Innholdsfortegnelse for August 17, 2022 i The Hollywood Reporter

￪Film Long Overdue The Academy apologizes to Sacheen Littlefeather p. 16 Digital Spotify’s Live Bet The audio giant tests out selling tickets p. 16 Heat Index Michael De Luca/Pam Abdy The Warner Bros. film chiefs ink an international deal with ex-employer MGM, giving the studio a shot at releasing future Bond movies after the next 007 film. Darren Throop As parent company Hasbro turns its focus to becoming a digital gaming power, the president of its eOne production division will step down at the close of the year. Doug McMillon After exploring streaming options, the Walmart CEO adds Paramount+ to sweeten its delivery service. (But Paramount+ subscribers won’t get Walmart+ access.) Rob Manfred Viewership woes for the MLB, led by the commissioner, keep up as its second “Field of Dreams”…

Netflix 848M minutes viewed The unkillable franchise’s latest iteration had a solid opening for Netflix. The live-action series — a franchise first after video games, films and an animated show — drew 858 million minutes of viewing time in the U.S. in the four days after its July 14 release, per Nielsen. That works out to about 2.07 million viewers for the full run of the eight-episode season. The total viewing time was easily the biggest for any new streaming series in the July 11-17 frame and trailed only holdovers Stranger Things and The Terminal List.…

Why Happy Days’ Anson Williams Won’t Lean on Richie or the Fonz to Become Ojai Mayor The latest celebrity to run for office in California is 72-year-old Anson Williams, who played dopey Potsie on Happy Days and has tossed his hat in the ring to become mayor of Ojai. The Nov. 8 election will see Williams challenge incumbent Betsy Stix on a platform that includes developing a sustainable tourism infrastructure, shuttle services on weekends for major events, expansion of bike paths and trails, solar incentives and a graywater system for hotels and golf courses. Williams says he doesn’t expect to rely too much on Hollywood connections to raise his chances — outside of his Happy Days “brothers” Ron Howard and HenryWinkler. “I’ve had deep, deep friendships with [them] for more…

Weddings TV writer-producer David Daitch married Katherine Taylor, an OB-GYN at UCLA, in the south garden of the Palais Royale in Paris on May 28. Births Neon Films executive vp Ryan D. Friscia and Alice Friscia, former manager of MadRiver Pictures and D.C. Comics, welcomed daughter Dani Jaymes Friscia on July 15. Congrats Brianna Oh was named head of documentary features for Amazon Studios on Aug. 8. Robert Gibbs joined UTA as partner and co-head of the agency’s Atlanta office Aug. 8. Paul Ricci was hired to lead unscripted TV programming for BuzzFeed Studios on Aug. 8. Southern California Public Radio tapped Shana Naomi Krochmal vp of LAist Studios and Sophie Chap as communications director Aug. 11. Brian C. Price was named senior vp and head of branded content and…

Months before the Justice Department blessed the $43 billion Warner Bros. Discovery merger, 30 members of Congress warned the agency in a letter that the resulting competition vacuum could allow the newly formed giant to ignore what consumers want. Among the antitrust concerns they pressed was that it could dampen diverse and inclusive programming — which has become a common criticism after WBD canned its $90 million HBO Max film Batgirl, the first DC movie led by a Latina, Leslie Grace. “There’s been no indication with Batgirl that they’ll shop it around,” Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-Texas, tells THR. “So this incredibly gifted Latina actress and wonderful story get thrown down the drain for a tax write-off.” In the four months since the deal closed, CEO David Zaslav has overhauled the…

Across Africa there’s constantly something new to discover, with many places still feeling off the beaten path. While filming The Woman King in South Africa, Viola Davis’ makeup artist Sergio Lopez-Rivera felt “what everybody talks about when it comes to Africa — there’s a connection to the planet that, as a 55-year-old man who’s traveled the world, I’ve never found before. You feel like you’re part of a much bigger plan. For me, the game drives put everything in perspective.” THR explores the latest in all-inclusive safari experiences and more on the continent. SOUTH AFRICA Twelve-suite eco-luxe lodge The Homestead (from $3,500 a night per person, www.homesteadlodge.com) opens in Nambiti this fall, offering camping in the high mountains and game drives on eerily quiet — and sneaky — electric 4x4s.…

Usually, when attending a major international film festival, the thoughts one has on the weather are limited to the question of what clothes to bring. For Cannes, you leave the wool double-breasted at home, for Venice, maybe pack something flowing or a pair of Bermuda shorts. This year, it’s different. A severe summer heat wave has scorched Europe, with record temperatures recorded in London, Paris and Rome. Severe drought has contributed to ferocious wildfires in France, Portugal and Spain. In Asia, torrential rainfall led to flash flooding in Seoul, Korea, where more than a dozen people drowned in their Parasite-style basement apartments. On Aug. 13 in Valencia, Spain, one person was killed and 17 others injured when a strong gust of wind collapsed a stage at the Medusa Music Festival.…

For the 79th Venice Film Festival, artistic director Alberto Barbera has put together one of the most well-curated lineups of his career. Both studios and streamers are well represented. Netflix scored an opening-night coup with Noah Baumbach’s White Noise, with buzz promising that it’ll wow the Lido, alongside Andrew Dominik’s Marilyn Monroe biopic, Blonde, with Ana de Armas; Alejandro G. Inarritu’s Mexican epic Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths; and Romain Gavras’ French action thriller Athena. Studio fare is well represented by Warner Bros.’ Don’t Worry Darling from director Olivia Wilde; Focus has Todd Field’s Tár with Cate Blanchett and Mark Strong; MGM will debut Luca Guadagnino’s Timothee Chalamet-Taylor Russell starrer Bones and All; Searchlight presents The Banshees of Inisherin from Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri director Martin…

After initially touting its advertising-supported offering as a lower-cost option to bring in subscribers, Disney+ is now concentrated on maximizing profitability. When Disney+’s ad tier launches, in December, it will cost U.S. customers $7.99 a month, the current price of the service’s ad-free tier. The price of the no-ads version will be hiked to $10.99. The increased focus on the bottom line raises questions about how Netflix will price its upcoming ad-based tier and how major rivals could respond with their own price increases. The Bob Chapek-run Hollywood giant revealed the new pricing Aug. 10, just as Disney reported strong third-quarter earnings. The company showed solid momentum and spending at its domestic parks, as well as growing subscriber numbers, overtaking Netflix for the first time with 221million total subscriptions across…

Sacheen Littlefeather’s 1973 Oscars speech was met with hostility at the time for its protest of Native American mistreatment, but the young actor and activist concluded her comments with grace: “I beg at this time that … in the future, our hearts and our understandings will meet with love and generosity.” It took 49 years, but those hopeful words have finally become prescient. On Sept. 17, Littlefeather will be honored during an evening of reflection at the Academy Museum, featuring something she never dared to imagine: a formal apology. “I never thought I’d live to see the day,” Littlefeather (Apache/Yaqui/Arizona), now 75, tells THR of receiving the Academy’s statement, first privately presented to her by museum director and president Jacqueline Stewart in June. “When I was at the podium in…

Regeneration: Black Cinema 1898-1971, the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures’ second major temporary exhibition, opening Aug. 21, is a nuanced exploration of the ways in which Black filmmakers and performers have impacted, defined and expanded American movies. The exhibition (which was five years in the making) takes a comprehensive look at film history and Black visual culture more broadly, highlighting notable items like original costumes worn by Lena Horne in Stormy Weather (1943) and Sammy Davis Jr. in Porgy and Bess (1959), tap dance shoes from the Nicholas Brothers and one of Louis Armstrong’s trumpets. The beginning of the show, 1898, marks the creation of “the first known moving image footage of African American performers onscreen, [seen] in a dignified way,” says Doris Berger, co-curator and vp curatorial affairs at…

Mindy Kaling debuted the third season of Netflix’s Never Have I Ever on Aug. 11 in Westwood alongside co-creator Lang Fisher and stars Maitreyi Ramakrishnan, Darren Barnet, Jaren Lewison, Poorna Jagannathan and Richa Moorjani. Of deciding how adult to take the high school show compared to parallel hits like Euphoria, Kaling told THR that while she watches the HBO series “on the edge of my seat, vicariously, I feel like nerds lusting over guys is more what we feel comfortable writing about. We write about strivers and dorks and people who are underestimated.” Got tips? Email rambling@thr.com…

The approach of Labor Day weekend also means the approach of Colorado’s Telluride Film Festival, which will celebrate its 49th year when it begins Sept. 2. Dissident Russian filmmakers Kantemir Balagov and Kira Kovalenko have been named guest directors and will select a series of films to present at the event, following last year’s guest director, Barry Jenkins. In keeping with tradition, Balagov’s and Kovalenko’s selections, along with the rest of the Telluride lineup, will be kept secret until the day before the fest begins. To submit, send email to hhh@thr.com…

Ashley Graham, Demi Lovato, Olivia Munn and Lizzo are among the stars who have posted cellulite-revealing selfies on social media while speaking out to celebrate being perfectly imperfect. “I have cellulite,” Amy Schumer has said, “and I still deserve love.” Others in the spotlight continue to search for minimally invasive solutions to get rid of that stubborn dimpled skin — found primarily on thighs, buttocks and the stomach. Cellulite is most prevalent in women (because of the distribution of fat, muscle and connective tissue) and occurs when fibrous, lattice-like connective cords pull down, pocketing fat in between. So all the topical creams, massaging and dry brushing in the world won’t make a difference. But recent advances in nonsurgical skin-toning and tightening devices, along with Qwo — the first FDA-approved injectable…

The Banshees of Inisherin Intended as a third part of a stage trilogy that was never produced, Martin McDonagh’s film — about the lifelong friendship of two men, abruptly severed with dark consequences — represents the rebirth of that long-gestating project, reuniting McDonagh’s In Bruges stars, Brendan Gleeson and Colin Farrell. Bones and All Luca Guadagnino reteams with his Call Me by Your Name lead, Timothee Chalamet, who stars opposite Waves discovery Taylor Russell in an adaptation of Camille DeAngelis’ novel of first love between two drifters whose odyssey leads them back to a cannibalistic confrontation with their terrifying past. Tár Todd Field’s first feature in 16 years is set in the international world of classical music and stars Cate Blanchett as Lydia Tar, the first female conductor of a…

Disney+’s She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is a very, very silly show. Don’t get me wrong. It’s exactly the sort of silly show you should expect from something called She-Hulk: Attorney at Law: broad, bright and eager to serve the audience with a wink and a nudge. It’s loose to the point of near formlessness, boasting a clear theme and a savvy feminist streak, but not seeming to even aspire to high stakes or a distinctive style. Based on the four episodes sent to critics, She-Hulk is more Ally McBeal than The Good Fight, as legal-themed comedies go. Taken on its own terms, the show is zippy, amusing and laden with Easter eggs, but anybody looking for “more” — more darkness, more drama, more cohesion — will be frustrated. Jessica Gao’s…

As Wall Street takes a magnifying glass to Hollywood’s streaming businesses — beyond scale and subscriber growth — one metric is gaining favor: average revenue per user (ARPU). Netflix records more revenue for each subscriber than such rivals as Disney and Warner Bros. Discovery, with global monthly ARPU of nearly $12, or close to $16 in North America, where consumers traditionally pay higher streaming subscription fees than in international markets. A key reason: Its prices have been above where rivals started off pricing their services, and the streaming titan has repeatedly raised them over the years. Overall, the Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos-run streamer turned a net profit of $5.1 billion in 2021, with management forecasting that its free cash flow loss of $159 million for the latest year will…

Though Spotify has focused its energy on podcasts in its quest to become the king of all things audio, the company hasn’t entirely abandoned its roots as a music streaming service, as seen with the launch of its latest test: selling tickets directly to fans. While Spotify, run by Daniel Ek, hasn’t signaled it’s ready to take on Live Nation’s ticket-selling business, a direct-to-consumer ticketing platform would be a natural progression for the audio giant. Already, the Stockholm-based company provides listings from sellers like Ticketmaster and Eventbrite on its app and leverages users’ listenership data to inform its Fans First program, an email marketing initiative that allows artists to give their top listeners offers and has generated $300 million in revenue since launching in 2017, according to Charlie Hellman, Spotify’s…

Sterlin Harjo is wrapping up edits on the final two episodes of Reservation Dogs’ second season from his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In an era of remote working, that shouldn’t sound significant. And yet his FX comedy is the first TV series to film entirely in the state — one of several firsts, as it also marks the scripted serial debut from the prolific indie filmmaker and the first all-Indigenous writers room in TV history. The show, a coming-of-age tale of four teens on a rural reservation co-created by Harjo and longtime friend (and Oscar winner) Taika Waititi, has been a watershed moment for Indigenous representation in front of and behind the camera. It’s also just a hit. Reservation Dogs’ first season landed on dozens of critics’ “Best of 2021”…

ON THE MORNING OF SEPT. 30, 2021, two television executives made their way to Wendy Williams’ apartment in downtown Manhattan. As the longtime producers of The Wendy Williams Show, Debmar-Mercury copresidents Mort Marcus and Ira Bernstein were trying to assuage the fears of the talk show’s 100-person staff, who they knew were reading about Williams’ health struggles in the press. Already, the promotional tour that she had scheduled for the 13th season had been scuttled and its official Sept. 20 start date was pushed back. The plan was to have Williams piped in, via Zoom, to the show’s studio in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood. “Because the staff had questions,” says her then-manager Bernie Young, whose job had morphed into liaising Williams’ tests and doctor visits. “So the idea was,…

Fans of Transparent will recognize Trace Lysette. For five seasons on Amazon’s groundbreaking gender- and genre-breaking series, she played Shea, a transgender yoga teacher who helps Jeffrey Tambor’s character — and the non-trans audience — understand trans lingo and culture. It was also Lysette who came forward, in 2017, with claims that Tambor had sexually harassed her on the Transparent set, one of several allegations that led Tambor to exit the show after its fourth season. Her performance as Shea helped get Lysette the role of Tracey in Lorene Scafaria’s 2019 blockbuster Hustlers alongside Jennifer Lopez, one of the first times a trans actor had a starring turn in a major Hollywood film. And then, nothing. Aside from the occasional guest appearance, voice work on Netflix’s short-lived LGBTQ animated series…

At the center of Apple TV+’s dark comedy-thriller Bad Sisters is the mystery of how John-Paul Williams (Claes Bang) died. Life insurance agents Thomas and Matthew Claffin (Brian Gleeson, Daryl McCormack) suspect foul play, and they’re probably not wrong: As the series quickly establishes, J.P.’s sisters-inlaw were plotting against him, though it will apparently take the whole 10-episode season to find out exactly what came to pass. If the how is in question, though, the why certainly isn’t. Within his first five minutes of screen time, J.P. shows himself to be so irredeemably awful that the real puzzle might be how no one else got around to killing him first. In one light, this has the advantage of releasing the audience from any ambivalence we might feel rooting for his…

In Universal’s Beast, out Aug. 19, Idris Elba is hunted by a ferocious lion. That creature is entirely computer-generated. But in 1981’s Roar, the beasts mauling Tippi Hedren, daughter Melanie Griffith (then 19) and the rest of the cast were real. Often cited as the most dangerous film production of all time, Roar began in 1969, when Hedren — who’d starred in Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds — was filming in Mozambique, accompanied by then-husband Noel Marshall. They stumbled on an abandoned plantation house that had been overrun by a pride of lions. Their guide told them the local wildlife was becoming endangered by poaching, and, to encourage conservation, the couple decided to make a film about wild animals and humans cohabitating in harmony. Back in L.A., they consulted animal trainers,…