| | | | | | What's news: It's magazine day! This week's cover story is about Hollywood succession and the race to claim the big jobs in town. AMC Networks has inked a deal with AI company Runway. Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune will stream on Hulu and Peacock. Good Night, and Good Luck has again broken the record for highest weekly gross for a Broadway play. WBD shareholders have rejected David Zaslav's $51.9m pay package. — Abid Rahman
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Knives Out: Inside Hollywood's Succession Wars ►On the cover. All across the entertainment industry, there are pitched power struggles quietly being waged for the top gigs at Disney, CAA, Sony, Lucasfilm and other power centers that will determine the leadership of Hollywood’s top institutions for years to come. That these are happening at a moment of precariousness for the industry writ large makes the stakes that much higher. But to many, it’s a struggle long overdue. THR's Peter Kiefer goes behind the battle lines of the industry’s real-life Game of Thrones: "If you get succession wrong, you can’t unring that bell for a while." The cover story. |
Hollywood Incentive Bill Passes CA Senate Without Newsom's $750M Pledge ►"We don’t need to top other states, but we need to be in the ballpark." Legislation aimed at modernizing and expanding California’s program that provides subsidies to film and TV productions has passed the California Senate, though this version of the bill doesn’t commit to increasing the cap from $330m to $750m a year. Tuesday’s near unanimous vote was 34 to one, with the only dissent coming from Sen. Roger Niello (R-Sacramento). The bill, which now heads to the state Assembly for consideration, would vastly boost subsidies to shoot in the state to at least 35 percent while expanding the category of productions that qualify to include shorter TV shows, animated titles and certain types of unscripted projects. The story.
—Denied. Blake Lively is no longer pursuing claims for emotional distress in her lawsuit against It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni. The move comes after the judge overseeing the case on Tuesday turned down the actress’ bid to refile the claim at a later stage if she chooses to abandon them. Lively’s motion is “denied based on [her] representation that the relevant claims will be withdrawn,” wrote U.S. District Judge Lewis Liman in an order issued on Tuesday. In a statement, Lively's lawyers said their client is dropping certain claims because “they are no longer necessary” and that she will “continue to pursue emotional distress damages through other claims in her lawsuit,” including sexual harassment and retaliation. They added that the “Baldoni-Wayfarer strategy of filing retaliatory claims has exposed them to expansive damages under California law.” The story.
—The latest. Soon after viciously attacking his longtime girlfriend Cassie in a hotel hallway, Sean “Diddy” Combs sought out a security guard and predicted accurately that his iconic career would be ruined — his image as the affable, successful “Puff Daddy” destroyed — if video of the beating ever became public. Eddy Garcia testified Thursday that the hip-hop mogul made the comment repeatedly before giving a brown paper bag stuffed with $100,000 in cash to the then guard, in order to buy what he hoped was the only copy of surveillance footage of the March 2016 assault. Prosecutors say Combs’ persistent efforts to hush up the episode fit into allegations he used threats and his fortune and fame to get what he wanted. The story.
—Sentenced. A federal judge sentenced disbarred celebrity lawyer Tom Girardi to seven years and three months in prison on Tuesday for embezzling tens of millions of dollars from his clients, including several with severe physical injuries and families of people killed in accidents. U.S. District Judge Josephine L. Staton also ordered Girardi, 86, to pay a $35,000 fine and $2.3m in restitution to former clients. A jury in August found him guilty of four counts of wire fraud, and he could have been sentenced to up to 80 years in prison. Girardi is the estranged husband of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star Erika Jayne and appeared on the show himself dozens of times between 2015 and 2020. The story. |
WBD Shareholders Reject Zaslav's $51.9M Pay ►Symbolic vote. Shareholders of Warner Bros. Discovery have voted to reject the 2024 compensation packages of its top executives, including CEO David Zaslav. WBD held its annual meeting Monday, and shareholders voted down a “Say on Pay” vote by a margin of 1,063,214,128 votes to 724,453,004 votes. Zaslav’s 2024 compensation package rose to $51.9m. The vote is symbolic in nature, as the vote is nonbinding, however other companies in the media and entertainment space have adjusted their compensation plans in the wake of shareholder rejection of pay packages. Netflix, for example, made significant changes to its executive compensation after its shareholders rejected its executive compensation in 2023. The story.
—More bad news for Zaz. WBD has been sued by Dirty Jobs host Mike Rowe, who alleges that the network is refusing to pay him certain streaming royalties and is misinterpreting his deal to shortchange him on other payments. Rowe, in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, claims he hasn’t seen some payments when the show was licensed to multiprogram distributors, like DirectTV and YouTubeTV, in violation of his deal. Dirty Jobs had an eight season-long run on Discovery, with the network rebooting the series in 2022. In deals struck in 2008 and 2011, Lab Rat, Rowe’s production banner, secured ratings bonuses for linear airings of the show on Discovery-owned networks, a say in certain areas of distribution and the right to share in profits from various third party deals, according to the complaint. The story.
—🤝 AI deal. 🤝 THR's Steven Zeitchik has the scoop on AMC Networks becoming the latest entertainment entity — and the first cable player — to formally make a deal with emerging Hollywood generative artificial intelligence player Runway. AMC will use the New York firm’s tech both to generate marketing images and help pre-visualize shows that have yet to be produced. Lionsgate and Harmony Korine’s EDGELRD are among the firms that have made deals with Runway. The story.
—Big hire. Nicole Clemens is joining Prime Video and Amazon MGM Studios as vice president and head of international originals. Beginning July 7, she’ll report to Kelly Day, vice president of Prime Video International. Clemens, the former president of Paramount Television Studios, will oversee the international originals regional and production leaders; she’ll work out of Amazon MGM Studios’ Culver City headquarters for a bit before relocating to her new home in Prime Video’s London office. Clemens previously was president of original scripted series for Paramount+. The story.
—New faces. The Sundance Institute has added four to its Board of Trustees: Veteran television executive and producer David Nevins, screenwriter Scott Frank, author and academic Greg Sarris and marketing exec Blair Ligelis Stein. The four new board members join the Sundance Institute as the non-profit is in a period of change, most notably moving its landmark festival from Park City to Boulder, Colorado. The story. |
Why 'The Handmaid's Tale' Has Become a Feminist Life Raft ►"The resurgence of misogyny helped cement the show’s legacy as a feminist antidote." When Hulu began releasing the first season of The Handmaid’s Tale in 2017, the parallels between the show and real life were stark. The series had introduced Elisabeth Moss as June, a mother and wife who was captured by the totalitarian fascist regime the Republic of Gilead that had overthrown the U.S. government. Gilead, which is governed by men, is disguised as a theocratic society but really is built on trampling the rights of women and even on a culture of rape. As America grapples with the rise of the manosphere amid the horrific scandals surrounding Harvey Weinstein and Sean "Diddy" Combs, THR's Jackie Strause writes that Moss’ June has made it all bearable. The story.
—🤝 Streaming deal. 🤝 Two pillars of broadcast syndication are coming to the streaming realm. Sony Pictures Television has inked streaming deals for its game shows Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. Hulu (as well as Hulu on Disney+) and Peacock will have next-day streaming rights to new episodes of the two shows starting in the fall. The multi-year deal marks the first time that in-season episodes of Jeopardy! and Wheel will stream the day after their broadcast airings; some of the two shows’ catalogs are available on other platforms and cable’s Game Show Network. The story. |
Guadagnino to Direct Altman OpenAI Movie ►Summer of Sam. Luca Guadagnino is in talks to direct Artificial , a recounting of the tumultuous period at artificial intelligence company OpenAI in 2023 that saw CEO Sam Altman fired and rehired in a matter of days. Heyday Films’ David Heyman and Jeffrey Clifford are producing the feature that is being put together at lightning speed at Amazon MGM Studios. Simon Rich wrote the script and will also produce, with Jennifer Fox also in talks to produce. Sources say Amazon is looking to get production going this summer, with an eye to shoot in San Francisco and Italy. Actors are being lined up, although no deals are made and much is contingent on Guadagnino’s deal being closed. Andrew Garfield, Monica Barbaro, and Yura Borisov are among those said to be circling. The story.
—Coming out on top. Following a highly competitive, multi-studio bidding war, Paramount Pictures has acquired the rights to fantasy romance novel Divine Rivals, the first novel in the bestselling Letters of Enchantment series by Rebecca Ross. The studio has set Sofia Alvarez, best known for writing the adaptation of Netflix’s To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before, to pen the script. Lorenzo di Bonaventura is producing under his first-look deal with the studio, as well as Pouya Shahbazian, a player in the book-to-screen world whose credits include the Divergent movie series. Divine Rivals is set in the shadow of an ancient war between dueling gods and tells of a pair of young rival journalists that fall in love while writing each other anonymous letters on an enchanted typewriter. The story.
—📅 Pushed back. 📅 Warner Bros. is delaying the release of its live-action hybrid movie Animal Friends. The road trip adventure feature is now set to hit theaters May 1, 2026, after previously having been scheduled for Oct. 10, 2025. Peter Atencio directs the film from a script by Kevin Burrows and Matt Mider. Ryan Reynolds, Jason Momoa, Aubrey Plaza, Addison Rae, Dan Levy, Lil Rel Howery and Ellie Bamber round out the cast. The project hails from Legendary, Maximum Effort and Prime Focus Studios. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Janus Films has picked up the North American rights to Lav Diaz’s epic historical drama Magellan, which debuted out of competition in Cannes. Mexican actor Gael Garcia Bernal’s plays the titular Portuguese explorer in the 160-minute feature from the Filipino auteur Diaz, best known for earlier films like The Woman Who Left and From What Is Before. Bernal as a despotic and at times deluded Magellan persuades the Spanish Crown to fund his bold 16th century expedition to the fabled lands of the East, only to unleash a decade of devastation wreaked by European conquistadors in the Pacific as part of colonial conquests. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 GKids, the North American producer/distributor controlled by Japanese media giant Toho Co., has snatched up domestic rights to ChaO, the debut feature from Japanese animator Yasuhiro Aoki and animation house Studio 4°C. The romantic comedy, which blends fantasy and futurism, is set to premiere in competition next week at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. Set in a world where humans and mermaids coexist, ChaO centers on Stephan, a quiet office worker whose routine life is disrupted when he is unexpectedly proposed to by a mermaid princess named ChaO. The story. |
Tony Awards: Predicting the Winners Using Just Math ►Looking good for Oh Mary! The 78th Tony Awards take place in New York on Sunday night, and ahead of the ceremony THR's resident awards data guy Ben Zauzmer has crunched the numbers and takes a category-by-category look at which musicals and plays have the best chance of claiming honors during the June 8 telecast on CBS, based on a model built on historical data. The analysis.
—Can't stop, won't stop. Good Night, and Good Luck yet again broke its own record for highest weekly gross for a Broadway play, bringing in $4.245m last week, as the production wraps up its run. The play, starring George Clooney, is set to end its run June 8, with a live broadcast of the show airing on CNN on June 7. The show has been playing to 100 percent capacity throughout and had an average ticket price of $339 last week. Othello, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Denzel Washington, followed with $3.5m. Wicked followed with $2.3m, then The Lion King and Glengarry Glen Ross, both with just above $2m, even though Glengarry played 7 performances and The Lion King played 8. The Broadway box office report.
—Jaja Ding Dong! Eurovision may be turned into a Broadway musical. Producer Lia Vollack is creating a new musical based on the Netflix’s 2020 film, Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga, which starred Will Ferrell and Rachel McAdams. Ferrell will write the book for the musical, alongside his co-writer on the film, Harper Steele, with whom he also stars in the documentary Will & Harper, and with Anthony King, who wrote the book for the Beetlejuice musical. The show will feature music by Savan Kotecha, who was the executive music producer on the film, and will be directed by Moulin Rouge! and Just In Time director Alex Timbers. The producers did not give a production timeline for the show. The story.
—Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice! The first national tour of Beetlejuice The Musical will play at The Palace Theatre from Oct. 8 for a 13-week engagement through Jan. 3, 2026. The third return to Broadway is unusual as the musical’s two previous Broadway engagements were in the last five years and the production has had a bumpy trajectory. The musical originally ran at Broadway’s Winter Garden Theatre from April 2019, and initially saw low ticket sales until its fortunes turned around, thanks in part to traction on social media and a successful Tonys performance. Despite the reversal in the production’s grosses, theater owners announced plans to force the show out of the theater by June 2020, to make room for The Music Man . Those plans were delayed by the pandemic, but Beetlejuice did vacate and plan its return to Broadway, based on the momentum of the show and the popularity of the cast recording. The story. |
TV Review: 'Stick' ►"Shrinking and Ted Lasso fans, this one's for you." THR's Angie Han reviews Apple TV+'s Stick. Owen Wilson, Marc Maron and Judy Greer star in this half-hour comedy series that centers on a former golf pro who finds new purpose when he takes on a talented protégé. The review.
In other news...
—Margot Robbie and Colin Farrell relive their past in A Big Bold Beautiful Journey trailer
—Animated werewolf movie Dog of God debuts wild trailer
—Stephen Curry-produced basketball doc Good Shot reveals emotional trailer
—Tate McRae, Mariah Carey and Ed Sheeran set for iHeartRadio Music Festival
—Clio Massey, Matt D’Arduini tapped as Arista Records co-presidents
—Dhar Mann Studios staffs up with media veterans
What else we're reading...
—Chicken Shop Dates. Hot Ones. Subway Take. Podcasts. Lots of podcasts. Fran Hoepfner reflects on the celebrity press tour in 2025 [Vulture]
—Joy Press talks to former Hollywood entertainment people who decided to become therapists or life coaches as the industry struggles and the world burns [Vanity Fair]
—Leah Greenblatt reveals how they pulled off that incredible plane stunt in Mission: Impossible — The Final Reckoning [NYT]
—Constance Grady looks at the bizarre turn in men's grooming where men are shaving off their eyelashes [Vox]
—Novelist Thomas McMullan considers the consequences of more and more people using ChatGPT for personal communications [FT]
Today...
...in 2010, Warner Bros. Pictures released Vincenzo Natali's Splice in theaters. The sci-fi horror film, which starred Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley, was a hit with critics but stalled at the box office. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Angelina Jolie (50), Noah Wyle (54), Keith David (69), Maria Bakalova (29), Bruce Dern (89), Oona Chaplin (39), Vivien Lyra Blair (13), Bi Gan (36), Sean Pertwee (61), Lux Pascal (33), Rob Huebel (56), Tim Rozon (49), Robin Lord Taylor (47), Josh McDermitt (47), Theo Rossi (50), James Callis (54), Kerem Bürsin (38), Scott Wolf (57), Jordan Hinson (34), Izabella Scorupco (55), Parker Stevenson (73), Michelle Phillips (81), Amrit Kaur (32), Rebecca Henderson (45), Julie White (64), Kathryn Prescott (34), Lindsay Frost (63), Jillian Murray (41), Kim So-hyun (26), Michele Hicks (52), Amelia Warner (43), Derek McGrath (74), Gustav Lindh (30), Michael Greyeyes (58), Horatio Sanz (56), Mackenzie Ziegler (21), Bradley Walsh (65), Debra Stephenson (53), Gary Weeks (53), Quincy Brown (34), Kerry Shale (73) |
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