| | | | | | What's news: Paramount Global is looking to make $500m in cost savings. A24 is now valued at $3.5b. HBO has greenlit a Green Lantern series, and will rebrand some Max originals. Amazon MGM Studios has landed a hot zombie feature package produced by Ryan Gosling. — Abid Rahman
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IATSE, AMPTP Reach Tentative Agreement on New Contract ►🤝 Provisional deal 🤝 THR's Katie Kilkenny reports that IATSE has reached a tentative agreement on a new three-year contract covering 13 West Coast Locals (around 50,000 crew members) with the AMPTP, which represents Hollywood’s top studios and streamers. The provisional deal raises wages by 7 percent in the first year, includes language covering AI, and applies additional penalties for long workdays. The deal for a successor contract to the so-called Basic Agreement is still subject to a ratification vote, which has not yet been scheduled. The story.
—"We need to act now to reverse this trend." Paramount Global held a company town hall meeting in L.A. on Tuesday, and the three co-CEOs — Brian Robbins, Chris McCarthy and George Cheeks, president and CEO of CBS — all spoke to around 500 employees at the Paramount Theatre on the studio's lot. At the meeting, the trio said the company must address profit declines, revealed that bankers have been hired to sell off unspecified assets in order to help pay down debt and that they would seek $500m in annualized cost savings, likely through layoffs. The story.
—🤝 Big investment 🤝 A24, the indie studio that has become an edgy brand name unto itself, is getting a big vote of confidence — and an influx of cash. The studio announced today it has closed on an investment round led by Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital. THR's Mia Galuppo and Alex Weprin report that Thrive invested $75m into the indie based on a $3.25b pre-money valuation. A source close to A24 with knowledge of the investment notes that the company’s enterprise valuation now sits at $3.5b, suggesting this round of funding will net the company roughly a $250m total investment. The story.
—Moving forward. A lawsuit against Disney targeting its dual role as a content supplier and distributor in business dealings has cleared a legal hurdle, with a federal judge advancing a key antitrust claim over the entertainment monolith’s ownership of ESPN and Hulu. U.S. District Judge Edward Davila on Tuesday rebuffed arguments to dismiss the lawsuit, finding that the company could’ve leveraged its purchase of Hulu to raise prices of live TV streamed over the internet across the market. The story.
—"Leaving is bittersweet, but I will always bleed Hollywood Reporter red." Elisabeth Rabishaw, an industry vet and current executive vp and publisher at THR, is retiring after 14 years with the publication. Rabishaw joined THR in July 2010 and was an integral member of the sales management team that launched the brand into a weekly magazine and formidable website. She will shift to a consultancy role. The story. |
Film Academy Invites 487 to Join ►"These remarkably talented artists and professionals from around the world have made a significant impact on our filmmaking community." The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences on Tuesday sent invitations to 487 people to become members. Among the invited are Killers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone, Past Lives filmmaker Celine Song, CAA managing partner Chris Silbermann, and SAG-AFTRA national executive director and chief negotiator Duncan Crabtree-Ireland. The 2024 invite list is the highest number of invitations issued by the Academy since 2020, when 819 went out. The full list.
—Final 60. Women in Film has found its class of 2024. From nearly 900 applications, the organization has confirmed 60 members for its WIF Fellowship Program for this year, bringing together cohorts of directors, writers, cinematographers, producers, line producers, execs, reps, artisans and below-the-line crewmembers for a year of mentoring, guest speakers, master classes, networking and individualized support. Mentors this year include top execs from Netflix, A+E, LuckyChap, MTV, Echo Lake, Davis Entertainment, Color Force, Fifth Season, Tomorrow Studios and more. The story.
—New coverage. The SAG-AFTRA Health Plan will soon add infertility treatment benefits to its coverage. The 40-member board — equally comprised of representatives for management and the performers’ union — unanimously approved the change, which will take effect on Jan. 1, 2025. Starting that year, plan participants and spouses who take part in the plan are qualified for “medically necessary” infertility treatment coverage. The story. |
Fox News Plans Interview Series With Trump Veep Contenders ►The Apprentice VP edition? Fox News on Wednesday will kick off a series in which its Fox & Friends co-hosts interview people who are on the short list to be former President Donald Trump’s VP pick. Fox says that Ohio Sen. J.D. Vance, South Carolina Sen. Tim Scott and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum have committed so far. The series will be structured as two-parters, with the first half focusing on policy, and the second half would see them joined by the spouses (or in the case of Scott, his fiancée) to discuss their personal qualities. The story.
—🤝 First-look deal 🤝 Global production powerhouse Fremantle has secured a multi-year first-look deal with Nevermind Pictures, the production company founded by Kristen Stewart, partner Dylan Meyer and producer Maggie McLean. The deal gives Fremantle the first opportunity at all of Nevermind’s film and television projects. Fremantle’s global drama division, under CEO Christian Vesper and COO Seb Shorr, will work closely with Nevermind, while its international distribution arm, FMI, will handle TV titles. The story.
—Bonanza! The final game of the NHL's Stanley Cup Finals delivered both on the ice and in the ratings. The Florida Panthers’ 2-1 victory over the Edmonton Oilers in Monday night’s seventh game averaged 7.66m viewers on ABC in the U.S.— the largest audience for an NHL game since 2019. It’s also the biggest tune-in ever for a Stanley Cup Finals not involving one of the league’s original six teams (Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Montreal, the New York Rangers and Toronto). Viewing peaked at 10.3m viewers for the closing minutes of the game. The ratings. |
HBO's 'Harry Potter' Series Finds Its Showrunner, Director ►Team in place. HBO's long-developing Harry Potter series has locked in two key members of its creative team. The series has named Francesca Gardiner as its writer and showrunner and tapped Mark Mylod to direct multiple episodes. Both are Emmy winners for HBO’s Succession — Gardiner as part of the show’s producing team and Mylod as both director and producer. Gardiner’s credits include His Dark Materials, Killing Eve and The Rook. Mylod directed episodes of Game of Thrones and The Last of Us as well as feature film The Menu. The story.
—Finally! HBO has given a straight-to-series order for Lanterns, based on the long-running Green Lantern characters — specifically John Stewart and Hal Jordan — from DC Comics. Chris Mundy (Ozark) will serve as showrunner on the eight-episode drama and co-write the series with Damon Lindelof (Watchmen, Lost) and Eisner Award winner Tom King, known for his work on several Batman titles, Mister Miracle and Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow for DC Comics. The story.
—Premium shift. On a newsy Tuesday, Warner Bros. Discovery revealed that it is putting some of the "premium" back into its premium cable outlet, HBO. In a branding strategy shift, several tentpole series that had been announced as original shows for streamer Max — including the in-development Harry Potter series and It prequel Welcome to Derry — will become HBO originals instead. The just-ordered Lanterns, that was first developed for Max, will also now originate on HBO. The story.
—🎭 New faces 🎭 Netflix's One Piece is expanding its cast as it heads into a second season. The live-action adaptation of the expansive manga and anime series has added Werner Coetser, Brendan Murray and Clive Russell to its ensemble of actors. They’ll each play allies of Monkey D. Luffy (Iñaki Godoy) and his Straw Hat Pirates. Coetser and Murray will play Dorry and Brogy, who in the source material are the two captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates. Russell is set to play Crocus, a wise doctor and lighthouse keeper. The story.
—Heading north. Top Chef is packing up its knives and aprons and heading to Canada for season 22. The Bravo series is making a rare foray outside the U.S. after the 20th season was shot in London and after the Wisconsin-themed 21st season. Top Chef judges Kristen Kish, Tom Colicchio and Gail Simmons announced their Canadian road trip on Instagram on Tuesday. The story. |
'Horizon' Tracking for $10M-$12M U.S. Opening ►Subdued opening incoming. In recent weeks, Kevin Costner embarked on a multicity tour promoting Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 1, the first of four big-budget Westerns that he directs and stars in. On Friday, Costner will begin to learn to what degree he’s succeeded when Chapter 1 rides into U.S. theaters. THR's Pamela McClintock writes that tracking services all vary in their ranges, but the consensus is that the Western will launch to $10m to $12m — not the sort of number a filmmaker or distributor wants to see for a film costing $100m to produce. The box office report.
—📅 Dated 📅 Bugonia, Yorgos Lanthimos’ next film, to star Emma Stone and Jesse Plemons, will be released wide in the U.S. on Nov. 7, 2025, Focus Features said Tuesday. Universal will release Bugonia internationally, excluding Korea, where CJ ENM will handle the local release. The film, written by Will Tracy, follows two conspiracy-obsessed men who kidnap the high-powered CEO of a major company, convinced that she is an alien intent on destroying planet Earth. The story.
—Snapped up. Amazon MGM Studios has landed zombie comedy film package I Used to Eat Brains, Now I Eat Kale. Ryan Gosling will produce the feature with Jessie Henderson, his partner at General Admission. The project will fall under the company’s first-look deal with Amazon. Twins Adam and Daniel Cooper wrote the unpublished 42-page short story and will write the script adapting their own work. Plot details are scant, but it is described as being set in a “post-post-apocalyptic” world where former zombies struggle to reintegrate. The story.
—Love in Kansas. The NFL is expanding its media horizons yet again, teaming up with Hallmark to produce a holiday movie that has football as a backdrop. The film, which also counts Skydance Sports among its producers, is called Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story (and no, it’s not about that Chiefs love story). The movie stars Tyler Hynes, Hunter King and Ed Begley Jr. and is set to begin filming next month in Kansas City, Missouri, the hometown of both the Super Bowl champion Chiefs and Hallmark. The story. |
Tony Winners See Broadway Box Office Bump ►Cashing in. The big winners at the 2024 Tony Awards saw their grosses soar in the week following the June 16 ceremony, with Merrily We Roll Along, The Outsiders, Stereophonic and An Enemy of the People hitting new highs. Merrily We Roll Along, winner of the best revival of a musical and Tony wins for stars Jonathan Groff and Daniel Radcliffe, saw the biggest jump in the industry for the week ended June 23, upping its total gross by close to $330,000 compared to the prior week. The story.
—Broadway ahoy! Leslye Headland, the creator of the Disney+ series Star Wars: The Acolyte, will make her Broadway debut this fall. Her play, Cult of Love, follows four adult children returning to their childhood home with their partners for the holidays. The harmony is interrupted as old and new conflicts arise. The play, produced by Second Stage Theater, will run at the Hayes Theater starting Nov. 20 and opening Dec. 12. Trip Cullman, who directed Choir Boy, Lobby Hero and more on Broadway, will direct the production. Casting has not yet been announced. The story. |
Film Review: 'MaXXXine' ►"Caps the trilogy in sleazy-chic high style." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Ti West's MaXXXine. Mia Goth is joined by Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Monaghan, Bobby Cannavale, Giancarlo Esposito and Kevin Bacon in this 1980s Tinseltown-set slasher follow-up to X and Pearl. The review.
"A moving and worthy tribute." THR's Lovia Gyarkye reviews Kimberly Reed's I'm Your Venus. In her latest film, the Dark Money filmmaker follows the biological and ballroom families of Venus Xtravaganza (a key figure in Jennie Livingston’s Paris Is Burning) as they try to solve the mystery of her murder and honor her legacy. The review.
—"Longoria anchors an enjoyably sweet dramedy." THR's Angie Han reviews Apple TV+'s Land of Women. In this drama starring Eva Longoria and Carmen Maura, a woman's husband runs afoul of loan sharks, so the wealthy New Yorker flees with her elderly mother and teenage daughter to her family's ancestral home in Spanish wine country. The review.
In other news...
—Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans search for Santa in Red One trailer
—Producer Sphere Media to buy distributor Abacus for $18m
—Gena Rowlands has Alzheimer’s disease, says son Nick Cassavetes
—J. Lo, Quinta Brunson, Rosamund Pike among stars at Dior haute couture show in Paris
—Netflix lobbyist Stephane Cardin to step down
—Sound of Freedom director Alejandro Monteverde signs with WME
—CNN taps Jeremy Diamond as Jerusalem correspondent
—The tiny newsstand in West Hollywood that’s become a Sunset Strip hotspot
—Spencer Milligan, Land of the Lost star, dies at 86
—Tom Van Amburg, KABC-TV Los Angeles executive, dies at 83
—Al Schultz, longtime TV makeup artist and husband of Vicki Lawrence, dies at 82
What else we're reading...
—Oliver Darcy reports that right-wing media figures are desperately pushing conspiracy theories about Biden ahead of the debate [CNN]
—Jada Yuan goes inside the battle to release controversial Trump movie The Apprentice, that incredibly still lacks U.S. distribution [Washington Post]
—Alim Kheraj writes that Charli XCX and Lorde’s conflict resolution is the year’s most powerful pop moment [Guardian]
— Hugh Schofield writes that President Emmanuel Macron's election gamble puts French democracy on the table [BBC]
—Jonathan Limehouse has the latest on the two NASA astronauts stuck in space, which should be a bigger story than it is [USA Today]
Today...
...in 1963, Universal unveiled, in color, the 91-minute feature King Kong vs. Godzilla in theaters stateside. The Toho production title had been billed in ads as "the most colossal conflict the screen has ever known!" The original review.
Today's birthdays: Jacob Elordi (27), Ariana Grande (31), Aubrey Plaza (40), Jennette McCurdy (32), Paul Thomas Anderson (54), Nick Offerman (54), Chris O'Donnell (54), Sean Hayes (54), Matt Letscher (54), Chris Isaak (68), Jason Schwartzman (44), Brandon Sklenar (34), Gedde Watanabe (69), Ian Tracey (60), Robert Davi (73), Ana Ularu (39), Eric Nelsen (33), Mark McKinney (65), Harley Quinn Smith (25), Steven Brand (55), Alice Adair (58), Michael Paul Chan (74), Joanne Tucker (42), Andrew Bachelor (36), Pamela Bellwood (73), Yerin Ha (29), Pauline Etienne (35), Parry Shen (51), Brittney Karbowski (38), Rebecca Budig (51), Dany Boon (58) | | Seth Binzer, who was known to fans as Shifty Shellshock and the frontman for the rap-rock band Crazy Town, has died. He was 49. The obituary. |
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