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Tina Turner Remembered; The Widening Web of Lord and Miller; Inside WBD's Starry Cannes Party; 'FUBAR' Review

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May 25, 2023

What's news: Hollywood mourns Tina Turner. Succession star Brian Cox feels Logan died too soon. Amazon orders drama Butterfly starring Daniel Dae Kim. Rebel Wilson will make her directorial debut with musical comedy The Deb. Rapper Fetty Wap has been sentenced to 6 years in prison. — Abid Rahman

Tina Turner 1939 - 2023

►"The world loses a music legend and a role model." Tina Turner, the trailblazing rock star who set world records for ticket sales — and whose dramatic triumph over domestic abuse and the music industry itself made her a feminist icon — has died. She was 83. Turner died Wednesday “after a long illness” in her home in Kusnacht near Zurich, Switzerland, her reps announced.

An electrifying live entertainer who sold 200m albums and won eight Grammy Awards, Turner rose to fame in the 1960s as the centerpiece of the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, a St. Louis blues band turned high-wire rock act. During more than 60 years in the spotlight, she transformed notions about aging, opportunity and resilience, most notably with her landmark album Private Dancer, which launched her to solo superstardom (finally) at age 44. The obituary.

—"A woman without limits." Hollywood was heartbroken over the news of Turner’s death on Wednesday and took to social media to pay tribute to the late music icon. The likes of Angela Bassett, Mick Jagger, Oprah Winfrey, Forest Whitaker, Joe Biden, Diane Warren, Viola Davis, Roberta Flack, and more stars publicly shared their appreciation for the singer. The reaction.

—"Survivor and supernova." In a heartfelt appreciation, THR's David Rooney reflects on how Turner's talent, ecstatic magnetism and resilience made a lasting impact on pop culture across seven decades. The critic's notebook.

—"I’m not going to do a part that will remind me of what I’ve lived already." A music legend, Turner also had serious acting aspirations she says were limited by not just how few roles there were for Black women in Hollywood at the time, but the type of parts she was being offered. THR's Abbey White writes that Turner turned down a leading role in Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple because it reflected "too much back on my life with my ex-husband." The story.

The Widening Web of Phil Lord and Chris Miller

►"Historically, we have had the advantage of low expectations." Oscar-winning duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller open up to THR's second-nicest man Aaron Couch about the intense pressure of the long-awaited Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, navigating the writers strike as multihyphenates, and their upcoming "filthy" talking dog movie Strays. The profile.

—"I was fine with it ultimately, but I did feel a little bit rejected." Brian Cox says the death of the Roy family patriarch during the final season of Succession came too soon. In a new interview, the Scottish actor acquiesced that Logan’s death happened in “a pretty brilliant way,” but also suggested that it would have made more sense to do it later in the season, during either the fifth or sixth episode. The story.

—"They’re not coming back for lesser deals or the same deals." The ongoing strike will ultimately be a net positive for Endeavor, the owner of talent agency WME, predicts Mark Shapiro, the company’s president and COO. Speaking at a conference Wednesday, Shapiro said that when the issues between the WGA and the AMPTP are resolved there will be a growth opportunity for WME as writers are "going to do better economically." The story.

—Yours for $5.5m. The Brady Bunch house is back on the market — and, this time, it comes with the interiors of your 1970s TV dreams. HGTV is selling the Studio City home pictured in hundreds of establishing shots on the famous sitcom not five years after purchasing it for $3.5m. The story.

'Little Mermaid' Filmmakers Talk Changes From 1989 Film

►"We knew right from the beginning that we were gonna create a photoreal world underwater." THR's Brian Davids spoke to The Little Mermaid’s brain trust of director Rob Marshall and producer John DeLuca about their live-action remake of the much-loved Disney cartoon. The duo discuss star Halle Bailey’s showstopping audition and whether they have another Disney musical in them, post-Mermaid, Mary Poppins Returns and Into the Woods. The interview.

—Things are looking up, part I. Movie theater giant and Regal owner Cineworld said on Thursday that it now expects to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July. Cineworld had filed for bankruptcy protection in September to look for ways to restructure its big debt burden. It then formally filed its reorganization plan in April, which targeted to cut the firm’s debt by about $4.53b. The story.

—Things are looking up, part II. The global box office recovery for Imax has been driven by premium ticket prices and releasing local language blockbusters in Asia, so says CEO Richard Gelfond. Speaking at an investor's conference, Gelfond said that consumers emerging from the pandemic were more willing to pay a premium for “something special,” whether for music concerts or live sports, and that includes his company’s giant screen experience. The story.

—Things are looking up, part III. Cinemark CEO Sean Gamble sees the number of Hollywood tentpoles at the multiplex catching up to 2019 levels, that could allow the domestic box office to potentially surpass pre-pandemic highs. Gamble said a greater number of theatrical releases recently has underpinned consumers returning to cinemas. The story.

Inside WBD and Air Mail's Starry Cannes Party

►Impressive turnout. Warner Bros. packed in the stars for the studio’s 100th anniversary celebration at the Cannes Film Festival on Tuesday evening. Among the celebrities joining WBD chief David Zaslav and Air Mail's Graydon Carter to toast the centenary at the Hôtel du Cap-Eden-Roc were Martin Scorsese, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Scarlett Johansson, Jason Statham and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, John C. Reilly, Paul Dano, Eva Longoria, Rebel Wilson, Sting and Trudie Styler, The Weeknd, Eva Longoria, Tom Hanks, Adrien Body, Ari Emanuel, Charlotte Casiraghi, Fan Bingbing, Irina Shayk, Daphne Guinness, Jeremy O.Harris, Ivy Getty and Boy George. The story.

—Chapeau! Tiger Stripes, the feature debut of Malaysian director Amanda Nell Eu has won the prize for best feature of the 2023 Cannes Critics’ Week. The film, a THR hidden gem pick this year, playfully mixes and subverts genres in a story of a young girl confronting puberty that turns into body horror. The story.

—Another one. Arthouse streamer Mubi has picked up Aki Kaurismäki’s Cannes competition title Fallen Leaves, its fourth acquisition of the festival. The company has taken the crowd-pleasing dramedy for North America, the U.K., Ireland, Latin America, and Turkey. Mubi plans to do a theatrical release for the film in some territories. The story.

—Speedy order. Amazon Prime Video has handed out a series order for Butterfly, a scripted drama series based on the Boom Studios graphic novel of the same name with Daniel Dae Kim set to star and exec produce. The six-episode series is described as a spy thriller that explores family dynamics in the world of global espionage. Ken Woodruff (The Mentalist) is set to serve as showrunner and is credited as a co-creator of the series along with Steph Cha. The story.

—Deb debut. Rebel Wilson is set to star in and make her directorial debut with musical comedy The Deb. Based on the hit Australian stage musical of the same name, the story focuses on a debutante ball in a rural town considered a "hetero-normative shitshow." The feature is being produced by Unigram (Tetris) and AI Film (I, Tonya). The story.

Ron "DeSaster" Launches Presidential Campaign on Twitter

►Failure to launch. Turns out Twitter Spaces isn’t the best place to make a major announcement. Ron DeSantis learned this the hard way on Wednesday evening, when the Florida governor was scheduled to kick off his presidential campaign during a live audio conversation with Elon Musk on Spaces. More than 20 minutes after the conversation was scheduled to begin, DeSantis wasn’t even able to speak as the live audio room repeatedly crashed and featured echoing audio. The story.

—Sentenced. Fetty Wap, whose legal name is Willie Maxwell, has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for his role in a New York-based drug-trafficking scheme. The "Trap Queen" rapper pleaded guilty in August 2022 to a conspiracy drug charge that carried a mandatory minimum sentence of five years. The sentence was handed down in federal court on Long Island. The story.

—"The time of being able to speak up about LGBTQ stuff and sexual harassment has finally come to Japan." Takeshi Kitano, arguably Japan’s most recognizable entertainer, has weighed in on the sexual abuse scandal that has shaken the country. Speaking in Cannes, Kitano gave his thoughts on the deluge of allegations of historical abuse against the late talent manager and J-pop pioneer Johnny Kitigawa. The story.

TV Review: 'FUBAR'

►"More a SNAFU than anything else." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Netflix's FUBAR. Arnold Schwarzenegger headlines an eight-episode action comedy that feels like the spring's second attempt to remake True Lies. The review.

—"Moretti’s answer to 8½, for better or worse." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Nanni Moretti's Cannes competition entry A Brighter Tomorrow. A Palme d’Or winner in 2001 for The Son’s Room, the Italian director returns to the auto-fiction that first put him on the international map with Dear Diary. The review.

—"Aged like a fine wine." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Tràn Anh Hùng's Cannes competition entry The Pot-au-Feu. Juliette Binoche and Benoît Magimel star in The Scent of Green Papaya writer-director's film about an aging couple coming together both in and out of the kitchen. The review.

—"A hard-hitting portrait of motherhood." Jordan reviews Delphine Deloget's Cannes Un Certain Regard selection All to Play For. The writer-director's first feature follows a single mother (Virginie Efira) who battles the French authorities to get her son back. The review.

—"Kinetic and full of promise." THR's Lovia Gyarkye reviews Baloji's Cannes Un Certain Regard selection Omen. The Belgian-Congolese rapper helms this narrative feature about four people navigating accusations of witchcraft and sorcery. The review.

Film Review: 'About My Father'

►"Damp family fireworks." THR film critic Frank Scheck reviews Laura Terruso's About My Father. Robert De Niro and Sebastian Maniscalco play an Italian-American widower and his son in a comedy co-starring Leslie Bibb, Anders Holm and Kim Cattrall. The review.

—"The year's second-best film about an American and his translator in Afghanistan." Frank reviews Ric Roman Waugh's Kandahar. Gerard Butler plays a CIA operative trying to escape Afghanistan with the help of his translator. The review.

In other news...

—Idris Elba takes on terrorists in first trailer for Apple series Hijack

—Star Trek: Strange New Worlds trailer teases Lower Decks crossover

—Feinberg forecast: Updated Emmys projections

—Taylor Swift, Ice Spice join forces for “Karma” remix

—Gerald Castillo, Saved by the Bell actor, dies at 90

—Kenneth Anger, pioneering experimental filmmaker, dies at 96

What else we're reading...

—After all the clap counting at Cannes, Guy Lodge breaks down the festival standing ovation and considers whether it means anything [Guardian]

—Sapna Maheshwari and Ryan Mac report that employees at TikTok are accessing and internally sharing user data such as driver’s licenses, addresses and photos [NYT]

—Abby Aguirre's profile of Margot Robbie has some choice tidbits about Greta Gerwig's upcoming Barbie movie [Vogue]

—Brian Contreras talked to eight comedians who offer the chronically unfunny Elon Musk some tips on humor [LAT]

—Kyndall Cunningham wonders whether Taylor Swift’s new Ice Spice collaboration is Matty Healy PR damage control [Daily Beast]

Today...

...in 1983, the original Star Wars trilogy concluded with the release of Richard Marquand's Return of the Jedi in theaters. The original review.

Today's birthdays: Ian McKellen (84), Octavia Spencer (53), Cillian Murphy (47), Mike Myers (60), Jacki Weaver (76), Frank Oz (79), Esmé Bianco (41), Ethan Suplee (47), Lisseth Chavez (34), Scarlet Rose Stallone (21), Brec Bassinger (24), Steven Krueger (34), Erinn Hayes (47), Patti D'Arbanville (72), Brandon Perea (28), Kevin Heffernan (55), Neil Marshall (53), Joseph D. Reitman (55), Molly Dunsworth (33), Joe Anoa'i (38), Vincent Piazza (47), Bill Fellows (66), Lauren Swickard (30)

Bill Lee, a well-regarded jazz musician who accompanied such artists as Bob Dylan, Simon and Garfunkel and Harry Belafonte as well as scoring four of his son Spike’s early films, including the hit Do the Right Thing and two songs for Jungle Fever, has died. He was 94. The obituary.

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Written by José Vizcarra
on Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 7:01 AM.

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