| | | | | | What's news: Snow White is eyeing a $100m global opening. Max cancels Sex Lives of College Girls. Amazon has renewed House of David. Disney+ has launched a 24 /7 Simpsons stream. NATO is now Cinema United. Disney and Nvidia plan to bring nex-gen robots to Disney's parks. — Abid Rahman
Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at tips@thr.com. |
How UTA's Succession Plan Reverberates for Rivals ►Young Turks era coming to an end? On March 17, Jeremy Zimmer, the co-founder and CEO of UTA, informed staff at the agency that he would be stepping aside. In a choreographed succession maneuver, 66-year-old Zimmer named the 56-year-old David Kramer (who he had elevated to president of UTA just a couple of years prior) his successor at the agency. THR's Alex Weprin writes that Zimmer’s exit and Kramer’s ascension, however, comes at an intriguing moment for talent agencies, which are seeking to adapt to the new world of media just as much as Hollywood writ large. The analysis.
—"America’s global AI leadership must not come at the expense of our essential creative industries." Major Hollywood figures are pushing back against OpenAI and Google‘s appeals to the U.S. government to allow their AI models to train on copyrighted works. Film, television and music figures including Ron Howard, Cate Blanchett, Cynthia Erivo, Paul McCartney, Paul Simon, Taika Waititi and Ava Duvernay have signed on to a letter expressing alarm at the tech giants’ suggestions in recent submissions to a White House office that they should be able to access publicly available intellectual property. The story.
—Flashpoint. A skirmish among protesters erupted, apparently over a swiped a flag of Israel, during the unveiling ceremony for Gal Gadot’s star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on Tuesday. Gadot, an Israeli actress who has broken through into Hollywood’s A-list with a top franchise role as Wonder Woman, was honored by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce at an 11:30 a.m. ceremony. The actor, who stars in this weekend’s upcoming wide release, Snow White, has become a lightning rod of a figure amid the Israel-Gaza conflict as she’s outspoken in support of her home country. The story.
—New name, new mantra. The National Association of Theatre Owners will never again be confused with the “other” NATO. The org, representing thousands of exhibitors across the country and around the globe, announced Tuesday it is changing its name to Cinema United. For decades, the group has gone by the acronym NATO, the same shared by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization — and often fielded calls from people believing they had reached that group. There’s also a new mantra — “Moviegoing is Our Mission.” The story.
—Nothing to worry about. Disney will bring next-generation robots to its theme parks, powered by Nvidia tech, the tech giant announced at its developer conference Tuesday. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang revealed that his company would be partnering with Disney and Google DeepMind on the initiative, joined on stage by one of Disney’s BDX droids, which roam the Galaxy’s Edge section of Disneyland and will make trips at Disney’s other theme parks this year. Huang also announced a humanoid robot foundational model with a name inspired by Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy: “GR00T N1.” The story. |
Trump's Media Pitbull Is "Off the Leash" ►"I think Brendan Carr’s objective is not unlike Viktor Orbán’s in Hungary." THR's Steven Zeitchik writes that FCC chair Brendan Carr has already inspired widespread fear (and loathing) among media elites and free press advocates. And he’s only been in the job for two months. The analysis.
—"The entire industry has been challenged." ABC News president Almin Karamehmedovic sought to reassure staffers at the network news division that it was engaging in a thoughtful strategy to grow and expand the ABC News brand, despite the difficult layoffs that took place earlier this month. Karamehmedovic gathered ABC News employees at Disney's newly-opened NYC headquarters Tuesday in Hudson Square, taking questions and outlining his vision for the storied network news division. The story.
—Fraud charge. The DOJ has charged Carl Erik Rinsch, the director of 47 Ronin who struck a deal with Netflix to make a sci-fi series he never delivered, for defrauding the company out of $11m. In an indictment filed on Tuesday, prosecutors for the Southern District of New York said Rinsch spent funds meant for the show in risky securities trades. He then allegedly used millions of dollars in profits from the investments to sue Netflix for further payments to finish the show and purchase luxury goods. Rinsch was charged with wire fraud, money laundering and multiple counts related to engaging in transactions stemming from illegal activity. If convicted, he faces a maximum term of 90 years in prison if the sentences are served consecutively. The story.
—Move to dismiss. Ryan Reynolds is arguing that he couldn’t have defamed Justin Baldoni because he genuinely believes the It Ends With Us director engaged in predatory behavior. In a bid to dismiss the lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Reynolds takes advantage of the high legal bar to prove defamation against a public figure in which it must be found that the allegedly libelous statements were made with knowledge they were false or reckless indifference to their truth. He claims First Amendment protections and points to previous statements from Baldoni over allegedly mistreating women and pushing the boundaries of consent. The story. |
'The Simpsons' 24/7 Launches on Disney+ ►A perfectly cromulent idea. On Tuesday, Disney+ embiggened its Simpsons quotient with the launch of a 24 hour, seven days a week dedicated stream of all 35 completed seasons of the iconic animated series. (The 36th season is currently airing.) The always-on stream of TV’s longest-running animated hit is a dream come true for millions of fans of the beloved show, which has been broadcast into homes nationwide on Sunday nights since it premiered in 1991. The story.
—It's official. MGM+ has ordered The Westies crime drama from Narcos creator Chris Brancato. The Peaky Blinders-esque period drama series about fearsome Irish gangs in New York will start production in Toronto in July 2025. Martin Scorsese captured a similar storyline in his 2002 film Gangs of New York, which followed the rise of Irish gangs and their power struggles with other criminal groups in the area around the Five Points neighborhood of lower Manhattan. But rather than set The Westies in the late 19th century, like Scorsese’s film, Brancato has chosen a 1980s New York City backdrop for his MGM+ crime drama. Brancato will showrun and executive produce the eight-episode crime drama alongside Michael Panes. The Westies comes from Brancato’s overall TV deal with MGM+ and follows the success of Godfather of Harlem and the crime thriller Hotel Cocaine. The story.
—There's still hope. The Sex Lives of College Girls has been canceled after three seasons at Max, but production company Warner Bros. Television is exploring finding a new home for the series. The Mindy Kaling co-created coming-of-age comedy’s most recent season wrapped in January and saw the departure of original castmember Reneé Rapp, who left two episodes into the latest run. Sex Lives ran a mostly cliffhanger-free third-season finale leading some viewers to wonder if this was the end of the show, even though the characters were only midway through their sophomore year and the series was pretty consistently near the top of Max’s top 10 list of most-viewed shows (though that didn’t translate to making Nielsen’s wider top 10 streaming charts). The story.
—To renew is divine. Prime Video is returning to the House of David. The Amazon-owned streamer has renewed the show for a second season. The pickup for the biblical drama comes a couple weeks before the show’s first season finale, set for April 3. The series tells the story of David (played by Michael Iskander) and his rise to become a powerful and celebrated king of Israel. Jon Erwin and Jon Gunn of the Wonder Project are creators, writers and executive producers of House of David; Wonder Project produces with Amazon MGM Studios, Nomadic Pictures, Argonauts, Kingdom Story Company and Lionsgate Television. The story. |
'Solar Opposites' to End With S6 at Hulu ►One last mission. Hulu announced Tuesday that the forthcoming sixth season of Solar Opposites will be its last. The final episodes of the animated series are scheduled to premiere in the fall, with a specific date to be announced later. The show has also lined up a guest cast for the final season that includes Tiffany Haddish, Kieran Culkin, Christina Hendricks, Ken Marino, Alfred Molina, Natalie Morales, Jerry O’Connell and Beck Bennett. They join regulars Dan Stevens, Thomas Middleditch, Mary Mack and Sean Giambrone. The story.
—No-brainer. Sylvester Stallone will return as Oklahoma crime boss Dwight “The General” Manfredi in a third season of Tulsa King. Paramount+ announced on Tuesday that a new season has started production in Atlanta and Oklahoma on the streaming hit. The renewal is hardly a surprise as the show’s second season return in September was Paramount+’s most-watched global premiere in the streamer’s history, and the show ranked as a Nielsen Top 10 streaming title throughout the rest of its sophomore season run. The story.
—📅 On the move 📅 A midstream scheduling change is a rarity for networks in recent years, but one is happening at NBC. The network will move its first-year drama Grosse Pointe Garden Society from Sunday to Friday nights starting April 4. The show will take the 8 p.m. spot currently occupied by Happy’s Place; the Reba McEntire-led comedy finishes its season March 21. Episodes of Dateline will take over the 10 p.m. Sunday slot after Grosse Pointe Garden Society moves. The change in nights is meant to help the show get some more eyes to its on-air showings. The story.
—🎭 Filling out 🎭 Tom Burke, Steve Coogan and Hayley Squires have on boarded Netflix thriller series Legends. Inspired by one of the most remarkable criminal investigations ever conducted, the six-part drama follows a group of British Customs employees sent undercover to infiltrate some of the country’s most dangerous criminal drug gangs. Aml Ameen, Jasmine Blackborow, Douglas Hodge, Tom Hughes, Johnny Harris, Gerald Kyd and Charlotte Ritchie have also joined the cast. The story. |
'Snow White' Hoping for $100M-Plus Global Opening ►Arriving with baggage. Once upon a time, 2025 box office revenue was up 22 percent over last year. Now, after a string of miserable weekends, there’s actually a five percent deficit. If tracking and exhibitor reactions are any indication, Disney's live-action Snow White could spark a turnaround with a domestic debut in the $45m range to $55m range and north of $100m globally. But there are no guarantees, writes THR's Pamela McClintock , and Disney execs are on high alert. Overseas, the movie — which faced numerous delays due to the pandemic and labor strikes — is unfurling in virtually every territory, save for a few Middle Eastern markets because of Ramadan. The box office report.
—Going to the dogs. Acclaimed filmmaker Darren Aronofsky is in talks to direct Netflix’s adaptation of Stephen King novel Cujo. The feature project was only revealed last week, but it’s clearly further along than known or moving on the fast track. Roy Lee, who established his King bonafides with the two It movies, Salem’s Lot, and the upcoming dystopian thriller The Long Walk , is producing. There is no writer yet on the project, but Aronofsky is expected to meet with candidates soon. The 1981 novel of the same name told of a lovable St. Bernard named Cujo who, after being bitten by a bat, becomes a mouth-foaming killer. The central focus of a mother and her seizure-prone son trapped in a busted-down car outside a service garage was the plot of the 1983 film adaptation that was directed by Lewis Teague. The story.
—🎭 Lead found 🎭 Maika Monroe, who hit mainstream success with last year’s horror hit Longlegs, has closed a deal to star in Reminders of Him, Universal’s adaptation of the best-selling novel by Colleen Hoover. Vanessa Caswill, who directed the Netflix romantic drama Love at First Sight, is helming the romantic drama. Universal describes the adaptation as “a transformative feature film about motherhood, forgiveness and the power of one love to heal even the most shattered heart.” The book by Hoover, also known for It Ends With Us, tells of Keena Rowan, a troubled young mother who yearns for a shot at redemption in her life after a tragic mistake. The tome has sold more than 6m copies in the U.S. The story. |
100M In the U.S. Are Now Paying For Music Streaming ►Take that Napster! The U.S. music market has now surpassed 100m paid subscribers on streaming services, the RIAA confirmed in its 2024 year-end report released on Tuesday. The milestone figure comes as the RIAA reported that U.S. recorded revenue grew to $17.7b, an all-time high, while vinyl sales stayed strong, growing to $1.4b in 2024. Those figures paint a significantly rosier picture than the pre-streaming days when rampant music piracy ate into labels’ and artists’ profits, but this year’s report confirms that streaming growth is slowing, down to just 3 percent compared to 8 percent a year ago. The story.
—All the stars are here! Lollapalooza announced a stacked lineup for its upcoming 2025 festival, with Sabrina Carpenter, Tyler, the Creator, Olivia Rodrigo, Twice and Luke Combs among this year’s headlining acts. Rüfüs du Sol, A$AP Rocky, Korn, Gracie Abrams and Doechii are also listed on the headline bill. Other notable acts below the headliners include Cage the Elephant, Clairo, Dominic Fike, Bleachers, Mk.Gee, Finneas, T-Pain, Dom Dolla, Remi Wolf, The Marías, Martin Garrix, Isaiah Rashad, Rebecca Black, The Dare, Måneskin’s Damiano David, Foster the People, Wallows, Djo and Young Miko among many others. The lineup.
—Monster hit. Global pop sensation Jennie sold over a million copies of her debut album, Ruby, in the first week, Columbia Records announced Monday. The 15-track album, released through a partnership with the label she founded, Oddatelier, and Columbia Records, was released on March 7 and debuted at No. 7 on the Billboard 200 chart. Jennie entered the top 10 in 19 different countries – hitting No. 2 in Australia and Korea and No. 3 in the UK. Columbia previously announced that the singer racked up 450,000 pre-orders. The story. |
The 51 Best Canadian Films of All Time ►Elbows up. Donald Trump’s cross-border trade war and his blustery talk of turning Canada into the “51st state” got THR's Scott Roxborough and Etan Vlessing thinking about everything we love about our neighbor to the north: Not just Molsons, moose and maple syrup, but Margaret Atwood and The Weeknd, free health care, legal weed and unambiguous support for Ukraine. And movies. Lots of great movies. Scott and Etan have picked out the greatest cinema from the True North Strong and Free, spanning Denis Villeneuve's early masterpieces, Guy Maddin's oddball majesty and a whole lot of body horror and hockey comedy. The list. |
Film Review: 'Locked' ►"Contrived but effective." THR's Frank Scheck reviews David Yarovesky's Locked. A car thief gets trapped in a luxury SUV by its diabolical owner in this remake of an Argentinian film, produced by Sam Raimi and starring Bill Skarsgard, Anthony Hopkins and Ashley Cartwright. The review.
—"John Waters for the mystics." THR's Lovia Gyarkye reviews Annapurna Sriram's SXSW narrative feature competition entry, F*cktoys. The sex worker comedy feature, which won a special jury prize at SXSW, follows a young woman as she tries to lift a curse plaguing her life. Starring Annapurna Sriram, Sadie Scott, Francois Arnaud, Damian Young, Big Freedia and Brandon Flynn. The review.
In other news...
—UTA signs Jack Edwards, Lewis Goodall, Madame Joyce to growing creator division
—Joe McFadden, veteran music industry executive, dies at 77
—Carole D’Andrea, West Side Story actress on stage and screen, dies at 87
What else we're reading...
—Amanda Mull reveals the real reason why Trump is pushing "Made in America" [Bloomberg]
—With the JFK files now released, Jonathan Edwards, Ben Brasch, Praveena Somasundaram and Petula Dvorak explain what the experts are looking for [WaPo]
—With patriotic fervor being whipped up in Canada amid the trade war, Frances Willick reports that Canadians are asking the big question: Is Tim Horton's Canadian? [CBC]
—After watching the Duchess of Sussex’s new Netflix lifestyle show, Sophie Gilbert wonders whether Meghan is a tradwife now [Atlantic]
—Jordan Valinsky reports that Ben & Jerry's is accusing parent company Unilever of breaching merger terms by ousting the company’s CEO for the brand’s progressive politics [CNN]
Today...
...in 2010, Columbia Pictures released Andy Tennant's The Bounty Hunter in theaters. The action rom-com starred Jennifer Aniston and Gerard Butler and made $136.3m at the box office. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Glenn Close (78), Bruce Willis (70), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (48), Rachel Blanchard (49), Ursula Andress (89), Jorma Taccone (48), Theo Von (45), Nicholas Stoller (49), Fred Stoller (67), Hudson Thames (31), Neil LaBute (62), Ayoola Smart (31), Abby Brammell (46), Caylee Cowan (27), Dalton James (54), Connor Trinneer (56), Nicole Muirbrook (42), Craig Lamar Traylor (36), Nick Hendrix (40), Josie Loren (38), Renée Taylor (92), Marjorie Monaghan (61), Kwak Dong-yeon (28), Garrett Clayton (34), Simmone Mackinnon (52), Vida Guerra (51), De'aundre Bonds (49), Amanda Kloots (43) |
| Philip Rogers, a producer with credits including the 1960s ABC sitcom Love on a Rooftop and the 1988 action film Shoot to Kill, starring Sidney Poitier, has died. He was 90. The obituary. |
|
|
|
| | | |
