Charlize Theron on Ambition, Motherhood and Paying Her Dues; The "Double-Edged Sword" of Telling Black History in Film; 'Avatar 2' First Critic Reactions; Recession Fears Dent Hollywood's Streaming Ambitions

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( December 07, 2022 What's news: It's magazine day! This week's cover star is award-winning actress and activist Charlize Theron. Avatar 2 first reactions laud sequel. The Academy's revenues are up. Hugh Grant joins HBO's The Palace. Netflix orders American Primeval. KPOP to end on Broadway. — [Abid Rahman]( Charlize Theron: "I Don’t Need to Be an Enigma" ►On the cover. Charlize Theron is being honored with THR's Sherry Lansing Leadership Award for 2022. The Oscar-winning actress, producer and activist spoke to THR's [Lacey Rose]( about ambition, motherhood, double standards and paying her dues. The actress explains why she loves "the backbreaking part" of her job but offers some choice words (154 of them, in fact) for the pretenses of stardom: "Let’s break down all the walls so that we can just get down to business." [The cover story.]( The "Double-Edged Sword" of Telling Black History in Film ►"These are films dramatizing moments that for some are traumatic." Prestige films that center the Black experience or feature predominantly Black casts — like this year’s Devotion, Emancipation and Till, plus previous Oscar winners Judas and the Black Messiah, Selma and 12 Years a Slave — have been historical narratives repackaged and reanimated for modern audiences. THR's [Evan Nicole Brown]( writes that films where protagonists must overcome hardship may risk a limited view of the Black experience, but they also stand as a supplement to an education system under fire. [The analysis.]( —"I believe there is no greater or more important task than ensuring the safety and well-being of our children." Former President Barack Obama, Disney CEO Bob Iger and Matthew McConaughey joined together in New York Tuesday to speak about gun violence on the 10th anniversary of the school shooting in Sandy Hook. Speaking at the Sandy Hook Promise Benefit, Iger said preventing shootings before they happen “should be among our highest priorities.” [The story.]( —🎭 The Hughnaissance continues 🎭 Hugh Grant has been cast in HBO's limited series The Palace, starring Kate Winslet. The series comes from Succession writer and executive producer Will Tracy. Grant joins a cast that also includes Matthias Schoenaerts and Andrea Riseborough. The Palace chronicles a year inside an authoritarian regime as it begins to unravel. [The story.]( —Heading west. Netflix has handed out a six-episode, straight-to-series order for American Primeval, a limited drama that is set to star Taylor Kitch from exec producers Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights) and Eric Newman (Narcos). An ensemble drama, the series is described as a "raw, adventurous exploration of the birth of the American West." [The story.]( —Controversy is profitable. This year’s Oscars broadcast on ABC saw its TV ratings rise considerably from 2021, and financial statements from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences show that revenue from the event also rose year-over-year. Revenue from the Academy Awards and “related activities” was $137.1m in fiscal 2022 (which ended June 30), up nearly $20m from 2021, when it had revenue of $117.7m. [The story.]( 'Avatar 2' First Reactions ►"Mesmerizing, visual masterpiece." Following Avatar: The Way of Water's London premiere on Tuesday, the first press reactions to the film are in, and the response has been largely gushing. The long-awaited sequel to director James Cameron’s fantasy epic is being called better than the 2009 original in both its story and its cutting-edge visual effects. Full critic reviews drop on Dec. 13. [The early reaction.]( —History repeats itself. Regarding the premiere, it was almost 13 years to the day that Cameron brought his blue aliens to London for the Avatar world premiere. The director, producer Jon Landau and entire cast were on hand to help give the sci-fi epic a major push. Pandora returnees Zoe Saldaña, Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang were present on the aquamarine-colored carpet, as were Na’vi newcomers Kate Winslet, Jack Champion, Jamie Flatters, Bailey Bass and Trinity Bliss. [The premiere.]( —The key to box office riches. During his promo tour for Avatar 2, Cameron has mentioned repeatedly that his sequel will need to be among the top grossing movies in box office history — likely the $2b club — to succeed. THR's Patrick Brzeski writes that despite recent COVID restrictions in China, the film's coveted theatrical release in the country may decide how big the global box office total will be. [The analysis.]( Recession Fears Dent Hollywood's Streaming Ambitions ►When the numbers don’t add up. With Wall Street having lost patience with streaming services, THR's [Alex Weprin]( and [Caitlin Huston]( write that executives are cutting costs and enacting hiring freezes as direct-to-consumer profits stay elusive for most. [The analysis.]( —"I am cheerfully passing the baguette on to someone else." Matt Lucas is leaving The Great British Bake Off after three seasons as co-host. The comedian announced his departure via social media Tuesday, explaining that it was tough for him to balance his various projects. Lucas joined the kitchen competition series, known in the U.S. as The Great British Baking Show, for season 11, alongside continuing co-host Noel Fielding and judges Paul Hollywood and Prue Leith. [The story.]( —📅 Asteroid hits 📅 Wes Anderson’s star-packed film Asteroid City will open at the specialty box office on June 16, 2023, before expanding into additional cinemas on June 23, Focus Features and Indian Paintbrush announced Tuesday. Focus will distribute the movie domestically; parent studio Universal will handle the film overseas. [The story.]( —🏆 The people have spoken 🏆 Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness took home the top award of the night at the 2022 People’s Choice Awards for best movie of the year. The Adam Project, Top Gun: Maverick and Don’t Worry Darling received prizes for top comedy, action and drama movies, respectively, with Stranger Things, Grey’s Anatomy and Never Have I Ever taking the event’s top television awards. [The winners.]( —🏆 Quinta's time 🏆 Abbott Elementary has topped the list of television nominees for the 2023 Critics Choice Awards, earning six nominations ahead of AMC’s Better Call Saul with five. Other notable nominees include Hulu’s Prey and The Roku Channel’s Weird: The Weird Al Yankovic Story. [The nominations.]( 'KPOP' to Close on Broadway ►Popped. KPOP, which broke ground on Broadway for its casting and representation of Korean culture, is closing just a few weeks after opening at the Circle in the Square. The musical, which originally premiered off-Broadway in 2017, will end its run on Dec. 11, the producers announced Tuesday. Producer Joey Parnes acknowledged that the show had struggled to attract early audiences. KPOP‘s closure follows 44 previews and 17 regular performances. [The story.]( —Stomped. Stomp, the award-winning percussion, rhythm and comedy production created by Steve McNicholas and Luke Cresswell, will take its final off-Broadway bow this winter. On Tuesday, producers announced the long-running show would close, with its final performance at the Orpheum Theatre set for Jan. 8, 2023. The closing is “due to declining ticket sales,” a spokesperson for the production told THR. [The story.]( —A mega hit. Netflix’s Wednesday broke another viewing record in its second week on the streamer. After scoring the most viewing time in a single week for an English-language series on Netflix, Wednesday broke its own mark in the week of Nov. 28-Dec. 4, scoring 411.29m hours of viewing worldwide, according to the company’s internal measurement. That marks the first time any English-language series has topped 400m hours in a week. [The story.]( —"I felt like I’d been hit by a car and that a little goblin had been let loose in my throat." Wednesday star Jenna Ortega has revealed that the day she filmed the now-iconic dance scene on the Netflix hit, she woke up with cold symptoms that resembled COVID. In a new interview, Ortega says she took a test, and while waiting for the results, shot the dance she had choreographed herself. The test subsequently proved to be positive and she was removed from the production. [The story.]( Study: Immigrant Representation on TV is Mixed ►Painfully slow progress. Representation of immigrant characters continues to be a work in progress, according to the third study between the immigrant culture change organization Define American and the USC Norman Lear Center’s Media Impact Project. Over the past two television seasons, representation of Black and Asian Pacific Islander immigrant characters at least doubled, but that coincided with a drop in Latino representation. [The study.]( In other news... —Women Talking star [Jessie Buckley to be honored at Oscar Wilde Awards]( —80 for Brady [to open Palm Springs International Film Festival]( —Sandra Stern [promoted at Lionsgate TV]( —IDA executive director [Rick Pérez to step down]( —Amblin Partners [sets Michelle Brattson to lead physical production]( —Lily James [signs with CAA]( —Terrifier 2 filmmaker [Damien Leone signs with WME]( —Why [top L.A. real estate agents are striking out to form new brokerages]( What else we're reading... —A great Simran Hans interview with Willow star Warwick Davis on coming back to one of his most famous roles [[NYT]( —Andrew Webster writes that the third and final season of HBO's His Dark Materials is its most ambitious yet [[Verge]( —With Donald Trump, Elon Musk and Kanye Ye West dominating the headlines, Molly Jong-Fast writes that the news cycle is trapped in a narcissist vortex [[VF]( —Julissa James looks at how the '90s Homies figurine has created a style archive for L.A. that has transcended time and space [[LAT]( —Phil McNulty writes that Cristiano Ronaldo has been reduced to a role of a superstar nobody wants [[BBC]( Today... ...in 2003, Miramax held the premiere for Anthony Minghella’s Civil War epic Cold Mountain in Los Angeles. The drama went on to earn seven Oscar nominations at the 76th Academy Awards, winning in the best supporting actress category for Renée Zellweger’s performance. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Ellen Burstyn (90), Jeffrey Wright (57), Tom Waits (73), [Caleb Landry Jones]( (33), Nicholas Hoult (33), Emily Browning (34), Jennifer Carpenter (43), Jack Huston (40), C. Thomas Howell (57), Kristofer Hivju (44), Larry Hankin (85), Mark Duplass (46), Shiri Appleby (44), Mark Rolston (66), Jeff Nichols (44), Sara Bareilles (43), Jennifer Field (41), Ayako Fujitani (43), Jason Winer (50) Janis Hunter Gaye, the second wife of Motown legend Marvin Gaye and the inspiration for several of his songs, died Saturday of an undisclosed cause at her home in Rhode Island, her family announced. She was 66. [The obituary.]( Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at [tips@thr.com](mailto:tips@thr.com?subject=). This email was sent to {EMAIL} by Penske Media Corporation. 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