What's news: Wonka crossed the $100m mark in North America. Altice USA has sold Cheddar News. Kevin Hart is suing his former assistant and a YouTuber for defamation. Gypsy Rose Blanchard has been released from prison. Cher is seeking conservatorship of her son Elijah Blue Allman's estate.— Abid Rahman
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Hollywood's Burning Questions for 2024
►Fears, hopes and megadeals. Despite the strikes being over and everyone is back to work (at least after the holidays), THR's Alex Weprin writes that 2024 is shaping up to be nearly as uncertain as 2023, with venerable Hollywood studios likely to make market-moving decisions, the continuing evolution of generative AI spooking creatives, and macroeconomic factors all taking their toll. The analysis.
—"I felt like I wasn’t being heard." AMC Theatres has issued an apology after a North Carolina civil rights leader said he was kicked out of a theater for trying to use his own chair in the disabled section. Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, a former president of the NAACP North Carolina chapter, was attempting to attend a screening of The Color Purple on Tuesday at an AMC Cineplex in Greenville, North Carolina. He told CNN that he suffers from a form of arthritis known as ankylosing spondylitis and is unable to sit in regular chairs. The story.
—🤝 Deal done 🤝 Warner Bros. Discovery has acquired BluTV, a subscription video-on-demand service in Turkey, the company said on Friday. Financial terms weren’t disclosed. BluTV launched in Turkey in 2016 and then in the Middle East and Northern Africa (MENA) region in 2018. It is also available globally to Turkish- and Arabic-speaking audiences. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Altice USA has found a buyer for Cheddar News. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the cable provider said the youth-skewing business news service has been acquired by Archetype, a media company whose brands include Sunset and Military Times. In 2019, Altice USA bought Cheddar for $200m in cash after being an early investor in the digital-first company that launched in 2016, along with other seed investors like Amazon, Lorne Michaels’ Broadway Video and Comcast Ventures. The story.
Oprah on That Surprise 'Color Purple' Cameo
►"A wonderful Easter egg." Audiences were delighted to see a certain familiar face in the musical remake of The Color Purple. Oprah Winfrey, a producer on the film, explains why it made sense and why there aren’t others. Warning: Spoilers!The interview.
—Imagine no more. Timothée Chalamet’s Wonka has emerged as this year’s Christmas box office winner. After relinquishing the No. 1 spot to fellow Warner Bros. tenptole Aquaman 2 over the long Dec. 22-25 weekend, Wonka — which opened the weekend before Christmas — reclaimed the throne on Tuesday. Ditto on Wednesday, with $8m in domestic ticket sales, enough to propel the musical past the $100m mark in North America. The box office report.
—No dice. Jessica Chastain is divorcing herself from any lingering hopes for her potential involvement in an adaptation of The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. In a new interview, the actress clarified that there is “zero possibility” that she would star in an onscreen version of author Taylor Jenkins Reid’s best-selling 2017 novel. Chastain had previously said that she would be open to landing a role in light of fan-generated campaigns for her to play character Celia St. James in the film adaptation that has been in development at Netflix. The story.
—Released. Gypsy Rose Blanchard, the Missouri woman who persuaded an online boyfriend to kill her mother after she had forced her to pretend for years that she was suffering from leukemia, muscular dystrophy and other serious illnesses, was released Thursday from prison on parole. The bizarre case was the subject of the 2017 HBO documentary Mommy Dead and Dearest, the 2019 Hulu miniseries The Act and an upcoming Lifetime docuseries The Prison Confession of Gypsy Rose Blanchard.The story.
How Multiple 2023 Shows Offered Insight Into Isolation and Insulation of Fame
►"If celebrity is a reward, it’s one that Hollywood needs to ensure is doled out to the “right” people for the “right” reasons." Reflecting on HBO's polarizing drama The Idol, Showtime’s The Curse, Netflix's The Crown and Peacock's Bupkis, THR TV critic Angie Han writes that these series looked at stardom as a cautionary tale but also analyzed the dangers and perhaps rewards of being watched. The story.
—Petition lodged. Cher is asking a Los Angeles judge to make her conservator of her son’s estate, saying that Elijah Blue Allman is not currently capable of managing his own finances, amid concerns over his mental health and struggles with substance abuse. Allman is the son of late musician Gregg Allman, who died in 2017, and receives distributions from the G.A. Robbins Descendants Revocable Trust. The story.
—Suit filed. Kevin Hart is suing his former assistant and a YouTuber, who allegedly demanded a six-figure payout not to publish what the actor claims is a defamatory interview. The lawsuit accuses Tasha K of spearheading a scheme to extort Hart out of $250,000 by threatening to run an interview with his former personal assistant Miesha Shakes. According to the complaint, Shakes made false statements during the conversation that included Hart facing criminal charges over recording a sexual encounter. The story.
—Another L. Elon Musk's X Corp. has lost a bid to temporarily block a California law requiring social media companies to disclose its terms of service and submit semiannual reports to the state about how they moderate content. U.S. District Judge William Shubb on Thursday denied X’s motion for a preliminary injunction, finding that the reporting requirements aren’t "unjustified or unduly burdensome within the context of First Amendment law." The story.
The Making of 'Maestro'
►"[Bradley Cooper] thought about the movie for six years, nonstop." THR's Mia Galuppo spoke to the creative team behind Bradley Cooper's Maestro, including producer Kristie Macosko Krieger, screenwriter Josh Singer and cinematographer Matthew Libatique, on the making of the Netflix feature. Among the many fascinating nuggets in the piece, it is revealed that to play the 71-year-old Leonard Bernstein, Cooper sat in the makeup chair for five hours with prosthetics made for his arms and shoulders and a bodysuit that changed his posture. The story.
—"I really felt like that six-week process was the best experience in my career."THR's Beatrice Verhoeven spoke to Charles Melton about his turn in Todd Haynes' awards contender May December. The actor discusses how The CW drama Riverdale prepared him for his emotionally complex big-screen role, and reveals he gained 40 pounds for the role, although he and Haynes never discussed a certain way his character was supposed to look. The interview.
—"What better way to do a character study of two polar-opposite gay characters than have gay people play them?"THR's Mesfin Fekadu spoke to Matt Bomer and Jonathan Bailey about being gay and playing gay in the new Showtime limited series Fellow Travelers. The actors also discuss building a brotherhood and bond while filming the series about two male political staffers who fall in love during the Lavender Scare. The interview.
—"You get the job, or get into school, or somebody passes away, and you’re on the telephone. And that was really how it was." Mia also spoke to Air stars Ben Affleck, Viola Davis, Julius Tennon, Marlon Wayans and Jason Bateman about working on the Amazon Studios feature on how Nike landed Michael Jordan. With a lot of the scenes in the film take place over the phone, the cast reveals the secrets to acting opposite a phone receiver. The interview.
Film Review: 'Good Grief'
►"Nothing too deep here." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Dan Levy's Good Grief. Ruth Negga and Himesh Patel co-star in the Netflix original, with Schitt's Creek co-creator Levy as an artist who spends a year mourning his husband before making a startling discovery about their relationship. The review.
—"Generally likable, but forgettable." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews NBC's Extended Family. Creator Mike O'Malley's new show, starring Jon Cryer, Abigail Spencer and Donald Faison, centers on divorced parents shuttling in and out of their kids' lives in the family home while one of them embarks on a fresh relationship. The review.
Thank Pod It's Friday
► All the latest content from THR's podcast studio.
—Awards Chatter Part I.THR's executive awards editor Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this episode, Scott spoke to Paul Giamatti. The actor reflects on how the sudden death of his father motivated him to pursue an acting career, the different challenges of roles small and large and what it was like to reunite with Alexander Payne, 19 years after Sideways, for The Holdovers. Listen here.
—Awards Chatter Part II. In this episode, Scott spoke to Julianne Moore. The Oscar-winning actress reflects on how a nomadic childhood led her to acting; the most important roles of her career, ranging from The Big Lebowski to Far from Heaven to Still Alice; and her special relationship with filmmaker Todd Haynes, which has yielded five films spanning 1995's Safe through to the 2023 Netflix title May December. Listen here.
—Beatrice Loayza pays tribute to Martin Bourboulon's two The Three Musketeers movies, broad films that use practical effects that harken back to old-school blockbusters [NYT]
—Stuart Jeffries talks to The Bear star Ebon Moss-Bachrach about the global success of the FX show, and Richie’s redemptive arc, courtesy of Olivia Colman [Guardian]
—Ten years after the launch of Amazon Prime Video's Pilot Season program, Leila Jordan reflects on the initiative's failure and what it foretold about streaming's future [LAT]
—My heart swells with pride about this Helen Pidd story from my hometown 🫡 🏴: "Photo of Swansea police arresting drunk man likened to Renaissance art" [Guardian]
—Here's your Friday list: "The 39 greatest car movies ever made" [Vulture]
Today...
...in 2006, after a premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier in the year, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth hit theaters in limited release. The film went on to claim three Oscars at the 79th Academy Awards, for art direction, makeup and cinematography. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Jude Law (51), Alison Brie (41), Jennifer Ehle (54), Ted Danson (76), Danny McBride (47), Patricia Clarkson (64), Diego Luna (44), Lilly Wachowski (56), Marianne Faithfull (77), Maria Dizzia (49), Jane Levy (34), Charlotte Riley (42), Iain De Caestecker (36), Michael Cudlitz (59), Dylan Minnette (27), Patrick Fischler (54), Mecia Simson (34), Tori Anderson (35), Shawn Hatosy (48), Leonor Varela (51), Mekhi Phifer (49), Kate Moennig (46), Ally Maki (37), Nathaniel Curtis (33), Chris Pang (39), Kevin Weisman (53), David Fumero (51), Cyrina Fiallo (32), Brady Smith (52), Ennis Esmer (45), Alice Rohrwacher (42), Charlayne Woodard (70)
Toby Yates, a film editor in Hollywood for 40 years and the son of Oscar-nominated director-producer Peter Yates, has died. He was 61. The obituary.
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