQUAMAN, A STAR IS BORN GIVE WARNER BROS. BEST BOX OFFICE: Warner Bros. reached a new milestone in 2018, thanks to megahits Aquaman, A Star Is Born and The Meg. The studio raked in $42.2 billion in global ticket sales, outpacing its record $39.8 billion set last year. In North America alone, Warner Bros. nabbed $11.9 billion, up 7% from last year.

TARON EGERTON IS ROCKETMAN: Taron Egerton is starring as Elton John in Rocketman, and on Friday, Paramount released new images of Egerton in the role. Rocketman takes off May 31^st. Dexter Fletcher‘s Rocketman is being billed as “an epic musical fantasy about the uncensored human story of Elton John’s breakthrough years.”

2018 WAS A GREAT YEAR FOR BLACK DIRECTORS: Last year saw the best turnout yet for black directors, according to a study from the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. This year, black directors helmed 16 of the top 100 grossing films. “This year really illuminates that the pictures of what a director ‘should’ look like are ways of old, and that storytellers who are given the resources and support of major companies and distributors [can come] from many different backgrounds,” Annenberg Inclusion Initiative founder and director Stacy L. Smith tells The Hollywood Reporter. “The only thing that is restricting more individuals from being let in is the imagination of the people who greenlight.”