'Glass Onion' Lands With a Splash on Netflix; 'A Man Called Otto' Review; Whoopi Goldberg Denies "Doubling Down" on Holocaust Comments; 'White Lotus' Star on Life Changing Role

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( December 28, 2022 What's news: Ryan Seacrest has backed CNN's booze ban for their NYE coverage. AMC Theaters chief Adam Aron has called on the company's execs to accept a stock and pay freeze. NBC has picked up the drama series The Irrational. Kim Kardashian addressed the backlash she faced following the infamous Balenciaga ad campaign. — [Abid Rahman]( 'Glass Onion' Lands With a Splash on Netflix ►Strategy paid off? Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, the Rian Johnson film that reignited the debate over the coexistence of theaters and streaming services, has become Netflix’s sixth-biggest film debut. Glass Onion was streamed 82.1m hours in the first three days since bowing Dec. 23, according to Netflix. That puts it behind Sandra Bullock’s The Unforgivable (85.86m hours) and The Gray Man, the pricey Ryan Gosling-Chris Evans feature that bowed to 88.55m hours in July. [The story.]( —"I am still as sorry now as I was then that I upset, hurt and angered people." Whoopi Goldberg says she never meant for her comments while doing press in London about Jewish identity and the Holocaust to appear as if she was “doubling down” on previous “hurtful” comments that resulted in her temporary suspension from ABC’s The View. In a statement to THR, Goldberg noted that her recent interview comments were an attempt to "convey to the reporter what I had said and why and attempted to recount that time." [The story.]( —"I do not want more when our shareholders are hurting." AMC Theatres CEO Adam Aron has called for a salary and stock pay freeze for himself and other top executives at the exhibition giant as the company looks to ride out the economic storm afflicting the theatrical movie business. Aron said he had asked between 15 and 20 executives to forego any increase to their cash salaries for 2023. [The story.]( 'White Lotus' Star on How Role Changed Her Life ►"It was all beyond my expectations." For THR, Gianmaria Tammaro spoke to Sabrina Impacciatore, who plays Valentina, the hotel manager in the second season of The White Lotus. The Italian actress, who was almost unknown outside of her own country before being cast in the Sicily-set season, discusses how playing Valentina has turned her life upside down. [The interview.]( —Bolstering its drama series lineup. NBC has picked up The Irrational, which stars The Flash alum Jesse L. Martin as a behavioral scientist who helps solve high-stakes problems. NBC ordered a pilot for the series as part of its development for this season, and Martin was cast in April, but it’s still to be determined if the show will air in 2022-23 or be held for next season. [The story.]( —✊ Third union incoming ✊ After two organizing successes in Wisconsin and New York, the Communication Workers of America is working with a third group of workers at video games giant Activision Blizzard to form a union. A broad swathe of workers at the Activision Blizzard-owned Proletariat studio in Boston is seeking to join the CWA, which previously organized video game workers at fellow subsidiaries Blizzard Albany and Raven Software. [The story.]( If Hollywood's a High School... ►Who’s in the drama club? The chess club? The hellfire club? While few industries are as routinely cliquey as the entertainment industry, 2022 created its own unique class of tribal subcultures and high-achieving inner circles (but don’t worry, darlings, you made the cut!). [The story.]( —"Viewers probably wish they would drink more." Ryan Seacrest is fully in support of CNN limiting alcohol consumption during its year-end broadcast. In a new interview, the host of ABC’s Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve said the ban on CNN’s correspondents and anchors imbibing during New Year’s Eve programming is a good decision. On CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live that aired Dec. 31, 2021, co-host Andy Cohen made a crack to Anderson Cooper about Seacrest’s show. [The story.]( —"This is a big moment for us." Beginning Jan. 2, the long-running PBS evening news program NewsHour will debut with new co-anchors Geoff Bennett and Amna Nawaz and a fresh approach. THR's [Alex Weprin]( spoke to Bennett and Nawaz, as well as NewsHour senior executive producer Sara Just, about their plans to reimagine the public news program for a new generation. [The interview.]( For the Oscar Contenders, Abandonment is Survival ►"The bittersweet relief of escaping from your dependents." THR critic [Robyn Bahr]( writes that several of this year’s awards contenders, from Women Talking to The Whale, challenge viewers with a complex task: to relate to, and have compassion for, those who leave behind the people they love — and are supposed to protect. [The analysis.]( —"I completely spoke out and gave my thoughts on child porn and completely denounced it." Kim Kardashian has addressed the backlash that surrounded her response to the controversial Balenciaga ad campaign. In a new interview, Kardashian spoke frankly about criticism she faced for her comments addressing the fashion brand’s holiday campaigns that featured children holding teddy bear bags dressed in what looked like bondage gear. [The story.]( —"I had a good mentor." José Andrés says he drew inspiration from his late friend Anthony Bourdain for his new Discovery+ travel show, José Andrés and Family in Spain. In a new interview, Andrés revealed that he followed Bourdain's example when it came to taking real-life moments and translating those for the audience. [The story.]( Film Review: 'A Man Called Otto' ►"Plucks your heartstrings effectively." THR film critic Frank Scheck reviews Marc Foster's A Man Called Otto. Tom Hanks plays the title role in this remake of the 2015 hit Swedish film A Man Called Ove about a curmudgeonly widower learning to embrace life again. [The review.]( In other news... —Where [to ring in NYE in Las Vegas]( —Walton Goggins [shares his favorite sparkling wines for New Year’s Eve]( —[Stephen Greif]( Blake’s 7 and The Crown actor, dies at 78 What else we're reading... —Ashley Carman looks at how hard it is to go viral on TikTok nowadays, and how much harder it is to make money when you do [[Bloomberg]( —Chris Murphy talks to Rian Johnson about the "arrival" scene in Glass Onion [[VF]( —Ryan Coogler and Black Panther co-writer Joe Robert Cole talk to Reggie Ugwu about the original plot for Wakanda Forever before Chadwick Boseman's death [[NYT]( —Zach Zimmerman goes on a pretty funny walking tour of the parts of Paris featured in Emily in Paris [[Vulture]( —Antonio G. Di Benedetto makes the case for "double wristing" — wearing a smartwatch and a traditional watch at the same time (not convinced myself) [[Verge]( Today... Today's birthdays: Denzel Washington (68), Jessie Buckley (33), Seth Meyers (49), Noomi Rapace (43), Maggie Smith (88), John Legend (44), Sienna Miller (41), Joe Manganiello (46), Elaine Hendrix (52), George Blagden (33), [André Holland]( (43), James Foley (69), Terri Garber (62), Jared Gilman (24), Miles Brown (18), Beau Garrett (40), Duncan Lacroix (53), Willow Bay (59) Edythe “Edie” Landau, the film producer behind the Oscar-nominated Long Day’s Journey Into Night, Hopscotch and The Deadly Game, and the mother of Avatar producer Jon Landau, has died. She was 95. [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. 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. 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