THR Icon Carol Burnett is Still Timeless; 'Piano Lesson' Film Lands at Netflix; 'Yellowjackets' Stars Talk The Antler Queen; 'Personality Crisis: One Night Only' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( April 14, 2023 What's news: Mo’Nique is suing Paramount over alleged unpaid royalties for The Parkers. Glen Powell has joined the cast of Universal/Amblin's Twister. Lionsgate has laid off more people at its film unit. One Direction will NOT reunite for James Corden's final The Late Late Show episode. — [Abid Rahman]( Carol Burnett is Still Timeless ►"It’s kind of wild that I’m still active at my tender age." THR Icon Carol Burnett turns 90 this month, but that doesn't mean she's slowing down. Far from it. THR's [Mikey O'Connell]( spoke to the sketch trailblazer about her upcoming TV special (Carol Burnett: 90 Years of Laughter + Love on NBC), the Emmy buzz for her turn in Better Call Saul, a new Apple TV+ comedy series (Palm Royale) and her thoughts on which recent Oscar nominee she’d spoof if she still had a variety show (it’s Tár!). [The interview.]( —"This was a necessary step in the direction of us creating a more efficient company." Disney CEO Bob Iger has dismissed the notion that Ike Perlmutter would still be employed by the company had he not gotten involved in Nelson Peltz’s activist effort earlier this year. Speaking to Time Magazine for its annual Time 100 issue, Iger addressed Perlmutter's exit and a number of other hot button issues, including the company’s feud with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. [The story.]( —🔥 Dracarys! 🔥 The non-war between HBO’s House of the Dragon and Amazon's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power seemingly just went to a whole new level of passive aggression. Online ads posted today for the rebranded Max streaming service, show a regal Daenerys Targaryen from Game of Thrones on the Iron Throne and the motto: “The One to Watch When You Want to Rule Them All.” [The story.]( —Suit filed. Mo’Nique Hicks is taking Paramount to court over alleged unpaid royalties for The Parkers. In a complaint filed on Wednesday, the Oscar-winning actress and comedian alleges that an audit of the show concluded that the network “inequitably structured" the series’ finances to "artificially depress its profitability" so it can “retain tens of millions that would otherwise be contractually due and owed.” She also claims that Paramount likely deprived the show’s writers and creators of their rights to profit participation. [The story.]( 'Piano Lesson' Set for Netflix Film Adaptation ►Washington trifecta. August Wilson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning stage play The Piano Lesson is set for a film adaptation at Netflix. Samuel L. Jackson and John David Washington are set to star after they wrapped a successful Broadway revival co-starring Danielle Brooks. Denzel Washington will produce the film along with Todd Black. Denzel Washington's other son Malcolm will direct the film adaptation, based on a screenplay he penned with Virgil Williams. [The story.]( —🎭 Nani found! 🎭 THR's [Beatrice Verhoeven]( has the scoop on Sydney Agudong signing on to star in Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch movie. Agudong will play Nani, Lilo’s older sister and legal guardian. Newcomer Maia Kealoha is playing Lilo, while Zach Galifianakis joined the cast in February. Marcel the Shell With Shoes On's Dean Fleischer Camp will direct the Disney+ feature. [The story.]( —🎭 Storm troopers 🎭 Top Gun: Maverick breakout star Glen Powell will join Daisy Edgar-Jones in Universal and Amblin’s Twister movie. Minari helmer Lee Isaac Chung will direct the legacy-sequel to Jan de Bont's monster 1996 hit from a script by The Revenant writer Mark L. Smith. Frank Marshall is producing via his banner Kennedy/Marshall Company. [The story.]( —🎭 Hat trick 🎭 Melissa Barrera is stepping back into the world of Radio Silence, the filmmakers who directed her in Scream 5 and Scream 6. The actor will star in Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett's upcoming monster thriller for Universal. The film is described as being akin to The Invisible Man and Renfield in that it will re-imagine one of Universal’s classic monsters. [The story.]( How to Build a Diversity Pipeline ►Tangible results. For three years, Lionsgate's Motion Picture Group has quietly been doing the work to diversify its below-the-line crews via its Production Inclusion Coalition program. THR's [Rebecca Sun]( writes that unlike many other studio diversity initiatives, PIC isn’t about workshops and master classes, instead it trains its participants and provides them industry connections through directly hiring them for Lionsgate movies, and paying them like any other member of the crew. [The story.]( —More layoffs. It's not all good news coming out of Lionsgate's Motion Picture Group, with the studio revealing it has laid off a dozen employees working at the unit. The cuts impact about 3 percent of the division, which totals about 400 employees. The pink slips come as the studio's John Wick: Chapter 4 scores big at the box office, nabbing $306m so far. The layoffs are the latest in a series of smaller cuts made at the Canadian-American studio over the past six months. [The story.]( —Talks to start. SAG-AFTRA has set a date to begin talks with producers over a new contract. The performers’ union set June 7 as the start date for negotiations with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers. The union’s current pact the studios and streamers expires June 30. [The story.]( —🤝 Tentative agreement 🤝 Actors’ Equity has reached a tentative agreement with the Broadway League over a new touring contract. The deal comes after the union, which represents more than 51,000 stage managers and actors, had announced on April 3 a strike threat against the League, which represents industry producers, presenters and general managers. The two parties had been negotiating since mid-January to create a new touring contract. [The story.]( 'Yellowjackets' Stars on the Power of The Antler Queen ►"It can kind of be anything that we deem it to be." THR's [Jackie Strause]( spoke to Yellowjackets stars Juliette Lewis and Simone Kessell about the latest episode, "Old Wounds." The fourth episode of season two ends with two highly anticipated reveals, but at the heart of the hour lies the looming question: Just how divine is Lottie Matthews? Warning: Spoilers! [The interview.]( —"This story just isn’t true." The Late Late Show isn’t letting rumors about James Corden’s final guests drag it down. After speculation circulated in media reports and on social media that One Direction would appear on the CBS late night show’s final episode that is set for April 27, the series’ Twitter account responded with a message Thursday to set the record straight. [The story.]( —Engage! Paramount+’s Star Trek: Picard made its first ever appearance in Nielsen's streaming rankings, finishing ninth for the week of March 6-12 among original series. Picard is the second Paramount+ original series to make the rankings, following 1923 two weeks earlier. Ted Lasso also put Apple TV+ back in the rankings with the premiere of its third season. [The streaming rankings.]( —🏆 PBS' time to shine 🏆 The Peabody Awards has revealed the nominees in the entertainment, arts, children’s/youth, podcast/radio, interactive/immersive and public service categories. PBS leads the way with 13 noms, ahead of HBO/Max with 6. Among the entertainment nominees are Emmy winners Abbott Elementary, Atlanta, Bob’s Burgers and We’re Here, along with new series like Andor, Bad Sisters, Mo, Pachinko and Somebody Somewhere. [The nominees.]( TV Review: 'Personality Crisis: One Night Only' ►"An intimate musical primer on an iconic artist." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( reviews Martin Scorsese and David Tedeschi's Personality Crisis: One Night Only. This Showtime documentary looks at the music and life of the New York Dolls frontman David Johansen and his Buster Poindexter alter ego. [The story.]( —"Hits the right notes of strange and angsty." THR's [Sheri Linden]( reviews Pierre Földes' Blind Willow Sleeping Woman. This animated feature interweaves six stories by the celebrated Japanese writer Haruki Murakami. [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. The duo begin by running through the week's headlines, including Dick Wolf renewing his deal at NBCU, a Stranger Things animated spinoff and Kim Kardashian signing up to appear in American Horror Story. There's a dedicated segment to the newly launched Max and WBD's small screen franchise strategy. Josh Wigler drops by to discuss all things Succession . And Dan reviews Apple’s The Last Thing He Told Me, Amazon’s The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, HBO’s Barry, Hulu’s Am I Being Unreasonable and Freeform’s Single Drunk Female. [Listen here.]( —Behind the Screen. THR's tech editor [Carolyn Giardina]( podcast focuses on the filmmaking crafts. In this episode Carolyn spoke to Ben Snow. The VFX supervisor on the critically acclaimed Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves discusses how they brought the creatures from the role-playing game to the big screen. [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 Natasha Lyonne. The self-described "oddball" actress/writer/director/producer reflects on child stardom, her years away from the business due to addiction, and her remarkable run over the past decade which includes Orange Is the New Black, Russian Doll and Poker Face. [Listen here.]( In other news... —Never Have I Ever [S4 preview teases old and new love interests]( —Jeff Kleeman [named new CEO at Bold Films]( —Joe Simpson [tapped by Eris talent agency as COO]( —Live Nation [adds Rich Paul to Board of Directors]( —Regal [to reopen former ArcLight movie theater in Pasadena]( —Has there ever been [this much Louis Vuitton in one house?]( —Tom Shadyac’s [Sunset Strip house lists for $2.75m]( What else we're reading... —Mike Hale looks at how The Last Thing He Told Me and Tiny Beautiful Things expand the Reese Witherspoon Television Universe and dig into the theme of mother-daughter relationships [[NYT]( —Miles Klee looks into the origins of Elon Musk's (failing and desperate) attempts to be the funny [[RS]( —Mike Ryan pens a lament for the first two seasons of The Mandalorian, and is none too happy about what the Disney+ show has morphed into [[Uproxx]( —In a cri de cœur, Ian Hogarth writes that we must slow down the race to God-like AI [[FT]( —Here's your Friday list: "Screen Draculas, ranked" [[Vulture]( Today... ...in 1933, Today We Live, a star-studded adaptation of a William Faulkner story, Turnabout, hit theaters, featuring a cast of Joan Crawford, Gary Cooper and Franchot Tone. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Adrien Brody (50), Julie Christie (83), Abigail Breslin (27), Sarah Michelle Gellar (46), Anthony Michael Hall (55), Rob McElhenney (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 46), Robert Carlyle (62), Gina McKee (59), Peter Capaldi (65), Adam DiMarco (33), Brad Garrett (63), James Gray (54), John Shea (74), [Mark Pillow]( (64), Katsuhiro Ôtomo (69), Claire Coffee (43), Catherine Dent (58), Skyler Samuels (29), Humberly González (31), Jo Osmond (36) Mary Quant, the visionary fashion designer whose colorful, sexy miniskirts epitomized London in the 1960s and influenced youth culture around the world, has died. She was 93. [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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