| | | | | | What's news: The Emmy nominations are already underway with early reveals in the reality competition and talk series categories. HBO's Harry Potter show has started production. Gabby Windey will host Hulu's Alex Cooper-produced reality show Love Overboard. Bluey continues to power sales at BBC Commercial and was also the most streamed show in the U.S. so far in 2025. — Abid Rahman
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Emmy Awards Nominations 2025 ►🏆 Early morning tease. 🏆 The 2025 Emmy nominations announcement got underway pretty early this morning. Nominees in the first two categories — reality competition program and talk series — were announced on CBS Mornings shortly before 8 a.m. ET/5 a.m. PT. The reality competition program category features last year’s winner The Traitors and frequent past winner RuPaul’s Drag Race alongside The Amazing Race, Survivor and Top Chef. The talk series category, reduced to just three nominees this year, features last year’s winner The Daily Show as well as Jimmy Kimmel Live! and The Late Show With Stephen Colbert. THR will have full coverage of the Emmy nominations on the site today, so keep your eyes peeled. The story. |
Inside the $3B 'South Park' Fight ►Messy. The premiere for the 27th season of South Park later this month is in serious doubt amid wrangling between series creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, Paramount Global and incoming studio owner Skydance, THR's Winston Cho, Gary Baum and Alex Weprin report. Paramount Global believed it had a framework for an agreement with Parker and Stone, but Skydance balked at the terms. Now the South Park creators have brought on bulldog negotiator Bryan Freedman to turn up the heat. The story.
—Wait, have we forgotten about MechaHitler? The U.S. government is accelerating adoption of artificial intelligence technology, beginning with the Department of Defense using Grok, the AI chatbot embedded into X. Elon Musk's startup xAI announced on Monday a $200m government contract as the Defense Department aims to address national security concerns with AI technology. It’s also rolling out what it called “Grok for Government,” a suite of products that can be customized for specific uses across science and health care, among other things. The partnership was unveiled on the heels of Grok last week launching into an antisemitic tirade after it was updated to reduce its reliance on mainstream media sources. The story.
—For sale! A notable film and television soundstage complex in New Mexico is now on the market, testing buyers’ willingness to bet that Hollywood studios’ production spending won’t contract and may increase in the state. Santa Fe Studios, a 65-acre property that includes two 19,275-square-foot soundstages along with an office complex and warehouse, has been newly placed for sale with commercial real estate giant CBRE. A listing price was not disclosed. The studio facility, which was constructed in 2011, is currently led by CEO Lance Hool, a producer whose credits include Denzel Washington-actioner Man on Fire. The story. |
Sundance's Final Bow in Park City to Celebrate Robert Redford ►"This year will mean so much for so many reasons." With the final Sundance in Park City now just six months away, festival director and head of public programming Eugene Hernandez is teasing some plans for 2026. Hernandez said the plan is to show Sundance Institute’s appreciation to the Utah community “as a whole” after the state hosted the fest for 40 years. As such, there will be special screenings, “legacy talks” and other events to mark the occasion. Sundance founder Robert Redford, who is 88 and has not had a visible presence at the festival in several years, will receive a special spotlight in January. Though no specific details were offered, Hernandez noted that Redford’s vision will be celebrated during the institute’s annual fundraiser at Grand Hyatt Deer Valley on Jan. 23, and he will be saluted through “special moments” throughout the course of the fest. The story.
—Lovely jubbly. BBC Commercial, the commercial arm of the U.K. public broadcaster that is mainly driven by BBC Studios, reported improved full fiscal-year financials, including record revenue, on Tuesday. In what it called “a challenging market,” its financials were boosted by the continued success of animated family hit show Bluey, “a diversified portfolio, strong performance for BritBox International, and its consumer products division,” driven by Bluey. BBC Commercial, which supports the BBC by generating income for the broader BBC Group, said that BBC Studios grew earnings 11 percent to $303m “despite organic investment in media & streaming, including BBC.com and UKTV, which both saw audience growth.” The results.
—Death by suicide. Samuel Haskell Jr., the son of Emmy-winning producer and former William Morris agent Sam Haskell, who was accused of killing and dismembering his wife and in-laws, died by suicide in his jail cell on Saturday. He was 37. The younger Haskell’s death comes days before he was set to face a judge and answer for the alleged triple murder, the Los Angeles district attorney announced today. Haskell Jr., who was charged in late 2023 with the murders of his wife, Mei Haskell, and her parents, Yanxiang Wang and Gaoshan Li, was found dead in his cell at Twin Towers downtown jail after 4 a.m. on Saturday. Haskell was seen wearing a suicide smock while attending his most recent court hearing, and was under “moderate moderation” for self-harm in the jail. The story. |
Eva Longoria to Direct 'Anita De Monte Laughs Last' ►Busy, busy. Following her feature directorial debut with Flamin’ Hot, Eva Longoria is returning to Searchlight Pictures for a new feature, an adaptation of the novel Anita De Monte Laughs Last. The novel by Xochitl Gonzalez, who will adapt her work for the screen, is a mystery that intertwines the stories of Raquel, a first-generation Ivy League art student in 1998, and Anita, an artist from the 1980s who was largely forgotten after her suspicious death. Along with Cris Abrego and Jada Miranda, Longoria will produce via her Hyphenate Media Group, which will soon release Eva Longoria: Searching for France on CNN and Necaxa on FX. Longoria will next direct the Paula Pell-penned Netflix comedy The Fifth Wheel , which has Gloria Sanchez attached to produce. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 A feature reimagining of a viral short film has landed a theatrical release and is sharing its first gruesome footage. Die’ced: Reloaded is set to hit theaters Aug. 8 ahead of its VOD launch Aug. 12 from Epic Pictures’ horror label Dread. Writer-director Jeremy Rudd’s slasher movie expands upon the story that kicked off with Rudd’s 2023 viral short Die’ced. Set in 1980s Seattle, Die’ced: Reloaded centers on Benny, a notorious serial killer who flees an asylum on Halloween with the help of a scarecrow mask to begin a trail of carnage. It becomes clear that Benny is hunting a young woman who has unknowingly become his fixation. The story.
—🎭 In the works. 🎭 Brazilian author Jorge Amado’s classic novel Tieta of Agreste will get a new movie adaptation written by and starring Elite Squad star Suzana Pires, with Joana Mariani on board as the director. Set in the 1970s, the novel tells the story of the return of Tieta to the remote village of Santana do Agreste 26 years after being banished for promiscuity, beaten and expelled by her father in front of all the town’s people. The novel got the TV treatment in 1989, starring Betty Faria, while a 1996 film version starred Sônia Braga. Pires will take on the lead role of Tieta in the new movie. The story.
—🎭 It really puts perspective on things though, doesn't it? 🎭 Spinal Tap II: The End Continues writer-director Rob Reiner may be amazed by the love that Paul McCartney and Elton John still have for performing, as both legendary musicians make cameos in the forthcoming sequel movie. The follow-up to the 1984 cult classic This Is Spinal Tap hits theaters Sept. 12 from Bleecker Street. Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, Harry Shearer and Reiner star in the comedy about a heavy metal band reuniting for one last show. In a new interview, Reiner was asked whether Spinal Tap’s final concert featuring appearances from McCartney and John is intended as a statement about reinvention. The story. |
HBO's 'Harry Potter' Reveals First Photo; Casts Neville and Dudley ►🎭 Filling out. 🎭 HBO has started production on its Harry Potter TV series and added to its cast — plus released the first photo of young Dominic McLaughlin in costume as Harry Potter. The show has begun filming at Warner Bros. Studios Leavesden, U.K. In addition, the production announced a few more castmembers playing key roles: Rory Wilmot as Neville Longbottom, Amos Kitson as Dudley Dursley, Louise Brealey as Madam Rolanda Hooch and Anton Lesser as Garrick Ollivander. The core kids’ cast feature McLaughlin as Harry Potter, Arabella Stanton as Hermione Granger and Alastair Stout as Ron Weasley. The story.
—Setting sail. Gabby Windey, the former Bachelorette co-lead who won season three of The Traitors, has been tapped to host Hulu’s Love Overboard reality dating series from Alex Cooper’s Unwell Productions and Jeff Jenkins Productions. Windey, herself a podcast host and content creator, is best known for appearances on ABC’s The Bachelor and The Bachelorette. She was one of two co-leads for season 19. She also appeared on Dancing with the Stars. Love Overboard, to debut in 2026 on Hulu in the U.S. and Disney+ internationally, will see singles chase a possible love partner while sailing aboard a luxury yacht. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Lifetime will tear through three “Ripped From the Headlines” films this September. The network has set consecutive debuts for Saturdays in September for (working title) A Husband to Die For: The Lisa Aguilar Story starring Keana Lyn Bastidas, Jon McLaren and veteran star Marilu Henner on Sept. 13; The Girl Who Survived: The Alina Thompson Story starring Sam Trammell, Ashley Jones, Brielle Robillard and Steve Byers on Sept. 20; and I Was a Child Bride: The Courtney Stodden Story starring Holly J. Barrett as Stodden, Doug Savant as her actor husband Doug Hutchinson, and Maggie Lawson as Stodden’s mother, Krista, on Sept. 27. The story.
—📅 Dated, innit! 📅 The Real Housewives of London has set a launch date of Aug. 18 and unveiled a teaser. NBCUniversal's streamer Hayu on Tuesday released the official trailer and a glimpse of the unmissable, high-society drama in their first original show with housewives Juliet Angus, Amanda Cronin, Karen Loderick-Peace, Juliet Mayhew, Panthea Parker and Nessie Welschinger stepping into the spotlight. The story. |
Broadcast Falls Below 20 Percent of TV Use for the First Time ►Trending down. Broadcast viewing nearly always falls off in June after the traditional TV season ends, but the summertime blues are particularly pronounced this year. For the first time since Nielsen began tracking TV use by platform four years ago — and probably the first time ever, considering broadcast’s dominant place for much of television history — over-the-air networks accounted for less than 20 percent of viewing in June. The ratings service’s monthly Gauge rankings show broadcast at 18.5 percent for the month, down from 20.1 percent in May. Netflix saw the biggest bump in viewing, growing by 13.5 percent month to month on the strength of shows like Ginny & Georgia — June’s most streamed series with 9.9b minutes of viewing — new acquisitions Blindspot and Animal Kingdom and the final season of Squid Game. The ratings.
—As you were, mate. The most streamed show of 2025 so far is … the same as the most streamed show of 2024. Kids’ favorite Bluey has kept its hold on the top of the U.S. streaming rankings for the first half of the year. Nielsen figures for January to June show the series has amassed 25.06b minutes of viewing this year — which puts it on a similar pace to last year’s total of 55.62b minutes. Bluey has appeared in Nielsen’s streaming ratings (either the overall list or the top 10 acquired series) for 143 straight weeks, dating back to October 2022. Library series make up nine of the overall top 10 titles, with Netflix’s Squid Game the lone original. It ranks ninth with 15.07b viewing minutes, with most of that total attributable to viewing of season two, which premiered in late December 2024. The show’s third and final season bowed on June 27, one day before the end of Nielsen’s reporting period for June. The rankings.
—Punchy numbers. Netflix’s live stream of Katie Taylor and Amanda Serrano’s third boxing match drew a good-sized audience. According to figures from VideoAmp and internal Netflix data, the Friday night bout — a majority decision win for Taylor — drew a worldwide audience of 6m viewers from opening to closing bell. About 70 percent of that audience, or 4.2m viewers, came from the U.S. The Taylor-Serrano fight was part of an all-women card at New York’s Madison Square Garden Friday. Most Valuable Promotions, headed by boxer and social media star Jake Paul, says the event made $2.63m at the gate, a record for a card featuring only women fighters. (Audience figures for the full card weren’t available.) The story. |
Film Review: 'The Scout' ►"A discreet and confident debut." THR's Lovia Gyarkye reviews Paula González-Nasser's The Scout. The Colombian filmmaker's first film follows a location scout trying to find meaning in her own existence as she slips in and out of people's homes. Starring Mimi Davila, Rutanya Alda, Max Rosen, Ikechukwu Ufomadu and Sarah Herrman. The review.
—"Empathetic and informative." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Gianluca Matarrese's GEN_. The latest documentary from Matarrese premiered earlier this year in Sundance and was recently showcased at Karlovy Vary, and is a compassionate portrait of an Italian doctor treating trans patients and women trying to conceive. The review.
In other news...
—Academy Museum, CJ ENM partner for Korean event ahead of KCON
—Todd and Julie Chrisley’s podcast is back, already
—German Film Academy expands eligibility rules for national awards
—Love Island USA: S7's most memorable moments
—CAA literary agent Kathleen Remington launching new management venture
What else we're reading...
—In an op-ed, Omer Bartov, an Israeli-American Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Brown University, writes that he's come to conclusion that Israel is committing genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza [NYT]
—Simon van Zuylen-Wood offers an insight into how pissed off Canadians really are with Trump, MAGA and Americans in general [Intelligencer]
—Amanda Marcotte writes that Trump doesn't seem to realize why MAGA needs the Epstein files [Salon]
—Laura Snapes writes that Gen Z pop stars like Addison Rae, Romy Mars, Lorde, Charli xcx have embraced the shameless fame hunger of the Trump era [Guardian]
—Neil Armstrong looks at why Elizabeth I, the so-called 'Virgin Queen,' never married [BBC]
Today...
...in 2011, Warner Bros. released David Yates' Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2. The concluding chapter to the 10-year eight-film Harry Potter movie saga was a huge commercial hit, making almost $1.35b at the global box office and scoring three Oscar nominations. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Forest Whitaker (64), Ari Aster (39), Jim Rash (54), Yahya Abdul-Mateen II (39), Diane Kruger (49), Liza Colón-Zayas (53), Gabriel Iglesias (49), Travis Fimmel (46), Scott Foley (53), Aimee Carrero (37), Laura Benanti (46), Iain Armitage (17), Lana Parrilla (48), Terry O'Quinn (73), Sarah Desjardins (31), Brigitte Nielsen (62), Celia Imrie (73), Taylor Kinney (44), Tyriq Withers (27), Brian Austin Green (52), Jeffrey Kramer (80), Alexander Calvert (35), Melissa Collazo (25), Jesse Ventura (74), Lolita Davidovich (64), Hiro Murai (42), Willie Aames (65), Irène Jacob (59), Eddie Griffin (57), Mason Dye (31), Jill Halfpenny (50), Tristan Mack Wilds (36), Medalion Rahimi (33), Rachel Pickup (52), Martin Roach (63), Gaia Scodellaro (40), Briana Buckmaster (43) |
| Andrea Gibson, a celebrated poet and performance artist who was the subject of the doc Come See Me in the Good Light, has died at 49. The obituary. |
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