Hollywood Pulls Releases From Russia as Boycott Grows; Michael Douglas to Play Ben Franklin; Bob Odenkirk Talks Near Death Experience; 'The Batman' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( March 01, 2022 What's news: 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿Happy St. David's Day!🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 Hollywood studios have begun to pull their upcoming releases from Russia in light of the invasion of Ukraine. Peacock has landed the adaptation of the PlayStation franchise Twisted Metal. David E. Kelley has set up yet another show at ABC. Plus: Michael Douglas will play Ben Franklin in limited series for Apple — [Abid Rahman]( Warner Bros. Pulls 'The Batman' Russia Release ►Domino effect. Warner Bros. has pulled The Batman from its Russian release calendar at the 11th hour. The decision comes as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine. The Batman was to open on March 3 in Russia as part of the film’s global rollout. Sony quickly followed suit in pausing the release of Jared Leto's Morbius. THR's [Pamela McClintock]( writes that Russia is among the top global box office markets and is lucrative territory for Hollywood releases, with Sony’s Spider-Man: No Way Home earning more than $44.5 million to date since opening in December. [The story.]( —The initial push. Earlier on Monday, Disney became the first major Hollywood studio to pause its releases at the Russian box office, with the company taking Pixar's Turning Red (March 10 release) off the schedule for Russia. Disney’s other upcoming releases that were slated to bow in the country include Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (May 5) and Lightyear (June 16). [The story.]( —"Shameful." The European Film Academy is joining the Ukrainian Film Academy in a global boycott of Russian film. The move follows Ukrainian director Sergei Loznitsa quitting the EFA on Monday in protest of what he believed to be the organization’s timid early response to Russia’s invasion of his homeland. [The story.]( —Better late than never. YouTube has now said it is blocking Russian state-backed news channels RT and Sputnik across Europe, including the U.K. The move follows a decision by the European Union to ban the channels, part of a broader plan to ban the “Kremlin’s media machine” from the continent. [The story.]( —Boycott grows. British trade body Pact, which represents around 700 TV production companies in the U.K. alongside indie film producers, has called on its members to halt any work with Russia. In a statement posted to its website on Tuesday, the organization also said it had removed all Russian production and business information from its website. [The story.]( —Pariah. The organizers of the international television market MIPTV have publically condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine and come out in support of sanctions against Moscow, a move that will likely mean no Russian companies will attend this year’s event, scheduled for April 4-6. [The story.]( More Ukraine news... —Stockholm Film Festival [bans Russian state-backed films]( —NHL suspends [business, social media ties with Russia]( —Netflix declines [to carry Russian state channels]( —FIFA, UEFA [suspend Russia from top soccer competitions]( Review: 'The Batman' ►"Grim but gripping." THR's chief film critic [David Rooney]( reviews The Batman. The Caped Crusader is back on Gotham City’s crime-infested streets, exposing corruption at the highest levels in Matt Reeves’ reboot, also featuring Zoë Kravitz, Paul Dano and Colin Farrell. [The review.]( —Legal action. Timothy Hutton has sued Leverage: Redemption producer Electric Entertainment, claiming it breached his deal by releasing him from the reboot after he was accused of sexual assault. Hutton claims a pay-or-play clause in his contract guaranteed him at least $3 million regardless of whether he appeared in the reboot. [The story.]( —Whither the bald cap? Michael Douglas will play Benjamin Franklin in a limited series for Apple TV+. The Oscar and Emmy winner will star in and exec produce a drama about Franklin's diplomatic mission to France during the American Revolution. The series, a co-production of ITV Studios America and Apple Studios, is based on Pulitzer Prize winner Stacy Schiff’s book A Great Improvisation: Franklin, France, and the Birth of America. [The story.]( —"Shut up and bleed." Peacock has landed a TV adaptation of the classic PlayStation franchise Twisted Metal. Anthony Mackie will star in the series from Sony Pictures Television and PlayStation Productions; Universal TV has also boarded the project. Deadpool writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick are among the exec producers and Michael Jonathan Smith will serve as showrunner. [The story.]( Bob Odenkirk Says CPR, Being in Shape for 'Nobody' Saved His Life ►"Take CPR classes, because you can save lives with them." Bob Odenkirk dropped by The Howard Stern Show on Monday and talked about just how close to death he came after suffered a heart attack last July while working on Better Call Saul. The actor credits rapid CPR, a defibrillator and being in great shape due to working on the action film Nobody as factors that saved his life. [The story.]( —A problem for The Problem. Chelsea Devantez, the head writer for The Problem With Jon Stewart, is leaving the Apple TV+ show after signing an exclusive overall deal with Disney’s 20th Television. Under the pact she’ll write and produce comedy projects and supervise other writers. [The story.]( —Long title, young stars, can't lose. Netflix has acquired a new young adult rom-com from Ace Entertainment, the producers behind To All the Boys franchise. Hello, Goodbye, and Everything in Between stars Jordan Fisher and Talia Ryder and will be director Michael Lewen's feature debut. [The story.]( —No rest for the wicked. David E. Kelley has landed a second show at ABC with the prolific creator teaming with author Michael Connelly for a mystery drama titled Avalon. ABC won a multiple-outlet bidding war for the project by giving it a straight to series order. [The story.]( —Surprise trade. The Shop, the Emmy-winning talk show from LeBron James’ SpringHill, is moving from HBO to YouTube for season five. SpringHill said the reason behind the move was to give a larger audience access to the show’s discussions. The new season kicks off March 4 with Donald Glover, J Balvin, Quinta Brunson and Lamar Jackson as guests. [The story.]( 'Euphoria' S2 Finale Embraces the Series' Messy, Surrealist Self ►"Dissolving the boundaries between real and unreal." With the buzzy second season of HBO's much-talked about Euphoria coming to an end, THR critic [Lovia Gyarkye]( considers how the show swerved, careened, staggered and lurched to the finish line, in true Sam Levinson style. [The critic's notebook.]( —Diamond dealer. Neil Diamond has sold the rights to his entire song catalog, as well as all recordings, to Universal Music Group for an undisclosed sum. The deal includes master and recording rights for all of Diamond’s hits, such as "Sweet Caroline" 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿, "Red Red Wine," "Solitary Man," "Girl You’ll Be A Woman Soon" and "You Don’t Bring Me Flowers." [The story.]( —Casting news. Rupert Friend and Stuart Martin have joined the high-voltage cast of Rebel Moon, the epic sci-fi fantasy feature that Zack Snyder is directing for Netflix. Sofia Boutella is leading the ensemble that includes Charlie Hunnam, Djimon Hounsou, Doona Bae and Ray Fisher, among others. [The story.]( In other news... —[Fantastic Beasts: The Secrets of Dumbledore trailer]( teases return to Hogwarts, takedown of dark wizard —Tom Brady movie, Jerry Seinfeld comedy [among films nabbing California tax credits]( —How the Inevitable Foundation [is bringing disabled voices into writers rooms]( —Javier Bardem to receive [international icon award from Hollywood Critics Association]( —BritBox lands [exclusive rights to 2022 BAFTA Film Awards for North America]( —HGTV’s [Tarek El Moussa, Heather Rae Sign with APA]( —Lindsay Dougherty appointed [Teamsters’ motion picture and theatrical trade division director]( —[Marna Grantham]( acquisitions executive at Epix, dies at 63 —[Leo T. Reed]( Hollywood Teamsters’ longest-serving secretary-treasurer, dies at 83 —[Alice Koh]( executive producer of documentaries, dies at 51 —[Ralph Ahn]( actor on New Girl, dies at 95 —[Gerry Weber]( former top executive at Warner Home Video, dies at 86 What else we're reading... —Interview with Welsh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist Cate Le Bon [[New Yorker]( —Why fans of HBO's Euphoria have mixed feelings about writer and director Sam Levinson [[NYT]( —Inside the "vicious" feud tearing Playboy alumni apart [[LAT]( —Alex Abad-Santos on Netflix's Inventing Anna’s lazy girlboss revenge fantasy [[Vox]( —Megan Garber on the grim stagecraft of Zelensky’s selfie videos [[The Atlantic]( Today... Today's birthdays: Justin Bieber (28), Harry Belafonte (95), Lupita Nyong'o (39), [Mark-Paul Gosselaar]( (48), Javier Bardem (53), Jensen Ackles (44), Ron Howard (68), Ma Dong-seok (51), Jack Davenport (49), Zack Snyder (56), Joachim Trier (48), Catherine Bach (68), George Eads (55), Dirk Benedict (77), Izabella Alvarez (18), Kesha (35), Bryan Batt (59), Roger Daltrey (77), Michael Bonacini 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿(62) Ned Eisenberg, the busy Bronx-born character action who portrayed defense attorney Roger Kressler on NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for more than a decade, has died. He was 65. [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. Copyright © 2022 The Hollywood Reporter, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. 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