WBTV Suspends Overall Deals of Star Producers; Charter Hit With Class-Action Suit; Richard Linklater on Why Indie Movies Might Be Done; 'Origin' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( September 07, 2023 What's news: Jonathan Majors' trial has been delayed again. Paramount is looking to raise prices of Paramount+ with Showtime in the next 2 years. Lainey Wilson leads the nominations for the CMAs. HBO’s Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel will end with its current season. — [Abid Rahman]( Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at [tips@thr.com](. WBTV Suspends Overall Deals of 6 Star Producers ►The strike impacts mega-producers. THR's [Lesley Goldberg]( reports that Warner Bros. Television Group has suspended a number of overall deals for its top creatives including J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot, Greg Berlanti, Chuck Lorre, Bill Lawrence, John Wells and Mindy Kaling. Sources say Lorre’s multiyear pact with his decades-long studio was quietly suspended in May, a week into the strike. The move is similar to lower-level writer deals that had been suspended during the first month of the strike in May. [The story.]( —"A way to create more value." The new bundles are coming, according to Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. Speaking at the rather newsy Goldman Sachs conference Wednesday, Zaslav said that his company has had discussions with other companies in the content space about developing new bundles to create a better “consumer experience.” Those conversations have picked up “in the last few months,” he added giving the example of Max’s recent experiment to offer content from AMC Networks for a limited window. [The story.]( —"Our plan is to raise prices again." At the same GS conference, Paramount Global CEO Bob Bakish said the company will raise the price for its cornerstone streaming plan within the next two years after hiking the cost of Paramount+ with Showtime when it launched earlier this summer. Reflecting on the company revealing in May that the monthly price of its premium tier will go up from $9.99 to $11.99, Bakish detailed that the move did not lead to more subscriber churn or bring down subscriber growth. [The story.]( —Timeline change. Earlier on Wednesday at the GS conference, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts weighed in on the carriage dispute showdown between Disney and Charter Communications, while also talking about his company’s one-third stake in Hulu that is set to be sold to Disney. Roberts reported that Sept. 30 will mark an initial deadline to set in motion Disney using a put option that would require the studio that owns the remaining two-thirds in Hulu to take over its minority stake. [The story.]( Charter Hit With Class-Action Suit Over Disney Showdown ►"Charter knew the debts they sought to collect were not legitimate." The ongoing carriage dispute keeping Disney’s channels off of Spectrum, Charter Communications’ cable TV service, has led to a proposed class action against Charter from its subscribers, who claim they were used as pawns in a “clear money grab” from the cable giant. THR's [Winston Cho]( reports that a lawsuit filed on Tuesday in Florida federal court faults Charter for allegedly declining an offer from Disney to extend negotiations. [The story.]( —No need for illegal streams. ESPN is giving players competing in the U.S. Open tennis tournament access to live-streaming video of the matches, responding to complaints from players who found themselves unable to watch their competition due to the ongoing Disney-Charter Spectrum blackout. A number of players had publicly complained about the issue, including American star Coco Gauff and the Russian Daniil Medvedev. [The story.]( —Delayed again. Jonathan Majors trial on misdemeanor charges of harassment and assault has been delayed for a second time, despite New York prosecutors saying they are ready to present their case. Attorneys for Majors say they found deficiencies with the prosecution's certificate of compliance, leading to the new trial start date of Sept. 15. The actor appeared virtually in New York criminal court Wednesday. Majors faces charges in connection with a March 25 arrest. [The story.]( —"We’ll be back soon." Bruce Springsteen has postponed all of his performances in September as he undergoes treatment for peptic ulcer disease. The news was shared in a statement on the singer’s social media Wednesday, which noted that his medical advisors advised him to take off the rest of the month to focus on his health. [The story.]( —Harrowing. French actress Emmanuelle Béart says she was a victim of incest as a child, revealing the abuse in a new documentary she co-directed. In the doc, titled Such a Resounding Silence, Béart shares details of the abuse but does not reveal the name of her abuser, adding that she was saved by her grandmother. [The story.]( —"I would have these dreams any time I would go to perform." Miley Cyrus said she was filming a traumatic scene for Black Mirror at the same time the Woolsey Fire tore through Malibu and burned down her and ex-husband Liam Hemsworth’s home in 2018. As a result, the singer explained in a recent installment of her Used to Be Young TikTok series that she suffered from panic anxiety attacks years later. [The story.]( Linklater on 'Hit Man' and Why Indie Movies Might Be Done ►"Isn’t that what we all want for everything these days, from democracy on down? Can’t we just go back to being a little better?" THR's Patrick Brzeski spoke to Richard Linklater about his new film, the comedy thriller Hit Man that screened out of competition in Venice. Linklater also shared his views on the state of indie filmmaking in the era of streamers and algorithms and his answers are well worth reading (though rather bleak). [The interview.]( —"Now’s the time to move on." HBO’s Real Sports With Bryant Gumbel, a staple at the premium cabler since 1995, will end with its current season, the 29th in its run. The series has produced more than 300 episodes and won a trophy case’s worth of awards. Real Sports won its 37th Sports Emmy in May, for outstanding hosted edited series. Gumbel also received a lifetime achievement award at the ceremony. [The story.]( —🏆 Lainey leads the way 🏆 For a second consecutive year, Lainey Wilson is the most-nominated act at the Country Music Association Awards. And this time she’s competing for the top prize: entertainer of the year. Wilson earned nine nominations in total, well ahead of Morgan Wallen, who only earned three nominations, and Luke Combs, who will compete for four honors. [The nominations.]( —📅 Date change 📅 The Academy’s Governors Awards has been pushed from its previously announced date of Nov. 18, 2023, to Jan. 9, 2024, in the hope that the ongoing actors and writers strikes will be resolved by then. The 14th edition of the event will see Angela Bassett, Mel Brooks and Carol Littleton receive honorary Oscars and Michelle Satter the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award. [The story.]( —🎭 Back to Broadway 🎭 Jessica Lange, Jim Parsons and Celia Keenan-Bolger will star in the world premiere of Mother Play on Broadway. The play, written by Pulitzer Prize winner Paula Vogel (How I Learned to Drive and Indecent), and directed by Tina Landau, will play a limited engagement at Second Stage’s Hayes Theater starting April 2, with an opening night on April 25. [The story.]( THR Critic's TIFF Picks ►Miyazaki's final farewell. THR's arts and culture critic [Lovia Gyarkye]( shares her list of the 10 must-see films at this month’s Toronto Film Festival. Paul Dano reanimating GameStop stock mania, a doc depicting a faceoff between a North Carolina Black family and developers, and the latest from animation legend Hayao Miyazaki all make Lovia's selection. [The list.]( —The hot list. Amid all the confusion and disruption of the dual Hollywood strikes, THR's [Mia Galuppo]( and [Scott Roxborough]( run through the movies that could muster up some sales in TIFF this year, including a movie in which Taylor Russell’s mom won’t get off the couch, a dad-daughter Ethan-Maya Hawke project, and a dramatic turn for Andy Samberg. [The list.]( Film Review: 'Origin' ►"Connects emotionally, if not always intellectually." THR's [Lovia Gyarkye]( reviews Ava DuVernay's Venice competition entry Origin. With an ensemble including Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, Jon Bernthal and Niecy Nash-Betts, the Selma director tackles the story behind the making of Isabel Wilkerson's Pulitzer Prize-winning nonfiction book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents. [The review.]( —"Lots of killing, not much conviction." THR's chief film critic [David Rooney]( reviews Robert Lorenz's In the Land of Saints & Sinners. Liam Neeson, Kerry Condon, Colm Meaney and Ciarán Hinds star in this Western-inflected showdown between a reclusive hired gun and a vengeful IRA terrorist, premiering in Venice. [The review.]( —"Alien nation." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Moin Hussain's Sky Peals. The filmmaker's first feature, about a British-Pakistani man trying to make sense of the strange and unwelcoming world he lives in, premiered in the Critics’ Week sidebar at Venice. [The review.]( Film Review: 'Wildcat' ►"A great literary movie is a joy to find." THR film critic [Sheri Linden]( reviews Ethan Hawke's Wildcat. Maya Hawke and Laura Linney each play six roles in a film that intertwines the Southern writer Flannery O’Connor's literary creations with a key part of her biography. [The review.]( —"A deftly executed debut feature." THR critic Stephen Farber reviews Christy Hall's Daddio. Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn shine in this two-hander about a woman and her driver as they open up to each other over the course of a cab ride. [The review.]( —"Confirms its maker's sharp comic vision." Stephen reviews Pawo Choyning Dorji's The Monk and the Gun. The film, the latest from the Bhutanese director of the Oscar-nominated Lunana: A Yak in the Classroom, is a wry satirical comedy about democracy and violence. [The review.]( —"A devastating dramatic triumph." THR's Leslie Felperin reviews Agnieszka Holland, Kamila Tarabura and Katarzyna Warzecha's Venice competition entry Green Border. The knockout refugee drama revolves around various people trying to cross the border from Belarus into Poland. [The review.]( In other news... —Feinberg Forecast: [First read of Oscar race, post-Telluride and pre-Toronto]( —A boy pursues late mother in [Hayao Miyazaki’s The Boy and the Heron trailer]( —Gen V [official trailer released for Amazon’s The Boys spin-off]( —American Horror Story: Delicate [starring Kim Kardashian reveals official trailer]( —Cindy Crawford, Naomi Campbell [give inside look at careers in Apple’s The Super Models trailer]( —Austin Butler, Jodie Comer [find uneasy love in a bike club in Jeff Nichols’ The Bikeriders trailer]( —Emily Blunt [reaches for the high life in Pain Hustlers trailer]( —Lizzo [to be honored with Quincy Jones Humanitarian Award By Black Music Action Coalition]( —Patricia Arquette [to receive Toronto Film Festival Award]( What else we're reading... —Must-read Lane Brown report on how movie PR firm Bunker 15 has seemingly gamed Rotten Tomatoes' "Tomatometer" metric with alleged payments to reviewers [[Vulture]( —Meg James writes that Disney’s spat with Charter is a proxy battle for the future of television [[LAT]( —Steffan Powell talks to game designer Todd Howard, the creator of Starfield, about his latest ambitious project and the importance of long games [[BBC]( —Charles Pulliam-Moore writes that Netflix’s One Piece is the rare anime adaptation that gets all the important things right [[Verge]( —In a piece remembering Jimmy Buffett, Rob Harvilla writes that the "Margaritaville" singer found paradise on Earth [[Ringer]( Today... Today's birthdays: Evan Rachel Wood (36), [Toby Jones]( (57), J. Smith-Cameron (66), Jodie Turner-Smith (37), Dario Argento (83), Julie Kavner (73), Leslie Jones (56), Alex Kurtzman (50), Hannah John-Kamen (34), Tom Everett Scott (53), Corbin Bernsen (69), Oliver Hudson (47), Alyssa Diaz (38), Devon Sawa (45), Shannon Elizabeth (50), Athena Karkanis (42), Diane Farr (54), Taylor Gray (30), Benjamin Hollingsworth (39), Colin Lawrence (53), Dean-Charles Chapman (26), Michael Emerson (69), JD Pardo (43), David Dawson (41), Monique Gabriela Curnen (53), Angie Everhart (54) Giuliano Montaldo, the admired Italian filmmaker who wrote and directed Sacco & Vanzetti, the John Cassavetes-starring Machine Gun McCain and every episode of the big-budget 1982 miniseries Marco Polo, has died. He was 93. [The obituary.]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} by The Hollywood Reporter. Please add email@email.hollywoodreporter.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. 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