Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot; Disney Employees Stage Walkout Over Anti-LGBTQ Laws; Bozoma Saint John Talks Netflix Exit; MGM’s Amazon Era Begins With Big Questions; 'And Just Like That' Renewed for S2

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( March 23, 2022 What's news: Rachel Zegler played her cards right and secured an Oscars invite. Jay-Z Oscars after party is attracting controversy for the venue choice. Some Disney employees staged physical and virtual walkouts to protest recent anti-LGBTQ legislation. HBO's My Brilliant Friend will end with season four. Plus: Four of the five best song nominees will perform at the Oscars, but sadly no Van Morrison — [Abid Rahman]( Brutally Honest Oscar Ballot ►Don’t Look Up is a "one-joke movie," CODA is "excellent in every way." THR's awards columnist [Scott Feinberg]( is back with his annual frank confessions of an Academy Award voter. A member of the Academy's producers branch, granted anonymity to speak freely, shares which films earned his precious vote (and why). [The story.]( —Well played Zegler, well played indeed. Scott has the scoop on West Side Story star Rachel Zegler securing not only an invitation to the Academy Awards but a slot as a presenter too. On the weekend, Zegler caused a kerfuffle after she revealed on social media she wasn't invited to the Oscars. The actress is currently in London shooting Disney’s Snow White and efforts are being undertaken to rearrange the film’s shooting schedule to enable Zegler to be at the Oscars. [The story.]( —Performers set. The singers of four of the five best original song Oscar nominees will perform on Sunday’s Oscars telecast. Beyoncé (“Be Alive” from King Richard), Billie Eilish and Finneas (“No Time to Die” from No Time to Die), Reba McEntire (“Somehow You Do” from Four Good Days) and Sebastián Yatra (“Dos Oruguitas” from Encanto) will be on the show, but Van Morrison, who sang the fifth nominated song, “Down to Joy” from Belfast, was invited to perform on the show but will not attend, citing his touring schedule. [The story.]( —99 problems and the choice of hotel is one. After a two-year pandemic-enforced absence, Beyoncé and Jay-Z’s Oscars after-party at the Chateau Marmont is returning and likely to be one of the most coveted invites this week. THR's [Gary Baum]( writes that the planned bash puts the music stars at odds with a boycott of the hotel backed by Hollywood unions and supported by names such as Spike Lee, Issa Rae, Ta-Nehisi Coates, Roxane Gay and Gabrielle Union. [The story.]( Netflix Tries to Monetize Password Sharing, But Will It Work? ►"Love is sharing a password." As Netflix looks for ways to boost revenue, the streaming platform is experimenting with adding a fee for account sharing outside households as part of a broader approach to password sharing. THR's [J. Clara Chan]( and [Georg Szalai]( looks at the ramifications of Netflix's moves and whether rivals could follow. [The story.]( —✊✊✊ Employees across Disney’s various divisions participated in physical and virtual walkouts on Tuesday in a show of solidarity with Florida-based Disney workers, particularly cast members and other parks employees. A Disney employee who spoke on condition of anonymity told THR that some TWDC workers have seen support within their studios, with employees allowed to take the day “no questions asked” to participate. [The story.]( —Clear sign to management. Hulu, Disney+, National Geographic, FX and Disney Parks were among the major Disney divisions sharing public statements on their official social media channels Tuesday expressing solidarity with LGBTQ employees and denouncing anti-LGBTQ legislation. [The story.]( —Stankey's pile. AT&T CEO John Stankey made $24.8 million in 2021, compared with $21 million in 2020 and $22.5 million in 2019. The telecom giant did not disclose the 2021 overall pay package for WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, who earned $52.2 million in 2020, the year he was appointed to the role. [The story.]( —"Movie recommendations appreciated!" Hillary Clinton has tested positive for COVID-19. The 74-year-old former Secretary of State and New York senator revealed the news on Twitter on Tuesday, writing that she had mild symptoms and was "feeling fine." [The story.]( Bozoma Saint John Talks Netflix Exit, Responds to Critics About Her Brand ►Boz speaks! THR's nicest man [Chris Gardner]( turned on the niceness to secure an interview with former Netflix CMO Bozoma Saint John. The high-profile marketing executive, who held top jobs at Endeavor, Uber and Apple, responded to critics of her personal brand and shared what she plans to do next. [The interview.]( —Ringfenced. STX Entertainment has put an indirect subsidiary company holding the rights to the Chris Pine and Ben Foster-starring thriller The Contractor into chapter 11 bankruptcy. The studio made the move in order to protect its rights to the movie as the $157 million buyout by Najafi Companies continues. [The story.]( —Expanding relationship. Antoine Fuqua and his Hill District Media banner has inked an overall deal with Paramount. Fuqua will work with Chris McCarthy’s MTV Entertainment Studios and David Glasser’s 101 Studios to create and develop scripted and unscripted fare for the company behind Paramount+'s Mayor of Kingstown. On the film side, Fuqua has a first-look pact with Netflix. [The story.]( —La fine è vicina. HBO’s My Brilliant Friend has been renewed for a fourth and final season. The Italian language coming-of-age drama will close with a season based on the fourth book in Elena Ferrante’s four-part series, The Story of the Lost Child. HBO is currently airing the eight-episode third season of the drama, which concludes April 18. [The story.]( MGM's Amazon Era Begins With Big, Unanswered Questions ►What happens next? As Amazon's $8.5 billion deal to acquire MGM closes, THR's [Alex Weprin]( spoke to studio insiders and industry analysts who wonder how autonomous MGM operations may be, how quickly Amazon will mine its IP and how soon its vaunted library will make its way to Prime Video. [The story.]( —Big get. Staying with MGM, the film side has landed Bones and All, the feature that will reunite Call Me by Your Name director Luca Guadagnino and star Timothée Chalamet. The studio has secured worldwide rights to the feature that Guadagnino directed from a script written by longtime collaborator David Kajganich. [The story.]( —Investing in Julia. Ozark and Inventing Anna star Julia Garner is branching out into producing after signing a first-look deal with Tomorrow Studios (Snowpiercer). Under the deal, Garner and producing partner Rowan Riley will develop projects via their Alma Margo company. [The story.]( —Messy. Public relations firm Sitrick And Company has sued producer John Middleton for unpaid fees in relation to representing him in his public fallout with one-time business partner Roy Lee. The lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court seeks payment of an outstanding bill of more than $750,000. [The story.]( —All over. Amanda Bynes was released Tuesday from a court conservatorship that put her life and financial decisions in her parents’ control for nearly nine years. Bynes, now 35, shot to fame on a pair of Nickelodeon shows as a teenager, but struggles with mental health, substance abuse and the law prompted her parents to establish court control through a conservatorship in 2013. [The story.]( 'And Just Like That' Renewed for S2 at HBO Max ►Still no Samantha, right? In news that will surprise nobody, HBO Max has picked up a second season of And Just Like That, the Sex and the City sequel that wrapped its 10-episode first season in February. Leading up to the news that dropped Tuesday, AJLT showrunner Michael Patrick King and HBO and HBO Max head Casey Bloys had been dropping heavy hints that the show would be coming back, and now it's official. [The story.]( —Reality revival. CBS is reviving The Love Boat, this time as a dating competition series. The network has ordered The Real Love Boat, a reality series where a group of singles look for love while all aboard a Princess Cruise ship. CBS is partnering with Australian broadcaster Network 10 on the revival with production beginning on consecutively shot U.S. and Aussie versions this summer and both airing later this year. [The story.]( —Seven heaven. The CW has handed out a number of early renewals for its most prized scripted originals. Returning for the 2022-23 broadcast cycle are: All American (season five), The Flash (season nine), Kung Fu (season three), Nancy Drew (season four), Riverdale (season seven), Superman & Lois (season three) and Walker (season three). [The story.]( —This Week in TV. THR's [Rick Porter]( runs down the TV premieres, returns and specials over the next seven days. Among the things to look out for over the coming week include the Oscars on Sunday, of course, a new season of Netflix's bodice-ripper Bridgerton, the long-delayed third season of FX's Atlanta, and debuts for Apple's Pachinko and Paramount+'s Halo. ​[The full guide.]( In other news... —[Where the Crawdads Sing trailer]( Daisy Edgar-Jones goes from “isolated” to “hunted” —NFL megadeals [spark boom times for TV announcers]( —Netflix’s Bela Bajaria, David Linde to [keynote Banff World Media Festival]( —Tyler Perry’s Sistas, The Oval [renewed at BET]( —Reservoir [acquires composer Henry Jackman’s film score catalog]( —Gisele Bundchen [signs with UTA, plans cookbook]( —[Alex Wolff joins all-star cast]( of Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer —Ambie Awards: Pineapple Street Studios’ 9/12 [wins Podcast of the Year]( —Publicity vet [Cathy Dunkley joining Universal’s London office]( —Olivia Rodrigo, Dua Lipa and Lil Nas X [among top winners at iHeartRadio Music Awards]( What else we're reading... —Great interview with Encanto composer Germaine Franco, the first Latina and woman of color to be nominated for original score [[LAT]( —A story on the real life ball that inspired the one in the season finale of HBO's The Gilded Age [[VF]( —John Wilmes on why Guillermo del Toro's Blade II was decades ahead of its time [[Ringer]( —Stuart Heritage pleads with Hollywood to stop making films and shows about grifters and scammers [[Guardian]( —Another excellent profile of Nicolas Cage, because you really can't have too many [[GQ]( Today... ...in 1990, Buena Vista released Pretty Woman in theaters. Directed by Garry Marshall from a script by J. F. Lawton, the movie went on to gross a massive $463 million worldwide and earn Julia Roberts a best actress nomination at the 63rd Academy Awards. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Catherine Keener (63), Randall Park (48), Hope Davis (58), Marin Hinkle (56), [Keri Russell]( (46), Michelle Monaghan (46), Victoria Pedretti (27), Steven Strait (36), Amanda Plummer (65), Michael Haneke (80), Daniel Espinosa (45), Richard Grieco (57), Jaume Collet-Serra (48), Teresa Ganzel (65), Corinne Cléry (72), Zak Penn (53), Chris Henchy (58), Beau Flynn (52) Lawrence Dane, the Canadian actor known for his TV roles on Mod Squad, Mannix and Bonanza before starring in homegrown series like Side Effects and The Red Green Show, has died. He was 84. [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. 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