| | | | | | What's news: Fox Sports is linking up with Barstool Sports and its founder Dave Portnoy. Netflix has greenlit a live-action Assassin’s Creed series. Adolescence is the most watched Netflix show of 2025, so far. Erin Westerman is the new president of Lionsgate Motion Picture Group. Peacock is raising the prices of its ad-supported and ad-free tiers. — Abid Rahman
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'Late Show' Shocker: CBS Ending Late-Night Franchise in 2026 ►The end is nigh. In a surprise announcement Thursday, CBS and Late Show host Stephen Colbert said the show will come to an end in May 2026. Colbert told the show’s live audience during the taping of Thursday’s show at the Ed Sullivan Theatre in New York. In a statement, CBS said the cancellation was “purely a financial decision” made in a declining linear TV landscape. The end of The Late Show at the end of the 2025-26 season will leave CBS without a late-night presence for the first time since 1993. Colbert took over the show in 2015 and has been a consistent ratings leader among the network 11:35 p.m. shows for much of that time. The announcement also comes as CBS’ parent company, Paramount Global, is hoping to close a merger with Skydance in the next few months. The company also recently settled a lawsuit filed last year by Donald Trump over a 60 Minutes interview. The story.
—"Love you Stephen. Fuck you and all your Sheldons CBS." The worlds of politics and entertainment have reacted with shock and disgust over the news that The Late Show With Stephen Colbert will end its run in 2026. The likes of Jimmy Kimmel, Ben Stiller, John Cusack, Andy Richter, Michael Ian Black as well as prominent Democratic politicians such as Elizabeth Warren, Pramila Jayapal and Adam Schiff have taken to social media to decry the decision. Former New York Times media reporter Bill Carter, author of the books The Late Shift and The War for Late Night , wrote on X, “My first impression [about] the cancellation of Colbert: The financial side of that business has definitely been under pressure, as CBS release asserts, but if CBS believes it can escape without some serious questions about capitulating to Trump, they are seriously deluded." The reaction.
—"Awful optics." Does the end of The Late Show With Stephen Colbert in May 2026 relate to the Paramount-Skydance merger? To Colbert's criticism of Donald Trump? To the demise of late night television? Who's to say? THR's chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg offers his take on the shock news. The critic's notebook. |
Congress Approves PBS, NPR Cuts ►Devastating cuts. Federal funding for PBS and NPR is about to be eliminated, in a move that will likely cause an existential cash crunch for many local broadcast stations. The future of the cuts were uncertain until a dramatic late night vote Tuesday, with JD Vance breaking a 50-50 tie, the U.S. Senate moved forward on a rescission package that had been proposed by Donald Trump and passed (narrowly) in the House of Representatives last month. On Wednesday, the measure passed a final vote of 51-48. The Republican-controlled House approved the changes 216-213 on Thursday night, giving final passage to the bill that will now head to Trump’s desk to become law. The rescission package pulls about $1.1b in funding from PBS and NPR, which had been previously allocated over the next two fiscal years. The story.
—"The future belongs to those who build it." Substack has raised $100m in funding as the newsletter platform continues to position itself as a place for journalists and creators to retain independence. The funding, which is the company’s series C round, was led by investors at technology investment firm BOND and Peter Chernin’s The Chernin Group. Other participants include VC firm Andreessen Horowitz; Rich Paul, CEO and founder of Klutch Sports Group; and Jens Grede, CEO and co-founder of Skims, the apparel company co-founded by Kim Kardashian. The round values Substack at $1.1b and brings its total funding to date to about $200m. The story.
—Punchy. Peacock is significantly raising the monthly subscription prices for both its advertising-supported and ad-free tiers, while also launching a less expensive tier with less content. The streamer says that the cost of its ad-supported and ad-free tiers will rise by $3 each to $10.99 per month and $16.99 per month, respectively. Those are substantial hikes, and make Peacock the most expensive ad-supported streaming tier on the market. The annual subscriptions will rise to $109.99/year for Premium (with ads) and $169.99/year for Premium Plus (without). The new prices go into effect July 23 for new customers, and Aug. 22 for existing customers. The story.
—Dismissed. Amazon will not have to face a lawsuit accusing it of misleading Prime subscribers by charging an additional fee to stream movies and TV shows without ads. U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein on Wednesday dismissed the lawsuit, finding that the addition of commercials don’t constitute a price increase but rather a modification to the subscription package. Amazon disclosed in its terms that the bundle of Prime benefits is subject to change, the court said. Amazon last year pivoted to making its ad tier the default for its over 100m subscribers, turning the service into a streaming-ad juggernaut. Users were required to pay an additional $2.99 per month to watch without ads, which they argued constituted a mid-subscription price increase. The story. |
CNBC Hires An EIC As It Unifies TV and Digital News Teams ►"An important evolution." CNBC has hired an editor-in-chief, creating a new role meant to unify its TV, digital and direct-to-consumer reporting under the leadership of one person. CNBC’s first EIC is David Cho, most recently the editor-in-chief of Barron’s and head of editorial content for Dow Jones wealth and investing. Before that he spent two decades at The Washington Post. Cho starts next month, and will report to CNBC president KC Sullivan. CNBC’s current editorial structure sees TV and business day separate from digital, but with its upcoming spinoff into Versant, the financial news powerhouse is restructuring to be more nimble as it pursues growth. Going forward all of CNBC editorial regardless of platform will report into Cho. The story.
—🤝 Extension. 🤝 Imax has renewed CEO Richard Gelfond’s contract through 2028. In a regulatory filing on Thursday, Imax said the latest amendment to his existing employment agreement extends his contract to Dec. 31, 2028. Effective Jan. 1, 2026, Gelfond will continue to receive an annual base salary of $1.2m and be eligible to receive a target annual bonus of 100 percent of his base salary, with a cap at 200 percent of his base salary. Gelfond has been CEO of Imax since 2009, after serving as co-CEO from 1993. He will remain at the Imax helm as the company continues to navigate a post-pandemic box office rebound for the Hollywood studios, his main movie suppliers. The story.
—🤝 Upped. 🤝 Erin Westerman has been formally named president of the Lionsgate Motion Picture Group, replacing Nathan Kahane after he recently announced plans to step down by the end of the year. Kahane’s pending move back to film producing opened the way for Westerman, most recently president of production and development, to take over all studio production under Motion Picture Group chair Adam Fogelson. Westerman, a former Good Universe and Disney exec, joined Lionsgate in 2017 as executive vp production, overseeing the studio’s creative film production team, before moving up the ranks. In her new role, she will oversee all development and production of Lionsgate’s theatrical film release slate. The story. |
Netflix Profit Surges, Announces Raft of New Shows ►Behemoth. Netflix is chugging along, growing its revenue and profit margins even as its competitors — except YouTube — struggle to keep their streaming services profitable. The streaming giant reported total revenues of $11.1b, operating income of $3.8b and a margin of 34.1 percent, all up double digits from a year ago, and all topping Wall Street estimates. Q2 is the second quarter in which Netflix is not releasing its subscriber figures, choosing instead to put its focus on revenue and income, as it experiments with different revenue models like advertising, and with the price of subscriptions in different markets remaining somewhat variable. It is also the first full quarter in which it has launched new price increases, including in mature markets like the U.S. Those price hikes, combined with consistent low churn, likely account for the strong margins. The results.
—Ted's a fan. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos sees generative artificial intelligence tools expanding creativity during the making of movies and TV series and not just being a cost-cutting option for studios. “We remain convinced that AI represents an incredible opportunity to help creators make films and series better, not just cheaper,” Sarandos told financial analysts on Thursday after his company delivered its second quarter financial results. “So this is real people doing real work with better tools. Our creators are already seeing the benefits in production through pre-visualization and shot planning work, and certainly visual effects,” he added. The story.
—Cor blimey guv! On a busy news day for Netflix on Wednesday, the streamer released its semiannual viewing report for the first half of 2025, with a breakout hit that originated outside the U.S. topping the series rankings. It’s not Squid Game — at least not according to the way Netflix ranks its programming. Adolescence, the critically acclaimed U.K. limited series that earned 13 Emmy nominations earlier this week, takes the crown with 144.8m views worldwide since its March 13 premiere. Squid Game is not far behind, however. Season two of the Korean thriller, released in the last week of 2024, is second among all series with 117.3m views from January to June. The third and final season of Squid Game is one spot back with 71.5m views, despite having premiered just four days before the close of the half-year. The story.
—Blizzard of orders and renewals. Former X Factor star Simon Cowell will front and executive produce a Netflix docuseries called Simon Cowell: The Next Act, in which he will attempt to "create the next global boyband sensation." The six-episode series, set to premiere in December, is one of several unscripted orders and renewals Netflix announced Thursday; among the others are Let’s Marry Harry, featuring Harry Jowsey, and Love Con Revenge, in which Cecilie Fjellhøy teams with a private investigator to expose romance scanners. Netflix has also renewed The Ultimatum: Marry or Move On and King of Collectibles: The Goldin Touch and set fall premiere dates for season nine of Love Is Blind and a trio of real estate shows: Selling Sunset, Selling the OC and Owning Manhattan. Additionally, the streamer announced former Bachelor Nick Viall and his wife, Natalie Joy, will host the dating show Age of Attraction. The story.
—Five years in the making. The live-action Assassin’s Creed series at Netflix has finally been greenlit with Roberto Patino and David Wiener as creators, showrunners and executive producers. The series’ logline reads: "Assassin’s Creed is a high-octane thriller centered on the secret war between two shadowy factions — one set on determining mankind’s future through control and manipulation, while the other fights to preserve free will. The series follows its characters across pivotal historical events as they battle to shape humanity’s destiny." Ubisoft's blockbuster gaming franchise, first launched in 2007, has gone on to sell more than 230m copies worldwide. The game jumped from consoles to the big screen in 2016 via 20th Century Fox, although the film bombed at the box office. The story. |
Fox Sports Inks Deal With Dave Portnoy's Barstool ►🤝 Content pact. 🤝 Fox Sports is linking up with the digital media company Barstool Sports and its founder Dave Portnoy, in what Portnoy calls a “wide-ranging” deal. The pact will see Portnoy and other Barstool personalities join Fox’s Big Noon Kickoff college football show, with Barstool also set to create a new two-hour studio show that will air on Fox Sports 1 Monday-Friday, per Fox. In addition, the Barstool College Football Show will stream on Fox Sports digital channels and Tubi ahead of Fox’s own pre-game show, with a college basketball show to follow later this year. The company will also work together to produce digital content featuring Fox and Barstool personalities. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 ABC has set its premiere dates for the start of the 2025-26 TV season, with the likes of High Potential, Abbott Elementary and a pair of 911 series debuting over several weeks. The network’s fall schedule is fairly stable, with anchor shows like Monday Night Football, Dancing With the Stars and 911 all staying in the spots they held last season. One notable change is that Abbott Elementary — the lone comedy on ABC’s lineup in fall 2024 — won’t have to go it alone. It will pair with Shifting Gears on Wednesday nights starting Oct. 1. Dancing With the Stars and High Potential — last season’s most watched new series — will lead off ABC’s entertainment slate, premiering on Sept. 16 in the same Tuesday spots they occupied a year ago. The story.
—🎭 Filling out. 🎭 Amazon Prime Video has announced the cast for the series adaptation of Every Summer After, based on the best-selling novel by Carley Fortune. Saltburn star Sadie Soverall will lead the cast as Percy, alongside Matt Cornett as love interest Sam. Aurora Perrineau has been cast as Chantal, Abigail Cowen will play Delilah, Michael Bradway is set for the role of Charlie and Joseph Chiu has been cast as Jordie. Fortune’s romance story is told over the course of six years and highlighting a summer spent in “the quintessential lake town” Barry’s Bay. The story centers on Percy and Sam, who become best friends and embark on a love story. The story.
—Back with a bang. The Dexter franchise continues to deliver audiences for Showtime and Paramount+. The latest iteration of the saga, Dexter: Resurrection, brought in 3.1m cross-platform viewers over the show’s opening weekend from July 11-13, a considerable improvement on the premiere of the most recent Dexter series, the prequel Original Sin, in December 2024. Original Sin premiered to about 2.1m viewers over its first three days. Resurrection follows the title character (Michael C. Hall) — who, as it turns out, did not die in the finale of Dexter: New Blood, hence the new show’s title — to New York City. The ratings.
—Sun-kissed. Love Island USA continued its strong run on Peacock, scoring a series high in weekly watch time for the second week in a row. Former NBC series Blindspot also scored big in its second week after being added to Netflix. Love Island delivered 1.47b minutes of viewing from June 16-22 — up 34 percent from its previous high of 1.09b minutes, set a week earlier. The show is a huge draw for young adults, Nielsen says: 57 percent of its viewing for the week came from the 18- to 34-year-olds. Blindspot ’s viewing time actually inched down week to week, but its 1.8 billion viewing minutes (vs. 1.87b the previous week) were enough to claim the overall top spot. The series, which ran on NBC from 2015-19, joined Netflix on June 7. The story. The streaming rankings. |
Broadway Tax Credit Program Runs Out of Money ►Probably not a good thing. A tax credit program that helped fuel Broadway’s recovery has run out of money. Starting in 2021, NYC Musical and Theatrical Production Tax Credit allowed commercial productions to subsidize 25 percent of their production costs, totaling up to $3m per Broadway production or up to $350,000 per Off-Broadway production. The $400m program, which had been doling out about $100m a year, is expected to allocate all of its remaining funds by October 2025. About $365m of the program funding has already been allocated, and the program is expected to be sunset after the remaining funding is distributed, according to Empire State Development, which runs the program. The story.
—Lorde have mercy. Sadie Sink ended her Tony-nominated run in John Proctor Is the Villain on Sunday, and the show’s grosses shot up $220,000 to reach $1.1m, marking the highest gross of its run so far, with more than 100 percent capacity and a new high average ticket price of $178. Lorde, whose music is featured at a pivotal moment in the show, also attended a performance at the Booth Theatre last week. The show, which opened April 14, continues through Aug. 31, with Chiara Aurelia replacing Sink. In its last week on Broadway, Boop! The Musical shot up more than $275,000 to reach the highest gross of its run. The Broadway box office report.
—📅 Final performance. 📅 The revival of Gypsy, starring Audra McDonald, will play its final Broadway performance on Aug. 17. The show reopened the Majestic Theatre in December, and will have played 269 regular performances and 28 previews upon closing. McDonald, who is already a six-time Tony Award winner, was the draw for her portrayal of Rose, the ultimate stage mom, in the revival directed by George C. Wolfe. The production was nominated for five Tony Awards, including best revival of a musical, but did not take home any trophies at the June awards ceremony. McDonald was nominated for best actress in a musical, in one of the most watched categories in the industry, but the award went to Nicole Scherzinger for her role in Sunset Blvd. The story.
—📅 Put it in the diary. 📅 The Off-Broadway Cherry Lane Theatre, now owned by A24, will reopen its doors in September, with plans to offer theatrical productions, film screenings and more. The first official event will be Sundays with Sofia , a film screening series hosted by Sofia Coppola, which will also include a discussion afterward. It kicks off Sept. 14 with a screening of Adrian Lyne’s Foxes and is expected to have additional events throughout the year. The 167-seat theater will also include programming such as artist-led mainstage productions for multi-weeks runs, emerging talent presentations, including staged readings, standups and music performances, as well as well-known artists doing pop-up performances. The theater will also host events starting Sept. 8 in the leadup to Sundays with Sofia. The story. |
THR's 40 Greatest Needle Drops in Film History ►"Fight the Power!" A great movie needle drop can set a tone or define a character. It can elevate or undercut the action or emotion onscreen. From Tarantino to Trainspotting, these iconic music cues didn’t just soundtrack great movies — they transformed how we hear the songs forever. The list. |
Taika Waititi Tackling 'Judge Dredd' Movie ►Third time lucky. THR's Borys Kit has the scoop that Taika Waititi is attached to direct a new feature film take on Judge Dredd, the popular and violent British comic book character. The film is one of the hottest packages to hit Hollywood this year and also includes Drew Pearce, the scribe known for his action movie-filled resume thanks to titles such as Fall Guy and Mission: Impossible – Rogue Nation , writing the script. Sources say Pearce and Waititi both grew up with the comics and are friends who have been trying to find a project to work on together for years. The character was given the glossy Hollywood treatment in 1995 with a big-budget adaptation that starred Sylvester Stallone. It was poorly received. More critically acclaimed was Dredd, a 2012 adaptation that starred Karl Urban with a script by Alex Garland, but the film stalled at the box office. The story.
—🤝 Rights deal. 🤝 Joe Eszterhas, who wrote the script for the 1992 erotic thriller Basic Instinct, is back to pen the screenplay for Amazon MGM Studios‘ planned reboot. United Artists and Scott Stuber have acquired the rights to the franchise relaunch that is currently untitled. The deal marks the largest spec sale of 2025, with Amazon paying $2m against a possible $4m if the film gets made. Michael Douglas and Sharon Stone starred in director Paul Verhoeven's original Basic Instinct. It centers on a detective (Douglas) who connects with a writer (Stone) as she becomes the prime suspect in the murder of a wealthy musician. The story.
—Aaaaand they're gone! Well, that didn’t take long. A full year before the release of Christopher Nolan's epic The Odyssey, tickets went on sale to see the Universal event pic film in Imax 70mm film — the filmmaker’s preferred format — at 25 or 26 locations over the July 17-19 weekend, in addition to Thursday afternoon screenings on July 16. Within an hour, 95 percent of seats were snapped up, according to exhibition sources, reaping about a total of $1.5m in sales, despite a relatively small pool of seats. Later on Thursday, there were reports of tickets being resold on eBay and other sites for anywhere between $300 and $400, compared to an average retail price of $25-$28. The story.
—Milestone passed. Disney’s live-action Lilo & Stitch has finally cleared the $1b mark at the worldwide box office, becoming the first Hollywood pic of 2025 to achieve the milestone and cementing its status as the year’s top-grossing Western movie both globally and internationally, the studio announced Thursday. It finished Wednesday with a domestic tally of $416.2m and $584.8m overseas for a worldwide haul of $1.001b. China’s Ne Zha 2 is the 2025 record-holder overall, with more than $2.22b in ticket sales. The story.
—🎭 Billy goes to Washington. 🎭 William Franklyn-Miller will be cutting down the cherry tree. In a potential breakthrough role, the 21-year-old up-and-comer has nabbed the starring role of Young Washington, a feature origin story of sorts of America’s first president being made by faith-based powerhouses Wonder Project and Angel Studios. The project will directed by Wonder Project founder and House of David creator Jon Erwin, who also co-wrote the script with Tom Provost and Diederik Hoogstraten. The chronicle of the future politician and general begins with his mistake attacking a patrol that triggers the French and Indian War, forcing the ambitious 22-year-old Washington to face his failures and find the courage to become the leader that will forge a nation. The story. |
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 Stellan Skarsgård. The veteran Swedish actor reflects on working with everyone from Ingmar Bergman to David Fincher, moving between art house projects (including his five collaborations with Lars von Trier) and studio fare (Dune, Mamma Mia!, Pirates of the Caribbean and five MCU installments), and why he's particularly proud of his latest film, Joachim Trier's Cannes' Grand Prize winner Sentimental Value in which he plays an aging filmmaker who has a complicated relationship with his two daughters. Listen here.
In other news...
—Johnny Cage unleashes his power of being "incredibly handsome" in Mortal Kombat II trailer
—Alien: Earth trailer reveals monsters gone wild after spaceship crashes
—Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne will make you LOL in Platonic S2 trailer
—Chris Hemsworth faces fears in trailer for Limitless: Live Better Now
—First-look at Samuel L. Jackson in Taylor Sheridan spinoff series NOLA King
—Former Fox and Discovery executive Peter Liguori named CEO of VideoAmp
—Gold’s Gym opens flagship location at L.A.'s Beverly Center
—Joanna Bacon, British actress known for Love Actually and Breeders, dies at 72
—Annet McCroskey, CEO of Artistic Endeavors, dies at 51
What else we're reading...
—In case you missed it (somehow), here again is Khadeeja Safdar and Joe Palazzolo jaw-dropping story on the contents of a letter Trump sent to Jeffrey Epstein for the latter's 50th birthday [WSJ]
—Matthew Goldstein reports on Sen. Ron Wyden's efforts to follow the Epstein money, and the discovery of $1.5b in suspicious transactions [NYT]
—Keach Hagey, Dana Mattioli and Josh Dawsey look at how OpenAI's Sam Altman outfoxed Elon Musk to become Trump’s AI buddy [WSJ]
—Jenny Jarvie and Hannah Fry report that ICE is gaining access to a trove of Medicaid records, adding new peril for immigrants [LAT]
—Here's your Friday list: "Why the world needs Superman. Plus, a ranking of all his other movies" [THR]
Today...
...in 1986, Fox brought Aliens to theaters, an R-rated sequel to Alien by director James Cameron and producer Gale Anne Hurd that was a huge critical and commercial hit. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Priyanka Chopra Jonas (43), Kelly Reilly (48), Vin Diesel (58), Jared Hess (46), Kristen Bell (45), Andre Royo (57), James Norton (40), Margo Martindale (74), Paul Verhoeven (87), Elizabeth McGovern (64), James Brolin (85), Luciane Buchanan (32), Michiel Huisman (44), Hoon Lee (52), Taylor Russell (31), Elsa Pataky (49), Chace Crawford (40), Valerie Cruz (49), Lee Yoo-mi (31), Eugene Cordero (47), Lee Arenberg (63), Ambyr Childers (37), Dayton Callie (79), Fionn Whitehead (28), Audrey Landers (69), Anne-Marie Johnson (65), Rosalind Halstead (41), Alex Désert (57), Jason Weaver (46), Grant Bowler (57), Bhumi Pednekar (36), James Faulkner (77), Hampton Fancher (87), Mike Kovac (41), Lori Alan (59), Luis Moncada (48), Akie Kotabe (45), Ella Ballentine (24), Jason Ament (54), Lamar Johnson (31), Michael Aaron Milligan (45), Sarah McLeod (54), Vicki Davis (45) |
| Skip Brittenham, the forthright Hollywood attorney and power broker who represented A-listers from all corners of the industry, from Kevin Feige, Harvey Weinstein and Toby Emmerich to Harrison Ford, Tom Hanks and Eddie Murphy, died Monday. He was 83. The obituary. |
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