| | | | What's news: Anne Heche is in critical condition after she was involved in a car crash fire on Friday. WBD has taken $825m in write-downs since the merger went through. Kevin Feige reached out to the Batgirl filmmakers after the film was shelved. Peter Jackson has been speaking out about Amazon's LOTR series — Abid Rahman |
Anne Heche Hospitalized After Car-Crash Fire ►"Critical condition." Anne Heche was hospitalized after crashing her car into a Los Angeles residence Friday, setting fire to both the home and vehicle. The Los Angeles Fire Department confirmed in a public report that a solo female driver’s car collided into a two-story home in the Mar Vista neighborhood of L.A., causing “structural compromise and erupting in heavy fire.” The woman was rescued from the car and taken to a local hospital in critical condition; firefighters put out the blaze in roughly an hour. The story.
—👀 $825 million 👀 Just how much content has Warner Bros. Discovery axed since the WarnerMedia merger just a few months ago? The company disclosed in a regulatory filing Friday that it has taken a whopping $825m write-down on content following the deal. That figure includes a $496m impairment on content, as well as content development write-offs of $329m. And that dramatic figure probably does not include Batgirl or Scoob!: Holiday Haunt, as those films will most likely be accounted for next quarter. The story.
—"We are all thinking about you both." The Batgirl team is getting some support and sympathy from heavy-hitting Hollywood talents. Co-director Adil El Arbi revealed on Instagram that Marvel chief Kevin Feige, Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn and Baby Driver director Edgar Wright are among those who have reached out about the $90m project, which was shockingly shelved by Warner Bros. as a tax write-down. The story.
—All aboard. Brad Pitt's Bullet Train pulled out of the station with $4.6m in Thursday previews. Sony, which has been waging an aggressive marketing campaign for the action comedy, is eyeing a domestic debut in the $30m range. Critics haven’t exactly embraced Bullet Train, which currently holds a 53 percent critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes. The box office report.
—"A blind attack with zero substance related to this project." Following criticisms by John Leguizamo of James Franco’s casting as Cuban revolutionary Fidel Castro in the indie film Alina of Cuba, producer John Martinez O’Felan has responded, calling Leguizamo's comments “culturally uneducated.” The story. |
Jackson Says Amazon's 'Rings' TV Series Ghosted Him ►"The scripts never showed up." Peter Jackson is weighing in on Amazon’s The Lord of the Rings TV series. In an interview with THR's Scott Feinberg, the Oscar-winning director of the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit trilogies reveals the studio asked him to be involved with its upcoming megabudget series The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and promised to send him scripts — then never contacted him again. The story.
—Surprise! Former President Barack Obama and Michelle Obama surprised the audience during the opening night of the Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival to celebrate their doc Descendant. The couple visited the Friday event to introduce the film that their Higher Ground Productions picked up after its premiere at Sundance and is set to release through Netflix later this year. The story.
—Satanic panic. Peacock has given a straight to series order to Hysteria!, a coming-of-age thriller set in the 1980s that explores the satanic panic of the era. The show comes from writer Matthew Scott Kane, and Chris Bender and Jake Weiner’s Good Fear Content. Universal Studio Group’s UCP is producing, and John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein will direct. The story.
—Consequences, finally. A Texas jury on Friday ordered Infowars’ Alex Jones to pay $49.3m in total damages to the parents of a first-grader killed in the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre, which the conspiracy theorist falsely called a hoax orchestrated by the government in order to tighten U.S. gun laws. The story.
—Top dollar. As Lionsgate’s top brass decides what type of spinoff or sale to consider for its premium cable brand Starz, the company disclosed on Friday a price tag for a film library and stake deal it made in 2021. Lionsgate agreed to pay $191.4m for 200 films and an 18.9 percent preferred equity interest in the Gary Barber-run production firm Spyglass Media Company. The story. |
Abbi Jacobson on Reimagining 'League of Their Own' ►"The fear is people will see the poster and think we're doing a woke version." THR's resident baseball fanatic Lesley Goldberg spoke to Abbi Jacobson, the co-creator and star of Amazon Prime Video's upcoming series A League of Their Own. Jacobson discusses her episodic take on the Penny Marshall film, why she's sick of the series being described as a “queer show,” and also talks about the possibility of revisiting Broad City. The interview.
—Michelle's year. Birthday girl Michelle Yeoh will be conferred with a Doctorate of Fine Arts by the American Film Institute "for contributions of distinction to the art of the moving image." The Malaysian actress, who is currently generating Oscar buzz for her performance in A24 hit Everything Everywhere All at Once, will receive the honorary degree at the AFI Conservatory commencement ceremony on Aug. 13. The story.
—Casting news. Rosanna Arquette has joined season three of ABC’s Big Sky. The David E. Kelley-created series has also acquired a subtitle, the show will be known as Big Sky: Deadly Trails for the coming season, as its primary case revolves around a backcountry hiking trip. Arquette will play Virginia “Gigi” Cessna, Jenny’s (Katheryn Winnick) charismatic and fast-talking mother. The story.
—All change. Entertainment and sports mogul Todd Boehly is making changes to his Hollywood portfolio. The former Guggenheim Partners executive, who founded his own firm, Eldridge Industries, in 2015, has arranged to split production company MRC from Dick Clark Productions, the producer of the Golden Globes. Under the deal terms, Eldridge will move from a majority stakeholder MRC to a minority stakeholder. MRC’s stake in THR will also be transferred to Eldridge under the deal. The story. |
THR's Top 20 Power Lunch Spots in L.A. ►Ask not what you can do for your country. Ask what's for lunch. THR's selection of the best lunch spots in Los Angeles range from classics like the Polo Lounge to newcomers like Great White. The vibe may vary — as well as the quality of the food — but the goal is the same: to see and be seen. The list.
—The greatest (and worst) power lunches in Hollywood history. From the time James Cameron first dined with Schwarzenegger, to the midday meeting between Nikita Krushchev and the Tinseltown elite, to less fortuitous encounters, the following stories are a testament to the power — and pitfalls — of the business lunch. The list. |
THR's Top 25 American Film Schools►The cream of the crop. From full-funded MFAs to LED walls for new virtual production curriculums, these film programs are trying to entice and educate the next generation of blockbuster directors and award-winning auteurs. The list. — Best of the best. You've perused the 25 best American film schools, now have a gander at THR's 15 best international film schools. These storied global institutions offer foundational filmmaking instruction, from Italy to Israel. The list. In other news... —California-Nevada theater owners announce grant recipients —Marshmello and Khalid, Panic! at the Disco and more to perform at MTV VMAs —Kim Kardashian and Pete Davidson break up after dating for nine months — Pat Rosson, kid actor on The Andy Griffith Show and The Young Marrieds, dies at 69 What else we're reading... —Tshepo Mokoena profiles Nope star Keke Palmer who discusses colorism, being a meme and the harm done to young actors [ Guardian] —Charisma Madarang interviews Tia Carrere about Easter Sunday and Filipino actors finally being able to embrace their heritage [ LAT] —Neil Shah has an interesting piece on the music industry ramifications of Beyoncé removing an interpolation of "Milkshake" from a song after complaints from Kelis [ WSJ] —There's no such thing as cancel culture: "From Morgan Wallen to Ryan Adams, some of music’s disgraced stars stage their comeback" [ WSJ] — This Amanda Hess piece on pregnant men as a horror mainstay this summer is great, mainly because it also analyzes Schwarzenegger’s performance in Junior [ NYT] Today... ...in 1993, Warner Bros. unveiled the Harrison Ford thriller The Fugitive. The film went on to earn seven Oscar nominations at the 66th Academy Awards, including best picture. Tommy Lee Jones won in the best supporting actor category. The original review. Today's birthdays: Michelle Yeoh (60), Leslie Odom Jr. (41), Vera Farmiga (49), M. Night Shyamalan (52), Dane DiLiegro (34), Melissa George (46), Ty Simpkins (21), Romola Garai (40), Soleil Moon Frye (46), Jason O'Mara (50), Charlotte McKinney (29), Leland Orser (62), Merrin Dungey (51), Scott MacArthur (43), Rory Scovel (42), Monique Ganderton (42), Dorian Harewood (72), Josh Schwartz (46) |
| Trixie Flynn, who served as an invaluable personal assistant to such Hollywood A-listers as James Gandolfini, Steve McQueen, James L. Brooks, Jack Nicholson and Robert De Niro, has died. She was 74. The obituary. |
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