Open Thread

Variety reports: According to a source close to the production, Pixar’s next feature film, “Lightyear” — starring Chris Evans as the putative real-life inspiration for the “Toy Story” character Buzz Lightyear — does feature a significant female character, Hawthorne (voiced by Uzo Aduba), who is in a meaningful relationship with another woman. While the fact of that relationship was never …

The Huffington Post reports: Dolly Parton could wind up in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year against her own wishes. Officials for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame released a statement on social media Thursday defending their decision to nominate the country superstar for induction this year. Though Parton announced she had withdrawn her nomination this …

Variety reports: Netflix will soon launch a test letting primary account holders pay an additional fee for users outside their households — a new attempt by the company to address illicit password-sharing. A member may be prompted to verify their account only if a device outside of their household logs in to the account; Netflix may then ask the user …

Variety reports: A group of Disney employees have planned a week of in-person and virtual walkouts in response to the company and CEO Bob Chapek’s handling of Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” Bill. On Monday afternoon, the Twitter account called Disney Walkout posted a message explaining that, “The LGBTQIA+ workers and allies at The Walt Disney Company are standing in solidarity …

Billboard Magazine reports: Dolly Parton is bowing out of her nomination for induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. “Even though I’m extremely flattered and grateful to be nominated for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I don’t feel that I have earned that right,” Parton said on social media on Monday (March 14). “I really do …

Variety reports: Sony’s hit action adventure “Uncharted” has been banned in Vietnam over the film’s inclusion of a map that depicts China’s contested territorial claims in Southeast Asia. The film, which stars Tom Holland, Mark Walhberg and Antonio Banderas was to have arrived in Vietnamese cinemas from March 18. Prior to this weekend, the film had grossed $278 million, according …

Deadline reports: KTLA reporter Gene Kang was doing a live standup on a prior hit-and-run collision at 84th and Hoover Street in Los Angeles when another incident was captured for the home audience as it happened. Kang was on camera Thursday talking about how dangerous the intersection was when two cars collided directly behind him. The crew filming Kang immediately …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Reacher collected 1.589 billion minutes of streaming to give Amazon Prime Video its first No. 1 finish in Nielsen’s weekly streaming rankings for February 7 to 13. While it declined from 1.843 billion minutes the previous week, the action thriller series edged Netflix romantic drama Sweet Magnolias, which drew 1.556 billion minutes. Nielsen measures total viewing via …

Billboard Magazine reports: Grimes and Elon Musk are parents again. The singer revealed in a cover interview with Vanity Fair that she and the Tesla founder recently expanded their brood via surrogacy during the pandemic to welcome a baby girl in December. In keeping with the couple’s space-age love story, their second born’s name is an intergalactic marvel: “Exa Dark …

Deadline reports: Amazon stock rose 7% in after-hours trading after the tech company announced a 20-for-1 stock split and a $10 billion share buyback authorization. The stock finished the regular trading day at $2,785.58, up almost 3% in a stellar session across the board for Wall Street. Shares in the company have been comfortably above $3,000 throughout 2021 before slumping …

Pitchfork reports: Universal Music Group has suspended all of its operations in Russia and closed its offices in the country. UMG’s staff will continue to receive their salaries for an undetermined period, but artists will see most of their recording activity put on hold. “Effective immediately, we are suspending all operations in Russia and closing our offices there,” Universal Music …

Variety reports: “The Walking Dead” continues to live on at AMC, with the network greenlighting a spinoff centered on Maggie and Negan. The six-episode series will see the two characters traveling into a post-apocalyptic Manhattan long ago cut off from the mainland. The crumbling city is filled with the dead and denizens who have made New York City their own …

Variety reports: The 2022 box office has its first juggernaut. After years of promotion and more than few delays due to COVID-19, “The Batman” finally hit movie theaters this weekend. The Warner Bros. release grossed a hefty $57 million from 4,417 locations in its opening day, though that’s a sum that includes $21.6 million from Thursday preview screenings. The DC …

Deadline Hollywood reports: The US version of the Eurovision Song Contest has secured some big-name contestants, with Michael Bolton, Macy Gray, Jewel and Sisqó all confirmed to be competing in the inaugural competition, which launches this month. Each musician will represent their home state, with Bolton stepping up for Connecticut, Gray for Ohio, Jewel for Alaska and Sisqó for Maryland. …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Disney said Friday consumer streaming service Disney+ will introduce an ad-supported subscription in addition to its option without ads in the U.S. starting in late 2022. It said it will announce more details, including launch date and pricing, at a later date. The ad-supported offering is viewed as a building block in the company’s path to achieving …

Variety reports: Harvey Weinstein was caught with contraband Milk Duds in November, prompting a reprimand from L.A. County jail guards, according to records viewed by Variety. The Milk Duds were found during a search on Nov. 10, after Weinstein had a face-to-face meeting with Shawn Burkley, one of his attorneys. The Milk Duds were confiscated, and the guards warned that …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Global networks including the UK’s Channel 4 have picked up Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky’s comedy series Servant of the People. The 2016 satirical show, in which, unbelievably, Zelensky played the President, before launching a campaign to become the real President three years later, has also been sold by distributor Eccho Rights to MBC in the Middle East, …

The Daily Beast reports: Sam Elliott didn’t hold back his anger—or blatant homophobia—for Jane Campion’s The Power of the Dog. In an interview for Marc Maron’s “WTF Podcast,” Elliott decried the Western as “a piece of shit” and compared the male characters to Chippendale dancers. “That’s what all these fucking cowboys in that movie look like,” Elliott said. “They’re all …

Deadline Hollywood reports: South Park has a long history of short turnarounds to focus on current events, and the promo for this week’s episode appears to be furthering that tradition. In a clip from “Back to the Cold War,” Mr. Mackay argues for a seventh nuclear-emergency drill in two days because, he says, “We are going to be prepared.” When …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Veteran actress Patti LuPone tested positive for Covid-19 before Saturday’s Broadway matinee of Company, triggering increased testing protocols for the rest of the performers and staff. LuPone is at home and is expected to be out until March 8. The 72-year-old, who has two Tony Awards and two Grammys, plays “Joanne” in the production alongside Katrina Lenk’s …