Critics Choice Awards Coverage; 'Avatar 2' Leads MLK Weekend; 'Last of Us' Showrunner Talks Reality of Fungus Threat; Kore-eda on Exploring Geisha World for Netflix Series

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( January 16, 2023 What's news: Italian screen icon Gina Lollobrigida has died. Syfy renews Chucky and Reginald the Vampire. Richard E. Grant will host the BAFTAs. Maude Apatow will star in the Little Shop of Horrors revival on Broadway. — [Abid Rahman]( Critics Choice Awards 2023 ►2 Daniels triumph. The 28th annual Critics Choice Awards were handed out Sunday night. Everything Everywhere All at Once was named best picture and picked up four other awards. On the TV side, nominee-leading Abbott Elementary was named best comedy series. Better Call Saul won best drama series, while The Dropout was named best limited series. [The winners.]( —5 key takeaways. How much should Oscar-watchers read into the results of Critics Choice Awards? THR's executive editor of awards Scott Feinberg dissects Sunday night's ceremony and what it all means for the race for the Academy Awards. [The analysis.]( —9 things you missed. From the most social celebs (Cate Blanchett and Julia Roberts) to the growing RRR fandom and stars' award season hacks, THR's [Kirsten Chuba]( was in the room to pick up the biggest moments that didn't make it on air. [The story.]( —15 best-dressed stars. Dramatic details were key to the style of the A-list attendees of the Critics Choice Awards. Angela Bassett brought the drama in a black velvet Christian Siriano gown, while Aubrey Plaza and Thuso Mbedu sparkled in custom Louis Vuitton. [The looks.]( More from the Critics Choice Awards... —Chelsea Handler [mocks James Corden’s restaurant controversy during monologue]( —Brendan Fraser [gets emotional accepting best actor honor for The Whale]( —Seth Rogen [roasts telecast for presenting two winners at once]( 'Avatar 2' Leads MLK Weekend, 'Otto' Beats 'Plane' ►Encouraging signs. Marc Forster’s dramedy A Man Called Otto — starring Tom Hanks — did solid business at the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday box office in a much-needed win for adult-skewing movies. The Sony release, playing in 3,802 theaters, opened to approximately $15m over the long weekend, enough to beat new wide offering Plane, an action pic starring Gerard Butler. Otto is expanding nationwide after starting out in select theaters at the year-end box office. It earned an A Cinemascore on top of strong reviews. Plane, from Lionsgate, is projected to gross $11.6m for the four days from 3,023 cinemas. The movie, earning a B+ CinemaScore from moviegoers, is coming in ahead of expectations. THR's [Pamela McClintock]( writes that both Otto and Plane are drawing most of their strength from consumers over the age of 45. The two movies are looking at fourth and fifth-place finishes. Holding at No. 1 is Avatar: The Way of Water, which is eyeing a four-day holiday gross of $38.5m-plus from 4,045 cinemas. The sequel will finish Monday with a domestic total in the $570m range. [The box office report.]( Gina Lollobrigida 1927 - 2023 ►"She makes Marilyn Monroe look like Shirley Temple." Gina Lollobrigida, the Italian film sensation whose exotic charms and dark-haired beauty made her an international sex symbol of postwar cinema, has died, Italian news agency ANSA reported on Monday. She was 95. Among her most well-known English-language roles were the films Buona Sera, Mrs. Campbell, Trapeze, Never So Few, Beat the Devil and Solomon and Sheba. [The obituary.]( —What a piece of work is man! Richard E. Grant is set to host the BAFTA film awards for the first time. The star, who was BAFTA and Oscar-nominated for his supporting role in 2018’s Can You Ever Forgive Me, will oversee proceedings at the ceremony on Feb. 19 at London’s Royal Festival Hall, where the awards are moving to after several years at the Royal Albert Hall. [The story.]( —Making moves. Onyx Collective, the Disney-owned brand focused on programming from creators of color and other underrepresented voices, has picked up of a Gabourey Sidibe phone sex comedy, tentatively titled 1266, and a straight-to-series order for a multi-party documentary series about Black Twitter. The latter is based on Jason Parham’s widely read 2021 Wired article, “A People’s History of Black Twitter.” [The story.]( —Back for more. Syfy has picked up new seasons of two of its horror-inflected series. The NBCU cable network has renewed Chucky, the continuation of the long-running movie franchise, for a third season, and vampire comedy Reginald the Vampire for a second. Chucky also airs on sister channel USA Network. [The story.]( —Charged. Austrian actor Florian Teichtmeister, who stars alongside Vicky Krieps in Marie Kreutzer’s Oscar contender Corsage, has been charged with possession of child pornography. Teichtmeister intends to plead guilty and assume full responsibility, his lawyer said in a statement to Germany’s dpa news agency. [The story.]( 'Last of Us' Showrunner Talks Reality of Fungus Threat ►"It’s real." THR's [James Hibberd]( spoke to The Last of Us writer, producer and showrunner Craig Mazin about the HBO premiere's eerie prologue and how real the cordyceps fungus threat is to humans. Mazin also discusses that perfect song choice at the episode's end. Warning spoilers. [The story.]( —"We’re going to all the events." BAFTA's star-packed Tea Party returned on a rainy Saturday in L.A. with contenders Cate Blanchett, Michelle Williams and more. THR's nicest man [Chris Gardner]( spoke to Women Talking filmmaker Sarah Polley and Tár composer Hildur Guðnadóttir about embracing the chaos with their strategy to navigate awards season. [The interview.]( —"She’s a natural fit for Audrey." Maude Apatow is taking her talents from the small screen to Off-Broadway. The Euphoria actress will be making her New York stage debut in Michael Mayer’s Little Shop of Horrors revival. She will be appearing in the production from Feb. 7 to April 2 as Audrey, taking over the role from Tony Away winner Lena Hall. [The story.]( —All about the long game. In a guest column for THR, world champion triathlete-turned-writer Lesley Paterson channeled obsessive persistence into writing a new adaptation of All Quiet on the Western Front. [The column.]( —"I certainly would be open to that if there was a good idea." Bryan Cranston sounds ready to revisit Hal, his lovable patriarch from Fox’s Malcolm in the Middle. In a new interview, the Emmy-winning actor said he has heard talk about reviving the popular comedy, and he made it clear that he would enjoy exploring more from the series if the opportunity felt right. [The story.]( —"It wasn’t working for me. It wasn’t right for me." Lisa Rinna is addressing her Real Housewives of Beverly Hills exit for the first time since announcing her departure from the Bravo franchise. In a new interview, the Days of Our Lives alum got candid about her reason for leaving, saying, “I had a rough year.” [The story.]( Kore-eda on Exploring World of Geisha for Netflix Series ►"I realized I didn't have any idea how Geiko and Maiko actually live their lives in the present day." THR's Patrick Brzeski spoke to Japanese auteur Hirokazu Kore-eda about his first ever television series, Netflix's The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House. The Palme d'Or and Oscar winner revealed that he interviewed real-life working geisha in Kyoto as part of his preparation for the nine-episode show. [The interview.]( —Going big. Patrick also has the scoop on Netflix further boosting its Japanese live-action content slate with a multi-picture deal with Tokyo-based studio Babel Label. The partnership gives the streamer exclusive access to multiple titles produced and created by the production house for the next five years. [The story.]( In other news... —WBD, EBU [secure Olympics rights in Europe through 2032]( —Chrissy Teigen [gives birth, welcomes baby with John Legend]( —Angela Bassett [to be honored by Make-Up Artists and Hair Stylists Guild]( —Meet [Miami and Palm Beach’s real estate rising stars of 2023]( —Why [Coconut Grove is Miami’s hot neighborhood of the moment]( —Miami and Palm Beach’s [top 25 real estate agents and how they cater to the stars]( —[Al Brown]( The Wire and Commander in Chief actor, dies at 83 What else we're reading... —Alex Heath plays the guessing game of who will be the next CEO of Twitter [[Verge]( —Alaina Demopoulos talks to robot ethicists on how long we have to wait for M3GAN to become reality [[Guardian]( —Suzy Exposito has the background on Shakira's much-talked about new diss that slams her cheating ex, the Spanish soccer star Gerard Piqué [[LAT]( —With recent releases like Plane, Beast and Missing, Fletcher Peters asks when and why did movie titles become so blunt [[Daily Beast]( —Rory Satran looks into "the silver wave" in the modelling industry that has led to sky-high demand for women models in their 60s, 70s, 80s and even 90s [[WSJ]( Today... Today's birthdays: John Carpenter (75), Sade (64), Lin-Manuel Miranda (43), Julie Ann Emery (48), Marwan Kenzari (40), Yvonne Zima (34), Richard T. Jones (51), Jake Epstein (36), Ricardo Darín (66), Debbie Allen (73), Stephanie Sy (46), Sidharth Malhotra (38), Kate Moss (49), Shaun Benson (47), Keong Sim (54), [Kabir Bedi]( (77), Mark Tinker (72), Atticus Ross (55), Garth Ennis (53) 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. Copyright © 2023 The Hollywood Reporter, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media, LLC. 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