| | | | | | What's news: It's magazine day! This week's cover stars are the cursed Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone. The prospect of a TikTok ban is edging closer to reality after the Senate passed new legislation. The New York Times is launching a new audio interview product. Brooke Shields is running for president of the Actors’ Equity Association. Elon Musk's X platform is launching a dedicated app for smart TVs. — Abid Rahman
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Fielder and Stone Take a Ride on the Wild Side as TV's Cringiest Couple ►On the cover. If there was an Emmy category for “deeply discomfiting yet frequently hilarious series,” Showtime's The Curse would fit squarely in it. But the boundary-pushing 'comedy' — which concluded Jan. 12 and ended up being 10 one-hour episodes — has entered all categories as a drama. Anyone who has watched the show until its jaw-dropping finale knows there was nothing remotely light about the material at hand. The Curse co-stars Nathan Fielder and Emma Stone reveal to THR's Seth Abramovitch their show’s true targets, the viral Oscar scandal that wasn’t and why one of them decided to change their name. The cover story. |
Disney Bets $60B Its Parks Will Power the Future ►"We're always looking forward." THR's Caitin Huston writes that the Josh D’Amaro-led Disney Experiences, the unit which includes parks, cruises and consumer products, is an undeniable bright spot in Bob Iger’s empire. Now D'Amaro, a leading contender among those looking to take over from Iger, is tasked with making the unit an even bigger growth engine for Disney, as the executive leads the company's massive $60b investment in its parks and experiences division over the next 10 years. The story.
—The end is nigh? The Senate passed legislation Tuesday that would force TikTok’s China-based parent company to sell the social media platform under the threat of a ban, a contentious move by U.S. lawmakers that’s expected to face legal challenges and disrupt the lives of content creators who rely on the short-form video app for income. The TikTok legislation now goes to President Joe Biden, who has backed the proposal and has said he will sign the package as soon as he gets it. The story.
—"We didn’t have the really big flagship audio show that interviewed the biggest names in culture." The New York Times Company is launching what it is calling The Interview, a new franchise that will include an audio podcast, and a print version that will run in The New York Times Magazine. The Interview will be led by Talk columnist David Marchese, as well as Times audio host Lulu Garcia-Navarro. Anne Hathaway, Ted Sarandos, Yair Lapid and Charlamagne Tha God have already been lined up as guests with more to come. The story.
—🏆 Noms revealed 🏆 On Tuesday, the Peabody Awards Board of Jurors revealed the 41 nominees for the documentary, news, public service and radio/podcast categories selected to represent the most compelling and empowering stories released in broadcasting and streaming media during 2023. Oscar-winning documentary 20 Days in Mariupol is among the nominees, alongside five other Oscar-nominated docs. The nominees.
—"I’m here to tell you that I have your back." Brooke Shields is running for president of the Actors’ Equity Association, the union that represents about 51,000 actors and stage managers on Broadway and nationwide. In a video announcement, Shields said she felt compelled to run after learning that Kate Shindle, the current president who has served in the position since 2015 was not going to seek re-election after her term ends May 23. The story. |
How Tarantino's 'The Movie Critic' Fell Apart ►"He has a lot of scripts that he’s thrown away." THR's Borys Kit, Pamela McClintock and James Hibberd go inside the messy, late-hour collapse of Quentin Tarantino's mysterious final feature, The Movie Critic, amid wild script and casting rumors (Tom Cruise?) and a fully on-board Sony Pictures. The story.
—Get a Clue. The film and TV rights for Clue have landed at Sony, with Hasbro Entertainment closing a deal with TriStar Pictures and Sony Pictures Television to develop adaptations of the classic murder mystery board game. Clue, the game, has players figure out who is responsible for a murder in a cast of characters that includes Professor Plum, Colonel Mustard, Mrs. White and Miss Scarlet. The board game was previously adapted into a 1985 comedy that starred Tim Curry, Madeline Kahn and Christopher Lloyd. The story.
—📅 Moved 📅 DreamWorks Animation’s The Wild Robot is tweaking its release pans. The family film will now open in theaters on Sept. 27, 2024, instead of a week earlier on Sept. 20. The move gives Wild Robot some distance from Paramount’s animated Transformers One, which moved to the Sept. 20 date earlier this week. Wild Robot, from director Chris Sanders and starring the voice of Lupita Nyong’o, follows the journey of a robot that is shipwrecked on an uninhabited island and must learn to adapt to the harsh surroundings. The story.
—Multiple people involved. An accident on the set of an upcoming heist film starring Eddie Murphy and Keke Palmer has injured several crewmembers. The incident happened on the set of Amazon MGM Studios’ upcoming film The Pickup, which is shooting in Atlanta, on Saturday. Per a studio spokesperson, the accident occurred during a second unit action sequence that had previously been rehearsed. “Unfortunately, the sequence did not go as planned and several members of the crew were injured as a result,” the spokesperson stated. The story.
—For the Birds. Ryan Gosling has revealed the reason he believes the cult action-comedy The Nice Guys didn’t score a sequel. In a new interview, The Fall Guy star said that there likely won’t be a follow-up because the original movie was overwhelmed by The Angry Birds Movie at the box office during its debut weekend in 2016. "So much of a sequel, I think, is decided by the opening weekend of a movie, and we opened up against Angry Birds," Gosling explained. "So Angry Birds just destroyed us. Angry Birds got a sequel." The story. |
'Shogun' Is Over, But What About Season 2? ►"I don’t think that anyone ever wants to be out over their skis without a roadmap." The FX epic Shōgun just ended its 10-episode run. Will it remain a limited series, or is there more story to tell? For THR, Josh Wigler spoke to the show's creators Justin Marks and Rachel Kondo about the prospect of another season. Warning: Spoilers! The interview.
—Big bump. Jon Stewart’s return to The Daily Show has given the show a big lift on the nights that he hosts — and even on the nights he doesn’t. Stewart’s surprise return to Comedy Central’s late-night flagship — he’ll anchor the show on Monday nights through the presidential election — led to an immediate ratings spike for the show. The first few episodes after Stewart’s return, hosted by Daily Show correspondent Jordan Klepper, also came in way ahead of the show’s average viewership for 2023. The ratings.
—Pivot to video. Elon Musk's X platform is continuing its video push, launching a dedicated app for smart TV sets. The X video app launched Tuesday, with the company touting a handful of key features, including a trending video algorithm, artificial intelligence-powered trending topics and cross-device compatibility, so users can start watching on their phone and continue watching on TV. The X TV app will not have any ads at launch, according to a note sent to the company’s corporate partners. The story.
—🤝 Licensing deal 🤝 Tubi, Fox’s free, ad-supported streamer, has partnered with British streaming service DAZN to add new channels featuring live and recorded women’s soccer, as well as boxing and MMA. The licensing agreement will see the U.S. launch of the channel DAZN Ringside, which features boxing and MMA from Matchroom Boxing, Golden Boy, Wasserman and MF & DAZN: X Series. That includes weigh ins, archive fights, documentaries and the DAZN Boxing show. The story.
—"He’s appropriately naughty." Lisa Vanderpump hopes to never see Bravo boss Andy Cohen step down. The reality star spoke about her “close relationship” with him and said there’s “no way” the allegations against him are true. Vanderpump appeared on The Talk on Tuesday, where she was asked by co-host Natalie Morales where she stood in regard to allegations against Cohen. The Watch What Happens Live host was recently accused of engaging in drug use with several Housewives stars and faces multiple lawsuits alleging workplace harassment. The story. |
Hollywood Forfeits Up to $30B Every Year Because of Racial Inequity ►Staggering cost. Over three reports, the consultancy firm McKinsey has tallied up the entertainment industry’s opportunity cost of continuing to diminish Black, Latino and Asian Pacific Islander colleagues and audiences. McKinsey's analysis suggests that Hollywood could stand to gain $10b per year from closing the Black inequity gap, an eye-popping $12b to $18b from properly valuing Latino professionals and consumers, and $2b to $4.4b from more effectively tapping the Asian and Pacific Islander market. The story.
—Suit filed. A cameraman who formerly worked with Megan Thee Stallion has filed a lawsuit against the rapper alleging harassment and other workplace related claims. Emilio Garcia worked as a cameraman for the rapper from 2018 to 2023. He filed a complaint in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Tuesday against Megan Thee Stallion, born Megan Pete, and her companies. Garcia alleges that Stallion had sex in a moving car which Garcia could not get out of while on tour in Spain in June 2022. The story.
—Incident. Alec Baldwin seemingly slapped someone’s phone out of their hand after they kept trying to get him to say “Free Palestine.” A video posted on X on Monday night sees a person go up to Baldwin at a New York City coffee shop. The nearly one-minute clip begins with the person asking him to say “Free Palestine.” The person then goes on to address Baldwin’s ongoing involuntary manslaughter case, following the death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set of the film Rust. The story.
—"It’s absolutely staggering." Hozier has nothing but love to share with his fans after his song “Too Sweet” topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart — his first time hitting the No. 1 spot. "I want to say a huge, huge thank you to all of the supporters, all the fans around the world," Hozier shared in a video, posted to X. The singer-songwriter is also the first Irish artist — and fourth overall — to lead the chart since the late Sinéad O’Connor topped the list with "Nothing Compares 2 U." The story. |
Theater Review: 'Patriots' ►"At its most narratively and politically compelling when it investigates betrayal." THR's Lovia Gyarkye reviews Peter Morgan's Patriots. Netflix's first foray into Broadway sees Michael Stuhlbarg play Boris Berezovksy in The Crown creator's chronicle of Russian oligarchs who fueled Vladimir Putin’s rise to power. The review.
In other news...
—Jennifer Lopez battles Simu Liu’s AI villain in latest Atlas trailer
—Channing Tatum is a tech billionaire with a secret in trailer for Zoë Kravitz’s directorial debut Blink Twice
—Nantucket Film Festival reveals 2024 lineup
—Jane Campion to receive Locarno Film Festival honor
—Jennifer Hudson and Orville Peck to be honored at GLAAD Media Awards in New York
—Diane Lane to be honored at Women’s Guild Cedars-Sinai spring luncheon in Beverly Hills
—UTA names Ryan Hayden and Marc Paskin co-heads of news and broadcasting
What else we're reading...
—Laura Martin looks into the origins of Netflix's much-talked about new show Baby Reindeer, which is gut-punching viewers with its depiction of stalking and sexual assault [BBC]
—Adam Iscoe reports on how bots, mercenaries, and table scalpers have conspired together to make it almost impossible to get a restaurant reservation [New Yorker]
—E. Alex Jung profiles Mehdi Hasan, in a piece that covers his surprise exit from MSNBC, his coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and his new media startup Zeteo [Intelligencer]
—The album review many have been waiting for is finally here, as Craig Jenkins breaks down Taylor Swift's The Tortured Poets Department [Vulture]
—Vanessa Friedman considers Mark Zuckerberg's recent fashion glow-up and what's behind the tech billionaire's move away from his "robotic nerd" image [NYT]
Today...
...in 2009, Paramount Pictures released Joe Wright's drama The Soloist in theaters. The film, starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr., was based on the true life story of Nathaniel Ayers but received mixed reviews. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Barbra Streisand (82), Shirley MacLaine (90), Jack Quaid (32), Joe Keery (32), Eric Bogosian (71), Cedric The Entertainer (60), Damon Lindelof (51), Kelly Clarkson (42), Eric Kripke (50), Peter Friedman (75), Djimon Hounsou (60), Aidan Gillen (56), Joséphine Jobert (39), Glenn Morshower (65), Melinda Clarke (55), Eric Balfour (47), Rory McCann (55), Laurence O'Fuarain (34), Michael O'Keefe (69), Rebecca Mader (47), Julie Cox (51), Austin Nichols (44), Stacy Haiduk (56), Ryan Whitney (26), West Duchovny (25), Kim Tae-ri (34), Jasmine Trinca (43), Stefania Rocca (53), Jordan Fisher (30), Thad Luckinbill (49), Sam Corlett (28), Sasha Barrese (43), Derek Luke (50), Viveca Paulin (55), Tahyna MacManus (38), Reagan Gomez-Preston (44), Abigail Thorn (31) |
| Terry Carter, who portrayed Pvt. Sugie Sugarman on The Phil Silvers Show, the sidekick of Dennis Weaver’s character on McCloud and Colonel Tigh on the original version of Battlestar Galactica, has died. He was 95. The obituary. |
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