Disney to Cut Staff; Hoda Kotb to Exit 'Today'; How Netflix Transformed Scandinavian TV; StudioCanal Eyes 'Paddington 4'; 'Nobody Wants This' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( September 26, 2024 What's news: A Barbra Streisand doc is in the works from Frank Marshall and Alex Gibney. CNN, ABC and NatGeo were the big winners on the first night of news and documentary Emmys. Netflix has revealed its slate of Nordic originals. Amazon's Robocop series is inching closer to reality. Disney has launched its account-sharing crackdown. Francis Ford Coppola's Megalopolis is tracking to open to $5m to $7m. — [Abid Rahman]( Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at [tips@thr.com](. Disney to Cut Staff Amid Review of Corporate Cost-Structure ►Pain continues. Disney has made a new round of employee layoffs within its corporate structure. It’s unclear which corporate level functions will be the most impacted in the latest layoffs, or if the review hits Disney's Burbank-based staffers or those in other locations. The Bob Iger-led studio conglomerate, like nearly every Hollywood company this year, has cut employees in multiple divisions. Last year, Iger unveiled a plan to cut 7,000 employees as part of a “strategic realignment” of the company that was instituted in multiple phases with staffers being cut across a number of months. In May, Pixar cut about 14 percent of its workforce, about 175 employees. [The story.]( —End of an era. Disney has officially launched its password and account-sharing crackdown, rolling out what it is calling its “paid sharing program” to users in the U.S. and in many regions around the world this week. The paid sharing program has a couple of options for users, per a blog post published Wednesday: People sharing an account with someone outside their household can add that person as an “Extra Member” for $6.99 per month for Disney+ Basic, or $9.99 for Disney+ Premium, both discounts to the normal retail price. Only one Extra Member will be allowed per account, and it is not available as part of the Disney Bundle. [The story.]( —ICYMI. New York City Mayor Eric Adams has been indicted by a federal grand jury on criminal charges that are still sealed, according to two people familiar with the matter. The charges against Adams, a Democrat, were still sealed late Wednesday. “I always knew that If I stood my ground for New Yorkers that I would be a target — and a target I became,” Adams said in a statement. “If I am charged, I am innocent and I will fight this with every ounce of my strength and spirit.” [The story.]( —"Intimacy coordinators have our backs on set and now it’s our turn to have theirs." Two years after SAG-AFTRA indicated that it wanted to bring intimacy coordinators into the union, the labor group has taken a first step toward making that goal a reality. On Wednesday, the performers union said it had filed a petition for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board. SAG-AFTRA is seeking to bargain nationally on behalf of intimacy coordinators employed by Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers member companies, the entertainment industry’s top studios and streamers. [The story.]( —"We remain fair apart." After failing to reach a new deal on Tuesday, casting directors and Hollywood studios are planning to continue negotiating this week ahead of a Sept. 30 contract expiration date. That’s according to a social media post from Teamsters Local 399, which along with Teamsters Local 817 represents a group of around 700 Los Angeles- and New York City-based casting directors, associate casting directors and casting assistants. [The story.]( Hoda Kotb to Exit NBC's 'Today' Show ►"I realized that it was time for me to turn the page at 60 and to try something new." Hoda Kotb is planning to exit NBC's Today show. The NBC anchor announced the news on the program Thursday morning, adding that she will remain as co-anchor of the program into early 2025, before shifting to a new role at NBC News. Kotb has been co-anchor of NBC’s Today alongside Savannah Guthrie since 2018, and has been with NBC News for 26 years as both a correspondent and anchor. She launched the Today show’s fourth hour, anchoring alongside both Kathie Lee Gifford and Jenna Bush Hager. [The story.]( —No dice. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg will be deposed as part of a lawsuit from authors involving the company’s AI technology. U.S. District Judge Thomas Hixson on Tuesday rejected Meta’s bid to bar the deposition of Zuckerberg, pointing to evidence indicating that he’s the “principal decision maker” of the tech giant’s AI initiatives. Authors Sarah Silverman, Richard Kadrey and Christopher Golden filed the proposed class action last year in California federal court. They accused Meta of copyright infringement for illegally downloading their books from shadow library websites and copying them without consent or compensation to train its AI system. [The story.]( —Crossover. THR's [Gary Baum]( reports that Tri Star Sports & Entertainment Group, the prominent celebrity management firm that was scrutinized for its involvement in Britney Spears’ conservatorship, is in the spotlight again for its work with Sean 'Diddy' Combs as the hip-hop mogul, now in federal custody, fights sex-trafficking and racketeering charges. Producer Rodney 'Lil Rod' Jones’ February civil lawsuit against Combs contended that the music tycoon’s misconduct was made possible through a network of associates, including “Robin Greenhill, the accountant, [who] would ensure the wiring, funds transfer, or cash payments to sex workers.” [The story.]( —"We were in talks, and I had the gig, and we were pretty much good to go." Hasan Minhaj has revealed that he was the front-runner to succeed Trevor Noah as the host of The Daily Show, until an unfavorable story in The New Yorker killed his chances. In a new interview, the comedian said the hosting job was essentially his, until the piece alleged he had embellished and made up some of the anecdotes in his standup specials. After the story was published, Minhaj was called and told the job was no longer his. [The story.]( News & Doc Emmys: ABC, CNN and NatGeo Among Winners ►🏆 Win for Bisan 🏆 CNN, ABC and National Geographic were among the big winners on night one of the 2024 News & Documentary Emmy Awards on Wednesday. ABC World News Tonight with David Muir took home the award for outstanding live news program, while CNN’s The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper won outstanding recorded news program. CNN also scored nine additional wins, while ABC collected four additional wins, and NatGeo landed five wins. Aj+ Report’s It’s Bisan From Gaza and I’m Still Alive, also won outstanding hard news feature story: short form, despite calls for the Emmy nomination to be revoked. [The winners.]( —Serving the public trust. A new Robocop series is looking more and more like a reality for Amazon Prime Video. The streamer just nabbed two key producers for the developing serialized spin on the sci-fi action franchise. The perennially busy James Wan and his Atomic Monster shingle will executive produce alongside Michael Clear and Rob Hackett. Fellow executive producer Peter Ocko has also boarded the project and will serve as writer and showrunner. The series will be produced in-house by Amazon MGM Studios. [The story.]( —🎭 Helen found 🎭 Downton Abbey star Elizabeth McGovern has nabbed a lead role in Anne Rice’s The Talamasca drama for AMC Networks. McGovern will play Helen in the third series of AMC’s Anne Rice Immortal Universe to bow on AMC and AMC+ in 2025. The six-episode season, which earlier cast Nicholas Denton as lead Guy Anatole, will focus on the men and women responsible for tracking and containing the witches, vampires and other creatures scattered around the globe. William Fichtner was also earlier announced to join the ensemble cast. [The story.]( How Netflix Transformed Scandinavian TV ►"Suddenly we were able to tell our stories to the entire world." Lilyhammer a fish-out-of-water series set in Lillehammer, Norway featuring ex-Sopranos star Steven Van Zandt as a mafioso on witness protection was Netflix's first entry into the original series business. A year later came a little show called House of Cards. And the rest is history. THR's [Scott Roxborough]( looks at how Netflix changed Scandinavian television, and is now more vital than ever after Viaplay rant into financial problems, and Warner Bros. Discovery said it will no longer produce Nordic originals. [The analysis.]( —Fantastisk! On Thursday, Netflix revealed its upcoming slate of productions from Sweden, Norway and Denmark. The streamer has commissioned more than a dozen new and returning Nordic series, with highlights including disaster drama La Palma, about a Norwegian family whose Canary Islands’ holiday is disrupted by a volcanic eruption; The Helicopter Heist, a dramatization of a daring real-life cash depot robbery in Sweden in 2009; and Danish mystery The Habitat, which follows the mysterious disappearance of a young Filipino au pair in an affluent Danish neighborhood. [The story.]( StudioCanal Eyes Fourth 'Paddington' Movie, New Series ►"Turning a heritage brand into a global phenomenon." With the third Paddington feature, Paddington in Peru, hitting theaters in November, StudioCanal is already looking to expand the franchise on the big and small screen. Speaking at a conference in London on Wednesday, Françoise Guyonnet, CEO of StudioCanal kids and family, said the company was "working on a new TV series and a new movie to come in 2027, ’28,” the latter of which will mark the 70th anniversary of the franchise. [The story.]( —Streisand effect. Barbra Streisand is getting into the music documentary game. The singer, actress, director, producer and EGOT winner has started production on a multipart documentary about her life and career directed by Frank Marshall and produced by Alex Gibney, the project’s creative team announced on Thursday. The project aims to be an “intimate and comprehensive exploration of every facet of the iconic multi-hyphenate” with access to Streisand’s own archival materials as well as footage of her work on current projects. [The story.]( —🎭 White Goodman returns? 🎭 After their collaboration on Nutcrackers, Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Films and Rivulet Films will reteam for the pickleball comedy The Dink. Jake Johnson has nabbed the leading role as he plays a washed-up tennis pro who, to save a club in crisis and win his father’s respect, does the one thing he swore he’d never do: play pickleball. The cast includes Mary Steenburgen and Ed Harris, while Stiller and former tennis champion Andy Roddick will have key supporting roles. [The story.]( —Oooooooof. THR's [Pamela McClintock]( reports that Francis Ford Coppola's dystopian epic Megalopolis is about to belly flop onto the box office. Tracking suggests the film may only earn $5m to $7m in what would be a financial disaster for the project, which cost $120m to produce before marketing. As revered as Coppola is, no major Hollywood studio would sign on to finance or distribute Megalopolis in North America after seeing the film at an early buyer’s screening before its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival, where it drew mixed reviews. [The box office report.]( TV Review: 'Social Studies' ►"Choppy and disorganized, but undeniably potent." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( reviews FX's Social Studies. In this docuseries, director Lauren Greenfield focuses on a diverse group of mostly high school seniors in Los Angeles to reflect on the pros and cons of online connectivity. [The review.]( —"I want this! But I also want it to be better." Dan reviews Netflix's Nobody Wants This. A rabbi (Adam Brody) and a shiksa (Kristen Bell) walk into a bar, several times, in a series based partially on the experiences of creator Erin Foster. [The review.]( In other news... —Renée Elise Goldsberry, Lynn Whitfield [face tense road trip in Albany Road trailer]( —Jean Smart [can’t get a word in for SNL S50 premiere promo]( —Cover reveal: [Graydon Carter’s Vanity Fair tell-all]( —Austin Film Festival [adds The Order, The Brutalist, September 5 to lineup]( —Natalie Portman, Jennifer Garner and Anya Taylor-Joy [sit front row at Dior’s Paris show]( —Paramount+ [to launch in Thailand via streamer Monomax]( —Samuel L. Jackson [to be honored at MoMA's Film Benefit]( —Telemundo [taps Joaquin Duro to lead sports division]( —Christopher Ashley [named artistic director of Roundabout Theatre Company]( —The best [Hulu streaming deals for students]( —[Eduardo Xol]( Extreme Makeover: Home Edition star, dies at 58 ​​​What else we're reading... —With New York Mayor Eric Adams indicted, Benjamin Oreskes looks at what happens next [[NYT]( —Max Read reports that a thriving underground economy is clogging the internet with AI slop [[Intelligencer]( —Music critic Craig Jenkins looks at how Katy Perry flamed out with her new album 143 [[Vulture]( —Amid the Mark Robinson/Nude Africa scandal, E.J. Dickson asks the vital question: Why do men even comment on porn sites? [[The Cut]( —Róisín Lanigan writes that we’re living in the era of "main character syndrome," and argues that we might be thinking about ourselves too much [[Guardian]( Today... ...in 1964, Gilligan’s Island debuted at 8:30 pm on CBS. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Jim Caviezel (56), [Linda Hamilton]( (68), Serena Williams (43), Christina Milian (43), Frederick E.O. Toye (57), Tricia O'Kelley (56), David Slade (55), Patrick Bristow (62), Russ (32), Lilly Singh (36), Joey Soloway (59), Bryan Ferry (79), Jeanie Buss (63), Zoe Perry (41), Bill Heck (46), Leo Suter (31), Manny Montana (41), Melissa Sue Anderson (62), Sheri Moon Zombie (54), Lysette Anthony (61), Emma Rigby (35), Margherita Mazzucco (22), Elizabeth Saunders (58), Kent McCord (82), Charlotte Spencer (33), Fola Evans-Akingbola (30), Jonathan Goldsmith (86), Ben Shenkman (56), Martine Beswick (83), Ashley Leggat (38), Mary Beth Hurt (78), Emily Barber (33), Melanie Paxson (52), Mark Famiglietti (45), Anand Gandhi (44), Julienne Davis (51), Dan Buran (50), Jake Paltrow (49), Alma Jodorowsky (33), Nev Schulman (40) ADVERTISEMENT This email was sent to {EMAIL} by The Hollywood Reporter. 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