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What's news: Live Nation has been found liable in its bombshell monopoly lawsuit. Roku has hit more than 100m streaming households. The BBC is set to slash its workforce by 10 percent. The NCIS franchise is expanding once more. S4 of The White Lotus will take place during the Cannes Film Fest. And Amazon will take its time finding a new James Bond actor. — Abid Rahman
Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at tips@thr.com. |
Carey Mulligan Is All the Rage►"I was delighted that she punches someone in the face." After years of prestige restraint, Carey Mulligan goes ballistic in the second season of Netflix’s critically acclaimed rage-fest Beef (review down below!), unleashing a dark and deliciously "naughty" new side. The Beef gig came shortly after Mulligan wrapped promotion for Bradley Cooper’s Maestro , a black-and-white Leonard Bernstein biopic that called for subtle performances and the slow agonizing death of Mulligan’s character, Felicia Montealegre Bernstein. At that point, she’d done nearly everything a “Serious Actress” could do: British period pieces. Folksy Coen brothers indies. Important stories about the origins of the suffragette and #MeToo movements. She had three Oscar nominations. But, Mulligan tells THR's Seija Rankin, she’d never done a true comedy, and her oeuvre wasn’t reflective of her off-camera personality: "I called my agent immediately and was like, 'There’s this fucking bit with a coyote, I’ve got to do it.'" The digital cover story. |
Would Hollywood Protest a WB Sale as Much If Netflix Had Won?►"A handful of factors here that are likely making the pushback against Paramount’s deal louder." After driving the price tag up to chase Netflix away, David Ellison pulled off a coup in late February with a $111b deal for Paramount to devour Warner Bros. Discovery. Until then, criticism of the sale was on parallel tracks. Right now, however, there's a sizable coalition lining up to stop Ellison's efforts. THR's Erik Hayden and Alex Weprin hash out whether Ted Sarandos' team would have faced less resistance. The conversation.
—Hold that L. Live Nation Entertainment has been found liable in its bombshell monopoly lawsuit a major move that could drastically shake up the live music landscape as a judge now decides the penalty Live Nation and Ticketmaster should face. After a weeks-long trial that featured testimony from the likes of Live Nation CEO Michael Rapino as well as other major industry stakeholders like AEG Presents CEO Jay Marciano and Drake’s manager Adel Nur, jurors ruled on Wednesday that Live Nation functions as a monopoly that has squashed competitors and driven up ticket costs for fans. The story.
—Woof! Roku has hit more than 100m streaming households worldwide, reaching a long standing goal for the streaming and devices company. The company reached this milestone in April, after last announcing that it had reached more than 90m streaming households in January 2025. Beyond those big announcements, Roku has stopped providing quarterly updates on the metric, saying it preferred to focus on platform revenue and profitability. The story.
—"We want to shoot [here] as much as possible, but we do have a financial model that we have to hit." CBS already films three shows — Matlock, NCIS and NCIS: Origins — in Southern California. But in order to shoot more in the area, network executives said on Wednesday they would like to see some policy changes. During a press briefing for CBS’ 2026-2027 primetime lineup, CBS Entertainment president Amy Reinsenbach and Paramount chair of TV media George Cheeks were asked about what it would take for the network to film more shows in L.A., which has seen a major decline in production work over the last few years. The story. |
BBC to Cut Around 1,800 Staffers►Brutal. The BBC is set to slash its workforce by almost one in 10 people. The move, described as the U.K. broadcaster’s biggest scaling back in 15 years, is going ahead in a bid to tackle “significant financial pressures.” It’ll mean between 1,800 and 2,000 jobs are cut. Staff were reportedly informed of the news on Wednesday afternoon in an all-staff meeting, with interim director-general Rhodri Talfan Davies expected to confirm the redundancies. The news comes before former Google exec Matt Brittin takes the top job in early May. The story.
—Track record of success. Ian Katz, chief content officer at U.K. broadcaster Channel 4 for almost nine years, will step down from his role in October this year. Katz, responsible for hit shows It’s a Sin, Big Boys, and We Are Lady Parts, is the longest-serving content chief in Channel 4’s history. During his tenure, he has presided over a period of “considerable creative and commercial success,” according to the channel, and played a central role in its transformation from linear broadcaster to streamer. The story.
—🤝 Contract extension. 🤝 Newly-solo Lionsgate has extended longtime CEO Jon Feltheimer’s contract for another two years through July 31, 2031. On April 13, Lionsgate’s compensation committee approved a new employment agreement with the studio head to keep him as CEO for another two years, the studio said in a SEC filing on Wednesday. Feltheimer has served as CEO of the studio since March 2000. The story. |
Why Clavicular Says He "Can't IRL Stream" Anymore After Overdose►"I have to figure out a new method. Either practice mogging sober or just find a new form of content." Clavicular, who was hospitalized Tuesday night for a suspected overdose, livestreamed again hours after being released. The “looksmaxxing” influencer and streamer, whose real name is Braden Peters, informed his fans on Kick Wednesday that he “can’t IRL stream” anymore following the overdose. “I ain’t going to be doing any more substances for a little while, hopefully forever,” he said. The story.
—Oh Dave! Dave Chappelle has called out the Republicans for politicizing transgender jokes. “I did resent that the Republican Party ran on transgender jokes. You know, I felt like they were doing a weaponized version of what I was doing. That’s not what I was doing,” Chappelle told NPR’s Newsmakers program. The superstar comedian’s Netflix standup comedy specials The Closer (2021) and The Dreamer (2023) included transgender jokes around themes of cancel culture leading to backlash from members of the LGBTQ community and GLAAD, among others. The story.
—"I can’t vote for you, but I’m rooting for you." Even though Joe Rogan now lives in Texas, he still has thoughts on who he wants to be the next mayor of L.A. During a new episode of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, which featured guest Spencer Pratt, the former kickboxer revealed that he’s backing the reality star’s campaign. Rogan has previously endorsed Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election. Earlier this year, Pratt announced that he’s hoping to unseat Karen Bass, who is running for reelection, in this year’s elections. The Hills alum, who is married to Heidi Montag, has been very critical of Bass after his family lost their home in the 2025 Palisades fire, blaming her for fire recovery issues and water shortages. The story. |
Nolan Debuts Epic New 'Odyssey' Footage►"It’s a story that has fascinated generation after generation for 3,000 years; it’s not a story, but the story." One of the — if not the No. 1 — most anticipated movies of the year arrived at CinemaCon on Wednesday, as Christopher Nolan showed off some new footage from The Odyssey during Universal’s presentation. Following a compilation video of his past work, the Brit filmmaker took the stage to a standing ovation. Nolan revealed he was almost finished with the cut before throwing to some footage, including a scene of The Odyssey‘s most iconic stories, when the Greeks hid inside a wooden horse during the Trojan War to surreptitiously enter the city of Troy. The story.
—"I haven’t done a Western yet — that’s next." Steven Spielberg took the stage at CinemaCon for the first time in his career to promote his upcoming Universal release, Disclosure Day. After an introduction from star Colman Domingo, the filmmaker received rapturous applause from the annual convention of movie theater owners in Las Vegas on Wednesday. Spielberg accepted the MPA's America 250 Award from the group’s chair, Charles Rivkin, in celebration of the director’s work. The story.
—Horror king. Filmmaker Robert Eggers is back with another creature feature, which got a special sneak peek at CinemaCon. Following the success of vampire flick Nosferatu, Eggers has moved onto werewolves with Werwulf, which he co-wrote and directed. During Universal’s presentation, the first footage was shown with the declaration that it would be “his most terrifying motion picture yet.” The story.
—"A fully intentional 15-year-break between movies three and four." Ben Stiller and Robert De Niro brought the CinemaCon crowd into the circle of trust with the first Focker In-Law trailer. Universal celebrated the Meet the Parents sequel ahead of its Nov. 27 theatrical release. The story.
—Steamy. Callum Turner and Monica Barbaro are looking for some action in the CinemaCon trailer for their sex comedy One Night Only. The pair star in Will Gluck‘s film that Universal is set to release theatrically Aug. 7. The film stars Turner and Barbaro as two strangers hoping to find a romantic connection on the one night of the year that premarital sex is legally permitted. The story.
—"After my brothers got to tell their story with Straight Outta Compton, now it’s my turn." Universal's Snoop Dogg biopic movie is blazing a path toward bringing the rap legend’s life to the screen. Snoop surprised the audience by kicking off the studio’s presentation with a performance of hits “Drop It Like Its Hot” and “Gin and Juice.” He also brought out actor Jonathan Daviss to the stage for a brief appearance to introduce the Outer Banks star who will play him in the planned feature. The story. |
Amazon: Bond Casting Won't Be Rushed►"Please know that we’re taking the time to do this with care and deep respect." There might be no time to die, but there is time to find the perfect James Bond. During Amazon MGM Studios‘ presentation at CinemaCon on Wednesday, the studio’s head of film Courtenay Valenti gave a hint into the casting process for the forthcoming installment in the beloved spy franchise from director Denis Villeneuve. The story.
—Looks like a winner. Michael B. Jordan‘s new take on The Thomas Crown Affair kicked off Amazon's CinemaCon presentation on a high note. To announce that Jon Batiste will score the film, the Grammy-winning musician took the stage in Las Vegas to perform a piano version of "The Windmills of Your Mind," the Oscar-winning song from the 1968 film of the same name. The story.
—Claus-trophobic marriage. Santa’s naughty list is getting a little longer in the first trailer for Universal's Violent Night 2. David Harbour stars as a vengeful Santa Claus in the sequel to the 2022 original, with Kristen Bell joining the franchise as Mrs. Claus. The footage began with Harbour’s Santa, who has been kicked out of his gig at the North Pole and finds himself wandering around a mall at the holidays. The story.
—CoHorts assemble! Verity, one of Colleen Hoover‘s best-selling novels, is the author’s next project to get a big-screen adaptation, with the film’s first trailer arriving at CinemaCon. The footage was unveiled during Amazon’s presentation. Verity centers on struggling writer Lowen Ashleigh (Dakota Johnson), who is hired by Jeremy Crawford (Josh Hartnett) to complete the remaining books in a series penned by his wife, author Verity Crawford (Anne Hathaway), after she suffers a mysterious accident. The story.
—Rippling muscles. Nicholas Galitzine, Camila Mendes and director Travis Knight brought the power of Masters of the Universe to CinemaCon. Mendes teased that the film includes “so many muscles — more muscles than is necessary.” She added, “Strip all that away, and it’s about a kid that doesn’t feel that he’s enough.” Amazon is set to release director Knight’s feature theatrically on June 5. The story. |
Cavill Unveils Thrilling First Footage of 'Highlander'►There can only be one reboot. Henry Cavill is unsheathing the first look at his forthcoming movie Highlander. At CinemaCon, Amazon debuted the footage for director Chad Stahelski‘s film from banner United Artists that is set for theatrical release. Cavill leads the cast that also includes Russell Crowe, Dave Bautista, Siobhán Cullen, Marisa Abela, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Drew McIntyre, Max Zhang and Jeremy Irons. The story.
—Disturbance in the schwartz. Mel Brooks had a galactic announcement at CinemaCon: the title for the forthcoming Spaceballs sequel. No, it’s not Spaceballs 2: The Search for More Money. It’s simply Spaceballs: The New One, as he revealed via a video at CinemaCon. The story.
—🎭 Triple threat. 🎭 Amazon MGM Studios has added Demi Moore to David Weil’s culinary thriller Tyrant. She joins Charlize Theron and Julia Garner in the first feature film from Hunters creator Weil. Script details are being kept under wraps, but Tyrant is billed as a high-stakes thriller set within New York City’s elite fine dining scene. The story.
—Hmmmmm. The late Val Kilmer's AI-generated likeness is front and center in the trailer for the forthcoming movie As Deep as the Grave. Writer-director Coerte Voorhees’ feature debuted the footage at CinemaCon. Abigail Lawrie, Tom Felton and Abigail Breslin round out the cast for the indie film. Kilmer’s likeness can be seen portraying Father Fintan, a Catholic priest and Native American spiritualist. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Searchlight Pictures has picked up the U.S. distribution rights to Monitor, the horror feature from rising directors Matt Black and Ryan Polly. The acquisition comes after the movie made its world premiere in March at SXSW in its Midnighter section. The story. |
CBS Tweaks 2026-27 Schedule►Steady as she goes. CBS' primetime schedule for 2026-27 isn’t all that different from the one for this season — but a couple of changes are notable. The network is moving two of its Thursday staples, Ghosts and Matlock, to midseason in order to make room for a pair of new series in Eternally Yours and Cupertino. The former is a comedy from Ghosts showrunners Joe Port and Joe Wiseman that centers on a family of vampires; it will move into the 8:30 Thursday spot following Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage come fall. Cupertino is a legal drama set in Silicon Valley from Robert and Michelle King, and starring Mike Colter as an attorney who opens a practice dedicated to taking on Big Tech. It’s set to air at 10 p.m. Thursdays after the Kings’ Elsbeth. The story.
—Sam's back. The NCIS franchise is expanding once more — and bringing a very familiar face back into the fold. CBS has picked up NCIS: New York for the 2026-27 season. It’s the eighth show in the long-running franchise (or ninth if you include JAG, of which the original NCIS is a spinoff). Like all the other members of the NCIS-verse, the series comes from CBS Studios. Long-time NCIS: Los Angeles star LL Cool J will return to the franchise, reprising his role as Sam Hanna. Scott Caan will also star as a “roguish agent” who leads the team with Hanna. The story.
—🎭 Firing LeBlancs. 🎭 The latest cop series being developed by CBS will star ’90s and early 2000s television royalty: Matt LeBlanc. The network has ordered a development room for a cop series featuring the former Friends star called Flint, CBS executives revealed at a press conference on Wednesday. If it’s ordered down the line, the show from 24 showrunner Evan Katz will mark LeBlanc’s first return to broadcast since the CBS sitcom Man With a Plan, which ended in 2020 after four seasons. The story.
—Going above and Beyond. CBS is extending its time Beyond the Gates by a further two season. The pickup will take the soap opera through its fourth season in 2027-28. The show has performed solidly for CBS since it premiered in February 2025, improving ratings for its afternoon time period over The Talk. It has also helped the network extend its decades-long winning streak in daytime. The story. |
'White Lotus' S4 Will Take Place During Cannes►Mon dieu! Production on season four of The White Lotus has started in France, and HBO has released a tantalizing detail about the show. As has been the case in the previous three seasons, the Mike White-created series will follow guests and staff at the luxury hotel chain where people keep getting murdered over the course of a week. That week, HBO says, will be set during the Cannes Film Festival. Whether the show uses this year’s actual festival, which runs from May 12-23, as a backdrop remains to be seen; HBO declined comment on whether the show would film at the festival. The story.
—Woof! That the final season of Stranger Things drew a huge audience isn’t news. New data from Nielsen, however, puts a new number on that — while also showing that a number of network series are among the bigger shows on all of TV and streaming. Stranger Things 5 brought in 30.6m viewers over its first 28 days, leading all series — streaming or traditional TV — in the 2025-26 season (through March 1). Netflix has seven of the top 20 shows, with limited series His & Hers (24.2m viewers) and docuseries Sean Combs: The Reckoning (19.7m) also making the top five. The ratings.
—The end is nigh. For From, the beginning of the end is … well, beginning. MGM+ has renewed From, the supernatural thriller series starring Oz and Lost alum Harold Perrineau, for a fifth and final season. Filmed on location in Halifax, Canada in what the production refers to as “From Town” (an actual town built from the ground up specifically for the show), From centers on a nightmare town with no discernible way in or out. Monsters roam the streets at night, spiders and cicadas and worse stalk the surrounding forest, and existential dread permeates all the townspeople trapped within. The story. |
TV Review: 'Beef' S2►"A bold, well-acted, slightly over-extended follow-up." THR's chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg reviews season 2 of Netflix's Beef. Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny make up the central quartet in this dark comedy about the escalating rivalry between two couples working at a country club. Also starring Youn Yuh-jung. Created by Lee Sung Jin. The review.
—"Compellingly insane and repulsive." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Lee Cronin's The Mummy. The latest reinvention of the Egyptian funerary legend slaps the embalming bandages on an abducted American girl whose return home to Albuquerque is no blissful reunion. Starring Jack Reynor, Laia Costa, May Calamawy, Natalie Grace, Veronica Falcón, Shylo Molina, Billie Roy, Hayat Kamille, Emily Mitchell, May Elghety, Husam Chadat, Tim Seyfi and Mark Mitchinson. Written by Lee Cronin. The review.
—"The chemistry between the leads is stiff and unconvincing." David switches to theater to review David Cromer’s The Fear of 13. Adrien Brody and Tessa Thompson star in this Broadway production of the Lindsey Ferrentino play about the life and legal travails of an unjustly convicted man, based on a 2015 documentary. Also starring Ephraim Sykes, Joel Marsh Garland, Jeb Kreager, Victor Cruz, Michael Cavinder, Eddie Cooper, Eboni Flowers, Jared Wayne Gladly, Joe Joseph and Ben Thompson. Written by Lindsey Ferrentino, based on the documentary directed by David Sington. The review. |
Film Review: 'Lorne'
►"Amusing but surface-deep." THR's Daniel Fienberg reviews Morgan Neville's Lorne. Focus Features' doc about Lorne Michaels overlaps with 2025's Saturday Night Live 50th anniversary celebrations, covering similar terrain with similar featured stars. The review.
—"You've seen it before, done better." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Peter Farrelly's Balls Up. Mark Wahlberg and Paul Walter Hauser star in this Amazon Prime Video feature comedy about two men trying to escape Brazil after causing an incident at the World Cup final. Also starring Molly Shannon, Benjamin Bratt, Daniela Melchior, Eric Andre and Sacha Baron Cohen. Written by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. The review.
In other news...
—Dan Stevens wrongly committed to psychiatric hospital in The Terror S3 trailer
—NBC News gives Christine Romans streaming show
—Robbie Williams, Pink Pantheress and Zara Larsson to perform at Cannes amfAR gala
—Taylor Momsen hospitalized for spider bite while on tour with AC/DC
What else we're reading...
—The Pitt star Supriya Ganesh pens a raw personal essay about coming to terms with gender dysphoria after arriving in the U.S. from India [Vulture]
—Wonderful Bilge Ebiri review of Aneil Karia’s Hamlet, starring Riz Ahmed, which also takes a look at why Shakespeare's story of the troubled prince is everywhere right now [Vulture]
—Caryn James reflects on the meh promo campaign for The Devil Wears Prada 2 and wonders whether the new film will carry the same bite [BBC]
—Uh-oh! Stephanie Stacey reports that U.S. hotels are slashing summer room rates as World Cup demand falls short [FT]
—David Weigel writes that the fizzling of Hasan Piker-gate shows cancel culture may be over for politcal campaigns on the Dem side [Semafor]
Today...
...in 2010, Lionsgate released Matthew Vaughn's Kick-Ass in theaters. An adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita Jr.'s comic book was a critical and box office success and led Kick-Ass 2 in 2013 and an upcoming spinoff Stuntnuts franchise. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Anya Taylor-Joy (30), Sadie Sink (24), Claire Foy (42), Martin Lawrence (61), Shu Qi (50), Ellen Barkin (72), Lukas Haas (50), Arty Froushan (33), Jon Cryer (61), Phoebe Fox (39), Hayes MacArthur (49), Belinda Stewart-Wilson (55), Jay O. Sanders (73), Tanya Moodie (54), Midori Francis (32), Billy West (74), Tom Segura (47), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (79), Sean Maher (51), David Lyons (50), Max Beesley (55), Malcolm McRae (32), Marshall R. Teague (73), Liliana Mumy (32), Ricco Ross (68), Cassandra Naud (34), Jack Cutmore-Scott (39), Lisette Olivera (27), Nikki Griffin (48), Peter Billingsley (55), Lorraine Nicholson (36), Hayley Squires (38), Ebony Obsidian (32), Yorick van Wageningen (62), David Kohan (62), Michel Gill (66), Noah Fleiss (42)
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Joy Harmon, forever known for her brief turn in the Paul Newman classic Cool Hand Luke as the young woman who provocatively washes a car with lots of soapy water as overheated prisoners in the chain gang look on, has died. She was 87. The obituary.
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