February 01, 2022

What's news: The controversy over Whoopi Goldberg's Holocaust and race comments continue after an appearance on The Late Show. Rachel Maddow is taking some time off. NYT buys Wordle. Sony buys Bungie. AMC Theaters records its best quarter in two years. Jennifer Garner is joining the Party Down revival. Plus: War film Changjin 2 made over $100m on its first day of release during the lucrative CNY holiday in China — Abid Rahman

Whoopi Goldberg Apologizes and Seemingly Doubles Down on Holocaust Comments

►"I don’t want to fake apologize." Whoopi Goldberg continued to receive criticism and provoke debate Tuesday after an appearance on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert where she elaborated – and seemingly double downed – on her take on the Holocaust and Jewish identity.

Goldberg's latest comments followed the heavy criticism she received for a claim made on Monday's episode of The View that the Holocaust was not about race. Goldberg made the claim during a discussion about a Tennessee school district voting to pull Art Spiegelman’s Pulitzer Prize winning graphic novel Maus, which is about the Holocaust, due to “inappropriate language” and nudity.

After her comments drew backlash from some viewers and Jewish leaders, Goldberg tweeted an apology later on Monday before her appearance on The Late Show. The story.

—"Little bit of time off." Rachel Maddow plans to step away from her show for a few weeks beginning this Friday, with plans to use the time to develop other projects for NBCUniversal. Maddow said that one of those projects is a movie adaptation of her book Bag Man, which will be produced by Lorne Michaels and directed by Ben Stiller. The story.

—Details revealed. THR's Katie Kilkenny has the goods on the latest three-year tentative agreement between the Teamsters Local 399 and Hollywood Basic Crafts and the studios. The participating unions negotiated a budget-based New Media sideletter that eliminates low "movie of the week" rates and won three percent annual wage increases. The story.

—Gun-safety training. A Republican New Mexico legislator wants actors and other film-set professionals to undergo state-sponsored gun-safety training after the fatal Rust shooting incident that led to the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. The story.

—Irate? Adieu? Stain? The New York Times has acquired the buzzy, popular word puzzle game Wordle for low seven figures. Wordle will join the Times' other lineup of word games, including its iconic crossword puzzle, as well as Letter Boxed and Spelling Bee. The game will remain free to play, and no changes will be made to its gameplay. The story.

Johnny Depp, Aaron Eckhart Films Among Berlin's Buzziest Projects

►The hot list. THR's Europe bureau chief, and Kraftwerk tragic, Scott Roxborough runs through the most-talked about films at the upcoming Berlin Film Festival. The buzzy titles include a youth-skewing horror film starring Asa Butterfield and the political drama Rabiye Kurnaz vs. George W. Bush also are among the titles generating pre-market heat. The list.

—Deal frenzy. Sony has agreed to acquire Bungie, the original developer behind video game hits like Halo and Destiny, in a deal valued at $3.6 billion. The deal comes amid a buying spree in gaming this month with Take-Two Interactive agreeing to acquire Zynga for $12.7 billion, and Microsoft buying Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion. The story.

—Nuevo gigante. Univision and Mexico's Televisa have completed their $4.8 billion merger, creating a newly-formed media giant encompassing production, dozens of cable channels, multiple broadcast networks. The new company is looking to launch a global Spanish-language streaming service this year, which will be formally unveiled next month. The story.

—Private equity play. Apollo Funds has picked up a $760 million minority preferred stake in Legendary Entertainment, in what is the latest private equity buy-in to Hollywood. The deal follows the Dune producer holding talks to sell an equity stake or merge with another entertainment player. The story.

—Deal done. AMC Networks and Comcast unveiled a new multi-year distribution agreement on Monday that includes continued carriage of AMC's linear networks and “expanded availability” of its targeted streaming services to the cable giant’s Xfinity TV, broadband and XClass customers. The story.

—Sound gains. SiriusXM said on Tuesday that it added 55,000 self-paying subscribers in its satellite radio unit in Q4, compared with the 407,000 additions recorded in the same period in 2020. The audio giant also said that its Pandora music streaming business grew advertising revenue by 4 percent. The results.

—"Strongest quarter in two years." AMC Theatres saw its stock surge on Tuesday morning in pre-market trading as the cinema giant reported better-than-expected Q4 revenue despite the omicron wave. Revenue for the three months to Dec. 31 jumped to $1.17 billion, up from $162.5 million in the same period of 2020. The results.

Stars Gather for Bob Saget Tribute at the Comedy Store

►"He deserves EVERY bit of all this love." John Stamos, John Mayer, Chris Rock and Jim Carrey were among the famous friends of the late Bob Saget to take the stage for a tribute event on Sunday night at L.A.'s Comedy Store. The sold-out show featured remembrances from some the comedian's inner circle, including his wife Kelly Rizzo, who led the room in a singalong of his song "My Dog Licked My Balls." The story.

—Bestselling material. Saoirse Ronan is set to star in The Outrun, the new film from The Unforgivable director Nora Fingscheidt. The feature, an adaptation of Amy Liptrot’s best-selling memoir of the same name, will see Ronan play Rona, a woman fresh out of rehab who returns to Scotland’s wild Orkney Islands and to the sheep farm of her childhood. The story.

—Roy Kent transfer news. Following a competitive bidding process, Emmy-winning Ted Lasso star and writer Brett Goldstein has signed an exclusive overall deal with Warner Bros. Television. The pact will see Goldstein develop, create and produce new TV projects for the studio. The story.

—Monster numbers. China’s highly lucrative Lunar New Year box office race is underway and The Battle of Lake Changjin 2, as expected, has staked out a commanding early lead. The much anticipated patriotic war sequel, which depicts a Chinese victory over the U.S. in a batte during the Korean War, hit $100 million and counting by mid-evening Tuesday, the first day of the weeklong holiday. The story.

Review: 'Murderville'

►"Clever puzzles buried in lackluster comedy." THR TV critic Angie Han reviews Netflix's Murderville. The murder-mystery comedy pairs Will Arnett's Detective Terry Seattle with celebrity guests who are not shown a script ahead of time and must improvise their way through each case. The review.

—D&D overload. Red Notice writer-director Rawson Marshall Thurber has signed on to adapt a live-action Dungeons & Dragons series for eOne. The proposed series comes as production wraps on the D&D feature film. Hasbro-owned eOne had previously tapped Derek Kolstad to develop a D&D series. The project Thurber is working on is considered the flagship of a possible TV universe. The story.

—Casting news. The Vampire Diaries alum Joseph Morgan and German actress Franka Potente have joined the cast of the HBO Max DC Comics' Titans. Both will be series regulars for season four, which has also enlisted Lisa Ambalavanar for a recurring role. The story.

—Joining the party. Jennifer Garner, Tryel Jackson Williams, Zoë Chao and James Marsden are the big names joining Starz's revival of Party Down. Garner, Williams and Chao will all be regulars, while Marsden is set to recur in the six-episode series. The story.

—Meet the ladies. Paramount+'s Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies has unveiled its cast and begun production in Vancouver. The series, set in 1954, four years before the original Grease feature film, was originally titled Rydell High and ordered at HBO Max, before moving streamers and gaining a new title. The cast.

In other news...

—Netflix releases Texas Chainsaw Massacre sequel trailer

—TV ratings: Janet Jackson scores for Lifetime, A&E

—Encanto song “We Don’t Talk About Bruno” hits no. 1 on Billboard Hot 100

—Jon Favreau to be honored by Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild

—HBO Max to launch in 15 more European countries in March

—Vice Media postproduction workers ratify new IATSE contract

—Color of Change taps ABC News’ Kelle Rozell as chief marketing and storytelling officer

—1883 actor Eric Nelsen signs with APA

—BAFTA Rising Star Award: Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ariana DeBose, Lashana Lynch among nominees

—Carleton Carpenter, Debbie Reynolds’ co-star in Two Weeks With Love, dies at 95

—Donald May, Adam Drake on The Edge of Night, dies at 92

—NBCU taps Valari Dobson Staab as chairman of Local, DTC Service Planned for NBC RSNs

—Hoda Kotb, Joel Schiffman end engagement

—Rihanna pregnant with first child

What else we're reading...

—Josh Rottenberg and Glenn Whipp speak to awards pros on the Oscar season from hell [LAT]

—How The Worst Person in the World star Anders Danielsen Lie juggles his career as an actor and work as a full-time doctor in Oslo [NYT]

—Slash on reconciling with Axl Rose and getting Guns N’ Roses back together [WSJ]

—How the metaverse could impact the world and the future of technology [ABC News]

—Vogue France's flippant endorsement of the headscarf has caused offense among French Muslims [CNN]

Today...

Today's birthdays: Julia Garner (28), Michael C. Hall (51), Harry Styles (28), Sherilyn Fenn (57), Rachelle Lefevre (43), Linus Roache (58), Pauly Shore (54), Ronda Rousey (35), Tasya Teles (37), Garrett Morris (85), Heather Morris (35), Lauren Conrad (36), Lauren Mary Kim (41), Kelli Goss (30), Abbi Jacobson (38)

Moses J. Moseley, the actor best known for his role in The Walking Dead, has died. He was 31. Moseley was found dead in Stockbridge, Georgia, after previously being reported missing. The obituary.

This email was sent to facestuffs.aaaaa@blogger.com by Penske Media Corporation. Please add email@email.hollywoodreporter.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox.

Visit the Preferences Center to update your profile and customize what email alerts and newsletters you receive.

MyNews

.

.