| | | | | | What's news: Comcast is weighing a spinoff of its cable networks. Peacock now has 36m paying subscribers. Roku will stop giving quarterly updates on the number of streaming households. Disney is adding a Top 10 list to Disney+. Puerto Rican reggaeton star Nicky Jam reversed his support of Donald Trump. Arnold Schwarzenegger is throwing his support behind Kamala Harris. — Abid Rahman
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Inside Ridley Scott's Producing Empire ►"Tell me the film in two sentences." Ridley Scott's production company Scott Free is on a hot streak, with plenty of big projects coming up, including the FX's Alien: Earth series, Amazon's Blade Runner: 2099 show and the imminent big screen arrival of Gladiator II. THR's James Hibberd went behind the scenes at Scott Free, and talked to the legendary British filmmaker about how he picks his projects, and his one real business regret. The story.
—"We are not ready to talk about any specifics yet, but we’ll be back to you if and when we reach firm conclusions." Comcast president Mike Cavanagh said that the company is weighing a spinoff of its cable networks, which include USA Network, Bravo, MSNBC, CNBC and Syfy. Speaking on the company's Q3 earnings conference call on Thursday, Cavanagh emphasized that the NBC broadcast network and Peacock would remain with the core company. The story.
—Olympian effort. Peacock grew its Q3 revenue and narrowed its loss to $436m from a loss of $565m in the year-ago period, but the loss widened a bit compared with the loss of $348m posted for Q2 of 2024 on higher programming costs, driven by the Summer Olympics in Paris. Boosted by the Games, however, the streamer grew its revenue and ended September with 36m paying subscribers, compared with 33m as of the end of June. The results.
—Exiting. International television executive, and producing pioneer, Rola Bauer is stepping down from her post as head of pan-English scripted SVOD TV at Amazon Studios. After several years at the global streamer, producing series starring the likes of Sophie Turner, Bill Nighy, Riz Ahmed and Robin Wright, Bauer said she wanted to “return to my entrepreneurial roots.” Bauer was President of International Television Productions at MGM when, in May 2021, Amazon bought the studio in an $8.5b deal. Following the merger, she was put in charge of a new division, pan-English global originals, developing and producing English-language series outside the U.S. The story.
—Flexing. Meta Platforms Inc., the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, handily beat Wall Street estimates in its Q3 earnings, delivering revenue of $40.6b, net income of $15.7b and earnings per share of $6.03, all up substantially from 2023. The Street had been targeting revenue of $40.3b and EPS of $5.25. However, the company also reiterated that it expects to grow its spending over the next year as it leans into AI, warning investors that “given this, along with the back-end weighted nature of our 2024 capital expenditures, we expect a significant acceleration in infrastructure expense growth next year as we recognize higher growth in depreciation and operating expenses of our expanded infrastructure fleet.” The results.
—Going strong. Imax continues to leverage Hollywood’s ongoing box office recovery as the film technologies company unveiled its third-quarter financial results on Wednesday. With cinema-going rebounding post-Hollywood strikes, Imax posted revenue of $91.5m for the latest financial quarter, down 12 percent from revenue of $103.9m during the year-ago period when Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer played on its screens. Q3 profits at $13.9m was up 16 percent on profits of $12m in Q3 last year. The results.
—Transparency be damned. Roku beat Wall Street expectations for its Q3 and said it will stop giving quarterly updates on the number of streaming households, and average revenue per user, starting in the first quarter of 2025. This moves follows in the footsteps of Netflix, which set the same timeline. For Q3, Roku reported total net revenue of $1.062b, up 16 percent year-over-year and its first time hitting $1b in revenue, with gross profit of $480m. The results. |
Newsom's Production Incentives Plan May Need More to Halt Exodus ►"This industry is our rock." On Oct. 27, Gov. Gavin Newsom unveiled plans to more than double California’s current cap for a program that provides tax relief to the entertainment industry. It’s an aggressive bid to revitalize production across the state after it was decimated by the strikes and curb the yearslong flight of films and television series away from the region. THR's Winston Cho and Katie Kilkenny writes that whether those productions now opt to shoot in California at historically comparable levels will largely swing on other changes to the program outside of increasing the cap from $330m to $750m a year. The analysis.
—🤝 Equity deal 🤝 Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are making some big changes in Wrexham. The actors, Welcome to Wrexham stars and owners of the football club Wrexham AFC, are selling a minority stake in the club, and also acquiring a local brewery, in a bid to grow the club and its influence. Reynolds and Rob McElhenney are selling the stake to the Allyn family, a wealthy family based in upstate New York. They will become minority owners of Wrexham AFC, and are also involved in the acquisition of a new company: Wrexham Lager Beer Co. Ltd., through a new JV called Red Dragon Ventures. The story.
—🤝 Unscripted deal 🤝 NBA star Anthony Edwards is making a major push into unscripted TV, with his production venture Three-Fifths Media inking a deal with Brent Montgomery's Wheelhouse. Edwards, a star player for the Minnesota Timberwolves, is currently starring in the Netflix docuseries Starting 5. He launched Three-Fifths in 2019 with his partner and business manager Justin Holland. Wheelhouse is also using the deal to kickstart a Wheelhouse Sports label, which it will grow to fill a growing demand for sports-adjacent content from streaming services and TV channels. The story.
—🤝 First-look deal 🤝 Regina Hall is also getting into the unscripted TV business. The Girls Trip star, via her Rh Negative production company, has signed a first-look deal with MGM Alternative, the unscripted division of Amazon MGM Studios, to develop and produce shows across a range of unscripted genres, including game shows, true crime and docuseries. The first project under the deal is called Squad Games, a competition loosely inspired by Girls Trip that will feature “celebrities and their real-life BFFs on an exotic getaway where they compete in wild challenges.” The story.
—Play for engagement. Disney is adding a new feature to Disney+ that will be familiar to subscribers of Netflix. The entertainment giant is adding a Top 10 list to Disney+, which will highlight popular movies and TV series on the streaming platform. Notably, the list will be different for different subscribers, with the parental control settings impacting what is displayed, as well as the inclusion of Hulu titles for Disney Bundle subscribers. Similarly, users in different countries may have slightly different lists depending on the availability of content. The story. |
John Legend's Manager Pens Op-Ed on Predatory, "Toxic" Music Industry ►"We can clean it up." In light of sex trafficking allegations against Sean “Diddy” Combs, John Legend‘s longtime manager Ty Stiklorius has written an op-ed for The New York Times that extensively details the music industry’s “pervasive predatory culture” that “actively fostered sexual misconduct and exploited the lives and bodies of those hoping to make it in the business.” In the piece by Stiklorius, an Emmy-winning producer, she writes that women “have not been safe in recording studios, on tour buses, in green rooms or in office” in the music business. And it isn’t a bug of the industry, she says. “It’s a major feature.” The story.
—Rape allegation. Leland Wayne, the Grammy-winning rapper and producer known as Metro Boomin, has been sued for sexual battery by a woman who alleges he raped her at a California recording studio in 2016. Lawrence Hinkle, a lawyer for Wayne, denied the allegations, calling the lawsuit a “pure shakedown,” and said his client will countersue. He added, “Mr. Wayne refused to pay her months ago, and he refuses to pay her now. Vanessa LeMaistre, in a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Tuesday, says she met Wayne in 2016 in Las Vegas. A friend introduced her to the producer, who extended an invitation to visit him in California, where the alleged rape happened. The story.
—"I will always be an American before I am a Republican." Arnold Schwarzenegger is throwing his support behind Kamala Harris and Tim Walz ahead of next week’s presidential election. The famously Republican former governor of California took to X on Wednesday morning to share a lengthy post about who he’s supporting in the high-stakes election. Schwarzenegger began by explaining that he “hates” politics and doesn’t typically make the decision to endorse anyone in elections. He noted that he doesn’t really like either party at the moment and that while he’d like to tune out, he can’t right now. The story.
—Reversal. Puerto Rican reggaeton star Nicky Jam reversed his support of Donald Trump on Wednesday, telling followers he can no longer stand by the Republican nominee following racist remarks made by Tony Hinchcliffe at a rally last weekend. Jam had previously appeared at a Trump rally himself, where he was introduced (and misgendered) by the Republican nominee who told the crowd he was announcing the endorsement of “Latin music superstar Nicky Jam” and said, “do you know Nicky? She’s hot!” The story. |
Grammys Shocker: Awards Moving to Disney From CBS ►Major shakeup. The Grammys are getting a new home after more than 50 years on CBS. In a major shakeup of the TV awards landscape, the Grammy Awards will move to Disney outlets beginning in 2027. ABC, Hulu and Disney+ will simulcast the music industry honors under a 10-year deal that runs through 2036. The move will also make Disney the home of what are traditionally the two most watched awards telecasts in any given year, with the Grammys joining the Oscars. CBS will have the Grammys in 2025 and 2026, with the final year marking the end of more than half a century of broadcasting the awards. The story.
—All-in. CBS has ordered nine more episodes of Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage, the comedy spinoff of Young Sheldon that follows Sheldon’s older brother, Georgie (Montana Jordan), and his wife Mandy (Emily Osment) as they face the challenges of adulthood, parenting and marriage. The additional episodes will bring the show’s order to 22 for the season. Georgie & Mandy’s First Marriage is the third show in the Big Bang Theory franchise, and is set between the time periods of the long-running original and prequel Young Sheldon, whose seven-season run ended in May. Chuck Lorre, Steven Molaro and Steve Holland are co-creators and executive producers of the show from Warner Bros. The story.
—🎭 Classy addition 🎭 Boardwalk Empire star Kelly Macdonald has joined the cast of HBO and DC Studios’ high-profile superhero crime series Lanterns. Kyle Chandler and Aaron Pierre are starring in the crime drama, which hails from Chris Mundy, Damon Lindelof and Eisner Award-winning comic book writer Tom King. The trio are executive producing and writing, with Mundy showrunning what is planned as an eight-episode season. Lanterns is said to have a gritty, True Detective vibe and follows Hal Jordan (Chandler), a legend amongst the space police force known as the Green Lanterns, as he reluctantly mentors Stewart (Pierre), a younger Green Lantern. The story. |
Venomverse's Box Office Silver Lining: It’s Big Abroad ►Hardy traveler. There was plenty of opining when Venom: The Last Dance opened to a franchise-worst $51m in North America over the Oct. 25-27 weekend, but prospered overseas to boast a worldwide opening of $175m against a budget of $120m-plus. THR's Pamela McClintock and Aaron Couch write that it is easy to forget that Venom does staggering business overseas, with The Last Dance pulling off the biggest China opening ($46m) in recent memory. The analysis.
—🎭 Comeback 🎭 Armie Hammer is returning to the big screen after his Hollywood career came crashing down around him amid numerous sexual misconduct allegations. Hammer is set to star in Frontier Crucible, a period western from director Travis Mills and producer Dallas Sonnier. The actor teased his feature return on his Instagram page with photos of himself on the Frontier Crucible set and a front page of the movie’s script on the ground. There’s no word on which role Hammer will have in the western that also stars Myles Clohessy, Zane Holtz, Mary Stickley and Eddie Spears. The story.
—🎭 More hammer news 🎭 Idris Elba is set to star in and produce Hammer Down, an action feature that marks the directorial debut of Simon Hatt. In the film, Elba will play a big rig truck driver with a “no questions asked” policy about the goods he transports. When he takes his tenacious teenage daughter along for a job, they are tracked and attacked by a relentless group of criminals. Veteran producer Charles Roven, who won his first Oscar for Oppenheimer, is producing Hammer Down via his Atlas Entertainment along with the company’s Madison Weireter. Elba is also producing with Gina Carter via their 22Summers banner. Black Bear will offer the title at AFM. The story.
—🎭 Small to big screen 🎭 Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan, the adventure series that proved to be a hit for Amazon MGM, is heading to the movies. The company is developing a feature film that will see series topliner John Krasinski return to the titular role as the intrepid CIA analyst. Wendell Pierce is also set to return, while Michael Kelly is in negotiations to come back as well. Andrew Bernstein, who served as an executive producer and director on season two of the series, will direct the feature, which has a script penned by Aaron Rabin, who served as a co-executive producer and writer on season four. The story.
—In the works. Emily the Strange is getting the feature treatment from Warner Bros. Pictures Animation. The studio is collaborating with producer Bad Robot to adapt the illustrated character that was created 30 years ago by artist Rob Reger and the Cosmic Debris team. The multimillion-dollar universe of Emily the Strange and her four cats includes books, comics, games and a popular apparel line. Screenwriter Pamela Ribon, known for Nimona and My Year of Dicks, has been tapped to write the animated movie’s script. Reger and Trevor Duke-Moretz serve as executive producers on the project. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Channing Tatum-starrer Roofman will land in theaters Oct. 3, 2025, Paramount announced Wednesday. Kirsten Dunst and Peter Dinklage co-star. Based on a true story, Tatum stars as a former Army Ranger and struggling father who turns to robbing McDonald’s restaurants by cutting holes in their roofs, earning him the nickname “Roofman.” Derek Cianfrance is directing the true-crime pic from a script he wrote with Kirk Gunn. The story. |
Film Review: 'Absolution' ►"Neither the best nor the worst of Neeson’s action era." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Hans Petter Moland's Absolution. Liam Neeson stars in this contemplative thriller about a Boston underworld enforcer seeking to atone for his failings as a parent, also featuring Yolonda Ross, Frankie Shaw and Ron Perlman. The review.
—"Well-crafted and intriguing, if not always emotionally involving." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Philip Yung's Tokyo competition entry Papa. Premiering at the Tokyo International Film Festival, writer-director Yung's latest feature centers on a father whose teenage son commits a gruesome act of violence. The review.
In other news...
—Keira Knightley plays a badass action hero in Black Doves trailer
—Sex Lives of College Girls S3 trailer sees suitemates set to “step up our game”
—Daredevil: Born Again, Ironheart get first looks in Marvel’s Disney+ teaser
—THR Japan honors Shogun star Tadanobu Asano with Trailblazer Award
—Selena Gomez to receive Equity in Entertainment Award at THR’s Women in Entertainment Gala
—Santa Barbara Film Fest: Ralph Fiennes set for Performer of the Year Award
—Emilia Pérez to receive Palm Springs Film Festival’s Vanguard Award
—Andrea Frieder tapped as Wondery’s head of ad revenue
—Janelle Monáe transforms into iconic movie character for newest Halloween costume
What else we're reading...
—Shirin Ali looks at what it feels like to be a Puerto Rican voter in a swing state right now [Slate]
—Sophie Vershbow talks to ghostwriters and agents about what it is really like to put together a celebrity novel [Vulture]
—Gen Z has discovered Trump's infamous Access Hollywood tape and is appalled. Constance Grady writes that we should be too [Vox]
—Max Tani and Josh Billinson report that the Washington Post is paying to boost stories on social media critical of Trump as subscribers flee [Semafor]
—Rachel Wolfe reports on U.S. towns like Haddonfield and Sleepy Hollow that are cashing in on their Halloween appeal [WSJ]
Today...
...in 2014, Open Road Films released Dan Gilroy's Nightcrawler in theaters. The neo-noir thriller, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, was a huge critical and commercial success and made $50m at the box office. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Peter Jackson (63), Dermot Mulroney (61), Letitia Wright (31), Stephen Rea (78), Ruben Fleischer (50), Ron Rifkin (85), Willow Smith (24), Piper Perabo (48), Samaire Armstrong (44), Justin Chatwin (42), Erica Cerra (45), Nolan North (54), Danielle Rose Russell (25), Vanessa Marano (32), Patti Harrison (34), Brian Hallisay (46), Deidre Hall (77), Holly Taylor (27), Jane Wymark (72), Brian Doyle-Murray (79), Suzanna Son (29), Kether Donohue (39), Eddie Kaye Thomas (44), Mike O'Malley (58), Michael Kitchen (76), Kayla Wallace (36), Ken Wahl (70), David Dencik (50), Johnny Whitworth (49), Liv Lisa Fries (34), Michael J. Anderson (71), Michael DeLorenzo (65), Jordan-Claire Green (33) |
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