The 2007/08 writers strike is widely credited with helping to ramp up the presence of unscripted television on broadcast and cable. This year’s labor action, however, is not expected to have the same positive impact that the last writers strike did, and a confluence of events could mean that many of the top non-scripted shows are also hit. “It’s not going to be a carefree, hot girl, reality summer,” one producer told Deadline. >>>Knock-On Effect Fears |
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Nothing To Sneeze At - Hollywood’s Covid-19 protocols, which added hundreds of millions of dollars to the cost of making movies and TV shows over the course of the pandemic, officially end today. In California alone, the 92 feature films and seven TV series that received the state’s tax incentives over the past two fiscal years are estimated to have racked up a whopping $223.5 million in Covid-related costs. >>> Paid For By State
CNN Gets Trumped - In what was billed as a town hall event, CNN provided a venue Wednesday night for Donald Trump to run through his greatest hits of debunked election denial claims, patently false Jan. 6 revisionism and open misogyny. As a result, the network came in for swift, scathing criticism from viewers, media critics and even a Fox News host. >>>Deadline's Analysis
Couple Goals - For the second consecutive week since Mark Consuelos joined wife Kelly Ripa as co-host of the syndicated Live with Kelly and Mark, taking over for longtime co-host Ryan Seacrest, the show's ratings rose to 2.3M viewers per episode. >>>No. 1 Daytime Talk Show
CW Summer Stories - The CW has unveiled its slate of original scripted programming set to debut on the network this summer: Canadian family comedy Run The Burbs, legal drama Family Law, starring Jewel Staite and Victor Garber, and comedy series Bump also return. >>>Unscripted Fare, Too |
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Khartoum-set drama Goodbye Julia will make history in Cannes this year as the first Sudanese film to play in the festival across its 76 editions. Director Mohamed Kordofani belongs to a wave of filmmakers that emerged in the wake of Sudan’s 2019 revolution, ending the 30-year rule of dictator Omar al-Bashir. Goodbye Julia is not focused on Sudan’s recent history, but rather on events leading up to the 2011 South Sudan Independence referendum, in which 99% of the Southerners polled voted in favor of the region seceding from the north. Here, Kordofani talks to Deadline about the making of the film and his hopes for the work ahead of its Cannes world premiere in Un Certain Regard. >>> Read The Interview |
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Exclusive
One hot package on offer in Cannes this year is Oscar nominee Pablo Larraín’s biopic Maria about American-born Greek soprano Maria Callas which has Oscar winner Angelina Jolie aboard to star. Blue chip outfit FilmNation has newly boarded world sales and is launching ahead of the market, which gets underway next week.
Exclusive
On the eve of his acting return at the Cannes Film Festival, Johnny Depp has set a buzzy first round of cast for Modi, his first directorial effort in 25 years. The biopic of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani will be led by Italian star Riccardo Scamarcio (John Wick Chapter 2), Cesar Award winner Pierre Niney (Yves Saint Laurent) and screen icon Al Pacino. Filming is due to get underway in Budapest this fall
Exclusive
Zoë Kravitz and Thomasin McKenzie (Leave No Trace) are set to lead psychological horror film Self-Portrait which Mona Fastvold (The World To Come) will direct from a script she co-wrote with Brady Corbet (Vox Lux). The film is based on Rachel Lyon’s debut novel Self-Portrait With Boy. |
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More News
👸 Disney made a lot of news on its fiscal second quarter earnings call after reporting solid numbers, though investors still seem anxious about the company's prospects. Theme parks have roared back to life; CEO Bob Iger had more tough words for Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; a single app blending Hulu and Disney+ programming will launch this year, with spending cuts on streaming to match; talks have begun with Comcast about buying out its one-third stake in Hulu; and Iger said artificial intelligence poses big challenges in terms of protecting IP.
🤠 Deadline parent company Penske Media Corp. is launching Harmony, a new livestream platform, with a show from the red carpet of tonight's Academy of Country Music Awards.
🏈 Roku, Skydance Sports and NFL FIlms are teaming up on a documentary feature centered on the three days of the NFL Draft. After a kick-off edition set at the 2023 draft, plans call for an annual doc to chronicle each year's event. |
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Trending  CBS is expected to finish the 2022-23 broadcast season averaging nearly 6M primetime viewers per weeknight, setting it up to be the most-watched broadcaster, per live+same-day Nielsen data through April 30. It will mark CBS’ 15th consecutive season at No. 1.
🔻 Fox News is facing another defamation lawsuit, this time from the former executive director of a Department of Homeland Security division tasked with monitoring the threat of disinformation. Nina Jankowicz sued the network and parent Fox Corp. in Delaware Superior Court, claiming it last year began a “malicious campaign of destruction” against her. |
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Obituaries 🕯 Jacklyn Zeman, the actress best known for playing nurse Bobbie Spencer on General Hospital, has died. She was 70. Zeman’s passing was announced on Twitter by Frank Valentini, the daytime drama’s executive producer. She first joined the ABC sudser in 1977 and appeared in more than 800 episodes. She was a five-time Daytime Emmy nominee — four for GH and one for starring in The Bay as Sofia Madison. 🕯 Hollywood & Media Deaths In 2023: Photo Gallery & Obituaries |
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On the Radar
Thu - Lionsgate earnings; ACM Awards
Fri - Hollywood Covid protocols end
Sat - GLAAD Media Awards
Mon - WGA rallies in NY and LA; NBCUniversal and Fox kick off upfront week in NY
Tue - Cannes begins
Wed - Netflix upfront; Warner Bros. Discovery upfront |
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Inigo Montoya Returns - Striking writers marching Wednesday in New York City were joined by SAG-AFTRA members Bob Odenkirk and Mandy Patinkin — and the latter’s sign harkened back to a certain beloved 1987 movie. Patinkin carried a hand-lettered picket sign reading, “You killed residuals. Prepare to pay,” a riff on the celebrated lines he uttered in The Princess Bride as the swashbuckling big-screen fairy tale character Inigo Montoya (“You killed my father. Prepare to die”). |
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