James Gunn Writing Superman Movie; Harry Accuses William in Netflix Doc; 'God of War' TV Series a Go at Amazon; THR Critics' Best TV Shows of 2022

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( December 15, 2022 What's news: Henry Cavill says goodbye to Superman. Avatar 2 tracking to open between $450m to $550m at the global box office. HBO Max renews The Sex Lives of College Girls. Reese Witherspoon to star in Amazon's cheerleader comedy series. Tyler Perry to make a WWII film for Netflix. — [Abid Rahman]( James Gunn Writing Superman Movie ►Dream project. James Gunn is making his first big move at DC and will pen a Superman movie. The project will focus on the younger years of the hero, and thus will be played by a new actor rather than Superman veteran Henry Cavill. At this stage, Gunn is merely writing the script, though he could potentially direct depending on where his services are needed at DC Studios, according to insiders. [The story.]( —"This news isn’t the easiest." Not long after news broke about Gunn's planned Superman movie, Cavill took to social media to confirm he was hanging up the cape for good. The Brit actor, who appeared as Superman in a cameo in Black Adam after not having played the hero since 2017’s Justice League, explained that his post from earlier in the year declaring that he would return as Superman in the DCEU was made prior to WBD hiring Gunn and Peter Safran to oversee DC Studios. [The story.]( —Another $800m to $1b in writeoffs. Amid the drama at DC, WBD revealed it was taking a bigger writeoff on content and development than it initially anticipated. In a securities filing Wednesday, WBD said it now expects to take a writeoffs and impairments charge of $2.8b to $3.5b, up from the $2b to $2.5b it projected in October. In recent weeks the company has canceled or pulled from its streaming services several titles, including Love Life, Minx, Westworld and The Nevers. [The story.]( Princes at War: Harry Accuses William in Netflix Doc ►"It was terrifying to have my brother scream and shout at me." After a rather underwhelming first three episodes, the second part of Netflix's docuseries Harry & Meghan drops a number of bombshells. Among the more incendiary revelations, Prince Harry says that Prince William screamed at him for his plan to leave the royal family and accused his brother’s press team of planting damaging stories about the Sussexes to deflect attention from scandals linked to the Cambridges. [The recap.]( —Cameron to the rescue. Hollywood and worried theater owners are counting on Avatar: The Way of Water to close out 2022 in grand fashion after a tough fall season. THR's [Pamela McClintock]( writes that if tracking is correct, The Way of Water should score a domestic debut of $150m to $175m, and $450m to $550m globally. One challenge: The film’s running time is a hefty three hours and 12 minutes, meaning fewer showtimes, but at the same time it faces almost no competition. [The box office report.]( —Back for more. HBO Max has picked up a third season of The Sex Lives of College Girls, the comedy series from creators Mindy Kaling and Justin Noble. The renewal comes just ahead of the show’s second season finale; the final two episodes dropped today. Detailed viewing data isn’t available, but HBO Max says the series has been the top original show on the streamer since its Nov. 17 premiere. [The story.]( —Globes golden boy. THR's nicest man [Chris Gardner]( has the scoop on Eddie Murphy receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the 80th Golden Globe Awards. Murphy, a six-time Golden Globe nominee, picked up one trophy in 2007 for his critically acclaimed turn in the movie musical Dreamgirls. He snagged noms for 48 Hrs., Trading Places, Beverly Hills Cop, The Nutty Professor and, more recently, for Dolemite Is My Name. The selection is made by the HFPA’s board of directors. [The story.]( —Mixed results. GLAAD has released its 10th Studio Responsibility Index, an annual study that tracks “the quantity, quality and diversity” of LGBTQ characters in films released in a calendar year by seven distributors. The 2021 report found that of the 77 films theatrically released by studios last year, 16, or 20.8 percent, contained LGBTQ characters. However, there was a decline in lesbian representation and the racial diversity of LGBTQ characters. [The report.]( —Update. Jurors in Harvey Weinstein’s rape trial have not reached a verdict on the ninth day of considering the case. They won’t deliberate on Thursday or Friday. The jury has requested for testimony to be read back on Monday, when it will resume deliberations. It’s unknown whose testimony will be heard. [The story.]( Stephen "tWitch" Boss 1982 - 2022 ►"Stephen lit up every room he stepped into." Stephen “tWitch” Boss, the beloved DJ-turned-executive producer who helped get the audience to their feet for nine years on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and who got his big break on So You Think You Can Dance, has died at 40. The dancer, choreographer, actor and producer died by suicide on Tuesday, a rep confirmed. [The obituary.]( —"tWitch greeted the world every day with a beautiful smile that was a direct reflection of his beautiful heart." Ellen exec producer Andy Lassner, Questlove, Paula Abdul and Kerry Washington were among those in Hollywood’s entertainment, music and dance communities sharing their remembrances and tributes to tWitch on Wednesday. [The reaction.]( 'God of War' TV Series a Go at Amazon ►Kratos heads to the small screen. Amazon’s Prime Video has greenlit a series based on the award-winning PlayStation game God of War. The Wheel of Time’s Rafe Judkins will serve as showrunner on the adaptation, and Oscar nominees Mark Fergus and Hawk Ostby (Children of Men, Iron Man, The Expanse) are writing and executive producing with Judkins. Sony Pictures Television and Amazon Studios are producing in association with PlayStation Productions. [The story.]( —Goooooooooooo Amazon! Reese Witherspoon will star in and executive produce a comedy series set in the cheerleading world for Amazon’s Prime Video. The streamer outbid multiple other outlets for the project, titled All Stars, by handing out a two-season, straight-to-series order. Witherspoon and Lauren Neustadter’s Hello Sunshine banner will produce the series, which comes from Aline Brosh McKenna (Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, The Devil Wears Prada). [The story.]( —Early look. The Berlin International Film Festival has unveiled the first films selected to run in its 2023 edition of the Panorama and Generation sidebars. The lineups include films featuring Willem Dafoe, Alicia Silverstone and Sydney Sweeney and a broad geographical range, with features from Ukraine, Yemen and Iran, among others. [The lineup.]( —🏆 Critics' faves 🏆 Everything Everywhere All at Once led the film nominations for the 28th annual Critics Choice Awards. Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's film earned 14 nominations. Steven Spielberg's The Fabelmans followed with 11 nominations, and Damien Chazelle’s Babylon and Martin McDonagh’s The Banshees of Inisherin both scored nine nominations each. [The nominees.]( —Compelling story. Tyler Perry has set his next feature film for Netflix. The filmmaker will tackle the story of the 6888th battalion, the only all-Black, all-female battalion in the World War II effort. Perry penned the project, titled Six Triple Eight, which is based on an article by Kevin M. Hymel published in WWII History Magazine. [The story.]( Netflix's 'The Decameron' Sets Cast ►🎭 It’s a dramedy 🎭 Netflix has found the main cast for its series The Decameron, set in 14th century Italy at the time of the bubonic plague pandemic known as the Black Death. The series, from creator/showrunner Kathleen Jordan and executive producer Jenji Kohan, will star Tony Hale, Zosia Mamet, Tanya Reynolds, Amar Chadha-Patel, Leila Farzad, Lou Gala, Karan Gill, Saorise-Monica Jackson, Douggie McMeekin and Jessica Plummer. [The story.]( —Love it, actually. Melissa McCarthy is set to star in an untitled New York Christmas comedy movie from Universal Pictures and Working Title for Peacock. Richard Curtis will write the screenplay and Sam Boyd will direct the film. The fairy-tale comedy will follow a workaholic man who enlists the help of a magical genie to help win his family back before Christmas. [The story.]( —Building for the future. Fox has renewed its Will Arnett-hosted competition series Lego Masters for a fourth season. Fox has also picked up a second edition of the short-run spinoff Celebrity Holiday Bricktacular ahead of its Dec. 19 premiere. Both are set to air in the 2023-24 season. [The story.]( —Expanded. A year and a half after signing a lucrative deal with Amazon, SmartLess co-hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett and their newly formed media company are rolling out offerings from Jameela Jamil, Rob Corddry, Amy Schneider, Rex Chapman, Sean Hayes and Eric McCormack. Their slate, a collection of original podcasts made in collaboration with Wondery and Amazon Music, shares a comedic DNA with flagship SmartLess. [The story.]( —Contracted. Spotify has canceled at least six of its live audio shows as part of its latest round of programming cuts. Included in the cancellations are Deux Me After Dark, Doughboys: Snack Pack, The Movie Buff, A Gay in the Life, Taylor Talk and Lorem Life. Spotify, which has begun following a cancelation model similar to TV programming, cut 11 shows from Gimlet and Parcast earlier this year. [The story.]( THR Critics' 10 Best TV Shows of 2022 ►"Many of the series on my list capture TV’s evolving anything-can-happen ethos." As we hurtle towards the end of the year, THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( had the agonizing task of narrowing his favorite television of 2022 into a lean list of 10. A risk-taking Disney series, two urgently relevant docs, an epic literary adaptation and a trio of first-rate final seasons were among Dan's picks for the year. [Dan's list.]( —"These series transported us beyond the here and now." THR TV critic [Angie Han]( joins in the Best Of fun, her picks include a searing British medical drama, a poignant Canadian coming-of-ager, an unclassifiable HBO experiment and the latest creation from Issa Rae. [Angie's list.]( In other news... —Austin Butler [gets monstrous transformation in Saturday Night Live promo]( —65 trailer pits [Adam Driver against dinosaurs after space mission gone wrong]( —Scream 6 [trailer sees Ghostface make New York Subway his murderous playground]( —Surviving R. Kelly: The Final Chapter [trailer chronicles survivor testimony and final verdict]( —2023 iHeartRadio Podcast Awards: [Full list of nominees]( —Comedian [Matt Rife signs with CAA]( —Animation label Holler Studios [signs with CAA]( —Amy Poehler [joins Board of Directors at National Comedy Center]( What else we're reading... —Chris Murphy looks at what Minx, Love Life and Westworld leaving HBO Max means for TV [[VF]( —Janelle Zara on how Netflix’s Wednesday became a pop culture phenomenon [[Guardian]( —Jon Caramanica has a piece on how chart music today like Saucy Santana's "Booty" is deliberately and cynically aping the hits of the recent past [[NYT]( —Sara Morrison opines that maybe Trump was right about TikTok [[Vox]( —David Roth makes the compelling case that Elon Musk is the worst poster of all time, and we should all stop wondering about his politics [[Defector]( Today... ...in 1974, Gene Wilder’s Young Frankenstein, now recognized as an essential part of the Mel Brooks canon, first hit theaters. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Lee Jung-jae (50), Don Johnson (73), Charlie Cox (40), [Alana Haim]( (31), Julie Taymor (70), Adam Brody (43), Michelle Dockery (41), Nichole Sakura (33), Ralph Ineson (53), Brendan Fletcher (41), Paul Kaye (58), Helen Slater (59), Maude Apatow (25), Stefania LaVie Owen (25), Stuart Townsend (50), Camilla Luddington (39), P.J. Byrne (48), Geoff Stults (45), John Lee Hancock (66), Garrett Wang (54), Alex Cox (68), Reginald Hudlin (61), Andrea Di Stefano (50), David Niven Jr. (80) Gabrielle Beaumont, the British director who broke ground for women in Hollywood by helming episodes of series including M*A*S*H, The Waltons, Hill Street Blues and Dynasty during her five-decade career, has died. She was 80. [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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