| | | | | | What's news: Noah Baumbach's Jay Kelly was enthusiastically received in Venice. Peacock will be available as an add-on on Prime Video. Fox and YouTube TV have agreed a new carriage deal. Netflix has made the first buy out of Telluride. AI versions of James Dolan and David Zaslav will appear briefly in the Sphere screening of The Wizard of Oz. — Abid Rahman
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Heidi Gardner, Michael Longfellow Leave 'SNL' ►Wait, what? The cast shakeup at Saturday Night Live is turning into an earthquake. The latest performer to exit the show is Heidi Gardner, who will depart after eight seasons on SNL. She joined the NBC series in the 2017-18 as a featured player and moved up to the main cast two seasons later. Gardner built up a number of recurring characters on SNL, including “Weekend Update” staple Angel, aka Every Boxer’s Girlfriend in Every Boxing Movie; teenage movie critic Bailey Gismert; and newswoman Bobbi Moore — most notably in 2024’s Beavis and Butt-head sketch that featured Gardner breaking at the sight of host Ryan Gosling and castmember Mikey Day made up as the two MTV characters. She also played Kim Kardashian, Jill Biden, Kristi Noem and Taylor Swift at various points in her eight seasons. The story.
—Exodus. SNL regular Michael Longfellow is also exiting the NBC late night series after three seasons. "Weekend Update" has been anchored by Colin Jost and Michael Che for more than a decade, and Longfellow had appeared frequently during the recurring segment, in various roles. The story.
—"Y’all acting like we died." With the exits of SNL season 50 castmembers Devon Walker, Emil Wakim, Michael Longfellow and Heidi Gardner this week, fans of the show have been left dumbstruck. On Thursday, one X user tagged Walker and Longfellow in a post sharing previous photos of the pair posing together, with the fan adding a note to “wish you both nothing but the best.” This led Walker to respond, “Yall acting like we died lol we just getting different jobs.” The story. |
A.I. Dolan and Zaslav Appear in the Sphere's 'Wizard of Oz' ►Hmmmm... The Wizard of Oz made its groundbreaking debut at Las Vegas’ Sphere on Thursday night, and just before showtime, James Dolan dropped quite the Easter egg. The Sphere Entertainment Co. executive chairman and CEO took part in a walkthrough of the experience with select press — alongside Sphere president and chief operating officer Jennifer Koester and visual effects specialist Ben Grossmann — and revealed that there is one specific A.I.-assisted change to keep an eye out for. “I won’t tell you where, it’s only for like two seconds,” as he asked reporters if they were familiar with Warner Bros. Discovery head David Zaslav. After an affirmative, he said, “[They] replaced the faces of two very short, two-second characters in the movie with mine and David. I challenge you to find it.” The story.
—🤝 Deal! 🤝 Peacock will become available as an add-on for Prime Video customers as part of a wide-ranging deal between Amazon and Comcast. The agreement will see Peacock Premium Plus (that’s the ad-free tier) become available via Prime Video’s channels offering for $16.99 per month or $169.99 per year. Prime Video Channels has become a major aggregator of streaming services, with HBO Max, Paramount+, Starz and Apple TV+ among the services offered, underscoring its effectiveness in driving subscriptions and Amazon’s one-stop billing capabilities. Peacock has largely eschewed from participating in bundles and channels programs up to this point, but a source familiar with the talks says that the company is likely to become more aggressive in pursuing those sorts of arrangements moving forward, using the Amazon deal as a template. The story.
—🤝 Deal! 🤝 Fox and Google have a deal. Fox’s TV channels, including the Fox broadcast network, Fox News, and FS1, will remain available on YouTube TV, as the tech giant and the media company have come to terms on a new carriage deal, averting a blackout. Financial terms of the new agreement were not disclosed, but it covers all of Fox’s suite of channels spanning broadcast, news and sports. The story.
—Bundle offer. Amid declining cable viewership industry-wide, Canadian media giant Rogers has unveiled a new streaming plan that brings together Netflix, Disney+ and Apple TV+ for its subscribers. The Rogers Xfinity StreamSaver plan — first rolled out in western Canada, before becoming available later this year in the rest of the country — is priced at CAN$22 (US$16) per-month. Rogers estimates the savings from the StreamSaver bundle will be around 30 percent per month, compared to subscribing to each service separately. That’s based on Netflix with ads currently costing CAN$7.99 (US$5.80) a month, Apple TV+ priced at CAN$14.99 US$10.90) a month and Disney+ with ads costing CAN$8.99 (US$6.55) a month, for a combined cost of CAN$31.97 (US$23.25) a month, as of Aug. 27. The story.
—Arrested. A former Los Angeles film producer who held key roles in several independent projects, including the Oscar-nominated young Donald Trump movie The Apprentice, has been arrested in South Carolina after a grand jury indicted him on charges of defrauding victims out of more than $12m in schemes that included a Ponzi scheme, phony COVID-19 testing and misappropriating production funds. David Raymond Brown, 39, has been charged with nine counts of wire fraud, 10 counts of transactional money laundering and two counts of aggravated identity theft, according to an indictment. The story. |
HBO Wins Bidding War for 'Fort Bragg Cartel' Book ►Steaming hot project. A story of drug dealing and murder at the home base of special forces operatives sounds like a tailor-made logline for a series. Which it will be, after HBO won a bidding war over multiple other outlets for rights to a recently published nonfiction book. The premium outlet has landed rights to author Seth Harp’s book The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces. HBO plans to develop a series based on the book, with Harp and former HBO Films president Len Amato (via his company Crash & Salvage) executive producing. A search for a writer/showrunner to adapt the material is underway. The story.
—🎭 Lil Ducky. 🎭 CBS’ NCIS: Origins will bring another character from its parent series into the fold in its forthcoming second season. Adam Campbell will reprise his NCIS guest role as the younger version of Dr. Donald “Ducky” Mallard in an episode of the 1990s-set Origins. The episode will also pay tribute to the late David McCallum, who played Ducky for 20 seasons on NCIS. Campbell has played the younger Ducky in flashbacks on four episodes of NCIS, most recently in 2020. In the Origins episode, titled “The Edge,” Ducky arrives at Camp Pendleton to shadow the team while they work a case. It’s set to air in the fall, though an exact date hasn’t been announced. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Leanne Morgan’s profile on Netflix is about to expand. The comedian and title star of the streamer’s sitcom Leanne has a date for her second stand-up special. The hour-long set, titled Leanne Morgan: Unspeakable Things, is set to premiere Nov. 4. Unspeakable Things comes on the heels of Leanne premiering on Netflix in late July. The comedy, created by Morgan, Susan McMartin and Chuck Lorre, follows her character as she puts her life back together when her husband (Ryan Stiles) leaves her for another woman. Kristen Johnston, Celia Weston, Blake Clark, Graham Rogers and Hannah Pikes also star. The story.
—📅 #MomTok is back! 📅 Hulu announced Thursday that season three of The Secret Lives of Mormon Wives will drop on the streamer on Nov. 13. Only three months after the sophomore season of the hit reality show dropped, the women of #MomTok are gearing up to debut a third installment that — following suit with the last two seasons — will be jam-packed with drama. After season two of Mormon Wives rose as the top premiere for May 12-18 on Nielsen’s streaming charts, the group of Mormon mom-influencers has continued to rise in popularity. The story.
—Texas strong. The Hunting Wives bagged a prize in the week of July 28-Aug. 3: the most viewing time for any streaming series in the U.S. The spicy drama from Lionsgate TV and 3 Arts, produced for Starz before moving to Netflix, captured 1.58b minutes of viewing for the week, good for the top spot among all series and second overall behind Happy Gilmore 2’s 1.99b minutes. Hunting Wives improved by 16 percent over its premiere week, and showrunner Rebecca Cutter also had another show in the top 10 — her Starz series Hightown, which drew 750m viewing minutes a week after being added to Netflix. Happy Gilmore 2 fell off by 31 percent from its record-setting opening weekend but remained comfortably ahead of everything else on Nielsen’s charts. Netflix’s summer phenomenon KPop Demon Hunters, meanwhile, hit a high in the U.S. for the fourth consecutive week with 1.1b minutes of watch time, up from 1.03b a week earlier. The ratings. |
Venice vs. Cannes: Who's Winning the Festival Fight for Oscar Supremacy? ►"Picking the right festival for launch can determine how much awards attention you get." After being overshadowed last year, the Venice Film Festival bounces back with a slate full of A-list talent and awards-season heat, reaffirming its status as the critical launchpad for fall campaigns. THR's Scott Roxborough compares the Lido lineup with Cannes' selection from earlier this year to see which festival is likely to provide the frontrunners as we head towards awards season. The story.
—10-minutes! Venice welcomed back festival frequent flyers George Clooney and Noah Baumbach on Thursday night, giving Baumbach’s Jay Kelly a joyous, 10-minute-long standing ovation at its in-competition world premiere. Much of the applause Thursday night, was for Clooney, who proved again that he’s Hollywood’s consummate professional by fighting back illness to make the red carpet. The recap.
—6-minutes! Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone's doom-laden black comedy-thriller Bugonia stupefied and delighted the Venice Film Festival on Thursday night, drawing a rousing six-minute standing ovation after its world premiere inside the Sala Grande cinema. From their perch on the theater’s balcony, Lanthimos, Stone and co-stars Jesse Plemons and Aidan Delbis joined hands and bowed to the crowd in unison as the lengthy applause wound down. The recap.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 StudioCanal are first out of the blocks on Megadoc, Mike Figgis‘ behind-the-scenes documentary on the making of Francis Ford Coppola‘s 2024 film Megalopolis. The French company acquired all media rights worldwide — excluding North America — ahead of the doc's world premiere in the Venice Classics section on Thursday. The story. |
'Starfighter': Amy Adams, Aaron Pierre Join Cast as Production Begins ►Force forward! The latest Star Wars movie, Star Wars: Starfighter, began rolling cameras in the U.K. Thursday, with Lucasfilm marking the occassion by unveiling the full cast. Flynn Gray, Aaron Pierre, Simon Bird, Jamael Westman, Daniel Ings, and Amy Adams are the new additions on the call sheet for the Lucasfilm feature, which is being directed by Shawn Levy and stars Ryan Gosling. Mia Goth and Matt Smith were already revealed to be in the cast, playing villains. Starfighter is a standalone film not connected to previous Star Wars movies or characters from the so-called Skywalker Saga, the films revolving around Luke Skywalker and his father, Anakin. The story.
—🎭 Filling out. 🎭 Osgood Perkins is set to direct The Young People for Neon, with Lola Tung and Nico Parker starring. The film’s plot is being kept under wraps, with production set for this fall in Vancouver. Neon will release the film theatrically in the U.S. and start shopping the project to international buyers at the Toronto Film Festival. The Young People is the first film as part of a first-look deal between Neon and Perkins, who will direct the film based on a script he wrote. Neon is co-financing the project with Lyrical Media, with Perkins is producing along with Chris Ferguson and Brian Kavanaugh-Jones. As part of the first look deal, Perkins launched a new banner called Phobos, which he runs with Ferguson. Neon serves as the home for Perkins’ projects, which he and Ferguson will produce. The story.
—🎭 Leads in place. 🎭 Jojo Rabbit's Thomasin McKenzie and Euphoria's Toby Wallace are set to lead Frances O’Connor‘s sophomore film, Sister Maria Goes to Rome. Embankment has launched global pre-sales on the next project from O’Connor, whose critically acclaimed Emily with Emma Mackey debuted to rave reviews upon its 2022 release. Per the synopsis, the film tells the story of Sister Maria (McKenzie), a spirited young nun with an unshakeable faith, who arrives in Rome on a quest to save her beloved village, and where she clashes with a jaded tour guide (Wallace) who’s lost his way. The story. |
Feinberg's First Read of the 2025-2026 Oscar Race ►The game is afoot. Labor Day weekend is upon us, which means that the race to the 98th Oscars on Sunday, March 15, 2026, is truly, if unofficially, on. With Venice underway and Telluride opening its doors today, THR's executive editor of awards coverage Scott Feinberg offers his initial assessment of the 11 highest profile Oscar categories. The forecast.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 The first film to be sold out of the 2025 Telluride Film Festival is All the Empty Rooms, a documentary short that chronicles CBS News correspondent Steve Hartman and photographer Lou Bopp’s seven-year quest to memorialize the bedrooms of children killed in school shootings, which Netflix has bought and plans to push for awards recognition. The 33-minute tearjerker, which was directed by Joshua Seftel (who was Oscar-nominated for his 2022 Malala Yousafzai doc short Stranger at the Gate), is one of five shorts that will be playing in Telluride’s main program alongside dozens of features. The story.
—🎭 Boarded. 🎭 Neon and Waypoint Entertainment’s Cweature Features have boarded Irish writer and director Damian McCarthy’s Hokum, starring Severance's Adam Scott. Peter Coonan and David Wilmot join Scott in an ensemble cast that includes Florence Ordesh, Will O’Connell, Michael Patric, Siox C, Brendan Conroy, Austin Amelio and Ezra Carlisle. The supernatural horror thriller, now in postproduction after production in Ireland, has Scott playing reclusive novelist Ohm Bauman as he retreats to a remote Irish inn to scatter his parents’ ashes. The genre pic will get a U.S. theatrical release via Neon in 2026, while Neon International will shop the foreign rights to international buyers starting at TIFF. The story. |
Film Review: 'Jay Kelly' ►"More often distancing than disarming." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Noah Baumbach's Venice competition entry, Jay Kelly. A starry cast feature in this Netflix feature about a world-famous actor (George Clooney) and his longtime manager (Adam Sandler) reassessing their priorities. Also starring Laura Dern, Billy Crudup, Riley Keough, Grace Edwards, Stacy Keach, Jim Broadbent, and Patrick Wilson. Written by Noah Baumbach and Emily Mortimer. The review.
—"An enjoyably odd genre hybrid." David reviews Yorgos Lanthimos' Venice competition entry, Bugonia. A conspiracy theorist and his impressionable cousin kidnap a powerful pharmaceutical company CEO, convinced she’s an alien out to destroy Earth in the Golden Lion winner's latest Venice premiere. Starring Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias and Alicia Silverstone. Written by Will Tracy, based on the film Save the Green Planet!, written and directed by Jang Joon Hwan. The review.
—"Meanders too much, but finally delivers a sting." David reviews László Nemes' Venice competition entry, Orphan. The Son of Saul director observes the difficult adjustment of a young Jewish boy in 1950s Budapest learning that his origins are not what he grew up believing. Starring Bojtorján Barabás, Andrea Waskovics, Grégory Gadebois, Elíz Szabó, Soma Sándor, Hermina Fátyol, Konrád Quintus, Géza Perlmann, Marcin Czarnik and Tibor Martin Lobbert. Written by László Nemes and Clara Royer. The review.
—"Delicate, tender and soulful." David reviews Bing Liu's Preparation for the Next Life. In the Minding the Gap filmmaker's first narrative feature, Fred Hechinger and newcomer Sebiye Behtiyar star as two people from vastly different cultural backgrounds hoping to build a better life together. Also starring Dralla Aierken, Esther Chen, Sharon Gee, Fady Kerko, Mingjie Li and Michelle Mao. Written by Martyna Majok, based on the novel by Atticus Lish. The review. |
Film Review: 'Megadoc' ►"Chaos reigns." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Mike Figgis' Megadoc. In a doc premiering in Venice, the Leaving Las Vegas director takes us behind the scenes of Francis Ford Coppola's chaotic $120m self-financed shoot for Megalopolis, which was both agony and ecstasy for those involved. The review.
—"An exhilarating portrait of an American hero." THR's Sheri Linden reviews Laura Poitras and Mark Obenhaus' Cover-Up. In their out-of-competition Venice entry, the filmmakers profile the prominent investigative reporter Seymour Hersh, who's still going strong at 88. The review.
—"Shorter would have been better." THR's Leslie Felperin reviews Carolina Cavalli's The Kidnapping of Arabella. Playing in Venice's Horizons section, Cavalli's film centers on the relationship between a troubled young woman and a girl who runs away to get revenge on her father. Starring Benedetta Porcaroli, Chris Pine, Lucrezia Guglielmino, Marco Bonadei and Eva Robin. 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 live episode, Scott spoke to Lucy Liu. The trailblazing actress reflects on breaking into the business on TV's Ally McBeal, becoming a movie star via the Charlie's Angels and Kill Bill films, and why her latest project Rosemead, an indie that she produced and in which she plays a Chinese immigrant trying to protect her troubled American-born son, is so close to her heart. The podcast.
—Awards Chatter. It's a double helping of our awards podcast this week. In this episode, Scott spoke to Parker Posey. The "Queen of the Indies," as Time magazine famously called her, reflects on the rewards and challenges of being so associated with independent film, what eventually led her to begin dabbling in studio films and TV, and how it felt, with the latest season of Mike White's HBO drama series The White Lotus, to finally find herself at the center of a project that found itself at the center of the cultural conversation. The podcast.
In other news...
—Bugonia trailer: Emma Stone is kidnapped and accused of being an alien
—Walfredo de los Reyes Sr., famed Cuban-born percussionist, dies at 92
What else we're reading...
—Jennifer Calfas, Josh Dawsey and Sabrina Siddiqui go inside the Trump administration's incredibly concerning vaccine politics [WSJ]
—Lillian Rizzo and Alex Sherman profile Gunnar Wiedenfels, the WBD CFO who is set to be CEO of Discovery Global [CNBC]
—Taylor Swift's new album will be available in cassette form. Jordan Valinsky looks into who is now buying this long forgotten medium [CNN]
—Ben Sisario talks to Jeremy Allen White, Jeremy Strong and director Scott Cooper about the making of their Springsteen biopic, Deliver Me From Nowhere [NYT]
—Here's your Friday list: The 25 greatest sports movies of all time, ranked [THR]
Today...
...in 2012, TWC released John Hillcoat's Lawless in theaters. The period drama about 1930s bootleggers, written by singer Nick Cave, starred Shia LaBeouf, Tom Hardy, Gary Oldman, Mia Wasikowska, Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, and Guy Pearce. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Elliott Gould (87), Rebecca De Mornay (66), Nicole Byer (39), Lea Michele (39), Charlotte Ritchie (36), Lenny Henry (67), Carla Gugino (54), Rosalind Eleazar (37), Dempsey Bryk (29), Deborah Van Valkenburgh (73), Jen Landon (42), Dante Basco (50), Emily Hampshire (44), Jay Ryan (44), Jason Spisak (52), William Levy (45), Erika Harlacher (35), John Hensley (48), Beth Dover (47), Echo Kellum (43), Dina Spybey-Waters (60), Tom Six (52), Lauren Collins (39), Lycia Naff (63), Nicole Gale Anderson (35), Minami Hamabe (25), Stacey Travis (61), Linden Porco (29), Candis Cayne (54) |
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