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Emmys Postponed Amid Strikes; L.A. Restaurateurs Struggle With Double Stoppage; Glover Bros. to Write 'Lando' Series; 'TMNT: Mutant Mayhem' Review

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July 28, 2023

What's news: Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron will open TIFF. HBO has renewed The Righteous Gemstones for a fourth season. Sarah Paulson will return to Broadway in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ next play. Christine Romans is leaving CNN. The Roku Channel now has 73.5m active accounts. — Abid Rahman

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Emmy Awards Postponed Amid Strikes

►Inevitable. THR's Rick Porter and Mikey O'Connell report that the 2023 Emmy Awards are officially moving off their usual September airdate amid the ongoing writers and actors strikes. The 75th annual awards had been scheduled to air Sept. 18 on Fox. A new date has yet to be set, but sources close to the show confirm that the original date and month are no longer in consideration. The story.

—🏆 Good news for CNN, finally 🏆 The National Academy of Television Arts & Sciences has announced its nominees for the 44th Annual News and Documentary Emmy Awards, which will be presented at two individual ceremonies: news on Sept. 27 and documentary on Sept. 28. CNN led the pack with 47 nominations, including for Anderson Cooper 360 and the documentary Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain. The nominees.

—Rejoice! Japanese anime legend Hayao Miyazaki’s much anticipated final film, The Boy and the Heron, is set to open the Toronto Film Festival with a toned-down star presence on Sept. 7. Studio Ghibli’s mysterious epic feature — with hand-drawn animation from Miyazaki — will have an international premiere at Roy Thomson Hall after being release in theaters in Japan on July 14. GKIDS plans a theatrical release in North America later this year. The story.

—Great start. Fox Sports drew a record TV audience for a group-stage game at the Women’s World Cup on Wednesday night. The U.S. team’s 1-1 draw against the Netherlands averaged 6.43m viewers on Fox, making it the most watched contest in the group stages of any Women’s World Cup in the U.S. (with the caveat that this year’s tournament is the first that includes out of home viewing in Nielsen averages). The prior record was 5.34m viewers for U.S.-Chile in 2019. The ratings.

L.A. Restaurateurs Struggle With Double Stoppage

►"It’s been a sad, difficult time." THR's Gary Baum writes that nearly three months into the writers strike and with SAG-AFTRA also joining picket lines as of July 14, L.A. hospitality businesses with the greatest customer exposure to the entertainment industry are experiencing economic domino effects and are girding for far worse. The story.

—"It’s a strike summer." After delivering a speech to striking members of the WGA and SAG-AFTRA in front of Fox Studios in West Los Angeles on Thursday, THR's Katie Kilkenny spoke to Liz Shuler, president of the U.S.' largest labor federation the AFL-CIO, about her thoughts on the ongoing work stoppage roiling Hollywood. Shuler discussed the rise of female labor leaders, weighed in on whether politicians should get involved in Hollywood’s labor dispute and urged studios and streamers to "come to your senses." The interview.

—"It doesn’t feel neutral out here." A week after filing National Labor Relations Board grievances against NBCU, the WGA and SAG-AFTRA are reaching their limit at another picketing location 3 miles west in the San Fernando Valley: Radford Studio Center. The unions contend the historic Studio City lot — owned by a private equity firm that is seeking approval on a politically sensitive billion-dollar renovation — has made protesting there unnecessarily dangerous. The story.

—"Taylor Swift has stood by women throughout her career. She, herself, was a silence breaker." Taylor Swift's support is being sought by hotel worker union Unite Here Local 11 in its strike for better wages and against “junk fees,” which are extra charges added on to room rates that help the companies, not the workers. The union is calling upon support from the singer due to her economical influence upon the hotel industry with her current Eras tour, and is asking Swift to postpone her Los Angeles shows. The story.

—Felt across the world. The Locarno Film Festival, due to start on Aug. 2 in the Swiss city, announced some high-profile withdrawals due to the actors strike. Riz Ahmed, who was set to receive the Davide Campari Excellence Award, will now no longer attend the festival. Stellan Skarsgard will attend, but will no longer accept the Leopard Club Award, with the festival saying he will “forgo the award in solidarity with the strike.” The story.

Glover Bros. to Write 'Lando' Series

►This deal is getting better all the time. Donald Glover and Stephen Glover are teaming up to pen Disney+’s Lando series. The deal between the brothers and Lucasfilm was made prior to the WGA strike. Justin Simien, who was previously attached to develop Lando, exited the Star Wars project prior to the Atlanta duo signing on. Disney announced in December 2020 that the show was in the works. Donald Glover, who will star in the series, previously played Lando Calrissian in the 2018 feature Solo: A Star Wars Story. The story.

—We want Baby Billy's Bible Bonkers! HBO has renewed The Righteous Gemstones for a fourth season. The pickup comes just a few days ahead of the comedy’s third-season finale on July 30. Work on season four won’t begin until after strikes by writers and actors are resolved. The season is averaging 4.9m cross-platform viewers per episode since its June 18 debut and is on track to be the most watched of the series to date. The story.

—🎭 Back on Broadway 🎭 Sarah Paulson will return to Broadway in Branden Jacobs-Jenkins’ play, Appropriate. The play, directed by Lila Neugebauer, will begin previews at Second Stage’s Hayes Theater starting Nov. 28, with an opening set for Dec. 18. Paulson was last on Broadway in the 2010 run of Donald Margulies’ Collected Stories, where she starred opposite Linda Lavin, and most recently on stage in the 2013 off-Broadway run of Lanford Wilson’s Talley’s Folly. The story.

—Suits you, sir. Nearly four years after its last new episode aired, Suits is having a moment in the streaming world. The former USA Network series set a viewing time record for an acquired series in the week of June 26-July 2. Suits had 3.14b minutes of watch time, according to Nielsen, easily surpassing the previous mark of 2.49b minutes for Manifest (before it became a Netflix original) in June 2021. The show became available on Netflix June 23; it also streams on Peacock. The streaming rankings.

Live Nation Revenue Soars Amid Soaring Demand

►The Bey and Tay boomlet. Live Nation reported its strongest second quarter ever, as concert demand continues to propel its results. The company, which also owns Ticketmaster, reported revenue of $5.6b for its second quarter, up 27 percent from the $4.4b reported a year ago. Operating income reached $386.4m, up from $319m a year ago. The company reported more than 117m tickets sold for Live Nation shows so far this year, which is up 20 percent year-over-year. The results.

—Mixed bag. Roku reported a strong Q2, with revenue rising and its net losses improving quarter to quarter, despite what the company calls a “muted” TV advertising market. Roku reported revenue of $847.2m, including platform revenue (which includes The Roku Channel and advertising) delivering $743.8m of that revenue haul. The company reported a net loss of $126m, compared to $212m in Q1, and $110m a year ago. The streaming platform now has 73.5m active accounts. The results.

—New game in town. Wasserman, the marketing and talent representation firm founded by mogul Casey Wasserman, may be taking more direct aim at the speaker divisions of Hollywood’s major agencies with the launch of its own unit aimed at booking appearances for clients. The Los Angeles-based firm launched Wasserman Speakers on Thursday, with a client roster that features sports and entertainment figures including Idina Menzel, Megan Rapinoe, Mike Tirico and Herbie Hancock, among others. The story.

—"I’ve climbed the mountain and it’s time for me to climb a new one." CNN Early Start anchor and chief business correspondent Christine Romans has decided to exit the cable news channel. Romans announced her decision Friday morning, in conjunction with an on-air sendoff on CNN This Morning. She has been with the cable network for 24 years. The story.

Simien Levels Up With 'Haunted Mansion' at a Fraught Time

►"To be in Hollywood is to be gaslit." THR's Mikey O'Connell spoke to Justin Simien about his new film Haunted Mansion. "Too Black" or "too queer" for some and not enough for others, the Dear White People filmmaker gets real on those Bob Iger comments, streaming budgets and his cast not being able to promote alongside him: “This is going to hurt.” The interview.

—"It’s been a pretty remarkable journey to be at this place now and just working at this scale." THR's Brian Davids spoke to Haunted Mansion star Rosario Dawson about her big Disney summer. Dawson also discusses revisiting her Haunted Mansion character for a recent State Farm commercial, before diving deep into the Star Wars Disney+ series Ahsoka’s filming process. This interview was conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike. The interview.

—"If there’s any thought that I resemble Cillian Murphy, I’ll take it as a huge compliment." Brian spoke to Oppenheimer star Dylan Arnold on playing the part of Frank Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan's box office hit. Arnold also reflects on his two Halloween movies and how he ended up wearing a skirt for his fateful scene in which Michael Myers kills his character. This interview was conducted prior to the SAG-AFTRA strike. The interview.

—"We didn’t do this to go back to the past, but to go back to the feeling we had doing this in the past." Brian spoke to Justified: City Primeval director Michael Dinner about the return of the cult favorite FX show. Dinner discusses stepping up to become showrunner after Graham Yost's departure for a deal at Apple, and about wanting to do a third chapter of the Timothy Olyphant vehicle. Warning! Spoilers. The interview.

Film Review: 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem'

►"Cowabunga!" THR's Frank Scheck reviews Jeff Rowe's Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem. The adolescent reptiles are back in a new big-screen animated incarnation produced by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg and featuring a stellar voice cast including Jackie Chan, Ice Cube and Rose Byrne. The review.

—"Sometimes clever, sometimes glib, always superficial." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews How to Become a Cult Leader. Peter Dinklage returns as the wry narrator for the How to Become a Tyrant team's comic exploration of the mind-control playbook followed by Charles Manson, Jim Jones and more. The review.

—"A memorable, heart-expanding journey." THR's Sheri Linden reviews Morrisa Maltz's The Unknown Country. Killers of the Flower Moon star Lily Gladstone plays a young woman reconnecting with her Oglala Lakota relatives in a feature that weaves documentary elements into its road-trip narrative. The review.

Thank Pod It's Friday

► All the latest content from THR's podcast studio.

—TV's Top 5. THR's Lesley Goldberg and Dan Fienberg break down the latest TV news. This week's episode begins with the mailbag as Lesley and Dan answer some listener questions. There's a segment dedicated to the late Irish singer and activist Sinéad O'Connor. THR 's Alex Weprin drops by to talk some of the latest developments in the double strike. There's a section on studios and streamers debating what to do with completed seasons of scripted originals. And Dan reviews Twisted Metal, How to Become a Cult Leader, Dark Winds, This Fool and the final season of How To With John Wilson. Listen here.

In other news...

—The Morning Show S3 teaser: Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon are ready to burn it all down (again)

—Steven Spielberg to be honored by Location Managers

—Range Media signs video game creator Dan Houser

—Hulu names Lauren Tempest as general manager

—Pamela Blair, A Chorus Line and All My Children actress, dies at 73

—Lelia Goldoni, actress in Shadows and Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, dies at 86

—Bill Cunningham, CESD talent agency founder, dies at 96

—Jerome Coopersmith, Hawaii Five-O writer and Tony-nominated playwright, dies at 97

What else we're reading...

—Alissa Wilkinson looks at the nuclear bomb’s enduring, evolving place in pop culture [Vox]

—Jess Sherwood looks into why fans go all out and dress up to see Taylor Swift, Beyoncé and Harry Styles [BBC]

—Lucas Shaw has a detailed piece on the growing fear about AI in Hollywood [Bloomberg]

—Brian Stelter wonders whether Ron DeSantis can pull his spluttering presidential campaign out of a death spiral [VF]

—Here's your Friday list: "The 20 best big dumb movies of all time" [GQ]

Today...

...in 1954, Elia Kazan brought his gangster drama On the Waterfront to theaters, starring Marlon Brando and Eva Marie Saint. The film went on to claim eight Oscars at the 27th Academy Awards ceremony, including best picture. The original review.

Today's birthdays: Hannah Waddingham (49), John David Washington (39), Dustin Milligan (38), Elizabeth Berkley (49), Lori Loughlin (59), Asher Grodman (36), Michael Hitchcock (65), Randall Wallace (74), Peter Cullen (82), Tom Pelphrey (41), Diarmaid Murtagh (41), Sally Struthers (76), Noma Dumezweni (54), Dulquer Salmaan (37), Darryl Hickman (92), Leonor Watling (48), Huma Qureshi (37), Dhanush (40), Bruce Abbott (69), Alexandra Chando (37), Hannah Lochner (30), Spencer Boldman (31), Rachel Blakely (55)

Randy Meisner, the bassist and founding member of the Eagles who sang lead vocal on the band’s first big hit, “Take It to the Limit,” has died. He was 77. The obituary.

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Written by José Vizcarra
on Friday, July 28, 2023 at 7:14 AM.

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