| | | | | | What's news: Broadway actors are preparing for a possible strike. FilmLA chief executive Paul Audley is stepping down. U.K. acting union Equity has slammed AI actress Tilly Norwood. Apple TV+ has extended its rights deal for Peanuts. And Tom Brady's Religion of Sports is developing a game show based on Immaculate Grid. — Abid Rahman
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Trump's Movie Tariff Threat Rattles Global Production Hubs ►"If Trump actually targets production this time, it will spook the industry and have real repercussions." On Monday, Donald Trump’s latest salvo against Hollywood’s runaway production landed with a thud on Truth Social, with the president pledging to impose a "100% Tariff on any and all movies" made outside the U.S. Though world events and a government shutdown have taken over the news cycle, THR's Scott Roxborough and Patrick Brzeski report that Trump’s tariff threat continues to reverberate across the global entertainment industry, where many worry that the damage could be felt long after the president’s social-media post has been forgotten. The story.
—Troubling times. FilmLA chief executive Paul Audley is stepping down from his role leading one of the largest film permitting offices in the U.S., a meaningful management shake-up amid a production plunge in the region. Denise Gutches, chief financial and operating officer since 2011, will succeed him at the start of next year, FilmLA said on Tuesday. She was one of the architects behind the online permit system. Audley is leaving after 17 years with the film office as L.A. continues to see shooting levels drop. More than a year removed from the strikes, the entertainment industry hasn’t returned to filming in the region as initially expected. Worsened by reductions in content spend across most studios, production last year was at the lowest figure observed by FilmLA since it started tracking the data in 2017 (excluding 2020, when filming was halted amid the pandemic). The story.
—Product guy coming in. David Ellison wants to turbocharge Paramount's ambitions in the consumer products and live experiences space, and is bringing on a veteran of Disney and Mattel to help him do it. Paramount is hiring Josh Silverman, most recently executive vp and chief franchise officer for Mattel, to become president of global products and experiences. He previously worked at Marvel and Disney, where he oversaw the company’s consumer products licensing and retail business, including its owned and operated stores. At Paramount, Silverman will oversee consumer products, live experiences, publishing, partnerships, and e-commerce businesses, and will report to Jeff Shell. The story. |
OpenAI's Sora Features 'South Park,' 'Dune' Scenes. Will Studios Sue? ►Asking for trouble. The new version of OpenAI's AI video generator allows users to create content featuring intellectual property owned by studios across Hollywood, an aggressive escalation of the company’s encroachment onto the entertainment industry. Sora returns copyrighted characters and materials from major TV shows and movies, including Rick and Morty, South Park and Dune. OpenAI expected users to generate videos of studio-owned intellectual property, though it blocks content that uses the likenesses of actors and other recognizable faces, according to the company. Copyright owners must opt out of having their content appear. Talks are underway, reports THR's Winston Cho. The story.
—"We’re at the stage in AI where so much data has been used that the original source becomes more and more unclear." U.K. acting union Equity has joined SAG-AFTRA and the chorus of critics slamming the creation of an AI-generated actress named Tilly Norwood, which has the film and TV industry in uproar. Equity has directly condemned Norwood’s creator, Eline Van der Velden of AI production outfit Particle6, calling into question just how the AI actress was built and from what source material she’s derived. The story. |
From PR to the Super Bowl, Bad Bunny's Takeover Continues ►"For everything, he has a plan." With Bad Bunny’s 2026 Apple Super Bowl LX Halftime Show announcement, once more, all eyes are on Puerto Rican culture, and that’s what Benito Antonio Martinez Ocasio wants. Coming off a historic residency, and with his world tour set to kick off on Nov. 21, one question feels inevitable leading up to February’s performance: how many Puerto Rican nods — and by extension, how much Latino representation — will make it onto the biggest stage in the country? Cata Balzano writes that one thing is certain: there will be plenty of it. The story.
—"We couldn’t make a new generation emerge in that rhythm until now." In January, Bad Bunny's latest album, Debí Tirar Más Fotos, quickly topped the charts, dominating streaming platforms for months. Along with its hit status came an unequivocal declaration that tropical music, specifically salsa, was undergoing a renaissance spearheaded by some of the biggest names in reggaetón and Latin trap. In a companion piece, Cata Balzano looks at how Bad Bunny, along with Rauw Alejandro and Karol G, are re-energizing the salsa genre for a brand-new generation. The story.
—"We will find you, we will apprehend you, we will put you in a detention facility and we will deport you." Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski says ICE will be present at the Super Bowl. In a recent interview, YouTuber Benny Johnson asked Lewandowski if “ICE will have enforcement at the Super Bowl for the Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime [sic],” to which Lewandowski responded, “There is nowhere you can provide safe haven to people who are in this country illegally. Not the Super Bowl and nowhere else." Bad Bunny’s forthcoming Debí Tirar Más Fotos World Tour does not include any U.S. dates, which he told i-D magazine was partly because of worries about potential ICE raids. The 2026 Super Bowl now marks his only forthcoming U.S. show. The story. |
Has the Black List Lost Its Mojo? ►Pitch poor. It’s been a December tradition in Hollywood for two decades: studio execs, agents and producers breathlessly scanning the annual Black List of the best unproduced screenplays, hoping to spot the next Juno, the next Argo, the next Imitation Game — zeitgeist-defining indies that seemed to come out of nowhere. Cut to this fall, when two of the list’s most recent graduates barely made a blip on the big screen. Him has grossed just $21m worldwide off a $27m budget, while A Big Bold Beautiful Journey earned only $14m off $45m. To put it bluntly, an institution once synonymous with sleeper hits, lately has been turning out more sleepers than hits — raising the question of whether the Black List has lost some of its magic. The story.
—📅 Shut up and take my money! 📅 Black Bear’s new theatrical distribution operation has added another film to its growing slate: Jason Statham's Shelter. The action-thriller will open in theaters Jan. 30, 2026. Greenland filmmaker Ric Roman Waugh directed Shelter from a script by Ward Perry. The cast also includes Bodhi Rae, who stars in fall film festival darling Hamnet, Naomi Ackie and Bill Nighy. The story follows a reclusive man who lives in a remote house by the sea. But when he rescues a young girl from drowning in a terrible storm, he unwittingly sets off a chain reaction that soon brings violence his way, forcing him to confront choices from his past. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 A survival thriller starring Zachary Levi and Josh Duhamel is heading to theaters later this year. Inaugural Entertainment has acquired domestic distribution rights to director Joe Carnahan's Not Without Hope and is set to release the film theatrically on Dec. 12. JoBeth Williams, Quentin Plair, Terrence Terrell, Marshall Cook and Floriana Lima round out the cast for the feature that premieres at the Austin Film Festival on Oct. 25. Not Without Hope centers on the real-life story of a tragic 2009 fishing trip for four friends: Nick Schuyler (Levi) and Will Bleakley (Cook), who played football at the University of South Florida, and NFL players Marquis Cooper (Plair) and Corey Smith (Terrell). The group gets stranded at sea off the coast of Florida when their boat capsizes, leading Coast Guard Captain Timothy Close (Duhamel) to oversee the efforts to bring them home as a storm looms. The story.
—Two-fer. Lifetime is adapting Eric Jerome Dickey’s book Friends and Lovers as a two-part movie event. The project will serve as a centerpiece of the cable channel’s November “Love of a Lifetime” slate. Friends and Lovers will star Naturi Naughton, Simone Missick, Kendrick Sampson and RonReaco Lee. Part one will premiere on Nov. 15 at 8 p.m. ET/PT on Lifetime, with the second part will air at the same time the following night. Per the synopsis, the films "follows two best friends, Debra (Naughton), a Type A doctor, and Shelby (Missick), a free-spirited rule breaker, as their lives intertwine with those of Leonard (Sampson), a rising but struggling comedian, and Tyrese (Lee), his loyal best friend. As Debra and Leonard’s love deepens, and Tyrese finds himself entangled with Shelby’s unpredictable ways, the four navigate the challenges of modern relationships." The story. |
TV Ratings Were Undercounting Sports for Years. Not Anymore ►Football wins again. A significant change to Nielsen’s ratings methodology is yielding noticeable — but not massive — gains to some sports programming. On Sept. 1, Nielsen began rolling out its “big data plus panel” measurement for live programming, just in time for the start of the NFL season and a couple days after the college game got fully underway. In addition to its traditional panel sampling, the company is incorporating data from millions of homes with smart TVs and streaming devices in hopes of giving a more accurate picture of what viewers are watching. THR's Rick Porter writes that through the first few weeks of the new era, NFL and college football games are showing sizable gains over the comparable weeks a year ago, when ratings didn’t regularly include the big data component. The analysis.
—🤝 Rights extension. 🤝 Apple TV+ will remain the home of Charlie Brown, Snoopy and the rest of the Peanuts gang for the remainder of the decade. The streamer has extended its deal with Peanuts rights holders WildBrain, Peanuts Worldwide and Lee Mendelson Film Productions through 2030. Apple TV+ will retain the classic Peanuts library, including It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and A Charlie Brown Christmas, along with the original series and specials it has produced in recent years, including Camp Snoopy and the recently released Snoopy Presents: A Summer Musical. More such programming is in the pipeline, along with a second Peanuts animated feature film that’s now in production with WildBrain. The story.
—Time to remember some guys. Religion of Sports, the production company founded by Gotham Chopra and NFL greats Tom Brady and Michael Strahan, is developing a game show based on Immaculate Grid, the online trivia game hosted by Sports Reference. The project is in its early stages and doesn’t have an outlet attached yet. Created by software developer Brian Minter and purchased by Sports Reference in July 2023, Immaculate Grid is a daily game in which players fill in a 3×3 grid based on certain criteria along each axis (say, played for the Dodgers and had a 100-RBI season). The original version of the game covered only baseball, but there are now grids for men’s and women’s basketball, football, hockey and soccer as well. The story.
—Everybody loves a reunion. CBS will host an Everybody Loves Raymond reunion special in November. CBS is calling it a 30th anniversary special, although it’s a bit early for that: The series premiered in September 1996, making this year the 29th anniversary of its debut. It’s been 20 years and change since the series finale in May 2005. The 90-minute special, set to air Nov. 24, will be hosted by Raymond creator Phil Rosenthal and star Ray Romano. Castmembers Brad Garrett, Patricia Heaton, Monica Horan, Madylin Sweeten and Sullivan Sweeten will also appear to discuss their time making the series together and sharing previously unseen outtakes from the show. The story.
—Big get. Nikki Glaser is bringing her comedy to Hulu for her next stand-up special. The hour-long comedy event is a big get for Hulu, amid a bidding war for Glaser’s next stand-up offering following both the Golden Globes and Netflix's The Roast of Tom Brady. The special, which will premiere in 2026, comes in the wake of Glaser becoming the first female solo host of a Golden Globe Awards telecast, and being asked to return to emcee the popular film and TV awards ceremony for January 2026. The special will be shot in Glaser’s hometown of St. Louis, Missouri, over two nights at the Fabulous Fox Theatre later this month. The story. |
Broadway Actors Ready for Possible Strike as Negotiations Heat Up ►✊ "What we’re asking for is exceedingly reasonable." ✊ Broadway actors are preparing for a possible strike as Actors’ Equity has yet to reach an agreement with producers on a new contract. Members of Actors’ Equity have been going to Broadway stage doors to deliver strike pledge cards and the union board has already voted to authorize a strike, which could shut down dozens of Broadway productions, if it were to come to fruition. More than 1,000 Broadway actors, and bold-face names including Darren Criss, Sean Astin and Alec Baldwin have signed a letter stating their solidarity with Equity. This would be the first Actors’ Equity strike on Broadway since 1968. However, this move is also a common tactic in negotiations. The story.
—Ragtime's up and runnin'. Hamilton brought in $3.8m last week as the Leslie Odom Jr.-boost continues. The musical was the top-grossing show last week, as ticket prices also inched up to $350 and attendance stayed above 100 percent. Among the new entrants on Broadway, Art, starring James Corden, Neil Patrick Harris and Bobby Cannavale, jumped into the top five, ranking as the third highest grossing show last week, bringing in $1.7m across eight performances and saw an average ticket price of $205, with capacity at 100 percent. Waiting for Godot, another popular celebrity-driven property, also brought in a strong $1.6m last week, despite several press performances last week with comped tickets and an opening night on Sept. 28. And Ragtime began previews at the nonprofit Vivian Beaumont Theatre last week, in a much-anticipated transfer after running Off-Broadway last fall. The musical brought in just above $450,000 across three performances. The box office report.
—Back from the dead. Schmigadoon! is heading to Broadway. A musical based on the musical Apple TV+ series will transfer to Broadway’s Nederlander Theatre this spring, with previews starting April 4 and an opening night April 20. The show is currently set to run through Sept. 6. The show follows New York doctors Josh and Melissa, who go backpacking to fix their relationship and find themselves in the mythical town of Schmigadoon, where the townspeople won’t stop singing in the style of Golden Age musicals. The Apple TV+ series premiered in 2021 and ran two seasons, with the first mirroring the plot of the musical and the second extending to the next era of Broadway musicals, including Cabaret and Sweeney Todd. While it became somewhat of a cult classic, the show was not renewed for a third season. The story. |
With 'Battle,' P. T. Anderson Captures the Shortcomings of His Generation ►"He’s not placing blame or finger-wagging but grappling with the revolutionary impotence that comes for us all." Reflecting on Paul Thomas Anderson's much-talked about FOTY One Battle After Another, Richard Newby writes that through Leonardo DiCaprio's character Bob, the filmmaker explores the limits and frustrations of a revolutionary in an America where the disenfranchisement of Black and Latino populations has grown beyond his generation's ability to combat. The analysis. |
TV Review: 'Charlotte's Web' ►"Faithful but flawed." THR's Angie Han reviews HBO Max's Charlotte's Web. A starry voice cast bring to life the Sesame Workshop-produced, Guru Studios-animated take on E.B. White's beloved children's story. Featuring the voices of Amy Adams, Griffin Robert Faulkner, Jean Smart, Randall Park, Natalie Chan, Chris Diamantopoulos, Rosario Dawson, Ana Ortiz, Tom Everett Scott, Keith David and Elijah Wood. Created by Luke Matheny. The review.
—"A powerful and empathetic tearjerker." THR India's Anupama Chopra reviews Neeraj Ghaywan's Homebound. In this Martin Scorsese-produced drama, two childhood best friends navigating the COVID-19 pandemic in India's submission for the 2026 best international feature Oscar. Starring Ishaan Khatter, Vishal Jethwa and Janhvi Kapoor. Written by Neeraj Ghaywan, Basharat Peer and Sumit Roy. The review.
In other news...
—Landman drops full, explosive S2 trailer
—Married at First Sight grapples with show’s first pregnancy in S19 trailer
—SXSW sets first panels for 40th anniversary conference
—2025 Gotham Week honors awards recipients revealed
—SCAD Savannah Film Fest: 13 set for honors
What else we're reading...
—James Pogue profiles NYC’s mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani, and looks at whether he could be the future of American politics [Vanity Fair]
—Mark Savage and Luke Mintz take an interactive look at how Taylor Swift made herself too big to fail [BBC]
—JP Mangalindan has the real story on Russ Holliday, the inspiration behind Glen Powell’s football comedy Chad Powers [Time]
—With the recent price rise news, Giovanni Colantonio wonders whether Xbox Game Pass is destined to suffer the same fate as MoviePass [Polygon]
—Ahead of Sean "Diddy" Combs' sentencing on Friday, crime reporter Victoria Bekiempis lays out what to expect [Vulture]
Today...
...in 1992, Buena Vista released The Mighty Ducks, an underdog story about a powerhouse lawyer who’s sentenced to community service and ordered to coach an inept youth hockey team. It is the only film ever to have a professional sports franchise named after it. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Sting (74), Lorraine Bracco (71), Terence Winter (65), Kelly Ripa (55), Trace Lysette (44), Tiffany (54), Lee Sung Jin (44), Ariel Schulman (44), Angelyne (75), Tatiana Zappardino (36), Camilla Belle (39), Anders Engström (62), Brianna Brown (46), Jeff Bennett (63), Efren Ramirez (52), Ian McNeice (75), Maribel Verdú (55), Avery Brooks (77), Samantha Barks (35), Ambika Mod (30), Joey Slotnick (57), George DiCaprio (82), Natasha Little (56), Lucy Cohu (57), Lew Temple (58), Robin Riker (73), Jamie Neumann (44), Charlie Adler (69), Michelle Krusiec (51), John Morris (41), Jonathan Torrens (53), Tara Lynne Barr (32), Nick Gomez (47), Brendan Meyer (31), Dragomir Mrsic (56), Jeffrey Weissman (67), Goran Bogdan (45), Howard Drossin (55), Elizabeth McLaughlin (32), Catherine Kellner (55), Wyatt Nash (37), Filip Berg (39), Lindsey Stoddart (51), Brittany Howard (37) |
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