'Joker 2': Lady Gaga in Talks to Join Todd Phillips' Musical Sequel

►Joker face. THR's Borys Kit has the huge scoop on Lady Gaga entering early talks to star opposite Joaquin Phoenix in director Todd Phillips’ sequel to Joker. If a deal makes, Gaga would play Harley Quinn. This new Quinn exists in a different DC universe than the DCEU's Harley Quinn played by Margot Robbie. Borys also reports that Phillips has been co-writing the script with Joker co-writer Scott Silver for some time and has finally shown it to the studio. Sources say the sequel, titled Joker: Folie à deux, is also a musical. The story.

—From deepest, darkest Peru. Another THR scoop, this time from Borys and Mia Galuppo, who have the title of the third Paddington film and info on who will be directing. Paddington in Peru will be directed by Dougal Wilson, who is taking over from Paul King who helmed the first two films in the beloved franchise. Wilson will be making his theatrical feature debut on the project. The movie will begin principal photography in 2023, filming on location in both London and Peru. The story.  

—"The very best home for talent." In her first full week leading Disney’s general entertainment division, Dana Walden praised her former boss Peter Rice, and Disney CEO Bob Chapek, in a memo that also pledged to make the studio a place for creativity and inclusion, describing the latter as her "top priority." The memo.

—Court date set. Kevin Spacey is set to appear in a U.K. court this Thursday charged with four counts of sexual assault against three men. The U.K.'s Crown Prosecution Service confirmed that the 62-year-old has been charged with “causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.” Spacey last month said he planned to “voluntarily appear” before courts in the U.K. to defend himself against the charges of sexual assault. The story. 

—Charged. Jason Alexander, who was once briefly married to Britney Spears, was charged Monday with felony stalking after showing up at the pop star’s wedding to longtime boyfriend Sam Asghari. Alexander pleaded not guilty in Ventura County court to the charge, along with misdemeanor counts of trespassing, vandalism and battery. The story.

THR's Drama Showrunner Roundtable 

►"Everyone here has experienced a crushing humiliation." THR's Emmy roundtable series moves on to the drama showrunners. Mikey O'Connell talks to six TV power producers — including Ben Stiller (Severance), Soo Hugh (Pachinko), Dan Fogelman (This Is Us), Peter Gould (Better Call Saul), Jenny Lumet (The Man Who Fell to Earth) and Elizabeth Meriwether (The Dropout) — about the big breaks (and bigger disappointments) that led them to the season’s buzziest series: "In a weird way, you don’t learn anything from something that works." The roundtable. 

—New franchise. Justin Lin, the filmmaker behind half of the Fast and Furious movies, is in talks to direct an adaptation of the popular Japanese property One Punch Man for Sony. One Punch Man began life in 2009 as a web comic and centers on a superhero named Saitama who has the power to defeat any foe with a single punch. Lin’s potential hiring comes weeks after the director’s high profile exit from Fast X during production. The story.

—Looking through the bent-backed tulips. Rian Johnson has announced that the previously untitled Knives Out sequel will be called Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. Daniel Craig will reprise his role as master detective Benoit Blanc in the follow-up to the hit film. The rest of the cast includes Edward Norton, Janelle Monáe, Kathryn Hahn, Leslie Odom Jr., Jessica Henwick and Madelyn Cline with Kate Hudson and Dave Bautista. The story.

—New face. NBC’s Law & Order revival has recruited Mehcad Brooks as a series regular for the 2022-23 broadcast season. The casting will help fill the void created by the departure of former original L&O star Anthony Anderson. Brooks joins a cast that also includes original star Sam Waterston, who recently closed a deal to return to the series, as well as Jeffrey Donovan, Camryn Manheim, Hugh Dancy and Odelya Halevi. The story.

—In demand. Fresh off the success of Everything Everywhere All At Once, Michelle Yeoh has been tapped to star in Netflix series The Brothers Sun. The series from creators Brad Falchuk (Glee) and Byron Wu (The Getaway) was ordered straight to series by the streamer and is described as an action-packed, darkly comedic family soap set in both Los Angeles and Taiwan. The eight-episode show features an all-Asian writers room and all-Asian cast. The story. 

200 Creatives Urge Hollywood to Reconsider Guns Onscreen

►"Let’s use our collective power for good." Hollywood creators, led by Shonda Rhimes, Judd Apatow, Jimmy Kimmel and Mark Ruffalo, have signed a open letter urging their colleagues to reconsider the use of guns onscreen. The creators include Gary Ross, Grant Heslov, Simon Kinberg, Hannah Minghella, Julianne Moore, Amy Schumer and Irwin Winkler. In all around 200 Hollywood directors, writers and producers made the #ShowYourSafety pledge backed by the Brady Center to Prevent Gun Violence. The letter.

—Another lawsuit filed. A defamation suit against Netflix from the head of a Cuban exile organization accuses the streamer of distributing propaganda for Cuba by portraying him as a terrorist and drug trafficker in Olivier Assayas’ political spy thriller Wasp Network. The defamation action is the second from a Cuban exile arguing that the movie falsely maligns the community as terrorists and otherwise unsavory characters. The story.

—The Unlucky Man. In wake of Hugh Jackman testing positive for COVID-19 for the second time, standby actor Max Clayton will perform in The Music Man on Broadway. Clayton will perform the role of Professor Harold Hill alongside Sutton Foster, in all performances of Meredith Willson’s musical comedy from June 14-21. The story.

—"Bob loved Broadway." John Stamos is speaking out about Bob Saget not being included in the In Memoriam segment during Sunday’s Tony Awards. The actor took to Twitter before Sunday’s ceremony to express that he felt “disappointed” after learning of Saget’s absence in the tribute. The story. 

—Overall deal news. Sony Pictures Television has inked an overall deal with Maxine, the new production company from Emmy-winning executive producer and director and former The New York Times Presents showrunner Mary Robertson. Maxine’s mandate is to tell “extraordinary” nonfiction stories from journalists and filmmakers. The story.

—Drafted in. Yahoo appointed six new members, including The Honest Company founder and actress Jessica Alba and LionTree founder Aryeh Bourkoff, to its board of directors on Monday. Other incoming board members include Fouad ElNaggar, the CEO of Array and the former chief strategy officer at CBS Interactive; Michael Kives, the CEO of K5 Global; Cynthia Marshall, the CEO of the Dallas Mavericks; and Katie Stanton, the founder and general partner of Moxxie Ventures. The story.

Film Review: 'Lightyear'

►"A clever brand extension that’s also a standalone blast." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Angus MacLane's Lightyear. Chris Evans voices the big-screen Space Ranger who became a Toy Story action figure in this Pixar sci-fi adventure spinoff, also featuring Uzo Aduba, Keke Palmer and Taika Waititi. The review.

—"Suffers from a lack of rigor." THR critic Lovia Gyarkye reviews Nadia Hallgren's Civil. This Netflix doc follows a year in the life of prominent civil rights lawyer Ben Crump, known for taking on high-profile police brutality cases. The review. 

—"Clear-eyed, straightforward and a bit too quiet for its own good." THR's Caryn James reviews Cynthia Lowen's Battleground. This documentary goes inside the anti-abortion movement to reveal its political strategies. The review.

—"A thinly amusing culture-clash." THR's John DeFore reviews B.J. Novak's Vengeance. Novak directs himself alongside Issa Rae and Ashton Kutcher in a film about a New York wannabe podcaster who ventures into the West Texas desert. The review. 

In other news...

—The Handmaid’s Tale new images: Elisabeth Moss to face consequences in S5

—The Flash alum Carlos Valdes to star opposite Mae Whitman in Hulu musical

—Annecy: Apple and Skydance bring new Luck footage to French animation festival

—Vox Media Union reaches tentative deal, averting threatened strike

—BET Awards: Sean “Diddy” Combs to receive lifetime achievement award

—UTA acquiring U.K. literary and talent agency Curtis Brown Group

—Alamo Drafthouse sells Mondo to Funko

—Netflix hires new accounting chief

—Spotify to acquire AI voice startup Sonantic

—Rapper Roddy Ricch no longer facing gun charges in NYC

—ITV acquires 80 percent stake in natural history TV program producer Plimsoll for $125m

What else we're reading...

—More of this please: "Video game studios embrace transparent pay to battle wage discrimination" [Bloomberg]

—Joe Flint goes inside Peter Rice's exit from Disney, and it's a pretty juicy read including the nugget that long-running tensions in the company were "accentuated by Mr. Rice’s British mannerisms"! By Jove! [WSJ]

—Elaine Low has a piece on Warner Bros. Discovery insiders worrying that the post-merger structure will chip away at past diversity efforts and innovation [Insider]

—Molly Fischer with a great piece on the numbing rise of "I.P. TV," that is the new glut of ripped-from-the-headlines content [New Yorker]

—David Marchese has an interesting interview with Tom Hanks on Elvis and how he continues to have faith in America [NYT]

Today...  

...in 2002, Doug Liman and Matt Damon’s thriller The Bourne Identity hit theaters, kick-starting an action franchise that has spanned five films so far. The original review. 

Today's birthdays: Diablo Cody (44), Joel Souza (49), Will Patton (68), Lucy Hale (33), Traylor Howard (56), Brianne Tju (24), Kevin McHale (34), Tyler Johnston (35), Kara Killmer (34), Daryl Sabara (30), Yasmine Bleeth (54), Sullivan Stapleton (45), Louis Garrel (39), Jay Roach (65), Agathe Rousselle (34), Boy George (61), Bob Murawski (58)