THR's Actor Roundtable; What's Driving TV's Un-Renewal Wave; Coppola's 'Megalopolis' in Peril; Berlanti Inks Megadeal With WBD; 'The Last of Us' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( January 10, 2023 What's news: It's magazine day! This week's cover stars are actors Austin Butler, Colin Farrell, Brendan Fraser, Jeremy Pope, Ke Huy Quan and Adam Sandler. Paul Mescal will star in Merry We Roll Along. Paramount+ has scrapped the Workaholics movie. Peacock has renewed Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin. Former Bachelor host Chris Harrison has spoken publicly for the first time since his exit. — [Abid Rahman]( THR's Actor Roundtable ►On the cover. THR's award-winning Roundtable series moves on to the actors. Executive awards editor Scott Feinberg sat down with this season’s Oscar contenders Austin Butler, Colin Farrell, Brendan Fraser, Jeremy Pope, Ke Huy Quan and Adam Sandler who open up about returning to acting after grief and disappointment and how to stay hungry over the course of a long career. [The roundtable.]( —🎭 Man of the moment... and future moments 🎭 Paul Mescal is replacing Blake Jenner in the decade-spanning production of the movie musical of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along. Richard Linklater will be directing the project, which is being backed by Blumhouse, and will shoot over a 20-year span. The director shot his Oscar-winning Boyhood over 12 years. [The story.]( —"Nothing can replace the ability to connect, observe, and create with peers that comes from being physically together." Hybrid employees at Disney must return to the office four days a week starting March 1, according to a new memo from CEO Bob Iger. In a memo to employees Monday, Iger emphasized his belief in the benefit of working together in person. This is one of several big workplace changes Iger is expected to make since returning to lead the company in November. [The story.]( —Pushing back. Pippo Zeffirelli, the son of the late Italian director Franco Zeffirelli, has publicly criticized the two lead actors of his father’s 1968 Shakespeare adaptation Romeo and Juliet for their decision to sue the film’s producer, Paramount Pictures, for child abuse over a nude scene in the movie. [The story.]( Berlanti Inks New TV Megadeal With WBD ►🤝 Overall deal extension 🤝 Greg Berlanti will remain at Warner Bros. Television through 2027. The new pact — it’s not an extension of his previous deal that expires in 2024 — is described as a partnership that will see Berlanti Productions serve as a mini-studio within the larger WBTV Group. The new deal was spearheaded by CAA, which signed the megaproducer in December following a 15-year run with WME. The agreement is for TV only, Berlanti continues to have a film pact with Netflix. [The story.]( —Old school. THR's [Lesley Goldberg]( goes inside Berlanti's new WBD deal, writing that the super-producer's pact hearkens back to the pre-streaming days and makes the long tail of his programming a key metric of success. [The analysis.]( What's Driving TV's Un-Renewal Wave ►"We’re coming from an irrational time of overspending." WBD took a lot of flak in 2022 for axing finished movies and series and removing some legacy titles from HBO Max. As it turns out, WBD may have been ahead of the curve as a wave of cost-cutting moves hit other companies, including Disney to AMC Networks. THR's [Rick Porter]( writes that tax write-offs and a hangover from the streaming era's Wild West days are behind the scrapping of renewed or completed works. [The analysis.]( —"We are deeply butt hurt about this decision." The Workaholics movie has been scrapped at Paramount+ just five weeks before filming was slated to begin. Star and co-writer Adam DeVine shared the news Monday on Instagram, expressing frustration over the reasoning for Paramount+'s decision, adding that the project was being shopped to other streamers. [The story.]( —Wunderbar! In better news for Adam DeVine, Peacock has picked up a second season of the comedy series Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin. The show follows DeVine's Pitch Perfect character, Bumper Allen, as he moves to Germany to revive his music career. NBCU says Bumper in Berlin is Peacock’s top comedy series to date, though per usual with streaming services, it did not release any viewing data. [The story.]( —Expiration looms. The Directors Guild is waiting for the moment “when we believe we have the most leverage to win” to begin official 2023 contract negotiations with studios and streamers, two union leaders tell THR's [Katie Kilkenny](. The Guild updated its members on Monday that bargaining dates for their core film and television contract have not yet been scheduled. Both the DGA’s Basic Agreement and Freelance Live and Tape Television Agreement expire on June 30, 2023. [The story.]( Coppola's 'Megalopolis' in Peril ►Apocalypse Now vibes. THR's [Kim Masters]( Scott Feinberg and [Aaron Couch]( report that Francis Ford Coppola’s latest movie, the sci-fi-tinged Megalopolis, has descended into chaos. The movie, currently halfway through shooting in Atlanta, has in the last week lost key creative talent including its production designer and supervising art director. That’s on top of losing the entire visual effects team in the first part of December. [The story.]( —🤝 Exclusive content deal 🤝 THR's business editor [Georg Szalai]( has the scoop on SkyShowtime, the streaming joint venture of Comcast and Paramount Global, striking a deal with WBD for exclusive rights across all of Europe to 21 HBO Max European originals. The agreement covers 168 episodes, or more than 150 hours, of local original scripted programming, including three series previously not available anywhere that will get their world premiere as SkyShowtime originals in 2023. [The story.]( —"Everybody was talking about me in this moment, and I wasn't speaking." Chris Harrison is offering his side of the story surrounding his public exit from The Bachelor franchise. With the launch of his new iHeart podcast The Most Dramatic Podcast Ever … With Chris Harrison, the TV personality speaks for the first time about his split from the show. [The story.]( —"I don’t license my music to politicians, especially someone as divisive and hateful as this one." Dr. Dre has spoken out against the use of his song "Still DRE" in a promo video by the Republican politician Marjorie Taylor Greene to celebrate her role in electing fellow GOP lawmaker Kevin McCarthy as speaker of the House. The video has since been removed from Twitter "in response to a report from the copyright owner." [The story.]( The Golden Globes Auditions for Its Future ►Is Hollywood ready to forgive and forget? Tonight's Golden Globes telecast, airing for its final year under its contract with NBC, tries a return to fun and glamor after being taken off the air in 2022 following a series of scandals. THR's awards editor Scott Feinberg wonders what to expect from the ceremony. [The analysis.]( —🏆 Select group 🏆 Mandy Walker’s bold lensing of Baz Luhrmann’s Elvis made her the third woman to ever be nominated in the feature category of the American Society of Cinematographers’ ASC Awards. The feature nominees in the competitive 37th ASC Awards race are Walker, Roger Deakins (Empire of Light), Greig Fraser (The Batman), Darius Khondji (Bardo) and Claudio Miranda (Top Gun: Maverick). [The nominees.]( —🏆 Sounds good 🏆 With a trio of nominations, Everything Everywhere All At Once leads the feature competition of the 70th Motion Picture Sound Editors’ Golden Reel Awards. Close behind with two nominations apiece are The Batman, Elvis, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio, Moonage Daydream and Top Gun: Maverick. [The nominees.]( TV Review: 'The Last of Us' ►"Viewers won't be spored to death by this effectively frightful adaptation." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( reviews HBO's The Last of Us. Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann tackle the post-apocalyptic video game about survivors of an infection that's wiped out much of humanity, starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. [The review.]( In other news... —New [trailer for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania shows dynasty Paul Rudd is up against]( —Signal Podcast Awards: [HBO Max, Netflix among inaugural winners]( —China’s sci-fi blockbuster [The Wandering Earth 2 to get North American release]( —Donnie Yen [signs with APA]( —AMC Networks duo [Ed Carroll, Lisa Schwartz join Kino Lorber in top jobs]( —[Rick Tuber]( Emmy-winning film editor, dies at 69 —[Quinn Redeker]( actor on Days of Our Lives and The Young and the Restless, dies at 86 What else we're reading... —Mary Mcnamara cannot believe the Golden Globes are back and wonders how we let that happen [[LAT]( —Cristina Criddle and Arjun Neil Alim report that TikTok is undercutting its social media rivals with cheap ads in the battle for growth [[FT]( —Wonderful Anthony Breznican piece on Pale Blue Eye actor Harry Melling, who has really hit his stride playing heartbreaking and disturbing roles [[VF]( —Coleman Spilde posits that RuPaul’s Drag Race matters now more than ever [[Daily Beast]( —After the critical success of Interview With the Vampire, Alison Herman writes that AMC's Anne Rice expanded universe has been dragged down by Mayfair Witches [[Ringer]( Today... ...in 1999 at 9 p.m., America met Tony Soprano as HBO debuted The Sopranos. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: [Jemaine Clement]( (49), Walter Hill (81), Gurinder Chadha (63), Rod Stewart (78), Brandon Cronenberg (43), Reneé Rapp (23), Sarah Shahi (43), William Sanderson (79), Hrithik Roshan (49), Emily Meade (34), Dani Kind (43), Evan Handler (62), Cash Warren (44), Fran Walsh (64), Kelly Marcel (49), Kathleen Bradley (72), Carrie Reichenbach (43), Reid Carolin (41), Pat Benatar (70), Shawn Colvin (67) Mike Hill, the film editor who worked on 22 consecutive Ron Howard features, winning an Oscar for his work on Apollo 13 and earning nominations for A Beautiful Mind, Cinderella Man and Frost/Nixon, has died. He was 73. [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. 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