Expresso Hollywood News Update at 7:30 pm on 11 August 2023

Let's begin with our top story. The strike-delayed 75th Emmy Awards have a new date. Fox announced Thursday, Aug 10th, that the Emmys will air on January 15 from the Peacock Theater at LA Live in downtown Los Angeles, on the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday. The timing means that the Emmys, which honour the best television shows, will air weeks before the Screen Actors Guild Awards, which honours film and television actors. Numerous other shows like the Golden Globe Awards, which haven’t been confirmed for a return to network television, and the Critics Choice Awards, also are held in January. The ceremony will happen roughly four months later than originally planned. No host has been announced so far.

While the move is a bit of a throwback, the timing dates back to when broadcast television dominated — both in viewership and Emmys contenders — in a way that has been effaced by cable television and streaming services. The ceremony has grown into a two-weekend affair, with many nominees in craft and guest acting categories receiving their awards during the Creative Arts Emmys, to be held on January 6 and 7. An edited version of that will air on Fox on January 13. HBO is the leading nominee with three of its series — Succession, The Last of Us, and The White Lotus — racking up 74 nominations. HBO received 127 nominations. The Emmys will be executive produced by Jesse Collins Entertainment.

Meanwhile, Steven Spielberg’s acclaimed movie The Fabelmans has been released on SonyLIV today, August 11. It is written by Steven Spielberg in collaboration with Tony Kushner and is a semi-autobiographical story loosely based on Spielberg’s adolescence and first years as a filmmaker. The synopsis of the film issued by SonyLIV stated, “Growing up in post-World War II era Arizona, young Sammy Fabelman aspires to become a filmmaker as he reaches adolescence, but soon discovers a shattering family secret and explores how the power of films can help him see the truth.”

In some tragic news, Hollywood actor Robert Swan passed away on Wednesday, Aug 9th, due to cancer at his home in Rolling Prairie, Indiana. According to Variety, a US-based media house, Robert was 78. His death was announced by a family friend, who said his dream was to turn his award-winning screenplay about Samuel Johnson, the man first credited with creating the modern dictionary, into a movie. Swan was known for his work in several feature films, including his role as a Mountie captain in Brian De Palma’s ‘The Untouchables’, which starred Kevin Costner and landed Sean Connery an Oscar. He appeared in Oliver Stone and Quentin Tarantino’s ‘Natural Born Killers’ as Deputy Napalatoni, as per Variety.

Veteran actor Mark Margolis, who became best known for his fearsome portrayal of a vindictive former drug kingpin in TV’s Breaking Bad, has died. He died on Thursday, Aug 3rd, at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City following a short illness, according to a statement from his son, Morgan Margolis. He was 83. Margolis was nominated for an Emmy in 2012 for outstanding guest actor in Breaking Bad as Hector, the murderous elderly don who was unable to speak following a stroke. Much of his character’s backstory later played out on Better Call Saul, the prequel in which he guest-starred from 2016 to 2022.

Canadian teen rapper Claire Hope, known as Lil Tay, has passed away at the age of 15. The news was shared on her Instagram account by her family, who also revealed her brother Jason Tian had also passed away. The statement read, in brief, “It is with a heavy heart that we share the devastating news of our beloved Claire’s sudden and tragic passing. We have no words to express the unbearable loss and indescribable pain. Her brother’s passing adds an even more unimaginable depth to our grief. During this time of immense sorrow, we kindly ask for privacy as we grieve this overwhelming loss, as the circumstances surrounding Claire and her brother’s passing are still under investigation.”

Next up. Alia Bhatt had been weighing her Hollywood options for a few years. She’d been interested in making an English-language film, but nothing had been working out. Then Bhatt got word of a new action franchise led and produced by Gal Gadot and within a week of reading the script, the deal had closed. It was, she concluded, fate. Bhatt said in an interview with The Associated Press in June, “Your first film chooses you. Technically, this is my first English-language movie. It chose me and I’m so happy it did.” Heart of Stone, a globe-trotting spy thriller has been released on Netflix today, Aug 11th.

Lastly, Alia said she does not see herself moving to the US, like her friend Priyanka Chopra Jonas. In the interview with The Associated Press, she said, “I think what Priyanka did was extremely brave and very different from what anyone has ever done. She’s such an inspiration to every young girl from India that has that big dream to be a global icon and a global star. I don’t think I could do that. I want to continue to do movies in India. And I want to be able to get these one-off, amazing international opportunities. It’s just this one film and we’ll see how it goes from here.”

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