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Scarlett Johansson

Scarlett Johansson Sues Disney

-This is HUGE: Scarlett Johansson filed a lawsuit today against Disney, claiming that the decision to stream Black Widow on Disney+ while also releasing it in theaters breached her contract and could cost her tens of millions of dollars. Her salary was largely based on the theatrical box office receipts and she gets bonuses whenever the tally reaches certain milestones. Estimates suggest she lost out on $50M in bonuses when Disney pushed it to streaming and refused to renegotiate.

-Disney fired back, saying that she has so far received $20M from the project and her lawsuit shows a “callous disregard” to the pandemic. Please. At this point when almost all theatres have reopened, its simultaneous debut on streaming had less to do about safety and more about adding Disney+ subscribers. She’s missing out on bonuses her male counterpoints have reaped because the distribution strategies have shifted while their compensation structures haven’t changed. It’s not just about a millionaire complaining; it’s about the old way of doing things being dead. Netflix already pays out talent up front, and after announcing their simultaneous streaming debuts, Warner Bros went back and amended contracts to pay actors more up front since the potential box office take was reduced.

-The Hawkeye series at Disney+, starring Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld, will debut on November 24. I became way more interested in this show once I realized that’s where Florence Pugh‘s Black Widow character is heading next.

-Broadway is the latest to require all workers to be vaccinated.

-Manifest is in top spot on the streaming chart for the third straight week, even though its future remains in limbo.

-With all the love that James Gunn‘s The Suicide Squad is getting from critics (it’s 97% fresh!), David Ayers made a post about his Suicide Squad: “The studio cut is not my movie… A handful of people have seen it. If someone says they have seen it, they haven’t.”

-The first posters for the House of Gucci trailer by Ridley Scott have arrived. Lady Gaga looks amazing; Jared Leto is ridiculous.

-It leads in nicely to this piece on Hollywood’s enduring love of fat suits.

–Camila Cabello posted a video about waiting to fart until Shawn Mendes left the house. Ok then.

-Netflix renewed Sweet Tooth (a show I really liked but haven’t gotten around to ep 3 yet) for season 2.

–Candace Cameron Bure has apologized for dancing sexily with a Bible in a TikTok clip, saying “So many of you thought I was trying to be seductive, which clearly means I’m not a very good actress because I was trying to be strong, not sexy. So I guess that didn’t work, but I deleted it.”

–DaBaby just can’t seem to help himself.

–Jason Sudeikis talked about how Foo Fighters song “My Hero” influenced Ted Lasso season 2.

–Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard’s daughter is named Delta, which isn’t working out so well for her at this particular moment of humanity.

–Jennifer Garner inked a partnership with Netflix that will see the actress star in and produce movies, including a sequel to Yes Day.

–Joshua Jackson revealed that he bought his childhood home, and his daughter now sleeps in his old bedroom. “There was a mural of a dragon on the wall in that room that I couldn’t believe was still there, years later. The owner [who sold him the house] said, ‘I knew it meant a lot to somebody and that they were going to come back for it some day.'”

-Doctor Who’s Jodie Whittaker and Chris Chibnall are leaving the show in 2022.

–Angelina Jolie earned a victory in her lengthy court battle against Brad Pitt over custody of their children, but it could lead to their current custody arrangement being overturned, with the proceedings starting over again.

-I love that Vulture has brought back the report card-style reviews for Gossip Girl. Ah, memories!

–Oscar Isaac is haunted by his past in the trailer for The Card Counter, co-starring Tiffany Haddish.

–Will Smith plays Richard Williams, the father of legendary tennis siblings, Venus and Serena Williams, in the new trailer for the Oscar-baity King Richard.

Jennifer Hudson Talks Playing Aretha

jennifer hudson blows a bubble with gum on the cover ofinstyle

–Law Roach is on fire right now. He styled pregnant Halsey’s Allure cover, as well as InStyle’s Jennifer Hudson one. In the interview, JHud talks about stepping into Aretha Franklin’s shoes for her new biopic Respect, and how her dogs predict success. “I got the dog Oscar before I won my Oscar for Dreamgirls. And then I said, ‘Oscar needs a wife. So how about I get a dog and name it Grammy, and maybe I’ll win a Grammy.’ And then I got the dog Grammy, and I won the Grammy.”

-In his new GQ profile, Jason Sudeikis says he still doesn’t know why Olivia Wilde left him after nine years together. “I’ll have a better understanding of why in a year, and an even better one in two, and an even greater one in five, and it’ll go from being, you know, a book of my life to becoming a chapter to a paragraph to a line to a word to a doodle.” He added, “That’s an experience that you either learn from or make excuses about. You take some responsibility for it, hold yourself accountable for what you do, but then also endeavor to learn something beyond the obvious from it.” He also confirmed they split “in November 2020” (so months after their rumoured split in March 2020, but before she was spotted holding hands with Harry Styles in January 2021).

-The Crown, Mare of Easttown, The Queen’s Gambit, and the recently cancelled Lovecraft Country were some of the shows leading the Emmy nominations this morning. I’m glad that Ted Lasso scored 20 nods, including 6 for Supporting Actor/Actress (all but Phil Dunster, who plays Jamie), that The Boys snuck into Best Drama category, that Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You got some love, and that Jean Smart was nominated for both Hacks and Mare of Easttown. But it sucks that Girls5Eva didn’t make it into the Best Comedy section.

-I agree that these five nominees are among the top to root for. Roy Kent!

-Eyewitnesses claim that video of Justin Bieber appearing to yell at wife Hailey Bieber is misleading.

–Britney Spears’ personal conservator Jodi Montgomery claims her dad, Jamie Spears, used $2 million of her funds for his defense.

–Scarlett Johansson chatted with Seth Meyers about her pandemic wedding to Colin Jost. “Obviously we wanted to take all the precautions, every precaution that we could, so we had the masks [with ‘Jost 2020’ on them] made. It definitely was a weird party favor that could only happen now, but you just gotta go with it.”

–Drake‘s girlfriend has been revealed to be 40-year-old model Johanna Leia, who he’s reportedly been dating for several months.

-Seems like Olivia Rodrigo is over that guy she wrote “Driver’s License” about; she’s dating Adam Faze.

-I always worry that Joshua Jackson is going to end up disappointing me, but not today! His Esquire interview is excellent, especially the part where he talks about having a home birth because “the American medical system has a horrendous track record with Black women.” The accompanying video is also great, including when they ask why he’s turned his Instagram into a stan account for his wife. “I think it’s important to celebrate women in media where they want to be, rather than the objects that we want them to be.” Gah! Perfection!!

-I liked this love letter to the bad girls of 90s teen dramas. Justice for Rayanne Graff, Kim Kelly and Jen Lindley!

-A video appears to show Mel Gibson saluting Donald Trump as he arrived at UFC 264 on Saturday evening. How is anyone at all surprised by this?

-Tilda Swinton and Timothée Chalamet were all kinds of cute together at Cannes.

-For the same premiere, Owen Wilson (who I’m convinced will end up being the bad guy in this week’s Loki finale, because the person behind the TVA can’t just be some random dude, right?!) also looked great.

-Meanwhile, here’s a clip from the movie (Wes Anderson‘s The French Dispatch), featuring Chalamet having a bath in front of Frances McDormand.

-I’m very ready to watch Karen Gillan, Lena Headey, Angela Bassett, Michelle Yeoh, and Carla Gugino kick butt in Netflix’s Gunpowder Milkshake this weekend, which is getting decent reviews.

-Here’s the trailer for Netflix’s conversion therapy documentary Pray Away, from producers Ryan Murphy and Jason Blum, and directed by Kristine Stolakis.

-Disney/Pixar’s new movie Turning Red takes place in Toronto!

 

Simu Liu Is Ready To Be a Superhero

Shang-Chi-star-Simu-Liu-EW-cover

 

-I love seeing Simu Liu on the cover of EW!

-A day after Britney Spears‘ longtime court-appointed attorney Sam Ingham made moves to step down, her mother filed a petition for permission to hire private counsel on behalf of her daughter. I really hope Britney gets a say in this one, but this sounds like a step in the right direction.

–Gigi Hadid is asking publications and fan accounts to blur out her daughter’s face if they post papped photos. This seems fair and reasonable.

–Scarlett Johansson and her husband, SNL’s Colin Jost, are reportedly expecting their first child together. I wondered why she didn’t go to the Black Widow premiere or any of the events in person.

–Jessica Mulroney is accused of ripping off a design by British label Ralph and Russo. (She says it’s merely “inspired by” them, but it’s pretty damn close to theirs.)

-Good Girls’ renewal for a shortened final season was practically a done deal, so why did it fall apart? Christina Hendricks, Mae Whitman and Retta all agreed to take pay cuts to return for a reduced eight-episode swan song, but it sounds like co-star Manny Montana (Rio) had money and scheduling issues. There’s also speculation that he had a strained working relationship with Hendricks. Though it’s very strange that the show couldn’t just write off a supporting character.

-The AV Club compiled a list of the best TV shows so far this year, and I’ve watch so little of them.

–Tom Hardy is getting his first “story by” credit with Venom 2 after spending months over FaceTime brainstorming the plot. Screenwriter Kelly Marcel said. “This is new for him, to get credit, but it’s not new for him to be this involved. He’s absolutely 100 percent committed to everything that he does. He’s married to Venom. He loves this character. He’s very involved in what he thinks should happen…We spent months breaking the story together on FaceTime, riffing on ideas, seeing what worked, seeing what didn’t. Then I took everything we spoke about and holed up somewhere for three months quietly, knocking out a script.”

-The Boys launched a fake, Tucker Carlson-esque news show ahead of their new season.

-Good to see Kit Harington and Rose Leslie looking so happy (despite what some corners of GoT fandom seem to believe).

-I love Diane Kruger’s dress at Cannes, but man, the posture you’d have to maintain in that. I wouldn’t have it in me.

-The origins of The Kingsman movies are explored in the trailer for The Kings Man.