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What's news: Britney Spears has voluntarily checked herself into rehab. Over 1,000 big Hollywood names have come out against the Paramount-WB deal. Super Mario Galaxy Movie has soared past $600m worldwide, with Project Hail Mary crossing $500m globally. And Justin Bieber's lo-fi set at Coachella is dividing social media. — Abid Rahman
Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at tips@thr.com. |
Inside Saudi Arabia's Billion-Dollar Bet on Hollywood►"This is not only about entertainment in the U.S., it’s also about CNN. It’s also about soft power." Amid war in the Middle East, and spiking oil prices, Saudi Arabia has been spending billions far beyond its borders. The Kingdom’s bet on entertainment at home — huge investment in cinemas, concerts, comedy and film festivals, new studios and theme parks — has been matched by an equally ambitious push abroad that is rapidly reshaping Hollywood’s balance sheet, writes THR's Scott Roxborough.
Notably, the Saudis are putting up the majority of the $24b the Gulf kingdoms are pouring into the Ellisons' Warner Bros. megamerger — and that's just the latest move in a Hollywood takeover that's really about courting Trump, buying Washington influence and giving a restless young population bread and circuses instead of human rights. The digital cover story. |
"Streamflation" Might Be Nearing a Crisis Point►Thanks Trump! Right as the biggest players in entertainment are turning streaming into a viable business, there is growing concern that a wrench could be thrown into the entire sector: Consumers are grappling with rising prices everywhere they look, and there are signals that their willingness to keep paying more might be nearing a breaking point. With monthly cost of streaming subscriptions continually creeping up (alongside gas, groceries and seemingly everything else), THR's Alex Weprin looks at how consumers will be forced to make tough choices. The analysis.
—"Unequivocal opposition." Over 1,000 Hollywood boldface names released an open letter Monday morning, expressing “unequivocal opposition” to Paramount‘s mega-deal to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. The letter, which was released by a consortium of groups including Norm Eisen’s Democracy Defenders Fund and Jane Fonda’s Committee for the First Amendment, counts a who’s who of signers, including actors like Bryan Cranston, Glenn Close, Ben Stiller, Don Cheadle, Jason Bateman and Ted Danson, directors like JJ Abrams, Denis Villeneuve and Yorgos Lanthimos, producers like Ted Hope and Mark Duplass, and multi-hyphenates that include Lin-Manuel Miranda and David Chase. The letter.
—"My office took immediate action." The cast of Fox‘s Baywatch reboot will remain on Venice Beach. After reports suggested the series had encountered issues filming in Venice Beach, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass confirmed on X on Friday that production will continue as planned. The series will continue filming across Los Angeles’ iconic beaches, including Venice Beach outside of the Lifeguard Headquarters, Marina del Rey and Redondo Beach, as well as at the Fox lot in Century City. The story. |
Olivier Awards 2026►🏆 Lovely jubbly! 🏆 It may have been a night to remember for Rachel Zegler at London’s prestigious Olivier Awards, the U.K. equivalent of the Tonys, on Sunday, but a certain marmalade-loving bear owned the evening. Zegler won best actress in a musical for her viral turn in Jamie Lloyd’s Evita, playing Eva Perón. Rosamund Pike won for her performance in legal drama Inter Alia, and while Harry Potter‘s Paapa Essiedu took home best supporting actor for All My Sons. The new smash-hit production of Paddington the Musical stole the show with seven prizes in total, including best actor for performers James Hameed and Arti Shah, who operate the beloved bear’s voice (Hameed) and suit (Shah). The winners.
—The truth will out. On Sunday Hungary’s far-right leader Viktor Orban fell in an election after 16 years of some of the most bigoted and, by many accounts, corrupt rule in post-Soviet Eastern Europe. And a documentary may have helped make it happen. THR's Steven Zeitchik writes that the independent documentary The Price of a Vote, released just two weeks before the election, could have swayed things in the favor of Orban's opponent after it uncovered a wide network of bribery and blackmail. In just two weeks the film has garnered 2.2m views on YouTube. The story.
—Seeking treatment. Britney Spears has checked into a treatment facility following a DUI arrest last month. A rep for Spears confirmed to THR that the singer voluntarily entered rehab on Sunday. The Grammy-winner, 44, was arrested on March 4 for driving under the influence, and then released from jail a day later in Southern California, according to the Ventura County Sheriff’s Department. The singer is due to make a court appearance on May 4 at the Ventura County Superior Court. The story.
—🤝 Settlement. 🤝 A messy legal battle between David Geffen and his estranged husband, Donavan Michaels, over fallout from their divorce has been settled. Lawyers for Michaels informed the court in November of a deal to resolve the case. Terms of the agreement weren’t disclosed. Geffen filed for divorce from Michaels in April after less than two years of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences. Michaels promptly brought a breach of contract lawsuit. Under an oral deal the two sides allegedly reached during their relationship, Michaels claimed he was told the couple would share all their earnings and property, and that he’d be provided financial support for the rest of his life. Geffen and Michaels married in 2023 without a prenup. The story. |
Bieber's Low-Key Coachella Performance Fuels Sexism Debate►Phoning it in? While Justin Bieber could pull off a low-key headlining Coachella performance, could a female artist? That’s the latest debate making waves on social media. Following the “Daisies” singer’s Saturday night set, which was quite stripped back compared to Sabrina Carpenter’s full-on theatrical performance the night before, people have flooded social media with very candid and contrasting reactions to his concert. The reaction.
—"By the middle of his set, the show was like a karaoke party." THR's Ethan Millman offers a more indepth report on Bieber's Coachella set. Ethan writes that the singer went heavy on songs from Swag and brought out The Kid Laroi to perform their smash hit "Stay," with other guests including Wizkid, Tems, Dijon and Mk.gee. The recap.
—"Welcome to Sabrinawood." Here's Ethan's report on Sabrina Carpenter's Friday headlining performance at Coachella. Carpenter evoked vintage Hollywood and enlisted Sam Elliott, Susan Sarandon and Will Ferrell for celebrity cameos in a fun night one set. The recap.
—"I am Carolina Giraldo from Medellin, Colombia!" Intrepid Ethan was also at Karol G.'s headline slot on Sunday night at Coachella. Making history as the first Latina to ever headline the festival, the singer delivered an impressive, visually stunning set that featured surprise guests Becky G, Mariah Angeliq, Wisin and Greg Gonzalez. The recap.
More from Coachella...
—Coachella hot shots: All the highlights from weekend one in the desert
—EJAE, Rei Ami and Audrey Nuna join KATSEYE for surprise performance
—Girl group BINI makes history as first Filipino act to perform at Coachella
—Israeli artist Noga Erez gets emotional during Coachella set |
'PHM,' 'Galaxy' Fuel Biggest Box Office Gains Since COVID►Woof! Illumination and Universal’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie enjoyed a stellar second weekend in theaters, soaring past the $300m mark domestically and $600m worldwide. The sequel is the first Hollywood pic of the year to accomplish either milestone after staying atop the domestic box office chart with $69m, a decline of just 48 percent, for a North American tally of $308.1m through Sunday. Overseas, it took in another $84m from 88 markets for a foreign total of $321.1m and global cume of $628.8m, making it the top-grossing Hollywood title of the year to date, among other records.
Amazon MGM Studios’ Project Hail Mary, now in its fourth outing, also remained a force of nature as it celebrated crossing the $500m mark in worldwide ticket sales. In North America, the Ryan Gosling-led space adventures continued to hold in well, falling off 33 percent to $24.5m for a domestic haul of $256.7m. It took in another $30.6m overseas for a foreign cume of $254m and $510.6m globally.
THR's Pamela McClintock writes that by April 8, the two films had helped propel 2026 domestic box office revenue to $2.113b — a 23.5 percent spike over the same corridor in 2025 ($1,711b) and the best showing for the first part of the year since before COVID, according to Comscore. Ironically, revenue for the April 10-12 weekend was down year-over-year following a sustained winning streak that included five consecutive weekends of growth because of an especially tough comp — A Minecraft Movie — but 2026 still remains well ahead of last year by more than 23 percent. The box office report. |
Why Pixar Scrapped 'Be Fri'►"Disney reps were like, 'We can't have a girl power movie.'" Last month, it was confirmed that a Pixar feature called Be Fri (styled as BeFri) had been in development for years until it was scrapped in late 2023. A WSJ report noted that Pixar employees were stunned that a project that involved 50 people and was three years in the making would be killed — becoming perhaps the longest-developed Pixar movie to receive such a fate. An insider dishes to THR newsman Ryan Gajewski about what happened with Be Fri and the "devastating" aftermath of the shock cancelation. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Paramount has set a date to head back to 1966. The studio has acquired U.S. rights for the historical crime thriller By Any Means and set a Labor Day weekend release date of Sept. 4, 2026 for the project, which stars Mark Wahlberg and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II. Elegance Bratton directs the feature from a script by Sascha Penn. "Set against the backdrop of 1966 Mississippi, and loosely based on true events, By Any Means follows a volatile partnership between a hardened mafia hitman and a young Black FBI agent as they are forced into an uneasy alliance to track down those responsible for the killing of civil rights leaders—uncovering a conspiracy that tests the limits of justice, loyalty, and survival," reads the logline. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Lords of War, the sequel to Andrew Niccol’s 2005 crime thriller Lord of War, has been picked up by Vertical for the U.S. with a planned 2027 theatrical release. Niccol wrote and directed the film that will see Nicolas Cage reprise his role as arms dealer Yuri Orlov. In the follow-up, Orlov finds out he has a son, Anton (Bill Skarsgard), who is building a mercenary army that will rival his father’s, setting up a father-son rivalry, all against the backdrop of America’s wars in the Middle East. Vendôme Pictures produced and financed the movie, which also stars Laura Harrier, Sylvia Hoeks and Greg Tarzan Davis. The film recently wrapped production in Morocco. The story. |
Why Black Creatives Feel 'You, Me & Tuscany' Needs to Succeed►"People do have to understand that Hollywood is a reactive industry." Universal‘s new romantic comedy feature You, Me & Tuscany has a lot of people feeling that their future opportunities could be tied to its success — and not even those who have anything to do with the film. THR gumshoe Ryan Gajewski spoke to the film's producer Will Packer and independent Black filmmaker Nina Lee about the potential impact of You, Me & Tuscany 's box office results. The story.
—Sidebar selection. In Waves, Phuong Mai Nguyen’s animated adaptation of AJ Dungo’s cult graphic novel, will open the 65th edition of Cannes Critics’ Week, the sidebar that runs alongside the main Cannes festival from May 13 to 21. It was one of the 11 features making up this year’s selection, announced on Monday. The lineup.
—Scribe found. Daniel Gold, the screenwriter behind the upcoming Amazon MGM Studios movie Tough Guys, is set to write a new take on Universal's buddy cop franchise Ride Along, with Kevin Hart and Ice Cube in talks to return for a third installment. Also in talks to return is director Tim Story and producer Will Packer. Hart and Ice Cube star in the film series as brothers-in-laws who happen to both work in law enforcement, each with drastically different levels of expertise, who often end up in the middle of Florida’s various crime underworlds. It has been ten years since the last Ride Along movie hit theaters. The story. |
CinemaCon: Nolan, Cruise and WB Sale Loom Large►"Everyone feel very bullish about the prospects for a mighty impressive summer for movie theaters and studios." It seems like a lifetime ago when a record 11 companies — including the six major Hollywood studios — teased their upcoming films in 2018 at CinemaCon, the annual convention of theater owners and operators that’s been held for decades in Las Vegas. This year’s event could prove all-out surreal as the number of major legacy studios further erodes at a time when cinemas need more product that can work theatrically, not less, if they are ever to recover from the pandemic and labor strikes. CinemaCon 2026 opens its doors today, and THR 's Pamela McClintock is here with a guide to the biggest headlines that could come out this week from the five remaining legacy studios hosting presentations — Sony, Warners, Universal, Paramount and Disney — plus Amazon MGM and Neon. The guide. |
How Sam Levinson Brought Back 'Euphoria' ►"We have a motto of: Evolve or die." THR's David Canfield spoke to Emmy-nominated Euphoria creator Sam Levinson and his longtime cinematographer, Marcell Rév, about the season three premiere of the much-talked about HBO show. The duo also dish on how the polarizing music drama The Idol helped shaped the return to the world of Rue, Nate and Cassie. Warning: Spoilers! The interview. |
TV Review: 'The Audacity'
►"Too real to be fun, not deep enough to be interesting." THR's Angie Han reviews AMC's The Audacity. Created by a Succession and Better Call Saul alum, the dark comedy chronicles the crisscrossing paths of a flailing tech CEO, a greedy therapist and a retired pioneer of the industry. Starring Billy Magnussen, Sarah Goldberg, Zach Galifianakis, Meaghan Rath, Rob Corddry, Simon Helberg, Lucy Punch, Everett Blunck, Paul Adelstein, Thailey Roberge and Ava Marie Telek. Created by Jonathan Glatzer. The review.
In other news...
—Joseph Zada’s Haymitch battles for survival in Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping trailer
—James Cameron leads CinemaCon's awards honorees
—Russo Brothers’ AGBO Studio partners with SXSW London
What else we're reading...
—As the NFL gets ready to offer its media rights once more, Hannah Miller and Lucas Shaw outline the federal government's case that the league is driving up prices for fans [Bloomberg]
—Ezra Klein weighs in on the Hasan Piker debate and comes to the defense of the popular politics streamer [NYT]
—One for die-hards. Bridget Read has a long piece on what broke the Beckhams, and why wayward nepo baby Brooklyn may never make things up with his family [The Cut]
—Tom Dierberger talks to the viral "Pacers couple" and finds out what they were actually talking about, and it makes things all the funnier [Sports Illustrated]
—Zijing Wu looks at the impact of a generation of top Chinese AI talent leaving Silicon Valley and heading home for a better life and less hostility [FT]
Today...
...in 2001, Renee Zellweger brought Bridget Jones’s Diary to U.S. theaters. The R-rated rom-com, which grossed north of $280m worldwide, went on to become a film franchise. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Allison Williams (38), Ron Perlman (76), Ruben Östlund (52), Bokeem Woodbine (53), Glenn Howerton (50), Ricky Schroder (56), Dylan Conrique (22), Matthew Needham (42), Caroline Rhea (62), Yoo Ji-tae (50), Erick Avari (74), William Sadler (76), Genevieve Angelson (39), Peter Davison (75), Saundra Santiago (69), Kyle Howard (48), Alexandra Adi (55), Dylan Penn (35), Bill Conti (84), Colleen Clinkenbeard (46), Marci T. House (54), Andy Nyman (60), Nicholas Ralph (36), José Bastón (58)
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John Nolan, the British theater veteran who appeared in a pair of Batman movies and on the CBS drama Person of Interest for nephews Christopher Nolan and Jonathan Nolan, died Saturday. He was 87. The obituary.
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