Why Johnny Depp and Saudi Arabia Are New BFFs; The Oral History of MTV News; CNN Slammed for Trump Town Hall; 'City on Fire' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( May 11, 2023 What's news: Disney+ has slipped to 157.8m global subscribers. A Freaky Friday sequel is in the works. Fox has renewed Animal Control. Al Pacino has joined the cast of Johnny Depp's Modigliani biopic. Bad Cinderella is closing on Broadway. — [Abid Rahman]( Why Johnny Depp and Saudi Arabia Are New BFFs ►Unlikely union. THR's [Alex Ritman]( writes that with Saudi Arabia backing Cannes Film Festival opener Jeanne du Barry and its courting of the film's mercurial star Johnny Depp, the Gulf nation is continuing its post-Jamal Khashoggi push for legitimacy in the global film community. And so far, it’s working. [The story.]( —🎭 Lefty comes through 🎭 In other Depp news, the controversial actor's directing effort Modi has cast Al Pacino, Riccardo Scamarcio and Pierre Niney. The project is a biopic of Italian artist Amedeo Modigliani, known as “Modi” to his friends, and is based on Dennis McIntyre’s play Modigliani, with a screenplay by Jerzy and Mary Kromolowski. [The story.]( —Final bow. Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical Bad Cinderella announced on Wednesday that it will be closing at the Imperial Theatre on June 4, after opening in March. The production is closing after it failed to garner any Tony Award nominations. Bad Cinderella had also seen weeks of declining grosses and attendance. [The story.]( The Oral History of MTV News ►"It was lighting in a bottle." On Tuesday, Paramount announced that MTV News had been shuttered for good. Thirty-six years after the youth-culture monolith changed the face of cable news, its star correspondents — Kurt Loder, Tabitha Soren, John Norris, SuChin Pak, Alison Stewart and Gideon Yago — reminisce to THR's [Seth Abramovitch]( about the pre-internet golden years of the coolest media job ever. [The oral history.]( —Comeback continues. The European box office continues to bounce back, but theatrical revenues are still far from their pre-pandemic peak. According to official figures released by European Audiovisual Observatory on Thursday, gross box office receipts across the European Union and the U.K. were up 70 percent in 2022 to $5.5b with an additional 250m tickets sold, bringing total attendance figures to 657m. [The story.]( —The Winger guarantee. Fox has renewed its Joel McHale-led comedy series Animal Control for a second season. The show, about a group of municipal animal control officers who work better with the creatures they handle than other humans, is Fox’s first wholly owned live-action comedy. [The story.]( Strike Diary, Week #1 ►"The old money and the no money." THR has launched a series of frank accounts of the strike from Hollywood writers at different levels in their careers with the diarists granted anonymity to encourage candor. The first entry is a brutally honest account of the opening salvos from an upper-level writer on a streaming hit, who was relieved that a strike was called. [The diary.]( —Strike contingencies in reserve. CBS will lean heavily on its roster of veteran series to start the 2023-24 TV season — though given the strike, any lineups networks release during the upfront period shouldn’t be taken as set in stone. CBS announced its fall schedule on Wednesday morning, nine days into a stoppage that, should it continue for several more weeks, will likely push back the usual midsummer start of production on a host of scripted series. [The story.]( —Switcheroo. Netflix is making a major change to its inaugural advertising upfront, pivoting the event from an in-person presentation to a virtual affair. Amid the ongoing strike, the streamer said that it is canceling the in-person presentation that has been slated to be held at New York’s Paris Theater on May 17. [The story.]( —"As a writers organization, we have been following recent events closely and understand his decision." Staying with Netflix, co-CEO Ted Sarandos has pulled out of a planned appearance at a PEN America event next week that was set to honor him. [The story.]( What the DGA Will Fight for at Talks Begin ►"The battle will test us." On Wednesday top negotiators for the Directors Guild of America traveled to Sherman Oaks to begin hammering out a deal with studios and streamers that is sure to be one of the most momentous in the union’s recent history. THR's [Katie Kilkenny]( writes that a residual formula based on global streaming growth and data transparency are key priorities for the 19,000-strong union. [The analysis.]( —It spreads. THR's [Gary Baum]( has the scoop on Los Angeles’ powerful hospitality union, UNITE HERE Local 11, publicly backing the writers strike. In a letter sent on May 11 to more than 100 area hotels its members work for the union announced it "will not cross any picket line set up by the WGA." By its account, many of the properties where the union represents workers "frequently serve as locations for film and television productions." [The story.]( —"Nice Tesla (you’re welcome)." As picket lines popped up in Los Angeles and New York, writers are leaning on their skills to get their messages out. THR's nicest man [Chris Gardner]( has gathered together a sampling of some of the most eye-catching sign slogans. [The story.]( —Banana peel avoided. Amid the strike, Vice President Kamala Harris has postponed a town hall event organized by MTV next week. Harris was scheduled to appear at an event to raise awareness of Mental Health Action Day on May 18 at Cal State Dominguez Hills in Carson, California. Since Harris’ participation would be seen as crossing the picket line, the event was postponed in solidarity with striking writers, according to a source familiar with the plans. [The story.]( CNN Slammed for "Shameful" Trump Town Hall ►"You failed journalism and our country." CNN and CEO Chris Licht came in for fierce criticism for the chaotic town hall the cable news network held with Donald Trump on Wednesday evening. Pundits and pols from across the political spectrum were almost unanimous in thinking the event was a disaster for the cable news network. [The reaction.]( —A new low. CNN's 70-minute town hall was populated by mostly Trump supporters, and the former president was able to dominate proceedings, overwhelming moderator Kaitlan Collins who tried in vain to correct Trump’s statements and falsehoods. Most egregiously, Trump took to criticizing and insulting writer E. Jean Carroll as the audience cheered. The town hall came one day after a New York jury found Trump liable for sexual abuse and defamation in a civil case brought by Carroll. [The story.]( 'Freaky Friday' Sequel in the Works ►Running it back. Disney is developing a sequel to Freaky Friday, the 2003 body-swap comedy that starred Lindsay Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis. No director is attached to the project, but Elyse Hollander is penning the script. Lohan and Curtis are expected to reprise their roles as a mother and daughter who wake up one Friday and find they have swapped bodies. [The story.]( —"Love letter to the fans." Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski has revealed that a new animated film from the franchise is in the works, and provided an update on the voice cast. Babylon 5: The Road Home will continue the story with castmembers including Bruce Boxleitner, Claudia Christian, Peter Jurasik, Bill Mumy, Tracy Scoggins and Patricia Tallman returning to lend their voices to their original characters. [The story.]( —🎭 Dave needs help 🎭 Pamela Adlon, Evan Handler, Jason Beghe and Daphne Rubin-Vega have joined the cast of Yale Entertainment’s Bucky F*cking Dent alongside the previously announced David Duchovny, Logan Marshall-Green, and Stephanie Beatriz. The film will be directed by Duchovny, with a screenplay he adapted from his novel of the same name. Additionally, original music by Duchovny is featured in the movie. [The story.]( Iger Addresses DeSantis Legal Battle ►"Does the state want us to invest more, employ more people and pay more taxes or not?" Disney CEO Bob Iger alluded to potentially withdrawing some investment in Florida amid an ongoing battle with Gov. Ron DeSantis, who continues to retaliate against the company. Speaking during the company's earnings call, Iger said he’s “closely evaluating where it makes sense to direct future investments” in Disney’s theme park business. [The story.]( —Streaming correction continues. The total number of Disney+ subscribers has fallen to 157.8m in Q2, down from 161.8m in the prior quarter. Most of those declines were at India's Disney+ Hotstar, with Disney+ domestic subs only falling by 300,000, something of a surprise given that the price increase would largely have been felt for most consumers last quarter. Revenues in the streaming division rose to $5.5b. [The results.]( —Two become one. Disney will be combining Hulu content with Disney+ content into one app in the U.S., Iger announced Wednesday. The company will begin to roll out the new app by the end of the calendar year. For now, this option will only be available to consumers who have subscribed to both services. Iger added that the company's purchase of Comcast's stake in Hulu still has not "been fully determined," but signaled that the company isn't ready to part with streaming service. [The story.]( TV Review: 'City on Fire' ►"Not even the least bit incendiary." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( reviews Apple TV+'s City on Fire. Gossip Girl creators Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage turn Garth Risk Hallberg's doorstop book into an eight-part not-quite-murder mystery. [The review.]( In other news... —Emma Stone [goes Frankenstein-like in Yorgos Lanthimos’ Poor Things trailer]( —The Portokalos [family touches down in Greece in My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3 trailer]( —Jesse Garcia [gets spicy as Cheetos innovator in first trailer for Flamin' Hot]( —Foundation S2 [trailer picks up saga after century-long time jump]( —Netflix [releases Arnold Schwarzenegger documentary trailer]( —Tom Holland [struggles with mysterious past in Apple’s The Crowded Room trailer]( —MTV [EMAs to return to Paris]( —Paramount Global [communications chief Jenny Tartikoff exits]( —[Lisa Montell]( actress in World Without End and lots of TV westerns, dies at 89 —[Edward L. Rissien]( Castle Keep producer and Filmways, Playboy Productions exec, dies at 98 —[Begho Ukueberuwa]( development exec at Fat City, dies at 27 What else we're reading... —With Guardians 3 featuring songs from the likes of Florence + the Machine and Spacehog, Nate Jones writes that the mini franchise is now mining millennial nostalgia [[Vulture]( —Jacob Oller has a must-read piece on how venture capital's obsession with IP has killed the mid-budget movie and the movie star and is now coming for the rest of the industry [[Paste]( —Max Tani and Ben Smith go inside Tucker Carlson’s new media plan [[Semafor]( —With tech CEOs trying to convince everybody that generative AI will benefit humanity, Naomi Klein writes that they are kidding themselves [[Guardian]( —In an op-ed, Lyz Lenz writes that the late blogger Heather Armstrong, a.k.a. Dooce, taught women online to be fierce [[WaPo]( Today... ...in 2001, Columbia Pictures unveiled the medieval actioner A Knight’s Tale, starring Heath Ledger, in theaters nationwide. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Shohreh Aghdashloo (71), Frances Fisher (71), Lana Condor (26), Shira Haas (28), Pam Ferris (75🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿), Danielle Pinnock (35), Jonathan Jackson (41), [Tim Blake Nelson]( (59), Jeffrey Donovan (55), Coby Bell (48), Mary Elizabeth Ellis (44), Sabrina Carpenter (24), Madison Lintz (24), Holly Valance (40), Warren Brown (45), Laetitia Casta (45), Nicky Katt (52), Austin O'Brien (42), Adam Kaufman (49), Annabelle Attanasio (30), Mark Neveldine (50), Boyd Gaines (70), Ariel Kiley (42), Karen Kilgariff (53), David Alvarez (29), Rakie Ayola (55🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿) Jacklyn Zeman, the veteran soap actress best known for playing Bobbie Spencer on ABC’s General Hospital, has died. She was 70. [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](