Open Thread

I woke up this morning to the sad news from several readers that beloved longtime JMG community member Safari has passed away unexpectedly, apparently only a few days after his final posting here. As many of you know, Safari was a cheerful guy who enjoyed funny wordplay, sharing his cooking, photos of his cat, and his adventures with his students …

Deadline reports: A little over a month after the more transmissible BA.2.12.1 Omicron subvariant became officially dominant in the U.S. on May 24, two sister subvariants of Omicron have quickly eclipsed BA.2.12.1 across the country. BA.5 and BA.4 are, like BA.2.12.1, more transmissible, but have the added advantage of reportedly being more able to reinfect those who’ve already had Covid. …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Stranger Things Season 4 Vol. 1 closed the 28-day window Netflix uses to measure premiere viewership for its TV series and movies with 930.3 million hours viewed. That is the most for any English-language Netflix series ever and the second largest audience overall behind the streamer’s Korean smash Squid Game, which clocked in 1.6 billion hours viewed …

Variety reports: Carol Burnett is breaking bad. The comedy legend will appear as a guest star in the sixth and final season of “Better Call Saul,” portraying a character named Marion, AMC announced. It’s unclear at this point how Marion fits into the denouement of the complicated journey and transformation of series antihero Jimmy McGill (Bob Odenkirk) into Albuquerque’s notorious …

Variety reports: Paramount and Skydance’s all-American blockbuster “Top Gun: Maverick” is still flying high at the box office, crossing the coveted $1 billion milestone over the weekend. It’s the first movie of the year and only the second in COVID times (following Sony’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” with $1.9 billion) to reach that benchmark. It’s even more impressive that “Maverick” …

Variety reports: Lizzo and Live Nation will donate $1 million from the singer’s upcoming “Special” tour to support abortion access groups, after the the Supreme Court’s galvanizing decision to overturn Roe v. Wade. “I’m pledging $500k from my upcoming tour to Planned Parenthood and Abortion Rights. Live Nation agreed to match— to make it 1 MILLION dollars,” Lizzo tweeted on …

Variety reports: Disney, Netflix, Paramount, Comcast, Warner Bros. Discovery, Sony, Meta and more media companies have confirmed they will cover travel costs for employees seeking abortions following the Supreme Court’s overturning of Roe v. Wade. A Netflix spokesperson told Variety: “Netflix offers a travel reimbursement coverage for full-time U.S. employees and their dependents who need to travel for cancer treatment, …

The Daily Beast reports: After Elliot Page came out as trans in December 2020, Umbrella Academy show-runner Steve Blackman was eager to bring the actor’s transition to screen. There was just one problem: Season 3 had already been mapped out, and the scripts were more or less set. Filming was due to start in just two weeks. Against all odds, …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Rupert Murdoch and Jerry Hall, his fourth wife, are said to be divorcing, according to a report in the New York Times citing two people familiar with the situation. The couple married in London in 2016. Media mogul divorces raise the question of potential impact on assets, in this case News Corp. and Fox Corp., bit it …

Variety reports: Broadway is lifting its mask mandate. Starting in July, mask-wearing at all 41 Broadway theaters will be optional, the Broadway League announced Tuesday. The announcement comes as COVID rates have begun to decline in the five boroughs. Mandates continue to be in place on mass transit such as subways and buses. Broadway theaters, owners and producers have privately …

Variety reports: Oscar-winning Canadian screenwriter and director Paul Haggis has been arrested in Ostuni, Southern Italy, on charges of sexual assault and aggravated personal injury allegedly inflicted upon a still unidentified woman who has pressed charges. Haggis, who wrote “Million Dollar Baby” and co-wrote and directed “Crash,” both of which he won an Oscar for, was sued in 2018 by …

Variety reports: Pixar’s spinoff of its “Toy Story” series blasted off on Thursday night with a respectable $5.2 million from preview screenings. However, the film is now tracking for an opening in the range of $50 million to $55 million from 4,255 theaters in North America, below the initial expectations that pegged the film for a debut between $70 million …

The New York Daily News reports: Disney’s upcoming adventure film “Strange World” will feature a gay teen romance — the first in an animated feature produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios. The film, which is scheduled to open on Nov. 23, will follow three generations of a family of explorers and take viewers “to a place of infinite mystery unlike …

Variety reports: Makeup department head Carleigh Herbert has always been obsessed with period pieces, and the ’70s have always been a favorite. “There was so much self-expression,” she says. So, when the chance to work on HBO Max’s “Minx” came along, she snapped it up. The trend of penis prosthetics, Herbert notes, is something that has seen a surge in …

Variety reports: Harry Styles plays a closeted policeman in the teaser trailer for the romantic drama “My Policeman.” The teaser finds Styles and co-stars David Dawson and Emma Corrin entangled in a complicated love triangle. The story — an adaptation of Bethan Roberts’ 2012 novel — follows Styles’ character Tom Burgess, a closeted policemen. Since it is illegal to be …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Squid Game is becoming reality. The dystopian Korean drama series – Netflix’s biggest series ever – is being turned in to a reality competition series with 456 players competing (although presumably not being killed off). Netflix has ordered ten-part series Squid Game: The Challenge, which will see English-language speakers from around the world compete for a $4.56M …

Variety reports: After 13 seasons, “The Wendy Williams Show” will officially come to an end this Friday, Variety has learned exclusively. The daytime talk show has been airing all season without its host, Wendy Williams, who will not be present for the final episode, which will include a video montage celebrating her groundbreaking television run. “The final original episode of …

Variety reports: Kevin Spacey has been formally charged with four counts of sexual assault in the U.K., the Metropolitan Police confirmed today. Spacey has also been charged with “causing a person to engage in penetrative sexual activity without consent.” The actor is set to appear at Westminster Magistrates Court on Thursday morning. The four historic assaults are alleged to have …

CNN reports: “Big, Black and queer-ass American Broadway” — welcome to the world of “A Strange Loop,” the most acclaimed — and frequently surprising — musical of the theatrical season. “A Strange Loop” is a musical about a theater usher (named Usher) writing a musical about a theater usher, and it was conceived of and written by a former theater …

Variety reports: “Jurassic World Dominion” is the new apex predator at the box office. Universal’s dino-sequel is expected to earn $142.6 million from 4,676 theaters across North America over the weekend, which would mark the highest domestic opening for a non-superhero film since COVID-19 lockdowns were first introduced. That dethrones the $126 million benchmark set by the debut of “Top …