| | | | | | What's news: Netflix, Amazon, WBD, Sony and Paramount have followed Disney's lead in pledging money for wildfire relief. Sundance, and the Grammys will continue as planned. Beyoncé has postponed her big Jan. 14th news drop. Rachel Maddow will return to a nightly hosting role on MSNBC. — Abid Rahman
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How the 2025 Oscars Could Save Los Angeles (and Themselves) ►"I think the show should be a giant, all-in arts-based awareness-raiser." Awards shows are in a frenzy trying to figure out how to meet this fast-changing fires moment. THR's Steven Zeitchik writes that awards shows do have the ability to heal the soul, pointing to Barbra Streisand at the Emmys after Sept. 11, and he suggests a well-designed Academy Awards on March 2, with some tasteful tributes from victims and a no doubt powerful acceptance speech or two, would be exactly what Los Angeles and the country needs right now. The column.
—📅 Big shake-up 📅 The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has decided to reconfigure its Oscar season timetable for a second time out of sensitivity to the SoCal community, which is home to some 60 percent of its roughly 10,000 members. The 97th Academy Awards is still set for March 2, but the Oscar nominations voting window has been extended to 5 p.m. PT on Jan. 17, and the noms announcement will now take place at 5:30 a.m. PT on Jan. 23. The Scientific and Technical Awards, which was originally scheduled for Feb. 18, has been postponed, and will be rescheduled at a later date. The Oscar Nominees Luncheon, which was originally scheduled for Feb. 10, has been canceled. THR 's Scott Feinberg reports that four governors and a former CEO of the Academy have lost their homes to the flames. The story.
—"Come as you are." Late on the Monday, the American Cinema Editors postponed the 2025 ACE Eddie Awards. The 75th annual ceremony celebrating the best editing of the year in film, television and documentaries was originally set for Saturday. A new date announcement is coming soon, ACE said. As Angelenos continue to battle the ongoing wildfires, the Eddie Awards will pivot from a black-tie red carpet event to a “come as you are” community-building fundraiser, with a portion of ticket sales being donated to wildfire relief. The story.
—Delayed. The 2025 Writers Guild Awards nominations have been delayed again. The guild was originally set to announce this year’s nominees on Jan. 9, but the announcement was delayed until Monday due to the fires. Now the reveal has been pushed back again, with no new date currently. The story.
—🏆 Long live the fighters! 🏆 The Visual Effects Society has announced its nominees for the 2025 VES Awards, a celebration which annually “recognizes outstanding visual effects artistry and innovation in features animation, television, commercials, games and new media.” Dune: Part Two led the film nominations with seven nods, while Shogun and The Penguin tie in the episodic field with four each. The Wild Robot led the animation field with five. The nominees. |
TV Shows Resume L.A. Production ►Getting back to work. Several TV series are set to resume production this week, even as wildfires continue to burn in Los Angeles County. CBS’ NCIS, NCIS: Origins, The Neighborhood and Poppa’s House all went back to work Monday, as did ABC’s Jimmy Kimmel Live! and several shows from NBCUniversal, including Max’s Hacks and NBC’s Happy’s Place and Suits LA. Other shows, however, including CBS’ After Midnight and ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy, are still on hold. The four CBS series resuming production, all produced by CBS Studios, will work only on closed soundstages with close monitoring by the studio’s security, health and safety teams. The story.
—"It’s been a very scary, very stressful, very strange week in L.A." During his Monday night monologue, Jimmy Kimmel broke up in near tears several times while showing how close the wildfire was to their set on the major Los Angeles street of Hollywood Boulevard. The late-night host returned to Jimmy Kimmel Live! a week after the fires broke out to say, "It's been a sickening, shocking, awful experience but it's also been, in a lot of ways, a beautiful experience because once again we see our fellow men and women coming together to support each other." The recap.
—"Right now, we may mourn, but we also know it is important to carry on." The Sundance Film Festival will continue as planned in Park City. Sundance CEO Amanda Kelso and festival director Eugene Hernandez made the announcement Monday in a letter. The festival kicks off on Jan. 23. The fires have directly affected Sundance leadership. Michelle Satter, the Sundance Institute's beloved founding senior director of artist programs, lost her home in the Palisades Fire. The story.
—Studio money pours in. After Disney's $15m pledge towards relief efforts on Jan. 10, on Monday the other major Hollywood studios followed suit. Warner Bros. Discovery committed $15m in donations, Amazon, Comcast and Netflix directed $10m apiece and Sony pledged an additional $5m, while Paramount Global added $1m. The story.
—"Pure greed." Tyler Perry has called out insurance companies after reports of homeowner coverage not being renewed ahead of the devastation of the wildfires. Perry’s comments come after a Los Angeles Times report about how insurance companies chose not to renew home insurance policies in areas like Pacific Palisades and Altadena, which have since been ravaged by the fires. The story. |
Beyoncé Postpones Jan. 14th Announcement ►"I continue to pray for healing and rebuilding for the families suffering from trauma and loss." Beyoncé postponed her hotly anticipated announcement that was set for Jan. 14th amid the ongoing devastation of the wildfires. On the eve of the announcement, the singer’s official Instagram account posted a statement revealing the delay, as well as news of a $2.5m donation to fire relief efforts. After her halftime performance during Netflix’s NFL Christmas Gameday, Beyoncé first primed fans for a major news drop set for Jan. 14, with speculation of new music or a potential tour. The story.
—"This city is our home, and we mourn the loss of life and destruction that have come to it in recent days." The Recording Academy has reaffirmed that the 2025 Grammy Awards will still take place on Feb. 2 in Los Angeles, and added that the telecast will raise funds to support wildfire relief efforts. Multiple sources told THR in recent days that the Recording Academy was discussing whether the Grammys should be postponed or air as a fundraiser. The story.
—"[We] will redirect the resources that would have been used for those events to assist those affected by the wildfires." Universal Music Group, the parent label to acts like Ariana Grande, Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar, is canceling all of its Grammy-related events and will redirect those resources to aid wildfire relief efforts. UMG’s annual pre-Grammy artist showcase is where the label debuts new acts and highlights some of its top performers, who are usually nominated for several Grammys. The company has also debuted trailers for films and documentaries it produces at the brunch. The story.
—"I am humbled to answer the call." Carrie Underwood is set to perform at Trump's second inauguration. The country music star will sing “America the Beautiful” during the Jan. 20 swearing-in ceremony at the U.S. Capitol. The decision has shocked some of Underwood’s fans on social media, given the “Last Name” singer doesn’t have a history of being political. In 2017, Underwood also mocked Trump onstage during a performance at the CMA Awards as part of a parody song with Brad Paisley. The story. |
MSNBC Shake-Up: Rashida Jones Exits as President ►"MSNBC is well-positioned for the future." With a looming split from NBCUniversal, MSNBC will get a new president. Rashida Jones told staffers at the cable channel Tuesday morning that she will exit the company after four years leading MSNBC, adding that she came to the decision over the holidays. Mark Lazarus, who will be CEO of “SpinCo” once Comcast separates its cable TV channel business from the rest of NBCUniversal, said in a memo of his own Tuesday that Rebecca Kutler will step in as interim president of MSNBC, effective immediately. The story.
—Back in the big chair. MSNBC's star host Rachel Maddow will return to hosting her 9 p.m. show five nights per week later this month in a temporary move connected to the first 100 days of the Trump administration. Maddow currently only hosts her show on Monday nights, and on evenings with major news events. Alex Wagner hosts the 9 p.m. hour Tuesday through Friday. The temporary setup will see Maddow one again in the anchor chair every night at 9 starting on Inauguration Day, Jan. 20. Wagner, meanwhile, will be hitting the road for what MSNBC is calling Trumpland: The First 100 Days, in which she will travel the country reporting on the impact of Trump’s policies and impact. The story.
—Team in place. NBC News is adding new correspondents to its White House and Capitol Hill lineup. Peter Alexander will continue to serve as chief White House correspondent, leading the network’s coverage of the Trump administration. He will be joined by Garrett Haake as senior White House correspondent. Haake previously covered Capitol Hill for four years and President-elect Trump for more than two years. Yamiche Alcindor and Vaughn Hillyard will serve as White House correspondents. The story.
—Making bank. Pete Hegseth, the military veteran Fox News host and Trump pick to run the Pentagon, disclosed his salary at the cable news network as part of the next step in his confirmation process as a potential Cabinet official in the next administration. Hegseth stated that he earned $4,602,340 during a two-year period as a salary at the network, where he had co-hosted Fox & Friends Weekend since 2017 before stepping down from the role in November when he was nominated by Trump for the secretary of Defense role. The story.
—New era. Fox & Friends Weekend co-host Will Cain is set to replace Neil Cavuto in the 4 p.m. time slot on the Fox News. The launch of The Will Cain Show on Jan. 21 follows Cavuto leaving Fox News after 28 years. Cain’s new show will see the host bring a “signature podcast style,” the Fox News said on Monday, as conversations with newsmakers from across politics, business, culture and sports will be featured. Cain’s last appearance on Fox & Friends Weekend is set for Jan. 18, when he will be replaced by Fox News contributor Charlie Hurt as a new co-host. The story. |
'Succession' Creator Sets Next HBO Project ►Next up. Jesse Armstrong has landed on his follow-up to Succession at HBO — but it’s not a series project. Armstrong, who created the multiple Emmy-winning series, is now writing a feature film for HBO. He’ll also serve as an executive producer alongside Frank Rich; the two were EPs of Succession together, and both have overall deals at HBO. The movie is based on an original idea of Armstrong’s and will center on four friends who meet up in the midst of a global financial crisis. Production is currently fast-tracked to start later this year. The story.
—Making moves. Just over a month after Walmart closed a $2.3b deal to acquire Vizio to help further its ambitions in the connected TV advertising space, the retailer has unveiled a new bundling plan for consumers with two smaller streaming platforms. AMC+ and Starz will be bundled to Vizio customers at a rate of $13.99 a month (about $7 less than it’d cost if the subscriptions were purchased separately). Vizio, which disclosed in December that it had 19m accounts for its SmartCast operating system, is being leveraged by Walmart on a battlefield that also includes Roku, Samsung, Apple TV and Amazon’s Fire TV. The story.
—Exiting. Joey Levin, CEO of media company IAC, is set to depart the company. His departure comes as IAC’s board of directors approved a plan to spin off IAC’s stake in home services platform Angi, to shareholders. Levin will depart upon completion of the spinoff and will become executive chairman of Angi, working alongside CEO Jeff Kipp. IAC does not plan to appoint a new CEO. Rather, the company’s CFO, COO and chief legal officer will report directly to Barry Diller, chairman of IAC. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Production company Seaview has acquired the Off-Broadway Tony Kiser Theatre. The 296-seat theater in midtown had previously housed productions from the nonprofit theater company Second Stage Theater, which had staged a number of productions there, including the pre-Broadway run of Dear Evan Hansen, but gave up its lease at the end of 2024. Under the leadership of Seaview, the theater will be rebranded into a commercial Off-Broadway theater under the name Studio Seaview. The story. |
'Gladiator II' Production Designer on How They Expanded on Colosseum Vision ►"It’s hard to get away with anything with [Ridley]." THR's resident rascal Ryan Gajewski spoke to Gladiator II production designer Arthur Max about how they expanded upon Ridley Scott's vision for the awe-inspiring Colosseum scenes in the movie. Max, who earned an Oscar nomination for his work on the first Gladiator film, shares details about the iconic Roman structure that was re-created in Kalkara, Malta, and stood 46 feet high before being doubled in postproduction. The story.
In other news...
—Apple TV+'s Prime Target trailer: Leo Woodall is a mathematician uncovering a conspiracy
—First-look photos: Sally Wainwright’s punk rock TV drama Riot Women
—How to watch the new Sean Combs doc Diddy: The Making of a Bad Boy
—Jessica Simpson, Eric Johnson split after 10 years of marriage
—Michael Schlesinger, repertory executive and champion of films, dies at 74
—Oliviero Toscani, photographer behind provocative Benetton campaigns, dies at 82
What else we're reading...
—Doreen St. Félix reflects on the Blake Lively, Justin Baldoni revelations and the collapse of the Hollywood #MeToo era [New Yorker]
—Eugene Robinson writes that the MAGA schism between oligarch Elon Musk and ultranationalist Steve Bannon is only going to get uglier [WaPo]
—Rebecca Sun looks at why season two of Netflix's Squid Game has hit such a nerve around the world [NYT]
—James Poniewozik wonders why there's so much going on with opening title sequences of TV series at the moment [NYT]
—Laura Miller digs into why Harlan Coben’s Netflix shows have become a global addiction [Slate]
Today...
...in 2011, Sony released Michel Gondry's The Green Hornet in theaters. The superhero action comedy, which starred Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Christoph Waltz and Cameron Diaz, received mixed reviews and pretty meh box office returns. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Faye Dunaway (84), Steven Soderbergh (62), LL Cool J (57), Lawrence Kasdan (76), Dave Grohl (56), Jason Bateman (56), Emily Watson (58), Kevin Durand (51), Grant Gustin (35), Holland Taylor (82), Adjoa Andoh (62), Mark Addy (60), Peter Eggers (45), Kerri Green (58), Trieste Kelly Dunn (44), Zach Gilford (43), Jeanine Mason (34), Blake Ritson (47), Alana Boden (28), Jemma Redgrave (60), Jordan Ladd (50), Emma Greenwell (36), Aomi Muyock (36), Juan Pablo Raba (48), Christina Brucato (44), Tom Rosenthal (37), Steven Grayhm (44), Jennifer Dundas (54), Jake Choi (40) |
| John F. Burnett, the veteran film editor who cut Grease, And Justice for All and Murder by Death and films for directors George Cukor, Blake Edwards and Sydney Pollack, has died. He was 90. The obituary. |
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