Clooney Calls for Biden to Step Aside; {NAME} Trial Opening Statements; Costner's 'Horizon 2' Release Pulled; 'Twisters' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( July 11, 2024 What's news: Inside Out 2 is officially Pixar's top-grossing film ever. Penguin Random House is set to acquire Boom! Studios. Jonathan Tropper will pen the script for Shawn Levy's Star Wars movie. Pat Sajak will return for Celebrity Wheel of Fortune. Emilia Clarke has been cast in the lead of Amazon's Criminal. Bachelor in Paradise has been renewed for S10. — [Abid Rahman]( Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at [tips@thr.com](. Clooney Pens Op-Ed Calling for Biden to Step Aside ►"As Democrats, we collectively hold our breath or turn down the volume whenever we see the president." George Clooney has called on Joe Biden to quit the presidential race. In a blunt op-ed published in The New York Times on Wednesday, Clooney, one of Hollywood’s most high profile political players, forcefully argues for a new candidate to take on Donald Trump in November. Clooney writes that the Biden he spent time with at a recent fundraiser is not the same man who won in 2020, but, rather, is the one 51m Americans saw with their own eyes at the disastrous first debate. [The story.]( —"Biden is fighting back on Clooney." After Clooney's scathing op-ed dropped on Wednesday, Biden’s team reportedly attempted to clap back at the iconic actor. Writing on X, Annie Karni, a NYT congressional correspondent, cited a Biden source mocking Clooney for his stamina and level of participation at a June 15 fundraiser that the actor referenced in his op-ed. "The President stayed for over three hours, while Clooney took a photo quickly and left," the source said. [The story.]( —Media blitz continues. As Biden fights to reaffirm his place atop the Democratic presidential ticket, he has set another primetime interview, this time with NBC’s Lester Holt. NBC says that it will run the interview “in its entirety” as a primetime special this coming Monday night at 9 p.m. It will also stream on the NBC News Now streaming service at that time, with some clips premiering on Monday’s NBC Nightly News, which Holt anchors. NBC will also release an unedited transcript after the interview. [The story.]( —Fence sitting. Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is declining to publicly take sides ahead of the upcoming presidential election. Rather than backing political parties or individual candidates, what matters most to Zaslav, as he told reporters at Allen & Co.’s annual Sun Valley Conference, is having a president who is business-friendly. "We just need an opportunity for deregulation, so companies can consolidate and do what we need to, to be even better," he told Bloomberg. [The story.]( {NAME}'s Lawyers Claim He's a Victim of Agenda-Driven D.A. ►Opening statements. Alec {NAME} is either a man who recklessly violated the “cardinal rule” of gun safety or a “shiny object” for a couple of New Mexico prosecutors who don’t have a case. Those are the arguments special prosecutor Erlinda Ocampo Johnson and {NAME}’s defense attorney Alex Spiro made Wednesday morning as {NAME}’s involuntary manslaughter trial got underway. With his brother Stephen and wife, Hilaria, seated in the courtroom behind him, {NAME} watched as Johnson told the jury that the actor should be held criminally liable in the death of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins. [The story.]( —Murphy's law. Five TV series — three new and a recurring and miniseries — will receive $58m in tax credits for shooting in California. The projects are headlined by All’s Fair, a legal drama from 20th Television and Ryan Murphy that’ll feature Halle Berry and Glenn Close alongside Kim Kardashian. It’s the third show this year from Murphy selected to participate in the program. In this round of incentives, the only major studios to nab credits are the Disney-owned company ($14m) and Apple Studios ($15m). [The story.]( —🤝 Sold! 🤝 Penguin Random House is set to acquire comic book and graphic novel publisher Boom! Studios. Random House Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, has agreed to the deal for Boom!, which was founded in 2005 by Ross Richie and Andrew Cosby. The deal is expected to close later this summer, and terms were not disclosed. As part of the transaction, Disney is selling its minority stake in Boom! that 20th Century Fox acquired in 2017. [The story.]( —Cause of death. Longtime KTLA reporter Sam Rubin's cause of death has been revealed. According to a Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner Office, the beloved anchor and entertainment reporter died naturally from ischemic heart disease due to atherosclerotic coronary artery disease, which results in a lethal heartbeat due to lack of blood and oxygen flowing to the heart. Rubin, who had been at KTLA since 1991, died May 10 at age 64. [The story.]( —Losses mount. THR's [Lachlan Cartwright]( reports that The Daily Beast was on track to lose $9m this year and was “hours away” from being sold to private equity. Lachlan writes that the Beast's new CEO and publisher Ben Sherwood delivered the startling news to shell-shocked staffers during an all-hands call last week. Sherwood and chief content and creative officer Joanna Coles took the reins of the website in April and have sought to cut the site’s losses with buyouts and layoffs. Around 30 people departed the publication last week. [The story.]( —🤝 Settlement 🤝 The WGA West has negotiated a settlement with CBS over work that occurred after writers rooms were shut down on several shows that has awarded $3.05m to 24 writers. According to a member message, the settlement resulted from an arbitration claim that the union filed for writers on MacGyver, Seal Team and Hawaii 5-0. The settlement encompasses $1m in interest in addition to weekly pay and pension, health and parental leave contributions for those writers. [The story.]( —"I’m OK now but I saw firsthand that medicine does not always have answers to the consequences of even minor viruses." Violet Affleck is taking a stand against Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ proposed mask ban. On Tuesday, Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck’s 18-year-old daughter spoke up at a Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors meeting, expressing how harmful the ban could be. While taking the podium, the teen described herself as a “first-time voter.” The younger Affleck explained that she contracted a “post-viral condition” in 2019. [The story.]( Costner's 'Horizon 2' Pulled From August Release in Theaters ►Shift in strategy. THR's [Pamela McClintock]( has the scoop on Kevin Costner's Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 2 being pulled from the release calendar, after Chapter 1 bombed at the box office. Pamela writes that Chapter 2 was set for an Aug. 16 theatrical release, but after numerous discussions, Costner’s Territory Pictures and distribution partner New Line Cinema made the decision to switch up their ambitious release plan in hopes of allowing more time to grow the audience for the first film, which sports a $100m price tag. [The story.]( —Emotion-filled day. Inside Out 2 passed Incredibles 2 ($1.242b) on Wednesday to become the top-grossing Pixar title of all time at the worldwide box office, not adjusted for inflation. That puts it at No. 4 on the overall list of top-grossing animated films, and the climb is far from done. Inside Out 2 finished Tuesday with $1.251b in global ticket sales, including $543.5m in North America, where it’s already the third-biggest animated pic of all time, and $708m internationally, where it is the eighth-biggest animated title ever. [The box office report.]( —Together again. Lucasfilm has hired screenwriter Jonathan Tropper to pen the script for Shawn Levy's Star Wars movie. The movie first came to light in November 2022, but has been on the backburner while Levy completed work on Deadpool & Wolverine. Tropper is a frequent Levy collaborator, penning the 2014 family drama This Is Where I Leave You, and writing the Mark Raso-directed Netflix feature Kodachrome (2017), which Levy produced. Levy's The Adam Project was their biggest project to date, with the Ryan Reynolds starrer standing as Netflix’s No. 3 original film of all time. [The story.]( —"I do not condone using this beautiful film for divisive political purposes." Letitia Wright is distancing herself from The Daily Wire after the right-wing media company co-founded by Ben Shapiro teamed up with Angel Studios to distribute her new film Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot. The Black Panther actress, who served as an executive producer on the faith-based film, took to her Instagram on Sunday to clarify that she was not involved in the decision to partner with The Daily Wire. [The story.]( —🎭 In the mix 🎭 Zoë Kravitz is in talks to join Austin Butler in Darren Aronofsky's Caught Stealing. The crime film is based on the book of the same name by Charlie Huston, who also wrote the script. The story, per the logline, follows Hank Thompson, a burned-out former baseball player, who’s unwittingly plunged into a wild fight for survival in the downtown criminal underworld of 1990s New York City. [The story.]( NBA Finalizes Deals With Disney, NBC and Amazon ►Whither TNT? The NBA has finalized an enormous new set of media rights deals with Disney, NBC and Amazon — but the future of the NBA on TNT isn’t quite settled yet. The new deals were set on Wednesday, pending approval from the league's board. After that happens, Warner Bros. Discovery will have five days to try and match. It is not entirely clear what WBD will do (some reporting has suggested it may try to match Amazon’s package, others suggest the company may sue), but if it opts not to match, or is otherwise shut out of rights, the new deals will mean the end of the NBA on TNT. [The story.]( —📅 Not quite finished 📅 Pat Sajak, who retired from hosting Wheel of Fortune in June after 41 years, will take one more spin on ABC's Celebrity Wheel of Fortune in the fall. The show is set to premiere Oct. 7 — episodes have not yet been taped, sources say — and will air on Mondays when ABC doesn’t have a Monday Night Football game. Ryan Seacrest will begin hosting the syndicated Wheel of Fortune show in the fall. [The story.]( —🎭 Mother of crims 🎭 Emilia Clarke has been cast in the lead of an upcoming Amazon Prime Video drama series. The Game of Thrones star has joined the cast of Criminal, which is based on the graphic novel series created by Ed Brubaker and Sean Phillips. Clarke will play Mallory, "a slick and daring armed robber, as quick with a gun as she is with her wits." Previously announced cast includes Charlie Hunnam, Richard Jenkins, John Hawkes, Adria Arjona, Logan Browning, Kadeem Hardison, Pat Healy, Taylor Sele and Aliyah Camacho. [The story.]( —The big one zero. ABC's Bachelor in Paradise — the summer spinoff series that launched in 2014 as an offshoot to The Bachelor and The Bachelorette — will return with season 10. The milestone season will hit screens in 2025. A premiere date has yet to be announced. Bachelor in Paradise welcomes breakout fan favorites from The Bachelor franchise to the show’s resort in Mexico for a second (or third) chance at finding love. The cast will be announced closer to premiere. [The story.]( —📅 The waiting is over 📅 FX's The Old Man, the thriller starring Jeff Bridges and John Lithgow, will begin its second season on Sept. 12, about 26 months after season one concluded in July 2022. The Old Man is one of four series FX will debut in September — the others are American Sports Story, the network’s latest anthology from Ryan Murphy; English Teacher, a comedy created by and starring Brian Jordan Alvarez; and docuseries Social Studies, from filmmaker Lauren Greenfield. Additionally, FX will debut Lie to Fly, its latest New York Times Presents doc, on Aug. 23. [The story.]( —I'll be ready. A Baywatch docuseries is set to premiere on Hulu later this summer. After Baywatch: Moment in the Sun is a four-part series that will dive into the untold stories of the iconic ’90s TV show, featuring exclusive interviews with its cast and creator. The series will also include a never-before-seen interview with Pamela Anderson and more than a decade of home videos from other castmembers, including Nicole Eggert, Carmen Electra, Billy Warlock, Alexandra Paul, Gregory Alan Williams, David Chokachi and more. [The story.]( —Staffing up. Hulu has brought a second A-list comedian into the fold as the streamer prepares to launch a stand-up comedy brand. Bill Burr's next special will premiere on Hulu, marking a change of streaming venues for the comic. Burr has done seven specials, as well as the movie Old Dads and animated series F Is for Family, for Netflix. The streamer is jumping into the stand-up arena with a new special from Jim Gaffigan that will debut in November, with additional specials to launch monthly after that. [The story.]( —Coming soon. Rachel Bloom’s one-woman stage show Death, Let Me Do My Show is slated to come to Netflix in the early fall. The Crazy Ex-Girlfriend star is currently performing the show at the Williamstown Theater Festival at Williams College in Massachusetts, and plans to film the July 12 and July 13 performances. The production started performances there on July 5 and runs through July 14. [The story.]( How Controversial is the J.K. Rowling Play 'TERF'? ►"We all have this kind of Freudian obsession with her." J.K. Rowling, the billionaire creator of the Harry Potter universe, has for some become the de facto leader of the gender critical movement that seeks to ban transgender women from women-only spaces and services. Now TERF, a new one-act stage production set to premiere Aug. 2 at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, dares to take on Rowling, one of the most powerful — and controversial — women on the planet. THR's [Seth Abramovitch]( obtained the script to TERF, a story that depicts an imagined "intervention" between the author and Harry Potter film stars. [The story.]( —Give it laldy! The Edinburgh International Film Festival has revealed its full program for the 77th edition of the event. The festival will screen 37 new feature films, including 18 world premieres. Ten of those world premieres will compete for the new Sean Connery Prize for Feature Filmmaking Excellence. Among the highlights are Nora Fingscheidt’s The Outrun, starring Saoirse Ronan, which was previously confirmed as the opening night film, as well as the world premiere of Carla J. Easton and Blair Young’s doc Since Yesterday: The Untold Story of Scotland’s Girl Bands, that will close the event. [The lineup.]( Film Review: 'Twisters' ►"Moves but never quite flies." THR's chief film critic [David Rooney]( reviews Lee Isaac Chung's Twisters. Daisy Edgar-Jones, Glen Powell, Anthony Ramos star in the Minari’s meteorological thriller, set during a once-in-a-generation tornado season in Oklahoma. [The review.]( —"Overstuffed, but so spectacular, viewers may not mind." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Nag Ashwin's Kalki 2898 AD. In this Telugu-language sci-fi epic, a group of warriors attempt to protect a sacred unborn child in this dystopian extravaganza. [The review.]( —"Proves there can be too much of a good thing." Frank reviews Nikhil Nagesh Bhat's Kill. A pair of off-duty commandos go up against dozens of train robbers in Bhat's Hindi-language film, that is set for an American remake. [The review.]( In other news... —Andrew Garfield [falls for Florence Pugh after her car hits him in We Live in Time trailer]( —Watchmen Chapter 1 [trailer introduces Matthew Rhys, Katee Sackhoff as animated DC heroes]( —Elliot Page [stars as trans man facing a challenging reunion in Close to You trailer]( —Netflix [shares teaser, release date for sequel to Spanish film The Platform]( —The Simpsons strikes again: [Cypress Hill finally perform with the London Symphony Orchestra]( —Alexandra Daddario [expecting first child with husband Andrew Form]( —[Shel Bachrach]( leading insurance broker in Hollywood, dies at 80 ​​​What else we're reading... —Erich Schwartzel and Sarah Krouse go inside the Hollywood fundraiser for Joe Biden from last month, the fateful night the president lost George Clooney's support [[WSJ]( —Heather Schwedel begrudgingly admits the Clooney op-ed was really good, adding that sometimes it takes a big Hollywood name to rally the masses [[Slate]( —Christian Paz considers whether Kamala Harris is a better candidate now than she was four years ago [[Vox]( —Sian Cain laments the news of Shrek 5, just as we're all feeling some form of sequel, prequel and IP fatigue [[Guardian]( —Sarah Hurtes and Ségolène Le Stradic have a grim story out of France, where the government is busing homeless immigrants out of Paris before the Olympics [[NYT]( Today... ...in 1997, Robert Zemeckis unveiled his sci-fi adaptation of Carl Sagan’s Contact, starring Jodie Foster. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Serinda Swan (40), [Stephen Lang]( (72), Justin Chambers (54), Lisa Rinna (61), Greg Mottola (60), Corinne Kingsbury (43), Beverly Todd (78), Conrad Vernon (56), Michelle Fairley (61), Rachael Taylor (40), Sela Ward (68), Michael Rosenbaum (52), Bruce McGill (74), Connor Paolo (34), Greg Grunberg (58), Mindy Sterling (71), David Henrie (35), Kellie Shirley (43), Sophia Anne Caruso (23), Debbe Dunning (58), Laura Cayouette (60), Melanie Papalia (40), Dina Eastwood (59), Jared Sandler (31), Mark Lester (66), Leisha Hailey (53), Blu Hunt (29), Will Brill (38), Jacob Romero (28), Pauline McLynn (62) 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. Visit the [Preferences Center]( to update your profile and customize what email alerts and newsletters you receive. 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