| | | | | | What's news: Walt Disney Animation Studios has pulled the plug on its Tiana Disney+ series. Candace Owens wants to exhonerate Harvey Weinstein. The Los Angeles Times has launched its bias meter. Andrew Cripps is Disney's new theatrical distribution head. BritBox U.S. has topped the 4m subscriber mark. — Abid Rahman
Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at tips@thr.com. |
Contradictory Accounts of Gene Hackman’s Health In Final Months Emerge ►"In recent times, he was essentially kind of homebound." As the investigation into the mysterious death of Gene Hackman and his wife, Betsy Arakawa, enters its second phase, more details are emerging around the late couple's health and shifting habits in the final month of their lives. THR's Kevin Dolak reports that multiple accounts from family and those close to the late actor and his wife indicate the couple withdrew from everyone in their final days and weeks. The story.
—We live in hell. Candace Owens, the far-right commentator who in recent months has supersized her online following by zealously defending Justin Baldoni in his It Ends with Us legal battle with Blake Lively, revealed in a Feb. 27 livestream that her next project will be attempting to exonerate Harvey Weinstein in the court of public opinion ahead of his April 15 retrial in New York on rape charges. Owens explained she’s been talking with the imprisoned producer by telephone since early 2022, recording interviews since his second conviction in Los Angeles, also for rape and other sexual misconduct. Her takeaway: While he’s “an immoral man,” he’s also a victim of the justice system. The story.
—Why though? Los Angeles Times owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong is again raising eyebrows amongst the paper’s staff with the introduction of an AI-powered feature that analyzes stories for their political viewpoint. The executive chairman of L.A.’s paper of record announced this “L.A. Times Insights” tool in a letter to readers on Monday alongside a couple of other editorial changes. The feature, as demonstrated in several articles that appeared on the paper’s website on Monday, situates a piece’s tone within the political spectrum. The newspaper's new AI tools and bias meter "risks further eroding confidence in the news," says one union leader. The story.
—"Words can’t do justice to the love we shared for over 60 years." Carl Dean, Dolly Parton’s devoted husband of nearly 60 years who avoided the spotlight and inspired her timeless hit “Jolene,” died Monday. He was 82. According to a statement provided to the Associated Press by Parton’s publicist, Dean died in Nashville, Tennessee. He will be laid to rest in a private ceremony with immediate family attending. The story.
—"This isn’t journalism, this is bullying." Millie Bobby Brown has had enough. The Stranger Things actress took to Instagram on Monday night, to hit back more forcefully at people on social media and the press who have commented on her appearance during the press tour for her new movie The Electric State. In a near three-minute video, Brown also called out the journalists by name who have written stories about her appearance recently. The story. |
AI Company Aims to Make Studio-Quality Movies for $500,000 ►Ominous. Pouya Shahbazian, a producer on the Divergent franchise, has launched Staircase Studios AI, an artificial intelligence-driven film, TV and gaming studio. Staircase touts its own proprietary AI workflow, ForwardMotion, which claims to be able to produce near-studio-quality movie releases for under $500,000 each. The studio, which said it aims to produce around 30 low budget projects in the next three to four years, unveiled a teaser with the first five minutes from its debut feature, The Woman With Red Hair, directed by Brett Stuart and from Michael Schatz’s 2016 Black List script. The story.
—That didn’t take long. Just week after leaving Warner Bros., Andrew Cripps has landed at Disney, where he’ll succeed Tony Chambers as head of theatrical distribution. He’ll begin the gig March 3. The position opened up after Chambers was elevated to overseeing Europe, the Middle East and Africa as part of a major restructuring of how Disney operates businesses in the region. Cripps is a veteran distribution exec who has worked at 20th Century Fox and Paramount. In his new role, he’ll be responsible for worldwide theatrical distribution for all films produced and released by Disney’s seven banners (Pixar, Walt Disney Animation, Marvel, Lucasfilm, 20th Century and Searchlight). The story.
—"We’re not trying to attack cable." Fox may be getting into the direct-to-streaming business, but it has no plans on competing with the likes of Netflix, Peacock, or Disney+. Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch spoke to a Morgan Stanley conference Monday, where he framed the company’s surprise foray into streaming as a plan to supplement the traditional pay-TV business, and similar to the plan outlined by Venu, the ill-fated live streaming sports service that Fox, Disney, and Warner Bros. Discovery announced last year. The story.
—"The enterprise value is very high." BBC director general Tim Davie and BBC chair Samir Shah answered questions from the Culture, Media and Sport Committee of the House of Commons in Britain’s parliament on Tuesday, addressing a wide range of issues. In one update, Davie shared that streamer BritBox U.S. has topped the 4m subscriber mark. BBC Studios bought out venture partner ITV to take full control of BritBox International at the start of March 2024 when the streamer had more than 3.75m subscribers. The story.
—Looking to buy. Canal+ Group, which also houses film production and distribution arm StudioCanal and was recently spun off by Vivendi, reported its full-year 2024 results on Tuesday, ending the year with 26.9m subscribers in 52 countries across three continents, up slightly from 26.8m as of the end of 2023, as revenue and earnings rose. Revenue rose 3.6 percent to $6.77b, with EBITA up 5.4 percent to $528m. The company also highlighted “a very limited debt level of $372m, which will allow Canal+ to pursue its active M&A strategy.” The results. |
Oscars Draw 18M Viewers, Down From 2024 ►Not great. The 2025 edition of the Oscars drew a smaller total audience than a year ago — but posted gains among younger viewers. Sunday’s telecast, hosted by Conan O’Brien, averaged 18.07m viewers on ABC and Hulu, according to Nielsen fast national ratings (which includes the streaming audience on Hulu). The show marked the first time the Academy Awards were live streamed, though Hulu suffered a number of technical glitches during the evening, including cutting off the final two awards of the night for some users. The total audience Sunday fell by about 7 percent comparison to last year’s show, which hit a four-year high of 19.49m viewers on ABC, with no live stream. The ratings.
—"Loved hugging so many friends and colleagues on this return." Karla Sofía Gascón thanked the Academy and congratulated winners from Sunday night’s Oscars in a post-ceremony message on Monday, concluding a chapter of the actress’ PR crisis which began over a month ago with a series of resurfaced racially charged social media posts. “Thanks to the members of the Academy for the best actress nomination, for the invitation to the ceremony,” the Emilia Perez star wrote in Spanish on Instagram. She added, “I enjoyed it very much, it was entertaining and fun, especially the fabulous host Jimmy Kimmel — he is fantastic and looks more like the great Conan O’Brien every day.” The story.
—"My goal is for them [stars] to not notice me because the second they think there’s a photographer or media in the room or the dressing room, everything changes." Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo sharing a moment of triumph after a crowd pleasing opening performance. Conan O’Brien jokingly trying to steal Adrien Brody’s Oscar. These moments from the 2025 Oscars didn’t make the ABC broadcast, but John Shearer — who this year served as an in-house, all access photographer for the Academy and Getty Images — captured them and many more. The photos. |
Inside Vanity Fair's Oscar Party ►Winners, billionaires and rock royalty. THR's nicest man Chris Gardner is rested and recovered and ready to report on what happened at the 2025 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. Despite steep competition from A-list bashes thrown by Beyoncé and Madonna, Chris writes that Vanity Fair boasts the top stop of the night as it's the only place one will find the most boldfaced names under one roof. The story.
—Naked and famous. Oscars night continued the Grammys naked fashion trend. Last month, for music’s biggest night, every iteration of bras, panties, corsets and more made an appearance at the Grammys. (Kanye West’s wife, Bianca Censori, memorably skipped the underwear altogether on the red carpet.) Now, for the 2025 Oscars, a handful of stars continued to drive that style trend after the red carpet for Hollywood's biggest night, leaning into the naked vibe at the Vanity Fair Oscar Party. The story.
—"Don’t blame or credit Bianca Censori." Laurie Brookins dives deeper into the naked trend that so marked the 2025 awards season, and offers a history of the sheer look. The story. |
'Tiana' Disney+ Series Shelved ►Shocker! THR's Pamela McClintock has the big scoop on Walt Disney Animation Studios officially pulling the plug on its Tiana princess series as it abandons making original longform content for streaming. The company confirmed there will be some layoffs in its Vancouver studio as a result of this shift in business strategy. In addition to the Tiana series, the studio is also scrapping an unannounced feature-length project that was set to go straight to Disney+. Tiana was first announced in December 2020, and was envisioned as a musical featuring Anika Noni Rose reprising her role as Tiana from the 2009 film The Princess and the Frog, the film centering on Disney’s first Black princess. The story.
—🎭 Another big name 🎭 Krysten Ritter has joined the cast of Showtime's Dexter: Resurrection as a guest star named “Mia.” No other details about the role are being revealed. The series, which is now in production, returns Michael C. Hall to playing Dexter Morgan, the titular role he made famous when starring in the original Dexter, which launched on Showtime in 2006 and ran for eight seasons. Dexter: Resurrection premieres this summer. Following the Dexter: New Blood revival series, prequel Dexter: Original Sin launched last year, and released its finale last month. Original Sin became the most streamed global original series for Showtime in 10 years with its finale’s 2.68m global viewers. The story.
—"We needed more real estate." Following the news that Max is developing a Crazy Rich Asians TV series, Jon M. Chu — who helmed the 2018 blockbuster before his two Wicked films — gave a taste of what’s to come on the small screen. "We needed more real estate, that was the reality," Chu told THR on the Oscars red carpet on Sunday. “We developed the movie over and over and over again and we’re still working on a version of something that I won’t talk about now, but the TV landscape allowed us to use all the characters.” The story.
—🎭 TV debut 🎭 Hulu's The Testaments has found another of its lead roles. Lucy Halliday will star in the series, a sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, as Daisy. The character is one of three protagonists in the Margaret Atwood novel on which the show is based, alongside Agnes (Chase Infiniti) and Aunt Lydia (Ann Dowd, continuing her Handmaid’s Tale role). The Testaments is set 15 years after the events of The Handmaid’s Tale. Daisy is a Canadian teenager whose life is turned upside down when she learns of her connection to the Republic of Gilead. The story.
—🎭 Soccer team's worth 🎭 FX has announced a host of additions to the cast of its series Alien: Earth. Eleven actors, including three who have worked with showrunner Noah Hawley on Fargo , have joined the series in guest roles. The new additions are Richa Moorjani, Karen Aldridge, Enzo Cilenti, Max Rinehart, Amir Boutrous, Victoria Masoma, Tom Moya, Andy Yu, Michael Smiley, Jamie Bisping and Tanapol Chuksrida. They join a cast led by Sydney Chandler, who plays a young woman that, along with a ragtag band of soldiers, make a fateful discovery. The cast also includes Alex Lawther, Timothy Olyphant, Essie Davis, Samuel Blenkin, Babou Ceesay, David Rysdahl, Adrian Edmondson, Adarsh Gourav, Jonathan Ajayi, Erana James, Lily Newmark, Diem Camille and Moe Bar-El. The story. |
Trump and Vance Pulled an Old Hollywood Trick on Zelensky ►"The purpose of The Stranger in the Room is to destroy the project." In a guest column for THR, veteran screenwriter Todd Alcott writes that by letting his vice president instigate the Oval Office blowup with the Ukrainian leader, Donald Trump resorted to a timeworn entertainment industry technique he calls "The Stranger in the Room." The column.
What else we're reading...
—A.A. Dowd has the entirely correct take that the Oscars, against all odds, has acquired good taste [Ringer]
—Well worth the wait for Anthony Lane's wonderful tribute to Gene Hackman, and his unforgettable smile [New Yorker]
—Jonathan Beale explains what a pause in U.S. military aid could mean for Ukraine [BBC]
—With the U.S. sliding towards oligarchy, Joshua Zeitz writes that the Gilded Age is back, and that should worry conservatives [Politico]
—Amy Borrett reports that Americans are applying for U.K. citizenship in record numbers [FT]
Today...
...in 2011, CBS Films released Daniel Barnz's Beastly in theaters. The fantasy drama film, loosely based on Alex Flinn's 2007 novel of the same name, starred Vanessa Hudgens, Alex Pettyfer and Mary-Kate Olsen in her final film role. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Catherine O'Hara (71), Paul W.S. Anderson (60), Sam Taylor-Johnson (58), Len Wiseman (52), Garth Jennings (53), Jez Butterworth (56), Patricia Heaton (67), Margo Harshman (39), Mykelti Williamson (68), Kay Lenz (72), Steven Weber (64), Patsy Kensit (57), Jenna Boyd (32), Daniel Roebuck (62), Scott Michael Foster (40), Tamzin Merchant (38), Josh Bowman (37), Jamie-Lee O'Donnell (38), Andrea Bowen (35), Park Min-young (39), Christine Baumgartner (51), Chaz Bono (56), Will Keen (55), Adrian Lyne (84), Stacy Edwards (60), Andrea Bendewald (55), Amanda Collin (39), Miya Cech (18), Dominique Pinon (70), Vinette Robinson (43), Jon Xue Zhang (37), Audrey Esparza (39), Will Hochman (33), Bill Milner (30) |
| Joey Molland, the Badfinger guitarist who later took on lead singer duties as he led the group into later decades, has died. He was 77. The obituary. |
|
|
|
| | | |
