| | | | | | What's news: Samuel L. Jackson is close to starring in a Tulsa King spin-off series. Lionsgate exec Jason Constantine has died at 55. 3 Arts is acquiring OManagement. Josh Greenbaum will direct the Care Bears movie. Nick Jonas is in final talks to play KISS frontman Paul Stanley. — Abid Rahman
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Will Trump Torch L.A.'s Olympics? ►"If he alienates other countries too much, what greater insult is there than not to come at all?" Just how severely Donald Trump may impact, tarnish or otherwise undermine Los Angeles’ 2028 Olympic Games remains an open question. But it’s now fair to expect the city’s road to gold and glory will be littered with political potholes. When the Games kicks off at the end of his term, THR's Gary Baum asks whether the president will use them to turn the screws on a deep-blue city or will he leverage the spectacle as a lame-duck victory lap? The story.
—"Prognosis is excellent." As the future of her late father’s sprawling entertainment empire hangs in the balance, Shari Redstone has made a startling health revelation, divulging that she has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The news was confirmed by a spokesperson on Thursday, who said the 71-year-old Redstone was diagnosed earlier this spring. “While it has been a challenging period, she is maintaining all professional and philanthropic activities throughout her treatment, which is ongoing. She and her family are grateful that her prognosis is excellent,” the spokesperson said. The story.
—"His influence will continue to be felt in many of our most successful franchises." Jason Constantine, the respected Lionsgate executive, has died. He was 55. Constantine died after a long battle with cancer. The executive was a fixture on the festival circuit and a major player in the acquisitions space for years. He started his career more than 25 years ago at Trimark Pictures, the predecessor company of Lionsgate, where he served as director of acquisitions and rose through the ranks to become co-president of the Lionsgate motion picture group. He was an early champion of Saw and pushed for the studio to acquire the project after viewing the short film from then-unknown director James Wan and writer-star Leigh Whannell. The franchise has grossed more than $1b at the box office, as has the John Wick series, which came under Constantine’s tenure. The obituary.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 The management and production firm 3 Arts Entertainment is getting into the news business. 3 Arts is acquiring OManagement, the talent management firm founded by CAA and NBC veteran Olivia Metzger. Metzger will become partner and co-head of 3 Arts’ New York office. OManagement specializes in working with news, journalism, and personality-driven talent, with a client list that includes Today anchor Craig Melvin, Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker, Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner and NBC News contributor Steve Kornacki, among others. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Live events platform Fever has acquired the ticketing service Dice, the companies announced on Thursday. Financial details of the purchase weren’t disclosed. The acquisition comes just a day after Fever had announced a $100m funding round led by L Catterton and Point72 Private Investments. Dice first launched in 2014 and has postured itself as a fan-friendly ticketing service, citing features like all-in ticket prices and its concert discovery features on its app. Dice subsequently wooed investment from prominent music executives like Matt Pincus, the founder of the investment company MUSIC, as well as from Kobalt Music Publishing founder Willard Ahdritz, who both invested as part of a $65m funding round back in 2023. The story. |
Late Night, Social Media Feast on Trump's Big Beautiful Breakup With Musk ►Well, well, well. The entirely predictable yet explosive end to Donald Trump's relationship with oligarch Elon Musk was catnip for late night hosts on Thursday evening, with the likes of Stephen Colbert, Jimmy Kimmel, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon and Michael Kosta fully leaning into their glee at the big beautiful billionaire breakup. Reflecting on the feud, Colbert joked that “the most powerful man in the world and the richest man in the world, each with their own missiles, are throwing haymakers at each other, like Real Housewives on a girls trip." He added, “This could easily get out of control, but thankfully, a cooler head has stepped in to calm things down. Kanye tweeted, ‘Broooos please noooooo [hug emoji]. We love you both so much.’ Ye has entered the chat! Kanye, Elon and Trump? The easiest game of f**k, marry, kill! Because obviously I’d kill myself. You know things are bad when the rational voice mediating your dispute is Kanye West.” The recap.
—"The girls are fighting." It was like the Twitter of old on Thursday, as users on the site now known as X revelled at the jaw-dropping and very public split between Trump and Musk. The unbecoming and unedifying spectacle of the world’s most powerful man and the world’s richest man throwing insults and horrific allegations at each other, predictably, was met by concern and embarrassment for both Trump and Musk supporters, confused as they were by a feud between their two MAGA heroes. On the other side, however, both Trump and Musk haters were overcome with joy, and the resultant tweets harkened back to the pre-X golden era of Twitter. The reaction. |
Would You Pay $400M for This Movie? ►"These costs are not sustainable." Between COVID-19 delays, the strikes, reshoots and rising costs due to inflation, the blockbuster hopefuls of the 2025 box office season — from Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning, one of the most expensive movies ever made, to DC Studios/Warner Bros.’ Superman and Universal/Amblin’s Jurassic World: Rebirth — are saddled with price tags requiring sky-high box office returns. THR's Pamela McClintock considers the prospects of the summer's largest tentpoles. The analysis.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Searchlight Pictures’ sequel to its 2019 horror comedy pic Ready or Not will hit theaters April 10, 2026. Ready or Not: Here I Come sees Sarah Michelle Gellar and Elijah Wood join series star Samara Weaving. Radio Silence’s Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett are back to direct the follow-up, as are writers Guy Busick and R. Christopher Murphy. The movie, which begun production in earlier this spring, has rounded out its cast with Kathryn Newton, Shawn Hatosy, Néstor Carbonell, Kevin Durand (Abigail) and Olivia Cheng, as well as acclaimed horror filmmaker David Cronenberg. The story.
—🎭 Back for more. 🎭 After starring in Amazon MGM Studios’ action movie G20, Viola Davis is once again teaming up with the streamer, this time for a conspiracy thriller titled Ally Clark. Phillip Noyce, a veteran of the thriller genre with movies such as Clear and Present Danger, Salt and Rabbit Proof Fence on his resume, will direct the feature that will be produced by Irwin Winkler, the veteran producer behind Rocky, Goodfellas and The Alto Knights. The script, which was written by Jose Ruisanchez and Winkler, centers on an investigator named Ally Clark, to be played by Davis, who embarks on a perilous inquiry into an international conglomerate following the suspicious death of a close friend. The story.
—Clear eyes, full bellies, can't lose. Josh Greenbaum will direct the movie Care Bears that is in early development at Warner Bros. A writer has not yet been announced for the film that has also not disclosed plot details. Care Bears got their start on greeting cards in the early 1980s and landed their own television series later that decade. They have been the focus of such films as 1985’s animated The Care Bears Movie, which featured Mickey Rooney among the voice cast. Created by Elena Kucharik and Linda Denham, the Care Bears are friendly creatures with images on their bellies that reflect their unique personalities. The story.
—🎭 The Starchild. 🎭 Nick Jonas is in final talks to play KISS frontman Paul Stanley in a biopic about the famous rock band. McG will direct the project, titled Shout It Out Loud, which is being fully financed by STX. The band first formed in the 1970s New York and became known for its glam rock look, always performing in face paint and elaborate costumes. Darren Lemke wrote the latest draft of the project, which has been developed by band members and Universal Music Publishing Group’s Jody Gerson and Universal Music Group’s Bruce Resnikoff, who control the band’s music rights globally. Polygram’s David Blackman also developed the project. The story. |
Samuel L. Jackson in Talks to Star in 'Tulsa King' Spin-Off ►🎭 Yes, they deserved to die, and I hope they burn in hell! 🎭 Samuel L. Jackson is headed to the next big Taylor Sheridan drama. The iconic actor is deep in talks to tackle a Paramount+ spin-off of Tulsa King. THR first broke the news last year that a spin-off of the Sylvester Stallone hit was in the works, with former series writer Terence Winter previously noodling an idea set in New Orleans. Sources say the current plan is for Jackson to be introduced as a guest star character in the upcoming third season of Tulsa King — which is currently in production in Oklahoma and Atlanta — and then launch his own series. Dave Erickson will be writing the spin-off after previously taking over showrunner duties on Tulsa King for the new season. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 HBO’s documentary about a sexual abuse scandal in the Ohio State University athletic department has a premiere date. The premium outlet will debut Surviving Ohio State, which counts George Clooney among its producers, on June 17 (it will also stream on Max). The film features several survivors of abuse at the hands of Dr. Richard Strauss, an Ohio State athletics doctor from 1978-98, telling the stories of what happened to them and how they have tried to hold the university accountable for Strauss’ actions. HBO has also released a trailer for the documentary. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives is receiving the reunion treatment. After a successful second season that left fans wondering where exactly the fate of MomTok lies, Hulu said Thursday that the series will receive its first-ever reunion special, which is set to arrive July 1 via the streamer. The special episode will be hosted by Bachelor alum and The Viall Files podcast host Nick Viall. The cast, comprised of Taylor Frankie Paul, Jen Affleck, Jessi Ngatikaura, Layla Taylor, Mayci Neeley, Mikayla Matthews, Whitney Leavitt and Miranda McWhorter, will reunite to discuss the ins-and-outs of season two, with cast member Demi Engemann notably missing from all promotional photos. The story.
—🎭 New face. 🎭 Hulu’s Paradise is continuing to build out its post-apocalyptic world. The drama from creator Dan Fogelman has added Raymond Cham Jr. to its cast. He’s one of several new additions to the Paradise ensemble for the coming season, joining Shailene Woodley and Thomas Doherty. As with most things about season two, details about Cham’s character are being kept quiet for now. Cham will have a recurring role. Paradise is in production on season two, though Hulu hasn’t set a premiere date yet. The story.
—Go watch Andor! The second season premiere of Poker Face brought the Peacock show back into the streaming rankings — though not at quite as high a level as with its series debut. Poker Face, a case-of-the-week series starring Natasha Lyonne, logged 497m minutes of viewing time for the week of May 5-11. That is the show’s third-best weekly total to date, though it trails the 547m minutes for the week of its series premiere in January 2023. Netflix's The Four Seasons moved into the No. 1 overall spot with 1.16b viewing minutes in its second week, moving up one place from the previous rankings. It displaced another Netflix series, You, which remained strong with 1.01b minutes. Andor (830m minutes) recorded a third straight series high for Disney+ as the Star Wars series released episodes seven through nine of its second (and last) season. The streaming rankings. |
Film Review: 'Predator: Killer of Killers' ►"A satisfying dip into the Predator-Verse." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Dan Trachtenberg's Predator: Killer of Killers. Trachtenberg’s animated anthology, premiering on Hulu, puts an inventive spin on a durable franchise, which pits a Viking, a ninja and a World War II pilot against the titular adversary. The review.
—"Been there, exorcised that." Frank reviews David Midell's The Ritual. Al Pacino and Dan Stevens lead this exorcism genre flick, that also stars Ashley Greene, Patricia Heaton and Abigail Cowen. 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 Hot Ones' Sean Evans. The host of one of the hottest Emmy-eligible talk series — pun intended — reflects on his path to interviewing celebs over spicy chicken wings, why YouTube is the show's perfect home and what's next now that he and a consortium of others have bought it from BuzzFeed for $82.5m. Listen here.
In other news...
—Jennifer Lopez takes center stage in first trailer for Kiss of the Spider Woman
—FX’s Alien: Earth official trailer reveals a predatory twist
—Saoirse Ronan stars in Talking Heads’ long-awaited "Psycho Killer" music video
—Claire Brooks hired as AFCI executive director
—Celebrity chef Nick DiGiovanni brings pantry brand Osmo to major retailers
—Animation creator Ryan Crego signs with UTA
—Justin Bieber’s We The Band signs with Avex Music Group
What else we're reading...
—Lane Brown takes an indepth look at how and why Hollywood has abandoned Los Angeles for film and TV production [Vulture]
—Dylan Scott explains the blurry line between medical ketamine use and abuse for Elon Musk’s favorite drug [Vox]
—Kellen Browning looks at 8 ways Musk and Trump could inflict pain on each other [NYT]
—Victor Tangermann reports that a therapy chatbot told a recovering drug addict to have a little meth as a treat [Futurism]
—Here's your Friday list: "The 20 best U.S. remakes of foreign language films – ranked!" [Guardian]
Today...
...in 1997, Buena Vista unveiled the R-rated Nicolas Cage actioner Con Air in theaters, where it would become a huge summer hit and later, an action classic. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Jason Isaacs (62), Paul Giamatti (58), Sandra Bernhard (70), Harvey Fierstein (73), Jonathan Nolan (49), Hirokazu Koreeda (63), Ashley Park (34), Sonya Walger (51), Cameron Britton (39), Sasha Luss (33), Aisling Franciosi (32), Aubrey Anderson-Emmons (18), Staci Keanan (50), Brandon Scott Jones (41), Robert Englund (78), Amanda Pays (66), Nina Sosanya (56), Gideon Glick (37), Max Casella (58), Kristen Lee Gutoskie (37), Susan Twist (69), Danny Strong (51), Danny Webb (67), Dave King (47), Frida Gustavsson (32), Abbie Cobb (40), Toby Wallace (30), Ellie Kendrick (35), Stormi Maya (30), Chloe Guidry (18), Paula Brancati (36), Kyra Zagorsky (49), Josie Lawrence (66), Lyndie Greenwood (42), Alba August (32), Igby Rigney (25), Colin Quinn (66) |
| Enzo Staiola, the Italian child actor best known for playing, at the age of 9 years old, the sad-faced son Bruno Ricci in Vittorio De Sica’s 1948 Neo-realist masterpiece Ladri di Biciclette ( Bicycle Thieves), has died. He was 85. The obituary. |
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