What's news: The DGA has ratified its four-year deal with the AMPTP. Scott Pelley has signed with CAA. A Shrek spinoff movie about Donkey is coming in 2028. NBC has renewed The Americas. Canada will compete in Eurovision. And a second contestant on Love Island USA has been removed from the show for past use of the N-word. — Abid Rahman
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Weinstein Avoids Rape Retrial |
►The latest. Manhattan prosecutors said they will not retry Harvey Weinstein on a rape charge related to Jessica Mann, after a mistrial in May. The prosecutors made the decision to dismiss the charge after having discussions with Mann, who did not wish to testify again. This would have been the fourth time Mann testified in front of a jury about the charge. After spending close to seven years in prison, Weinstein, 74, has still served less than half of his 16-year sentence in California, where he was found guilty of forcible rape, forcible oral copulation and penetration by foreign object against Jane Doe 1. The story.
—✊ Ratified! ✊ The Directors Guild of America on Thursday ratified a four-year deal with studios and streamers, bringing a close to a quiet year for bargaining between Hollywood’s labor groups and top companies. The union did not disclose what portion of its membership voted for and against the deal, but said members voted “overwhelmingly” in favor of the deal in its announcement of the ratification. The DGA, the last of Hollywood’s major unions to negotiate its deals in 2026, bargains on behalf of around 19,500 directors, assistant directors, associate directors, unit production managers and stage managers. The story.
—Moving on. Scott Pelley is ready for life after 60 Minutes. The veteran broadcast journalist, whose high profile firing in early June from the newsmagazine made national headlines, has signed with CAA for representation. The major talent agency will rep Pelley in all areas as the author and correspondent looks for life after CBS News, where he has worked for 37 years. The story.
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The $70M Bet to Control Hollywood's Favorite Data Set |
►Box office insiders. Anant Gupta, a Bay Area private equity exec who launched an investment firm titled Advaya Capital, inked a deal with Comscore in May to buy that box office data unit and spin it off into its own firm that will take the name of Rentrak. Gupta brought aboard ex-Rentrak vet Aronson, to join the board of advisors for the firm, which counts 200 employees globally. THR's Erik Hayden spoke to Gupta and Aronson about their efforts to revive Rentrak as the single, trusted handler of all theatrical grosses. The interview.
—Call her pissed. Alex Cooper offered her first substantive public comments regarding claims that her company has a toxic workplace. The popular podcaster and media mogul commented Wednesday about allegations that Unwell "fosters a toxic work environment" following extensive exposes in Vanity Fair and Bloomberg. "I will say that building a startup, there is so much growth that comes with that, and I am extremely proud of what we have built at Unwell," the Call Her Daddy host said in a new interview. "And I will just kind of leave it at ‘don’t believe everything that you read on the internet’ — but I think everyone knows that at this point." The story.
—Quieter days ahead for some. You turn on your favorite show but can’t hear the dialogue. You turn the volume up. It’s perfect. Then, an ad comes on. It’s way too loud... That’s about to become a thing of the past, at least in California. Starting on July 1, a state law will go into effect barring streaming platforms from servicing ads louder than the programming they accompany. Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the bill last year forcing the normalization of audio levels so viewers aren’t jolted by blaring commercials. The story.
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'The Odyssey' to Skip Social Media Influencer Screenings
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►Our long national nightmare is over. Universal has decided to skip having word-of-mouth (a.k.a. influencer) screenings for Christopher Nolan‘s The Odyssey. Instead, after the film’s global premiere screening in London on July 6, the film will begin screening for film critics. The move bucks the trend of studios getting ahead of professional reviews by inviting fan-site bloggers and influencers to see major releases in advance and then letting them post (often highly enthusiastic) mini reviews on social media. Universal’s decision also comes at a time when fans have gotten savvier about the relationship between studio marketing departments and influencers. The story.
—Time to make waffles! Eddie Murphy‘s beloved Donkey from the Shrek franchise is getting his own adventure. Universal announced Thursday that the studio is set to release Donkey theatrically June 30, 2028. Murphy will return for the DreamWorks Animation feature to voice the character that he has played since the original Shrek hit theaters in 2001. Donkey returns audiences to a land Far, Far Away in telling the adventure-seeking title character’s origin story. Charlie Bean and Matt Flynn are co-directing with Rebecca Huntley serving as producer. The story.
—What a fall from grace. The plot details for beleaguered actor Jonathan Majors’ next feature film emerged Thursday when the trailer for the upcoming action movie from Daily Wire Films, Run Hide Fight 2: Infidels, debuted online. The standalone sequel to the 2020 American action thriller, which follows a teenage girl outwitting gunmen who have taken over her high school, moves the action from the classrooms of suburbia to a New England college that has been transformed into a mini-caliphate after terrorists overtake the campus. The story.
—"We told that story." Brad Bird poured cold water on sequel speculation surrounding his Oscar-winning Pixar movie Ratatouille. In a new interview, Bird, who wrote and directed the 2007 feature about a rat with unlikely culinary talent, said he has no plans to work on a potential Ratatouille 2, despite apparent interest from Pixar brass in a sequel. This follows Ratatouille voice star Patton Oswalt recently expressing interest in reprising the character. The story.
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Feinberg's Final Emmy Nominations Predictions
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►It's the Pitts. The TV Academy’s voting period to determine this year’s Primetime Emmy nominations came to a close on June 22, but we won’t learn what and who the organization’s members — currently numbering more than 27,000 and spread across 31 peer groups — nominated until two Wednesdays from now, July 8. In the meantime, THR's executive editor of awards coverage Scott Feinberg shares his projected nominees, alternates, potential surprises and "shoulda been a contenda" selections for 63 categories. The predictions.
—"Public Service Announcement." Jay-Z is getting an eight-part HBO documentary series directed by music super-producer Rick Rubin. Over eight episodes of JAŸ-Z In 8, Rubin will interview the rapper “to discuss his music, lyrics, life experiences, and creative process,” HBO said in a press release. HBO didn’t share a release date but said the series would come this fall. Both Rubin and Jay-Z are executive producing the series, along with Oscar-winner Daniel Kaluuya. The story.
—Diving into the archives. Disney is diving into a series adaptation of the 2006 mermaid movie Aquamarine. Disney+ and the Disney Channel have ordered a pilot for the project. Emma Roberts, one of the stars of the movie, is an executive producer and will guest star in the pilot, reprising her role as Claire. The movie’s director, Elizabeth Allen Rosenbaum, is set to helm the pilot from writer Sarah Watson. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Starz is reteaming with Vida creator Tanya Saracho to develop a new romantasy series. The company announced Thursday that it’s acquired the rights to Lauren Palphreyman’s The Wolf King, a steamy adult romance-fantasy that follows a princess who is kidnapped and held captive by a “brooding werewolf alpha” amid a war. Starz has optioned Palphreyman’s sequel The Night Prince, along with the series’ upcoming third book, The Wolf Queen. The story.
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Love Islander Removed for Resurfaced N-Word Video
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►Not again. Casa Amor bombshell Alannah Keyser has been pulled from Love Island USA season eight after a video of her allegedly using a racial slur resurfaced on social media. Peacock has confirmed that Keyser will no longer be on Love Island USA after Thursday night’s episode (which is the 20th episode of the series). Keyser does appear in episode 20, and her exit was briefly addressed on the show. She is the second castmember to be removed from season eight after Vasana Montgomery was removed from the show ahead of the June 2 premiere when social media posts emerged of her using the N-word. The story.
—🎭 Classy addition. 🎭 FX and Hulu‘s series based on the Far Cry video game franchise is adding a two-time Emmy nominee to its cast. Lizzy Caplan will star opposite Rob Mac in the series. Mac and Noah Hawley are also the creative minds behind Far Cry, which is based on Ubisoft’s mega-selling games franchise. Details about the story for Far Cry, and thus Caplan’s and Mac’s characters, are being held close to the vest for now. The series, like the games, will feature a different cast and plot each season. The story.
—Big woof from Cage! The Boroughs, canceled by Netflix in mid-June, continues to rack up big numbers in Nielsen’s lagging U.S. streaming ratings. After debuting at No. 2 overall the previous week, The Boroughs rose to the top spot for May 25-31 with 1.74b minutes of viewing time. The show grew by about 45 percent week-to-week, with the largest cohort of viewers falling in the over-50 demographic — not a huge surprise for a show set in a retirement community. Spider-Noir, starring Nicolas Cage, finished second among original series with 851m minutes for its premiere week on Prime Video. Euphoria (730m minutes) also hit a high mark on the Nielsen charts for the week leading up to its May 31 series finale. The streaming rankings.
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WB Reanimating 'Dark Shadows'
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►Back from the dead. THR's Scott Roxborough has the scoop that Warner Bros. Animation is bringing back the cult TV show from the 1960s Dark Shadows. The Gothic soap opera, which featured a tormented vampire named Barnabas Collins and his supernaturally dysfunctional family, will be reimagined as an adult animation series. The original show, created by Dan Curtis, aired weekdays on ABC from 1966 to 1971 and gained a devoted following. The show spawned several feature film adaptations, most famously Tim Burton’s 2012 feature. The story.
—Second helping. NBC has ordered a second season of the natural history documentary The Americas, which debuted in 2025 and is currently re-airing a “fun fact edition” with some additional behind-the-scenes footage and commentary. Production on season two has begun, with a premiere date slated for 2028. Tom Hanks will return as narrator for the second season, which will explore new regions of the Americas. The story.
—Maple mayhem. Eurovision Song Contest organizer the European Broadcasting Union has revealed Canada’s full membership after a vote held at its 96th General Assembly in Prague. CBC/Radio-Canada had been an associate member of the EBU since 1950, and now as a full member can fully participate in all European broadcasting organization events and initiatives. Canadian artists are now eligible in to compete in a popular music contest threatened by politics and a loss of sponsors. The story.
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►"Focused and streamlined, but is that what it does best?" THR's chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg reviews FX/Hulu's The Bear. In the lead-up to the yet-unseen series finale of Christopher Storer's Emmy-winning sensation, the fate of The Bear and its staff is at stake. Starring Jeremy Allen White, Ayo Edebiri, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Lionel Boyce, Liza Colon-Zayas, Abby Elliott, Matty Matheson, Edwin Lee Gibson and Corey Hendrix. Created by Christopher Storer. The review.
—"Formulaic enough to give algorithms a bad name." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Matt Spicer's Little Brother. An uptight real estate broker finds himself saddled with the guy he mentored in high school in this Netflix film. Starring John Cena, Eric André, Michelle Monaghan, Chris Meloni, Ego Nwodim, Sherry Cola, Caleb Hearon, Ben Ahlers, Bryce Gheisar and Pilot Bunch. Written by Jarrad Paul and Andrew Mogel. The review.
In other news...
—Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s period thriller The Samurai and the Prisoner drops first trailer
—Sense and Sensibility trailer: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Esmé Creed-Miles juggle suitors
—Phoebe Bridgers drops new single "Lost Boys"
—ACM Awards announce date for 2027 show
—Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, Barry Manilow to attend Clive Davis’ funeral
—Lionel Richie abruptly ends concert after falling ill on stage
—Muni Long returns to music after life-saving double lung transplant
—Jayda Cheaves signs with WME after leaving The Team
—Ann Blyth, the evil daughter in Mildred Pierce, dies at 98
—Ellen Weston, Get Smart actress and Guiding Light writer, dies at 87
—David Clayton-Thomas, Blood, Sweat & Tears singer, dies at 84
What else we're reading...
—Melena Ryzik interviews Christopher Nolan about the anxiety of making The Odyssey, and filming the thing entirely with IMAX cameras [NYT]
—Eva Jaber looks at how the language of Gen Alpha is subconsciously influenced by the language of the Minions animated characters [Guardian]
—Biz Carson and Alicia Clanton report that Gavin Newsom, billionaires face a costly battle as California's wealth tax advances [Bloomberg]
—Kevin T. Dugan reports that Wall Street is starting to realize that it needs more than money to counter Zohran Mamdani [WSJ]
—Here's your Friday list: 19 Black characters who changed TV and film forever [THR]
Today...
...in 1963, Universal unveiled, in color, the 91-minute Toho feature King Kong vs. Godzilla in theaters stateside. The original review.
Today's birthdays...
Paul Thomas Anderson (56), Aubrey Plaza (42), Brandon Sklenar (36), Jacob Elordi (29), Nick Offerman (56), Jason Schwartzman (46), Ariana Grande (33), Chris O'Donnell (56), Jennette McCurdy (34), Will Attenborough (35), Matt Letscher (56), Ana Ularu (41), Sean Hayes (56), Mark McKinney (67), Ian Tracey (62), Gedde Watanabe (71), Eric Nelsen (35), Pamela Bellwood (75), Wyatt McClure (18), Brittney Karbowski (40), Michael Paul Chan (76), Giavani Cairo (35), Chris Isaak (70), Natsuki Hanae (35), Andrew Bachelor (38), Steven Brand (57), Rebecca Budig (53), Dany Boon (60), Gino Vento (39), Joanne Tucker (44), Amanda Cerny (35), David Brisbin (74), Valerie Pachner (39), Parry Shen (53)
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Harold Wheeler, the veteran orchestrator on Broadway and longtime musical director for ABC’s Dancing With the Stars, has died. He was 83. The obituary.
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