Inside the Academy's Inclusion Drive

►Getting better. Triggered by #OscarsSoWhite, the Academy’s 2016 inclusion initiative, called A2020, dramatically grew the size of the organization. Over five years, the Academy more than doubled its number of female members and doubled its members of color. Now that AMPAS has surpassed its goal of doubling its women and members of color, the group keeps pushing. THR dug into the data to see which branches have achieved parity and which have more work to do. The story.

—Does box office really impact Oscars TV ratings? Ben Zauzmer pores over the data from over three decades of Oscars telecasts to find that, yes, big grosses matter to viewership and there’s a historical edge for more popular films among the Academy membership. The story.

—Critics’ conversation. THR's chief film critic David Rooney and arts & culture critic Lovia Gyarkye vent their hopes, fears and bafflement about this year's Academy Awards. From loving Drive My Car to hating Don't Look Up, they talk the CODA backlash, the meh nature of Belfast and lots more of their personal Oscar frustrations and fascinations. The conversation. 

—Laying down the law. After a surge of positive cases following the BAFTAs, the Academy has updated its COVID protocols and rules for Sunday's Oscars. Among other rules, "those who tested positive for COVID-19 and are within a zero to five-day window from the date of their first positive test are not permitted to attend under any circumstances." The rules. 

—"They told me Zelensky would introduce me tonight." Oscars weekend kicked off with an unusually cozy and loose Governors Awards show Friday night. Samuel L. Jackson,  Elaine May and Liv Ullmann were on hand to receive their honorary Oscars, and Danny Glover to receive the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. THR's Rebecca Keegan writes that in the smaller room of the Ray Dolby Ballroom, which felt more like a nightclub than an awards banquet, the speeches were heartfelt. The event.

—"You can’t say ‘Black Lives Matter’ and ignore the workers, most of them workers of color." Black clergy leaders joined veteran Chateau Marmont workers on Friday morning at a press conference held outside Roc Nation’s Hollywood office to urge its founder Jay-Z to reconsider his plan to host his exclusive Gold Party, the most coveted Oscar night invite, on the grounds of the legendary Sunset Strip hotel. The story. 

—Where to watch around the world. Not long to go now, and for our thousands upon thousands of non-U.S. readers, here's a handy guide to where and what time the Oscars will be airing in select international markets. The international guide. 

—Razzie royalty. Per tradition, the day before the Academy Awards, the Razzie Awards revealed its picks for the worst in film from 2021. After scoring the most Razzie nominations, Netflix’s filmed version of the Princess Diana Broadway musical, Diana, 'won' the most awards, scooping up five trophies, including worst picture. Warner Bros.’ Space Jam revival received the second-highest number of Razzie trophies, three, with star LeBron James named worst actor. The losers list.  

Amy Schumer Uses Hulu Dramedy to Expose Her "Big Secret" 

►"And I’m proud that my big secret only hurts me but it’s been what I’ve carried so much shame about for so long." In news that has nothing to do with the Oscars, Amy Schumer, the writer, director and star of Hulu's Life & Beth, opens up to THR's Lacey Rose about her decision to explore her ongoing struggles with trichotillomania in her deeply personal show. Warning spoilers. The story. 

—Four in three. The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon announced that Chris Miller would become the new showrunner starting in May, succeeding Jamie Granet-Bederman, who will move to a role developing new projects for Fallon. Miller joins from syndicated talker The Drew Barrymore Show, where he was one of the executive producers. The hiring of Miller means that the NBC show will have had four showrunners in the last three years. The story.

—Throwback success. The Lost City had no trouble digging up $2.5 million in Thursday previews at the domestic box office in a solid start for the female, adult-skewing comedy adventure that’s a throwback to the era of Romancing the Stone. THR's Pamela McClintock writes that the Sandra Bullock-Channing Tatum film has a strong shot of toppling The Batman from the top spot and winning the Oscar weekend box office with an opening in the mid-$20 million range. The early box office report.

—Crossing that billion mark. Encanto stayed atop Nielsen’s movie streaming chart for the 10th week in a row, according to viewership numbers for the week of Feb. 21-27. That’s a record for any film or TV series tracked by Nielsen since it began measuring streaming. A Madea Homecoming and Free Guy also fared quite nicely in their debuts on Netflix and Disney+, respectively, with 1.03 billion and 1.02 billion minute views, according to Nielsen. The movie streaming rankings. 

Taylor Hawkins 1972-2022   

►"His musical spirit and infectious laughter will live on with us forever." Taylor Hawkins, longtime drummer for the Foo Fighters, has died. He was 50. The band’s representative, Steve Martin, confirmed the news Friday to THR and his passing was announced on the band’s Twitter account. A cause of death was not immediately available. The obituary.

—Weaponized and meaningless. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin made an unlikely reference to J.K. Rowling in his latest speech. During a televised address Friday on state TV, Putin cited the Harry Potter author, who has come under fire for statements she has made relating to transgender issues, as proof the West likes to “cancel” people, adding that Russia was also now being canceled. Rowling shot back with a tweet featuring the hashtag #IStandWithUkraine. The story. 

—Full exit. Spotify will “fully suspend” its services in Russia due to recent legislation that targets free expression. The audio giant previously suspended premium paid subscription service in Russia, closed its local office and removed content from state-backed outlets RT and Sputnik. The additional exit on Friday will result in the end of its free streaming offering in Russia, and the company is expected to fully be out of the market by April. The story. 

—Big exit. Sue Naegle is leaving Annapurna as chief content officer. Naegle joined the production company as its TV boss in 2016 and was promoted to chief content officer in 2019, where she expanded her purview to oversee the development of Annapurna’s film slate as well as its theater division. Her duties will be absorbed by other executives already at the company. The story.

—Reluctant exit. Black News Channel, an independent cable news channel founded to give a voice to perspectives underrepresented on legacy cable news channels, is shutting down. Originally launched in 2020, and backed by billionaire Shahid Kahn, the channel rebooted itself last year with high-profile talent like NYT opinion columnist Charles M. Blow and cable news regular Marc Lamont Hill. The story.
 

How 'Streetcar Named Desire' Drove Vivien Leigh to the Edge of Insanity    

►"Madame Olivier is nothing less than terrific!" Struggling with mental illness and a tumultuous marriage to Laurence Olivier, Vivien Leigh sought a comeback (and a second Oscar) with the movie adaptation of Tennessee Williams' hit play A Streetcar Named Desire in this exclusive excerpt from Truly, Madly: Vivien Leigh, Laurence Olivier, and the Romance of the Century, the new book by Stephen Galloway, former executive editor, features, at THR. The excerpt.

—"Keep saying the word ‘gay.'" Marshall Weinbaum, a senior publicist and 15-year veteran at Disney, won publicist of the year at the ICG Publicists Awards. In an emotional speech Weinbaum concluded with a not-so-subtle nod to the controversy surrounding the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in Florida, something that has become quite the hot-button issue for Disney employees. The story. 

—What fresh hell is this? THR's Winston Cho has an absolutely mad story on China's largest VFX studio Base Media claiming it was swindled by a pair of producers, Remington Chase and Kevin Robl, for $234 million. Base is accusing the pair of entering into numerous fraudulent agreements for massive loans. Chase was convicted by the SEC in 2020 for his part in a film financing scam, and has also been convicted for cocaine trafficking, has gone by multiple aliases and has served as a federal informant. The story. 

In other news...

—Donald Glover on those Sopranos comparisons, four-year wait for Atlanta S3

—Odessa Young on the frequent nudity in her new film Mothering Sunday

—Toronto posts $2.5b in film, TV production activity in 2021

—New Tiffany Haddish book, I Curse You With Joy, set for November

—What the Oscar nominees have lined up next for film and TV projects

—French rap series Reign Supreme wins Series Mania

—ICG Publicists Awards: Spider-Man: No Way Home and Ted Lasso take top prizes

—International Emmys ban all Russian programs from competition 

What else we're reading...

—Katherine Rosman's profile on THR owner Jay Penske [NYT]

—Matt Stevens interviews Regina Hall and Wanda Sykes on hosting the Oscars [NYT]

— Ryan Faughnder on the identity crisis facing the Oscars, a niche event pitched to the increasingly uninterested masses [LAT]

—Sony is preparing to introduce a new video game subscription service for the PlayStation as early as next week [Bloomberg]

—Fallen tech titans are their own TV genre now [WSJ]

Today...  

...in 1997, Sony Pictures released the thriller The Devil’s Own in theaters, where it would go on to gross $140 million during its run. The film starred Harrison Ford and Brad Pitt, with the latter guilty of perhaps one of the worst Northern Irish accents ever seen on film. The original review. 

Today's birthdays: Diana Ross (78), Keira Knightley (37), James Caan (82), Jennifer Grey (62), Leslie Mann (50), Jonathan Groff (37), Amy Smart (46), Michael Imperioli (56), Martin Short (72), Alan Arkin (88), Natasha Leggero (48), Lucas Bravo (34), T.R. Knight (49), Martin McDonagh (52), Tinto Brass (89), Choi Woo-sik (32), Francis Lawrence (51), Jonathan Glazer (57), Alan Silvestri (72), Steven Tyler (74)