| | | | | | What's news: Jared Bush is the new CCO of Walt Disney Animation Studios. HBO has renewed Industry. Gayle King has inked a new deal to remain on CBS Mornings. Amazon has joined the MPA. Lionel Messi has launched a production company. A Queen Latifah biopic is in the works. — Abid Rahman
Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at tips@thr.com. |
Who's Really Going to Run Paramount? ►"Knowing Larry Ellison, I doubt he ever relinquishes control." 41-year-old Skydance chief David Ellison will soon take over as Paramount Global's CEO — but his tech billionaire father, 80-year-old Larry, put in the $6b to buy the entertainment giant. THR's editor-at-large Kim Masters looks into which Ellison will be boss. The story.
—Major shakeup. Director-writer Jared Bush is replacing Jennifer Lee as chief creative officer of the Walt Disney Animation Studios, as Lee returns to filmmaking full time at the company and stewards the Frozen franchise. Bush will report to Disney Entertainment co-chairman Alan Bergman, effective immediately. Lee, who had been in the top gig for six years, will direct and write Frozen 3. She’s also set to write and executive produce Frozen 4. Her departure as CCO isn’t a complete surprise. During her tenure, the storied animation studio suffered major misses, including Strange World and Wish. The story.
—🤝 Sticking around 🤝 Gayle King has inked a new deal to remain on CBS Mornings. Specific terms of the deal were not immediately available. King’s deal was said to be coming up in early 2025. She had most recently inked a deal in early 2022 to continue as co-anchor of the morning show. King has been a staple at CBS Mornings for more than a decade, having helped launch the show in 2012, and has remained in place alongside a rotating slate of co-stars. The story.
—Betting on theatrical. North American movie exhibitors are set to invest $2.2b in new theater upgrades to take advantage of Hollywood’s overall box office rebound this year. On Thursday, the National Association of Theatre Owners said its members were plowing fresh money into the theatrical experience over the next three years to continue drawing cinema-goers out of their homes after studio tentpoles like Inside Out 2, Deadpool & Wolverine, Bad Boys: Ride or Die, It Ends With Us and Despicable Me 4 filled the local multiplex earlier this year. The story.
—Coming aboard. The Motion Picture Association, the Hollywood trade group that represents film and TV studios, is adding a high-profile new member. Amazon is joining the MPA, via its Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios subsidiaries. Amazon, the producer of films like Saltburn and TV series like Fallout, joins Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures, Universal Studios, The Walt Disney Studios, and Warner Bros. Discovery as a member, as well as Netflix, which was the most recent member, having joined in 2019. The story. |
Why Matthew Perry Couldn't Make It ►A friend in need. Matthew Perry attempted to kick his addictions many times, indeed, before his death he had been in and out of over 15 different high-end programs for issues with alcohol and prescription drug abuse. After spending a lifetime battling his demons, the troubled actor was finally on the road to recovery. So how did he lose his way? The story.
—"He pretty much sent me to prison." Former rapper Moses 'Shyne' Barrow has weighed in on the arrest of onetime Bad Boy mentor Sean 'Diddy' Combs, by reflecting on a nightclub shooting that led to him serving nearly a decade behind bars. In December 1999, Barrow got caught up in the events and fallout from an incident involving Combs and his then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez. "I was defending him, and he turned around and called witnesses to testify against me," Barrow told a Channel 5 reporter in his native Belize this week. The story.
—Scoring off the pitch. Lionel Messi, one of the world’s most recognizable sports stars, is joining the fray to launch his own production company. The World Cup-winner has set up a film and TV banner titled 525 Rosario, a reference to his hometown address in Argentina. It’ll set up shop in Miami as well as Los Angeles. The shingle was formed as a joint venture between the Messi family and Smuggler Entertainment, the production company behind the Apple TV+ series Messi’s World Cup: The Rise of a Legend and Messi Meets America. The story. |
New York Mag Writer Placed On Leave After Admitting RFJ Jr. Relationship ►Wait, what? New York Magazine has put Washington correspondent Olivia Nuzzi on leave after learning she allegedly engaged in a romantic relationship with Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a source told THR. In a statement, New York said that Nuzzi, "acknowledged to the magazine’s editors that she had engaged in a personal relationship with a former subject relevant to the 2024 campaign while she was reporting on the campaign, a violation of the magazine’s standards around conflicts of interest and disclosures." Status ' Oliver Darcy reported that the alleged relationship started around the new year, after Nuzzi’s November 2023 profile on RFK Jr. In a statement, Nuzzi said the "relationship was never physical but should have been disclosed to prevent the appearance of a conflict." The story.
—"The First Amendment is a cornerstone of our democracy." The FCC will not be revoking ABC's broadcast licenses over this month’s debate between Kamala Harris and former Donald Trump. Despite many conservatives (including Trump) calling for the agency to revoke Disney’s broadcast licenses for ABC after the debate, the FCC's chair Jessica Rosenworcel wrote in a letter that, as an agency that stands for the First Amendment, it could take no such action. The story. |
Rule Britannia! U.K. Shows Rule Netflix in Latest Data Dump ►"I get me brain medicines from the National Health." In a huge W for the U.K. television industry, four British series are at the top of Netflix's internal rankings for January to June, led by Fool Me Once with 107.5m views worldwide over the course of those six months. Season three of Bridgerton (91.9m views), Baby Reindeer (87.6m) and The Gentlemen (75.9m) round out the top four. All told, Netflix’s 280m subscribers watched 94b hours’ worth of programming on the service in the first half of the year, up from about 90b hours for the second half of 2023. Netflix’s first engagement report, covering the first half of 2023, covered about 100b hours of viewing. The story.
—Lovely jubbly. Industry, another U.K.-produced show, is celebrating after HBO ordered a fourth season of the drama series set in the cutthroat world of finance in London. The renewal comes with two episodes left in season three, whose finale is set to air Sept. 29. Industry has shown sizable ratings growth this season. While it’s never been one of HBO’s bigger shows, the series, created by Mickey Down and Konrad Kay, has improved by 40 percent on its season two performance, averaging 1.6m cross-platform viewers per episode since its Aug. 11 premiere. That number will likely continue to grow, as HBO measures viewing for 90 days from a premiere. The story.
—🎭 Bloody hell! 🎭 Black Mirror, yet another Brit show, has revealed the cast for its hotly anticipated seventh season — and not only is it star-studded, it also includes some former stars of the Netflix series. The seventh season of the dystopian anthology series will include Awkwafina, Milanka Brooks, Peter Capaldi, Emma Corrin, Patsy Ferran, Paul Giamatti, Lewis Gribben, Osy Ikhile, Rashida Jones, Siena Kelly, Billy Magnussen, Rosy McEwen, Cristin Milioti, Chris O’Dowd, Issa Rae, Paul G. Raymond, Tracee Ellis Ross, Jimmi Simpson and Harriet Walter. Black Mirror is set to return sometime in 2025 with six brand-new episodes, including a sequel to "USS Callister." The story.
—🎭 Crikey! 🎭 Sally Wainwright, another British TV institution who created the excellent Happy Valley, Last Tango in Halifax and Gentleman Jack, has revealed more details on her next BBC project, Riot Women. The six-episode series, from Drama Republic, on Thursday unveiled its cast as filming continues in West Yorkshire, England. Joanna Scanlan, Rosalie Craig, Tamsin Greig, Lorraine Ashbourne and Amelia Bullmore will star in the drama about five women who "come together to create a makeshift punk-rock band in order to enter a local talent contest." The story. |
Netflix Casts Joe Manganiello and Lera Abova in 'One Piece' ►🎭 New pieces 🎭 Joe Manganiello and Lera Abova will join season two of One Piece, Netflix's live-action adaptation of the popular Manga series. Manganiello and Abova will play Mr. 0 and Miss All Sunday, respectively. They join previously announced new cast members Charithra Chandran, Katey Sagal, Mark Harelik, Sendhil Ramamurthy, Brendan Sean Murray, Callum Kerr, Camrus Johnson, Clive Russell, Daniel Lasker, David Dastmalchian, Jazzara Jaslyn, Julia Rehwald, Rob Colletti, Ty Keogh and Werner Coetser. The story.
—"I am excited to bring my take to a classic holiday variety show." Netflix is releasing a holiday variety music special featuring pop sensation Sabrina Carpenter. According to the streamer, the special, A Nonsense Christmas with Sabrina Carpenter, will feature Carpenter performing songs from her 2023 holiday EP Fruitcake and covers of iconic songs. It will also include comedic guests and unexpected cameos. The story.
—The cards are back on the table. Netflix is taking another shot at an animated series based on Magic: The Gathering, the hugely popular role-playing game. The streamer first picked up a series based on the game in 2019, with Joe and Anthony Russo as showrunners. The Russo brothers later departed the series over creative differences, and Jeff Klein took the reins. The new series, which is set to start production soon, will be led by showrunner Terry Matalas. As with previous versions of the series, the show comes from Hasbro Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast, which developed and released the game. The story. |
Margo Martindale Boards JonBenét Ramsey Series at Paramount+ ►🎭 Award-winning addition 🎭 Paramount+'s limited series about JonBenét Ramsey continues to attract a high-profile cast. The latest addition to the untitled show is three-time Emmy winner Margo Martindale, who will recur as Nedra, the mother of Patsy Ramsey and grandmother to JonBenét. Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen star as Patsy and John Ramsey, JonBenét’s parents. The cast also includes Emily Mitchell as JonBenét, Garrett Hedlund, Alison Pill, Owen Teague, Clifton Collins Jr., Rory Cochrane, Chris Bauer, Angus Caldwell, Shea Whigham, Will Patton, Jaime Ray Newman and Josh Stamberg. The story.
—🎭 Three more 🎭 The Tracy Morgan-led spinoff of The Neighborhood at Paramount+ continues to add to its cast. Adrian Martinez, Braxton Paul and Finn Maloney have joined Crutch, which stars Morgan as Francois Crutchfield, aka Crutch, a Harlem shop owner — and cousin of The Neighborhood’s Calvin Butler (Cedric the Entertainer) whose life is upended when his adult children move back in with him. The show’s cast also includes Jermaine Fowler and Adrianna Mitchell as Crutch’s kids and Kecia Lewis as his sister-in-law. The story.
—Unscripted debut. Jeffrey Dean Morgan has been tapped to host NBC’s upcoming adventure reality competition series Destination X. The show, based on a format created by Belgian company Geronimo and distributed by BE-Entertainment, asks contestants to figure out where they are in the world, with “tweaks” to the real world designed to throw them off. The hosting gig marks The Walking Dead and The Boys actor’s first foray into unscripted TV. The story.
—Winning big. AMC made a bet earlier this year that licensing a number of its shows to Netflix would help them find more viewers. That bet appears to have paid off. Two AMC shows, Dark Winds and A Discovery of Witches, are among Nielsen's top 10 streaming titles for the week of Aug. 19-25. They were added to Netflix at the beginning of that week as part of a deal struck in July to place about a dozen AMC shows on the service, complete with branding as the “AMC Collection.” It’s not new territory for AMC, which partially credited Netflix for a huge spike in ratings for Breaking Bad’s final season and has also licensed The Walking Dead and Better Call Saul, among others, to the streamer in the past. The ratings. |
How 'Saturday Night' Filmmakers Found Their Stars ►Looking for Lorne … and Chevy … and Gilda. THR's Mia Galuppo spoke to Saturday Night filmmaker Jason Reitman and casting director John Papsidera on how they upended Hollywood in their hunt for actors to portray the legendary 1975 SNL cast. The interview.
—First of many. A feature about the life of Queen Latifah is in the works as the first in a slate of independently financed hip-hop biopics hailing from Flavor Unit Entertainment, Will Smith's Westbrook Studios and Jesse Collins Entertainment. The film will follow the ascension of Latifah as the performer became a rapper, singer and actress who has won Emmy, Grammy and Golden Globe awards. HarbourView Equity Partners is financing this film, in addition to future biopics that also will spotlight iconic hip-hop performers. It has not yet been announced who will be writing or directing the Latifah project. The story.
—🎭 LFG! 🎭 The forthcoming Sublime biopic feature from Sony's 3000 Pictures has found its Bradley Nowell. KJ Apa is attached to star as the late singer for the movie that has Justin Chon set to direct. The untitled project is currently in development, with Chon working on the screenplay with Bobby Hundreds following an initial draft from Chris Mundy. Producing for Chenin Entertaiment are Peter Chernin, Jenno Topping and David Ready. Executive producers include surviving Sublime members Bud Gaugh and Eric Wilson, in addition to Troy Nowell and Jakob Nowell on behalf of Bradley Nowell’s estate. The story. |
TV Review: 'Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story' ►"One great episode — and eight exhausting ones." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Netflix's Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story. Javier Bardem, Chloë Sevigny stars in Ryan Murphy's nine-part follow-up to Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, this time chronicling the infamous 1989 murders of a couple by their two sons. The review.
—"Well-executed, if duplicative." Dan reviews Amazon Prime Video's A Very Royal Scandal. Starring Michael Sheen and Ruth Wilson, Jeremy Brock writes and Julian Jarrold directs the three-part follow-up to 2018's A Very English Scandal and 2021's A Very British Scandal that focuses on Prince Andrew's catastrophic BBC Newsnight interview. The review.
—"An inconsistent, but not unlikable, start." Dan reviews NBC's Brilliant Minds. Executive produced by Greg Berlanti, this hospital drama starring Zachary Quinto is loosely based on the writings and research of the late British neurologist Oliver Sacks. The review.
In other news...
—Sam Raimi-produced Netflix thriller Don't Move debuts trailer
—AFI Fest adds Heretic and Maria to 2024 lineup
—WGA East elects new head of broadcast and re-elects online media leader
—Lance Frank named head of comms for CBS News, Stations & Media Ventures
—Paramount streaming, Showtime comms head Erin Calhoun exiting
What else we're reading...
—Simon Kuper looks at how Elon Musk, Peter Thiel, David Sacks and Paul Furber, four of MAGA's most influential voices, are all fiftysomething white men with formative experiences in apartheid South Africa [FT]
—Josef Adalian runs through the limits of Netflix's proudly touted twice-yearly viewing report [Vulture]
—Richard Winton reports that Sean Combs’ lawyers are desperate to get him out of a notorious Brooklyn jail [LAT]
—Julia Jacobs reports that federal authorities are prosecuting Sean Combs in a strategy used to successfully on R. Kelly and Keith Raniere [NYT]
—Lauren Feiner reports that the DOJ is trying to show that Google employees deliberately destroyed evidence that might have looked bad for the company [Verge]
—Here's your Friday list: "15 best Bluey characters, ranked" [CBR]
Today...
...in 2013, Warner Bros. Pictures released Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners in theaters. The film, the Canadian filmmaker's Hollywood debut, featured an all-star cast of Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, Viola Davis, Paul Dano, Terrence Howard, Melissa Leo, Maria Bello, and David Dastmalchian, and was a commercial and critical success. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Sophia Loren (90), Maggie Cheung (60), Jon Bernthal (48), Chad Stahelski (56), George R.R. Martin (76), Gary Cole (68), Aldis Hodge (38), Kristen Johnston (57), Samantha Hanratty (29), Charlie Weber (46), Moon Bloodgood (49), Morwenna Banks (63), Gabriel LaBelle (22), Spencer Locke (33), Betsy Brantley (69), Robert LaSardo (61), Olivia Grant (41), Robert Rusler (59), Tony Denison (75), Mathilde Ollivier (30), David Haig (69), N'Bushe Wright (54), Wallis Day (30), Debbi Morgan (68), Enuka Okuma (48), Mina Anwar (55), Parisa Fakhri (49), Brad Beyer (51), Victoria Dillard (55), Malachi Kirby (35), Aimee Graham (53), George H. Xanthis (35), Amy Farrington (58), Michael Hurst (67), Chinaza Uche (37) |
| | | |
