Hollywood Remembers Nichelle Nichols; 'DC League of Super-Pets' Opens to $23M; Stallone Slams 'Rocky' Spinoff; How 'Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight' Expands Franchise

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( August 01, 2022 What's news: A host of Hollywood talent and former Star Trek stars have been reacting to the death of Nichelle Nichols. Sylvester Stallone has stepped up his attacks on Rocky producer Irwin Winkler over a planned Drago spinoff film. Netflix is suing the creators of Unofficial Bridgerton Musical. Jon Favreau wasn't keen on the Russos killing off Iron Man — [Abid Rahman]( Nichelle Nichols 1932-2022 ►"Hers was a life well lived and as such a model for us all." Nichelle Nichols, who made history and earned the admiration of Martin Luther King Jr. for her portrayal of communications officer Lieutenant Uhura on Star Trek, has died. She was 89. Nichols, who earlier sang and danced as a performer with Duke Ellington’s orchestra, died Saturday night of natural causes. [The obituary.]( —"Her kindness and bravery lit the path for many." Hollywood is mourning the death of Nichelle Nichols. The likes of George Takei, William Shatner, J.J. Abrams, Stacey Abrams, Bernice King, Stephen King, Jeri Ryan, Lynda Carter and more took to social media to pay tribute to the actress. President Joe Biden praised Nichols as a “trailblazer of stage and screen who redefined what is possible for Black Americans and women.” [The reaction.]( —"He represented things that were right while he had something to lose." Bill Russell, the intimidating center who rejected layups and bigotry with equal authority while leading the Boston Celtics to pro basketball’s greatest dynasty, died Sunday, his family announced. He was 88. [The obituary.]( —Multi-hyphenate legend. Pat Carroll, the gregarious Emmy-winning comedienne who was a television mainstay for decades before segueing to a voiceover career that included portraying the villainous sea witch Ursula in The Little Mermaid, has died. She was 95. [The obituary.]( 'DC League of Super-Pets' Opens to Lackluster $23M ►Paws for thought. DC League of Super-Pets, the animated superhero pic, from Warner Bros. and DC, opened on the lower end of expectations at the North American box office with an estimated $23m. On the bright side, the pic had no trouble winning the weekend. THR's [Pamela McClintock]( writes that Super-Pets — which had hoped to clear $25m or more in its domestic launch — is yet another test for the family theatrical marketplace as the box office emerges from the pandemic. Elsewhere, Universal’s Nope came in No. 2 for the weekend with a strong $18.6m for a 10-day domestic tally of $80.6m. Thor: Love and Thunder came in third in its fourth outing with $13m, pushing its domestic total to past the $300m milestone for a global total of $662.4m. [The box office report.]( —Out of this world performance. Moon Man, a heartwarming sci-fi comedy about a Chinese astronaut who believes he’s the last human alive, has revived China’s box office in spectacular fashion, opening to a boffo $148m this weekend. Local ticketing app Maoyan projects the film to earn over $640m before it leaves Chinese screens, which would make it the country’s sixth-biggest film of all time. [The China box office report.]( Stallone Slams 'Rocky' Spinoff 'Drago' ►"Seriously, how do you weasels look in mirror???" A furious Sylvester Stallone took to Instagram on Saturday to criticize the planned Rocky spinoff film Drago and once again slammed MGM and producer Irwin Winkler over ownership rights to the franchise that made his name. “Another Heartbreaker… Just found this out…ONCE AGAIN , PATHETIC 94 year old PRODUCER and HIS SELFISH USELESS CHILDREN are once again picking what is left OFF THE BONES of another wonderful character!!!," Stallone wrote. [The story.]( —Swift response. Taylor Swift’s team has responded after a new study showed the singer topping a list of celebrities whose private jets have produced the highest amount of carbon dioxide so far this year. "Taylor’s jet is loaned out regularly to other individuals," a spokesperson for Swift told THR. "To attribute most or all of these trips to her is blatantly incorrect." [The story.]( —Call for dismissal. An Italian judge has called for the sexual abuse case against Paul Haggis to be tossed out, ruling there are no grounds to further pursue an investigation against the Oscar-winning director, per media reports. Haggis was arrested on June 19 in the Southern Italian city of Ostuni, where he was attending the inaugural Allora film festival. [The story.]( —Hosts in place. Luke Bryan and Peyton Manning are teaming up to host the 56th annual CMA Awards. The Country Music Association and ABC announced Monday that Bryan will host for his second consecutive year, while NFL legend Manning is a first-time host. The CMAs airs live Nov. 9, on ABC. [The story.]( —"Blatant infringement." Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear are being sued by Netflix for staging “for-profit” performances of their Grammy-winning Unofficial Bridgerton Musical. In a lawsuit filed on Friday to a D.C. District Court, the streamer alleges that the duo and their company Barlow & Bear have profited off of "valuable intellectual property" for the performances as well as for selling “their own line of Bridgerton-themed merchandise.” [The story.]( How 'Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight' Expands Franchise ►Po's back. THR's [Abbey White]( went deep on this wonderful piece about DreamWorks Animation’s Kung Fu Panda: The Dragon Knight, the latest installment in the long-running franchise. Voice actors Jack Black, Rita Ora and James Hong, alongside art director Ellen Jin and EPs Peter Hastings and Shaunt Nigoghossian, spoke to Abbey about Po's latest journey as a celebration of where Kung Fu Panda has been and where it's going. [The story.]( —"Jay is an outlier." THR's Abbey is back once again, this time she spoke to Westworld star and Hong Kong legend Daniel Wu on his character Jay's fate and why all humans aren’t responsible for the hosts’ “revenge” in season four. The actor also discusses how working on Reminiscence helped score him a part in the HBO series, the origins of the human rebels and whether his character was always the one Bernard prophesized. Warning spoilers. [The interview.]( —"Are you guys really going to kill Iron Man?" Jon Favreau, the man who introduced Robert Downey Jr's Iron Man to the world, wasn’t so sure the hero should have died in Avengers: Endgame, according to the Russo brothers. In a new interview, Anthony and Jo Russo revealed they had to talk the Iron Man director "off of a ledge" after he told them the hero's death would "devastate" fans. [The story.]( —"It’s a very unnatural design." THR's [Carita Rizzo]( has a great piece on how Apple TV+'s breakout hit Severance looks the way it does and how the office featured is designed to play tricks on viewers. Severance production designer Jeremy Hindle reveals how he had to create a workplace that was both believable and discombobulating. [The story.]( In other news... —Disney+ releases [official Andor trailer for new Star Wars series]( —Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul unveil [bronze statues of Breaking Bad characters in Albuquerque]( —Lil Durk says he’s [taking a break to “focus on my health” after onstage mishap at Lollapalooza]( —Telemundo taps [Sandra Smester to lead programming]( —Gina Rodriguez [expecting first child, announces pregnancy on 38th birthday]( —Fuller House star [Jodie Sweetin marries longtime boyfriend Mescal Wasilewski]( —Wheelhouse [opens “non-office” on Sunset for influencers to work and play]( —WIIP CEO [Paul Lee on why he opened hotel-inspired offices in Hollywood]( What else we're reading... —Yohana Desta interviews Gugu Mbatha-Raw on her intriguing new Apple show Surface [[VF]( — Jason Schreier on how Rockstar Games cleaned up its frat-boy culture and how that will be reflected in the next installment of Grand Theft Auto [[Bloomberg]( —Robbie Whelan analyzes Thor 4's weak box-office in its second week, fitting a pattern for Marvel's recent offerings, suggesting superhero pics are showing signs of age [[WSJ]( —Andrew Lawrence writes that the recent racism incident at Sesame Place is part of a shameful tradition of excluding Black families from theme parks [[Guardian]( —Matthew Jacobs' oral history on Beyoncé's appearance in Austin Powers: Goldmember is well worth your time [[Vulture]( Today... ...in 1973, George Lucas brought his nostalgic coming-of-age dramedy American Graffiti to the big screen at the Avco Cinema Center in Los Angeles. Produced on a $777,000 budget, the film became one of the most profitable ever, making $140m at the box office. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Jason Momoa (43), Jude Hill (12), David Wain (53), Jack O'Connell (32), [Sam Mendes]( (57), Giancarlo Giannini (80), Demián Bichir (59), John Carroll Lynch (59), Kris Holden-Ried (49), Henry Lloyd-Hughes (37), Adrian Dunbar (64), Taapsee Pannu (35), Tempestt Bledsoe (49), Eduardo Noriega (49), Jennifer Gareis (52), Danny Kwok-Kwan Chan (47), José Padilha (55), Michael Penn (64), Coolio (59), Lauren Schmidt (44), Adam Duritz (58) Heather Gray, who was executive producer and showrunner on CBS’ daytime talk show The Talk, has died. She was 50. [The obituary.]( 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 © 2022 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](