Bruce Willis' Family Announces Dementia Diagnosis; Disney Rethinks Franchise Output; 'Ant-Man 3' Star Jonathan Majors Talks Kang's Villainy; 'She Came to Me' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( February 17, 2023 What's news: M. Night Shyamalan has signed a first-look deal at WB. AMC Networks has hit 11.8m total streaming subscribers. HBO Max has picked up the Bad Robot drama Duster. Movies starring women of color hit a 16-year-high in 2022. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki is stepping down. — [Abid Rahman]( Bruce Willis' Family Announces "Painful" Dementia Diagnosis ►"While this is painful, it is a relief to finally have a clear diagnosis." The family of Bruce Willis issued a new statement on Thursday about the actor’s health, confirming that his condition has worsened, and he’s now facing frontotemporal dementia, which is hindering his ability to communicate. The news comes nearly a year after his family confirmed that Willis, 67, would be stepping away from acting due to an initial diagnosis of aphasia. [The story.]( —New date. Danny Masterson’s retrial on charges that he raped three women will start on April 11, a Los Angeles judge has ruled. The decision comes after a mistrial was declared in November after the jurors said they were “hopelessly deadlocked.” [The story.]( —🤝 First-look deal 🤝 After a long stint at Universal that helped reinvigorate his career, M. Night Shyamalan has found a new studio home. The filmmaker and his Blinding Edge Pictures have inked a multi-year, first-look deal with Warner Bros. The studio has already set a date for his next feature, Trap, which will open Aug. 2, 2024. Under the deal, Shyamalan will develop projects for WB and New Line, which recently acquired The Watchers, a feature that is to be written and directed by his daughter, Ishana Night Shyamalan. [The story.]( —Incremental gains. AMC Networks, the cable TV company behind such brands as AMC, IFC and Sundance TV, as well as streaming services AMC+, Acorn TV and Shudder, hit 11.8m streaming subscribers in Q4. That’s up from 11.1m paid subscribers at the end of Q3 of fiscal 2022 as streaming revenues rose 35 percent to $502m. Overall revenue jumped 20 percent to $965m, compared to a year-earlier $803.71m. [The results.]( Disney Rethinks Franchise Output ►How much is too much? After years of Marvel and Star Wars movies and shows inundating screens big and small, Disney is putting the brakes on the output of some of its biggest franchises and brands. THR's [Aaron Couch]( and [Borys Kit]( consider Disney chief Bob Iger's pledge to be "better at curating" releases and how this new fiscal discipline may impact an expansive Disney+ originals slate. [The analysis.]( —Not wasting any time. Borys reports that Zach Cregger, the filmmaker behind last year’s horror hit Barbarian, is attached to produce Occupant along with frequent partner Roy Lee and Scott Glassgold, who originated and developed the project. Occupant is described as a reverse haunted house story. It’s Cregger’s third project to be set up in as many weeks, highly unusual for a neophyte filmmaker. [The story.]( —Finally! HBO Max has picked up Duster, a 1970s-set drama from J.J. Abrams and LaToya Morgan. Love, Victor's Rachel Hilson and Josh Holloway, who worked with Abrams on Lost, head the cast. Duster is the first series to spring from a nine-figure film and TV deal Abrams’ Bad Robot company signed with WarnerMedia (now Warner Bros. Discovery) in 2019. [The story.]( —Fire up the Gran Torino! THR's [Rick Porter]( has the scoop on Fox developing an update of the 1970s cop show Starsky & Hutch which will feature two female characters in the title roles. Fox Entertainment president Michael Thorn said he expects to have at least two scripts from writers/showrunners Sam Sklaver (Prodigal Son) and Elizabeth Peterson (The Resident) before making a decision on a series. Sony Pictures Television and Fox Entertainment are producing. [The story.]( New Book Looks at 2017 Oscars Envelope Debacle ►"All of us had a stomachache that night." In the upcoming book Oscar Wars: A History of Hollywood in Gold, Sweat, and Tears, releasing Feb. 21, author Michael Schulman explores the history of Hollywood’s biggest night by deep diving into eleven different phenomena from the last 100 years. In an exclusive excerpt, Schulman re-investigates Envelopegate, that infamous 2017 incident when the wrong Best Picture winner was announced. [The excerpt.]( —"There aren’t a lot of nonbinary parts out there." The Crown's Emma Corrin says the backlash to announcing their gender identity was “quite a reality check” and is expressing openness to taking on male roles amid a lack of nonbinary characters in Hollywood. In a new interview, the recently announced Deadpool 3 star opened up about their experience coming out publicly as nonbinary — after updating their pronouns on social media — and the lack of opportunities currently available for nonbinary actors. [The story.]( —Opening strong. The premiere of Netflix's That ’90s Show racked up strong viewing numbers in the U.S., ranking second among all streaming titles according to Nielsen. Ginny & Georgia remained No. 1, and The Last of Us moved into the top 10. That ’90s Show, which premiered Jan. 19, had 1.59b minutes of viewing time for the week of Jan. 16-22. [The streaming rankings.]( Movies Starring WOC Hit 16-Year High in 2022 ►"The progress for women of color in leading roles is encouraging." The latest Hollywood diversity study actually has some positive news to report: Popular movies starring women of color hit a 16-year-high in 2022, according to USC’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative. The headline figure from the report is that 16 percent of the 100 most popular movies last year starred women from a historically excluded race or ethnicity, outnumbering the number of movies led or co-led by men of color (14 percent). [The report.]( —Work to do. Nearly 75 percent of the Television Academy’s membership is white — or at least two thirds of its 20,583 members who responded to the organization’s call to update their demographic information in the online database. The data collection is part of the Academy’s ongoing efforts to work on its diversity, equity and inclusion — and now, accessibility as well. [The story.]( —Moving on. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki is stepping down from her role after nine years leading the Alphabet-owned company, the executive said on Thursday. In a message to staff, Wojcicki said she was leaving to “start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects I’m passionate about.” She will be succeeded by Neal Mohan, most recently YouTube’s chief product officer and Wojcicki’s close lieutenant, who will take on the title of svp and head of YouTube. [The story.]( 'Ant-Man 3' Star Jonathan Majors Talks Kang's Villainy ►"What Kang is going for is essentially good for him and potentially only for him." THR's [Brian Davids]( spoke to Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania star Jonathan Majors, who has earned widespread acclaim for his turn as Kang the Conqueror from critics ahead of the film's worldwide release today. Majors explains why he views Kang as the hero of his own story and also reveals he listened to Stevie Wonder to get into character. [The interview.]( —"Hope is an odd enigma for me." Brian also spoke to Quantumania's Evangeline Lilly who reveals that she is finally starting to get a handle on her character Hope van Dyne. Lilly also discusses celebrating her 42nd birthday on set during a scene with Bill Murray, Michael Douglas and Michelle Pfeiffer. [The interview.]( —"I wanted the audience to know she’s fighting the good fight." Brian is back again and this time he spoke to Marvel newcomer Kathryn Newton who plays Cassie Lang in Quantumania. Newton talks about referencing the work of Young Cassie actress Abby Ryder Fortson in her performance and recalls how a day on the golf course with Bill Murray ended up paying dividends. [The interview.]( —"I liked the idea of making the third one something altogether different and making it as epic as possible." And completing his Quantumania quadrilogy, Brian spoke to director Peyton Reed about his long journey to Ant-Man 3. The filmmaker also reveals chasing a Fantastic Four movie in the early 2000s and working on the set of the second Back to the Future film. [The interview.]( Film Review: 'She Came to Me' ►"She needn’t have bothered." THR's chief film critic [David Rooney]( reviews Rebecca Miller's She Came to Me. Peter Dinklage, Anne Hathaway and Marisa Tomei star in this screwball-tinged story of disparate New Yorkers and their search for creative inspiration, spiritual fulfillment, happiness and love, opening the Berlin Film Festival. [The review.]( —"Revelatory and uninhibited." THR's [Lovia Gyarkye]( reviews D. Smith's Kokomo City. This documentary, which nabbed two awards at Sundance and is screening in Berlin, chronicles the lives of four trans sex workers in Atlanta and New York. [The review.]( —"Undermined by strange formal gaffes." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( reviews Showtime's The 12th Victim. Director Nicola B. Marsh's docuseries looks at the murders that inspired movies including Badlands and Natural Born Killers. [The review.]( —"A resounding achievement." THR's [Sheri Linden]( reviews Tatiana Huezo's The Echo. The Prayers for the Stolen filmmaker returns to her documentary roots with a portrait of a remote Mexican village. [The review.]( Thank Pod It's Friday ► All the latest content from THR's podcast studio. —TV's Top 5. THR's [Lesley Goldberg]( and [Dan Fienberg]( break down the latest TV news. As always there's a run through of the week's TV headlines including Showtime’s layoffs and Paramount Global’s rate hikes. You’re the Worst creator Stephen Falk drops by for a chat about his new show, Apple’s Billy Crudup starrer Hello Tomorrow. Plus, Dan reviews ABC’s The Company You Keep , Showtime’s The 12th Victim , Netflix’s Full Swing, Fox’s Animal Control and Apple’s Hello Tomorrow. [Listen here.]( —Behind the Screen. THR's tech editor [Carolyn Giardina]( podcast focuses on the filmmaking crafts. In this episode Carolyn spoke to All Quiet on the Western Front composer Volker Bertelmann, supervising sound editor Frank Kruse, co-sound designer Markus Stemler, and rerecording mixer Lars Ginzel. [Listen here.]( —Awards Chatter. THR's executive awards editor Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this live episode, Scott spoke to Colin Farrell. The Banshees of Inisherin star reflects on his experience with sudden stardom, transitioning from big-budget films to indies and his three-film collaboration with Martin McDonagh. [Listen here.]( In other news... —John Wick 4 [trailer teases Baba Yaga and a new pup]( —Elizabeth Olsen [takes on the infamous Candy Montgomery in Love & Death trailer]( —Taron Egerton [is a game designer caught in a Cold War battle in Tetris trailer]( —Saturday Night Live: [All the S48 hosts and musical guests]( —Steven Johnson [joins Alcon Entertainment as evp, head of physical production]( —Former Twitter exec [Briana McElroy lands at Lionsgate Film Group]( —Twitch streamer [Kai Cenat signs with UTA]( —Where to [visit, eat and stay during Palm Springs Modernism Week]( —[Tim McCarver]( cerebral catcher and Hall of Fame broadcaster, dies at 81 What else we're reading... —Lesley O'Toole reflects on Ireland’s current cultural "green wave" that has led to a record number of Oscar nominations this year [[LAT]( —Laura Miller believes that the Emily Brontë biopic Emily reduces the author to a cottagecore emo girl — and not in a good way [[Slate]( —Emily Birnbaum writes that the upcoming Gonzalez v. Google case at the Supreme Court risks upending the internet as we know it [[Bloomberg]( —Jeremy W. Peters and Katie Robertson report that Fox stars Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and others privately expressed disbelief about election fraud claims [[NYT]( —Here's your Friday list: "The Strokes’ 20 greatest songs – ranked!" [[Guardian]( Today... Today's birthdays: Ed Sheeran (32), Joseph Gordon-Levitt (42), Rene Russo (69), Lou Diamond Phillips (61), Bear McCreary (44), [Jeremy Allen White]( (32), Jason Ritter (43), Denise Richards (52), Michael Bay (58), Jerry O'Connell (49), Rory Kinnear (45), Brenda Fricker (78), Paris Hilton (42), Chord Overstreet (34), Jim Brown (87), Barry Humphries (89), Richard Karn (67), Larry the Cable Guy (60), Bonnie Wright (32), Lucy Davis (50), Carole Davis (65), Brooke D'Orsay (41), Sasha Pieterse (27), Dominic Purcell (53), Taylor Misiak (31), Jonathan Breck (58), Meaghan Martin (31) Andrew Freedman, the veteran news and entertainment publicist whose clients included Gayle King, Barbara Walters, Joan Collins, Margo Martindale, Christopher McDonald and Harry Shearer, has died. He was 67. [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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