Tina Fey Talks New Series 'The Four Seasons'; Why Hollywood Is Terrified of Tariffs; 'Good Night and Good Luck' Breaks Broadway Record; '#1 Happy Family USA' Review

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View on web New reader? Subscribe April 16, 2025 What's news: It's magazine day! This week's cover star is the inestimable Tina Fey. Sam Neill will star in the next MonsterVerse movie. BET+ has greenlit Martin spinoff Varnell Hill. Andor creator Tony Gilroy says he's ready to move on from Star Wars. Bleeker has landed the Josh O’Connor drama Rebuilding. — Abid Rahman Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at tips@thr.com. Tina Fey Talks New Series 'The Four Seasons' ►On the cover. With the upcoming Netflix comedy miniseries The Four Seasons, an adaptation of the 1981 film of the same name, Tina Fey is fronting her first TV project since 30 Rock. The creator and star opens up to THR's Mikey O'Connell about the show, about loss, that Lorne Michaels comment and why she's ignoring the impulse to hide and retire: "I'm always out here hustling." The cover story.   Why Hollywood Is Terrified of Tariffs ►Volatility bites. The pandemic and strikes were bad enough. But, with entertainment companies struggling to stay in the black amidst Trumpian chaos, THR's Alex Weprin writes that a recession triggered by Trump's tariffs could be an extinction-level event for the industry. The story.  —Cowards! The organizers of the 2025 Breakthrough Prize ceremony should have thought twice before booking the famously unfiltered Seth Rogen to present an award — something they seemed to acknowledge when they cut out parts of his remarks from the official video that streamed on YouTube a week later. While presenting an award at the event known as the Oscars of Science, The Studio star pointed out the irony of Big Tech's support for the Trump administration's defunding of science. Alas, the potentially embarrassing comments were edited out. The story.  —Fighting the good fight. Despite a court order, a reporter and photographer from The Associated Press were barred from an Oval Office news conference on Monday with Donald Trump and El Salvador leader Nayib Bukele. Last week’s federal court decision forbidding the Trump administration from punishing the AP for refusing to rename the Gulf of Mexico was to take effect Monday. The administration is appealing the decision and arguing with the news outlet over whether it needs to change anything until those appeals are exhausted. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. circuit set a Thursday hearing on Trump’s request that any changes be delayed while case is reviewed. The story.  —🏆 In the mix 🏆 The 2025 Peabody Awards have announced the first batch of this year’s nominees. Nominations in the documentary, news, public service and radio/podcast categories, recognizing impactful stories from broadcasting and streaming media, were revealed on Tuesday. Noteworthy documentary contenders selected by the Peabody board of jurors include Oscar-nominated docs Black Box Diaries and Sugarcane, as well as the following Academy Award-hopeful documentaries: Daughters, Hollywoodgate, The Last of the Sea Women, The Remarkable Life of Ibelin, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story and Will & Harper. The nominees.  Hollywood At Risk of Becoming the "Next Detroit Auto" ►"The studios don’t care where they do the work." The specter of Los Angeles becoming another Detroit, a city built on a specific industry that became a shell of its former self when that business moved out, loomed over a compelling film and TV industry town hall that tackled not only the calamitous drop in production in Hollywood and California, but also the fight to get the state to increase its entertainment production tax incentive. THR's Borys Kit and Katie Kilkenny report that the event on Monday night drilled down into a later stage of the entertainment production pipeline that is also currently in crisis: scoring and postproduction. The story.  —📅 Setting sail 📅 Universal's DreamWorks Animation announced a new original movie on Tuesday that’s titled Forgotten Island. It will open in theaters on Sept. 25, 2026. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but the film is described as a broad party comedy adventure that transports the film’s protagonists to a long-forgotten, magical island rooted in Filipino mythology. Joel Crawford will direct and write the project with Januel Mercado. Crawford’s longtime collaborator Mark Swift will produce. The duo were previously nominated for a slew of awards, including the Oscar, for their critically acclaimed Puss in Boots sequel, which played in theaters in 2022. The story.  —🎭 Sweet as bro 🎭 Sam Neill is the latest actor to join the next MonsterVerse movie at Legendary. The film is the follow-up to 2024’s Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, which earned $571m at the global box office. Plot details are being kept under wraps for the next entry, which, according to the studio, will feature “several new human characters alongside the beloved and iconic Titans Godzilla and Kong as they face off against a cataclysmic world-ending threat.” Grant Sputore is set to direct the project from a script by Dave Callaham. Neill joins Kaitlyn Dever, who is also new to the franchise, and headlining the human cast that also includes Jack O’Connell as her brother and Dan Stevens. The story.  —🤝 Sold! 🤝 Rebuilding, the Josh O’Connor drama that premiered out of this year’s Sundance Film Festival, has landed at Bleecker Street for the U.S. Max Walker-Silverman directs the film, which also stars Lily Latorre, Meghann Fahy, Kali Reis and Amy Madigan. Walker-Silverman worked with Bleecker on his last movie, A Love Song. In Rebuilding, O’Connor stars as a rancher who loses his ranch in a wildfire and moves into a FEMA camp, where he reconnects with her daughter, ex-wife and his larger community. The story. 'Andor' Creator Tony Gilroy Is Ready to Move on From 'Star Wars' ►"I've contributed enough for the time being." Disney+'s Andor debuted its second and final season in Los Angeles on Monday night, as star Diego Luna and creator Tony Gilroy reflected on closing out the story of Cassian Andor. The series was originally conceived as five seasons but pivoted to two; the final installment will unfold over 12 episodes, broken down into four chapters of three episodes each. For his part, Gilroy admitted, “I don’t think it’s a stretch at all to say this is the most important thing I’ll ever have a chance to work on. It’s a major chunk of my life. We made eight movies in five years, that’s what we did really. That’s how we think of it."  The story.  —🎭 Still saving lives 🎭 Grey’s Anatomy alum Jessica Capshaw has joined ABC's 911: Nashville, where she’ll star opposite Chris O’Donnell. Details about her role are being kept quiet for the moment. ABC and 20th Television, which is producing the series, declined to comment. ABC gave 911: Nashville a straight-to-series order in February, making it the third show in the first-responder franchise from Ryan Murphy Television. ABC renewed the flagship series for a ninth season (and third on the network after six on Fox) in March, while 911: Lone Star, which was set in Austin, wrapped after six seasons on Fox in February. The story.  —🎭 Up next 🎭 Multiple Emmy winner Laura Linney has joined the cast of American Classic, a comedy series at MGM+. She’ll star opposite Kevin Kline and Jon Tenney in the show, in which a disgraced Broadway star (Kline) returns to a family-run theater in his hometown. The show comes from creators Michael Hoffman and Bob Martin. Fifth Season is behind American Classic, with Mar-Key Pictures, Likely Story and Anonymous Content producing. The story.  —🎭 Jack Lame on board 🎭 James Marsden has been added to the Your Friends & Neighbors season two ensemble. Following the season one premiere last Friday, Apple TV+ announced that Marsden will join season two of the drama series which is currently filming. And the news comes after the series was already renewed for a second season in November. The show's season one cast includes Jon Hamm, Amanda Peet, Olivia Munn, Hoon Lee, Mark Tallman, Lena Hall, Aimee Carrero, Eunice Bae, Isabel Gravitt and Donovan Colan. The story. —Throwback. BET+ has greenlit Varnell Hill, a workplace-comedy series based on Tommy Davidson's character on Martin, with Davidson reprising the role. Martin Lawrence, the Martin of Martin, is co-creator and will executive produce Varnell Hill. Bentley Evans is the other co-creator, and will showrun as well as executive produce. No word yet on if Lawrence will appear as radio/TV personality Martin Payne. The two characters are… not exactly friends. The story.  Broadway Box Office: 'Good Night and Good Luck' Breaks Weekly Record ►Phenomenon. George Clooney's Good Night, and Good Luck broke its own weekly record to become the highest grossing play in Broadway history. The production led the industry grosses last week with $3.78m garnered across eight performances, in the first full week following the play’s April 3 opening. This also broke the house record for eight performances at the Winter Garden Theatre. The average ticket price was $303.40. Othello, starring Denzel Washington and Jake Gyllenhaal, had the second-highest gross in the industry last week, with $3.1m and an average ticket price of $375.22 at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre (which has a lower seating capacity than the Winter Garden). The Broadway box office report.  —"There are always people weeping in the audience." THR's Seija Rankin spoke to Ilana Glazer about Good Night, and Good Luck. The comedian, who plays journalist Shirley Wershba in the Broadway adaptation of George Clooney and Grant Heslov's film, reveals how audiences are reacting to the show's relevance to current politics. The interview.  —🎭 Homecoming 🎭 Leslie Odom Jr. will return to star in Hamilton this fall as Aaron Burr. Odom, who originated the role Off-Broadway and later won a Tony Award for his portrayal, will return to the show starting Sept. 9, through Nov. 23 at the Richard Rodgers Theatre. His return marks nine years since he left the show in July 2016. Odom’s return to Hamilton comes as the production prepares for its 10th anniversary on Broadway, on Aug. 6, 2025. The story. TV Review: '#1 Happy Family USA' ►"Starts off broad, but gains in depth and intelligence." THR's chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg reviews Amazon Prime Video's #1 Happy Family USA. Ramy creator Ramy Youssef and South Park veteran Pam Brady's series looks at a Muslim American family's experience with assimilation, code-switching and xenophobia in the aftermath of 9/11. The review. —"Important topic, blandly meandering films." Daniel reviews Alex Gibney's The Dark Money Game. Gibney’s two feature-length HBO documentaries, Ohio Confidential and Wealth of the Wicked, explain the context and consequences of Citizens United. The review. —"A fun cast makes familiar IP worth revisiting." THR's Angie Han reviews The CW's Sherlock & Daughter. David Thewlis and Blu Hunt star in Brendan Foley's drama, which sees the detective working with a young American woman who shows up at Baker Street claiming to be his daughter. The review. —"A tad sentimental but impossible to resist." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Pippa Ehrlich's Pangolin: Kulu's Journey. This Netflix doc, from the filmmaker behind My Octopus Teacher, traces a volunteer conservationist’s experience with the rehabilitation of a traumatized pangolin pup rescued from illegal traffickers in South Africa. The review.  In other news... —Benedict Cumberbatch, Olivia Colman brawl over bitter divorce in The Roses trailer —Netflix's Four Seasons trailer puts a strain on several marriages —And Just Like That S3 trailer returns Carrie and friends into our lives —UTA hires hip hop agents Zach Iser and Caroline Yim —Snoop Dogg to host Time100 special for ABC  —Acast and The Athletic strike exclusive sales partnership —Jeffrey Runnings, founder, bassist and vocalist of For Against, dies at 61 ​​​What else we're reading... —Absolute must-read Dana Mattioli piece on the tactics oligarch Elon Musk uses to manage his "legion" of babies and the "harem" of mothers he's collecting. Warning: This is a really gross story [WSJ] —Moira Donegan writes that the Blue Origin flight showcased the utter defeat of American feminism [Guardian] —Stefania Palma reports that Mark Zuckerberg considered spinning off Instagram from Meta in 2018 [FT] —Aja Romano unpacks the Gen Z fervor that has powered A Minecraft Movie to box office riches [Vox] —August Brown is pushing back against the mocking of Coachella goers paying for their tickets via  installment plans [LAT] Today...   ...in 2010, Screen Gems released Neil LaBute's black comedy Death at a Funeral in theaters. A remake of a British film, the ensemble cast included Chris Rock, Martin Lawrence, Danny Glover, Regina Hall, James Marsden, Tracy Morgan, Loretta Devine, Zoë Saldaña, Columbus Short, Luke Wilson, Keith David, Ron Glass and Kevin Hart. Peter Dinklage was the only actor to star in both versions. The original review. Today's birthdays: Anya Taylor-Joy (29), Sadie Sink (23), Claire Foy (41), Martin Lawrence (60), Shu Qi (49), Ellen Barkin (71), Lukas Haas (49), Arty Froushan (32), Jon Cryer (60), Phoebe Fox (38), Hayes MacArthur (48), Belinda Stewart-Wilson (54), Jay O. Sanders (72), Tanya Moodie (53), Midori Francis (31), Billy West (73), Tom Segura (46), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (78), Sean Maher (50), David Lyons (49), Max Beesley (54), Malcolm McRae (31), Marshall R. Teague (72), Liliana Mumy (31), Ricco Ross (67), Cassandra Naud (33), Jack Cutmore-Scott (38), Lisette Olivera (26), Nikki Griffin (47), Peter Billingsley (54), Lorraine Nicholson (35), Hayley Squires (37), Ebony Obsidian (31), Yorick van Wageningen (61), David Kohan (61), Michel Gill (65), Noah Fleiss (41) Wink Martindale, a rock ‘n’ roll disc jockey and good friend of Elvis Presley who gained fame as the host of such TV game shows as Tic-Tac-Dough, Gambit and High Rollers, has died. He was 91. The obituary.  ADVERTISEMENT This email was sent to punjabsvera@gmail.com by The Hollywood Reporter. Please add email@email.hollywoodreporter.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. Visit the Preferences Center to update your profile and customize what email alerts and newsletters you receive. The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2025 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 11355 W Olympic Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90064 View in Browser | Privacy Policy | Your Privacy Rights | Ad Choices | Terms of Use | Unsubscribe