| | | | What's news: Batgirl is set to get "funeral screenings" before it is put in the vault. Netflix's The Umbrella Academy has been renewed for a fourth and final season. Barbie Ferreira is leaving Euphoria. Kelli Giddish is leaving L&O: SVU. Aquaman 2 and Shazam! 2 are shifting their release dates. Secret Headquarters was the biggest original film to launch on Paramount+ — Abid Rahman |
Secret 'Batgirl' Screenings Hit the WB Lot ►"Funeral screenings." THR's Borys Kit and Aaron Couch have the scoop on Batgirl , the cancelled DC film that has turned Hollywood upside down in the last month, finally being screened, kinda. Borys and Aaron report that a select group of insiders is getting to see the unfinished film during secret screenings on the Warner Bros. lot this week. That select group is said to include people who worked on the movie, both cast and crew, as well as representatives and executives. The story.
—All good things. Netflix's The Umbrella Academy will end with a fourth and final season — but it's not the end of the streamer's relationship with showrunner Steve Blackman. Netflix has extended its partnership with Blackman and his newly formed Irish Cowboy Productions, and they will be adapting a series version of the hit PlayStation game Horizon Zero Dawn along with a sci-fi limited series titled Orbital. The story.
—"I’m having to say a very teary eyed goodbye." Euphoria star Barbie Ferreira is leaving the hit HBO series. Ferreira, who played high schooler Kat Hernandez on the show's first two seasons, made the announcement in an Instagram story on Wednesday, the post included artwork by Euphoria castmate Hunter Schafer. The story.
—The hits keep coming. Warner Bros. Discovery has taken the axe to its European staff, laying off 29 people, among them top programming positions. Among the execs on the way out are Johnathan Young, vp, original programming and production at HBO Max EMEA; Christian Wikander, vp and commissioning editor of original programming for the Nordic region; and Annelies Sitvast, who heads up the studios’ unscripted original programming slate. The story.
—Unanimous verdict. A federal jury found Wednesday that Los Angeles County must pay Kobe Bryant’s widow $16m for emotional distress caused by deputies and firefighters sharing photos of the bodies of the NBA star and his daughter taken at the site of the 2020 helicopter crash that killed them. The story. |
Senator Slams Amazon's 'Ring Nation' As Surveillance-State TV ►"This is no America’s Funniest Home Videos." THR's Gary Baum looks at the controversy stirred up by Ring Nation, Amazon Prime Video's new show, based on user clips from digital doorbell division Ring and hosted by Wanda Sykes, which is blasted by privacy advocates and Democrat Ed Markey. The story.
—Talkin' bout a revolution. Ewan McGregor will star in Paramount+ U.K. series A Gentleman in Moscow. McGregor will play Count Alexander Rostov, who, "in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, finds that his gilded past places him on the wrong side of history." The drama, an adaptation of Amor Towles’ best-selling novel, will debut in the U.S. on Showtime and on Paramount+ internationally. The story.
—The brand has moved on. The Kid Mero, who recently split up with his TV and podcast co-host Desus Nice that saw the end of Showtime's Desus & Mero, is making a return to audio with a Formula One live show hosted on Amazon’s live audio app, Amp. Mero’s live simulcast show, co-hosted with the former ESPN sports reporter Michelle Beadle, is part of an overall U.S. programming and broadcast deal between Formula One and Amazon. The story.
—Farewell Rollins. Law & Order: SVU will say goodbye to one of its long-time regulars in the 2022-23 season. Kelli Giddish will depart the show midway through the season — her 12th on the NBC drama. She joined SVU as Detective Amanda Rollins in its 13th season in 2011; her tenure is the third longest among the show’s current cast after Mariska Hargitay and Ice-T. The story.
—🎭 Casting news 🎭 Simu Liu, Sterling K. Brown and Abraham Popoola are joining Jennifer Lopez in Atlas, a sci-fi thriller for Netflix. Brad Peyton will direct Liu as a villain in the drama about an intelligence analyst who gets stranded on a distant planet and must learn to fight inside a military-grade mech suit in order to survive. The screenwriter is Aron Eli Coleite, who worked off an original script by Leo Sardarian. The story. |
Paddy Considine Talks 'House of the Dragon' ►"I’ve been waiting for a role like this." THR's James Hibberd spoke to House of the Dragon star Paddy Considine who opens up on joining one of the most-talked about shows in recent years. Considine, who portrays Viserys, discusses how the Game of Thrones prequel avoids fan service, and shares exactly how not to play a king. Warning spoilers. The interview.
—All change. The sequels to Aquaman and Shazam! are changing their release dates in another major reshuffling at Warner Bros. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom has been pushed back more than eight months, from March 17, 2023, to Dec. 25, 2023, the studio announced Wednesday. Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which was meant to come out in December of this year now opens on Aquaman 2′s old date, March 17, 2023. The story.
—Desperate for product. Despite the surprise news this week that Universal's Halloween Ends will open simultaneously in theaters and on Peacock, it seems theater owners are unmoved. THR's Pamela McClintock reports that market leader AMC Theatres is among the chains who will still book the movie when it opens Oct. 14. The story.
—Source: Trust me, bro. Paramount+ says that Secret Headquarters was its most-watched original movie in the first seven days since debuting exclusively on the streamer Aug. 12. The claim was made, however, without offering any numbers, as Paramount+ does not disclose viewership data publicly. Starring Owen Wilson, Secret Headquarters is a high-concept family superhero film. The story.
—A24's latest. THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on Justice Smith and Brigette Lundy-Paine starring in I Saw the TV Glow, a horror feature from A24 and Fruit Tree, the banner run by Emma Stone. Jane Schoenbrun wrote the script and is directing the project that wrapped production a week ago and is now in post. The story. |
Jena Malone on Coming Out as Pansexual ►"The sexual journey is so beautiful." THR's nicest man Chris Gardner works his magic once more and coaxes a wonderful interview with Jena Malone who opens up on the artistic shift away from hiding behind wigs, accents "and all sorts of craziness," embracing sexual fluidity and why her new film Adopting Audrey is "hands down her best performance to date." The interview.
—"That was really vicious." Olivia Wilde is opening up about being served child custody papers from former partner Jason Sudeikis in April while onstage at CinemaCon, where she was introducing her forthcoming film Don’t Worry Darling. In a new interview, likened the incident to an employee getting served at their company office and called the security breach “really scary.” The story.
—"I didn't feel comfortable doing it, and it pissed me off." Scott Patterson, known for playing diner owner Luke Danes on Gilmore Girls, is opening up about a day that he didn’t enjoy while on the set of the popular series. In a new interview, Patterson discussed the season three episode entitled “Keg! Max!” that aired in April 2003. Specifically, the actor discussed a scene in which Lorelai Gilmore and Sookie St. James continually discuss Luke’s butt. The story.
—"Newman’s Own Foundation lost its way." A lawsuit exposing a rift between two of Paul Newman’s daughters and the late actor’s charitable foundation alleges its leaders are betraying Newman’s directives for his family to be intimately involved in the organization. They allege the Newman’s Own Foundation improperly cut the mandated contributions to entities controlled by the daughters, Susan Kendall Newman and Nell Newman, according to the suit. The story.
—Lawsuits filed. Two women are suing George Foreman alleging they were raped by the boxing legend in the 1970s when they were teenagers. In a pair of lawsuits, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, the women said their fathers worked with Foreman, who started grooming them as children. They claimed they were assaulted in California years after initially meeting him. They each seek upwards of $25m. Foreman denied the allegations. The story. |
TV Review: 'Welcome to Wrexham'►"Warm, fuzzy fluff." THR TV critic Angie Han reviews FX's Welcome to Wrexham. The feel-good docuseries follows Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney as they buy — and eventually learn to run — Wrexham AFC, a fifth-tier Welsh football team. The review. In other news... —Disney’s Pinocchio trailer gives a first full look at the wooden boy —Oscars: Canada names Eternal Spring as international feature entry —Oscars: Germany names All Quiet on the Western Front as international feature entry —MTV VMAs: Bad Bunny to perform live from Yankee Stadium —Michelle Branch domestic assault case dismissed —MPA moves forward with security network plans —Netflix refugee drama The Swimmers to open Zurich Festival —TAO Group’s Fleur Room is Hollywood’s newest low-key hotspot —Kevin Hart’s Hart House is a new plant-based fast food alternative — Len Dawson, Hall of Fame Chiefs quarterback and longtime host of HBO’s Inside the NFL, dies at 87 What else we're reading... —Alex Barker and Christopher Grimes look at how big budget series are hitting streamers despite fears of "peak TV" [ FT] —Yohana Desta's interview with John Boyega is a great read and covers a lot of topics, including his Star Wars experience and working with the late Michael K. Williams [ VF] —Nate Jones looks at the growing fandom/cult that surrounds indie studio A24 [ Vulture] —Jessica Winter writes that HBO's The Rehearsal was always a show about parenthood [ New Yorker] —Aymann Ismail reflects on Mo Amer’s new Netflix show Mo and how it's more than a "Muslim comedy" [ Slate] Today... ...in 1939, MGM unveiled The Wizard of Oz in theaters across the U.S. The Victor Fleming-directed film was a critical hit and was nominated for six Academy Awards, but was a box office disappointment in its initial run, only making MGM a profit during the 1949 re-release. The original review. Today's birthdays: Alexander Skarsgård (46), Tim Burton (64), Joe Wright (50), Fatih Akin (49), Natasha Liu Bordizzo (25), Blake Lively (35), Blair Underwood (58), Claudia Schiffer (52), Ben Falcone (49), Rachel Bilson (41), Joanne Whalley (61), Tom Hollander (55), Tom Skerritt (89), Caitlin FitzGerald (39), Alexis Raben (42), Stacey Farber (35), John Savage (73), Kel Mitchell (44), Tracy-Ann Oberman (56), Julia Davis (56), Simon McBurney (65), Rachel Shelley (53), Anthony Heald (78), Jonathan Togo (45), Robert Maschio (56), Billy Ray Cyrus (61) |
| Gerald Potterton, the British-Canadian filmmaker who directed the adult animated cult classic Heavy Metal in 1981 for Columbia Pictures, has died. He was 91. The obituary. |
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