As Toy Story 5 bows, the Disney machine bets the franchise has enough goodwill to win the summer. Also in the Weekender is the latest in Big Tech meddling, the likely Venice contenders and the next act of the buzziest filmmaker in town. — Erik Hayden
Ticker: Scott Beck and Bryan Woods sell mystery spec script; Margo Martindale's buzzy Tribeca film seeks a buyer; Morgan Freeman wants to show you the blues.
|
With David Ellison aiming to seal his $111 billion megadeal to merge two historic studios, chatter has turned to a more grim question: How many jobs will be impacted?
The big picture number is some $6 billion in synergies that Team Ellison sees in combining Paramount and Warner Bros. as the corporate, administrative, tech and resource functions are merged. Now more granular numbers are emerging.
"The merger places about 2,495 jobs in Greater Los Angeles County and about 6,000 globally at potential risk," read a June 18 report led by Kelly LoBianco's L.A. County economic department. In reply, a Paramount spokesperson told THR that the local assessment "underscores the multiple ways in which the status quo continues to fail Los Angeles’ entertainment economy." Full story.
|
Amazon MGM Studios has dropped Luca Guadagnino's upcoming film Artificial, about OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. The Andrew Garfield-starrer will now be shopped to other studios. As Lily Ford reports, "The timing is, well, interesting: It comes only a few months after the news that Amazon will invest $50 billion in the artificial intelligence research and deployment company as part of a 'multi-year strategic partnership' that will accelerate OpenAI's consumption of Amazon Web Services."
|
On billboards around L.A., Anya Taylor-Joy is the otherworldly face of Dior and Tiffany. Seated just a few inches away, however, she feels entirely approachable, like an old friend meeting you for breakfast. But every so often, the light catches her a certain way, or she turns her head and simply holds still, and her face reassembles the ones you know: chess master Beth Harmon. Furiosa. The girl from The Witch who gets on suspiciously well with an evil black goat. Also, somehow, Princess Peach. Seth Abramovitch's cover story.
Missed out on a print issue? Subscribe!
|
In his first major sit-down in years, the scandal-scarred actor Armie Hammer talks with Seth Abramovitch about life after the fall, his new movie and trying to pull his career out of the ruins: "I would have done a f***ing cat food commercial." But underneath was something more unsettling: He wasn't sure he could remember how to act. The story.
|
"I don’t like to hear the word 'no' that often, because I feel like I’m very pragmatic when it comes to budgets." — Colman Domingo, on stepping behind the camera again for season two of the Netflix comedy The Four Seasons.
"Heated Rivalry started the wave, and the waves just keep going." — Steve Mayer, NHL president of content, on capitalizing on hockey's pop culture moment.
"It’s vicious in a writers’ room as a Black creative." — ex-Matlock writer John Lowe, who is suing CBS over an allegedly hostile work environment.
"No one was going to fund a short film made by me. But with AI I guess they don’t have to." — Robert Gaudette, whose short won a $50,000 Grand Prix prize at the Runway AI Film Festival in NYC.
"The massive influx of creators at Cannes Lions this year speaks volumes about where the industry is headed." — Raina Penchansky, co-head of UTA Creators, in previewing the fest that kicks off next week.
Logline of the Week
"It's something we’ve thought about for a long time, and you know what, it’s an idea that got all five or six of the brain trust excited. So it’s worth a try." -> Ron Howard, in a chat with THR EIC Maer Roshan, revealing plans for a Jim Carrey-led Grinch sequel.
By the Numbers
(Most-read stories on THR.com this week)
1) "Hollywood Names Surface in Peter Thiel-Backed Society"
2) "Sepideh Moafi Says The Pitt Frustration Points to a Bigger Problem"
3) "The Fox-Trump Divorce"
|
Not including Olympic years, June and July are setting up to be the biggest sports summer in more than a decade. The Stanley Cup Final, won by the Carolina Hurricanes in six games, had its largest TV audience since 2019. The NBA Finals, which saw the New York Knicks take their first title since 1973, drew the most viewers since the end of the Michael Jordan era in Chicago. And the World Cup? It appears to be off to its best start ever in the U.S. Rick Porter's analysis.
|
Marissa Long, a 26-year-old first-time actress from Tulsa, has a major role on HBO's obsessively guarded prestige series. She just can't tell you who she's playing, what happens or if she survives it. “It was just the craziest thing that could ever happen, the very definition of surreal,” she says of her beginner’s luck. Benjamin Svetkey's profile.
|
After the studios snubbed Cannes — for the first time in decades not a single studio-backed movie premiered on the Croisette this year — the focus has shifted to Venice and the question of whether the majors will return to the Lido in force. David Fincher, Aaron Sorkin, Werner Herzog and a deep art-house field could make for a landmark 83rd edition. The field.
|
Bill Lawrence has five hit series — and he has thoughts on bringing back Shrinking, the time he made an enemy of Harvey Weinstein and his backup plan for when it all goes south. "I worry sometimes that I look like I'm trying to do everything in the world," Lawrence tells Mikey O'Connell. "But when people are dumb enough to let me make things, I try to make as much as possible." The profile.
|
Hollywood can finally stop obsessing over Obsession filmmaker Curry Barker's next movie. Universal, along with Blumhouse Atomic Monster, has landed Barker’s first follow-up. In closing what is described as a rich eight-figure deal, Barker will write, produce and direct his third film. All details for the new project are being kept secret, but it is described as a Barker original horror idea. Borys Kit's story.
|
Somebody Somewhere breakout Jeff Hiller served as Celebrity Grand Marshal for the 56th annual LA Pride Parade. Javier Bardem was honored with a handprint and footprint ceremony at TCL Chinese Theatre. Jason Kelce and Travis Kelce brought New Heights to L.A. for a live show at The Orpheum Theatre. Jack Quaid stopped by a Cinespia special screening of The Matrix at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Matty Matheson, Liza Colon-Zayas, Jeremy Allen White, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Ayo Edebiri and Lionel Boyce celebrated the final season of The Bear with a "Final Family Meal" event in NYC. Jane Fonda led the Committee for the First Amendment Concert in NYC. Sarah Silverman took part in the Broadway Voices Unite Benefit, which raised $100,000. Eric Andrè and John Cena premiered their Netflix comedy Little Brother in NYC. Taylor Sheridan hosted a private dinner in partnership with French wine estate Château Angelus and vp Yves de Launay at his Cattlemen's Club in Fort Worth. All 58 photos from this week's premieres and events.
Upcoming Releases
Notable movies heading to theaters
|
Snapshots from THR's team of film critics
Hulu's high-society, Jessie Mei Li-led Hong Kong drama The Season from Crazy Rich Asians studio SK Global is "just-frothy-enough summer viewing." Sam Worthington and Britt Lower's pulpy Netflix thriller I Will Find You is "capably built to be watched while doing other things." HBO's House of the Dragon season three is "simultaneously too much and too little." Writer-director Hayley Kiyoko's coming-of-age drama Girls Like Girls "captures the giddy thrills and crushing devastations of first love." Alison Brie and Dustin Hoffman "lead a strong cast through a weak story" in Tribeca feature The Revisionist. Art critics Jerry Saltz and Roberta Smith "get a sincerely sweet and smart documentary love story" in House of Criticism.
Winners & Losers
James Hibberd's weekly scorecard
"'Supergirl gets buzz from the usual suspects. Netflix flips off The Duffers and Paramount at the same time. The battle between franchises vs. originals takes a turn. Christopher Nolan begins to count his Odyssey money."
And finally,
A Hollywood Flashback...
"In fact, he often felt like a Southern California weatherman being asked to issue storm warnings despite reliably sunny skies. He needed something to combat complacency. Something to inspire him."
|
|
|
|
