What's news: UTA is set to move to The Empire State Building. Chloe Fineman will star in Netflix's Myron Bolitar. Disney+ has greenlit a series based on Afterlife With Archie. Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky and Chris Rock's Misty Green will world premiere at TIFF. And Ayesha Curry will lead Roku Channel's rom-com Second Chance Holiday. — Abid Rahman
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►"It’s the ultimate dog movie." THR's Brian Davids spoke to Hollywood's man-of-the-moment Christopher Nolan about his record-breaking epic, The Odyssey. The British filmmaker, who has defied box office expectations for the biggest global launch of his career, addresses the movie's cautionary message, the real reason why he delivers his projects under budget, the rerelease of The Prestige, his love for Obsession and perhaps tackling horror next. The interview.
—The prompts that launched a thousand slops. THR's Steven Zeitchik spoke to Ash and Pooya Koosha about their opportunistic 135-minute AI feature take on Homer's The Odyssey that has ruffled a few feathers on social media. The team behind Odysseus: The Fall hope it can demonstrate the appeal of AI tools. The interview.
—The dorks relent. Despite The Odyssey receiving pre-release backlash from some people in the MAGA-verse, right-wing influencer Ben Shapiro is a fan of Nolan‘s take on the epic story. “The movie is a masterpiece,” he declares in an 18-minute review posted to YouTube. The story.
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Paramount-WBD Merger Paused |
►Frozen. A federal judge has granted a bid from a coalition of 12 states to temporarily stop Paramount from closing its $110b takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery. U.S. District Judge Araceli MartÃnez-OlguÃn on Monday issued a temporary restraining order after the states sued last week. The emergency motion sought to prevent the studio from moving ahead with the merger for 14 days. In a statement, California Attorney General Rob Bonta called the decision a "critical first win in our case to ensure this megamerger never sees the light of day." The story.
—On the move. United Talent Agency is moving its New York City office to one of the city’s most iconic landmarks. UTA will move to The Empire State Building in July of 2027, occupying over 100,000 square feet across four floors of the building, which sits at 34th St. and 5th Ave. UTA’s NYC office is currently located farther north in midtown across the street from Carnegie Hall. The story.
—Zaz's next act. For nearly 100 years, tens of thousands of children have spent their summers at Mohawk Day Camp in Westchester County, New York. A shocking bankruptcy, however, has put the camp’s future in jeopardy. A surprise guardian has stepped up to save the camp and keep it alive for future generations: Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. According to bankruptcy filings, Zaslav, through his holding company Grandview Ventures, has made a $68m bid for Mohawk Day Camp and Mohawk Country Day School, the preschool that it also operates. The story.
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World Cup Halftime Show Director on Making First-Ever Concert
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►"Challenging beyond challenging." THR's Ethan Millman spoke to Hamish Hamilton, the man who directed the first-ever FIFA World Cup Finals Halftime Show. Hamilton, who has directed over a dozen Super Bowls, the opening ceremony to the 2012 Summer Olympics, six Emmy ceremonies, four Oscars and three Grammy nights, dishes on the star-studded 11-minute FIFA concert, production restrictions and facing pressure from skeptical fans who questioned the show in the first place. The interview.
—"Glib and unsubtle." So what did the rest of the world think of the novelty of a World Cup Final Halftime Show? THR has gathered together some reaction, and it ranged from dismissal for being "too American" to outright hostility. The reaction.
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Here's Just How Top-Heavy Netflix Is Right Now
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►Probably not healthy. The fact that the top echelon of Netflix series and movies account for an outsized share of total viewing on the streamer is not a new phenomenon. The company’s latest data release, however, puts the trend in pretty stark terms, writes THR's Rick Porter. The top 500 series and films on Netflix’s semiannual list of view counts for the entire service accounted for 47 percent of series views and more than 51 percent of movie views, based on an analysis of the data. Moreover, the top 100 shows and movies on the streamer accounted for more than 20 percent of views from January to June despite being less than 1 percent of available titles. The story.
—Woof! Woof! With the regular 2025-26 TV season well in the rearview, the last piece of ratings accounting has now come through. Nielsen’s final multi-platform numbers for the season still have the final run of Stranger Things well in front of every other series, but there are a handful of changes from the most recent rankings (which covered the season through mid-April). Most notably, Paramount+’s Dutton Ranch lands in the top 10, ranking sixth overall with 19.2m viewers after 35 days of viewing. The fall-to-spring season ended May 24, so the audience for the Yellowstone spinoff is only through its first three episodes. The ratings.
—🎠Moving fast. 🎠Chloe Fineman has already lined up her first big series regular credit post-Saturday Night Live. The comedian is been slated to join the upcoming Netflix show Myron Bolitar as a series regular. The upcoming series, an adaptation of a Harlan Coben’s thriller series about an NBA star-turned-sports agent, will be co-showrun, written and executive produced by David E. Kelley and Kyle Long. The story.
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Netflix Offers First Look at 'A Different World'
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►🎠Relax, relate, release! 🎠Netflix has revealed a first-look at its A Different World sequel series. Still set at Hillman College, Deborah Wayne (Maleah Joi Moon), Whitley (Jasmine Guy) and Dwayne’s (Kadeem Hardison) youngest daughter, must forge her own path. The sequel cast includes Rashida Duvall (Alijah Kai), a first‑generation criminal justice major; Shaquille Johnson (Cornell Young IV), a five‑star athlete; Amir Rodale (Jordan Aaron Hall), a psychology major; Hazel Henry (Kennedi Reece), a church‑raised small‑town girl; and Kojo Achebe (Chibuikem Uche), a Ghanaian‑Nigerian fashion entrepreneur. The story.
—🎠Pulling Pullman. 🎠Apple TV has landed a second star for its forthcoming drama Guilty Creatures. Thunderbolts* star Lewis Pullman will have a lead role opposite Julia Garner in the series, which is based on Mikita Brottman’s book Guilty Creatures: Sex, God, and Murder in Tallahassee, Florida. The show will delve into the “torrid romance and subsequent act of murder between two young, adulterous but God-fearing lovers, unraveling their complex lives and the emotional toll of living as killers for 18 years,” according to its logline. The story.
—🟢 Back from the dead. 🟢 The creative team behind Riverdale is heading back to the Archie Comics locale, albeit to tell a very different kind of story. Disney+ has greenlit a series based on the Afterlife With Archie comic book, in which Riverdale is overrun by zombies. Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa will serve as showrunner on the adaptation of his and Francesco Francavilla’s comic and executive produce with Jimmy Gibbons, Greg Berlanti, Sarah Schechter, Leigh London Redman and Jon Goldwater. It’s slated for a fall 2027 premiere. The story.
—🎠Shift changes. 🎠The staff at Sacred Heart Hospital is undergoing a few changes. ABC‘s Scrubs has promoted Ava Bunn, who plays intern Sam Tosh, to a series regular for the revival’s second season. She’ll join original series stars Zach Braff, Sarah Chalke and Donald Faison as a regular in the coming season, which is set to premiere in the fall. Two season one castmembers are not returning, however. Joel Kim Booster and X Mayo, who had recurring roles as Dr. Kevin Park and Nurse Raymond, will not be back. The story.
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Ayesha Curry, Joey Graziadei to Star in Roku’s Holiday Rom-Coms
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►🎠Curry from way downtown. 🎠The Roku Channel has added two new original rom-com films to its seasonal roster for later this year: Second Chance Holiday starring Ayesha Curry and Matthew Daddario, and The Holiday Spark starring Joey Graziadei (in what marks The Bachelor breakout’s first feature film role) and Jamie Chung. Second Chance Holiday marks Curry's first No. 1 on the call sheet, and she stars as a dating expert who is determined to break her so-called “curse” of always getting dumped during the holiday season. The story.
—🎠Divas on deck. 🎠OUTtv’s The Dressing Room, the workplace comedy set around live theater, has added to its second season cast, with Will & Grace star Eric McCormack, Andrea Bang and Marianas Trench frontman Josh Ramsay joining in guest roles. The character-driven series, to debut Aug. 4 on OUTtv worldwide, will also see a cameo from Laura Bell Bundy, and additional guest performer appearances by Katie Findlay, Eduard Witzke, Jacqueline Robbins and Joyce Robbins. The story.
—🎠New v. Old. 🎠Bill Nighy, Nell Tiger Free and Gemma Arterton are set to lead a new TV adaptation of Henry James’ beloved novel The Portrait of a Lady for Masterpiece on PBS and the BBC. They’ll be joined by Jim Sturgess, Miranda Richardson, Hugh Skinner and Dean-Charles Chapman in the six-part limited series. Free leads the ensemble as Isabel Archer, a vivacious New World ingénue who leaves America for Old World Europe, keen to experience all that life has to offer. The story.
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TIFF Adds Peter Farrelly, Chris Rock, Lauren Miller Rogen World Premieres |
►Boyle, Almodovar and Leigh also in the mix. Chris Rock’s Misty Green; Lauren Miller Rogen’s comedy drama Babies, starring Seth Rogen, Anna Kendrick, Issa Rae, Dan Stevens, Zach Cherry and Kate Berlant; and Courteney Cox’s true crime thriller Evil Genius are set for world premieres at the Toronto Film Festival as part of its high-profile Gala sidebar of possible future Oscar contenders. Peter Farrelly’s I Play Rocky, where Anthony Ippolito plays Sylvester Stallone in Amazon MGM’s feature about the making of the classic boxing film, will world premiere as part of the Special Presentations sidebar. The lineup.
—Least surprising news in the world. It looks like Ryan Reynolds will be putting on the Deadpool suit once again. The actor confirmed during a recent appearance at Fanatics Fest 2026 that another Deadpool movie is coming, which would follow the box office success of 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine. The actor-producer didn’t give any additional details on whether the film would be another solo Deadpool installment or more of an ensemble film, with his chaotic antihero becoming more of a supporting player. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 The release plan for Strange Darling filmmaker JT Mollner‘s next feature is getting fleshed out. Sony Pictures announced Monday that the creature horror movie Skeletons is set for theatrical release on June 4, 2027. Brie Larson, Kyle Gallner, Daithà Ó Haragáin, Willa Fitzgerald, Ione Skye, John Goodman and Keith Carradine round out the cast for the film that the studio acquired as a package earlier this year in a bidding war out of the European Film Market. The story.
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Film Review: 'Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender' |
►"Impressive action, but not much else." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Lauren Montgomery's Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender. This latest animated feature incarnation of the sprawling Nickelodeon franchise features returning voices like Eric Nam and Steven Yeun, in addition to Dave Bautista, Taika Waititi, Geraldine Viswanathan and Ke Huy Quan. Also featuring the voices of Jessica Matten, Roman Zaragoza, Dionne Quan, Freida Pinto, Ronny Chieng, Ken Jeong and Dee Bradley Baker. Written by Tim Hedrick and Christopher Yost. The review.
—"Talk about the female gaze." THR's Leslie Felperin reviews Rosa Friedrich's My Friend the Porn Star. Featuring a cast of participants expressing gender in a wide variety of ways, this German documentary film premiered at Karlovy Vary. Featuring Rosa Friedrich, Timo, Hanna Teglasy, Alex, Jane Kosto, Alice Eric BigClit, Janina Vivianne, Carmen Schrenk, Sofie Federspiel, Emma Striche, Sam Hailey, Adrineh Simonian and Aaron Karl. Written by Rosa Friedrich. The review.
In other news...
—Hunter Biden, Nick Fuentes face-off In Channel 5 interview trailer
—Mallory Morehead Pritzl joins Kovert Creative to work on entertainment PR team
—Creator Jess Judith signs with UTA
—Peter Lassally, producer for Johnny Carson and David Letterman, dies at 93
What else we're reading...
—Josh Sisco and Hannah Miller write that the delay to the Paramount-WBD deal could cost billions [Bloomberg]
—James Parker makes the case for why Apple's Widow’s Bay is the show of the summer [Atlantic]
—Kate King reports on a Connecticut man buying a house "sight unseen" and then discovering three bodies inside [WSJ]
—Sadie Gurman and Corinne Ramey break down the Tate Brothers’ international legal troubles [WSJ]
—Ewan Murray writes that the golfer Bryson DeChambeau allegedly threatened to call Trump in a dispute over a penalty at The British Open [Guardian]
Today...
...in 2017, Warner Bros. released Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk in theaters. The innovative World War II movie about the Dunkirk evacuation was a critical and commercial smash, receiving 8 Oscar nominations, winning three. The original review.
Today's birthdays...
Josh Hartnett (48), George Wallace (74), David Dastmalchian (51), Betty Gilpin (40), Charlotte Gainsbourg (55), Chrishell Stause (45), Michael Caton (83), Sara Sampaio (35), Juno Temple (37), Jaime Murray (50), Rory Culkin (37), Jessica Barden (34), Justin Bartha (48), Vanessa Lengies (41), Tian Jing (38), Diane Guerrero (40), Lance Guest (66), Sprague Grayden (46), Alysia Reiner (56), Michael Connelly (70), Ali Cobrin (37), Vinessa Antoine (43), Jasmine Cephas Jones (37), Kym Whitley (65), Ike Eisenmann (64), Stefan Crepon (30), Arija Bareikis (60), Penny Fuller (86), Paloma Guzmán (42), Jalmari Helander (50), Ali Landry (53), Steve Byrne (52), Gabriel Leone (33)
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Sylvia Bugg, PBS‘ chief programming executive and general manager for general audience programming, died “unexpectedly this weekend,” PBS CEO Paula Kerger announced on Sunday. Bugg was 55. The obituary.
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