June 18, 2024

What's news: Justin Timberlake has been arrested for DWI in the Hamptons. Scooter Braun is giving up the management business. The 2024 Tonys averaged 3.51m viewers. Danny and Michael Philippou have dropped out of directing the Street Fighter movie. — Abid Rahman

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THR's TV Producers Roundtable

►"I hope that we can get brave again as a society to welcome originality back." THR's award-winning Roundtable Series continues, next up are the TV producers. Jonathan Nolan (Fallout), Francesca Sloane (Mr. & Mrs. Smith), Steven Zaillian (Ripley), Peter Morgan (The Crown), Issa López (True Detective: Night Country) and Jen Statsky (Hacks) sit down with THR's Mikey Connell and discuss "Peak IP," the projects that were passed on, and the worst part of pitching in 2024. The roundtable.

—ICYMI Part 1. Here's the full uncensored video of THR's Drama Actor Roundtable featuring Matt Bomer, Nicholas Galitzine, Jon Hamm, Clive Owen, David Oyelowo and Callum Turner. The roundtable.

—ICYMI Part 2. Here's the full uncensored video of THR's Drama Actress Roundtable featuring Jennifer Aniston, Jodie Foster, Nicole Kidman, Brie Larson, Anna Sawai, Sofía Vergara and Naomi Watts. The roundtable. 

—ICYMI Part 3. But wait, there's more! Here's the full uncensored video of THR's Comedy Actress Roundtable featuring Quinta Brunson, Michelle Buteau, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Ego Nwodim, Maya Rudolph and Kristen Wiig. The roundtable.

—ICYMI Part 4. And finally, here's the full uncensored video of THR's Comedy Actors Roundtable featuring John Goodman, Kelsey Grammer, Theo James, Anthony Mackie, Ricky Martin and Bowen Yang. The roundtable.

Zaslav Hires Gibbs as Comms Chief

►Big name found. THR's Kim Masters and Lachlan Cartwright have the scoop on former White House press secretary Robert Gibbs being tapped by Warner Bros. Discovery to be the new top exec to lead its comms division after the exit of Nathaniel Brown at the beginning of this year. THR reported earlier on Monday that WBD boss David Zaslav wanted a PR exec who would bring with them political experience and was a "big name out of the box." The story. 

—Arrested. Justin Timberlake has been arrested by local police in Sag Harbor, New York for allegedly driving while intoxicated. The arrest in East Hamptons took place on Monday night. Timberlake is expected to make a court appearance on Tuesday, according to multiple media reports. The incident comes ahead of Timberlake having two concerts scheduled at the United Center in Chicago this weekend, and two more Madison Square Gardens dates in New York City set for June 25-26. The story. 

—"I’m now at a place in my life where I’m grateful for every single bit of it." Armie Hammer is speaking out about the allegations of cannibalism, sexual misconduct and an accusation of rape that upended his career three years ago, saying this weekend that he is “grateful” for the experience. Appearing on the Painful Lessons podcast on Sunday, Hammer told host Tyler Ramsey — a personal friend, as stated at the top of the episode — that he now has gratitude for these and all events in his life because it has gotten him where he is in his life and with himself today. The story.

—"This chapter as a music manager has come to an end." After more than two decades managing stars like Justin Bieber and Ariana Grande, Scooter Braun is giving up the management business. In a lengthy Instagram message, Braun wrote that he will instead focus on his role as a board member and CEO of the U.S. division HYBE, the South Korean entertainment giant. The story. 

—On the slide. The audience for the Tony Awards took a hit Sunday — which was also one of the most lightly viewed Sunday on all of traditional TV in recent history. The Tonys averaged 3.51m viewers, according to fast national ratings from Nielsen that include out-of-home viewing. Those figures may change slightly in the final numbers, but as it stands, the Broadway honors declined by about 15 percent year to year; last year’s show delivered 4.12m viewers. The ratings. 

—Phew! Ian McKellen is expected to make a full recovery after falling off the stage during a performance at the Noël Coward Theatre in London on Monday evening. McKellen, 85, was performing as John Falstaff in a production of Henry IV, Parts One and Two, which began a 12-week run as part of a show titled Player Kings in London’s West End in April when he lost his footing and fell during a fight scene. As the house lights turned on, the audience heard him cry out, and staff soon rushed to help. The show was subsequently cancelled. The story.  

—"Just plain unacceptable." Actors’ Equity will stop issuing contracts for work on projects in development, effective immediately, as negotiations for a new contract have stalled. The union of actors and stage managers began negotiations with the Broadway League on Jan. 22, and the current agreement expired Feb. 11. Equity Negotiating Team chair Stephen Bogardus said in a statement that the decision came as a result of an unsatisfactory wage package put forward by the League. The story. 

Coppola's 'Megalopolis' Lands at Lionsgate for Fall Release

►We are so back! After much speculation over its fate, Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis is officially headed to North American movie theaters. Lionsgate has picked up the self-funded feature and is planning a Sept. 27 release for the much talked-about project. As with films such as Apocalypse Now, Coppola will retain ownership, with Lionsgate distributing. It is unknown if Lionsgate will be paying for the marketing of the film, which sports a 52 percent critics' score on Rotten Tomatoes after bowing at Cannes in May. The story. 

—📅 Race day set 📅 Brad Pitt's utitled Formula One movie is racing toward a summer 2025 date, with Apple partnering with Warner Bros. on a wide theatrical release with IMAX screenings. The movie will hit theaters in North America on June 27, 2025, and re-teams the filmmakers behind Top Gun: Maverick, including director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer. Internationally, the movie will begin rolling out on June 25. The film co-stars Damson Idris, Kerry Condon and Javier Bardem and is produced by F1 icon Lewis Hamilton. The story. 

—📅 Dated 📅 Jordan Peele has a date to return to movie theaters. Universal has set an Oct. 23, 2026 release date for Peele’s next untitled feature. No other details were available, but the Halloween season date feels appropriate given the director’s penchant for horror. Peele burst onto the scene as an A-list director with 2017’s Get Out (which grossed $255m) and followed it with Us in 2019 ($256m) and Nope in 2022 ($171m). The story. 

—Dragon punch to the balls. THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on Legendary and Capcom's Street Fighter movie losing its director(s). Aussie filmmaking twins Danny and Michael Philippou, the duo behind last year’s surprise horror hit Talk to Me, are no longer working on Street Fighter, a big screen adaptation of the iconic video game. Scheduling is partly to blame, according to sources. Legendary and Capcom were hoping to begin sooner than later. The Philippous, however, have shifted focus to Bring Her Back, which reteams them with studio A24. The story. 

'HOTD' Star on First Learning About the S2 Premiere's Horrific Ending

►"Nothing prepares you for opening [the script] up and being like, ‘okay, they’re doing that episode one." The House of the Dragon season two  premiere’s “Blood and Cheese” ending was a shock to everyone in the audience, with a few key exceptions: those who read George R.R. Martin’s source material, those who read about the source material and those who encountered the spoilers ahead of time. Helaena Targaryen actress Phia Saban spoke with HBO's official Game of Thrones podcast about the scene that has everyone talking. Warning: Spoilers! The story.

—"If you thought last season was nuts, this season is just out of control, wild, like, it’s bonkers. It really, really is." Jamie Campbell Bower has teased the rapidly approaching fifth and final season of Netflix's Stranger Things. Speaking on a podcast, the Brit actor, who portrays Henry Creel in the hit series, also revealed that the Stranger Things play helped him "discover more" about his character ahead of the final season. Warning: Spoilers! The story.

—Extension. NBCUniversal is adding to the run of Access Hollywood. The syndicated entertainment-news show and its companion, Access Daily With Mario & Kit, have been renewed through 2026 by NBC-owned stations and other local station groups. The renewal tacks on two additional seasons to the shows’ current pact. The story. 

—Expansion. Fremantle and Paramount’s Pluto TV have signed a global deal to distribute 25 FAST (free, ad-supported streaming TV) channels across 13 countries. The expanded partnership will see 24 ad-supported streaming Pluto TV channels bow in the U.S., Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, Italy, San Marino, Demark, Norway, Finland, Sweden and the UK. Besides launching the new channel, Escape to the Country, in the UK, the Three’s Company channel will launch in Canada, for the first time beyond the U.S. market. The story. 

John Mulaney on the Unpredictable Alchemy of 'Everybody's in LA'

►"I felt really good that all of my guests were like, 'This was really fun.'" THR's Seth Abramovitch spoke to John Mulaney about his six-part Netflix series John Mulaney Presents: Everybody’s in LA. The refreshingly chaotic talk show proved a hit with viewers, and a joyride for the comedian, who said he was never scared of failing spectacularly. The interview. 

—"This wrap dress is a mystery to me, still." For THR, Merle Ginsberg spoke to Diane von Furstenberg about the new documentary Diane von Furstenberg: Woman in Charge that hits Hulu on June 25. The always candid designer opens up about the men in her life, rockstar threesomes, her marriage to Barry Diller, the antisemitism she’s experienced and her legacy. The interview. 

—"The first scene of the show [showing a brutal Chinese Revolution struggle session]. The heavy lifting was done in large part by [director] Derek Tsang." THR's James Hibberd spoke to 3 Body Problem showrunners David Benioff, Dan Weiss and Alexander Woo about their favorite moments from the first season of the Netflix sci-fi series. The interview. 

—"I feel 180 degrees different about the Brat Pack now than I did 30-odd years ago." THR's Mia Galuppo spoke to Andrew McCarthy about his new doc Brats. The actor and director turns his lens on himself and members of the eponymous '80s cohort, "the Brat Pack," where Rob Lowe, Demi Moore and others unpack what it means to be a part of Hollywood's most exclusive club that none of them asked to join. The interview.