| | | | | | What's news: Andy Serkis to star in and direct a Gollum movie for WB. WBD nears 100m streaming subscribers. Disney+, Hulu and Max are set to be offered in a streaming bundle. Leslie Jones will be part of NBCU's Olympics coverage. Paramount+ has renewed Lioness. Glen Powell is in talks to star in J.J. Abrams' next film. Dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has received an eight-year prison sentence. — Abid Rahman
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Peter Jackson Working on New 'LOTR' Films for WB ►"A significant opportunity for our theatrical business." Warner Bros. has made it official: It will be returning to Middle Earth. On Warner Bros. Discovery’s Q1 earnings call on Thursday, CEO David Zaslav said that the company is “now in the early stages of script development” for new Lord of the Rings movies, which he says they "anticipate releasing in 2026" and will "explore storylines yet to be told." Zaslav says that director Peter Jackson and his longtime writing partners Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens "will be involved every step of the way." The first film in the pipeline has the working title Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, with Andy Serkis set to star and direct the feature. The story.
—Nearing 💯. WBD posted Q1 profit of $86m for its direct-to-consumer unit, which includes its streaming and premium pay-TV services, compared with a $50m year-ago profit, after turning a full-year 2023 profit earlier this year. The company said Thursday that it ended March with 99.6m global streaming subscribers, compared with 97.7m as of the end of 2023. Segment revenue was nearly unchanged at $2.46b, helped by subscriber price increases and higher advertising revenue, driven by Max U.S. ad-lite subscriber gains. The results.
—It's cable? Honk! Disney and WBD are teaming up on a streaming bundle. The two entertainment giants will launch a bundle this summer that combines the Disney+, Hulu and Max streaming services. Specific pricing is still to be determined, but there will be both ad-free and ad-supported options of the bundle. Disney+, Hulu and Max all offer both less expensive ad-supported plans and more premium ad-free options. The story. |
Apple's Soul-Crushing New Ad ►Who thought this was a good idea? Everyone is talking about the new Apple ad for the iPad Pro, but that's not a good thing. THR's Julian Sancton writes that the dystopian spot, which depicts the relentless destruction of instruments and artworks, marks a dark turn for the company and begs the question: Will 2024 be like 1984? The story.
—WWE to the rescue. As it cruises toward its $13b deal to go private with Silver Lake, Endeavor reported Q1 earnings Thursday. The company reported total revenue of $1.85b, and a net loss of $303.5m, with adjusted EBITDA of $374.1m. Total revenue was way up compared to last year, thanks to sports entertainment powerhouse WWE now being controlled by the company. The results.
—Wooooo! TKO Group Holdings beat Wall Street revenue expectations to a pulp in its Q1 2024 earnings report Wednesday, though a $335m UFC fighter pay settlement pushed the company from a profit to a loss in the quarter. The company also cut a new WWE distribution deal, albeit a relatively minor one: Raw, which will move to Netflix in January 2025, will continue to run on USA Network through the end of this year. USA’s current deal for Raw was set to expire at the end of September. The results.
—Losses narrow. AMC Entertainment Holdings has seen its Q1 revenues edge down slightly on weaker box office in the wake of the dual Hollywood strikes last year, and its net loss narrow as Dune: Part Two and Godzilla x Kong played in its theaters. On Wednesday, the parent of AMC Theatres reported overall revenues for the three months to March 31, 2024 hitting $951.4m, just down from a year-earlier $954.4m, which came amid a 6 percent overall decline in the first quarter North American box office for Hollywood films, compared to 2023. The results. |
An Asteroid Is About to Hit Upfronts ►Will the networks crater? If the 2023 upfronts were about disruption, the 2024 upfronts are about Disruption with a capital “D.” Last year’s events were quite literally disrupted, with striking WGA writers on picket lines outside the New York City venues. THR's Alex Weprin writes that this year Netflix and Amazon are crashing TV’s annual advertising scramble and offer a different kind of disruption. The analysis.
—Tragic. Dissident Iranian director Mohammad Rasoulof has received an eight-year prison sentence, as well as a fine, confiscation of his property and flogging, by an Iranian court, the filmmaker's lawyer Babak Paknia announced in a post on X on Wednesday. Rasoulof’s sentencing comes ahead of the Cannes Film Festival, where the director’s latest feature, Seed of the Sacred Fig Tree is set to have its world premiere, screening in competition. It was already doubtful whether Iranian authorities would allow the director to travel to France for the festival. That now looks impossible. The story.
—"The problem isn't the protests, it's what they're protestin'." Rapper Macklemore has released a new song, praising pro-Palestinian college protesters and calling out Joe Biden amid the ongoing war in Gaza. The single is titled “Hind’s Hall” after the name given to Hamilton Hall by Columbia University students who occupied the building in protest. Hind was a 6-year-old Palestinian girl who was killed while fleeing heavy fighting in Gaza City with her family. The story.
—Move to dismiss. A member of the Recording Academy who claimed Neil Portnow, former head of the Grammy Awards, drugged and raped her in a New York hotel in 2018 has asked the court to dismiss her lawsuit. The move is a result of a looming court order that would force the woman to publicly reveal her identity. In a letter sent to the court on Saturday, the woman said she was concerned about her privacy and safety. The story.
—Suit filed. Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is suing his ex-girlfriend and the mother of his son, Daphne Joy Narvaez, for defamation following her public accusation in March that he raped her while the two were in a relationship more than a decade ago. Jackson filed the suit in Texas on May 6 after Narvaez posted a statement that he had raped her on Instagram on March 28. That was prompted by Jackson’s reported attempts to gain sole custody of their 11-year-old son, Sire, after Narvaez name came up in a bombshell lawsuit against Sean "Diddy" Combs. The story. |
Steve Albini 1962 - 2024 ►Legend. Steve Albini, the exacting producer/engineer and frontman of the noisesome indie rock bands Shellac and Big Black, has died. He was 61. Albini died of a heart attack on Tuesday night. Though he disdained the term “producer,” preferring “engineer” instead, Albini worked on more than 2,000 albums, mostly for underground or indie bands, but also notably on projects by two of the most important and influential bands of the late 1980s and early 1990s. In addition to recording Nirvana’s final full studio album, 1993’s In Utero, he also worked on the beloved 1988 album Surfer Rosa by the Pixies. The obituary. |
'The Office' Follow-Up Gets Peacock Series Order ►It's happening! The Office follow-up series has found a home, with Peacock announcing on Wednesday a formal series order for the untitled series that will be set at a dying Midwestern newspaper and is in the same universe as NBC’s former Emmy-winning comedy. The series, co-created by The Office’s Greg Daniels and Nathan for You co-creator Michael Koman, will again be a mockumentary and features Domhnall Gleeson and Sabrina Impacciatore leading the ensemble cast. Production on the show will begin in July. The story.
—"I’m pumped to be heading to Paris." Comedian Leslie Jones will once again be part of NBCUniversal’s Olympics coverage when the 2024 games begin in Paris. The former Saturday Night Live castmember will be the “chief super fan commentator” for the games, providing segments from a variety of events on NBC, Peacock and other NBCU channels and platforms, as well as her own social media. Jones will be on the ground with NBCU’s Olympics team for the first time since the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang. The story.
—Revving up. Alec Berg and Adam Countee are moving from Silicon Valley to the world of F1. Hulu is teaming with the duo for Downforce, a comedy that has been picked up to pilot at the Disney-run streamer. Described as Entourage set in the world of Formula 1 racing, Downforce follows what happens when the heiress to a dynastic racing team is thrust back into the family business and the hard choices she must make about the future of the team and her family’s legacy. The story.
—She roars again. Paramount+ has handed out a second-season renewal to Lioness, the Taylor Sheridan drama starring Zoe Saldaña and Nicole Kidman. Additionally, Morgan Freeman — who appeared in two episodes of the rookie season — has been promoted to series regular for the sophomore run. Formerly titled Special Ops: Lioness, season one of the series set a record as the most-watched worldwide series premiere on launch day on Paramount+ with nearly 6m total viewers in its first week according to the streamer. The story.
—Sticking around. Paramount+ With Showtime, has ordered a seventh season of its drama series The Chi. The renewal for the series, created by Lena Waithe, comes two days ahead of its return to the streamer for the second half of season six. Production on the seventh season is slated to begin later this month in Chicago. The Chi is the premium outlet's longest-running current series. The story. |
Glen Powell in Talks to Star in J.J. Abrams' Next Film ►🎭 Glenloveit 🎭 Glen Powell continues to be one of Hollywood’s most in-demand leading men of the moment. The actor is in early talks to star in the next film from director J.J. Abrams. No deal is yet in place, and plot details are currently under wraps, although the project does not involve time-travel, putting to rest recent rumors about Abrams’ potential plans. The Anyone But You star can soon also be seen in Netflix's Hit Man and Universal's Twisters. The story.
—🎭 Stop it Glen! 🎭 Powell will also lead a cast that includes Anthony Mackie and Laura Dern to headline Monsanto, a legal drama from writer-director John Lee Hancock. Based on a true story, Monsanto tells the true story of young, untried attorney Brent Wisner (Powell), who takes on a seemingly insurmountable case against the giant U.S. chemical company Monsanto on behalf of Dewayne “Lee” Johnson (Mackie). Adam McKay and Kevin Messick are producing via their HyperObject Industries banner. The story.
—🎭 More PWH! 🎭 Paul Walter Hauser, another star who is seemingly in every project at the moment, has signed up for drama-thriller Press Your Luck, from Protagonist Pictures. The film is based on the true story of Michael Larson, an unemployed ice-cream truck driver from Ohio who won big on the CBS game show Press Your Luck. The ensemble cast also includes Walton Goggins, David Strathairn, Maisie Williams, Haley Bennett, Shamier Anderson, and David Rysdahl. The story.
—🎭 "Fun and filthy romance with heart" 🎭 Alexander Skarsgård has signed on to co-star alongside Harry Melling in Pillion, a new feature from Poor Things producers Element Pictures. Melling plays Colin, a weedy wallflower who is letting life pass him by until he meets Ray (Skarsgård), the leader of a motorbike club, who takes him on as his submissive. Ray uproots Colin from his dreary suburban life and introduces him to a community of kinky, queer bikers. Harry Lighton will direct from his own script, which is inspired by Adam Mars-Jones’ 2019 novel Box Hill. The story.
—🎭 More biker drama! 🎭 Cate Blanchett has signed on to star in Alpha Gang, the new comedy from David and Nathan Zellner, the sibling duo behind wacky Sundance entry Sasquatch Sunset. The two-time Oscar winner is set to star as Alpha One, the leader of an alien gang sent on a mission to conquer Earth. She arrives disguised in human form together with her fellow extraterrestrials, posing as an armed and dangerous 1950’s leather-clad biker gang. David and Nathan Zellner will direct Alpha Gang as well as produce, with shooting set for the fall. The story. |
Jeremy Strong Circling Springsteen Movie ►🎭 The man behind the Boss 🎭 Jeremy Strong is in talks to play Bruce Springsteen’s longtime manager Jon Landau, in Scott Cooper's feature that has The Bear's Jeremy Allen White playing the Boss. The film revolves around the making of Springsteen’s classic 1982 album Nebraska. The 20th Century and Disney movie based on the 2023 book Deliver Me from Nowhere: The Making of Bruce Springsteen’s Nebraska by Warren Zanes. The story.
—🎭 Upped to regulars 🎭 P-Valley is inching closer to its return to Starz. Production on season three of the stripper drama from creator-showrunner Katori Hall has begun production in Atlanta and has promoted three actors to series regular, while also recruiting Mea Wilkerson to join the cast. Gail Bean (Roulette), Bertram Williams Jr. (Woddy) and Thomas Q. Jones (Mane) have been promoted to series regulars for the third season of the Lionsgate TV-produced show. Wilkerson will also be a series regular, playing the role of Haiku, a new dancer at The Pynk. The story.
—🎭 Putting on the backpack 🎭 You Are So Not Invited to My Bat Mitzvah star Samantha Lorraine has been cast as the titular heroine in Nickelodeon Studios’ new live-action Dora the Explorer feature being made for Paramount+ and Nickelodeon. Alberto Belli is helming the new production that has a working title of Dora and the Search for Sol Dorado. Written by J.T. Billings , the script follows as Dora, her cousin Diego and their new friends trek through the Amazonian jungle in search of the ancient treasure of Sol Dorado in order to keep it out of enemy hands. The story.
—📅 Put your hands up, come on! 📅 Lady Gaga's long-awaited Chromatica Ball will finally hit screens this month following a two year wait, the singer announced Wednesday. The concert film, originally announced in 2022, will feature footage from Gaga’s global Chromatica Ball stadium tour, which featured music from her 2020 album, Chromatica. The movie premieres on HBO on May 28, and will subsequently be available to stream on Max. The story.
—"Everyone will end up caring for a loved one at some point in their life." Bradley Cooper is teaming up with PBS to produce a documentary about the millions of people who provide unpaid care to family members. The doc, Caregiving, is in production and is set to air in 2025 on PBS stations. The film will examine both systemic issues within the care system — where more than 50m Americans provide unpaid care to family members — and tell personal stories of people who care for loved ones. The story. |
Film Review: 'Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes' ►"It rules." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Wes Ball's Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes. Owen Teague, Freya Allan, Kevin Durand and William H. Macy lead the latest installment, depicting a future where humankind’s hubris has led to its downfall, making apes the dominant species. The review.
—"An entertaining launch for the new Doctor." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Disney+/BBC's Doctor Who. Russell T. Davies returns to the Doctor Who universe with a 14th season starring the Sex Education breakout Ncuti Gatwa and his new companion Ruby Sunday played by Millie Gibson. The review.
—"Not hugely funny or thrilling, but still effective." Dan reviews Netflix's Bodkin. Barack and Michelle Obama are among the executive producers of the seven-part mystery-comedy series about podcasters investigating a cold case in rural Ireland, starring Will Forte. The review.
—"A thoughtfully crafted record of a phenomenon." THR's Angie Han reviews Hulu's Black Twitter: A People's History. The three-part Onyx Collective docuseries chronicles an online revolution from playful memes to politics and beyond. The review.
In other news...
—Maya Rudolph emerges from Studio 8H closet after 17 years of hiding in SNL promo
—Firebrand trailer: Alicia Vikander’s Katherine Parr competes for survival with Jude Law’s Henry VIII
—Lily Gladstone is on a mission to find her missing sister in Fancy Dance trailer
—Kourtney goes into emergency fetal surgery and Kris has a health scare in Kardashians S5 trailer
—Venice to honor Peter Weir with Golden Lion for lifetime achievement
—Cate Blanchett to receive Donostia Award at San Sebastian Film Festival
—Netflix, Blackhouse Foundation team for nonfiction producing fellowship
—Wayfair’s Way Day may technically be over, but these home and decor deals are still live
—Best drugstore beauty products coveted by celebrities and their makeup artists
What else we're reading...
—Tom Warren goes inside the turmoil at Microsoft's Xbox unit, that has seen the tech giant shutting down a number of game studios this week [Verge]
—Jeremy Gordon writes that the late Steve Albini often seemed like he was the last honest musician in the industry [Atlantic]
—With artificial intelligence stalking the entertainment industry, Stephanie Power wonders whether AI will dream up the hit TV shows of the future [BBC]
—Carl Lamarre considers whether Drake can recover after his rap battle with Kendrick Lamar [Billboard]
—Ed O’Loughlin reports that an antiwar college protest camp in Dublin has been dismantled after Trinity College Dublin agreed to divest from three Israeli companies [NYT]
Today...
...in 2014, Open Road released culinary comedy Chef in theaters. The film, written, directed and starring Jon Favreau, was a big critical and financial success and spawned a TV documentary series on Netflix, that featured Favreau and restaurateur Roy Choi. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Billy Joel (75), James L. Brooks (84), Rosario Dawson (45), Noah Centineo (28), Candice Bergen (78), Sonja Sohn (60), J.A. Bayona (49), Daniel Franzese (46), Lionel Boyce (33), Joe Carnahan (55), John Corbett (63), Chris Diamantopoulos (49), Wendy Crewson (68), Anna-Louise Plowman (52), Grace Gummer (38), Mary Mouser (28), Cree Cicchino (22), Rachel Boston (42), Hudson Leick (55), Amy Hill (71), Julia Chan (41), Tessa Peake-Jones (67), Alley Mills (73), Gillian Kearney (52), Gary Daniels (61), Jasmine Jobson (29), Sean McNamara (62), Chuck Russell (66), Patrick Ryecart (72) |
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