Frustrating 'AJLT' Finale Concludes a Sophomore Slump; 'Dune 2' Delayed to 2024; 'Suits' Creator on Surprise Resurgence, Potential Spinoffs; 'Vacation Friends 2' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( August 25, 2023 What's news: Barbie is now the biggest film of the year at the North American box office. Carlos Santana has apologized for recent comments he made about the trans community. CBS will air the season two premiere of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The production company behind The Blind Side has broken its silence amid a dispute over the film's profits. — [Abid Rahman]( Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at [tips@thr.com](. Trump's Historic Mugshot ►Trump l'oeil. Donald Trump’s historic booking photo was revealed after his surrender at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta on Thursday. The photo is the first-ever mugshot of an American president. The Home Alone 2: Lost in New York star was charged earlier this month with 13 counts of attempting to interfere with Georgia’s election process in the 2020 presidential race. It marked the fourth indictment of Trump in recent months. [The story.]( —He's back, kinda. In the aftermath of his arrest in Georgia, Trump tweeted for the first time in over two and a half years (958 days to be precise). Despite very clearly surrendering to authorities, the former president took to Twitter/X on Thursday night, to post the all-caps statement: “ELECTION INTERFERENCE NEVER SURRENDER!” The Ghosts Can't Do It actor last tweeted on Jan. 8, 2021, two days after the riot at the U.S. Captiol. [The story.]( Frustrating 'AJLT' Finale Concludes a Sophomore Slump ►"For a show purportedly about fulfilling bourgeois fantasies, it sure can be soul-deadeningly bleak!" THR critic [Robyn Bahr]( writes that the uneven second season of Max's And Just Like That ended with a disappointing cameo and a dark outlook on life. Warning: Spoilers! [The critic's notebook.]( —"He admits to her that he’s really the home for these three boys and that’s who he’s always been." When the AJLT writers started chatting about the end of the season two finale, even they admitted they were dreading reliving the conversation between Carrie and Aidan. Speaking on Max’s official companion podcast for the series, showrunner/writer/director Michael Patrick King explained the season two finale and also offered more details on the cameo. Warning: Spoilers! [The story.]( —"I sincerely apologize." Carlos Santana has apologized to the transgender community following “insensitive comments” he made during a concert last month. At his show in Atlantic City in July, the famed guitarist said, "A woman is a woman and a man is a man" and that he stood with Dave Chappelle. On Thursday, Santana said the comments "don’t reflect that I want to honor and respect all person’s ideals and beliefs. I realize that what I said hurt people and that was not my intent." [The story.]( —Arrested. Chad Michael Busto, the man who delivered an unsettling message to Drew Barrymore from the crowd at a 92nd Street Y event in New York earlier this week, has been arrested on suspicion of stalking. The 43-year-old resident of Washington, D.C. was arrested on Thursday by police in Long Island and is facing a misdemeanor charge of stalking in the fourth degree. [The story.]( 'Dune 2' Delays Release Amid Actors Strike ►Poor Zendaya. In a major change to the November box office calendar, Denis Villeneuve’s Dune: Part Two has been pushed to next year amid the ongoing actors strike, which prevents stars from promoting their projects. Legendary and Warner Bros.’ big-budget sequel was slated to open Nov. 3 in North America timed to its global rollout, but will instead debut domestically on March 15, 2024. In a twinned move, Legendary and WB pushed back Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire one month to April 12, 2024. [The story.]( —The history-making run continues. Barbie has passed The Super Mario Bros. Movie at the domestic box office to become the top-grossing title of 2023 after finishing the day with a North American total of $575.4m. Super Mario remains the top earner of the year globally with a worldwide total of $1.36b. Barbie, with a current global total of $1.3b, is expected to overtake Super Mario no later than the first week of September. [The box office report.]( —Boldly going back to broadcast. Paramount+'s hit Star Trek series Strange New Worlds is getting an airing on CBS in early fall as part of a "Star Trek Day" celebration. CBS will air the show’s series premiere, “Strange New Worlds,” as well as the show’s second episode, “Children of the Comet,” giving broadcast viewers a chance to sample the streaming series. Strange New Worlds recently finished airing its critically acclaimed second season. [The story.]( —"It's happening." Adult Swim announced the seventh season return of its animated hit Rick and Morty — and the network pledges the new episodes will “raise the bar” following the exit of co-creator Justin Roiland. The Emmy-winning sci-fi comedy is coming back Sunday, Oct. 15, at 11 p.m. Like previous recent seasons, the new season will include 10 episodes. [The story.]( Food Drive for Hollywood Workers Serves 1,000 Households ►"There is no one who wants to be in this line getting food and supplies." THR's [Katie Kilkenny]( reports that hundreds of volunteer crewmembers distributed food, as well as household and personal care items, to peers at the Motion Picture & Television Fund campus in Woodland Hills on Thursday. Out-of-work and financially precarious workers participated in a food distribution event organized by IATSE and the Teamsters Local 399. [The story.]( —"The companies’ counteroffer is neither nothing, nor nearly enough." The WGA is sharing its perspective on the progress of contract negotiations with studios and streamers since they restarted on Aug. 11. In an email to members on Wednesday, the guild leadership gave an update on the process and included a chart of what it claims the cost to each studio would be annually if it agreed to the WGA’s proposal. [The story.]( —"Almost assuredly, if there’s a union and a collective bargaining agreement in place, those types of [NDAs] would not be acceptable." As the fall broadcast season approaches without a resolution of the dual strikes, conventional wisdom suggests the networks may dial up their reality TV programming, just as they did during the last stoppage. But this time around, THR's [Ashley Cullins]( writes, the unscripted genre is at an inflection point as it grapples with labor issues and NDAs. [The story.]( —"The residual model is outdated." For THR, Brande Victorian spoke to Hollywood stunt workers for their perspective on the actors strike. As SAG-AFTRA fights for increased compensation across the board, the stunt coordinators and performers are looking for parity. [The story.]( —"The Interim Agreement is a vital part of our strategic approach." SAG-AFTRA is reiterating that it is giving the green light to actors to promote their projects with interim agreements at major fall film festivals. The union said in a statement Thursday that it is encouraging members to do publicity for projects that have been granted these pacts at Telluride, Toronto and Venice. [The story.]( 'Suits' Creator on Surprise Resurgence, Potential Spinoffs ►"I don't think anybody needs to lose one second of sleep over how much money I'm making from Suits." THR's [Lacey Rose]( spoke to Suits creator Aaron Korsh on what the explosive Netflix streaming numbers mean for the series' future. Korsh also discusses residuals and writer pay after a recent an op-ed from a Suits writer. [The interview.]( —Unstoppable. Suits spent another week as the overall No. 1, though it declined (slightly) for the first time since it hit Nielsen's streaming charts in late June. The return of Futurama found a place on the charts for the final week of July. Futurama’s revival on Hulu (along with the rest of its catalog) delivered 506 million minutes of viewing time for the week of July 24-30, tying for third place among original series with Netflix’s The Lincoln Lawyer. [The streaming rankings.]( —Clarification. Alcon Entertainment, the company that produced The Blind Side, broke its silence Thursday after more than a week of the movie generating headlines as the subjects of the film traded accusations of ill-intentions and shakedowns. Alcon co-heads Broderick Johnson and Andrew Kosove called the accusations that the film’s true story was fabricated “mischaracterizations and uninformed opinions.” They also released an accounting of payments made in relation to the life rights to the project. [The story.]( Film Review: 'Vacation Friends 2' ►"As inspired as its title." THR film critic Frank Scheck reviews Clay Tarver's Vacation Friends 2. Lil Rel Howery, John Cena, Yvonne Orji and Meredith Hagner return in this Hulu sequel to the 2021 comedy. [The review.]( —"Corny but uplifting." Frank reviews Jeff Celentano's The Hill. This inspirational film, that stars Dennis Quaid and Colin Ford, tells the real-life story of Rickey Hill, who overcame a debilitating condition to pursue his dream of playing major-league baseball. [The review.]( —"A thrilling debut." THR's [Lovia Gyarkye]( reviews Ellie Foumbi's Our Father, the Devil. The writer-director's filmmaking debut revolves around a woman forced to confront past traumas after a priest disrupts her quiet life in a small French town. [The review.]( Thank Pod It's Friday ► All the latest content from THR's podcast studio. —TV's Top 5. THR's [Lesley Goldberg]( and [Dan Fienberg]( break down the latest TV news. This week's episode features strike talk and a discussion over the studios' offer to writers. There's a section on Amazon un-renewing A League of Their Own and The Peripheral. There are two mailbag segments, one strike related and one regular. And Dan reviews Disney+'s Ashoka and season two of Apple’s Invasion. [Listen here.]( —Awards Chatter. THR's executive awards editor Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this episode, Scott spoke to Leonard Maltin. The world’s most famous living film critic shares how his famous movie guide began when he was 17 and ended 45 years later, what his life is like a decade after his Parkinson's diagnosis and his outlook for the future of the movies and film criticism. [Listen here.]( In other news... —Emilia Jones and Nicholas Braun’s [fling turns tense in Cat Person trailer]( —Moving [becomes Disney’s most-watched Korean drama ever in just 7 days]( —ALS Association [reports surge in donations, traffic after death of Sandra Bullock’s partner]( —Finding [the next big stars in real estate]( —[Peter Gonzales Falcon]( star of Federico Fellini’s Roma, dies at 75 —[Geoffrey Neigher]( Rhoda writer and Emmy-winning Picket Fences producer, dies at 78 —[Bray Wyatt]( WWE wrestler, dies at 36 What else we're reading... —Josef Adalian tries his best to explain what CNN Max means for the future of CNN and Max [[Vulture]( —With the enduring popularity of Yellowstone and looks sported by Barbie and Beyoncé, Emma Goldberg writes that cowboy style is having a moment [[NYT]( —Chris Murphy spoke to Derek Guy (you know the menswear fashion guy on Twitter) about the suits on Suits and whether they still pass muster today [[VF]( —Leah Carroll looks into why we rarely believe celebrity apologies on social media [[BBC]( —Here's your Friday list: "Top 15 trial movies of the 1990s, ranked" [[High on Films]( Today... ...in 1939, MGM unveiled The Wizard of Oz in theaters across the U.S. The Victor Fleming-directed film held its Hollywood premiere at the Chinese Theatre and broke an attendance record at the location as well as Loew’s State Theatre, with a $5,169 opening-day gross a day later. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Blake Lively (36), Alexander Skarsgård (47), Natasha Liu Bordizzo (29), Tom Skerritt (90), Tim Burton (65), Joe Wright (51), Ben Falcone (50), Kel Mitchell (45), Fatih Akin (50), [John Badham]( (84), Simon McBurney (66), Rachel Bilson (42), Tom Hollander (56), Joanne Whalley (62), Caitlin FitzGerald (40), Ally Walker (62), Eric Millegan (49), Tracy-Ann Oberman (57), Chloe Pirrie (36), Julia Davis (57), Claire Rushbrook (52), Rachel Shelley (54), Blair Underwood (59), James Righton (40), Anthony Heald (79), Julian Kostov (34), Gene Simmons (74), Billy Ray Cyrus (62) Hersha Parady, whose three-season run as Walnut Grove schoolteacher Alice Garvey on Little House on the Prairie came to an unforgettable, dark end for fans of the beloved NBC drama, has died. She was 78. [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. Visit the [Preferences Center]( to update your profile and customize what email alerts and newsletters you receive. Copyright © 2023 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](