| | | | | | What's news: It's magazine day! And this week we have three special covers to celebrate THR's 2025 Beauty Issue. Ms. Rachel has earned her first Emmy nods. The BBC's Line of Duty is back for S7. Netflix has ordered a Boys From Brazil limited series. And AMC Networks is launching a new streaming service dedicated entirely to reality TV. — Abid Rahman
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THR's Beauty Issue 2025 ►On the covers. While the mood of the entertainment industry may be less than optimistic, there’s one cog in Hollywood’s wheel that’s still performing, well, beautifully: beauty, both as a lucrative side hustle and as a way to remain relevant in a crowded mediascape. Beauty was one of the biggest stories of 2025, a year in which Kris Jenner’s facelift, Nicole Kidman’s breakup bangs or Sydney Sweeney’s wedding-guest aesthetic turned heads and drove mega chatter on the internet. As part of THR's 2025 Beauty Issue, we've put together Hollywood’s 25 biggest beauty moments from this year. Enjoy! The list. |
Studios Are Spending Big Again — Just Not On Hollywood ►Bah! Writers, actors and producers across Hollywood could be forgiven for thinking they got an early Christmas present in November. After all, Paramount, now under the ownership of David Ellison, committed to upping its content spend by some $1.5b next year. Disney followed in short order, revealing Nov. 13 plans to pump an extra $1b into its content pipeline in fiscal 2026, to total $24b. Alas, THR's Alex Weprin reports that it’s sports and international content that may see the money. The story.
—Disney’s AI gamble. For as long as there has been technology, there have been attempts to let ordinary people shape stories with it. So it shouldn't have been a surprise when Disney CEO Bob Iger said AI features may be coming to Disney+. But, writes THR's Steven Zeitchik, Sora-ifying the platform would come with a host of hidden challenges. The analysis.
—Color us intrigued. In a span of less than four weeks, Fox Entertainment announced a two-way first-look deal with publisher HarperCollins imprint Avon A, unveiled a business arrangement with vertical videos maker Holywater, took an equity stake investment in actor/writer B.J. Novak’s pop-up elevated fast-food experience Chain, and purchased scripted rom-com podcast platform Meet Cute, which it intends to mine for projects across multiple platforms. And, as first reported by THR, Fox Sports bought a piece of its lead NFL analyst Tom Brady’s production and marketing company Shadow Lion. THR's Tony Maglio unpacks the meaning of these disparate deals and what it all means. The analysis.
—Moving fast. As video podcasts explode in popularity, THR's Caitlin Huston reports that Netflix and Fox are vying for a big stake in the space. In October, Netflix inked a deal with Spotify to feature select podcasts from The Ringer on the platform starting in early 2026. Behind the scenes, the streamer has sent out dozens of requests to agents at WME, UTA and CAA in an attempt to sign on more video podcasters, with a reported demand for exclusivity on the video versions and a planned launch slate of around 40 shows. Meanwhile, Fox moved into the space with the February acquisition of Red Seat Ventures, a podcasting company that already had a focus on video with clients including Megyn Kelly and Tucker Carlson. The story. |
Hollywood PR Shocker as R&CPMK Dissolved ►All change. In a shakeup of Hollywood’s rep ranks, R&CPMK, one of the town’s high profile publicity firms and home to stars Denzel Washington, Eddie Murphy, Kevin Costner, Hugh Jackman and others, is no more. In its place comes PMK Entertainment, launched by Michael Nyman’s Acceleration Community of Companies and run by R&CPMK chairman and CEO Cindi Berger. As CEO, she reports to Nyman, her former cohort at PMK*BNC (they served as co-chairmen and co-CEOs together) before he departed and founded ACC in 2018. (Sister companies Rogers & Cowan and PMK*BNC merged to become R&CPMK under the Interpublic Group portfolio in 2019.) PMK Entertainment is focused on much of the same as R&CPMK by representing talent, music, sports, premium content companies, corporate entertainment and crisis communications by many of the same faces. The story.
—🤝 Programming partnership. 🤝 The Jason Reitman-led collective of filmmakers that banded together to save the Westwood Village Theater have partnered with film arts non-profit American Cinematheque in the next stage of the preservation process. The collective, known as the Village Directors Circle, has entered into a partnership agreement with American Cinematheque to operate and program the century-old movie palace, the two organizations jointly announced Tuesday. The American Cinematheque will program, manage and be the operating partner for the more-than-1,000-seat theater with active participation from the filmmakers. The story.
—✊ Unionization push. ✊ Production assistants and assistants on Netflix's The Four Seasons are looking to unionize. The group is filing for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board with the goal of joining a union aligned with LiUNA Local 724, the Hollywood laborers’ group. Production Assistants United, a grassroots organizing movement, is helping organize the group and received a supermajority of signed union authorization cards from crew members on the show in October. The Four Seasons production assistants are looking for higher pay, union healthcare, and safety standards. While the show, created by Tina Fey, airs on Netflix, Universal Television produces the series. The story. |
Children's and Family Emmys: Ms. Rachel Scores First Nods ►🏆 National treasure. 🏆 The nominations for the 2026 Children’s and Family Emmy Awards have been revealed with preschool fave Ms. Rachel earning her first Emmy nods. Ms. Rachel is up for best preschool, children’s or family viewing series and best writing in a preschool or children’s series. Other notable nominees include June Squibb, Lisa Kudrow, David Schwimmer, Heartstopper ‘s Kit Connor and Joe Locke, Jude Law, Cynthia Erivo, John Lithgow, Maya Rudolph, John C. Reilly, Amber Riley and Ana Gasteyer. The National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which presents the Children’s & Family Emmy Awards, also revealed that the fourth annual ceremony, taking place on March 1 and 2, 2026, will take place in New York at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Frederick P. Rose Hall. The nominees.
—📅 Dated! 📅 The Emmy Awards will stay in their usual mid-September slot in 2026. NBC, which is next up in the broadcast network rotation for the awards, announced Tuesday that it will air the 78th Primetime Emmys on Sept. 14, 2026 from the Peacock Theater in downtown Los Angeles. The awards will also live stream the theater’s namesake, NBC’s sibling streamer Peacock. As is usually the case when NBC has its turn airing the Emmys, the awards will air on a Monday night rather than a Sunday so as not to interfere with the network’s Sunday Night Football commitment. The story. |
Netflix Orders 'Boys From Brazil' Limited Series ►It's happening. After six seasons chronicling real-life history in The Crown, Peter Morgan’s next series for Netflix will delve into an alternate history. The streamer has formally greenlit The Boys From Brazil, a limited series based on Ira Levin’s 1976 novel. Succession's Jeremy Strong will star as Nazi hunter Yakov Liebermann, who learns that Dr. Josef Mengele, the notorious “Angel of Death” at the Auschwitz concentration camp, is plotting to revive the Third Reich. The project has been in development since February, with Strong attached. August Diehl, Daniel Brühl, Gillian Anderson, Shira Haas and Lizzy Caplan will also star. Alex Gabassi is set to direct. Filming is set to begin in December in the U.K., Bulgaria and Spain. The story.
—Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!!!!! Jesus, Mary, Joseph and the wee donkey, Line of Duty is back! Jed Mercurio’s hit police procedural will return to the BBC for a seventh series, with stars Vicky McClure, Martin Compston and Adrian Dunbar reprising their roles. The show last aired in 2021, and the season six finale was the biggest drama episode — excluding soaps — since modern U.K. records began in 2002, with an enormous 17m viewers after 28 days. The new six-part series, created and written by Mercurio and produced by World Productions in association with ITV Studios for BBC iPlayer and BBC One, will start filming in Belfast in spring 2026. Further cast will be announced in due course. The story.
—🎭 Next up. 🎭 Leslie Bibb has set her first project since checking into The White Lotus: a starring role in six-part Cold War crime series Top of the Rock. Bibb, who played vacationer Kate opposite Michelle Monaghan and Carrie Coon in season three of Mike White’s hit HBO series earlier this year, has signed on to play Captain Diane Goodman in the Icelandic noir. The series comes from Iceland‘s leading production company Truenorth, alongside Mystery Productions and Vertu. The story.
—All too real. AMC Networks is launching a new niche streaming service, one dedicated entirely to reality TV. The new service, All Reality, will launch Tuesday through Amazon Prime Video for $4.99 per month, with other platforms to follow. All Reality will launch with more than 2,500 hours of reality programming, including the entire Love After Lockup franchise; Bridezillas; Mama June; The Braxtons; Growing Up Hip-Hop; and The Graham Norton Show, as well as some true crime fare. The story.
—🤝 Rights deal. 🤝 Amid a boom for women’s sports, the Professional Women’s Hockey League is expanding its TV footprint in the U.S. The upstart league currently only has four teams in the U.S. (and another four in Canada), and has cut deals with regional sports networks including NESN and MSG Networks, as well as local TV station groups including the CBS and Fox-owned stations, Gray Media, TEGNA and Scripps. In Canada, TSN and RDS are returning as broadcast partners alongside Prime Video. Games also stream globally on YouTube. The story. |
European Film Awards Nominations 2025 ►🏆 Félicitations! 🏆 The European Film Academy on Tuesday unveiled the nominees for the 2026 European Film Awards, the top pan-European honor for cinematic excellence. In the best European feature category, Joachim Trier's Norwegian melodrama Sentimental Value, Jafar Panahi‘s Palme d’Or winning Iranian thriller It Was Just an Accident, Olivier Laxe’s post-apocalyptic road movie Sirāt, Mascha Schilinski’s multi-generational German period film Sound of Falling, and Kaouther Ben Hania’s harrowing Gaza drama The Voice of Hind Rajab are contenders for the top prize. The nominees.
—🏆 Congrats to all! 🏆 The 2025 International Documentary Awards nominations have been revealed. Apocalypse in the Tropics tops this year’s film nominees with four nods, including in the top category of best feature documentary. Other films nominated for multiple awards include three-time nominees Life After, Seeds and The Tale of Silyan. Double nominees include Songs of Slow Burning Earth, Redlight to Limelight and Suburban Fury. This year’s nominees were selected from more than 550 submissions from 85 countries, an increase from last year in the total number of countries represented. The entries were reviewed by juries consisting of dozens of documentary professionals worldwide. The nominees. |
Tom Felton Gives $1M Boost to 'Cursed Child' ►Muggle money. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child jumped up more than $1.3m last week as Tom Felton, who played Draco Malfoy in the films, joined the cast. The play, which opened at the Lyric Theatre in 2018, grossed close to $2.6m, making it the second highest grossing show in the industry last week. Helping aid that was the fact that the average ticket price shot up to $228 from $100 and capacity increased to 100 percent. Felton, who is playing an adult version of Draco, is scheduled to be in the play through May. Similarly, The Great Gatsby saw its grosses jump more than $200,000 as Jeremy Jordan returned to the role of Jay Gatsby. The show grossed close to $1.2m last week and played to 92 percent capacity at the Broadway Theatre. The Broadway box office report.
—🎭 One-man job. 🎭 Sean Hayes will return to the New York stage in an Off-Broadway production of The Unknown. Written by David Calle, the one-man play is about a writer retreating to a remote cabin to cure his writer’s block, only to discover that he may not be alone, and may be living within the thriller he’s writing. Leigh Silverman directs. The play is slated for a 10-week run at Studio Seaview Off-Broadway starting Jan. 31, 2026, with a Feb. 12 opening. Hayes returns to the stage after his Tony Award-winning run in Good Night, Oscar, which Hayes also starred in during its recent West End engagement. The story.
—🎭 Star crossed lovers. 🎭 Stranger Things star Sadie Sink and A Quiet Place‘s Noah Jupe are set to make their West End stage debuts in a production of Romeo & Juliet. From Mar. 16 to Jun. 6 next year, the pair will perform the Robert Icke-directed production at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London. Sink began her career on Broadway in Annie, and earlier this year, and earned a Tony Award nomination for best actress in a play for her role in John Proctor Is the Villain. The story. |
Film Review: 'Wicked: For Good' ►"Wickhards will rejoicify." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Jon M. Chu's Wicked: For Good. Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey, Michelle Yeoh, Jeff Goldblum and Ethan Slater return to complete the backstory of witchy sisterhood, which converges with events in The Wizard of Oz. Also starring Bowen Yang, Marissa Bode, Bronwyn James, Sharon D. Clarke and Colman Domingo. Written by Winnie Holzman and Dana Fox. The review.
—"Captures a complicated life with empathy." THR's Daniel Fienberg reviews Zeberiah Newman's Stop the Insanity: Finding Susan Powter. Newman's documentary finds 90s wellness guru Susan Powter in Las Vegas and explores her life, celebrity and hopes for a comeback. Produced by Zeberiah Newman, Michiel Thomas and Leah Turner. The review.
—"Resonant, but not always persuasive." For THR, Jourdain Searles reviews Oday Rasheed's If You See Something. Rasheed's immigration drama revolves around a young Iraqi doctor (Palestinian actor Adam Bakri) seeking asylum in the United States. Also starring Jess Jacobs, Tarek Bishara, Lucy Owen, Hadi Tabbal, Krystina Alabado, Reggie Gowland, Hend Ayoub, Nasser Faris and Reed Birney. Written by Avram Noble Ludwig and Jess Jacobs. The review.
In other news...
—Will Arnett, Laura Dern struggle in post-marriage lives in new Is This Thing On? trailer
—Marrakech: Jenna Ortega, Anya Taylor-Joy and Celine Song join Bong Joon Ho on jury
—Fanatics, OBB Media ink 10-year deal for Fanatics Fest
What else we're reading...
—With Pinkfong going public, Osmond Chia looks at how a 90-second clip of "Baby Shark" became a $400m global business [BBC]
—Matt Stieb wonders whether the creepy Epstein emails will be the end of Larry Summers [Intelligencer]
—After AI band Breaking Rust topped the country charts, Dave Lee is imploring Spotify to stop AI music from reaching his ears [Bloomberg]
—Monica Hesse reflects on the duelling narratives from Olivia Nuzzi and Ryan Lizza, and why we are all so intrigued by the scandal [WaPo]
—With the Master System hitting 40 this year, Keith Stuart has the unvarnished truth about Sega’s most underrated console [Guardian]
Today...
...in 1975, United Artists unveiled its One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest adaptation in theaters. The film went on to win five Oscars at the 48th Academy Awards, including best actor for Jack Nicholson, best actress for Louise Fletcher, best director for Milos Forman and best picture. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Allison Janney (66), Jodie Foster (63), Adam Driver (42), Barry Jenkins (46), Meg Ryan (64), Charlie Kaufman (67), Paul Weitz (60), Dick Cavett (89), Mark Bonnar (57), Reid Scott (48), Katherine Kelly (46), Douglas Henshall (60), Kathleen Quinlan (71), Terry Farrell (62), Jason Scott Lee (59), Erika Alexander (56), Sandrine Holt (53), Jess Salgueiro (38), Susan Heyward (43), Robin Dunne (49), Robert Beltran (72), Caroline Catz (56), Ilya Naishuller (42), Wolfgang Bodison (59), Laura Osnes (40), Gloria Guida (70), Eric Nenninger (47), Terrence 'T.C.' Carson (67), Ishana Shyamalan (26), Jared Abrahamson (39), Nell Hudson (35), Samantha Futerman (38), Glynnis O'Connor (70), Allison Balson (56), Jack Ashton (39), Bianca Comparato (40), Nicole Forester (53) |
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