'Rocketman' Takes Flight; CBS News Shake-Up; TV's 'Hell Week'; Daytime Emmys; Met Gala Preview; THR Cannes Cover

What's news: Behind the scenes of the next big music biopic, Rocketman. Plus: CBS News' lineup change, TV Upfronts' burning questions, Daytime Emmys honors and the Met Gala watch. — Erik Hayden & Will Robinson May 06, 2019 What's news: Behind the scenes of the next big music biopic, Rocketman. Plus: CBS News' lineup change, TV Upfronts' burning questions, Daytime Emmys honors and the Met Gala watch. — Erik Hayden & Will Robinson [On the cover:]( Taron Egerton was shooting a big splashy dance number on a soundstage at Bray Studios outside London in October 2018 — belting out "Saturday Night's Alright for Fighting" in a 1950s carnival-like setting while a teeming crowd of extras weaved and bopped around him — when a certain pop music legend arrived on the set, writes Tatiana Siegel: + Prepping for Cannes: "There's really nothing more intimidating than performing in front of Elton," recalls the actor who portrays Elton John in Rocketman, Paramount's $41 million quasi-biopic about the alcohol- and sex-fueled rise of glam rock's greatest living superstar. "I don't think I could have done it if he was around a lot. But I think he knew that. He's very astute in that way." + Behind the scenes: Producer Matthew Vaughn remembers a conversation with chairman Donna Langley about the studio releasing the rights to him. "I rang her up and she's like, 'You definitely want to make it an R-rated film and you're going to make it for over $35 million?' And I said, 'Yes.' And she said, 'Good luck.' " What's next? Egerton's got nothing else lined up except voicing Sing 2. He'll be sitting out Vaughn's third Kingsman movie, since it takes place 100 years in the past, and although there's been talk of him getting involved in another secret agent franchise when Daniel Craig retires from playing 007, Egerton waves away such speculation. ["I have a spy franchise."]( So Long, 'Titanic' Another record: Avengers: Endgame is now the second-highest-grossing film of all time with $2.189 billion, writes Mia Galuppo: + $2.189 billion+: It has surpassed James Cameron's Titanic (1997), which earned $2.187 billion (unadjusted for inflation). Avengers: Endgame achieved the feat after collecting another $145.8 million domestically and $282.2 million overseas in its second weekend. + Everyone else: Screen Gems' The Intruder opened at $11 million, Lionsgate's Long Shot earned $10 million, STXfilms and Alibaba's UglyDolls took in $8.5 million. [Box office wrap.]( Elsewhere in film... ► Sylvester Stallone plans crime thriller remake. South Korean film The Gangster, The Cop, The Devil will get a Hollywood remake, by Balboa Productions, the studio launched by Stallone. [More.]( ► GLAAD Media Awards unveils honors. Major winners during the ceremony included Boy Erased for outstanding film in limited release and The Assassination of Gianni Versace for outstanding TV movie or limited series. [Winners list.]( ► Udine Far East film festival names winners. Hong Kong drama Still Human was the big winner Sunday night at the closing ceremony of the cult cinema event held each spring in the picturesque northern Italian city of Udine. [Other honors.]( ► International Cinematographers Guild reveals election results. Digital imaging technician Lewis Rothenberg was elected to his first three-year term as national president of ICG. Incumbent Steven Poster was [defeated.]( ► Universal's Yesterday, reviewed. Danny Boyle directs a Richard Curtis script about a songwriter who wakes up in a Beatles-free world and gets to pretend he wrote their songs. [The takeaway?]( "All you need is...a more imaginative scenario." Cannes unveils closing film. The Specials from The Intouchables directors Olivier Nakache and Eric Toledano will be the final film this year. It will screen after the festival's closing ceremony May 25 and the announcement of the Palme d'Or. [Details.]( New CBS Team After tumult: CBS News president and senior executive producer Susan Zirinsky on Monday unveiled a new weekday anchor lineup, Marisa Guthrie writes: + Changes: Norah O’Donnell was named anchor and managing editor of CBS Evening News and Gayle King, Anthony Mason and Tony Dokoupil were named as co-hosts of CBS This Morning. + New deal: King, who has secured a lucrative new deal worth close to $11 million, according to sources, broke the news to CBS viewers immediately after the Eyeopener segment. [Details.]( Elsewhere in TV... ► Daytime Emmys honors unveiled. Kathie Lee Gifford was honored for her decades of work in daytime TV. Alex Trebek also won the award for best game show host, just two months after revealing his cancer diagnosis. [Full winners list.]( ► E! cancels Busy Philipps' talk show. In a late-night Instagram post, the actress revealed that the network would not be picking up her Busy Tonight show after the last episode of its first season, which airs May 16. [E! has yet to comment.]( ► Topic Studios hires former HBO exec. Maria Zuckerman, a 20-year veteran at HBO, will lead Topic Studios’ overall strategy, including development, financing and production. [The slate.]( **TV Upfronts preview: burning questions for each broadcast network** Those include: Can ABC keep TGIT? Will NBC find a new comedy heir apparent? Could The Masked Singer move to the fall?[Full analysis.]( ► NBCUniversal unveils ShoppableTV. The likes of NBC, NBC Sports, Telemundo, USA Network, Bravo, E! and CNBC Prime will give viewers the chance to buy products by holding their mobile phones to the screen during ["on-air shoppable moments."]( ► Stranger Things lawsuit dropped on eve of trial. Matt and Ross Duffer avoid what would have been a closely watched jury proceeding this week with Charlie Kessler, who accused the brothers of [stealing his ideas.]( *R.I.P., Barbara Perry, an actress and dancer who played the wife of Morey Amsterdam's character on The Dick Van Dyke Show, died Sunday of natural causes in Hollywood. She was 97. [Full obit.]( Rep Sheet Roundup: Untitled has signed actor Vinny Chhibber, a series regular on CBS' limited series The Red Line ... CAA has signed financial reporter Selina Wang ... UTA has minted five new agents — Dru Bass in music, Bri Hildebrand in events and experiences, Aaron Millberg in endorsements and voiceover, Samantha Schoenberg in digital talent and Stephen Travierso in talent. [More.]( Met Gala Preview Who will get 'Camp' right?: The annual fashion extravaganza’s theme has proved to be challenging for some, while effortless for others, notes Ingrid Schmidt: + Onlookers are expecting the bold and the beautiful from a guest list that includes Rihanna (who showed up last year in a pope ensemble) to Cher (who donned the first “naked” dress with strategically placed sparkle in 1974) along with Jennifer Lopez, Kim Kardashian West, Sarah Jessica Parker, Emma Roberts, Jared Leto and Tracee Ellis Ross. [Full preview.]( Elsewhere... — "Why are so many longtime L.A. bookstores closing?" Katie Kilkenny writes: "Despite the recent shuttering of Circus of Books, Caravan Book Store and Samuel French, bookstore experts say the end for the city's brick-and-mortar stores isn't nigh." [[THR](] — "Home of Hollywood's most notorious gay hustler hits market." Peter Kiefer writes: "The Hollywood Grove home was once owned by Scotty Bowers, who originally purchased it with proceeds from a prostitution and pimping business." [[THR](] — "XFL strikes TV deals with Fox and Disney." Joe Flint notes: "Deals are expected to give visibility to Vince McMahon’s reboot of NFL rival nearly 20 years after initial launch." [[Wall Street Journal](] — "Europe is reining in tech giants." Adam Satariano reports: "Bids to block harmful and violent content online in Europe are drawing criticism for limiting free expression and undercutting the ideals of an open web." [[New York Times](] Last night, on late night... + "John Oliver discusses the lethal injection process." [[Last Week Tonight](] What's ahead... Monday: The 2019 Met Gala. Tuesday: Cinemark and Warner Music earnings. Wednesday: Discovery's annual meeting in NYC... Disney, Fox, Roku and New York Times earnings... Fox Searchlight's Tolkien premieres in Westwood... and Netflix's Wine Country debuts in New York. Thursday: Fox Corp. investor day... Liberty Media, Cineplex and Univision earnings... Lionsgate unveils John Wick 3 in Brooklyn. Friday: Viacom and Tribune Media earnings. Also... + Today in 2004: The 236th episode of Friends, its series finale, aired on NBC. At the time, the show was the fourth-biggest series finale (52.5 million) and somehow the second-biggest Friends audience ever (52.9 million). [[The New York Times](] Today's birthdays: Naomi Scott, 26, Adrianne Palicki, 36, Gabourey Sidibe, 36, Kavan Smith, 49, George Clooney, 58, Anne Parillaud, 59. Follow The News Is this email not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2019 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Preferences]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Use]( May 6, 2019