I Thought Seppuku Was a Japanese Thing

Shang Chi star Simu Liu had this to say to his boss on Instagram.

“We are not an ‘interesting experiment, we are the underdog; the underestimated. We are the ceiling-breakers. We are the celebration of culture and joy that will persevere after an embattled year. We are the surprise, I’m fired the fuck up to make history on September 3rd; JOIN US.”

This is clearly a response to Bob Chapek’s Q3 earning’s call statement with regards to Shang Chi’s release date.  Also, vaguely hinting your boss is a racist is not the kind of thing a nobody like Simu Liu does to one of the most powerful men in his industry.

But he went and did it. 

There are few little tidbits of intel to mined from his statement. 

First, somebody wrote this statement for him because a quick scan of his past musings shows that this is not his prose.  He’s an actor, not a writer.

Second, he has to have been privately assured that he will have another high-level job after Shang Chi augers in. He knows that, barring a miracle, his film is going to bomb.  He also knows you don’t get mouthy with your boss in Hollywood and get another job at that studio.

So, who made him that promise? Liu knows that Kevin Feige can’t do that, not if the CEO of the company says, “Nope, not him. Cast someone else.”

Do you remember what I said the other day about CAA chairman Bryan Lourd having thrown his support behind Iger and Feige’s anti-Chapek faction?  Guess who reps Simu Liu? 

If you guessed CAA give yourself a high-five.

CAA has already landed Johansson a prime role in Wes Anderson’s next Oscar-bait project opposite Tom Hanks. 

The Hollywood trade papers are backing the anti-Chapek faction.  I strongly suspect you will see more and more of these kinds of stories slamming Bob Chapek as an accountant who doesn’t get Hollywood and has no business sitting in Walt Disney’s chair.  And the stories will become more and more shrill as the end of the year approaches.  Desperately trying to create a narrative that will convince the board of directors to remove Chapek and put Iger back in charge.

I can’t guarantee they won’t succeed but it looks unlikely to me.

The institutional investors don’t read Variety, they read spreadsheets and the Q3 earnings report showed a profit for the first time since Q1 of 2020. That was all Chapek’s doing.  He owns that.

Emily Blunt is no longer considering a lawsuit because she got very, very quietly paid.

Emma Stone stopped grousing the moment Disney announced Cruella 2, (okay, what the fuck kind of sequel is that going to be?  They already made the sequel; it’s called 101 Dalmatians).

In case you are curious, no, neither of them is repped by CAA.  Blunt is represented by Anthem and Stone is signed with Endeavor.  Which means the second and third biggest talent agencies are sitting this one out.  Their view apparently being if Bryan Lourd wants to yeet his way out of Hollywood that’s his business.

And that is very likely what is going to happen if Bob Chapek is still standing come January. Bob Iger will have been elevated out of being Chairman of the Board into emeritus status, joining Michael Eisner at his window seat.

At that point, Chapek will call CAA and inform them that, ‘if Bryan Lourd is still working there by the end this phone call then Disney will cut all ties to CAA.’ 

I’m not saying that Chapek is guaranteed a win, but I am saying that right now, the moneymen still have his back.

Developing.