| | | | | | What's news: The SAG Awards is now the Actor Awards. Cris Abrego has been re-elected chair of The Television Academy. Gersh dropped podcaster/actor Dasha Nekrasova after she interviewed Nick Fuentes. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle has hit a staggering $730m at the box office. And John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein will write and direct a new Star Trek movie. — Abid Rahman
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Tom Cruise Finally Gets His Oscar! ►🏆 Richly deserved. 🏆 "Making films is not what I do, it is who I am," said Tom Cruise, the veteran actor/producer and consummate movie star, as he accepted an honorary Oscar, in recognition of his body of work, during the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences‘ 16th Governors Awards on Sunday night. Cruise was one of four film artists feted at this year’s ceremony, the seventh produced by Jennifer Fox, which took place in the Ray Dolby Ballroom at Ovation Hollywood. Production designer Wynn Thomas and actress/producer/choreographer Debbie Allen also received honorary Oscars, while actress/singer/songwriter Dolly Parton collected — in absentia — the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award in recognition of her philanthropic work. The recap.
—Looking good. As always, the Governors Awards took place in front of dozens of current Oscar hopefuls. In addition to supporting the ceremony’s honorees, they turn out to see and be seen by the many Academy members in the room and following along on social media. Among those in attendance and walking the carpet this year were Jennifer Lawrence, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ariana Grande, Jacob Elordi, Sydney Sweeney, Wagner Moura, Jessie Buckley, Adam Sandler, Tessa Thompson, Stellan Skarsgård and Amy Madigan. The looks.
—Same, same but different. Ahead of its 32nd edition on March 1, 2026, the SAG Awards — through which SAG-AFTRA, the largest acting union in the world, celebrates performances in film and on television — is getting a new name: the Actor Awards. Jon Brockett, the showrunner and executive producer of the award show’s telecast, and JoBeth Williams, the actress and chair of SAG-AFTRA’s Awards Committee, announced the news on Friday, calling it, in a joint statement, “a perfect next step in the show’s evolution.” The story.
—Staying put. The Academy of Television Arts & Sciences said Friday that its board has re-elected Cris Abrego to serve a second term as chair. The Television Academy is the organization that oversees the Primetime Emmy Awards. Abrego, the former chairman and CEO of Endemol Shine North America and Banijay Americas, is currently CEO of Hyphenate Media Group. He was initially elected chair of the Television Academy two years ago, and his new term will begin on Jan. 1, 2026, and will run through 2027. The story. |
Box Office: 'Now You See Me 3' Sprints Past 'Running Man' ►A W for Lionsgate at last! Now You See Me: Now You Don’t is making magic at the box office, where it stole the show in a surprise win ahead of Paramount’s big-budget The Running Man. Lionsgate's Ruben Fleischer-directed Now You See Me 3 topped the domestic chart with an estimated $21.3m from 3,403 theaters after starting off with a better-than-expected Friday haul of $8.4m. Overseas, it dazzled in opening to $54.2m from 64 markets for a global start of $75.5m, compared to $28.2m for Running Man.
THR's Pamela McClintock writes that females are turning out in droves to see the third installment in the long-dormant franchise about a group of thieving magicians, buying up 54 percent of all tickets sold so far in North America. And solid exit scores among U.S. moviegoers are more than making up for so-so reviews, including a B+ CinemaScore and an 80 percent audience ranking on Rotten Tomatoes.
Running Man opened to $17m, and the news was even worse overseas, where the film limped to an estimated $11.2m from its first 58 markets. Directed by Edgar Wright, Running Man's cast is led by Glen Powell. The pic marks the actor’s first box office miss since he rose to fame after starring in a string of hits, including Twisters, Anybody But You and Top Gun: Maverick. The box office report.
—Woof! Sony and Crunchyroll’s anime sensation Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle continues to burn bright at the global box office. The smash-hit animated fantasy opened in China over the weekend, earning a strong $52.4m from Friday to Sunday and lifting its worldwide total to a staggering $730m. Released locally by Maoyan, the film’s word-of-mouth has been overwhelmingly positive, despite the recent flare-up in geopolitical tensions between Beijing and Tokyo that has been widely covered in Chinese state media. The China box office report. |
Sinclair Pursuing Deal With E.W. Scripps ►It's all happening. Another major deal for local TV stations may be brewing, with Sinclair Broadcast Group (and its 185 or so local stations) revealing Monday that it is pursuing a deal for E.W. Scripps, which owns some 61 local stations across the country. Sinclair disclosed the talks in an SEC filing, in which it noted that it has acquired more than 8 percent of Scripps’ stock in recent weeks. Based on the filing, it is not clear that Scripps has been receptive to the overtures. Company executives are set to deliver a presentation on business strategies Tuesday at the Wells Fargo TMT summit. Sinclair wrote in its filing that it believes the local TV station business needs to continue consolidating in order to survive the competition from tech companies and the big media companies, many of which own their network partners. The story.
—ICYMI. Disney's linear channels will finally return to YouTube TV, after the entertainment giant and the tech giant cut a new carriage deal on Friday. Disney’s channels, which include ABC, ESPN, Freeform and FX, among others, were pulled Oct. 30 as the two sides were unable to reach an agreement in time for their expiring agreement. The resulting blackout was the longest in recent memory for Disney, which found itself in a similarly public dispute with Charter Communications back in 2023, though that blackout lasted only 11 days. The story.
—Learned nothing. Could FFC chair Brendan Carr have his eyes set on his next late-night target? Nearly two months after ABC temporarily suspended Jimmy Kimmel Live! over a comment host Jimmy Kimmel made during his Sept. 15 episode drew heat online, including from Carr, it appears he’s now keeping an eye on Seth Meyers. On Saturday, Carr reposted one of Donald Trump‘s Truth Social posts, calling for Meyers, the host of NBC’s Late Night, to be fired. The story. The story. |
Gersh Drops Dasha Nekrasova Following Nick Fuentes Interview ►Dropped. Talent agency Gersh has cut ties with Succession actor Dasha Nekrasova following an interview she conducted with white nationalist Nick Fuentes. The move comes a few weeks after Nekrasova hosted Fuentes on an episode of Red Scare, which she co-hosts with Anna Khachiyan. Nekrasova was previously represented by Gersh agent Jason Klorfein. Nekrasova has additionally been dropped from a previously announced role in The Night Agent actor Gabriel Basso’s directorial debut Iconoclast. Nekrasova told Fuentes at the top of the more than two and a half hour podcast that “I’m such a fan, honestly." The story.
—Something good. The man who was caught on camera grabbing Ariana Grande at Singapore’s Wicked: For Good premiere has been sentenced to nine days in prison. Australian citizen Johnson Wen, 26, was seen running up to the star as she was walking hand-in-hand with fellow castmembers Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum on the red carpet Thursday. As he threw his arms around Grande’s neck, Erivo jumped into action and fought him off, with help from security. The footage went viral on social media and swiftly prompted outrage as a visibly shocked Grande was comforted by her co-stars. The story.
—Tragedy. Coach John Beam, who was featured on season five of Netflix docuseries Last Chance U, died Nov. 14, a day after being shot on the Laney Community College campus. An arrest was made shortly before news of Beam’s death was announced, and the firearm was recovered by police. The male suspect “was on campus for a specific reason,” the Oakland PD’s acting police chief James Beere said in a Friday press conference. “This was a very targeted incident.” The suspect “has been known to loiter on or around the campus,” Beere said. The story. |
Labubu Movie in the Works at Sony ►God help us all. THR's Borys Kit has the scoop that Labubu, the plush toy line of scruffy cute-ugly monsters, could be headed to the big screen. Sony Pictures, home of the Jumanji movies and, via its animation division, KPop Demon Hunters, has picked up the screen rights to the Chinese doll brand with the aim of making a movie and, in success, launching a franchise. No producer or filmmaker is attached at this stage, as the deal was just signed this week. It is also too early to tell whether the potential movie would be live-action or animated. The story.
—🎭 Filling out. 🎭 Borys also has the scoop on the Bebe Neuwirth, Danny DeVito, Lamorne Morris, Marin Hinkle, Nick Jonas, Dan Hildebrand, Jack Jewkes and Rhys Darby joining the cast of Sony's latest Jumanji movie. Dwayne Johnson, Jack Black, Kevin Hart, and Karen Gillan are already on the call sheet for production, which began this week in Los Angeles with director Jake Kasdan. The story.
—Find a role for Jarnathan! Paramount has tapped John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein to write and direct a new Star Trek movie that is said to be unconnected from anything previously done. So, no Chris Pine and crew from the JJ Abrams film series. Daley and Goldstein will also produce via their GoldDay banner. The duo is known for balancing comedic chops with high concepts and action, such as their beloved hit Game Night and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, which Paramount released. They recently wrapped the Apple feature Mayday, which stars Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh. Star Trek has not appeared on the big screen since 2016’s Star Trek Beyond underperformed with $343.4m globally. The story. |
How Will 'Golden Bachelor' Couple Beat the Odds? ►"We get to make our love story whatever way we want to make it." Finding love on reality TV isn’t easy — and neither is sustaining a long-term relationship once the cameras stop rolling. After wrapping the second season of ABC’s The Golden Bachelor, star Mel Owens and his winner, Peg Munson, say they aren’t looking to the couples before them for a roadmap. THR's queen of chat Jackie Strause spoke to the pair, who say they are committed to their no-proposal TV ending. The interview.
—🎭 Rhode rage. 🎭 Bravo has unveiled the official cast for The Real Housewives of Rhode Island, the latest addition to the network’s sprawling Real Housewives franchise. The news was revealed by Andy Cohen at BravoCon, where a first look trailer at season one was additionally shown, teasing a plethora of drama to come. The Real Housewives of Rhode Island will debut in 2026, though no official release date has been released. Seven new Housewives make up the cast, who are joined by The Real Housewives of New Jersey‘s Dolores Catania as a friend-of. The story.
—🎭 It's official. 🎭 Lala Kent and Tom Schwartz have made the move to The Valley. The Vanderpump Rules alumni will join the official cast for season three of the spinoff, the network revealed at BravoCon on Friday. The news was announced at the “Peaks & The Valley” panel, where the trailer and cast list for The Valley: Persian Style were also revealed. The story.
—As you were. The top of the network ratings charts for the 2025-26 season so far don’t look much different from how they did last season — which is to say that CBS’ Tracker and ABC’s High Potential are still racking up big audiences. As it has for each of its first two seasons, Tracker is on pace to be the most-watched network entertainment show (i.e., excluding sports and news programming) of the current season. Through Oct. 26 (the most current available figures), the show has averaged just under 14m cross-platform viewers over seven days. That’s more than 1.5m viewers than the second-ranked series … which is High Potential at 12.38m. The two also ranked first and second for the 2024-25 season (in Nielsen’s longer-tail, 35-day ratings). The ratings. |
Theater Review: 'Chess' ►"This Chess teaches us a history lesson about the world pre-meta-irony and the one post-, in which we find ourselves mired at the moment." For THR, Richard Lawson reviews Michael Mayer's Chess. The Broadway revival of the 1988 show, featuring music by ABBA's Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus, revolves around rival American and Soviet chess wizards and the woman caught between them. Starring Nicholas Christopher, Lea Michele, Bryce Pinkham and Aaron Tveit. Book by Danny Strong, based on an idea by Tim Rice. Music and lyrics by Benny Andersson, Björn Ulvaeus and Tim Rice. The review.
—"As cold and empty as its villain." THR's Angie Han reviews Amazon Prime Video's Malice. Jack Whitehall plays a charismatic nanny who ingratiates himself with a wealthy family, and then starts to destroy their lives bit by bit. Also starring David Duchovny, Carice van Houten, Christine Adams and Raza Jaffrey. Created by James Wood. The review.
In other news...
—Grey’s Anatomy's James Pickens Jr. reveals prostate cancer diagnosis
—George Bloom, longtime producer and VFX exec at CBS, dies at 68
—Mary Cybulski, acclaimed script supervisor, dies at 70
—Elizabeth Franz, Tony-winning Death of a Salesman actress, dies at 84
—Ted Hartley, actor, producer and former chairman of RKO Pictures, dies at 100
—Todd Snider, Americana singer-songwriter behind “Alright Guy,” dies at 59
What else we're reading...
—James Politi reports that a reeling Trump is now backing a vote to release the Epstein files [FT]
— Jake Nevins talks to media mogul and MTV co-founder Tom Freston about the demise of the music network [Vulture]
—Ben Kenigsberg asks whether Sirat director Óliver Laxe has made the most terrifying movie (the answer is a resounding yes, if you ask me) [NYT]
—Lisa Bonos reports on the San Francisco backlash faced by tech oligarch Marc Benioff over his recent pro-Trump comments [WaPo]
—Geoffrey Bunting looks back at South Korean show Reply 1988, the 2015 TV masterpiece that sparked the K-drama global boom [BBC]
Today...
...in 1995, Eon and MGM relaunched the 007 series in theaters with Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in GoldenEye. The film went on to earn $352m globally and Brosnan reprised the role three more times. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Martin Scorsese (83), Lorne Michaels (81), Danny DeVito (81), Roland Joffé (80), Rachel McAdams (47), Leslie Bibb (52), RuPaul (65), Tom Ellis (🏴47), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (67), Stephen Root (74), Harry Lloyd (42), Sophie Marceau (59), Noah Oppenheim (47), Viva Bianca (42), Cara Gee (42), Diane Neal (49), Kerry Godliman (52), Babou Ceesay (46), Zoë Bell (47), David Ramsey (54), Dylan Walsh (62), Rose Ayling-Ellis (31), Rohan Nedd (31), Lauren Hutton (82), Kara Hayward (27), William R. Moses (66), George Ferrier (25), Justin Cooper (37), Evelyne Brochu (43), Leonard Roberts (53), Jonathan Ross (65), Erdem Kaynarca (33), Raquel Castro (31), Jon Cor (41), Azita Ghanizada (46), Patrick McHale (42), Steven E. de Souza (78), Kelly Ward (69), Salvator Xuereb (60) |
| | Dan McGrath, the Emmy-winning comedy writer and producer who had two stints on The Simpsons before spending eight years on King of the Hill, has died. He was 61. The obituary. |
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