The daily gossip: Sebastian Stan to play Donald Trump in a movie, Academy to start the Oscars an hour earlier, and more
1. Sebastian Stan to play Donald Trump in a movie
He's hired. Sebastian Stan has reportedly been cast as a young Donald Trump in a movie called "The Apprentice." According to Deadline, the film will depict Trump's "efforts to build his real estate business in New York in the '70s and '80s" and explore his relationship with attorney Roy Cohn. "The Apprentice" is described as an "exploration of power and ambition set in a world of corruption and deceit," and a "mentor-protege story that charts the origins of an American dynasty." Filled with "larger than life characters," the logline continues, "it reveals the moral and human cost of a culture defined by winners and losers." Author Gabriel Sherman is writing the movie, and Iranian filmmaker Ali Abbasi will direct. Maria Bakalova has also reportedly been cast as Trump's first wife, Ivana Trump. "Succession" star Jeremy Strong, meanwhile, is playing Roy Cohn, meaning he plans to stretch himself by going from a man with the last name Roy to a man with the first name Roy. Deadline, Variety
2. Academy to start the Oscars an hour earlier
For years and years, the Academy has desperately tried to prevent the Oscars from running too late. But someone just had a bright idea: why not simply start the show earlier? Well, the Academy will give it a shot in 2024, when the Oscars telecast will begin at 7 p.m. Eastern. The ceremony, which airs on ABC, will be followed by a new episode of "Abbott Elementary." The Oscars typically start at 8 p.m. Eastern, meaning when the broadcast runs long, it can end close to midnight. The Academy has tried various means to reduce the length of the show, but usually to no avail, not even when some awards were controversially pre-taped to save time. But the earlier start time means that if all goes well, the 2024 Oscars could wrap up by 10:30 p.m., meaning we can expect the first articles predicting the 2025 Oscars to drop at 10:31. The Hollywood Reporter
3. Disney boss claims 'The Marvels' failed due to lack of on-set supervision
Why did "The Marvels" tank at the box office? Not enough studio interference, according to Bob Iger. At the New York Times' DealBook Summit, the Disney CEO admitted some of the company's recent movies that bombed were "not as good" as "they should have been." He implied one of those films was "The Marvels" and threw director Nia DaCosta under the bus by suggesting she needed more on-set supervision. "'The Marvels' was shot during COVID," Iger said. "There wasn't as much supervision on the set, so to speak, where we have executives there really looking over what’s being done day after day after day." Iger also admitted Disney made a "mistake" by increasing its output dramatically to feed Disney+, leading to a decrease in quality. "Marvel suffered greatly from that," he acknowledged, promising his "number one priority" is to help Disney "turn around creatively." So he makes this wish to have something more for them than this. The New York Times
4. Jodie Foster: The superhero movie phase has 'lasted a little too long'
One day, a profile of a prestigious filmmaker won't include an inevitable discussion of superhero movies, but today is not that day. Jodie Foster told Elle she believes the dominance of superhero movies in Hollywood is "a phase," and one that she would very much like to finally end. "It's a phase that's lasted a little too long for me, but it's a phase, and I've seen so many different phases," she said. The "Nyad" star continued that when she sees a good superhero movie like "Iron Man" or "Black Panther," she is "swept up in the entertainment of it." But "that's not why I became an actor," she added, and "those movies don’t change my life. Hopefully there’ll be room for everything else." Foster also expressed hope that "people will be sick of" superhero movies "soon" — although considering the sheer number of superhero flops in 2023, audiences may be way ahead of her. Elle
5. Barbenheimer stars Margot Robbie and Cillian Murphy to interview each other
They just couldn't resist. Variety has revealed the line-up for this year's "Actors on Actors" interviews, a series of conversations between Hollywood stars from the major Oscar contenders. The discussion guaranteed to produce tons of viral clips is inspired by the Barbenheimer phenomenon, as "Oppenheimer" star Cillian Murphy and "Barbie" star Margot Robbie will sit down together. Gee, what ever could they have to talk about? Other notable duos include Rachel Zegler and Halle Bailey, both of whom have experience being cast as a live-action Disney princess and receiving racist abuse for it. Several of the interviews will also be cast reunions, as the pairings include "The Devil Wears Prada" stars Emily Blunt and Anne Hathaway, "Avengers" stars Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo, and "Aloha" stars Emma Stone and Bradley Cooper, with latter actors likely to do everything possible to avoid talking about "Aloha." Variety
