Can Hollywood Move on From Maha's Problematic Post?; 'Friends' Stars Remember Matthew Perry; AFM 2023 Hot List; De Niro Takes the Stand in Gender Discrimination Trial

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( October 31, 2023 What's news: SAG-AFTRA and the AMPTP will resume talks on Tuesday. The stars of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes will be allowed to promote the film. Matthew Perry's memoir has hit No. 1 on Amazon’s bestseller list. David Robert Mitchell has confirmed a sequel to horror hit It Follows. Bridgerton actress Ruby Barker has revealed she suffered two psychotic breaks while working on the show. — [Abid Rahman]( Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at [tips@thr.com](. Maha's Problematic Post: Can Hollywood Move On? ►"She’s been on a rocketship of growth, and there’s a certain amount of schadenfreude." CAA power agent Maha Dakhil's controversial Instagram message accusing Israel of "genocide" resulted in accusations of hypocrisy and at least one big client, Aaron Sorkin, fired her. But, writes THR's editor-at-large Kim Masters, others see something a lot more Hollywood at play. [The story.]( —"Jews have been left off the agenda." In a guest column for THR, comedian Iliza Shlesinger writes that, amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, she finds the latest rise of antisemitism painful but not surprising and also discusses her anger that many progressives fail to acknowledge Jewish suffering and marginalization. [The column.]( SAG-AFTRA, Studios to Resume Negotiations on Tuesday ►"We remain far apart on key issues." SAG-AFTRA and Hollywood studios will be back at the negotiating table on Tuesday as both sides remain “far apart on key issues,” according to the union. As the historic 2023 performers’ strike rages on, the parties took Monday to confer amongst themselves. “The committee worked independently today. We will be meeting with the AMPTP Tuesday,” the negotiating committee told members on Monday night. “While talks over the past week have been productive, we remain far apart on key issues.” [The story.]( —Good for promo. The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the forthcoming prequel in the Hunger Games franchise, has landed an interim agreement from SAG-AFTRA ahead of its release on Nov. 17. This means that the Lionsgate feature can have its onscreen talent promote the film in the coming weeks. The film is eligible because Lionsgate is not part of the AMPTP, which is in an ongoing labor dispute with the performers union. [The story.]( 'Friends' Stars Remember Matthew Perry ►"We were more than just castmates. We are a family." Jennifer Aniston, Lisa Kudrow, Courteney Cox, Matt LeBlanc and David Schwimmer are remembering their Friends co-star Matthew Perry, who died Saturday at age 54. On Monday, the quintet released a short joint statement explaining that they were grieving and that "in time we will say more, as and when we are able." [The story.]( —"This truly is The One Where Our Hearts Are Broken." Friends co-creators Marta Kauffman and David Crane also released a joint statement on Monday. "He was a brilliant talent. It’s a cliché to say that an actor makes a role their own, but in Matthew’s case, there are no truer words. From the day we first heard him embody the role of Chandler Bing, there was no one else for us," they said. [The story.]( —Topping the bestseller list. Matthew Perry‘s memoir Friends, Lovers and the Big Terrible Thing has hit No. 1 on Amazon’s best-seller list. The memoir originally hit shelves Nov. 1, 2022, and details in great detail the late actor's struggles with addiction. He also spent some time reflecting on his acting career and his time on Friends. [The story.]( —Lovely tribute. The streaming and cable homes of Friends is paying tribute to Matthew Perry. Max, which has exclusive streaming rights to the sitcom, has added a title card to the show honoring Perry. The card features a photo of the actor and reads, “In memory of Matthew Perry, 1969-2023.” It appears before the premiere episode of each of Friends‘ 10 seasons. TBS, which carries the show on cable (along with Nick at Nite, which is doing its own tribute), is also planning a multi-day marathon of some of Perry’s best episodes. [The story.]( AFM 2023 Hot List ►New Alex Garland! With the American Film Market opening its doors today, THR's [Scott Roxborough]( runs through the films that will have buyers excited. Films starring Keira Knightley, Henry Cavill, Halle Berry, Dev Patel and David Harbour, new sci-fi action movies from Alex Garland and Brad Anderson, plus a possible franchise starter from David Ayer, are all on offer in Santa Monica. [The list.]( —A potential deal to end actors strike boosts AFM outlook. Scott writes that the growing hope that SAG-AFTRA can soon reach an agreement to end the strike has dealmakers excited, but structural problems in the indie business remain. [The analysis.]( —Better late than never. David Robert Mitchell is finally making his long-awaited followup to horror hit It Follows. Mitchell is reteaming with star Maika Monroe on They Follow, with Tom Quinn’s Neon introducing the package to buyers at AFM this week. They Follow will once again star Monroe as Jay Height, whom audiences met in the 2014 film as a young woman who learns she will be hunted by a mysterious entity. The first film grossed $21.9m globally on a budget of around $1m. [The story.]( —The last true action hero? THR's man in London [Alex Ritman]( spoke to action movie star, and AFM royalty, Scott Adkins. The British star has spent much of his 20-year career fighting in the straight-to-video world, but has amassed a huge fanbase along the way for his martial arts skills, has battled every muscle-bound hero he grew up idolizing, and now, with John Wick 4 having given him his juiciest role in a major studio title to date, could be poised to — finally — break into the mainstream. [The interview.]( De Niro Takes the Stand in Gender Discrimination Trial ►"I wanted everybody to be happy and play nice. Unfortunately that didn’t happen." The trial on gender discrimination and retaliation charges against Robert De Niro and his loan-out company, Canal Productions, began Monday in New York, with the Oscar-winning actor taking the stand as the first witness. Graham Chase Robinson, Canal’s former vp of production and finance, claims she was discriminated against by De Niro and retaliated against after disagreements with his girlfriend. De Niro claims Robinson misappropriated company funds. [The story.]( —Not great. Artists suing generative AI art generators have hit a stumbling block in a first-of-its-kind lawsuit over the uncompensated and unauthorized use of billions of images downloaded from the internet to train AI systems, with a federal judge’s dismissal of most claims. While the judge advanced an infringement claim against Stability AI, he dismissed the rest of the lawsuit. [The story.]( —"I was deteriorating." Bridgerton actress Ruby Barker has revealed she suffered two psychotic breaks as a result of working on the Netflix/Shondland show. In a podcast appearance, Barker, who played Marina Thompson in the series, said that her psychotic breaks were kept quiet so as not to damage the show before it premiered on the streamer in December 2020. She added that nobody from Netflix or Shondaland "have even contacted me or even emailed me to ask me if I’m OK or if I would benefit from any sort of aftercare or support." [The story.]( —"I am overwhelmed with all the love and support from the world as I fight." Mary Lou Retton has made her first public comments following her stint in an intensive care unit for a rare form of pneumonia. The Olympic gold medalist took to her Instagram to share her first statement since “fighting for her life” in the hospital after she came down with the respiratory illness. [The story.]( —"We keep making the same movie over and over and pandering to everyone, but suddenly it’s not working." South Park's latest special, "Joining the Panderverse," skewered Disney for its recent box office slump, accusing the studio of lazily recycling the same ideas except with diverse casting. The episode particularly took aim at Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy — while at the same time knocking online trolls who have piled on the executive in recent years. [The story.]( 'Five Nights' Filmmaker Talks Possible Sequel ►"We’re all, including myself, very excited to keep making movies in this universe if we’re lucky enough to do so." THR's [Brian Davids]( spoke to Five Nights at Freddy's filmmaker Emma Tammi. The director talks going from doc filmmaking to landing the trust of Five Nights creator Scott Cawthon, who'd lost a bit of faith that the movie would ever get made as well as the "loose ends" to tackle in a sequel. Warning: Spoilers! [The interview.]( In other news... —Good Burger 2 trailer: [Kenan Thompson, Kel Mitchell lose their jobs to robots]( —Rapper [Offset is channeling Michael Jackson — here’s why]( —Billie Eilish [fronts Gucci campaign launching first bag in animal-free demetra material]( ​​​What else we're reading... —Critic Margaret Lyons writes that Matthew Perry's performances in shows like The West Wing and The Good Fight revealed him to be one of TV’s best sparring partners [[NYT]( —Yating Yang reports that Matthew Perry's death has been mourned by millions in China, where Friends, and in particular Chandler Bing, helped shape a generation in the country [[SCMP]( —Rebecca Alter profiles Tim Heidecker, one of TV's funniest people (yes, he is) [[Vulture]( —Angela Yang writes that L.A. is beefing with NYC again, this time over scooped bagels [[NBC News]( —For Halloween, a host of Guardian writers reflect on their scariest movie moments ever [[Guardian]( ​​ Today... Today's birthdays: Peter Jackson (62), Letitia Wright (30), Stephen Rea (77), Willow Smith (23), Sydney Park (26), Mike O'Malley (57), Ron Rifkin (84), Director X (48), Dermot Mulroney (60), Samaire Armstrong (43), Patti Harrison (33), Holly Taylor (26), Kether Donohue (38), Brian Doyle-Murray (78), Piper Perabo (47), Justin Chatwin (41), Erica Cerra (44), Vanessa Marano (31), Kayla Wallace (35), Danielle Rose Russell (24), Brian Hallisay (45), Nolan North (53), David Dencik (49), Sally Kirkland (82), Jane Wymark (71), Deidre Hall (76), Itzan Escamilla (26), Eddie Kaye Thomas (43), Johnny Whitworth (48), Liv Lisa Fries (33), Michael Kitchen (75), Sanjeev Bhaskar (60), Suzanna Son (28), Jordan-Claire Green (32), Michael DeLorenzo (64), Michael J. Anderson (70) Judy Nugent, who portrayed one of the twins on the early TV sitcom The Ruggles and a girl who flies around the world in the arms of the Man of Steel on a heartwarming Adventures of Superman episode, has died. She was 83. 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