The daily gossip: The 2023 Emmy nominations are here, Nathan Fillion to play Green Lantern in 'Superman: Legacy,' and more

1. The 2023 Emmy nominations are here

We're beginning to think the Television Academy liked "Succession" and "The White Lotus." The HBO shows performed quite well at this year's Emmy nominations, with the former picking up a leading 27 nods and the latter earning 23. In fact, "Succession" became the first series to receive three lead drama actor nominations in one year, as Brian Cox, Kieran Culkin, and Jeremy Strong all got in. "The White Lotus" also received five nods for best supporting actress in a drama alone, while HBO's "The Last of Us" earned 24 nominations, including for stars Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey. Other first-time nominees included Jenna Ortega for "Wednesday" and Dominique Fishback for "Swarm," and "Jury Duty" and "Obi-Wan Kenobi" received surprise nominations for best comedy and limited series, respectively. Notable snubs included the entire cast of "House of the Dragon" and Harrison Ford, who wasn't nominated for either "Shrinking" or "1923." But to be fair, nobody told voters that shows other than "The White Lotus" exist.

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2. Nathan Fillion to play Green Lantern in "Superman: Legacy"

It's not easy being Green Lantern, but Nathan Fillion will give it a shot. The actor has been cast as Guy Gardner, who in the comics is one of several Green Lanterns, in James Gunn's "Superman: Legacy." The news was revealed by Vanity Fair and confirmed by Gunn, who has worked with Fillion numerous times. Isabela Merced has also joined the movie as Hawkgirl, while Edi Gathegi will play Mister Terrific, and Anthony Carrigan will reportedly play Metamorpho. How these characters factor into Superman's story is anyone's guess, but the film is expected to be set in a world where superheroes already exist. The Hal Jordan version of Green Lantern was previously brought to live-action in a 2011 Ryan Reynolds film, which was such an infamous bomb that Reynolds continues to poke fun at it in his "Deadpool" movies. But that film still made more money than some of DC's recent efforts, so hey, it's not like things can get much worse over there.

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Vanity Fair

3. Matt Damon "fell into a depression" working on a bad movie

Sometimes you have to take the "Good Will Hunting" with the "Monuments Men." Speaking with reporter Jake Hamilton (via Variety), Matt Damon reflected on the experience of starring in a movie and realizing mid-production that it isn't working out. Though he didn't name "any particular" projects, he described how "sometimes, you find yourself in a movie that you know, perhaps, might not be what you had hoped it would be," but "you're still making it" with "months to go," and "you've taken your family somewhere and you've inconvenienced them." In one such instance, Damon recalled he "fell into a depression" as a result, thinking to himself, "What have I done?" He added, though, that his wife pulled him out of this funk by simply telling him, "We're here now." Some speculated Damon might be talking about his 2016 film "The Great Wall," which was filmed in China, though if you ask Jimmy Kimmel, he might as well be referring to his entire filmography.

Jake's Takes

4. Studio executive: Strike "endgame" is letting writers lose their homes

For his thoughts on the writers strike, Deadline now turns to Mr. Burns. A new Deadline report on the ongoing writers strike describes how the studios "have no intention of sitting down with the Writers Guild for several more months," as they are determined to "break the WGA." One anonymous studio executive told the outlet, "The endgame is to allow things to drag on until union members start losing their apartments and losing their houses." Twitter was taken aback by the callousness of this quote, but Deadline said the "cold-as-ice approach" was echoed by "several other sources," with another insider calling it a "cruel but necessary evil." After the article started drawing online backlash, though, a spokesperson for the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which is negotiating for the studios, told Deadline that "these anonymous people are not speaking on behalf of the AMPTP or member companies." This is why you don't put Dr. Evil in charge of PR.

Deadline

5. Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" praised as a "spectacular achievement"

Bravo, Nolan! The first social media reactions to Christopher Nolan's "Oppenheimer" are in, and they're unsurprisingly glowing. The film about the "father of the atomic bomb" is a "truly a spectacular achievement," The Associated Press' Lindsey Bahr tweeted, while Vulture's Bilge Ebiri called it "incredible," The Telegraph's Robbie Collin said it's a "total knockout," and "Happy Sad Confused" host Josh Horowitz declared it's "one of if not Nolan's best work" filled with "impeccable immersive filmmaking of the highest order." Star Cillian Murphy received praise, but many also singled out Robert Downey Jr., suggesting he could receive an Oscar nod. "This is Robert Downey, Jr'.s moment," The Playlist's Gregory Ellwood tweeted. This comes days after the first reactions to "Barbie" started trickling in and were also quite strong, meaning your Barbenheimer double feature can move full steam ahead. Now all that's left to be determined is whether "Oppenheimer" will perform well enough at the box office to avoid a wave of ill-advised "bomb" puns.

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