Tag: Entertainment-HollywoodReporter

  • Warner Bros. Discovery Lost $252 Million in the Quarter Everyone Decided They Wanted to Buy It

    Warner Bros. Discovery Lost $252 Million in the Quarter Everyone Decided They Wanted to Buy It

    Warner Bros. Discovery reported its fourth quarter 2025 results on Thursday morning, posting total revenue of $9.46 billion and 131.6 million global streaming subscribers. WBD lost $252 million in Q4; adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) was $2.216 billion.

    Overall revenue was down 6 percent from the fourth quarter last year, though the number ought to satisfy Wall Street from an expectations POV. But no one likes an unprofitable company.

    Streaming subs rose by 3.5 million from October through December. Advertising revenues dropped 9 percent, with the loss of the NBA on Turner costing WBD about half that. The company’s studio revenues decreased 13 percent vs. the comparable quarter in 2024, mostly due to lower content sales. Global linear networks revenue dropped 12 percent.

    In the prior quarter, WBD posted a net loss of $148 million on revenue of $9 billion.

    Of course, everything was different back then. Netflix buying WBD was not a (public) thing, and there were only initial reports of Paramount‘s interest. In the summer, Paramount was still in the process of transforming into Paramount Skydance.

    In December, Warner Bros. accepted a proposal to be acquired by Netflix for $83 billion. The agreement was to wait for WBD to split and spin off Discovery, and for Netflix to take the WB studios and streaming businesses (and HBO).

    David Ellison’s Paramount Skydance is not letting David Zaslav‘s Warner Bros. Discovery go. Following multiple rounds of sweeteners, it seems Paramount may now be in the driver’s seat and Netflix is playing defense, despite the deal that remains in place. Paramount wants the whole thing, Warner Bros. and Discovery, and it is willing to pay a premium.

    The split and spin a la NBCUniversal and Versant, which would also send the Turner assets to a Discovery Global standalone company, remains on track as the boards of directors and shareholders sort this mess out. Zaslav would run Warner Bros. (at least until it is acquired) and his current CFO Gunnar Wiedenfels gets Discovery — if Netflix is indeed the final boss and there is a standalone Discovery.

    In a letter to shareholders accompanying the fourth quarter and full-year financials, WBD vaguely reiterated the latest in the two-suitors, one-deal situation. It was a preemptive strike to ward off media analysts’ prying questions.

    “We will not be answering any questions on this topic during our earnings call,” the letter read.

    The earnings call begins at 8:00 a.m. ET/5:00 a.m. PT.

    Paramount reported its fourth quarter earnings on Wednesday; find those here. Netflix’s, from January, are here.

  • German Culture Ministry to Decide Fate of Berlinale Boss Tricia Tuttle

    German Culture Ministry to Decide Fate of Berlinale Boss Tricia Tuttle

    The future of Berlinale director Tricia Tuttle remains uncertain following a supervisory board meeting on Thursday morning.

    The supervisory board of the KBB, the umbrella association that operates the Berlinale, held an extraordinary meeting to discuss the future of the Berlin film festival and its director. The KBB is fully owned by the German government, which, through the culture ministry, is the main financial backer of the Berlinale.

    “This morning, a supervisory board meeting of KBB GmbH took place at the Federal Chancellery,” the German culture ministry said in a statement. “The topic was the Berlinale. Discussions regarding the direction of the Berlinale will continue in the coming days between the director, Tricia Tuttle, and the supervisory board.”

    Tuttle has come under fire from conservative circles for pro-Palestinian comments made by some of the filmmakers at this year’s award ceremony, held on Saturday. Palestinian director Abdallah Al-Khatib, whose film Chronicles From the Siege won the top prize in the Perspectives section, used his acceptance speech to call for a “free Palestine” and accused the German government of “being partners in the genocide in Gaza by Israel.” That prompted German Environment Minister Carsten Schneider to walk out of the ceremony in protest, and triggered a backlash from conservative politicians and media in Germany, who say the statements amount to “antisemitism” and “hate of Israel.”

    German conservative tabloid Bild has led the backlash, targeting Tuttle in particular. A Bild column on Tuesday by right-wing journalist Gunnar Schupelius accused Tuttle of having “posed for Gaza propaganda,” referencing a photo of the festival director with Al-Khatib and the Chronicles From the Siege crew at the film’s Berlinale world premiere on Feb. 15. Tuttle is standing next to crew members holding up a Palestinian flag. Several men in the group are wearing the traditional Palestinian headscarf, the keffiyeh.

    On Wednesday, Bild broke the news that the KBB was calling an extraordinary supervisory board meeting to discuss the events at this year’s festival and Tuttle’s future at the Berlinale. The paper, citing no sources, speculated that Tuttle would be fired, two years into her five-year mandate as Berlinale director.

    The German and European film academies have thrown their support behind Tuttle, warning that firing her would be both unjust — as none of the supposedly offensive comments came from Tuttle or the festival but were made by filmmakers themselves — and would have a chilling effect on free speech at the Berlinale.

    “An international film festival is not a diplomatic instrument; it is a democratic cultural space worthy of protection,” the German film academy wrote in its open letter. “Its strength lies in its ability to hold divergent perspectives and to give visibility to a plurality of voices.”

    Several international filmmakers, including Tilda Swinton, Nancy Spielberg, Sean Baker, Kleber Mendonça Filho, and Radu Jude, have added their names to the open letter in support of Tuttle.

    On Thursday, Berlinale staff and contractors also issued a statement on the festival’s official Instagram page, expressing their support for “extraordinary” artistic director Tricia Tuttle amid uncertainty over her future.

    “The Berlinale Team looks back on a successful festival 2026, realised collectively and met with a positive response from filmmakers, industry representatives, as well as tens of thousands of audience members,” the statement reads. “In light of the ongoing debates and deeply worrying developments around our Festival Director, Tricia Tuttle, more than 500 Berlinale employees have now jointly shared this message with policymakers:

    “We, the staff, contract employees and freelancers of the Berlinale and associated institutions, representing a plurality of perspectives, speak with one voice in unanimous support of the extraordinary Tricia Tuttle as the Director of the Berlinale.”

    “We have all worked closely with Tricia during her tenure and witnessed firsthand the clarity, integrity, and artistic vision that she has brought to the Berlinale,” the statement continues. “She has made the many hundreds of Berlinale colleagues feel individually respected and, collectively, extremely proud of our achievements over the course of two difficult years.

    We do not exaggerate when we say, as one, that it is unlikely the KBB Supervisory Board could have appointed a more intelligent, ethical, and responsive leader for the Berlinale, nor one more dedicated to the core principles that make this festival a vital platform for cinema in Germany and internationally.”

    In her first year at the job, Tuttle was broadly praised for her efforts to foster an open and respectful debate on Gaza and other contentious political issues. In addition to screening Chronicles From the Siege, the Berlinale also invited Israeli director Tom Shoval to screen a recut version of his documentary A Letter to David, his tribute to actor friend David Cunio, who was taken hostage by Hamas on October 7 and only recently released. The first version of A Letter to David screened at the Berlinale last year.

    Tuttle attended the screening of A Letter To David – The Complete Version and, following the conservative backlash this week, Shoval posted a picture of the festival director hugging him before the 2025 premiere.

    “She chose to screen the film and show solidarity with David and Ariel who were at the time still in captivity,” Shoval wrote in the post. “Tricia Tuttle saw beyond the politics. She saw the family’s human suffering and understood the urgent need to make their voice heard. She recognized that an innocent person who had acted in a film once screened at Berlinale, was now a hostage, and that the film community had a moral responsibility to demand his release…Tricia Tuttle is a true model of cultural leadership. She is a visionary with a cosmopolitan, progressive artistic outlook, and above all, an individual of unparalleled integrity. Tricia is an irreplaceable asset to the Berlinale, and I stand firmly behind her.

    The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to the Berlinale for comment.

  • ‘Trial of Hein’ Is an Enigmatic Debut Film About a Homecoming to a Tight-Knit Island Community (Exclusive Trailer)

    ‘Trial of Hein’ Is an Enigmatic Debut Film About a Homecoming to a Tight-Knit Island Community (Exclusive Trailer)

    German writer-director Kai Stänicke (short films Gay Goth SceneCircle, and Pace) attracted much attention and rave reviews after world premiering his feature film debut Trial of Hein (Der Heimatlose) in the Perspectives section of the 76th edition of the Berlin Film Festival.

    The movie, which won the Teddy Award jury honor and was widely seen as an example of how the Perspectives can succeed in its mission of showcasing up-and-coming voices, tells the story of a return that raises all sorts of questions.

    After 14 years on the mainland, Hein returns to the place he is from, the only village on a remote island in the North Sea. However, the close-knit community no longer recognizes him. Even his closest childhood friend, Friedemann, distances himself from the visitor. Eventually, the island community convenes a village court to determine whether Hein is who he claims to be or an impostor.

    The court hearings bring to light how different Hein’s recollections of his youth are from the memories of various witnesses. As such, Trial of Hein is a parable on memory, identity and the tension between the sense of belonging and the sense of restrictions that living in a community brings with it.

    Paul Boche stars as Hein, with the ensemble cast also including Philip Günsch, Philip Froissant, Emilia Schüle, Jeanette Hain, Sebastian Blomberg, and Stephanie Amarell. Written and directed by Stänicke, Trial of Hein was produced by Tamtam Film, and co-produced by Lupa Film. The cinematographer is Florian Mag, the editor Susanne Ocklitz. Heretic is handling world sales.

    THR can now exclusively reveal the official trailer for Trial of Hein. Get ready for the sights and sounds of the sea, the enigmatic atmosphere, as well as questions, accusations, and despair. Oh yeah, and things get really fishy.

    So check out the trailer to dive into the world of Trial of Hein.

  • Visual Effects Society Awards: ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ Leads With 7 Wins

    Visual Effects Society Awards: ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’ Leads With 7 Wins

    The Visual Effects Society (VES) has announced the winners for the 2026 VES Awards, recognizing excellence in the craft across 25 categories, including film, television, special venue projects, technological innovation, student projects and more.

    Avatar: Fire and Ash led the winners with seven including the top prize of outstanding visual effects in a photoreal feature. KPop Demon Hunters led the animation category wins with three trophies, including the top prize of outstanding animation in an animated feature.

    Sinners won the award for outstanding supporting visual effects in a photoreal feature, while Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age won the award for outstanding visual effects in a photoreal episode.

    Heading into the evening, Avatar: Fire and Ash led nominations with 10 overall. Other nominees in the society’s top award category were F1: The MovieJurassic World RebirthThe Lost Bus and How To Train Your Dragon.

    The 2026 VES Awards were held at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles. Jerry Bruckheimer received the VES Lifetime Achievement Award, and Weta Workshop co-founder and chief creative officer Sir Richard Taylor was honored with the VES Visionary Award. Comedy duo Randy and Jason Sklar (the Sklar Brothers) hosted the event.

    Enuka Okuma (Paradise), Haley Joel Osment (The Burbs, Happy Gilmore 2), Jazz Raycole (The Lincoln Lawyer), Lil Rel Howery (One of Them Days), Omar Benson Miller (Sinners) and singer/songwriter Raphael Saadiq (Sinners) presented awards.

    “The VES is honored to recognize brilliant artistry and technological innovation across a wide range of disciplines,” VES Board Chair Kim Davidson said in a statement. “The craft of visual effects is constantly evolving to push the limits of our imaginations, and tonight’s inspiring winners and nominees represent best-in-class work from around the world. Congratulations to all!”

    See below for the full list of winners.

    1. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

    Avatar: Fire and Ash
    Richard Baneham
    Peter Litvack
    Eric Saindon
    Nicky Muir
    Steve Ingram

    2. OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

    Sinners
    Michael Ralla
    James Alexander
    Nick Marshall
    Espen Nordahl
    Donnie Dean

    3. OUTSTANDING ANIMATION IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

    KPop Demon Hunters
    Joshua Beveridge
    Jacky Priddle
    Benjamin Hendricks
    Clara Chan

    4. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

    Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age; “The Big Freeze”
    Russell Dodgson
    Tracey Gibbons
    François Dumoulin
    Gavin McKenzie

    5. OUTSTANDING SUPPORTING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL EPISODE

    The Residence; “The Fall of the House of Usher”
    Seth Hill
    Tesa Kubicek
    John Nelson
    Gabriel Vargas

    6. OUTSTANDING VISUAL ARTS IN A REAL-TIME PROJECT

    Ghost of Yōtei
    Jason Connell
    Matt Vainio
    Joanna Wang
    Jasmin Patry

    7. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A COMMERCIAL

    BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus”
    Tom Raynor
    Helen Tang
    Jack Harris
    Alex Kulikov

    8. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A SPECIAL VENUE PROJECT

    The Wizard of Oz at Sphere
    Ben Grossmann
    Tamara Watts Kent
    Dr. Irfan Essa
    Matt Dougan
    Glenn Derry

    9. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

    Avatar: Fire and Ash; Varang: Leader of the Ash Clan
    Stephen Clee
    Stuart Adcock
    Keven Norris
    Joseph Kim

    10. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

    KPop Demon Hunters; Rumi
    Sophia (Seung Hee) Lee
    Andrea Matamoros
    Marc Souliere
    Joshua Beveridge

    11. OUTSTANDING CHARACTER IN AN EPISODIC, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

    IT: Welcome to Derry; “The Thing in the Dark; The Pickle Monster
    Philip Harris-Genois
    Pierric Danjou
    Chloé Ostiguy
    Jonathan Bourdua

    12. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

    Avatar: Fire and Ash; Bridgehead Industrial City
    Gianluca Pizzaia
    Steve Bevins
    Dziga Kaiser
    Zsolt Máté

    13. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

    Zootopia 2; Marsh Market
    Limei Z. Hshieh
    Alexander Nicholas Whang
    Joshua Fry
    Ryan DeYoung

    14. OUTSTANDING ENVIRONMENT IN AN EPISODIC, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

    Andor; “Welcome to the Rebellion;” The Senate District

    John O’Connell

    Falk Boje

    Hasan Ilhan

    Kevin George

    15. OUTSTANDING CG CINEMATOGRAPHY

    Avatar: Fire and Ash
    Steve Deane
    A.J. Briones
    Zachary Brake
    Andrew Moffett

    16. OUTSTANDING MODEL IN A PHOTOREAL OR ANIMATED PROJECT

    Avatar: Fire and Ash; The Windtraders’ Gondola
    Michael Smale
    Sam Sharplin
    Joe W. Churchill
    Jacqi Dillon

    17. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN A PHOTOREAL FEATURE

    Avatar: Fire and Ash; Simulating Pandora
    Nicholas James Illingworth
    Sarah C. Farmer
    James Robinson
    Ryan Bowden

    18. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN ANIMATED FEATURE

    KPop Demon Hunters
    Filippo Maccari
    Nikolaos Finizio
    Daniel La Chapelle
    Srdjan Milosevic

    19. OUTSTANDING EFFECTS SIMULATIONS IN AN EPISODE, COMMERCIAL, GAME CINEMATIC, OR REAL-TIME PROJECT

    Prehistoric Planet: Ice Age; The Big Freeze
    Edward Ferrysienanda
    Kevin Christensen
    Guy Schuleman
    Kevin Tarpinian

    20. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A FEATURE

    F1: The Movie; Modern Race and POV Footage
    Hugo Gauvreau
    Chris Davies
    Raushan Raj
    Amaury Rospars

    21. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN AN EPISODE

    The Last of Us; “Through the Valley;” A Storm of Ice, Fire and Flesh
    Tobias Wiesner
    Mark Julien
    Owen Longstaff
    Brendan Naylor

    22. OUTSTANDING COMPOSITING & LIGHTING IN A COMMERCIAL

    BMW; “Heart of Joy | Meet Okto the Octopus”
    Alex Kulikov
    Jack Harris
    Adam Chabane
    Nicola Borsari

    23. OUTSTANDING SPECIAL (PRACTICAL) EFFECTS IN A PHOTOREAL PROJECT

    Andor; “Who Are You?”
    Luke Murphy
    Dean Ford
    Jody Eltham
    Darrell Guyon

    24. EMERGING TECHNOLOGY AWARD

    Avatar: Fire and Ash; Kora Fire Toolset
    Alexey Dmitrievich Stomakhin
    John Edholm
    Murali Ramachari
    Aleksandr Isakov

    25. OUTSTANDING VISUAL EFFECTS IN A STUDENT PROJECT

    Azimuth
    Thomas Teisseire
    Cassandre Cinier
    Martin Bluy
    Mathis Giraudeau

  • Harry Styles Says He Laughed at His Grandmother’s Funeral “Thinking About Inappropriate Cremation Songs”

    Harry Styles Says He Laughed at His Grandmother’s Funeral “Thinking About Inappropriate Cremation Songs”

    Harry Styles has admitted that he laughed at his grandma’s funeral, but he has a specific reason.

    The Grammy-winning singer made a recent appearance on Brittany Broski’s Royal Court, where she brought up Styles’s song “Music for a Sushi Restaurant.” The host then proceeded to ask him what other locations he thinks also deserve to have a song written about them.

    In a surprising response, the singer said the crematorium. “I really like cremation songs,” Styles confessed, as Broski and the room erupted in laughter.

    The former One Direction member went on to explain how his interest in cremation songs first came about. “I remember being at my grandma’s funeral, and as the belt started, it just went ‘the long and winding road’ (referring to The Beatles song), and it made me laugh,” he recalled.

    “It feels so inappropriate because of how abrupt it was,” Styles added. “And then I just started thinking about inappropriate cremation songs. … And then I was off.”

    The “As It Was” artist also took a moment to name some of the specific songs on his mind at the time, including Dan Hartman’s “Relight My Fire,” The Trammps “Disco Inferno” and Johnny Cash’s “Ring of Fire.”

    Styles’s fourth solo studio album, Kiss All The Time. Disco, Occasionally, is set to be released on March 6. Later this year, he’ll also head out on an extensive world tour, including several residencies around the world.

    Elsewhere during his chat with Broski, the “Sign of the Times” singer said, “I had so much fun making this album.”

  • Park Chan-wook is the 2026 Cannes Jury President

    Park Chan-wook is the 2026 Cannes Jury President

    South Korean director Park Chan-wook will be the jury president for the 79th Cannes International Film Festival, Cannes announced Thursday.

    The acclaimed filmmaker behind Oldboy, The Handmaiden and No Other Choice will head up the international jury that will select the winner of this year’s Palme d’Or. The 2026 Cannes Film Festival runs May 12 – 23. He will be the first Korean head of the Cannes jury.

    Park Chan-wook‘s inventiveness, visual mastery, and penchant for capturing the multiple impulses of women and men with strange destinies have given contemporary cinema some truly memorable moments,” Cannes festival president Iris Knobloch and director Thierry Frémaux said in a statement. “We are delighted to celebrate his immense talent and, more broadly, the cinema of a country deeply engaged with the questioning of our time.”

    Park Chan-wook first attracted international attention with his third feature, Joint Security Area, which screened in Berlin in 2001, but his breakthrough came three years later with the world premiere of Oldboy in Cannes. The groundbreaking revenge thriller won the Grand Jury Prize (there was speculation that jury president Quentin Tarantino wanted to give it the Palme).

    Park returned to the Croisette multiple times since, rarely leaving empty-handed. His vampire drama Thirst won Cannes’ jury prize in 2009, the period drama The Handmaiden (2016) won the Vulcan Prize for its production design, and his Hitchcockian thriller Decision to Leave took best director in 2022.

    “His presence at the Palais des Festivals testifies to the mutual loyalty that exists between Park Chan-wook and the Festival de Cannes,” the festival said in a statement. “He is often compared to film-makers such as Tarantino, De Palma, and Fincher for artistry in composing images whose formal beauty is matched only by their moral rigor. He also cites Kurosawa, Bergman, Visconti, and Hitchcock as models.”

    Park is also a regular in Venice, where Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, and No Other Choice premiered. No Other Choice made the shortlist for this year’s Academy Awards in the best international feature category but was not among the final five nominees.

    Cannes said Park Chan-wook’s presidency symbolizes “the festival’s early and deep attachment to Korean cinema, whose creativity has been revealed by the Official Selection. Korea is a great film-making country whose treasures are being restored year after year; it has shown that it can produce major contemporary works that attract millions of theatergoers in a space that celebrates its film-makers.”

    In a statement following the announcement of his presidency, Park said he was looking forward to spending two weeks watching and debating movies in Cannes.

    “The theater is dark so that we may see the light of cinema,” his statement reads. “We confine ourselves within the theater so that our souls may be liberated through the window of film. To be enclosed in a theater to watch films, and enclosed again to engage in debate with the members of the Jury, this double, voluntary confinement is something I await with great anticipation. In this age of mutual hatred and division, I believe that the simple act of gathering in a theater to watch a single film together, our breaths and heartbeats aligning, is itself a moving and universal expression of solidarity. There is no doubt that hearts will be beating intensely on May 12.”

    The line-up for the 79th Cannes International Film Festival will be announced in mid-April.

  • ‘Scream 7’ Director Kevin Williamson Reacts to Pro-Palestine Protesters Marching Outside L.A. Premiere

    ‘Scream 7’ Director Kevin Williamson Reacts to Pro-Palestine Protesters Marching Outside L.A. Premiere

    Dozens of pro-Palestine protesters marched outside the Los Angeles premiere for Scream 7 on Wednesday night.

    Some demonstrators could be seen waving Palestinian flags, while others were holding signs that read “Cancel Paramount+” and “Stand For Free Speech Boycott Scream 7.” The group could also be heard chanting “Boycott Scream 7” and “Free, free, free Palestine,” while some played drums and trumpets.

    The premiere took place at the Paramount Studios lot; however, the protests could only be faintly heard from the red carpet, where the film’s stars, like Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox, were posing for photos.

    When director Kevin Williamson was asked about the protest at the premiere, he told The Hollywood Reporter, “I saw them and my heart just sort of stopped. Look, we live in America. Everyone has a right to protest and everyone should be heard. And if you have your truth and if you want to stand up and be heard, you protest. That is your right in this country, and I stand by it. I support that 100 percent.”

    The protest, which was led by Entertainment Labor for Palestine, CODEPINK LA and Jewish Voice for Peace-Los Angeles, aimed to call “attention to the industry’s widespread silencing of pro-Palestinian voices and its whitewashing of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza,” according to a news release from CODEPINK LA.

    More specifically, the protest was also in response to Melissa Barrera‘s firing from Scream 7 in November 2023 after she expressed support for Palestine on her social media after Hamas invaded Israel in October 2023.

    Spyglass Media Group, the company behind the Scream franchise, said in a statement at the time, “Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”

    The CODEPINK LA news release added that the protest was to “raise awareness about the Boycott Scream 7 campaign and urge audiences to refrain from supporting the film,” which releases on Feb. 27.

    “We believe that Melissa Barrera is a part of the Scream community and that it’s our responsibility to speak out when a member of our community has been harmed,” Boycott Scream 7 organizer and longtime fan, Nino Testa, shared in a statement. “We refuse to let the franchise we love be used as propaganda for a genocide. We reject Hollywood’s racist blacklisting and censorship of any person who advocates for a free Palestine.”

    THR has reached out to Paramount for comment, but did not hear back at the time of publication.

  • Pro-Palestine Protesters March Outside ‘Scream 7’ L.A. Premiere

    Pro-Palestine Protesters March Outside ‘Scream 7’ L.A. Premiere

    Dozens of pro-Palestine protesters marched outside the Los Angeles premiere for Scream 7 on Wednesday night.

    Some demonstrators could be seen waving Palestinian flags, while others were holding signs that read “Cancel Paramount+.” The group could also be heard chanting “Boycott Scream 7” and “Free, free, free Palestine,” while some played drums and trumpets.

    The premiere took place at the Paramount Studios lot; however, the protests could only be faintly heard from the red carpet, where the film’s stars like Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox were posing for photos.

    The protest, which was led by Entertainment Labor for Palestine, CODEPINK LA and Jewish Voice for Peace-Los Angeles, aimed to call “attention to the industry’s widespread silencing of pro-Palestinian voices and its whitewashing of Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza,” according to a news release from CODEPINK LA.

    More specifically, the protest was also in response to Melissa Barrera‘s firing from Scream 7 in November 2023 after she expressed support for Palestine on her social media following the October 2023 attack on Gaza.

    Spyglass Media Group, which produced the film, said in a statement at the time, “Spyglass’ stance is unequivocally clear: We have zero tolerance for antisemitism or the incitement of hate in any form, including false references to genocide, ethnic cleansing, Holocaust distortion or anything that flagrantly crosses the line into hate speech.”

    More to come.

  • Kristen Wiig Says ‘Bridesmaids’ Food Poisoning Scene Was Not in Original Script

    Kristen Wiig Says ‘Bridesmaids’ Food Poisoning Scene Was Not in Original Script

    It’s hard to imagine the 2011 film Bridesmaids without the iconic food poisoning scene.

    During a recent video interview with Vanity Fair, Kristen Wiig reunited with her former co-star Rose Byrne and looked back on the Oscar-nominated film, directed by Paul Feig.

    At one point, the Saturday Night Live alum admitted that the infamous scene wasn’t part of the movie’s original script. “That was a sequence that came later in the writing process that we sort of embraced and like, OK, we’ll write our version of this type of thing,” Wiig explained. “We just kind of made it our own. We don’t want to see any vomit [but] you can find a way to do your version of it.”

    “It was so fun to do that scene and to see … everyone’s version of not feeling well and trying to hide it. It was fun to watch the ladies do their thing,” she added.

    The particular scene in question saw the friend group suffer from sudden food poisoning while trying on expensive wedding dresses after they had eaten at a cheap restaurant. Chaos ensues, leading to extreme involuntary vomiting and diarrhea and absolutely ruining the bridal boutique.

    In 2017, Feig revealed to Esquire that there’s another version of the food poisoning sequence that fans didn’t see, as they decided it was too gross to make the final cut.

    “There’s a deleted sequence where, after Becca throws up on Rita’s head, she has to throw up again, so she runs out of the bathroom and down the hall, thinking that there’s another bathroom at the end of the hallway,” the filmmaker recalled. “It turns out that the door opens onto Whitney’s office; she throws the door open and projectile vomits across this beautiful white office, and all over the wedding picture of Whitney and her husband.”

    “We shot a lot of outrageous stuff knowing that we could adjust the balance later,” he added. “The minute we shot that sequence, we all said, ‘I think this is a bridge too far.’ So we scrapped that.”

    In addition to Wiig and Byrne, Bridesmaids also starred Maya Rudolph, Melissa McCarthy, Ellie Kemper and Wendi McLendon-Covey.

  • ‘Scrubs’ Returns to Sacred Heart, Older and (a Little Bit) Wiser

    [This story contains spoilers for the first two episodes of the Scrubs revival on ABC.]

    It’s been almost 25 years since Scrubs aired its first episode, and the revival of the hospital comedy that premiered on ABC Wednesday is upfront about acknowledging the passage of that much time. JD (Zach Braff), Turk (Donald Faison) and Elliot (Sarah Chalke) are all older and more experienced, and their relationships have changed — fractured, in some cases.

    Where they were interns when the show began, the returning characters are now teachers. Turk is chief of surgery at Sacred Heart Hospital, and JD returns as chief of medicine in Wednesday’s premiere. Elliot also has a senior position at the hospital.

    But it’s still Scrubs, which means the show still features JD’s voice-over narration and cuts to his daydreams, and Turk still dances down the hallway, and Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) delivers a series of rapid-fire putdowns aimed at an intern. Oh, and JD and Turk, upon seeing one another again, still do their “Eagle” bit — only to have it collapse because Turk’s sciatica is acting up. Again, time has passed.

    “When we were discussing what the initial thing would be, you could still have that silliness, because that’s real and true to life for Donald and I,” Braff told The Hollywood Reporter. “But then, if we’re keeping it grounded in reality, how do we show that these men are the chief of surgery and the chief of medicine at a teaching hospital where they need to be incredible teachers? I was interested in that — the mix of being funny with your friend but also being able to pivot to being a wonderful teacher.”

    One other possibly sobering fact: JD and Elliot, who ended the show’s eighth season as a couple after years of an on-and-off relationship (the new show more or less skips the med school-focused, semi-spinoff ninth season of the original series), are now divorces. Showrunner Aseem Batra said that idea became fodder for several “fun debates” in the writers room — including convincing series creator Bill Lawrence that it was the right move.

    “He did not like that initially. He was like, ‘But it’s JD and Elliot,’” Batra said of Lawrence’s initial reaction. “But after thinking about it for a beat, he’s like, ‘Yeah, you’re right. We were going to get a lot more story out of them not being together.’ It also tracks with how we saw them in the first iteration of Scrubs, where they were kind of all over the place with each other. It also tracks just with the authenticity of life and how things turn out.”

    Braff and Chalke were on board with the idea as well, noting that the conflict in their relationship throughout the show’s original run brought out some of their best work. “We didn’t want to lose that, because Sarah and I love playing off of each other,” Braff said. “[JD and Elliot] just being fine, I think would be boring.”

    “Totally,” Chalke added. “And then it gives the opportunity for them to [explore] what is that like for them to co-parent, and what is it like for them to end up working together in the same hospital again, and what about when they start dating? How does the other person feel about that? It was way more fun.”

    Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke and Judy Reyes in ‘Scrubs’

    Jeff Weddell/Disney

    Love is not totally dead at Sacred Heart, however: Turk and nurse Carla Espinosa (Judy Reyes) are still married and have four daughters together. Reyes, who’s a regular on another ABC series, High Potential, has a recurring role on Scrubs and will in a handful of the season’s episodes. The show’s other returning core cast member, McGinley, may not, as Dr. Cox tells JD he’s retiring and passes the chief of medicine job onto him (to the great dismay of Joel Kim Booster’s Dr. Eric Park, who seemed to be in line for the position).

    Scrubs filmed its first eight seasons at a decommissioned hospital in the San Fernando Valley. That building was torn down in 2011, and the new season was filmed on soundstages in Vancouver — but with precise re-creations of the old sets.

    “[Production designer] Cabot McMullen took all his blueprints and shipped them up to Vancouver, and on a 20,000-square-foot stage, which is very large, they reconstructed it down to the texture of the paint and the tile, the feel and look of the hospital,” said McGinley. “It was remarkable.”

    Reyes said it was almost “eerie” how well new the new sets matched the former ones, to the point where she would get lost on the sets thinking they were laid out similarly to the original setup. “It was eerie once you’re in the space, but it puts everything in context for you.”

    Lawrence is an executive producer of the revival, but he wasn’t the showrunner due to contractual matters: He has an overall deal with Warner Bros. TV — and several other ongoing series, including Apple TV’s Shrinking and Ted Lasso and HBO’s upcoming Rooster — and Scrubs is produced by Disney’s 20th Television.

    “I’m not a huge therapy guy, but I talked to a therapist [about] how it’s making me crazy that I can’t micromanage and control every aspect of it,” Lawrence told THR. “But that’s not what this is. There are original writers [working on this version] who knew me when I was a kid and doing that, so I feel safe. But they’re also nice enough to let me participate. I really worked hard on the pilot, and I’ve been working with Zach on a lot of the cuts, and it makes me very joyful to see what this stuff has become.”

    Still, Lawrence jokes that “If I didn’t have other shows going on, I’m quite sure I would have been wearing a Mission: Impossible mask and trying to work on the show without getting caught.”

    Batra’s first job as a TV writer was on Scrubs (she also played an intern in a few episodes), and she said it’s “surreal” to return as showrunner on the revival. “If I thought about it too hard, I would probably have a panic attack and not be able to do it. So we just launched into it,” she told THR. “And you realize that all those hours of TV make a difference, and then when you step into it, you’re ready to go. That doesn’t mean there aren’t challenges, but I think there’s a readiness. I’m glad that we’re doing this now and not like five years ago. Every year I had working helped me be ready for this.”