Emotional {NAME} Recalls Fatal 'Rust' Shooting; Arrest Made in Jacqueline Avant Case; 'Licorice Pizza' NBR's Film of the Year; 'West Side Story' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( December 03, 2021 What's news: Alec {NAME} gave his side of the story of the fatal Rust shooting in an interview with George Stephanopoulos. The National Board of Review named PTA's Licorice Pizza the best film of 2021. Netflix suffered a legal loss preventing it from poaching execs from Disney. Plus: Jon Stewart is joining ABC's Facts of Life reenactment — [Abid Rahman]( Emotional Alec {NAME} Recalls Fatal Shooting on 'Rust' Set ►"I might have killed myself if I felt that I was responsible." In his first sit-down interview since the shooting death of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the New Mexico set of his film Rust, an emotional Alec {NAME} gave a detailed timeline of exactly what happened that day, and broke down in tears while remembering Hutchins. {NAME} told the interviewer George Stephanopoulos, that he did not want to wait for the lawsuits or investigations to conclude before telling his side of the story. [The story.]( —"We’ve got to wait for the FBI to do its job." Seth Kenney, the owner of PDQ Arm & Prop, which supplied prop weapons and ammunition to the Rust production, is denying that the live rounds on the film’s set came from his company. In a Thursday interview, Kenney said that his company “supplied the guns, the blank ammunition and 50 dummy rounds,” but denies that the rounds found on set and seized by authorities as part of their investigation came from him. [The story.]( —Suspect is in custody. An arrest has been made in connection to the fatal shooting of Jacqueline Avant. The 81-year-old philanthropist and wife of legendary music executive Clarence Avant was killed Wednesday in the couple’s Beverly Hills home. Police announced Thursday that 29-year-old Aariel Maynor has been taken into custody. The motive remains unclear, police said. [The story.]( —"Her advocacy was profound." THR's [Evan Nicole Brown]( looks back over the life of Jacqueline Avant, a champion for the arts and philanthropic causes who was a key supporter of the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts and a collector of Japanese lacquer objects. [The story.]( —Momentum. The National Board of Review has named Paul Thomas Anderson’s Licorice Pizza as its best film of 2021. The coming-of-age comedy scored two more wins, including best director for Anderson and breakthrough performance for stars Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman. Three films won two awards each: Reinaldo Marcus Green's King Richard, Joel Coen's The Tragedy of Macbeth and Asghar Farhadi's A Hero. [The story.]( —Defeat. Netflix may see fixed-term contracts for entertainment executives as a form of involuntary servitude, but on Thursday, the streamer experienced a tough legal loss when a California appeals court refused to accept that perspective and overturn an injunction that prevented Netflix from poaching executives at Disney’s Fox unit. [The story.]( —Another big name. Jon Stewart is joining ABC’s Facts of Life re-creation in a “surprise role.” Stewart joins Jennifer Aniston, Gabrielle Union, Kathryn Hahn and Allison Tolman in the cast for the live episode, part of the network’s third Live in Front of a Studio Audience special, set to air Dec. 7. [The story.]( Review: 'West Side Story' ►"Pulses with fresh vitality." THR's chief film critic [David Rooney]( reviews Steven Spielberg's West Side Story. The 1957 musical masterwork is sumptuously reimagined, with Ansel Elgort and Rachel Zegler as the young lovers torn apart by a climate of hate and intolerance. [The review.]( —"Tons of potential." THR critic [Lovia Gyarkye]( reviews Amazon's Harlem. The comedy series created by Tracy Oliver (Girls Trip), and produced by among others Amy Poehler and Pharrell Williams, follows four girlfriends navigating life in the titular New York City neighborhood. [The review.]( —"A flawed but aptly timed musical tailored for an optimism-starved audience." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( reviews NBC’s Annie Live! After a break for COVID, NBC is back in the live musical business with Taraji P. Henson joined by Harry Connick Jr. and newcomer Celina Smith in this beloved tale of plucky orphans, benevolent billionaires and the birth of FDR's New Deal. [The review.]( Villeneuve Showcases His Childhood Storyboards for 'Dune' ►Destiny. Denis Villeneuve is famous for meticulously storyboarding nearly every shot of his movies during preproduction, but in the case of Dune the work started decades before. As a teenager, Villeneuve and a close friend meticulously mapped out the Dune adaptation they imagined making someday. [The exclusive photos.]( —The race, as it stands. THR's awards analyst [Scott Feinberg]( writes that the 94th Academy Awards came into much clearer focus this week with the unveiling of the last two Oscar hopefuls that had yet to screen for pundits: Disney’s West Side Story on Monday — right on the heels of Stephen Sondheim’s passing on Friday — and Disney subsidiary Searchlight’s Nightmare Alley on Wednesday. [The analysis.]( —"It’s almost like the floodgates opened." The streaming content boom has proved to be a boon to Los Angeles' soundstages, with demand far outstripping supply and competition for space and clients. Warner Bros., HBO, Sony and NBCUniversal are all developing or leasing new L.A. stages, and companies like Hackman Capital, Hudson Pacific and Quixote are in construction on more. [The story.]( —Can't get enough of Joe. You continued its run as the top series in Nielsen’s streaming rankings for the first week of November — though it fell below a billion minutes of watch time for the first time since its third season debuted. The Netflix thriller came in at 994 million minutes of watch time, easily leading the second-place original series, Squid Game (673 million). [The streaming series rankings.]( —Removed. Marilyn Manson, presently embroiled in a number of sexual assault lawsuits, has lost one of two previously announced nominations for the 64th Grammy Awards. Manson, whose real name is Brian Hugh Warner, was removed as a Grammy nominee in an updated list published by the Recording Academy to the Grammys’ website on Thursday. [The story.]( —"Confusion." Hulu has taken down a documentary about Travis Scott’s deadly Astroworld concert in Houston after “confusion” over whether the show was created by the streamer. It’s not immediately clear if Hulu will put the documentary, Astroworld: Concert From Hell, back on its service after clarifying that the documentary was not produced by Hulu. [The story.]( Thank Pod It's Friday ►All the latest content from THR's podcast studio. —Awards Chatter. Awards analyst [Scott Feinberg]( talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In the latest episode, Scott speaks to Asghar Farhadi. The Iranian master, one of only six filmmakers ever to direct multiple winners of the best international feature Oscar, talks about his latest film A Hero, and reflects on making films with limited resources, censorship and fanaticism. [Listen here.]( —Behind the Screen. Tech editor [Carolyn Giardina]( podcast focuses on the filmmaking crafts. In this episode, Carolyn speaks to the creative team behind Disney's Encanto including Lin-Manuel Miranda, directors Jared Bush and Byron Howard and writer Charise Castro Smith. [Listen here.]( In other news... —Peacemaker: [John Cena catches feelings in HBO Max trailer]( —Netflix’s [new releases coming in December]( —Netflix: Movies and TV shows [leaving in December]( —Toni Collette, Anna Faris, Thomas Haden Church teaming for comedy [The Estate]( —Michelle Monaghan, Jodie Turner-Smith, Meredith Hagner join Vince Vaughn in [Apple’s Bad Monkey]( —Amazon Studios' [Elaine Paul to join Lyft as CFO]( —Ellen Fund’s campaign meets goal by [raising $1m for endangered species]( —[Jamie Dornan to be honored]( at the Oscar Wilde Awards —Cam Gigandet [signs with APA]( —Ron Howard to be [honored by sound editors]( —[State rests case at Jussie Smollett trial]( after star witnesses —[BattleBots]( at Discovery Channel What else we're reading... —“Who the Fuck Cares About Adam McKay?” (We Do, and With Good Reason) [[Vanity Fair]( —"Robbery Is Like A Football Match": Blockbuster Binge-watch Money Heist Bows Out [[The Guardian]( —Cancel Mel Gibson [[The Atlantic]( —Spotify Wrapped Shows How Our Personal Data Gets Sliced and Diced [[CNN]( —Steve Simon: Who Is the WTA Boss Taking On China? [[BBC]( Today... ... in 2003, New Line held the Los Angeles premiere of Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. The sequel went on to win 11 Oscars at the 76th Academy Awards, including best picture and director. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Tiffany Haddish (42), Brendan Fraser (53), Amanda Seyfried (36), Julianne Moore (61), Anna Chlumsky (41), Daryl Hannah (61), Jenna Dewan (41), Holly Marie Combs (48), Dascha Polanco (39), [Jean-Luc Godard]( (91), Melody Anderson (66), Bruno Campos (48), Adam Wingard (39), Ozzy Osbourne (73), Andrew Stanton (56) Eddie Mekka, a regular on the 1970s and ’80s sitcom Laverne & Shirley and a Tony Award nominee, has died. He was 69. [The obituary.]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} by Penske Media Corporation. 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. 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