Amy Poehler is turning her attention to animation. The actress and prolific producer is reteaming with former Parks and Recreation producer Mike Scully and his wife/producing partner Julie Scully for an untitled animated comedy at Fox. The network has ordered a script and pilot presentation for the comedy. The potential series centers on the family and friends of 15-year-old Duncan Harris, an average kid with dreams of being a UFC fighter, tech billionaire, video game champ — or any job where you make a ton of money and don’t have to wear a tie. Poehler is attached to voice multiple characters. Poehler came up for the idea. Mike and Julie Scully, who together worked on Fox's long-running animated hit The Simpsons, will pen the script. All three will exec produce the project, which is a co-production between 20th Century Fox Television — where Scully is under an overall deal — and Universal Television — where Poehler's Paper Kite banner is housed. … [Read more...]

After his double performance as Chip and Dale Baskets didn't earn an Emmy nomination after the first season of Baskets, Zach Galifianakis upped the ante and picked a fight with himself.  The second season, which included an episode largely built around a knock-down, drag-out tussle between Chip and Dale, as well as moments of unexpected sympathy for the previously hissable Dale, was enough to put Galifiankis in the field for his quirky FX comedy. A movie star after the Hangover franchise and winner of multiple Emmys for his short-form work on Between Two Ferns, Galifianakis knows that Baskets wasn't made for as large an audience as some of his other work, but he seems appreciative of the polite fans who have responded to the show and his work on it over two seasons. He's also incredibly appreciative of Louie Anderson, who won an Emmy last year and is nominated again now. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Galifianakis discusses the different ways he's approached by fans … [Read more...]

If there's one thing that experience can demonstrate, it's that there's a high probability that the standalone Obi-Wan Kenobi movie currently in development will feature the Jedi Knight taking on Tusken Raiders. While it's currently unclear just when the Kenobi movie will be set, there are only three options that make a lot of narrative sense: The period before Kenobi's first (chronological) on-screen appearance in 1999's Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace, the Clone Wars era, and the roughly two decades of time between events in Episode III — Revenge of the Sith and the original Star Wars movie. Of those, the middle option is potentially problematic given how much of that time period has already been covered in the animated series of the same name, and the first option perhaps packs little promise given that it is, technically, a time of relative calm before things started going awry for the Jedi Order. (Plus, the original Star Wars and prequel trilogies have … [Read more...]

[Warning: This story contains spoilers for Better Call Saul season three.] After years breaking bad, it's fun for Bob Odenkirk to play someone who is (more or less) good. The actor is enjoying his third consecutive Emmy nomination for his leading role in AMC's Better Call Saul, the drama in which he plays the quick talking lawyer Jimmy McGill. Against all odds, it's a surprisingly sympathetic role, giving a look at Saul Goodman before he became the criminal (emphasis on criminal) lawyer known to Breaking Bad viewers. The third season saw a lot of changes, most notably the death of Jimmy's brother Chuck, played by Michael McKean. It's a loss that weighs heavily on the show, and on Odenkirk as he contemplates a future without his most seasoned sparring partner. It's hard to imagine the show without Michael McKean. How will the show move forward, and how will it affect you as an actor? Working opposite a great powerful actor like Michael just makes you better. That was true with Bryan … [Read more...]

The Swedish music streaming service is removing "hate bands" flagged by the Southern Poverty Law Center. Spotify says it has removed an array of white-supremacist acts from its streaming service that had been flagged as racist "hate bands" by the Southern Poverty Law Center three years ago. The move came after Digital Music News posted a story headlined "I Just Found 27 White Supremacist Hate bands On Spotify," bringing the content to Spotify's attention. A Spotify spokeswoman told Billboard in a statement that while the music in its catalog comes from hundreds of thousands of record companies and aggregators all over the world, and those are "at first hand responsible" for the content they deliver, "illegal content or material that favors hatred or incites violence against race, religion, sexuality or the like is not tolerated by us." "Spotify takes immediate action to remove any such material as soon as it has been brought to our attention. We are glad to have been alerted to this … [Read more...]

Rich Greenfield, who first put a "sell" recommendation on Disney shares in 2015, has a history of tough takes on the conglomerate. There are at least 32 Wall Street analysts covering Disney, but one of them seems to bother CEO Bob Iger a little more than the rest of them. Rich Greenfield, who is far more bearish on Disney stock than most analysts, said Thursday that Iger has blocked him on Twitter. "The chairman & CEO of the The Walt Disney Co., Robert Iger. has blocked us from seeing his tweets," Greenfield tweeted on Tuesday. Greenfield first put a "sell" recommendation on Disney shares on Dec. 18, 2015 when the stock was at $111.50. Considering it was trading for less than $102 on Tuesday, his call appears correct. Nevertheless, something recent has apparently irritated Iger, who didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Recent blog posts from Greenfield may offer clues as to what prompted Iger's ire, though, and it's two-fold: the rise of Netflix, which the analyst … [Read more...]

Amazon's Galaxy Quest TV revival is back on track. Writer-actor-comedian Paul Scheer (The League) has been tapped to pen the script for the Paramount Television-produced series. Scheer takes over for the feature film's original scribe, Robert Gordon, who was on board to pen the script for the Amazon reboot. The Amazon series is described as a new take on the cult movie that starred Tim Allen, the late Alan Rickman as well as Sigourney Weaver. It remains unclear if any of the original stars, which also included Tony Shalhoub, Sam Rockwell, Daryl Mitchell and Enrico Colantoni will return. The original 1999 movie centered on the cast of a since-canceled beloved sci-fi show that was forced to reunite to save the planet after aliens believe their show was real. Mark Johnson, who produced the movie, is still attached to exec produce via his Gran Via Productions banner partner Melissa Bernstein. It's unclear if Galaxy Quest director Dean Parisot is still attached. Gordon is still … [Read more...]

No apologies necessary. truTV has renewed Andrea Savage's scripted comedy I'm Sorry for a second season, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The half-hour series will return in 2018 with new episodes. Created by the Veep actress and comedian and partially inspired by her life, I'm Sorry follows a seemingly confident, together comedy writer, wife and mom named, yes, Andrea (Savage), who comically exposes her inner immaturity and neuroses through unexpected life situations, along with her straitlaced husband Mike (Tom Everett Scott), and their inquisitive daughter Amelia (Olive Petrucci). “I couldn’t be more ecstatic to continue to apologize to all of my closest friends and family for bringing even more humiliation upon us," said the actress. Savage exec produces the series with Joey Slamon, Gloria Sanchez’s Jessica Elbaum, Will Ferrell & Adam McKay and Lonely Island’s Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer. “Andrea tells relatable and … [Read more...]

Fox has a new revival in the works -- but there's a big twist. The network has given a put-pilot commitment to Revival, a single-camera comedy produced by The Big Sick director Michael Showalter and Fresh Off the Boat creator Nahnatchka Khan. A fresh take on the recent reboot trend on TV, the half-hour centers around Elliot, formerly the little kid from a beloved '80s family sitcom and now living a normal life, who reluctantly gets sucked back into the show's revival with his old TV family. Sally Bradford McKenna (Son of Zorn) will pen the pilot, with Showalter attached to direct. The two will exec produce with Khan, Chris McKenna and Khan's producing partner Mandy Summers. Khan's Fierce Baby Productions will produce in association with 20th Century Television, where both Khan and Bradford McKenna both have deals. (The duo worked together on a high-concept workplace comedy for Fox last year.) Revival is one of the first comedies in development at the studio for the 2018-2019 season. … [Read more...]

Get your blue steel pose ready. New York-based size-inclusive brand Universal Standard is heading across the country this fall. The line, known for its modern minimalist styles for women size 10 to 28, is teaming up with Nordstrom on a series of pop-ups and a nationwide model search in partnership with The Lions Model Management, the same modeling agency that reps Irina Shayk, Kate Upton, Stella Maxwell, and Karen Elson. Universal Standard, which counts Orange Is the New Black's Danielle Brooks as a fan, was founded by Alexandra Waldman and Polina Veksler in September 2015 after the duo became tired of seeing size as the dividing line that determined who had the privilege and freedom to dress with quality and style (a jersey dress is priced at $60, while a knit cape costs $220). The company has launched a program called Universal Fit Liberty, which allows customers to exchange pieces from its core collection for a new size at no additional cost within a year of purchase. All … [Read more...]

Stephen Daldry is Star Wars’ new hope. The Oscar-nominated director behind Billy Elliot and The Hours is in early talks to direct a Star Wars standalone movie centering on Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.  Sources say talks are at the earliest of stages and that the project has no script. If a deal makes, Daldry would oversee the development and writing with Lucasfilm brass. It's not known at this stage if Ewan McGregor will reprise his role.  The Obi-Wan Kenobi standalone is one of several projects being developed by Lucasfilm and Disney that fall outside the trilogies telling the saga of the Skywalker family. A Han Solo movie is now in the final stages of shooting under new director Ron Howard and Lucasfilm is also looking at movies featuring Yoda and bounty hunter Bob Fett, among others. In the original Star Wars trilogy, Kenobi was at first a desert-dwelling and war-weary hermit who later proved to be a wise and powerful warrior, brandishing … [Read more...]

[This interview contains spoilers for the third season of FX's Fargo.] Twenty years after his first Emmy nomination, Ewan McGregor remembers the episode of E.R. that earned him the recognition, but he doesn't recall if he actually attended the show. Nominated again this year for Fargo, McGregor is the rare star who doesn't sound disingenuous when he claims not to know who his Emmy competition is. He's watched some of his category rivals, but mostly he's keeping busy. Since completing Fargo in the spring, McGregor has been working steadily on features, barely taking a pause after an FX turn that was his third time playing multiple roles in the same project. In the FX anthology series, McGregor played Emmit and Ray Stussy, Minnesota brothers whose decades-long disagreement about the split of their inheritance eventually turns deadly. Neither brother is a pure victim or a clear villain, they're just men with different values and priorities who keep making unfortunate mistakes and keep not … [Read more...]

The second feature from Swiss-German director Dominik Locher casts the versatile Sven Schelker ('The Circle') as a young father-to-be in crisis. A young dad-to-be’s feelings of inadequacy lead him down the path of bodybuilding and steroids in Goliath, the impressive sophomore feature from Swiss-German director Dominik Locher. While the narrative might be quite familiar, there is a sincere and lived-in quality to the story and the characters that elevates it above similar material, with young actors Sven Schelker (The Circle) and Jasna Fritzi Bauer (Axolotl Overkill), as the working-class future parents, delivering subtle and sensitive work even when their characters are anything but. After its premiere in the international competition in Locarno, this should see interest from other major festivals as well as theatrical audiences in especially Mitteleuropa. The film’s title of course recalls the Biblical battle of little David against Goliath, who might have been a giant … [Read more...]

Jazz pioneer Cecil Taylor improvises with Japanese dancer Min Tanaka in the new film from Amiel Courtin-Wilson ('Hail'). Filmed over three days inside the Fort Greene brownstone of jazz piano legend Cecil Taylor, 70-minute chamber piece The Silent Eye unfolds as one long jam, with only a couple of costume changes betraying the passage of time as the 88-year-old Taylor riffs with Japanese dancer Min Tanaka, a long-time collaborator. The result is a near-wordless tribute to the spirit of live performance embodied by the pianist-poet, with whom director Amiel Courtin-Wilson has been working for years on a more traditional biographical documentary. Screening in Melbourne after premiering at the Whitney's Taylor showcase in April, this intimate curio might put some festival-goers to sleep but will reward those receptive to its meditative pace, as well as aficionados of the two forms it showcases. Australian filmmaker Courtin-Wilson began his feature career … [Read more...]

Unlike her boss, Hicks has remained mostly under-the-radar. First came Spicey. Then "The Mooch." When all else failed, we always had Sarah Huckabee Sanders.  Now, rumor has it that Hope Hicks, the 28-year-old longest-serving political aide to the president who currently holds the position of strategic communications director, might just be the next White House Communications director. She assumed the role of interim director on Wednesday, and, according to the administration, is currently helping to find the right person to fill the job. However, many speculate that the president will appoint Hicks herself. Should she be appointed, Hicks will be the youngest person ever to hold the position. Unlike her predecessor, Anthony "The Mooch" Scaramucci — who has already given Hicks his approval on Twitter, as has Ivanka Trump — the Connecticut-native has kept a relatively low profile. Even though she's been at the president's side since 2014, first working for the … [Read more...]

She was discovered at 16 by THR founder Billy Wilkerson while she was skipping class to enjoy a Coke at the nearby Top Hat Malt Stop. <!--[CDATA[ There was once a glamorous myth that you could attend Hollywood High School, get discovered and become a movie star. Lana Turner was the girl who turned that myth into reality. The Hollywood Reporter's part in this was founder Billy Wilkerson, then 47, doing the discovering. In early 1937, Judy Turner (director Mervyn LeRoy later encouraged the change to "Lana") skipped typing class to have a Coke with friends at the nearby Top Hat Malt Shop. Wilkerson had walked from his THR office for the same reason. He saw Turner, a stunningly beautiful and by all accounts self-possessed 16-year-old, and told the cafe manager that he'd like to speak with her. Turner was suspicious, agreeing only reluctantly and telling the manager, "Well, if you say so. But stay close." (That this happened at Schwab's Pharmacy is persistent fiction.) A meeting with … [Read more...]

[Warning: This story contains spoilers through the fifth episode of Game of Thrones' seventh season, "Eastwatch."] It takes great courage to ride into the mouth of a dragon — not to mention meticulous amounts of planning. Jaime Lannister's (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) seemingly impulsive charge at the fire-breathing Drogon in the riveting "The Spoils of War" was far from a split-second decision. Indeed, according to Game of Thrones director of photography Robert McLachlan, the action-packed moment, as well as the entire action-packed sequence now known as the Loot Train Battle, was the result of "weeks and weeks" of careful planning, roughly eighteen days of actual filming, and several different departments working in concert with one another to compose one of the most technically complicated movements in the HBO show's seven-season history. Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, McLachlan shared his war stories from shooting the Loot Train Battle, the challenges at play in crafting … [Read more...]

Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders is adding to the prosecution team. Olympus Has Fallen actor Keong Sim has signed on for a recurring role in Dick Wolf's forthcoming drama, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. The eight-episode first installment of the anthology is described as a "gripping in-depth dramatization" of the famed murder case that took America by storm in the early 1990s. When brothers Lyle and Erik Menendez were tried on national TV for brutally killing their parents in Beverly Hills on Aug. 20, 1989, their story became a nationwide obsession. Law & Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders dives into the players, the crime and the media circus, detailing the day-to-day battles of the trial and unveiling the shocking truth of what really went down behind the scenes. Sim will portray Deputy District Attorney Lester Kuriyama, the second fiddle to DDA Pam Bozanich (Elizabeth Reaser). He’s by-the-book, unimaginative, doesn't think … [Read more...]

At least one person has died with local media reporting as many as 13 fatalities and more injured. A white van plowed into a packed summer crowd Thursday in Barcelona's historic Las Ramblas district, killing some people and sending dozens fleeing. Barcelona police called it a terror attack and local media reported up to 13 dead. Catalan police tweeted "there are mortal victims and injured from the crash" without specifying any numbers. Spanish media, including Cadena SER radio station and TV3, reported up to 13 dead, while other media had varying death tolls. Police cordoned off the broad street that is so popular with tourists, ordering stores and nearby Metro and train stations to close. They asked people to stay away from the area so as not to get in the way of emergency services. A helicopter hovered over the scene. Quoting unnamed police sources, the El Pais newspapers said the two perpetrators of the crash were holed up in a bar in Tallers Street. Armed police ran down the … [Read more...]

Zazie Beetz on Wednesday shared her devastation over the tragic death of her stuntwoman on the set on Deadpool 2 earlier in the week.  The Domino actress released a statement on Instagram, sharing her heartbreak over the loss of 40-year-old SJ Harris.  “My heart has been breaking the past two days and I have been searching what to say or do,” Beetz wrote. “I know that what I feel is nothing compared to what her loved ones, friends + family, are feeling. My heart and my love goes out to her and them all. The cast and crew send peace, healing, and their deepest condolences."  Harris, a New York native and professional road racer, was killed performing a stunt while filming in Toronto. Her cause of death and exactly what went wrong are still under investigation.  Witnesses told local reporters Harris did the stunt perfect fours times, but on the fifth, something went wrong at the end, and she went through the ground-level glass of a … [Read more...]