Studios' Offer and Copyrightable AI Scripts; Charity and Dotun on Making 'Bachelorette' History; Why 'Rebel Moon' is Getting a Director's Cut; How 'Killing It' Captures Modern Capitalism
What's news: Max is set to add 24/7 news to its service with CNN Max. Lionsgate and STX have signed a domestic distribution deal. Sara Ramírez has hit back at critics of her AJLT character Che Diaz. A League of Their Own creators are hoping to find a new home for the canceled series. Shannon Sharpe is taking his podcast to The Volume. — Abid Rahman
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Studios' Offer to WGA May Lead to AI Scripts That Are Copyrightable
►"Fundamentally, the offers mistook who’s doing who a favor." In the midst of a double strike, it’s becoming slightly clearer how Hollywood’s biggest studios would like to build artificial intelligence into the machinery of crafting screenplays. THR's Winston Cho writes that copyright law doesn't recognize works solely created by AI. But by incentivizing writers to participate in the creation process, studios have a better shot at getting that work protected. The analysis.
—"Releasing the counteroffer was an unforced error." After the latest offer from the AMPTP, THR's Lesley Goldberg was out on the picket line to gauge the reaction of writers. The WGA called the studios’ memo a ploy “not to bargain, but to jam us" while on Wednesday reactions ranged from "a good foundation" to "I can see loopholes all over" as picketing members read the details. The reaction.
—"A lot of people losing their apartments right now." Social Impact Fund celebrated its 10-year anniversary on Tuesday night and used the occasion to gift a $50,000 donation to the Entertainment Community Fund. THR's Kirsten Chuba reports that Annette Bening, the new chair of the ECF, was on hand to accept the grant and get frank about the need for financial assistance as both the writers and actors strikes rage on. The story.
Charity and Dotun on Making 'Bachelorette' History
►"We are both levitating." The Bachelorette star Charity Lawson and her season 20 winner Dotun Olubeko are relishing the blissful highlights of their historic but emotional journey. THR jackanape Ryan Gajewski spoke to the couple about their future plans, the drama over Lawson telling both of her final two men that she was in love with them, the importance of their story for Black viewers and the possibility of reality TV stars moving to unionize amid Hollywood’s ongoing double strikes. Warning: Spoilers!The interview.
—From the ashes. Max is set to add 24/7 news programming to its offering with the addition of CNN Max starting Sept. 27. The breaking news addition, launching with an open beta at no cost to subscribers, comes after the short-lived CNN+ standalone subscription service was shuttered one month after its launch, forcing WBD to rethink its live breaking news streaming strategy. CNN Max, a rebrand of the CNN originals hub, will include programming specifically built for a streaming audience. The story.
—"We are living in a world that has become increasingly hostile." Sara Ramírez is once again addressing the ongoing criticisms around their And Just Like That character, Che Diaz. In a statement posted to Instagram on Tuesday, the former Grey’s Anatomy star emphasized that questions about the character’s development should be pointed at the series’ writers and that critics of their nonbinary character’s representation on the show should stop conflating the role with who Ramírez is in real life. The story.
—"We are still fighting."A League of Their Own co-creator Will Graham wants fans of their since-canceled Amazon Prime Video series to hold out hope that the show will find a new home, as well as for the LGBTQIA+ community who embraced the queer take on Penny Marshall’s beloved movie of the same name. "If we have an avenue to do it well, we will continue the show," Graham said in a lengthy message on social media. The story.
—Expansion. In the five years since Rotten Tomatoes launched its Critics Outreach and Grant Program, the platform has given more than $600,000 to diversify the field of entertainment criticism. THR's Rebecca Sun reports that Rotten Tomatoes has formed new partnerships with three community-based nonprofits: GALECA, Gold House and the National Association of Black Journalists. The story.
Zack Snyder on Why 'Rebel Moon' Needs a Director's Cut
►"We shot scenes just for the director’s cut." Zack Snyder’s epic sci-fi feature Rebel Moon dropped its first teaser trailer Tuesday, and the director is already revealing plans for another, longer version of the Netflix project — including roughly an hour of additional footage. THR's James Hibberd looks at how unusual it is for a streaming film to have a director's cut, especially one that hasn't even been seen by audiences yet. The story.
—"The more I had to pretend to do tennis in front of a camera with an audience, the more terrified I felt." Zendaya is opening up about her “first time really being a leading lady” in Luca Guadagnino’s Challengers, as well as how major roles in films like the Spider-Man franchise have catapulted her to a new level of recognition. In a new interview, Emmy-winning actress and producer also talks about Challengers intimacy scenes and getting to play a "messy and conflicted" role not typically offered to actors like her. The story.
—"Biggest franchise in Hollywood, and I don’t have any of it." Filmmaker David Ayer says he has “nothing to show” for writing 2001’s The Fast and the Furious, the movie that kicked off Universal's long-running and highly lucrative franchise. In a podcast appearance,the Suicide Squad writer-director also revealed that when he got the initial draft script for the film, it "was set in New York, it was all Italian kids" and he changed the location to L.A. The story.
How All Elite Wrestling is Taking on WWE
►"I think what AEW has established for ourselves is that we’re a challenger brand in a multibillion-dollar business." THR's business editor and resident wrestling expert Georg Szalai spoke to AEW CEO Tony Khan. The billionaire scion talks about the state of his family's sprawling sports empire, and explains how his NFL and English Premier League soccer experience helps him with running a wrestling company amid reports of backstage disputes. The interview.
—"Some people have picked that up and taken it to mean that there are no visual effects, which is clearly not true." There’s a sizable amount of largely “invisible” visual effects work in Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer, but more than a month after its release, that’s still not obvious to everyone. THR's Carolyn Giardina spoke to Oppenheimer's Oscar-winning VFX supervisor Andrew Jackson about the popular misconception, but also how they used layered filmed elements to create the awesome Trinity Test scene. The interview.
—"Norman Dale was really the primary North Star character for me."THR's Brian Davids spoke to Gran Turismo star David Harbour about how he took a page out of Gene Hackman's Hoosiers playbook for his performance in Sony's video game adaptation. The actor also discusses how before the strike, he was gearing up for a busy summer that would have involved filming Stranger Things 5 and Marvel's Thunderbolts at the same time. This interview, conducted prior to the July 13 SAG-AFTRA strike.The interview.
Fremantle Named THR's International Producer of the Year
►Investing in talent. THR's Scott Roxborough writes that with a global network of nearly 50 boutique producers — Element Pictures (Poor Things), The Apartment (Priscilla), Wildside (My Brilliant Friend) — and talent deals with the likes of Angelina Jolie, Edward Berger and Michael Winterbottom, Fremantle has become the most exciting and innovative independent producer outside the U.S. The story.
—🤝 Cowherd making moves 🤝 THR's Alex Weprin has the scoop on Shannon Sharpe taking his popular podcast, Club Shay Shay, to The Volume. In addition to moving his podcast to The Volume, the digital network and podcasting hub founded by sports host Colin Cowherd, Sharpe’s company, Shay Shay Media, will jointly produce new programming with the network. The news comes after Sharpe’s exit from Undisputed, the Fox Sports debate show, in June, which had put his podcast back on the market. The story.
—🤝 Domestic distribution deal 🤝 Lionsgate and STX Entertainment have unveiled a distribution partnership to release and market films and library titles across North America. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but Lionsgate will handle marketing and releases for future STX theatrical releases in the U.S. and Canada, as well as distribute STX’s 75-title library across all platforms, which includes Bad Moms and Hustlers. The partnership will kick off with Neil Burger’s The Marsh Daughter, starring Daisy Ridley. The story.
'Killing It' S2 Is a Savage Dissection of Our Dog-Eat-Dog World
►"If Succession laid out how money warps the ultra-rich, Killing It does much the same for those fighting for scraps at the bottom of the food chain." THR TV critic Angie Han writes that few current series are sharper or funnier about our modern capitalist dystopia than Peacock's comedy Killing It, starring Craig Robinson. Warning: Spoilers! The critic's notebook.
—Clare Malone’s profile of WBD chief David Zaslav is a must-read, and includes the frankly jaw-dropping detail that Zaz has made nearly $750m since he started working for John Malone [New Yorker]
—Ben Child wonders whether Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon can prove whether there’s life beyond Star Wars for the space opera genre [Guardian]
—If you've been wondering about the whole Spider-Man: Lotus thing (not just the copyright issue but why there's a backlash against the fan film), Christopher Kuo helpfully explains what the devil is going on [NYT]
—Sarah Frier is of the opinion that LinkedIn is cool now and makes a compelling case, kinda [Bloomberg]
—Anthony Breznican talks to Tony Gilroy about how he and his creative team created "Rix Road," the excellent finale episode to Andor [VF]
Today...
...in 1966, Paramount brought Michael Caine’s Alfie to theaters. The film went on to be nominated for five Oscars at the 39th Academy Awards ceremony, including best picture and actor. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Ava DuVernay (51), Stephen Fry (66), Elizabeth Debicki (33), Dave Chappelle (50), Rupert Grint (35), Marlee Matlin (58), Jared Harris (62), James D'Arcy (48), Anne Archer (76), Steve Guttenberg (65), David Koechner (61), Takashi Miike (63), Fleur Geffrier (37), Pierfrancesco Favino (54), Sonja Bennett (43), Chad Michael Murray (42), Griffin Gluck (23), Grey Griffin (50), Alex O'Loughlin (47), Beth Riesgraf (45), Jennifer Lien (49), Martha Higareda (40), Kevin Dunn (67), Tony Amendola (72), Carmine Giovinazzo (50), Rachael Carpani (43), Seo Ji-hye (39), Cristiana Dell'Anna (38), Kate Jenkinson (42), Craig Kilborn (61), Antonio Campos (40)
Nancy Frangione, a soap opera star best known for her roles in Another World and All My Children, has died. She was 70. The obituary.
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