September 15, 2022

What's news: Wendy Williams has entered a wellness facility to help with her ongoing health issues. Brian Cox had some choice words for Method acting. R. Kelly was found guilty on several charges including child pornography. Production on NBC's Chicago Fire came to halt after a shooting. Jeff Loveness will pen Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. David Harbour will star in Sony's Gran Turismo movie — Abid Rahman

Kimmel Apologizes to Brunson for Controversial Emmys Bit

►"The last thing I would ever want to do was upset you because I think so much of you." Jimmy Kimmel apologized to Quinta Brunson for his “dumb comedy bit” at the Emmys that was widely criticized. Speaking to Brunson on Wednesday's Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Kimmel said sorry for ruining the Abbott Elementary creator and star's big moment by not leaving the stage during her acceptance speech. The story.

—"American shit." Succession's Brian Cox blasted Method acting during a post-screening Q&A at the Toronto Film Festival for Prisoner’s Daughter. “I don’t hold a lot of the American shit, having to have a religious experience every time you play a part. It’s crap,” Cox said. The story.

—Shooting. Production on Chicago Fire was shut down Wednesday after a shooting near where the NBC series was filming. The show was filming on on the city’s West Side, when a gunman fired several shots from a corner opposite the show’s location. The shooting happened as Chicago Fire’s cast and crew were in the middle of a take; no one from the production was injured. The story.

—Convicted on many counts. A federal jury on Wednesday convicted R. Kelly of several child pornography and sex abuse charges in his hometown of Chicago, delivering another legal blow to a singer. Previously sentenced to 30 years in prison, Kelly was found guilty on three new counts of child pornography and three counts of child enticement. The story.

Skydance Scraps McConaughey Movie Weeks Ahead of Production

►Own goal. Skydance is no longer moving forward with Dallas Sting, a soccer project starring Matthew McConaughey that was to be directed by The Falcon and the Winter Soldier‘s Kari Skogland. The pulling of the plug occurs as the inspirational drama was only six weeks away from beginning production and was almost fully cast. The story.

—Boy racer. THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on Stranger Things star David Harbour has signed on to star in Gran Turismo, the Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions feature adaptation of the best-selling racing video game. Neill Blomkamp, best known for his sci-fi movies such as District 9 and Elysium, is directing the project that has a script by Jason Hall (American Sniper) and Zach Baylin (King Richard). The story.

—Writer found! Marvel has tapped Jeff Loveness to pen Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Loveness is well acquainted with Kang, the time-hopping villain played by Jonathan Majors who is central to the MCU's Multiverse Saga. Loveness is the screenwriter behind Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, which counts Kang as its villain and is due out Feb. 17. The story.

—Together again. Gerard Butler and Alan Siegel have teamed back up with Remi Adeleke. The duo’s G-Base production company (Greenland, Angel Has Fallen and Den of Thieves) has boarded Unexpected Redemption, Adeleke’s feature directorial debut, which is having its market premiere at TIFF. The story.

Wendy Williams Checks Into Wellness Facility

►"Ms. Williams is being treated by a team of some of the best doctors in the world." Wendy Williams has entered a wellness facility seeking help to manage her overall health issues, according to her publicist. Williams stepped away from The Wendy Williams Show, the syndicated talk show that made her a household name, in 2021, citing an array of health issues, including Graves’ disease and lymphedema. The story.

—"I kind of buried, immediately." Melanie Chisholm, also known as “Mel C” and Sporty Spice from the Spice Girls, is opening up about a night she alleges she was sexually assaulted prior to her first live performance as a Spice Girl. In a new interview, ahead of the Sept. 15 release of her forthcoming memoir Who I Am, Chisholm revealed that she was sexually assaulted by a massage therapist at a hotel spa in Istanbul. The story.

—"I’m tickled to use my childhood as the jumping off point." Andy Cohen and NBC are teaming up for a comedy based on the WWHL host’s childhood. The project is called Most Talkative and is inspired by Cohen’s memoir of the same name. Gordon Greenberg and Michael Weiner will pen the script, and Todd Holland is set to direct. The project comes from Universal Television and Blumhouse Television. The story.

—Still growing. The start of the NFL’s 2022 season brought in more big TV ratings. Led by a big tune-in for NBC’s Sunday Night Football and the most watched Monday Night Football telecast in more than a decade, the league averaged about 18.5m viewers across its seven broadcast windows in week one. That’s a 3 percent improvement on the opening weekend last year and the best beginning to a season since 2016. The ratings.

—🤝 First look deal 🤝 Former Paramount Pictures duo John Goldwyn and Karen Rosenfelt are reuniting at Warner Bros. Television. The feature executives-turned-independent producers have formed production company Goldwyn/Rosenfelt Productions and have entered into a first-look television deal with the studio. The story.

Chapek Keen On Early Hulu Deal

►"Consumer friction." Disney CEO Bob Chapek signaled his interest in integrating Hulu into Disney+ after the company buys out the remaining stake from Comcast. Speaking at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Tech Conference on Wednesday, Chapek said he was interested in a faster timeline to fully acquiring Hulu before the 2024 deadline and his desire to remove the “friction” for consumers when they have to jump between the Disney+ and Hulu apps to access content. The story.

—"It is not like we have made a decision to do something." Also speaking at the Goldman Sachs conference was Paramount CEO Bob Bakish, who batted away speculation that the company would discontinue Showtime’s streaming service to further bolster its core Paramount+ service. Bakish did however tout the recent Walmart partnership and confirmed that Top Gun: Maverick will hit Paramount+ by the end of the year. The story.

—More pain. Netflix Animation laid off 30 employees on Wednesday. It is it the latest in a series of cutbacks and restructuring that began last spring after Netflix reported that it had lost 200,000 subscribers during Q1 2022, followed by a loss of 970,000 subscribers during Q2. The story.

—"The platform and the brand are so powerful on a global basis." Imax CEO Richard Gelfond says the giant screen exhibitor is accelerating its push beyond Hollywood movies to more live events in around 150 theaters currently for additional revenue streams. Speaking to an investor conference, Gelfond talked up concerts, celebrity Q&As and other showings on its LIVE network for new revenue streams. The story.

TV Review: 'Atlanta' S4

►"You never know what you're gonna get — in a good way." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews season four of FX's Atlanta. After a third season spent bouncing between the gang in Europe and tantalizing standalone episodes, the series returns Stateside for its final run, with the focus back on our main quartet. The review.

—"A comfortingly mediocre throwback." THR film critic Leslie Felperin reviews Ol Parker's Ticket to Paradise. Julia Roberts and George Clooney reunite to play a long-divorced couple who come together to stop their daughter from getting married in this Bali-set romantic comedy. The review.

—"Won't disturb your sleep." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Matt Sobel's Goodnight Mommy. Naomi Watts stars in this reworking of the 2014 Austrian nerve-shredder about twin brothers convinced the bandaged woman in their home recovering from surgery is not their mother. The review.

—"Sensitive and gripping." THR's Lovia Gyarkye reviews Mary Nighy's Alice, Darling. Anna Kendrick plays a young woman coming to terms with the sinister nature of her relationship during a week-long trip with her friends in this gripping drama. The review.

—"Easy to binge but not quite satisfying." THR TV critic Angie Han reviews Peacock's Vampire Academy. Julie Plec and Marguerite MacIntyre (Vampire Diaries) adapt Richelle Mead's bestselling YA series about two best friends navigating the rarefied — and highly stratified — circles of elite vampire society. The review.

—"A monotonous, empty exercise in style." THR's John DeFore reviews Katsuki Kuroyanagi's The City. Japanese ad director Kuroyanagi offers a microbudget debut set in the Tokyo underworld, premiering at the Oldenburg Film Festival. The review.

—"Effective and tightly woven." John reviews John Connors' The Black Guelph. Childhood trauma casts a long shadow in this compelling Irish drama, premiering at Oldenburg. The review.

In other news...

—LA3C: Maluma, Megan Thee Stallion to headline Penske Media’s inaugural culture and creativity festival

—Quinta Brunson, Olivia Wilde to be honored by Women in Film Los Angeles

—Keshet International CEO Alon Shtruzman to step down

—Biggest sound stages in Saudi Arabia open in Neom region

—John Stamos memoir, set for fall 2023, inspired by loss of Bob Saget

—Brittany Snow and Selling the OC star Tyler Stanaland split after two years of marriage

—Mark Miller, Please Don’t Eat the Daisies star and Walk in the Clouds screenwriter, dies at 97

—William Klein, American photographer in Paris, dies at 96

—Jesse Powell, R&B singer known for 1998 hit “You,” dies at 51

What else we're reading...

—Steven Asarch spoke to animators at HBO Max who say they're "clueless" and "confused" about the recent cancellations [Inverse]

—Claire Valentine spoke to House Of The Dragon star Milly Alcock about playing young Rhaenyra and dealing with the intense fandom that surrounds GOT [Nylon]

—Kadish Morris profiles the ever busy John Boyega and it covers the three new films he stars in that are about to be released [GQ]

—As we enter the fall movie season, Alison Willmore is already missing maximalist films like RRR and Everything Everywhere All at Once [Vulture]

—This is great: "Billionaire no more: Patagonia founder gives away the company" [NYT]

Today...

...in 1977, NBC revved up a new one-hour police drama, CHiPs, featuring Erik Estrada and Larry Wilcox. The original review.

Today's birthdays: Tom Hardy (45), John Bradley (34), Tommy Lee Jones (76), Ben Schwartz (41), Josh Charles (51), Oliver Stone (76), Marisa Ramirez (45), Colleen O'Shaughnessey (51), Barry Shabaka Henley (68), Emma Fuhrmann (21), Caterina Murino (45), Heidi Montag (36), Tom Austen (35), Rebecca Miller (60), Brendan O'Carroll (66), Ingrid Bisu (35), Jimmy Carr (50), Ron Shelton (77), Colin McFarlane (61), Pawel Pawlikowski (65), Ed Solomon (62)

Irene Papas, the Greek actress and recording artist renowned for her dramatic performances and austere beauty that earned her prominent roles in Hollywood movies as well as in French and Italian cinema over six decades has died. She was 93. The obituary.

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Kimmel Apologizes for Controversial Emmys Bit; Skydance Scraps McConaughey Movie Weeks Ahead of Production; 'Ticket to Paradise,' 'Atlanta' S4 Reviews