Steven Mnuchin, President Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury Secretary, is expected to be confirmed on Monday. At the same time, he’s successfully bankrolled the No. 1 movie in America. Mnuchin, a former partner at Goldman Sachs, has helped finance more than 100 films, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He’s had a hand in Oscar contenders, like 2010’s best picture nominee “Black Swan” and the film that garnered Meryl Streep her 14th Oscar nomination, 2006’s “The Devil Wears Prada.” His IMDb page has him credited with 36 executive producer credits since 2014, including “American Sniper,” which racked up $547.4 million in worldwide box office receipts and six Oscar nods in 2014. He not only produced Warren Beatty’s “Rules Don’t Apply” last year, he had a role in the film playing himself. Over the weekend, Warner Bros. released “The LEGO Batman Movie.” Mnuchin served as an executive producer on the film — he also helped produce 2014’s “The LEGO Movie” and “The LEGO NINJANGO Movie” expected later this year.
A lawyer who worked with Mnuchin on the “The LEGO Batman Movie” financing deal called him a “very sophisticated banker” who “knows what he’s doing.” Check out: ‘The LEGO Batman Movie’: LEGO releases Ultimate Batmobile set Film Clip: 'The LEGO Batman Movie'(0:55) Watch a film clip from "The LEGO Batman Movie," starring the voices of Will Arnett, Michael Cera, and Rosario Dawson. Photo: Warner Bros. Pictures “The LEGO Batman Movie,” slapped with an $80 million production budget, beat out “Fifty Shades Darker” and “John Wick: Chapter Two,” earning $55.6 millions. New York Daily News columnist Gersh Kuntzman had called for a boycott of “The LEGO Batman Movie.” Also see: DC Comics brand is vital to Time Warner’s success in TV and film “I’m not objecting to the fact that a Hollywood executive producer will become the steward of our nation’s finances,” Kuntzman wrote. “Mnuchin says he’ll divest himself from RatPac-Dune once he’s confirmed as Secretary of the Treasury — but he’s still profiting from his movie business.”
As a federal employee, were he to become Treasury secretary as expected, Mnuchin would be barred by federal law from using his position to benefit himself financially. Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, served up an example of stepping over ethical lines when endorsing Ivanka Trump’s fashion line on TV. In 2006 Mnuchin founded film production and financing company Dune Entertainment, now RatPac-Dune Entertainment. The company signed a partnership with Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Bros., which owns “The LEGO Batman Movie,” to become the studio’s key co-financing partner. Warner Bros. declined to comment. Before going into business with Warner Bros., then Dune Entertainment had a financing partnership with 20th Century Fox. parent company of MarketWatch, and 21st Century Fox which owns film studio 20th Century Fox, share common ownership. Who Is Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s Treasury Pick? President-elect Donald Trump turned to former Goldman Sachs banker and movie financier Steven Mnuchin to be the next Treasury secretary.
WSJ’s Rick Carew takes a look at his background. During his Senate confirmation hearing in January, Mnuchin was berated for having used “tax tricks,” as Oregon Democratic Sen. Ron Wyden said, to conceal profits from “Avatar,” released by 20th Century Fox in 2009. “I did not use a Cayman Island entity to avoid tax liability for myself,” Mnuchin said when asked, in reference to Dune Entertainment, whether he supported closing offshore tax loopholes. Also, while serving as chief executive of the holding company for One West Bank, Mnuchin lent hundreds of millions of dollars to film studio Relativity Media. In 2014 he bought a stake in Relativity and served on the board as co-chairman. He then left the company as One West pulled out $50 million. Relativity subsequently went bankrupt. After emerging from bankruptcy last April, Relativity is again struggling and may be forced to file for Chapter 7 liquidation, according to Variety. Mnuchin has recently been named in a fraud suit relating to Relativity’s use of money that was borrowed for the purpose of prints and advertising, but instead used to finance operations and pay executive bonuses.
And last month a Freedom of Information Act request on Mnuchin’s media companies from nonprofit transparency watchdog MuckRock was denied by the FBI due to “law enforcement proceedings.” Lego announces set based on 'Batman' TV series The announcement comes as the show celebrates its 50th anniversary. Holy snapping bricks, Batman! Great news for the kid inside us all — Lego announced it's releasing a set based on the Batcave from the original TV series. The announcement comes as MeTV celebrates the 50th anniversary of Batman this week. The set, which has over 2,500 pieces, has everything you'll ever need. There is the Bat Lab and Wayne Manor, which includes Bruce Wayne's study. Inside the study, you'll find (or, well, place) the Batphone and the bust of Shakespeare, which reveals the secret entrance to the Batcave. To get around, Lego Batman has a few options — the Batcopter, Batcycle, and (of course) the Batmobile. Aside from Batman, the set includes eight other figurines, including Robin, Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, Alfred Pennyworth, the Joker, the Riddler, the Penguin and Catwoman.
(Julie Newmar, it seems.)The set will hit shelves March 1st and will retail for a whopping $269.99, so start saving now! Here's a look at what the set includes: Find out where to watch MeTV Challenging and fun puzzles The AI getting in the way Trying to get Superman to fly where you want him to As The Joker might ask, ‘Do you like LEGOs, Batman? ‘Cause I think LEGOs are going to like you!’If you do like both LEGOs and Batman, then LEGO Batman 2: DC Super Heroes should catch your attention like a Bat-signal. This time, Lex Luthor and The Joker have teamed up and are running amok in Gotham City. The Dark Knight sure has his hands full, but, fortunately, he has his pals in the Justice League to give him a hand.The sequel is chock full of blocky fun and sports some new features we haven’t seen in a LEGO game. One such important new addition is voices. That’s right, it’s the first title that no longer leans on pantomime to propel the story as seen in the numerous prior LEGO games.
Though Mark Hamill isn’t in the game to reprise his famous Joker from the ’90s animated series, the voice acting is top notch and adds plenty of genuinely funny, kid-friendly humor. It really captures the feel of a Saturday morning cartoon.Another big addition to the LEGO series is the implementation of an open sandbox Gotham City that’s rife with Arkham Asylum escapees. If you are looking to play the game past its initial story (which is rather short), you’ll be spending a lot of your time zip-lining through the Gotham skyline. There are tons of puzzles to solve, rewarding players with collectible golden bricks. There’s also a rogue gallery full of villains to capture, which adds them to your post-game playable character roster. Sandboxing Gotham is a nice touch to the game, but Traveler’s Tale haven’t implemented a mini-map, so it’s often hard to zero in on specific objectives or villains you want to fight.Despite the addition of a sandbox Gotham City, the game is still structured like a typical LEGO game.