Open Thread

CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Deadline reports: President Joe Biden nominated longtime Comcast executive David L. Cohen as his next ambassador to Canada. Cohen’s selection was long expected. The senior adviser to Comcast CEO Brian Roberts backed Biden early in the presidential race, as he co-hosted the presidential candidate at his home for the campaign’s kickoff fundraiser in April, 2019. Cohen’s portfolio also included areas …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Deadline Hollywood reports: After months of delays, Harvey Weinstein is finally on his way to Los Angeles to face multiple rape charges. Facing up to a 140 years behind bars if found guilty in the California courts, the already incarcerated producer was bundled on to a plane in upstate New York early this morning for his extradition to the City …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Variety reports: Judging by a trailer released early Monday, Lil Nas X is unleashing another salvo in his campaign against haters with his new single “Industry Baby,” which drops on Friday. The clip takes on the recent controversy around his sneaker line — which brought on a lawsuit from Nike — as well as his sexuality, both of which got …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Billboard Magazine reports: When Frankie Rodriguez and Joe Serafini set out to play the characters of Seb and Carlos on Disney+’s High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, they knew that they were going to be making history for the iconic brand. “To get to be that sort of representation that we didn’t get to see growing up, and doing …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Deadline Hollywood reports: The SAG-AFTRA presidential contest will be a two-person race for the first time since 2015, with no third-party or independent candidates vying for the union’s top elected post and splitting the votes. Only Fran Drescher and Matthew Modine qualified as presidential candidates this time, and only their running mates, Anthony Rapp and Joely Fisher, qualified to run …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Deadline Hollywood reports: HBO Max is exploring multiple Game of Thrones animated spinoffs, sources confirm to Deadline. One of the potential projects could to be set in Yi Ti, or The Golden Empire of Yi Ti, a region never seen in the original series, located far east of the continent of Essos, near the eastern limits of the known world. …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Variety reports: Queer Disney fans raised a rainbow flag in 2017 when it was revealed that in the Bill Condon-directed live-action adaptation of the animated hit “Beauty and the Beast,” LeFou — played by Josh Gad — was gay. Now the big question is, will LeFou be gay in the upcoming “Beauty and the Beast” Disney Plus series? That project …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Variety reports: Netflix has released the first trailer for “Pray Away,” the Ryan Murphy- and Jason Blum/Blumhouse Television-produced documentary about the so-called “ex-gay” movement. The Kristine Stolakis-directed film, which will premiere Aug. 3 on the streamer, chronicles the rise and fall of Exodus International, a group founded in the 1970s by five members of an evangelical church that claimed gay …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Variety reports: The category is: making history. Mj Rodriguez has become the first transgender performer to pick up an Emmy nomination in a major acting category. Rodriguez is nominated in the lead drama actress category for her fierce and formidable portrayal of house mother and nurse Blanca Rodriguez on FX’s ballroom culture period drama “Pose.” It is her first-ever attention …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

New from our pal Matt Baume: On January 11, 1993, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine introduced the first gay power couple of the 24th century … Garak and Bashir. One’s a dashing young doctor. The other’s a simple tailor who might also be a spy. From the very moment they met, their chemistry was delicious. And fans wondered: would these …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Proving the might of the Marvel brand, Black Widow set a new benchmark for the pandemic era in opening to $80 million at the domestic box office. The female-led superhero pic snared the biggest North American start since the COVID-19 crisis commenced, and the largest since Disney/Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in Dec. 2019. …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Variety reports: Marvel’s “Black Widow” is already crushing pandemic-era box office records. The superhero adventure raked in a mighty $39.5 million from 4,160 theaters on Friday, the biggest single-day gross since the onset of COVID-19. Through the weekend, “Black Widow” is poised to generated a huge $87.8 million, which would best the benchmark previously set by “F9” and its $70 …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Yahoo News reports: Dean Cain has publicly condemned Marvel’s newest version of Captain America, and Twitter is pushing back on his criticisms. The “Lois and Clark” actor appeared Monday on” Fox & Friends” to slam the character declaring, “I am so tired of all of this wokeness and anti-Americanism.” “I believe the pendulum will swing back to openly appreciating American …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Variety reports: After eight months of Four Seasons Total Landscaping jokes and merchandising (including a Super Bowl ad), the location has jumped into the pop-up concert booking business. On Thursday, the business announced a solo gig by singer-songwriter (and sometimes Against Me! frontperson) Laura Jane Grace for August 21. Fellow singer-songwriter Brendan Kelly of the Lawrence Arms will open for …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Deadline Hollywood reports: American Horror Stories, Hulu’s American Horror Story spinoff anthology series, will welcome some fresh and returning faces. AHS alums Matt Bomer, Billie Lourd and John Carroll Lynch are set to return to the wicked world of Ryan Murphy’s horror franchise as they round out the cast. American Horror Stories is a weekly hourlong anthology series that will …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Deadline Hollywood reports: As Universal’s pay TV partnership with HBO expires at year’s end, the studio’s streaming service Peacock will officially take its place starting in 2022. All Universal Filmed Entertainment Group’s theatrical releases starting next year will play on Peacock during each pic’s pay-one partner TV window, which is 120 days after a title’s theatrical release. Each movie will …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

The New York Daily News reports: Nick Cannon’s a new dad… for the fourth time in the last year and the seventh time overall. The actor’s latest offspring is a baby boy, Zen, with model Alyssa Scott. In an Instagram post captioned “I will love you for eternity,” Scott is pictured with the baby, who was born on June 23. …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Deadline Hollywood reports: The Los Angeles Tourism & Convention board enlisted famed L.A. artist Shepard Fairey (best known for his image of President Barack Obama underneath the word “Hope) and his Studio Number One, along with designers House Industries, to create a new logo and brand identity for the city. Fairey’s work marks the first update to the logo in …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Deadline Hollywood reports: Actress Phylicia Rashad, the new dean of the Howard University College of Fine Arts, has sent an apology letter to students and parents for her previous gleeful tweet about Bill Cosby’s surprise release from prison. Rashad sent the letter Friday, offering her “most sincere apology” for her enthusiasm upon learning that Cosby’s rape conviction was overturned. She …

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CHATTER AWAY: Overnight Open Thread

Deadline reports: Actors’ Equity says that fully vaccinated theater companies now can dispense with masking and Covid-19 testing mandates. The live-theater union’s newly updated protocols will remain in effect through the end of September. The updated protocols are available on Equity’s website, along with an updated intake form for theaters with mixed-vaccination status companies. Equity has separate protocols it’s negotiated …

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