| | | | | | What's news: Marvel's Blade has been taken off the release calendar. Laura Loomer has filed a $150m suit against HBO and Bill Maher. CBS has renewed Matlock. Shōgun creator Justin Marks has signed a new overall deal at FX. Tribeca has signed a streaming deal with Kanopy and Kinema. — Abid Rahman
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Lynda Obst 1950 - 2024 ►"A trailblazer and a fierce advocate for women." Lynda Obst, the pioneering producer who put her mark on beloved films like Sleepless in Seattle, Contact, Flashdance, The Fisher King, Adventures in Babysitting, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and Interstellar, has died. She was 74.
Aside from a long list of enviable credits on a wide range of projects, Obst was known in the industry for being a fierce champion of women in Hollywood and for developing close, longtime relationships with writers, actors, executives, filmmakers, fellow producers and insiders.
Obst was also a wordsmith, and she used that skill to author two how-to-make-it-in-Hollywood books that were equal parts dishy and informative: Hello, He Lied & Other Tales From the Hollywood Trenches, published in 1996, and 2013’s Sleepless in Hollywood: Tales From the New Abnormal in the Movie Business. The obituary.
—"I kind of don’t give a shit what people think of me." In February, THR's nicest man Chris Gardner talked to Lynda Obst for a wonderful profile. Colorful as ever, Obst spoke about her long career in Hollywood, her health and more. The profile. |
How Janelle Monáe Became the Queen of Halloween ►On the cover. Actress, singer and master chameleon Janelle Monáe owns the night — and an increasing chunk of Hollywood’s Scary Season trade. On the eve of her star-studded Fright Night blowout, the horror-loving Grammy winner unveils her latest costume and explains to THR's Chris Gardner her lifelong Halloween obsession: "I’m a transformative motherf***er!" The cover story. |
Why L.A. Is Becoming a Production Graveyard ►"If we make the market more competitive, more work will come." With aggressive competition from the state of Georgia, the U.K., Canada and Australia, it's perhaps no surprise that new data released by FilmLA on Oct. 16 showed that filming in L.A. is approaching historically low levels, with the three-month period from July to September seeing the fewest number of shoot days this year. Given the doom and gloom, THR's Winston Cho reports that insiders are lobbying for fewer restrictions to help bolster Hollywood’s place in the city it calls home. The story.
—Dodgers icon. Fernando Valenzuela, the Mexican-born phenom for the Los Angeles Dodgers who inspired “Fernandomania” while winning the NL Cy Young Award and Rookie of the Year in 1981, has died. He was 63. The team said he died Tuesday night at a Los Angeles hospital but did not provide the cause or other details. The obituary.
—"False, malicious and defamatory." Laura Loomer, a prominent right-wing personality, has filed a $150m defamation lawsuit against Bill Maher and HBO “for broadcasting with actual malice” suggestions that she “has committed adultery with President Donald Trump” on a recent edition of Real Time With Bill Maher, her lawyer Larry Klayman said on Tuesday. Klayman, a former federal prosecutor known for numerous lawsuits he filed against Bill Clinton’s presidential administration, unveiled the defamation complaint, arguing that the defendants were "broadcasting with actual malice." The story. |
What Horror Movies Say About America ►Be afraid. McCarthy-era paranoia. The AIDs epidemic. Post-9/11 trauma. For THR, Richard Newby writes that scary movies have always reflected our biggest fears … and spun them into box office gold. The story.
—"Sometimes, you have hard conversations on television." The now infamous CBS Mornings interview with author Ta-Nehisi Coates has been a “learning” opportunity for the staff, according to anchor Gayle King. Speaking at a panel at the Paley Center in Manhattan Tuesday night, King said that the anchors will not “shy away from hard conversations,” but know they have to be mindful of how they approach “hot-button issues.” King was on the panel with fellow CBS Mornings anchors Nate Burleson and Tony Dokoupil, as well as featured host Vladimir Duthiers and the show’s executive producer, Shawna Thomas. The story.
—Pad thai, spring rolls and a side of Peacock? Disney+, Max, and Paramount+ are cooking up deals with major grocery chains and apps like Doordash and Instacart. THR's Alex Weprin looks at why the streaming apps are striking deals with delivery apps in the hopes of juicing their customer base. The analysis. |
'Beef' S2 Officially a Go at Netflix ►🎭 Sizzling hot 🎭 Netflix has picked up a second season of the anthology series Beef from creator Lee Sung Jin. Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton and Cailee Spaeny will head the cast for the second installment, which will have eight 30-minute episodes (down from 10 for season one). Season two will center on a young couple that "witnesses an alarming fight between their boss and his wife, triggering chess moves of favors and coercion in the elitist world of a country club and its Korean billionaire owner." The story.
—Swift verdict. CBS has ordered a second season of Matlock after just two episodes have aired. The legal drama, which stars Kathy Bates in a reimagining of the Andy Griffith-led 1980s-90s staple, has performed strongly in those two episodes. The Sept. 22 premiere, which followed an NFL doubleheader and 60 Minutes, drew 7.73m same-day viewers, CBS’ best series debut in more than five years; that figure grew to 10.67m with three days of cross-platform viewing. After several weeks off, Matlock’s second episode on Oct. 17 (airing in its regular Thursday home) brought in 6.38m viewers, 44 percent more than the same-day average for its time period last season. The story.
—🤝 Deal extension 🤝 FX is extending its relationship with one of the creators of its Emmy record-breaking series Shōgun. Justin Marks, who co-created the series with Rachel Kondo, has signed a new overall deal with FX Productions, where he’s been based for the past five years. Under the new deal, Marks will develop new material for FX in addition to working on two potential additional seasons of Shōgun with Kondo. The story. |
Marvel Takes 'Blade' Off 2025 Calendar ►📅 Not great 📅 20th Century Studios' Predator: Badlands is arriving in theaters on Nov. 7, 2025, a date previously held by Marvel Studios’ long-gestating Blade, which Disney has removed completely from the release calendar. The move is not a surprise, as Blade is currently without a director and has faced numerous delays. Marvel announced Blade at San Diego Comic-Con in 2019, but has hit a number of snags on the way to the screen, including the pandemic, labor strikes and losing two filmmakers. But the studio is intent on making the film, which stars Mahershala Ali as the titular vampire hunter. The story.
—In the works. Ren Faire director Lance Oppenheim is lining up his first scripted feature film, teaming up with producer Robert Pattinson and A24 for Primetime. The project, which has a script by Ajon Singh, is said to center on a journalist who takes on the underbelly of crime and changes television forever. At this stage, Pattinson does not have a deal to star, only produce. Sources say that the film draws inspiration from To Catch a Predator, the reality TV show in which host Chris Hansen partook in sting operations luring adult men to homes under the pretense of sexual encounters with minors. The story.
—🤝 Streaming deal 🤝 Tribeca Films, the distribution label from Tribeca Enterprises and Giant Pictures, has set multi-year partnerships with Kanopy and Kinema to stream the label’s catalog of independent festival films. The first-of-their-kind output agreements will make it easier for festival favorites to reach wider audiences. And the deals create important revenue structures for independent films. Tribeca is the first festival to license films with Kanopy and Kinema, and Kanopy is the exclusive educational and public library streaming partner for the label. The story.
—Big names boarding. Highly Flammable Productions announced Tuesday that that Kevin Hart's Hartbeat and Robin Roberts' Rock’n Robin Productions have come aboard to executive produce the New Orleans documentary A King Like Me. The film debuted last week, when it was honored as the opening night film at the 35th Annual New Orleans Film Festival. A King Like Me follows the Zulu Krewea, a Louisiana cultural organization of over 800 Black men, who lost 16 members of their members to COVID-19 following 2020 Mardi Gras. The story. |
'Sunset Blvd' Brings in $1M Opening Week ►Off to the races. Sunset Blvd brought in $1.2m last week, despite having five performances that included many comped tickets for press leading up to opening night on Oct. 20, as well as an entirely comped opening night. The revival, which received raves for Nicole Scherzinger’s performance but varying reviews for its take on the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, played to close to 100 percent capacity at the St. James Theatre. Romeo + Juliet also welcomed press last week, and still brought in a strong $1.06m for its first full week of eight performances and played to more than 100 percent capacity at the Circle in the Square Theatre. The play, starring Kit Connor and Rachel Zegler, opens Oct. 24. The Broadway box office report.
—Short and sweet. A revised, shortened version of Harry Potter and the Cursed Child will come to Broadway in November. The new version of the play clocks in at under three hours, including intermission, compared to the current running time of three-and-a-half hours. The new version will premiere on Broadway when new cast members take over and begin performances at Lyric Theatre on Nov. 12, 2024. This marks the second time the play has been shortened while on Broadway. The original production, which opened on Broadway in April 2018, was shown in two parts which ran five hours and 15 minutes in total. The story. |
'John Wick' at 10: Chad Stahelski on Past, Present and Future of Franchise ►"We didn't just work the last 10 years to see it all go to shit." THR's Brian Davids spoke to John Wick co-creator, and director of all four films, Chad Stahelski about the Keanu Reeves-led franchise that celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Stahelski discusses how, with Reeves, he is trying to maintain quality control as the Wick cinematic universe rapidly expands. The interview.
—"I found this place of peace." THR's Lexy Perez spoke to One Tree Hill star Bethany Joy Lenz about her new memoir, Dinner for Vampires. Lenz discusses her time in the religious cult while starring on the hit show and her journey to recovery. The interview.
—"We can’t get complacent." For THR, Max Gao spoke to showrunner/creator Soo Hugh about season two of Apple TV+'s critically acclaimed drama Pachinko. Hugh discusses the need for more Asian-led shows, and hopes for a season three: "We need to keep supporting these shows. We have to show up for [shows like] Beef, Shōgun — we just have to do it, because that, at the end of the day, determines whether these shows succeed or not." Warning: Spoilers! The interview.
—"I did what I was told." For THR, Brande Victorian spoke to Michael Ealy about his Hulu show, Reasonable Doubt. The actor talks reprising his role as Damon Cooke for the season two ender and canvassing with the Hulu series’ executive producer Kerry Washington ahead of the presidential election. Warning: Spoilers! The interview. |
TV Review: 'Territory' ►"Smooth riding over well-trod terrain." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Netflix's Territory. Anna Torv and Robert Taylor lead the six-part series about a powerful cattle-ranching dynasty hurled into a succession crisis after the death of its chosen heir. The review.
In other news...
—Severance returns to work in S2 teaser trailer
—Jimmy O. Yang stars in mysterious, action-packed trailer for Hulu’s Interior Chinatown
—Yellowstone trailer for new episodes ushers in Dutton family civil war
—Bad Sisters S2 trailer: Garvey girls try to keep S1's deadly intentions under wraps
—Adrien Brody starts a new life after WW2 in The Brutalist trailer
—The Honorable Shyne doc trailer: Shyne talks 1999 club shooting involving Diddy
—CBC/Radio Canada names incoming president
—AARP to recognize Glenn Close with career achievement award
—Santa Barbara Film Fest: Zoe Saldaña set for American Riviera Award
—How to watch 2024-25 NBA season online without cable
—Mimi Hines, who replaced Barbra Streisand on Broadway in Funny Girl, dies at 91
What else we're reading...
—Jaw-dropping story from Jeffrey Goldberg outlining Trump's shocking views on the military, as well as more on John Kelly revealing the former president's admiration for Hitler [Atlantic]
—Michael S. Schmidt also spoke to John Kelly, and there's more good-lord-in-heaven revelations about Trump, including a warning that he will rule like a dictator [NYT]
—Max Tani reports that the Los Angeles Times' owner Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong has blocked the paper from making an endorsement for president [Semafor]
—Interesting piece from Halima Jibril on how meme culture has turned everything into a joke, including horrific tragedy and death [Dazed]
—Adrian Horton writes that Americans might not be interested in the Trump biopic The Apprentice, but the rest of the world certainly is [Guardian]
Today...
...in 2015, RLJ Entertainment released S. Craig Zahler's debut feature Bone Tomahawk in theaters. The critical acclaimed Western starred Kurt Russell, Patrick Wilson, Matthew Fox and Richard Jenkins. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Ang Lee (70), Ryan Reynolds (48), Margaret Qualley (30), Emilia Clarke (38), Amandla Stenberg (26), Sam Raimi (65), 'Weird Al' Yankovic (65), Philip Kaufman (88), Alex Gibney (71), Kate del Castillo (52), Masiela Lusha (39), Jessica Stroup (38), Prabhas (45), Jon Huertas (55), Dwight Yoakam (68), Briana Evigan (38), Mina Sundwall (23), Taylor Spreitler (31), Beatie Edney (62), Oscar Lesage (28), Jess Gabor (28), Bradley Pierce (42), Brooke Theiss (55), Manuela Velasco (49), Callie Cooke (31), Robert Belushi (44), Ireland Baldwin (29), Boti Bliss (49), Steve Wilder (54), Matt Angel (34), Priscilla Faia (39), Zach Callison (27), Izabel Goulart (40), Elise Bauman (34) |
| Michael “Newmie” Newman, the real-life lifeguard who appeared for 10 seasons on Baywatch as one of action show’s most popular characters, has died after his long battle with Parkinson’s disease. He was 67. The obituary. |
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