| | | | What's news: Israel's official Instagram account rebuked Gigi Hadid. The Daily Wire is releasing a Snow White movie. Disney+ is developing a live-action series of Gargoyles. Kevin Spacey was given a standing ovation at Oxford University. Netflix is set to put on its first live sporting event. — Abid Rahman
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Why Ari Emanuel Can't Help Himself ►"He can’t get it out of his fucking system. You’re not a super-agent anymore. You’re a mogul. It’s so beneath you." Ari Emanuel is now a public-company CEO twice over. Still, he could not resist bashing his longtime rivals at CAA when presented with a mic at the Bloomberg Screentime conference last week. THR's editor-at-large Kim Masters writes that despite Emanuel priding himself on speaking truth to power, the mogul's selective callouts ring hollow given his links to Elon Musk, Donald Trump, Dana White and Vince McMahon. The story.
—Moving on. Drew Barrymore's return to daytime on Monday was a largely muted affair. The Drew Barrymore Show host sat down with country music superstar Shania Twain, but abstained from any comment around her controversial return following the now-ended WGA strike and amid the ongoing SAG-AFTRA strike. During the 30-minute show, Barrymore — without her writers, who declined to return — launched straight into her sit down with Twain. The story.
—Trolling the House of Mouse. Conservative media company The Daily Wire announced it is making a live-action Snow White movie following right-wing backlash over Disney’s own upcoming live-action Snow White. Titled Snow White and the Evil Queen, DW's movie stars YouTuber Brett Cooper as the princess in a film based on the original Brothers Grimm fairy tale, which is now in the public domain. The story.
—"She was not calling to be part of the ticket and was never considering running herself." Oprah Winfrey is pushing back on a claim made by Sen. Mitt Romney in a new biography. A spokesperson for Winfrey tells THR that, despite a claim in a new book, Winfrey was never considering a run for president in 2020 and did not ask Romney to join her on a ticket. The story.
—First public appearance. Kevin Spacey was given a standing ovation by an audience at Oxford University on Monday, after giving a performance as part of a lecture on cancel culture. The two-time Oscar winner, who made his first public appearance since being found not guilty of sexual assault charges in a U.K. trial, delivered a five-minute scene from Timon of Athens, William Shakespeare’s play about wealth, greed and betrayal that many contemporary critics have said explores what is today referred to as cancel culture. The story. |
Wallace Shawn Calls for Ceasefire in Israel-Gaza ►"I don’t really believe in revenge." Wallace Shawn has called the latest chapter in the deadly Israeli-Hamas war a "massacring" of innocent people. The veteran actor shared his stance on the ongoing conflict while appearing at a rally in D.C., on Monday. Led by the American Jewish groups If Not Now and Jewish Voice for Peace in solidarity with Palestinians, the event called for a ceasefire in the region. The story.
—"Have you been sleeping this past week?" The Israeli government directly criticized model Gigi Hadid on Instagram for her support of the Palestinian cause. On Monday, Hadid, who is Palestinian-American, posted a message that addressed the ongoing Israel-Hamas war by arguing that support for Palestinian civilians caught in the conflict was not antisemitic or support for Hamas. Israel’s official Instagram account responded by mocking and rebuking Hadid. The story.
—Misunderstanding Part I. In a further sign of heightened tensions on social media amid the Israel-Hamas conflict, Alicia Keys clarified why she deleted an Instagram post on Monday that referred to paragliding. Some users called Keys out for being insensitive, with many saying that paragliding was triggering given their use by Hamas terrorists in the Oct. 7 attack. The singer, who lives in La Jolla, a popular paragliding spot, posted a brief statement saying her original post was "completely unrelated" to recent events. She was also defended by her former manager Guy Oseary. The story.
—Misunderstanding Part II. Pink has denied Israeli flags were flown during her concerts. Writing on her X account, the pop star said that she has been flying Poi flags on her current tour, flags which are traditionally used as a symbol of peace by New Zealand’s Maori people. Pink pleaded for understanding after coming under threat from social media trolls. The story. |
Rachel Maddow Won't Abandon You ►"Every time a president gets arrested, I promise I’ll be there." Two years after signing a landmark deal that kept her at MSNBC but reduced her workload to one hour of live TV each Monday, Rachel Maddow is donning more hats than ever, with podcasts, an aggressive Hollywood development slate and her fourth book. But she’s ready to jump back on the air as news demands. THR's Mikey O'Connell spoke to Maddow about her lack of boundaries, Elon Musk’s destruction of Twitter and the cultural whiplash of working in Hollywood. The story.
—🏆 Strong field 🏆 Matthew Heineman’s American Symphony, a portrait of musician Jon Batiste, leads the nominations for the 2023 Critics Choice Documentary Awards. American Symphony scored six nominations, including best director, cinematography, editing, score and best music doc. 20 Days in Mariupol, Kokomo City and Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie each scored five nods, with all three titles up for best doc feature and best editing. The nominees.
—It’s official. The new season of the hit Biblical streaming series The Chosen, about the life and ministry of Jesus, will first play exclusively in theaters. The theatrical rollout of The Chosen season four begins Feb. 1, 2024, with a two-week run of episodes 1-3, followed Feb. 15 by episodes 4-6 and Feb. 29 by episodes 7-8. Fathom Events is handling distribution duties in North America. Following its theatrical run, season four of The Chosen will debut across streaming platforms. The story. |
'The Crown' S6: First Photos Showcase Diana, William and Harry ►First look. The final season of The Crown will depict the death of Princess Diana and its effects on Britain’s royal family and the world — so it’s no surprise that Diana (Elizabeth Debicki) is front and center in several images that Netflix has released from the coming season. The streamer also revealed first look images of Prince Charles (Dominic West) with sons William and Harry (Rufus Kampa and Fflyn Edwards), as well as portraits of Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth II and Salim Daw as Mohammed Al Fayed. The pictures.
—We'll do it live. Netflix has set its first live sports event — one that also reinforces the company brand. The streamer will stage a nine-hole golf match, which it’s calling the Netflix Cup, and will feature athletes familiar to viewers of two of its docuseries, Formula 1: Drive to Survive and Full Swing. F1 drivers Alex Albon, Pierre Gasly, Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz will be paired with PGA Tour golfers Rickie Fowler, Max Homa, Collin Morikawa and Justin Thomas for the match, which is set for Nov. 14 at the Wynn Golf Club in Las Vegas. The story.
—Football FTW. The opening of the NFL and college football seasons gave broadcasters a significant gain in TV viewing in September. Amazon’s Prime Video got a boost too. Broadcast networks drew 23 percent of all TV use in the U.S. in September, according to Nielsen‘s monthly Gauge report. That’s up from 20.4 percent in August and was driven by a huge 360 percent increase in TV sports viewing for the month. The ratings. |
Shohei Ohtani Doc Set for Disney+ ►"I’m thankful for the opportunity to share my journey." Baseball fans will soon be given an intimate look at the life and career of phenom Shohei Ohtani. Disney+ is set to release Shohei Ohtani: Beyond the Dream, the first official documentary about Los Angeles Angels' ace pitcher and homerun slugger, on Nov. 17. Directed and edited by Toru Tokikawa, the doc will include Ohtani’s first in-depth interviews about his background and how he nurtured and pushed his unique talent to become a generational two-way player. The story.
—Horror kings. THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on Gary Dauberman and James Wan’s Atomic Monster banner teaming up to remake 1990s cartoon Gargoyles as a live-action series for Disney+. Gargoyles was made by Walt Disney Television Animation and aired three seasons, from 1994 to 1997. Dauberman will write, executive produce and showrun the series with Atomic Monster joining the executive producing ranks. The project is described as being in early development at Disney Branded Television. The story.
—"I'm in a very uncertain world at the moment." Sam Neill reflected on his difficult battle with a rare form of blood cancer, saying he’s not afraid to die. In a new interview, the 76-year-old New Zealander says death would be "annoying" but he’s "not remotely afraid." He added that the idea of retiring from acting "fills me with horror." The story.
—"I’m really sad because everybody was rooting for you to take over as the host." Roy Wood Jr. said that he hasn’t counted out the possibility of becoming host of The Daily Show, but knows that it’s a long process and being a correspondent is too “mentally stressful” to do while also trying to “figure out what’s next for myself.” The comedian opened up more about his decision to depart the show during a Monday appearance on talk show Sherri. The story. |
'Eras Tour' Film Ignites Debate Over Cinema Etiquette ►"I’m at the worst screening ever, can't even hear Taylor." Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour spurred social media debate over the weekend surrounding etiquette for moviegoers. Among the viral posts on the topic was a video shared to X showing footage of Swift performing the song “Marjorie” as attendees in the movie theater sing, shine their phone flashlights from the seats and dance in between the screen and the front row. Attendees voiced displeasure over what some perceived as disruptive audience behavior. The story.
—Brutal. Online audio distribution platform Bandcamp is cutting a significant number of employees. Songtradr, the Santa Monica-based music licensing service that acquired Bandcamp from Epic Games, said on Monday that it had closed the deal for the music discovery platform. Some 60 Bandcamp staffers, out of 118, were offered employment to join Songtradr’s staff of 369 workers. The story.
—Betting on high schools. NBC is launching a new streaming service that’s part ESPN+, part YouTube, and part MasterClass, meant to appeal to families, schools and communities with amateur sports teams. The service, SportsEngine Play, will stream live matches from amateur teams. NBC says it has 90 cameras installed in 85 venues, however, coaches or spectators can also stream matches live to the service via their own smartphones or iPads. The story. |
Film Review: 'Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget' ►"Tasty, if not especially meaty." THR's Leslie Felperin reviews Sam Fell's Chicken Run: Dawn of the Nugget. With a voice cast including Thandiwe Newton, Bella Ramsey, Zachary Levi and Imelda Staunton, the Aardman sequel premiered at the BFI London Film Festival before it starts a run on Netflix. The review.
—"A familiar story bursting with a creative aesthetic energy." THR's Lovia Gyarkye reviews Fawzia Mirza's The Queen of My Dreams. In Mirza's debut film, a queer Pakistani Canadian girl (Sex Lives of College Girls star Amrit Kaur) struggles to reckon with the chasm between her and her mother. The review. In other news...
—Jeffrey Wright is calling out publishing’s stereotypes in American Fiction trailer
—Camerimage: Killers of the Flower Moon among films in main competition
—Eva Longoria, Cris Abrego set up Hyphenate Media Group
—Kevin Hart’s Hartbeat bolsters executive ranks with 2 hires
—NYC townhouse seen on Succession and Gossip Girl lists for $15m
What else we're reading...
—Jay Peters reports that Netflix is testing streaming games to U.S. TVs to take on PlayStation and Xbox [Verge]
—Nick Schager talks to documentarian Ken Burns about his new film, The American Buffalo, and why he will never go to Hollywood [Daily Beast]
—Simon Bland talks to Jeff Bridges about the making of Tron, revealing that his initial thought on seeing the script was, "what is this gibberish?" [Guardian]
—Nicholas Quah questions why director Fisher Stevens never truly probes David Beckham and his choices in the Netflix docuseries, and wonders whether it was even possible with Beckham as an EP [Vulture]
—Chuck Schilken tries to decipher why athletes belonging to the Texas Rangers and Minnesota Vikings are bonding over the music of Creed [LAT]
Today...
...in 1968, Steve McQueen roared into theaters with Bullitt, a car-chase-filled actioner that nabbed two Oscar nominations at the 41st Academy Awards. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Felicity Jones (40), Matthew Macfadyen (49), Eminem (51), Michael McKean (76), Rob Marshall (63), Wood Harris (54), Mike Judge (61), Mark Gatiss (57), Erin Kellyman (25), Max Irons (38), George Wendt (75), Sharon Leal (51), Dora Madison (33), Erin Karpluk (45), Nikesh Patel (38), Harriet Dyer (35), Michelle Ang (40), Bryan Bertino (46), Laura Regan (46), Alimi Ballard (46), J.C. MacKenzie (53), Guy Henry (63), Angel Parker (43), Cameron Esposito (42), Bea Alonzo (36), Rizwan Manji (49), Christopher Lowell (39) |
| Lara Parker, who as the vengeful witch Angelique Bouchard spent centuries entangled in a love-hate relationship with Jonathan Frid’s Barnabas Collins on the gothic ABC soap opera Dark Shadows, has died. She was 84. The obituary. |
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