Jodie Foster is leading the True Detective franchise now, but original True Detectives Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson are teaming up together on screen in a new series for Apple TV+.
The untitled series is an odd couple love story that revolves around the “strange and beautiful bond” between the pair. The series will see their friendship “tested when their combined families attempt to live together on Matthew’s ranch in Texas”.
I'm sure that this will both be okay and will not require so much production time as to stop McConaughey from leading the upcoming Yellowstone spin-off he has been rumored to lead.
Peter White
More folks watched the Oscars. But still not a lot.
I had a sense that viewership would be up for the Oscars this year. There were film titles people knew, including blockbuster hits Avatar: The Way of Water and Top Gun: Maverick. The question was whether viewership would return over the 20 million mark in the US. And the answer there was: no.
It may just be time for Oscar fans and media pundits to conclude that the audience for the Academy Awards are what they are and that broad mainstream interest in the awards have diminished. In a world where casual viewers can easily hear who has won awards in real time thanks to social media and push notifications, thereby saving themselves sitting through a 3.5 hour broadcast, that makes sense.
18.7 million viewers watched in the US, an improvement over 2022's 16.6 million. And certainly better than 2021's 10.1 million. That means this year's broadcast was only the third least-watched Oscars in history.
Rick Porter
FYI, 329,000 people watched the awards in Australia. Not bad for a middle-of-the-day broadcast (helped by the public holiday in some states).
MTV movie predicted the rise of AI
Keith Phipps over at The Reveal looks back at beloved MTV-influenced romcom Electric Dreams and how it predicted the rise of AI and other modern technologies.
Electric Dream touches on another much-discussed issue of the moment. Madeline is especially charmed by Edgar’s first fully completed composition (in actuality, “Love is Love,” one of two new songs performed by Culture Club on a soundtrack that also features Giorgio Moroder collaborating with Human League’s Philip Oakey, Jeff Lynne and Heaven 17). This, understandably, unnerves Miles, who tries to discern Madeline’s feelings without revealing the song’s true creator. “What about a machine that could create art or write poetry or compose music?,” he asks. “What’s wrong with artists?,” she replies. In 2022, A.I. can do all of the above and more.
Keith Phipps
In the event that you have never seen this American classic...
- Amazon Prime Video has, after a lengthy renegotiation, agreed to a second season of A League of Their Own. But, sorry fan, it will be for just four episodes. Read: THR
- Amazon Prime Video has also said yes to a second season of its hugely expensive ($200 million plus) Russo Brothers sci-fi show Citadel. Season one debuts next month. Read: THR
- Jason Ritter has signed on to the gender-flipped Matlock reboot with Kathy Bates as the titular lawyer. Read: Deadline
- In the season finale of The Last Of Us, the giraffe was real, but the backgrounds were not. Read: Polygon
- John Woo's The Killer is being reimagined as a series for Peacock with Omar Sy in the lead role. News today is that Game of Thrones breakout star Nathalie Emmanuel. Read: Deadline
- Director Jeremy Podeswa (Game of Thrones) will helm the pilot to Blade Runner 2099, a sequel to Blade Runner 2049. But unrelated to anything featuring 2099's Miguel O'Hara. Read: Variety
- A year and a half out from the expiration of its current deal with Microsoft, Netflix is considering whether it wants to build or buy its own ad-serving tech platform. Read: Digiday
- Sweet Tooth will return on Netflix for a long-awaited season 2 on April 27. Read: thefutoncritic
Damon Lindelof co-created the nun vs AI series Mrs Davis. It debuts April 20,
Netflix film Chupa debuts April 7.
That's the newsletter for another day. Onwards and upwards.
