| | | | | | What's news: Hello! We have a special Labor Day edition of the newsletter, and it's pretty heavy on some big reviews that came out of Venice and Telluride this weekend. Elsewhere, Netflix is developing a One Tree Hill sequel series and has canceled Dead Boy Detectives. Deadpool 3 crossed $600m domestic. Charli XCX has joined the cast of Gregg Araki's I Want Your Sex. — Abid Rahman
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Disney Channels, Including ABC and ESPN, Pulled From DirecTV ►Going dark. Disney finds itself at the center of another major TV carriage dispute, with its channels now unavailable in millions of homes. This time, the company and the satellite TV giant DirecTV find themselves at odds, with a number of Disney channels including ABC and ESPN going dark for DirecTV customers. The channels went dark shortly before the high-profile LSU-USC college football game and in the middle of the U.S. Open tennis tournament. The NFL season kicks off in a week. The story.
—Plea expected. Following an appearance in a Los Angeles federal court on Friday, one of the two California doctors indicted as part of the investigation into the overdose death of actor Matthew Perry is expected to plead guilty in the coming weeks to conspiring to distribute the surgical anesthetic ketamine. Mark Chavez, 54, is set to appear in federal court on Friday afternoon for an initial bond hearing and arraignment, according to Ciaran McEvoy with the United States Attorneys’ Office, who said Chavez is expected to enter a guilty plea in the coming weeks. The story.
—"A radiant soul, a beacon of light on the stage and in life." Fatman Scoop, the Grammy-winning DJ, hype man and radio personality, died after collapsing onstage this weekend. He was 53. Scoop, real name Isaac Freeman III, collapsed on Friday while performing at Town Center Park in Hamden, Connecticut. His family announced his death on Saturday morning, but gave no cause. Freeman is best known for his 1999 track “Be Faithful.” He was also featured on Missy Elliott’s 2005 “Lose Control,” for which he won a Grammy. The same year, he appeared on Mariah Carey’s “It’s Like That.” The obituary. |
Top WME Agent at Center of Firestorm Over Incendiary Text About Hostage Deaths ►"Screw the left kill all." Brandt Joel, a top agent at WME who represents the likes of Jason Momoa and Matthew McConaughey, has become embroiled in a bigotry storm at the company after sending, and then deleting, an incendiary text to a WhatsApp group in reaction to the killing of six Israeli hostages over the weekend. In a group chat showing solidarity with Israel that contains WME employees, but that is not officially affiliated with the company, the news of the death of the hostages was being discussed. In screenshots of the group chat obtained by THR, Joel texted in response to the news, "Screw the left kill all." The story.
—"You are never alone in this fight." It Ends With Us director and star Justin Baldoni is continuing to speak out in support of domestic violence survivors. Baldoni took to Instagram to share a lengthy love letter he wrote to survivors, praising them for everything they do to thrive, even in the darkest situations. The letter comes on the heels of rumors of an alleged rift between him and his co-star, Blake Lively, on the set of the film adaption of Colleen Hoover’s novel. The story.
—"Enhancing performer protections." SAG-AFTRA is praising the California state Senate for passing a law that restricts the usage of artificial intelligence-created digital replicas of dead performers. The actors union shared in a statement shortly after the passage of AB 1836 on Saturday. The bill now heads to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk, and he will have until the end of September to decide whether to sign it into law, veto it or allow it to become law without his signature. Earlier this week, the state Senate also passed AB 2602, which tightens consent requirements for digital replicas of living performers. The story.
—ICYMI. The first televised interview with Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris and her VP pick, Tim Walz, drew a sizable audience for CNN on Thursday night. The 50-minute interview with CNN anchor Dana Bash drew 6.31m viewers, according to final same-day ratings from Nielsen. That’s up from 5.99m in earlier ratings, which didn’t include out of home viewing. The 6.31m viewers is CNN’s best performance in the 9 p.m. ET hour since more than 9.5m people tuned in for the June 27 debate between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. The story. |
George R.R. Martin Says He'll Reveal Everything "Wrong" With 'HOTD' ►Can't be good. George R.R. Martin is suggesting he’s about to go “dracarys!” on House of the Dragon. The Game of Thrones author and HOTD co-creator posted an eyebrow-raising message on his blog Friday, saying he’s going to reluctantly describe what’s gone wrong with the hit series. Innocuously snuggled into the bottom of a blog post about a Santa Fe festival, Martin added, “I do not look forward to other posts I need to write, about everything that’s gone wrong with HOUSE OF THE DRAGON… but I need to do that too, and I will." The story.
—Running up that (tree) hill. Netflix is in early development on a sequel series to the former CW mainstay One Tree Hill. Hilarie Burton Morgan and Sophia Bush are set to reprise their roles from that series and will also serve as executive producers alongside their former co-star Danneel Ackles. Warner Bros. Television, which produced One Tree Hill, is also behind the potential sequel. Firefly Lane scribe Becky Hartman Edwards is writing the follow-up. One Tree Hill aired for nine seasons on The WB and The CW, following the lives of a group of high schoolers in a fictional North Carolina town. The story.
—Deceased. Netflix has canceled Dead Boy Detectives, the series set in the same fictional universe as The Sandman. The news comes about four months after the show’s eight-episode first season premiered on Netflix. The series, starring George Rexstrew and Jayden Revri as the title characters, earned largely positive reviews. It ranked among Nielsen’s top 10 original streaming series twice following its premiere. The story. |
'Reagan' Stutters at the Box Office ►Quiet one. THR's Pamela McClintock writes that Labor Day weekend is never a big holiday for moviegoing, as most moviegoers mark the end of summer with other activities, and this year is no exception. Deadpool & Wolverine stayed No. 1 in its sixth outing and crosses $600m domestically, becoming only the 16th film in history to do so, not adjusted for inflation.
The only newcomer landing in the upper reaches of the chart is the indie biopic Reagan, starring Dennis Quaid and based on Paul Kengor’s book The Crusader: Ronald Reagan and the Fall of Communism. The film came in No. 4 with just shy of $10m. Receiving blistering reviews — its critics score is 18 percent on Rotten Tomatoes — Reagan fared better with audiences, who gave the biopic an A CinemaScore. Box office analysts knew the film would play older but hoped the attention surrounding the 2024 presidential election would broaden the audience, with no such luck. Roughly 85 percent of ticket buyers are over the age of 35 — including an unheard of 66 percent over the age of 55. The box office report.
—Snapped up. Matt Tyrnauer’s Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid, one of the buzziest docs that premiered at Telluride Film Festival, has been acquired by CNN Films for television and SVOD. It will debut on CNN on Oct. 5, at 7 p.m. ET and will stream on Max later this fall, when it separately will receive an Oscar-qualifying run and theatrical release. Carville chronicles an 18-month period during which its subject, legendary Democratic political strategist James Carville, was at the forefront of the effort to convince Joe Biden to not seek re-election. The story.
—🎭 Big screen brat 🎭 Charli XCX has landed her second live-action film role in the latest feature from Gregg Araki. The Brit singer-songwriter will star in I Want Your Sex alongside Olivia Wilde and Licorice Pizza breakout Cooper Hoffman. Karley Sciortino and Araki co-wrote the film that is set to begin production this October in L.A. The film tells the story of a man who becomes the sexual muse for an artist, but he discovers he's out of his depth in a "world of sex, obsession, power, betrayal and murder." The story. |
Venice Ovation Watch: 'Brutalist' Brutalizes With Brutal Clapathon ►13-bloody-minutes! Brady Corbet's The Brutalist was the talk of the Lido on Sunday as the seven-years-in-the-making period epic finally received its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival's historic Sala Grande cinema. The audience inside the premiere erupted in applause as the credits began to roll on the film’s epic three-hour, 35-minute running time, giving Corbet and his cast a rousing, festival-best 13-minute standing ovation. Stars Adrien Brody and Felicity Jones looked teary at times by the effusive reaction to the movie. The story.
—8-minutes! Pablo Larraín’s Maria, with Angelina Jolie as the famed opera singer Maria Callas, was music to the ears of the audience seated inside Sala Grande on Thursday night. The Venice crowd responded to the world premiere with an electric eight-minute standing ovation that saw its star in tears at one point. The story.
—7+ minutes! Venice hosted the world premiere of Justin Kurzel’s new neo-Nazi crime thriller The Order on Saturday night on the Lido. The audience inside the Sala Grande responded to the dark tale with a rapturous standing ovation for stars Jude Law and Nicholas Hoult. The applause went on more than seven minutes, during which time Law and Hoult embraced as well as clapped in the direction of the audience below to thank them for the reception. The story.
—7-minutes! Halina Reijn’s Babygirl, the erotic thriller from A24 had its world premiere on Friday evening on the Lido. The audience jumped to their feet as the credits rolled with warm, enthusiastic applause and whoops and hollers for the cast, especially for star Nicole Kidman. The standing ovation continued for a solid seven minutes with waves of clapping and cheering. “You nailed it!” yelled one audience member. “Slayed it! Erotic thriller slay!” The story.
—5-minutes! The Lido was in a frenzy for Wolfs. Backed by the star power of its veteran A-list stars, Brad Pitt and George Clooney, the Jon Watts-directed film from Apple and Sony had a triumphant world premiere late Sunday night. Once the final frames hit the screen and the credits rolled, Wolfs received a nearly five-minute standing ovation. Pitt and Clooney seemed to be soaking up the attention, with Pitt singing along to Sade and Clooney offering a “Grazie” to close it out. The story. |
Film Review: 'The Brutalist' ►"As bold and ambitious as the project it chronicles." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Brady Corbet's Venice competition entry, The Brutalist. Adrien Brody, Felicity Jones, Guy Pearce and Joe Alwyn star in the epic story of a Hungarian Jewish architect who flees Europe after the war to build a new life in America. The review.
—"Kink as self-acceptance therapy." David reviews Halina Reijn's Venice competition entry, Babygirl. Nicole Kidman, Harris Dickinson, Antonio Banderas and Sophie Wilde star in this story of a tightly wound CEO finds release through a torrid affair with an intern in Reijn’s second English-language feature, following 2022's Bodies Bodies Bodies. The review.
—"Disappeared but not silenced." David reviews Walter Salles' Venice competition entry, I’m Still Here. The film stars Fernanda Torres as a mother of five children who reinvents herself as a lawyer and activist after suffering a devastating loss at the height of Brazil’s military dictatorship. The review.
—"A beautiful triumph of adaptation." For THR, Caryn James reviews Scott McGehee and David Siegel's The Friend. The Montana Story filmmakers adapt Sigrid Nunez's beloved novel about a writer mourning her late pal while dealing with the enormous dog he left behind. The review.
—"Near perfection." Caryn reviews Embeth Davidtz's Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight. The South African actress makes her directorial debut with a Zimbabwe-set drama based on Alexandra Fuller's 2001 memoir, and anchored by a remarkable star turn from a 7-year-old. The review.
—"Farm fresh." THR's Leslie Felperin reviews Athina Rachel Tsangari's Venice competition entry, Harvest. The latest feature by the Greek Weird Wave filmmaker is an adaptation of Jim Crace's acclaimed novel and stars Caleb Landry Jones and Harry Melling. The review. |
Film Review: 'Conclave' ►"A riveting peek behind the curtains of religious power." THR's Stephen Farber reviews Edward Berger's Conclave. Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow star in this film about the behind-the-scenes workings of choosing a new pope after the death of the previous pontiff. The review.
—"Strong concept, middling execution." Stephen reviews Jason Reitman's Saturday Night. Gabriel LaBelle, Rachel Sennott, Willem Dafoe, Dylan O'Brien and J.K. Simmons are among the ensemble in this dramatization of the 90 minutes before the big premiere of Saturday Night Live in 1975. The review.
—"A lively tribute." Stephen reviews Matt Tyrnauer's Carville: Winning Is Everything, Stupid. Tyrnauer focuses on Democratic operative James Carville's long career and his unlikely marriage to Republican adviser Mary Matalin. The review.
—"Makes for an entertaining but evasive star subject." THR's Dan Fienberg reviews R.J. Cutler's Martha. The lifestyle goddess and Snoop Dogg's buddy gets up close and only occasionally personal in the new Netflix film from the September Issue director. The review.
—"A persuasive primer." Dan reviews Bonni Cohen, Pedro Kos and Jon Shenk's The White House Effect. Using only archival footage, the directors lay out how George H.W. Bush went from promising to be the environmental president to … not. The review. |
Film Review: 'Wolfs' ►"Still cool as cucumbers." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Jon Watts' Wolfs. The Spider-Man: No Way Home filmmaker wrote and directed this New York-set action comedy starring Brad Pitt and George Clooney, which will roll out on Apple TV+ after it premiered to much fanfare at the Venice Film Festival. The review.
—"Amour actually." Jordan reviews Emmanuel Mouret's Venice competition entry Three Friends. Call My Agent star Camille Cottin leads an ensemble cast in prolific writer-director Mouret’s latest romantic dramedy. The review.
—"Never rises above its intriguing subject matter." Jordan reviews Gianni Amelio's Venice competition entry Battleground. The film stars Alessandro Borghi and Gabriel Montesi as physicians with opposing views on their duties to injured soldiers and the battle they're fighting. The review.
—"A gripping true story of American violence." Jordan reviews Justin Kurzel's Venice competition entry, The Order. Jude Law, Nicholas Hoult, Tye Sheridan and Jurnee Smollett star in a film that tracks the rise and fall of a violent far-right group in 1980s rural Washington. The review.
—"Drugs are recommended." Jordan reviews Harmony Korine's Baby Invasion. The Spring Breakers director and his EDGLRD production studio continue to strip away the boundaries between movies and video games in this Venice world premiere. The review.
—"Seller beware." Jordan reviews Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Cloud. The Japanese genre maestro’s latest feature follows an ambitious merchant who gets in way over his head while trying to make a fortune on the internet. The review. |
Film Review: 'The End' ►"Striking vision, shaky execution." THR's Lovia Gyarkye reviews Joshua Oppenheimer's The End. The last family on Earth finds their careful facade disrupted by a stranger in this narrative debut from the documentarian, starring Tilda Swinton, Michael Shannon, George MacKay and Moses Ingram. The review.
—"A standout turn steals the show." Lovia reviews Malcolm Washington's The Piano Lesson. Two siblings fight over the fate of a family heirloom in the Netflix film adaptation of August Wilson's play produced by Denzel Washington and starring Danielle Deadwyler, John David Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. The review.
—"Big on heart, scant on details." Lovia reviews Morgan Neville's Piece by Piece. Premiering at Telluride, the filmmaker's latest chronicles the early years and success of Pharrell Williams exclusively through LEGO animation. The review.
—"A revelation." Lovia reviews RaMell Ross' Nickel Boys. Two Black boys navigate a punishing reform school in the Hale County This Morning, This Evening director's film starring Brandon Wilson, Ethan Herisse and Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor. The review.
—"A clear-eyed and cogent appeal." Lovia reviews Maisie Crow and Abbie Perrault's Zurawski v Texas. Hillary and Chelsea Clinton and Jennifer Lawrence produced this chronicle of four women involved in a high-stakes lawsuit against restrictive abortion laws. The review.
—"A tasty appetizer, if not a full meal." Lovia reviews Matt Tyrnauer's Nobu. In this doc, Tyrnauer chronicles how star chef Nobu Matsuhisa became a global phenomenon. The review.
In other news...
—Netflix's new releases coming in September
—Amazon Prime Video’s new releases coming in September
—Yellowstone releases teaser trailer for final S5 episodes
—Carrie Coon, Lauren Lapkus deal with parenting foibles in Another Happy Day trailer
—K-pop star Karina of Aespa tapped as Prada brand ambassador
—EVA Air unveils new “besties” Hello Kitty plane
—Betty A. Bridges, actress and mother of Todd Bridges, dies at 83
What else we're reading...
—Doyle McManus looks at why Donald Trump is flailing so badly at landing an attack on Kamala Harris [LAT]
—Preetika Rana reports on the very public bickering between Silicon Valley oligarchs over the increasingly fractious presidential election [WSJ]
—Sara Ashley O’Brien and Shalini Ramachandran have a deep dive on L.A.'s "ketamine queen," the drug dealer involved in the death of Matthew Perry [WSJ]
—Mark Brown reports that Morrissey accepted a “lucrative offer” this summer for a Smiths reunion tour – but Johnny Marr ignored it [Guardian]
—Daniel Thomas and Eri Sugiura report that the U.K. will probe "dynamic pricing" used by Ticketmaster after a fan revolt over Oasis ticket sales [FT]
Today...
...in 2015, Broad Green Pictures released Ken Kwapis' A Walk in the Woods in theaters. Robert Redford, Nick Nolte, Kristen Schaal, Mary Steenburgen, Nick Offerman and Emma Thompson starred in this feature adaptation of Bill Bryson's comic novel. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Keanu Reeves (60), Salma Hayek (58), Mark Harmon (73), Damson Idris (33), Nicholas Pinnock (51), Jonathan Goldstein (56), Brad Ableson (49), Cynthia Watros (56), Gavin Casalegno (25), Linda Purl (69), Austin Abrams (28), Eugenio Derbez (63), Merritt Patterson (34), Allison Miller (39), Kristen Cloke (56), Tim Key (48), Lala Kent (34), Mary Jo Catlett (86), Tuc Watkins (58), Ella Rubin (23), Rosanna DeSoto (74), Katt Williams (53), Jonathan Kite (45), Tiffany Hines (41), Riley B. Smith (19), Sandra Knight (85), Devrim Özkan (26), Gustaf Hammarsten (57), Samantha Quan (49), Michael Dante (93), Roberto Urbina (41) |
| Linda Deutsch, a special correspondent for The Associated Press who for nearly 50 years wrote glittering first drafts of history for many of the nation’s most significant criminal and civil trials — Charles Manson, O.J. Simpson, Michael Jackson, among many others —has died. She was 80. The obituary. |
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