| | | | | | What's news: Sundance's opening night film Twinless suffered technical glitches. Joel McHale is replacing Patton Oswalt as the host of Fox's The 1% Club. CNN is a radically shaking up its lineup. Steve Mosko is exiting Village Roadshow. — Abid Rahman
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Oscar Noms: Why 'Emilia Pérez' Dominated and Will Be Hard to Beat ►"A reflection of the increasing internationalization of the Academy." In case anyone needed a reminder that “Film Twitter” and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are not populated by the same people, Emilia Pérez, the polarizing French-directed, Spanish-language musical about a trans Mexican gangster, landed a field-leading 13 Oscar nominations on Thursday morning. THR's executive editor of awards Scott Feinberg looks at why Emilia Pérez could go all the way and finally land Netflix a best picture prize. The analysis.
—Feinberg's first post-noms projections. After the Oscar nominations were unveiled, Scott sat down and updated his projections on the likely winners. Currently projected to win the most awards: Emilia Perez (five), The Brutalist (three) and Anora, Wicked and The Wild Robot (two each). The forecast. |
Lively, Reynolds Seek Gag Order Against Baldoni's Lawyer ►The back-and-forth continues. Within hours of Justin Baldoni‘s team leaking footage from the set of It Ends With Us, attorneys for Blake Lively in a letter moved for the court overseeing her civil rights lawsuit to impose a gag order against Baldoni lawyer Bryan Freedman. They accused him of effectively continuing the alleged smear campaign against Lively by repeatedly talking to the press, leaking information to gain public favor for his clients and issuing false statements. In a move atyptical of his litigation strategy, Freedman didn’t himself provide a comment, but sources close to Baldoni say it’s “grossly unfair to impose a gag order after Justin has been defamed by The New York Times in an article that they say has cost him three jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars.” The story.
—"I was sort of surprised that this is the clip that his team leaked." Leaked behind-the-scenes footage of a seemingly innocuous slow-dance scene from the set of It Ends With Us is quickly becoming the Zapruder tape for followers of the feud between Blake Lively and Justin Baldoni. THR's Rebecca Keegan asked Mia Schachter, an intimacy coordinator who has worked on Apple TV+’s Lessons in Chemistry, HBO’s Insecure and FX’s American Crime Story, to watch the footage and share their thoughts. The story. |
NBCU Reorganizes TV Group Under Pearlena Igbokwe, Frances Berwick ►Shake-up. NBCUniversal is undertaking a major reorganization of its TV business. Donna Langley, who was elevated to chairman of NBCUniversal Entertainment and Studios in November, announced Thursday in a memo to staff that the company will combine its TV studios, NBC Entertainment, Bravo and Peacock under one roof as part of a newly formed Universal Television Entertainment Group. Universal Studio Group chair Pearlena Igbokwe will add the NBC broadcast network and Peacock’s scripted output to her portfolio as chairman, television studios, NBC Entertainment and Peacock scripted. NBCU Entertainment chairman Frances Berwick, meanwhile, will oversee Bravo — moving back to the network she once ran — and unscripted programming at Peacock. The story.
—Exiting. Village Roadshow CEO Steve Mosko has stepped down. The move comes after the company had recently been sanctioned by the WGA and had faced financial challenges, which led to layoffs. The company is owned by Vine Alternative Investments. Village Roadshow was once a close collaborator with Warner Bros., including partnering on the Ocean’s Eleven and Matrix franchises. However, the company has been involved in arbitration with the studio after filing a lawsuit over the day-and-date release of 2021’s The Matrix Resurrections. Mosko joined the company in 2018 after a 24-year run at Sony Pictures Television. The story.
—🤝 Deal extension 🤝 Lionsgate has extended its multiyear film licensing deal with Starz to bring nearly 20 studio film titles to the streaming platform’s premium channels and services annually. Upcoming releases headed to Starz include the third installment of Now You See Me, Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping, the Michael Jackson biopic and Ballerina. The licensing deal extension comes as Lionsgate continues to move towards completing a proposed separation of its studio operations from Starz, its pay TV and streaming business. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Peter Chernin’s North Road Company has acquired Mexican production company Perro Azul, the company behind Netflix’s most-watched show produced in Mexico and Latin America entitled Who Killed Sara? (¿Quién mató a Sara?). This is North Road’s first acquisition in Latin America and comes as the company seeks to strengthen North Road’s international presence. Perro Azul’s founding partners, Alexis Fridman and Juan Uruchurtu, will remain in their leadership roles, as will the company’s executive producers Diego Rabasa and Julián de Tavira. Fridman and Uruchurtu will report to Jan Frouman, president of North Road International. The story.
—"He is an outstanding executive with a strong track record across both the business and creative sides of the industry." American Idol producer 19 Entertainment is getting a new leader in its music division. The Sony Pictures Television-owned company, headed by Holzman and Aaron Saidman, has named Joey Arbagey as executive vp music. Arbagey, formerly of Epic Records, will oversee 19’s music business connected to the roster of artists who launched their careers on Idol. He’ll report to Holzman and Rachel Dax, executive vp production for Sony Pictures TV Nonfiction. The story. |
CNN Shakes Up TV Lineup ►Time shifts. CNN is getting a revamped lineup, with a number of familiar faces moving to new roles or time periods. Among the changes: The Lead anchor Jake Tapper will move to 5-7 p.m., filling a critical early primetime period for news; Kasie Hunt will host The Arena at 4 p.m.; Audie Cornish will join CNN This Morning at 6 a.m.; Rahel Solomon will host 5 Things at 5 a.m.; and Wolf Blitzer and Pamela Brown will move to the 10 a.m. time slot with a new version of The Situation Room. The story.
—The ol' switcheroo. The game show The 1% Club is getting a second season — and a bit of an overhaul. For starters, the show will be exclusive to Fox for season two, after season one ran on both the broadcast network and Amazon Prime Video. The show will also have a new host, with Joel McHale taking over from Patton Oswalt. The 1% Club will be McHale’s third Fox show — he also stars in the network’s comedy Animal Control and hosts the oddball cooking competition Crime Scene Kitchen. The story.
—Moving to daytime. CBS is going all out to get its new version of Hollywood Squares in front of viewers — including those who watch TV during the day. The game show, hosted by Nate Burleson and featuring Drew Barrymore in the center square, will get a weeklong daytime run starting Jan. 27. It will air at 2 p.m. ET/1 p.m. CT and feature encores of primetime episodes. Hollywood Squares will take the place of The Price Is Right repeats in CBS’ daytime lineup for the week (new episodes of the latter show will still air earlier in the day). In some markets, Hollywood Squares will also serve as the lead-in to Barrymore’s daytime talk show. The story.
—Post-Venu offer. Comcast Xfinity launching a new skinny (or at least skinnier) streaming bundle of channels focused on sports and news programming. The offering, Sports & News TV, is available to Xfinity internet customers for $70 per month, and includes all the major broadcast networks, as well as most (but not all) cable sports and news channels. It also includes a subscription to Peacock, 300 hours of cloud DVR storage, and access to FAST channels directly in the app. The story.
—Monster hit. Christmas week brought a bounty of viewing to streaming platforms, with eight titles crossing the billion-minute mark in Nielsen’s streaming ratings. Netflix’s Squid Game, however, stood well apart from the pack. The Korean hit posted the highest single-week viewing tally for any streaming title in the U.S. in 2024 with 4.92b minutes of viewing for the week of Dec. 23-29. Season two Squid Game premiered Dec. 26. The show’s premiere week was the best for any title in two years, in fact — since Wednesday delivered about 5.3b minutes of viewing for the week of Nov. 28-Dec. 4, 2022. Squid Game also smashed its own previous high of 3.26b minutes during season one’s run in 2021. The streaming rankings. |
'Captain America 4' Tracking for $90M-Plus U.S. Debut ►Looking good. If early tracking is right, Marvel Studios' Captain America: Brave New World should open to at least $90m-plus over the combined Valentine’s Day/Presidents' Day weekend, one of the top showings ever for the holiday. That’s the same weekend the first Deadpool opened, as well as the first Black Panther . This year’s first all-audience event pic opens on Feb. 14. It’s back to the basics for Marvel when it comes to the movie, which sees an entirely new cast. Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson take up the mantle of Captain America, the hero previously played by Chris Evans. Tonally, the movie stays away from sci-fi elements and the multiverse and features an entirely new cast. It also cost around $180m, less than many other Marvel movies. The box office report. |
'Twinless' Wins Over Sundance on Opening Night, Despite Glitch ►"A really, really special night for us." The 2025 edition of the Sundance Film Festival unspooled in Park City, Utah on Thursday with a packed schedule of red carpet premieres and Main Street-set parties. The night’s centerpiece showing came courtesy of Sundance newbie James Sweeney, who presented the world premiere of his sophomore feature, Twinless, in which he co-stars opposite Dylan O’Brien. THR's Chris Gardner and Mia Galuppo report that just as the movie was set to start, the screen went black and the lights in the Eccles Center Theatre came up. A Sundance staffer came on the stage to inform the capacity crowd of 1,200 that the screening would be delayed. Technical issues aside, the film was very warmly received to help kick off this year's festival. The recap.
—Hot list. There’s a feeling that this year’s Sundance will be business as usual, whatever “usual” may mean in this post-pandemic, post-strikes and post-M&A moment — and now the L.A. wildfires. Mia Galuppo writes that the tech giants, which long have pared back their festival buying sprees, are starting to differentiate themselves among sellers as either being theatrically friendly (Amazon) and not-so-much (Apple, Netflix). As for what’s on sale this year, there are decidedly fewer commercial offerings compared to last year’s Thelma, Presence and My Old Ass. Nonetheless, there are a few splashy titles at this year’s market, including the latest musical from Bill Condon (Kiss of the Spider Woman ), Justin Lin’s return to indie filmmaking (Last Days) and plenty (like, a lot) of potential breakouts from first-time feature filmmakers. The list.
—"We both acknowledge the importance of our past but also the necessity of thinking about long-term viability for us." Mia spoke to Sundance CEO Amanda Kelso about the festival's plans to move location (or not). The longtime tech exec steered Sundance through the pandemic. Now, she is helping the hard-pressed nonprofit figure out its next act (possibly in Cincinnati). The interview. |
Film Review: 'Pee-Wee as Himself' ►"Thoughtful, funny and introspective." THR's Daniel Fienberg reviews Matt Wolf's Pee-Wee as Himself. Culled from 40 hours of interviews and thousands of hours of archival footage, the Sundance-premiering doc gives Paul Reubens his own posthumous spotlight. The review.
—"An immediate yet contemplative look at modern warfare." Daniel reviews Mstyslav Chernov's Sundance world cinema documentary competition entry, 2000 Meters to Andriivka. The latest doc from the 20 Days in Mariupol helmer is a new story of the Ukrainian counteroffensive and the slow, deadly effort to liberate a tiny village. The review.
—"Last night the DJ saved his life." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Georgi M. Unkovski's Sundance world cinema dramatic competition entry, DJ Ahmet. A North Macedonian farm boy's love of EDM sets him on a path of small-town rebellion in the feature filmmaking debut from Unkovski. The review. |
Film Review: 'Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius)' ►"A sobering love letter." THR's Lovia Gyarkye reviews Questlove's Sly Lives! (aka the Burden of Black Genius). In his follow-up to Summer of Soul, the award-winning producer and filmmaker explores the legacy of legendary musician Sly Stone and the challenges faced by Black artists in America. The review.
—"A soggy rainbow flag." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Sophie Hyde's Jimpa. Starring Olivia Colman and John Lithgow, Hyde’s latest centers on a filmmaker navigating the cross currents between her nonbinary teenager and her hedonistic gay father while working on a project about the end of her parents’ marriage. The review.
—"Takes its time but slowly creeps up on you." David reviews Cole Webley's Sundance U.S. dramatic competition entry, Omaha. Starring John Magaro, Webley’s debut feature, penned by The Killing of Two Lovers writer-director Robert Machoian, follows a family road trip in the wake of shattering loss. The review. |
Film Review: 'Flight Risk' ►"Fasten your seatbelts, it's a bumpy ride." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Mel Gibson's Flight Risk. Mark Wahlberg, Michelle Dockery and Topher Grace star in this movie about a U.S. Marshall, her mob-connected witness and a hit man posing as a pilot. The review.
—"Cinematically eloquent." Frank reviews Jennifer Tiexiera and Guy Mossman's Sundance U.S. documentary competition entry, Speak. The documentary follows five teenagers as they prepare for a national oratory competition. The review.
—"Speaks volumes." THR's Leslie Felperin reviews Shoshannah Stern's Sundance U.S. documentary competition entry Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore. The doc features extensive interviews with Matlin and covers, among many things, the abuse she alleges she suffered at the hands of William Hurt. 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 A Complete Unknown star Ed Norton. The now four-time Oscar-nominated actor, who is widely regarded as among the best of his generation, reflects on the explosive start to his screen career, collaborations with his era's greatest auteurs and why he was so impressed with his latest film's helmer, James Mangold, and star, Timothée Chalamet. Listen here.
In other news...
—Grammys performers: Billie Eilish, Sabrina Carpenter, Charli XCX and Chappell Roan
—Oscars 2025: How to watch the nominated films online
—Jack De Mave, actor on Lassie and The Mary Tyler Moore Show, dies at 91
What else we're reading...
—Claire Cain Miller, Kate Conger and Mike Isaac report that Instagram and Facebook blocked and hid abortion pill providers’ posts [NYT]
—Guy Chazan wonders what happened to the Trump resistance movement [FT]
—Reflected on the Oscar nominations, Kyndall Cunningham writes that it has been an "odd year" for film [Vox]
—Emily Nicolle explains why Trump pardoned Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht [Bloomberg]
—Here's your Friday list: "Every Paul Schrader movie, ranked" [Vulture]
Today...
...in 2019, Roadside Attractions released Todd Robinson's The Last Full Measure in theaters. The Vietnam War film starred Sebastian Stan, Christopher Plummer, William Hurt, Ed Harris, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irvine, and Peter Fonda and was notable for being the final onscreen film performances for Plummer and Fonda. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Carrie Coon (44), Kristen Schaal (47), Regé-Jean Page (37), Ed Helms (51), Daveed Diggs (43), Tatyana Ali (46), Mischa Barton (39), Ruth Bradley (38), Matthew Lillard (55), Nastassja Kinski (64), Rose Reid (26), Michael Ontkean (79), Jonah Bobo (28), Frankie Grande (42), Callan McAuliffe (30), Michael Provost (27), Stephen Huszar (41), Julie Dreyfus (59), Michael Des Barres (77), Jonathan Aris (54), Caleb Hearon (30), Adrian Edmondson (68), Jordan Claire Robbins (35), Johann Urb (48), Daniel Auteuil (75), Peter Woodward (69), Guz Khan (39), Edward Atterton (63), Mark Hildreth (47), Kenya Moore (54), Justin Baldoni (41) |
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