| | | | What's news: It's magazine day! This week's cover story is about the existential challenges still stalking Hollywood. Universal may creatively rethink the sequels to The Exorcist: Believer. Taylor Swift's concert film could open to $150m+ globally. Netflix and Shondaland snap up Black Barbie doc. The Spiderwick Chronicles has landed at Roku. — Abid Rahman
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Now What? The 5 Crises Confronting a Post-Strike Hollywood ►On the cover. Hollywood’s "summer of strikes" may be about to wrap, but don’t pop the champagne just yet. THR's Rebecca Keegan, Alex Weprin, Lacey Rose, Lesley Goldberg, Pamela McClintock, Winston Cho, Chris Gardner and Rick Porter look at five existential issues that still loom large for the entertainment industry. The cover story.
—"Your name inaccurately implies that all producers are part of this organization." On Tuesday morning, a letter signed by over 2,300 film and TV producers, including Jason Blum, Effie Brown and Nina Jacobson, was sent to Carol Lombardini, president of the AMPTP. The letter had a simple request: Please remove the word “producers” from your organization’s title. The signatories feel the the AMPTP has "unjustly lumped producers into the organization’s positions" and that the negotiations have "led to confusion" and "negatively affect producers in multiple ways beyond their control." The story.
—And now his watch is ended. Also on Tuesday, one day after the WGA ratified its 2023 strike-ending contract, Lowell Peterson announced that he was stepping down from the post of WGA East executive director. The guild's director of contract enforcement and credits, Geoff Betts, will step in on an interim basis as the labor group searches for a new leader. The story. |
Late Night Hosts Address "Horror" of Israel-Hamas War ►"We didn’t even attempt to write jokes about this." Late night hit pause on the jokes Monday to address the “horror” of the deadly attack in Israel over the weekend. Stephen Colbert, Seth Meyers, Jimmy Fallon and Jimmy Kimmel all shared messages of solidarity with victims, while Meyers also called on the world to maintain its humanity. The recap.
—"The terrorizing of innocent people is not in alignment with & does not do any good for the ‘Free Palestine’ movement." Gigi Hadid took to social media to address the Israel-Hamas conflict. On Instagram, the supermodel, who is half-Palestinian, wrote that “her hopes and dreams” for Palestinians do not include “the harm of a Jewish person.” The story.
—"Our hearts and our anger, you know where that’s pointed." U2 paid tribute to the 260 music festivalgoers who were killed by Hamas. While performing Sunday at the recently opened Sphere venue in Las Vegas, Bono dedicated their song “Pride (In the Name of Love)” to the young victims who were shot and killed in this weekend’s terrorist attack at the Tribe of Nova trance music festival near Kibbutz Reim in south Israel. The story.
—"The GFF team remains committed to hosting the festival." The sixth edition of Egypt’s El Gouna Film Festival, which was set to start on Friday, has been pushed back by two weeks due to the escalation in violence between Israel and Hamas. The story.
—Pulled. Amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, Fremantle has decided against bringing the Australian satirical comedy C*A*U*G*H*T to MIPCOM. Fremantle will no longer promote the comedy, which stars and is executive produced by Sean Penn and is about Aussie soldiers captured by freedom fighters who become viral video hostage celebrities. The story. |
'Daredevil' Hits Reset Button as Marvel Overhauls TV Business ►"We need executives that are dedicated to this medium, that are going to focus on streaming, focus on television." THR's Borys Kit reports that all is not well with Marvel Studios’ Daredevil: Born Again series, with executives, including chief Kevin Feige, feeling that the show isn't working. Borys writes that Daredevil's problems are indicative of much larger issues at Marvel's TV unit which launched during the pandemic with a playbook to shoot $150m-plus seasons with no pilots, but is undergoing growing pains and is now seeing the logic of "traditional TV culture." The story.
—Netflix killer. Eight northern European public broadcasters have come together to jointly commission high-end dramas and share their scripted series with one another, while also selling internationally. The new collaboration, New8, is partnered by ZDF (Germany), NPO (The Netherlands), VRT (Belgium), SVT (Sweden), DR (Denmark), YLE (Finland), RÚV (Iceland) and NRK (Norway). Their immediate goal is co-producing eight TV series annually from this year and ensuring broad distribution of projects. The story.
—Snapped up. Black Barbie: A Documentary, which details Mattel’s introduction of a Black doll to its Barbie collection and the women that brought it to life, has landed at Netflix and Shonda Rhimes‘ Shondaland. Lagueria Davis directs the doc and produces alongside Aaliyah Williams. A work-in-progress cut of the film premiered at SXSW 2023. The story.
—"I can’t wait for the world to see what we’ve created." Corus Entertainment’s Waterside Studios has nabbed the TV adaptation rights to two YA novels by Argentinian author and screenwriter Marcela Citterio — The Girl Who Didn’t Want to Be a Princess and Uma Ghost. Toronto-based Waterside will develop live-action, English-language series based on both novels from the creator and writer behind Netflix’s Lady Voyeur series. The story.
—New home. Roku has acquired the exclusive U.S. rights to The Spiderwick Chronicles after Disney+ declined to pick up the completed fantasy series. The eight-episode series, based on the best-selling book series by Tony DiTerlizzi and Holly Black, will premiere on the Roku Channel in early 2024. The series is produced by Paramount Television Studios & 20th Television, a division of Disney, and the series was shopped to other buyers starting this summer. The story. |
Jada Pinkett Smith, Will Smith Have Been Separated for 7 Years ►"I think by the time we got to 2016, we were just exhausted with trying." Jada Pinkett Smith has revealed that she and husband Will Smith have been living separate lives since 2016. The actress makes the revelation in her new memoir, Worthy, and discussed the status of her relationship, noting that the pair aren’t technically divorced and aren’t planning to take that legal step, in a clip from an interview with Hoda Kotb that aired on Wednesday’s Today show. The story.
—"Thanks for the incredible memories, and I’ll now be cheering for you from the stands." ESPN NHL analyst Barry Melrose has been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease and is retiring after nearly three decades at the sports network. The former NHL player and coach who took the Los Angeles Kings to the Stanley Cup Final started with the network in 1994. The story.
—Suit filed. A producer on CBS’s 60 Minutes is suing the network for firing her after she was accused of harassment while turning a blind eye to “far more egregious misconduct” by male employees. Alexandra Poolos, who was let go from the network last year, alleges the news outlet has a work culture defined by "sexism and misogyny" in which sexual misconduct and harassment by male colleagues went unaddressed. The story. |
'Exorcist' Franchise Will Live, But Sequel Changes Likely ►"Bringing back beloved IP doesn’t mean you will match the heights of [2018's Halloween]." Universal found itself in purgatory with the release of The Exorcist: Believer, which is envisioned as a trilogy kickoff reboot of the iconic horror title. THR's James Hibberd reports that despite solid-ish first-weekend box office, the horror film's critical and fan reception means a creative rethink of the two planned sequels — but the studio has no plans to give up on its $400m investment. The story.
—That's a bold strategy, Cotton. On Oct. 5, Warner Bros. put Kevin Costner's Western epic Horizon on its schedule, announcing the first film in the planned four-part project — Horizon: An American Saga Chapter 1 — will arrive in theaters June 28, with the second coming out two months later, on Aug. 16. James Hibberd looks at why the two films are being released two months apart. The story.
—Good Lord. THR's Pamela McClintock reports that Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour is headed for a record global opening for a concert film of between $150m to $200m, including $100m to $125m in North America and $50m to $75m overseas. AMC Theatres, which is distributing the concert pic on behalf of Taylor Swift, is sticking to the more conservative estimate of $150m globally, including $100m domestically. The box office report. |
'Rust' Prosecutors Probe Whether Baldwin Undermined Safety ►Motion to quash the subpoena denied. The production entity for the tragedy-stricken Western feature Rust must turn over records that could indicate whether Alec Baldwin shirked industry-wide norms on set safety to shoot the movie on a shoestring budget, a judge has ruled on Tuesday. THR's Winston Cho writes that the move could be a prelude to the refiling of charges against the movie’s actor and producer. Prosecutors are seeking documents between Rust Movie Productions and Baldwin, as well as his production company El Dorado Pictures. The story.
—No dice. A proposed $124m deal by Imax to acquire a 28.5 percent stake in its Shanghai-based Imax China unit that it does not already own has been voted down by shareholders. On Tuesday, the cinema technologies company said an Oct. 9 extraordinary general meeting led to shareholders voting 70 percent in favor of the buyout proposal, which did not meet a required threshold for approval. The story.
—🤝 Deal done 🤝 Video content creator Jellysmack has acquired the Law&Crime Network founded by legal analyst and TV host Dan Abrams. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but the acquisition will bring Jellysmack a raft of video content, which includes Law&Crime’s YouTube channel for live trial footage and other true crime-related content that has earned over 3b views and 5m subscribers since launching in 2015. The story.
—Anime fans rejoice! Sony is bringing a trove of anime content from its premium streaming service Crunchyroll to free streaming platforms. Crunchyroll is launching a 24/7 linear channel, featuring a range of programming from its anime library. The channel will launch on a number of free, ad supported streaming platforms (FAST platforms), including Roku Channel, Amazon Freevee, LG Channels, and Vizio WatchFree+. The story.
—"A demographic that has been previously underserved in the FAST space." Lionsgate has inked a deal with the parent of Ebony magazine to launch a free ad-supported channel, Ebony TV by Lionsgate. The Hollywood studio said channels targeting Black audiences make up just 2 percent of all available FAST channels in the U.S. market, when African Americans represent 14 percent of the U.S. population. The new FAST channel will offer premium content from Lionsgate’s library and will launch on Oct. 11 on Samsung TV Plus. The story. |
Critics' Conversation: The Great TV Slowdown (Sorta) ►"The broadcast landscape is so odd that retread-loving The CW has the most new scripted programming of any network." THR's TV critic Daniel Fienberg and Angie Han survey a sparse, strike-struck landscape, finding solace in an under-the-radar anti-capitalist satire on Peacock and a sharp portrait of an aspiring Black British filmmaker. The conversation. In other news...
—The Color Purple: New trailer highlights strength of sisterhood
—Pain Hustlers: Emily Blunt hustles for riches in latest trailer
—Chip and Joanna Gaines launching podcast network, Blind Nil Audio
—Béla Tarr to receive honorary award from European Film Academy
—Ryan Sharkey joins The CW as senior vp programming
—Agnes Chu exits Condé Nast Entertainment in restructuring
—Warner Music Group names Carletta Higginson chief digital officer
—David Harbour named BoxLunch Giving ambassador
What else we're reading...
—Bilge Ebiri profiles visionary filmmaker Michael Mann, who discusses his new film Ferrari, Heat 2 and his love for Adam Driver [Vulture]
—Thomas Buckley and Lucas Shaw go inside Apple's $200m+ bet on theatrical with Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon [Bloomberg]
—Anna Merlan reports that five of Sound of Freedom inspiration Tim Ballard’s alleged victims have filed a lawsuit against him, and the complaint contains some wild allegations [Vice]
—Ten years after the release of 12 Years a Slave, Reggie Ugwu talks to director Steve McQueen about the making of the multiple Oscar-winning film [NYT]
—Kate Linthicum looks into the "Blaxit" phenomenon and talks to Black people who have decided to leave the U.S. to escape discrimination and violence [LAT]
Today...
...in 1975, viewers tuned in to NBC’s sketch comedy series Saturday Night Live for the first time. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Amitabh Bachchan (81), Cardi B (31), Matt Bomer (46), Justin Lin (52), Michelle Trachtenberg (38), Emily Deschanel (47), Joan Cusack (61), Jane Krakowski (55), Bae Doona (44), Shawn Ryan (57), Elizabeth Meriwether (42), Claudia Black (51), Constance Zimmer (53), Stephen Moyer (54), David Morse (70), Lennie James (58), Dawn French (66), Louis Ozawa (48), Catlin Adams (73), Artie Lange (56), Wes Chatham (45), Martha MacIsaac (39), Sean Patrick Flanery (58), Trevor Donovan (41), Nat Faxon (48), Bradley James (40), Humphrey Ker (41), Julie McNiven (43), Brandon Flynn (30), Antony Varghese (34), Takeshi Kaneshiro (50), Tanya Haden (52), Robert Christopher Riley (43) |
| Jonathan Dolgen, the tough-minded dealmaker and skillful numbers-cruncher who spent a decade at Viacom working for Sumner Redstone and alongside Paramount Pictures head Sherry Lansing, has died. He was 78. The obituary. |
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