Ukraine is pissed at HBO

And Gyllenhaal movie director boycotting his own premiere

Jan 26, 2024

Netflix is is scrapping a nearly finished movie… How does this keep happening?
The movie is called The Mothership, starring Halle Berry, written and directed by Bridge of Spies writer Matthew Charman. It’s a sci-fi epic about a mother who discovers “a strange, extraterrestrial object underneath her home.” The movie shot in the summer of 2021 and according to people involved in the project, finished post-production later that year. It was originally intended for release in 2022 but has since sat on a shelf at Netflix awaiting release. Now reporter Jeff Sneider is saying that Netflix is trashing the project entirely because the movie needs heavy reshoots that would be too expensive for Netflix to justify. We’ve seen a number examples of studios canning finished films recently. Most notoriously, Warner Bros completely scrapping Batgirl and Coyote vs Acme. It’s unclear if there will be a public outcry against the shelving of The Mothership
as there was with those two WB movies. But either way, it’s a shame that artists work hard on these movies only for the companies to lock them in a vault never to be seen. 🍿
The director of Jake Gyllenhaal’s Roadhouse is boycotting his own premiere… Because Amazon is sending it straight to streaming. Doug Liman explains that he signed up to make a theatrical movie for MGM, then Amazon bought MGM and told him “make a great film and we’ll see what happens.” He says he’s made a great film, which I bet he has, but Amazon is still sending it to streaming rather than putting it in theaters. I’m glad he’s taking a stand on this. Amazon has said in the past it would support cinemas, but Liman is pointing out its hypocrisy. Give us more movies in theaters, please. 😮
Ukraine is calling out HBO and The White Lotus for casting a pro-Putin actor… White Lotus season 3 is supposed to include Miloš Biković, a Serbian actor who has spoken in support of the Russian president and even accepted a medal from him. Obviously Ukraine is not down with that, asking HBO on social media, “Is it all right for you to work with a person who supports genocide & violates international law?” Will Biković remain cast in the show? If I was HBO and Mike White, I’d be firing him ASAP — but we’ll see. 𑁍

Award season updates

The Oscar nominees are here and these were the biggest surprises, delights, and frustrations.. Right off the bat, seeing America Ferrara get nominated was really cool. Her Barbie monologue was one of the biggest moments in movies this year and is absolutely deserving. For the first time ever, women directors have three movies nominated for Best Picture. And it was definitely surprising to see Justine Triet get nominated for Best Director, but unfortunately Greta Gerwig was left out, as was Margot Robbie, meanwhile Ryan Gosling was nominated. With his 54th nomination, John Williams just broke his own record of being the most nominated person alive — and he’s the oldest nominee ever at 91. He got his first nomination at the age of 35 in 1968. Lilly Gladstone is the first ever Native actor of American descent to be nominated. Colman Domingo (Rustin) is the first openly gay Best Actor nominee since Ian McKellen was nominated for 1998’s Gods and Monsters. And with Domingo and Jodie Foster also nominated, it’s the first time two openly LGBTQ actors have been nominated for playing LGBTQ characters. A Godzilla movie earned its first Oscar nomination ever. Spielberg just beat his own record as most nominated producer ever, with his 13th nomination for Maestro. Celine Song is the first Asian woman ever nominated for Best Original Screenplay. It was definitely a surprise to see Robot Dreams included in the Best Animation category — and just really great to see Nimona in there. What were you most surprised delighted or frustrated by? 🏆
Disney’s Nimona mistake has really come back to bite it in the butt… In case you weren’t aware, Nimona was first developed at Fox’s Blue Sky Animation studios. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Blue Sky had finished about 75% of the movie, but then Disney bought Fox and closed Blue Sky, essentially killing the nearly done Nimona. That is until April 2022, when it was announced that Annapurna Pictures and Netflix were rescuing the movie. It ended up hitting number 3 on the Netflix charts and delighting both critics and fans. But here’s the kicker. Tuesday, it was nominated for Best Animated Feature at the Oscars. So do you think Disney is regretting letting this one go now? While Pixar’s Elemental was also nominated, Walt Disney Animation Studios missed out on an Oscar nomination this year. Wish was not nominated and neither was the studio’s 100-year short Once Upon a Studio. 🐭
Wes Anderson might just have his best shot at an Oscar this year… For his short The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. 🧘🏻‍♂️
Lily Gladstone’s high school yearbook predicted she’d win an Oscar… This is just a huge win for theater kids everywhere. 📕