| | | | What's news: SAG-AFTRA members voted in favor of a strike authorization against the video game industry. Liberty Media has proposed a merger with Sirius XM. Dancing With the Stars will move ahead with its season premiere as scheduled. Steve Coogan will star in Armando Iannucci's stage adaptation of Dr. Strangelove. — Abid Rahman
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Daytime Talk Shows, After False Start, Eye October Return ►Edging closer. THR's Mikey O'Connell reports that the daytime talk shows sidelined by the WGA strike are making moves to resume production now that a tentative agreement has been reached between the writers and the AMPTP. Sources indicate that The Talk, The Drew Barrymore Show, The Jennifer Hudson Show and The Kelly Clarkson Show are all looking into October returns. Of course, neither the daytime nor the late-night landscape will be back to business as usual until both the WGA and the SAG-AFTRA strikes are resolved. The story.
—Anonymous strike diary. Even with a deal on the verge of being ratified, THR's series of frank accounts of the writers strike continues. The Eastside Warrior feels (tentatively) triumphant, and writes that the deal is a tribute to the power of organized labor: "The desperately hurting residents of Los Angeles finally have relief in sight." The diary entry.
—Another strike is brewing. On Monday, SAG-AFTRA members voted 98.32 percent in favor of a strike authorization against the video game industry, with 34,687 members casting ballots and representing a percentage of 27.47 percent of eligible voters. While the results do not guarantee a work stoppage will occur, it gives union negotiators the ability to call a strike during ongoing negotiations for a new Interactive Media Agreement if they deem one necessary. The story.
—Moving ahead. With a writers deal in the offing, ABC has decided to move forward with its premiere of the 32nd season of Dancing With the Stars. Late last week, ABC was considering delaying the return of the veteran reality dance competition after strikers picketed outside the show’s rehearsal spaces and one of the show’s contestants, Veep star Matt Walsh, said he would “pause” his involvement with the series. On Monday, ABC announced DWTS will return as scheduled on Tuesday at 8 p.m. (with Walsh included). The story. |
Starz Cancels 3 Series and Scraps Another ►Brutal. Starz is getting ahead of the inevitable post-strike culling. The network has canceled four original series — including one that had yet to even air. On the block are wrestling drama Heels, comedy Run the World and dramedy Blindspotting, each of which recently aired its second season. Additionally, drama The Venery of Samantha Bird will not resume production after stopping, mid first season, when the WGA strike began in May. The story.
—Governor off. The long-rumored televised debate between California Gov. Gavin Newsom and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is officially a go. Fox News says that its 9 p.m. host Sean Hannity will moderate the debate, which will be held Thursday, Nov. 30 in the state of Georgia. The 90-minute debate will take place at a location to be determined, and will run during Hannity’s 9 p.m. program. The story.
—Controversial selection. THR's Scott Roxborough reports that Poland’s Oscar committee has selected The Peasants, a sumptuous animated literary adaptation from DK and Hugh Welchman, as its submission for the international feature category at the 2024 Academy Awards. The Peasants was picked over The Green Border, a critically-acclaimed film from two-time Oscar nominee Agnieszka Holland. The decision comes after a concerted attack on Green Border by Poland’s far-right government. The story.
—"More legal battles are coming." On Tuesday, Agnieszka Holland said she is going ahead with her defamation suit against Poland’s justice minister Zbigniew Ziobro after the politician refused to apologize for comparing her film to "Nazi propaganda." A court in Warsaw has upheld Holland’s right to pursue the case, in which she is demanding an apology for the comments and calling on Ziobro to make a charitable donation of $11,600 to an association that helps Holocaust survivors. The story. |
'Eras Tour' Concert Film Set for Global Release ►Swifties of the world unite! Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour, the concert film of Taylor Swift’s phenomenally successful world tour, is set to roll out in theaters worldwide. On Tuesday, AMC Theaters Distribution revealed that the film is set to hit cinemas in more than 100 countries from Oct. 13. The story.
—"We’re all hoping to send people home with a smile and a scream." Steve Coogan is going full Peter Sellers. The Alan Partridge star has signed on for a West End stage adaptation of Stanley Kubrick’s nuclear war satire Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb, with Coogan set to play multiple roles, as Sellers did in the 1964 feature film. Veep creator Armando Iannucci is adapting Kubrick’s film for the stage together with Sean Foley, who will direct the play set to open London’s Noel Coward Theatre on Oct. 8, 2024. The story.
—Rationalization. Liberty Media has proposed a merger with Sirius XM. On Tuesday, Liberty, which already has an 83 percent stake in Sirius XM, floated a deal to split off its shares of Sirius XM into a new, publicly traded subsidiary, which would then merge with Sirius XM. Got that? The story.
—ICYMI. Martin Scorsese managed to ignite Film Twitter on Monday, with his rather blunt comments on the state of movies. In a lengthy GQ interview, the veteran Hollywood director insisted superhero popcorn movies that depend heavily on special effects, or what he referred to as “manufactured content,” no longer represent cinema. The story. |
How an A-List Venue in Hollywood Became a Battleground ►Theater of war. THR's Gary Baum reports that a new $6m state-of-the-art cinema at the American Legion attracted buzzy premieres and Christopher Nolan’s projectionist — until a sexual misconduct scandal, allegations of corruption and a labor fight turned it into a bitter quagmire. The story.
—"I could always feel that he didn’t want [sobriety] as much as we all wanted it for him." Sam Levinson has opened up for the first time about the accidental overdose death of Euphoria star Angus Cloud. In a new interview, Levinson revealed the lengths that were taken to help Cloud find recovery including an intervention, a rehab stay that was paid for by HBO and series rewrites to keep his character alive as a way to get the late actor excited about the future. The story.
—"We have also received a number of allegations of sexual offenses committed elsewhere in the country and will investigate these." Police in the U.K. have launched a probe into allegations of sexual offenses committed by Russell Brand after media investigation revealed allegations of rape, sexual assault and emotional abuse against the comedian and actor. Four women have alleged they were sexually assaulted by Brand between 2006 and 2013, while he was a BBC presenter and acting in Hollywood films. The story.
—Connecting the dots. With Paramount Network's monster hit series Yellowstone now re-airing on CBS, THR's Jackie Strause rather helpfully has an explainer of how each spinoff series — first 1883 and then 1923 — expands the Dutton lineage that emanates from Kevin Costner's central patriarch. Warning: Spoilers! The story. |
TV Review: 'The Fall of the House of Usher' ►"Horror fans will be raven." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Netflix's The Fall of the House of Usher. Horror auteur Mike Flanagan uses his familiar acting troupe and the works of Edgar Allan Poe as the backdrop for an eight-episode takedown of an opioid-pushing family that somewhat resembles the Sacklers. The review.
—"Charismatic lead, dull cases." THR's Angie Han reviews NBC's The Irrational. Jesse L. Martin stars in this new procedural as a psychology professor who uses his expert understanding of human behavior to help the FBI crack cases — and to unlock a mystery from his own painful past. The review.
—"A tough if tactful watch." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Joachim Lafosse's A Silence. The Belgian director's pedophilia drama stars Daniel Auteuil and Emmanuelle Devos as a couple facing up to dangerous truths about their past. The review. In other news...
—Yellow Door: 90s Lo-fi Film Club trailer: Netflix doc about Korea’s Bong Joon-ho generation of movie fanatics
—Rick and Morty season 7 trailer reveals new voice actors
—Range Media buys management firm to expand sports unit
—Oscars: Denmark selects Nikolaj Arcel's The Promised Land for international feature category
—Saudi Arabia's Red Sea Film Festival: Baz Luhrmann named jury president
—Zurich Film Festival: Anton Corbijn named president of jury
—Moschino celebrates 40th anniversary with fashion show homage to founder Franco Moschino
—Bachelor in Paradise stars Caelynn Miller-Keyes, Dean Unglert marry in Colorado
What else we're reading...
—Lila Shapiro digs into the real life tragedy behind Franco Zeffirelli's 1958 adaptation of Romeo & Juliet, that eventually led stars Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting to sue Paramount for abuse [Vulture]
—With issues over pacing, Alex Welch argues that Disney+'s Star Wars series Ahsoka should have been a movie [Inverse]
—Aaron Bady makes the case that HBO's abrupt cancellation of Winning Time actually elevated the basketball drama to new heights [Slate]
—With a host of critically acclaimed films, HBO and Netflix shows set in Naples recently, Tobias Jones explains why Italy's coolest city is having a pop culture moment [Guardian]
—Fascinating Morgan Jerkins piece on why Italian American screen icons like Al Pacino, Sylvester Stallone, Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci are so enduringly popular with Black Americans [VF]
What else we're watching...
—Martin Scorsese breaks down his most iconic films [GQ]
Today...
...in 1964, Gilligan’s Island debuted at 8:30 pm on CBS. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Linda Hamilton (67), Melissa Sue Anderson (61), Lilly Singh (35), Joey Soloway (58), Christina Milian (42), David Slade (54), Mary Beth Hurt (77), Jeanie Buss (62), Serena Williams (42), Margherita Mazzucco (21), Zoe Perry (40), Charlotte Spencer (32), Manny Montana (40), Sheri Moon Zombie (53), Lysette Anthony (60), Leo Suter (30), Fola Evans-Akingbola (29), Bill Heck (45), Ben Shenkman (55), Tricia O'Kelley (55), Jacob Tierney (44), Jonathan Goldsmith (85), Patrick Bristow (61), Richy Müller (68), Julienne Davis (50), Alaa Safi (39), Britt Lind (78), Togo Igawa (77), Jake Paltrow (48), Nev Schulman (39), James Blake (35), Alma Jodorowsky (32), Anne Robinson (79) |
| David McCallum, the Scottish actor who portrayed the enigmatic Russian-born U.S. secret agent Illya Kuryakin on The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and the chief medical examiner Donald “Ducky” Mallard on NCIS, died Monday. He was 90. The obituary. |
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