| | | | | | What's news: The six leading ladies of TV drama are our digital cover stars. Russell Brand appeared at a London court to plead not guilty to rape and assault charges. Apple has greenlit a serial killer drama starring Liev Schreiber, Zazie Beetz and Stephen Graham. Netflix has greenlit a drama about the collapse of FTX. A Lisa doc is in the works. — Abid Rahman
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THR's Drama Actress Roundtable ►"Everybody has an opinion!" THR's award-winning Roundtable Series continues, next up are the TV drama actresses. Six leading ladies — Parker Posey, Kathy Bates, Niecy Nash-Betts, Helen Mirren, Cristin Milioti and Keri Russell — talk to THR's Mikey O'Connell about beauty, breaking free of expectations and rebuffing some really bad advice: "Someone said, 'You’ll never get work if you don’t have a nose job.'" The roundtable. |
THR's Most Powerful Women in Canadian Entertainment ►Maple mavens. As Donald Trump lobs 51st-state taunts and slaps tariffs on Canadian goods, the country’s top women in entertainment are responding the way any self-respecting hockey fan might — with elbows up. In time for THR’s second annual Women in Entertainment Canada summit, we present a new Power List spotlighting 45 trailblazers who are fighting back, breaking through and building the future of film, TV and music north of the border. The list.
—Moving on. Lionsgate Motion Picture Group president Nathan Kahane is set to step down by the end of the year. The move frees up Erin Westerman, currently president of production and development, to take over all studio production under studio chair Adam Fogelson. Kahane’s contract is said to expire at the end of the year, and he will then transition to producing, hopping on a number of Lionsgate movie projects in that capacity. Kahane has been Motion Picture Group President since May 2018, when Lionsgate acquired Good Universe, the production company he founded with Joe Drake. Drake stepped down from Lionsgate in early 2024 to pave the way for Fogelson, in some ways foreshadowing Kahane’s eventual exit. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 BBC Studios Productions, a unit of BBC Studios, has boosted its investment in Mothership TV, the unscripted production firm founded by former Channel 4 deputy director of programs Kelly Webb-Lamb, to take full ownership of the company. In late 2022, BBC Studios Productions had taken a 25 percent stake in Mothership. The transaction unveiled on Thursday marks the second deal for an unscripted indie by the unit of the commercial arm of the BBC following its acquisition of Voltage TV in 2022. Mothership will be part of BBC Studios’ newly announced Unscripted Productions, led by Kate Ward, managing director, Unscripted Productions. The story.
—✊ On strike. ✊ Crew members working on an upcoming Terrence Howard film called Cipher are on strike against the production as they attempt to secure a union contract. Behind-the-scenes workers on the project, which is filming in and outside Louisville, Kentucky, began picketing on Wednesday after the production allegedly ignored a request to voluntarily recognize IATSE as the workers’ bargaining representative. According to a union-side source, crew members sought a union contract in large part so their work on the production could contribute to the qualifying days required to access IATSE benefits. The source alleges that some production has continued since the strike broke out with a skeleton crew as the project seeks replacement workers to fill out what was once a roughly 35- to 40-person crew, depending on the day. The story. |
NEA Panelist on Trump Slashing Grants ►"It was a democratic process the whole way through." In a column for THR, film journalist and educator Eric Kohn recounts his time serving on a grant-giving panel at the National Endowment for the Arts. Kohn discusses how the process never used “DEI” to justify decisions, though the Trump administration would later claim such logic was behind many of the canceled grants. The column.
—Court appearance. Russell Brand appeared at a London court Friday after being charged with rape, and indecent and sexual assault, pleading not guilty to all five charges. The disgraced comedian’s first hearing had taken place earlier this month after it was confirmed that the U.K.’s Crown Prosecution Service had authorized the Metropolitan Police to charge a man, identified as 49-year-old Brand, following an investigation by detectives. Brand had been charged with one count of rape, one count of indecent assault, one count of oral rape and two counts of sexual assault. The story.
—The latest. Sean “Diddy” Combs’ former personal assistant testified Thursday that the hip-hop mogul sexually assaulted her, threw her into a swimming pool, dumped a bucket of ice on her and slammed a door against her arm during a torturous eight-year tenure. The woman, testifying at Combs’ sex trafficking trial under the pseudonym “Mia,” said Combs put his hand up her dress and forcibly kissed her at his 40th birthday party in 2009, forced her to perform oral sex while she helped him pack for a trip and raped her in guest quarters at his Los Angeles home in 2010 after climbing into her bed. The story.
—"There is a part of him that is seriously contemplating [testifying]." Harvey Weinstein’s defense team is still deliberating whether to put their client on the stand as his trial on rape and criminal sexual charges winds down. “We’re going to make a game time, more or less, decision,” Arthur Aidala, Weinstein’s attorney, told reporters outside the courtroom Thursday. Weinstein did not testify as part of his 2020 trial in New York, nor did he testify in his California case on sexual assault. Aidala noted that the decision to testify is ultimately up to the client, and that one of his partners had spent the majority of Memorial Day weekend prepping Weinstein for possibly taking the stand. The story. |
Schreiber, Beetz and Graham Sign Up for Apple Serial Killer Drama ►🎭 Seated. 🎭 Apple TV+ has greenlit a drama starring Liev Schreiber, Zazie Beetz and Stephen Graham that tracks the face-off between a homicide detective and a serial killer. The untitled show is based on a series of best-selling crime novels by Lars Kepler, the pen name of married couple Alexandra Coelho Ahndoril and Alexander Ahndoril. The series will be based on Kepler’s Joona Linna series, transplanting the action from Sweden to the U.S. Rowan Joffe and John Hlavin are adapting the books and will serve as showrunners. Tim Van Patten will direct the first two episodes and executive produce with Joffe and Hlavin. The story.
—Beach please! There are some new faces about to enter the Love Island USA villa. Peacock has revealed the new cast of Islanders for season seven, hosted by Ariana Madix and narrated by comedian Iain Stirling. The new season premieres June 3. Love Island USA follows a group of single Islanders searching for love in a beautiful Fijian villa. Season seven follows in the footsteps of the show’s success last summer, which became Peacock’s most-watched original reality competition series in the streamer’s history and starred beloved Islanders JaNa Craig, Leah Kateb, Serena Page, Kendall Washington, Miguel Harichi, Kaylor Martin and Kenny Rodriguez, among others. The story.
—🎭 The Unstable Coin. 🎭 Netflix has greenlit a series about the rise and fall of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and the two central figures involved — Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison. The streamer has formally ordered The Altruists, which will chronicle how Bankman-Fried and Ellison “two hyper-smart, ambitious young idealists tried to remake the global financial system in the blink of an eye — and then seduced, coaxed, and teased each other into stealing $8b.” Julia Garner, who had been in talks to star in the drama, and Anthony Boyle will play Ellison and Bankman-Fried, respectively. The story.
—"Lena Waithe raised the bar creatively and it shattered viewership records." Showtime has ordered an eighth season of its drama The Chi, putting the show into rare company at the outlet. The renewal comes on the heels of the season seven premiere scoring the show’s best streaming debut to date, as it drew 2m views on Paramount+ With Showtime in the week after its May 16 debut. With the pickup, The Chi will join Dexter, Homeland and Weeds in a tie for the second-longest-running scripted series in Showtime’s history. Shameless, which ran for 11 seasons, is first. The story.
—Go watch Andor! Netflix’s comedy The Four Seasons had a strong opening, and Disney+'s Andor drew a series high in viewing time for the second week in a row in Nielsen’s streaming rankings. The Four Seasons, co-created by and starring Tina Fey, had 1.3b minutes of watch time for the week of April 28-May 4. That was good for second place overall, and probably helps explain Netflix’s relatively quick renewal of the show. You repeated in the No. 1 overall spot a week after its final season premiered. The Netflix thriller racked up 1.78b viewing minutes, a 7 percent improvement on the previous week. Andor , meanwhile, had 821m minutes of viewing on Disney+ as it released its second batch of three episodes. It grew by 100m minutes week to week (a gain of about 14 percent), and its audience also got a little younger — Nielsen says 23 percent of the audience was made up of adults 18-34 vs. 18 percent a week earlier. The streaming ratings. |
'Lilo & Stitch' Creates Box Office Mayhem ►So many records! A week ago, no one could have imagined that Disney’s live-action reimagining Lilo & Stitch would make box office history and open to a record-breaking $182.6m during the four-day Memorial Day weekend, including $146m for the three days. Overseas, the live-action redux of the 2002 animated film about a Hawaiian girl and a mischievous, dog-like alien also exceeded all expectations in starting off with $178.6m for a global start of $361.2m against a net budget of $100m. THR's Pamela McClintock runs through all the records stitched up by Lilo & Stitch, and there are a lot of them. The box office report.
—🎭 Portrait of an icon. 🎭 Brit actress Ruth Madeley will play disability rights activist Judy Heumann in the Apple Originals movie Being Heumann from CODA director Sian Heder. The BAFTA-nominated actress will play Heumann as she led over a hundred disabled people to take over the San Francisco Federal Building in 1977, kicking off a 28-day sit-in. The protest led to the enforcement of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, which required all federal spaces to become accessible. Heumann, known as “the mother of the disability rights movement,” was a central architect of the Americans with Disabilities Act. She died in 2023 at the age of 75. The story.
—Lisa's big year. Fresh off her stay at The White Lotus season three, Lisa is ready to show more of her life and career in a brand-new documentary. At Sony Music Vision’s inaugural content showcase Thursday, it was announced that Lisa, whose full name is Lalisa Manoban, will be the subject of a documentary directed by Sue Kim. The doc will follow the Blackpink member’s ascent into stardom, which includes her work with the mega-popular K-Pop group, her solo career as an artist and her acting debut in White Lotus. Earlier this year, Lisa released her debut album, Alter Ego , which notably landed in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200 and debuted at No. 1 on the top album sales chart. Another debut for the year, she performed at Coachella for the first time without Blackpink as well. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Cornerstone has closed a slew of new territorial deals for Harry Lighton’s Cannes official selection Pillion after the film sold to A24 for the U.S. market. The kinky romancer that launched at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in the Un Certain Regard section has been sold to Weltkino (Germany, Austria), iWonder (Italy), Praasens (Switzerland), MCF (the territory formerly known as Yugoslavia), Gutek (Poland), Lusomondo (Portugal), New Cinema (Israel) and Diamond for Latin America. Described as a “funny, filthy romance,” Pillion sees Skarsgard play Ray, an ”impossibly handsome leader of a bike gang” who takes on Colin (Melling), a weedy wallflower, to be his new submissive. The story.
—🏆 Won cut of the dead. 🏆 After bringing the undead to life, Sony Picture and agency Buddha Jones were honored for their 28 Years Later trailer at Thursday night’s Golden Trailer Awards. The zombie feature won in three categories, including best of show, most original trailer, and best voice over (the Don LaFontaine Award). AV Squad won agency of the year, taking home nine wins. Apple TV+’s Severance was the most decorated TV show with five wins, while Universal’s Wicked and Warner Bros.’ Sinners were the biggest films, each with four wins. Disney was the top studio, with its various divisions — including Marvel, Pixar Searchlight, Disney+, Hulu, National Geographic and ABC — taking 26 wins. The winners. |
How 'And Just Like That' S3 Pivots Carrie and Aidan ►"This season is also more expansive. It has highs and lows, but also a joyful feeling, which reminds me of things about the old show but in a different way." THR's queen of chat Jackie Strause spoke to And Just Like That creator Michael Patrick King and stars Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Davis, Cynthia Nixon, Nicole Ari Parker and Sarita Choudhury about the season three premiere of the HBO drama. King and the cast discuss how the Sex and the City sequel series, which returned after two years away, writes new chapters for the 27-year-old franchise. Warning: Spoilers! The interview.
—"I was Inconsolable." Jackie also talked to The Handmaid’s Tale star Madeline Brewer about the series finale of the Hulu drama. Brewer offers her take on the episode and opens up on playing Janine in the critically acclaimed show. Warning: Spoilers! The interview.
—"I’m always surprised when anyone’s approached me about anything." THR's Lily Ford spoke to actor Matthew Goode about his new crime procedural show, Dept. Q. Goode discusses becoming a leading man of Netflix, shying away from the weight of fame and why he won’t be returning as beloved Downton Abbey character Henry Talbot in the franchise’s upcoming final film. Warning: Spoilers! The interview. |
Thank Pod It's Friday ►All the latest content from THR's podcast studio.
—Awards Chatter. THR's executive awards editor Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this live episode, Scott spoke to Sissy Spacek. The legendary Oscar winner reflects on her journey from small-town Texas to Hollywood; her iconic New Hollywood performances in Badlands, Carrie, Three Women and Coal Miner's Daughter; and playing Jennifer Lawrence's mother-in-law in Lynne Ramsay's new film Die My Love, about a woman experiencing severe post-partum depression. Listen here.
In other news...
—The Home trailer: Pete Davidson faces nightmarish violence in a retirement facility
—The Thursday Murder Club is on the case in teaser trailer for Chris Columbus Netflix movie
—Miley Cyrus releases ninth album Something Beautiful
What else we're reading...
—A wild Kirsten Grind and Megan Twohey report on Elon Musk's rampant drug use as well as constant family drama during his doomed time working at the White House [NYT]
—Bilge Ebiri reflects on the cultural cache of the Criterion Closet and why actors and filmmakers are dying to get inside [Vulture]
—Lauren Weber and Caitlin Gilbert report that the White House MAHA Report may have garbled science in it due to using AI [WaPo]
—Adam Clark Estes writes that Google Search as we know it is slowly dying [Vox]
—Emma Saunders talks to Jesse Armstrong about why he's still writing about rich people with his new film Mountainhead [BBC]
—Here's your Friday list: "13 of Tom Cruise’s most jaw-dropping stunts" [THR]
Today...
...in 2003, Pixar unveiled Finding Nemo, which opened to $70m in its first weekend, a then record debut for an animated title. The film went on to win the best animated feature Oscar at the 76th Academy Awards. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Antoine Fuqua (60), DeWanda Wise (41), Colm Meaney (72), Jade Novah (39), Idina Menzel (54), Duncan Jones (54), Joachim Rønning (53), Wynonna Judd (61), Tom Morello (61), CeeLo Green (50), Jonah Hauer-King (30), Ted McGinley (67), Rachael Stirling (48), Mark Sheppard (61), Stephen Tobolowsky (74), Sean Giambrone (26), John Ross Bowie (54), Javicia Leslie (38), Ruta Lee (90), Jared Gilmore (25), Tadhg Murphy (46), Im Yoon-ah (35), Aaron Branch (30), Elyssa Davalos (66), Philip Bretherton (70), Rosalie Craig (44), John Terlesky (64), Harry Enfield (64), Bob Yari (64), Ralph Carter (64), Ryûhei Kitamura (56), Charlotte Brändström (66), Naomi Kawase (56) |
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