Tony Awards 2022 

►Theaters big night. A Strange Loop, The Lehman Trilogy, Take Me Out and Company won the top prizes at the 2022 Tony Awards. While the Pulitzer Prize-winning Strange Loop, which went into the night with a leading 11 nominations, only took home two awards, those two prizes were for best musical and best book of a musical. The Lehman Trilogy won for best play and took home another four awards. The Michael Jackson musical MJ won four awards, while Take Me Out won for best revival of a play. The full list of winners.

—Spreading the love. THR's awards columnist Scott Feinberg reacts to Sunday's Tony Awards, a celebration of Broadway's first season since the pandemic shutdown that will hopefully lead to a much-needed boost at the box office. The analysis. 

—Ultra exclusive membership. Jennifer Hudson has achieved EGOT status tonight after A Strange Loop, on which the actress served as a producer, won the Tony award for best musical. Hudson won an Oscar for best supporting actress for her film debut in 2006’s Dreamgirls, a Grammy for her debut self-titled album in 2008 and a 2021 Daytime Emmy for outstanding interactive media for a daytime program for the immersive VR experience Baba Yaga. The story.

—"The phrase 'the Great White Way' is becoming more of a nickname as opposed to a how-to guide." Oscar winner Ariana DeBose kicked off the 75th Tony Awards with a rousing mashup performance of songs from classic Tony-winning musicals such as Cabaret, Company, The Phantom of the Opera and Hair, while wearing a sequined outfit inspired by Michael Jackson, the subject of the 10-time-nominated musical MJ. The monologue.  

More from the Tony Awards...

—Six co-creator Toby Marlow becomes first nonbinary composer-lyricist to win best score at Tonys

—Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Phylicia Rashad, RuPaul and Billy Porter among Hollywood Tony winners

—Lin-Manuel Miranda, Bernadette Peters honor Stephen Sondheim during 2022 Tony Awards

—Tony Awards honors the swings and understudies who kept Broadway running

—COVID-19 safety managers, production crews celebrated for keeping Broadway open during 2022 Tonys

'Obi-Wan Kenobi': Hayden Christensen on Returning to Play Darth Vader 

►"Something different to the table." In a conversation with THR's Ryan Parker, Hayden Christensen talks about Disney+ miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi and his latest turn as Darth Vader. The actor dives into the Sith Lord's disappointment, makeup and costume changes from Revenge of the Sith, and George Lucas asking him to create an alien language on the spot. Warning spoilers. The interview. 

—"You cannot tell me that you think this has been fair." In her first in-depth interview since the verdict in her defamation trial against Johnny Depp, Amber Heard sat down with Today's Savannah Guthrie. In a preview clip that aired on Monday, Heard says that while she doesn’t “blame” the jury for their decision, she felt the coverage of the trial has been grossly unfair. The full Heard-Guthrie interview will air Tuesday and Wednesday on Today, and in a special Dateline on Friday on NBC. The story. 

—Finally some deets! With Netflix officially confirming a second season of global smash Squid Game, creator Hwang Dong-hyuk released a letter over the weekend that teased some things that fans can expect in the next chapter including the return of Gi-hun, the Front Man and possibly a fan-favorite slapper. Warning spoilers. The story.

—"A third? Sure. Fine." HBO Max and BBC Three have renewed Starstruck, their award-winning and critically acclaimed comedy from creator and star Rose Matafeo, for a third season. The news comes some four months since the series returned with its second season on HBO Max. The story.

'Lightyear' Banned in Saudi Arabia Over Same-Sex Kiss 

►Another ban. Disney has fallen foul of Gulf censors once more. Lightyear, Pixar's Toy Story prequel spinoff movie, has been banned in Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Sources tell THR's Alex Ritman the decision is linked to the inclusion of a same-sex kiss in the film. The scene, involving the female character Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba) and her partner, was originally cut from the film, but reinstated following the uproar surrounding a statement from Pixar employees claiming that Disney had been censoring “overtly gay affection” and Disney CEO Bob Chapek’s handling of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” bill. The story.

—Writer beef. Scribes for The CW's Charmed reboot didn’t hold back after a perceived insult from someone who worked on the original series. Curtis Kheel, who wrote for the first Charmed series, took to Twitter on Saturday to dismiss the reboot’s series finale. The verified Twitter account for the reboot’s writing staff replied: "Unlike with the OG version of the franchise, we had a strict ‘no assholes’ hiring policy in the writer’s room." The story. 

—Real winners. Top Chef and RuPaul’s Drag Race were among the big winners of the 2022 Critics Choice Real TV Awards on Sunday night. Drag Race won in best competition series, best unstructured series and best ensemble cast, while Top Chef also won in best competition series, as well as best culinary show, and best show host for Padma Lakshmi for hosting Top Chef as well as Taste the Nation with Padma Lakshmi. The winners.

Bill Hader on "Disturbing" 'Barry' Season 3 Finale

►"[The audience] is gonna need a drink." The third season of HBO's Barry came to a shocking conclusion on Sunday, and THR boulevardier Ryan Gajewski was able to speak to series co-creator and star Bill Hader about it all. Hader reveals why he knew the third season had to end with its game-changing moment, and what the show's team has been grappling with for the next season. Warning spoilers. The interview. 

—Biggest Hollywood opening of the year. Universal’s Jurassic World Dominion bit off a healthy $53 million during its opening in China over the weekend. Although that pales in comparison to the performances of Hollywood tentpoles in pre-pandemic times, it was a solid start given current market conditions in China, where an estimated 23 percent of cinemas remain closed because of COVID lockdowns. The China box office report. 

—"It would be so fantastic to write and direct a feature." On Saturday, Taylor Swift appeared at the Tribeca Festival as a director, a role she’s only taken on in recent years, first helming her music video for “The Man” and, just months ago, directing her short film, All Too Well. Swift opened up about the process of making her short film in a discussion with director Mike Mills and she said she “would love” to helm a movie. The story.

Film Review: 'Spiderhead'

►"An unclassifiable good time." THR film critic Frank Scheck reviews Joseph Kosinski's Spiderhead. Chris Hemsworth, Miles Teller and Jurnee Smollett star in this darkly comic Netflix thriller based on a George Saunders short story. The review. 

—"Beautifully observed and acted." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Frank Berry's Aisha. Letitia Wright stars as a Nigerian asylum seeker in Ireland is befriended by a local man (Josh O’Connor) with his own difficult past in Frank Berry’s tender drama about the agony of bureaucratic limbo. The review.

—"A smartly crafted portrait of royal intrigue." THR TV critic Angie Han review Starz's Becoming Elizabeth. A teenage Elizabeth Tudor (Alicia von Rittberg) finds herself thrown into the midst of political intrigue following the death of her father, Henry VIII. The review. 

—"More emotional than you'd expect from a doc about a hard-hitting catcher." THR's Dan Fienberg reviews Sean Mullin's It Ain’t Over. Was Yankees catcher and acknowledged baseball all-time great Yogi Berra actually underappreciated? That's the argument behind this new documentary. The review. 

—"Profoundly unnerving, though that may or may not be intentional." Dan reviews Jon Kasbe and Crystal Moselle's Sophia. The documentary, heading to Showtime later this year, looks at inventor David Hanson and his attempts to bring artificial intelligence to one rubbery robot. The review. 

—"Infuriating." THR's John DeFore reviews Darren Foster's American Pain. The investigative documentarian tells the story of pill-mill felons Jeffrey and Christopher George. The review. 

—"A largely unsuccessful experiment about struggling to connect." John reviews Andrew Bujalski's There There. This ensemble experiment shoots actors like Lili Taylor and Jason Schwartzman in isolation and watches them try to share a scene. The review. 

In other news...

—Studio Wildcard reveals Ark II trailer starring Vin Diesel

—Rapper Roddy Ricch arrested on gun charges in New York

—John Cena meets teen superfan with Down Syndrome who fled Ukraine

—The New York Times turns to Questlove in new marketing effort

—New Orleans’ Voodoo Fest canceled for third straight year

—Viacom18 acquires streaming rights to India’s Premier League Cricket for $2.6B

What else we're reading...

—On the 50th anniversary of Deep Throat, David Smith looks back on the film that brought porn into the mainstream [Guardian] 

—Dalvin Brown on how Apple's plans to do away with passwords will work in practice [WSJ]

—Another great piece for Wire fans: "The Wire in five scenes" [NYT]

—Drusilla Moorhouse has an interesting piece on how some people fall asleep to true crime podcasts [BuzzFeed]

—Matt Zoller Seitz has a thought-provoking interview with legendary filmmaker Barry Levinson, who talks about his new biopic The Survivor [Vulture]

Today...  

Today's birthdays: Chris Evans (41), Kodi Smit-McPhee (26), Aaron Taylor-Johnson (32), Stellan Skarsgård (71), Richard Thomas (71), Ally Sheedy (60), Kat Dennings (36), Malcolm McDowell (79), Tim Allen (69), Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (36), Steve-O (48), Simon Callow (72), Greg Daniels (59), Lisa Vidal (57), Kathy Burke (58), Jeff Davis (47)