Keaton on Reviving Batman and the Power of Saying No to Hollywood

►On the cover. From his ranch in Montana, the irrepressible actor talks to THR's Rebecca Keegan about his new projects — the Lionsgate action thriller The Protege, the Netflix 9/11 drama Worth and a Hulu series directed by Barry Levinson about the opioid epidemic, Dopesick — and the brazen choices that have propelled his marathon career. 

Keaton also touches upon The Flash, the DC movie he just finished shooting in which he reprises the role of Batman he originated in the 1989 Tim Burton film: "Frankly, in the back of my head, I always thought, 'I bet I could go back and nail that motherf*****.'" The cover story. 

—"There's no hope for culture." THR's Alex Ritman speaks with Afghan directors Hassan Fazili, Sedika Mojadidi and Carol Dysinger about the future of filmmaking in their country as the Taliban seizes power: "All of us Afghans, especially the ones living in Afghanistan, are all just holding a collective breath to see what unfolds." The story.  

—Getting paid. THR's Borys Kit digs deep into Emma Stone's deal for the Cruella sequel and finds that the actress scored a low eight-figure payday for the follow-up film, an increase from the $8 million she was paid for the first live-action feature. The story. 

—Who isn't in this film? Borys has another casting scoop for Wes Anderson's next feature, and at this point, half of Hollywood is in this thing. Bryan Cranston, Hope Davis, Jeffrey Wright, and Liev Schreiber are the latest names to join the cast. The story. 

—Where do you go after space? Universal’s Fast and Furious 10 has a release date with the penultimate film in the long-running cars-to-spies franchise hitting theaters on April 7, 2023. Justin Lin is directing and Vin and the gang are all expected to return. The story.

—Oooh yeah! Can you smmmmeelllllll what Spotify is cooking? Well, it's more podcast content after the Swedish giant reached a multi-year deal with WWE that will see The Ringer and the wrestling company launch an exclusive audio network and develop original content for the streamer. The story.   

Studios Begin to Blink on Theatrical Releases Amid Delta

►"I would have moved everything." As moviegoer comfort levels dive amid the spread of the COVID-19 delta variant, Paramount's Clifford the Big Red Dog and Sony’s Venom sequel have already been pushed back and the latter's Hotel Transylvania 4 sold off to a streamer.

THR's Pamela McClintock writes that other upcoming releases, like MGM’s oft-delayed Bond movie No Time to Die, may take the risk anyway and go ahead as planned. The story. 

—Streaming wars latest. Comcast and ViacomCBS on Wednesday unveiled a partnership to launch a new subscription video on-demand service, dubbed SkyShowtime, in more than 20 European territories encompassing 90 million homes. The story. 

—Mega event mask mandate. Per new guidelines issued by the L.A. County Department of Public HealthTime, everyone will be required to mask up at outdoor “mega-events,” such as concerts, fairs, festivals and sporting events. The story. 

—Return to producing. Bob Greenblatt, the former entertainment chairman at WarnerMedia and NBC, has launched a production company, The Green Room, and signed a first-look TV deal with Lionsgate Television. The story. 

—Awards klaxon! Spencer, the Venice and TIFF title that will see Kristen Stewart play Princess Diana, has gotten an awards-season release date. Neon and Topic Studios has scheduled the feature for Nov. 5. The story. 

Depp vs. Heard Suit Allowed Despite U.K. Ruling

►Key differences. Despite a devastating legal loss in the U.K. that has derailed his acting career, Johnny Depp will get a second libel trial to try to show he didn’t physically abuse ex-wife Amber Heard.

On Tuesday, a Virginia judge ruled that the decision last November in Depp’s suit against the publisher of The Sun shouldn’t derail his second case against Heard over an op/ed published in the Washington Post. The story. 

—Not OK. Freeform has canceled Everything's Gonna Be Okay. Creator, star, and executive producer Josh Thomas took to Twitter on Tuesday to confirm that the heartwarming comedy will end after two seasons. The story. 

—Lawsuit. For allegedly using stolen technology to market realistic CG characters, Disney faces the prospect of losing a portion of its profits to three of its blockbuster movies: Deadpool, Guardians of the Galaxy, and Beauty and the Beast. The story. 

—The Anne Rice Expanded Universe. AMC is wasting no time mining Anne Rice's works. The network has put a TV adaption of Lives of the Mayfair Witches in development and opened a writers room for the potential series based on author's three-book trilogy. The story. 

—"Feeling pretty grateful." Owen Wilson is the cover star of Esquire's September issue, and in a rare interview the 52-year-old actor talks about his new projects, Loki and The French Dispatch, as well as death, life and fatherhood. The story. 

Hollywood's China Box Office Hopes Dim  

►Is the love affair over? Chinese films have reaped record earnings at their country’s theatrical box office in 2021, but Hollywood ticket revenue in the Middle Kingdom remains mostly in the doldrums. In 2021, imported U.S. studio films had earned just $700 million as of July 31, down 66 percent compared to sales over the same stretch in 2019 ($2.1 billion), and falling 61 percent from 2018 ($1.8 billion).

THR's Asia bureau chief Patrick Brzeski considers the structural and political reasons for the waning popularity and dearth of Hollywood releases in China at the moment and the challenges that lie ahead. The story. 

—"It’s no longer part of my life." Laura Prepon says she is no longer an active member of the Church of Scientology, having exited the controversial group five years ago. The story. 

—Ammmmazing news. HBO Max has given a series order to a spin-off to the Carton Network favorite Adventure Time. The streamer has ordered Fionna and Cake, an adult animated series following the sword-wielding adventurer Fionna and her magical best friend and talking cat Cake. The story. 

—Big hire. Indie studio A24 has named its first chief financial officer in JB Lockhart, who currently holds the same title at the NBA. The story. 

—"It's hard to tweet a specific tone." Jared Padalecki says that he loves former Supernatural co-star and “brother” Jensen Ackles “deeply” and all that recent super awkward Twitter business was a big misunderstanding. The story. 

In other news...

—TV review: HBO Max's Eyes on the Prize: Hallowed Ground.

—Lifetime releases Highway to Heaven reboot movie trailer, November premiere date.

—Flowers in the Attic prequel miniseries ordered by Lifetime.

—Jimmy O. Yang reteams with Jon M. Chu for Chinese art heist movie at Warner Bros.

—Sterling K. Brown, Randall Park team for action-comedy at Amazon.

—Daily Show showrunner reflects on 23 years spent skewering (and making) the news.

—Riding the Hacks bus: Co-creators, stars of hit series drop by Comedy Store for surprise stand-up event.

—Nomadland wins international critics honor as film of the year.

—Kaley Cuoco, The Flight Attendant creatives discuss highs and lows.

—New York Comic Con boss talks new vaccine rules.

—U.K. Office producer Ash Atalla says "it still shocks" him when Hollywood hires non-disabled actors for disabled characters.

—Steve Prinz exits Amazon development role for first-look film, TV deal.

—Pose star Michaela Jaé (Mj) Rodriguez signs with UTA.

What else we're reading...

—"First Look at Clerks III (Spoiler: They Still Don’t Like You)" [Vanity Fair]

—"Malala: I Fear for My Afghan Sisters" [New York Times]

—"Lizzo Fans See the "Rumors" Backlash for What It Is: Racist Misogyny" [Daily Beast]

—"Siskel and Ebert vs. the Academy" [The Ringer]

—"The White Lotus: The Leisure Class Always Wins" [The Atlantic]

Today... 

...in 2015, THR's second nicest man Aaron Couch did a deep dive oral history of Mortal Kombat, the movie that broke the box office curse for video game adaptations all the way back in 1995. The oral history. 

Today's birthdays: Robert Redford (85), Kaitlin Olson (46), Edward Norton (52), Christian Slater (52), Andy Samberg (43), Madeleine Stowe (63), Sarita Choudhury (55), Denis Leary (64), Malcolm-Jamal Warner (51), Alexa Davies (26), Anna Akana (32), Madelaine Petsch (27)