Hollywood Critics Association in Turmoil; Natalie Portman Series Shut Down Over Threat; Netflix Hit With 'Inventing Anna' Defamation Suit; THR's Hot Venice Sales Titles

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( August 30, 2022 What's news: Chris Rock has reportedly turned down an invitation to host the 2023 Oscars. The second episode of House of the Dragon saw an uptick in its audience. The VMAs saw viewership go up. Barber Ferreira has found her next project. Flying Lotus will direct a sci-fi feature starring Tessa Thompson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt — [Abid Rahman]( Hollywood Critics Association in Turmoil ►Not ideal. Move over the Hollywood Foreign Press Association, there's another awards organization vying to be the town's omnishambles. THR's awards editor [Scott Feinberg]( reports that in recent days, the Hollywood Critics Association has seen 10 of its members — roughly 7 percent of its membership tally just two weeks ago — leave (nine resigned and one was expelled), including its president. Scott writes that tensions in the group have arisen amid questions about finances and voting. [The story.]( —No, thanks. Chris Rock has declined an offer to host the 2023 Academy Awards, the comedian reportedly said during his Sunday night show in Phoenix. According to a report from the Arizona Republic, Rock said the Academy asked him to return to host for a third time despite the infamous slap incident at the 2022 ceremony. [The story.]( —Monster hit. HBO’s House of the Dragon followed its record-setting premiere by pulling in an even bigger audience for episode two. Sunday’s installment of HOTD drew 10.2m viewers across all platforms, according to a combination of Nielsen and HBO internal data. That’s a 2 percent increase from the Aug. 21 series premiere, which came in just under 10m. HBO also says that the series premiere has grown to almost 25 million viewers across platforms in the week since it premiered. [The story.]( —On the up and up. Viewing of the 2022 MTV Video Music Awards was up year to year, whether measuring by traditional TV ratings or more recent cross-platform consumption. According to preliminary Nielsen figures, the awards, a pre-show and two on-air replays averaged 3.9m viewers across 12 Paramount cable channels and The CW. That’s up from 3.7m for the 2021 awards and associated programming, a gain of 3 percent year to year. [The story.]( Natalie Portman Series Shut Down Over Violent Threat ►Extortion attempt. Natalie Portman’s upcoming Apple TV+ limited series Lady in the Lake was forced to halt production due to a group in Baltimore threatening the production. A group of locals reportedly confronted a driver for the production on Friday and said they would only “allow” filming to continue if they were paid $50,000. The driver refused to pay and the group threatened to “come back later this evening [and] shoot someone” if production continued, according to local police. [The story.]( —🎭 Casting news 🎭 Andy Garcia, Catherine O’Hara, Jay Duplass, Brian d’Arcy James and Chloe Coleman have joined Emily Blunt and Chris Evans in the Netflix film The Pain Hustlers. David Yates will direct the movie in the style of The Wolf of Wall Street and The Big Short, with Blunt playing, Liza, a high school dropout who lands a job with a failing pharmaceutical startup in a yellowing strip mall in Central Florida. [The story.]( —🎭 Casting news 🎭 Apple TV+ is rounding out the cast of its forthcoming series Sugar. The show, produced in house at Apple Studios, has added Dennis Boutsikaris, Alex Hernandez, Lindsay Pulsipher, James Cromwell and Anna Gunn to the cast. The five actors join the previously cast Colin Farrell, who will play the lead role, Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Amy Ryan. [The story.]( —Next gig lined up. THR's [Borys Kit]( has the scoop on now-former Euphoria star Barbie Ferreira joining Ariana DeBose in House of Spoils, a psychological thriller from Amazon’s Prime Video and Blumhouse Television. The feature is being directed by Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy from their own script, which is based on their original idea. [The story.]( —Filmmaker in place. THR's second-nicest man [Aaron Couch]( has the scoop on Sony picking Patrick Brice to direct its adaptation of Riley Sager's novel Home Before Dark. The plot of the film is being kept under wraps, though the book is centered on a young woman whose family fled their Victorian home 25 years earlier in an event that inspired her father to pen a best-selling nonfiction book claiming they experienced a haunting. [The story.]( Netflix Hit With 'Inventing Anna' Defamation Suit ►"This story is completely true. Except for the parts that are totally made up." Netflix’s propensity for docudramas is landing the streamer in hot water, this time courtesy of Rachel Williams — an associate of New York City con artist Anna Sorokin. She sued the company on Monday for defamation over her portrayal in Inventing Anna. Williams argues nearly everything about her character in the show is made up. [The story.]( —Flying Lotus! Tessa Thompson and Joseph Gordon-Levitt have signed on to star in Ash, an upcoming sci-fi thriller set to be directed by rapper and filmmaker Flying Lotus, aka Steven Ellison. Thompson will play a woman who wakes up on a distant planet to find the rest of the crew of her space station viciously murdered. She has to decide whether to trust the man (Gordon-Levitt) sent to rescue her. Jonni Remmler wrote the script. [The story.]( —Give her all the awards. Everything, Everywhere All at Once star Michelle Yeoh is adding another accolade to a pile that she has already accumulated this awards season. The Toronto Film Festival will present her with the inaugural TIFF Share Her Journey Groundbreaker Award — which will annually honor “a woman who is a leader in the film industry and has made a positive impact for women throughout their career” — at its TIFF Tribute Awards. [The story.]( —Dolly's stars. NBC has set the cast of a holiday movie starring country music icon Dolly Parton. Dolly Parton’s Mountain Magic Christmas will also star Tom Everett Scott, Ana Gasteyer and Angel Parker. It will also feature guest stars Jimmy Fallon, Willie Nelson, Miley and Billy Ray Cyrus, Jimmie Allen and Zach Williams. [The story.]( THR's Hot Venice Sales Titles ►Up for grabs. For the 79th Venice Film Festival, artistic director Alberto Barbera has put together one of the most well-curated lineups of his career. Both studios and streamers are well represented. THR's [Scott Roxborough]( writes that while the fest has no official market, a handful of buzzy titles are sure to tempt global buyers. [The selection.]( —Reshuffle. Tendo Nagenda is exiting his post at Netflix, where he has served as VP, original film for the past four years. Nagenda’s last day at the streamer will be Sept. 1. Nagenda’s exit comes as Netflix is looking to streamline its film operations. Under film head Scott Stuber, Kira Goldberg and Ori Marmur will now run the studio film team, which handles the streamers big-budgeted features. [The story.]( —Important extension. One of the key members of HBO’s executive team has signed a long-term deal to stay with the premium cabler. Francesca Orsi, who heads up drama series and HBO Films, has extended her contract through 2026. Her extension follows that of HBO and HBO Max chief content officer Casey Bloys, who is signed through 2027. [The story.]( —Big change. YouTube’s chief business officer Robert Kyncl is stepping down in October. Kyncl, a 12-year veteran at the company, will be succeeded by Mary Ellen Coe, currently the president of global customer solutions at Google, on Oct. 3. [The story.]( In other news... —The Kardashians [returns with S2 trailer]( —Daniel Radcliffe [transforms into “Weird Al” Yankovic in trailer for Roku “biopic”]( —Thai Cave Rescue: [First trailer of Netflix docudrama captures local perspective]( —The Handmaid’s Tale S5 trailer [shows June attempting to finish what she started]( —Issa Rae, Gabrielle Union to guest on [new Audible podcast Direct Deposit: What Happens When Black People Get Rich]( —SAG Awards: [Key dates set for lead-up to 29th ceremony]( —Neon to [release Oldboy in the U.S. for 20th Anniversary]( What else we're reading... —In light of the Hulu's new scripted series Mike, David Smith reflects on the difficult legacy of Mike Tyson [[Guardian]( —More headaches for Ryan Kavanaugh: "Sony lawsuit claims Triller hasn’t paid in months but is still using its music catalog" [[Billboard]( —Yvonne Villarreal interviews the criminally underrated Abbott Elementary star Sheryl Lee Ralph who is finally enjoying some well-deserved praise [[LAT]( —Oh: "Trademark filings suggest Apple may be securing ‘reality’ names for AR/VR headset" [[Bloomberg]( —Brianna Zigler writes that even 15 years later Superbad remains an essential teen film [[Gawker]( Today... Today's birthdays: Jessica Henwick (30), Cameron Diaz (50), [Michael Chiklis]( (59), Marin Ireland (43), Elden Henson (45), Michael Michele (56), Raúl Castillo (45), David Paymer (68), Bebe Rexha (33), Anjali Bhimani (48), Michael Gladis (45), Lewis Black (74), J.J. Philbin (48), Laeta Kalogridis (57), Kent Osborne (53), Lars P. Winther (53), Michael Ohoven (48), Seth William Meier (48) Ralph Eggleston, the veteran Pixar animator, art director and production designer who won an Oscar for his much-loved short film For the Birds, has died. He was 56. [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](