| | | | | | What's news: WB wowed the crowds at CinemaCon after screening footage from Furiosa, Mickey 17 and Joker 2. Bridget Jones 4 is officially in the works. CBS has renewed The Neighborhood, NCIS and its three FBI shows. HBO's Jon Snow-centered GOT sequel series has been shelved. Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis will debut at Cannes. — Abid Rahman
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Iger Bruised, But Not Broken, After Disney Fight ►Succession looms large. In fending off Nelson Peltz (and Ike Perlmutter) during a $40m proxy battle, THR's Kim Masters writes that Disney CEO Bob Iger gets to keep his board seats and leeway to take part in succession planning — again. The analysis.
—🤝 Overall deal 🤝 Sue Naegle and Ali Krug are re-teaming for a new venture. The former Annapurna duo and longtime collaborators have launched Dinner Party Productions and signed a multiple-year overall deal with Universal Content Productions. Naegle, the former content chief at Megan Ellison’s company, and Krug, who was co-head of TV alongside her at Annapurna, will develop and produce new projects for UCP for both NBCUniversal-owned platforms and third-party buyers. The story.
—Upped. Paramount Pictures has promoted Courtney Armstrong to be COO of the film studio. Armstrong was most recently president of business affairs and administration, after joining Paramount from Warner Bros. in 2021. The executive will now oversee all day-to-day operations across business affairs, legal, and business development, for the studio’s live action, animation, and studio group divisions, and will continue to report to Paramount Pictures CEO Brian Robbins. The story.
—"A true labor of love." Jessica Alba is stepping down as The Honest Company’s chief creative officer. The actress and businesswoman shared the news on Instagram Tuesday, more than a decade after she co-founded the company, which sells baby, skincare, bath and beauty products. Since co-founding The Honest Company in 2012, Alba has served as CCO. The company went public in May 2021. The story. |
Ritchson Talks 'Reacher,' 'Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare' ►"We shouldn't hide anything. It should all be in your face." Alan Ritchson is best known for a larger-than-life turn as Jack Reacher on Amazon Prime Video’s record-setting series Reacher. But he’s about to introduce audiences to a man named Anders Lassen on the big-screen courtesy of Guy Ritchie's latest feature, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare. Ritchson reveals he campaigned to make the violence in the film even more brutal to do justice to "the baddest dude I’ve ever seen on paper in my life." The story.
—ICYMI. Reacher shot Ritchson into Hollywood’s top tier, but behind that success — the 41-year-old reveals in an unusually candid interview to THR's nicest man Chris Gardner — was a harrowing struggle with bipolar disorder, sexual assault and a suicide attempt that he survived with a mix of faith, love and brute force. The profile. |
CinemaCon 2024 ►"I like to say it’s a movie where music is an essential element." Warner Bros. unveiled the first trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux at CinemaCon on Tuesday. The clip brings together unites Oscar winners Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga for one of the more intriguing entries of the 2024 theatrical calendar. Joker 2 is among the top titles theater owners were curious for a glimpse at — and for good reason. It’s a sequel to a $1b hit that earned Phoenix an Oscar, but is also taking a left turn by entering the musical genre. The trailer.
—"We just finished last week." Furiosa also fired up Vegas on Tuesday. WB unveiled a sneak peek at five minutes of footage of Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga inside Caesars Palace with the help of director George Miller and his stars Anya Taylor-Joy and Chris Hemsworth to help pump the upcoming release for theater owners. The story.
—"A big weird family reunion." Beetlejuice manifested on the Colosseum stage at Caesars Palace Tuesday afternoon. During WB's CinemaCon presentation, Tim Burton and the stars of his upcoming Beetlejuice Beetlejuice turned up to rousing applause from the capacity crowd. The story.
—OK, it's definitely happening. The many facets of Robert Pattinson were on display in the first trailer for Mickey 17, the upcoming film from Bong Joon Ho that delves into human printing, identity and space colonization. Bong, the Korean auteur behind multiple Oscar-winner Parasite, made his first trip to CinemaCon to show off the trailer, with the filmmaker saying that his new film is the story of "a simple man who ultimately ends up saving the world." The story.
—Epic binge session. Kevin Costner is hoping a few years from now, moviegoers will have the opportunity to binge four Horizon movies in theaters. “Maybe a year and a half, two years from now, they will come [to theaters] for 12 hours,” he told the crowds at CinemaCon, where he teased the first two parts of Horizon. The story.
—Heading to the big screen. A trio of anime properties will be coming to North American theaters later this year, with the Sony-owned Crunchyroll unveiling plans at CinemaCon during a presentation that underscored the once-underground medium has gone mainstream. Haikyu!!: The Dumpster Battle will arrive in theaters on May 31, Blue Lock The Movie – Episode Nagi arrives on June 28 and Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom, with a release date to be determined. The story.
—"Keeping pace with the increasing demands of the movie-going public is not new, but it does require capital." On Tuesday, National Association of Theater Owners president-CEO Michael O’Leary addressed the CinemaCon crowd for the first time since he took the top job a year ago. THR's Pamela McClintock reports that O’Leary maintained an upbeat tone throughout his speech but acknowledged changing times, but did call on exhibitors to partner more with distributors during the marketing process. The story. |
Sam Taylor-Johnson on Reclaiming Amy Winehouse's Soul ►"There’s a voracious appetite for needing every shred of information around somebody who’s so public." Having lived in the public eye for over 25 years, British artist-turned-filmmaker Sam Taylor-Johnson has faced her own pain and tabloid scrutiny. Now, the Fifty Shades of Grey helmer, talks to THR's Rebecca Keegan about wresting Amy Winehouse’s story from victimhood and reasserting the independence she revealed in her music in the biopic Back to Black. The interview.
—🎭 Another one 🎭 THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on Hailee Steinfeld becoming the latest big name to sign up for Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler's untitled supernatural thriller for Warner Bros. Pictures. The buzzy project, the object of a high-profile bidding war in January, heads before cameras later this month in New Orleans and has been furiously casting up. Wunmi Mosaku, Delroy Lindo and Jack O’Connell, among others, make up the heady call sheet. The story.
—🎭 It's a go! 🎭 Bridget Jones is heading back to the screen. Universal and Working Title have finally put in place the talent for Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy, the fourth installment of the rom-com series. Renée Zellweger is set to return as the lovable but flailing at life Jones, as is Hugh Grant as rapscallion Daniel Cleaver. Emma Thompson, who appeared in the 2016 entry, Bridget Jones’s Baby, is back as well, while newcomers include Chiwetel Ejiofor and up-and-comer Leo Woodall, best known for his work in The White Lotus season two. The story.
—🎭 Keepin' busy 🎭 Colin Farrell is set to star in Edward Berger's next feature for Netflix. The Irish actor will play the lead in The Ballad of a Small Player, which is based on author Lawrence Osborne’s 2014 novel of the same name. Berger (All Quiet on the Western Front) will helm the movie from a script by Rowan Joffe. Filming is set to begin this summer in Asia. The feature centers on a high-stakes gambler who is dealing with debts and his questionable past while trying to keep a low profile in Macau when he meets a kindred spirit. The story.
—📅 On the move 📅 Lionsgate has adjusted release dates for The Crow and Saw XI. The Crow is set for release on Aug. 23 after having previously been dated for June 7. The reboot will now compete on that weekend with Amazon MGM Studios’ thriller Blink Twice and Sony's faith-based The Forge. Lionsgate has also moved Saw XI to Sept. 26, 2025 from Sept. 27, 2024. The franchise is giving a bit of space to the new film after the success of its critically praised Saw X, which hit theaters in September and surpassed $110m globally. The story. |
'Shōgun' Star on Creating Fan-Favorite Lord of Izu ►"I’ve studied him too deeply, and I know him too well." THR's Asia bureau chief, and real-life Izu resident, Patrick Brzeski spoke to Shōgun breakout Tadanobu Asano about the hit FX series that's already drumming up lots of awards buzz. Asano discusses the genesis of his portrayal of the sly Yabushige and reveals how a friendship with the late producer Kevin Turen helped create his breakthrough moment. Warning: Spoilers! The interview.
—Heel turn? Heels, the wrestling drama which was unceremoniously canceled along with a couple more series as Starz cleaned house in September, has been licensed to Netflix by Lionsgate Worldwide Television Distribution. With the acquisition, Netflix will have nonexclusive rights to the two-season, 16-episode library of the series starring Stephen Amell and Alexander Ludwig. Sources also note that while Netflix has not renewed the series, the streamer could wind up doing so should Heels perform well on the platform. The story.
—"There are no plans for it at the moment. It’s off the table for the foreseeable." HBO's Jon Snow-centered Game of Thrones sequel series has been shelved, Kit Harington confirmed on Tuesday. In 2022, plans surfaced for a GOT sequel series centered on Jon Snow, with Harington attached to reprise his role. Updates on the status of the potential project have remained sparse ever since, but GOT showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss told THR in January they hadn’t written off the sequel entirely. The story.
—End of an era. NBC's Chicago Med will have new leadership heading into its 10th season. Co-showrunners Diane Frolov and Andrew Schneider, who have been with the drama since it debuted in 2015, are stepping down at the end of the show’s current run. The married couple have helmed Med for nine seasons and more than 170 episodes to date. A new showrunner will be named later. That's an unusually long tenure for any series, let alone one hailing from Dick Wolf’s Wolf Entertainment, which frequently shakes up operations both in front of and behind the camera. The story.
—Filling out the roster. CBS has picking up two of its Monday night staples, The Neighborhood and NCIS, for next season. The renewals will take The Neighborhood into its seventh season and NCIS to its 22nd. With Young Sheldon ending this season, The Neighborhood will also become CBS’ longest-running current comedy series. CBS also renewed Fire Country, Ghosts, and first-year dramas NCIS: Sydney and Tracker for next season. The second half of Blue Bloods' final season is also set to air in the fall. The story.
—Triple renewal. Staying with CBS, the network is locking in its FBI franchise for next season — and in the case of the flagship series, well beyond that. The network has given FBI a three-season renewal, which will take the series through its ninth season in 2026-27. Spinoffs FBI: Most Wanted and FBI: International each received single-season pickups for 2024-25, which will mark the sixth season for Most Wanted and the fourth for International. All three dramas come from Wolf Entertainment and are produced by Universal Television. The story.
—🎭 Rivals found 🎭 Paul Bettany will star in Sky original series Amadeus, portraying composer Antonio Salieri opposite The White Lotus' Will Sharpe in the titular role of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The series is described as a “playfully reimagined limited event series” from writer Joe Barton and director Julian Farino. Amadeus is produced by Two Cities Television, part of STV Studios, in association with Sky Studios. The story.
—Well, well, wellity, well. The audience for the NCAA men’s basketball championship ticked up from last year’s low — but for the first time, the men’s game drew a smaller TV crowd than the women’s final. Connecticut’s 75-60 victory over Purdue on Monday averaged 14.82m viewers across TBS, TNT and TruTV. That’s a smidge better than the 14.69m who watched UConn win the title last year on CBS, which is the lowest on record. The ratings. |
Hollywood Labor Backs AI Transparency Bill ►"Important first step." As generative AI tools push into the entertainment industry, Hollywood is throwing its weight behind a bill that will require heightened transparency from AI companies. The legislation, introduced by Rep. Adam Schiff on Tuesday, will require firms to disclose copyrighted works used to train generative AI systems. If the bill passes, OpenAI, for example, would be forced to reveal videos and other content used to create Sora. Groups supporting the legislation include the WGA, DGA, IATSE, RIAA, among various others. The story.
—"Toxic environment." Tulsa King is embroiled in a controversy surrounding the treatment of its background actors. An Atlanta-based casting agency has quit the Paramount+ dramedy amid claims posted online that background actors were verbally abused on the set by star Sylvester Stallone. The show is produced by 101 Studios, which is actively looking into the claims, reports THR's James Hibberd. The story.
—"It’s weird to come back." Conan O’Brien made his The Tonight Show return on Tuesday, and he and host Jimmy Fallon reminisced about O’Brien’s time with NBC’s late-night shows. The comedian hosted Late Night for 16 seasons, from 1993 to 2009 before his short tenure with The Tonight Show from 2009 to 2010: "I haven’t been in this building for such a long time, and I haven’t been on this floor in forever." The recap.
—King of the Croisette. Francis Ford Coppola's highly anticipated, self-funded feature Megalopolis has landed a Cannes debut. The film will screen in competition at the festival on May 17 in a gala premiere at the 77th annual festival. The project, which Coppola first began writing in 1983, cost a reported $120m to make — funded in part by the sale of a significant portion of his wine empire. The story.
—"I am truly honored by this special recognition which means a great deal to me." Coppola's long-time friend George Lucas is set to receive the Honorary Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival at its closing ceremony on May 25. The tribute for the Star Wars and Indiana Jones filmmaker will be broadcast on French TV channel France 2. The story. |
TV Review: 'The Sympathizer' ►"Downey's a double-edged sword." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews HBO's The Sympathizer. Korean auteur Park Chan-wook and Don McKellar turn Viet Thanh Nguyen's Pulitzer-winning novel about a Vietnamese double agent into a limited series starring Robert Downey Jr., Hoa Xuande and Sandra Oh. The review.
—"A slightly sluggish journey across a giddily realized world." THR's Angie Han reviews Amazon Prime Video's Fallout. Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy's live-action adaptation of the popular video game follows an idealist, a soldier and a bounty hunter across Los Angeles two centuries after a nuclear apocalypse, starring Walton Goggins, Ella Purnell, Aaron Moten, Moisés Arias and Kyle MacLachlan. The review.
—"Amusingly sour." Angie reviews Peacock's Hapless. The British-Jewish cringe comedy series follows the trivial misadventures of a freelance journalist working for "the fourth-largest Jewish publication in the U.K." The review.
—"Not even fans of the original will find much to get excited about." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Wade Allain-Marcus' Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead. Simone Joy Jones plays the Christina Applegate role in this new spin on the 1991 dark comedy. The review. In other news...
—Giorgio Armani operations put in receivership following investigation into labor practices
—London’s Garden Studios hires Sky Studios top exec Bee Devine as COO
—Coachella 2024: The best parties and events during weekend one
—San Vicente Bungalows to host pop-up of Amalfi Coast fave Conca Del Sogno Restaurant
—Richard Leibner, influential agent for news anchors, dies at 85
What else we're reading...
—With Francis Ford Coppola's The Conversation celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, Adam Scovell writes that the classic paranoid thriller is more relevant than ever [BBC]
—James Parker profiles comedian Theo Von who via his phenomenally popular podcast This Past Weekend has become a challenger to Joe Rogan's crown [Atlantic]
—With Sex and the City on Netflix now, and a whole new generation of people discovering the show, Kyndall Cunningham wonders whether it matters if Carrie Bradshaw is the worst [Vox]
—Using Netflix's 3-Body Problem and anime as a reference, Gearoid Reidy looks at the problems of adapting content across borders [Bloomberg]
—Robin Pogrebin looks at the post-pandemic push to reinvigorate the arts scene in Downtown Los Angeles [NYT]
Today...
...in 2015, A24 released Alex Garland's Ex Machina in North American theaters. The sci-fi thriller, starring Domhnall Gleeson, Alicia Vikander, and Oscar Isaac, was a critical and commercial hit. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Peter Morgan (61), Charlie Hunnam (44), Daisy Ridley (32), David Harbour (49), Michael Pitt (43), Barkhad Abdi (39), Ruth E. Carter (60), Jamie Chung (41), Chyler Leigh (42), Haley Joel Osment (36), Mandy Moore (40), Alex Pettyfer (34), Steven Seagal (72), Sarah Dumont (34), Sofia Carson (31), Peter MacNicol (70), Shay Mitchell (37), Joshua McGuire (37), Laura Bell Bundy (43), Ryan Merriman (41), Orlando Jones (56), AJ Michalka (33), Pej Vahdat (42), Jamie Renée Smith (37), Jasika Nicole (44), Olivia Washington (33), Billy Jayne (55), Conor Leslie (33), Guillaume Canet (51), Audrey Whitby (28), Ava Michelle (22), Harry Hadden-Paton (43), Alicia Sanz (36), Omar Metwally (50), Lee Weaver (94), Sophie Ellis-Bextor (45) |
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