Tag Archives: The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Why You’ll Never See Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Greatest Performance Yet

U.S. actor Hoffman attends a news conference at the 56th Berlinale International Film Festival in Berlin

I’m still reeling from the news that Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead yesterday from an apparent drug overdose. As I wrote at Quartz, what might have been his best performance yet was still to come: in an upcoming Showtime comedy series, Happyish.

Last month, Showtime treated reporters at the Television Critics Association’s winter press tour to footage from Happyish, which the network had just officially picked up to series. In the clips screened from the pilot episode, reporters and critics were laughing at the exploits of Hoffman, who played a bitter creative director at a New York City ad agency dealing with a new boss half his age. The footage promised yet another classic Hoffman performance, with a profane rant against social media and an uproarious hallucination involving a Keebler Elf. And even though only the pilot episode had been shot, with a likely series debut set for summer, many in the room—myself included—were already predicting that Hoffman would be making room on his mantle for Emmys, Golden Globes and SAG Awards for his Happyish role.

Those of us lucky enough to see that footage at TCA will always wonder what might have been. RIP, Philip Seymour Hoffman.

Why you’ll never see Philip Seymour Hoffman’s greatest performance yet

Why Blockbuster Opening Weekends Cause Falling Stock Prices

qz-why-blockbuster-opening

I stepped a little bit out of my comfort zone for my latest Quartz story, on why a movie studio’s stock often falls after its film has a blockbuster opening weekend. As I wrote,

The post-blockbuster stock dip has become a surprisingly common occurrence in recent years. Here’s why: just as Hunger Games fans spent months eagerly awaiting the film’s opening weekend, investors were likewise buying up LGF shares, causing the stock to double in the past year. This mirrors activity around an eagerly-anticipated new tech products, like iPhone and iPad releases, as investors buy in anticipation of a big event, then try to unload their shares to those suddenly interested in buying in after the gargantuan sales figures come out.

The more you know!

Why blockbuster opening weekends cause falling stock prices