| | | | | | What's news: AFM will return to L.A. for 2025 edition. Peacock has hit 36m subs. Netflix has ordered a Little House on the Prairie series. Annette Bening is joining the cast of Apple's Lucky. A sequel to Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion is in the works. Neon has picked up Sundance title Together. Lena Dunham has signed a creative partnership with Netflix. — Abid Rahman
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The Best Anti-Fascist Films of All Time ►Nazis are ALWAYS the bad guys. In the wake of Elon Musk’s Hitler-like salute at Donald Trump’s inauguration — a gesture that sparked outrage and reinvigorated the cultural conversation about fascism’s alarming reemergence — there’s no better moment to revisit cinema’s most compelling examinations of authoritarianism, resistance and the human cost of tyranny. THR's list of the greatest anti-fascist movies brings together films from across the globe, spanning decades and genres, that remind us of the dangers of unchecked power. The list.
—Exiting. THR's Scott Feinberg has the scoop on Lois Burwell, the veteran makeup artist who won an Oscar for her work on Braveheart, resigning from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ board of governors. Burwell, who stepped down citing "personal reasons," is being replaced for the remainder of this term by Gerald Quist, who finished second to her in the last election. The story.
—Fitting tribute. During his lifetime, David Lynch was nominated twice for the Writers Guild of America Awards but never won. Weeks before his death, however, he was able to accept a recognition that will be officially bestowed in February. During its 2025 awards ceremony, the WGA West will posthumously present the Mulholland Drive and Blue Velvet writer-director with a lifetime achievement prize, the Laurel Award for Screenwriting Achievement. The story.
—"I’m in a serious emergency situation." Harvey Weinstein's trial date has been set for April 15. On Wednesday, the disgraced mogul and convicted rapist pleaded in court for a judge to move the trial date sooner, citing his health conditions and saying, “I won’t be there for April.” “I’m asking and begging your honor to move your trial,” Weinstein said. “I can’t hold on anymore. I’m holding on because I want justice for myself.” Seated in a wheelchair, Weinstein made a rare address to the court and raised his voice to plead with Farber to switch his trial date with an earlier trial that’s already on the calendar. He called the conditions at Rikers Island where he’s being held a “medieval situation” and said he believes he’s headed back to Bellevue Hospital “any day now.” The story. |
Inside the Private Army That Protects L.A.'s Rich and Famous ►Mercenaries for millionaires. For THR, Jason McGahan spends a night battling looters and wildfires with Covered 6, the most successful — and, until now, secretive — private security force in Los Angeles. Is this the future of public safety? Or the end of equal protection? The story.
—Going home. After a poorly received experiment in Las Vegas, the American Film Market is heading back to Los Angeles for its 2025 edition. AFM 2025 will run November 11-16 at the Fairmont Century Plaza in Century City, just beside Beverly Hills. The shift back towards Hollywood is likely to be cheered by global film buyers and sellers, many of whom complained about the 24-noise and somewhat surreal and offputting setting of last year’s market, which took place inside the Palms Casino, far away from the heart of the film business in Los Angeles. The story.
—Shift in plans. Pinewood Group unveiled a public consultation on revised expansion plans for Pinewood Studios in Buckinghamshire, England on Thursday. The focus is on the land south of Pinewood Studios. Amid "combined with rising construction costs," the plan for the U.K. production home of the James Bond franchise incorporates "additional film stages and production facilities" alongside a data center. The story.
—Moving in the right direction. Peacock grew its Q4 revenue and narrowed its loss to $372m from a loss of $825m in the year-ago period, with the full-year 2024 loss narrowing by “nearly” $1b from a $2.75b loss in 2023, Comcast reported on Thursday. Full-year revenue for Peacock jumped 46 percent to $4.9b. The streamer ended December with more paying subscribers than in the year-ago period. The Peacock sub count as of the end of 2024, provided as a rounded figure, stood at the same 36m as of the end of September and was up from 31m as of the end of 2023. The results.
—Oligarch problems. In a move bolstering the appearance of Jeff Bezos‘ conflict of interest in his sprawling personal and business endeavors, Amazon has filed a lawsuit to prevent The Washington Post from obtaining records related to an internet satellite initiative. The tech giant, in a lawsuit filed on Monday against a Washington state agency, says the records are exempt from a public records request because they contain proprietary information, though the department handling the inquiry decided that the records should be disclosed. The Post isn’t named as a defendant in the complaint. The story.
—Oligarch solutions. Amazon Music Unlimited notified customers on Wednesday evening that it is raising prices for its most popular plans, with the monthly subscription cost for Prime members rising by $1 to $10.99 per month (and to $109.99 yearly); the monthly subscription for non-Prime members rising by $1 to $11.99 per month; and the Unlimited Family Plan rising by $3 per month to $19.99 per month ($199.00 per year). Amazon Music last raised prices nearly two years ago. The story.
—🤝 Theatrical deal 🤝 Amazon Prime Video has signed a multiyear theatrical movie agreement with Lionsgate. As part of the new deal, Prime Video will secure an exclusive window after Starz’s earlier first-run window. The agreement will kick off with Lionsgate’s 2026 theatrical release slate, a package of films from the studio’s 2025 slate and a commitment to Prime Video for licensing library movies and TV. The major streamer will combine the Lionsgate movie and TV titles with those from Amazon MGM Studios and its other Hollywood partners. The story. |
Netflix's Big Pitch for 2025 Domination ►"One of the biggest myths about Netflix is that we don’t do 'prestige TV.'" What does it take to coax Ben Affleck to the deteriorating heart of Hollywood Blvd. at 9 a.m. on a Wednesday to deliver the two-minute elevator pitch for his latest movie to a room full of journalists? Just Netflix, apparently. THR's Mikey O'Connell reports from the ruling streamer's 2025 programming preview, Next on Netflix, an Egyptian Theatre event that could only be described as a living sizzle reel. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Netflix has announced the release date for the highly anticipated third and final season of Squid Game. Unveiled during the streamer’s Next on Netflix event, the Korean-language mega hit drama is slated to return on June 27. The story.
—"With more than 700m people watching, we can’t just be one thing." Netflix revealed updates for its 2025 film slate — including Knives Out 3, Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein and Noah Baumbach's new George Clooney–Adam Sandler feature — at its annual media day Next on Netflix. Netflix revealed a new image from the forthcoming adaptation of Mary Shelley’s classic horror novel that stars Oscar Isaac as Victor Frankenstein and Jacob Elordi as Frankenstein’s monster. It also debuted a new image from writer-director Rian Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery. Other news included the announcement that director Joe Carnahan’s crime film RIP , starring Ben Affleck and Matt Damon, will debut in the fall. The story.
—Same, same, but different. John Mulaney’s new Netflix talk show is taking shape — and it’s not much different from the test case he pulled off in 2024. The comic was on-hand for the streamer’s Next on Netflix event Wednesday in Hollywood, and he confirmed that, come March 12, he’ll launch Everybody’s Live with John Mulaney. Like his Netflix is a Joke stunt, Everybody’s in L.A., the show will tape in Los Angeles and will feature a couch of eclectic guests, live viewer phone calls, Richard Kind and Saymo — the food delivery robot. The story.
—🤝 New deal 🤝 Netflix has struck a creative partnership with multi-hyphenate Lena Dunham and her production company Good Thing Going “to develop and create serialized first-look projects for Netflix.” The news comes as the creator is ready to return to the small screen with Netflix rom-com series Too Much this year, which she discussed during a Netflix event in London on Wednesday evening. The show, on which Dunham functions as creator, writer, director and executive producer, marks her first scripted comedy series with Netflix and predates the newly unveiled partnership. The story.
—Trad lives. Netflix has ordered a Little House on the Prairie series, 40-plus years after a long-running adaptation of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s beloved books aired its last episode on NBC. The new version comes from showrunner Rebecca Sonnenshine. The new take on Little House will be, per Netflix, “part hopeful family drama, part epic survival tale, and part origin story of the American West” that will serve up a “kaleidoscopic view of the struggles and triumphs of those who shaped the frontier.” A reboot has been in the works for several years — Anonymous Content and what was then Paramount TV Studios began work on the project in 2020. The story.
—Finally. Netflix is adding a much-requested feature to its core streaming video product: The ability to download an entire season of a series with one tap on Apple iOS devices. The season download feature was previously available on Android devices, but bringing it to iPhones and iPads significantly expands the accessibility, making it quick and seamless to download every episode from a selected season of TV. The story. |
NHL Bringing an Animated Game to Saturday Morning TV ►One for the kids. The NHL is launching a weekly youth-centric animated program that will recap a recent game and air on Saturdays on NHL Network in the U.S., on Sportsnet in Canada and globally on the NHL YouTube channel, it was announced Thursday. The first episode will feature a version of the Canucks’ 2-1 victory over Alex Ovechkin’s Washington Capitals on Jan. 25. The 30-minute NHL Hockeyverse Matchup of the Week will "bring viewers into an animated world where NHL player avatars, powered by NHL EDGE Positional Data, will create a visualization of the on-ice action with stunning realism and dynamic movements." The story.
—🎭 Classy addition 🎭 Apple TV+'s limited series Lucky has added a second big name to its cast. Annette Bening will star opposite Anya Taylor-Joy in the drama, which is based on Marissa Stapley’s best-selling novel of the same name. The series centers on Lucky (Taylor-Joy), a young woman who has left an earlier life of crime behind her but is drawn back in as she attempts to escape her past. Bening will play Priscilla, who in the novel is a thief and a thorn in Lucky’s side. Apple ordered the series in December from creator Jonathan Tropper and Reese Witherspoon’s Hello Sunshine (the novel was a Reese’s Book Club selection). Apple Studios is producing. The story.
—Burgeoning YA roster. Amazon Prime Video has placed a series order for a drama called Sterling Point, created by My Old Ass writer-director Megan Park. The project is the first series for Park, who earned WGA and DGA award nominations for My Old Ass. Plot details about Sterling Point are being kept quiet for now. Park will direct and serve as co-showrunner with YA veterans Josh Schwartz and Stephanie Savage. Amazon MGM Studios is producing the series with LuckyChap; the latter produced My Old Ass, which was a breakout at Sundance in 2024, where Amazon MGM acquired it for distribution. The story. |
Justin Baldoni's 'Pac-Man' Movie in Doubt ►Multiple projects in jeopardy. In August, Justin Baldoni believed Pac-Man could be the hero he needed to help change the messy narrative surrounding the release of It Ends With Us. For weeks, rumors of a feud between director-star Baldoni and his co-star Blake Lively had dominated entertainment news headlines, and he was looking for a way to turn the page. But Pac-Man, which Baldoni and his Wayfarer Studios were developing since 2022, may no longer be in his future. It is among at least a trio of projects that are now in doubt as friction with Lively has turned into a full-fledged legal war. The story.
—It's happening! THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on the sequel to Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion moving ahead at 20th Century Studios, with Mira Sorvino and Lisa Kudrow in negotiations to reprise their starring roles. The pair will also serve as executive producers. Tim Federle, who wrote and directed the Disney+ original movie Better Nate Than Never and who created High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, will direct the feature, which is eyeing a June start date. Sources say the studio is looking to possibly shoot in Los Angeles, but nothing has been set. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Together, the body horror movie starring real-life couple Alison Brie and Dave Franco, has landed at Neon, which has had success as of late with horror films like Longlegs. Michael Shanks wrote and directed the movie about a long-term couple who, while their relationship is in a weak moment, decides to move to the countryside, which triggers a supernatural incident. The movie was greeted at the Sundance Film Festival with a raucous premiere screening filled with applause, laughs and screams of discomfort. The story.
—🎭 Back for more 🎭 Actor-director Benny Safdie is reuniting with Christopher Nolan for the filmmaker’s latest movie, The Odyssey. Safdie, who appeared as physicist Edward Teller in Nolan’s Oscar-winning Oppenheimer, joins an all-star Universal Pictures production that includes Matt Damon, Tom Holland, Zendaya, Robert Pattinson, Lupita Nyong’o, Anne Hathaway, Charlize Theron and Jon Bernthal. The feature project is an adaptation of the Greek epic poem written by Homer. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Sony Pictures has set its release plan for Darren Aronofsky's Austin Butler-led feature, while the next installment in the Insidious franchise is getting delayed. Set to hit theaters Aug. 29, Caught Stealing was helmed by Aronofsky from a script by Charlie Huston, who wrote the books on which the movie is based. The film stars Butler as Hank Thompson, a down-on-his-luck former baseball player who is suddenly immersed in the New York City crime underworld in the 1990s. In a twinned move, the untitled sixth Insidious feature from Screen Gems and Blumhouse will now hit theaters Aug. 21, 2026, after previously having been scheduled for Aug. 29, 2025. The story. |
Film Review: 'Last Days' ►"It turns out that an indie filmmaker can go home again." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Justin Lin's Last Days. Starring Sky Yang, Radhika Apte and Ken Leung, the Fast & Furious franchise helmer's new film relates the true-life tale of a young man who met his doom while attempting to convert an isolated tribe. The review.
—"Send your regrets." Frank reviews Nicholas Stoller's You're Cordially Invited. Two wedding parties feud after being accidentally booked at the same venue in this movie starring Will Ferrell, Reese Witherspoon, Geraldine Viswanathan and Meredith Hagner. The review.
—"Two paws up." Frank reviews Peter Hastings' Dog Man. Pete Davidson voices a villainous cat in DreamWorks' animated adaptation of Dav Pilkey's best-selling series of children's graphic novels about a half-human, half-canine police officer. The review.
—"A bold work of art." THR's Lovia Gyarkye reviews Kahlil Jospeh's BLKNWS: Terms & Conditions. Premiering at Sundance, the Lemonade director's film blends a fictional Afro-futurist narrative, archival research, multimedia work and personal history. The review.
—"Veers between vivid and vague." THR's Sheri Linden review Amalia Ulman's Magic Farm. The El Planeta director's sophomore feature revolves around a bungling media crew’s interactions with the residents of a rural town in Argentina. Starring Chloë Sevigny, Alex Wolff, Joe Appollonio, Guillermo Jacubowicz, Amalia Ulman and Camila Del Campo. The review. |
Film Review: 'Together' ►"A perversely fleshed-out gross-out with a sicko heart." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Michael Shanks' Together. The romantic body horror movie, which stars Dave Franco, Alison and Damon Herriman, follows a dysfunctional couple whose union is put to the test when strange forces overcome them. The review.
—"Urgent, unsettling and empathetic." THR's Daniel Fienberg reviews Andrew Jarecki and Charlotte Kaufman's The Alabama Solution. The Jinx filmmakers chronicle financial mismanagement, abuses of power and general inhumanities in a system allegedly designed for rehabilitation. The review.
—"Reality bytes." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Flora Lau's Sundance world cinema dramatic competition entry, Luz. The second feature from writer-director Lau is a multiplayer narrative about several characters seeking connection both online and IRL. Starring Isabelle Huppert, Sandrina Pinna, Xiao Dong Guo, Lu Huang, David Chiang and En Xi Deng. The review.
—"A rom-com with a bracing twist." For THR, Jourdain Searles reviews Sophie Brooks' Oh, Hi! Molly Gordon and Logan Lerman star in this film about a couple who reach an unexpected turning point in their relationship during a romantic weekend getaway. The review.
—"Affecting and socially relevant." For THR, Caryn James reviews Cristina Costantini's Sally. This documentary film features archival footage of the late astronaut Sally Ride and interviews with her family and colleagues, as well as narration by her partner of 27 years, Tam O'Shaughnessy. The review. |
TV Review: 'Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man' ►"Packed with easter eggs, if not much substance." THR's chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg reviews Disney+'s Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man. Jeff Trammell created Marvel Animation's new Spider-Man adventure, featuring the voices of Hudson Thames as Peter Parker and Colman Domingo as Norman Osborn. The review.
In other news...
—Jonathan Majors’ long-delayed Magazine Dreams gets first trailer
—Angel Soft’s crazy Super Bowl bet: A commercial you’re meant to skip
—Matthew McConaughey, Woody Harrelson reprise True Detective roles in new ad
—Audacy CEO David Field steps down
—Heidi Klum signs with UTA
—Bryan Seabury’s role expanded at CBS Studios, now leads content strategy
—Ben Affleck and Matt Damon’s Artists Equity shakes up leadership team
What else we're reading...
—David K. Li, Janhvi Bhojwani and Toby Lyles look at how Dr. Phil suddenly became so outspoken about immigration [NBC News]
—Zack Beauchamp believes that Trump is already acting like a king [Vox]
—Oliver Wainwright reveals why the architecture world hates The Brutalist [Guardian]
—Ed Kilgore writes that the federal-worker buyouts may make the U.S. government as broken as Elon Musk's X [Intelligencer]
—Nicole Sperling looks at Sundance's legacy in Park City and its push to move the festival elsewhere [NYT]
Today...
...in 1931, United Artists unveiled the silent film City Lights, written, directed and produced by Charlie Chaplin. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Olivia Colman (51), Christian Bale (51), Gene Hackman (95), Phil Collins (74), Ann Dowd (69), Kid Cudi (41), Brett Butler (67), Steven Zaillian (72), Eiza González (35), Jen Richards (49), Danielle Campbell (30), Wilmer Valderrama (45), Markella Kavenagh (25), Norbert Leo Butz (58), Juergen Maurer (58), Valene Kane (38), Kylie Bunbury (36), Mary Hollis Inboden (39), Charles S. Dutton (74), Darren Boyd (54), Khleo Thomas (36), Jake Thomas (35), Julie McCullough (60), Andy Milonakis (49), Daniel di Tomasso (42), Melanie Walters (🏴63), Dwier Brown (66), Lena Hall (45), Tyroe Muhafidin (20), Josh Kelley (45) |
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