'Succession' Ushers in the Endgame; 'Super Mario Bros.' Opens to Record $377M Globally; Questions Ahead of HBO Max's Relaunch; Meet 'Transatlantic' Star Meet Lucas Englander

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( April 10, 2023 What's news: Oscar-nominated character actor Michael Lerner has died. Food Network has canceled Valerie’s Home Cooking. Jeanne du Barry director Maïwenn is being sued for assault. Ben Affleck's Air opened to $20.2m. Anime hit Suzume crossed the $100m mark in China. — [Abid Rahman]( 'Succession' Ushers in the Endgame ►Good lord. Without spoiling anything, the third episode of the final season of Succession packs an astonishing punch. For THR, Josh Wigler runs through how things played out in "Connor's Wedding," with some added final words from the central actor involved. Warning: Spoilers! [The interview.]( —"That was always coded into it once we decided it was going to be the final season." It’s the final season of Succession, which means anything can happen. And something very big did happen. Creator Jesse Armstrong has opened up about the jaw-dropping events of "Connor’s Wedding." Warning: Spoilers! [The story.]( 'Super Mario Bros.' Opens to Record $377M Globally ►Wahoo!The Super Mario Bros. Movie shattered all expectations and broke numerous records in its box office debut over the long Easter holiday weekend. The pic scored the top opening of all time for an animated film with $377m in worldwide ticket sales. The massive five-day domestic haul is $204.6m, including $146.4m for the three-day weekend, while the overseas tally stands at $173m from 70 markets. THR's [Pamela McClintock]( writes that in North America, Mario's three-day weekend makes it the second-best start ever for an animated title behind Incredibles 2. And globally, it bested the $358m launch of Frozen 2. It also landed the biggest five-day launch in history after besting Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen ($200m), the best-ever opening for Chris Meledandri’s Illumuniation and the top opening of 2023 to date. Elsewhere, Amazon Studios, which is testing giving its movies a traditional theatrical release, saw its debut title, Ben Affleck’s adult drama Air, open to a better-than-expected $20.2m for the five days. Despite glowing reviews and an A CinemaScore, Paramount and eOne's Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves fell 61 percent over the three-day Easter weekend to $14.5m for a domestic cume of $62.2m. Overseas, D&D earned $15.5m from 61 markets for a worldwide total of $124.1m. [The box office report.]( —Mamma mia! It hasn't been all gravy for Super Mario Bros. this weekend, however. In China, where Hollywood films have been struggling this year, the movie opened to a muted $6.3m, a disappointing figure given the rave social scores (9.4 on Maoyan and 9.5 on Taopiaopiao). Universal set the film up well with a launch on Wednesday, April 5, China’s Qingming Festival national holiday. But the movie was easily beaten by a pair of holdovers. In contrast, anime hit Suzume crossed the $100m mark in China this weekend. [The box office report.]( 'Yellowjackets' Stars on the Fragile Marriage in S2 ►"They are partners in crime right from the beginning." THR's [Jackie Strause]( spoke to Yellowjackets stars Melanie Lynskey and Warren Kole about their characters' unconditional love as the "more savage, dark impulse Shauna" of the past bubbles up to the surface in the second season of the Showtime drama. Warning: Spoilers! [The interview.]( —Settlement. Fox News and parent company Fox Corp. have settled a defamation suit brought by a Venezuelan businessman who alleged that a segment falsely vilified him of being involved in a scheme to rig the 2020 presidential election. Majed Khalil had sued Fox and former host Lou Dobbs in 2021 over claims made about the election. [The story.]( —Don’t get her started. Don’t even get her started. Molly Shannon brought back one of her cherished characters, Jeannie Darcy, a horrible stand-up comedian who can’t tell a joke, during her return to Saturday Night Live. The sketch featured a commercial parody for a comedy special called “Jeannie Darcy: Selective Startage” – a take on Netflix’s first live special in March, Chris Rock: Selective Outrage. [The recap.]( —"Change is long overdue." John Oliver used the opening segment of Sunday’s Last Week Tonight to weigh in on the tragic event that took place in Tennessee last month, when three kids and three adults were killed in a school shooting. Despite protests by students in Nashville where the shooting happened, Oliver argued that the response from the governor and Republicans has been "deeply underwhelming." [The recap.]( —"Everyone that knows him knows how insane he was — in the best way." Michael Lerner, the busy Oscar-nominated character actor who had memorable turns as bombastic types in Barton Fink, Harlem Nights, Eight Men Out and so much more, has died. He was 81. The cigar-loving Lerner also appeared in a movie for housemate Yoko Ono and in other films like The Candidate, The Postman Always Rings Twice, Elf and Life During Wartime. [The obituary.]( The Questions Ahead of HBO Max's Relaunch ►What's in a name? On April 12, Warner Bros. Discovery will unveil its combined streaming platform — with subscription tier pricing, programming strategy and the name yet to be revealed. THR's [J. Clara Chan]( looks at what to expect from the combined streamer's upcoming unveiling event on the Warner Bros. lot in Burbank. [The analysis.]( —"I have loved making this show." Valerie Bertinelli says that the upcoming 14th season for her Food Network show Valerie’s Home Cooking will be its last. The star took to Instagram on Saturday to share a video of herself promoting the new episodes, which start airing Sunday. She went on to reveal that Food Network informed her last year that the show had been canceled, and she expressed her disappointment over not being clear on what had spurred the decision. [The story.]( —"It’s up to his standards." Charlie Day says his “biggest regret” is that the late Ray Liotta won’t be able to see the audience’s reaction to their upcoming film, Fool’s Paradise. The film is one of the last films that Liotta worked on before he died last year at the age of 67. In a new interview, Day, who wrote, directed and stars in Fool's Paradise, said he was lucky to work with Liotta because he was "just a really driven, committed, serious-about-his-craft guy." [The story.]( —"Traumatized by the incident." Maïwenn, the French actress and director whose latest feature, Jeanne du Barry, starring Johnny Depp, will open this year’s Cannes Film Festival, is being sued by a French journalist for assault. Edwy Plenel, the editor-in-chief of Mediapart, an online investigative newspaper, filed a complaint with French police claiming Maïwenn assaulted him on Feb. 22 while he was having dinner at a Paris restaurant. [The story.]( —"Leading the way best I can." Jeremy Renner is managing to make positive memories with his family amid his recovery from a traumatic snowplow accident. The Avengers actor took to Instagram on Friday to share photos and video of himself with loved ones at Six Flags Magic Mountain theme park in California. Footage posted to his Instagram stories from the trip shows him using a motorized scooter to make his way around the expansive park. [The story.]( Meet Lucas Englander, the "Chameleon" of 'Transatlantic' ►Rising talent. Austrian actor Lucas Englander makes his international debut as Albert Hirschman in the Netflix limited series Transatlantic. THR's [Scott Roxborough]( profiles Englander who talks about his time at the Stella Adler Studio in New York, his rise to prominence in the French satirical drama Parliament and how playing Hirschman has had a direct impact on his life. [The profile.]( In other news... —Netflix: [Movies and TV shows leaving in April 2023]( —Why [Hollywood flocks to French Polynesia]( —All [the dreamiest places to stay in Fiji]( —The [best Hollywood-loved places to stay in The Maldives]( What else we're reading... —Richard Lawson writes that Succession made a bold invigorating choice with the events of episode three [[VF]( —Tracy Brown reflects on the evolution of Princess Peach, from boring damsel in distress to badass in The Super Mario Bros. Movie [[LAT]( —Nadia Khomami talks to Harry Potter fans on their views of J.K. Rowling and their hopes for the upcoming HBO Max TV series [[Guardian]( —Tom Roston talks to the creative team behind the John Wick films, where gun safety defines the franchise as much as the weapons do [[IndieWire]( —Sadiba Hasan reports that for some American women, relocating outside the U.S. has improved their dating lives [[NYT]( Today... ...in 1953, Warner Bros. held the world premiere of the 3D film House of Wax at the Paramount in Times Square. André De Toth's movie, a remake of Michael Curtiz's 1933 pre-Code mystery-horror film Mystery of the Wax Museum, was loosely remade in 2005 by Jaume Collet-Serra. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: [Charlie Hunnam]( (43), Mandy Moore (39), David Harbour (48), Daisy Ridley (31), Michael Pitt (42), Barkhad Abdi (38), Jamie Chung (40), Peter MacNicol (69), Orlando Jones (55), Conor Leslie (32), Guillaume Canet (50), Ava Michelle (21), Haley Joel Osment (35), Chyler Leigh (41), Sofia Carson (30), Alex Pettyfer (33), Shay Mitchell (36), Jasika Nicole (43), Ryan Merriman (40), AJ Michalka (32), Sarah Dumont (33), Billy Jayne (54), Molly Bernard (35) 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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