| | | | | | What's news: Johnny Depp will lead Paramount's Christmas Carol adaptation. Michael B. Jordan is in talks to star in the new Miami Vice movie. The NBA's doubleheader on Tuesday averaged 5.6m viewers on NBC and Peacock. And Netflix has given a straight-to-series order to Jane Schoenbrun adaptation of Black Hole. — Abid Rahman
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Historic White House Movie Theater Demolished For Trump's Ballroom ►Barbarism. One of the country’s most prominent cinemas has been demolished, though sources say it will soon be reborn. The 42-seat White House family theater, which has held movie screenings for presidents, their families and other invited guests for decades, is among the structures removed from the East Wing as part of Donald Trump’s $300m ballroom project. Photos released Thursday show that the entire East Wing has been torn down, including the East Colonnade where the theater had been located. A source familiar with the matter says that "the movie theater will be modernized and renovated with the rest of the East Wing." The story.
—"When we got to the moment the White House blows up, Roland and I are looking at each other going, “We’re in the White House watching it blow up.” It was bizarre." As Trump tears down the historic White House screening room, here's a look back at one memorable night in 1996, when Independence Day filmmaker Roland Emmerich, writer-producer Dean Devlin and star Bill Pullman sat down to watch the film with Bill and Hillary Clinton, as first recounted in a 2021 THR oral history of the classic film. The story. |
Zohran's Hollywood Ad Appeal ►"We thought really hard about which platforms have really dedicated viewers who are loyal and would be watching." Whether Zohran Mamdani’s campaign ends up as a road map for the Democratic Party is an open question. Where, however, the 32-year-old New York City mayoral candidate seems to have provided some (at the very least) clever instruction to his party is in his messaging. Twice now, the Mamdani campaign has rolled out television spots aimed at co-opting and spoofing huge entertainment industry franchises — ABC’s The Bachelor and CBS’ Survivor. THR's Peter Kiefer and Katie Kilkenny look at how Mamdani has leaned into pop culture riffs to broadcast a working-class message. The story.
—Here we go again. YouTube TV once again finds itself in a high-profile carriage dispute with a major media company, this time with Disney. On Thursday, Disney began warning customers that they may soon lose access to channels like ABC and ESPN unless it comes to terms on a new deal with the Google-owned video platform. If that sounds familiar, it may be because this is the fourth carriage dispute that YouTube TV has found itself a part of in just the last few months. In August, Fox and YouTube TV went public in their dispute, ultimately resolving it and avoiding a blackout. Last month, the platform pulled TelevisaUnivision’s channels after failing to come to terms on a new deal. Those channels remain off the platform. And also last month YouTube TV reached a wide-ranging deal after a public war of words with NBCU that included carriage of its channels and the inclusion of Peacock in Primetime Channels, among other elements of the deal. The story.
—🤝 Heading north. 🤝 Tubi, Fox's ad-supported streamer, is spreading its wings in Canada by striking a content distribution and ad sales pact with Bell Media. The strategic partnership includes plans to co-develop original content for distribution on Tubi globally, across Bell Media platforms in Canada, and through Sphere Abacus, Bell Media’s international content distribution arm. Bell Media will also serve as the exclusive Canadian ad sales partner for Tubi, while its own ad-supported FAST channels will launch on the Fox streaming platform in Canada. The story. |
WGA: WBD-Paramount Merger Would Be a "Disaster" ►"The WGAW will work with regulators to block the merger." The Writers Guild of America West and East have weighed in about the possibility of a studio mega-merger involving Warner Bros. Discovery. The two branches of the writers’ union said in a statement on Thursday that a merger between WBD and any other major studio or streamer would be “a disaster.” The statement came after reports that the legacy studio has so far rebuffed at least three offers from David Ellison-led Paramount Global, not to mention rampant speculation about other Hollywood suitors. “Merger after merger in the media industry has harmed workers, diminished competition and free speech, and wasted hundreds of billions of dollars better invested in organic growth,” the union said in a statement. “Combining Warner Bros. with Paramount or another major studio or streamer would be a disaster for writers, for consumers, and for competition." The story.
—🤝 Investment. 🤝 Fox has taken an equity stake investment in Chain, The Office star B.J. Novak’s food pop-up business. The deal makes a bit more sense with the added context that the partnership will specifically be through Fox Entertainment’s Studio Ramsay Global, chef Gordon Ramsay’s content studio (in its own partnership with Fox). Studio Ramsay Global is the home to Next Level Chef and new series Gordon Ramsay’s Secret Service. Chain started as a West Hollywood parking-lot pop-up in which a Michelin-starred chef crafted homages to nostalgic chain restaurant classics. With collabs with Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, Jack in the Box, Pepsi, Dunkin’ and Panda Express on the menu, Chain pop-ups became one of the hottest tickets in town. The story.
—New boss. Rebecca Glashow has been named the new CEO of Tribeca Enterprises, which owns and operates the Tribeca Festival. Glashow, most recently CEO of the BBC global media & streaming division, replaces Jane Rosenthal as head of the Tribeca Festival, the content division Tribeca Studios and the distribution label Tribeca Films and production company. Rosenthal isn’t going far, as she will assume the role of co-chair of the board alongside chairman James Murdoch, and will help oversee the Tribeca Festival into its 25th anniversary and remain a key advisor to the Tribeca brand. The story. |
Latin Billboard Music Awards 2025 ►🏆 Big night for Bunny. 🏆 It was a night of Latino music and pride at the 25th Latin Billboard Music Awards. Global Latin stars like Bad Bunny, Karol G, Shakira and Kali Uchis were all nominated for awards at the ceremony, which took place on Thursday night, at the James L. Knight Center in Downtown Miami. Broadcast live at 8 p.m. ET from Miami, this year’s awards honored artists across 49 categories, spanning major genres including Latin pop, tropical, Latin rhythm and regional Mexican. Bad Bunny swept with 27 nominations — a historic number, and ultimately closed the evening with 11 wins. The winners. |
Why the Ohtani Gambling Scandal TV Series May Be Striking Out ►More than a slight wrinkle. As Shohei Ohtani leads the Los Angeles Dodgers to this year’s World Series, Lionsgate Television has found it challenging to set up its scripted series about the phenom’s gambling scandal. THR's Gary Baum reports that acquisition executives are concerned that taking on the project might damage their parent companies’ current or future relationships with Major League Baseball. Disney, Apple and Warner Bros. Discovery have media rights deals with the league worth hundreds of millions each year. Netflix and Comcast are themselves in advanced negotiations for their own pacts. Paramount, which has NFL and UFC rights, is also considered a natural home for baseball. The story.
—Smashing it. The NBA’s ballyhooed return to NBC brought in a sizable audience — the most for the league’s season opener in 15 years. A doubleheader on Tuesday averaged 5.6m viewers on NBC and Peacock, based on Nielsen’s big data plus panel ratings and internal streaming figures. That figure is inclusive of both games, with the later contest between the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors stretching well past midnight ET. The 5.6m cross-platform viewers are the most for the NBA’s season tipoff since 2010 (excluding the 2011 season, which began on Christmas Day after an owner lockout), which averaged 5.7m viewers on TNT and featured LeBron James’ first game with the Miami Heat. Last year’s tipoff doubleheader averaged 2.95m viewers on TNT (under a different Nielsen measurement system that didn’t include the big data component). The ratings. |
Netflix Lands 'Black Hole' Series From Jane Schoenbrun ►Woof! Netflix is entering a Black Hole with its latest series project. The streamer outbid other outlets for a series based on Charles Burns’ Black Hole comics, with I Saw the TV Glow writer-director Jane Schoenbrun set to adapt the story and direct. Netflix has given a straight-to-series order to the project, which will be Schoenbrun’s first TV series. Netflix bought the project from New Regency, which owns the rights to Black Hole. New Regency and Netflix are the studios for the show. Published in 12 issues between 1995 and 2005 and collected as a graphic novel upon its completion, Black Hole centers on a group of teenagers who contract a sexually transmitted disease that causes physical mutations. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 If you care to find Wicked before its follow-up Wicked: For Good hits theaters, look to … your local NBC station. The network has set the broadcast premiere of Wicked for Nov. 19, two days ahead of For Good’s debut on movie screens. The presentation will run 3 1/2 hours with commercials, starting at 8 p.m. ET. The NBC airing of Wicked is part of a big promotional push leading up to For Good, which comes from corporate sibling Universal. The network is also airing a two-hour musical special, titled Wicked: One Wonderful Night , on Nov. 6 that will feature performances from castmembers Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum, Ethan Slater, Bowen Yang and Marissa Bode, along with interviews and behind-the-scenes glimpses. The story.
—Net-flex. Netflix’s Black Rabbit took over the No. 1 spot on Nielsen’s streaming charts in its second week of release. The drama starring Jude Law and Jason Bateman delivered 1.26b minutes of viewing for the week of Sept. 22-28, moving up one spot from the previous week (and growing by just more than 2 percent week to week). Black Rabbit was the only streaming title to top the billion-minute mark for the week, which also marked the start of the 2025-26 season on linear networks and thus an influx of new series of network series. Another Netflix show, Wayward, grabbed the second overall spot, premiering with 846m viewing minutes. Also joining the top 10 original series rankings were Netflix’s House of Guinness , which debuted with 526m minutes, and returnees The Morning Show (458m on Apple TV) and Tulsa King (452m on Paramount+). The streaming rankings. |
Depp Returns to Big Studio Movies With Paramount's 'Christmas Carol' ►🎭 Ghost from Hollywood’s past. 🎭 Johnny Depp has returned in his biggest movie project yet since being ostracized following a contentious and ugly defamation lawsuit with ex-wife Amber Heard. Paramount is in final negotiations to pick up a new take on Charles Dickens’ oft-adapted A Christmas Carol. Ti West, the horror filmmaker behind the X, Pearl and MaXXXine movies, is attached to direct the feature, which is titled Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol . Paramount is ready to set a Nov. 13, 2026 release date. Andrea Riseborough is also attached to star in the project that has a script by Nathaniel Halpern. Emma Watts, who briefly ran Paramount’s film division, is producing. The studio is describing the new movie project as “a thrilling ghost story set in Dickens’ London, following one man’s supernatural journey to face his past, present and future and fight for a second chance.” The story.
—🎭 Touch of class. 🎭 Glenn Close has joined the cast of the Spanish drama The Black Ball (La Bola Negra), the new film from the writing-directing team of Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi. Produced by Movistar Plus+ and Suma Content Films, the film is a co-production with Le Pacte and the Almodóvar brothers’ shingle El Deseo. Close will co-star with Penélope Cruz, Miguel Bernardeau, Carlos Gonzales, Lola Duenas and Spanish singer-songwriter Guitarricadelafuente, making his big-screen debut. Based on an unfinished work by poet and playwright Federico Garcia Lorca, The Black Ball weaves together the lives of three gay men from three distinct historical periods. Their stories are intimately connected by desire, sexuality pain and inheritance. The story.
—🎭 Filling out. 🎭 Kingsley Ben-Adir, Archie Madekwe, Joanna Scanlan and Alex Descas are set to star in The Arrival, the feature directorial debut of theatre director Bijan Sheibani. Adapted from Sheibani’s stage play of the same name, The Arrival follows two brothers, Raheem (Madekwe) and Tom (Ben-Adir), who meet for the first time as adults after being separated in childhood when Tom was adopted. As they grow closer, their reunion forces them to confront long-buried family secrets and the consequences of a decision made by their parents (Scanlan and Descas) thirty years earlier. The story.
—🎭 Girl talk. 🎭 Jennifer Coolidge and Nicole Scherzinger have joined the cast of Rebel Wilson’s Girl Group, a comedy now in production that Wilson is writing, directing, producing, and starring in for Live Nation Studios and Future Artists Entertainment. In the movie, Wilson plays a pop diva who’s been kicked out of her own girl group’s reunion tour and slapped with a sentence of court-ordered community service. She seizes this to stage a comeback by coaching a group of misfit teen girls for a major record label audition. The ensemble cast of Girl Group also includes Randall Park, Sheridan Smith, Loren Gray, Jamie Lee O’Donnell, Guz Khan, Jolene Blalock, as well as Pussycat Doll Ashley Roberts, Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm, and All Saints’ Shaznay Lewis who will play the girlband Girlfriends alongside Wilson’s character. The story. |
Michael B. Jordan Circling New 'Miami Vice' Movie ►🎭 Gofastboatsmojito. 🎭 Michael B. Jordan is in early negotiations to star in the new Miami Vice movie being developed by Universal and F1 filmmaker Joseph Kosinski. If a deal makes, Jordan will play Ricardo Tubbs, one half of the famous cop duo known as Crockett & Tubbs. James Crockett has yet to be cast. The new feature will explore the glamour and corruption of mid-’80s Miami in a new version of the property, inspired by the pilot episode and first season of the landmark television series that influenced culture and set the style of everything from fashion to filmmaking. Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell starred in the classic 2006 feature of the same name that Michael Mann directed, which earned $163.7m globally. The story.
—🎭 Leads in place. 🎭 Callum Turner and Adria Arjona have signed on to star, alongside Amir El-Masry, in Alone Together, the new feature from British filmmaker Ben Sharrock, which HanWay Films will introduce to buyers at the American Film Market next month. Turner plays Sam, a British filmmaker whose personal and professional life is in crisis when he travels to the Arabian desert for work. During a rare rainstorm, he meets Inma (Arjona), sparking a brief but intense connection that forces both to confront their pasts. El-Masry appears as Abdullah, a charismatic local guide whose friendship helps Sam navigate his emotional turmoil. The story.
—🎭 Filling out. 🎭 A new horror-comedy feature is ready to take a stab at skewering Gen X culture. Director Todd Berger is helming the satirical slasher movie The Big Kill for Live Nation Studios, with production having recently commenced. The film pays tribute to Gen X and is set to popular 1990s songs. Leading the ensemble cast are such genre favorites as Skeet Ulrich, Alicia Witt, Jolene and Megan Suri. The cast also includes comedy stars Jon Heder, Pete Holmes, Natasha Leggero, Morgan Jay, Trevor Wallace and Steph Tolev. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 The sex comedy feature Messy is ready to mingle with theatergoers. Vertical has acquired Alexi Wasser’s directorial feature debut for distribution in North America, in addition to the U.K. and Ireland, and will release it in theaters and via VOD on Oct. 31. Wasser wrote, directed and stars in the movie. The film’s supporting cast includes Thomas Middleditch, Jack Kilmer, Ruby McCollister, Adam Goldberg, Mario Cantone, Ione Skye and Merlot. Messy centers on Stella (Wasser), a promiscuous love addict who moves to New York City following a tough breakup and sets out on a string of dates in the hopes of finding the right match. The story. |
Liza Minnelli Makes Rare Public Appearance ►Legends gala. Janet Jackson, Liza Minnelli, Jenna Dewan and Derek Hough were just a few of the luminaries who gathered in the Beverly Hilton ballroom on Tuesday to celebrate dancers, singers and choreographers at the Dancers Against Cancer Gala of the Stars. The night opened with a high-octane performance by Debbie Gibson, featuring energetic dancing as she sang classics like “All That Jazz” and her own hits, including “Shake Your Love.” Minnelli made a very rare public appearance to introduce Jackson and present her with the Icon Award. The legendary performer — who was last widely seen in 2022 when presenting at the Oscars alongside Lady Gaga — entered the stage in a black easy chair mounted on a rolling platform, surrounded by dancers performing some of her signature moves. The recap.
—Not the Journes! In the doc Megadoc, a look behind the scenes of Francis Ford Coppola‘s epic Megalopolis , the legendary director holds himself fully accountable for the success or failure of the 2024 dystopian film, which was known to all in Hollywood as his passion project and which he self-financed at an estimated cost of $120m (the film ultimately grossed only $14.4m). Now Coppola is looking to recoup a portion of the money he lost on Megalopolis, which came from both his personal savings and from selling a majority stake of his wine business to Delicato Family Wines. On Dec. 6 and 7, auction house Phillips will present a sale of seven status timepieces from Coppola’s collection, including a one-of-a-kind watch that was another passion project between the director and independent watchmaker François-Paul Journe, a rock star in the universe of high-end timepieces. The story. |
Film Review: 'Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc' ►"Even the uninitiated will find much to appreciate." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Tatsuya Yoshihara's Chainsaw Man — The Movie: Reze Arc. Tatsuki Fujimoto's hit manga, that was previously a TV series, gets an ultra-Violent, surprisingly emotional big-screen adaptation. Starring Kikunosuke Toya, Reina Udea, Shiori Izawa, Tomori Kusonoki, Shogo Sakata, Fairouz Ai, Karin Takahashi, Natsuki Hanae, Yuuya Uchida, Maaya, Uchida, Kenjiro Tsuda, Hidenori Takahashi, Kenji Akabane, Kenji Nomura and Eri Kitamura. Written by Hiroshi Seko. The review.
—"Quirkier than life." Frank reviews Gabe Polsky's The Man Who Saves the World? The documentary follows Patrick McCollum, supposedly identified in an ancient prophecy as the person who will bring people together to preserve the Amazon. Written by Gabe Polsky. The review.
—"Provocative and quietly electric." THR's Sheri Linden reviews Elizabeth Lo's Mistress Dispeller. Lo’s second feature-length film looks at a relatively new segment of China’s “love industries,” one that takes a personalized approach to combating climbing adultery rates. Written by Elizabeth Lo and Charlotte Munch Bengtsen. 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 Spike Lee. In front of an audience at Chapman University, the iconic New York filmmaker reflects on his 35-year collaboration with Denzel Washington, the role of music in his films and how Akira Kurosawa has influenced his work from his first narrative feature through his 24th and most recent, Highest 2 Lowest. The podcast.
In other news...
—Dark Winds S4 teaser: Zahn McClarnon faces obsessive killer
—Crime 101 trailer: Chris Hemsworth, Halle Berry team up for heist against Mark Ruffalo
—Malia Baker fights for survival in thriller Hair of the Bear trailer
—Noah Baumbach to receive tribute at Gotham Film Awards
—Doja Cat and Gracie Abrams set to perform at Vogue World: Hollywood
—Sylvester Stallone’s paintings to be featured at LA Art Show in 2026
—Isabelle Tate, 9-1-1: Nashville actress, dies at 23
What else we're reading...
—Anne Billson looks at how horror films have become the last bastion of inventive film-making, producing a new generation of auteurs in the process [Guardian]
—In an excerpt from his book, Wings: The Story of a Band on the Run, Paul McCartney looks back at how he found himself after the Beatles [Vulture]
—Rohan Goswami writes David Zaslav stands to make $500m from WBD sale [Semafor]
—Finn Brunton looks at how crypto corrupted America [NYT]
—Here's your Friday list: All 9 of Darren Aronofsky’s movies, ranked [THR]
Today...
...in 1962, political thriller The Manchurian Candidate hit theaters, eventually earning two Oscar noms at the 35th Academy Awards, hosted by the film’s star Frank Sinatra. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Kevin Kline (78), Ashton Sanders (30), Drake (39), Adrienne Houghton (42), Dervla Kirwan (54), F. Murray Abraham (89), Martin Campbell (82), Kris Mochrie (41), Zahn McClarnon (59), Oliver Jackson-Cohen (39), BD Wong (65), Jack Alcott (29), Shenae Grimes-Beech (36), Eliza Taylor (36), Jemima Rooper (44), Kit Young (31), Casey Wilson (45), Raye (28), Raúl Esparza (55), David Castañeda (36), Karen Austin (70), Isidora Goreshter (44), Charlie Vickers (33), Jackie Debatin (55), Paola Lázaro (31), John Kassir (68), Hudson Yang (22), Jacqueline McKenzie (58), Burgess Jenkins (52), Amy Bailey (50), Mallika Sherawat (49), Emily Barclay (41), Kirby Bliss Blanton (35), John Burgmeier (51), Emily Brobst (41) |
| Barbara Gips, who helped sell Ridley Scott’s classic horror sci-fi thriller Alien to unsuspecting moviegoers with her now-legendary tagline “In space no one can hear you scream,” has died. She was 89. The obituary. |
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