Ed Asner 1929-2021

►Legend. Ed Asner, the tough guy with the soft side who starred as the irascible newsroom boss Lou Grant on the legendary sitcom The Mary Tyler Moore Show and on his own hard-hitting TV drama, died Sunday. He was 91. The obituary. 

—"We’ve lost one of the great humans." Hollywood figures took to social media to pay tribute Ed Asner on Sunday. The likes of Josh Gad, Yvette Nicole Brown, Katie Couric, Keith Olbermann, Michael Moore, Al Franken and more recounted Asner's legendary kindness and Ted Sarandos, co-CEO and chief content officer at Netflix, described him as "the single biggest influence on my life and early career." The tributes. 

—"It's because of Ed that I even wanted to get into this business." Brady Bunch star Maureen McCormick knew Asner since guesting on Lou Grant in 1979, and spoke — through tears — with THR on Sunday about why his work, on and off the screen, meant so much to her. The story. 

—"He had spunk in spades." THR conducted the final interview and photo shoot of Ed Asner's career for an installment of the THR Icons series that appeared in this newsletter last Thursday. Writer Scott Feinberg and photographer Michael Buckner share memories of their interactions with him. The story. 

—12 memorable roles. From television classics like The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Rich Man, Poor Man and Lou Grant to recent Hollywood fare like Elf and Up, here are 12 of Ed Asner's most memorable roles. The list.

'Candyman' Slashes Its Way to $22M Opening

►The writing on the wall. Candyman got off to an impressive start, earning $22.37 million at the domestic box office in its opening weekend from 3,569 theaters. The MGM/Universal horror reboot surpassed expectations despite the surge of the Delta variant of COVID-19 and tropical storm Ida affecting East Coast moviegoing.

Directed by Nia DaCosta and produced by Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw, Candyman stars freshly minted A-lister Yahya Abdul Mateen II. The $25 million movie did not fare as well internationally, opening in 51 international markets to gross $5.2 million for a worldwide cume of $27.6 million.

Free Guy came in at the No. 2 spot in its third weekend of release, earning $12.7 million, a fall of only 31 percent. The Ryan Reynolds-Jodie Comer film has earned $78 million at the domestic box office to date. The full box office report. 

—Expert last minute marketing. Free Guy opened to $23.8 million in China over the weekend, a healthy return for a Hollywood tentpole with only a week’s worth of marketing in the world’s largest theatrical market. Skydance and Paramount's The Tomorrow War is next up, after securing a Sept. 3 release. The China box office report. 

—"I did not know that I could miss both his laughter and his silence." Social media was flooded on Saturday with emotional tributes to Chadwick Boseman, marking that one year had passed since the beloved actor’s death. The tributes. 

—Avengers assemble. It’s a mini Marvel reunion as Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson are teaming up for Ghosted, an adventure movie set up at Apple. Rocketman's Dexter Fletcher is set to direct, with Deadpool scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick writing the script. The story. 

Netflix Saves 'Manifest'

►"Worldwide outpouring of love." Manifest is saved after Netflix came to the rescue and ordered a fourth, and final, season of the beleaguered mystery drama from Warner Bros. Television. The order consists of 20 episodes, which will make it the longest season of the show yet. The order marks a remarkable turnaround for the series which aired three seasons on NBC and then was canceled by the network in May. The story.

—The plot thickens. The mystery surrounding billionaire actress Zhao Wei and her whereabouts intensified over the weekend after unsubstantiated reports spread that she had fled China for France after she was blacklisted by Beijing authorities and scrubbed from the internet. In a now-deleted Instagram post, Zhao claimed she was in Beijing and not her Bordeaux vineyard. The story. 

—"In good spirits." Tony Dow, star of the iconic TV series Leave It To Beaver, has been hospitalized with pneumonia since Thursday. He reportedly tested negative for COVID-19. Dow's agent says the actor should be able to return home in a week. The story. 

—"Muddled wallow in navel-gazing." Kanye West's new album Donda is finally here and THR critic Jonny Coleman found that the record misses the mark as a tribute to the artist's late mother, instead indulging in dubious spirituality and uninspired acoustics. The critic's notebook. 

—"I was going to look the way a woman my age should look." Rosie O’Donnell says she was never going to have plastic surgery as an actress, a decision she says that has afforded her more opportunities in Hollywood as she’s aged. The story. 

The Beginnings of a Corden Backlash?  

►Overexposed. James Corden was trending on both sides of the Atlantic this weekend and for all the wrong reasons as The Late Late Show host’s crotch-thrusting-while-wearing-a-rat-suit-onesie-singing-JLo stunt to promote his new movie Cinderella went down like a lead balloon on social media. The story. 

—Important talk. The Venice Film Festival unveiled details on Saturday of a panel discussion involving Afghan filmmakers covering the situation for artists in their country since the Taliban seized control. The story.

—"Narrowly escaping death and paralysis." Orlando Bloom is reflecting on a dangerous three-storey fall that resulted in his spine being crushed, more than 20 years after it happened. The story.  

In other news...

—As Far As I Can Walk wins Karlovy Vary Film Festival. 

—YouTuber Jake Paul defeats former UFC champion Tyron Woodley via split decision.

—Hacks, I May Destroy You, Pose among top winners at LGBTQ critics’ Dorian TV Awards. 

—Sean Astin photobombs woman twice, two decades apart.

—Why Lorne Michaels met up with Kris Jenner and Kim Kardashian.

—Newen, Germany’s Flare join forces on Ildiko Enyedi’s TV drama Balaton Brigade.

—Bill Taylor, VFX artist on Blade Runner, Fast and the Furious and Bourne Identity, dies at 77.

—Nancy Cain, member of the 1970s’ guerrilla television collective Videofreex, dies at 81.

—Matthew Mindler, Our Idiot Brother star, dies at 19.

—Simone Swink named executive producer of Good Morning America.

—Los Angeles condo’s $13m sale sets local record.


What else we're reading...

—"The Roys Summer In Italy: On Location With the Cast of Succession" [Vulture]

—"Nia DaCosta on Candyman and the Power of Terrifying Legends" [New York Times]

—"Marie Kondo on "Sparking Joy" in the Time of COVID and the Alison Roman Mess" [Daily Beast]

—"The Pandemic Has Been Very, Very Good for the Creator Economy" [Bloomberg]

—"Artists And Cultural Workers Face Life Under Taliban 2.0" [Washington Post]

Today... 

Today's birthdays: Cameron Diaz (49), Michael Chiklis (58), Bebe Rexha (32), Jessica Henwick (29), Lewis Black (73), Laeta Kalogridis (56), Frederique Van Der Wal (54), Marin Ireland (42), Elden Henson (44), Johanna Braddy (34), David Paymer (68), Raúl Castillo (44)