HBO Fires Back After Jerry West Criticism; Justin Lin Exits 'Fast X' as Director; 'The Batman' Sequel Confirmed; Universal's 'Wicked' to Come in Two Parts; 'Shining Girls' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( April 27, 2022 What's news: It's magazine day! This week's cover star is the ever radiant Michelle Pfeiffer. WB offers first glimpses of Elvis, Wonka, Black Adam and The Flash at CinemaCon. HBO's Demimonde has its lead. Jared Padalecki is on the mend following a car accident. Cannes has revealed its competition jury. Plus: Hundreds of thousands of Twitter users have deactivated their accounts since news broke of Elon Musk's successful bid for the company — [Abid Rahman]( Michelle Pfeiffer Is Definitely Done Second-Guessing Herself (Probably!) ►On the cover. Michelle Pfeiffer admits she has a "love-hate relationship with acting" and more often than not backs out of projects she's committed to, a pattern so often repeated her reps have nicknamed her Dr. No. So it was a surprise to everyone in Pfeiffer’s orbit, herself included, that she jumped at the chance to play Betty Ford in Showtime's The First Lady. Pfeiffer talks to THR's [Lacey Rose]( about playing Ford and how she's moving beyond the self-doubt that has come with being one of the most effortlessly cool stars of our time: "I jump in feet first and then I realize what I’ve gotten myself into." [The cover story.]( —Ominous. Twitter saw mass “organic” deactivations and huge fluctuations in follower numbers for some of the platform’s highest-profile users in the days after Elon Musk agreed a $44 billion takeover deal of the social media giant. Follower numbers for the likes of Katy Perry and former President Barack Obama dropped significantly in the last few days, while follower numbers for prominent right-wing figures like GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene saw huge increases. [The story.]( —Avoiding "fatal compromises." Universal's feature adaptation of Wicked will now come to theaters as two films, rather than one production, director Jon M. Chu announced Tuesday. The first film has set a premiere date of December 2024, with the second premiering the following Christmas. In a statement, Chu said that the creative team didn't want "to cut songs or trim characters" to make a single film. [The story.]( —Lead in place. Danielle Deadwyler has been cast as the lead in the HBO drama Demimonde. Deadwyler, who is fresh off a leading role in HBO Max’s critically praised limited series Station Eleven, will star as Olive Reed, the woman at the center of the drama. The series comes from J.J. Abrams and marks the first show that the prolific writer, producer and director has created since Fox’s Fringe. [The story.]( —Next-gen streaming. Cable giants Comcast and Charter have formed a 50:50 joint venture to develop and offer a next-gen streaming platform for 4K streaming devices and smart TVs. Comcast will license Flex, its aggregated streaming platform and hardware, and contribute streamer Xumo to the joint venture, which aims to "compete at scale with established national platforms." [The story.]( Justin Lin Exits 'Fast X' as Director Days Into Production ►Sudden. Shocking. Justin Lin is stepping away as director for the upcoming Fast X, the tenth installment of Fast & Furious franchise, just days into production. No reason was given for Lin's sudden, and shocking, exit. Production, so far, has been second unit filming, which will remain the focus as an immediate director search is undertaken. Lin, who returned to the franchise with 2021’s F9: The Fast Saga, was set to direct both the 10th and 11th movies in the franchise, with the 11th film set to be the final Fast installment. [The story.]( —"On the mend." Walker star Jared Padalecki is recovering after a car accident and is hoping to get back to filming on The CW’s western series this week. Padalecki took to his social media on Tuesday to thank his fans for “the outpouring of love” he received. [The story.]( —Look out Nielsen. Goldman Sachs has agreed to invest $325 million in ad measurement and analytics company iSpot.tv. NBCUniversal recently named iSpot.tv a preferred trading currency as competition heats up among third-party data analytics firms. [The story.]( —Jury is in. The Cannes Film Festival has announced the members of its 2022 competition jury, the five men and four women who will pick the winners of this year’s Palme d’Or honors. Titane star Vincent Lindon will be president of a jury that includes Rebecca Hall, Deepika Padukone, Noomi Rapace, Jasmine Trinca, Asghar Farhadi, Ladj Ly, Jeff Nichols and Joachim Trier. [The story.]( —Small gains. Music streaming giant Spotify ended Q1 2022 with 182 million paid subscribers, up from 180 million as of the end of 2021 but below its original 183 million subscriber forecast that was made before the company’s exit from Russia that led to the loss of around 1.5 million subscribers. [The results.]( HBO Fires Back After Jerry West 'Winning Time' Criticism ►"Based on extensive factual research." Since it debuted, HBO's Lakers drama Winning Time has attracted criticism from ex-players and administrators, particularly for the portrayal of Jerry West. Through his lawyers, West himself has demanded a retraction and apology. THR's [Lacey Rose]( has the scoop on HBO's first official response to the mounting controversy, with the network backing its creative team to the hilt and also making it clear that "Winning Time is not a documentary and has not been presented as such." [The story.]( —"Renaissance Man 2.0." The actor, writer, producer, entrepreneur and beloved movie star Ryan Reynold's will be honored with a career retrospective as the 36th recipient of the American Cinematheque Award at the org’s gala dinner at the Beverly Hilton on Nov. 17. [The story.]( —You little ripper. Peacock has picked up a second season of Wolf Like Me, a genre-bending Aussie rom-com starring Isla Fisher and Josh Gad. The six-episode first season debuted on Peacock (as well as Australian streaming service Stan) in January. The show stars Gad as a widowed father living in Australia and struggling with grief as he raises his daughter and Fisher is a woman he meets with a dark secret. [The story.]( —Overall deal news. To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before author Jenny Han has signed an overall deal with Amazon Studios, which along with Wiip is producing a series adaptation of her novel The Summer I Turned Pretty. She serves as co-showrunner on the series, and under the deal will also create and develop new projects for the streamer. [The story.]( —Double the fun. Basic cable network Freeform has handed out a second-season renewal for breakout Single Drunk Female and picked up dramedy While You Were Breeding to series. The order for the latter series, based on the memoir from showrunner Kristin Newman (Only Murders in the Building), marks the second show ordered under Freeform president Tara Duncan’s regime. [The story.]( CinemaCon: Warner Bros. Debuts 'Black Adam,' 'Wonka,' 'The Flash' and 'Elvis' Footage ►Viva Las Vegas. Warner Bros. put on a star-filled show at CinemaCon with the studio delivering its presentation by relying on a parade of stars, including Dwayne Johnson, Matt Reeves, Olivia Wilde, James Wan, Helen Mirren, Zachary Levi and an animated Baz Luhrmnan. The studio also offered exclusive looks at Black Adam, Elvis, Wonka, The Flash, Shazam! Fury of the Gods, Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, Salem’s Lot and Don’t Worry Darling. [The story.]( —The Batman, returns. One of the biggest annoucements from Warners' CinemaCon presentation was the official confirmation of a sequel to The Batman. Director Matt Reeves and star Robert Pattinson are both set to return although no release date was given. [The story.]( —First look and release date. Warner Bros.’ all-star Barbie — starring Margot Robbie — will drive into theaters on July 21, 2023, the studio announced at CinemaCon on Tuesday. Greta Gerwig and Noah Baumbach wrote the script for the project, with Gerwig directing. Production is already underway. [The story.]( —"We’d love to play more of their movies." At an address at CinemaCon, NATO president and CEO John Fithian says cinema operators are open to playing Netflix movies should the streamer want to monetize its original films in the wake of its stalled subscriber growth. [The story.]( —"Dead as a serious business model." Staying with John Fithian, the NATO chief warned Hollywood studios that the day-date model of releasing films in theaters and streaming services is bad business made worse by piracy: "When a pristine copy of a movie makes its way online and spreads, it has a very damaging impact on our industry." [The story.]( TV Review: 'Shining Girls' ►"Effective as a character study, less so as a thriller." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( reviews Apple TV+'s Shining Girls. Elisabeth Moss plays an aspiring Chicago reporter whose reality is upended when she's attacked by a serial killer in this Leonardo DiCaprio-produced adaptation of Lauren Beukes' novel. [The review.]( —"Catnip for Fiddler fans." THR film critic Frank Scheck reviews Daniel Raim's Fiddler’s Journey to the Big Screen. Jeff Goldblum narrates this documentary chronicling the creation of the 1971 film musical classic Fiddler on the Roof. [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 series finale episodes of Netflix's Ozark and Grace and Frankie, the debut of Paramount+'s Godfather drama The Offer, the FX-produced Under the Banner of Heaven on Hulu as well as the NFL Draft. [The full guide.]( In other news... —Bodies, Bodies, Bodies [trailer promises funny, bloody murder mystery with Amandla Stenberg and Pete Davidson]( —Netflix inks [three-picture deal with Japanese anime studio Colorido]( —L.A. Rams recruit Josh Holloway, Scott Eastwood, Tyrese Gibson and Dennis Quaid [for heist-themed short film]( —Kamala Harris [positive for COVID-19, President Biden not “close contact”]( —Ethan Hawke’s horror thriller [The Black Phone to close Overlook Fest]( —Inside Chef Tetsuya Wakuda’s [first U.S. restaurant in Las Vegas]( —Betty White’s [longtime L.A. home listed at $10.6m]( —Karlovy Vary Film Fest [will screen Odesa Film Fest’s titles in show of solidarity with Ukraine]( What else we're reading... —"Trump’s old megaphone beckons with Twitter abuzz over a comeback" [[Bloomberg]( —Elon Musk's more freewheeling Twitter may run into trouble with European regulators [[WSJ]( —Ah! A wonderful time suck, although Paddington 2 should be top 10: "The 101 best movie sequels of all time" [[Vulture]( —David Smith's great interview with rather intense actor Ben Foster about his method, his work on The Survivor and the Will Smith series Emancipation [[Guardian]( —Alexis Soloski's interview with Better Things creator and star Pamela Adlon on the comedy's bittersweet finale [[NYT]( Today... Today's birthdays: [Lizzo]( (34), Matt Reeves (56), Russell T. Davies (59), Jenna Coleman (36), Anna Chancellor (57), Sally Hawkins (46), Ari Graynor (39), James Le Gros (60), Sheila Vand (37), Emily Rios (33), Kevin McNally (66), Darren Barnet (31), William Moseley (35), Lou de Laâge (32), Froy Gutierrez (24), Anouk Aimée (90), Patrick Page (60), Sheena Easton (63), Cristian Mungiu (54), Ingrid Rogers (54) 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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