Inside the Quest to Cast 'Superman: Legacy'; Vice Files for Bankruptcy; 'Succession' Actor Talks Election Night Episode; 'Guardians 3' Enjoys Heroic Hold

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( May 15, 2023 What's news: Book Club 2 bombed at the box office. Kelly Clarkson has addressed the scandal around her talk show. A new startup is attempting to disrupt the industry by giving away millions of premium TV sets, for free. Fox has revealed its primetime slate for the 2023-24 season. — [Abid Rahman]( Inside the Quest to Cast 'Superman: Legacy' ►🎭 Bright young things 🎭 THR's [Borys Kit]( and [Mia Galuppo]( have the huge scoop on the young stars being measured up for James Gunn's Superman: Legacy, the crucial first film of the rebooted DCU. Pearl star David Corenswet is the current frontrunner to play the Man of Steel with Jacob Elordi, Tom Brittney and Andrew Richardson also in the mix. Emma Mackey, Phoebe Dynevor, Samara Weaving and Rachel Brosnahan are under consideration for the role of Lois Lane and Nicholas Hoult is in the running to play Lex Luthor. [The story.]( —"I have always been, and will continue to be, committed to creating and maintaining a safe and healthy environment." Kelly Clarkson took to social media to address recent allegations of a toxic work environment behind the scenes of her daytime talk show. In an Instagram post, The Kelly Clarkson Show host said it was "unacceptable" that people were mistreated on her show and that she was putting in place measures to "ensure that any notion of toxicity is eradicated." [The story.]( —There's got to be a catch. A new startup has revealed ambitious plans to give away millions of premium TV sets, for free. On Monday, Telly opened online registration for 500,000 future-proof 55-inch 4K HDR sets. The company is the brainchild of Ilya Pozin, a co-founder of the free, ad-supported streaming service Pluto TV, and he tells THR's [Alex Weprin]( that the business model is supported by ads and data collection. [The story.]( —Loading up on unscripted. For the second straight year, Fox is not releasing a fall schedule at its upfront presentation. However, the broadcaster did release its slate of primetime series for the 2023-24 season Monday morning, and it features near parity between the number of scripted (13) and unscripted (12) shows. Among the standouts, Jamie and Corinne Foxx will host a second music game show on the network, and past series Kitchen Nightmares and I Can See Your Voice are making a comeback. [The story.]( Vice Files for Bankruptcy ►Epic fall from grace. After weeks of speculation, Vice Media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday to smooth a sale of the business. The company, once hailed as the future of digital media and valued at a staggering $5.7b, has struggled with debts, shrinking ad revenue and MeToo scandals in recent years. A consortium that includes Fortress, Soros Fund Management and Monroe Capital has agreed to purchase the group for $225m and is looking to close the deal in the next few months. [The story.]( —🏆 Kate wins it 🏆 I Am Ruth, Bad Sisters, Derry Girls and The Traitors were the top winners at the 2023 BAFTA Television Awards on Sunday. Kate Winslet won the BAFTA for leading actress for her role in I Am Ruth, which also won for best single drama. Bad Sisters took home the award for best drama series, as well as Anne-Marie Duff received the award for best supporting actress. [The winners.]( —🏆 GLAAD handers 🏆 Fire Island, Anything’s Possible and We’re Here are among the 2023 GLAAD Media Award winners presented in New York Saturday night. The Problem With Jon Stewart, A Strange Loop and Dove Cameron also received prizes, while Jonathan Van Ness and Maren Morris were honored. [The winners.]( —"Then you have Donald Trump coming down the escalator." Jason Sudeikis has revealed the character Ted Lasso wasn’t initially intended to have an endlessly optimistic personality. In a new interview, the Emmy winner explained that the original Ted Lasso, which he had created for a comedy skit years before the Apple TV+ series was created, was more "belligerent." The first season of Ted Lasso debuted in 2020, around the same time as Donald Trump was running for reelection and so Sudeikis decided to change the character to be nicer. [The story.]( —Tough choices. The Little Mermaid composer Alan Menken has explained why one song from the original 1989 animated classic is not part of the new live-action film. In a new interview, the Oscar-winning songwriter said that the team behind the remake opted against including the song "Daughters of Triton" as it was a bigger priority to create more of a buildup to Ariel’s performance of "Part of Your World." [The story.]( —"You become very sneaky when you have something like [alcoholism] in your life." Simon Pegg has opened up about how he struggled with alcoholism while working on Mission: Impossible III. In a new interview, Pegg said he was abusing alcohol to get through the emotional pain he was facing at the time and that he hid his drinking while working on film sets in the early 2000s, most notably while working on J.J. Abrams' film. [The story.]( 'Succession' President on That Climactic Election Night Result ►Well, that wasn't fun. For THR, Josh Wigler breaks down the latest and most painful episode of HBO's Succession, "America Decides." Without spoiling anything, Josh talks to the actor who brings a controversial victory to life. Warning: Spoilers! [The interview.]( —"The finale feels like the starting line." THR's chat queen [Jackie Strause]( spoke to Yellowjackets star Courtney Eaton about season two's seventh episode, "Burial." The actress who plays young Lottie discusses the shocking end to the episode and how it kicks off game-changing events for the end of this current season. Warning: Spoilers! [The interview.]( —"I feel like I’m having a conversation with 800-plus people every night and getting to see how it moves them." THR's [Caitlin Huston]( spoke to Jodie Comer about the challenge and thrill of bringing the critically acclaimed West End play Prima Facie to Broadway. Comer, who is Tony nominated for her portrayal of a brash, bloviating barrister, opens up about why she decided to take on the role, how she prepared for it and how it has changed throughout the year. [The interview.]( 'Guardians 3' Enjoys Heroic Hold With $60.5M ►What fatigue? Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 enjoyed the best second-weekend hold of any sequel in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, grossing an estimated $60.5m from 4,450 theaters in its sophomore outing, a mere 49 percent decline and more than enough to crush the competition this weekend. Overseas, Guardians 3 took in another $91.9m from 52 markets for a foreign tally of $315.6m — including a pleasing $58.4m from China — for a total global cume of $528.8m. THR's [Pamela McClintock]( writes that Marvel movies have suffered larger-than-usual drops of late, with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania falling nearly 70 percent in its second weekend. In only two weeks, Guardians 3 has already rocketed past Quantumania's entire global total of $475.8m. Before Guardians 3, only five films in the MCU have fallen 50 percent or less in their second weekends. Elsewhere, new offering Book Club: The Next Chapter didn't get a Mother's Day bump and only managed a third-place finish with a disappointing $6.5m from 3,500 theaters domestically, well behind the $13.6m opening of the first Book Club in 2018. [The box office report.]( —Career lows. Robert Rodriguez and Ben Affleck suffered their worst-ever domestic box office openings this weekend when Hypnotic made an anemic $2.4m from 2,118 theaters. Pamela writes that the sci-fi action-thriller stands to lose tens of millions, after costing a reported $65m to make, and reinforces what every savvy Hollywood studio executive knows: spending on marketing is essential. [The story.]( Cannes 2023 Hot List ►Generating buzz. THR's Mia Galuppo and [Scott Roxborough]( write that the ongoing Hollywood writers strike is casting a cloud over what otherwise promises to be a solid Cannes film market. This year, Marché du Film mainstays like Sylvester Stallone, Keanu Reeves, Diane Keaton and Guy Ritchie are joined by newer talents like Florence Pugh, Andrew Garfield, Nicolas Hoult, Bella Ramsey, and Zar Amir-Ebrahimi. And of course, there'll be a project from Nicolas Cage. [The hot list.]( —What's the deal. Cannes kicks off Tuesday with six titles screening 'out of competition.' Among those films is Martin Scorsese’s hotly anticipated Killers of the Flower Moon. THR's Scott Feinberg looks at why the legendary filmmaker and distributor Apple, armed with what Cannes director Thierry Fremaux describes as “an extremely strong film” that drove him to tears, are turning down the opportunity to screen a film in competition at the world’s most prestigious festival. [The story.]( —New sales push. THR's [Alex Ritman]( has the scoop on Alec {NAME}'s tragedy stricken feature Rust hitting the Cannes film market. Almost 18 months after the tragic shooting of cinematographer Halyna Hutchins on the set, the Western — which resumed filming in April with Hutchins' widower as a producer — is now being sold by Goodfellas at the Marché this month. [The story.]( —🎭 Sam's club 🎭 Another Cannes scoop from Alex, this time he has news on Kelsey Asbille and Finn Wittrock signing up to lead the upcoming horror thriller Don’t Move from Sam Raimi’s Raimi Productions, Capstone Studios and Hammerstone Studios. Adam Schindler and Brian Netto are set to direct the feature, which follows a seasoned killer who injects a grieving woman with a paralytic agent. [The story.]( In other news... —Doctor Who [trailer reveals episode titles for 60th anniversary specials]( —Colton Underwood [weds political strategist Jordan Brown in Napa Valley]( —Italy’s answer to St. Tropez: [Where to stay in Forte Dei Marmi on the Tuscan coast]( —Mallorca travel: [The best places and ways to unwind on the celeb-loved Spanish island]( What else we're reading... —Cordelia Jenkins looks at how kids cartoon Bluey became prestige TV for preschoolers [[FT]( —After a marked subscriber slow down at the likes of Netflix and Disney+, Alex Sherman makes the case that the streaming wars are over [[CNBC]( —Important new reporting by Kirsten Grind, Katherine Bindley and Zusha Elinson on the underground life of sex and drugs of slain Cash App founder Bob Lee [[WSJ]( —An absolutely incredible Dan O'Sullivan story about a Japanese-American man who survived the internment camps to become a leading figure in the Chicago mob, oh, and he survived being shot in the head [[Chicago Mag]( —Caitlin Moscatello looks at how influencers like Dr. Becky and Big Little Feelings have pushed millennials to adopt earnest parenting [[NYT]( Today... Today's birthdays: Christopher Meledandri (64), Brian Eno (75), Jenni Konner (52), Alexandra Breckenridge (41), Jamie-Lynn Sigler (42), Grant Heslov (60), Kirk DeMicco (54), David Krumholtz (45), Brenda Bakke (60), Chazz Palminteri (71), Caroline Dhavernas (45), Tom Wu (51), Sophie Cookson (33), Lainie Kazan (83), Russell Hornsby (49), Ashlynn Yennie (38), David Charvet (51), Inanna Sarkis (30), Anjelika Washington (25), Madhuri Dixit (56), Ahmet Zappa (49), Tatsuya Fujiwara (41), Michael Patrick Jann (53), Rob Bowman (63), Jack Henry Robbins (34), Rod Lurie (61), Cleavant Derricks (70), [John Glen]( (91), Julian Jarrold (63), Quincy Dunn-Baker (41) 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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