Bob Iger on "Woke" Disney Criticism; 'Quiet on Set' Team Talk Bonus Episode; 'Legally Blonde' Series in the Works; 'The First Omen' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( April 05, 2024 What's news: Denis Villeneuve is in the mix to adapt Annie Jacobsen's upcoming book Nuclear War: A Scenario. Hulu has landed Mindy Kaling's next comedy series. Rebel Wilson has revealed she was paid $10m for Pitch Perfect 3. A copy of Action Comic No. 1 sold for a record $6m. The Boy and the Heron is projected to earn over $100m in China. — [Abid Rahman]( Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at [tips@thr.com](. Bob Iger on "Woke" Disney Criticism ►"People have been coming after me and the company for years." With the Nelson Peltz proxy fight in the rearview mirror, Disney CEO Bob Iger says that he is now free to focus on moving the company forward, with succession being a top priority. In a wide-ranging interview on CNBC Thursday, Iger did seem to acknowledge that critiques of Disney’s content as being "woke" may have a certain degree of merit, though he added, "the term woke is thrown around rather liberally, no pun intended in that regard. I think a lot of people don’t even understand really what it means." [The story.]( —"I’m willing to give them the opportunity to prove me wrong." Peltz has also been reacting following the bruising loss in the proxy fight against Disney. The billionaire investor appeared on CNBC to discuss the fight in a conversation with Jim Cramer. "The shareholders have voted. They want to give management and the board a chance. So, so be it. We will watch like we did last time," Peltz said. [The story.]( 'Quiet on Set' Returns With Bonus Episode ►"There's a whole system that’s even bigger than our story." ID's harrowing docuseries Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV has sent shockwaves through Hollywood. Ahead of the fifth episode of the docuseries, that drops on April 7, THR's [Etan Vlessing]( spoke to the team behind the doc about how the last chapter promises to dig deeper into the toxic allegations swirling around Dan Schneider’s years at Nickelodeon. [The interview.]( —✊ It's a 'yes' ✊ DreamWorks Animation production workers are joining their artist and technician colleagues in being represented by the Animation Guild and their editor colleagues in being represented by the Motion Picture Editors Guild. In an election with the National Labor Relations Board, 94 production workers who work on television and feature films at the brand voted to join the two IATSE Locals, while 41 voted against unionization. [The story.]( —Supes still got it. An issue of Action Comic No. 1, which introduced the world to Superman, sold at auction for a record $6m Thursday, making it the most valuable comic book in the world. It tops an issue of 1939’s Superman No. 1, which sold for $5.3m in 2022. Before that, the most valuable comic in the world was a copy of 1962’s Amazing Fantasy No. 15, the first appearance of Spider-Man, which sold for $3.6m in 2021. [The story.]( —"Boy, did that movie pay dividends!" Rebel Wilson has revealed how Hollywood’s pay scales can increase exponentially in her new memoir, Rebel Rising. The actress and comedian opens up about her salaries for some of her most well known films, writing that she was paid only $3,500 for 2011’s Bridesmaids and the SAG minimum scale of $65,000 for the first Pitch Perfect film. The latter film's success enabled Wilson to increase her pay to the point where she secured a $10m fee for Pitch Perfect 3. [The story.]( —"If something came up that I could put my realities into it — my challenges — if I could figure it out." Michael J. Fox may have announced his retirement from acting, but he shared he’s still open to returning to the screen for the right opportunity. Fox revealed in 2020 that he was retiring from doing onscreen work after having been open about his struggles with his memory and remembering lines of dialogue. In a new interview, the actor said he isn’t completely against taking on another acting role. [The story.]( Wilde, LuckyChap, Kinberg Team for 'Avengelyne' Film ►Dream team. A hot feature package is coming together to adapt Avengelyne, the ’90s comic book character created by Rob Liefeld. Olivia Wilde is attached to direct, and LuckyChap, the banner run by Margot Robbie, Tom Ackerley and Josey McNamara, is producing. Simon Kinberg, who has written and produced several X-Men movies, will also produce. The package is being put together with the hope that it will be ready to take to studios and streamers in the coming weeks. Avengelyne debuted in 1995 and centered on a fallen angel cast to Earth. [The story.]( —We want God Emperor of Dune! Legendary Entertainment has picked up feature rights to the latest nonfiction title from author Annie Jacobsen as a potential project for filmmaker Denis Villeneuve. The company has optioned Nuclear War: A Scenario, which hit shelves last month and examines the nuclear military establishment. Villeneuve is in talks with Legendary to be involved in the project, which could include serving as producer, writer or director, or some combination of those roles. His longtime producing partner Tanya Lapointe would be involved as well. [The story.]( —🎭 Queen of musicals 🎭 Halle Bailey has signed on to join the cast of the Universal musical from Michel Gondry and superstar Pharrell Williams. The Little Mermaid and The Color Purple star will join Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Kelvin Harrison Jr. in the coming-of-age period feature. The project, which will be directed by Gondry, is set in the summer of 1977 at Virginia Beach and is inspired by Atlantis Apartments, Williams’ childhood neighborhood. Martin Hynes and Steven Levenson are penning the screenplay. [The story.]( —New banner just dropped. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton has launched Hisako, a new multimedia production company. Cretton will run the banner with Jeyun Munford, formerly an executive at Universal and Lionsgate, who will act as the company’s president, running both film and television arms. With a focus on empowering filmmakers and creatives, Hisako says it is committed to highlighting marginalized stories and pushing them into the mainstream. [The story.]( —Taking flight. Japanese anime master Hayao Miyazaki’s Oscar-winning swan song The Boy and the Heron is breaking records at China’s box office. The Studio Ghibli hit opened in China on Wednesday and soared to $13.7m. The film then set a new record on Thursday for the biggest single-day performance ever by a non-Chinese animated film, earning $23.7m. Local ticketing app Maoyan currently projects The Boy and the Heron to earn over $105m in China, which would make it Miyazaki’s highest-grossing film ever in the country. [The China box office report.]( 'Legally Blonde' Series in the Works ►Raiding the library. Amazon MGM Studios is teaming with Reese Witherspoon and her Hello Sunshine banner to develop a Legally Blonde TV series. Gossip Girl and The O.C. grads Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage are attached to write the TV offshoot, whose premise is being kept under wraps. It’s unclear if Witherspoon has any plans to reprise her role as Elle Woods in the potential series, which comes as Amazon has been scouring the MGM library to for titles to revive since acquiring the storied studio a few years ago. [The story.]( —More changes. Avatar: The Last Airbender is heading into its second season with its third showrunner at the helm. Albert Kim, who replaced creators Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko, is also exiting the Netflix live-action series. EPs Christine Boylan and Jabbar Raisani — both of whom were hired by Kim — will take over as the drama’s third showrunners for the previously announced second and third seasons. Sources say Kim’s intention was to lay the foundation for season one and was ready to move on to new opportunities. [The story.]( —It's a go. Hulu has landed Mindy Kaling's next comedy series, an ensemble show titled Murray Hill. The streamer outbid several other outlets and has given a script-to-series commitment for the show, which is set in the titular Manhattan neighborhood and will follow five work-obsessed 20-somethings striving for professional success and, if they have time, personal happiness. Warner Bros. TV, where Kaling has an overall deal, is producing the project. Kaling is writing the script and will executive produce via her Kaling International banner. [The story.]( —Giving it the Barry. Guy Ritchie’s The Gentlemen opened with a bang on Netflix. The series, a spinoff of Ritchie’s 2019 film, delivered almost 1.21b minutes of viewing over its first four days (it premiered March 7), according to Nielsen’s streaming rankings for March 4-10. It ranked second among all streaming series for the week, behind Love Is Blind, which repeated as the top overall title. Netflix also got a big first week for Millie Bobby Brown’s movie Damsel, which edged The Gentlemen for second place overall. [The streaming rankings.]( How Did '9-1-1' Make It to 100 Episodes? ►"It's characters that you want in your living room." For THR, Brande Victorian spoke to 9-1-1 star Angela Bassett and co-creator Tim Minear as the popular and recently renewed ABC first-responders procedural hit a milestone of 100 episodes this week. The duo discuss how the show puts relatable people in wholly unrelatable situations was the secret sauce behind 9-1-1's enduring success. [The interview.]( —"We wanted to let the audience know that, although Molly is giving her money away, she’s still a little bit clueless about how much that means." Brande also spoke to Loot co-creators Alan Yang and Matt Hubbard about the season two premiere of the Apple TV+ comedy. The duo dish on the guest stars appearing in the second season, and how Maya Rudolph's Molly Novak returns with a different set of money problems as the good-hearted yet somewhat oblivious billionaire. Warning: Spoilers! [The interview.]( —"We decided, 'Let’s lean forward a year and raise the stakes for all of our characters.'" And another interview from Brande, this time she spoke to All American showrunner Nkechi Okoro Carroll about the season six premiere of The CW sports drama. Carroll discusses the big changes to the new season, the first without Taye Diggs, reaching the 100 episode milestone and potential spin-off shows. Warning: Spoilers! [The interview.]( —"All of us are really proud of how much of the city is shown in season two." For THR, Demetrius Patterson spoke to Tokyo Vice creator J.T. Rogers and director Alan Poul about the season two finale of the Max series. The duo reveal the turning point to Japan opening its doors to make season two ("We had gotten it right," says Poul) and the ideas they have for a potential season three. Warning: Spoilers! [The interview.]( —"Hiding your identity means something different to me now." THR's [Mikey O'Connell]( spoke to Alex Edelman, the Jewish comic who crashed a neo-Nazi mixer, reflects on the one-man show (now an HBO special) his bizarre night inspired and workshopping jokes about Israel and Palestine. [The interview.]( Film Review: 'The First Omen' ►"Is it too much to hope it's also the last?" THR's Frank Scheck reviews Arkasha Stevenson's The First Omen. Debuting feature director Stevenson returns the unholy franchise to Rome, exploring the backstory behind the birth of the Antichrist Damien in this prequel to the 1976 horror classic. [The review.]( —"Stylish but self-congratulatory." THR's Leslie Felperin reviews Philip Martin's Scoop. Gillian Anderson, Rufus Sewell, Billie Piper, Keeley Hawes and Romola Garai round out a posh cast for Philip Martin's Netflix feature about the BBC’s infamous Prince Andrew interview, that covers journalism, privilege and sexual exploitation. [The review.]( —"Worth watching if only to experience Mancuso's singular worldview." THR's [Lovia Gyarkye]( reviews Rudy Mancuso's Música. Mancuso and Camila Mendes star in this Amazon Prime Video rom-com feature about a young New Jersey native with synesthesia navigating the turbulence of love, life and puppetry. [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 headlines with news on Grey’s Anatomy, Will Trent, Death and Other Details and Avatar: The Last Airbender. There's a section on Caitlin Clark helping drive TV viewership for March Madness as well as the regular mailbag segment. And Dan reviews Apple TV’s Sugar, Netflix’s Ripley, Hulu’s Dinosaur, PBS’ Mr. Bates vs. the Post Office and HBO’s Alex Edelman: Just for Us. [Listen here.]( —Awards Chatter. THR's executive awards editor Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this episode, Scott spoke to Michael Douglas. The second-generation Hollywood legend reflects on growing up in the shadow of Kirk, breaking into the biz as both a producer and an actor and breaking away from the contemporary roles for which he's best known to play Benjamin Franklin in an Apple TV+ limited series, Franklin. [Listen here.]( —It Happened in Hollywood. THR senior writer [Seth Abramovitch]( goes behind the scenes of the pop culture moments that shaped Hollywood history. In this episode, Seth spoke to Walter Murch. The Oscar-winning editor of Apocalypse Now stops by to recount writing and directing Return to Oz, his dark, brilliant tale of Dorothy Gale’s journey back to Oz. [Listen here.]( In other news... —Brooke Shields, Miranda Cosgrove [struggle with wedding prep in Netflix’s Mother of the Bride trailer]( —First-look: [Christian Bale transforms into Frankenstein for Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Bride]( —Lin-Manuel Miranda, Hillary Clinton [host Joe Biden Broadway fundraiser]( —Barbie actress [Ariana Greenblatt to receive Rising Star of the Year Award at CinemaCon]( —L.A. restaurant [sparks debate with 4.5 percent "security charge" for customers]( —Comic book creator [Rob Liefeld to publish memoir]( ​​​What else we're reading... —With Scoop launching on Netflix today, Simran Hans has some essential background reading on that car crash Prince Andrew interview [[NYT]( —David Barnett interviews Liu Cixin, the Chinese author behind the global bestseller The Three-Body Problem, who discusses the Western reception to his book and the Netflix adaptation [[Guardian]( —With gambling seemingly devouring pro sports, Alex Shephard writes that the bigger scandal is the ease and prevalence of betting driving a huge rise in addiction [[New Republic]( —Li Zhou writes that up to 4m people are set to travel the U.S. to see the upcoming solar eclipse on April 8 and looks at the reasons why people are so motivated to see the spectacle [[Vox]( —Here's your Friday list: "Everything Larry David found to be "pretty, pretty good" on 'Curb'" [[Vulture]( Today... ...in 2013, Searchlight released Danny Boyle's Trance in U.S. theaters. The psychological thriller about an elaborate art heist starred James McAvoy, Vincent Cassel and Rosario Dawson. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: [Roger Corman]( (98), Peter Greenaway (82), Sterling K. Brown (48), Lily James (35), Hayley Atwell (42), Simona Tabasco (30), Mitch Pileggi (72), Andrea Arnold (63), Pharrell Williams (51), Freddie Fox (35), Josh Boone (45), Krista Allen (53), Fiona Rene (36), Tom Riley (43), Victoria Hamilton (53), Timothy V. Murphy (64), Jane Asher (78), Hunter March (33), Rashmika Mandanna (28), Marshall Allman (40), Michael Moriarty (83), Max Gail (81), Stella Aykroyd (26), Michael Rider (72), Kim Jung-hyun (34), Shin Min-a (40), Christopher Reid (60), Billie Boullet (19), Gary Hershberger (60), Anthony Horowitz (69) This email was sent to {EMAIL} by The Hollywood Reporter. Please add email@email.hollywoodreporter.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. Visit the [Preferences Center]( to update your profile and customize what email alerts and newsletters you receive. The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 11175 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90025 [View in Browser]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Your Privacy Rights]( | [Ad Choices]( | [Terms of Use]( | [Unsubscribe](