| | | | | | What's news: New Disney CEO Josh D'Amaro introduced himself to shareholders on Wednesday. WME is cutting about 30 staffers. Madonna will appear in S2 of Apple's The Studio. Amazon has renewed Cross. And Paddington filmmaker Paul King is developing a Labubu movie for Sony. — Abid Rahman
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Bob Iger Bids Farewell ►"I believe deeply in this company’s future." Bob Iger bid farewell to Disney Wednesday, as he handed over the reins to new CEO Josh D’Amaro. At the Disney Annual Shareholder meeting, after a video montage showing Iger’s decades at the company, including his early career at ABC, Iger reflected on his tenure, particularly on his surprise return as CEO in 2022, as well as what he says was the “lost confidence” employees had in the company after Bob Chapek’s brief tenure as CEO. He expressed more confidence, however, in the new leadership. The story.
—The new guy. In his first public comments as CEO of Disney, Josh D’Amaro threw a little bit of shade at the competition. “Simply put, while others in our industry are consolidating just to compete, or struggling to be relevant in a fragmented and disrupted world, Disney is in a category of one poised to accelerate into our next era of innovation and growth,” D’Amaro told Disney shareholders Wednesday. “And this next chapter will be driven by staying focused on world-class creativity, enhanced by technology, bringing unforgettable stories to audiences wherever they are.” D’Amaro gave a little preview of what to expect during his time as CEO, with Disney+, as well as experiences and games, becoming a critical pieces of the company's future. The story.
—The vision. Also on Wednesday, D’Amaro sent his first CEO memo to Disney staff, outlining his priorities and thinking. As the exec starts on the job, he emphasized "great storytelling," and an embrace of technology. Sources close to D’Amaro have indicated that technology-fueled interactivity is likely to be a priority for him in his new role. And finally, he framed his approach as “One Disney,” in which all the different parts work together, while acknowledging the legacy Iger leaves, and the current moment in media. The memo.
—📅 Surprise! 📅 At the shareholders meeting, D’Amaro had upbeat news to deliver: release dates for the next installment in the live-action Lilo & Stitch franchise and for Incredibles 3. Lilo & Stitch 2 will open in cinemas May 26, 2028, the beginning of the long Memorial Day weekend. It follows the same release pattern that Lilo did in 2025 on its way to becoming a surprise hit that grossed north of $1.33b at the global box office. Incredibles 3 will follow three weeks later, on June 16, 2028, and will arrive nearly 10 years to the day as The Incredibles 2, which grossed $1.24b in 2018. The story. |
Spacey Settles With Assault Accusers Before Trial ►The latest. Kevin Spacey has settled out of court with three men who sued the actor over sexual assault claims. BBC News reported on Thursday that the upcoming trial, set for the High Court in London later this year, has now been frozen following the settlement. The claims had come from three separate men, who allege Spacey assaulted them between 2000 and 2013. One of the men alleged Spacey “deliberately assaulted” him on 12 occasions between 2000 and 2005, while another says he “suffered psychiatric damage and financial loss” after an assault in 2008. This man originally sued Spacey in 2022, but his case was halted when criminal charges were brought against the Hollywood actor. A separate London trial in July 2023 saw the actor acquitted of nine sexual offense charges. Spacey has continuously rejected the claims made against him. The story.
—Rape accusation. Daniela Elstner, managing director of French cinema and TV export agency Unifrance, has filed a police complaint against French actor and singer and actor Patrick Bruel, accusing him of attempted rape and sexual assault dating back to an alleged incident from 1997. Elstner has spoken publicly about her experience in the past, including with THR, but declined to name Bruel, saying only that the alleged attacker was a high-profile figure in the film industry. She filed the complaint on March 12. On Wednesday, French investigative news website Mediapart named Elstner as one of eight women who have accused Bruel of sexual violence in incidents from between 1992 and 2019. The story.
—Pushing back. Netflix chief content officer Bela Bajaria on Wednesday batted down reporting that the streamer has been distancing itself from Meghan Markle and Prince Harry. “I would say don’t believe whatever you read,” she said about a recent story in Variety reporting on Netflix’s “falling out” with the Montecito-based couple. “Maybe we should all do a little fact-checking. But here’s the thing: We still have a relationship with them, we have movies in development with them, we have an amazing doc with them, they have things in development on the TV and film side.” The story. |
Vanity Fair's Oscar Party Light-Mare ►"Nobody wants to be photographed like that!" THR's Rambling Reporter writes that Vanity Fair ’s new editor Mark Guiducci had high hopes for his Oscar party Sunday night. Sources at the mag said he’d been obsessively focused on the event since his first day on the job. Fretting that the fabled bash was losing its luster, Guiducci ordered up some major burnishes. Organizers ruthlessly culled the guest list. Formerly welcomed B-listers like media reporters and TV stars were suddenly persona non grata. VIP guests complained about the traffic and about the event’s “influencer emcees” — who frequently talked over one another and awkwardly insulted several VIPs. But what most annoyed partygoers that night was the blazing lights. “It was just so unforgiving,” said a VF insider. “Like being shot in extremely high-def. You saw a lot of excess pounds and wrinkles that used to be hidden." The story.
—Good news. Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery led the way in the latest round of tax credits granted to productions by California’s film office. Production entities owned by Disney nabbed a combined $128.8m, pipping companies under the WBD umbrella ($127.9m), the California Film Commission said Wednesday. Combined, they will shoot 11 shows in the state, hire roughly 2,650 crew members and spend an estimated $695m (excluding above-the-line costs). The story.
—Bad news. During a new round of belt-tightening across Hollywood, major talent agency WME is cutting about 30 staffers across a range of divisions, about 3 percent of staff. Leaders Christian Muirhead and Richard Weitz unveiled the news in a memo to employees on Wednesday, saying that the goal was partly to reduce bureaucracy at the sprawling, Beverly Hills-based firm that has 1,100 staffers. The restructuring announcement was made only a few days after the Academy Awards, which saw WME clients like Michael B. Jordan and Ryan Coogler take home Oscars. The story. |
Films Likely to Make the Cannes Cut ►The speculation begins! It's crazy to think that the Cannes Film Festival is fast approaching, and THR's resident Canadian Scott Roxborough and the spiritually Canadian Patrick Brzeski are here with their picks for what might make the lineup this year. First, the reality check. Some of the year’s most anticipated titles are almost certainly skipping the festival. Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, Pixar’s Toy Story 5 and Lucasfilm’s The Mandalorian & Grogu are likely not heading to France. Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Digger, Ruben Östlund's The Entertainment System Is Down and Terrence Malick’s The Way of the Wind are also likely a no-go for various reasons. The good news is that new films from the likes of Pedro Almodóvar, Asghar Farhadi, Paweł Pawlikowski, Lukas Dhont and potentially Lars von Trier will make the Croisette cut. The list.
—📅 Release date standoff. 📅 The biggest fantasy hero battle in Hollywood is shaping up over a release date: Dec. 18. While Warner Bros.’ and Legendary’s Dune: Part Three and Disney and Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday have officially claimed the same release date for months, this week’s drop of the Dune movie’s poster publicly declaring the Dec. 18 date seemed to solidify the stand-off as actually happening. "Someone’s gotta move,” groaned a rep for one theater chain told THR. "That’s a level of overwhelm that doesn’t make sense. Especially after the last few years [of theaters struggling]. An Avengers movie and Dune 3 are both sure things." The story.
—🎭 Two more. 🎭 Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson have signed on to star in The Cackling of the Dodos, a crime thriller that Jason Bateman will direct for Netflix. The project was announced by Netflix’s head of film, Dan Lin, at the streaming giant’s presentation previewing its movie and television slate for the year. Based on an original screenplay by novelist Rye Curtis, the story centers on small-town farmer George, who has a truly terrible day when he discovers a corpse chilling out in a grain bin, and is unwittingly forced into a chaotic, sloppy cover-up by his boss Denny. The story.
—🎭 Filling out. 🎭 Matthias Schoenaerts, Makita Samba and Marton Csokas have joined the cast of the drama Fleur. Halle Berry stars in the feature from Our Father, the Devil director Ellie Foumbi, playing a New York housewife who flees her husband, and America, to reinvent herself in Paris as Fleur, an high-end escort and dominatrix. Csokas will play her husband. The film has begun shooting on location in Paris. The story.
—Emoji Movie vibes. Sony Pictures is sinking its teeth into the development of a Labubu movie. The studio and Pop Mart, the China-based retailer behind the plush toy line, announced that filmmaker Paul King (Wonka) is officially in early development on the feature project. At a Paris event celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Monsters universe that includes Labubu, King and creator Kasing Lung revealed that the director will pen the screenplay with Tony Award-winning writer Steven Levenson. Plot details have not yet been shared for the film that will embrace the whimsical world of Labubu through a hybrid of live-action and CGI. The story. |
Netflix Snags Wine Country Rom-Com From Darren Star ►🟢 The greenest of green lights. 🟢 Netflix will travel to California’s wine country for its next collaboration with Darren Star. The streamer has given a straight-to-series order to Uncorked, a romantic comedy from Emily in Paris creator Star and New Amsterdam's David Schulner. The show will follow a “talented but self-destructive winemaker who returns to Napa for her second chance at love, legacy and that elusive 100 point wine,” the logline reads. Star and Schulner will be co-showrunners on the series, which comes from Universal Television. Star will continue to run Emily in Paris, which Netflix renewed for a sixth season in January. The story.
—🎭 Fire up the Mystery Machine! 🎭 Netflix has revealed the main cast of its live action Scooby-Doo series. Maxwell Jenkins, Abby Ryder Fortson and Tanner Hagen have joined the previously cast McKenna Grace in the series, which will tell the story of how the members of Mystery Incorporated came together. Jenkins will play Fred, Fortson will play Velma, and Hagen will play Shaggy. Grace is playing Daphne. Netflix gave Scooby-Doo a straight-to-series order just under a year ago. The show comes from Warner Bros. Television and showrunners Josh Appelbaum and Scott Rosenberg, with Greg Berlanti among its executive producers. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 The four-part Lord of the Flies adaptation, from Adolescence writer Jack Thorne, will hit Netflix on May 4. The series adapts William Golding’s 1954 novel of the same name, with one episode dedicated to each of the main quartet: Ralph (Winston Sawyers), Jack (Lox Pratt), Piggy (David McKenna) and Simon (Ike Talbut). The infamous novel is the story of schoolboys stranded on a tropical island following a deadly plane crash. The show first aired to great acclaim on the BBC in the U.K. in February. Marc Munden directs with music by the Oscar-winning composer Hans Zimmer, Kara Talve and Cristobal Tapia de Veer. The story. The story.
—Pressing pause. Bravo has put The Real Housewives of Miami on hold. The show aired its latest episode, the final reunion part to its seventh season, in October 2025. News on the future of the franchise being put on “pause” arose amid reports of filming already being delayed alongside a potential cast shakeup. The story. |
Madonna Joins 'The Studio' S2 on Venice Shoot ►🎭 Madge on board. 🎭 Madonna looks set to appear in the upcoming second season for Seth Rogen’s star-packed satire The Studio. The pop star on Tuesday teased her return to live-action acting on Instagram as production on a new season of the Lionsgate TV-produced Apple series continues in Europe. Madonna in her social media post is captured in a gondola on a grand canal in Venice, Italy, while reading a script. The Instagram post caption reads: “The Italian job.” Social media also has varied paparazzi shots of Madonna apparently on the second season Venice set of the series. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Vice Studios securing the global rights to adapt the Payday video games for TV and film. The banner behind Gangs of London has partnered with Starbreeze Entertainment to bring the long-running first-person shooter franchise (Payday: The Heist, Payday 2 and Payday 3) to the screen in non-gaming formats. Payday first launched in 2011 and has since evolved to support a community of more than 50 million players. The Payday games have generated more than $400m in lifetime gross revenue. The story.
—Quick as you like. Cross has been renewed for a third season. Amazon Prime Video announced the news on the same day that the second season finale released for the streamer's hit thriller starring Aldis Hodge in the titular role of detective Alex Cross. Season three will have another eight episodes, with a release date to be announced at a future date. Created by Ben Watkins, the series is based on characters created by James Patterson in his bestselling novel series. Season three will “continue to expand the high-stakes world of the iconic character, building on the show’s gripping storytelling and powerful performances,” per the streamer. The story.
—🎭 In demand. 🎭 Sarah Pidgeon is in talks to join Kevin Costner and Jake Gyllenhaal in Honeymoon With Harry for Amazon MGM Studios. Pidgeon is coming off a star turn as Carolyn Bessette in Ryan Murphy’s FX series Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette. Glenn Ficarra and John Requa are directing Honeymoon With Harry from a script by Dan Fogelman. The trio was behind the dramedy Crazy, Stupid, Love and worked together on the Fogelman-created Hulu series Paradise. The story. |
'Dog Day Afternoon' Brings In $1M In First Week on Broadway ►Attica! Attica! Dog Day Afternoon, featuring The Bear stars Jon Bernthal and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, began previews last week and brought in a strong $1.06m across its first six performances at the August Wilson Theatre. The stage adaption of the film, which is set to open March 30, played to full capacity, with an average ticket price of $139.94. This is one of several starry plays gearing up for the spring, and Tonys season, with all shows required to open by April 27 to be eligible this season. Among the other big names, Death of a Salesman had its first full week of performances last week and brought in a strong tally of just above $1.03m across eight shows, with capacity at 94 percent at the Winter Garden Theatre. The Broadway box office report.
—🎭 Withdrawal. 🎭 Samira Wiley is withdrawing from the Broadway production of Proof, with Kara Young announced to replace her. Wiley, who was previously announced to play Claire, is leaving the show “due to a treatable medical condition that calls for her full attention,” according to the production. Young will now join the cast, which features Ayo Edebiri, Don Cheadle and Jin Ha. The play, directed by Thomas Kail, is set to play a 16-week engagement starting March 31 at the Booth Theatre, ahead of an April 16 opening night. The story.
—New musical alert! Angelica Chéri's Wanted is coming to Broadway this fall. The show, about Black twin sisters who passed as white in 1893 Texas, will star Solea Pfeiffer and Liisi LaFontaine. The musical is set to begin previews Oct. 15 at the James Earl Jones Theatre, ahead of a Nov. 8 opening night. Formerly titled Gun & Powder, the show tells the “largely true” stories of Mary and Martha Clarke, who went from farmgirls to outlaws. The show had its world premiere at the Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va., in February 2020 and a recent run at Paper Mill Playhouse in Spring 2024. The story. |
Film Review: 'He Bled Neon' ►"Worst Spring Breakers ever." For THR, Richard Lawson reviews Drew Kirsch's He Bled Neon. The music video director makes his feature debut at SXSW with this Vegas-set neo-noir pastiche. Starring Joe Cole, Marshawn Lynch, Rita Ora, Ismael Cruz Córdova and Paul Wesley. Written by Tim Cairo and Jake Gibson. The review.
—"Girls just wanna have fun." THR's Leslie Felperin reviews Ayden Mayeri's Summer 2000: The X-Cetra Story. Benefitting from abundant archive material, director Mayeri explains how a homemade album she and her friends cut when they were kids in 2000 went viral. Featuring Ayden Mayeri, Jessica Hall, Janet Kariuki, Mary Washburn and Robin O'Brien. Written by Ayden Mayeri and Barry Rothbart. The review.
—"Don't Look Down." Leslie reviews Deon Taylor's Drift. In this SXSW-bowing doc, Taylor balances backstory and action to deliver a biopic-ready film about a rogue climber (and PTSD sufferer) wanted by the law. Written by Kaitlin McLaughlin, Martin Biehn and Kevin Hibbard. The review.
In other news...
—Shaun the Sheep movie trailer: A hairy monster threatens the flock
—Netflix’s Keep Sweet: Pray and Obey sequel series reveals chilling trailer
—Netflix's Nemesis first-look: Matthew Law, Y’Lan Noel play cops and robbers
—Peacock books date for The Five Star Weekend with Jennifer Garner
—New York Times, Serial launch true crime podcast The Idiot
—Lorde confirms she’s now an independent artist
—Jay-Z plots pair of Yankee Stadium shows
—John Galliano is going to Zara. Yes, that Zara
What else we're reading...
—Eli Stokols, Ben Johansen, Jack Detsch and Paul McLeary go inside the White House's attempts to sell the Iran War by leaning into memes and likening it to a violent video game [Politico]
—José Criales-Unzueta wonders if Hollywood will move away from stylists as some major celebs are already doing it [Vanity Fair]
—Dan Primack reports that Democrats are asking pointed questions about the $10b fee that TikTok's buyers reportedly are paying the U.S. Treasury Department [Axios]
—Lucas Shaw reports that Netflix is planning a KPop Demon Hunters global concert tour [Bloomberg]
—Depressing read from Oliver Roeder on the rising social and financial cost of America’s sports betting habit [FT]
Today...
...in 2010, Focus Features released Noah Baumbach's Greenberg in theaters. Starring Ben Stiller, Greta Gerwig and Welsh actor Rhys Ifans, the dramedy was a hit with critcs but stalled at the box office. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Bruce Willis (71), Glenn Close (79), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (49), Jorma Taccone (49), Nicholas Stoller (50), Rachel Blanchard (50), Ursula Andress (90), Abby Brammell (47), Theo Von (46), Neil LaBute (63), Simon Yam (71), Craig Lamar Traylor (37), Ben Watkins (55), Josie Loren (39), Nick Hendrix (41), Nicole Muirbrook (43), Caylee Cowan (28), Fred Stoller (68), Connor Trinneer (57), Dermot Crowley (79), Matthew Leitch (51), De'aundre Bonds (50), Kwak Dong-yeon (29), Garrett Clayton (35), Alan Meyerson (68), Philip Bolden (31), Simmone Mackinnon (53), Yolanthe Cabau (41), Mary Scheer (63) |
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