| | | | What's news: Apple Music is the new official sponsor of the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Wolf Hall author Hilary Mantel has died. Vince Gilligan's next show will be at Apple and stars Rhea Seehorn. Charlie Collier is moving to Roku. FX has renewed Reservation Dogs — Abid Rahman |
Bond Producers Focused on Villain Before Next 007 ►"The time commitment is certainly a long-term commitment." Ahead of being presented with the 2022 Pioneer Award from the Will Rogers Motion Picture Pioneers Foundation, James Bond producers Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson spoke to THR's Mia Galuppo about all things 007, including the Amazon-MGM deal, Bond on the small screen (that's a no), the rampant speculation about who will play the next Bond, and their focus on finding the right villain first. The interview.
—"Who’s more heroic than the brilliant Rhea Seehorn?" Apple TV+ has given a two-season, straight-to-series order for a project from Better Call Saul and Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan. Saul star Rhea Seehorn will play a lead role in the untitled series, which comes from Sony Pictures TV. Story details and the nature of Seehorn’s character are being kept under wraps for now, but Gilligan indicated in a statement that the new series won’t be an antihero story like his previous two shows. The story.
—"A more appropriate partner." Apple Music has been named the official sponsor of the Super Bowl Halftime Show, succeeding Pepsi, which announced earlier this year that it would give up its role in presenting the show. Apple Music’s first Super Bowl Halftime Show will take place Feb. 12, 2023 in Arizona, with performers TBD. Pepsi had been the lead sponsor of the halftime show for the past decade. The story.
—Literary giant. Hilary Mantel, the British author best known for her Wolf Hall trilogy and winning the Booker Prize twice, has died. She was 70. Mantel made a name for herself with historical fiction, short stories and memoirs. Wolf Hall was adapted for television in 2015, becoming a critical hit and garnering eight Emmy nominations. The obituary. |
'GOT' Tops 'HOTD' on Streaming Chart ►OG GOT FTW. Streaming users spent a lot of time with the Game of Thrones universe in the week following House of the Dragon’s premiere — but more with the parent series than the prequel, according to Nielsen’s streaming rankings. GOT topped the acquired series chart — and ranked third among all titles — for the week of Aug. 22-28 with 909m minutes of viewing time on HBO Max. HOTD followed its premiere night blast of 327m minutes of viewing with 741m for the full week. The streaming rankings.
—Gamble paid off. The first Thursday Night Football game on Amazon averaged 13.03m viewers, according to Nielsen. That’s pretty well in line with the Thursday franchise’s average on Fox and the NFL Network last season (12.84m for all games). The 13m figure also includes over-the-air broadcasts in the home markets of the Los Angeles Chargers and Kansas City Chiefs. Those broadcasts accounted for about 1.16m viewers, which would put the streaming-only audience at 11.87m. The story.
—"It was a mistake, and we hope you can find it in your heart to forgive us." KTLA fired anchor Mark Mester days after he was suspended for going off-script on air and called out how the station handled the resignation of his long-time co-anchor Lynette Romero. Station general manager Janene Drafs announced that Mester had been fired during a newsroom meeting on Thursday. The story.
—Big hire. Fox Entertainment CEO Charlie Collier is leaving the company to join Roku, where he will be president of media. Collier will oversee Roku’s ad and content businesses, including The Roku Channel. The TV veteran will officially join Roku in October and will be based in New York. He had been with Fox since 2018, overseeing its entertainment business and developing shows like The Masked Singer. Before joining Fox, he was president of AMC. The story. |
Farrell, Gleeson to Compete in Different Acting Categories ►Face off averted. THR's Scott Feinberg has the scoop on the final decision that will see Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson promoted for awards recognition in different acting categories — Farrell for lead actor and Gleeson for supporting actor — for their work in Martin McDonagh’s buzzy The Banshees of Inisherin. Scott writes that this approach also decreases the likelihood of the two canceling each other out in voting. The story.
—YESSSSSS BOIIIII!!!!! THR's Mia Galuppo has the welcome scoop that Oscar-winning documentarian Ahmir “Questlove” Thompson is developing a doc about the late hip hop legend J Dilla. Dilla Time will document, according to the project’s description, “the brief life and pervasive and largely uncredited influence" of J Dilla, who died in 2006 at 32. Thompson and Two One Five will reteam on the doc with Summer of Soul producer Joseph Patel, who will produce and co-direct with Darby Wheeler. The story.
—No brainer. FX has renewed its acclaimed series Reservation Dogs for a third season. The pickup for the show, which streams on Hulu, comes a week ahead of its second-season finale on Sept. 28. Created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, Reservation Dogs follows a group of teenagers coming of age on a Native American reservation in Oklahoma. All the series regulars, writers and directors are Indigenous. The story. |
Timbaland, Swizz Beatz Settle $28M Triller Suit ►"Creators started this and will continue building it." Timbaland and Swizz Beatz have settled their lawsuit against Triller over the sale of Verzuz. The settlement will increase the ownership stake in parent company Triller Network given to the producers as part of the original deal. Further terms weren’t disclosed. Timbaland and Swizz Beatz sued Triller in August for breach of contract, claiming that the company failed to make a $28m payment for the acquisition of Verzuz. The story.
—Calls for a new trial. Lawyers for Bill Cosby argued on Thursday that Judy Huth’s revision of details of her case — namely, the year she was sexually assaulted — unfairly denied the disgraced comedian the chance to investigate and interview witnesses who could have corroborated his defense. Cosby's legal team argued that the correction warrants a new trial. A month before a jury found that Cosby assaulted Huth when she was 16-years old at the Playboy Mansion, Huth said that the incident actually occurred in 1975 and not 1974 as she initially alleged. The story.
—"The conversation came up again, 'We need to ask Bryce to lose weight.'" Bryce Dallas Howard has revealed there were conversations centered on her body that she says took place ahead of the Jurassic World Dominion shoot. In a new interview, Howard said she has “been asked to not use my natural body in cinema” but that director Colin Trevorrow stepped in to support her. The story.
—Ye 2024? Kanye “Ye” West has said he isn’t done with politics. The rapper, who mounted a failed presidential bid in 2020, was asked in an ABC News interview if he had “future political aspirations” and answered, “Yes, absolutely.” Ye also discussed his problems with Adidas and Gap over the Yeezy label and also his relationship with ex-wife Kim Kardashian. The story. |
TV Review: 'Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story' ►"Chilling but repetitive." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Netflix's Dahmer — Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story. The cumbersomely titled new miniseries about Jeffrey Dahmer (played by Evan Peters) continues the streaming service and creator Ryan Murphy's obsession with serial killers. The review.
—"An assured, if unchallenging, intro to an imposing legacy." THR's Lovia Gyarkye reviews Reginald Hudlin's Sidney. The Oprah Winfrey-produced documentary about the late Sidney Poitier, streaming on Apple TV+, is an appraisal of the man many consider America’s greatest actor. The review. |
Thank Pod It's Friday► All the latest content from THR's podcast studio. — TV's Top 5. Lesley Goldberg and Dan Fienberg break down the latest TV news. The guys begin by running through the week's headline makers, including the Golden Globes returning to NBC, Reservation Dogs' renewal, another SNL departure, Vince Gilligan's new Apple show. There's a deep dive on WTF is going with Bad Robot. TV legend Steve Levitan drops by to talk about his new show Reboot on Hulu and more. And Dan reviews Reboot, Disney+'s Andor , Netflix’s Dahmer and gives his thoughts on HBO’s Hostages and Hulu’s Chefs vs. Wild. Listen here. — Behind the Screen. Tech editor Carolyn Giardina's podcast focuses on the filmmaking crafts. In this episode, Carolyn speaks to Don’t Worry Darling cinematographer Matthew Libatique. The two-time Oscar-nominated DP delves into the filming of Olivia Wilde's thriller and addresses rumors of acrimony on set. Listen here. In other news... —Dave Bautista disrupts a family vacation with bad news in trailer for M. Night Shyamalan’s Knock at the Cabin —NXIVM co-founders Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman return in HBO’s The Vow, Part Two trailer —Animation Is Film Festival announces competition lineup — Black Panther sound mixer Peter Devlin to receive CAS career achievement award —Mel Robbins to launch new podcast in exclusive deal with SiriusXM’s Stitcher —SPE’s Tom McCarthy retiring as Kimberly Jimenez promoted to new role —Kalen Allen signs with WME —Oscars: Sweden picks Boy From Heaven as international features selection What else we're reading... —Andrew Lawrence reports on how PnB Rock’s murder shook hip-hop [ Guardian] —Nicholas Quah writes that podcasts are just radio now and nothing breaks out and dominates pop culture anymore [ Vulture] —Emily Kirkpatrick interviews Shakira about her annus horribilis that has included a fractious break up from soccer player Gerard Piqué and a tax evasion charge [ VF] —Ben Lindbergh proposes that instead of one actor playing James Bond over several films, multiple stars should have a go at the role once [ Ringer] —Here's your Friday list: "Every Kevin Smith movie ranked worst to best" [ Slash Film] Today... ...in 1994, after a premiere at the Toronto film fest, The Shawshank Redemption hit theaters nationwide. The Morgan Freeman and Tim Robbins film eventually nabbed seven Oscar nominations. The original review. Today's birthdays: Jason Alexander (63), Hasan Minhaj (37), Anthony Mackie (44), Yorgos Lanthimos (49), Alex Proyas (59), Garth Davis (48), Christopher Miller (47), Robert James-Collier (46), Cush Jumbo (37), Skylar Astin (35), Mary Kay Place (75), Alyssa Sutherland (40), Rosalind Chao (65), Chi McBride (61), Katarina Cas (46), Karl Pilkington (50), Jenna Stern (55), Faune Chambers Watkins (46), Liberty Ross (44) |
| R. Dianne Bartlow, a director, writer, producer and educator who worked on the KCBS-TV program 2 on the Town and received three regional Emmys during her career, died Sept. 8 in Los Angeles of cancer, her family announced. She was 67. The obituary. |
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