| | | | | | What's news: Monica Lewinsky and Amanda Knox, co-producers on a hotly anticipated Hulu limited series, are THR's digital cover stars. Hollywood has been paying tribute to the late Terence Stamp. Weapons has banked almost $150m worldwide. The Breakfast Club is heading back to theaters. Anna Faris and Regina Hall have joined the Scary Movie reboot. — Abid Rahman
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Monica Lewinsky and Amanda Knox on How to Survive a Scandal ►On the digital cover. Monica Lewinsky and Amanda Knox endured global scandal, public shaming and decades of blistering media scrutiny. Now they're ready to reclaim their own stories. In their first joint interview, the two friends reveal to THR's editor-in-chief Maer Roshan how they got their lives back and why they teamed up to bring Knox’s twisted tale to the screen in a major new eight-part limited Hulu series, The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox. The cover story. |
Box Office: 'Weapons' Slays 'Nobody 2' ►What about Bob? The modestly budgeted sequel Nobody 2 is having to settle for a third-place finish in its domestic box office debut as Zach Cregger’s Weapons continues to fire on all cylinders and stay atop the chart in its sophomore outing, followed by Disney’s family comedy Freakier Friday. Indonesian action auteur Timo Tjahjanto's Nobody 2, about a seemingly average suburban dad (Bob Odenkirk) who leads a double life as a stealth operative, is on course to open on the lower end of expectations with $9.3m from 3,260 locations after receiving a B+ CinemaScore from audiences (its audience ranking on Rotten Tomatoes is more promising at 89 percent). Its early global total is $14.2m.
THR's Pamela McClintock writes that the first Nobody opened amid the pandemic to $6.8m on its way to grossing a pleasing $68m domestically. The sequel cost a reported $25m to make before marketing, so no one at Universal is losing sleep, since it is sure to make up ground when hitting premium VOD as early as three weeks from now (the studio has perfected the art of PVOD).
New Line's Weapons had no trouble staying atop the chart in its sophomore outing with an estimated $25m from 3,450 locations — a scant decline of 43 percent. That’s a rare feat for a horror film, and cements the movie’s status as a water-cooler sensation. Overseas, it dropped 33 percent to $18.4m for an early worldwide total of $148.8m in yet another win for Warner Bros., which paid $38m for rights to the project. The box office report. |
Terence Stamp 1938 - 2025 ►Sixties icon. Terence Stamp, the strikingly handsome British actor who embodied the swinging sixties and whose versatility shone in Billy Budd, Superman and The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert, died Sunday. He was 87. Stamp won the best actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his terrifying performance as a psycho who holds a young woman (Samantha Eggar) hostage in William Wyler’s The Collector (1965), then experienced a resurgence when he played the Kryptonian megalomaniac General Zod in Superman (1978) and Superman II (1980).
In his youth, the blue-eyed Stamp was widely considered one of the most handsome men onscreen, and Italian director Pier Paolo Pasolini used that to peculiar effect in Teorema (1968), casting the actor as a nameless and wordless visitor who seduces an entire household. In a career spanning six decades, perhaps his most challenging performance came after he was offered the role of Bernadette, a transgender woman who embarks on an Australian road trip with two drag queens, in The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (1994). The obituary.
—"Terence was a true movie star: the camera loved him, and he loved it right back." A host of Hollywood luminaries, including Edgar Wright, Guy Pearce, Gale Anne Hurd, Stephen Elliott, Lou Diamond Phillips, David Sirota, Titus Welliver and Valerie Perrine, took to social media to pay tribute to Terence Stamp. Hurd, who worked with Stamp on 1988’s Alien Nation, tweeted, “Terence Stamp was a brilliant actor. I think he and Peter O’Toole not only had the most mesmerizing eyes…but delivered equally indelible performances.” The reaction. |
MSNBC to Change Name to MS NOW ►Errr, OK. MSNBC is dropping the NBC from its name. As the cable news channel leaves NBCUniversal for life under spinoff company Versant, the channel will become My Source for News, Opinion, and the World, or MS NOW for short. “This new name underscores the brand’s mission to serve as the destination for domestic and international breaking news and the best-in-class opinion journalism,” Versant CEO Mark Lazarus told staff in a memo sent Monday. The story.
—Dismissed. Sean Combs won’t have to face most of a sexual assault lawsuit from Sara Rivers, who accused the music mogul of groping her when she was a contestant on Making the Band 2. The complaint from Rivers was filed earlier this year, near the height of legal scrutiny around Combs. She claimed Combs cornered her at his recording studio in New York before proceeding to brush his left hand across her breast. The lawsuit, which also named Universal Music Group, Bad Boy Records and Paramount’s MTV, claimed assault and battery, sexual harassment and hostile work environment. Rivers sought at least $60m. The story.
—Sentenced. Rapper Sean Kingston was sentenced to three and a half years in prison Friday after being convicted of a $1m fraud scheme in which he leveraged his fame to dupe sellers into giving him luxury items that he then never paid for. Kingston, whose legal name is Kisean Paul Anderson, and his mother, Janice Eleanor Turner, were convicted in March by a federal jury of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and four counts of wire fraud. Turner was sentenced to five years in prison last month. Before U.S. Judge David Leibowitz handed down Kingston’s sentence, the singer apologized to the judge in the South Florida courtroom and said he had learned from his actions. The story.
—New levels of cool. Hollywood action icon Tom Cruise reportedly shot down an invitation from Donald Trump to be among the 2025 Kennedy Center honorees. According to The Washington Post, the Top Gun: Maverick star declined the opportunity due to “scheduling conflicts.” Instead, Trump unveiled a list of 48th Kennedy Center Honors recipients last week that included the glam metal band Kiss, Broadway star Michael Crawford, country music legend George Strait, singer Gloria Gaynor and, in the film actor category, Sylvester Stallone. The story. |
Of Course 'Weapons' Is About Something ►"It’s about so many things that to even limit it to one feels reductive." Audiences are arguing over the meaning (or lack thereof) behind Zach Cregger's huge horror hit Weapons, but the truth is, writes Richard Newby, there's no such thing as a correct answer when it comes to the film. The analysis.
—🎭 The gang's all here. 🎭 Anna Faris and Regina Hall are running to the Scary Movie reboot that is hitting theaters next year. Marlon Wayans, Shawn Wayans and Keenen Ivory Wayans penned the script for director Michael Tiddes’ new project that was announced last year at CinemaCon. Known for satirizing horror flicks, the Scary Movie films launched with the first title hitting theaters in 2000 and spawning four sequels. “We can’t wait to bring Brenda and Cindy back to life and be reunited with our great friends Keenen, Shawn and Marlon — three men we’d literally die for (in Brenda’s case, again),” Faris and Hall said in a joint statement about their characters. The sixth film in the franchise hits theaters June 12, 2026. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 In honor of its 40th anniversary, Universal Pictures will rerelease writer-director John Hughes' groundbreaking coming-of-age film The Breakfast Club in cinemas nationwide on Sept. 7 and again on Sept. 10. The film, set at a suburban Chicago high school, stars Molly Ringwald, Emilio Estevez, Judd Nelson, Ally Sheedy and Anthony Michael Hall as five teenagers from vastly different cliques who spend a life-altering Saturday in detention. First opening in theaters on Feb. 15, 1985, The Breakfast Club became a box office hit and cultural sensation after striking a generational chord with its portrayal of identity and the desire to be seen. It also helped launch the careers of its young ensemble cast, as well as the Brat Pack era. The story.
—🎭 Wiig in place. 🎭 Roboto has found his, or in this case, her voice. THR's Borys Kit has the scoop that the Masters of the Universe character, a mechanical warrior, will be voiced by Kristen Wiig in Amazon MGM Studios and Mattel’s big-budget and big-screen feature. Masters of the Universe , now in post-production, is based on the toyline first launched in the 1980s and the popular cartoon of the same era, and centers on the character of Prince Adam of Eternia who, thanks to his Power Sword, turns into the muscular He-Man and is imbued with superhuman strength and abilities. With his assortment of allies, he defends the planet from the evil Skeletor and his armies. Leading the cast are Nicholas Galitzine as the sword-wielding prince and Jared Leto as Skeletor, an evil sorcerer looking for secrets of the mysterious Castle Grayskull. The story.
—"It is what it is." Gal Gadot opened up for the first time about the commercial failure of Disney’s Snow White and shuts down reports of a strained relationship with co-star Rachel Zegler. “I really enjoyed filming that movie, I really had fun”, said Gadot during an appearance on Israeli TV show The A Talks . “Even working alongside Rachel Zegler. We laughed and we talked, we had fun. I was positive the movie was going to be a huge hit. And then Oct. 7 happened, and what happened all over in different industries, not just Hollywood, there was a lot of pressure put on celebrities, actors, creators to post against Israel. And it happened. I can always explain and try to give people in the world context about the situation and the reality in Israel, and I always do that. But at the end, people make up their own minds." The story. |
Netflix Unveils First Look at 'House of Guinness' ►📅 Good things come to those who wait. 📅 Netflix has unveiled the key art and first-look images of its cast for House of Guinness. Louis Partridge, Anthony Boyle, Emily Fairn, Fionn O’Shea and James Norton star in the new show from Peaky Blinders mastermind Steven Knight — airing Sept. 25 on the streamer — about one of Europe’s most enduring dynasties. Set in 19th-century Dublin and New York, the story begins immediately after the death of Sir Benjamin Guinness, the man responsible for the extraordinary success of the Guinness brewery, and the far-reaching impact of his will on the fate of his four adult children, Arthur (Boyle), Edward (Partridge), Anne (Fairn) and Ben (O’Shea). The story.
—Taking a punt. Disney is taking another step into the YA space with its newest series pickup. Disney+ and Disney Channel have greenlit Coven Academy, a dramedy about a group of young witches in New Orleans. The show comes from Disney Branded Television and High School Musical: The Musical: The Series creator Tim Federle. It’s also, notably, not based on any pre-existing IP, which has been the m.o. for Disney in the kids and family arena in recent years. Coven Academy is an original premise from Federle that “follows a trio of teenage witches-in-training who are bound by destiny to guard their city against dangerous, ancient forces,” the logline reads. The story.
—📅 Drip, drip, drip. 📅 Netflix continues to tease out the third season of its hit political drama The Diplomat, offering yet another video preview of the next installment as well as sharing the release date: Oct. 16. The new teaser for the upcoming episodes, though light on dialogue and extended scenes, features Keri Russell‘s Kate Wyler saying, “a terribly flawed woman is now the president, and only we know just how flawed.” The story. |
Noah Hawley on 'Alien: Earth's' New Monsters ►"Worse than you can imagine." For THR, Josh Wigler talked to Noah Hawler about his new show, the hotly anticipated Alien: Earth. The Fargo creator returns to FX with a haunting take on the classic science fiction franchise, with brand new creatures along for the ride. Warning: Spoilers! The interview.
—"I’m very lucky to never have been bullied online and I don’t bully anyone online." THR's Brande Victorian spoke to rising British actor Owen Cooper. The breakout star of Netflix's Adolescence reveals the scene so difficult he couldn't bear to do it, and also shares the one bit of advice parents should take away from the series. The interview. |
Why It Took 35 Years for 'Highest 2 Lowest' to Hit Theaters ►"It was a murderer’s row of people that had done previous drafts of it." THR's second-nicest man Aaron Couch spoke to producer Jason Michael Berman and screenwriter Alan Fox on the long arduous journey of Spike Lee's latest joint Highest 2 Lowest to the big screen. Aaron writes that the strangest development saga of any movie this summer includes A-list writers and directors (Mamet, Scorsese) coming and going, and studios spending millions trying to hone the right script. Then, a young producer and first-time screenwriter cracked the code and got Denzel Washington's attention. The interview.
—"Both Hutch Mansell in Nobody and Saul Goodman in Better Call Saul have a lot of impacted frustration inside them." THR's Brian Davids spoke to Bob Odenkirk about his new film, Nobody 2. Odenkirk discusses the potential of a Nobody quadrilogy, and also offers his thoughts on Pluribus, Vince Gilligan's new show starring his Better Call Saul co-star Rhea Seehorn. The interview.
—"We all have these opinions about one another — conversation seems to have left the building." THR's Lily Ford spoke to Renée Zellweger about her directorial debut, the nine-minute hand-drawn animation They. In her first interview as a filmmaker, the two-time Oscar-winner discusses the project that takes aim at the plumes of toxicity polluting the world. The interview. |
Gary Oldman on His "Diabolical Good Luck" ►"There was certainly a time where I felt that I was being sort of typecast. I was a sort of “rent-a-villain,” you know what I mean?" THR's Scott Roxborough was lucky enough to speak to living legend (and freshly knighted) Gary Oldman. The Oscar winner gets candid about how sobriety saved his life, making the most of second chances and why the character Jackson Lamb, from Apple TV+'s excellent Slow Horses, might be the role of his life: "It’s been a real highlight of my career." The interview.
In other news...
—VMAs: Sabrina Carpenter among first group of performers
—Dan Ziskie, actor on Treme and House of Cards, dies at 80
—Ronnie Rondell Jr., Hollywood stuntman set on fire for a Pink Floyd album, dies at 88
—Michael Sloan, The Equalizer co-creator, dies at 78
—Dan Tana, former owner of namesake Hollywood restaurant, dies at 90
—Joe Caroff, designer of the James Bond 007 logo, dies at 103
What else we're reading...
—Kyle Buchanan has a great interview with Weapons star Amy Madigan who is already getting Oscar buzz for playing the iconic Aunt Gladys [NYT]
—Lucas Shaw reports that YouTube is making a play to host the Oscars [Bloomberg]
—Laura Martin outlines the reasons why And Just Like That failed to live up to Sex and the City [BBC]
—Helena Getahun-Hawkins looks at how sorority rush videos became the ultimate reality TV show [WSJ]
—Linguist Adam Aleksic writes a piece on the insidious creep of Trump’s speaking style with phrases like "many such cases" becoming part of the common lexicon [NYT]
Today...
...in 1961, West Side Story held its world premiere in New York at the Rivoli Theatre, eventually going on to win 10 Oscars at the 34th Academy Awards. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Robert Redford (89), Kaitlin Olson (50), Edward Norton (56), Christian Slater (56), Andy Samberg (47), Sarita Choudhury (59), Madeleine Stowe (67), Denis Leary (68), Richard Harmon (34), Carole Bouquet (68), Shalom Brune-Franklin (31), Maia Mitchell (32), Madelaine Petsch (31), Darren Pettie (55), Craig Bierko (61), Josephine Langford (28), Brady Hepner (20), Rivkah Reyes (33), Dar Salim (48), Michaela Jill Murphy (31), Glenn Plummer (64), Sergio Castellitto (72), Adam Storke (63), Daphnee Duplaix (49), Anna Akana (36), Jacob Vargas (54), Mizuo Peck (48), Brian Michael Bendis (58), Max Winkler (42), Alexa Davies (🏴30), Kieran Bew (45) |
| | Tristan Rogers, who played Robert Scorpio on ABC's General Hospital over several stints for some 45 years and also had a run on CBS’ The Young and the Restless, has died. He was 79. The obituary. |
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