LUY-Development

Category: Entertainment News Feed

  • Writers Guild of America seeks to block Paramount’s buyout of Warner in latest merger challenge


    NEW YORK (AP) — The Writers Guild of America became the latest group to challenge Paramount’s $81 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery on Tuesday, filing a lawsuit that seeks to block the merger on the grounds it would cause “specific harm” to movie and TV writers working across the U.S.

    A Paramount-Warner merger “threatens the economic and creative health of the American entertainment industry,” reads Tuesday’s federal complaint, which was filed by both the Writers Guild of America West and Writers Guild of America East (jointly the WGA).

    The union argued that the merger would create less competitors and give the larger company “both the incentive and the ability” to lower wages and the number of projects that offer workers employment.

    “This proposed combined entity would be the largest employer of writers, with tremendous power to suppress our wages, eliminate opportunities for emerging writers, cut jobs across the industry, and produce less programming,” WGAE President Tom Fontana said in a statement.

    A Warner-Paramount tie-up would bring together two of the five last legacy studios in Hollywood. It would also mean putting Warner’s HBO Max, its libraries filled with popular titles like “Harry Potter” and even CNN under the same roof of Paramount-owned CBS, movies like “Top Gun” and the Paramount+ streaming service.

    Tuesday’s complaint alleges that the merger violates antitrust law by reducing competition in three markets for writers: writing for episodic TV and streaming series, TV writing deals overall and screenwriting for the biggest theatrical films.

    In response, Skydance-owned Paramount maintained that a combined Warner-Paramount would allow the company to “expand opportunities for writers, not shrink them.” It also reiterated pledges to release at least 30 movies a year with a 45-day window exclusive to theaters — and said it would continue to commission from independent production companies while maintaining “two distinct film studios.”

    “A stronger Hollywood only means something if it’s stronger for the writers who power it,” the company said in a statement.

    The WGA’s complaint arrives a day after 12 states, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, filed a lawsuit challenging the deal, alleging that it would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and lead to fewer choices for moviegoers and cable TV customers nationwide.

    The coalition of states called on Warner and Paramount to not close the merger until after a court had time to “fully evaluate” their claims. But they said the companies quickly refused — and late Monday night, the group filed an emergency motion in federal court seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction aimed at immediately halting the deal.

    Paramount on Monday called the states’ claims “wrong on both the facts and the law” and vowed to “vigorously defend” its Warner acquisition.

    The growing list of legal challenges could become a roadblock in Paramount’s quest to complete its purchase of Warner. Other regulatory reviews are ongoing in the European Union and in the U.K., which has suggested it may intervene. But Paramount has also racked up effective green lights from a handful of other countries, including the Trump administration in the U.S., China, Canada and Australia.

    Paramount and Warner have hoped to close their deal sometime in the third quarter of this year. In Monday night’s motion seeking an immediate pause, the states said the companies may try to complete the process as early as July 22.

    Including debt, Paramount’s proposed purchase of Warner is valued at nearly $111 billion based on outstanding shares.


  • Duchess of Sussex earns a Daytime Emmy nomination for Netflix’s ‘With Love, Meghan’


    LOS ANGELES (AP) — Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, has earned a Daytime Emmy nomination for her Netflix show.

    The former actor who married Britain’s Prince Harry in 2018 was nominated in the outstanding lifestyle program category for “With Love, Meghan” on Tuesday.

    The show is competing against “A Different Breed,” “George to the Rescue,” “The Motherhood,” and “The Wizard of Paws.”

    The 53rd annual Daytime Emmy Awards will be presented Oct. 30 at the Hollywood Palladium.

    The Duchess of Sussex’s show featured cooking, entertaining and gardening segments and included appearances by celebrities like Chrissy Teigen and Mindy Kaling, and a cameo by her husband, Prince Harry. The show aired for two seasons in 2025 and had a holiday special.

    Then known as Meghan Markle, she starred in the legal drama “Suits” from 2011 to 2018, before leaving to marry into the royal family.

    CBS received a leading 48 nominations.

    The nominees for daytime drama series are: “Beyond the Gates,” “Days of Our Lives,” “General Hospital,” and “The Young and the Restless.”

    The nominees for lead actress in a daytime drama series are Stacy Haiduk of “Days of Our Lives,” Karla Mosley of “Beyond the Gates,” Michelle Stafford of “The Young and the Restless,” Heather Tom of “The Bold and the Beautiful,” and Tamara Tunie of “Beyond the Gates.”

    Eric Braden of “The Young and the Restless” is among the lead actor nominees. He’s joined by Steve Burton of “General Hospital,” Scott Clifton of “The Bold and the Beautiful,” Thorsten Kaye of “The Bold and the Beautiful,” and Christian Jules Le Blanc of “The Young and the Restless.”

    The daytime talk series nominees are “3rd Hour of Today,” “The Drew Barrymore Show,” “ The Kelly Clarkson Show,” “Live with Kelly and Mark,” “TODAY with Jenna & Friends,” and “The View.”

    Clarkson is among the nominees for daytime talk series host. The others are Joy Behar, Whoopi Goldberg, Alyssa Farah Griffin, Sara Haines, Sunny Hostin & Ana Navarro of “The View,” Tamron Hall, Jennifer Hudson, and Sherri Shepherd.

    Clarkson is ending her seven-season run this fall, while Shepherd’s show was canceled in May after four seasons.

    ABC’s “The View” has been in the crosshairs of federal regulators who want to reopen the debate of whether it is subject to equal-time rules.


  • Tom Cruise’s love for ‘Amores Perros’ led him to ‘Digger’


    BURBANK, Calif. (AP) — Tom Cruise still remembers being in awe of Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s feature directorial debut “Amores Perros,” which took home the Academy Award for best international feature film in 2001.

    “What a brilliant film. It was amazing,” Cruise told journalists at a recent press event. “Every aspect of that film was very thought out, very detailed, and you could feel the powerful human voice of someone who was incredibly skilled at what they were doing.”

    Twenty-five years later, Iñárritu and Cruise have collaborated on the highly-anticipated dark comedy “Digger.” Cruise kicked off his promotional tour for the film — and previewed a potential Hollywood awards campaign — at a trailer reveal event last week on the Warner Bros. studio lot. He greeted and posed for photos with film journalists and influencers.

    “He’s never made something like this before, nor have I,” said Cruise, who told journalists it felt as if all the skills he has developed throughout his 45-year acting career led up to his performance in the film, set for theatrical release on Oct. 2.

    Iñárritu knew the role was meant for Cruise.

    “The transformation he went through was astonishing,” said the filmmaker in a prerecorded video at Thursday’s event. “And I think we both know what it means to carry an entire career into a single moment like this. We both knew that throughout our journeys, we had never done anything even close to this.”

    The 64-year-old actor and producer stars in Iñárritu’s “Digger” alongside a cast of A-list talent like John Goodman, Sandra Hüller, Riz Ahmed and Jesse Plemons.

    Iñárritu first approached Cruise with the script and read it to him line by line over a series of days, a method Cruise says he asks of all collaborators.

    “I’m listening to everything that’s in his mind, so that I can understand that, and then I know how to contribute to it, and bring that collaboration together. And to be there with Alejandro, it was beautiful,” said the actor.

    The trailer showcases an eccentric oil baron named Digger Rockwell, played by Cruise in heavy prosthetic makeup, whose company sets off a chain of events and hijinks.

    Iñárritu says he had the idea for the film just after completing “The Revenant,” but it took him a decade to complete the story.

    “Not script, not a film, just a relentless recurring obsession that has endured through all these wild years. I knew who this character was,” said the Oscar-winning director. “I knew how he spoke, how he survived, how he seduced reality into agreeing with him … I wasn’t looking for a story. I was looking for the right way of saying it.”

    Like “The Brutalist” and “One Battle After Another,” the film was shot on VistaVision.


  • Tom Cruise, IShowSpeed and Post Malone join the World Cup closing ceremony’s cast


    NEW YORK (AP) — A wide array of performers, from actor Tom Cruise to streamer IShowSpeed, will help close out the World Cup, FIFA announced Tuesday.

    And on Wednesday, soccer’s governing body said American rapper-singer Post Malone will headline the closing ceremony.

    The ceremony will take place 90 minutes before Sunday’s final. The show is meant to “celebrate the 48 teams’ unforgettable journey” through 16 host cities across three countries, FIFA said in a statement.

    IShowSpeed — who has streamed multiple matches — is listed as a performer, while Cruise — who’s also been spotted in the stands and performed a stunt at the Paris Olympics’ closing ceremony — is billed as making a “special appearance.” The ceremony will also include performances from Laura Pausini, the Italian singer who helped open the Milan Cortina Olympics in February; Tony winner and Pussycat Dolls member Nicole Scherzinger; and Robbie Williams, the British singer and former Take That member.

    Jennifer Hudson, who boasts the coveted EGOT title with an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony, will perform the U.S. national anthem.

    “Echoing the spirit of the opening ceremonies, which welcomed the world to the greatest stage in Canada, Mexico and the United States, the closing ceremony will bring the FIFA World Cup 2026 full circle through music, culture and football, before we kick off the highly anticipated match that will crown the champions of this groundbreaking tournament,” said Heimo Schirgi, the World Cup’s chief operating officer.

    While Sunday will also feature the tournament’s first halftime show, with a bevy of additional A-list performers, closing ceremonies are not exactly new to the World Cup. The closing ceremony is being produced in partnership with Balich Wonder Studio, led by Marco Balich, who orchestrated the 2022 World Cup’s opening and closing ceremonies in Qatar.

    FIFA has encouraged ticketholders to arrive early, promising that fans “will have an active role to play in the show.” The show begins at 1:30 p.m. at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and kickoff is at 3 p.m.

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    See more of AP’s World Cup coverage here


  • Subpoenas issued to NY Times reporters seen as ‘unprecedented’ threat to press freedom


    Dangerous. Brazen. Unprecedented. Uncharted territory.

    Reaction in the media world has been swift and severe to the issue of subpoenas to five New York Times journalists who reported on security questions involving the new Qatari-gifted Air Force One — a legal maneuver seen as a troubling escalation of the Trump administration’s campaign to control and intimidate independent media outlets.

    “The subpoenas are an extraordinary escalation in President Trump’s efforts to threaten and intimidate independent news organizations and have a chilling effect on the work of journalists across the country,” said Jodie Ginsberg, CEO of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

    Media advocates and analysts expressed dismay at the tactic, even after months in which news organizations drawing President Donald Trump’s ire have been attacked both in courtrooms and in the court of public opinion; media access to corridors of power has been blocked; and a Washington journalist’s home has been searched by federal agents.

    “They have used the levers of power to intimidate and demonize professional journalists who report stories that are unfavorable to the administration’s desired narrative,” said Frank Sesno, a former CNN White House bureau chief who is now a media and public affairs professor at George Washington University.

    He called Friday’s subpoenas “dangerous and uncharted territory, but merely an extension of what we have seen from this administration and president.”

    “Don’t like a poll? Sue the Des Moines Register,” he said. “Don’t like the way an interview is edited? Sue ‘60 Minutes.’ Don’t like the coverage of the gifted Air Force One? Order the FBI to investigate and subpoena the journalists for what is, by the way, a story that is in the public interest.”

    Some of the subpoenas were delivered to reporters at home

    Some of the subpoenas were delivered to reporters at their homes, the Times said. Sought by Jay Clayton, the U.S. attorney in Manhattan, they seek to force the reporters to testify before a federal grand jury in Manhattan this week.

    The new jet in question, a present from Qatar that Trump’s administration spent $400 million to retrofit and upgrade, entered service last week. But the Republican president used an older model Air Force One jet to leave a NATO summit in Turkey.

    The Times, citing anonymous sources, reported that the switch had come at the urging of the Secret Service and that the newer plane lacked some of the advanced security features of the older aircraft, including antimissile capabilities. On social media, Trump denied security concerns.

    The subpoenas were issued after FBI Director Kash Patel and other Justice Department officials met at the White House on Friday to talk about the matter, according to a person familiar with the discussions who was not authorized to discuss the issue publicly and spoke on the condition of anonymity. The Times said the meeting lasted around eight hours.

    The fact that the operation was conducted from the White House itself was particularly egregious to analysts like Sesno, who called the coordination “unprecedented.”

    “This graphically illustrates the pressure and influence the White House and president have brought to bear on law enforcement that is supposed to be independent and driven by facts, not politics,” he said.

    The Justice Department has justified the subpoenas by saying that “to be clear, reporters are not the targets, those leaking classified information are.”

    “We value and appreciate the important role that the press plays in this country,” the department said in a weekend statement. “But DOJ also plays an important role to make sure that the people entrusted with our nation’s secrets do what they’re supposed to do with that information, which means not sharing classified information.”

    The National Press Club called on the Justice Department to immediately withdraw the subpoenas.

    “Every American should understand what is at stake,” Mark Schoeff Jr., the club’s president, said in a statement. “When federal agents arrive at the homes of journalists with subpoenas, it is not ordinary law enforcement. It is an extraordinary assault on the freedom of the press that strikes at the heart of the First Amendment.”

    Also expressing solidarity with the Times journalists was the White House Correspondents’ Association — which, in less than two weeks, holds its rescheduled dinner, with Trump planning to attend the event that celebrates the First Amendment. The first dinner was scuttled when a shooter opened fire in what prosecutors say was an attempt to kill the president.

    “The White House Correspondents’ Association stands with the New York Times reporters who were targeted for doing their jobs to uphold the public’s right to know how its government operates,” said a statement from the group’s president, Weijia Jiang. “The WHCA condemns any act of intimidation against journalists, including attempts to pressure them into revealing sources.”

    Trump’s administration has initiated multiple lawsuits against media outlets

    Trump’s animosity toward news outlets whose agenda runs counter to his own isn’t new. But in his second presidential term, he has launched an escalation, often harnessing the levers of the federal government or attempting to do so. These efforts have taken place both in actual courtrooms and in the court of public opinion.

    The president has sued various news organizations whose coverage he dislikes. He has also threatened to revoke TV broadcast licenses. His Federal Communications Commission chairman is seeking to penalize shows like ABC’s “The View,” where some hosts speak out against Trump, by having the FCC explore revoking its exemption from equal-time rules.

    The legal skirmishes include an escalating dispute between the media and Trump’s Defense Department over reporters’ access to the Pentagon. The Times has filed two lawsuits over a policy requiring journalists to be accompanied by escorts at the military complex.

    The White House has also battled with The Associated Press over the news organization’s refusal to follow Trump’s executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico. And it has battled with The Wall Street Journal over reporting about Jeffrey Epstein and his ties to the president — including an article that described a sexually suggestive letter that the newspaper said bore Trump’s signature.

    Last month, the Justice Department withdrew subpoenas it had issued that sought to compel reporters at The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal to testify before a grand jury, according to people familiar with the matter.

    The Post confirmed that one of its journalists received a subpoena from the Trump administration as part of a broader crackdown on media leaks that in January also included the extraordinary step of an FBI search of the home of another journalist at the newspaper and the seizure of her electronic devices. The media world was stunned by the search of the home of reporter Hannah Natanson, who was covering Trump’s transformation of the federal government.

    The Times is now gearing up for battle against what its lawyer David McCraw has called “this brazen act.”

    In an internal memo seen by the AP, the newspaper’s executive editor, Joseph Kahn, criticized the subpoenas, praised his journalists’ work and said: “We expect to prevail. We have the best legal team in the business. … The law protects news gatherers from this sort of retaliatory abuse of prosecutorial power. It is essential that the courts reaffirm that protection and quash this overreach. We are confident they will in this case.”

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    Jocelyn Noveck covers the intersection of media and entertainment for The Associated Press.


  • 12 states challenge Paramount’s takeover of Warner, say merger would ‘extinguish competition’


    NEW YORK (AP) — Twelve states sued to block Paramount’s takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery on Monday, arguing that the $81 billion merger would “extinguish competition” in Hollywood and lead to fewer choices for consumers across the U.S.

    “Audiences on every sofa and in every movie (theater) seat would feel the impact of this unlawful merger,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta, who is leading the case, said in a news conference from Los Angeles. He said the deal would result in higher prices, fewer movies and TV shows and lower quality of content overall.

    A Paramount-Warner combo would bring together two of Hollywood’s last five legacy studios. It would also mean putting Warner’s HBO Max, libraries filled with fan favorites like “Harry Potter” and even CNN under the same roof of Paramount-owned CBS and the Paramount+ streaming service.

    In Monday’s complaint, the states said such a tie-up would also “inflict substantial harm” on movie theatres and basic cable distributors. Bonta’s office said the states are asking Warner and Paramount to not close this merger “until after the judicial process concludes.” And if the companies do not agree, the coalition would then file a temporary restraining order.

    Paramount said Monday’s lawsuit “distorts settled antitrust law” and maintained that its merger would instead create a “stronger competitor against dominant streaming and technology platforms who have harmed the market for theatrical exhibition and jobs in the entertainment industry.”

    The company, which was bought by Skydance just last year, vowed to “vigorously defend” the transaction.

    Warner deferred to Paramount for comment. Beyond California, states joining Monday’s lawsuit include Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon and Washington.

    Where Paramount’s takeover of Warner stands

    Monday’s antitrust case arrives at a pivotal time for the Paramount-Warner transaction — which, after months of what became a very public bidding war with Netflix, received shareholders’ stamp of approval in April and then a blessing from President Donald Trump’s administration just last month.

    The companies have hoped to close their deal sometime in the third quarter of this year, recently signaling an effort to complete the process in the coming weeks. The states’ lawsuit could throw a wrench in those plans, at least for now.

    The clock is ticking. Paramount also pledged to give shareholders some compensation if that process isn’t complete by Sept. 30 — in the form of a 25-cent per share “ticking fee” for every quarter past that date. And it’s agreed to a regulatory termination fee of $7 billion.

    Beyond the U.S., Paramount has touted additional regulatory clearances it says it’s received in a handful of other countries, including China, Canada and Australia. Meanwhile, other reviews remain in progress, including in the European Union and the U.K. — which has separately suggested it may intervene.

    Including debt, Paramount’s proposed purchase of Warner is valued at nearly $111 billion (or $31 per share) based on current outstanding shares.

    Critics decry merger

    Warner and Paramount argue that merging will be good for growth in the industry and give consumers access to more content, especially if HBO Max and Paramount+ libraries are combined. But critics have decried what further consolidation could mean in an industry already controlled by just a few major players.

    Monday’s lawsuit from the states pointed to movies that make their way into theaters and the wider TV landscape — noting that a combined Paramount-Warner could control nearly a third of both the theatrical film distribution market as well as basic cable programming.

    Such a combination would create “a massive company with unprecedented power and influence over news and entertainment across the globe,” said New York Attorney General Letitia James, who is among those challenging the deal. Beyond consumer impacts, she also said the merger would “put jobs and businesses nationwide at risk.”

    Thousands of actors, directors, writers and other industry professionals have already voiced “unequivocal opposition” to the deal. Monday’s challenge garnered applause from groups like the Writers Guild of America, who warn that consolidation would result in “fewer jobs, lower wages for entertainment workers, less variety of programming, and higher prices for consumers”

    Paramount argued on Monday that delaying the merger “will only harm entertainment workers who have already suffered over recent years as technology has disrupted their livelihood.”

    The company added that the states’ case would “shield” larger streaming rivals like Netflix from meaningful competition.

    Political questions

    Throughout Paramount’s quest for Warner, questions of political influence have also piled up — with criticism falling largely along party lines in Washington. No Republicans signed on to the states’ case on Monday.

    Democrats have long expressed skepticism about whether regulators working under Trump would scrutinize the deal as heavily. Several attorneys general joining Monday’s lawsuit took aim at the Justice Department’s decision to not challenge the deal — pointing in particular to the president’s close relationship with the billionaire family of Paramount CEO David Ellison.

    “Something happened and perhaps that something had to do with a mega-billionaire named Ellison,” Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes told reporters on Monday. “We are seeing more and more instances where the Trump DOJ is just rolling over for corporate consolidation,” she added.

    Last month, DOJ leadership released a lengthy statement in support of the deal — maintaining a Paramount-Warner combo would “increase competition across the media and entertainment ecosystem, with benefits for American consumers and workers.” The Justice Department had maintained that politics would not play a role in its review.

    Trump himself previously made public comments about Warner’s future, despite backpedaling on what he once suggested his personal role would be in approving a merger.

    Many eyes are on CNN, a network that has long attracted ire from Trump and his allies.

    Paramount’s CBS has already seen significant turmoil and shifts in editorial leadership since coming under Skydance ownership last year — and if Warner merger goes through, the reach of that could grow. Several Trump administration officials have also been far from shy from sharing their hopes for CNN under Paramount ownership, with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth telling reporters in March that “the sooner David Ellison takes over that network, the better.”

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    Mikella Schuettler contributed from Phoenix.


  • Jay-Z show at Yankee Stadium delayed for hours after fans without tickets rush entrances


    NEW YORK (AP) — A Jay-Z concert at Yankee Stadium was delayed for hours Sunday night after hundreds of fans without tickets tried to push their way into the show, forcing the iconic New York City stadium to temporarily close entrances before the rapper could take the stage after midnight.

    After the long holdup, Jay-Z started the show at 12:17 a.m. Monday and told the audience that “somebody rushed the door” and that he didn’t want to start performing and have “people get trampled” on their way in.

    “Really sorry for the inconvenience, but I had to make sure everybody was OK,” he told the crowd before thanking them for their patience and promising a “good time tonight.”

    In a statement, the Yankees, Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and Live Nation said hundreds of people in large groups without tickets “stormed over peaceful ticketholders, and in some cases, breached security” and the stadium had to shutter entrances for an extended period of time before being able to cautiously reopen.

    Video from outside the stadium showed a large crowd of people standing around an entrance. A different video from inside the stadium showed people rushing inside through an open door before several security guards were able to stop additional people from entering.

    A spokesperson for the New York Police Department said it did not have information about arrests at the stadium over the incident.


  • Anya Taylor-Joy is bloodied and battling in Apple TV’s crime thriller ‘Lucky’


    NEW YORK (AP) — Anya Taylor-Joy finds herself in a familiar setting this summer: In the desert, fighting to stay alive.

    She did it in “Furiosa” and the upcoming “Dune: Part Three.” Now she’s under the blazing California sun for “Lucky,” a propulsive Apple TV crime thriller that has her trading blows with goons, bloodying her otherworldly face.

    “Listen, I’ve been to the desert so many times at this point it’s kind of unreal. I don’t look like a desert creature, and yet I’m always there and I love it,” says the actor. “People like to see me struggle, and they like me to survive. And, luckily, I enjoy doing it, too, so it works out.”

    Taylor-Joy plays the title character in an adaptation of Marissa Stapley’s novel about a con artist who wakes up in a hotel room and realizes she’s been betrayed by a close ally and is forced on the run.

    Lucky is soon pursued by both the FBI and a ruthless crime boss over a missing $10 million. Her widowed father isn’t much help: He raised her to be a criminal but is now behind bars, only helping from a phone call.

    “She’s at an inflection point when we meet her in the book and in the show where she’s got to chart her own course. She’s got to take things into her own hands, and she’s got to really decide how she wants to live her life,” says Lauren Neustadter, an executive producer.

    A character evolves

    The seven-episode series premieres Wednesday, and even in the first episode, Lucky has to fight her way out the closed trunk of a car and slam a screwdriver into the neck of a bad guy, finding herself alone in the desert. “How can someone so small cause so much trouble?” a goon asks.

    “We see this character evolve from beginning to end. She starts off being all about the con, and the question is, ‘Where will that go? How will she evolve and who will she become?’ And I think that it’s one of the things that makes this show so special,” says Neustadter.

    The series co-stars Annette Bening, Drew Starkey and Timothy Olyphant, with a female-centric soundtrack that includes a stirring theme song by Fiona Apple and tunes by Sleater-Kinney and Siouxsie Sioux.

    Bening plays a cold-blooded mob leader who gets stuck between trying to save her son and tangling with her brutal boss and former lover. She’s as likely to order a killing as be executed herself.

    “She is an abused woman and she’s an abuser,” Bening says. “So, she’s so intriguing. I thought the writing was really good. And I did want to play this kind of borderline sociopathic woman.”

    Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine media company approached Taylor-Joy with the book, asking her to not just consider leading the series as an actor but also offering to make her debut as an executive producer.

    “I remember crossing my fingers and thinking, ‘God, I really hope I like this book.’ And then I did and I fell in love with Lucky and I felt that I had something to contribute in this space, which I think if you’re coming on as an executive producer is the feeling that you want to have,” says Taylor-Joy.

    The show — created by Jonathan Tropper and written and showrun alongside Cassie Pappas — is a crime thriller but with a family drama at its heart, one that prompts Lucky to wonder if there’s another way to live.

    “Thematically, that’s what Jonathan and I were really drawn to, is this idea of how much does family affect who you are versus how much can you break that path and write yourself a new one,” says Pappas.

    Lucky leans into grifting skills to survive

    Lucky has grown up grifting with her dad, stealing money-filled envelopes at birthday parties and faking injuries to get free hotel rooms. Now on the run, she leans into those skills to survive but also yearns for a better life.

    “We all struggle against sort of the restraints of our past and the baggage we were given by even good parents and getting to a point where we can figure out who we are,” says Tropper. “Hers just has much higher stakes because the act of her trying to figure that out could get her killed.”

    For Taylor-Joy, in addition to leaping off trucks, dodging killers and stealing cars onscreen, she got to make casting decisions and advise on the look and sound of the show behind the camera.

    “I think we had a wonderful time making it, and I think you can feel that on the screen, despite the screwdrivers through the head,” she says with a laugh.


  • Steven Spielberg, Nicole Kidman and Cillian Murphy and more mourn the death of Sam Neill


    Fellow actors and fans of Sam Neill mourned his passing after the New Zealand actor died Monday following a diagnosis of a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

    Neill achieved his highest level of fame in “Jurassic Park” playing paleontologist Alan Grant, who is summoned to an island off Costa Rica where a theme park has been built to house herds of cloned dinosaurs. He co-starred alongside Laura Dern, Jeff Goldblum and Richard Attenborough.

    Neill earned an Emmy nomination for his performance in the title role of the 1998 miniseries “Merlin” and another as narrator of 2017’s “Wild New Zealand.” Neill also earned three Golden Globe nods — for “Merlin,” “One Against the Wind” and “Reilly: Ace of Spies.”

    Some notable reactions:

    Steven Spielberg

    “Sam was exceptionally collaborative. It was a stretch for him to play a character who acted as though children were messy and smelly because this was the opposite of the loving father he was to his children. I adored making all the Jurassic movies with him. Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world.” — in a statement.

    Laura Dern, actor

    “Sam was my beloved lifetime friend… He showed me the depths of loyalty, protectiveness, and love, always with the driest of wit. He was a true and noble gentleman, wrapped up in my dream leading man. I will love you forever, Dr. Alan Grant.” — via Instagram.

    Richard E. Grant, actor

    “Knew @samneilltheprop for 3 decades and finally worked with him on ‘PALM BEACH’ in 2018. An officer and a Gentleman in the truest sense. Guided and helped me through a very difficult time in my Life … Sail on, kind Sir. — via Instagram.

    Cillian Murphy, actor

    “Like everyone who knew and worked with Sam, I admired him and adored him in equal measure. He was one of the kindest, funniest and gentlest people, and one of the finest actors … RIP.” — in a statement.

    Nicole Kidman, actor

    “Sam was one of the greats, a joy to be around,” she said. “We met when I was just 18 and he took me under his wing and we stayed friends for life. He was charming, kind, funny and intelligent. He will be greatly missed, and my heart goes out to his family.” — in a statement to the Sydney Morning Herald.

    Billy Zane, actor

    “I’m deeply saddened by the untimely loss of my dear friend, @samneilltheprop. We first crossed paths years ago through our work, but what I came to treasure most was the man himself—funny, endlessly curious, wickedly intelligent, generous, and always able to make you feel at ease. … He carried himself with grace, humility, and a wonderfully mischievous sense of humor that made every conversation a pleasure. … Rest peacefully, Sam. You’ll be missed more than words can say.” — via Instagram.

    Colin Trevorrow, director

    “Sam Neill was a deeply soulful and beautiful man. He was a friend and collaborator at a challenging time, and his strength gave us all strength. I’ll remember him for his tranquility, his love of wine, and for the calm assuredness he brought to his characters. It’s not every lifetime you get to befriend a legend. Forever grateful.” — via Instagram.

    Christopher Luxon, prime minister of New Zealand

    “Sir Sam Neill was one of the greats. He started out when there was barely a film industry in this country to speak of. For more than fifty years he took New Zealand stories to the world and his talents helped make our film industry into what it is today — one of our greatest cultural exports.” — via X.

    Jacinda Ardern, former prime minister of New Zealand

    “It was just a few weeks ago that I had the profound joy of sitting with Sam Neill, talking about life, politics, and home. He was such a thoughtful, curious, and decent person. Someone who was principled, unafraid of speaking his mind, and willing to take up a fight when he saw injustice. … We’ve lost another incredible kiwi, and I feel profoundly sad. All my aroha to his whanau and friends. And to you, Sam, you have our gratitude and admiration. Rest easy. Moe mai rā” — via Instagram.

    Anthony Albanese, prime minister of Australia

    “Sam Neill starred in so many beloved Australian stories and he earned a special place in Australian hearts. Wry and dry, thoughtful and laconic, Sam fought illness with the same dignity, humour and conviction that gave strength to his every performance. He will be much mourned and long remembered. May he rest in peace.” — via X.

    Laura Tingle, Australian journalist and Neill’s former partner

    “I think Sam Neill was the greatest theatrical creation of little Nigel Neill, a little boy with a stutter who was sent off to boarding school at eight years of age and spent his life in flight ever after that and showing off to make friends in new places. And I think that the humanity of that is what made him so approachable and so loved by so many people who saw all his work in television and movies.” — in an interview with the Australian Broadcasting Corp.

    Sharon Lawrence, actor

    “My condolences and appreciation for the immense joy and mastery Sam Neill brought our industry. Do yourself a favor and find ‘DEAN SPANLEY’ on a streamer- he’s wonderful and it will soothe someplace in your spirit that needs it now. — via Instagram.

    Joel Tobeck, actor

    “This man made me feel like I could fly. Even when I was all over the place in his presence he made it ok. We loved to talk rugby. RIP my old mate. Sam Neill, a true gentleman.” — via Instagram.

    Rachel Griffiths, actor

    “Such a shock — loved by so many — I’ll be cracking two paddocks tonight,” referring to wine from the actor’s vineyard, via Instagram.

    Kylie Minogue, singer

    “Vale Sam,” a Latin term for “farewell” that’s often used in Australia and New Zealand, via Instagram.

    Toni Collette, actor

    “I love you, dear Sam. You hero. You legend. You sweetheart. Our great friend. You are already missed so very much. Continue in peace wherever you are.” — via Instagram.

    Lesley-Ann Brandt, actor

    “Sending love and condolences to your family. A remarkable man and artist. NZ loses a giant and one of its greatest gifts.” — via Instagram.

    Kate Mulvany, actor

    “It was the greatest of honours to shout at Sam onscreen and to laugh ourselves silly offscreen. He was truly the most wondrous human. Not was. Still is. Will always be. Such is his incredible legacy of life, art, advocacy and love.” — via Instagram.


  • Sam Neill, New Zealand actor who starred in ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘The Piano,’ dies at 78


    WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — Sam Neill, the smoothly elegant and versatile actor whose prolific career moved from art films to blockbusters as he dodged velociraptors in “Jurassic Park” and played Holly Hunter’s cruel husband in “The Piano,” has died. He was 78.

    In 2023, Neill disclosed he had been diagnosed with angioimmunoblastic T-cell lymphoma, a rare type of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He died on Monday in Sydney, according to a statement posted to the actor’s social media page.

    His death was “sudden and unexpected,” the statement said, adding that he “remained cancer free” when he died. A cause of death wasn’t specified. “Sam was surrounded by family and passed with the dignity that has characterized his whole life,” his family wrote.

    Tributes were paid by fellow actors and directors, including Steven Spielberg, who helmed the first “Jurassic Park” movie.

    “I adored making all the ‘Jurassic’ movies with him. Along with Laura Dern and Jeff Goldblum, we will always have our Jurassic family and Sam will never be forgotten by us or his many millions of fans around the world,” Spielberg said in a statement.

    Actor Sharon Lawrence wrote on Instagram: “Condolences and appreciation for the immense joy and mastery Sam Neill brought our industry.”

    Actor came to world’s notice with ‘Dead Calm’ and ‘My Brilliant Career’

    Neill was one of a host of actors and directors who achieved international fame after an explosion of Australian films that began in the late 1970s, along with Paul Hogan, Mel Gibson, Geoffrey Rush, Russell Crowe, Jane Campion, Peter Weir and Gillian Armstrong. His range was remarkable, playing opposite Helena Bonham Carter in the Alan Ayckbourn comedy “Sweet Revenge” to chopping off Hunter’s finger in “The Piano” to poking his own eyes out in the sci-fi horror “Event Horizon.”

    He portrayed both saintly and sinner: In “Omen III: The Final Conflict,” he played Damien the Antichrist, and he also played Cardinal Thomas Wolsey in “The Tudors.”

    The actor first came to the attention of international audiences in Armstrong’s 1979 film “My Brilliant Career,” which also introduced Judy Davis. He later appeared in Phillip Noyce’s “Dead Calm,” a classy thriller set at sea and co-starring the then-relatively unknown Nicole Kidman.

    Neill twice co-starred with Meryl Streep, in Australian director Fred Schepisi’s “Plenty” and — again for Schepisi — in “A Cry in the Dark,” a film about the sensationalized aftermath of a dingo killing a baby in the Australian Outback.

    He earned an Emmy nomination for his performance in the title role of the 1998 miniseries “Merlin” and another as narrator of 2017’s “Wild New Zealand.” Neill also earned three Golden Globe nods — for “Merlin,” “One Against the Wind” and “Reilly: Ace of Spies.”

    Richard E. Grant, a longtime friend who co-starred with Neill in 2019’s “Palm Beach,” described him in a post on Instagram as “an officer and a gentleman in the truest sense.” Grant said Neill had “guided and helped me through a very difficult time in my life.”

    ‘Jurassic Park’ was his best-known film

    Perhaps Neill achieved his highest level of fame in “Jurassic Park,” playing paleontologist Alan Grant, who is summoned to an island off Costa Rica where a theme park has been built to house herds of cloned dinosaurs.

    His character was thoughtful and reasonable, a scientist who warned the mastermind of the theme park before the chaos: “Dinosaurs and man, two species separated by 65 million years of evolution have just been suddenly thrown back into the mix together. How can we possibly have the slightest idea what to expect?”

    Grant survived the harrowing events when the creatures get loose, but didn’t return for “The Lost World: Jurassic Park II” in 1997. He came back for the third episode in 2001 and “Jurassic World: Dominion” in 2022.

    “It’s probably a little late to learn these things,” he told the New York Daily News in 2001, “but I finally feel I’ve worked out how to be an action hero. I’m happier with Grant this time. He’s gnarly and grizzled, but he looks like he knows what he’s doing.”

    Early life in Northern Ireland and New Zealand

    Born in 1947 in Northern Ireland, Neill emigrated to New Zealand at the age of 7. He was born Nigel Neill, but told interviewers he started to go by Sam because there were too many Nigels at his school.

    His family settled in Dunedin on the South Island and he was sent to boarding school in Christchurch. After college, he took the lead in “Sleeping Dogs” in 1977, the first feature made in New Zealand in more than a decade.

    Neill’s other film roles included playing a Soviet submarine officer who memorably dreams of a home in Montana in “The Hunt for Red October” and an investigator in director John Carpenter’s “In the Mouth of Madness.”

    On the small screen, Neill played the malign Chester Campbell in TV’s “Peaky Blinders” and Thomas Jefferson in the four-hour CBS miniseries, “Sally Hemings: an American Tragedy.” On Apple TV+, he was on “Invasion,” playing Oklahoma Sheriff John Bell Tyson, a man late in his career searching for his purpose. In 2024, he starred opposite Annette Bening in the Peacock series “Apples Never Fall.”

    Beloved in New Zealand as an unassuming celebrity

    The actor became known in New Zealand as a modest and unassuming person who didn’t embrace celebrity. On social media, he often posted images of his farm animals, many of them affectionately named after celebrities and friends, like Laura Dern the chicken, Kylie Minogue the duck and Helena Bonham Carter the cow.

    New Zealand Prime Minister Christopher Luxon mourned Neill as “one of the greats” in a statement posted to social media.

    “He started out when there was barely a film industry to speak of,” Luxon wrote. “For more than fifty years he took New Zealand stories to the world and his talents helped make our film industry into what it is today.”

    Neill was also a vintner and under his Two Paddocks brand, he produced pinot noir and riesling wines from his winery in the Central Otago region of New Zealand’s South Island.

    His memoir “Did I Ever Tell You This?” came out in March 2023 and he was awarded a knighthood in recognition of his “outstanding contribution to film,” a title approved by the late Queen Elizabeth II.

    “I can’t pretend that the last year hasn’t had its dark moments,” Neill told The Guardian in 2023, referring to his cancer diagnosis and treatment. “But those dark moments throw the light into sharp relief, you know, and have made me grateful for every day and immensely grateful for all my friends.”

    He is survived by his four children and eight grandchildren.

    ___

    Kennedy reported from New York.