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What's news: Michael is tracking to earn at least $65m to $70m domestically. Peacock now has 46m paying subs. Maggie Gyllenhaal will head the jury at the Venice Film Festival. Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler will star in Joseph Kosinski's Miami Vice '85. And Mormon Wives is getting a Orange County spinoff. — Abid Rahman
Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at tips@thr.com. |
Netflix Sets $25B Stock Buyback►Guidance grievance. Netflix has set a massive $25b stock buyback program as the streaming giant seeks to combat, or take advantage of, a lagging share price and Wall Street concerns around disappointing financial guidance. The company unveiled the stock buyback program Thursday morning. The new program will be in addition to its 2024 buyback program, which still has $6.8b available. The company had paused its stock repurchasing during its pursuit of Warner Bros., but told Wall Street earlier this month that it intended to resume the program. But earnings appear to have been a driving force in the new, and significantly higher, stock buyback program. The company’s stock never fully recovered from its pursuit of WB. The story.
—Edging closer. Netflix is nearing a deal to buy the historic Radford Studio Center lot, a purchase that would give the entertainment giant ownership of a major L.A. production campus. Goldman Sachs, which took over the property earlier this year, is expected to sell the property for roughly $330m, a source familiar with the deal tells THR's Winston Cho , describing the agreement as “all but done.” Netflix didn’t participate in the first round of bids, which didn’t include other major studios and started roughly two months ago. Offers, most of which didn’t hit $300m, were mostly submitted by entities looking for what could be a generational discount on the 55-acre property. The sale is the first deal of its kind involving a major production campus in more than five years. The story.
—Heading in the right direction. Peacock posted a Q1 loss of $432m, compared with a loss of $215m in the year-ago period and a Q4 loss of $552m. Overall revenue at the streaming platform came to $2b, up from $1.2b in the year-ago period and $1.6b in Q4 of 2025, driven by increased paid subscribers and higher average rates. Peacock ended March 2026 with 46m paying subscribers after adding NBA games and with the help of the Winter Olympics. That compares to 44m subscribers in Q4 and a year-ago base of 41m customers. The results.
—"We believe deeply in the power of stories to entertain and to connect and inspire audiences everywhere." Skydance only completed its deal for Paramount nine months ago, but CEO David Ellison has been moving at lightning speed to make the case for his ongoing transformation of the company to its industry partners. On Tuesday, he took his pitch to New York for an upfront presentation, where he addressed dozens of executives from one of the large media holding companies, outlining his vision for content and advertising (the upfront opened with the same “long live the movies” sizzle reel that the company showed at CinemaCon). The story. |
Andrew Huberman Linked to Secret Smear Machine►Expanding scandal. THR's Gary Baum reports that celebrity wellness podcaster Andrew Huberman is the latest prominent figure who looks to be connected to a sprawling Internet mud-slinging scheme that’s been exposed in the wake of Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni’s It Ends with Us legal feud. New litigation alleges Huberman's ex-girlfriend was targeted in a mud-slinging scheme following a 2024 New York Magazine investigation about him. The story.
—Dismissed. Sean “Diddy” Combs saw his $100m defamation lawsuit against NBC and Peacock over the 2025 doc, Diddy: Making of a Bad Boy, dismissed by a New York judge after the network argued that the disgraced rap mogul had admitted in court that he was the one responsible for ruining his career — and that damage was done well before the doc was released. The story. |
'Mormon Wives' Open to Taylor Frankie Paul Return►Taylor's call. The door is open for Taylor Frankie Paul to return to The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives, but it’s up to her, THR's McKinley Franklin has learned. On Tuesday, it was revealed that production on season five of the Hulu show will resume following a filming pause initiated by an internal investigation surrounding Paul and her ex Dakota Mortensen. Details on when cameras will pick up were not outlined, nor were any cast details, including Paul’s status with the series. The team behind the show wants her to return and has been supportive of Paul amid the turbulence she’s faced over the past few months. The story.
—Franchise alert. Mormon Wives is expanding into one of reality television’s founding landmarks of Orange County. Hulu confirmed the spinoff and unveiled the cast for the new Mormon Wives extension Wednesday night at their second Get Real House event. Joining the cast of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives: Orange County are Aspyn Ovard, Avery Woods, Salomé Andrea, McCall DaPron, Chandler Higginson, Ashleigh Pease and Madison Bontempo. Notably, DaPron is the sister to main Mormon Wives star Mayci Neeley. The story.
—Mob mentality. The studio behind The Traitors is bringing another back-stabbing competition to life, with another indie-film favorite as its host. Parker Posey will take on a similar role to Alan Cumming in The Traitors as host of The Mob, a Hulu competition show that will gather a group of reality veterans and other celebrities for a series of “mob movie-inspired jobs.” The show is from The Traitors producer Studio Lambert and STV Studios’ Primal Media. The story.
—📅 Good news for you Tolkien fans! 📅 Amazon Prime Video‘s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power will make its debut later this year. The next installment of the high-budget smash-hit had been rumored to arrive in 2027, but a source close to production tells THR's Lily Ford it’ll be a little sooner than that. The show, an enormous success for the streaming platform with around 170m viewers worldwide and a major driver of Prime membership signups, is set to execute a pretty chunky time jump in season three. We last visited Middle-earth in October 2024, making it another two-year gap between seasons. The story. |
'Michael' Aims for Record $65M-$70M U.S. Debut►Shamone! Antoine Fuqua’s long-awaited biopic of Michael Jackson is hoping to pull off a record-setting moonwalk when opening in theaters across the world this weekend. From Lionsgate, Michael is tracking to earn at least $65m to $70m domestically, which would make it the biggest opening ever for a music biopic ahead of Universal’s current record-holder Straight Outta Compton ($60.2m) and Fox’s Freddy Mercury biopic Bohemian Rhapsody ($55m), not adjusted for inflation. The producer behind Michael and Rhapsody is Graham King. The box office report.
—Sham-one more! After the audience at this week’s Michael premiere was treated to over two hours’ worth of hits, a title card came across the screen. In shimmery gold lettering, it read: “His Story Continues.” The biopic was never intended to be a two-parter, but for the last year, under a messy cloud of reshoots and pushed release dates, the idea of splitting the film took form. The title card was a relatively last-minute addition, according to a knowledgeable insider, who says it was only put in about a month ago, when the producers behind Michael began to realize how successful the movie could become. A source tells THR that the script for that potential second film from writer John Logan is yet to be finished, and insiders claim nothing will be decided until Michael opens April 24. The story.
—"You don’t get to control the narrative anymore." A member of Michael Jackson’s family is taking aim at the media in the lead-up to Lionsgate‘s biopic launching this weekend. Taj Jackson, a musician and producer whose father is Michael Jackson’s brother Tito Jackson, took to social media Tuesday to chide the media over its coverage of the late music superstar. "Sorry media, u don’t get to control the narrative anymore of who Michael Jackson truly was," Taj Jackson wrote on X. "The public gets to watch this movie…they will decide for themselves. And you can’t handle that." The story.
—"People just don’t care." THR's Seth Abramovitch spoke to Dan Reed, the director of the Michael Jackson documentary Leaving Neverland, about the release of Michael. Seven years after his explosive HBO doc, Reed watches Hollywood cash in on a man he calls "worse than Jeffrey Epstein"— and explains why nobody seems to mind. The interview. |
'Miami Vice' Reveals Title, Locks in Leads►🎭 I've been waiting for this moment all my life. 🎭 Joseph Kosinski’s Miami Vice movie finally has a title, Miami Vice ’85, and Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler have officially signed on to play Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs and Sonny Crockett after long circling the project. The movie version of the 1980s TV series is inspired by the police show’s pilot episode and first season and is set for a release by Universal on Aug. 6, 2027. Miami Vice ’85 will also be a period film, unlike Michael Mann’s 2006 Miami Vice movie that starred Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell. The story.
—Mando’s quick-draw. Lucasfilm will celebrate May the 4th — the unofficial Star Wars holiday —by hosting a special fan event for the upcoming Star Wars: The Mandalorian and the Grogu in select Imax theaters across the globe. Directed by Jon Favreau, the movie is a spin-of Disney+’s streaming series The Mandalorian, and brings Grogu, aka Baby Yoda, to the big screen for the first time. Each fan event will be anchored by more than 25 minutes of new footage, while special giveaways will include an new poster. The story.
—Heroic timing. Epic, the musical telling of Homer’s The Odyssey, is getting the movie treatment thanks to Jerry Bruckheimer. The mega-producer behind the Top Gun and The Pirates of the Caribbean movies has partnered with Jorge Rivera-Herrans, the creator, composer, songwriter, producer, and performer behind the viral sensation, and Atlantic Music Group president Kevin Weaver to produce an animated musical adaptation of the epic, no pun intended, saga. Chad Oman of Jerry Bruckheimer Films will also produce. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Paramount is doubling down on Heart Eyes. The studio has has set a Valentine’s Day weekend release date of Feb. 11, 2028. The studio will co-produce and co-finance Heart Eyes 2 along with Spyglass Media Group and handle global distribution. (Sony had domestic on the first film, while Paramount handled international for the for the romantic slasher sequel.) Mason Gooding and Olivia Hoult starred in the first movie as co-workers mistaken for a couple by a killer who targets romantic partners on Valentine’s day. It earned $33.1m globally. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Andrew Garfield is ready to lead the revolution this fall in a forthcoming historical drama from Paul Greengrass. Focus Features announced Wednesday that The Uprising is set to hit theaters domestically on Sept. 11. Jamie Bell, Stephen Dillane, Tom Hollander, Cosmo Jarvis, Thomasin McKenzie, Jonny Lee Miller, Woody Norman and Katherine Waterston round out the cast. The Uprising centers on the untold story of a rebellion against tyrannical King Richard II. Garfield stars as the leader of the rebellion that pits an army of commoners against the Crown in a battle for equity and survival. The story.
—Purple reign. New York University has revealed its 2026 picks for its Black List-inspired Purple List of the best production-ready screenplays from Tisch School of the Arts graduate film students and recent alumni. The five screenplays selected are Kobayashi by Vincent Lee Accettola, Little Rhonda by Aisha Ford, Lychee Girl by Mira Peng, Rounds by Taylor Sanghyun Lee and The Other Family by Juan Pablo Daranas Molina. Prominent filmmakers whose work was included on past editions of the Purple List, now in its 15th year, include Chloé Zhao, Hasan Hadi, Shaka King, Desiree Akhavan, Laurel Parmet and current Purple List president Cathy Yan. The story. |
Cannes Adds 'Paper Tiger' to Competition Lineup►🤝 Sold! 🤝 James Gray's Paper Tiger is heading to the Cannes Film Festival. The new crime drama from the director of The Immigrant, Two Lovers and We Own The Night, is a late addition to the competition line-up in Cannes. Featuring Scarlett Johansson, Adam Driver and Miles Teller, the film will bring some much-needed star power to the event, which runs May 12-23. In the film, Driver and Teller play two brothers whose pursuit of the American Dream gets tied up in a deadly Russian mafia scheme that tests their relationship. Neon has swooped in to take North American rights to the film ahead of its festival bow. The story.
—A few more! Cannes also topped up the Un Certain Regard sidebar with Judith Godrèche’s A Girl’s Story. The French film is actress Godrèche’s feature debut as a director, following her short film Moi Aussi, which opened Cannes’ Un Certain Regard section in 2023. Godrèche has become a key figure in France’s #MeToo movement since coming forward in 2024 with sexual abuse accusations against directors Benoît Jacquot and Jacques Doillon. Further Un Certain Regard additions include Victorian Psycho, Zachary Wigon’s gothic horror-thriller starring Maika Monroe, Jason Isaacs, Thomasin McKenzie and Ruth Wilson; Greek director Konstantina Kotzamani’s Titanic Ocean , a Japanese-set coming-of-age tale set in a boarding school that trans professional mermaids. The story.
—"I will not be standing in judgement, but in curiosity, admiration and excitement." Maggie Gyllenhaal will be the president of the competition jury at the 83rd Venice Film Festival, that runs Sept. 2-12. On Thursday, organizers unveiled the American director, actress, screenwriter and producer as the president of the jury, which will decide the Golden Lion for best film and others awards this year. The story.
—Take that, Timothée! Naomi Watts has signed on to play ballet legend Margot Fonteyn in Margot & Rudi, the new romantic drama from Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris director Anthony Fabian. Set in the Swinging Sixties, the film explores the iconic partnership between Fonteyn, a 42-year-old prima ballerina and Britain’s most famous dancer, and Rudolf Nureyev, the 23-year-old rebellious Soviet defector who became her partner on stage (and, it was rumored, off it as well). The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 When Darkness Loves Us, the new horror film from Kiwi director James Ashcroft, will kick off international sales at the upcoming Cannes Film Market. Cornerstone has taken on international sales for the title, which stars Emilia Clarke, Victoria Pedretti, Marlon Williams and Natascha McElhone. The chiller is adapted from Elizabeth Engstrom’s cult 1980s novella of the same name. Clarke stars as a women who, according to the official plot summary, "has survived 15 years trapped in an underground cave system, and returns to the surface to reclaim the family she believes is hers, no matter the monstrous cost." Principal photography has recently wrapped in NZ, and a U.S. release is planned for 2027. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Netflix has set a release date for the Heartstopper finale. The franchise will wrap when feature film Heartstopper Forever releases on July 17. The send-off movie will stand in for the fourth season of the LGBTQ+ coming-of-age series that stars Kit Connor and Joe Jocke, and is based on series creator Alice Oseman’s Heartstopper book series. The film will follow an inseparable couple as they confront the challenges of a long-distance relationship as Nick (Connor) prepares for university and Charlie (Jocke) gains independence at school. The story. |
'Fighting With My Family' Set for Musical Adaptation►From the top rope! Dwayne Johnson and Stephen Merchant‘s 2019 film Fighting With My Family is getting the musical treatment. Merchant’s biopic is being developed for the stage by Tilted Musicals, in collaboration with Seven Bucks Productions (co-founded by Johnson and Dany Garcia), Merchant himself, Kevin Misher and Birmingham Hippodrome. With the book and lyrics by Olivier Award-winning playwright Jon Brittain, the production will feature a new soundtrack by singer-songwriter Miranda Cooper and Nick Coler. The Fighting With My Family movie follows the true story of wrestler Paige, played by Florence Pugh, and her journey to becoming a WWE superstar. The story.
—Southern discomfort. A revival of Tennessee Williams’ Pulitzer Prize-winning play Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is coming to Broadway next season. Sam Gold, the Tony Award-winning director of Fun Home and Macbeth, is attached to direct. Casting and exact dates have not yet been announced, but the plan is to bring the revival to Broadway in spring 2027. The news comes as Broadway production company Seaview announced the acquisition of the revival rights from the new custodians of the Tennessee Williams estate. The last Broadway revival of the play was in 2013, starring Scarlett Johansson and Benjamin Walker. The story.
—Full slate. Roundabout Theatre company is bringing a revival of Moliere’s The Imaginary Invalid to Broadway next season, in addition to a revival of the musical The Full Monty and a new play by Dominique Morriseau. In the fall, the nonprofit theatre company will stage Invalid, a 17th-century comedy about hypochondria, reimagined by the actor and clown, Bill Irwin, and directed by Brandon Dirden. Full Monty, based on the 1997 British film about unemployed steel workers who become strippers, will be staged in spring 2027 at the Todd Haimes Theatre. In winter 2027, Roundabout will stage Morriseau’s Mix and Master, a two-character play, starring Ruben Santiago-Hudson and Kara Young. The story.
—🎭 London debut. 🎭 Christine Baranski will make her West End debut alongside Richard E. Grant in a new production of Noël Coward’s Hay Fever. The family comedy, directed by Emily Burns, also marks Grant’s return to the West End stage after 20 years. It’ll run at the Wyndham Theatre from September to December this year, with two-time Tony winner Baranski playing Judith Bliss and Grant as David Bliss. The story.
—🎭 Rabbit redux. 🎭 White Rabbit Red Rabbit, a critically acclaimed, experimental play by Iranian playwright Nassim Soleimanpour, will return to London's West End with guest performers including David Tennant, Riz Ahmed, Luke Thompson, and Jodie Whittaker. The show is set to mark the launch of a new indie production company, There & Then. The play, which has a different performer discover the script for the first time each night, will run at the Duchess Theatre from June to November this year. The story.
—As you were. A number of Broadway shows saw their attendance fall last week, as spring break crowds dissipated, and as several productions comped tickets in the lead up to openings. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child was the highest grossing show last week, bringing in $2.4m at the Lyric Theatre, followed by Hamilton with $1.9m and The Lion King with $1.8m. Moulin Rouge! brought in $1.6m, on the continued strength of Megan Thee Stallion’s run in the musical. Every Brilliant Thing, starring Daniel Radcliffe, also cracked the top five for the first time with $1.5m and the top average ticket price last week of $198. The Broadway box office report. |
TV Review: 'Stranger Things: Tales From '85'
►"At least the graphics are prettier." THR's Angie Han reviews Netflix's Stranger Things: Tales From '85'. The slightly more kid-friendly animated series follows the gang battling a new breed of monster in the brief period between seasons two and three. Featuring the voices of Brooklyn Davey Norstedt, Jolie Hoang-Rappaport, Luca Diaz, Elisha “EJ” Williams as Lucas, Braxton Quinney, Ben Plessala, Brett Gipson, Odessa A’zion, Jeremy Jordan and Janeane Garofalo. Developed by Eric Robles and Jennifer Muro, based on Stranger Things, created by Matt Duffer and Ross Duffer. The review.
In other news...
—Clayface teaser: First look at DC's R-rated body horror film
—The Vampire Lestat trailer: Sam Reid plays bloodsucking rock star
—Taylor Swift, Bad Bunny, The Weeknd top Spotify’s all-time chart lists
—Julianne Moore to receive Kering’s Women in Motion Award in Cannes
—YouTube partners with SiriusXM on audio advertising for podcasts and more
—Malta Film Commission readies 4th Mediterrane Film Festival
—Nantucket Film Festival to open with Olivia Wilde’s The Invite
What else we're reading...
—Jacob Rosenberg, Rebecca Traister and Simon van Zuylen-Wood talk to politicians from both sides of the aisle about the coming AI apocalypse on the jobs market [Intelligencer]
—John Herrman tries to the imagine the future of Apple post-Tim Cook [Intelligencer]
—James Fontanella-Khan, Josh Noble, Amy Kazmin and Alex Rogers report that a Trump envoy is seeking to replace Iran with Italy at the World Cup [FT]
—Irin Carmon reports on a new lawsuit against MrBeast's Beast Industries which alleges intentional infliction of emotional distress and more [Vulture]
—Kelefa Sanneh talks to Antoine Fuqua about his new film Michael, and telling the divisive story of the King of Pop [New Yorker]
Today...
...in 2010, Kieran and Michele Mulroney's Paper Man in theaters. The indie comedy, which starred Jeff Daniels, Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, Kieran Culkin and Lisa Kurdrow, received mixed reviews and stalled at the box office. The original review.
Today's birthdays: John Cena (49), Dev Patel (36), Judy Davis (71), Michael Moore (72), John Oliver (49), George Lopez (65), D.B. Weiss (55), Gigi Hadid (31), John Hannah (64), Jaime King (47), Sally Bretton (46), Jesse Lee Soffer (42), Gemma Whelan (45), Melina Kanakaredes (59), Lee Majors (87), Kal Penn (49), Barry Watson (52), Valerie Bertinelli (66), Craig Sheffer (66), Joyce DeWitt (77), Molly Burnett (38), Teagan Croft (22), Rachel Skarsten (41), Jane Widdop (24), Song Kang (32), James Russo (73), Vic Carmen Sonne (32), Charlie Rowe (30), Eric Edelstein (49), Blair Brown (80), Agni Scott (46), Langston Kerman (39), Anastasia Baranova (37)
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