| | | | | | What's news: Paramount is exploring a movie output deal with Legendary. Newsmax will pay $67m to settle a defamation suit from Dominion Voting Systems. Soho House is going private. Netflix has renewed Dept. Q. Apple has added Ben Stiller's pickleball comedy The Dink to its slate. — Abid Rahman
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Nexstar Seals $6.2B Mega Merger With Tegna ►🤝 Local TV giant. 🤝 Leading local station owner and media company Nexstar Media Group and smaller rival Tegna have unveiled a definitive agreement for a merger. As part of the deal, Nexstar will acquire all outstanding shares of Tegna each for $22.00 in cash, which values the transaction at $6.2b, including debt. Tegna’s board of directors has approved the merger and the company’s debt will refinanced or closed at the completion of the merger agreement. Sinclair had also been looking at a deal for Tegna, which has 64 local TV stations in the U.S. market. Nexstar, which already has around 299 owned or partner TV stations, has financing in place from a consortium of Wall Street investment banks to finance the transaction. The merger deal, which requires regulatory approvals, is seen as a test for the FCC to loosen local TV station ownership rules as it gets set to rule on the Nexstar-Tegna agreement. The story.
—Farewell, MSNBC. Hello, "My Source for News, Opinion and the World." With the MSNBC name set to disappear as the cable news channel readies itself for life under the management of Versant, THR's Erik Hayden and Tony Maglio try to make sense of the incoming MS Now, the corporate-mandated rebrand for the outlet that made its name as a left-leaning stalwart. The conversation.
—Moving fast. The Skydance-owned Paramount continues its breakneck dealmaking. A little over a week after taking hold of the studio, the David Ellison-led executive squadron is in talks to make a movie output deal with Legendary Pictures, the producers of the Dune and Monsterverse movie franchises. Legendary previously had output deals with Warner Bros and Sony Pictures, with its deal with Sony expiring at the end of last year and its Warners deal ending in late 2022. Any deal with Legendary excludes the Godzilla-Kong movies as well as the Dune franchise, which lucratively remain parked at Warners. Its time at Sony wasn’t very fruitful; Biblical comedy The Book of Clarence bombed, as did the action comedy The Machine . Still, the company will soon go into production on a new version of Street Fighter for Sony. The story.
—Suit filed. Range Media Partners has been sued by Michele Solis, a former executive assistant, who alleges she was given an ultimatum to accept a demotion or be fired for requesting to take a medical leave. The lawsuit, filed on Monday in California state court, brings claims for disability discrimination, retaliation and wrongful termination, among several others. It seeks unspecified damages. Solis started at Range in 2022 as executive assistant to the CEO of Range Media, which is run by Peter Micelli, before transitioning to another role in which she provided services to crossover clients in music and film, according to her LinkedIn profile. Earlier this year, she was involved in a car accident that forced her to go on a medical leave for a week. The story.
—Major, and costly, L. The right-wing cable channel Newsmax will pay $67m to settle a lawsuit accusing it of defaming Dominion Voting Systems by falsely claiming that the vote-counting machine maker rigged votes in the 2020 U.S. presidential election. The settlement, reached on Aug. 15, was disclosed in a Monday filing to the SEC. Payments will be made in three installments, the last of which comes in 2027. In a statement, Newsmax stood by its reporting and didn’t offer an apology. The story. |
Soho House Goes Private, Ashton Kutcher Joins Board ►Dude, where’s my equity? After a shaky four years on Wall Street, Soho House is ready to go private again. The luxury members club operator has struck a deal with an investor group led by hotel giant MCR, which will buy its outstanding shares for $9 each in cash. Soho House’s executive chairman Ron Burkle and other big shareholders will roll over their stakes and retain control of the business, per a Monday announcement from the company. The take-private offer implies a total enterprise value of roughly $2.7b for Soho House, including debt. Among other big names to join Soho House’s future leadership is actor and now tech investor Ashton Kutcher, who is set to join the company’s board following the deal’s completion. Tyler Morse, CEO of New York-based MCR, will also join the board as vice chairman. The story.
—"Teaming up with him isn’t just a partnership — it’s a statement." ESPN star Stephen A. Smith and Entertainment Tonight co-host Kevin Frazier are taking a personal bond as friends for 30-plus years and making it professional. Smith has tapped his pal for a “strategic partnership” at his Straight Shooter Media, in a move designed to help the former “expand and elevate” the company through original content that helps redefine sports and entertainment storytelling. “By amplifying diverse voices and pushing creative boundaries, this fusion is set to ignite a new era of storytelling and redefine how audiences engage with commentary, conversation, and connection across television, digital platforms and streaming,” per official intel. The story.
—"Of course, the film didn’t fail solely because of external pressures." Gal Gadot has issued a detailed clarification following her comments about the box office performance of Snow White going viral over the weekend. The actress previously stated during an interview on an Israeli TV show that the film “was going to be a huge hit” until Hamas’ terror attack on Israel in 2023. She added there was “a lot of pressure put on celebrities, actors, creators to post against Israel” and “I was disappointed that the movie was incredibly affected by all of that.” Writing on her Instagram stories, Gadot clarified her position: "I was honored to join an extraordinary interview with inspiring interviewers, whose questions go straight to the heart. Sometimes we respond to questions from an emotional place. When the film came out, I felt that those who are against Israel criticized me in a very personal, almost visceral way. They saw me first and foremost as an Israeli, not as an actress. That’s the perspective I spoke from when I answered the question." The story.
—"I really got along with him well and think he’s great." Chris Pratt has publicly defended his extended family member Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and hit out at entrenched partisan political beliefs. The Parks and Rec alum was asked about RFK Jr. while appearing on Bill Maher‘s Club Random podcast and spoke warmly about the controversial Health and Human Services Secretary. Pratt’s wife, Katherine Schwarzenegger, is RFK Jr.’s cousin. "There’s certain things [that RFK Jr.] oversees that seem to be supported in a bipartisan way — like getting terrible toxic stuff out of our kids food," Pratt said. "I think that’s a great thing. If you just do that, that’s amazing. I’d hate to be so mired in hatred for the president that any success from his administration is something I’d be having an allergic reaction to." Pratt says his skepticism about what’s reported about RFK Jr. comes from his own dealings with the media, where the actor has often been attacked for his Christian views. The story.
—Guilty plea. The Department of Justice said Monday that L.A.’s so-called “ketamine queen,” Jasveen Sangha, who played a key role in the October 2023 death of Friends star Matthew Perry, will plead guilty to five federal criminal charges. The North Hollywood drug linchpin will plead guilty in the coming weeks to one count of maintaining a drug-involved premises, three counts of distribution of ketamine and one count of distribution of ketamine resulting in death or serious bodily injury, according to an announcement from the Justice Department. Prosecutors have dropped the reminder of nine initial charges brought against Sangha at the time of her arrest and incarceration. The story.
—Justice for Swifties! The Federal Trade Commission filed a lawsuit against a Maryland-based ticket resale company on Monday, alleging that the company broke federal law to obtain hundreds of thousands of tickets to Taylor Swift‘s Eras tour and other major concerts and scalp them for millions of dollars in profit. In the lawsuit, filed in federal court on Monday, the FTC alleged that Key Investment Group violated the Better Online Ticket Sales Act — better known as the BOTS Act — to work around Ticketmaster’s ticket purchase limits and obtain nearly 380,000 concert tickets between November 2022 and December 2023. The company spent about $57m for the tickets and resold them for about $64m. The story. |
Billy Crystal Pays Tribute to Late Manager David Steinberg ►"He was one of a kind." In a guest column for THR, Billy Crystal pens a moving obituary for his late manager David Steinberg, who died Aug. 16. The legendary comedian and Steinberg spent more than four decades together, and he protected Crystal and another comedy legend, Robin Williams, "like one of those dogs in The Omen." The obituary. |
Netflix Giving GDT's 'Frankenstein' Theatrical Release ►📅 "It’s alive … in theaters!" 📅 Guillermo del Toro‘s passion project reboot of Frankenstein is going to get a theatrical release. Netflix announced Monday that the lavish-looking project will receive a limited release in theaters starting Oct. 17 ahead of its Netflix premiere on Nov. 7. When the trailer was released back in June and the streamer declare the film “premieres globally” on Netflix in November. At the time, Netflix did not reply to questions about whether the film would be any screenings in theaters, though del Toro himself had previously suggested in an interview that Frankenstein would get at least some theatrical play. At any rate, even a hint of the film not being in theaters resulted in considerable fan outcry at the time. And Netflix’s three-week window is actually considered pretty generous by streamer standards. The story.
—🎭 Finally! 🎭 THR's Borys Kit has the scoop on Amazon MGM landing the rights to the long-in-the-works feature dramedy Honeymoon with Harry, setting Kevin Costner and Jake Gyllenhaal to star. Glenn Ficarra and John Requa are on board to direct the project that has a script by Dan Fogelman. The trio were behind the well-regarded dramedy Crazy, Stupid, Love and worked together on the Fogelman-created Hulu series Paradise . The project has been in the works since 2004, and is based on a then unpublished novel by Bart Baker, it told the story of a man (Gyllenhaal) as he decides to go on a honeymoon with his would-be father-in-law (Costner) after his fiancée dies two days before their wedding. The story.
—🎭 Next up. 🎭 The Zone of Interest star Sandra Hüller is set to lead Pawel Pawlikowski’s next feature 1949, with filming already underway in Poland, Germany and Italy. The historical drama is written by Pawlikowski, who won an Oscar for Ida, and Henk Handloegten, Mubi confirmed Tuesday. Set at the height of the Cold War, 1949 stars Hüller as Erika, an actress, journalist and rally driver embarking on a road trip from U.S.-dominated Frankfurt to Soviet-controlled Weimar with her father, Thomas (Hanns Zischler), a writer. August Diehl, Anna Madeley, Devid Streisow and Theo Trebs also feature. The story.
—🎭 White Goodman comeback? 🎭 Apple Original Films has added to its upcoming movie release slate The Dink, a pickleball comedy from director Josh Greenbaum, Ben Stiller’s Red Hour Films and Rivulet Films. The sports comedy stars Jake Johnson as a washed-up tennis pro convinced to stoop to play pickleball to save a struggling club and earn his father’s respect. He appears alongside Mary Steenburgen, Ed Harris, Chloe Fineman, Aaron Chen, Patton Oswalt, Chris Parnell and Christine Taylor. Stiller and former pro tennis players Andy Roddick and John McEnroe will have supporting roles. The Dink, which is now in post-production, reteams Apple and Stiller after the Emmy-nominated success of Severance . Greenbaum is directing the comedy from an original screenplay by Sean Clements. The story. |
Oscars: Palestine, Ireland Make Selections ►🏆 Heading to TIFF. 🏆 Palestine has selected Annemarie Jacir’s Palestine 36 as its official submission for the 2025 Academy Awards in the best international feature category. The historical drama is set in 1936 during the Palestinian revolt against British colonial rule. The film follows Yusuf, a young villager caught between his rural home and the political upheaval in Jerusalem, as tensions rise amid growing unrest, British crackdowns, and the influx of Jewish immigrants escaping antisemitism in Europe. Palestine 36 will have its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival, with a gala screening during the opening weekend on Sept. 5. The story.
—🏆 Hoping for the luck of the Irish. 🏆 Sanatorium , a doc directed by Gar O’Rourke about an ex-Soviet wellness resort in Ukraine, is Ireland’s submission for the best international feature film category at the 98th Oscars. “Both patients and staff search for health, happiness, and love while the [Russia-started] war echoes through the lime green corridors” of Kuyalnyk Sanatorium, reads the film's synopsis. “Every summer, people of all ages arrive in their thousands at a huge ex-Soviet treatment center in Odesa on the southern coast of Ukraine. A time capsule from the ’70s, built in the brutalist style of the era, it still offers therapeutic treatments from the glory days of the Soviet Union. The main attraction is the mysterious mud which is believed to cure infertility, chronic ailments, and a myriad of other health problems.” The story. |
As K-Content Explodes, Series Orders From Korea Plummet ►Wait, what? You would think that the runaway successes of Squid Game and, more recently, KPop Demon Hunters would have streamers scrambling to order South Korean content — but that’s not happening, according to a new report by Ampere Analysis. The commissioning (greenlighting, ordering) of Korean TV shows dropped by 20 percent from the first half of 2023 and to the first half of 2025, the streaming-research company found. Local productions cut back by the same 20 percent, while global streamers reduced their commissions by more than double, 43 percent. Locally, scripted orders were slammed, dropping by 39 percent over the time period. The story.
—Good news, again. Streaming set another high for TV use in the U.S. in July — which is not exactly a new development. July was the sixth consecutive month that streamers have taken a record-high share of viewing, with 47.3 percent of all TV use, according to Nielsen. That’s up from 46 percent in June and about six points higher than it was in July 2024 (41.4 percent). The gains for streaming came largely at the expense of cable, which came in at 22.2 percent of TV use for the July reporting period (which ran from June 30-July 27). That was down from 23.4 percent a month earlier, due largely to double-digit declines in both news and sports coverage compared to June. The ratings.
—Pure dead brilliant! Netflix will return to the streets of Edinburgh and Dept. Q. The streamer has ordered a second season of Dept. Q, its Scotland-set crime drama starring Matthew Goode and created by The Queen’s Gambit creator Scott Frank. The renewal comes about 2 1/2 months after the series premiered to both solid reviews and audience numbers. The series, based on novels by Jussi Adler-Olsen, stars Goode as Detective Chief Inspector Carl Morck, who leads a small team that works cases that were previously considered unsolvable from a basement office in Edinburgh. Alexej Manvelov, Leah Byrne and Jamie Sives also star. The story.
—PM problems. THR's Lily Ford has the scoop on the U.K.'s Channel 4 commissioning a new series written by Sherlock co-creator Steven Moffat. Number 10 , a political drama about the most famous address in the world — where the British prime minister lives and works — will be produced by Hartswood Films, part of ITV Studios. "There’s a Prime Minister in the attic, a coffee bar in the basement, and a wallpapered labyrinth of romance, crisis and heartbreak in-between,” a plot synopsis reads. “Set in the only terrace house in history with mice and a nuclear deterrent, it’s the only knock-through in the world where a hangover can start a war. The government will be fictional, but the problems will be real. We’ll never know which party is in power, because once the whole world hits the fan it barely matters.” The story.
—Heading to streaming. YouTube creator Mark Rober is adding another platform to his already large media presence. Rober, a former NASA engineer turned STEM YouTuber, will host a kid-centered competition series on Netflix that’s set to premiere in 2026. Rober’s CrunchLabs company will produce the series alongside Kimmelot, Jimmy Kimmel’s production banner. The streamer has also licensed some of Rober’s YouTube episodes, which will debut on Netflix later this year. Details of the competition series are scant at the moment, but it will likely feature Rober’s blend of science education with over-the-top experiments like filling a swimming pool with jello. The story. |
TV Review: 'The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox' ►"Gripping and persuasive." THR's Angie Han reviews Hulu's The Twisted Tale of Amanda Knox. Grace Van Patten stars as the American student infamously and falsely accused of murdering her roommate, in a drama executive produced by Monica Lewinsky and Knox herself. Created by K.J. Steinberg, based on Waiting to Be Heard: A Memoir by Amanda Knox. Also starring Francesco Acquaroli, Giuseppe De Domenico, Sharon Horgan, Roberta Mattei, John Hoogenakker. The review.
In other news...
—Good Boy trailer shows haunted house from dog’s perspective
—Colin Farrell risks it all in wild trailer for Edward Berger’s Ballad of a Small Player
—Amazon's Fallout heads to post-apocalyptic Las Vegas in S2 first-look
—Fox Entertainment Studios rounds out exec team
—Disney hires Netflix’s Tony Zameczkowski for APAC exec role
—Inside the W Hotel’s glamorous Hollywood glow-up
What else we're reading...
—Must-read Ben Fritz story on the slump in Georgia's film and TV industry as Marvel Studios abandoned production in the state [WSJ]
—Eve Batey talks to Arnold Schwarzenegger about his plans to battle California Gov. Gavin Newsom over redistricting plans [Vanity Fair]
—Adrian Horton talks to Eva Victor about her searing sexual assault drama Sorry, Baby [Guardian]
—Citing several gross and disturbing incidents, Charlie Warzel posits that AI is a mass-delusion event [Atlantic]
—Ross Barkan explains why Trump will probably dispatch the National Guard to New York City [Intelligencer]
—Edward White and Gloria Li have an incredible report on Chinese EV cars that have swappable batteries [FT]
Today...
...in 2011, Focus Features releases Lone Scherfig's One Day in theaters. The feature adaptation of David Nicholls' bestseller starred Anne Hathaway and Jim Sturgess as the doomed couple and was a moderate box office success. The book was adapted for TV in 2024 by Netflix. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Manny Jacinto (38), Kyra Sedgwick (60), Melissa Fumero (43), Jonathan Frakes (73), John Stamos (62), Kevin Dillon (60), Pablo Larraín (49), Ethan Cutkosky (26), Erika Christensen (43), Giorgia Whigham (28), Marcello Hernández (28), Peter Gallagher (70), Gerald McRaney (78), Adam Arkin (69), Tracie Thoms (50), Michael Harney (69), Matthew Glave (62), Diana Muldaur (87), Jim Carter (77), Isabel Gravitt (22), Brighton Sharbino (23), Ian McElhinney (77), Michelle Borth (47), Callum Blue (48), Greg Bryk (53), Morgana O'Reilly (40), Martin Donovan (68), Jill St. John (85), Adam Campbell (45), Sara Martins (48), Simon Bird (41), Simone Kessell (50), Maria de Medeiros (60), Lucy Briers (58), Randi Oakes (74), Siena Agudong (21), Tammin Sursok (42) |
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