Get this: A windowless, theme-park hotel with a mandatory 48-hour stay that costs a family of four $6,000 per visit didn’t work out. Disney has decided to shutter its Star Wars-themed Galactic Starcruiser hotel after less than two years. The hotel’s final “voyage” will be in September. The ultra-ambitious project opened in March of 2022 […]

Ethan Hawke thought the sun had set on the “Before” trilogy before it even hit theaters.

In a discussion with Daveed Diggs for Interview magazine, Hawke admitted that he “didn’t even know” if audiences would care about his trilogy of “Before” films, which began in 1995 with “Before Sunrise.”

“It’s not like I don’t want compliments and prizes and money and fire engines. I want everything, but I know how to listen to the river, how to listen to my own voice,” Hawke said. “I remember when I was doing those movies with Richard Linklater, for example, the ‘Before’ trilogy or ‘Boyhood,’ I didn’t even know if they would come out. One part of my brain thought, ‘Oh, people are going to love this.’ And another part of me thought, ‘Nobody’s going to be interested in this.’ I didn’t care. I knew that I was interested in it, and I can hear that voice.”

Hawke added, “But every time in my life I try to sell out, when I’m like, ‘Oh, that’ll be a hit,’ every time I try to do that I fall on my ass. Totally wrong every time.”

The beloved Richard Linklater film “Before Sunrise” later spurred sequels “Before Sunset” and “Before Midnight,” with a fourth film teased as part of an “After” series in 2020. The revolutionary years-long filmmaking tactic for “Boyhood” is set to be replicated for Linklater’s “Merrily We Roll Along” adaptation starring Paul Mescal and Beanie Feldstein.

Hawke noted that, like Linklater, he follows other aspirational figures like Bob Dylan and Spike Lee when standing his ground.

“I always feel like Bob Dylan’s being true to himself and millions of people happen to care,” Hawke said. “Spike Lee seems to always be working for himself and some of the movies hit big and some of them don’t, but you can tell they all kind of mean the same. It’s coming from the same creative force.”

Hawke previously shared that Linklater assured him audiences would “care” about “Before Sunrise” as the human connection at the center of the largely-improvised film co-starring Julie Delpy grounded the story.

“‘I don’t want you to worry too much about the script. I’m inviting you to be a filmmaker with me,’” Hawke recalled Linklater telling him. “‘My whole life I’ve gone to the movies and there’s espionage and shootouts and helicopters, all this action. Everything that I see is all this drama, [so much so] that you would think my life, our lives, have no drama. That’s not the way I feel. My life feels very exciting to me and I’ve never been involved in a chase or a gun shootout. My life is exciting to me. And what’s the most exciting thing that’s ever happened to me? Connecting with another human being…If we can put that on screen I think people will care.’”

Hawke summed up in 2020, “Really what he is saying is that we are enough. It’s a hard thing for us, as people, to comprehend that. We are interesting. We are valuable. You are special from the moment you are born. At its essence, the movie is saying people witnessing each other has a huge power. Some times I leave ‘Harry Potter’ or ‘Avatar’ and I feel blue because I don’t have superpowers or magic. But I think Rick’s movies make you realize your life is magic.”

When the Writers Guild strike began on May 2, it wasn’t just union members trying to anticipate what a months-long work stoppage might mean. A number of industry and writer-adjacent organizations on both coasts had already begun discussions about the work stoppage’s potential impact in the weeks before negotiations between the WGA and the Alliance […]

As management companies continue to dominate the Hollywood landscape in the wake of agency consolidation, a new management and production company is being launched into the fray with a focus on global talent and content. Objectively Good Media and Management (OGM) is a Los Angeles-based management and media company, with international talent that hails from […]

[This story includes spoilers from the first three episodes of Apple TV+’s High Desert.] Patricia Arquette is continuing her relationship with Apple, but her new comedy, High Desert, is much different than last year’s Severance. In the half-hour series High Desert from co-creators Nancy Fichman, Katie Ford and Jennifer Hoppe-House, the Oscar winner plays Peggy, […]

Premiering in Cannes, the film represents a companion piece of sorts to Wenders’ arthouse hit ‘Pina’ from 2011.

As Paramount Global refocuses its operations on a global mindset and local execution, it’s unveiling a new name and mission for its studios operations across markets that will now concentrate on high-end scripted content that can drive growth at Paramount+. Led by Maria Kyriacou, president, broadcast & studios, international markets at Paramount Global, the company’s […]

Jeremy O. Harris is far from euphoric over the ongoing Writers Guild of America strike.

The “Euphoria” producer shared during Variety and Kering’s Women in Motion panel at Cannes that showrunner Sam Levinson will not cross picket lines to push Season 3 of the Emmy-winning series into production amid the strike. Harris in turn urged Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav to “come to that table” of negotiations.

“All I’ll say is Sam Levinson is not a scab,” Harris said. “He’s not a scab. David Zaslav, make a deal. That’s what I’ll say about Season 3 of ‘Euphoria.’ Make a deal, David. It’s easy. Just come to that table.”

“Euphoria” Season 3 was previously announced to go into production this year, with costume designer Heidi Bivens teasing a June 2023 start date during the “The Run Through with Vogue” podcast. Season 3 is also set to mark Emmy winner Zendaya’s directorial debut.

“You can’t talk about ‘Euphoria’ without talking about the ways Zendaya is such a leader there,” Harris said of the lead actress. “You see her and Sam sitting together and going through every scene in the script. She asks questions not only as a lead actress but also as a producer. What I learn every time I go to that set is that I can’t stop working really hard. I can’t rely on my charms or the way people perceive me.”

Tony-nominated “Slave Play” creator Harris teased that he is trying to greenlight a collaboration with Zendaya on Broadway, saying there “might be a play” in the works.

Harris added of Zendaya’s “Euphoria” co-stars Sydney Sweeney and Maude Apatow, “Sydney is such a special young person. Same with Maude. The ways in which these young women show up and are the hardest working people you’ve ever met in your life, it teaches me how to work better. They are very much about their craft. That’s so inspiring.”

Since debuting in June 2019, “Euphoria” has landed 25 Emmy nominations and nine Emmy wins. Zendaya has won twice for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series, with Colman Domingo winning for Outstanding Guest Actor.

Meanwhile, “Euphoria” showrunner Levinson has “The Idol” debuting at Cannes.