Tony Nominees Roundtable; Disney Takes $1.5B Write-Down After Streaming Exodus; Latest Emmys Predictions; Hailee Steinfeld Talks 'Spider-Verse 2'

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( June 03, 2023 What's news: Padma Lakshmi is leaving Top Chef. The Spider-Verse sequel swings to historic preview numbers at the box office. Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre's Hollywood Bowl show has been rescheduled amid the writers strike. A well-known creator offers anonymous thoughts about development hell as the writers strike stretches on. — [Ryan Gajewski]( THR's Tony Nominees Roundtable ►"It's nice to be telling a story where there's such an urgent reason." For THR's latest Roundtable, Scott Feinberg sits down with Tony nominees Sara Bareilles, Jessica Chastain, Victoria Clark, Josh Groban, Corey Hawkins and Ben Platt. The six Broadway standouts discuss the challenges and rewards of their parts, why the Tonys matter, their dream roles and more. [The Roundtable.]( —Disney pulled more than 30 projects off its streaming services last month. Disney is set to take a $1.5 billion write-down during the fiscal third quarter after removing a long list of shows and films off of Disney+ and Hulu last month in an effort to bring down costs, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. On May 26, Disney pulled projects like The World According to Jeff Goldblum, Y: The Last Man, The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers, Willow and the 2022 film Cheaper By the Dozen off of its streaming services. [The story.]( —"A lot of these cases turn on strength in numbers." THR's [Winston Cho]( reports that prosecutors were given more room in the retrial to argue that Danny Masterson drugged his accusers and were allowed to present an expert witness on Scientology. Legal experts weigh in on the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office netting a conviction in one of the most high-profile cases since the beginning of the #MeToo movement. [The story.]( —BuzzFeed's stock has struggled to perform amid an overall economic downturn. BuzzFeed has until Nov. 27 to improve the performance of its stock or risk getting delisted from Nasdaq, according to a filing with the Securities Exchange Commission. The media company received a notice from Nasdaq warning that for the past 30 business days, the bidding price for BuzzFeed's common stock has closed below the $1-per-share minimum requirement to remain listed on the stock exchange. [The story.]( Anonymous Strike Diary ►"The impact of what we have lost is starting to really settle in." THR's series of frank accounts of the writers strike continues. The Well-Known Creator returns to savage the absurd process of selling a project in the streaming age but admits he longs to get back to it for a fair wage: "You contort the premise of the show to fit all the precepts the algorithm has identified for success." [The diary.]( —"We stand in solidarity with the unions." Snoop Dogg's upcoming Hollywood Bowl show is being rescheduled amid the writers strike. The rapper announced the news on his Instagram, explaining that the show, set to celebrate the 30th anniversary of his debut album Doggystyle, will be pushed from June to October. [The story.]( —Stopping for now. The Jennifer Lopez feature Unstoppable is the latest film to shut down indefinitely as the writers strike continues to roil the industry. The movie, which hails from Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's Artists Equity, was filming in Los Angeles and was disrupted by picketing strikers earlier in the week. [The story.]( Hailee Steinfeld Talks 'Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse' ►"I've always loved this character, but I love her so much more in this film." THR's [Brian Davids]( interviews Hailee Steinfeld, who voices Gwen Stacy in Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse. The performer discusses the reports of a Gwen-related spinoff, the Spider-Verse scenes she'd most want to reimagine in live-action and the astonishing recovery of her Hawkeye co-star, Jeremy Renner. [The interview.]( —Spinning an impressive web at the box office. THR's [Pamela McClintock]( reports that Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse grossed $17.4 million in Thursday previews, the second-best showing ever for an animated title. The sequel to the Oscar-winning Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse should enjoy a domestic debut of $80 million or more over the weekend. [The report.]( —"He lived more in a day than most in a year." For THR, [Cori Murray]( chats with Dear Mama director Allen Hughes about Tupac Shakur's legacy. The filmmaker explains why he depicted the life of the rapper and actor alongside his activist mother, Afeni Shakur: "I absolutely believe this is the definitive story." [The interview.]( Emmy Nominations Predictions ►The latest Emmy picks. Two weeks out from the 2023 Emmy nomination voting, THR awards expert Scott Feinberg offers his updated rankings for 24 categories. His selections include a new frontrunner for best actress in a limited or anthology series or TV movie. [The Feinberg Forecast.]( —🔪 Packing her own proverbial knives 🔪 Padma Lakshmi, longtime host of Top Chef, announced that she's leaving the Bravo competition after 19 seasons. "After much soul searching, I have made the difficult decision to leave Top Chef," she posted to social media. [The story.]( —"We drove people crazy." THR's [Sydney Odman]( talks to Kaley Cuoco and Chris Messina about starring in Peacock's Based on a True Story as a married couple who face complications after launching a lucrative true crime podcast to make ends meet. Says Cuoco about working with Messina: "We were the duo that we didn't even know that we needed." [The interview.]( This Week's Must Reads ►On the cover. With sly and subversive humor, Taika Waititi is redefining representation — "Comedy is a great way of pulling people in and going, 'Hey, we're all friends. Get comfortable. You're racist'" — while having more fun in Hollywood than just about anyone else. THR's [Rebecca Keegan]( spoke to the multihyphenate about his various projects, including the TV hits Reservations Dogs, What We Do in the Shadows and Our Flag Means Death and his upcoming feature, the Samoan soccer dramedy Next Goal Wins. [The cover story.]( —How to get to that "f*** you, I'll do what I want" place. THR's award-winning Roundtable series continues. Steven Yeun, John Mulaney, Jason Segel, Tyler James Williams and Mo Amer sit down with [Lacey Rose]( for the Comedy Actor Emmy Roundtable. In a wide-ranging conversation, the five stars talk about when to embrace the anxiety hives, buy the BMW and push through that crazy puppet musical idea (even if everyone's telling you it's stupid). The Roundtable: [Read]( or [Watch](. —Pathfinders. As part of THR's second annual Raising Our Voices issue, we've put together a list of the creative and business changemakers — including Riz Ahmed, Viola Davis, Sterlin Harjo and Gloria Calderón Kellett — who are continuing to push the industry to be inclusive onscreen and off. [The list.]( —"We have to make sure that no writing is happening across the board." As the strike extends into its second month, protesters are focusing efforts on stopping in-progress productions. Multiple high-level executives who spoke with THR's [Gary Baum]( [Katie Kilkenny]( and [Lesley Goldberg]( agree that the guerrilla-style tactics are working. [The story.]( In other news... —Hollywood Critics Association president resigns, [citing "hostile, biased" work environment]( —Never Have I Ever stars on [what they kept from set and how the series will end]( —Events of the week: [Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, The Crowded Room, ATX and more]( What else we're reading... —Shaad D'Souza explores whether The Idol is the most shocking TV of the year [[Guardian]( —Lindsay Zoladz writes that the Foo Fighters are shaken but still standing with their first album since the death of drummer Taylor Hawkins [[NYT]( —Jaya Saxena offers some words of caution about using AI recipes [[Eater]( —Rebecca Onion examines the Netflix comedy breakout that nails the hair-trigger anger of our moment [[Slate]( —Anne Branigin highlights seven takeaways from Shiny Happy People, the new Duggar family documentary [[WaPo]( Today... ...in 1988, director Penny Marshall brought the Tom Hanks-starring Big to theaters, where the film eventually grossed $150 million worldwide and became a pop culture classic. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Anderson Cooper (56), Imogen Poots (34), Penelope Wilton (77), Jason Jones (50), James Purefoy (59), Suzie Plakson (65), Anne Winters (29), Louis Partridge (20), Tate Taylor (54), Clive Mantle (66), Suzi Quatro (73), Arianne Zucker (49), Maddison Jaizani (28), Pico Alexander (32), John Dykstra (76), Peter Thorwarth (52) Cynthia Weil, a Grammy-winning lyricist of notable range and endurance who enjoyed a decades-long partnership with husband Barry Mann and helped write “You’ve Lost That Lovin' Feeling," "On Broadway," Walking in the Rain" and dozens of other hits, has died. She was 82. [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](