Bill Hader's Excellent Filmmaking Adventure; How Will the Academy Deal With Will Smith?; Bob Chapek's Missteps Fuel Confidence Crisis at Disney; 'Slow Horses' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( March 30, 2022 What's news: It's magazine day! And this week's cover star is a man who knows all of NY's hottest places, Bill Hader. BAFTA says it would have ejected Will Smith if he had committed an assault at their event. Amy Schumer breaks her silence on the slap. Foo Fighters cancel their world tour following Taylor Hawkins' death. Chris Rock's stand-up tour just became the hottest ticket in town. Plus: Sharon Stone is making another attempt at being a DC villain — [Abid Rahman]( Bill Hader's Excellent Filmmaking Adventure ►On the cover. A self-confessed film nerd, Bill Hader would pester his filmmaking heroes who would drop by the Saturday Night Live set. Now, after years of admiring such filmmakers to the point of mortification, Hader is becoming something more akin to a peer. On the third season of his critically-acclaimed HBO show Barry, Hader directed five of the eight episodes, and on season four, which is already outlined and being written, he plans to direct every one. The comedian, actor, writer and now bona fide director spoke to THR's [Rebecca Keegan]( about his journey from anxiety-prone SNL breakout ("full-blown panic attacks, crying, the whole thing") to HBO’s in-control assassin auteur. [The cover story.]( How Will the Academy Deal With Will Smith? ►"He set such an awful example for people watching, and he degraded the Academy." THR's awards insider [Scott Feinberg]( spoke to Academy governors and members for their thoughts on the Will Smith incident, with some looking for a strong response and almost none felt he should be back at the ceremony next year to carry out the ceremonial tradition whereby the previous year’s best actor presents the best actress award. [The story.]( —"Still triggered and traumatized." Late Tuesday, Oscars co-host Amy Schumer weighed in on the shocking incident between Will Smith and Chris Rock. In a message posted to Instagram, Schumer showed support for her friend and fellow comic Rock, who she said dealt with the incident "like a pro" adding that she was "waiting for this sickening feeling to go away from what we all witnessed." [The story.]( —"We are upset and outraged." Also on Tuesday night, the Academy president David Rubin and CEO Dawn Hudson distributed a letter to the organization’s members saying they were outraged that the behavior of Will Smith overshadowed the Oscars “celebration” and that the board would make a decision on appropriate action for the actor. The letter went on to state that "an official process that will take a few weeks." [The story.]( —"We do not tolerate violence of any kind." Had Will Smith slapped a presenter at the BAFTA Awards, he would have been immediately escorted from the building and been unable to collect any award, according to the British Academy. THR's man in London [Alex Ritman]( spoke to BAFTA execs the morning that the BAFTA TV Award nominations were unveiled, and the responses were unequivocal. "They would be removed from the ceremony," said Sara Putt, BAFTA’s deputy chair. “They would not be in the buildings, so they would not physically be able to collect their award." [The story.]( —"I’d have announced this morning that I was suing Will for $200 million." Jim Carrey made clear he believes that Will Smith slapping Chris Rock during Sunday’s Oscars not only did irreparable damage to his legacy, but to the entire entertainment industry. In an interview to promote Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Carrey said Smith should be facing far greater consequences for slapping Rock. [The story.]( —"Behind the slap, Black pain and enough blame to go around." In a guest column for THR, author and academic [Eisa Nefertari Ulen]( writes that the foolishness and violence of Will Smith's act — and of Chris Rock’s cruel joke — were undeniable, but the broader context and roots of such behavior merit reflection. [The column.]( —Slap bounce detected. Tickets sales for Chris Rock’s stand-up comedy tour have skyrocketed in the past 48 hours following the unsavory scenes at the Oscars. Ticketing site StubHub said it experienced more than 25x the daily sales each of the past two days than occurred last month for Rock’s tour. [The story.]( Bob Chapek's Missteps Fuel Confidence Crisis at Disney ►"There's a lack of awareness." Amid a Disney staff revolt over Bob Chapek's handling of Florida’s "Don’t Say Gay" bill, company insiders speculate to THR's editor-at-large [Kim Masters]( about how long he might last on the job. [The story.]( —"Staggering loss of our brother." The Foo Fighters’ upcoming tour dates have been canceled following the recent death of drummer Taylor Hawkins, the band announced on social media Tuesday. The band had been in South America on tour and was scheduled to perform Friday in Bogotá, Colombia. Hawkins, 50, died earlier that Friday. [The story.]( —Second time's the charm. Sharon Stone is headed to the DC universe with a role in Blue Beetle. The Oscar-nominated actress will play the villain in the piece. Stone, whose character Victoria Kord is a new creation for the film, previously journeyed into the realm of DC with a villain role in the ill-fated 2004 Halle Berry film, Catwoman. [The story.]( —Swansea's finest. It’s a Sin, Russell T. Davies critically-acclaimed decade-spanning drama about the AIDS epidemic in the U.K. dominates the 2022 BAFTA TV and BAFTA TV Craft Award list of nominees. The series earned 11 nominations, including director: fiction, mini-series, and three in the performance categories. Landscapers, the Olivia Colman-fronted true-crime miniseries landed seven nominations. [The full list of nominations.]( —Prestige revival. Samuel L. Jackson, John David Washington and Danielle Brooks are set to star in the Broadway revival of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson. Tony Award nominee LaTanya Richardson Jackson is attached to direct the staging, making her Broadway directorial debut. [The story.]( —Ryan Reynolds industrial complex. In its first three weeks of play on Netflix, Ryan Reynolds' new movie The Adam Project has already cracked the streamer’s list of the top 10 most popular English-language films produced by Netflix. It now ranks at No. 7. Reynolds has become the only actor with three films on the top 10 Netflix roster. The other two are Red Notice — which is No. 1 — and 6 Underground, which sits at No. 9. [The story.]( —Regency behemoth. The second season of Bridgerton is shaping up to be as big a hit for Netflix as its predecessor. The streamer’s weekly top 10 list for March 21-27 shows the Regency-era romance having a huge first weekend. In the three days after its premiere, season two of Bridgerton amassed 193 million hours of viewing time worldwide — the highest for any English-language Netflix series in its first three days. [The story.]( TV review: Slow Horses ►"A rewarding slow burn." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( reviews Apple TV+'s Slow Horses. Oscar winner Gary Oldman toplines this six-episode drama about an outpost for disgraced British spies thrust into rusty action by a hostage crisis. [The review.]( —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 Grammys, and the debuts of Disney+'s Moon Knight, HBO Max's Julia, Amazon's The Outlaws and Apple's Slow Horses. [The full guide.]( —Multiple timelines and from multiple perspectives. You star Victoria Pedretti will take a lead role in Hulu drama Saint X, an exploration and upending of the missing-girl genre. The eight-episode drama, which the streamer ordered to series in January, is based on a novel by Alexis Schaitkin. [The story.]( —"A story about the road not taken." Apple TV+ has handed out a nine-episode, straight-to-series order for drama Dark Matter, based on the Blake Crouch book of the same name. Aussie star Joel Edgerton will topline the sci-fi drama on which Crouch will serve as showrunner for the Sony Pictures Television series. [The story.]( —Return to broadcast television. Jane the Virgin star Gina Rodriguez will lead the cast of ABC comedy pilot Not Dead Yet, the single-camera comedy from This Is Us scribes Casey Johnson and David Windsor. The potential series is based on Alexandra Potter’s book, Confessions of a Forty-Something F**k Up. [The story.]( —Granny Winchester. The CW’s Supernatural spinoff The Winchesters has cast Bianca Kajlich. The Rules of Engagement star has joined the pilot, a prequel to the long-running series that centers on younger versions of John and Mary Winchester. Kajlich will play Millie Winchester, John’s mother, and thus the grandmother of Supernatural leads Dean and Sam. [The story.]( In other news... —Top Gun: Maverick trailer ties [Val Kilmer’s “Iceman” into new story]( —Activision Blizzard [settles federal sexual harassment lawsuit over objection from California]( —Rob Yang [boards Paramount+’s espionage drama Rabbit Hole]( —Big Bang Theory book [to reveal untold secrets about hit comedy]( —Condé Nast [employees form union with NewsGuild]( —Whip Media launches [platform for buyers, sellers to predict demand for TV and film titles]( —Alec and Hilaria {NAME} [expecting seventh child]( —Amazon unveils 6 Japanese originals, [picks up live boxing rights]( —Nintendo [delays Breath of the Wild sequel until spring 2023]( What else we're reading... —Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's excellent take on the Will Smith incident [[Substack]( —With a reference to Juwan Howard's recent scuffle, Joel Anderson makes a (futile) plea to not make “the Slap” more than what it is [[Slate]( —Story on Justin Kurzel’s Cannes favortie Nitram, a film that goes inside the sick mind of Australia’s deadliest mass shooter [[Daily Beast]( —The UN says a frankly mind-boggling four million refugees have now fled Ukraine [[WSJ]( —Alexis Soloski's breezy profile of Brit acting icon Joan Collins [[NYT]( Today... ...in 1990, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hit the big screen, with the comic book adaptation becoming a surprise hit, at the time the top-grossing independent film ever. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Warren Beatty (85), Céline Dion (54), Simone Ashley (27), Katy Mixon (41), Gideon Adlon (25), Paul Reiser (66), John Astin (92), Donna D'Errico (54), Mark Consuelos (51), Tessa Ferrer (36), Ian Ziering (58), Michael Lehmann (65), Norah Jones (43), Anitta (29), Stuart Dryburgh (70), Tracy Chapman (58), [M.C. Hammer]( (60) Marvin J. Chomsky, a four-time Emmy-winning director with credits including Roots, Star Trek and Hawaii Five-O, has died. He was 92. [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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