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We could do worse than "and the media lived happily ever" as the closing scene of Devil Wears Prada 2. Journalists need a fantasy, too. This edition of The Weekender has a few doses of reality, an ugly fight, a warning sign and a hopeful data point or three. — Erik Hayden
Ticker: Zendaya passes on Met; McG extends Netflix streak; Mark Lazarus is in deal mode; Jonah Hill loses WB release date; Donald Trump Jr. was clueless.
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Long Way Back
After a bruising split with Lucasfilm, former Mandalorian star Gina Carano is rebuilding on her own terms, rekindling ties with Jon Favreau — Pedro Pascal, not so much — and stepping back into the cage for a Netflix fight that could reset her Hollywood future. Seth Abramovitch's profile.+ The Mandalorian and Grogu is tracking in the $80 million range at the box office over the four-day Memorial Day weekend. Ouch. As James Hibberd notes, "The tough-to-avoid comparison is that it’s lower than Disney’s weakest Star Wars movie — Solo, which was considered a dud that halted the franchise and sent Star Wars spinning off like Darth Vader in his crippled TIE fighter to Disney+."
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"Rope-a-Dope"
That's how FCC chair Brendan Carr characterized Team Disney's strategy this week. You could also describe the Jimmy Kimmel v. Donald Trump news cycle that way too.
As Alex Weprin explains, though, this is a long game: "Carr has repeatedly said over the past few months that an early review of broadcast licenses is an option for the FCC, and that he expected there to be legal action between the FCC and at least one network before President Trump's term ends. Any effort to revoke those licenses would be time-consuming and take place in court, where Disney could cite First Amendment protections. Even if the FCC was successful, the move would not remove ABC from the airwaves." The report.
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Spencer's World
Spencer Pratt — the 2000s reality TV star turned 2010s online influencer turned 2020s populist firebrand — is now a formidable candidate in the L.A. mayoral race, gauged by fundraising totals, poll numbers and incoming criticism from chief rivals. This ascent is a shock for the city’s liberal establishment, which considers him an unqualified clown. It shouldn’t be.
Pratt’s campaign donors include former Lakers leader Jeanie Buss, actress turned anti-vaccine activist Jenny McCarthy, realtor-to-the-stars Kurt Rappaport, reality TV producer Jeff Jenkins ( Keeping Up with the Kardashians) and OANN host Ginger Gaetz — wife of controversial former GOP House Rep. Matt Gaetz and sister of Southern California arms-manufacturing billionaire Palmer Luckey. Gary Baum's column.
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The AI 25
Most of Hollywood has long-established groups of power players — you know who’s calling the shots because they’ve called them so many times before. Not so for Hollywood and AI. The latest tech is a Wild West — a wide-open space practically inviting new personalities to come in and conquer. And conquer they have. A burgeoning group of figures have flooded these vast plains hoping to dominate and make future-Hollywood look the way they think it should (and make lots of entertainment and, sometimes, money in the process). The full list, edited by Steven Zeitchik and Julian Sancton.
*Not fans of The AI 25, probably. The Film Academy, which eliminated any gray area about its position on artificial intelligence: AI is not welcome at the Oscars. Scott Feinberg's story.
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Warning Sign
Picture the climactic ending of James Cameron’s Titanic: Kate Winslet as Rose, promising to “never let go” as Leonardo DiCaprio’s Jack tragically succumbs to hypothermia in the icy Atlantic sea.
Now imagine, instead of slipping beneath the waves, Jack revives, hauls himself aboard the lifeboat, pushes back his floppy hair and embraces Rose — so that the duo may sail away to live happily ever after.
A situation of just this kind played out across movie theaters in India. Justin Rao + Patrick Brzeski's must-read report.
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A New Hope?
After filming levels hit a new nadir last year, Los Angeles saw a roughly 10 percent increase in shoot days to start 2026 compared to the three month period from October to December, per the latest tally from permitting office FilmLA. Features saw a major uptick in production, logging a 52 percent year-over-year increase. Still, shoot days in the first quarter (5,121) are nearly 30 percent below the five-year average. Winston Cho's report.
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They Said It
"I will always trade a podcast with a really, really fun host over sitting in a hotel room and doing a hundred interviews in a day." — Tom Holland, on mapping out promotion for Spider-Man: Brand New Day and The Odyssey.
"The people who invented these characters, who designed them in the first place, are now being replaced by AI." — Evangeline Lilly, aka The Wasp in Marvel movies, claiming the studio is using AI to iterate off artists' creations.
"We feel it's a marketing play to try and offset the fact that they don't have an Imax platform or brand for Avengers: Doomsday." — Imax CFO Natasha Fernandes on Disney unveiling "Infinity Vision," a competing certification for premium large format theaters.
"The scale, concentration, and sovereign nature of this foreign ownership present serious and unresolved questions about national security." — Sam Liccardo (D-CA), in a letter asking the FCC to deny Paramount’s request for approval on foreign ownership of Warner Bros.
"The animation and visual effect segments of the industry continue to be a huge component here." — Katharine Pavoni, of the British Columbia Film Commission, on optimistic signs of Vancouver's film and TV rebound.
"I’d say THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER, but that would be more than presumptuous." — Barry Diller, signing off a lengthy about AI, changing IAC's name to People Inc and where his business is placing bets now.
Logline of the Week
"Single people 'who are officially over swiping, ghosting, and endless first dates' will have their families do the matchmaking for them. The catch: Once those families think they've found a good match, the couple gets engaged on the spot, and both the couples and their families move in together to see if the arranged relationship will work out." — Title: Marriage Market, an unscripted show which Fox ordered with Whitney Cummings hosting.
By the Numbers
(Most-read stories on THR.com this week)
1.) "Landman Sets Emmys Categories: Billy Bob Thornton Goes Lead"
2.) "The Devil Wears Prada 2: First Reactions"
3.) "Big Bang Theory Spinoff Stuart Fails to Save the Universe Reveals First Look"
$27M
Cost savings that production services giant Quixote, owned by Hudson Pacific, is expecting to reap by winding down multiple L.A. soundstage leases and exiting Georgia and New Mexico entirely.
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An Ugly Fight
This should be a time of relative calm for the Writers Guild of America, whose members just ratified a deal that infuses $321 million into the union health plan. Instead, things have gotten ugly. On the heels of its contract ratification with studios, the WGA West is back to engaging in an increasingly tense conflict with its staff union. Katie Kilkenny's report.
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A Tangled Web
When Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni first clashed on the New Jersey set of It Ends with Us, they no doubt didn’t realize their careers would both be overwhelmed by the maelstrom. The actors’ inexhaustible rancor and resources have had a wide blast radius, pulling in bold-faced names from Rebel Wilson to Andrew Huberman and revealing the "playbook" for a sprawling slander operation. Gary Baum's report.
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The Wild Life
Who is Carlos Eric Lopez? He’s been a party boy, agent trainee, magazine editor, modeling scout, micro-influencer and photographer. But Lopez is most proud of his current role as Latino entrepreneur and cultural change-maker: "He makes shit happen." Chris Gardner's profile.
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Broadway Queen
The record-breaking Tony winner Kara Young gives a major performance in the upcoming film Is God Is, her biggest screen role yet, while earning more Broadway raves for Proof. Says co-star Ayo Edebiri, "It's pretty astounding to be in contact with." David Canfield's profile.
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Around Town
Colin Hanks joined producers Chris Candy, Jennifer Candy-Sullivan and Shane Reid for a Planes, Trains and Automobiles screening at Vidiots in L.A. Mark Wahlberg and Miles Teller hopped in the DJ booth with Kygo at Palm Tree Beach Club Las Vegas' one year anniversary. Katy Perry hosted a charity pickleball event in Santa Barbara. Jane Fonda and Alexander Payne attended the TCM Classic Film Festival opening night screening of Barefoot in the Park in Hollywood. Mallori Johnson, Tessa Thompson and Kara Young premiered their film Is God Is in NYC. Patrick Wilson, NB Mager and Molly Ringwald made an appearance at the Lower East Side Film Festival in NYC. All 59 photos from this week's premieres and events.
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The Bottom Line
Snapshots from THR's team of critics:
Disney's star-studded Devil Wears Prada 2 is "a capably maneuvered glam offensive." Renny Harlin's shark-airplane disaster pic Deep Water is "diverting enough for a gnarly mashup." Hugh Jackman and Emma Thompson's family-friendly mystery The Sheep Detectives is "woolly-headed." Michael B. Jordan and Juno Temple animated Netflix film Swapped is "better than its familiar premise would suggest." Yahya Abdul-Mateen II Netflix actioner Man on Fire "turns a monomaniacal payback story into a slack team-up thriller." And finally,
A Hollywood Flashback...
"You usually don’t go back into the archives and pull out stuff from the bin and show it to people, warts and all."
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