| | | | | | What's news: It's magazine day! This week's cover star is the iconic Angelina Jolie. Apple is revamping its Apple Sports app. Annapurna has inked an IP deal with games maker Remedy Entertainment. Apple TV+ has released a director's cut of Ridley Scott's Napoleon. Barry Keoghan will star in the Peaky Blinders movie. Oprah will host an ABC special on AI. — Abid Rahman
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Angelina Jolie on 'Maria,' Her Operatic Life and Her Bold Return ►On the cover. After a self-imposed hiatus from filmmaking and a turbulent period in her personal life, the elusive Angelina Jolie sits down with THR's Rebecca Keegan to discuss her creative reemergence, her portrayal of tempestuous diva Maria Callas in Pablo Larraín's Maria, and her own upcoming movie about trauma and survival, Without Blood, which she wrote, co-produced and directed: "I’m a very deeply feeling person and kind of a raw nerve." The cover story. |
Trump Flick 'The Apprentice' Set for Pre-Election Release ►October surprise. THR's Scott Feinberg has the huge scoop that The Apprentice, Ali Abbasi’s hot-button film about the young Donald Trump, has been acquired by Tom Ortenberg’s Briarcliff Entertainment for a pre-election U.S. release on Oct. 11, as well as an awards push. The Trump “origin story” premiered in Cannes this year, and quickly proved to be a bit of a hot potato. Dan Snyder, the pro-Trump billionaire whose Kinematics company put up equity for the film against domestic rights, reportedly was displeased with the film’s depiction of Trump and sought to block its release; and the Trump campaign issued legal threats to potential distributors. The story.
—A nice surprise. A documentary short film focused on Kamala Harris is also set to hit theaters weeks ahead of this year’s presidential election. Filmmakers Samir Zakir and Gerard Pizarro co-directed Kamala, which aims to share untold stories behind Harris’ journey by using anecdotes, animation and interviews with prominent entertainers, family members, close friends and key politicians. Among the producers is CNN analyst Bakari Sellers, who was once the youngest member of the South Carolina state legislature and is friends with Harris. The story.
—"We really look at this from the viewpoint of the sports fan." Apple is revamping its Apple Sports app to take advantage of the looming NFL and college football seasons, most notably by adding live NFL and college football scores and a new “drive tracker,” but also with new features and functionality. Perhaps the most notable new feature: Support for Apple Live Activities, which will see scores updating on the lock screens of iPhones, without the need to open the app. The story.
—"I can promise you the truth has not come out yet." Blake Lively‘s brother-in-law Bart Johnson is coming to her defense amid a wave of controversy she’s faced surrounding her film It Ends With Us. The High School Musical actor, who’s married to Blake’s older sister Robyn Lively, responded to a comment on his recent Instagram post, where he shared a birthday tribute to Blake. Johnson's now deleted reply hinted at more going on behind the scenes. The story.
—Arrested. Dancing with the Stars pro Artem Chigvintsev was arrested Thursday morning on suspicion of domestic violence. He was later released Thursday afternoon after posting a $25,000 bail. Chigvintsev has been married to WWE alum Nikki Garcia since 2022, and they share a son together. The couple began dating when they were paired on ABC’s dance competition series in 2019. Three days before his arrest, they each posted on their respective social media accounts, celebrating their anniversary. Chigvintsev is not set to be part of season 33 of DWTS, which premieres on Sept. 17. The story. |
Remedy Pact: Annapurna to Adapt 'Control,' 'Alan Wake' Video Games ►🤝 Game changer 🤝 Annapurna has partnered with games maker Remedy Entertainment to turn the Control and Alan Wake video game franchises into films, TV series and other projects. Annapurna will also work with Remedy as a co-production and co-finance partner to adapt the upcoming game Control 2. Remedy and Epic Games also recently launched Alan Wake 2. Remedy’s pact with Annapurna follows ex-Epic exec Hector Sanchez returning to Annapurna as president of interactive and new media, where he will work with CEO Megan Ellison to develop IP across multiple platforms. The story.
—Something for everyone. The 51st Telluride Film Festival gets underway Friday in Colorado with a slate of world premieres. Among the highlights include a Hillary Clinton- and Jennifer-Lawrence-produced abortion film that is up for acquisition, Zurawski v Texas, a Jason Reitman-directed thriller-comedy about the first season of Saturday Night Live — Sony’s Saturday Night — and an adaptation of an August Wilson play on intergenerational trauma helmed by first-time director Malcolm Washington, son of Denzel (Netflix’s The Piano Lesson). The lineup.
—Shut up and take my money! A director’s cut of Ridley Scott's 2023 historical epic Napoleon has landed on Apple TV+. Apple Original Films has released a new version with 48 minutes of never-before-seen footage from the Oscar-nominated tentpole. Napoleon: The Director’s Cut stars Joaquin Phoenix as the French emperor and dives deeper into the origins and ascent of the military leader through the prism of his often volatile relationship with his wife, Josephine, played by Vanessa Kirby. The story.
—👀 First-look images 👀 Universal Pictures is offering the first taste of its new Jurassic World film. The studio announced Thursday that director Gareth Edwards‘ movie, which is set to hit theaters July 2, 2025, is titled Jurassic World Rebirth. Universal shared two first-look images showing leads Scarlett Johansson, Jonathan Bailey and Mahershala Ali, who star in the film alongside Rupert Friend, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Luna Blaise, David Iacono, Audrina Miranda, Philippine Velge, Bechir Sylvain and Ed Skrein. The story.
—🎭 By order of the Peaky Blinders 🎭 Barry Keoghan is the latest actor to join Netflix's Peaky Blinders movie. The Saltburn actor will star alongside fellow Irishman, and Peaky Blinders original castmember, Cillian Murphy, and the recently cast Rebecca Ferguson in the film. The upcoming project is based on the popular Netflix series, which sees Murphy portray Thomas Shelby, a war hero-turned-gangster who works his way up in the world of crime in 1900s Birmingham, England. The story. |
'Yellowstone' Reveals S5 First Look Photos ►👀 Closer look 👀 Yellowstone revealed the first photos from its long-awaited back half of season five. The images include shots of Beth Dutton (Kelly Reilly), Rip Wheeler (Cole Hauser), Kayce Dutton (Luke Grimes), Wes Bentley (Jaime Dutton) and Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham). Notably absent, of course, is the show’s former star Kevin Costner, who played patriarch John Dutton, and excited the show after the show’s fifth season hiatus partly to focus on his Horizon film saga. Costner is still contractually an executive producer on the show, however. The story.
—Skynet erasure. Oprah Winfrey will host an ABC special titled AI and the Future of Us: An Oprah Winfrey Special on Sept. 12, in which she’ll talk to some leading figures in the artificial-intelligence space, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and OpenAI head Sam Altman, as well as FBI Director Christopher Wray and a couple of skeptical voices. The hourlong special is the second one Winfrey has hosted this year; in March, she led a discussion about weight loss and wellness tied to the rise of weight-loss drugs like Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy. The story.
—That's so reunion. Raven-Symoné and Danielle Fishel are set to return to the channel for the Wizards of Waverly Place reboot, Wizards Beyond Waverly Place — this time as directors. The actresses, who have both had their respective shows on Disney — That’s So Raven and Girl Meets World — will step behind the camera for a few episodes in the remake’s first season. Disney also revealed the sequel series will debut the first two episodes on Disney Channel on Oct. 29, followed by all eight episodes dropping on Disney+ on Oct. 30. The story.
—We'll always have Paris. The Olympics brought in very strong streaming numbers for Peacock during the first full week of the games. For other streamers? Not so much. No original series or movie made the overall top 10 titles in Nielsen’s streaming rankings for the week of July 29-Aug. 4. That’s a first in the four-year history of the weekly rankings, according to Nielsen. House of the Dragon, however, continued its strong showing on Max, topping the week leading up to its second season finale with 1.31b minutes of viewing, up from 1.04b a week earlier and its best mark of the season so far. The streaming rankings. |
Stars Snub Venice Press, Drawing Protest ►"It's a disaster." This year’s Venice Film Festival is the most star-studded in recent memory. The list of A-listers heading to the Lido’s red carpet — Brad Pitt and George Clooney, Angelina Jolie, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett and Jenna Ortega, Daniel Craig, Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga — boggles the mind. But the international film journalists attending this year’s festival are complaining they are being shut out of this celebrity feast, with studios and PR agents blocking access to stars for press interviews. Few of the top VIPs in Venice this year are doing international press interviews or taking part in junkets. The story.
—"When I was writing the script, Cate was already there. I was terrified that [she] would say no." Five-time Oscar-winner Alfonso Cuarón has finally unfurled his big-budget streaming series debut, Disclaimer. The psychological thriller, starring fellow Oscar-winners Cate Blanchett and Kevin Kline, received its first press screenings Wednesday in Venice. The director and his acclaimed cast then met the media Thursday on the Lido to discuss the show’s creation and themes. THR's review is below. The recap.
—Human moment. A heartwarming scene unfolded on Thursday night at Venice's Palazzo del Cinema ahead of the world premiere of Pablo Larraín’s Maria. Angelina Jolie paused during her red carpet duties to bend down and greet a bedridden fan. They shared a brief conversation while throngs of adoring fans and festival photographers looked on at their encounter. According to sources, Italian writer Pasqualino Esposito has become a Venice regular over the past few years and has secured a place on the red carpet to greet Hollywood stars. He suffers from osteogenesis imperfecta, a genetic disorder also known as “brittle bone disease.” The story. |
Film Review: 'Maria' ►"Sings but misses the high notes." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Pablo Larraín's Venice competition entry Maria. This chronicle of the final week in the life of the opera legend Maria Callas, played by Angelina Jolie, follows Jackie and Spencer in the Chilean director’s trilogy about famous women caught in the emotional headlights. The review.
—"A nuanced documentary of palpable grit." THR's Leslie Felperin reviews Michael Premo's Homegrown. Premiering at Venice, Premo offers a portrait of Trump supporters — including the Proud Boys — in the run-up to the 2020 election and the Jan. 6 insurrection. The review.
—"Heavy on style, light on character." Leslie reviews Luis Ortega's Venice competition entry Kill the Jockey. The surreal comedy-thriller stars Nahuel Pérez Biscayart as an equestrian who discovers his feminine side after a devastating accident. The review. |
TV Review: 'Disclaimer' ►"Surface pleasures stretched a bit thin." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Apple TV+'s Disclaimer. Cate Blanchett, Kevin Kline, Sacha Baron Cohen and Kodi Smit-McPhee star in Alfonso Cuaron’s miniseries adaptation of Renée Knight's novel is about the power of storytelling to expose and evade the truth. The review.
—"Provocative if unrevealing." Dan reviews Andres Veiel's Riefenstahl. Veiel and producer Sandra Maischberger pored over more than 700 boxes of film, writing, audio and other documents to examine controversy plagued German filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl's life. The review.
—"Less scary than your mildest nightmare." For THR, Caryn James reviews Chris Weitz's Afraid. John Cho and Katherine Waterston star in this feature about an artificial intelligence device that threatens a family. The review. |
Film Review: 'One to One: John & Yoko' ►"A stone-cold brilliant fusion of kinetic and contemplative." THR's Sheri Linden reviews Kevin Macdonald's One to One: John & Yoko. Macdonald combines footage of a 1972 benefit concert with a rich assortment of archival material in his portrait of the former Beatle and his artist wife during their first months in New York. The review.
—"Portrait of the artist as a social and literary outcast." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Giovanni Tortorici's Diciannove. Luca Guadagnino produced this first feature directed by his former assistant, that is an uncompromising chronicle of an Italian college student. The review.
—"A must-see for anyone interested in the intersection of politics and religion." Jordan reviews Petra Costa's Apocalypse in the Tropics. The latest doc from the Oscar-nominated director of The End of Democracy, is a riveting account of how evangelism became a major threat to Brazilian democracy. The review.
—"Riveting and relevant." Jordan reviews Tim Fehlbaum's September 5. Fehlbaum’s third feature stars Peter Sarsgaard, John Magaro and Ben Chaplin as members of an ABC News crew meant to cover the 1972 Munich Olympics but are plunged into a major international crisis. The review. |
Thank Pod It's Friday ►All the latest content from THR's podcast studio.
—Awards Chatter. THR's executive awards editor Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this episode, Scott spoke to Robert Downey Jr. The Oscar-winner reflects on his rollercoaster life and career; his experiences with Marvel during the Iron Man era, and his plans to return to the MCU as Dr. Doom; and what it was like juggling five different characters in Park Chan-wook's HBO limited series about Vietnam, The Sympathizer. Listen here.
In other news...
—Outer Banks S4 teaser launches hunt for Blackbeard’s treasure
—Where to stream M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap online
What else we're reading...
—Aaron Blake has the three major takeaways from Kamala Harris and Tim Walz’s first major interview [WaPo]
—Brady Gerber has a great piece on the misunderstood legacy of Oasis and Britpop [Ringer]
—Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers celebrates its 30th anniversary this year. Ryan D'Agostino looks back at the making of a complex masterpiece [Esquire]
—With the Kelce brothers securing a $100m podcast pact, Reggie Ugwu looks at how the big money deals are back after worries the industry was looking reigning in the spending [NYT]
—Here's your Friday list: "All 51 video-game movies, ranked" [Vulture]
Today...
...in 2013, Warner Bros. released Courtney Solomon's Getaway in theaters. The action chase film, starring Ethan Hawke, Selena Gomez and Jon Voight, failed to find favor with critics and was one of the big box office bombs of the year. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Cameron Diaz (52), Jessica Henwick (32), Michael Chiklis (61), Lewis Black (76), Bebe Rexha (35), Kimberley Joseph (51), Eric Pearson (44), Marin Ireland (45), Cara Bossom (19), Johanna Braddy (37), Gaia Weiss (33), Elden Henson (47), Michael Michele (58), Michael Grant Terry (40), Anjali Bhimani (50), Michael Gladis (47), Elizabeth Ashley (85), David Paymer (70), Timothy Bottoms (73), Sarah-Jane Potts (48), Yasmin Finney (21), Angel Coulby (44), Raúl Castillo (47), Terrence Terrell (40), Christine Bermas (23), Cameron Finley (37), Trevor Jackson (28), Vanessa Britting (44), Sean Ryan Fox (23), Will Fitz (28), Emily Montague (40), Brian Yuzna (75), Carolina Kopelioff (28) |
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