Ben Affleck to Play Batman in 'Aquaman 2'; Alan Horn to Consult WB Film Division; MGM Loses 'Tomb Raider' Rights; Apple's 'Surface' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( July 29, 2022 What's news: Alan Horn is back at Warners. Krysten Ritter will star in the Orphan Black sequel series. Instagram is pausing the rollout of some of its new video-first features. Morbius helped Sony's film unit record a healthy quarterly profit. Ben Affleck will appear as Batman in Aquaman 2. A bidding war has erupted over the screen rights to Tomb Raider — [Abid Rahman]( Alan Horn to Help Shape WB Film Studio During Transition ►It's official. Film studio veteran Alan Horn is helping out the new team at Warner Bros. Discovery. The newly minted company — born when Discovery bought Warners from AT&T — has brought aboard Horn as a consultant during the transition period. Among other duties, he’ll assist Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy, who have been tapped by WBD chief David Zaslav to run the movie studio (the duo replace Toby Emmerich). Zaslav has been in talks with Horn for months, according to a staff memo circulated on Thursday. [The story.]( —"I see myself as a consigliere." After the news broke that Alan Horn was enlisted by WBD chief David Zaslav as a consultant, THR's editor-at-large Kim Masters spoke to the veteran exec about his plans to work with Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy, co-chairpersons and CEOs of the Warner Bros. Pictures Group, and other aspects of his new position. [The interview.]( Batfleck Returning for 'Aquaman 2' ►Busted! Jason Momoa has revealed that Justice League costar Ben Affleck will appear in Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. Momoa posted the news on Instagram on Thursday, after fans on a Warner Bros. bus studio tour apparently caught wind that Affleck was there filming with him. Affleck previously announced his retirement as Batman in 2019, but surprisingly took up the cowl for what was thought to be a one-off and final appearance in The Flash, the Ezra Miller starring film due out June 23, 2023. [The story.]( —Looking for a new home. Studios and streamers are bidding to acquire the film rights to the Tomb Raider property that for nine years was at MGM and has now returned to producer Graham King's GK Films. Opening bids were taken last week, but things have escalated into a bidding war. Alicia Vikander starred in a 2018 Tomb Raider reboot that earned $275m globally and was to have a sequel directed by Misha Green. That project is now dead, and the role is expected to be recast. [The story.]( —Clone Club has a new member. Krysten Ritter has signed on to star and exec produce AMC’s Orphan Black follow-up series. Orphan Black: Echoes is set in the world of the flagship series and takes place in the new future. Ritter will star as Lucy, a woman with an unimaginable origin story who is trying to find her place in the world. [The story.]( —Inspiring project. Oscar-winning CODA actor Troy Kotsur is attached to star and exec produce the as-yet-untitled Disney+ project which tells the true story of the 2021 Cubs Football team, where a Deaf team had an undefeated season and earned a spot in the California State Championship game for the first time in its school history. Kotsur will play the team’s coach. [The story.]( Paramount Settles Suit Against 'Mission: Impossible' Insurer ►Tentative agreement. Death-defying stunts and an endless stream of unforeseen expenses caused by the pandemic force Paramount and its financial partners to shoulder a massive $290m budget for Mission: Impossible — Dead Reckoning Part One. Tens of millions more than they expected to spend. THR's [Winston Cho]( reports that the studio will now get some of that back in a deal with Federal Insurance Company resolving a suit accusing the Chubb unit of refusing to live up to the terms of its insurance policy. [The story.]( —It's Morbin time. Sony Pictures saw its fiscal Q1 bottom line climb to a profit of $394m, up 70 percent from the same period in 2021. Sony said the pictures division was boosted by higher TV series deliveries, increased licensing and home entertainment revenues, and improved sales for anime streaming services. The company released just two theatrical films in the quarter — Morbius ($167m in total box office) and Father Stu ($22m). [The results.]( —Pain. Roku is the latest company to report a negative impact on revenue this quarter due to a slowdown in ad spending. The company missed Q2 revenue expectations, reporting revenue of $764m, compared to its estimate of $805m. Active accounts grew by 1.8m to reach 63.1m this quarter. [The results.]( —More pain. Cable giant Charter Communications lost 226,000 pay TV subscribers in Q2, compared with a loss of 50,000 in the year-ago period. Broadband user growth turned into a decline in Q2 as it lost 21,000 customers. As of the end of June, Charter had nearly 30.25m total broadband customers and nearly 15.50m total video subscribers. [The results.]( —Even the mighty. Apple’s services category, which includes Apple TV+ and Apple Music, brought in $19.6b in revenue for the third fiscal quarter ending in June — a decline in growth compared to its previous quarter, which saw a record $19.8b in sales for the category. Apple now has more than 860m paid subscribers for its services category. [The results.]( —Huge drop. Lionsgate CEO Jon Feltheimer saw his total compensation fall to $5.58m for fiscal 2022. That’s down from fiscal 2021 when Feltheimer received $19m in total pay, and the $11m he earned as part of his overall compensation package for fiscal 2020. [The story.]( TV Review: 'Surface' ►"Not memorable." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( reviews Apple TV+'s Surface. Reese Witherspoon produced this eight-hour drama featuring Gugu Mbatha-Raw as a woman with amnesia and a growing suspicion that her past isn't what people are claiming. [The review.]( —Volte-face palm. Instagram is temporarily pausing its roll out of product features seen by some critics as attempting to emulate TikTok after the Meta-owned platform faced backlash over the changes from high-profile users like the Kardashians and Chrissy Teigen. [The story.]( —Trying everything. The members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, mired in controversy for the past year and a half over diversity and ethics concerns, have agreed to a new venture with Todd Boehly’s Eldridge Industries LLC to establish the HFPA as a for-profit organization that would run the Golden Globes and spin off its charitable efforts into a non-profit group. [The story.]( —Corporate synergy, innit. Netflix has signed off on an immersive, adults-only interactive experience based on its global smash hit Squid Game. The multiplayer game will see players navigating challenges based on the franchise The experience is being launched by the interactive gaming and technology company Immersive Gamebox, and will be based in a new venue in NYC’s Lower East Side neighborhood. [The story.]( Thank Pod It's Friday ► All the latest content from THR's podcast studio. —TV's Top 5. [Lesley Goldberg]( and [Dan Fienberg]( break down the latest TV news. The guys begin by running through the week's headline makers, including new shows for Krysten Ritter and Kate Winslet, Jeopardy! host news and the cancelation of Full Frontal. There's a recap and reflection of the news from SDCC. Wrestle Buddies co-host Chris Hayner joins the show to discuss the scandal at WWE. Andy Siara drops in to talk about his Peacock mystery comedy series The Resort. And Dan reviews The Resort, Apple’s Surface, Netflix’s Keep Breathing and FX/Hulu’s Reservation Dogs. [Listen here.]( —Awards Chatter. Awards analyst [Scott Feinberg]( talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this episode, Scott speaks to Quinta Brunson. The first Black woman ever to receive three Emmy noms in a single year reflects on her path to comedy, appearances on others' shows while trying to sell one of her own and the teachers who inspired her hit ABC sitcom Abbott Elementary. [Listen here.]( In other news... —Ana de Armas confronts the dark side of celebrity [as Marilyn Monroe in new trailer for Blonde]( —PBS NewsHour [content creators union voluntarily recognized by management]( —WBD taps [Asif Sadiq as chief global diversity, equity and inclusion officer]( —Ryan Holcomb [joins Excel Sports Management as head of content]( —Thomas Sadoski [signs with Verve]( —[Bernard Cribbins]( British children’s TV icon and Doctor Who star, dies at 93 What else we're reading... —Dave Itzkoff interviews Mike Judge who explains why he's reviving Beavis and Butt-Head [[NYT]( —One of the all-time legal self-owns: "Rebekah Vardy loses ‘Wagatha Christie’ libel case against Coleen Rooney" [[Guardian]( —Andrew A. Rosen analyzes whether Netflix can win the contest for connected TV ad dollars [[Information]( —Yvonne Villarreal interviews Jennifer Grey about her new memoir, with the actress opening up about how abortion changed her life [[LAT]( —Here's your Friday list: "15 classic summer-camp movies, ranked" [[Vulture]( Today... Today's birthdays: Ken Burns (69), Tim Gunn (69), Genesis Rodriguez (35), Wil Wheaton (50), Alexandra Paul (59), Stephen Dorff (49), Leslie Easterbrook (73), Josh Radnor (48), Mike Starr (72), Ato Essandoh (50), Maestro Harrell (31), Sanjay Dutt (63), Delia Sheppard (61), Jeannetta Arnette (68), T.J. McGibbon (17), Miki Ishikawa (31), Dileep Rao (49), Ophélie Bau (30), [Mike Hodges]( (90), Bill Forsyth (76) Mary Alice, the Tony- and Emmy-winning actress who starred in the original Broadway production of Fences, portrayed the mother of three singing daughters in Sparkle and appeared as The Oracle in The Matrix Revolutions, has died. She was 85. [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. All rights reserved. 11175 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90025 [View in Browser]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Your Privacy Rights]( | [Ad Choices]( | [Terms of Use]( | [Unsubscribe](