| | | | What's news: A Naked Gun reboot is in the works with Liam Neeson in talks to play the lead. Netflix has ordered Kurt Sutter's Western drama The Abandons. Peacock's Bel-Air has yet another new showrunner. The Recording Academy has taken Nicki Minaj's "Super Freaky Girl" out of the rap song category. Hulu has greenlit an adaptation of Charles Yu's Interior Chinatown. FX's Fargo has added five additional actors for S5. — Abid Rahman |
Netflix 2.0: $7 Ad Tier, Nielsen Measurement ►Disruptor no more. Netflix will launch its cheaper ad-supported tier next month, officially called “Basic With Ads,” at a price point that’s less than half the cost of its standard plan. The new plan will cost $6.99 per month in the U.S., and will launch in 12 countries beginning in November, the company said Thursday. In another big move, Netflix also revealed that Nielsen will add the streamer's viewership in the U.S. to its Digital Ad Ratings product in 2023. The story.
—"Drebin!" "Frank!" "You're both right." Lonely Island member Akiva Schaffer is set to direct a reboot of the classic slapstick movie Naked Gun for Paramount, with Liam Neeson in early talks to star. The Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker franchise follows the happenings and mishaps of officer Frank Drebin, made famous by Leslie Nielsen. Plot details for the reboot are being kept under wraps. The story.
—Disney doubling up. Ryan Reynolds is teaming up with Strange World writer and co-director Qui Nguyen to adapt Disney’s Society of Explorers and Adventurers theme park attraction as a film. Nguyen will write the live-action feature, with Reynolds producing under his banner Maximum Effort. This new feature project is different from the upcoming Disney+ series from exec producer and writer Ron Moore that is also based on the SEA idea. The story.
—Searching for a Yellowstone. Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter has landed a straight-to-series order for The Abandons, a Western drama that has been set up at Netflix. The series is set in 1850s Oregon and follows a group of diverse outlier families in their pursuit of Manifest Destiny. Sutter's back three years after being fired by FX for being a self-described "abrasive dick." The story. |
Minaj's "Super Freaky Girl" Kicked Out of Grammy Rap Category ►"Why is the goalpost only ever moved when it’s Nicki?" Nicki Minaj’s “Super Freaky Girl” is spending its eighth week on top of Billboard’s Hot Rap Songs chart, but at the Grammys, the song will compete in the pop category. Minaj originally submitted the track to the rap categories at the Grammys, but the decision was overturned by the Recording Academy’s rap committee. Minaj criticized the decision on social media Thursday. The story.
—"Silk Sonic would like to gracefully, humbly and most importantly, sexually, bow out of submitting our album." Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak, the R&B duo better known as Silk Sonic, did not submit their platinum-selling album An Evening With Silk Sonic or latest single for contention at the 2023 Grammy Awards. Mars and Paak swept this year’s Grammys in April, winning all four awards they were nominated for thanks to the hit “Leave the Door Open.” The story.
—Fourth time is a charm? Peacock’s Bel-Air, the dramatic update of Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, has changed showrunners again. Carla Banks-Waddles has been promoted to exec producer and showrunner for Bel-Air’s second season as part of her overall deal with studio Universal Television. She replaces T.J. Brady and Rasheed Newson, who themselves stepped in as showrunners last summer, replacing Diane Houston who replaced the original showrunner Chris Collins. And breathe. The story.
—No jail time. Cuba Gooding Jr. resolved his New York City forcible touching case Thursday with a guilty plea to a lesser charge and no jail time after complying with the terms of a conditional plea agreement reached in April. Prosecutor Coleen Balbert said Gooding has stayed out of trouble and completed six months of alcohol and behavior modification counseling, allowing him to withdraw his misdemeanor plea and plead guilty to a harassment violation. The story. |
'Rings of Power' Showrunners: Sauron Will Be Like Walter White in S2 ►"He’s evil, but complexly evil." The season one finale of Amazon's The Rings of Power aired on Thursday night, and the show's biggest secret is out. THR's James Hibberd spoke to series showrunners J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay about the finale's big Sauron reveal, and what it means for next season: "There may be viewers who are like, ‘This is the story we were hoping to get in season one!’ In season two, we’re giving it to them." Warning spoilers. The interview.
—"I didn’t know for sure." James also spoke to The Rings of Power actor who was revealed as Sauron who admits he didn’t know he was Middle Earth's bid bad at first. The actor breaks down his character’s first season journey, and how said character was totally deceptive without ever actually lying. Warning spoilers. The interview.
—Still punching. Rings of Power fell off some in its third week of release, but the Amazon show remained among the most watched titles in Nielsen’s rankings. Rings of Power had 988m minutes of viewing time in the U.S. from Sept. 12-18. That’s a decline of about 18 percent from the previous week’s 1.2b minutes. The series amassed 3.44b minutes of viewing over its first 18 days. Netflix’s Cobra Kai, meanwhile, spent a second week as the top overall title. The streaming rankings. |
Upset Trevor Noah is Leaving 'Daily Show'? Blame Sarah Palin ►"Palin’s impact on politics and media looms large." In a guest column for THR, Keli Goff, an Emmy nominated producer, playwright, screenwriter and journalist, traces Trevor Noah's decision to leave The Daily Show — and the continued decline of late night it signals — back to the pugnacious Alaskan politician Sarah Palin, who first eschewed legacy media. The guest column.
—"The box office is back, but we just don’t have enough movies." THR's Pamela McClintock spoke to outgoing National Association of Theatre Owners chief John Fithian about his reasons for stepping down from running the lobbying and trade association after 22 years. Fithian also discusses whether a new era of peace between streamers and cinema chains can last. The interview.
—Another Taika project. Hulu has given the green light to a series based on Charles Yu’s National Book Award-winning novel Interior Chinatown. Jimmy O. Yang (Space Force, Crazy Rich Asians) will star in the series, and Taika Waititi has signed on to direct the first episode and executive produce. Yu is adapting his novel and will serve as showrunner on the show from 20th Television, Rideback, Participant and Dive. The story. |
What Will Be In HBO's Adnan Syed Docuseries Follow-Up? ►"It was really difficult for me to let go." THR's Katie Kilkenny spoke to Amy Berg, the director of 2019’s four-part The Case Against Adnan Syed, who reveals she has been filming a new episode of the HBO docuseries as Baltimore prosecutors dropped charges against Adnan Syed this week. The interview.
—🤝 Overall deal 🤝 Steve Mosko’s Village Roadshow Television continues to bulk up its roster of overall deals. The studio has signed writer Chris Case to an overall deal in which the Politically Incorrect With Bill Maher alum will develop new scripted projects for all platforms. The story.
—🎭 Casting news 🎭 Minka Kelly, Maggie Grace and Dermot Mulroney are set to star in the psychological thriller Blackwater Lane, based on the New York Times bestselling book The Breakdown by British author B.A. Paris. The film marks the first adaptation of one of Paris’ books and has now started shooting in the U.K. The story.
—🎭 More casting news 🎭 FX’s Fargo has filled out its regular cast for season five and is set to begin production. The anthology series has added David Rysdahl, Sam Spruell, Jessica Pohly and Nick Gomez to its ensemble. They join the previously cast Juno Temple, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Lamorne Morris, Joe Keery and Richa Moorjani. The story. |
Film Review: 'She Said' ►"Sensible and engaging." THR critic Lovia Gyarkye reviews Maria Schrader's She Said. Carey Mulligan and Zoe Kazan play New York Times journalists Megan Twohey and Jodi Kantor, whose bombshell exposé on Harvey Weinstein ushered in changes in the film industry, in this newsroom procedural premiering at the New York Film Festival. The review.
—"Sprawling, meandering and inconsistent." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Apple TV+'s Shantaram. After nearly two decades in development, Gregory David Roberts' bestselling novel about crime, humanity and redemption in the slums of Bombay arrives as a TV series starring Charlie Hunnam. The review.
—"You promise?" THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews David Gordon Green's Halloween Ends. Jamie Lee Curtis' Laurie Strode faces down her masked nemesis while struggling to protect her granddaughter from a new threat in this latest entry in the John Carpenter horror franchise. The review.
—"Jackson soars in a Broadway revival that only intermittently hits the right notes." David reviews August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson. LaTanya Richardson Jackson directs her husband Samuel L. Jackson starring opposite Danielle Brooks and John David Washington in Wilson’s drama about African Americans wrestling with the painful past. The review. |
Thank Pod It's Friday ► All the latest content from THR's podcast studio.
—TV's Top 5. THR's Lesley Goldberg and Dan Fienberg break down the latest TV news. The duo begin by running through the week's headlines, including Netflix’s ad tier, Kurt Sutter's new Western drama The Abandons, the unraveling of Hulu's Devil in the White City series, Trevor Noah's farewell to The Daily Show and Chris Albrecht's suspension at Legendary. There's a longer discussion about the cuts, layoffs (and that one reversal) at WBD. High School showrunner Clea DuVall drops by for a chat. And Dan reviews Apple’s Shantaram, Freevee’s High School, Netflix’s Midnight Club and Somebody Feed Phil as well as IFC’s Documentary Now. Listen here.
—It Happened in Hollywood. THR senior writer Seth Abramovitch goes behind the scenes of the pop culture moments that shaped Hollywood history. In this episode Seth spoke to director Susan Seidelman, whose 1985 film Desperately Seeking Susan just so happened to be Madonna's first starring role in a movie. Seidelman recalls how Orion Studios mogul Mike Medavoy was reluctant to give the future icon a shot, but the singer secured an audition because his son found Madonna "cute." Listen here.
In other news...
—Matilda The Musical trailer teases a “great escape” from Emma Thompson’s Miss Trunchbull
—Minka Kelly memoir Tell Me Everything set for 2023 release
—European Production Alliance calls for writers workshop submissions
—Paramount’s 80 For Brady sets February release date
—Keke Palmer, Steven Yeun, Natasha Lyonne honored at 2022 Ghetto Film School benefit
—Paramount Pictures hires Phil Cohen as literary affairs exec
—Harry Styles’ former Los Angeles home hits the market for $8m
—Cher asks $85m for epic Malibu mansion with climate-controlled wig room
—Jerry Kalajian, Intellectual Property Group co-founder, dies at 68
What else we're reading...
—Kathryn VanArendonk writes that the fantasy prequels House of the Dragon and The Rings of Power both feel like encyclopedia entries turned into television series [Vulture]
—Malcolm Harris looks at why an increasing number of young people are experiencing depression and anxiety, writing it's too easy to blame technology [Intelligencer]
—Samanth Subramanian takes an in-depth look at how the rise of Narendra Modi and nationalism has flooded Bollywood with stock Hindu heroes and Muslim villains [New Yorker]
—From fake kids to antisemitism, Aja Romano tries to figure out what's going on with Kanye West [Vox]
—Here's your Friday list: "Every Cate Blanchett performance, ranked" [Vulture]
Today...
...in 1954, Paramount held the world premiere of White Christmas at Radio City Music Hall in New York. The Michael Curtiz-directed musical went on to earn an Oscar nomination for Irving Berlin's song “Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep” at the 27th Academy Awards. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Steve Coogan (57), Lori Petty (59), Usher (44), Ben Whishaw (42), Jon Seda (52), Max Thieriot (34), Udo Kier (78), Rowan Blanchard (21), Greg Evigan (69), Mekai Curtis (22), Stacy Keibler (43), Chang Chen (46), Ariela Barer (14), Jay Pharoah (35), Christine Quinn (34), Skyler Shaye (36), Arleen Sorkin (67), Edwin Kho (33), Natalie Maines (48), Zoya Akhtar (50), Stephen A. Smith (55), Benh Zeitlin (40), Thomas Dolby (64) |
| Canadian Indigenous filmmaker Jeff Barnaby, best known for his Rhymes For Young Ghouls and Blood Quantum movies, has died. He was 46. The obituary. |
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