| | | | | | What's news: The Venice Film Festival has officially kicked off. Amazon is looking to sell MGM Alternative. Apple has renewed Acapulco. Netflix's NBA docuseries Starting 5 is official. Bad Bunny has joined the cast of Darren Aronofsky's next film. Joel McHale has joined the S3 cast of Yellowjackets. Docuseries Chimp Crazy has become a ratings hit for HBO. — Abid Rahman
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'Star Trek' Screenwriter Accused of Beating, Sexually Assaulting Wife in Suit ►Countersuit. Roberto Orci, a screenwriter for several Star Trek and Transformers films, has been accused of beating and sexually assaulting his wife, actress Adele Heather Taylor. In a countersuit filed Monday, Taylor claims she has been the “target of [Orci’s] violent conduct” on multiple occasions dating back to March 2018. She accuses Orci of “abusive behavior” that included sexual assault, beating her until she was bruised and belittling her with insults. In one instance in May 2022, Taylor alleges that Orci chased her around their L.A. home before pinning her on the ground and threatening to rape her. The following month, he allegedly assaulted her a second time, while telling her, "You enjoy being raped." Orci’s attorney, Daniel Paluch, denied the allegations in an email to THR. The story.
—Up for sale. Two years after completing its $8.5b acquisition of MGM Studios, Amazon is looking to shed one of the big TV assets from that deal. The tech giant is looking to sell MGM Alternative, the unscripted production company behind shows like CBS’ Survivor, NBC’s The Voice, ABC’s Shark Tank, and Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules and Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, among other productions. The company has been approached by a number of possible suitors, though there is no guarantee a deal will come to fruition. The story.
—Brinkmanship. Disney's TV channels — including ABC, ESPN, Disney Channel, FX and others — are at risk of going dark this week for DirecTV subscribers, as the entertainment giant and satellite TV firm continue high-stakes talks over what the future of their carriage deals should look like. The current moment is in many ways a repeat of a year ago, when Disney’s channels went dark on the country’s largest pay-TV provider, Charter Spectrum. While DirecTV is not as large as Charter, it is nonetheless one of the biggest pay-TV companies in the U.S., and the dominant satellite provider, making the stakes high. The story.
—ICYMI. Vice President Kamala Harris and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz will have their first joint interview on CNN since becoming the Democratic presidential and vice presidential nominees. The pair will sit down exclusively with CNN anchor and chief political correspondent Dana Bash in Georgia. The interview also marks Harris’ first network sit-down interview since replacing Joe Biden on the Democratic ticket after he stepped down last month. It’s also a first for Walz since being announced as Harris’ running mate on Aug. 6. The story. |
WB TV, 'ER' Alums Sued by Crichton Estate Over New Medical Drama ►Breach of contract claims. Warner Bros. Television’s ER revival look-alike has sparked a lawsuit from the estate of Michael Crichton, holder of the rights to the medical drama created by the prolific writer who spawned various Hollywood blockbusters. Crichton’s estate, in a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, accuses Warners and a trio of ER alums of repackaging plans for a series reboot as The Pitt after they couldn’t secure the rights due to a dispute over a credit acknowledging the writer as the creator of the show. It alleges a “pattern of conduct” by the studio designed to circumvent Crichton’s rights to franchises he authored, including Westworld. The story.
—Guilty. Disgraced plaintiffs’ personal injury attorney Thomas Girardi has been found guilty of stealing at least $15m from former clients he claimed to champion. A federal court jury in Los Angeles found the former husband of Erika “Jayne” Girardi, of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, guilty on four counts of wire fraud. Girardi, 85, of Seal Beach, is set for a Dec. 6 sentencing hearing where he faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each count. The story.
—🤝 Ad, concessions deal 🤝 Regal Cinemas has inked a new multiyear deal with Fandango. The second-largest movie theater chain in the U.S. has linked up with the Comcast-owned ticketing giant to offer advertisers access to Regal’s digital footprint alongside Fandango’s website and apps along with sister company Rotten Tomatoes’ platform. The companies say that, together, those platforms reach 50m entertainment consumers monthly. The story.
—🤝 Content deal 🤝 BBC Studios has struck a new deal with a South Korean agency to expand production, investment, and distribution of Korean television content. The Korea Creative Content Agency unveiled the agreement with BBC Studios and Southeast Asian streaming platform Viu to address the limitations and challenges in the domestic broadcast and video content production environment – such as the rising production costs of television dramas and a decrease in documentary programming. The story. |
'Yellowstone' Eyeing Surprise S6 Starring Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser ►Fingers crossed. Yellowstone might not be ready to ride off into the sunset just yet. THR's James Hibberd reports that Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser — who play the married fan favorites Beth Dutton and Rip Wheeler on the show — are in talks to star in the sixth season of the Paramount Network hit. This is different from the Yellowstone sequel series, The Madison. Reilly and Hauser have also previously been rumored to star in The Madison, but that Yellowstone universe series will instead star Michelle Pfeiffer and Matthew Fox. The story.
—Back for four. Acapulco, the comedy series starring and executive produced by Eugenio Derbez, has scored a season four renewal at Apple TV+. The pickup comes two months after the show wrapped its third season — and a month after earning nine nominations for the Imagen Awards, which honor Latinos in television and film. Acapulco is inspired by Derbez’s film How to Be a Latin Lover and follows his character, Máximo, as a young man working at a resort in the 1980s (Enrique Arrizón plays the younger version of the character) and in the present. The story.
—🎭 The Winger guarantee 🎭 Yellowjackets is adding to its season three cast. The Paramount+ With Showtime drama has tapped Joel McHale for a guest role in its forthcoming third season, which is currently in production and targeting a premiere date sometime in 2025. Details on McHale’s character are being kept quiet for now. Yellowjackets ended its second season with a shocker in its present-day timeline as well as a huge development in its 1996 wilderness story, as the members of a high school soccer team do anything they can to survive after a plane crash. The story.
—🎭 Intrigante 🎭 Chris Pine has joined the cast of The Kidnapping of Arabella, the upcoming feature from Italian director Carolina Cavalli. The Star Trek actor will headline the film, alongside Italian actress Benedetta Porcaroli. Production starts this week in northern Italy, shooting between Veneto and Emilia Romagna. Arabella tells the story of Holly (Porcaroli), an Italian woman who is convinced that she is the wrong version of herself until she meets a 7-year-old girl who makes her change her mind. The story. |
LeBron, Tatum, Ant-Man to Star in Netflix NBA Doc 'Starting 5' ►Presidential seal of approval. Netflix's big new NBA docuseries is official. The streamer says that the series, called Starting 5, will debut Oct. 9 and follow NBA superstars LeBron James, Jayson Tatum, Anthony Edwards, Jimmy Butler and Domantas Sabonis during the 2023-2024 season, giving viewers “an unfiltered view of life at the pinnacle of professional basketball.” Barack and Michelle Obama are among the executive producers, with their Higher Ground serving as one of the production companies, as is Peyton Manning through his Omaha Productions. The story.
—Deep dive into TV history. THR's Alex Weprin has the scoop on CNN picking up a four-episode series called TV On the Edge. Each episode of the original show explores a defining TV moment that shaped popular culture and which will showcase “the power of television, the legacy of these iconic events, and the impact they have had on our lives.” Among the cultural moments that will be covered include Dan Quayle attacking Murphy Brown to Ellen DeGeneres coming out in her sitcom. The series will debut on Sept. 22 at 9 p.m., with future episodes also running in that time period. The story.
—Breakout hit. HBO's Chimp Crazy is looking like it will be the outlet’s most watched documentary series in several years. The show, from Tiger King director Eric Goode, is on pace to be the biggest docuseries at HBO since McMillions in early 2020. Chimp Crazy’s Sunday night lead-in, Industry, has also posted its best numbers to date early in its third season. The second episode of Chimp Crazy on Aug. 25 drew 350,000 first-night viewers on HBO and Max. The show’s premiere episode, meanwhile, has grown to 2.3m viewers across platforms over a week, putting it on pace to outdraw any HBO doc series in the past four-plus years. The ratings. |
Canada Picks 'Universal Language' for Oscars ►Strong choice. Matthew Rankin's Universal Language, which earned an audience prize at the Directors’ Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival, has been chosen by Canada to compete in the best international feature category at the Academy Awards. The absurdist comedy in the Farsi and French languages is an offbeat homage to Iranian cinema that takes place in Montreal and Winnipeg. In Universal Language, Rankin reimagines a Canada where Farsi is now a dominant tongue. The story.
—🎭 Stacked 🎭 Rebecca Ferguson has signed up for the film adaptation of Enid Blyton's beloved children’s classic The Magic Faraway Tree. The Dune star joins Andrew Garfield, Claire Foy, Nicola Coughlan, Jessica Gunning and Jennifer Saunders in the cast, and will play Dame Snap, the story’s headmistress and one of Blyton’s most iconic villains. The film comes from Neal Street Productions, Elysian Film Group and Ashland Hill Media Finance, and is currently shooting. The story.
—🎭 Lapin' it up 🎭 Bad Bunny is the latest star to join Darren Aronofsky's upcoming film, Caught Stealing. The global music superstar joins Zoë Kravitz and Austin Butler in the Sony Pictures crime thriller, based on Charlie Huston’s novel of the same name. It is unknown who the artist will portray in the film adaptation. According to the logline, the story “follows Hank Thompson (Butler), a burned-out former baseball player, as he’s unwittingly plunged into a wild fight for survival in the downtown criminal underworld of ‘90s NYC.” The story.
—🎭 Up and coming talent 🎭 Forrest Goodluck, Blake Alec Miranda, Glen Gould and Brandon Oakes have nabbed lead roles in Bretten Hannam’s supernatural thriller Place of Ghosts, now shooting in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The story is about a malevolent, rotting spirit of teeth and bones tormenting siblings who are forced to reunite and journey into Skite’kmujuekati’k, or the Place of Ghosts primordial forest that exists outside of time, to face their violent upbringing. Place of Ghosts is written and directed by Hannam, and follows his breakout hit Wildhood, which bowed at the Toronto Film Festival in 2021. The story.
—Woohesabouttomakeanameformyselfhere! Ryan Reynolds confirmed in a Deadpool & Wolverine deleted scene posted to his social media that Channing Tatum's Gambit survives the fight in the void alongside Jennifer Garner’s Elektra, Wesley Snipes’ Blade and Dafne Keen’s Laura/X-23. When the end credits rolled, it was uncertain if any of the characters who came togerther to defeat Cassandra Nova’s (Emma Corrin) henchmen survived the battle. But, at the very least, Tatum’s now-iconic and heavily memed take on Gambit made it out alive. The story. |
Buongiorno! Venice's Can't-Miss Premieres ►Il meglio del meglio. The 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival officially kicked off on Wednesday. Long-running festival director Alberto Barbera and his team have unveiled a star-studded lineup, including possible awards season contenders. But which premieres can’t be missed amid the busy program? THR's chief movie critic David Rooney looked through the selection of the big Italian festival to pick some of the most intriguing prospects. The list.
—Strategy shift. The Italian government will this week announce major changes to its film and TV tax credit system aimed at boosting local productions and producers and ensuring more Italian stories get told on screen. THR's Scott Roxborough and THR Italia's Gianmaria Tammaro write that the changes come after a year of uncertainty that has left many productions in limbo. The analysis.
—Red carpet intrigue. The fall film festival circuit is forever a magnet for A-list talent, as it signals the start of awards season by delivering first looks at a crush of prestige big-screen content. But when Venice unveiled the lineup for its 81st edition, it telegraphed something else: Movie stars are back, baby! THR's nicest man Chris Gardner writes that after last year’s strikes barred talent from the red carpet, this year’s fest offers a who’s who of stars — with plenty of juicy subplots to keep an eye on. The story. |
TV Review: 'The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power' S2 ►"Misses the trees for the forest." THR's Angie Han reviews season two of Amazon Prime Video's The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. As Sauron continues fixating on precious jewelry, all of Middle-earth ramps up toward a world-changing, era-defining showdown between good and evil. The review.
—"More psy-fi than sci-fi." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Mikael Håfström's Slingshot. Casey Affleck, Laurence Fishburne and Emily Beecham star in the Swedish director's story of three spacemen on a dangerous mission to the far side of the solar system. The review.
In other news...
—LACMA names Baz Luhrmann, Simone Leigh as Art+Film Gala honorees
—VMAs: Anitta, LL Cool J and Shawn Mendes join performers lineup
—Angelina Jolie to receive Tribute Award at Toronto Film Festival
—Denis Villeneuve to host Dune double-header at TIFF
—WBD taps Shauna Spenley as global CMO of direct-to-consumer
—Brittany Cartwright files for divorce from Jax Taylor
—How to watch the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games
—Where to find the best tickets to see Broadway hit Oh, Mary!
What else we're reading...
—With his embrace of RFK Jr. and Tulsi Gabbard, David Weigel writes that Trump has gone all-in on the "weird" vote [Semafor]
—Maxwell Adler reports on Swifties for Kamala diving straight into campaigning, even without the Taylor Swift endorsement [Bloomberg]
—Brooke Harrington reflects on the rise of the anti-democratic Silicon Valley "broligarchs" who have backed Trump [Atlantic]
—Gavin Butler explains the furor around blockbuster Chinese video game Black Myth: Wukong and the studio's attempts to police content posted by players [BBC]
—Justin McCurry reports that South Korea is battling a deepfake pornography epidemic involving thousands of people [Guardian]
Today...
...in 2015, Lionsgate and Roadside Attractions released Craig Zobel's Z for Zachariah in theaters. The apocalyptic sci-fi feature starred Margot Robbie, Chiwetel Ejiofor, and Chris Pine and was a hit with critics. The original review.
Today's birthdays: David Fincher (62), Shania Twain (59), Jack Black (55), Jason Priestley (55), Luis Guzmán (68), Quvenzhané Wallis (21), Kim Sejeong (28), Ken Jenkins (84), Katie Findlay (34), Brian Thompson (65), Sarah Roemer (40), Amanda Tapping (59), Carly Pope (44), Sam Buttery (33), Billy Boyd (56), Steffiana De La Cruz (50), Kelly Overton (46), Daniel Stern (67), Kristin Booth (50), Eugene Byrd (49), Rick Rossovich (67), LeAnn Rimes (42), Nick E. Tarabay (49), John Allen Nelson (65), Richard Cabral (41), Emma Samms (64), Esther Hall (54), Jordan Elsass (23), Alfonso Herrera (41), Shalita Grant (36), Lexi Underwood (21), Debra Mooney (77), Shane Van Dyke (45), Melody Kay (45), J. August Richards (51), August Maturo (17), Michel Franco (45), Talia Jackson (23), Matthew John Armstrong (51), Jonathan Whitesell (33) |
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