| |
|
|
|
|
What's news: Upfronts kicks off in New York. Disney crosses $2b in global box office. Michael nears $600m worldwide. The WGA West staff strike has officially come to an end. FKA twigs will play Josephine Baker in a biopic. And NBC has renewed Law & Order and greenlit a Wordle game show hosted by Savannah Guthrie. — Abid Rahman
Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at tips@thr.com. |
'Prada' Scores Mother's Day Fatality Over 'Kombat'►Flawless fashion victory. The world of couture gave video game adaptation Mortal Kombat II a run for its money at the Mother’s Day box office, with The Devil Wears Prada 2 winning the weekend with an impressive sophomore haul of $43m in North America and $75.8m overseas for a worldwide cume of $433.2m. That means the 20th Century title has already passed up the entire lifetime run of the first film — or $326m — in only its second outing, not adjusted for inflation. The Prada sequel fell just 43 percent domestically and 46 percent overseas in a major win for the 20th Century brand under Disney’s ownership. To boot, Disney is also celebrating becoming the first Hollywood studio to cross $2b in 2026 global ticket sales.
On Saturday, both Prada 2 and Kombat 2 were projected to earn $40m to $41m based on Friday traffic, making the domestic race to close to call. By Sunday morning, the martial arts pic ceded the race to Prada 2 when reporting a second-place finish with an estimated $40m debut. Globally, Kombat 2 launched on the lower end of expectations with $63m after starting off with $23m at the foreign box office.
THR's Pamela McClintock writes that the victor of the weekend box office was always expected to be determined by Mother’s Day traffic. That automatically gave Prada 2 an advantage, since it’s fast on its way to becoming the biggest female-driven film since Warner Bros.’ Barbie in 2023 after kicking off the summer box office last weekend in high style. As expected, Kombat 2 skewed heavily male (73 percent).
Elsewhere, Lionsgate’s Michael Jackson biopic Michael earned a fantastic $36.5m in its third weekend for a domestidc tally of $240.5m and $577.4m globally through Sunday. Amazon MGM’s new family-friendly film The Sheep Detectives opened in fourth place domestically with a better-than-expected $15.9m, earning an A CinemaScore (it’s also a hit with critics). The box office report. |
WGA West Staff Strike Officially Over►✊ First contract. ✊ The Writers Guild of America West staff strike has officially come to an end. The Writers Guild Staff Union announced on Saturday that 89 percent of participating members voted to greenlight a tentative first contract deal, which concludes the union’s 82-day work stoppage. Seventy-seven union members voted to ratify the three-year deal, while 6 members voted not to ratify. “Together, the members of WGSU secured over $500,000 in wage increases across our 115-plus member bargaining unit,” the WGSU said in a statement. “By August of 2027, WGSU members will see their salaries improve by a minimum of 12 percent across the board.” The story.
—✊ Recognized! ✊ MrBeast has a new trial on his hands: negotiating a union contract with IATSE. The YouTuber's Amazon Prime Video competition show Beast Games has voluntarily recognized an IATSE union and is negotiating a labor contract. THR's Katie Kilkenny reports that negotiations are taking place after a group of crew members on the set of the show’s third season began organizing with the crew union. Filming is primarily taking place in Greenville, North Carolina, the hometown of MrBeast. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 THR's Ethan Millman has the scoop that The Red Hot Chili Peppers sold the rights to their recorded catalog to Warner Music Group in a deal worth more than $300m. WMG is acquiring the catalog through the company’s joint venture with Bain Capital. WMG first announced its $1.2b catalog acquisition vehicle last July and reported in its May 7 earnings report that they’d spent $650m on catalogs since the JV’s launch, though the company didn’t specify what those acquisitions were. The Chili Peppers deal represents close to half of the JV’s reported spending, though it’s currently unclear what the rest has gone toward. The story.
—🤝 Settlement. 🤝 Village Roadshow has agreed to pay Warner Bros. $57m to resolve its liability in an arbitration over financing on Matrix Resurrections. THR's Winston Cho reports that an arbitrator found in 2023 that VR breached a series of deals involving the Matrix films by failing to pay its $107m share of the cofinancing agreement. The decision called for the financier to pay WB $125m to buy a 50 percent share of Matrix Resurrections , meaning that it would be entitled to half of all proceeds from the film after the studio recouped P&A and distribution fees. On appeal, it was concluded that VR couldn’t be forced to purchase the film, the source said. The $57m figure represents damages owed to WB. The story.
—🤝 Warchest secured. 🤝 Ketchup Entertainment has secured a $100m P&A financial facility with Capstone Point Holdings to raise its game with theatrical releases. The upstart indie distributor attracted attention when it acquired from Warner Bros. the worldwide rights to Coyote vs. Acme, the live action/animation film canceled by the studio for a tax write-off, and the Looney Tunes animation film The Day The Earth Blew Up as part of a wider purge by studio head David Zaslav. Ketchup is signaling with its new P&A credit line that it is looking at still bigger titles to release as a more amibitious theatrical distributor. The story. |
BAFTA TV Awards 2026►🏆 Still winning, innit. 🏆 Netflix drama Adolescence was the big winner at the BAFTA TV Awards in London on Sunday, receiving four honors, a record, following the two prizes it had won during the recent BAFTA TV Craft Awards. Adolescence's total of six wins compares with the 2019 drama series Chernobyl, which holds the record for the most BAFTA awards won by a single show in one year (Chernobyl received 9). The Studio, The Celebrity Traitors, and Last One Laughing, whose creators criticized the BBC, were also among the other the winners at the Southbank Centre’s Royal Festival Hall. The winners.
—"We refuse to be silenced and censored." The team behind Channel 4 documentary Gaza: Doctors Under Attack, which the BBC had shelved, citing impartiality concerns, won an award at the BAFTA TV Awards on Sunday and used their acceptance speech to criticize Israel and the BBC. British journalist Ramita Navai, the doc’s reporter, and Ben De Pear, the program’s executive producer and a former Channel 4 News editor, spoke out on the BAFTA stage, addressing the U.K. public broadcaster, after the doc won the current affairs BAFTA. The story.
—"This is for Catherine." Seth Rogen took to the BAFTA TV Awards stage on Sunday to pick up the best international series honor for The Studio, paying homage to his late co-star Catherine O’Hara, who died in January. “I’d be remiss not to mention one of the key parts of the show, Catherine O’Hara,” he said. “She meant so much to all of us.” And Rogen, holding up the BAFTA trophy, concluded in addressing the London crowd: “I assume her work has been so important to you all over here as it was to us. So this is for Catherine.” The story. |
Upfronts Will Be Heavy on Creators, Football and AI Ad Tech►TV? What TV? The upfronts will never die, they will just change into a new form. THR's Alex Weprin's chats with CMOs, media buyers and network ad sales chiefs underscore the rapidly-changing media environment ... except for the NFL, of course. The analysis.
—Same, same but different. Broadly speaking, Fox‘s schedule for the start of the 2026-27 season looks a lot like the one that began the current season: Three nights of unscripted shows, two nights of scripted and sports on Friday and Saturday. Some of the specifics, however, are different — including a live-action comedy joining the network’s Sunday animation block for the first time in eight years. The fifth season of the Joel McHale-led Animal Control will move into the fall for the first time — it’s been a midseason show for all of its life so far — and follow The Simpsons on Sundays. The story.
—🎶 They won't be ready! 🎵 Fox‘s Baywatch reboot won’t be ready for fall, but it will arrive in midseason. The new Baywatch will premiere in “late” January 2027, Fox’s head of scheduling Dan Harrison said on a Sunday conference call with the media. Fox did not directly comment on what the launch plans are, but it’d be a good bet to assume the timing means Baywatch will debut following a big NFL Playoffs game, either the divisional round (Jan. 24) or, more likely, the NFC Conference Championship on Jan. 31. The story.
—Heaven 17! Fox has renewed what can fairly be called a boatload of its unscripted shows. Heading into its upfront presentation Monday afternoon, the network says it has renewed 17 unscripted series (including a couple that had been previously announced). They include six shows on the schedule for the fall: Celebrity Name That Tune, Celebrity Weakest Link, The Floor (one of the previously announced pickups, a two-season order), 99 to Beat, Hell’s Kitchen (also a two-season renewal) and Special Forces: World’s Toughest Test. A seventh show, Next Level Baker, is set for a holiday-season run, though its place on the schedule hasn’t been determined. The story.
—What about the Alphabet Network? ABC will run back its entire scripted lineup in the 2026-27 season. The network has renewed its first-year drama R.J. Decker for a second season. The private eye series, based on Carl Hiaasen’s novel Double Whammy, was the last scripted show at ABC whose future was undecided. With the pickup, ABC will bring back all 10 of its current scripted shows for next season. That’s the first time the network has had zero cancellations since at least 2012 (and probably for a number of years before then as well). ABC has also renewed both of its 911 dramas, Abbott Elementary, Grey’s Anatomy, High Potential, The Rookie, Scrubs, Shifting Gears and Will Trent. The story. |
Savannah Guthrie to Host NBC's 'Wordle' Show►OUIJA believe it! NBC has greenlit a game show based on the popular NYT puzzle game, Wordle. The primetime series will be hosted by Today show co-anchor Savannah Guthrie, an avid player of the game. Jimmy Fallon, another fan of the daily puzzle, is set to executive produce. The show is expected to premiere sometime in 2027. The development of the game show was first reported in October. Since then, Guthrie’s entire world has changed, though not her commitment to the project. The Wordle series hails from Universal Television Alternative Studio and Fallon’s Electric Hot Dog company. The Times is also a production partner. The story.
—11th hour renewal. The detectives and prosecutors of Law & Order will remain on the job for another season. NBC has renewed the long-running drama for a 26th installment in 2026-27, and the sixth season since L&O was revived in 2022. The pickup comes later than usual for Law & Order — the official word comes just before the start of NBCU’s upfront presentation Monday. Its spinoff Law & Order: SVU was renewed in mid-April, and NBC’s three Chicago dramas — which, like the L&O franchise, come from Dick Wolf’s Wolf Entertainment — earned pickups near the end of March. The story.
—Four more. Jim Rockford is back on the case at NBC — and he won’t be the only private investigator on the network in 2026-27. The network has picked up for new series for next season — two dramas and two comedies. The dramas are a Rockford Files reboot starring David Boreanaz as the title character and Line of Fire (formerly Protection), which follows a family of federal law enforcement officials caught up in a conspiracy. The comedies are Sunset P.I., starring Jake Johnson, and Newlyweds, with Tea Leoni and Tim Daly (who are also married in real life). All four shows come from Universal Television and were part of a larger than usual group of eight pilots NBC ordered this year. The story.
—Marquee spot. NBC‘s lineup for the 2026-27 season will have a similar feel to its current schedule — but one of the changes the network is making is a pretty big one. A non-celebrity edition of The Traitors will lead off NBC’s Thursday night in the fall, bringing the reality franchise onto another NBCU platform (the celeb version streams on Peacock). Alan Cumming will reprise his role as host of the series, which NBC ordered in August 2025. The story.
—"We believe in pilot season." THR's Rick Porter spoke to NBC scripted TV head Lisa Katz about the network's uptick in pilot volume — more than any single network had since 2022 — that resulted in four series pickups. The interview. |
Where Lively and Baldoni's Careers Go Next►"They’re in in jail. Both of them." Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni averted a legal battle royale with the surprise settlement of Lively’s It Ends With Us sexual harassment suit against him earlier this week. But even avoiding an ugly trial and now dealing with legal and punitive damages, the actress and actor-director now face a trial of a different sort. Namely that of rebuilding their Hollywood careers. THR's Borys Kit assesses the duelling duo's career prospects. The analysis.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Borys Kit has the scoop that Netflix has picked up Somewhere Out There, a sci-fi spec script written by Max Taxe, after coming out on top of a competitive bidding war. The project generated considerable heat thanks to the involvement of Shawn Levy, who is attached to direct. Levy will also produce via his 21 Laps banner, along with the company’s Dan Levine. Somewhere Out There is said to fall into the “emotional sci-fi” silo, and is described as being in the vein of Denis Villeneuve's Arrival and The Adam Project, Levy’s time travel family adventure made by Netflix in 2022. The story.
—🎭 Family's blessing. 🎭 Grammy-winning singer FKA twigs is set to star as Josephine Baker in a feature biopic of the American-French entertainer’s trailblazing life. Maïmouna Doucouré, the French filmmaker behind Cuties, is writing and directing. The project will launch international sales in Cannes, with shooting scheduled for the fall. The film has been developed with the cooperation of Baker’s surviving sons, Jean-Claude Bouillon Baker and Brian Bouillon Baker — both members of the Rainbow Tribe, the multi-ethnic family of 12 children Baker raised at her château in southwest France from the 1950s onward. The story.
—🎭 All set. 🎭 Black Bear, Artists Equity and Big Picture Co. are teaming to add some rays to A Woman in the Sun, a new feature film project from Julia Cox that will star Renée Zellweger and Sissy Spacek opposite Mia Threapleton. Written and to be directed by Cox — in a reunion with Black Bear after penning the studio’s Nyad — A Woman in the Sun follows a month in the life of Claire Keating, to be played by Zellweger. While working as a bartender on Nantucket, part of the island’s dwindling middle class, Claire’s world cracks open when her mother gets sick and her daughter moves home. The story.
—🎭 Dressed to kill. 🎭 Academy Award winner Melissa Leo will be striking a pose for Sean Byrne’s The Mannequin at Studiocanal’s new genre label Sixth Dimension. Genre auteur Byrne — best known for his work on the haunted house pic The Devil’s Candy starring Ethan Embry and the killer shark thriller Dangerous Animals starring Jai Courtney — will direct from his own script. Production is due to start this summer on the “serial killer procedural,” which is being described as “an original, violent and blistering high-stakes thriller.” Studiocanal is launching worldwide sales this week in Cannes. The story. |
'Cats' Has Never Been This Cool
►Ballroom blitz. In this season’s must-see Broadway revival, Andrew Lloyd Webber’s feline musical Cats has been joyously reborn as a voguing competition, giving the queer art of ballroom — and many of its legendary practitioners — its most prominent stage yet. THR's Caitlin Huston spoke to Leiomy, Junior LaBeija, Omari Wiles and Primo Thee Ballerino about the revival and bringing opulence back to Broadway. The interview.
—"Steve Martin is my North Star, but my compass is Steve Carell." THR's Lily Ford spoke to actress Charly Clive about her breakout role in HBO's new hit comedy Rooster. Clive dishes on what the season finale of Bill Lawrence and Matt Tarses' record-breaking comedy has in store, the ups and downs of a tough industry, and finally getting her break: "Listen, it took a while for Steve Martin. It took a while for Steve Carell. If it takes a while for the Steves, maybe it takes a while for the Charlys." The interview.
—"I literally would have done anything on the show." THR's Nicole Fell spoke to Brenda Song about her Netflix show Running Point. The actress shares why the Mindy Kaling-produced series is her dream project, how Disney Channel was ahead of the curve and the piece of advice David Fincher gave her. The interview.
In other news...
—Dua Lipa sues Samsung for $15m for using her face to sell TVs
—Chef Daniel Boulud reveals how NY power dining has changed
—Enjoy your Erewhon! How L.A. ate New York
—Tony Amatullo, 2 Days in the Valley producer and Goonies location manager, dies at 76
What else we're reading...
—With concerns over ticket sales and visitor numbers, Justin Fox writes that America's World Cup cities were wrong to ever expect a big payoff [Bloomberg]
—Daniel Rosney looks at why the damaging fallout over Israel's Eurovision inclusion may change the competition forever [BBC]
—Jemima Kelly has a fascinating look at the relationship between the Trump admin's "chief villain" Stephen Miller and his wife, the wanna-be influencer Katie Miller [FT]
—Liam Scott reports that a new survey says about 1 in 4 Americans think the April shooting at the White House Correspondents Dinner was staged [Washington Post]
—Ligaya Mishan has a list of New York's 100 best restaurants in 2026 [NYT]
Today...
...in 2018, RLJE Films released Vaughn Stein's Terminal in theaters. The neo-noir thriller, which starred Margot Robbie, Simon Pegg, Dexter Fletcher, Max Irons, and Mike Myers, was savaged by critics and bombed at the box office. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Sabrina Carpenter (27), Richard Gadd (37), Dan Trachtenberg (45), Shohreh Aghdashloo (74), Frances Fisher (74), Lana Condor (29), Shira Haas (31), Pam Ferris (78🏴), Danielle Pinnock (38), Jonathan Jackson (44), Tim Blake Nelson (62), Jeffrey Donovan (58), Coby Bell (51), Mary Elizabeth Ellis (47), Madison Lintz (27), Holly Valance (43), Warren Brown (48), Laetitia Casta (48), Nicky Katt (55), Austin O'Brien (45), Adam Kaufman (52), Annabelle Attanasio (33), Mark Neveldine (53), Boyd Gaines (73), Ariel Kiley (45), Karen Kilgariff (56), David Alvarez (32), Rakie Ayola (58🏴)
|
|
|
|
|
