Open Thread

Variety reports: The Writers Guild of America has passed a strike authorization vote with 97.85% voting in favor, giving union leadership the power to call a strike once the contract expires on May 1. In an email to members, the guild said that 78.79% of eligible members had cast ballots. The vote was 9,020 in favor and 198 opposed. In …

Variety reports: “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” left its box office competitors in the dust, scoring a massive $87 million in its second weekend of release. Ticket sales declined just 41% from its debut, resulting in the best sophomore outing ever for an animated film. So far, the video game adaptation has grossed $347.8 million in North America and $678 …

Playbill reports: Prior to the April 16 closing of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s The Phantom of the Opera, New York City Mayor Eric Adams awarded a Key to the City of New York to the famed composer. “For more than 50 years, Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber’s music has defined Broadway,” said Mayor Adams. “From Jesus Christ Superstar to The Phantom of …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Cindy Williams’ final television project, Sami, has gotten a premiere date on Prime Video. The 10-episode short-form comedy/musical series will launch April 23 on the Amazon streaming service. The series wrapped just two months before Williams died following a brief illness at the age of 75. Created by Williams’ longtime friend, Grammy-nominated music producer Bruce Kimmel, the …

Variety reports: Jamie Foxx has been hospitalized in Atlanta following a “medical complication” his family revealed late Wednesday evening. “We wanted to share that my father Jamie Foxx experienced a medical complication yesterday,” Foxx’s daughter, Corinne Foxx, posted in a statement on Instagram. “Luckily due to quick action and great care he is already on his way to recovery. We …

Variety reports: Ariana DeBose is back to do “the thing” as the host of this year’s Tony Awards. It’s the second time the actor is serving as emcee for Broadway’s biggest night, which is taking place on Sunday, June 11 at the United Palace in New York’s Washington Heights. DeBose, an Oscar winner for “West Side Story” and theater kid …

Billboard Magazine reports: Days after country singer Travis Tritt said he would be banning Anheuser-Busch beverages from his backstage hospitality riders, The Offspring guitarist Noodles responded by announcing that the veteran punk act is doubling down on the Bud products. “We are going to be adding Anheiser-Busch products & Jack Daniels to our hospitality rider just to piss off a …

Variety reports: Kim Kardashian is adding yet another item to her ever-growing resume: the reality star turned businesswoman is joining Season 12 of “American Horror Story.” Kardashian made the announcement Monday on her Instagram account, posting a teaser video with eerie music, along with the eyeball and blood drop emojis as her cryptic caption. The video posted by Kardashian says …

Deadline reports: The BBC has said it is speaking to Twitter in an effort to change the “government funded media” tag on its official account. A spokesman said: “We are speaking to Twitter to resolve this issue as soon as possible. The BBC is, and always has been, independent. We are funded by the British public through the licence fee.” …

Variety reports: “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” continues to super smash its opening projections, drawing $55 million from 4,343 theaters on Friday. Released Wednesday, the film has already earned $137 million in domestic ticket sales. Replace every dollar with a coin and that would amount to 1.37 million 1-Up mushrooms. That’s a lot of extra lives. The Universal and Illumination …

Deadline reports: NPR said that it has stopped tweeting from its main Twitter account after the platform labeled the news organization “state-affiliated media.” A spokesperson said that the outlet stopped posting from @NPR “after they attached that false label to it because each tweet we publish would carry it. We have paused tweeting from that account until we hear back …

Variety reports: “Wicked,” the untold story of everything that happened before Dorothy dropped down in Oz, is poised to make Broadway history. When the hit musical plays its 7,486th performance on Tuesday, April 11, it’ll surpass Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Cats” to become the fourth-longest running production on the Great White Way. “Phantom of the Opera,” which is closing in April, …

Variety reports: A new clip from Jeremy Renner’s upcoming interview with ABC News reveals the “Hawkeye” actor wrote a goodbye note to his family while in critical condition at the hospital. Renner was hospitalized for blunt chest trauma and orthopedic injuries at the start of January after his Sno-Cat, a large snow plow that weighs at least 14,330 pounds, ran …

Variety reports: Margot Robbie comes to life as the famous figurine in the official trailer for Warner Bros.’ “Barbie.” Oscar nominee Robbie leads a star-studded cast that includes a muscular Ryan Gosling as Barbie’s boy toy, Ken. The two actors are not the only Barbie and Ken dolls in the film. Dua Lipa stars as mermaid Barbie, for instance, alongside …

Variety reports: “60 Minutes” has drawn criticism from journalists and other public figures for its sit-down interview with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, which aired on Sunday evening. In the interview, Greene asserted that Democrats are the “party of pedophiles,” saying, “They support grooming children… Even Joe Biden himself supports children being sexualized and having transgender surgeries.” Former Republican congressman Adam …

Billboard Magazine reports: Websites in Russia could be blocked from broadcasting the Eurovision Song Contest in May because of a recent tightening of anti-LGBT legislation that prohibits “propaganda about non-traditional sexual relations,” says Roskomnadzor, the Russian national media watchdog. Finding “LGBT propaganda” in Eurovision, which takes place May 9-13 in Liverpool, United Kingdom, may not be a difficult task, as …

Variety reports: The vibe surrounding Joni Mitchell being bestowed with the Gershwin Prize in Washington, D.C. earlier this month — as seen in a new PBS special — couldn’t have been more harmonious, from all accounts. And that’s a good thing, because under less loving circumstances, there could have been a turf war over who would get to sing “Both …

Variety reports: Twitter says it will charge businesses and organizations $1,000 per month (in the U.S.), including nonprofits and governments, to retain their verified status. In addition, the company will levy a $50 monthly charge for each affiliate subaccount (i.e., employees, brands or divisions). But apparently not all organizations will have to pay Musk for the privilege. Twitter will waive …

Broadway World reports: Smash is setting its sights on Broadway with an award-winning creative team, it was announced today by Robert Greenblatt, Neil Meron, and Steven Spielberg who will serve as lead producers. The stage musical adaptation, inspired by the fan-favorite NBC series on which they all worked together, is slated for Broadway in the 2024-25 season. The production will …

Variety reports: Focus Features has dropped the trailer for Wes Anderson’s upcoming comedy “Asteroid City.” “Asteroid City” is set in the 1950s in a fictional American desert town. At a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention, which is designed to unite students and parents in scholarly competition, chaos ensues as world-changing events take place. The film’s main cast includes Margot Robbie, Tom …