Category: Entertainment

As horses cantered around a corral and guests in cowboy hats and boots stomped across the red carpet, Hollywood was briefly transformed into the plains of Wyoming on Tuesday to celebrate the premiere of Marshals, the latest show from Taylor Sheridan’s Yellowstone universe. 

Cast members Luke Grimes, Riley Green, Arielle Kebbel and Gil Birmingham were all on hand at the Autry Museum of the American West to support their show, which is a spinoff of Yellowstone and sees Grimes reprise his role as Kayce Dutton. In the first episode, Dutton is a rancher persuaded by Logan Marshall Green, his friend and fellow former Navy Seal, to become a U.S. Marshal after he sold the Yellowstone ranch in the original show’s series finale.

On the carpet, Grimes admitted he was initially reluctant to return to playing a Dutton, saying, “I didn’t think I wanted to come back to it, because I felt like Kayce’s story ended so perfectly in the first show. And I was like, well, what are we gonna do now? He’s got his dream life. Everything he’s been fighting for, he’s gotten. He literally rode off into the sunset. And what sort of breaks that world open for him is that that dream life became no longer possible.”

The show’s trailer hints at a major tragedy in Kayce’s life, showing him visiting a grave and seemingly without his wife, Monica (played by Kelsey Asbille). The star continued, “That just opened up an opportunity for him to get really, really out of his comfort zone and open himself to a new world, and to new people, and to a new job, new responsibilities. And using an old skill set that we never really got to see him use.”

One thing that sets Marshals apart from other Sheridan shows is that the prolific producer is not acting as the lead writer (but still serves as an exec producer) and has turned the reins over to showrunner Spencer Hudnut, who told The Hollywood Reporter what it was like to create an original show in someone else’s universe.

“I’m effectively sort of a Taylor Sheridan cover band. It’s a little intimidating. I mean, he is the best writer of my generation in the last 20 years; Yellowstone is the biggest show to come out in 20 years,” Hudnut explained. “So, yeah, when you stop and think about it, it’s very intimidating, but fortunately for me, he made himself available to me. I had a lot of resources to help me try to launch this show. I think once I stopped trying to do a Taylor impression, it really kind of freed me up because there’s only one Taylor Sheridan.”

Ash Santos stars as Andrea Cruz, an experienced Marshal on Grimes’ team. She shared just how intense it was to shoot the series, recalling, “I had to learn so much fight choreography and all these things that I had to do, and I got to do almost all of my own stunts and I was so proud of myself. There was one day in particular, it was so stunt-heavy. That day ended and I’m sweaty and bruised, and I’m like, ‘Oh, this is exactly why I became an actress.’ I’ve never done a role that was this action-packed.”

Mo Brings Plenty, another actor who carries his role over from the original Yellowstone, offered up his thoughts on what makes Sheridan’s shows special. “Taylor has so much openness and he supports cultural diversity. And that’s what makes it different, you know? And it’s always about the authenticity of everything,” he emphasized. “I mean, when you look at us, we as American Indian people are a group of people that are not celebrated in our own homeland. And so Taylor highlights that and he brings it to the forefront, and he gives us the opportunity to occupy the space.”

Following the screening of the pilot episode, guests enjoyed an afterparty in the museum’s courtyard, featuring custom-made cowboy hats, embroidered bandannas and a performance from country star Green and a live band. Marshals premieres Sunday on CBS.

A coalition of state attorneys general led by Republicans are urging the government to comprehensively dissect Netflix‘s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery. They say that greenlighting the deal could create a monopoly in violation of antitrust laws.

“The proposed merger between Netflix and Warner Brothers will likely result in undue market concentration that stifles competition and therefore creates higher prices, lower reliability, and less innovation for one of America’s major industries — all to the detriment of American consumers,” the letter reads.

The missive, sent on Tuesday, marks the latest blow for Netflix as it navigates regulatory hurdles and a bidding war with Paramount. Among Paramount’s main arguments in courting Warner Bros. is that it offers a shorter and more certain path to completing the deal. The David Ellison-led company is confident it can get the transaction passed the government. In its latest revised bid, it said it would pay a $7 billion breakup fee in the event the merger doesn’t secure approval from the government, in addition to raising its offer to $31 per share.

The letter raises concerns that Netflix will face less competition and may start declining to license content to rivals if it’s allowed to acquire Warner Bros, which could lead to higher subscription prices for less content.

The states also echo concerns from James Cameron that the merger will have a disastrous impact on movie theaters. They cite Cinema United, a trade group that includes the largest theater chains, calling the proposed merger “culturally catastrophic.”

Cameron’s endorsement of Paramount in the battle for Warner Bros. was an unexpected setback for Netflix. In a letter to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), he stressed that Netflix will likely change course on its pledge to keep movies in theaters for 45 days since theatrical releases fundamentally clash with its business model. Those remarks were challenged by CEO Ted Sarandos, who said he’s “surprised and disappointed” the director “chose to be part of the Paramount disinformation campaign.”

The state prosecutors said the Justice Department should review the merger under the Clayton Act, an antitrust law that bars mergers that may substantially lessen competition or create a monopoly. The government could opt to take another path if it files a lawsuit by alleging a violation of the Sherman Act, which bars deals intended to maintain monopoly power.

State attorneys general from Montana and Nebraska led the effort, which was joined by Alabama, Alaska, Iowa, Kansas, North Dakota, South Carolina, Tennessee, Utah, West Virginia. They’re among the first take a position on the merger after California’s top prosecutor said the state is investigating.

In the aftermath of the deadly attacks of October 7, 2023, in Israel, budding filmmaker Meyer Levinson-Blount found himself working in a supermarket, interacting with people from all types of backgrounds. He describes the period as akin to the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, with most people staying indoors and paralyzed by fear.

“The conflicts within Israeli society were very present within the supermarket — I witnessed … a lot of tension between the Arab-Palestinian Israelis and the Jewish Israelis,” says Levinson-Blount, who grew up in Yonkers, New York, before moving to Tel Aviv with his family at 12 years old. “The collective trauma and that national crisis that was happening had an effect on the Palestinian and Arab-Israeli community because there was a finger pointed at them.”

Enter Levinson-Blount’s debut professional film, Butcher’s Stain, which the writer-director made fresh out of film school with producer Oron Caspi and is now Oscar-nominated for best live-action short. The two filmmakers were on hand last week for a special THR Frontrunners screening, followed by a panel conversation and reception at San Vicente Bungalows in Los Angeles.

Butcher’s Stain is directly inspired by what Levinson-Blount observed during his time in the supermarket, following a Palestinian employee named Samir (Omar Sameer) who’s falsely accused of tearing down posters demanding the return of the Israeli hostages. The film tracks Samir as he courts unfair suspicion and doubt at every corner while simply trying to live his life day by day. “How does it feel as a human being to be accused of something that you didn’t do? How does it feel to suddenly be looked at differently and to be treated differently and to be discriminated against?” Levinson-Blount says of his motivating question. “It’s a film that’s supposed to take the conversation back to the human experience.”

Sameer, who was recommended by an agent for Arab actors in Israel, gives a breakout performance. “Omar couldn’t do the dates that we originally went for, and I said, ‘This is not going to be possible,’” Caspi admits. “Meyer insisted, ‘No, this is the guy.’ And the audition went far and beyond what I wanted.” So the production schedule was built around Sameer, who then informed the character and his world. “He taught me a lot about his community and how his community feels at this time,” Levinson-Blount says. “He was able to put in some nuances in his acting and in the dialogue.”

Levinson-Blount stresses that Butcher’s Stain is not intended as a political statement, but it’s already making waves back home. “The [Israeli] culture minister has said some things about us,” the director says, referencing Miki Zohar’s recent comments that the film (along with fellow Oscar nominee Children No More) “amplify our enemies’ narrative.” “People have gotten mad over it because they think that it’s a film that represents some sort of one-sided argument, that this side is bad and this side is good — and it’s the opposite of what the film is trying to do.”

He adds, “When people do see the film … they realize that there’s nothing to get mad at: It’s just a guy going through this situation where he is being accused unfairly.”

This edition of THR Frontrunners was brought to you by Walnut Hill Advisors.