| | | | | | What's news: It's magazine day! This week's cover star is the divisive but highly effective Hollywood lawyer Bryan Freedman. Paramount won't be sold to Skydance. Elon Musk has dropped his lawsuit against OpenAI. Paul Giamatti is joining the Star Trek universe. Bob "Bulldog" Briscoe is returing to Frasier. AMC has ordered a third Anne Rice vampire show. — Abid Rahman
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The Street-Fighting Lawyer Who's Become Hollywood's Dark Knight ►On the cover. When pissed-off power players from Megyn Kelly and Bethenny Frankel to Tucker Carlson and Don Lemon need a warrior to fight their nastiest legal battles, Bryan Freedman is the first person they call. THR's Gary Baum profiles the divisive Hollywood attorney who’s referred to himself as a “pit bull” and is known for a rabidity and ruthlessness that can make even his fellow ferocious practitioners marvel in astonishment: "If you f*** with my client, you get what you get!" The cover story.
—THR's Power Lawyers 2024. They don’t advertise on billboards, but among industry insiders, these 100 A-list attorneys are almost as famous (or infamous) as the stars they represent. The list. |
No Deal! Redstone Ends Talks on Skydance Offer for Paramount ►Not happening. Shari Redstone has ended talks on the latest offer for Paramount Global from the consortium led by Skydance Media and RedBird Capital, placing the future of the entertainment company into a fresh period of uncertainty. A spokesperson for the Redstone-run National Amusements, which controls Paramount, stated that the company "announced that they have not been able to reach mutually acceptable terms regarding the potential transaction with Skydance Media for the acquisition of a controlling stake in NAI." The story.
—"Our future is incredibly bright, and tomorrow we will keep building to make it even better." Skydance CEO David Ellison acknowledged in an email to staff Tuesday evening that the company will not be assuming control of Paramount after months of difficult negotiations. The executive would go on to praise the staff for executing on its film, TV and video game slate while he was occupied with the deal talks, and suggested that the company will emerge in better shape thanks to the experience. The story.
—Heavyweight backing. The PGA's push for health insurance coverage for producers is getting some big backing. Amblin Entertainment and Bad Robot Productions are among the latest group of production houses to support the group’s push for health insurance benefits for producers that work full-time in the entertainment industry. Pascal Pictures, LuckyChap and Illumination also join outfits that were already on board, such as Blumhouse and Legendary. The story.
—Dismissed. Elon Musk has dropped a lawsuit against OpenAI and chief executive Sam Altman over the company allegedly straying from its founding mission to develop artificial intelligence for the benefit of humanity to instead focus on corporate profits. The X. Corp owner moved on Tuesday to dismiss the lawsuit “without prejudice,” indicating that a settlement wasn’t reached to resolve the case. The lawsuit targeted the AI firm's partnership with Microsoft and its decision to launch a for-profit arm after the mogul left the board of the start-up. The story. |
THR's Tonys Roundtable ► "The idea of grosses being announced and your makeup artist knowing them every Tuesday and telling you? In London, I had no idea." THR's award-winning Round Table Series continues, up next are six leading Tony nominees. Ahead of the 77th Tony Awards, Rachel McAdams (Mary Jane), Sarah Paulson (Appropriate), Leslie Odom Jr. (Purlie Victorious), Kelli O’Hara (Days of Wine and Roses), Eddie Redmayne (Cabaret) and Daniel Radcliffe (Merrily We Roll Along) sat down with THR's executive editor for awards Scott Feinberg to discuss their stage careers, the theater parts that impacted them and their pet peeves. The roundtable.
—Ker-ching! The Broadway musical & Juliet announced the recoupment of its $17m capitalization. The show, which is a retelling of Romeo and Juliet set to a score of pop hits, recouped as of April 14, said producers Max Martin, Tim Headington, Theresa Steele Page, Jenny Petersson, Martin Dodd, and Eva Price. & Juliet opened at Broadway’s Stephen Sondheim Theatre on Nov. 17, 2022 and is the first new musical of the 2022-2023 season to announce recoupment. The story.
—"Sam was a trailblazer." Longtime KTLA entertainment reporter Sam Rubin is set to posthumously receive a Los Angeles area Emmy Governors Award, the Television Academy said Tuesday. Rubin, who worked on KTLA-TV’s morning show since 1991, died on May 10. He was 64. The posthumous honor follows others that Rubin received, including numerous Los Angeles Area Emmy Awards, a Golden Mike Award from the Radio and Television News Association of Southern California, and he was named best entertainment reporter by the Los Angeles Press Club. The story. |
How 'Bad Boys 4' Jumpstarted the Summer Box Office ►"People needed to be reminded how much fun it can be to go to the movies." Bad Boys: Ride or Die opened to a victorious $56.5m at the domestic box office, leaving the folks at Sony Pictures cock-a-hoop. THR's Pamela McClintock writes that despite a terrible early summer for a number of movies and the Will Smith factor of it all (it is the actors’ first major studio film since he slapped Oscar host Chris Rock on live television in early 2022), the fourth installment in the venerable Bad Boys stepped up, when all eyes were on Inside Out 2, Despicable Me 4 and Deadpool & Wolverine to help save the moviegoing season. The analysis.
—Marvelous news. THR's Caitlin Huston has the scoop on Sam Rockwell and Mark Berger of Play Hooky Productions looking to adapt a book about middleweight boxing icon "Marvelous" Marvin Hagler into a feature film. Play Hooky secured the rights to Dave Wedge’s upcoming book Blood & Hate: The Untold Story of Marvelous Marvin Hagler’s Battle for Glory, as part of a competitive bidding war. Rockwell and Berger will produce, with Rockwell also eyeing the role of one of the Petronelli brothers, who served as Hagler’s manager and trainers. The story. |
'The Boys' to End With S5 at Amazon ►Final fight nears. Eric Kripke, the showrunner of Amazon Prime Video's super(anti)hero series The Boys, said on social media Tuesday that the show’s fifth season — which the streamer ordered in May — will be its last. The announcement of the show’s end comes before the season four premiere of The Boys on June 13. The story.
—"I know the destination." For THR, Demetrius Patterson spoke to Eric Kripke about the huge season five of The Boys news. The creator and showrunner explains why the show is being wrapped up and reveals he has long had this endgame in mind. The interview.
—🎭 Beaming in 🎭 Paul Giamatti is joining the Star Trek universe. The Oscar-nominated star of The Holdovers has booked a major role in at Paramount+’s Star Trek: Starfleet Academy. The actor will have a recurring guest star role as the season’s central villain, described as a man with an ominous past with a connection to one of the show’s cadets. Ordered to series in March 2023, the show revolves around a young group of cadets who unite to pursue a dream of hope and optimism. The story.
—🎭 Familiar faces 🎭The revival of Frasier at Paramount+ is bringing in more faces from its title character’s past. Dan Butler and Edward Hibbert will reprise their roles as, respectively, Bob “Bulldog” Briscoe and Gil Chesterton, Frasier Crane’s (Kelsey Grammer) former co-workers at the Seattle radio station in the original Frasier series, which ran on NBC from 1993-2004. Details on how they come back into Frasier’s life are being kept quiet for now. The story.
—🎭 Full Sam Nelson 🎭 Toby Jones, Lisa Vicari and Christiane Paul are set to join season two of Apple TV+'s Hijack, produced by and starring Idris Elba. Since its debut, Hijack has become one of Apple's top dramas. Details on the story for season two are being kept under wraps, but Elba will reprise his role as Sam Nelson — a corporate negotiator who in the first season used his skills to bring about a resolution to the hijacking of a flight on which he was a passenger. The story.
—Three and counting. AMC has ordered a third show in its so-called Anne Rice Immortal Universe. More than a year after AMC announced it was developing The Talamasca, AMC has handed out a series order for the drama from co-showrunners Mark Lafferty and John Lee Hancock. The cable network has slated the six-episode show for a 2025 premiere, with production starting in the fall in Manchester, England. Interview With the Vampire and Mayfair Witches were the first two shows in the cabler’s Anne Rice franchise. The story.
—Back for more. CBS has renewed After Midnight for a second season. The late-night show, hosted by comedian Taylor Tomlinson, is an updated take on @midnight, Comedy Central’s former late-night show, and boasts some of the same creative team. Like its predecessor, After Midnight features a group of comedians giving their take on the best/worst/weirdest of the internet and social media each day. The story. |
Griffin Dunne's "Season of Madness" ►"What we didn't know was that we were actually pretty much crazy — clinically insane." For THR, Evelyn McDonnell spoke to actor, director, literary scion, and now memoirist, Griffin Dunne about his new book, The Friday Afternoon Club: A Family Memoir. Dunne time-travels through his beloved East Village, and reveals how his famous family of was riven by alcoholism and the shocking killing of his actress sister Dominique. The interview.
—Cruise clipping? Johnny Depp has revealed which A-listers he beat out for his big screen breakout role in Tim Burton’s Edward Scissorhands. In an interview that is part of Tara Wood’s still-untitled Burton docuseries, which premiered at the 2024 Tribeca Film Festival, the actor looked back at the 1990 film that ignited a years-long screen collaboration between Depp and the filmmaker. Depp recalled some of the biggest Hollywood names at the time, including Tom Hanks, Michael Jackson and Tom Cruise, wanting to play the movie’s scissor-handed hero. The story.
—"It’s not my place, I’m six foot under." Russell Crowe has offered his thoughts on Ridley Scott‘s Gladiator sequel, admitting that he’s “slightly uncomfortable” that it’s being made. In a new interview, the Oscar-winning actor, and star of Scott's box office monster from 2000, said, “I’m slightly uncomfortable with the fact they’re making another one — because, of course, I’m dead and I have no say in what gets done." The story.
—"I like making movies that are original and unique to themselves." Pixar chief creative officer Pete Docter said this week that the animation-to-live-action craze “sort of bothers me.” In a new interview, Docter’s comments came in response to a question about whether he’d seen the trend online campaigning for Josh O’Connor — who has long spoken about his love for Pixar’s 2007 hit Ratatouille — to play a live-action protagonist Alfredo Linguini. The story. |
Film Review: 'All That We Love' ►"A gentle meditation on love and loss." THR's Angie Han reviews Yen Tan's All That We Love. In this Tribeca world premiere which stars Margaret Cho, Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Kenneth Choi, a woman enters a period of change as her beloved dog dies, her daughter prepares to move away and her ex-husband re-enters her life. The review.
—"It takes more than two to tango." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Celina Murga's Tribeca international narrative competition entry, The Freshly Cut Grass. The Argentine filmmaker's latest feature, a marital drama with an ensemble cast including Marina de Tavira (Roma), was executive produced by Martin Scorsese. The review.
—"Mostly pop feminist pseudo-history." THR's Robyn Bahr reviews Elizabeth Sankey's Witches. Sankey's film posits a dubious connection between historical witchery and post-partum psychological suffering in this documentary bowing at Tribeca. The review.
—"Tedious and meandering." Robyn reviews Dana Flor's 1-800-ON-HER-OWN. Premiering at Tribeca, Flor's ode to folk-rock singer Ani DiFranco focuses more on her current career predicaments than her popular appeal. The review.
In other news...
—Chiwetel Ejiofor and Michael Winterbottom to receive Raindance Film Festival’s Icon Awards
—Lesli Klainberg stepping down as Film at Lincoln Center President after 2024 NY Film Festival
—Ella Emhoff signs with UTA
—Ben Potter, YouTube creator known as Comicstorian, dies at 40
What else we're reading...
—With the likes of Jennifer Lopez and the Black Keys canceling national tours, Zach Schonfeld investigates what's behind the sudden slump in big venue live music [Stereogum]
—Ryan Faughnder reports on the Hollywood workers feeling the pain as the industry restructures post-streaming wars [LAT]
—Lydia Spencer-Elliott digs deep into the real Gary Johnson, the chameleon at the center of Glen Powell's Hit Man [Independent]
—In an expansive piece looking at Hollywood fashion, Joshua Hunt writes that the most stylish people are not the actors [NYT]
—Jeff Wise explains why Trump flies a crappy vintage Boeing 757, despite, supposedly, being a billionaire [Intelligencer]
Today...
...in 1987, John McTiernan’s Predator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as the leader of a special forces team that’s dropped into the jungle on a rescue mission and comes face to face with an alien hunter who makes trophies out of men’s spinal columns, hit theaters. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Takashi Yamazaki (60), Dave Franco (39), Jason Mewes (50), Rick Hoffman (54), Eamonn Walker (62), Andrew Howard (🏴55), Abid Rahman (🏴43), Cathy Tyson (59), Abbey Lee (37), Georgina Campbell (32), Tim DeKay (61), Paula Marshall (60), David Thornton (71), Frances O'Connor (57), Paul Schulze (62), Timothy Busfield (67), Cody Horn (36), Timothy Simons (46), Jenilee Harrison (66), Spencer Macpherson (27), Louisa Jacobson (33), Stephanie Bennett (35), Chris Witaske (41), Mario Casas (38), Rebecca Holden (66), Adriana Lima (43), Gregory Alan Williams (68), Carly Craig (44), Mel Rodriguez (51), Sarah Trigger (56), Scott Thompson (65), Jessica Keenan Wynn (38), Kendra Wilkinson (39), Luke Youngblood (38), Valentina de Angelis (35), Jade Anouka (35) |
| Jerry West, who was selected to the Basketball Hall of Fame three times in a storied career as a player and executive and whose silhouette is considered to be the basis of the NBA logo, has died. He was 86. The obituary. |
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