| | | | What's news: Brian Stelter is the latest big name to leave CNN. The man who stabbed Salman Rushdie has been denied bail. Ariana DeBose will lead a thriller from Amazon/Blumhouse. Showtime renews The Chi for a sixth season. Amandla Stenberg has defended herself over a spat with a film critic. Take Me Out is returning to Broadway — Abid Rahman |
Stelter to Exit CNN, 'Reliable Sources' Canceled ►End of an era. Brian Stelter is departing CNN after the network ends his show, Reliable Sources, later this month. Stelter anchors the long-running series, which examines the media landscape, and serves as chief media correspondent for CNN Worldwide. The journalist first joined CNN in 2013. The network did not give a reason for canceling the show, which has been on the schedule at CNN since 1993. The story.
—"Quite optimistic." After Regal-owner Cineworld Group warned of a theater admission dip until November, AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron says he is optimistic about higher admissions in Q4 of 2022 and into next year. Aron reiterated that the film slate for Q3 has been relatively weak but he expected things to pick up at the end of the year. The story.
—Nice touch. Also on Thursday, AMC Theatres announced that it will play Grease in 135 of its theaters this weekend as a way of paying tribute to the late Olivia Newton-John. The cost per moviegoer will be $5, with $1 of every ticket sold going to AMC’s charitable fund, AMC Cares. The proceeds will be donated to breast cancer research. The story.
—Bail denied. A judge refused to grant bail Thursday to the man accused of trying to kill author Salman Rushdie. Hadi Matar, 24, appeared in a western New York courtroom after a grand jury indicted him on charges that he rushed the stage at the Chautauqua Institution and stabbed Rushdie multiple times in front of a horrified crowd. The story.
—"I was protecting him." A woman who has been central to R. Kelly’s legal troubles for more than two decades testified Thursday that the R&B singer sexually abused her “hundreds” of times before she turned 18 and that it was her and Kelly in a videotape that was at the heart of his 2008 child pornography trial, at which he was acquitted. The story. |
Big Ten Inks $8B Media Deal ►🤝 Rich deal 🤝 The Big Ten has found three big broadcast partners for its new long-term media rights deal, one that will give the athletic conference nearly $8b through the 2029-2030 season. CBS, NBC and Fox will be the Big Ten’s media partners, with games set to air on the broadcast networks, FS1 and the Big Ten Network. Peacock will also get a handful of exclusive football and basketball games, with Peacock and Paramount+ also set to simulcast games from their respective broadcast networks. The story.
—Global ambition. Hello Sunshine, the production company founded by Reese Witherspoon, has unveiled its first international expansion with the launch of an unscripted division in the U.K. Sarah Lazenby, who was formerly head of features and formats at Channel 4, where she commissioned shows including The Great British Bake Off, will oversee operations as executive vp, unscripted U.K. The story.
—Chef's kiss. Ariana DeBose is to star in the psychological thriller House of Spoils for Amazon Prime Video and Blumhouse. The Oscar winner plays an ambitious chef who opens her first restaurant, but is soon battling kitchen chaos, a dubious investor and the powerful spirit of the estate’s previous owner. The movie is written and set to be directed by Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy. The story.
—Sticking around. Showtime has renewed The Chi for a sixth season. The pickup comes a couple of weeks ahead of the show’s season five finale, which will hit Showtime’s streaming platforms on Sept. 2 and debut on air Sept. 4. The Chicago-set drama was created by Lena Waithe and is produced entirely in the Windy City by 20th Television. The story.
—🤝 Big news in the world of sound 🤝 Streamland Media is expanding its sound giant Formosa Group with the acquisition of London-based sound facility Sonorous Trident, founded by two-time Oscar-nominated Mike Prestwood Smith and nine-time Emmy nominated Howard Bargroff. With the deal, the pair and their team will become part of Formosa Group. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. The story. |
'She-Hulk' Star Tatiana Maslany Talks Breaking the MCU's Fourth Wall ►"It’s much easier to play two characters." THR's Brian Davids spoke to Tatiana Maslany about her much-talked about new Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. The actor, who played more than a dozen characters on Orphan Black, discusses portraying "only" two in the Marvel show, and teases an upcoming cameo as "the greatest day" of her life. Warning spoilers. The interview.
—"I don't think human beings should be doing this." THR's Dan Fienberg spoke to Reservation Dogs co-creator Sterlin Harjo about his love-hate relationship with showrunning. Harjo also spoke about the pressures inherent to a sophomore run, giving white people permission to laugh, and those unfortunate Emmy snubs. The interview.
—"Hilarious." Amandla Stenberg has defended herself for calling out NYT critic Lena Wilson over a line about cleavage in the latter's review of Bodies Bodies Bodies. Stenberg took to Instagram Thursday to clarify why she sent a pointed DM to Wilson after the critic posted their back-and-forth on Twitter. It has since inspired hundreds of comments about everything from homophobia to how critics write about actresses and their bodies, particularly Black women. The story.
—Oscar nominees on board. THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on Laura Linney and Woody Harrelson as well as rising actress Nico Parker all joining the cast of Suncoast, a drama feature written and set to be directed by Laura Chinn, in what will be her directorial debut. Searchlight has boarded the project, which made the 2020 Black List, with production scheduled to begin in September. The story.
—Second innings. Second Stage Theater’s Tony-winning revival of Take Me Out is coming back to Broadway. Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Jesse Williams will reprise their roles in the play, written by Richard Greenberg and directed by Scott Ellis. The story about how a team, and the world, respond to a fictional major league baseball player coming out will return for a second limited run at the Schoenfeld Theatre, opening on Oct. 27. The story.
—Martin Henderson hive assemble. Stranger Things finally ceded the No. 1 spot in Nielsen's streaming rankings for the week of July 18-24 to Virgin River. Netflix’s Hallmark-esque romantic drama, led the chart for the week with 2.64b minutes of viewing time. That’s the best single week for the series in the two years of Nielsen’s streaming chart. Season four of Virgin River debuted on July 20. The streaming rankings. |
TV Review: 'House of the Dragon' ►"A visually epic production, but an oddly limited story." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews HBO's House of the Dragon. The first Game of Thrones spinoff/prequel goes back nearly 200 years before the original series to focus on a power struggle in the dragon-loving Targaryen family. The review.
—"Preposterous but suspenseful." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Baltasar Kormákur's Beast. Idris Elba and Sharlto Copley star in this film about a nightmare safari in which a desperate father is driven to protect his daughters from a vengeful lion. The review. |
Thank Pod It's Friday► All the latest content from THR's podcast studio. — TV's Top 5. Lesley Goldberg and Dan Fienberg break down the latest TV news. The guys begin by running through the week's headline makers, including The CW’s new owner and the shock news that the network's average viewer is 58 years old. They discuss the layoffs at HBO/HBO Max and answer questions from the mailbag. This Fool creator and star Chris Estrada drops by to talk about his new Hulu comedy. And Dan reviews Disney+'s She-Hulk, Freevee's Sprung, Netflix's Echoes and HBO’s House of the Dragon. Listen here. — Awards Chatter. Executive editor for awards Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this episode from 2014, Scott spoke to Bela Bajaria. The first WOC to ever run a Hollywood studio, Bajaria is now the head of global television at Netflix and one of TIME's 100 most influential people in the world. She reflects on her journey and championing shows like The Mindy Project, Master of None and Squid Game. Listen here. In other news... —TIFF: Patricia Rozema to chair platform competition jury —LL Cool J, Nicki Minaj, Jack Harlow to emcee 2022 MTV Video Music Awards —Lenox Hill directors Ruthie Shatz, Adi Barash sign with CAA —Artist from 2014 Ninja Turtles film reflects on “devastating” criticism of characters’ looks —Gotham Week to feature panels with Jenny Slate and directors of Bodies Bodies Bodies and The Janes —Ralph Lauren to hold first West Coast runway show What else we're reading... —Tom Lamont goes inside Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney’s foray into professional soccer with Welsh 🏴 side Wrexham [ GQ] —Mark Gurman reports that Netflix’s ad-supported plan will block downloads of shows and films [ Bloomberg] —Another banger from The Times' web team, this time Charlotte Shane looks into why we love audio memes so much [ NYT] —This Blake Hounshell piece explains the whole Dark Brandon thing and you're likely to feel dumber (but I guess informed?) for reading it [ NYT] —Here's your Friday list: "Kristen Stewart’s 20 best performances – ranked!" [ Guardian] Today... ...1973, Warner Bros. unveiled Enter the Dragon, the 98-minute, R-rated actioner starring Bruce Lee, in theaters. Bruce Lee’s last movie became a worldwide phenomenon and made a whopping $400m at the box office ($2b adjusted for inflation) for a production budget below $1m. The original review. Today's birthdays: John Stamos (59), Matthew Perry (53), Erika Christensen (40), Kyra Sedgwick (57), Peter Gallagher (67), Melissa Fumero (40), Giorgia Whigham (25), Siena Agudong (18), Manny Jacinto (35), Kevin Dillon (57), Adam Arkin (66), Michelle Borth (44), Jonathan Frakes (70), Tammin Sursok (39), Jim Carter (74), Simone Kessell (46), Maria de Medeiros (57), Martin Donovan (65), Adam Campbell (42), Simon Bird (38), Ahmed Best (49), Pablo Larraín (46), Briana Venskus (35) |
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