| | | | | | What's news: Netflix has renewed Ransom Canyon. Karla Sofía Gascón has revealed her first post-Emilia Perez project. Brandon Flynn will star as James Dean in a biopic. Layoffs have hit BET. ViX is the fastest-growing streaming service in the Americas in 2025. — Abid Rahman
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Uh-oh: Anthropic Wins Key Ruling on AI Book Training Use ►Bad news for studios. Transformative. That’s how a federal court characterized Amazon-backed Anthropic's use of millions of books across the web to teach its artificial intelligence system. THR's Winston Cho reports that it’s the first decision to consider the issue and will serve as a template for other courts overseeing similar cases. And studios, now that some have entered the fight over the industry-defining technology, should be uneasy about the ruling. The thrust of these cases will be decided by one question: Are AI companies covered by fair use, the legal doctrine in intellectual property law that allows creators to build upon copyrighted works without a license? On that issue, a court found that Anthropic is on solid legal ground, at least with respect to training. The story.
—Austerity is here. Verve, the literary and talent agency, is the latest Hollywood company to undergo belt-tightening as the industry weathers what’s shaping up to be a year of economizing. Verve agents and employees who have earnings that hit a certain threshold will now see salary adjustments on a temporary basis, THR has learned. Additionally, the agency is cutting overtime expenses for assistants, who are hourly workers that generally work 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. shifts. The measures arrive amid a new wave of cost-cutting across the entertainment industry in response to studios’ content spending pullback on feature films and television series. The story.
—For sale! The main lot of Occidental Studios, a complex near downtown Los Angeles that touts its legacy dating back to the silent film era, is on the market. The space, which houses four stages totaling 31,489-square-feet along with eight office buildings and bungalows on 2.89 acres, has been listed at $45m with commercial real estate giant CBRE, which also lists a leasing option. The lot, which dates back to 1913, also includes 212 parking spots. The lot’s clients have included projects from Disney, HBO, Showtime, Sony, Paramount, Fox, NBC and Netflix and shows filmed on its stages include Fox’s New Girl and HBO’s Sharp Objects. The story.
—Denied! Netflix has rejected independent director Jay Hoag’s resignation from the board and also appointed Ellie Mertz, chief financial officer at Airbnb, as a new member. Hoag, a venture capitalist and founding General Partner at Technology Crossover Ventures, had served on Netflix’s board since 1999, and serves as the board’s lead independent director and chair of its nominating and governance committee. He failed to secure a majority of votes from shareholders at the company’s annual meeting on June 5. Company policy dictates that if a director does not secure a majority of votes, they are expected to submit their resignation, and the board will then meet to decide whether to accept it. The story. |
First Bond of Amazon Era Revealed ►Slappers only! The first new James Bond under the complete ownership of Amazon MGM Studios will make his debut in 2026, and he is young, brash, has a robust origin story and a mysterious scar on his right cheek … and is a playable character. Next year, the Danish video game publisher IO Interactive will release 007 First Light, a new video game franchise starring a wholly original version of Bond. It’s a big deal, not just because it is the first new Bond to be released under Amazon, and the first new version of the James Bond character since Daniel Craig starred in Casino Royale in 2006, but it will also be the first major James Bond game to be released in 15 years. The story.
—"Not immune." BET is cutting jobs as part of a streamlining of its organization under a recently unveiled 3.5 percent reduction of the domestic workforce at its parent company Paramount Global as the conglomerate awaits FCC approval of Skydance Media’s deal to acquire it. "BET is not immune to the conditions necessitating these actions, so we too must reduce staff within our organization,” BET Media Group president and CEO Scott Mills said in a Wednesday staff memo obtained by THR. He didn’t immediately detail the number of layoffs or their financial impact. In its previous announcement, Paramount said the cuts will amount to several hundred U.S. employees across its business. The story.
—Finally! Paramount Global is removing the Showtime name from the top tier of its streaming service, Paramount+. The ad-free tier of the platform has gone by the somewhat clunky title of Paramount+ With Showtime since 2023, when Paramount decided to merge its SVOD platform and premium cable outlet (and, in turn, shut down the standalone Showtime streaming service). Now, though, the ad-free tier will go by the name Paramount+ Premium — though it will still include Showtime programming, including the Dexter franchise and Yellowjackets . The price is also staying the same: Paramount+ Premium will continue to cost $13 per month for ad-free viewing aside from live programs and includes the full Showtime library, live streams of local CBS stations and other features. The ad-supported Paramount+ Essential costs $8 per month but doesn’t include all of Showtime’s offerings. The story.
—Fenómeno. TelevisaUnivision's Spanish-language streamer ViX is expected to be the fastest-growing subscription streaming service in the Americas in 2025, according to Ampere Analysis forecasts. Ampere, a media analyst firm based in London, believes ViX will grow its subscriber base by 18 percent this year, reaching 10.5m paying customers in the Americas (the U.S., Central and South America — no Canada). ViX has doubled its SVOD library size since launching in 2022 and it’s added more than 2,500 titles in those three years. ViX has also aggressively pursued partnerships and bundling opportunities both in the U.S. — a recent deal with Charter Communications in the U.S. will add 900,000 new ad-supported subscribers from 2024 to 2026 — and in Mexico, where it partners with OXXO, Mercado Libre and Disney+. The story. |
Liman to Tackle King's 'The Stand' For Paramount ►Stand and deliver. THR's Borys Kit has the big scoop that filmmaker Doug Liman and Paramount are teaming up to adapt Stephen King’s magnum opus, The Stand. Liman is attached to direct the feature and will produce along with Tyler Thompson of Cross Creek Pictures. The two previously teamed to make the 2017 Tom Cruise crime drama American Made . The project will now head to writers to pen an adaptation of what is King’s longest work, with a page count of 1,152. It will instantly become one of the hottest writing assignments in Hollywood. The book, first published in 1978 then revised in 1990, is a bar-setting literary masterpiece that has been adapted twice as a mini-series, once in 1994 and again in 2020. Attempts to adapt The Stand into a feature have run into problems, however. The story.
—🎭 In like Flynn. 🎭 THR scamp Ryan Gajewski has the scoop that the planned biopic focusing on James Dean's personal life has landed its lead actor. Brandon Flynn, known for True Detective and 13 Reasons Why, has been cast as the late legendary actor in the feature Willie and Jimmy Dean. Writer-director Guy Guido’s film is currently in development and is based on William Bast’s 2006 memoir, Surviving James Dean . In his book, Bast described meeting Dean at the UCLA theater program at the age of 19 and wrote that the two men became roommates, close friends and eventually lovers. Bast claimed they kept their fling private to avoid hurting Dean’s career while the rising star had relationships with female stars, with Bast remaining hopeful that he and Dean would soon live together again. The story.
—🎭 WLW. 🎭 Maya da Costa and Myra Molloy have nabbed lead roles in pop star Hayley Kiyoko’s movie Girls Like Girls, based on her 2015 hit song of the same name and viral music video. The coming-of-age Focus Features film about a young girl falling for another girl will see da Costa play Coley, who explores her attraction to other women. She’s especially attracted to Sonya (Molloy) as they navigate a summer romance. Girls Like Girls marks the first feature Kiyoko will direct and write after making her name. In 2023, Kiyoko followed up her music video, which she co-directed with Austin S. Winchell, with a Girls Like Girls novel that builds on the characters in the original song. The story. |
Karla Sofía Gascón Unveils Villainous, Post-'Emilia Perez' Role ►🎭 First look. 🎭 Karla Sofía Gascón is back in the saddle after her Oscar-nominated work in Emilia Perez became the flashpoint of last awards season. THR has the first look at Gascón in the 19th century-set Spanish western Trinidad, directed by Laura Alvea and José Ortuño. The English-language feature filmed in recent months in the Canary Islands, but is set primarily in the U.S. It stars Gabriela Andrada as Trinidad, a woman who flees persecution in Spain for the wild west. Along the way, she earns renowned for her skills with weapons, but also becomes a target of enemies, such as the widow Bronson (Gascón). The team behind the $12m film knew Gascón’s work from Emilia Perez , which made her an international star and an Oscar frontrunner before her best actress campaign crumbled after racist tweets from the actress resurfaced. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Janus Films has picked up the North American rights to Sergei Loznitsa’s Cannes competition drama Two Prosecutors. The Ukrainian director’s Soviet-era thriller set during Stalin’s Great Purge in 1937 earned the François Chalais Prize in Cannes. Two Prosecutors centers on a law school grad who tries as a young prosecutor takes on corruption in the Soviet system and winds up facing the consequences. The drama is based on the novella by Soviet scientist and political prisoner Georgy Demidov and stars Aleksandr Kuznetsov, Alexander Filippenko, Anatoli Beliy, Andris Keišs and Vytautas Kaniušonis. The story. |
Mbatha-Raw, Madden to Star in Netflix's 'Trinity' ►🎭 Going inside the Pentagon. 🎭 Netflix has picked up Trinity, a thriller from Bodyguard creator Jed Mercurio and Disney’s 20th Television. Gugu Mbatha-Raw and Richard Madden (who starred in Bodyguard) will play the lead roles as a U.S. Navy officer and the secretary of defense. Mbatha-Raw will play Commander Katherine Decker, the second in command of the USS Kansas, a nuclear submarine. Katherine becomes involved with Secretary of Defense Webb Preston (Madden), then discovers “he may be at the heart of a dangerous conspiracy,” per the show’s logline. The story.
—Back for more. Netflix has greenlit a second season for the modern Western series Ransom Canyon, about three rival ranching families in Texas Hill Country. Josh Duhamel will return as stoic rancher Staten Kirkland, with Minka Kelly as Quinn O’Grady. The rookie romantic drama, coming in the wake of the success of Paramount+’s Yellowstone, made it to the global top 10 TV (English) list for Netflix and reached Top 10 TV in 77 countries. Ransom Canyon is based on author Jodi Thomas’ book series that debuted in 2015 and is adapted by April Blair. The story.
—🎭 Another one. 🎭 Max’s critically acclaimed medical drama The Pitt has added Sepideh Moafi to its cast for season two, which is in production for an early 2026 premiere. Moafi will be a series regular, playing an attending physician in emergency medicine. She is the latest addition to the show’s cast; Charles Baker, Irene Choi, Laetitia Holland and Lucas Iverson will also appear in the coming season in recurring roles. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Billy Joel fans should all get in the mood for two long nights with the piano man in July. HBO has set the premiere dates for its two-part original documentary Billy Joel: And So It Goes. Part one will air on July 18, followed by part two a week later on July 25. Each part will debut on HBO, and streaming service HBO Max, at 8 p.m. ET/PT and run for roughly two-and-a-half hours, with the full exploration of the iconic musician clocking in at nearly five hours. Billy Joel: And So It Goes, directed and produced by Susan Lacy and Jessica Levin, premiered its first part at the 2025 Tribeca Festival. The story.
—Snapped up! See-Saw Films has optioned Emma Forrest’s upcoming novel Father Figure. The book will be adapted for television by See-Saw’s label, Fanboy, run by executive producer Patrick Walters. Following Fanboy’s hit series Sweetpea for Sky Atlantic, and the option of Harry Trevaldwyn’s Romantic Tragedies of a Drama King, the company next turns its attention to Forrest’s coming-of-age thriller. Father Figure follows Gail, a troubled scholarship student at the exclusive girls’ school Saint Saviours. The story. |
TV Review: 'Ironheart' ►"A TV sandwich with good filling and stale bread." THR's chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg reviews Disney+'s Ironheart. Dominique Thorne's Riri Williams brings her high-powered suit and personal trauma to this Marvel series created by Chinaka Hodge that comes out nearly three years after Wakanda Forever. Also starring Anthony Ramos, Lyric Ross, Alden Ehrenreich, Manny Montana, Matthew Elam and Anji White. The review.
—"Prepare to count down from "entertainingly dumb" to "just dumb" in record time." Daniel reviews Amazon Prime Video's Countdown. Jensen Ackles, Eric Dane and Jessica Camacho lead Derek Haas' 13-episode race to save L.A. from a nuclear attack. The review.
In other news...
—Madelaine Petsch faces masked pursuers again in The Strangers: Chapter 2 trailer
—First look at Cillian Murphy in Netflix movie Steve
—Alicia Silverstone has Daddy issues in Irish Blood crime drama trailer
—Lizzo reveals new mixtape My Face Hurts From Smiling
—Kate Hudson to receive Will Rogers Foundation’s prestigious Pioneer of the Year Award
—Prof G Markets podcast host Ed Elson signs with CAA
—Joe Marinelli, the cross-dressing Bunny Tagliatti on Santa Barbara, dies at 68
—Bobby Sherman, teen idol and Here Come the Brides actor, dies at 81
—Aki Aleong, actor in Braddock: Missing in Action III and V, dies at 90
What else we're reading...
—After Zohran Mamdani's stunning win, Liam Stack writes that a new political star has emerged out of a fractured Democratic Party [NYT]
—Ross Barkan writes that Zohran Mamdani just remade American politics [Intelligencer]
—Adam Taylor, Emily Davies and John Hudson report on how Trump pivoted from bombing Iran to announcing a ceasefire [Washington Post]
—Nadira Goffe tries to unpack what's going on with Justin Bieber [Slate]
—Deborah Nicholls-Lee reflects on Ma Rainey's "Prove It on Me Blues," the 1928 song that's one of the world's first gay anthems [BBC]
Today...
...in 1971, MGM held the premiere for Gordon Parks’ adaptation of Shaft in Los Angeles. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Linda Cardellini (50), Ricky Gervais (64), Hong Chau (46), June Lockhart (100), Benson Boone (23), Jimmie 'JJ' Walker (78), Mckenna Grace (19), Busy Philipps (46), Rain (43), Megan Burns (39), Tom Lipinski (43), Annaleigh Ashford (40), Jeff Cohen (51), Charlie Carrick (39), Chloe Webb (69), Cameron Cowperthwaite (33), Jason Lewis (54), Sheridan Smith (44), Angela Kinsey (54), Jackie Swanson (62), John Benjamin Hickey (62), Shannon Lucio (45), Kylie Cantrall (20), Erica Gimpel (61), La La Anthony (43), Michael McShane (70), Mason Vale Cotton (23), Sai Tamhankar (39), Karisma Kapoor (51), Eve Gordon (65), Timur Bekmambetov (64), Sunetra Sarker (52), Daman Mills (32), Brandi Burkhardt (46), Ernest R. Dickerson (74), Inma Cuesta (45) |
| Thomas H. Brodek, a producer on the 1980s films The Aviator, starring Christopher Reeve; The Principal, starring Jim Belushi and Louis Gossett Jr.; and Transylvania 6-5000, starring Jeff Goldblum; has died. He was 86. The obituary. |
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