Hollywood's Writers to Go on Strike; Met Gala Salutes Karl Lagerfeld; Pedro Pascal in Talks for 'Gladiator' Sequel; 'A Small Light' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( May 02, 2023 What's news: WGA members begin picketing in L.A. today at 1 p.m. PT. Netflix has greenlit a drama and doc based on the Menendez brothers case. 911 is leaving Fox for ABC. Sylvester Stallone has signed on for a Cliffhanger reboot. The Academy is enacting sweeping reforms to awards campaigning. — [Abid Rahman]( Writers Guild Calls First Strike in 15 Years ►✊ It's on ✊ Hollywood’s writers are going out on strike. The WGA announced that a work stoppage will begin on Tuesday afternoon after negotiations with the AMPTP, the group representing studios and streamers, faltered on Monday night. THR's [Katie Kilkenny]( reports that in Los Angeles, members will begin picketing at 1 p.m. PT on Tuesday at locations including Amazon/Culver Studios, CBS Radford and CBS Television City, Disney’s Burbank headquarters, Netflix’s Hollywood plant and the Fox, Sony, Paramount, Warner Bros and Universal studio lots in Los Angeles. In New York, picketing will occur at Peacock’s Newfront at Center415 at 1 pm ET and Netflix’s Manhattan headquarters at 2:30 pm ET. [The story.]( —"The studios are more focused on greed than keeping people working." THR's [Lesley Goldberg]( and [Borys Kit]( report that viewership-based residuals, A.I. and minimum staffing for writers room are some of the issues that the WGA wanted to tackle that went nowhere with the AMPTP. According to a detailed document of proposals that the WGA released Monday night, the two sides have compromised on issues of "span" and script fees. [The story.]( —What happens if other union workers refuse to cross picket lines? Before the WGA called a strike, Hollywood's entertainment guilds, including the DGA, IATSE, SAG-AFTRA and Teamsters Local 399, were advising their members about their rights and obligations when it comes to allying themselves with scribes at protests. [The story.]( —"Looks like it’s time to cancel my streaming services." Top Hollywood writers took to social media to express defiant support for their first union walkout in 15 years and showed their feelings about studios being unwilling to meet their contract demands. [The reaction.]( Met Gala 2023: Salute to Karl ►"Singular talents." Ahead of the Met Gala, nine of designer Thom Browne’s A-list table guests gathered at the Pierre Hotel for a class photo, shared exclusively with THR. The starry group — looking bold and elegant in high-contrast, black-and-white looks designed by Browne — included Jenna Ortega, Olivia Rodrigo, Janelle Monáe, Alexander Skarsgård, Pusha T, Sora Choi, Daniel Ricciardo, Teyana Taylor and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. [The story.]( —Fashion's biggest night. The theme of the 2023 Met Gala was Karl Lagerfeld: A Line of Beauty, in tribute to the late Chanel designer who is the subject of the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute fashion exhibit this year. Plenty of stars channeled Lagerfeld in their looks (and his pet cat Choupette) and others, well, they let their imaginations run wild. [The looks.]( —"I’m just like a total tourist in this industry." Michaela Coel, one of this year’s Met Gala co-chairs, anointed the carpet in a gilded, chocolate brown gown by Schiaparelli Couture, a continuation of her collaborative relationship with the fashion house, as she’s recently been seen in several of their looks. [The story.]( —Pearly kings and queens. Coco Chanel was known for her long strands of faux pearls — a style code that Lagerfeld transformed into a flashy signature as the creative director of her eponymous fashion house. Kim Kardashian (wearing Schiaparelli), Rihanna (Valentino), Lizzo (Chanel), Brian Tyree Henry (Karl Lagerfeld), Anne Hathaway (Versace) and Serena Williams (Gucci) were among the stars who wore pearl-embellished outfits. [The story.]( —Flower power. The camellia flower is as closely identified with the house of Chanel as the double-C logo. At the gala, several stars stunned in ensembles that celebrated camellias including Cardi B (wearing Chinese designer Chen Peng), Olivia Rodrigo (Thom Browne), Anitta (Marc Jacobs), Diddy (Sean John) and Bad Bunny (Jacquemus). [The story.]( ►Never go full Cats. Doja Cat wowed and meowed with a look inspired by Choupette. And Jared Leto even took the feline fashion a step further, showing up in full catsuit. [The story.]( —"Dripping in pearls." Kim Kardashian turned up to Monday’s event wearing custom Schiaparelli Haute Couture by Daniel Roseberry, a design that featured a molded corset in blush satin underneath a draped skirt and top made from more than 50,000 freshwater pearls and 16,000 crystals. [The story.]( —Grand opening, grand closing. The red carpet didn’t officially close until Rihanna (and her beau, and her baking second baby) finally showed up. The Bajan singer and beauty entrepreneur wore a Chanel-inspired, camellia flower-covered hooded gown by Valentino with a long skirt train. Ever on theme, the Met Gala darling also wore fingerless gloves in an homage to Lagerfeld. [The story.]( —🪳 Derelicte 🪳 The Met Gala is notoriously one of the toughest tickets in New York but one brave cockroach threw caution to the wind on Monday night and pressed its luck anyway. THR's nicest man [Chris Gardner]( reports that while hordes of press, photographers and security waited for the night’s final fashionista to arrive a single cockroach bolted down the carpet causing a major stir. [The story.]( More from the Met Gala... —Nicole Kidman [wears custom Chanel dress from 2004 Chanel N°5 campaign]( —See what co-chairs [Dua Lipa and Penélope Cruz wore to the Met Gala]( —Margot Robbie [pays homage to Karl Lagerfeld and Cindy Crawford in vintage chanel]( —Serena Williams [confirms pregnancy with husband Alexis Ohanian]( —Kristen Stewart’s [stylist talks about her Met Gala look from Lagerfeld’s 2016 cruise collection]( —Lil Nas X [wears only jewels, silver paint and a thong]( —Anna Wintour [and Bill Nighy confirm romance]( —Pedro Pascal [bares legs in (red-hot) shorts look by Valentino]( —15 [outrageous looks from the Met Gala through the years]( Netflix's 'Monster' Anthology to Focus on Menendez Bros. ►Monsters inc. Following the huge success of Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, Netflix and Ryan Murphy have found their next monster, or rather monsters. The second installment of the anthology series will focus on Lyle and Erik Menendez, the brothers convicted of murdering their parents, José and Kitty, at their Beverly Hills home in 1989. The streamer also says it has “exclusive access” to the brothers for a forthcoming documentary. [The story.]( —No-brainer. Less than two weeks after its debut, Netflix has renewed The Diplomat for a second season. The political drama, starring Keri Russell as the newly appointed U.S. ambassador to the U.K., premiered April 20 and was the streamer's most watched series for that week (per the company’s internal metrics) with 57.48m hours of viewing worldwide. The season also ended with a cliffhanger that now promises to get resolved in a second season. [The story.]( —King Lear. Netflix has greenlit a series — which counts the legendary Norman Lear among its executive producers — that will follow a gay teenager who enlists in the U.S. Marine Corps. The streamer has ordered 10 episodes of The Corps, a drama that follows a bullied gay teen who joins the Marines with his straight best friend in 1990 in the pre-Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell era. The series is based on a memoir by Greg Cope White and will star Miles Heizer, Vera Farmiga, Max Parker and Liam Oh. [The story.]( —Responding to the call. The Ryan Murphy-produced procedural 911 is ending its run on Fox after six seasons and moving to ABC for its seventh season. Spinoff 911: Lone Star, meanwhile, has been renewed for its fifth season and will remain on Fox. Disney’s 20th Television owns both shows. Fox’s decision to release the flagship drama was a financial decision as the broadcast network, which used to own the series before the company sold its television studio, has been looking to reduce its expenses. [The story.]( —Dads rejoice! Bosch: Legacy has earned a third season renewal from Amazon Freevee, the free ad-supported streaming platform. The re-up of the Bosch spinoff series comes ahead of its second season premiere this fall. Bosch: Legacy follows Harry Bosch, played by Titus Welliver, as a retired homicide detective turned private investigator on the next chapter of his career. [The story.]( Pedro Pascal in Talks for 'Gladiator' Sequel ►🎭 He's so hot right now 🎭 Pedro Pascal’s busy year just got busier with the in-demand actor now in talks to join Paramount’s Gladiator sequel. Pascal would join Paul Mescal, who will lead the movie. Connie Nielsen is set to return as Lucilla, the sister of Commodus. As previously reported, Denzel Washington, Joseph Quinn and Barry Keoghan are also set for the follow-up to Ridley Scott's 2001 best picture Oscar winner. [The story.]( — 🎭 Walker, mountain ranger 🎭 Sylvester Stallone is ready to scale new heights with a reboot of his 1993 action thriller, Cliffhanger. Ric Roman Waugh, who helmed action movies Angel Has Fallen and Greenland, is set to direct the feature which will see Stallone reprise his role of mountain climber and rescue ranger, Gabe Walker. The reboot has a script by Mark Bianculli, a writer-consulting producer on Amazon series Hunters. [The story.]( —🎭 Cast filling out 🎭 Zoey Deutch has joined Nicholas Hoult and Toni Collette in Clint Eastwood’s latest feature, Juror No. 2. The Warner Bros. legal drama is eyeing to shoot this summer. Collette is playing the prosecutor, while Deutch will play Hoult’s wife. Jonathan Abrams wrote the script, which had been floating through Hollywood for 15 years before Eastwood decided last year that he wanted to make it as his follow-up to Cry Macho. [The story.]( —🎭 First aboard 🎭 FX’s Alien TV series is beginning to come into focus. Don’t Worry Darling actress Sydney Chandler has become the first person cast in the series from Fargo showrunner Noah Hawley. Plot details are being kept under wraps and no character information has been provided other than that Chandler will play one of the leads. Alien was picked up straight to series in late 2020. The series is not a reboot of the beloved movies but rather an extension and reinvention of the franchise. [The story.]( Tony Nominations 2023 ►🏆 Lucky 13 🏆 Some Like It Hot, the musical comedy based on the classic MGM film, topped the Tony Awards nominations list with 13 nods. Other top production nominees include Kimberly Akimbo, & Juliet, New York, New York and Shucked. In the performance categories, the likes of Jessica Chastain, Jodie Comer, Josh Groban, Annaleigh Ashford, Sara Bareilles, Samuel L. Jackson, Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Sean Hayes were all recognized. [The nominees.]( —The Riseborough reforms. In response to several controversial campaigns last Oscar season the board of governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has enacted the most sweeping reforms of its campaign promotional regulations and awards rules since their inception in 1994. The revised guidance announced Monday are part of an effort "to bring clarity, fairness and transparency to how motion picture companies and individuals directly associated with awards-eligible motion pictures may promote [them]." [The story.]( —🤝 Cash injection 🤝 In the race to establish a foothold as Hollywood’s No. 4 agency, Gersh is taking private equity cash to fuel expansion in the talent representation space. Investment firm Crestview Partners has secured a 45 percent stake in the Beverly Hills-based agency. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but the Gersh partnership will retain majority control of the agency that was founded in 1949 by rep Phil Gersh and currently run by his sons, David and Bob Gersh. [The story.]( Gunn Created 600 Versions of 'Guardians 3' For Cinemas ►"It’s definitely the most complex delivery Marvel’s ever done." James Gunn wants to take full advantage of the multiple aspect ratios available in today’s cinemas when Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 opens May 5 in theaters. THR's [Carolyn Giardina]( has scoop on the filmmaker creating multiple versions of the movie for a more custom experience for each type of theater configuration. [The story.]( —The definition of insanity is... Donald Trump will return to CNN next week, his first interview on the cable news channel in years after disparaging it during almost all of his presidency. Trump, who is seeking the Republican nomination for president in 2024, will participate in a primetime town hall on May 10, to be moderate by CNN This Morning co-host Kaitlan Collins. The town hall will be held at St. Anslem College in New Hampshire, and air at 9 p.m. The audience will include Republican and undecided voters. [The story.]( —Circling. Taika Waititi is in talks to direct Sony’s 3000 Pictures’ Klara and the Sun, based on Kazuo Ishiguro’s novel, with no deal yet closed. With the movie adaptation in development, Dahvi Waller (Mrs. America, Mad Men) wrote the original draft of the screenplay and David Heyman is producing the feature for Heyday Films. Klara tells the story of a robot girl created to prevent teenagers from becoming lonely. [The story.]( —Fresh Air. Ben Affleck’s critically acclaimed sports drama Air will become available to stream on Amazon Prime Video on May 12 after an exclusive run in theaters across the world. Air, notably part of Amazon Studio's new approach to theatrical, will have played exclusively on the big screen for 39 days when it premieres on the streamer in more than 240 countries and territories worldwide. [The story.]( TV Review: 'A Small Light' ►"Powley and a varied tone add spark." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( reviews National Geographic's A Small Light. Bel Powley plays Miep Gies, who helped hide Anne Frank's family and other families, in this eight-part limited series co-starring Liev Schreiber and Amira Casar. [The review.]( In other news... —Super Bowl LVII TV ratings revised up: [Fox’s broadcast crosses 115m viewers]( —Amazon Studios [nabs J.J. Abrams, Imax’s The Blue Angels doc]( —Matt Dubin [to lead Formosa Group following resignation of founder Bob Rosenthal]( —Former ABC News/Disney exec [Marie Nelson named Hot Docs Fest president]( —AMC Theatres CEO [Adam Aron’s pay jumps to $23.7m in 2022]( —[John Wright]( Oscar-nominated film editor on Speed and Hunt for Red October, dies at 79 What else we're reading... —Michael Schulman has a piece on why TV writers are so miserable [[New Yorker]( —Joseph Bernstein has the long-needed profile and explainer on internet celebrity Hasbulla [[NYT]( —It is terribly remiss of me to be so late to this Lauren Oyler long-read about her trip on the Goop cruise, but this piece is for the ages [[Harpers]( —Must-read Cade Metz interview with Geoffrey Hinton, aka the Godfather of A.I., who is very, very worried about where the technology is headed (hint: major Skynet vibes) [[NYT]( —Lane Brown reports that the A.I. software that cloned Drake and the Weeknd is easy to use — and impossible to shut down [[Vulture]( Today... ...in 1968, Paramount’s big-screen adaptation of stage hit The Odd Couple opened in New York at Radio City Music Hall. The film went on to be nominated for two Oscars at the 41st Academy Awards, for editing and for Neil Simon’s adapted screenplay. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Dwayne Johnson (51), Ellie Kemper (43), Christine Baranski (71), [Matt Berry]( (49🦇), Claudia Doumit (31), Mae Martin (36), David Suchet (77), Elizabeth Berridge (61), Stephen Daldry (63), Lily Allen (38), Golda Rosheuvel (53), Bruce Robinson (77), David Beckham (48), Jenna von Oÿ (46), Mitzi Kapture (61), Gaius Charles (40), Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck (50), Jo Ann Pflug (83), Josh Bolt (29), Valeria Bilello (41), Thomas McDonell (37), Bianca Jagger (78), Christopher Doyle (71) Gordon Lightfoot, the Canadian singer/songwriter behind the folk hits “The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald,” “Sundown” and “If You Could Read My Mind,” has died. He was 84. [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. 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. All rights reserved. 11175 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90025 [View in Browser]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Your Privacy Rights]( | [Ad Choices]( | [Terms of Use]( | [Unsubscribe](