September 02, 2022

What's news: Todd Field's Tar and Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Bardo received standing ovations at the Venice Film Festival. SNL saw more castmembers leave ahead of S48. Dana Walden is shaping her team at Disney. Telluride has revealed its lineup. Brendan Gleeson is joining Joker 2 — Abid Rahman

Budget for Amazon's 'Citadel' Balloons to $200M+

►Second-most expensive show ever made. THR's Borys Kit has another banger of a scoop, this time he has news that problems at Amazon Prime Video's global event series Citadel, from Joe and Anthony Russo, has led costs to spiral. Borys reports that differences in vision led to the exit of half the creative team and has forced the show into a round of expensive reshoots. Now, a seven-episode series that was already costing at least $160m net, is adding $75m. The story.

—"I’ve let the Hammers control me so much of my own life." Discovery+'s three-part docuseries House of Hammer, that explores the cannibalism and abuse allegations against actor Armie Hammer, streams today. The series traces the complicated Hammer family legacy from oil tycoon Armand Hammer to the disgraced actor who shares his last name. The recap.

—Walden makes moves. Three months after taking over for Peter Rice atop Disney’s general entertainment division, Dana Walden is solidifying her executive team with three promotions. FX entertainment president Eric Schrier, president of content marketing at Hulu and general entertainment Shannon Ryan as well as ABC Entertainment and Hulu originals president Craig Erwich have all been elevated and given expanded roles. The story.

—"People will fight about movies this year more than they ever have." The 49th edition of the Telluride Film Festival, which kicks off Friday in the Rockies, has revealed its lineup which includes a tribute to Cate Blanchett, a Sam Mendes romance set in a cinema house and a bumper crop of documentaries. The story.

—Guilty. Dillon Jordan, a producer on projects including Netflix movie The Kindergarten Teacher and A24 film Skin, has pleaded guilty to conspiring to operate an international prostitution ring. He used his production company, PaperChase Films, as a front for the operation, said federal prosecutors. The story.

'SNL' Loses Three More Castmembers

►Big changes. Three more members of Saturday Night Live — regulars Alex Moffat and Melissa Villaseñor and featured player Aristotle Athari — are leaving ahead of season 48, which begins in the fall. Their departures follow those of Aidy Bryant, Pete Davidson, Kate McKinnon and Kyle Mooney, who said their goodbyes in the final episode of season 47 in May. Senior producer Lindsay Shookus also departed in late August. The story.

—Welcome addition. Brendan Gleeson is set to join Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux. There are no details yet on which character the Banshees of Inisherin star will play. Folie à Deux is a sequel to Joker, the Oscar-winning, $1 billion-grossing, 2019 box office hit based on the DC villain. The story.

—"I think often if I were a man, a lot of this wouldn’t be the case." Lea Michele is responding to the revelations of past on-set harassment made by a number of her former colleagues and attempting to clarify how that behavior will not follow her into her work on Funny Girl. In a new interview, Michele also addressed an online theory that she can't read. The story.

—"Rampant and cruel misinformation." Ashley Judd, in an op-ed for the NYT, says she is lobbying for a change to Tennessee law that allows police reports to become public after the Judd family was interrogated by authorities following mother Naomi’s death, leaving them traumatized and the actress a possible suspect in her mother’s death by suicide. The story.

—Enter Sandman. Netflix's series adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman got off to a solid start on Netflix. The series racked up more than a billion minutes of viewing time in the three days after its Aug. 5 premiere, according to Nielsen’s streaming rankings. That put it in third among all original series for the week of Aug. 1-7, behind only the last two shows to hold the No. 1 spot. The streaming rankings.

THR at Venice 2022

►Back once again for the renegade master. It's day three of the Venice Film Festival and here is the latest from THR's crack team of reporters and critics. The Day 3 digital daily.

—"There’s a lot that had to be taken out." Olivia Wilde says the original trailer for Don’t Worry Darling had the Motion Picture Association worried. In a new interview ahead of the film's Venice debut, the director detailed how she had to cut out scenes last-minute from the trailer due to the nature of their content. The story.

—Six minutes. Even before anyone had seen Cate Blanchett’s starring turn in Todd Field’s Tár (the review of which is below), there was awards buzz around her performance. Following the Venice premier, the audience jumped to their feet to cheer on Blanchett, giving the actress, and Field, a six-minute standing ovation. The story.

—Three minutes. Bardo, Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s first feature since The Revenant received a generally warm response at its world premiere Thursday night in Venice. The audience responded with applause and some cheering at the end of the nearly three-hour long film, rising to give Iñárritu and the cast a standing ovation lasting around three minutes. The story.

—"That’s my job here, to give you s*** to ruminate over." THR's Patrick Brzeski spoke to maverick filmmaker and Venice lifetime achievement honoree Paul Schrader. The writer-director also talks about his latest “man alone in a room” story Master Gardener, which premieres at the festival on Saturday. The interview.

—Will Venice protests help or hurt filmmakers in Iran?

—How Europe’s film industry is backing Ukraine in the culture war with Russia

—Romain Gavras on creating the “Greek tragedy” of his “immersive” epic Athena

Film Review: 'Tár'

►"Fortissimo." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Todd Field’s Venice competition entry Tár. Cate Blanchett plays a composer-conductor whose reputation is suddenly shattered by revelations of her personal life in this caustic dissection of power dynamics. The review.

—"A homecoming odyssey in a tragicomic key." David reviews Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s Venice competition entry Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths. The Oscar-winning director heads back to Mexico for an epic existential comedy that dives into his past. The review.

—"Sporadically illuminating." THR film critic Stephen Farber reviews Nancy Buirski's Desperate Souls, Dark City and the Legend of Midnight Cowboy. The prominent documentary maker tracked down several of the key players involved in John Schlesinger's 1969 film Midnight Cowboy. The review.

—"Brainy sci-fi with lots of heart." THR TV critic Angie Han reviews AMC+’s Pantheon. Daniel Dae Kim, Paul Dano, Rosemarie DeWitt and more lend their voices to an animated series centered around cutting-edge technology that can upload human consciousness into the cloud. The review.

Thank Pod It's Friday

► All the latest content from THR's podcast studio.

—TV's Top 5. Lesley Goldberg and Dan Fienberg break down the latest TV news. The guys begin by running through the week's headline makers, including Barbie Ferreira leaving Euphoria and more departures from SNL. There's a section dedicated to House of the Dragon's stellar ratings but also the exit of co-showrunner Miguel Sapochnik. There's a preview of September's TV and The Handmaid’s Tale showrunner Bruce Miller drops by for a chat. And finally Dan reviews Amazon's pricey Rings of Power. Listen here.

—Behind the Screen. Tech editor Carolyn Giardina's podcast focuses on the filmmaking crafts. In this episode, Carolyn speaks to stereographer Jeremy Carroll about how Steven Spielberg approached 3D to create tension in a newly adapted version of his 1975 classic Jaws that was released this week in Real D equipped theaters. Listen here.

—Awards Chatter. Executive editor for awards Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this episode, Scott spoke to Issa Rae. The creative talent behind Insecure (and Rap Sh!t), reflects on how she became enamored with TV, the robbery that inspired her web series The Mis-Adventures of Awkward Black Girl and how that show, along with Larry Wilmore and Prentice Penny, shaped her five-season masterpiece for HBO. Listen here.

In other news...

—Jennifer Lopez reflects on wedding to Ben Affleck: “This was the perfect timing”

—Quixote sold to Hudson Pacific in $360m deal to create studio services, soundstage giant

—Twitter readies edit feature for premium users

What else we're reading...

—Laura Bradley reports that comedians Tiffany Haddish and Aries Spears have been accused of child sexual abuse [Daily Beast]

—Carlos Aguilar interviews Ana de Armas on playing Marilyn Monroe in Blonde, a role she reveals has changed her life [LAT]

—Joseph Berger talks to Ken Burns about his new doc that explores America’s inaction during the Holocaust [NYT]

—Lois Beckett has a bracing piece on dying California activist Mike Davis, who discusses ecological collapse and what people can do [Guardian]

—Here's your Friday list: "The 102 best movie sequels of all time" [Vulture]

Today...

Today's birthdays: Keanu Reeves (58), Salma Hayek (56), Damson Idris (31), Mark Harmon (71), Austin Abrams (26), Eugenio Derbez (61), Cynthia Watros (54), Katt Williams (51), Tim Key (46), Nicholas Pinnock (49), Joshua Henry (38), Camille Grammer (54), Gustaf Hammarsten (55), Wah Yuen (72), Samantha Quan (47), Roberto Urbina (39), Tamra Judge (55), Harvey Levin (72), Tuc Watkins (56), Gavin Casalegno (23)

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Budget for Amazon Series 'Citadel' Balloons to $200M+; 'SNL' Loses Three More Castmembers; 'Tar,' 'Bardo, False Chronicle of a Handful of Truths' Reviews