| | | | What's news: HBO unexpectedly canceled Westworld after four seasons. Nike has dropped Kyrie Irving. Djimon Hounsou and Ginger Spice Geri Halliwell-Horner are the latest stars to join Sony's Gran Turismo film. Winston Duke has joined Universal's The Fall Guy. Tiffany Cross has left MSNBC. — Abid Rahman |
Shocker: HBO Cancels 'Westworld' ►Out of the blue. HBO has canceled prestige sci-fi drama Westworld after four seasons. It’s an unexpected fate for a series that was once considered one of HBO’s biggest tentpoles — an acclaimed mystery-box drama that racked up 54 Emmy nominations (including a supporting actress win for Thandiwe Newton). Last month, co-creator Jonathan Nolan said in an interview that he hoped HBO would give the series a fifth season to wrap up the show’s ambitious story. The story.
—Why? THR's Lesley Goldberg is here to make sense of the Westworld cancellation. Lesley writes that after season four wrapped its run two and a half months ago, HBO took its time with the renewal decision as it allowed the season to find a viewership on HBO Max. The move marked the first time the show had not been renewed while it was on the air. Pointedly, ratings for the pricey drama shrank from 12m to 4m. The story.
—Yay for us! THR has landed 32 nominations for the 15th National Arts & Entertainment Journalism Awards, including best entertainment publication and best website. In addition, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was nominated for best columnist, David Rooney is up for best critic and Lesley Goldberg and Dan Fienberg are named among the finalists for best arts or entertainment podcast and best podcast anchor/host. THR's art and photo teams were also recognized for cover art, portrait photo, page layout and moving graphic. The nominations. |
What The 'Handmaid's' Shooting Says About Nationalism ►"A great thing about the show is that there’s a real back and forth that is allowed between the writers and the actors." THR's Jackie Strause spoke to The Handmaid’s Tale star Bradley Whitford about the ninth episode of season five, an episode he also directed. The actor, who plays Gilead Commander Lawrence, talks about changes he made to the shocking final scene, which saw bullets rip through the American flag. Warning spoilers. The interview.
—"There is no place for hate speech." Nike has parted ways with Kyrie Irving. The shoe giant announced Friday night that it will halt its relationship with the Brooklyn guard, who has been suspended by the Nets for what the team called a repeated failure to “unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs.” The story.
—Defense wraps. Paul Haggis choked up and wiped away tears while finishing his defense Friday from the witness stand against a civil trial rape claim by a publicist. After three days of testimony, the winner of Oscars for Crash and Million Dollar Baby was emotional as he described himself as "a very flawed human being." The story. |
Funny Or Die at 15 ►Still laughing after all these years. Comedy platform Funny Or Die began life in 2007 with a 144-second clip of Will Ferrell “arguing” with his trash-talking landlord — played famously by Adam McKay’s 2-year-old daughter, Pearl. It grew to become a huge hub for shortform viral videos and in 2021 was acquired by Henry R. Muñoz III, an architect and former finance chairman for the DNC. THR's Stacey Wilson Hunt spoke with Muñoz, CEO Mike Farah and chief creative officer Joe Farrell about FOD’s 15-year milestone and where the company is heading. The interview.
—🎭 Casting news 🎭 THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on Djimon Hounsou and former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell-Horner joining the increasingly large cast of Gran Turismo, Sony Pictures and PlayStation Productions’ feature adaptation of the best-selling racing video game. Daniel Puig, Josha Stradowski and Thomas Kretschman have also been added to the call sheet to the film, which is already shooting in Hungary. The story.
—🎭 More casting news 🎭 Borys also has the scoop on Black Panther star Winston Duke joining The Fall Guy, Universal’s big screen take on the 1980s adventure television series. Bullet Train director David Leitch is helming the action extravaganza, which stars Ryan Gosling, Emily Blunt, Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Stephanie Hsu. Production began this week in Australia. The story. |
FX's John Landgraf Is Ready to Listen ►"It’s not just about conquering with volume or throwing infinite amounts of money at established talent." FX chairman John Landgraf, famous for coining the term "peak TV", is the inaugural guest of THR’s new column, Table for Two. THR's Lacey Rose spoke to the veteran television exec about competing with the streaming juggernauts by going small, the early confusion of joining Disney and why he’s asking his assistants what they’re watching. The interview.
—Draw. Fox Corp. has until 2030 to buy into FanDuel at a $20b valuation, according to an arbitration order issued on Friday. The figure is higher than the valuation proposed by Fox of $11.2b and closer to the estimate from Flutter, the majority owner of the sports-betting company, which said that Fox should have to pay market price. Flutter also cannot pursue an IPO for FanDuel without Fox’s consent or approval from the arbitrator. Both sides declared victory in the arbitration. The story.
—Cross out. MSNBC is parting ways with Tiffany Cross, the progressive host and political analyst who had been leading the news network's 10 AM-12 PM hours on Saturday mornings. Cross has hosted The Cross Connection since 2020, and MSNBC opted not to renew her contract. Her last show was this past Saturday. The story. |
Aldis Hodge Talks Superman, New Take on Alex Cross ►"This is the best time in my career, ever." It's all happening for Aldis Hodge at the moment. THR's Brian Davids spoke to the in-demand Black Adam star about his recent turn as Hawkman and that much talked about Superman cameo, as well as his casting as the new Alex Cross in the Amazon Prime Video series, Cross. Hodge also spoke about Showtime's City on a Hill, which was recently canceled after three seasons. The interview.
—Suit slimmed down. A federal judge has trimmed a lawsuit from Rockmond Dunbar, a former actor on 911, over his dismissal from the hit drama series for refusing to get the COVID-19 vaccine. Disney and 20th Television will no longer have to face a disparate impact claim, which accused them of advancing a vaccination policy discriminating against followers of the Church of Universal Wisdom, according to an order issued on Friday. They still face 10 other claims. The story.
—Another L for ISPs. A Texas jury has awarded Universal Music Group and several other recording companies more than $46.7m in their lawsuit against Astound Broadband for failing to stop its users from pirating music. The company formerly known as Grande Communications must pay roughly $33,000 in damages for each of 1,403 works that were infringed upon, the jury found on Thursday. The story. |
TV Review: 'The Crown' S5 ►"As shrewd and empathetic as ever." THR TV critic Angie Han reviews season five of Netflix's The Crown. Imelda Staunton, Elizabeth Debicki and Dominic West lead the new cast ushering Peter Morgan's chronicle of the British royal family through the tumultuous 1990s, covering the War of the Waleses and more. The review.
—"Instantly establishes a talent to watch." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews BBC America's Mood. Adapted from her one-woman show, Nicôle Lecky's six-episode drama follows an aspiring East London singer through a downward spiral. The review.
In other news...
—What to read right now: Timely books with Hollywood appeal
—Alyssa Sapire to oversee content for Disney Junior
—Lionsgate taps Nasim Cambron to lead film publicity
—Jeff Refold inks new deal with Ryan Seacrest Enterprises
What else we're reading...
—Inti Pacheco has a wild story on the downfall of Michael Malekzadeh, who has been dubbed the Bernie Madoff of the sneaker world [WSJ]
—Rachel Aviv investigates whether Oscar-winning Iranian director Asghar Farhadi stole ideas from a former student [New Yorker]
—Patrick Coffee, Megan Graham and Katie Deighton report that the Elon Musk-fuelled Twitter turmoil poses risks to the company’s brand [WSJ]
—Hannah Murphy and Ian Johnston look at how Elon Musk’s "war room" of advisers are transforming Twitter [FT]
—This John Eligon and Lynsey Chutel story is from May, but seems rather timely: "Elon Musk left a South Africa that was rife with misinformation and white privilege" [NYT]
Today...
...in 1993, Columbia Pictures unveiled James Ivory’s adaptation of The Remains of the Day in theaters. The film would go on to earn eight Oscar nominations at the 66th Academy Awards, including best picture. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Tilda Swinton (62), Sam Rockwell (54), Bryan Lourd (62), Jonny Greenwood (51), Famke Janssen (58), Robert Patrick (64), Tatum O'Neal (59), Luke Hemsworth (42), Seth Gilliam (54), Sam Page (46), Judy Reyes (55), Nestor Serrano (67), Michael Gaston (60), Elizabeth Bracco (65), Aitana Sánchez-Gijón (54), Elizabeth Rice (37), Kris Jenner (67), Chris Addison (51), Art Garfunkel (81) |
| Douglas McGrath, a Tony and Academy Award-nominated writer, director and performer, has died. He was 64. The obituary. |
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