Exclusive: Oscar Nuñez to Reprise His Beloved Role in 'The Office' Follow-Up Series on Peacock

Happy Wednesday, folks!

Earlier today, Scott Mantz, Perri Nemiroff, and I dropped our “final” Oscar predictions on this season’s penultimate episode of For Your Consideration.

Meanwhile, Amazon MGM Studios released a teaser trailer for Another Simple Favor on Wednesday morning. Director Paul Feig had previously indicated that he was hoping the sequel would receive a theatrical release following a successful test screening, but it’s going to premiere on Prime Video on May 1 after opening SXSW next month.

While Amazon will never admit it, I suspect that a big reason for this is Blake Lively’s PR implosion. The studio has been talking a big game about its commitment to theatrical exhibition, and Another Simple Favor would’ve bolstered that mission, but it’d be risky for Amazon to commit to a theatrical marketing campaign right now given the media circus surrounding Lively — one that doesn’t look likely to end anytime soon.

Meanwhile, I’m rooting for Warner Bros. and its new Paul Thomas Anderson movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio, but an internal box office projection of $180 million seems a little high to me. Sure, if WB moves the film to December, it could have some legs through the holidays, especially if it proves to be an awards contender, but the studio would be wise to keep in mind that Anderson’s films do not perform like Quentin Tarantino’s.

Whatever the title of PTA’s next movie proves to be, it sounds far more political than, say, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood, and thus divisive. Plus, with all due respect, Sean Penn and Regina Hall aren’t exactly Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie. David Zaslav has every right to be a little nervous, especially if Minecraft underperforms this spring, but I’ve heard very good things about both F1 and Final Destination: Bloodlines, so those should be bright spots on the release calendar before James Gunn’s Superman flies into theaters in July.

Tonight, you’ll read about which cast member of NBC’s The Office is returning for Peacock’s follow-up series.

Plus, Oscar-nominated actress Isabella Rossellini finds her follow-up to Conclave and I pay tribute to actress Michelle Trachtenberg before weighing in on the trailers for Tom Hardy’s Netflix movie Havoc and Nicolas Cage’s psychological thriller The Surfer, both of which look like an absolute blast.

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