| | | | | | What's news: It's magazine day! This week's multiple covers celebrate Hollywood's A-list stylists. Sean "Diddy" Combs' lawyers have hit back at federal agents over the dramatic raids at his homes. Hulu is officially on Disney+. Jeremy Allen White is in talks to play Bruce Springsteen in a biopic. Scott Derrickson will direct Universal's The Night of the Hunter remake. ID is releasing a new episode of docuseries Quiet on Set. — Abid Rahman
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Hollywood's Top 25 Stylists ►On the covers. In a year when Barbiecore ruled, strikes killed red carpets, and stylists got call-outs in Oscar acceptance speeches, THR's Carol McColgin presents the tastemakers — working with Cardi B, Emma Stone, Hunter Schafer, Jenna Ortega, Demi Moore, Colman Domingo, Emily Blunt and more — who made THR’s 2024 list of Hollywood stylists. The cover story.
—Fab Four. Looking to the future, Carol highlights the next generation of Hollywood stylists. The red-carpet looks of Ice Spice, Fantasia Barrino, Bridgerton star Nicola Coughlan and, yes, Lisa Rinna are orchestrated by these four up-and-coming tastemakers. The rising stars. |
NBC News, CAA Drop Ronna McDaniel ►"No organization, particularly a newsroom, can succeed unless it is cohesive and aligned." NBC News is parting ways with its newest on-air contributor Ronna McDaniel, the former RNC chair, just days after she was hired. Separately, McDaniel has been dropped by CAA, the agency that repped her in the deal with the network. McDaniel's rapid exit comes after a number of NBC News' biggest names, including Chuck Todd, Rachel Maddow, Mika Brzezinski, Joy Reid, Nicolle Wallace and Lawrence O’Donnell, publicly questioned the network's decision to hire her. The story.
—"Overuse of military-level force." Sean "Diddy" Combs’ lawyer says the music mogul cooperated with authorities after his homes were raided by federal agents, but adds that "there was a gross overuse of military-level force" used when the raids occurred. A month after Combs was sued for sex trafficking and other allegations, agents raided the Grammy winner’s homes on Monday in Los Angeles, New York and Miami. On Tuesday, Combs’ attorney called the raids an "unprecedented ambush paired with an advanced, coordinated media presence." The story.
—"Meaningful gains in all areas." Another IATSE Local says it has reached an agreement with studios and streamers on issues specific to its members. According to Local 695 — which represents production sound crew members, video engineers and projectionists — the talks were “productive,” with the AMPTP. This resulted in “meaningful gains in all areas,” said the union. The story.
—"There’s a standard that I try to hold myself to, and that is I do not make light of somebody else’s tragedy." Stephen Colbert made a two-minute statement near the start of Monday’s The Late Show about his recent jokes about Kate Middleton. The late night host had previously mocked the Princess of Wales’ absence from public life, as well as made jokes about rumors Prince William had an affair. Last week, Middleton revealed she was battling cancer. Colbert expressed remorse about the jokes and wished Middleton well, though he stopped shy of outright apologizing. The story. |
Bob Iger's Invincible Era Is Over ►Endgame nears. Disney finds itself at a crossroads as it faces a bitter proxy fight with Nelson Peltz and his Trian Partners, who are backed by billions of dollars in Disney stock owned by Marvel chairman Ike Perlmutter, with matters set to come to a head April 3 at the company's annual meeting. THR's Alex Weprin writes that after a major Wall Street firm sided with Peltz, investors are questioning how CEO Bob Iger plans to plot out growth — and his own succession. The analysis.
—"Our teams have had to reimagine and redesign many core aspects of our platform." Hulu is officially on Disney+. Disney says that Hulu on Disney+ is now live and out of beta, giving subscribers to both services (or of the Disney bundle) access to content in one place. Hulu content first became available on Disney+ in beta form late last year, but now the service is fully integrated, with executives touting a slew of technical moves needed to enable the move. The story. |
Chalamet Signs First-Look Deal with WB ►Box office king. Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group is staying in the Timothée Chalamet business. The studio has signed the star of its back-to-back box office hits Wonka and Dune: Part Two to a multiyear first-look feature deal. Details were not disclosed, but the company said it would collaborate with the star on projects he would both act in and produce. Locking up talent has been the focus of WB film chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy since they took the top jobs in 2022. The story.
—🎭 Bear to Boss 🎭 The Bear's Jeremy Allen White is eyeing the starring role of Bruce Springsteen in a feature biopic. The Emmy-winning actor is in talks to play the rock superstar in Deliver Me From Nowhere, which also has A24 circling. Based on Warren Zanes’ 2023 book of the same name, the movie is set to focus on the making of Springsteen’s 1982 album, Nebraska. Scott Cooper is adapting the script with plans to direct. Gotham Group is behind the project, with former Netflix film head Scott Stuber also involved. The story.
—🎭 Mona Lisa frown 🎭 Julia Roberts is set to star in director Luca Guadagnino's thriller feature that is set in the world of academia. Amazon MGM Studios has landed After the Hunt, with Roberts attached to the movie that has Guadagnino directing from a script by Nora Garrett. The project hails from Imagine Entertainment and centers on a college professor who faces a crossroads in confronting her own dark past when a standout student makes an accusation against one of her colleagues. The story.
—🎭 Filled out 🎭 The new blood-soaked Fear Street movie in the works at Netflix has unveiled its first castmembers. Fear Street: Prom Queen will be led by India Fowler, Suzanna Son, Fina Strazza, David Iacono and Ella Rubin. Chris Klein, Lili Taylor and Katherine Waterston round out the ensemble cast of Matt Palmer’s genre film. Palmer and Donald McLeary are adapting the novel from R.L. Stine’s popular Fear Street book series, with Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and Kori Adelson producing for Chernin Entertainment. The story.
—Going noir. Universal has tapped Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill, the team behind horror hits Sinister and The Black Phone, for a feature adaptation of The Night of the Hunter, the acclaimed 1953 crime novel by Davis Grubb that was previously turned into a 1955 thriller starring Robert Mitchum. Derrickson will direct and write the script with Cargill, his frequent collaborator, who also worked with him on Marvel Studios entry Doctor Strange. The story.
—📅 Dated 📅 Universal and DreamWorks Animation have set The Bad Guys 2 for an Aug. 1, 2025 release in theaters. It’s a sequel to the 2022 film and once again stars Sam Rockwell as Mr. Wolf, Marc Maron as Mr. Snake, Craig Robinson as Mr. Shark, Anthony Ramos as Mr. Piranha and Awkwafina as Ms. Tarantula, aka “Webs.” Others stars include Zazie Beetz as Diana Foxington, Richard Ayoade as Professor Marmalade, Alex Borstein as police chief Misty Luggins and Lilly Singh as Tiffany Fluffit. The story.
—Avast ye! Jerry Bruckheimer revealed that the next installment of Pirates of the Caribbean will be a reboot of the beloved franchise. In a new interview, the legendary producer said that they’re working on a Pirates sequel as well as Top Gun 3, but noted that the latter is going to take longer to develop since it involves coordinating schedules with several A-list actors, such as Tom Cruise, Miles Teller and Glen Powell. The story. |
'Quiet on Set' to Air New Episode ►"We're digging deeper into the crucial conversations." Investigation Discovery is set to debut a fifth episode of Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV, featuring interviews with Drake Bell and other former child TV actors. Quiet on Set: Breaking the Silence, to premiere April 7, will be moderated by Soledad O’Brien. The fifth episode of the docuseries promises to go deeper into the toxic and dangerous culture behind the late 1990s and early 2000s kids’ TV series, including allegations of abuse, sexism and racism. The story.
—Close enough. The whispers last year about a potential ER revival weren’t true, but this could be the next best thing. Max has handed out a 15-episode, straight-to-series order for The Pitt, a look at front-line medical workers in Pittsburgh starring Noah Wyle and from ER duo John Wells and R. Scott Gemmill. Max describes The Pitt as "a realistic examination of the challenges facing health care workers in today’s America as seen through the lens of the front-line heroes working in a modern-day hospital in Pittsburgh." The story.
—Breaking new ground. The Bachelorette made some franchise history on Monday. The long-running hit ABC reality dating series announced Jenn Tran as its first Asian American lead. Tran, who was eliminated before hometown week on Joey Graziadei’s now-concluded 28th season of The Bachelor, was announced as the season 21 Bachelorette lead during Graziadei’s three-hour After the Final Rose live finale on Monday night. The story.
—🎭 He's here, he's there, he's... 🎭 Ted Lasso star Brett Goldstein is set to make a guest appearance in Shrinking season two. Details about Goldstein’s character are being kept under wraps for the moment. Shrinking follows Segel’s Jimmy, a grieving therapist who starts to break the rules of his career by telling his clients exactly what he thinks. Goldstein co-created the Apple TV+ show alongside Bill Lawrence and Jason Segel, who also stars in the Emmy-nominated series. The story.
—🎭 Perfect casting 🎭 The Handmaid’s Tale’s Elisabeth Moss and Scandal favorite Kerry Washington are going to star opposite one another in a new series for Apple TV+. The streamer has, following a bidding war, landed the television adaptation of Araminta Hall’s novel Imperfect Women with a straight-to-series order for the drama from Physical alum Annie Weisman. Imperfect Women is described as an "unconventional, psychological thriller examining a crime that shatters the lives of a decades-long friendship of three women." The story.
—It's a go! George R. Stewart’s classic sci-fi novel Earth Abides has been officially greenlit as a limited series for streaming channel MGM+. The story follows the aftermath of a global plague and is being adapted by creator and showrunner Todd Komarnicki, and has signed Alexander Ludwig to star. Previously announced as in development, MGM+ plans six episodes to tell the 1949 book’s tale. Earth Abides will begin production in Vancouver on April 8 and is expected to premiere later this year. The story. |
The Ambies 2024 ►🏆 Pods among men 🏆 Slow Burn: Becoming Justice Thomas was awarded podcast of the year at the 2024 Ambie Awards held on Tuesday night in L.A. The show, now in its eighth season, is hosted by Slate staff writer Joel Anderson and tells the story of Clarence Thomas’s rise to power. Weight For It, hosted by Ronald Young Jr., was the most awarded show, winning best indie podcast, best indie podcast host/hosts, and best society and culture podcast. The winners.
—"I am looking for people who are not talking point people." Real Time host Bill Maher is launching a podcast network. The Club Random Studios network will seek to host podcasts built on an idea of "freedom of expression," the late night host tells THR. The first podcast on the network, which Maher is backing alongside co-creators Chris Case and Chuck LaBella, will be hosted by Sage Steele, the former ESPN SportsCenter anchor who parted ways with the channel last year after settling a free speech lawsuit. The story.
—"I’m extremely enthusiastic about and focused on growing the podcast pie." For THR, Brande Victorian spoke to Bladimiar Norman, Wondery’s head of global marketing, about the company's big ambitions in the podcast space. Norman discusses the “Wondery Means Business” marketing campaign being pushed by the Amazon Music-owned company behind podcasts such as Dr. Death, Even the Royals and My Favorite Murder. The interview. |
TV Review: 'Sugar' ►"Intriguing, but frustrating." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Apple TV+'s Sugar. Mark Protosevich's eight-episode drama features the Banshees of Inisherin Oscar nominee Colin Farrell scouring Los Angeles to solve a missing persons case. The review. In other news...
—Hot Docs Fest artistic director, programmers exit amid financial crunch
—WGA Awards: Cord Jefferson to receive Paul Selvin Award
—UTA hires Eric Iverson as chief technology officer
—Deadpool actor Stefan Kapicic signs with CESD talent agency
—Saks Fifth Avenue shares look at elegant new Beverly Hills private shopping suite
What else we're reading...
—Anna North explains the various sexual assault and trafficking allegations against Sean "Diddy" Combs and how they are part of a larger reckoning in the music industry [Vox]
—Joe Flint and Isabella Simonetti write that Ronna McDaniel’s rapid exit from NBC News illustrates the power of on-air talent [WSJ]
—Francis Agustin believes that the excellent X-Men '97's blend of nostalgia and originality is just what Marvel needs right now [BBC]
—Aaron Clark reports that the ship that crashed into Baltimore's Francis Scott Key Bridge has a troubled history [Bloomberg]
—Citing the recent examples of Daniel Craig and Margaret Qualley, Scout Brobst wonders why southern accents in movies are so terrible [NYT]
Today...
...in 2005, ABC debuted a new hospital drama from executive producer Shonda Rhimes. Multiple accolades later, Grey’s Anatomy is going strong at the network, and Rhimes is one of the industry’s most influential showrunners. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Mariah Carey (55), Quentin Tarantino (61), Nathan Fillion (53), Halle Bailey (24), Jonathan Entwistle (40), Michael York (82), Austin Pendleton (84), Stephen Dillane (67), Ram Charan (39), Fergie (49), Pauley Perrette (55), Brenda Song (36), Elizabeth Mitchell (54), Holliday Grainger (36), Justin John Harvey (33), Sophie Nélisse (24), Talisa Soto (57), Caroline Williams (67), Julian Glover (89), Kevin Corrigan (55), Rosabell Laurenti Sellers (28), Kenny Doughty (49), Louise Brealey (45), Natasha Calis (25), Adrian Rawlins (66), Francie Swift (55), Bevin Bru (33), Sandra Hess (56), Benjamin Koldyke (56), Aoi Yûki (32) |
| Ileen Maisel, who served as a studio executive at Paramount, Lorimar and New Line Cinema and as a producer on films including Onegin, Ripley’s Game and The Golden Compass, has died. She was 68. The obituary. |
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