Inside the Auditions for the Madonna Biopic

►"You have to be able to do everything." THR's dynamic duo Mia Galuppo and Borys Kit report on the race to snag the plum role of Madonna in an upcoming biopic of the Material Girl, that is set to be directed and co-written by the star herself. The race involves some of the most in-demand actresses in Hollywood, with Julia Garner, Florence Pugh and Emma Laird among the stars still in contention.  The story.  

—Less than a Big Mac. CNN+, the news network's streaming service, will launch at $2.99 a month — a rate that will be locked in for early subscribers for life, so long as they remain subscribers. When the promo deal expires after the first month of CNN+’s launch, the streamer will cost $5.99 a month, or $59.99 a year. The story.

—"Sucks, my deal is up over here I’m out." Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is threatening to walk away from his deal with Starz, for whom he exec produces the Power franchise and multiple other projects. 50 Cent posted multiple images of bags being packed on his verified Instagram account, where he voiced frustration with the renewal for Hightown but lack of decision on Power spinoff, Force. The story. 

—Suit filed. Marilyn Manson has sued ex-fiancee Evan Rachel Wood over the HBO doc Phoenix Rising claiming the musician has sexually assaulted several women, alleging she manufactured a conspiracy to portray him as a serial abuser to further her career. The suit claims Wood and her partner Ashley Gore convinced his accusers to lie about allegations that they were sexually assaulted. The story. 

—KKW becomes KK. A little over a year after filing for divorce from Kanye “Ye” West, a Los Angeles judge has declared Kim Kardashian legally single. At a hearing on Wednesday, Judge Steven Cochran said he would grant the reality star’s request to split her divorce from West into two parts — immediately ending their marriage, while punting more complex questions about assets and custody to future proceedings. The story.

Pamela Anderson Doc Heading to Netflix

►"Not a victim, but a survivor" A new doc focused on Pamela Anderson’s life and made with the participation of the former Baywatch star is coming to Netflix. The news arrives after the team behind Hulu’s Pam & Tommy miniseries mentioned in multiple press interviews that they told the story without the participation of Anderson. The story. 

—"We will not promote shows in Russia. We will not do business with Russia." Live Nation is halting business with Russia in the wake of the invasion of Ukraine. The news comes as artists such as Green Day and Louis Tomlinson canceling concerts in Russia as part of a global boycott of the country. The story.

—Boycott grows. Netflix has halted production on all upcoming Russian-language series for the streamer and is pausing future acquisitions from Russia. The streamer had four Russian series in the works: Zato, a Neo-noir detective drama; Anna K, a contemporary retelling of Tolstoy’s Anna Karenina that would be Netflix’s first Russian original series; Nothing Special, a drama about a young actor working at a charity for people with disabilities; and a fourth untitled series. The story. 

—Red Dawn. South Park dove headfirst into the news of the Russia-Ukraine war as only creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone are capable. In Wednesday’s episode, “Back to the Cold War,” South Park mocked Russian President Vladimir Putin for getting older and being more aggressive because his “dick doesn’t work the way it used to.” The story. 

—The mystery continues. Apple TV+ has renewed the comedic mystery series The Afterparty for a second season. Tiffany Haddish will reprise her role as Detective Danner and will be joined by a new cast of suspects in season two. The renewal of the critically acclaimed show comes just ahead of its season finale this Friday. The story. 

Kitty Kelley Spills Her Own Secrets

►"'Unauthorized' does not mean untrue. It just means I went ahead without your permission." THR's Seth Abramovitch spoke to the Kitty Kelley, queen of the unauthorized biography, whose battles with the most powerful figures in Hollywood — from Frank Sinatra to Oprah — are the stuff of legend. Now 79, the grande dame of tell-alls looks back on a trailblazing career while peering ahead to her next target (Jeff Bezos, look out). The story.

—Life imitating art. Netflix is experiencing its own real-life money heists. The streamer’s productions for The Crown and Lupin have been dramatically robbed within the past week. The production for The Crown was taken for roughly $200,000 worth of props on Feb. 24. On Wednesday, a Netflix rep confirmed that its Paris-based set for Lupin had been held up by 20 thieves who stole roughly $330,000 worth of equipment. The story. 

—The opposite of bonza. Neighbours, the Australian soap that launched the careers of a multitude of stars, including Kylie Minogue, Margot Robbie, Guy Pearce, Liam Hemsworth, Natalie Imbruglia, Alan Dale, Jesse Spencer and Russell Crowe (kinda), is set to come to an end "after nearly 37 years and almost 9,000 episodes." RIP. The story. 

—Blimey! U.K. TV giant ITV reported its full-year advertising revenue record for 2021 on Thursday and painted very a healthy post-pandemic picture across the board. The company saw total external revenue soar 24 percent to $4.6 billion, a sharp rise on the COVID-impacted 2020 figure of $3.61 billion. The results.

—This one time at bandcamp. Epic Games has acquired the music marketplace platform Bandcamp. The companies said that Bandcamp will continue to operate as a standalone "artist-first" marketplace, led by co-founder and CEO Ethan Diamond, but the platform will use Epic’s resources to expand internationally. The story. 

Alan Ladd Jr. 1937-2022

►"His impact on films and filmmaking will live on in his absence." Alan Ladd Jr., the revered Hollywood producer and studio executive who saved Star Wars when Fox wanted to shut down production and gained vindication when he received an Oscar for Braveheart after being dumped by MGM, has died. He was 84. The obituary.  

—"Not a cat-astrophe, but nobody will be hooked on this fe-line." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Peacock’s Joe vs. Carole. The rivalry between Carole Baskin and Joe Exotic, which captivated America between March 2020 and March 2020, gets an eight-episode limited series starring Kate McKinnon and John Cameron Mitchell. The review. 

—"A beautifully shot and well-paced thriller that could have been tighter." Dan reviews HBO Max's The Tourist. Jamie Dornan plays an amnesiac in a deadly race to figure out his identity in this six-hour slice of Australian pulp fiction that was a huge hit in the U.K. The review. 

—Kansas City nice. THR's second-nicest man Aaron Couch has earned himself a well-deserved promotion to film editor. Nice! He will remain the editor of the Heat Vision blog as well. Huzzah for Aaron! The story. 
 
In other news...

—BuzzFeed Studios plans its next major podcast push, inks deal with Acast 

—TV ratings: State of the Union tops 37m viewers

—Fox serves up Next Level Chef renewal for season 2

—The Bold and the Beautiful scores 2-year renewal at CBS

—Richard Gere's photography collection to sell at Christie’s 

—This rare Pikachu Pokémon card just sold for a record-breaking $900k

—Kaleidoscope podcast start-up signs with WME

—ABC News ups Stacia Philips Deshishku to exec editor and senior vp

—Stephanie Ito returns to Paramount Pictures as post production head

—Bleecker Street names Kyle Davies president of distribution

—Long-serving HBO executive exits for children’s hospital job

—Longtime NBCU pr exec Curt King to depart

What else we're reading...

—Michael Idov on how Hollywood never really let go of the ‘evil Russian’ stereotype [LAT]

—TikTok facing probe by states over how platform markets to kids [Bloomberg]

—Bong Joon Ho and Ryusuke Hamaguchi on why the latter's Oscar best picture nominee Drive My Car resonates [NYT]

—Alissa Wilkinson on how the Oscars remain largely provincial despite Hollywood going global [Vox]

—The Florida teenager who tracks Elon Musk’s plane is now monitoring Russian oligarchs, Vladimir Putin [WSJ]

Today... 

Today's birthdays: Jessica Biel (40), Katherine Waterston (42), Julie Bowen (52), Laura Harring (58), George Miller (77), Mercedes Mason (40), Miranda Richardson (64), Camila Cabello (25), Patrick Renna (43), Barret Swatek (45), Charlie Brooker (51), Tiger Hu Chen (47), Ronan Keating (45)