New Cover: 'Girls' (Very NSFW) Oral History; Exec Firing Sparks Scramble; Trump's SCOTUS Reality Show

It's magazine day, with the cast of HBO's Girls sharing their (raunchy) stories in an oral history on the eve of the show's final season. Plus: An exec firing sets off a studio chief scramble, how Trump's SCOTUS pick could impact Hollywood and Johnny Depp's alleged "$2 million-per-month" lifestyle. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman. [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment] February 01, 2017 It's magazine day, with the cast of HBO's Girls sharing their (raunchy) stories in an oral history on the eve of the show's final season. Plus: An exec firing sets off a studio chief scramble, how Trump's SCOTUS pick could impact Hollywood and Johnny Depp's alleged "$2 million-per-month" lifestyle. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman. On the cover: Lena Dunham and the rest of the Girls cast overshare in a definitive oral history by Lacey Rose. [Quotes:] ► The original pitch to HBO: "It's the worst pitch you've ever read — pretentious and horrifying — but I remember writing it, sitting on the floor listening to Tegan and Sara in my underwear, being like, 'I'm a genius,'" Dunham says. ► The initial reception. Programming chief Casey Bloys: "We knew we were doing something that was provocative, but I was still surprised [by the criticism]. There was the diversity stuff, the charges of nepotism, which never made sense. … I think some of it had to do with the fact that Lena represented a new generation breaking through, and that can be unsettling for people." ► Allison Williams on not doing nudity: "So instead, they bent me over a counter with someone's face to my butt. ... And with that scene, the headlines were all, 'Brian Williams' daughter gets her salad tossed.'" ► Dunham on "the race stuff." During her first date with her now-boyfriend Jack Antonoff, "I made a really, really dumb joke that I'm perfectly fine to repeat now 'cause I was f—in' 25. I said, 'No one would be calling me a racist if they knew how badly I wanted to f— Drake.' He said, 'Don't say that in public; that's not going to help you.' I just didn't get it. I was like, 'I have the three most annoying white friends, and I'm making a TV show about it.'" [Cover story] | [Video: "We've built a family here"] I [Cast interview.] Legendary Ouster Leads to Exec Scramble Who wants to be a studio chief? Wanda's decision to part ways with CEO Thomas Tull could trigger a domino effect of top executive moves as several studios may be impacted, Kim Masters [writes]: The person most interestingly situated in the current state of instability in Hollywood might be former 20th Century Fox film studio chairman Jim Gianopulos. China's Dalian Wanda Group has been courting him to run Legendary Entertainment in the wake of Tull's ouster, with a promise to build a full-service studio — eventually. [The question:] Does Gianopulos end up taking the Legendary job or does he hold out for other possible options, say at Sony Pictures or Warner Bros., that might be more appealing if they materialize? Churn in the industry means other interesting opportunities may be out there. Gianopulos could be a candidate for a top job at Sony Pictures, which announced the departure of Sony Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton on Jan. 13, two weeks before it revealed a $962M write-down at its film division. At minimum, a reshuffling of the executive ranks seems likely to follow. Elsewhere in film... ↱ [Sony's $1B write-down: clean slate or megadeal bait?] A former top exec says the $962M charge is about a "reset" of the studio after a number of projected profit shortfalls and CEO Michael Lynton's move to Snapchat. ↲ ► $100M Disney settlement signals end of anti-poaching fight. Disney, Lucasfilm, Pixar and Two Pic MC have finally reached a deal with animators and VFX workers. [Details.] ► SXSW festival reveals lineup. The 125 feature films run the gamut from Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver to Ben Wheatley’s Free Fire to docs like HBO's true crime tale Mommy Dead and Dearest and Frank Oz’s Muppet Guys Talking. [Full list.] ► Leonardo DiCaprio plans The Black Hand. The Paramount film, which will star The Revenant actor, is based on [a book] by Stephan Talty. It is set in New York City in the summer of 1903 when a crime wave hit the city. ► Johnny Knoxville to headline Action Park. The actor is set [to star] in a theme park comedy from his Dickhouse Pictures and Paramount. Production begins in South Africa in March. ► Nicole Kidman in talks for Aquaman role. The actress is in [early talks]to play Aquaman’s mother in the D.C. Comics film. The James Wan-directed title also made [an offer] to Yahya Abdul-Mateen II to play the villain known as Black Manta. ↱ [Box office: can A Dog's Purpose avoid the overseas curse?] Asia and the Middle East (where pooches are seen as taboo) may prove troublesome for the PR-plagued family pic, which opened to a decent $18.2M in the U.S. ↲ ► Colin Farrell in talks to join Denzel Washington in Inner Circle. Columbia Pictures’ thriller from Nightcrawler filmmaker Dan Gilroy [centers on] a reclusive lawyer who is recruited to a cutthroat law firm. A mid-March start in Los Angeles is planned. ► Liam Neeson to star in (another) revenge thriller. The actor is set [to lead] Hard Powder from Studiocanal and producer Michael Shamberg. Hans Petter Moland is directing from a screenplay by Frank {NAME}. ► Saoirse Ronan to star in (another) immigrant romance. The actress will reunite with Brooklyn producers Alan Moloney and Susan Mullen on the drama Sweetness in the Belly, which will be shopped to buyers at Berlin. [The plot.] ► Paramount sets Daddy's Home 2 for November. The studio said that the Mark Wahlberg-Will Ferrell title will debut nationwide [Nov. 10], opposite Fox's Francis Lawrence-helmed thriller Red Sparrow and Sony's faith-based animated film The Star. ► R.I.P., Richard Portman. The accomplished sound man who collected 11 Oscar noms and won for his work on Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter, has died. He was 82. [Full obit.] In THR, Esq: Johnny Depp's lavish living. A new suit detailing the actor's "$2M-per-month" lifestyle says Depp paid $18M for a luxury yacht, $3M to blast Hunter S. Thompson's ashes from a cannon and spent $30k a month on wine detail. [The document.] Trump's Supreme Reality Show What should the industry think about judge Neil Gorsuch? He won't win Sean Penn's affection, but his deference to the First Amendment could be a relief, Eriq Gardner [writes:] What will he mean for entertainment and media? Surely, coastal liberals will be concerned about a judge whose ideological [rating], according to Nate Silver's FiveThirtyEight, puts him to the right of Scalia as well as one of the runner-ups, William Pryor, who once asserted, "Abortion is murder, and Roe v. Wade is an abominable decision." That said, despite the conservative bent, Hollywood could do far worse than Gorsuch. He's unlikely to upset established norms around the First Amendment. That's important given Trump's expressed goal of opening up libel laws and flirtation with condemning free speech. [A few examples.] I [About the unveiling.] Elsewhere in TV... ↱ [Watch: Jon Stewart's surprise on The Late Show]. Appearing in a wig and comically long red tie to mock Trump, Stewart discussed Trump's time in office thus far: "The presidency is supposed to age the president, not the public." ↲ ► Lifetime taps Courtney Love to star in Menendez project. The untitled movie is based on [a true story] and explores the motivations behind the murders of entertainment exec Jose Menendez and his wife, Kitty in 1989. Love will star as Kitty Menendez. ► The CW enlists Teri Hatcher for Supergirl. The actress, who played Lois Lane on Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman for four years, has joined the series for a [multi-episode arc] on season two. ► ABC orders Toni Collette-Kenya Barris drama pilot. The Black-ish creator's Unit Zero is a [spy drama] that follows CIA engineer as she leads a team of desk jockeys into the field. Also scoring a pickup is drama Salamander from the team behind CBS' Zoo. ↱ ["The best show you've never heard of.]" Per critic Daniel Fienberg, that'd be MTV's Sweet/Vicious. His take: "It's Greek meets Arrow. Come on. Admit that now you're curious." ↲ ► NBC orders high school drama pilot. The network has handed out [an order] to Drama High, written by Parenthood showrunner Jason Katims and produced by Hamilton duo Flody Suarez and Jeffrey Seller. It centers on a working class high school drama department. ► The CW orders Bill Lawrence, Ryan Seacrest dramedy pilots. Lucy Hale is [attached to star] in Lawrence's Life Sentence, while Seacrest's Insatiable centers on a disgraced, dissatisfied civil lawyer-turned-beauty pageant coach. ↱ [Netflix's Santa Clarita Diet, reviewed]. Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant star in an amusing Netflix series that works hard to bring zombie horror into a modern suburban marriage comedy. "Think The Loving Dead," writes critic Daniel Fienberg. ↲ Super Bowl ad watch. Transformers: The Last Knight, Ghost in the Shell and more titles will get game day play, when almost every Hollywood studio will air ads (with 30-second spots costing a pricey $5M). Disney has also bought two spots, but a promo for Star Wars: The Last Jedi isn't likely. [Details.] A Day at a Trump Golf Club In Palos Verdes, Peter Flax spends some time outside Trump National Golf Club just to see what its like now. There's protest selfies and some scribbled "puto" in lipstick graffiti. [His dispatch.] What else we're reading... — "How to Beat Tucker Carlson." Jack Shafer's advice: "Like O’Reilly, Carlson prepares for his guests but struggles when they surprise him by matching him for wit and interruption. The best advice for beating Tucker Carlson is this: Be unflappable. Be affable." [[Politico]] — "Santa Clarita Getting a Bigger Bite of Filming." David Ng reports: "The city still sees far fewer productions than L.A., but it has outpaced its bigger neighbor in terms of growth in the last five years." [[The Los Angeles Times]] — "Directors From Sundance on What Happened Next." Melena Ryzik writes: "Three filmmakers who made their feature festival debut in 2014 — Justin Simien, Kat Candler and Sara Colangelo — discuss their career in the years afterward." [[The New York Times]] — "America’s New Opposition." Jedediah Purdy's feature: "From Occupy Wall Street to Black Lives Matter, the left has been reborn. Can it find a way to harness the populist uprising that brought Trump to power?" [[The New Republic]] — "Is #DeleteUber Good for Workers' Rights?" Ian Bogost writes: "The social-media campaign highlights labor issues, but only through the lens of identity." [[The Atlantic]] Today's Birthdays: Harry Styles, 23, Ronda Rousey, 30, Michael C. Hall, 46, Pauly Shore, 49, Lisa Marie Presley, 49. 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