Former X-Men ’97 showrunner Beau DeMayo is speaking out about his sudden pink-slipping by Marvel/Disney from the Emmy-nominated animated series earlier this year. “These allegations of egregious misconduct are false,” DeMayo said.
The seasoned scribe called out Marvel over its alleged “toxic environment” and “near criminal working conditions” that turn "individuals against one another, stokes paranoia to ensure compliance.”
After DeMayo’s exit in March, Marvel/Disney claimed in August that he was fired because of the “egregious nature of the findings” in a misconduct probe. Last month, DeMayo said that he was let go in part because of some LGBTQ fan art he reposted, implying strongly such rigidity is emblematic of the company’s inside stance.
Rumors at Disney have swirled around photos supposedly sent to X-Men ’97 colleagues and accusations of getting too touchy with people on the project. >>>Allegations About Marvel Leadership |
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The ABCs Of Grievance - Ahead of his ABC News-hosted debate with Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday, Donald Trump declared “ABC is the worst network.” Doubling down, as he often does with grievances, Trump then implied the fix was already in on next week’s debate. >>>Offered No Proof
Netflix Nabs 'Nonnas' - Netflix has won an auction for the Stephen Chbosky-directed comedy Nonnas in a deal Deadline hears is $20 million-plus for worldwide rights. Several bidders were in the mix on a film that had been invited to be part of the Toronto International Film Festival slate. Plans have since changed and the film won’t make the trip. >>>2025 Release Planned
Prime Video Swoops In On Sci-Fi - In what Deadline understands to be a high-seven-figure deal, Prime Video has scooped up all international rights (excluding Germany) to Toronto Film Festival sci-fi movie The Assessment. The film stars Alicia Vikander (Tomb Raider), Elizabeth Olsen (WandaVision), and Himesh Patel (Station Eleven). >>> A Psychological Nightmare
'Summer' Break - Camila Mendes will no longer be starring in the reboot of I Know What You Did Last Summer. The Riverdale actress could not make the production dates work given her starring role in the upcoming Masters of the Universe film in which she’ll play Teela. >>>Major Role
Will Smith Drops Out - Will Smith is exiting the upcoming action movie Sugar Bandits. Smith and his production company Westbrook will remain producers on the big-budget project, which was due to begin filming in coming months but had stalled due to uncertainty over Smith’s on-screen commitment. >>>Shooting Next Year |
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Former GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger “found his party turning their back on him as they fell into step with Donald Trump,” Thom Powers, chief documentary programmer for TIFF, tells Deadline in a discussion about the documentary The Last Republican, set to make its world premiere on Saturday. “[He] chose not to run again as a congressman [in 2022] because he could see the political writing on the wall.”
Powers acknowledges the tandem of Kinzinger and Hot Tub Time Machine director Steve Pink, who came together to create The Last Republican, will strike many as unusual. Politics makes for strange bedfellows, as they say. Apparently the same holds true at times in documentary filmmaking.
Pink, for his part, calls the doc "a passion project born from my pursuit of a story that genuinely mattered to me." >>>Read The Interview |
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Alison Brie has landed the role of villain Evil-Lyn in the live-action Masters of the Universe film from Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel Films.
The Duffer Brothers' upcoming Netflix supernatural mystery The Boroughs, created by Jeffrey Addiss and Will Matthews, has added six to its cast: Alfred Molina, Geena Davis, Alfre Woodard, Denis O’Hare ( American Horror Story), Clarke Peters (Da 5 Bloods) and Bill Pullman.
Emmy Rossum and Zoë Winters are set to star in the Amy Berryman play Walden this fall in a Second Stage Theater Off-Broadway production.
Exclusive
Levi McConaughey and Ava Torres (Match Me If You Can) have landed supporting roles in Way of the Warrior Kid, Apple and Skydance‘s youth empowerment tale, based on the novel by Jocko Willink. The project marks the first major screen credit for McConaughey, the 16-year-old son of Oscar-winner Matthew McConaughey and Camila Alves.
Eve Hewson and Murray Bartlett (The White Lotus) are set to lead the ABC Signature comedy pilot Downforce for Hulu. |
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More News 🤸♀️ Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong, speaking at a Wall Street conference, called NBCUniversal's coverage of the Paris Olympics “a big moment for the company” and “quite frankly, it was one that was not without risk.”
💰 Verizon is acquiring Frontier Communications, the largest pure-play fiber internet provider in the U.S., in an in all-cash transaction valued at $20 billion.
⚠️ Amid a recent series of sexual assault allegations against award-winning author Neil Gaiman, Disney has put a planned feature adaptation of his 2008 YA title The Graveyard Book on pause.
📽️ Elizabeth Chai Vasarhelyi and Jimmy Chin’s latest documentary feature Endurance, Sean Baker's Anora and Marielle Heller’s Nightbitch starring Amy Adams are among the titles that have been announced in lineup of the BFI's 68th London Film Festival.
🤝 SAG-AFTRA has inked a deal with video game company Lightspeed L.A. to produce content under an Interim Interactive Media Agreement as the union continues its fight against the major studios over AI provisions. |
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Trending
 Within a day of launching a Kickstarter campaign in hopes of expanding distribution for The Apprentice, filmmakers of the Donald Trump have exceeded their goal by more than 30%.
🔻 According to Samba TV, 902,000 U.S. households tuned in for the premiere S2 episode of The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power within four days of its debut. That's half the audience that the first episode of Season 1 drew in less time. |
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Obituaries
🕯️ J. Richard Munro, the former chairman and CEO of Time Inc. who led the storied publisher’s 1989 merger with Warner Communications and was a driving force in the early success of HBO, has died. He was 93. 🕯️ Sheldon Pinchuk, a partner in the Finnegan-Pinchuk Company, which produced more than 40 TV movies during the genre’s 1980s-90s heyday as well as TV series Any Day Now and Northern Exposure and features Reality Bites and The Fabulous Baker Boys, died August 28 of Parkinson’s disease at his home in Calabasas, CA. He was 84. 🕯️ Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2024: A Photo Gallery |
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On the Radar
Thu - NFL season begins
Fri - Beetlejuice Beetlejuice opens
Sat - U.S. Open Women's Final
Sun - U.S. Open Men's Final; Angelina Jolie TIFF tribute
Mon - Apple product event; Goldman Sachs Communacopia conference begins
Tue - Trump-Harris debate |
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Lady In Black - Lady Gaga on the red carpet for Joker: Folie À Deux at the 81st Venice Film Festival. |
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