| | | | | | What's news: Jurassic World Rebirth's opening weekend worldwide gross has been revised up to $322.6m. Abigail Spencer will star in Fox's Best Medicine. Jon M. Chu will direct the Hot Wheels movie. Danai Gurira, Kenneth Branagh and Lily Gladstone have joined the cast of The Thomas Crown Affair. — Abid Rahman
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Celebrity #MeToo Cases Are Proving Tough to Convict ►"We went from 'always believe an accuser' to 'maybe we too often believe an accuser.'" In the aftermath of the Sean Combs verdict, what’s becoming increasingly apparent is that celebrity #MeToo cases — whether criminal or civil — are intensely difficult to win when up against a big name. From Diddy to Spacey, THR's Winston Cho and James Hibberd reflect on why the #MeToo reckoning keeps having setbacks in the legal world. The story.
—"It was a shakedown." On Monday's episode of Paramount-owned The Daily Show, Jon Stewart may not have been able to give his full thoughts on Paramount’s “shameful settlement” with Donald Trump over Kamala Harris’ 60 Minutes interview, but that didn’t stop him from asking some telling questions to Steve Kroft, a former 60 Minutes correspondent. “Was this settlement just a payment so that this [Paramount-Skydance] merger can go through and not be challenged by Trump’s FCC?” Stewart asked Kroft, who responded, “Yes.” “So the implication is you don’t get your $8b merger, you don’t get your $2b payout [for Shari Redstone, Paramount Global chairwoman and controlling shareholder] unless you give me [Trump] a tremendous amount of money,” Stewart added. “Now that strikes me as — and I’m obviously not a lawyer, but I did watch Goodfellas — that sounds illegal.” The story.
—"It’s a little late now." Mark Ruffalo is calling out podcaster and prominent Trump supporter Joe Rogan for being late to the game in his criticism of ICE immigration raids. “Dear @joerogan. It’s a little late now to pretend like project 2025 didn’t exist and wasn’t the play book all along. You are either not that smart or not that dumb. It’s hard to tell at this point,” Ruffalo, who campaigned heavily for Democrat Kamala Harris during the 2024 presidential campaign, wrote on Threads. He added that Rogan should have known about Trump’s immigration policies when he supported his 2024 re-election campaign. Ruffalo was reacting to a July 2 episode of the Joe Rogan Experience in which the podcaster hit out at ICE raids on workplaces where undocumented migrant workers were targeted. The story.
—Cancel culture doesn't exist. After signaling he’d be back for the upcoming season, Scott Rudin is unveiling his formal return to Broadway with a new play. The once-prolific producer had mostly sat on the sidelines of the Broadway industry since a THR investigation in 2021 had detailed multiple allegations of abusive behavior in claims from ex-staffers. Rudin and IAC mogul Barry Diller are set to produce Samuel D. Hunter’s Little Bear Ridge Road for an 18-week limited run with Laurie Metcalf and Micah Stock beginning on Oct. 7 ahead of an Oct. 30 opening night at Broadway’s Booth Theatre. For the 95-minute play, Metcalf and Stock will be reprising roles from a run at Chicago’s The Steppenwolf Theatre Company last year. John Drea and Meighan Gerachis will also be joining the Broadway version from the original run. Tony Award winner Joe Mantello is returning to direct. The story. |
Jon M. Chu to Direct 'Hot Wheels' Movie ►Wait, what? Wicked director Jon M. Chu is set to helm the live-action Hot Wheels feature, the big screen take on Mattel’s iconic toy cars for Warner Bros. The screenwriting duo of Juel Taylor and Tony Rettenmaier will pen the script, with J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot Productions, which has longstanding ties with WB, and Chu’s Electric Somewhere producing. The hiring of the director and writers is a major development for the project that originated with WB teaming with Mattel Studios in January 2019 to develop and produce a big-screen project. The story.
—🎭 Stacked. 🎭 Danai Gurira is reuniting with her Black Panther co-star Michael B. Jordan for the Jordan-fronted reimagining of The Thomas Crown Affair. Jordan is not only starring in the romantic heist thriller but directing as well as producing with his Outlier Society banner. The company’s Elizabeth Raposo is also producing, as is veteran producer Charles Roven of Atlas Entertainment. Production begins Monday in London, and the project also added Academy Award winner Kenneth Branagh and Academy Award nominee Lily Gladstone to its call sheet. Taylor Russell is also in the cast. The story.
—Update. Universal and Amblin’s Jurassic World Rebirth came in well ahead of expectations at the Fourth of July box office. In North America, the holiday tentpole is reporting a five-day domestic opening of $147.8m, including $92m for the three-day weekend, according to final numbers. Rebirth, the seventh title in the series, is roaring even louder overseas, where it opened to an estimated $174.8m from 82 markets. That puts the film’s global start at $322.6m — the second-best launch of the franchise, and the biggest worldwide opening of the year to date for a Hollywood release after passing up A Minecraft Movie. The box office report. |
'Superman' First Reactions ►"A terrific start for the new DC Studios." Superman is officially flying into theaters this weekend, and following the Los Angeles premiere on Monday night came the first audience reactions as the film’s social media embargo lifted. While reviews aren’t expected until later today, initial social reactions online from press, influencers and media that have screened Superman appears to be positive. The reaction.
—Tempering expectations. Staying with Superman , James Gunn addressed the social media speculation that his needs to make $700m at the box office to be considered a success, describing such talk as "nonsense." In a new interview, shared his thoughts on the pressure to deliver at the box office amid “superhero fatigue” in recent years. “This is not the riskiest endeavor in the world,” the director and co-head of DC Studios said. “Is there something riding on it? Yeah, but it’s not as big as people make it out to be. They hear these numbers that the movie’s only going to be successful if it makes $700m or something, and it’s just complete and utter nonsense. It doesn’t need to be as big of a situation as people are saying.” The story. |
Inside the 'Bachelor in Paradise' Glow Up ►"There’s twists, there’s turns and there’s certainly some format changes that shake things up." THR's McKinley Franklin spoke to Bachelor in Paradise and newly named The Bachelor showrunner Scott Teti. Now that he's doubling up, Teti discusses the evolving nature of the summer spinoff, keeping up with the competition and answering the question on everyone’s minds — will the Goldens intermingle with the eligible Bachelors and Bachelorettes? The interview.
—🎭 Second comedy order. 🎭 FX has ordered a pilot for Movers, a comedy from Reno 911! veterans Robert Ben Garant and Cathy Shim and 20th Television. The married couple will also star in the project, which is described as an improvised show about the erratic and codependent lives of a crew of movers. The cast also includes Rebecca Quin (aka WWE star Becky Lynch), Maz Jobrani, Darius Homayoun, Tanael Joachim and Manny Montana. Movers is the second comedy project FX has taken on in the past few weeks. It’s also developing Very Young Frankenstein, which is inspired by Mel Brooks’ 1974 classic Young Frankenstein. The story.
—🎭 Female lead found. 🎭 Grey’s Anatomy's Abigail Spencer will star opposite Josh Charles in Fox's forthcoming series Best Medicine, an adaptation of the long-running British dramedy Doc Martin. Spencer will play Louisa Glasson, a teacher in the small East Coast fishing village where Dr. Martin Best (Charles) relocates. Fox describes Best Medicine as an hour-long comedy following Martin, who abruptly leaves his post in Boston to work as a general practitioner in the town where he spent summers as a kid. The story.
—Ooooof. HBO's revival series And Just Like That has continued to hold on to a loyal fan base, mostly composed of die-hard Sex and the City fans. But in the latest episode that released on July 3, a plot point appeared to get recycled, and viewers were quick to point it out. Fans of the show took to social media to discuss Lisa losing her father, whose funeral takes place in the episode “Silent Mode.” Audiences watch Ari Parker’s character tearfully phone up Davis’ to say her 90-year-old dad died suddenly after a stroke. His funeral is held in a local theater, where Lisa is tasked with delivering a eulogy. However, eagle-eyed viewers noted that Lisa had previously, briefly, spoken about losing her father in the first season of the show. The story. |
The Real Housewives of Formula One ►"The true sizzle happens before and after races." With Brad Pitt's F1: The Movie riding high at the box office, and Drive to Survive captivating fans and non-fans alike on Netflix, Formula One racing has never been so popular or culturally relevant. THR's Steven Zeitchik tries to unpack the success of F1, positing that the format is benefitting from the infighting and antics that fuel reality TV. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Netflix revealed Tuesday that it has set a Sept. 25 launch for the third season of the Japanese live-action hit Alice in Borderland , while also unveiling the first teaser trailer, giving fans a glimpse at the high-stakes survival drama’s next twisted round. Directed once again by Shinsuke Sato and based on Haro Aso’s cult manga of the same name, the new season continues the story of Arisu and Usagi as they’re drawn back into the perilous limbo world known as the Borderland — a twisted realm that blurs the boundaries between life and death. The show has become one of Netflix’s top-performing Japanese originals, with season two debuting at No. 1 on the streamer’s Global Top 10 list for non-English-language TV upon launch in 2022. The story.
—All change. Inside Edition has found its new anchor. The long-running syndicated CBS newsmagazine has tapped Eva Pilgrim to lead the show. Pilgrim succeeds Deborah Norville, who announced her exit from the program back in April after 30 years. Pilgrim joins Inside Edition from ABC News, where she was one of the co-anchors of GMA3, the early afternoon spinoff of Good Morning America. The story.
—All change (again). As well as the Pilgrim news, ABC News is gearing up to reboot GMA3 once again. ABC News president Almin Karamehmedovic told staff Monday that DeMarco Morgan, the co-host of the show, “has decided to begin a new journey and will be departing ABC News,” according to a memo obtained by THR. Morgan had been the co-host of GMA3 alongside Eva Pilgrim. The story. |
Film Review: 'Broken Voices' ►"A familiar tune performed with honesty and heart." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Ondrej Provaznik's Broken Voices. The Czech writer-director's coming-of-age tale was inspired by the true story of a renowned youth choir whose musical director was convicted of sexual abuse. Starring Katerina Falbrova, Juraj Loj, Maya Kintera, Zuzana Sulajova and Mare, Cisovsky. The review.
—"Wistful and thoughtful." Jordan reviews Joao Rosas' The Luminous Life. Rosas' feature debut, which premiered at Karlovy Vary, follows a 24-year-old wandering around Lisbon going from job to job, home to home and girl to girl. Starring Francisco Melo, Cécile Matignon, Margarida Dias, Federica Balbi, Gemma Tria, Angela Ramos and Francisca Alarcao. The review.
In other news...
—Percy Jackson S2, Alien: Earth get (small) sneak peeks in Disney+, Hulu teaser
—Pearl Jam drummer Matt Cameron leaves band after 27 years
—AI music company Suno hires former Atlantic Records GM Paul Sinclair
—Langley Perer, producer and Mosaic manager, dies at 44
What else we're reading...
—Alex Marshall recounts his pilgrimage to Ozzy Osbourne’s last gig, a 10-hour celebration of the man and the metal genre [NYT]
—Chloe Hadjimatheou reports that the author behind bestselling memoir The Salt Path, which was adapted into a film starring Gillian Anderson and Jason Isaacs, has been telling pretty massive fibs [Observer]
—Charlotte Klein goes inside the media’s AI-induced traffic apocalypse [Intelligencer]
—Oooof... Mark Gurman reports Apple is losing its top AI models executive to Meta’s hiring spree [Bloomberg]
—Former NYT public editor Margaret Sullivan wonders if her former employers are trying to wreck Zohran Mamdani’s mayoral bid [Guardian]
—John Hudson and Hannah Natanson report that an imposter using AI was able to pose as Secretary of State Marco Rubio and contact three foreign ministers, a U.S. governor and a member of Congress [Washington Post]
Today...
...in 1992, Fox unveiled Darren Star’s Beverly Hills, 90210 spinoff Melrose Place, a show that would become a pop culture staple throughout the decade. The original review.
Today's birthdays: David Corenswet (32), Milo Ventimiglia (48), Kevin Bacon (67), Anjelica Huston (74), Maya Hawke (27), Billy Crudup (57), Robert Knepper (66), Jaden Smith (27), Lee Tergesen (60), Wally Pfister (64), Isabella Sermon (19), Shazad Latif (37), Sophia Bush (43), Michael Weatherly (57), Kathleen Robertson (52), Kim Darby (78), Paras Patel (39), Sally Lindsay (52), Alexis Dziena (41), Jake McDorman (39), Sebastian Maniscalco (52), Michael Abbott Jr. (47), Schuyler Fisk (43), Amy O'Neill (54), Marcus Chong (58), Jamie Blackley (34), Matthew Marsh (71), Michael B. Silver (58), Lena Endre (70), Valarie Pettiford (65), Riele Downs (24), Pendleton Ward (43), Major Dodson (22), Mica Burton (31), Cullen Moss (50), Lance Gross (44), Des Hamilton (60), Thuso Mbedu (34) |
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