| | | | What's news: Israeli filmmaker Yariv Mozer is set to direct a doc about the Supernova Festival massacre. Iranian filmmaker Dariush Mehrjui and his wife were murdered in their home on Sunday. WBD will launch Max across 22 European countries in the spring. Nat Geo has greenlit a Top Gun reality series. Matthew Vaughn has revealed a Kick-Ass reboot is in the works. — Abid Rahman
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Writers Call Out WGA for Silence on Hamas Attacks ►"If we cannot stand up to call it what it is — a monstrous act of barbarity — then we have lost the plot." A group of writers penned an open letter calling out the WGA for remaining silent about the Israel–Hamas conflict, despite SAG-AFTRA and the DGA putting out statements denouncing the Hamas terrorist attacks. The writers — including Eli Roth, Jenji Kohan, Jerry Seinfeld, Amy Sherman-Palladino and many more — pointed out that the WGA was quick to support causes like Black Lives Matter and the #MeToo movement. The story.
—"The immense suffering has been sickening to watch." John Oliver took a moment to share his thoughts on the Israel-Hamas war at the start of HBO's Last Week Tonight. In a rare move, the host addressed the audience before the title sequence aired on Sunday’s show. "Peace is not optional and will require some tough decisions," Oliver said, calling on leaders to not retaliate. "And I can't say where a peace process ends, but it just has to start with that kind of ability to recognize our common humanity." The recap.
—"Sometimes comedy is really the only way forward through tragedy." For the premiere of its 49th season, Saturday Night Live skipped its regularly scheduled sketch parodying the week’s news. Instead, host Pete Davidson delivered a solemn cold open addressing the Israel-Hamas war. The recap.
—"Nothing prepared me for the harsh images I have seen in the remains of the massacre." Israel-based production company Sipur is teaming up with Israeli broadcasters HOT Channel 8 and HSCC on a feature doc about the horrific Oct. 7 attacks on the Supernova Music Festival in Kibbutz Re’im. The terrorist assault by Hamas on the festival resulted in the death of 260 people, injuries to scores of others and the kidnap of an unknown number of festival goers. Yariv Mozer will direct the film, and use exclusive material from participants and key people at the festival. The story.
—"The depth and reality of this suffering cannot be ignored." With the death toll in Gaza rising amid Israel's military offensive against Hamas, Riz Ahmed made an emotional plea for the violence to come to an end. The British actor said that what had happened in Israel was "horrific and wrong," but asked the world not to look away from the civilians suffering in Gaza. The story. |
'Eras Tour' Opens to $126M to $130M Globally ►Swifties out in force. Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour may have fallen just short of an expected $100m debut at the domestic box office, but it still did stellar business. The concert film opened to an estimated $95m to $97m from 3,850 theaters. AMC Theatres, which is distributing the movie, will wait until Monday to declare an official gross.
THR's Pamela McClintock writes that overseas, Eras Tour opened between $31m and $33m from 94 countries for a worldwide launch of $126m to $130m. It’s the biggest global start ever for a concert film, besting Michael Jackson’s This Is It ($74.3m), not adjusted for inflation. The box office report.
—Dancing? Sure, but not on the seats. THR's Rebecca Keegan spoke to the Swifties who saw Eras Tour over the weekend and helped the concert film to its boffo opening. Rebecca writes that fans went all out with theme outfits, merch and dancing, lots and lots of dancing. The story.
—"The two biggest theatrical events of the year were made by and primarily for women." The post-COVID box office rebound was largely driven by men until Barbie's stratospheric success. With the early ticket buyers for Eras Tour 76 percent female, and with Beyoncé's concert film on the horizon, Rebecca Keegan and Pamela McClintock look at the huge upside of female-driven theatrical events. The analysis.
—Who else could rock the box office without a major studio? Team Taylor Swift and AMC Theatres caught Hollywood by surprise when doing an end run around the major studios and hiring AMC to distribute a secret movie chronicling her blockbuster Eras Tour. THR looks at the select group of other artists and acts who might have the leverage to run the superstar's playbook — if they choose to. The list. |
THR's 35 Most Powerful Women in International TV ►The women in charge. THR's list of the most powerful women in television outside the U.S. illustrates female executives established in the C-suites of many of the world’s most influential media companies. From Brit hits to Nollywood expansions, meet the 35 women who are prolonging TV’s boom era abroad. The list.
—📅 So so close 📅 Warner Bros. Discovery will launch its Max streaming service across 22 European countries starting in the spring. The initial European rollout will be across WBD’s continental footprint, including the Nordic and Iberian regions, as well as the Netherlands and Central and Eastern Europe. The second wave, would include France and Belgium later in 2024. Still missing are the U.K., German and Italian markets, where HBO has lucrative existing output deals with European pay giant Sky. The story.
—Oh come on! Apple TV+ has canceled The Afterparty after two seasons. The news comes a month and change after the genre-hopping comedic murder mystery finished its second season. Sony Pictures Television, which produces the series, will look to find another home for The Afterparty. The show tells a self-contained story with each season. The story.
—"There might be a more interesting story there about how Jack became the King of Halloween Town." Thirty years after The Nightmare Before Christmas was released, director Henry Selick is sharing the idea he has for a potential prequel. In a new interview, the filmmaker admitted that he wouldn’t be jumping at the idea of making a sequel due to the large amount of work associated with the first film but noted that he may be more inclined to do a prequel. The story.
—"I totally regret it. I totally do." Hunger Games: Mockingjay director Francis Lawrence said that he now understands the mixed reactions to the final book in Suzanne Collins' series being divided into two films. In a new interview, the filmmaker admitted that if he had to redo the Jennifer Lawrence-led films, he wouldn’t split Mockingjay into two separate parts. The story. |
'Top Gun' Reality Series to Go Inside Navy Pilot School ►Ride into the danger zone. A Top Gun-inspired reality series is coming to Nat Geo. Top Gun: The Next Generation will follow a group of U.S. Navy student pilots as they train to become fighter pilots in the military’s Advanced Flight Training Program. The production from Zinc Media Group boasts unprecedented access to one of the Navy’s most demanding training and selection programs. The production follows 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick grossing $1.5b worldwide. The story.
—"The cost-of-living crisis is exacerbating class inequality in the screen industries." With the cost of living crisis severely impacting both people working in the film and TV industry and those who might be looking to join, the British Academy has set out a number of initiatives aimed at improving social mobility and tackling class inequality in the screen industries. On Monday, BAFTA said it had expanded its bursaries program with more than $330,000 distributed and is set to offer a resource to assist hirers in becoming "more class aware." The story.
—Horrific. Famed Iranian film director Dariush Mehrjui (The Cow, The Pear Tree) was murdered, along with his wife, in a stabbing attack by an unknown assailant at their home in Iran, Iranian state media reported on Sunday. The IRNA news agency reports that Mehrjhi and his wife, Vahideh Mohammadifar, were discovered dead at their home with knife wounds in their necks. Fazeli said the bodies were discovered by the director’s daughter, Mona Mehrjui, at the couple’s home in a suburb outside Tehran. The story. |
How 'Rick and Morty' Cast Its New Voice Stars ►"We want the fan experience to continue with as little disruption as possible." THR's Lesley Goldberg spoke to Rick and Morty co-creator Dan Harmon and showrunner Scott Marder about the new voice cast on the cult Adult Swim show. Harmon and Marder open up about finding newcomers Ian Cardoni (Rick) and Harry Belden (Morty), how Rick and Morty may change with its new leads and if the show would ever take a shot at Justin Roiland. The interview.
—"It is a story of people who believed that only films shown on the big screen are real cinema, but it shows these people living in a time when the only way they could get access to precious cinema was via low-quality, illegally copied VHS tapes" THR's Patrick Brzeski spoke to Korean documentarian Lee Hyuk-rae about his upcoming Netflix film, Yellow Door: ’90s Lo-fi Film Club. Lee discusses the making of the doc, which depicts the film club movement that included the likes of a young Bong Joon Ho that set the stage for the recent boom in Korean film and TV. The interview.
—"This reboot is just going off on a tangent that I can’t really talk about now. But it’s fun." A chatty Matthew Vaughn revealed a Kick-Ass reboot is in the works, addressed challenges around working in the X-Men universe, and teased his upcoming spy thriller Argylle during his Saturday evening panel at New York Comic Con. The Kingsman filmmaker also dished on the incident in the X-Men universe involving Halle Berry that led to him walking away from The Last Stand. The story.
—"There are always different characters who are rising in importance." The Wheel of Time's third season will primarily focus on the fourth book in the Robert Jordan series and feature the Sea Folk, as well as Tanchico and Rhuidean. During a Sunday morning special screening of the season two finale at NYCC, a Q&A featuring showrunner Rafe Judkins revealed that audiences can expect that season three of the Amazon Prime Video fantasy series will focus more on Rand and Perrin. The story. |
Suzanne Somers 1946 - 2023 ►TV and fitness icon. Suzanne Somers, the Emmy nominee and star of hit shows like Three’s Company and Step by Step, died Sunday. She was 76. Somers died peacefully of breast cancer at her home in Palm Springs, her longtime publicist, R. Couri Hay, announced. The actress survived an aggressive form of breast cancer for over 23 years. Somers was also known for her roles on She’s the Sheriff and Serial Mom. The obituary.
—"The world feels a little less bright without her." Hollywood is mourning the death of Suzanne Somers. Fran Drescher, Barry Manilow, Leeza Gibbons, Goldie Hawn, Kathy Griffin, Morgan Fairchild and more stars took to social media to pay tribute to Somers on Sunday. The reaction.
—The actor's actor. Piper Laurie, the three-time Oscar-nominated actress known for her performances in The Hustler and Carrie and for her outlandish two-character, two-gender turn on the original Twin Peaks, died Saturday morning in Los Angeles. She was 91. An Emmy winner who was nominated nine times during her career, Laurie also starred in the original Days of Wine and Roses, Tim and in Children of a Lesser God. The obituary. |
TV Review: 'The American Buffalo' ►"Not the best Burns, but the second half is top-notch." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews PBS' The American Buffalo. Ken Burns' new four-hour doc studies the species' symbolism, its brutal near-extinction and the complicated and sometimes heroic struggle to bring the buffalo back. The review. In other news...
—Scott Pilgrim Takes Off trailer teases a colorful anime take on the battle of the exes tale
—Chris Evans talks life with Wife Alba Baptista after 2 wedding ceremonies
—How a Hollywood manager turned a spec home to special
—Gail O’Neill, fashion model and journalist, dies at 61
—Tracy Owen, industrial relations executive at Paramount, dies at 43
What else we're reading...
—Jonathan Guyer looks at how the Arab world sees the Israel-Palestine conflict [Vox]
—Lia Picard talks to committed Disney adults who have transformed their homes into shrines for the House of Mouse [NYT]
—Amid Jada Pinkett-Smith's book tour to promote her memoir Worthy, Fran Hoepfner writes that she has become "the queen of contradictory spin" [Vulture]
—Torivio Fodder writes that the true crime story of the Osage Nation would take a century to tell [LAT]
—Derek Thompson and Number Go Up author Zeke Faux go inside the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried and consider whether he has a chance of winning [Ringer]
Today...
...in 1973, Sydney Pollack’s romantic drama The Way We Were held its premiere in New York at Loew’s State 1 theater. The Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford film went on to be nominated for six Oscars at the 46th Academy Awards, winning two for original dramatic score and the title song. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Tim Robbins (65), Caterina Scorsone (42), Flea (61), Kenneth Lonergan (61), John Mayer (46), Terri J. Vaughn (54), Paul Sparks (52), Kellie Martin (48), David Zucker (76), Pascal Laugier (52), Gil Kenan (47), Barry Corbin (83), Madison Wolfe (21), Todd Stashwick (55), Andrew Santino (40), Brea Grant (42), Nelson Lee (48), Keleigh Sperry (31), Daniel Kountz (45), Camilla Arfwedson (42), Jeremy Jackson (43), Tamara Podemski (46), Mary Elizabeth McGlynn (57), Martha Smith (71), Christian Stolte (61), Giada Colagrande (48), Anirudh Ravichander (33) |
| Mark Goddard, who played Major Don West, the hot-tempered pilot of the Jupiter 2, on the 1960s CBS adventure series Lost in Space, has died. He was 87. The obituary. |
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