What's news: Rachel Maddow confirmed she will go weekly with her MSNBC show. Greg Berlanti, 50 Cent among names to join the MPTF board of governors. Walker Scobell will play Percy Jackson in Disney+ series. Britney Spears is pregnant. Epic Games is now valued at a whopping $31.5 billion. Plus: Marvel's Disney+ series Ironheart has found its directors and a new EP in Ryan Coogler — Abid Rahman
'This Is Us' at 100: Epic Plot Twists and the "Simplicity" of the Ending
►"We’re gonna laugh, we’re gonna cry, we’re gonna battle, we’re gonna support each other." With NBC's tearjerker This Is Us ambling towards its conclusion, the principal cast of the reigning No. 1 broadcast hit — still in the middle of production on its final season — gathered with creator Dan Fogelman on Zoom in March to celebrate the 100th episode (“Katoby,” airing April 12) and reflect on the drama’s historic run. THR's resident TIU expert Jackie Strause spoke to Fogelman and the cast as the family drama settles back into its emotional roots as it eyes the end. The interview.
—Unreal valuation. Epic Games has raised $2 billion in a new fundraising round from Sony and Lego owner KIRKBI. The publisher of Fortnite and creator of the Unreal Engine graphics software says it will use the cash to invest in the metaverse. The new investment values Epic at $31.5 billion, up from a $28.7 billion valuation less than a year ago. The story.
—New demi-god just dropped. Walker Scobell has landed the plum lead role in Percy Jackson and the Olympians, the series adaptation of author Rick Riordan’s best-selling novels. The Disney+ show secured a series order in January. The in-demand 13-year-old, who recently starred in Netflix's The Adam Project, next stars Paramount’s family action movie Secret Headquarters. The story.
—Cast Nic Cage, you cowards! Justin Bartha, who co-starred opposite Nicolas Cage in the two National Treasure films, will reprise his role as Riley Poole on the upcoming Disney+ series of the franchise. The series’ cast also includes Catherine Zeta-Jones, Zuri Reed, Jordan Rodrigues, Antonio Cipriano, Jake Austin Walker and Lyndon Smith. The story.
—Hate it or love it, the underdog's on top. The Motion Picture & Television Fund announced four appointments to its board of governors with the addition of Greg Berlanti, Lauren Shuler Donner, Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson and Ann Sarnoff. MPTF president and CEO Bob Beitcher said the organization is “more than thrilled” to have four “incredible” leaders join the board. The story.
—Likely to be corrupt in some way. World soccer governing body and ethical omnishambles FIFA is getting into the streaming business. FIFA+, a free, ad-funded platform launched today, that will stream live soccer games from domestic leagues around the world, plus house archive clips and games, original content in the form of documentaries and a match center for results and stats. It will not, however, stream live World Cup matches. The story.
Rachel Maddow to Cut Back on Nightly Hosting, Will Go Weekly
►"For big news events, like the lead up to the election, I will be here." MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow officially confirmed that she is cutting back on her nightly hosting hours. On Monday night's show, Maddow said that beginning next month, she will only be hosting her 9 p.m. program on Monday nights. Through the remainder of April, she will host Monday through Thursday. Rotating guest hosts will fill-in for Maddow in the meantime. The story.
—Congratulations Brit! Britney Spears announced that she and partner Sam Asghari are expecting their first child together. News of the pregnancy comes less than a year after Spears’s bombshell testimony in June 2021 during which she signaled intentions to settle down and have more children, alleging that her conservatorship included contraception clauses and barred her from having more children. The story.
—More and more bizarre. Will Ferrell has closed a deal to join Margot Robbie in Barbie, Warner Bros.’ all-star take on the Mattel toy icon. Robbie is portraying the fashion-forward doll, topping a call sheet whose names range from Ryan Gosling and Simu Liu to Kate McKinnon and Alexandra Shipp to Emma Mackey and America Ferrera. Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach wrote the script for the project, with Gerwig directing. The story.
—True crime rules. Peacock has given a straight-to-series order to Based on a True Story, which it describes as a darkly comedic thriller that is based on a “bizarre true event.” The show comes from Universal Studio Group’s UCP and writer Craig Rosenberg, an exec producer of Amazon’s The Boys. Jason Bateman and Michael Costigan will exec produce via their Aggregate Films company along with Rosenberg. The story.
—Casting news.Bottoms, the high school comedy from Shiva Baby duo Emma Seligman and Rachel Sennott, has rounded out its cast. Ayo Edebiri will lead the movie with Sennott, with Marshawn Lynch, Ruby Cruz, Havana Rose Liu, Kaia Gerber, Nicholas Galitzine, Miles Fowler, Dagmara Dominczyk and Punkie Johnson also joining the cast. The story.
Marvel's 'Ironheart' Finds Its Directors, Ryan Coogler Joins as EP
►It's all coming together. Ryan Coogler and his production banner, Proximity Media, have joined the creative team of Ironheart, Marvel’s Disney+ series featuring the titular Iron Man-adjacent character. At the same time, the show has hired Sam Bailey (Brown Girls) and Angela Barnes (Atlanta, Mythic Quest) as directors. Dominique Thorne is toplining Ironheart, playing Riri Williams. The story.
—New home at last, part 1. Three years after The CW passed on Glamorous, Netflix has picked up the redeveloped series about a young gender non-conforming queer man. The streaming giant has handed out a 10-episode, straight-to-series order for the series from CBS Studios and writer Jordon Nardino, with Miss Benny set to star. The story.
—New home at last, part 2. Netflix has become the Hollywood home for waifs and stray projects and the latest pickup by the streamer is the animated film Nimona. The adaptation of ND Stevenson's best-selling graphic novel was previously set up at the Fox-owned Blue Sky Studios, which was later shuttered by Disney. Directed by Nick Bruno and Troy Quane the voice cast includes Chloe Grace Moretz and Riz Ahmed. The story.
—Sound changes. Spotify is taking another stab at live audio by moving its live shows to the main Spotify app and launching new programming hosted by Hasan Minhaj and Call Her Daddy host Alex Cooper. Previously, Spotify’s live audio shows were only available on the standalone Spotify Greenroom app. Now, Spotify Greenroom will be known as “Spotify Live” and will exist on both the standalone app and within the main Spotify service on creators’ artist pages. The story.
Film Review: 'The Northman'
►"Ferociously elemental, energized and unhinged." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Robert Eggers' The Northman. Alexander Skarsgard, Nicole Kidman, Claes Bang, Anya Taylor-Joy and Ethan Hawke star in this big, bloody medieval Viking saga of fate, family and revenge. The review.
—"Viewers will not be converted." THR film critic Stephen Farber reviews Rosalind Ross' Father Stu. Mark Wahlberg, Mel Gibson and Jacki Weaver star in a true story about a former boxer and two-bit actor who became an unlikely priest. The review.
—"The show is made with a ton of love." THR's Ryan Parker spoke to Winning Time star Jason Segel about the recent criticism the show has faced as well as playing Lakers assistant coach Paul Westhead, a character painfully lacking in confidence. Warning spoilers.The interview.
—"Somewhere along the way, Hollywood seems to have forgotten that I could do comedy."THR's Abbey White was lucky enough to talk to Nicolas Cage and Pedro Pascal at a special NY screening of The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent and the quotes don't disappoint. The story.
—Fran La Maina, former president of Dick Clark Productions, dies at 82
What else we're reading...
—Thirty years after its release, director Mira Nair looks back at the making of the groundbreaking Mississippi Masala [Vulture]
—Russell Brandom's handy recap of everything we know about Elon Musk's play for Twitter [Verge]
—Fascinating piece on Amazon's drone delivery program failing to take off, despite billions in investment [Bloomberg]
—A story on the mad scramble between Microsoft, Apple, Sony and Netflix to become the "Netflix of games" [Guardian]
—Dana Stevens' solid take that Chris Pine has become his generation’s Robert Redford [Slate]
Today...
...in 1987, Fox aired a two-hour Sunday night premiere of undercover cop series 21 Jump Street. The show, which ran for four seasons, would make a star of Johnny Depp and spawn a spin-off series, Booker starring Richard Grieco, and a comedy film franchise starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Saoirse Ronan (28), Claire Danes (43), David Letterman (75), Jennifer Morrison (43), Marley Shelton (48), Brooklyn Decker (35), Kim Bodnia (57), Andy Garcia (66), Ed O'Neill (76), Shannen Doherty (51), Matt McGorry (36), Ilana Glazer (35), Amr Waked (49), Hannah Dunne (32), Alice Lee (33), Walter Salles (66), Jon Krakauer (68), Tracy Camilla Johns (59), Wade Allen (50), Herbie Hancock (82), Lisa Gerrard (61), Brendon Urie (35)
Kathy Lamkin, the Texas actress who portrayed the manager of the Desert Aire trailer park opposite Javier Bardem’s Anton Chigurh in the Coen brothers’ Oscar best picture winner No Country for Old Men, has died. She was 74. The obituary.
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