More Brutally Honest Oscar Ballots

►"Couldn’t get through" Drive My Car, Spielberg’s West Side Story better than original. Another day, another Oscars voter gives brutally honest reasons behind their choices. This time a member of the Academy's directors branch, granted anonymity to speak freely, shares which films and people earned his precious vote (and why) as well as laments for the actors who didn't make the cut, particularly Peter Dinklage and Kathryn Hunter. The story.  

—"Everybody on this stage values every last category, every last area." Oscars producer Will Packer addressed the controversy and what he felt were "misconceptions" around the Academy’s decision to not present eight crafts categories live during the show this year. Speaking at a press conference on Thursday, Packer went into greater detail about how the show will work on Sunday. The story.

—Aren't the cool kids on TikTok? In a move to appeal to younger audiences, the Academy has partnered with Meta — the parent company of Instagram and Facebook — to bring creators to this Sunday’s Oscars ceremony to create shortform content on Reels. A total of 12 creators — including Boman Martinez-Reid, Rickey Thompson, Remi Bader and Denzel Dion — will attend the red carpet, the ceremony and the Governors Ball. The story. 

—In math we trust. Ben Zauzmer, author of Oscarmetrics: The Math Behind the Biggest Night in Hollywood, is back with his Oscars predictions based entirely on math. According to Ben's model, The Power of the Dog has a 45 percent chance to claim the top honor, so the race is hardly a sure thing, but the odds say it remains the favorite. The predictions.

—Inside the A-list events. Keep up to date with all the goings-on at the Oscars parties being held this week. THR's nicest man Chris Gardner and the equally nice Kirsten Chuba are reporting from the starriest celebrations leading up to Hollywood's biggest night. The parties. 

How Lenny Bruce Will "Shake Up" Final Season of 'Marvelous Mrs. Maisel'

►A doomed love. THR's Christy Piña spoke to The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel showrunners Amy Sherman-Palladino and Dan Palladino about how the relationship between Luke Kirby's Lenny Bruce will "inform Midge’s journey" in season five of the Amazon comedy. The interview.

—Long overdue? The European Union has done it again. Three years after a European privacy law forced big tech to overhaul how they deal with user data, European legislators have agreed on new sweeping legislation to rein in the market power of tech giants like Google, Amazon, Facebook, Apple and Microsoft. The new Digital Markets Act which takes effect in 2023, would force Big Tech to change their business model in the EU or face massive fines. The story. 

—All in on 'real' love. Netflix has renewed its unscripted series Love Is Blind for two more seasons — taking the show through its fifth installment — and is betting heavily on the dating-show genre with several new shows and renewals. The streamer has picked up a third season of Indian Matchmaking and ordered a second run of its soon-to-premiere The Ultimatum that will feature all queer couples. New shows include a U.S. version of Australian series Love on the Spectrum and Jewish Matchmaking. The story. 

—Can't fail casting. Seth Rogen has joined the cast of Being Mortal, Aziz Ansari’s comedy-drama and feature directorial debut for Searchlight Pictures. Rogen will star alongside Bill Murray and Ansari in the film based on health expert Atul Gawande’s nonfiction book Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End. Ansari also wrote the script and is producing. The story. 

—Golden Age icon. Anna May Wong, Hollywood’s first Chinese American movie star is getting the biopic treatment. THR's Rebecca Sun has the scoop on Eternals star Gemma Chan and producer Nina Yang Bongiovi teaming with Working Title Films to develop a biopic of Wong, who appeared in 60 films between 1919 and 1960. David Henry Hwang is writing the script and Wong’s niece Anna Wong is serving as a consultant on the film. The story. 

Netflix's Marilyn Monroe Movie Gets Rare NC-17 Rating

►A first for the streamer. Netflix’s Marilyn Monroe biopic Blonde has been given a NC-17 rating. The movie, which stars Ana de Armas as the iconic actress and pinup model, was given the rare adults-only rating for “some sexual content” by the MPA. Netflix has previously streamed NC-17 movies produced by other studios (such as 2013’s Blue is the Warmest Color), but Blonde seemingly marks the first movie produced by Netflix to receive the hard-core rating. The story. 

—#MeToo in Japan finally? The Japanese entertainment industry may finally be having its #MeToo moment as director Hideo Sakaki and actor Houka Kinoshita face sexual assault allegations from several actresses, including claims they worked together in targeting young women. The allegations were made in the Shukan Bunshun magazine and it is unclear whether any legal action will be taken. The story. 

—Silence of the Lambs vibes. The Batman director Matt Reeves has released online a previously teased scene in which Robert Pattinson’s Caped Crusader meets Barry Keoghan’s Joker at Arkham Asylum. The five-minute scene was ultimately left out of the theatrical cut of the film. The deleted scene.

—"Phantasmagorical fantasy nightmare." THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on Mandy filmmaker Panos Cosmatos' long-awaited next feature project. The director is reuniting with producer XYZ Films and working for the first time with A24 on the sci-fi feature Nekrokosm. Cosmatos will direct and came up with the story with Maegan Houang, who is now writing the script. The story.  

Review: 'Ambulance' 

►"Exhausting." THR film critic Frank Scheck reviews Michael Bay's Ambulance. Jake Gyllenhaal, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Eiza Gonzalez star in the director's latest action movie, about the aftermath of a Los Angeles bank robbery gone wrong. The review.

—"Magnetic as it is therapeutic." THR critic Robyn Bahr reviews Amazon Prime Video's Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls. The reality competition series follows Lizzo as she auditions plus-size backup dancers to join her on tour. The review. 

—Megan thee docuseries. Time Studios and Roc Nation are teaming on a multiple-part documentary series about rapper Megan Thee Stallion. The doc will trace the Grammy-winning musician, entrepreneur and philanthropist’s Texas upbringing and career highlights. Nneka Onuorah will direct the series. A network/platform is not yet attached. The story.

—All clear, eh. Canada's Rogers Communications has received regulatory clearance to acquire rival Shaw Communications for $26 billion, to create a cable and telecom giant north of the border. The deal is expected to close in mid-2022. The story.

—Not budging. Shonda Rhimes’ Inventing Anna spent a second week as the top title of any sort in Nielsen’s streaming rankings. Its fellow Netflix show Love Is Blind, meanwhile, showed impressive retention of its audience, and Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel grew substantially. The streaming rankings. 

—Added to the mix. Jon Batiste, Foo Fighters, H.E.R., Nas and Chris Stapleton are the five latest acts set to perform at the Grammys on April 3. The Recording Academy also revealed that there will be a special In Memoriam segment featuring songs of Stephen Sondheim performed by Cynthia Erivo, Leslie Odom Jr., Ben Platt and Rachel Zegler. The story. 

Thank Pod It's Friday

►All the latest content from THR's podcast studio.

—TV's Top 5. Lesley Goldberg and Dan Fienberg break down the latest TV news. This week the guys begin by running through the headlines including J.J. Abrams' U2 scripted series for Netflix and HBO Max confirming the return of And Just Like That. They look over the raft of renewals at The CW and consider what it means. Starstruck creator and star Rose Matafeo drops by for a chat. Dan previews the Oscars and offers reviews of FX’s Atlanta , HBO Max’s Starstruck, Netflix’s Bridgerton and Apple’s Pachinko. Listen here.

—Awards Chatter. Awards analyst Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this episode, Scott speaks to CODA star Troy Kotsur. The first deaf male ever nominated for an acting Oscar reflects on growing up as the only deaf member of his family, making his name in deaf theater and how the making of and tremendous response to his performance in Sian Heder's film has changed his life. Listen here. 

In other news...

—Juliany Taveras inks Amazon film, TV deal

—Netflix, Liz Tigelaar to adapt Taylor Jenkins Reid’s The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo as film

—Parker Posey joins New Line comedy The Parenting

—Promotion pays off at the Publicists Guild Awards

—Seth Willenson, marketing executive and Gas Food Lodging producer, dies at 74

—Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Riz Ahmed toast South Asian excellence at pre-Oscars celebration

—Essence Black Women in Hollywood event honors trailblazers and rising stars

—Hollywood powers Ontario to record $2.88B production spend in 2021

—ABC News plans primetime special tied to COVID anniversary 

—Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively donate $500K to indigenous-focused safe water charity

What else we're reading...

—Spotter paid $350 million in cash to YouTube creators like MrBeast, sparking a scramble for video back catalogs [Bloomberg]

—$12 billion to 1,257 groups: MacKenzie Scott’s donations so far [NYT]

—With opening titles now appearing well into the runtime of movies, Ryan Gilbey asks why do so many films now take 40 minutes to start? [Guardian]

—Savannah Walsh on how, despite several attempts, Hollywood never found the next Hunger Games [VF]

—Roisin Kiberd on 100 years of F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu, the vampire movie that won’t die [NYT]

Today...   

...in 1983, Francis Ford Coppola and Warner Bros. brought the movie adaptation of  S. E. Hinton's The Outsiders to theaters. The film featured a cast of rising stars including C. Thomas Howell, Rob Lowe, Emilio Estévez, Matt Dillon (the only “name” in the cast), Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Ralph Macchio, and Diane Lane and gave rise to the Brat Pack. The original review.

Today's birthdays: Lawrence Gordon (86), Lee Pace (43), Jenny Slate (40), Sarah Jessica Parker (57), Marcia Cross (60), Alex Moffat (40), Amy Pascal (64), Danica Patrick (40), Elton John (75), Paul Michael Glaser (79), Lark Voorhies (48), Casey Neistat (41), Domenick Lombardozzi (46), Edgar Ramírez (45), Katharine McPhee (38), Aly Michalka (33), Mikey Madison (23), James McDaniel (64), Gloria Steinem (88), Ben Mankiewicz (55)