Ezra Miller Meets With Warners Leadership

►Momentous week. THR's Borys Kit and Aaron Couch have another blockbuster scoop from inside Warners, the news that Ezra Miller, the scandal-plagued star of The Flash, met with new Warner Bros. film chairs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy.

At the meeting, the discussion focused not only how to stay on course for the film's June 23, 2023 release date, but to reaffirm Miller's commitment to the movie as well as apologize for bringing negative attention to the production and the company. The meeting took place on Wednesday, the same day the studio was holding "funeral screenings" for the shelved Batgirl. The story. 

—A bit of gravitas. Borys also has the scoop on veteran actor Danny Huston joining Bill Skarsgard and FKA Twigs in The Crow, the new adaptation of the comic created by James O’Barr. Rupert Sanders is directing the feature which is now weeks-deep in production in the Czech Republic. The story. 

—Scheduling issues. Borys is at it again! Scoop number three is the news that filmmaker Matt Shakman is no longer directing a Star Trek movie for Paramount. Shakman has had to drop out due to scheduling issues as he is jumping to Fantastic Four for Marvel Studios. The movie was a top priority for Paramount and was dated for a Dec. 22, 2023 release. The story. 

'House of the Dragon' Renewed for S2

►No brainer. HBO has renewed House of the Dragon for a second season. The move came relatively quickly following the series premiere on Sunday, which delivered 10m viewers overnight — an HBO record for a series opener and roughly on par with the premiere of Game of Thrones season six. Now HBO reports that in the days since the show’s premiere, the first episode’s viewership has climbed to 20m viewers in the U.S. across linear, on demand and HBO Max platforms. The story.

—Resident Evil dead. Netflix has canceled the live-action Resident Evil series after a single season. The decision comes six weeks after the show's July 14 debut and after both the streamer’s own metrics and external measurements showed the series didn’t have a long shelf life with viewers. The story.

—Up for discussion. NBC is considering shrinking the network’s primetime footprint. The broadcaster has had early talks about turning the 10 p.m. ET hour back over to affiliates. Nothing is decided yet, as the matter hasn’t come up for formal discussion with its affiliate board. Such a move would shrink NBC’s primetime footprint by seven hours per week during much of the year. The story. 

—"Best day ever." Britney Spears is celebrating after making her return to music following the release of her Elton John duet “Hold Me Closer.” In a video posted on social media, Spears shared a message to John while speaking in a British accent. “Hello Sir Elton John, we are, like, number one in 40 countries. Holy shit,” she said. The story. 

Feinberg's Venice Preview 

►Stuffed with gold-seekers. THR's executive awards editor Scott Feinberg looks over the lineup of the 79th Venice Film Festival and finds that it is jam-packed with Oscar hopefuls as any yet. Bardo, Bones & All, The Son, Tár, The Whale and White Noise are but a few of the highly-touted titles headed to the world's oldest film fest, which will run Aug. 31 to Sept. 10. The analysis. 

—"I feel like the devil is asking my price." THR's Seth Abramovitch spoke to Ellen Burstyn about why, after 50 years, she finally said yes to starring in a sequel to The Exorcist. The Oscar-winning stage and screen legend also discussed her connection with the Actors Studio, which celebrates its 75th anniversary this year. The interview. 

—Shakeup. E! is canceling two of its daily entertainment-news shows. The daytime show Daily Pop will end its five-year run in September, and companion Nightly Pop will go dark in October. E! also plans to launch a new evening news show in October that will “return to the roots" of the brand. The story. 

—Resting among the stars. The late Star Trek icon Nichelle Nichols is taking one final journey through the final frontier. Celestis Inc., a private space flight company that works with NASA, will include some of the actress’ ashes on a United Launch Alliance Vulcan Centaur rocket as part of the upcoming Enterprise flight, scheduled to take off sometime later this year. The story. 

How 'She-Hulk' Could Set Up a 'World War Hulk' Movie

►Plenty of interest in gamma-mythos. THR's Richard Newby picks up the threads of a storyline that was only partially tackled in Taika Waititi's Thor: Ragnarok that could get the spotlight in a possible Marvel feature, if the rights issue is sorted, thanks to the Disney+ series She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Warning spoilers. The analysis. 

—"You can’t direct chemistry." THR's Brian Davids spoke to She-Hulk: Attorney at Law director Kat Coiro who reveals the moment she knew the Disney+ Marvel series would work. The filmmaker, who helms six of the series’ nine episodes, also reflects on the chemistry between Tatiana Maslany’s She-Hulk/Jen Walters and Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk/Dr. Bruce Banner. The interview.

In other news...

—IAC increases stake in MGM Resorts in bet on online gambling growth

—Land of Gold director Nardeep Khurmi signs with Rain

What else we're reading...

—Nathan Solis reports that some residents are fed up that Fast & Furious has turned these L.A. streets into a hot spot for racers [LAT]

—Derek Lawrence talks to Danny DeVito about the devil and his new animated series Little Demon [VF]

—Mark Olsen has a great interview with the always great value George Miller who talks Furiosa to Three Thousand Years of Longing [LAT]

—Geoff Dembicki on the fracking money behind Ben Shapiro's Daily Wire, one of the internet's biggest spreaders of climate crisis denial [Vice]

—Ben Mathis-Lilley wonders why watching college football on TV has to be so miserable [NYT]

Today...  

...in 1964, Disney unveiled its 139-minute family film Mary Poppins at its Los Angeles premiere. The blockbuster went on to earn 13 Oscar nominations at the 37th Academy Awards, winning 5 honors including best actress for Julie Andrews. The original review.

Today's birthdays: Tom Ford (61), Peter Stormare (69), Aaron Paul (43), Patrick J. Adams (41), Alexa PenaVega (34), Sarah Chalke (46), Tuesday Weld (79), Amanda Fuller (38), Paul Reubens (70), Suranne Jones (44), G.W. Bailey (78), Kayla Ewell (37), Blake Jenner (30), Chandra Wilson (53), Peter Mensah (63), Demetria McKinney (43), Ellar Coltrane (28), Reece Shearsmith (53), Dean Devlin (60), Sjón (60), Cesar Millan (53), Jean-Yves Berteloot (64)