| | | | | | What's news: It's magazine day! This week's cover star is the always entertaining Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson. The S2 finale of House of the Dragon has leaked. Megan Thee Stallion stumped for Kamala Harris at a raucous event in Atlanta. Norah O’Donnell is stepping down as CBS Evening News anchor. The Outsiders continues to break records on Broadway. Richard Gadd is ready to testify if needed in the $170m Baby Reindeer case. — Abid Rahman
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50 Cent on Conquering TV ►On the cover. Grammy-winning rapper Curtis "50 Cent" Jackson has steadily built himself a television empire that encompasses the phenomenally successful and sprawling Power franchise. THR's Mesfin Fekadu talks to Jackson about becoming a TV mogul, his upcoming Netflix doc on nemesis Sean "Diddy" Combs, why he brought $3.5m to the photo shoot and why he was finally invited to the 2022 Super Bowl halftime show: "They couldn’t get Eminem to do it without me." The cover story. |
What Hollywood Wants From Kamala Harris ►"For some reason, antitrust has not applied to the tech companies." THR's Winston Cho writes that with a new Democratic ticket, an army of lobbyists is pushing to influence policy — and targeting FTC chair Lina Khan and other agency chiefs who cause headaches for Hollywood dealmakers. The analysis.
—"We’re about to make history!" Dressed in “hot girl” attire while bouncing and twerking to her hits, Megan Thee Stallion stumped for Kamala Harris‘ presidential campaign during a boisterous rally that featured fellow rapper Quavo as well as Stacey Abrams on Tuesday in Atlanta. Senators Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock also spoke at the rally. The recap.
—Moving on. Norah O’Donnell’s run as anchor of CBS Evening News is coming to an end, but the veteran journalist is not leaving CBS News. O’Donnell is set to leave the anchor desk after the 2024 presidential election — her seventh U.S. election she has covered as a journalist — and will become a CBS News special correspondent at the network. In her new role, she will conduct newsmaking interviews and other reports with appearances on CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes. The story. |
Shari Redstone's Next Act: Broadway! ►"She has been a big supporter of the show." After inking a megadeal to sell off her Paramount Global empire, THR's Caitlin Huston reports that Shari Redstone's next stop is Broadway. Redstone is a co-producer on the Broadway play Job, written by Max Wolf Friedlich. Job is a work drama about a young tech worker who barrels into a therapist’s office brandishing a gun and demands a therapy session. The story.
—Streak continues. The Outsiders continued to break box office records for the sixth week in the row. The Broadway musical brought in $1.46m for the week ended July 28, with capacity over 100 percent. The show, based on the novel by S.E. Hinton about teens growing up in 1960s Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been on an upward trend since winning the Tony Award for best musical on June 16. The story.
—Refinancing. Netflix is raising cash, seeking to secure $1.8b in a new debt offering. The company says it will use the cash to refinance existing debt that is coming due in the next year, and for “general corporate purposes,” per a securities filing. The streamer, it should be noted, is expanding its content offering over the next year to include the WWE (to the tune of around $500m per year) as well as a pair of NFL games on Christmas Day, which will cost it low to mid nine figures. The story.
—More legal issues. Netflix has landed in legal trouble over an alleged culture encouraging sexual harassment and decisions related to its vaccine mandate. In a lawsuit filed on Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, former senior manager of risk management Jessica Combs claims that she was told she was terminated for refusing the COVID-19 vaccine, but that it was actually a pretext for complaining to management about sexual harassment. The story.
—"I have personal knowledge of the facts set forth below and, if called as a witness, could and would testify competently thereto." Richard Gadd, creator and star of the Emmy-nominated series Baby Reindeer, is prepared to testify for Netflix in the streamer’s $170m lawsuit against the “real-life” Martha Scott. The actor is not named as a defendant in the suit brought against Netflix by Fiona Harvey, but has backed getting the legal action dismissed in a declaration filed on Monday. The story. | NBC Says Paris Olympics Will Set Ad Record ►Bonanza! The 2024 Paris Olympics are paying off for NBCUniversal. The media giant said Tuesday that it will set a new Olympic record for ad revenue with its coverage of the games, topping Tokyo’s estimated $1.25b haul. Notably, the company says that nearly half a billion dollars in ad revenue will come from first-time sponsors to the Games. The company also said that digital ad revenue has more than doubled compared to Tokyo, and that the total number of advertisers was more than double the 2020 Tokyo and 2016 Rio Games combined. The story.
—"Vile hatred." Barbara Butch, a French DJ and LGBTQ+ rights icon, said she has filed police reports over targeted harassment for her participation in a section of the Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony. Butch said she has been the target of rape and torture threats from viewers who erroneously thought one section of the Opening Ceremony resembled Leonardo da Vinci's The Last Supper. The story.
—🤝 Ratified 🤝 Disneyland workers voted to approve their new 3-year contract about a week after voting to authorize a strike. The workers, representing 14,000 cast members at Disneyland, Disney California Adventure, Downtown Disney and the Disney hotels in jobs including custodians, ride operators, candy makers and merchandise clerks, voted to ratify a contract with what they say is the largest wage increase they’ve seen. Most workers will receive a wage increase of $6.10 over the next few years, with a minimum base wage rate of $24 in 2024. The story. |
Carano Calls for Pascal, Kennedy to Testify Over 'Mandalorian' Firing ►Bear Grylls? Gina Carano's legal battle over her firing from The Mandalorian could feature a star-studded cast of witnesses, including Pedro Pascal, Jon Favreau and ex-Disney chief executive Bob Chapek. In a joint filing from the ex-MMA fighter and Disney, Carano pointed to those names as potential witnesses that could be called to testify in her case. She also included Bear Grylls, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and Lynne Hale, the engineer of the publicity campaign behind Star Wars. The story.
—Drip, drip. Washington, D.C.’s attorney general has sued StubHub, accusing it of deceptively hiding mandatory fees and failing to properly explain what they’re for until the end of a burdensome checkout process. The lawsuit details several ways in which Stubhub allegedly dupes customers. In what’s known as “drip pricing,” the company advertises an artificially low price to entice ticket buyers and prompts them through a series of unnecessary steps while a timer creates a false sense of urgency. The story.
—Still looking good. Live Nation reported Q2 earnings Tuesday, revealing continued demand globally for concerts amid the overhang of the Justice Department lawsuit. The company, which owns Ticketmaster, reported no signs of a slowdown in demand for concerts, with revenue up 7 percent year-over-year to reach $6b and operating income up 21 percent to reach $466m. The results. |
'HOTD' S2 Finale Leaks on Social Media ►Not again! HBO’s hit series House of the Dragon has been hit with another online leak ahead of its season two finale. Dozens of clips from the eighth episode, scheduled to premiere on Aug. 4, were illegally uploaded to a new TikTok account Tuesday night, less than a week before the finale was set to drop. It appears that the clips appeared to be captured by someone filming a screen with a secondary device. The story.
—🎭 Another big name 🎭 Boyd Holbrook is joining season four of Apple TV+'s The Morning Show. Holbrook will play Brodie, a popular and provocative podcaster and talk show host. The Narcos star is the latest big name to join The Morning Show, following William Jackson Harper, Marion Cotillard and Jeremy Irons. The story.
—🎭 Pivot to TV 🎭 Multi-hyphenate artist Yves Mathieu East has joined the second season of Survival of the Thickest as a guest star. East will appear in the next chapter of the A24 and Netflix scripted comedy alongside fellow guest stars like Anderson .Paak and Tika Sumpter. East’s modeling career includes appearances in campaigns by Burberry, GQ, Kenneth Cole, Puma and being tapped by Beyoncé for the Drip 2 Ivy Park campaign. The story.
—🎭 No villain role? 🎭 John Carroll Lynch has joined the untitled Bosch: Legacy spinoff, the third show in Amazon Prime Video's Bosch franchise, centering on LAPD detective Renée Ballard (to be played by Maggie Q). The series follows Ballard as she takes on running the department’s cold case division — an underfunded, all-volunteer unit with a huge case load. The character has appeared in several of Bosch author Michael Connelly’s novels. Lynch will play Thomas Laffont, a retired former partner of Ballard’s. The story.
—"Critics say it’s the special my kids will be talking about in therapy twenty years from now!" Seth Meyers has lined up his next standup special, which is set to debut on HBO/Max later this fall. The hour, his first for the WarnerMedia brand, was taped in front of a live audience in June at The Vic Theatre in Chicago. His last hour, Lobby Baby, which famously tackled the messy birth of his second of three children, among other subjects, was released on Netflix in 2019. The story. |
Wolverine Co-Creator on His 'Deadpool 3' Credit ►"My name should have come first." In a guest column for THR, Roy Thomas, the former Marvel editor-in-chief and co-creator of the Wolverine character, shares his thoughts after seeing Deadpool & Wolverine — and responds following a controversy surrounding him getting co-creator credit on the popular character. The column.
—Snapped up. THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on 21 Laps Entertainment, the production banner founded by Deadpool & Wolverine filmmaker Shawn Levy, and Netflix have teamed up to adapt Never Lie, the bestseller by author Freida McFadden. Netflix has acquired the rights to the psychological thriller for 21 Laps to develop and produce the adaptation. Levy will produce along with partners Dan Levine and Dan Cohen. The story.
—📅 Dated 📅 Jason Reitman's movie about the debut night of Saturday Night Live has an official title and a fall release date. Sony Pictures announced Tuesday that Saturday Night is set to hit theaters Oct. 11, which marks the 49th anniversary of the NBC sketch series’ premiere that aired on that same night in 1975. Previously using the working title of SNL 1975, the film is getting a prime awards season release. The story.
—🎭 Heading to France 🎭 Minka Kelly is set to star in Netflix holiday season comedy Champagne Problems from writer-director Mark Steven Johnson. The Euphoria actress will play a mergers and acquisitions executive who heads to France just ahead of Christmas to finalize a deal for a beloved champagne brand. However, the situation gets complicated when she begins a whirlwind romance with a Parisian stranger who just happens to be the son of the champagne company’s founder. The story.
—"And that’s a wrap." James Gunn shared his appreciation for his Superman collaborators on Tuesday as the DC Studios movie wrapped filming. The filmmaker took to social media to share a set photo and message of gratitude for the team behind the superhero feature that reboots the iconic character. Warner Bros. is set to release Superman in theaters on July 11, 2025. The story. |
Film Review: 'Harold and the Purple Crayon' ►"Very much colors inside the lines." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Carlos Saldanha's Harold and the Purple Crayon. Shazam! star Zachary Levi plays the title role in this live-action/animated retelling of Crockett Johnson's classic children's book, also featuring Lil Rel Howery and Zooey Deschanel. The review.
—"A likeable Miss Teen Marple." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Netflix's A Girl's Guide to Murder. Wednesday star Emma Myers plays a teenage gumshoe who gets to the bottom of a homicide case years earlier in a small English village in this adaptation of Holly Jackson's YA novel. The review.
In other news...
—Rachel Zegler rescues onscreen parents Nicole Kidman, Javier Bardem from curse in Spellbound trailer
—Mike Leigh to receive Toronto Film Festival tribute award
—Hamptons Film Festival to open With R.J. Cutler’s Martha Stewart doc
—Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s son Pax injured in E-bike accident in L.A.
—Wasserman hires a private equity veteran to lead dealmaking strategy
—Olivia Rodrigo’s Guts World Tour arrives in L.A. soon — Here’s how to save up to $300 on concert tickets
—Chino XL, rapper and actor, dies at 50
—Francine Pascal, creator of Sweet Valley High book series, dies at 92
What else we're reading...
—Ryan Faughnder writes that Deadpool 3 proved that Hollywood still needs superheroes and I.P., but the town can't forget the mid-tier movies [LAT]
—Irrespective of all the memes, Sarah Jones writes that the Republican obsession with fertility and sexuality is weird [Intelligencer]
—Lila Shapiro profiles psychiatrist Phil Stutz, Hollywood's favorite therapist [Vulture]
—In an op-ed, consumer activist Erin Brockovich writes that the very future of the EPA is at stake this November [NYT]
—The NYT sports desk has put together a cool visualization on how Team U.S.A. won the Olympic women’s gymnastics gold [NYT]
Today...
...in 1999, Warner Bros. held the premiere of Brad Bird’s animated The Iron Giant in Los Angeles. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Wesley Snipes (62), Sherry Lansing (80), B.J. Novak (45), Zelda Williams (35), Eve Best (53), Michael Biehn (68), Wunmi Mosaku (38), Tami Stronach (52), Alexis Knapp (35), Emilia Fox (50), Christina Cox (53), Sofia Pernas (35), Annie Parisse (49), Jessica Williams (35), Asher Keddie (50), France Nuyen (85), Rico Rodriguez (26), Eric Lively (43), Geraldine Chaplin (80), Dirk Blocker (67), Loren Dean (55), Barry Van Dyke (73), James Read (71), Michael Eklund (50), Alan Autry (72), Terri Dwyer (51), Ben Chaplin (55), Rudolf Martin (57), Al Sapienza (62), Charlie Carver (36), Celina Sinden (37), Dana Gourrier (45), Larry Romano (61) |
| Bobby Banas, the actor, dancer and choreographer who played Joyboy in West Side Story and worked in such other famed movie musicals as Bye Bye Birdie, The Unsinkable Molly Brown and Mary Poppins, has died. He was 90. The obituary. |
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