| | | | | | What's news: It's magazine day! This week's cover star is global entertainment icon Ariana Grande. PBS is closing its DEI office. The Super Bowl averaged 126m viewers. More people watch YouTube via TV than mobile. HBO has landed Ben Stiller's next TV project. — Abid Rahman
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The Second Coming of Ariana Grande ►On the cover. Ariana Grande began her career on the Nickelodeon hit show Victorious all the way back in 2010, before becoming a global pop sensation — earning along the way 18 Grammy nominations, nine Billboard Hot 100 No. 1 hits and 376m Instagram followers. Now, Grande is back in Hollywood, and the Wicked star has major Oscar buzz — and a whole lot of movie offers. THR's Lacey Rose profiles the pop star who was always a theater nerd at heart. The cover story. |
Elon Musk Enlists Ari Emanuel Among Investors In Bid to Buy OpenAI ►"No thank you but we will buy twitter for $9.74b if you want." OpenAI CEO Sam Altman shot down Elon Musk’s reported offer to buy the company behind ChatGPT, escalating a battle with the X owner over the AI firm’s for-profit pivot that could shape Hollywood’s adoption of the technology. Musk was part of a group of investors who made a $97.4b offer to buy the nonprofit company that controls OpenAI. Other investors in the consortium include Endeavor CEO Ari Emanuel through his investment firm, Emanuel Capital Management, Baron Capital Group, Valor Management, Atreides Management, Vy Fund III and Eight Partners VC. The story.
—"We will continue to adhere to our mission and values." PBS confirmed it has closed its diversity, equity and inclusion office in order to comply with the recent executive order from Donald Trump. The move has impacted staffers in that unit, which had been led by DEI head Cecilia Loving. However, the public broadcaster said it will continue to “reflect all of America” in its ranks. The move to close the unit comes after Trump issued a number of executive orders aimed at cutting DEI programs on a federal level and among federal contractors as well as private companies, and as PBS faces an investigation by the FCC, following repeated threats by Trump. The story.
—What's going on? Amid the Trump administration’s blitz on executive branch operations, a Hollywood outpost of the U.S. State Department has gone offline. THR's Gary Baum reports that the website of American Film Showcase, a global cultural diplomacy partnership between the agency and the University of Southern California’s vaunted School of Cinematic Arts, is now unavailable — and its Instagram and Facebook accounts have been deactivated. On Monday afternoon, an agency spokesperson assured THR that AFS “continues to be a Department of State program and activities are ongoing.” The story.
—🤝 Tentative deal 🤝 A planned walkout at New York Magazine was averted Friday evening as its union reached a tentative deal with management on a second labor contract. The three-year provisional deal, which is still subject to a ratification vote by union members, creates guardrails around the publication’s use of AI tools and addresses inflation concerns with wage increases. While the general agreement was reached on Friday, final details were hammered out on the contract over the weekend, a NewsGuild of New York rep told THR's Katie Kilkenny. A ratification vote is set for later this month. The story. |
Feinberg Forecast: Scott's Updated Oscar Projections Following 'Anora' Surge ►Momentum. Over a period of roughly 48 hours spanning Friday through Sunday, Anora, Neon’s latest Palme d’Or winner-turned-Oscar contender, was awarded the top prizes of the Critics Choice, Producers Guild and Directors Guild awards. THR's executive editor of awards Scott Feinberg updates his forecast to reflect Anora's new-found strength. The forecast.
—Finalized. When The Academy announced its Oscar nominations on Jan. 22, it was surprising to see quite a few films nominated for best picture, best animated feature and best documentary feature listed alongside a mention that specific nominees were “still to be determined.” In some cases, this was because the Producers Guild of America had not yet determined which producers were awards-eligible. In other cases, contenders were simply late turning in their own paperwork. On Monday, the Academy shared a list of which individuals designated as nominees had been confirmed by the organization for Oscar nominations in those categories. Among others, best director nominees Jacques Audiard, Brady Corbet and Coralie Fargeat are now also nominated as producers of best picture nominees. The story.
—Second batch. Halle Berry, Penélope Cruz, Bowen Yang, Elle Fanning, Whoopi Goldberg, Scarlett Johansson, John Lithgow, Amy Poehler and June Squibb have been added to the lineup of presenters for the upcoming Oscars ceremony on March 2, the Academy announced Tuesday. Robert Downey Jr., Cillian Murphy, Da’Vine Joy Randolph and Emma Stone were among the first names announced and more names are yet to come. Conan O’Brien will host the 97th Academy Awards, his first time in the job. The show will air on ABC, and stream live on Hulu. The story. |
Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively's Struggle for Control ►These people are exhausting. Warring It Ends With Us rivals Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively seem hellbent on marching towards mutually assured destruction, writes THR's James Hibberd, adding that the press and public feeding off Hollywood's best feud are the real winners here. The analysis.
—"Please man, I beg you to stop." Singer Charlie Puth condemned Kanye West‘s Super Bowl ad on Monday, writing on social media that West’s messaging is “incredibly dangerous.” West appeared in an ad toward the end of the Super Bowl on Sunday directing fans to the website of his brand, Yeezy. Though the website featured various products for sale on the day of the ad’s release, by Monday morning it only showed one item: a T-shirt with an image of a swastika. “MILLIONS of people are influenced by you,” Puth continued before pleading with West to stop. The story.
—Fatal crash. A private plane owned by Mötley Crüe frontman Vince Neil collided with another private plane in a fatal incident in Scottsdale, Arizona on Monday. One person was killed, and several others were left injured in the incident. Neil was not on the plane, but his girlfriend Rain Andreani was among the several people injured who were taken to a local hospital. A statement regarding the incident was posted on the Mötley Crüe X account on Monday. “At 2:39 p.m. local time, a Learjet aircraft Model 35A owned by Vince Neil was attempting to land at the Scottsdale Airport. For reasons unknown at this time, the plane veered from the runway causing it to collide with another parked plane,” the statement read. The story. |
Super Bowl Sets All-Time Ratings Record ►Strength to strength. A blowout on the field didn’t deter a record number of viewers from watching Super Bowl LIX. Sunday’s Fox Sports telecast averaged 126m viewers across all platforms, according to early figures from Nielsen and internal Fox data. If that number holds, it will be the second straight year that the Super Bowl set an all-time viewing record in the U.S. Sunday’s game is currently up about 2 percent compared to last year’s record-setting 123.7m viewers on CBS (which accounted for 120.25m of those viewers) and other platforms. The ratings.
—"YouTube is the new television." If there was any doubt before, this seals it: YouTube is in the TV business. According to Neal Mohan, YouTube’s CEO, TV screens have officially overtaken mobile as the “primary device for YouTube viewing in the U.S.” In other words, more people are watching YouTube on TV sets than any other device, at least here in the U.S. YouTube has consistently dominated Nielsen’s monthly Gauge report, handily topping Netflix as the most-watched streaming video platform. And TV has long been a priority for YouTube. In last year’s letter, Mohan noted that the YouTube TV vMVPD passed 8m subscribers, and that the company was investing in the platform. The story.
—"Let me be the first to welcome America to its monarchy era." John Oliver returned to The Daily Show on Monday night with a mission: To gloat. Oliver surprised audiences by walking out onstage behind host Jon Stewart during a discussion of President Trump’s recent abuses of power. Oliver was the senior British correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart between 2006 and 2013 before heading to HBO for Last Week Tonight. He previously returned in 2023, when Ronny Chieng was hosting. The recap.
—🎭 Next up 🎭 Ben Stiller has found his next TV project — both behind and in front of the camera. The Severance executive producer and director is set to star in a dramedy called The Band for HBO. The project, from Search Party co-creators Sarah Violet Bliss and Charles Rogers, is in development at the premium cabler. The Band is set in the music industry. Stiller, who will also exec produce via his Red Hour Films, will play Oscar, a “pop impresario and talent mogul beset by scandal who is tasked with forming a new act in order to save his career — and perhaps his soul,” per the show’s description. The story. |
Green Day-Focused Comedy Movie in the Works ►Biopic adjacent. Live Nation Productions is hoping that Green Day fans will have the time of their lives with a new comedy movie inspired by the esteemed punk band. Writer-director Lee Kirk’s feature New Years Rev is currently in production in Oklahoma. The film is based on Green Day’s real-life adventures while living in a van before the success of Dookie, their 1994 Grammy-winning major label debut album. Mason Thames, Kylr Coffman and Ryan Foust are set to star in the coming-of-age film about three friends who venture to L.A. under the mistaken impression that their fledgling band has been booked to open for Green Day on New Year’s Eve. Jenna Fischer, Angela Kinsey, Ignacio Diaz-Silverio and Keen Ruffalo round out the cast. The story.
—🎭 Big name additions 🎭 Kerry Washington and Steven Yeun have joined Ben Affleck and Gillian Anderson in Animals, the kidnapping thriller Affleck is directing for Netflix. The castings underscore the heat the project is generating now that it is back on track after being sidelined for a year. Animals is heading towards an April start, with the producers pushing for the L.A. shoot with a desire to keep jobs within the community, and reinforce the city as a hub for filmmaking. Written by Connor McIntyre with revisions by Billy Ray, the crime thriller concerns a mayoral candidate and his wife whose son is kidnapped. Surrounded by plenty of enemies, political and otherwise, the husband and wife have no choice but to get their hands dirty in order to save their son. The story.
—Coup. Radio Silence, the horror filmmaking banner known for reviving the Scream franchise, has signed with CAA. The banner was previously at UTA. Radio Silence, comprised of directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett, most recently directed Universal’s 2024 vampire thriller Abigail. Producer Chad Villella is no longer with the outfit. Radio Silence made segments of horror anthologies V/H/S and Southbound, delivering their feature debut with the supernatural horror movie Devil’s Due, which bowed in 2014 and grossed nearly $37m on a $7m budget But it was their 2019 black horror comedy Ready or Not that became a breakthrough hit, grossing more than $57m on a budget of around $6m. The story. |
Decrypting the Symbolism in Kendrick's Super Bowl Show ►Layered. From PlayStation references to America's political divide, Serena's Crip walk to that "Gloria" jacket, THR's Kevin Dolak takes a closer look at what Grammy and Pulitzer-winning rapper Kendrick Lamar's Super Bowl Halftime Show was really saying. The analysis.
In other news...
—Paul Rudd, Tim Robinson awkwardly attempt to bond in trailer for A24's Friendship
—SXSW London: Idris Elba, Jean-Michel Jarre, Wyclef Jean added to lineup
—UTA names Cassandra Bujarski comms chief
What else we're reading...
—Mizy Clifton reports that Gen Z Americans appear unfazed by the debate over security threats posed by Chinese-owned tech apps as downloads for TikTok, RedNote, and DeepSeek continue to soar [Semafor]
—Adam Liptak reports that law scholars believe Trump has created a constitutional crisis [NYT]
—Laura Martin goes inside the real Belle Gibson story, the cancer-faking Aussie wellness guru now the subject of Netflix's Apple Cider Vinegar [BBC]
—Ed Kilgore writes that white South Africans are the only refugees Trump welcomes [Intelligencer]
—In his review, Bilge Ebiri loved part two of Kevin Costner's epic Horizon: An American Saga, and writes that the completed story will be a monumental achievement, if Costner is allowed to finish [Vulture]
Today...
...in 2011, Sony released Dennis Dugan's Just Go With It in theaters. The rom-com starred birthday girl Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler and was a big box office hit despite being panned by critics. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Jennifer Aniston (56), Brandy Norwood (46), Kelly Rowland (44), Sheryl Crow (63), Rosé (28), Natalie Dormer (43), Adèle Haenel (36), Damian Lewis (54), Taylor Lautner (33), Carey Lowell (64), Q'orianka Kilcher (35), Matthew Lawrence (45), Eva Victor (31), Tina Louise (91), Stavros Halkias (36), Cooper Raiff (28), Julio Torres (38), Garance Marillier (27), Jessica Green (32), Lisa Vicari (28), Diane Franklin (63), Isaiah Mustafa (51), Sarah Butler (40), Jazz Raycole (37), Dylan Arnold (31), Georgia Groome (33), Nicki Clyne (42), Kausar Mohammed (33), Thomas Turgoose (33), Jesse Rath (36), Olivia Scott Welch (27), Jeon Do-yeon (52), Lymari Nadal (47), Aaron Jennings (36), Go Ara (35), Marisa Petroro (53), Lisa Kay (54), Brice Beckham (49) |
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