| | | | | | What's news: Train Dreams was the big winner at the Spirit Awards. Mexico has introduced a new production tax incentive. Politics continues to consume the Berlin Film Fest. The Winter Olympics and the Super Bowl pushed Peacock to its biggest week ever. And Sony is taking another crack at reviving Charlie's Angels. — Abid Rahman
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Who Will Buy Wasserman? ►Allies weigh options as rivals have their knives out. A major power shift hit Hollywood late Friday when Casey Wasserman told his 4,000 employees in a bombshell memo he’d be selling off his eponymous management firm after a week of growing criticism over his inclusion in the Epstein files. Now there could be an M&A frenzy in the works as prospective buyers plot ways to carve up his representation empire. THR's Ethan Millman writes that there are big questions ahead for Wasserman: Will the mogul plan on selling the company whole? Or would he make deals for individual divisions piecemeal? The analysis.
—"We remain fully committed to investing in its growth." With Casey Wasserman putting his agency up for sale, Providence Equity has issued a statement in support of Mike Watts’ leadership in the time of change and overall future of the company. The private equity firm took a stake in Wasserman in November 2022. A knowledgable source told THR on Friday that Wasserman was facing pressure from Providence amid artist revolt. Earlier this week, Chappell Roan, Orville Peck, Wednesday, Best Coast and John Summit announced they were either exiting or threatening to depart unless Wasserman stepped down. The story. |
Seedance Sparks Hollywood Backlash ►Sora playbook. On Thursday, ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant and owner of TikTok, released the latest version of its AI-powered video creation model, ushering in a wave of user-created videos featuring Hollywood stars and intellectual property and setting off alarm bells in entertainment. In just a short time period, Seedance 2.0 users created not only a widely circulated video of Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt engaging in hand-to-hand combat, but also an alternate ending to Game of Thrones and a clip featuring Rocky Balboa and Optimus Prime in a fast-food restaurant. THR's Katie Kilkenny reports that the reaction from organizations with ties to Hollywood that followed was swift and fierce, similar to when OpenAI’s Sora 2 shocked the industry in the fall of 2025. The story.
—ByteDance responds. On Monday, ByteDance said it will “strengthen current safeguards” on its AI video generating tool Seedance, following threats of legal action from Disney and other Hollywood studios over the use of their IP. ByteDance told the BBC that the company “respects intellectual property rights, and we have heard the concerns regarding Seedance 2.0.” "We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users,” the company added, but it is still unclear what the current safeguards and how they will be strengthened. The story.
—Currying favor. Paramount has hired Rene Augustine as svp of global public policy. Augustine comes to the role after serving as deputy assistant attorney general in the antitrust division of the DOJ from 2019 to 2021. She has also served on committees at the Kennedy Center, including as a Trump appointee to the President’s Advisory Committee on the Arts and then as co-chair of the National Committee for the Performing Arts. She previously held senior roles at the White House, including as Special Assistant to Trump during his first term and senior associate counsel in the White House Counsel’s Office. She previously served as Associate Counsel in the White House Counsel’s Office. The story.
—Viva la rebate! Salma Hayek Pinault joined Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo this week to announce a new tax incentive aimed at boosting the local film industry and drawing big production south of the border. The incentives include a new 30 percent tax incentive for projects shot in Mexico, making the country more attractive for runaway productions, just as the Trump administration is intensifying pressure on U.S. companies to shoot more films at home. The incentive will apply for live action or animated feature films and TV series episodes that spend a minimum of $2.3m in country; documentary feature films and series with a minimum expenditure of $1.2m; and animation, visual effects, or post-production processes with a minimum expenditure of $290,000. The story.
—✊ Unionizing. ✊ Production assistants on NBC’s Chicago Med have decided to unionize. Crew members on the long-running medical drama voted 11-1 to join Production Assistants United in a National Labor Relations Board election on Wednesday. The eligibility of five ballots were challenged and will be determined at a later date. "We’re not saying ‘fuck the studios,’ we just want a seat at the table too," Chicago Med production assistant Evelyn-Mariah Johnson said in a statement. The story. |
The Rise of the Celebrity "Prison-fluencer" ►"The reality is they have teams and people. They’re trying to keep their voices alive." In January, venture capitalist Sam Lessin playfully suggested on X that convicted fraudster Elizabeth Holmes should start “a jailhouse venture fund.” The idea seemed preposterous. For Holmes, it was an invitation to chat. Nearly four hours later, the Theranos founder replied directly to the Slow Ventures partner and his 100,000-plus followers on X, thanking him for “the kind words” and volunteering her prison address. For THR, Andrew Zucker writes that bold-faced convicts like Holmes, crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried and rapist Harvey Weinstein, social media and sympathetic podcasts offer hope of relevance (and redemption). The story.
—Found dead. Dana Eden, an Israeli producer on the Apple TV hit espionage thriller series Tehran, was found dead at the age of 52 on Sunday in a hotel room in Athens, Greece, during the shoot of the show’s season 4, Reuters and Israeli networks reported. No cause of death has been confirmed, but Reuters quoted local police officials as saying that they are so far treating it as a potential suicide based on early evidence and testimonies. The story.
—The latest. Savannah Guthrie posted a new video on Sunday saying she and her family “still have hope” that they will find her missing mom, Nancy Guthrie, and made a plea to anyone who knows something about what happened to her to come forward. “It’s been two weeks since our mom was taken, and I just wanted to come on and say that we still have hope,” the Today host said of her and her family in a video posted on Instagram. “And we still believe.” She also begged for whomever might have information to come forward and share that. The story.
—"A vote for stupidity." Stephanie Pratt is calling out brother Spencer Pratt‘s campaign for Los Angeles mayor, saying a vote for the reality television star is a “vote for stupidity.” In a series of tweets shared over the weekend, the former star of MTV‘s The Hills launched a tirade of posts against her brother containing her reasoning for why he should not be elected, along with some allegations against him, including a claim of assault. The story. |
Politics Consumes the Berlinale ►"To hear them say that art should not be political is jaw-dropping." The Berlinale has always worn its politics proudly. Conceived in 1950 by American film officer Oscar Martay as a cultural bulwark in a divided city, the festival was designed as a “showcase of the free world,” a celebration of artistic freedom meant to stand in sharp contrast to life just beyond the Iron Curtain. THR's Köln-based reporter Scott Roxborough writes that over the decades, Berlin has largely embraced that heritage — backing Iranian protesters during the Woman, Life, Freedom movement, condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and offering a platform to Ukrainian filmmakers in exile.
This year, however, politics threatens to overwhelm the festival itself. In press conference after press conference, talent has found itself fielding questions less about their films than about Gaza, German state funding and the return of Donald Trump to the White House. Scott writes that was once a forum for engaged — sometimes heated — debate has, critics argue, become a stage for viral confrontation. The story. |
Spirit Awards 2026 ►🏆 Congrats! 🏆 Train Dreams was named best feature at the 2026 Film Independent Spirit Awards, which were handed out Sunday. In total, the movie nabbed three awards. Clint Bentley took home the Spirit Award for best director for the film, which also nabbed best cinematography for Adolpho Veloso. In the screenplay categories, Eva Victor took home the award for Sorry, Baby, while Lurker won for best first screenplay, with director Alex Russell taking home the award. Lurker also was named best first feature. The winners.
—Snubs, shutouts and surprises. Both Peter Hujar’s Day and One of Them Days received shoutouts in host Ego Nwodim’s Spirit Awards monologue for the different scale of things each film showed being accomplished in a single day. But when it came to wins, Sunday wasn’t either film’s day. Both Peter Hujar’s Day, which went into the ceremony with a leading five nominations, more than any other film, and One of Them Days, one of a number of movies up for four awards, went home empty-handed. The snubs.
—"F*** ICE." The stars at the Spirit Awards, including Natasha Rothwell, Tessa Thompson and Kumail Nanjiani, were not afraid to make their anti-ICE stance known. Before presenting the award for best ensemble cast in a new scripted series to Chief of War, Natasha Rothwell went off script for a moment, saying, “I’m gonna go to the prompter, but I just want to say, ‘Fuck ICE.'” She was also wearing an “ICE Out” pin. Other celebs wearing the same pins included Nanjiani, Emily V. Gordon, Hedda actress Tessa Thompson and Lake Bell. The story. |
New 'Charlie's Angels' Movie in the Works ►Third time's a charm. THR's Borys "Scoopz" Kit has the scoop that Sony is developing another new feature version of Charlie’s Angels, the female-fronted action and crime adventure franchise. The studio has hired Pete Chiarelli to pen the script. It is unclear who is producing the new version although one source said Drew Barrymore and her Flower Films banner, are back for this new version. Charlie’s Angels was a crime drama that aired on ABC from 1976 to 1981. Sony’s Columbia brought it to the big screen in 2000, with a sequel following in 2003. Sony tried to relaunch the movie franchise in 2019 with a feature directed by Elizabeth Banks, but that attempt bombed at the box office. The story.
—The hills have hype. "Scoopz" is back with another scoop, this time with the news that horror powerhouse Blumhouse–Atomic Monster and Canadian gaming studio Behaviour Interactive have tapped David Leslie Johnston-McGoldrick and Alexandre Aja to pen the feature adaptation of Dead by Daylight, Behaviour’s hit horror multiplayer game. Aja is not directing Daylight as he is due to helm Under Paris 2 for Netflix. As such, and with the writers now in place and working, the companies are beginning the search for a director. The story.
—🎭 All set. 🎭 Tom Burke and Eve Hewson will lead the cast of a new untitled film written and directed by Normal People director Lenny Abrahamson for Element Pictures, a Fremantle company. The movie, which will start shooting in Dublin on March 2, is set within the city’s Jewish community in the late 1970s. Newcomer Shane Meagher also stars. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Saturday Night Live honcho Lorne Michaels is getting ready to hit the big screen. Focus Features is set to release Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville’s movie Lorne in U.S. theaters April 17. The film is billed as the first-ever, behind-the-scenes examination of the legendary SNL creator’s life and boasts unprecedented access to the prolific producer. Lorne includes exclusive footage, archival gems and interviews with pivotal SNL personalities. Tina Fey, Chris Rock, Conan O’Brien, Maya Rudolph, Andy Samberg and John Mulaney are among those sharing memories for the project. The story.
—What the world needs right now. The team behind cult sci-fi franchise Iron Sky is reuniting for another politically charged absurdist space satire — this time sending the Communists, rather than Nazis, deep into orbit. Producer Tero Kaukomaa and director Timo Vuorensola are raising financing for Deep Red, a planned $16.2m sci-fi trilogy about a secret Soviet colony on Mars, conceived as a three-film saga to be shot back-to-back beginning in 2027. Releases are planned for 2029, 2030 and 2031. The project, which is not set within the Iron Sky universe but is designed with a similar outlandish tone, will be directed by Vuorensola, who is developing the script outlines with Johanna Sinisalo, who co-wrote the original Iron Sky. The story. |
'Wuthering Heights' Off to Strong Global Start ►All to play for. Emerald Fennell's Wuthering Heights easily seduced Valentine’s Day moviegoers, winning Saturday in North America with $14.4m as it prepares to top the long Presidents Day/Valentine’s Day chart with an estimated $40m domestically and $42m from more than 75 markets for a global launch of $82m. However, THR's Pamela McClintock writes that the decidedly unconventional literary adaptation of Emily Brontë’s iconic novel is at risk of coming in behind expectations at the domestic box office and not hitting the $40m mark. Through Sunday, the film’s three-day tally was $34.8m, by far the best of any film. It also means it will need to earn $9.4m on Monday to hit $40m.
In the final weeks before Fennell’s latest opened, tracking services had it starting off with as much as $50m in the U.S. as star Margot Robbie — also a prolific producer — returns to the big screen in her first studio leading role since Warner Bros.’ blockbuster Barbie. Some box office pundits showed the female-skewing film coming in between $33m and $35m for the four days after not-so-great reviews, a B CinemaScore and solid, but not spectacular, exit polls conducted by PostTrak.
Complicating matters, Sony Animation and Stephen Curry’s animated film GOAT is over-performing, with some suggesting it could beat Wuthering Heights for the four days. It earned $26m for the weekend itself, and is estimated to gross another $7m on Monday (Presidents Day) for a four-day debut of debut of $32m. Overseas, GOAT opened to $15.6m from 41 markets for a worldwide start of $42m. The box office. |
Peacock Strikes Gold With Olympics, Super Bowl ►Having a moment. Peacock had its biggest week to date, fueled by some of the biggest sporting events on the planet in the Super Bowl and The Winter Olympics. The latter has already racked up its best streaming performance ever, with the majority of the 17-day event still to come. Through Wednesday, Peacock (and other NBCU digital outlets) have amassed 6.3b minutes of viewing of the Olympics. That’s more than the combined total for the previous two Winter Olympics in 2018 and 2022. As for the Super Bowl, Nielsen reported the game averaged 124.93m viewers — the second largest audience in U.S. TV history — with 121.63m attributed to NBC and Peacock (Telemundo’s Spanish-language telecast had the other 3.3m). The ratings.
—Statler and Waldorf mogged! The revived Muppet Show is drawing in viewers at a solid clip. The half-hour special, which debuted Feb. 4 on Disney+ and ABC, has more than doubled its initial on-air audience over eight days of streaming and other delayed viewing. The Muppet Show drew 3.07m viewers for its first showing on ABC (it debuted earlier that day on Disney+); as of Thursday, it had climbed to 7.58m — an increase of 147 percent. The 7.58m cross-platform viewers is on par with seven-day, multi-platform numbers for ABC’s comedies Shifting Gears and Abbott Elementary this season. The ratings.
—Terminated. Netflix has canceled its anime series Terminator Zero, the show’s creator says. Mattson Tomlin, who developed the series and served as its showrunner, wrote on X that Terminator Zero was canceled after a single season. The news of the show’s cancellation is not much of a surprise, given that it’s been almost 18 months since Terminator Zero debuted on Aug. 29, 2024 and there had been no word on the show’s future since then. The series didn’t make Netflix’s top 10 global series chart in the weeks after its release, nor did it show up in Nielsen’s streaming rankings for the U.S. The story.
—🎭 Ammell-ioration. 🎭 Stephen Amell is ready to hit the beach in his red bathing suit. Amell has been cast as Hobie Buchannon, a series regular lead role in the highly-anticipated Baywatch reboot. The 12-episode series is set to premiere in the 2026-27 season from Fox Entertainment and Fremantle, which holds the rights to the original show. The actor is known for his roles in Arrow, Heels and Suits LA. The latter of which was canceled by NBC ahead of its season one finale in May. The story. |
Film Review: 'A Prayer for the Dying' ►"A blessing in so many ways." THR's Leslie Felperin reviews Dara Van Dusen's A Prayer for the Dying. Set in 1870 Wisconsin, Van Dusen's Berlin-bowing first feature is a revisionist Western based on Stewart O'Nan's novella. Starring Johnny Flynn, John C. Reilly, Kristine Kujath Thorp, Gustav Lindh, Andrew Whipp, Hilton Pelser, Christopher John-Slater, Daniel Weyman, David Ganly, Tadhg Murphy and Christopher Rygh. Written by Dara Van Dusen, based on the novel by Stewart O'Nan. The review.
—"A playful and touching blur of fiction and fact." Leslie reviews Maite Alberdi's A Child of My Own. Ana Celeste Montalvo Peña plays a young woman driven to the edge of madness by her need to breed in the filmmaker's docu-fiction hybrid. Also starring Luisa Guzmán, Armando Espitia, Mayra Sérbulo, Casio Figueroa, Alejandro Porter, Mayra Batalla and Ángeles Cruz. Written by Julián Loyola and Esteban Student. The review.
—"Often maudlin, but buoyed by the young cast." Leslie reviews George Jaques' Sunny Dancer. Jessica Gunning and James Norton play Bella Ramsey's parents in this Berlin-bowing teen cancer survivor coming-of-age drama. Also starring Daniel Quinn-Toye, Ruby Stokes, Earl Cave, Jasmine Elcock, Conrad Khan, Neil Patrick Harris, Shalom Brune-Franklin, Louis Gaunt and Josie Walker. Written by George Jaques. The review. |
Film Review: 'Rose' ►"An eloquent demolition of the gender binary." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Markus Schleinzer's Berlin competition entry, Rose . Schleinzer’s fine-grained 17th century portrait depicts a fictionalized composite character who passes herself off as a hardy male farmer, drawn from hundreds of comparable cases throughout history. Starring Sandra Hüller, Caro Braun, Marisa Growaldt, Robert Gwisdek, Godehard Giese and Sven-Eric Bechtolf. Written by Markus Schleinzer and Alexander Brom. The review.
—"Unassuming and lovely." David reviews Kelly O’Sullivan and Alex Thompson's Mouse. The co-directors of Ghostlight, travel back to Arkansas in 2002 to contemplate female friendship, loss and self-discovery. Starring Sophie Okonedo, Katherine Mallen Kupferer, Chloe Coleman, Tara Mallen, Audrey Grace Marshall, Addisyn Cain, Beck Nolan, Christopher R. Ellis, Iman Vellani and David Hyde Pierce. Written by Kelly O’Sullivan. The review.
—"Tart and amusing at times but leaves a sour taste." David reviews Karim Aїnouz's Berlin competition entry, Rosebush Pruning. An ensemble cast of rising young actors star in the Brazilian filmmaker's dark comedy of smug privilege as a mask for the sinister rot at the heart of the patriarchal family. Starring Callum Turner, Riley Keough, Jamie Bell, Lukas Gage, Elena Anaya, Tracy Letts, Elle Fanning and Pamela Anderson. Written by Efthimis Filippou, inspired by the film Fists in the Pocket, by Marco Bellocchio. The review.
—"Evocative and full of feeling." David reviews Grant Gee's Berlin competition entry, Everybody Digs Bill Evans. The influential pianist is shattered by the tragic loss of his bassist in Gee’s fragmented bio-drama. Starring Anders Danielsen Lie, Bill Pullman, Laurie Metcalf, Barry Ward, Valene Kane, Katie McGrath, Will Sach, Boz Martin-Jones and Tallulah Cavanaugh. Written by Mark O’Halloran, adapted from the novel Intermission, by Owen Martell. The review.
—"Terrifying and touching in equal measure." David reviews Ashley Walters' Animol. Tut Nyuot plays a new inmate at a Northeast England detention center for young offenders in Adolescence actor Walters’ directing debut. Also starring Vladyslav Baliuk, Sekou Diaby, Ryan Dean, Sharon Duncan-Brewster and Stephen Graham. Written by Nick Love. The review. |
Film Review: 'Nightborn' ►"Do not check the children." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Hanna Bergholm's Berlin competition entry, Nightborn. The second feature from the Hatching director stars Seida Haarla and Rupert Grint as first-time parents who may have created a monster. Also starring Pamela Tola, Pirkko Saisio, Rebecca Lacey and John Thomson. Written by Ilja Rautsi and Hanna Bergholm. The review.
—"A bleakly honest look at an eternal conflict." Jordan reviews Anat Even's Collapse. This Berlin-premiering first-person documentary was shot in the wake of the October 7th massacre, chronicling the devastation both in Israel and Gaza. Written by Ariel Cypel, Oron Adar and Anat Even. The review.
—"Ambitious and authentic, but indulgent." Jordan reviews Alain Gomis' Berlin competition entry, Dao. The latest feature from Berlin Silver Bear winner for Félicité, was shot in France and Guinea-Bissau, with a cast mixing seasoned actors and first-time performers. Starring Katy Correa, D’Johé Kouadio, Samir Guesmi, Mike Etienne, Nicolas Gomis, Fara Baco Gomis and Poundo Gomis. Written by Alain Gomis. The review.
—"Intriguing if indistinct." Jordan reviews Ilker Çatak's Berlin competition entry, Yellow Letters. The Oscar-nominated helmer returns to the Berlinale with a family drama set in authoritarian Turkey but shot entirely in Germany. Starring Özgü Namal, Tansu Biçer, Leyla Smyrna Cabas and Ipek Bilgin. Written by Ilker Çatak, Ayda Meryem Çatak and Enis Köstepen. The review.
In other news...
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What else we're reading...
—Alan Siegel wonders what HBO's Last Week Tonight is in the age of division and anti-information [Ringer]
—Alan Blinder writes that the Epstein files reveal the seedier side of college fundraising [NYT]
—Tim Higgins reports on Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos going head-to-head in a battle to get to the moon [WSJ]
—Koh Ewe unpacks the "Chinamaxxing" trend on social media, and what it says about the American Dream [BBC]
—Sakshi Venkatraman reports that some South Asian Americans are considering arranged marriages as they tire of dating apps [NBC News]
Today...
...in 2018, Disney/Marvel released Ryan Coogler's Black Panther in theaters. The film, led by the late Chadwick Boseman, became a global cultural phenomenon and made a massive $1.35b at the box office. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Abel Tesfaye (36), Mahershala Ali (52), Elizabeth Olsen (37), Christopher Eccleston (62), LeVar Burton (69), Ice-T (68), John Magaro (43), Lizze Broadway (28), Sarah Clarke (54), Jimmy Tatro (34), William Katt (75), Chloe East (25), Kim Soo-hyun (38), Faran Tahir (63), Pasha D. Lychnikoff (59), Janet Varney (50), Eric Ladin (48), Amanda Holden (55), Hailey Kilgore (27), Tammy Macintosh (56), Matthew Knight (32), Agyness Deyn (43), Kari Corbett (42) |
| | Shelly Desai, the Indian-born character actor perhaps best known for his recurring work on Men of a Certain Age and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, has died. He was 90. The obituary. |
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