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How the Con Queen of Hollywood Was Tracked Down; 'Indy 5' Cursed With $60M Domestic Opening; Best of TV, Film in 2023 (So Far)

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July 03, 2023

What's news: Apple TV+ series High Desert has been canceled according to star Patricia Arquette. Nexstar is the latest company to get into a carriage dispute with DirecTV. Universal’s Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken bombed at the box office. There's no newsletter tomorrow due to 'Merrrican Independence Day, so see you all on Wednesday! — Abid Rahman

How a Journalist Tracked Down the Con Queen of Hollywood

►"It was a depiction of utter insanity, a cleaving of the psyche." In the pages of THR in 2018, investigative journalist Scott Johnson broke the story of an infamous imposter who stole the identities of dozens of well-known, mostly female Hollywood producers in order to lure unwitting victims to Indonesia. In an exclusive excerpt from his new book, The Con Queen of Hollywood, Scott describes the culmination of an international pursuit to confront a brilliant imposter. The excerpt.

—Another dispute. More than 10m DirecTV subscribers have lost local TV stations owned by Nexstar, in the latest high-profile carriage dispute to permeate the pay-TV business. Nexstar said Sunday that its channels went dark on DirecTV and its streaming multichannel product DirecTV Stream after the companies failed to come to terms on a new deal. The impacted stations include affiliates for all the major broadcast networks, as well as The CW and NewsNation. The story.

—It's catching. Hollywood’s housekeepers and dishwashers are joining its writers on the picket lines after the powerful local hospitality union UNITE HERE Local 11 has announced its own walkout. THR's Gary Baum writes that the historic strike, the largest such labor action in the hotel industry in modern U.S. history, encompasses about 15,000 union members at more than 60 properties in L.A. and Orange counties. The story.

—"It stinks." The Apple TV+ series High Desert will not be returning for a second season, according to star Patricia Arquette. The actress took to Instagram on Saturday to share the news in a video. Ben Stiller, who served as an executive producer on the series, also wrote on Twitter, “We are all disappointed. Our entire #HighDesert cast was amazing and to all our fans, thank you for embracing this show.” The story.

'Indiana Jones 5' Cursed With $60M Domestic Opening

►Indiana Jones and the theaters of doom. Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny opened to a $60m in North America, a troubled start for the fifth and final installment in the famed adventure-action series. THR's Pamela McClintock writes that the hope now is that the Disney/Lucasfilm tentpole will hold well over the July Fourth holiday. The movie should finish Tuesday with a domestic total of $82m.

Overseas, the film launched to $70m for a lackluster global start of $130m. The U.K. led with $8.9m. France — where Dial of Destiny made its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival — was No. 2, followed by Japan ($4.7m), South Korea ($4.1m) and Germany ($4.1m). The challenge for Lucasfilm has always been about attracting new, younger fans in addition to those who grew up on the franchise. The movie, which suffered a series of delays, cost a hefty $295m to make before marketing.

Also opening over the pre-July Fourth weekend is DreamWorks Animation and Universal’s Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken, which bombed with an estimated $5.2m. The family pic came in No. 6. Overseas, Teenage Kraken opened to $7.6m for a global start of $12.8m. The box office report.

—Ouch. Dial of Destiny outright bombed in China, where filmgoers have little to no emotional connection to the classic adventure franchise. Expectations for the film were always low in China, but a $2.3m opening from Friday to Sunday is on the far low end of most analysts’ already low forecasts. None of the first four films in the Indiana Jones franchise were distributed in China, so the country’s geriatric millennials — not to mention its Gen Zs and below — have little to no nostalgic connection to Harrison Ford’s octogenarian hero. The China box office report.

'Secret Invasion' Director on How Current Events Color the Series

►"The stakes are Earth and humanity, as opposed to something off in outer space that’s more abstract or fictional." THR's Brian Davids spoke to filmmaker Ali Selim about Disney+'s new Marvel series Secret Invasion. The Looming Tower alum discusses capturing a key moment between Samuel L. Jackson and Ben Mendelsohn, and the addition to the Captain Marvel mythos they threw into the series. Warning: Spoilers! The interview.

—"People think comedy is easier than it actually is." THR rapscallion Ryan Gajewski spoke to Luke Macfarlane about his new Apple TV+ comedy series Platonic. The actor also discusses his "brutal" decision about turning down a role in Barbie, his feelings regarding inclusivity within the holiday-film world, his disappointment over the box office performance of Bros and what he believes is a bias against TV comedy. The interview.

—"A queer API love story." THR's Abbey White spoke to Nimona voice actor Eugene Lee Yang, co-producer ND Stevenson and directors Troy Quane and Nick Bruno about the decision to change one character's race from white to East Asian. The creative team discuss how the Netflix animated film explores the model minority stereotype through the queer Asian/Pacific Islander romance at the heart of Nimona. The interview.

—"I'd like to debunk this cliché that Italy is all about pizza, mandolins and the mafia." THR Roma's Pino Gagliardi spoke to Italian actor Pierfrancesco Favino about his lengthy and lauded career. The actor has made a career moving between leading roles at home — in The Traitor, Nostalgia or Last Night of Amore — with Hollywood supporting turns that don't play up "typical Italian-ness." The interview.

Imperioli Goes Hard on Homophobes After SC Ruling

►"Thank you Supreme Court for allowing me to discriminate." Michael Imperioli took to social media to share a statement following the Supreme Court decision to side with a Colorado web designer who does not want to create wedding sites for same-sex couples due to religious reasons. “I’ve decided to forbid bigots and homophobes from watching The Sopranos, The White Lotus, Goodfellas or any movie or TV show I’ve been in,” the actor wrote in an Instagram caption of a photo of a news story announcing the court’s decision. The story.

—"It’s not fun to watch Knoxville get hit in the head anymore." Steve-O is revealing why he thinks Jackass Forever “was kind of a bummer,” even though it was a box office hit. In a new interview, the writer-entertainer opened up about the 2022 film, which saw Johnny Knoxville and his crew returning for another round of wild and dangerous stunts and comedy. But it was one of Knoxville’s scenes in the latest film that changed Steve-O’s perspective. The story.

—Laid to rest. Houston rapper Big Pokey's funeral took place on Sunday, a week after he collapsed onstage and died during a performance. A week ago, Big Pokey was onstage in front of an audience in Beaumont, Texas, when he suddenly collapsed. Among the luminaries turning out to pay their respects were Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee and rappers Paul Wall, Trae Tha Truth and Slim Thug. The story.

THR Critics Pick the 50 Best Films of the 21st Century (So Far)

►Fun read. As it's a long holiday weekend, here again is THR's best films of this century list. Over the course of a few months, several Zoom meetings, and countless emails, six THR film critics came together to hash out, and rank, what they consider the fifty greatest films since 2000. Get angry all over again about what they left out. The list.

—ICYMI Part I. THR’s TV reviewers Angie Han and Dan Fienberg choose their faves from the first half of the year, including the brilliant final chapter in the Roy family saga, a controversy-stained Netflix standout and an eye-opening (and mouth-watering) food show. The list.

—ICYMI Part II. THR's film reviewers — David Rooney, Sheri Linden, Lovia Gyarkye, Jon Frosch, Leslie Felperin and Jordan Mintzer — choose their faves from the first half of the year, including a Michelle Williams-Kelly Reichardt collab, Miles Morales’ latest adventure and an aching love-triangle drama. The list.

In other news...

—Tunisian doc Four Daughters wins Munich Film Festival

—Imax partners with Chinese studio on nature doc The Elephant Odyssey

—Frank Field, longtime meteorologist at WNBC in New York and Tonight Show guest, dies at 100

What else we're reading...

—Qianer Liu, Patrick McGee and Kana Inagaki report that Apple has been forced to make major cuts to the Vision Pro headset's production plans [FT]

—Laura Bradley writes that YouTuber Colleen Ballinger can’t sing her way out of her current bizarre scandal [Daily Beast]

—Bilge Ebiri has a fascinating chat with Hong Kong filmmaking legend John Woo, and yes Face/Off is discussed at length [Vulture]

—McKenna Oxenden profiles YouTuber Ms. Rachel, who has become something of a phenomenon among parents with children with speech difficulties [NYT]

—Sarah Manavis writes that we should beware the "beige-fluencers," the increasingly ubiquitous social media cheerleaders for a life of no surprises [Guardian]

Today...

...in 1996, Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum saved the world in Independence Day when it hit theaters. The original review.

Today's birthdays: Tom Cruise (61), Audra McDonald (53), Peyton Reed (59), David Shore (64), Connie Nielsen (58), Patrick Wilson (50), Olivia Munn (43), Kurtwood Smith (80), Betty Buckley (76), Shawnee Smith (54), Tommy Flanagan (58), Thomas Gibson (61), Ludivine Sagnier (44), Matt Sch/ulze (51), Bolo Yeung (77), Sara Waisglass (25), Ian Anthony Dale (45), Jan Smithers (74), Andrea Barber (47), Ryan McPartlin (48), Bruce Altman (68), Yeardley Smith (59), Corey Sevier (39), Shoshannah Stern (43), Corey Reynolds (49), Hunter Tylo (61), Alyah Chanelle Scott (26), Elle King (34), Julie Klausner (45), Andreas Wisniewski (64)

Lawrence Turman, the principled Oscar-nominated producer of The Graduate who was behind other films including The Great White Hope, Pretty Poison, American History X and the last movie Judy Garland ever made, has died. He was 96. The obituary.

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Written by José Vizcarra
on Monday, July 03, 2023 at 7:35 AM.

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