| | | | What's news: FX's Mayan M.C. will end with season five. CBS renews Ghosts. Paramount+ renews Criminal Minds: Evolution. Rick and Morty co-creator Justin Roiland faces domestic violence charges. WBD raises the monthly subscription price for HBO Max. — Abid Rahman |
Lisa Marie Presley 1968 - 2023 ►"She was the most passionate strong and loving woman." Lisa Marie Presley, the smoky-voiced singer and songwriter who led a soap opera existence as the only child of Elvis Presley and the first wife of Michael Jackson, has died. She was 54.
Presley died Thursday at West Hills Hospital and Medical Center after an episode of cardiac arrest earlier in the day at her home in Calabasas, California, her mother, actress Priscilla Presley announced in a statement. The obituary.
—"There is heartbreak, and then there is sorrow." Nicolas Cage, John Travolta, LeAnn Rimes, Octavia Spencer, Cary Elwes and Billy Corgan were among the many Hollywood stars who took to social media to pay tribute to Lisa Marie Presley. In a statement to THR, Cage said: "This is devastating news. Lisa had the greatest laugh of anyone I ever met. She lit up every room, and I am heartbroken. I find some solace believing she is reunited with her son Benjamin." The reaction. |
Spielberg and Williams Reflect on 50-Year Collaboration ►"I’ve got 10 more years to go. I’ll stick around for a while!" Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams discussed their unparalleled 50-year collaboration during an American Cinematheque celebration of the duo at the Writers Guild of America Theater in Beverly Hills on Thursday night. Williams, 90, thrilled the crowd, and surprised Spielberg, by rescinding his prior declaration that he would retire from film scoring after his latest project with Spielberg, The Fabelmans, and then one more Indiana Jones film. The story.
—Felony complaint. Justin Roiland, the co-creator of Rick and Morty and Solar Opposites, is facing domestic violence charges in Orange County, California, based on an alleged 2020 incident. According to the May 2020 felony complaint, which THR has obtained, Roiland has been charged with one count of domestic battery with corporal injury and one count of false imprisonment by menace, violence, fraud or deceit. The story.
—Plea deal. Ezra Miller is due in court Friday where the Flash actor is set to accept a plea deal to avoid jail time in connection with a break-in at a southern Vermont home last spring. Miller agreed to a suspended sentence of 89 to 90 days in jail for the misdemeanor of unlawful trespass, according to a plea deal filed with the Vermont Superior Court in Bennington. The story.
—Has Peak TV peaked? FX head John Landgraf, who coined the term Peak TV in the summer of 2015, presented the network's research on the annual tally of scripted series aired in the U.S. Thursday at the Television Critics Association press tour. According to FX research, 2022 brought 599 English-language scripted shows to viewers — 40 more than in 2021, for a year-to-year increase of 7 percent. The story.
—Princely numbers. Netflix’s Harry & Meghan had a strong second week on Nielsen's streaming TV charts, and Wednesday held onto its top overall ranking. Kindred, meanwhile, cracked the top 10 original series for the week of its premiere on Hulu. Harry & Meghan amassed 1.69b minutes of viewing time in the U.S. for the week of Dec. 12-18. That’s up from 1.27b minutes, a gain of 34 percent, from its premiere week. The streaming rankings.
—Volte-face. Netflix, which launched its ad-supported subscription tier in November after years of resisting ads, will host its first Upfronts presentation on May 17 at the Paris Theater in New York. The streamer will host a presentation at 5 p.m ET followed by an event on the Wednesday of Upfronts week, the time slot when Paramount Global has typically hosted its presentation to advertisers at Carnegie Hall. The story. |
'Minx' Lands at Starz After HBO Max Cancellation ►Homeless no more. Minx has found a new home after being dropped by HBO Max. Starz — whose parent company, Lionsgate, produces Minx — has picked up the comedy series starring Ophelia Lovibond and Jake Johnson and will have rights to both seasons of the show. The first ran on HBO Max in spring 2022, and the second had nearly finished production before the streamer rescinded its renewal and scrapped the series. The story.
—Mayan prophecy. FX’s Sons of Anarchy spinoff Mayans M.C. will conclude with its upcoming fifth season. The fifth season of the series, created by Kurt Sutter and Elgin James, is expected to air sometime this year. The story.
—Other-worldly success. CBS has given an early third season pickup to its breakout comedy Ghosts. The series, based on a BBC show of the same name, is running neck and neck with its lead-in, Young Sheldon, for the most watched comedy on TV. The story.
—Still evolving. Paramount+ has picked up Criminal Minds: Evolution for a second season. The renewal comes as the 10-episode first season resumes Thursday following a holiday break. The season finale is set for Feb. 9. The story.
—Two and through. Netflix has renewed its comedy Mo for a second and final season. Ending after two seasons is by design, however, the second installment will wrap up Palestinian refugee Mo Najjar’s (co-creator and star Mo Amer) journey to gain asylum in Houston. The story.
—Strategy change. NBC is moving its first-year drama Found off its midseason schedule and will give it a fall 2023 berth instead. Found, a missing-persons drama starring Shanola Hampton (Shameless), had been slated to premiere Feb. 19 as part of the network’s Sunday lineup. Instead, NBC is moving the drama back to fall in hopes of giving it a larger marketing push and better chance to succeed. The story. |
PGA Awards Film and TV Noms Revealed ►🏆 Blockbusters ahoy! 🏆 The Producers Guild of America has revealed the film and TV nominees for the 2023 Producers Guild Awards. Nominees for the Darryl F. Zanuck Award, the group's biggest award that’s historically been considered a strong precursor for the best picture Oscar, include Avatar: The Way of Water, The Banshees of Inisherin, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Elvis, Everything Everywhere All At Once, The Fabelmans, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, Tár, Top Gun: Maverick and The Whale. The nominees.
—🏆 Angela vs. Viola 🏆 Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and The Woman King were among the leading 2023 NAACP Image Awards film nominees with 12 and nine nominations, respectively. Black Panther 2 star Angela Bassett and Woman King star Viola Davis were each nominated for the NAACP Images Awards’ top prize of entertainer of the year. The nominees.
—Ad tier looking more appealing. HBO Max is the latest streaming service to get a price increase. Warner Bros. Discovery says that it will raise the monthly price of HBO Max to $15.99 per month effective immediately, with it taking effect for existing subscribers beginning in February. The ad-supported tier of the service will remain at $9.99 per month for the time being. The story.
—He'll be fine. Apple CEO Tim Cook is set to receive a pay cut this year following shareholder guidance and a “recommendation” from the executive himself after his compensation rose to $99.4m during the 2022 fiscal year, according to SEC filings. For 2023, Cook’s target compensation will drop to $49m, which is a more than 40 percent drop from the CEO’s 2022 target compensation. The story.
—"A good showcase for tennis' next generation." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Netflix's Break Point. The producers of Formula 1: Drive to Survive docuseries turn their attentions to the 2022 professional tennis season, with a focus on up-and-coming stars. 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 episode, Scott spoke to Debbie Harry and Chris Stein. The legendary singer and guitarist of the trailblazing punk/new-wave band Blondie reflect on the fateful way in which they came together, the creation of their biggest hits and the new Grammy-nominated box set Blondie: Against The Odds 1974-1982. Listen here.
In other news...
—Somebody I Used to Know trailer sees Alison Brie caught in a confusing love triangle
—Reese Witherspoon, Ashton Kutcher play longtime friends who swap homes in Your Place or Mine trailer
—Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret trailer: Rachel McAdams, Abby Ryder Fortson prove coming of age is a life-long journey
—CAA promotes eight from Elevate program to agent
—Spike Lee to receive WGA East award for career achievement
—Spike Lee, Gersh launch HBCU fellowship program
What else we're reading...
—Sam Thielman goes inside HBO Max’s great Looney Tunes purge [Slate]
—Hannah Jane Parkinson looks at how Jennifer Coolidge became an icon at 61 [Guardian]
—Chris Feil writes that Skinamarink is the TikTok generation’s Blair Witch Project [Daily Beast]
—Kyle Buchanan suggests that Everything Everywhere All at Once star Stephanie Hsu is the dark horse of award season [NYT]
—Here's your Friday list: "Every Edward Norton movie performance, ranked" [Vulture]
Today...
...in 1995, Tristar’s 133-minute, R-rated epic Legends of the Fall hit theaters. The film went on to nab three Oscar nominations at the 67th Academy Awards ceremony, winning one for cinematographer John Toll. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Shonda Rhimes (53), Ruth Wilson (41), Liam Hemsworth (33), Orlando Bloom (46), Julia Louis-Dreyfus (62), Natalia Dyer (28), Penelope Ann Miller (59), Patrick Dempsey (57), Michael Peña (47), Janet Hubert (67), Nicole Eggert (51), Andy Allo (34), Suzanne Cryer (56), Terry Stone (52), Trace Adkins (61), Katy Brand (44), Will McCormack (49), Sam Jay (41), Liv Corfixen (50) |
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