| | | | What's news: Apple renews Physical for a third season. Starz's Powerbook III gets a third season. Quinta Brunson signs an overall deal with WBTVG. Lauren Ambrose joins Yellowjackets cast. Park Chan-wook's Decision to Leave is South Korea's entry for the Oscars — Abid Rahman |
Anne Heche "Not Expected to Survive," Rep Says ►The latest. Anne Heche’s team shared a new update on her health Thursday, stating that she suffered a severe anoxic brain injury and is “not expected to survive” following a fiery car crash last week. According to the statement, sent from Heche’s publicist to THR, the actress remains in a coma and in critical condition, and is being kept on life support to determine if her organs are viable for donation. The story.
—Postponed. The court date of Scrubs writer and co-executive producer Eric Weinberg, who was arrested in July on sexual assault charges, has been postponed, according to alleged survivors involved in the case. Weinberg, who was previously arrested on suspicion of rape in 2014, was scheduled to be arraigned on Friday, Aug 12. The story.
—Back for more. Apple TV+ has ordered a third season of Physical, its 1980s-set dramedy about Sheila Rubin (Rose Byrne), a San Diego woman who finds her calling in the decade’s aerobics boom. The renewal comes on the heels of the show’s second season finale, which debuted Aug. 5. The story.
—More Power to them. Starz used its time at the virtual Television Critics Association’s summer press tour to announce an early season three renewal for Power Book III: Raising Kanan. The news arrives ahead of the show’s Aug. 14 sophomore debut. The series is set in the early 1990s and tells the origin story of Kanan Stark (MeKai Curtis). Patina Miller also stars as Raquel, Kanan’s mother. The story.
—🤝 Overall deal 🤝 Abbott Elementary creator and star Quinta Brunson has signed a multiple-year overall deal with Warner Bros. Television Group, the studio that produces the show alongside Disney’s 20th Television. Under the exclusive pact, Brunson’s first such deal, the Emmy-nominated actress and writer will create new projects for multiple platforms for the studio. The story. |
Jon Batiste Leaving 'Late Show' ►"Jon has decided to leave the show." Jon Batiste is exiting The Late Show after serving as bandleader since the show launched in September 2015. Host Stephen Colbert told his audience Thursday that Louis Cato, who has filled in throughout the summer amid Batiste’s absence, will take over the role permanently, with the host introducing his audience to the newly named Louis Cato and the Late Show Band. The story.
—Atlanta to Philadelphia. Brian Tyree Henry will lead the cast of the Apple TV+ drama series Sinking Spring. The eight-episode Philly drug ring drama is based on Dennis Tafoya’s book Dope Thief and is being written by Top Gun: Maverick scribe Peter Craig. Ridley Scott, whose Scott Free banner has a first-look deal with the streamer, will exec produce and direct. The story.
—New face. Six Feet Under alum Lauren Ambrose has joined the cast of Showtime’s Emmy-nominated survival drama Yellowjackets. Ambrose will play the adult version of Van, the 1990s-set teenage character played by Liv Hewson. As part of Thursday’s announcement, the premium cable network also revealed that Hewson has been promoted to series regular. The story.
—Strong contender. The Korean Film Council has picked Park Chan-wook’s Decision to Leave to represent South Korea at the 2023 Academy Awards in the best international feature category. The auteur, behind masterpieces The Handmaiden and the Vengeance trilogy, won the best director prize at Cannes this year for the mystery thriller starring Park Hae-il and Tang Wei. The story.
—"Now lawyers do their work." Lin-Manuel Miranda has responded to a Texas church’s production of Hamilton that was live-streamed earlier this month. In a statement, the creator of the hit Broadway musical raised the prospect of legal action against the Door Christian Fellowship Ministries for their production of the show, which featured scenes altered from the original script and a post-show sermon that has been heavily criticized for its commentary on sexuality. The story. |
Welcome to Streaming's Memory Hole Era ►Why'd that movie disappear? Writing for THR, Brandeis University professor Thomas Doherty reflects on the historical context of Warner Bros. Discovery's stunning decision to shelve Batgirl and Scoob! Holiday Haunt as well as the removal of films such as American Pickle from HBO Max. Doherty writes that a new generation realizes that an endless stream of film titles can easily vanish into the online ether. The story.
—The dirty dozen. THR's James Hibberd looks at twelve notorious movies and TV shows that have never been released. From Batgirl to Star Wars Detours to Seriously, Dude, I'm Gay, here are infamous films and series that made headlines for being canceled — and are not available anywhere. The list.
—Replacement found. Shannon Bream will take over as host for Fox News Sunday, making her the first woman to anchor the program in its 26-year history. Bream replaces anchor Chris Wallace, who helmed the show for nearly two decades and left the network last year for rival CNN. Bream will also continue to serve as the network’s chief legal correspondent and a rotation of journalists will guest anchor her former post on Fox News @ Night until a permanent replacement is named. The story.
—"We remain focused on our long-term strategy." Endeavor, continuing to benefit from the return of “full capacity” live events, brought in $1.3b revenue and $42.2m in net income during the second quarter. The sports and representation firm also stated that it intends to repay $250m of debt by the end of Q3 of this year. The company’s sports properties, which include the UFC, saw the largest YoY growth of 28 percent. The results.
—Solid opening. The latest addition to the Resident Evil franchise had a pretty good opening on Netflix. Stranger Things remained a dominant No. 1 in the Nielsen streaming rankings for July 11-17, and Ms. Marvel hit a high the week of its finale. The Resident Evil series — the first live-action show in the long-running video game/movie/TV franchise — racked up 858m minutes of viewing time in the four days from its July 14 premiere. The streaming rankings. |
Film Review: 'Day Shift' ►"Passable popcorn entertainment." THR critic Lovia Gyarkye reviews J.J. Perry's Day Shift. Jamie Foxx, Snoop Dogg and Dave Franco star in this strange comedy about a vampire hunter trying to keep his family together. The review.
—"Potent elements, but insufficiently cohesive storytelling." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews FX’s Children of the Underground. Director Gabriela Cowperthwaite explores the life of Faye Yager, hailed by some as a hero and wanted by others as a criminal for her actions on behalf of mothers and sexually abused children in the '80s and '90s. The review.
—"Laid-back and funny." THR TV critic Angie Han reviews Hulu’s This Fool. The half-hour comedy centers on a 30-year-old (co-creator Chris Estrada) whose job at a gang rehabilitation center meets its biggest challenge yet when his older cousin (Frankie Quiñones) is released from prison. The review. |
Thank Pod It's Friday► All the latest content from THR's podcast studio. — TV's Top 5. Lesley Goldberg and Dan Fienberg break down the latest TV news. The guys begin by running through the week's headline makers, including new shows for Tatiana Maslany, Jon Hamm and Brian Tyree Henry and renewals for Power Book III and Physical. They rake over Disney's quarterly results including the positive subs growth. A League of Their Own co-creators and co-showrunners Will Graham and Abbi Jacobson drop by for a chat. And Dan reviews Apple’s Five Days at Memorial, Hulu’s Legacy, Amazon’s A League of Their Own and Hulu’s This Fool. Listen here. — Awards Chatter. Awards analyst Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this episode from 2014, Scott spoke to Peter Jackson. The Oscar-winning filmmaker reflects on his path to filmmaking and passion for VFX, the crazy series of events that made it possible for him to make the Lord of the Rings trilogy and most recently with his epic docuseries on The Beatles. Listen here. In other news... —Venice: 48 Hours, Red Heat director Walter Hill to get Glory to the Filmmaker honor —Viaplay sign Manchester City star Erling Haaland to multi-territory media deal —Electric Entertainment secures $100m loan to bolster film and TV slate —Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat hires exec to lead branded content —Meek Mill signs with WME —YouTube streamer Valkyrae signs with Range Media Partners —Michelle Branch and The Black Keys’ Patrick Carney split after 3 years of marriage —Nigel Lythgoe, Ken Warwick list Paso Robles winery for $22m What else we're reading... —Tom Shone looks at whether the 21st century has killed off the movie star, and what the holds for Hollywood's A-list [ Guardian] —Bilge Ebiri upbraids the studios for forgetting about the August movie [ Vulture] —John Jurgensen on how Field of Dreams turned Iowa into baseball’s Mecca [ WSJ] —Ben Lindbergh ponders what constitutes success for HBO's House of the Dragon? [ Ringer] —Here's your Friday list: "Greta Gerwig films – ranked!" [ Guardian] Today... Today's birthdays: LaKeith Stanfield (31), Cara Delevingne (30), Casey Affleck (47), Dominique Swain (42), Maggie Lawson (42), Bruce Greenwood (66), Yvette Nicole Brown (51), Rudy Pankow (24), Rebecca Gayheart (51), Peter Krause (57), Amanda Redman (65), Imani Hakim (29), Leah Pipes (34), River Butcher (40), Stephanie Vogt (47), Isaach De Bankolé (65), Michael Ian Black (51) |
| | | | | | | | | | |
