It’s been a busy week for showbiz news, and we round it up here.
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 opened strong with a $71 million take at the domestic box office in its first weekend, according to Variety. This tops the $57 million 3-day opening of the first film in the Paramount series, which set a record for a video game adaptation (see “’Sonic’ Sets Record“). The franchise is on a roll; the third feature and a new series are in the works (see “‘Sonic’ Series, Third ‘Sonic’ Feature“). Morbius dropped 74% to $10.2 million in its second weekend, and has now grossed $57 million in North America.
Key cast members of Star Trek: The Next Generation will appear in Star Trek: Picard Season 3, streamer Paramount+ announced, including LeVar Burton, Michael Dorn, Jonathan Frakes, Gates McFadden, Marina Sirtis, and Brent Spiner. This is not the first appearance of characters from The Next Generation as Jonathan Frakes (Will Riker), Marina Sirtis (Deanna Troi) and Brent Spiner (Data) appeared in Season 1, while Whoopi Goldberg appeared in Season 2 as Guinan, the character she played in ST: TNG (see “Star Trek News“).
The third season of the Netflix Locke & Key series, based on the IDW Publishing’s comic series, will be the last, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The series had been renewed for a third season before the second was aired (see “Q4 Sales Highest“). The series was ended as a mutual decision; the showrunners had planned the story as a three-season arc, according to the report.
Top execs of Warner Media exited as the merger with Discovery closed, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Departures included WarnerMedia CEO Jason Kilar, WarnerMedia Studios and Networks Group CEO Ann Sarnoff, and HBO Max exec VP and general manager Andy Forssel. Kilar’s departure had been expected since shortly after the merger was announced. Discovery executives, including Discovery CEO David Zaslav, who will run the combined companies, are taking key roles. The company has promised $3 billion in cost savings (i.e., layoffs); DC went through multiple rounds of painful downsizing during the AT&T regime (see “WarnerMedia Layoffs Hit DC“).
HBO Max is building a Sherlock Holmes universe, with two series spinning off from the Warner Bros. features starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law in development at the streamer, according to Deadline. Downey Jr. is among the exec producers, but it’s not clear that he will appear in either series, which will revolve around characters not introduced in the films. The third feature has been back-burnered (see “’Sherlock 3’ on Back Burner“).
The Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman and executive producers Gale Anne Hurd, Glen Mazzara and David Alpert have lost on the most important issues in their lawsuit against AMC over profits from The Walking Dead TV series. The judge hearing the case ruled last week that AMC had not custom-tailored the contract to cheat the group out of profits, according to Variety. The plaintiffs had the wind in their sales last year after a preliminary ruling (see “Kirkman Gets New Life in Lawsuit“), but after this recent setback, only accounting issues remain. The plaintiffs could also appeal. Source: ICv2
