| | | | | | What's news: Video game studio Bungie is laying off 220 people. Comic-Con was the center of a major human trafficking sting. Sports streamer Venu has revealed its pricing. Maya Rudolph is set to play Kamala Harris again on SNL. Squid Game's third and final season will air in 2025. Carrie Underwood is the new judge on American Idol. — Abid Rahman
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'CBS Evening News' to Get '60 Minutes'-Inspired Reboot ►"We know this is going to take a minute, but we’re very sure we can put on an extremely smart broadcast." CBS Evening News will move back to New York and get a reboot that makes it more reminiscent of the long-running Sunday newsmagazine 60 Minutes, all part of a series of sweeping changes planned for the venerable broadcast later this year. Those changes will include new anchors John Dickerson and Maurice DuBois, and a new supervising producer in 60 Minutes EP Bill Owens, who will add oversight of the Evening News. News of the new format comes a few days after Norah O’Donnell announced her intent to leave the broadcast. The story.
—Shocking sting. Fourteen people were arrested, and 10 victims were recovered in a human trafficking sting during San Diego Comic-Con. The operation to recover victims of sex trafficking and target sex buyers using the convention was initiated from July 25-27, according to the California Department of Justice’s San Diego Human Trafficking Task Force. Officials said after the nine adult potential victims and a 16-year-old juvenile were recovered, adult and juvenile support service advocates were there to provide support as needed. The story.
—More pain. The video game industry continues to feel the pinch of layoffs, with Sony-owned studio Bungie the latest to reveal cuts. On Wednesday, Bungie told employees that it will be cutting about 17 percent of its workforce, or about 220 people. In a move reminiscent of layoffs that have recently impacted other studios, CEO Pete Parsons said that Bungie will focus its efforts on fewer, more impactful projects moving forward. The story.
—"Is this better than the Olympics imagery?" The creator of faith drama The Chosen has responded to the uproar over a controversial tableau at the Olympics Opening Ceremony by posting a first look at his staging of The Last Supper in the show’s upcoming fifth season. Dallas Jenkins took to Instagram and posted an image of the show’s core cast gathered around a table, with Jesus actor Jonathan Roumie in the center. The story.
—Welcome Steven! Steven Zeitchik has joined THR as senior awards editor. In his new role, Steven will edit THR’s Oscar and Emmy special issues and related weekly features. In this capacity, he will closely collaborate with Scott Feinberg, executive editor of awards, and Beatrice Verhoeven, deputy awards editor. Steven, who has been covering media and entertainment for nearly two decades, will be based in Los Angeles and report to THR deputy editorial director Jeanie Pyun. The story. |
How the NBA's Slam-Dunk Deals Will Reshape TV ►"There’s less money overall, and more of that money is being allocated toward sports." The NBA's $76b worth of long-term television rights agreements with Disney, NBCUniversal and Amazon Prime Video may usher in a massive transfer of wealth from Hollywood, writes THR's Alex Weprin, shifting spending from scripted programming to sports. The analysis.
—Edging nearer. The streaming sports bundle Venu has settled on a price, though the launch date is still TBD. Venu, a joint venture of Disney, Fox, and Warner Bros. Discovery, will be available at a launch price of $42.99 per month. Users who subscribe at that price will be locked in for 12 months, and can cancel at any time. There will also be a 7-day free trial. The service will include access to a number of live, linear channels including ESPN, Fox, ABC, TNT and TBS. Venu will also include access to ESPN+. The story.
—Huge. In a stunning twist, a federal judge has rejected a $335m settlement between Ultimate Fighting Championship and more than 1,200 fighters suing for wage suppression. With the denial, the judge set a trial to start on Oct. 28. The two sides could potentially negotiate a new settlement to address concerns from the judge, who has said that payment may be too low, among other things. If UFC lost, it stood to lose more than $4b since damages in antitrust cases can be trebled. The story.
—The reality. The real-life inspiration behind Baby Reindeer's Martha was never convicted of stalking Richard Gadd as depicted in the show, but subject to a court order, a letter from Netflix to the U.K. government has confirmed. Scotswoman Fiona Harvey was soon uncovered by fans of the smash hit show – which chronicles Gadd' years being harassed and stalked by a woman – on social media, where she had been found to have sent Gadd thousands of tweets, dating back years. Harvey is suing Netflix for $170m over defamation and privacy violations. The story.
—Wanted. Police in Idaho have issued an arrest warrant for Hector David Jr., an actor who starred as the Green Ranger in several Power Rangers series, in connection with the assault of an elderly man. KTVB 7 reported on Wednesday that David, also known as Hector David Rivera, is accused of shoving an elderly man to the ground after an argument in a parking lot in Nampa, Idaho. The story. |
Partying for Kamala: L.A. Nightclub Kicks Off Young Hollywood Fundraising ►"She knows that the importance, power and energy of young people." Ten days after Kamala Harris became the presumptive Democratic nominee, a grassroots group in Los Angeles will host its first donation event, "an easy dance party that's open to everyone" at West Hollywood's The Abbey on Thursday night. THR's Jeanie Pyun reports that “A Dance Party for Kamala” has a guest list that features Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Glee‘s Darren Criss, Bachelor alumn Colton Underwood, RuPaul’s Drag Race star Jinkx Monsoon, Only Murders in the Building's Ashley Park, music artist Vincint and more. The story.
—"I didn’t know she was Black." A belligerent Donald Trump went on a racist attack while appearing onstage at the National Association of Black Journalists' convention in Chicago. In a contentious appearance that quickly went off the rails and saw the former president repeating lies about his past policy toward Black communities and questioning Vice President Kamala Harris’ identity as a Black woman. The recap.
—Inevitable. Maya Rudolph is set to play Kamala Harris again on Saturday Night Live in the run-up to the presidential election. Production on her Apple TV+ series Loot, which was scheduled to start work on season three in late August, has been delayed for scheduling reasons, which will help free Rudolph’s time to work on SNL. Loot and SNL are both produced by Universal Television and Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video. The story.
—"He has repeatedly apologized and has learned that increasing influence comes with increased responsibility." MrBeast acknowledged on Wednesday that he used “inappropriate language” in his early days on the internet, addressing a controversy surrounding allegations of past racist remarks. MrBeast, real name Jimmy Donaldson, came under fire recently following accusations of racist remarks made early in his career, including a recently circulated 2017 clip in which YouTube influencer Rosanna Pansino alleged that Donaldson had responded to a comment about selling Black people. The story.
—Setback. Top authors suing OpenAI over the use of their novels to train its AI chatbot have hit a stumbling block, with a federal judge narrowing the scope of their case. U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín on Tuesday evening dismissed a claim accusing OpenAI of unfair business practices by utilizing the works of authors — including Sarah Silverman, Paul Tremblay and Ta-Nehisi Coates — without consent or compensation to power its AI system. The writers’ primary claim for direct copyright infringement was left untouched. The story. |
HBO Addresses 'HOTD' S2 Finale Leak ►"Aggressively monitoring and removing clips from the internet." In a statement posted Wednesday, HBO said it was aware that of the leaks of second season finale of House of the Dragon on social media and was taking steps to remove the content. Dozens of clips from the eighth episode, scheduled to premiere on Aug. 4, were illegally uploaded to a TikTok account Tuesday night and quickly spread across other social media sites. The story.
—📅 Edging closer 📅 Netflix has set a return date — and also an end date — for Squid Game. The streamer’s biggest series ever will debut its long-awaited second season on Dec. 26, the day after Christmas (a time when streaming viewing is typically very high). Netflix and Squid Game executive producer, writer and director Hwang Dong-hyuk also announced that a third, final season is set to premiere in 2025. Season two of Squid Game will arrive more than three years after the first installment became a worldwide hit in 2021. The story.
—"What is: I'm excited." Saturday Night Live star Colin Jost has been tapped as the host of Amazon Prime Video’s upcoming Pop Culture Jeopardy! The Emmy-winner will front a show that is "a twist on the classic quiz show’s answer-and-question format that combines the academic rigor of Jeopardy! with the excitement and unpredictability of pop culture." Pop Culture Jeopardy! is from Sony Pictures Television and marks the first, but surely not last, Jeopardy! series created exclusively for a major streaming service. Production begins next month. The story.
—Greatest alum. Carrie Underwood, who won the fourth season of American Idol back in 2005, is set to join the show as a judge for its coming 23rd season early next year. She’ll take over the spot vacated by Katy Perry, who departed at the end of last season. Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan are expected back. Underwood is arguably the most successful Idol winner in the show’s history, having gone on to win eight Grammy Awards and a combined 25 Academy of Country Music and Country Music Association awards. The story.
—Ordering up some romance. Amazon Prime Video has ordered Every Year After, an adaptation of Carley Fortune’s best-selling novel Every Summer After. Hart of Dixie creator Leila Gerstein is adapting the novel and will serve as showrunner, executive producing with Fortune. Amazon MGM Studios is producing the series. Every Summer After, published in 2022, centers on Persephone “Percy” Fraser, who spent summers in a lakeside town and developed a friendship, then romance, with Sam Florek before something broke them apart. She returns years later and must confront her past. The story. |
How Columbia Pictures Kept Its Cool for a Century ►Still going strong. Columbia Pictures began as the “Siberia” of studios, where stars were sent as punishment, but went on to win more Oscars than any other. Now, in the year it celebrates its 100th anniversary, it’s one of the last Hollywood majors still standing. From Spider-Man’s boots to Sidney Poitier’s blazer, Sony Pictures chief Tom Rothman shows THR's Pamela McClintock a century of Columbia's hidden treasures at the studio's archive housed in a nondescript outpost several miles from the main lot in Culver City. The story.
—Croisette to Lido. Part two of Kevin Costner's Horizon film series will premiere at the 2024 Venice Film Festival. Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter Two, directed by and starring the Oscar-winning actor, boasts a star-studded supporting cast of Sienna Miller, Sam Worthington, Jena Malone and Danny Huston. It is set to get its world premiere in the out-of-competition section in Venice on Sept. 7. Chapter One will also be screened on the same day after the film received a 10-minute standing ovation in Cannes in May – though critics soon piled on the Western epic. The story.
—Boarding. New Line has come aboard to co-finance and distribute Kirill Sokolov's They Will Kill You, a thriller being produced by Nocturna Pictures, the horror label formed earlier this year by Skydance and It filmmakers Andy and Barbara Muschietti. Zazie Beetz is set to star in the feature, which is heading towards a mid-September start in South Africa. The feature is laced with the black humor that is Sokolov’s trademark, telling the story of a woman (Beetz) who answers a help wanted ad to be a housekeeper in a mysterious high-rise. The story.
—🎭 Circling 🎭 Eiza González is in negotiations to join James Marsden and Vince Vaughn in Mike and Nick and Nick and Alice for 20th Century Studios. BenDavid Grabinski, who created Netflix’s Scott Pilgrim Takes Off animated series, wrote the script for the action comedy and will direct the feature that is heading towards an August start in Canada. While plot details are vague, the project is described as a buddy action comedy set in the criminal underworld that has a time travel element. The story. |
Film Review: 'War Game' ►"Do not play this at home." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Jesse Moss and Tony Gerber's War Game. This documentary chronicles a real-life exercise in which current and former political and military figures respond to the danger of a coup attempt. The review.
In other news...
—Netflix’s new releases coming in August
—Terminator Zero trailer: Hero Eiko battles cyborg assassin
—NY Film Festival: Pedro Almodóvar’s The Room Next Door to have U.S. premiere
—Pharrell Williams Lego biopic Piece by Piece to close London Film Festival
—Toronto Film Fest signs new lead sponsor
—French director Claude Lelouch to receive Cartier Glory to the Filmmaker Award in Venice
—The best summer music festivals of 2024
—Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson hit the track: Here’s how to watch athletics at the Paris Olympics online for free
—Lollapalooza 2024 livestream: How to watch the 4-day music festival
—Manuela Cacciamani named CEO of Rome’s famed Cinecittà Studios
—TelevisaUnivision CFO to retire for health reasons
—Fred Segal, iconic staple of L.A.’s fashion scene, shutters its last two stores
—Randal Malone, performer on the MTV game show Singled Out, dies at 66
—Eric Gardner, chairman and CEO of Panacea Entertainment, dies at 74
What else we're reading...
—Kevin T. Dugan writes that Wall Street's $2t (that's trillion!) bet on AI is set for a reckoning as the industry splutters [Intelligencer]
—Natasha Tripney pays tribute to My So-Called Life, the Claire Danes and Jared Leto-starring TV show that changed teen dramas forever [BBC]
—Tracy Brown and Greg Braxton write that NBC’s obsession with celebrities at the Paris Olympics is a little cringe [LAT]
—Nico Grant and John Koblin chart how YouTube was able to shift from the home of viral videos to the most popular streaming service on U.S. televisions [NYT]
—Jack Crosbie goes inside GunTube, the YouTube subculture linked to the Trump shooter [Bloomberg]
Today...
...in 1973, George Lucas brought his nostalgic film American Graffiti to the big screen at the Avco Cinema Center in Los Angeles. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Jason Momoa (45), Jack O'Connell (34), Sam Mendes (59), Adrian Dunbar (66), Giancarlo Giannini (82), David Wain (55), Daisy May Cooper (38), Gayle Rankin (35), Terry Kiser (85), John Carroll Lynch (61), Demián Bichir (61), Honeysuckle Weeks (🏴45), Mrunal Thakur (32), Kris Holden-Ried (51), Luke Eisner (28), Charles Malik Whitfield (52), Oona Laurence (22), Taapsee Pannu (37), Jesse Borrego (62), Sasha Jackson (36), Max Carver (36), Susan Lanier (77), Tempestt Bledsoe (51), Landry Allbright (35), Sally Pressman (43), Khamani Griffin (26), David Calder (78), Elijah Kelley (38), Eduardo Noriega (51), Emma Berman (16), Ane Dahl Torp (49), Caprice Benedetti (59), Marsha Dietlein (59) |
| Hailey Merkt, who vied for Nick Viall’s heart during season 21 of The Bachelor, has died from leukemia. She was 31. The model's cancer returned and spread merely six weeks after she received the news of being leukemia-free in April. The obituary. |
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