'Wonder Woman' $100M Opening?; Malibu's "Blood Alley"; TV Actor Roundtable Unveiled; Emmy Class Photo

Wonder Woman is a critical hit, how big of a box office smash will it be? Plus: MSNBC sticks with Lawrence O'Donnell, Megyn Kelly officially books Vladimir Putin, Netflix's Reed Hastings isn't concerned about Cannes' theater policy and the TV Actor Roundtable is now live. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman [The Hollywood Reporter - Today In Entertainment]( June 01, 2017 Wonder Woman is a critical hit, how big of a box office smash will it be? Plus: MSNBC sticks with Lawrence O'Donnell, Megyn Kelly officially books Vladimir Putin, Netflix's Reed Hastings isn't concerned about Cannes' theater policy and the TV Actor Roundtable is now live. — Matthew Belloni, Erik Hayden and Jennifer Konerman How Big Will 'Wonder Woman' Be? Things are looking good for the DC superhero, Pamela McClintock forecasts from new tracking numbers: Director Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman — earning rapturous reviews — is expected to chase away the doldrums at the early summer box office with a North American debut [of $95M or more](, according to pre-release tracking. The female-centric tentpole likewise debuts in most major markets overseas, including China. Bullish box-office observers believe Wonder Woman, starring Gal Gadot, will lasso well north of $100M internationally. Warner Bros. is being more conservative and suggesting $65M-$70M domestically, considering tracking has been unreliable as of late. But if tracking is right, Wonder Woman could land the biggest domestic opening ever for a female director, primarily because very few women have been given the chance to direct a Hollywood tentpole. It would also be a morale boost for Hollywood following the worst Memorial Day weekend in 18 years, thanks to a number of underperforming summer event pics. ^Wonder Woman big in Israel, barred in Lebanon. Above is a billboard, with the caption "We Love You," overlooking Ayalon Freeway in Tel Aviv. Warner Bros. could have its biggest weekend debut in the country in years with the film, whose star, Gal Gadot, is Israeli, David Caspi writes. Meanwhile, the decision in Lebanon to bar the film in 15 locations was made by the government, Tatiana Siegel notes. It is taking issue with the fact that Gadot is Israeli and served in the military (all Israeli citizens serve in the military). Lebanon is officially at war with Israel. [How Israel is welcoming the film]( I [About Lebanon's ban.]( Elsewhere in film... ► X-Men family recruits Stranger Things star. Charlie Heaton is [in negotiations]( to join the cast of Fox’s New Mutants, which is being positioned as a horror thriller. The Josh Boone-directed film will start shooting in Boston in July. ► Transformers spinoff adds Hailee Steinfeld. The actress/singer is in negotiations [to star i](n Paramount's Bumblebee, directed by Travis Knight (Kubo and the Two Strings). Christina Hodson (Shut In) wrote the script. ► Godzilla sequel enlists Silicon Valley actor. Thomas Middleditch is [joining]( Warner Bros.' Godzilla: King of Monsters, the biggest film role for him to date. The sequel is also starring Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobbie Brown and Kyle Chandler. ↱ [Netflix CEO dismisses "clumsy" Cannes theater policy change](: Reed Hastings thinks the controversy over whether Netflix films will be allowed in future Cannes competitions is increasing the profile of projects like Okja and The Meyerowitz Stories. "It's been fantastic for us," he added. "They'll get a lot more awareness." ↲ [^Trailer watch, The Mountains Between Us](. Idris Elba and Kate Winslet are stranded survivors in Fox 2000’s long-gestating adaptation of Charles Martin's best-selling novel hitting theaters Oct. 20. ► High-profile actors appear at SAG-AFTRA negotiations. Jonathan Handel notes: As talks commenced Wednesday, negotiators were joined by Jane Lynch, Brandon Routh, Gary Cole and Christopher Gorham. They've all shown up at AMPTP headquarters in Sherman Oaks, presumably to [lend moral support](to the union negotiating committee. ► SXSW-winning movie lands distribution. Imagination Worldwide has [picked up]( the rights to Jessica M. Thompson's rape drama The Light of the Moon, which won an audience award in Austin. It will get a theatrical release later this year. ► Atlanta star Brian Tyree Henry joins Hotel Artemis. The Jodie Foster-fronted thriller, which begins production Thursday, [has added]( Brian Tyree Henry and American Crime Story grad Kenneth Choi to its registry. ► R.I.P., Joe Hyams. The exec who spent 45 years at Warner Bros. and was the last of an influential genre of Hollywood publicists, died at 90. [Full obit](. In THR, Esq: Zorro lawsuit parries past motion to dismiss. Eriq Gardner writes: En garde! A legal duel over whether Zorro is in the public domain continues, after a California federal judge declined to dismiss a copyright infringement lawsuit that could declare the iconic character [free for all to use.]( TV Actor Roundtable Arrives In the latest roundtable, six stars at the top of their game — Riz Ahmed, Ewan McGregor, Billy Bob Thornton, Sterling K. Brown, John Lithgow and Jeffrey Wright — open up about early struggles, the indignity of typecasting and the pros and cons of being one of only a few who know where your character is going. [An excerpt:]( Does the current political climate change the types of projects you want to do or the types of roles you want to play? JEFFREY WRIGHT I hope so. For everyone. STERLING K. BROWN You hope to be able to give people a break from certain things, but hopefully you can also educate and edify people at the same time. With This Is Us, the biggest comment that I've gotten is that it brings people together in a very interesting way — it's a very family-oriented show, and it's about connection. We have gay folks and overweight people and black folks, and we're going out into communities that may not have an opportunity to see things that are quite as heterogeneous as the show is. RIZ AHMED I do believe it's an artist's responsibility to engage with the times we're living in. But it's a weird thing. Certain stories or certain storytellers are encumbered with the responsibility of being seen as political whether they like it or not. [Full roundtable]( Elsewhere in TV... ► NBC, Megyn Kelly officially book Vladimir Putin. This will be interesting: The host herself made the announcement on Today this morning. Kelly is moderating the plenary session of an economic forum in St. Petersburg on Friday, where Putin will be one of the panelists, and had hoped to land a [one-on-one interview.]( ► CBS: Colbert's Trump jokes weren't indecent. The FCC is reviewing the transfers of licenses in a merger between CBS Radio and Entercom, which prompted the network to send a note to the agency, standing behind The Late Show's joke-filled rant: "The broadcast in question was not indecent, [let alone obscene."]( ► Shari Redstone defends not merging CBS-Viacom. Nearly six months after withdrawing her proposal for a merger between CBS and Viacom, the exec said at the Code Conference yesterday that it was the potential to resuscitate Viacom as a stand-alone business that ultimately [scuttled the deal.]( ► MSNBC sticks with Lawrence O'Donnell. The host's contract negotiations, which have been made public recently, [appear]( to be resolved for now. O'Donnell tweeted: "Yes I will be saying hi to Rachel @maddow at 10pm for the foreseeable future." ► CNN cuts ties with Kathy Griffin. After that Trump photo stunt, the network was [pressured to fire]( Griffin from her role on the New Year's Eve special. Statement: "CNN has terminated our agreement with Kathy Griffin to appear on our New Year's Eve program." ↱ "[In defense of network TV](." With his NBC breakout now broadcast's best shot at cracking the Emmy drama category long dominated by cable, This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman celebrates entertainment's last wide net in a guest column. ↲ /sites/default/files/custom/Meena/splash-playbook.png [^Emmy class photo!]( TV's top scene-stealing supporting actors and actresses reveal the television family they related to growing up, the star they've been mistaken for and their first TV crush. ► Amazon's Philip K. Dick's Electric Dreams adds to cast. Janelle Monae and Juno Temple [will star]( in one of the episodes of the forthcoming anthology series, which hails from exec producer Bryan Cranston. ► CW's Supergirl finds major DC villain. House alum Odette Annable has [signed on]( for the role of Reign, who is introduced as part of the show's interpretation of the famed World Killer storyline. ► EPIX's Graves enlists Wallace Shawn. The veteran actor has signed on for [a recurring role]( on the political comedy, playing the political opponent of Sela Ward's character. ► Discovery Channel teams with Jeremy Renner. The film Mosquito, which focuses on the worldwide threat posed by the insect, will be [narrated](by the Avengers actor. It also features a rare documentary interview with Bill Gates. ► Cinemax's Quarry will not return for season 2. Series co-creator Michael D. Fuller [confirmed the news](: "There were several factors that contributed to the show’s ultimate fate, but a regime change at HBO and a re-(re?)-branding at Cinemax were of particular significance." Owners of Trump branded condos want a name change. [Fed up with sagging prices](, a former partner at Goldman Sachs is mounting an effort to remove the name "Trump" from one of his marquee towers in NYC to boost property values. Malibu's Morbid Debate Malibu's high season has arrived, and with it comes this discussion: Death or parking spaces? More specifically, will a plan to slash public spots along Pacific Coast Highway's "Blood Alley" safeguard pedestrians or just buffer billionaires' estates? Gary Baum takes [a close look.]( What else we're reading... — "The algorithms behind Moana's gorgeously animated ocean." Adrienne LaFrance dissects Disney's program "Splash — a companion to Matterhorn, which was used to create the snow in Frozen — to help automate the way the water would behave." [[The Atlantic](] — "It’s a lucrative time for entertainment studios, but competitive, too." Sahil Patel writes: "From Facebook to Go90, a growing number of companies are seeking entertainment content. But will the good times for digital studios last?" [[Digiday](] — "TV has hit peak WTF." Brian Rafferty writes: "Twitter and Facebook have made it possible for us to lob our opinions as soon the closing credits roll, but they’ve also made it tough to become giddily, utterly caught in the grasp of an immersive piece of art." [[Wired](] — "How Twitter is being gamed to feed misinformation." Farhad Manjoo's column: "lots of people in the media, not to mention many news consumers, don’t quite understand how it works." [[The New York Times](] — "Hollywood is fighting billionaire Sean Parker's plan." Jason Guerrasio checks in on The Screening Room: "it has gotten little traction because of competition, the industry's naiveté." [[Business Insider](] — "Which of L.A.'s top sushi restaurants mislabel more than half their fish?" Peter Flax tested samples of five fish species from eight spots (including Sugarfish, Hamasaku and Katsuya) and found that 60 percent of specimens didn't match what was [listed on the menu.]( Today's Birthdays: Tom Holland, 21, Amy Schumer, 36, Sarah Wayne Callies, 40, Alanis Morissette, 43, Heidi Klum, 44, Teri Polo, 48, Morgan Freeman, 80. Follow The News Is this e-mail not displaying correctly? [View it in your browser.]( ©2017 The Hollywood Reporter. 5700 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90036 All rights reserved. [Unsubscribe]( | [Manage Preferences]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Terms of Use]( June 1, 2017