| | | | | | What's news: James Toback has been ordered to pay $1.68b to 40 women for sexual assault. David Zaslav was paid $51.9m in 2024. Slate PR is dissolving. Amazon has ordered a Carrie series, and is developing a TV adaptation of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Marvel's Thunderbolts* is tracking to open in the $63m to $77m range. — Abid Rahman
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Oscars: Film Academy Establishes Stunt Design Award ►🏆 Finally! 🏆 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has announced the establishment of a stunt design Oscar, which will first be presented at the 100th Academy Awards. The Oscar will honor films released in 2027 at the 2028 ceremony. Category rules for eligibility and voting for the inaugural award will be announced in 2027 as part of the 100th Academy Awards Rules. The specifics of the award’s presentation — such as whether or not there will be nominees or just a winner announced — will be determined by the Academy’s board of governors and executive leadership at a future date. The story.
—Massive sum. Director James Toback — among the first Hollywood men to be accused in the #MeToo movement — has been ordered to pay $1.68b to 40 women for sexual assault and other kinds of abuse. A New York jury on Wednesday awarded the women $280m in compensatory damages and $1.4b in punitive damages, intended to punish Toback for malicious conduct. Toback, who helmed the films Black and White (1999) and Two Girls and a Guy (1998) and was nominated for an Oscar for writing the Warren Beatty film Bugsy (1991), didn’t mount a defense at the trial and wasn’t represented by a lawyer. The court in January issued a default judgment, reserved for cases in which the defendant fails to appear. The story.
—The latest. Best-selling author Jillian Lauren Shriner, who is married to alt-rock band Weezer’s current bassist Scott Shriner, posted a million-dollar bond on Thursday to secure her release from jail in Los Angeles following a Tuesday incident where she was shot after she pointed a pistol at LAPD officers investigating a crime in her neighborhood. Shriner’s manager, Charlie Fusco, told THR that the author and journalist is “alive and well” following the shooting and her release from custody. Otherwise, she said, she has no comment at this point. The story.
—The show goes on. Weezer is still slated to play Coachella this weekend despite Jillian Lauren Shriner getting shot, multiple sources confirm to THR. Weezer were added to the Coachella lineup as a last-minute surprise over the weekend, alongside Ed Sheeran, as acts including FKA Twigs had to pull out of the event. The band is set to play the Mojave tent for a Saturday afternoon set. The story. |
Streaming Profit Report: Netflix Leads, Disney Rises, WBD Grows ►Is consolidation coming? THR's business editor Georg Szalai reports that it has taken a few years, but more legacy Hollywood studios’ streaming businesses have started turning annual profits, with the rest touting progress toward that goal. The question now is how sustainable and scalable streaming profits can be for anyone not called Netflix. THR's survey looks at where Netflix and the streaming arms of Hollywood giants stand as of the end of the calendar year 2024. The survey.
—Cha-ching. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav received a 2024 compensation package worth $51.9m, compared with $49.7m in 2023 and $39.3m in 2022 when the Discovery-WarnerMedia merger closed. WBD disclosed the latest pay details for its top executives in a regulatory filing on Friday. Zaslav’s increase of 4 percent was driven by higher non-equity incentive plan compensation, up from $22.0m to $23.9m, and slightly higher stock awards ($23.1m) and “other” ($1.9m) compensation. The story.
—Switch up. Also on Friday, John Malone’s role at WBD got an update. The company said that the cable TV and telecom pioneer is transitioning from his current role as a director on the company’s board of directors to the new role of chair emeritus. The move allows Malone, 84, to remain actively involved with the board and as a key advisor to Zaslav and his management team, as well as a large shareholder of WBD, but he will not have to deal with board minutiae anymore. The story.
—Surprise move. The partners at Slate PR — one of Hollywood’s highest-profile publicity firms that represents a long list of A-list stars, creators, talent and events — are dissolving the company. The development was confirmed Thursday morning in a brief statement sharing that after 15 years together, the partners Stephen Huvane, Simon Halls, Robin Baum, Ina Treciokas and Andy Gelb have all "decided to move forward on separate paths." Later on Thursday, Huvane, Baum, Halls and Gelb revealed that they had formed a new full-service PR and communications firm called Apex Public Relations. The story. |
CBS Loses Right to Distribute 'Wheel of Fortune,' 'Jeopardy!' ►Tentative ruling. Sony will take over distribution of syndicated game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune from CBS, a court has ruled. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Kevin Brazile, in a tentative ruling issued on Thursday, denied CBS’ bid for a court order that would’ve temporarily blocked Sony’s efforts from assuming distribution. “Sony can begin distributing the Shows and need not deliver episodes to CBS,” the order stated. In a statement, CBS Media Ventures said the ruling will be immediately appealed. It added, “This is only a preliminary ruling based on partial evidence, not the outcome of the full case. We’re confident, once all the evidence is heard at trial, we will prevail on the merits." The story.
—🎭 Leads in place 🎭 Netflix is adding another adaptation of classic literature to its series roster. The streamer has greenlit a six-episode limited series based on Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. Emma Corrin, Jack Lowden and Olivia Colman are set to play lead roles in the series, which comes from writer Dolly Alderton and director Euros Lyn. BBC Studios’ Lookout Point is producing the series, which is set to begin filming later this year in the U.K. The Crown's Corrin will play Elizabeth Bennet, the intelligent and unconventional second daughter of the Bennet family. Slow Horses ' Lowden plays Mr. Darcy, the wealthy, gruff member of the gentry whose romance with Elizabeth fuels the story. Oscar and Emmy winner Colman plays Mrs. Bennet, Elizabeth’s mother. The story.
—Seventh heaven. Fox and Gordon Ramsay are collaborating on another food-based unscripted series — the seventh one on the network’s roster, if you’re counting. The new series, which premieres May 21, is called Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service. It’s a twist on the Kitchen Nightmares formula in which Ramsay comes to the aid of a struggling restaurant (while also pointing out all the wrong and gross things going on in the kitchen) — but instead of going through the front door, Ramsay will first go in covertly. The story.
—You're welcome! Moana has been the most streamed movie in the U.S. in each of the past two years, according to Nielsen’s figures. It might have some competition this year — from its sequel. Moana 2, which had its streaming premiere March 12 on Disney+, shot to the top of the streaming rankings for the week of March 10-16. The movie had just under 2b minutes of viewing time, giving it the highest single-week total for any feature film on a streaming platform so far in 2025. (Netflix’s Back in Action had the previous high of 1.54b minutes in January.) Moana also returned to the movie rankings after two weeks outside the top 10 with 223m minutes. The streaming rankings. |
Mike Flanagan's 'Carrie' Series Ordered by Amazon ►Fill up those blood buckets. Amazon Prime Video has officially ordered Carrie to series. The series, like the 1976 film, is based on the 1974 Stephen King novel. Mike Flanagan will executive produce, showrun and write the eight-episode series, which he will also direct “select” episodes of, the streamer said on Thursday. Trevor Macy will executive produce alongside Flanagan who created The Fall of the House of Usher, Midnight Mass, The Midnight Club, The Haunting of Bly Manor and The Haunting of Hill House for Netflix. The story.
—Get excited. Amazon Prime Video is looking to bring the world of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to TV screens. The streamer and Sony Pictures Television are developing a series adaptation of the story, based on the Crane-Iron Pentalogy series of novels by Wang Dulu. The books also served as source material for Ang Lee’s Oscar-winning 2000 film. The Brother Sun's Jason Ning is writing and will executive produce alongside Outlander developer Ron Moore. Both have overall deals at Sony, which released Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon through its Sony Pictures Classics label and owns rights to the Crane-Iron books. The story.
—Dante’s not done demon-hunting. Netflix has renewed animated series Devil May Cry for a second season, just one week after the first season premiered. Based on the Capcom video game, Devil May Cry got off to a good start, and in its first four days of availability, the animated series racked up 5.3m views, according to Netflix. In the Studio Mir-produced show, "sinister forces" attempt "to open the portal between the human and demon realms," the logline reads. Only one man can stop this: Dante, "an orphaned demon-hunter-for-hire, unaware that the fate of both worlds hangs around his neck." The story.
—🎭 "Trading his big red chair for a blue box." 🎭 Irish television host Graham Norton will star in the upcoming series of Doctor Who. The “King of Eurovision,” a nickname derived from Norton’s long-running role as commentator of the zany European singing contest, will appear in the sixth episode of season 2 (or season 15), joining an ensemble cast for a Eurovision-inspired episode. The Russell T. Davies written sci-fi show returns to the BBC and Disney+ on April 12. The story. |
'Minecraft' Is a Smash — So, Where's the 'Roblox' Film? ►Only a matter of time. After grossing $380m globally in just six days, A Minecraft Movie blew away expectations at the box office, and if anyone in Hollywood is doing their job, the phones over at Roblox ought to be ringing off the hook, writes THR's Tony Maglio. For kids of a certain age, let’s say six- to 13-years-old, Minecraft and Roblox are somewhat interchangeable multiplayer block-building games. With Minecraft‘s diamond pickaxe striking gold at the box office, a big-screen Roblox adaptation feels like a matter of time. The story.
—"All of us cannot wait for this movie to be gone." Despite the Minecraft box office bonanza, not everyone is loving the insane success of the film. THR's Pamela McClintock and James Hibberd report that a TikTok-fueled viral trend encouraging mayhem during screenings is causing some theaters to kick out moviegoers, while employees are getting pushed to their limits. The story.
—Solid range. THR's Pamela McClintock writes that it is a virtual given that the 2025 summer box office will get off to a bigger start than last year when Marvel’s Thunderbolts* flies into theaters over the first weekend of May. However, the antihero comic book pic still has its work cut out for it. According to tracking, the tentpole is headed for a domestic debut in the $63m to $77m range, with a target number of $70m. While a fair number in and of itself, that’s on the lower end for a MCU title opening in summer. Disney insiders say there’s plenty of room for growth, noting that the film’s rag-tag team of antiheroes and villains are making their appearance on the big screen for the first time, so aren’t a known property (advance ticket sales, which commenced earlier this week, are on the slower side so far). The box office report. |
Noah Wyle, 'Pitt' Boss on How S1 Trauma Will Affect "Journey of Healing" in S2 ►"I think the great thing about an emergency department is it’s a very vibrant, alive place, with people coming and going constantly." THR's Hilary Lewis spoke to The Pitt star Noah Wyle and showrunner R. Scott Gemmill about the Max show, including the seaon one finale, "9:00 p.m." The ER alums speak about crafting a realistic medical show amid a rapidly changing health care landscape, what to expect from the July 4th weekend-set second installment including some "new faces" and why Gemmill wants to keep the Max series going "until they take my chair away and shut the lights out." Warning: Spoilers! The interview.
—"I’ve had these great opportunities several times where [the creators and showrunner] presented me with something new to the show and said, 'Go figure out what this will look and feel like.'" THR's queen of chat Jackie Strause spoke to Yellowjackets director Ben Semanoff about the penultimate episode of season three, “How the Story Ends.” Semanoff discusses how those season three deaths lead to a revelatory finale. Warning: Spoilers! The interview.
—"It’s a theme that’s been around me and in my life for a long time." THR's Brian Davids spoke to Brandon Sklenar about his new film, Drop. The busy actor also weighs in on the finale to Paramount Network's 1923, and shares his desire to age up a couple of decades to reprise his role in 1944 as well as his hope to play Batman in the DCU. The interview. |
Film Review: 'Sinners' ►"A succulent bite." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Ryan Coogler's Sinners. Michael B. Jordan, Hailee Steinfeld, Jack O’Connell, Delroy Lindo, Wunmi Mosaku and Miles Caton star in this genre-bending brew of vampire horror, Southern Gothic, folklore and blues-soaked spirituality. The review. |
Thank Pod It's Friday ►All the latest content from THR's podcast studio.
—Awards Chatter. THR's executive awards editor Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this live episode, Scott spoke to Long Bright River star Amanda Seyfried. The Dropout Emmy winner and Mank Oscar nominee reflects on early breaks like Mean Girls and Mamma Mia!, navigating the transition from child to adult star, and why she's so passionate about her latest project, a Peacock limited series in which she plays a cop investigating the disappearance of her own sister. Listen here.
In other news...
—Stephen Curry and Erick Peyton’s Unanimous Media hires chief content officer
—Blumhouse TV hires Melissa Aouate as president
—Chuck Lorre to keynote Banff World Media Festival
—Lionsgate reups general counsel Bruce Tobey in multiyear deal
What else we're reading...
—Bomba! Roula Khalaf, Henry Foy and Andy Bounds talk to European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen who reveals that the EU may tax Big Tech if Trump trade talks fail [FT]
—Josef Adalian looks at all the ways Trump's tariffs have already hit Hollywood including soaring costs, banned lunches, and a looming ad apocalypse [Vulture]
—Hannah Knowles talks to Trump supporters who are, incredibly, sticking with the president despite the chaos and financial hardship he has unleashed on their lives [WaPo]
—Aditya Kalra, Abhijith Ganapavaram and Munsif Vengattil report that Apple airlifted 600 tons of iPhones, or as many as 1.5m units, to the U.S. in order to beat Trump's tariffs on India [Reuters]
—Here's your Friday list: "The 20 sexiest TV shows of all time, ranked" [THR]
Today...
...in 2003, Columbia Pictures unveiled the Adam Sandler and Jack Nicholson comedy Anger Management in theaters nationwide. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Milly Alcock (25), Tricia Helfer (51), Jennifer Esposito (52), Kelli Garner (41), Kayadu Lohar (25), Liz Garbus (55), Dakota Blue Richards (31), Morgan Lily (25), Louise Lasser (86), Alessandra Ambrosio (44), Jessica Madsen (33), Michele Scarabelli (70), Joss Stone (38), Joanna Douglas (42), Amy Van Nostrand (72), Matt Ryan (🏴44), Teo Yoo (44), Bill Irwin (75), Joel Grey (93), Peter Riegert (78), Jeremy Clarkson (65), Johnny Messner (55), Will Tudor (38), Chris Coghill (50), Yoo Yeon-seok (41), Lee Do-hyun (30), John Milius (81), Eka Darville (36), Damien Thomas (83), Carl Franklin (76), Vicellous Shannon (54), Mike Ostroski (50), Sal Landi (74), Josh Server (46), Raúl Méndez (50) |
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