UTA Amends Michael Kassan Lawsuit: Most Claims Move to Arbitration But Agency Doubles Down on Financial ‘Misconduct’ Accusations

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Ryan Reynolds’ potty-mouthed superhero Deadpool made a Las Vegas convention hall blush on Thursday, unveiling nine minutes of vulgar and hilarious footage from the upcoming sequel “Deadpool and Wolverine” at CinemaCon. Stacked with meta jokes about Disney’s Marvel Studios finally making an R-rated film – and just how unprepared the company’s executives are for this kind of release – the annual gathering of global movie theater owners ate up all the raunch. They also cheered for the briefest look at Hugh Jackman‘s return as Wolverine, the X-Men character he’s played on and off for years.

John Hopewell Chief International Correspondent CANNES — Powering up another growth axis, as anticipated by CEO Laura Fernández Espeso, international scripted powerhouse The Mediapro Studio is doubling down on formats in the non-fiction space, Underscoring this growth TMS Head of International Development Ran Tellem (“Homeland,” “The Head”) and Head Of Format Strategy, Non-Scripted, Salva Romero (“Sing On,” “The Language of Love”) unleashed at Cannes’ final MipTV trade fair The Mediaapro Studio’s first full slate of titles, framed at MipFormats in a spirited session, Meet the Creative Minds Behind The Mediapro Studio Formats. Tellem and Romero talked about TMS’ formats in the last two years, but also on the creative strategy, thinking and sentiments behind them.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Netflix has taken worldwide rights on the horror-thriller “Don’t Move,” a new genre entry from producer Sam Raimi (“The Evil Dead,” “Drag Me to Hell”). The project is led by Kelsey Asbille, breakout on the FX anthology series “Fargo” and “Yellowstone,” alongside frequent Ryan Murphy player and “The Big Short’ star Finn Wittrock. It follows a seasoned serial killer who injects a grieving woman with a paralytic agent while the two of them are isolated deep in the forest.

Former Vanderpump Rules star Faith Stowers is suing NBC Universal over allegations of racist harassment, retaliation, and — perhaps most shockingly — violent threats made against her by co-star Lala Kent during her brief run on the hit Bravo show.

James Corden, calling him “fair game”.The media mogul and former X Factor judge previously took aim at the comedian and host during her stint on Celebrity Big Brother. There, she called out his habit of “constantly” name-dropping: “I go to him, ‘I really like your shoes’, and he goes, ‘Yes, Stella McCartney’.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Heatseeking filmmaker Olmo Schnabel has signed for representation with WME, and with Black Bear for management. Schnabel’s breakout directorial effort “Pet Shop Days” played both the Venice International Film Festival and SXSW this cycle, scoring distribution from Utopia for a 2024 theatrical release. Starring Darío Yazbek Bernal, Willem Dafoe and Peter Sarsgaard, the film tells of a drug lord scion on the run from his powerful family.

Dave Chappelle.Speaking with Esquire to promote his new HBO series, Jarrod Carmichael Reality Show, the comedian spoke about Chappelle, who has received backlash in recent years for comments made about the transgender community.In April 2022, during his HBO special Rothaniel, Carmichael came out as gay. Following this, Chappelle reportedly made jokes about the set and “referred to it as the bravest special for 1996”.He added: “And it’s like, that’s a funny enough line, whatever, but I wonder if he gets the irony that the fact that you are mocking it even then is why it was hard.”This comes after previous criticisms made by Carmichael towards Chappelle, including when he said in a GQ interview in 2022: “Chappelle, do you know what comes up when you Google your name, bro?”He continued: “That’s the legacy? Your legacy is a bunch of opinions on trans shit? It’s an odd hill to die on.

Kate Middleton "definitely doesn't want an apology" to end her disagreement with Meghan Markle, says a royal expert. However, Meghan has a different perspective on the matter, according to royal expert and author Tom Quinn.

Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The latest twist in the battle between UTA and former MediaLink chairman-CEO Michael Kassan is a defamation lawsuit filed by Kassan against UTA attorney Bryan Freedman. Kassan has sued Freedman for slander and libel stemming from a statement that the lawyer made earlier this week to Deadline, which is a sibling publication to Variety under Penske Media Corp. Kassan and UTA parted ways earlier this month amid a flurry of litigation and arbitration filings and heated accusations from both sides.

In all of the exorbitant fallout from Michael Kassan’s exit from UTA earlier this month even the lawyers are getting shrapnel now.

sexual battery lawsuit brought upon him by his former assistant, Asta Jonasson.The 56-year-old “Fast and the Furious” actor filed legal documents this week asking that the case be thrown out and that Jonasson pay his legal fees, according to docs obtained by People magazine. The papers reportedly claim that Diesel “denies, generally and specifically, each and every allegation of Plaintiff’s Complaint and further denies that Plaintiff is entitled to any relief whatsoever as against Defendant and that Plaintiff has been damaged as alleged, or in any other sum or sums, or at all.”The Post has contacted Diesel’s lawyer, Bryan Freedman, for comment.

Rebel Wilson is doubling down on her feud with Sacha Baron Cohen!

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer “Strange Darling,” the acclaimed horror film from director JT Mollner, has landed a major U.S. distribution deal at veteran producer Bob Yari’s new company Magenta Light Studios. Premiering at the genre event Fantastic Fest in 2023, the Miramax-produced thriller has been universally praised (it currently sits at 100% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes with 14 reviews) for its inventive narrative structure and lead performances.

Todd Spangler NY Digital Editor UTA announced Eric Iverson as chief technology officer, where he will lead information-technology strategy — joining the company as artificial intelligence and other tech developments are threatening to disrupt the industry. Most recently, Iverson served as director of product strategy Amazon MGM Studios, where he led product, user experience and AI efforts, and before that was chief technologist for media and entertainment in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) division.

EXCLUSIVE: Michael Kassan‘s team promised late last week they would up the legal ante with UTA unless the agency completely dropped its lawsuit against the resigned/fired (depending on who you ask) MediaLink CEO, and today they did just that.

EXCLUSIVE: If you thought the multi-million-dollar war of words and legal filings between UTA and former Medialink CEO Michael Kassan had been bare knuckles before, you ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Joana Vicente has stepped down as CEO of the Sundance Institute. The news will come as a shock to the global independent film community, as Vicente served under three years in a plum role she took after years in leadership at the Toronto International Film Festival.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Rounding out the lead cast for David Robert Mitchell’s mysterious new feature film with Bad Robot is Christian Convery, the star of Netflix’s top-rated “Sweet Tooth.” Convery joins Anne Hathaway, Ewan McGregor and Sundance breakout Maisy Stella in the family adventure from the “It Follows” director. Plot details are still under wraps for the project from J.J. Abrams and Warner Bros.

Salford Quays is at the forefront of Greater Manchester's transformation, but it has a serious litter problem.

Matt Donnelly Senior Film Writer Popeye is coasting back to the big screen. The iconic sailor man and spinach chugger, who first appeared in comic strips in the late 1920s, will be the subject of a new live-action feature film from Chernin Entertainment and King Features.