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'The Other Two' Ending at Max Amid HR Complaints; Inside the TCM Drama; 398 Invited to Join Film Academy; Why Subtitling Is Big Business Amid the Content Boom

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June 29, 2023

What's news: Madonna is recovering after a bacterial infection saw her hospitalized. Cineworld has agreed to a reorganization plan as it emerges from bankruptcy. A spinoff of Vanderpump Rules is happening. Evan Peters will star in Tron 3. Tyler Perry has revealed details of his first Amazon feature project. — Abid Rahman

'The Other Two' Ending at Max Amid HR Complaints

►"Other writers tell stories about The Other Two writers’ rooms like other people tell ghost stories." The Other Two, the cult Max comedy about the inner workings of Hollywood, will conclude June 29 with its season three finale. THR's Lesley Goldberg and Gary Baum report that the ending comes following multiple staff complaints about creators and showrunners Chris Kelly and Sarah Schneider over the course of the production, though several insiders say that there is no causal connection between the complaints and the decision to end with season three. The story.

—"Her health is improving, however she is still under medical care." Madonna is expected to recover from a bacterial infection after a multi-day hospital stay. Guy Oseary, the singer’s talent manager and producer, confirmed that she had been admitted to an intensive care unit on June 24 due to the infection. Madonna's Celebration World Tour, commemorating the 40-year anniversary of her career, was set to kick off in July. The story.

—"We’re fighting for the same issues they are so we stand with them." One day after hundreds of actors signed a letter telling SAG-AFTRA leadership that they are prepared to strike in order to achieve a “transformative deal,” Jane Fonda — who was among those signees — is speaking out directly as the contract deadline looms. Talking to THR's Kirsten Chuba, Fonda said she is planning to walk the picket line with the writers on Thursday: "I want them to stand strong, and actors may join them, and we’ll stand strong." The story.

—Reorg plan in place. Cineworld, the world’s second-largest movie theater company, said on Thursday that a U.S. bankruptcy court has confirmed a third amended Chapter 11 plan of reorganization, which calls for a new board led by former Pepsi and Pepsi Bottling exec Eric Foss. The plan will also create a newly incorporated company to become the sole owner of Cineworld when it emerges from bankruptcy protection. The story.

—Tom's doing his bit! Tom Cruise really wants people to go see Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny. And Barbie. And Oppenheimer. Despite his own blockbuster opening in a few weeks (that would be Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning, Part One), Cruise is urging his fans to check out the summer movie competition. On Instagram, Hollywood's one-man marketing machine posted pictures of himself and Dead Reckoning filmmaker Christopher McQuarrie in front of posters for the three films and urging people to go and see them. The story.

Inside the TCM Drama

►Laden with debt and desperately looking to cut costs. After a filmmaker outcry over planned cuts to TCM, Warner Bros. Discovery reversed course (sort of). THR's editor-at-large Kim Masters goes inside the drama that led to a Zoom call with Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Paul Thomas Anderson and CEO David Zaslav, who will now move creative oversight of the channel to WB film studio chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy as well as bringing back programmer Charles Tabesh. The story.

—More to come. A new spinoff to the long-running unscripted show Vanderpump Rules is in the works at Bravo amid the ongoing viewer fascination over the flagship series’ controversy known as Scandoval. Bravo is eyeing a spinoff that will potentially focus on a group of friends who have left behind their hedonistic West Hollywood lives and are now concentrating on raising children in L.A.'s less-glamorous San Fernando Valley. Series alums Jax Taylor, Brittany Cartwright and Kristen Doute are among those being considered for a new project. The story.

—🤝 5 year-deal 🤝 Fresh off his best screenplay win at Cannes, in-demand Japanese screenwriter Yuji Sakamoto has inked a 5-year collaboration agreement with Netflix. Sakamoto was already in business with Netflix as the writer and producer of the streamer’s upcoming big-budget Japanese mystery romance film In Love and Deep Water, set to premiere later this year. His film scripts have included Crying Out Love in the Center of the World and We Made a Beautiful Bouquet and Hirokazu Kore-eda’s mystery drama Monster. The story.

—📅 Mark it down 📅 The 66th annual Grammy Awards will air live on Feb. 4, 2024. The Recording Academy announced on Thursday that the event will air live on CBS and stream on Paramount+ from the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. The nominees will be revealed on Nov. 10. The story.

398 Invited to Join Film Academy

►Eclectic. Taylor Swift, David Byrne, David Zaslav, Netflix CCO Bela Bajaria, filmmakers Daniels (Kwan and Scheinert), Nobel Prize-winning writer Kazuo Ishiguro, former SXSW chief Janet Pierson, WME co-chairs Christian Muirhead and Richard Weitz, and actors including Selma Blair, Austin Butler, Bill Hader, Paul Mescal, Nicholas Hoult, Keke Palmer, Ke Huy Quan and RRR stars Ram Charan and N.T. Rama Rao Jr. are among the 398 artists and execs who have been invited to join the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences this year. The full list.

—🎭 Welcome to the Grid 🎭 Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story star Evan Peters has closed a deal to star opposite Jared Leto in Tron: Ares, the third installment of Disney’s tech sci-fi movie series. Joachim Ronning is directing the feature that is due to begin shooting August in Vancouver. It is unclear who Peters would play, although the script calls for a soldier in the computer world and an awkward gamer in the human world. The story.

—🎭 Eight more 🎭 Netflix’s worldwide hit Squid Game has filled out its cast for season two. Eight actors — Park Gyu-young, Jo Yu-ri, Kang Ae-sim, Lee David, Lee Jin-uk, Choi Seung-hyun, Roh Jae-won and Won Ji-an — have signed on to the series. They join returnees Lee Jung-jae, Lee Byun-hun, Hwang Jun-ho and Gong Yoo and fellow newcomers Yim Si-wan, Kang Ha-neul, Park Sung-hoon and Yang Dong-geun, who were announced at Netflix’s Tudum fan event earlier in June. The story.

—First up. After getting into business with Amazon Studios, Tyler Perry has unveiled his first project as part of a four-movie deal with the streaming giant. The film, Black, White & Blue, is written, directed and produced by Perry and stars Kat Graham, Tyler Lepley, Meagan Tandy, Josh Adeyeye, RonReaco Lee, Jimi Stanton, Shannon LaNier and Nick Barrotta. The story.

—"If I’m going to come back I gotta come back with that Samantha style." Kim Cattrall wasn’t interested in returning to the Sex and the City franchise, unless she’d be allowed to do so in style. During an appearance on The View, where she was ostensibly promoting her new Netflix series Glamorous, Cattrall dished about the call that she received from HBO about appearing on And Just Like That and the things that she needed, including the involvement of famed costume designer Patricia Field, to get to “yes.” The story.

Why Subtitling is Big Business Amid Content Boom

►Caption this. THR's Kirsten Chuba writes that Gen Z's affinity for watching content with the captions on and the increasingly global nature of streaming are creating a massive market for transcribers – even as AI looms to take their jobs. The story.

—"A more challenging fundraising climate." The Sundance Institute is undergoing another round of layoffs. CEO Joana Vicente made the announcement to staff on Wednesday, with the layoffs impacting 11 staffers, or about six percent of the 180-person organization. The impacted positions run across multiple departments. The story.

—End of the line. Camelot is ending its Broadway run on July 23. The revival of the Lerner & Loewe musical, which features a revised book by Aaron Sorkin, began its run on March 9 at the Lincoln Center’s Vivian Beaumont Theater and opened on April 13. The show has received mixed reviews, but capacity dipped to 80 percent and grosses fell in recent weeks. Camelot received five Tony Award nominations, including best revival of a musical, but did not take home any trophies. The story.

—"We know that we’re making something provocative and we are not shying away from that." Lily-Rose Depp has again defended the controversial sex scenes in the HBO/Max series The Idol. In a new interview, the French-American actress discussed the drama's content that some viewers have dubbed overly graphic and even “torture porn.” The story.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach on Embracing a Lonelier S2 of 'The Bear'

►"I knew ahead of time that there was going to be less of everyone together in the restaurant, which I kind of mourned." THR's Seija Rankin spoke to Ebon Moss-Bachrach about the second season of FX/Hulu's The Bear. The actor dissects the most important moments of the show and offer his take on the emotionally explosive season finale. Warning: Spoilers! The interview.

—"I wanted to try something that felt like instant love it or hate it." THR's man in London Alex Ritman spoke to Idris Elba about his frenetic new Apple TV+ drama Hijack. Elba also discussed the joy of people not knowing what he might do next, getting back behind the camera for his second feature as director, Infernus (and the first time he’ll direct himself), and plans for another Luther movie. And yes, he also addressed James Bond. The interview.

—"The themes we touched upon in Boiling Point in the film and the TV series — racism, bullying, substance abuse, invisible illnesses and stuff that, they’re not relevant just in the hospitality industry." Alex also spoke to Boiling Point star Stephen Graham and the executive producers Hestor Ruoff and Bart Ruspoli of Ascendent Fox about the upcoming small screen adaptation of the critically acclaimed one-shot kitchen drama from 2021. The trio discuss the inevitable comparisons with The Bear and plans to roll out global versions of Boiling Point. The interview.

—Joy and tragedy. For THR, Demetrius Patterson spoke to I’m a Virgo executive producer Michael Ellenberg about the absurdist Amazon Prime Video series about a teenage giant in a mystical Oakland. With series creator Boots Riley currently not available to talk about the show due to the writers strike, Ellenberg gives his take on the genre-bending fantasy project and how it has potential for future seasons. Warning: Spoilers! The interview.

In other news...

—Liam Neeson’s car will explode if he stops driving in Retribution trailer

—Bird Box Barcelona trailer: New beasts, terrors revealed in Sandra Bullock movie spinoff

—Netflix’s Verna Myers to exit, Wade Davis promoted to lead inclusion strategy

—Trailer for Steven Soderbergh's Full Circle teases connections between botched kidnapping and Guyana

—John Legend and Chrissy Teigen welcome baby boy

—Louis Theroux to give keynote MacTaggart Lecture at Edinburgh TV Festival

—Sky Deutschland to shut down originals division

What else we're reading...

—Incredible Max Kim report on how Squid Game made creator Hwang Dong-hyuk famous but not rich as he has received no residuals on arguably Netflix's biggest global hit series [LAT]

—Fascinating Valentina Valentini interview with Happy Valley creator Sally Wainwright about how the harrowing Brit drama was never a cop show and more a study on Catherine Cawood [Vulture]

—With Jesse Watters tapped to take over Tucker Carlson's Fox News slot, Niha Masih's looks back over his career of controversies [WaPo]

—Kirsten Grind and Katherine Bindley report that Silicon Valley's most prominent chuds are into mushrooms, LSD and ketamine and want to spread the word on their benefits [WSJ]

—Hannah Murphy outlines new Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino’s vision for the social media giant. Expect lots more ads [FT]

Today...

...in 1988, Paramount debuted the R-rated comedy Coming to America, from Eddie Murphy and John Landis, in theaters. The original review.

Today's birthdays: Lily Rabe (41), Melora Hardin (56), Nicole Scherzinger (47), Bret McKenzie (45), Richard Lewis (76), Colin Jost (41), Sarah Power (38), Brian d'Arcy James (55), Matthew Weiner (58), Addison Timlin (32), Sharon Lawrence (62), Luke Kirby (45), Lance Barber (50), Matthew Mercer (41), Maria Conchita Alonso (66), Kathleen Wilhoite (59), Amanda Donohoe (61), Christina Chang (52), Camila Mendes (29), Will Kemp (46), Judith Hoag (60), Ilan Mitchell-Smith (54), Evan Roderick (28), Fred Grandy (75), Jeff Baena (46), Tom Weston-Jones (36), Stephanie Lemelin (44), Adam Sevani (31), Lorenzo James Henrie (30), Bradley Stryker (46)

Rob Young, a Canadian sound mixer whose 40-year career in the industry included an Oscar nomination for his work on the Clint Eastwood best picture winner Unforgiven, has died. He was 76. The obituary.

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Written by José Vizcarra
on Thursday, June 29, 2023 at 7:04 AM.

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