| | | | What's news: Jimmy Fallon is alive. Amy Reisenbach is the new chief of CBS Entertainment. Brendan Fraser will not be attending the Golden Globes regardless of a nomination. Candace Cameron Bure has addressed the backlash to her "traditional marriage" comment. Roku is cutting 200 jobs. Emma Chamberlain has signed an exclusive deal with Spotify. — Abid Rahman |
Condé Nast's Plan to Become a Hollywood Player ►"We now have projects where a story breaks and we announce the production deal." In the three and a half years Roger Lynch has been running Condé Nast, the exec has tried to unify the company into one organization, shifting investment toward digital and video to turn a storied magazine-company brand into a leading multiplatform player. THR's Alex Weprin spoke to Lynch about the company's effort to mine archives for film and TV projects. The interview.
—"My mother didn’t raise a hypocrite." Brendan Fraser says he has no plans to attend the Golden Globes, even if he gets nominated for his much-talked-about turn in The Whale. In a new interview, Fraser opened up about his life since he said in 2018 that former Hollywood Foreign Press Association member Philip Berk had groped him. The actor admitted to “feeling a little bit of a heart palpitation discussing” the topic, adding that talking about his experience can still trigger him. The story.
—New leadership. Amy Reisenbach has been tapped to replace Kelly Kahl as CBS' new entertainment president. Kahl exited CBS after a 26-year run and becomes the third network chief to depart this year. As part of the changes at CBS, senior vp programming Thom Sherman — who many expected to take over for Kahl — is stepping down from his role and has signed a sizable producing deal with the network’s studio counterpart, CBS Studios. The story.
—Suit filed. Investors have sued FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and a host of celebrities who promoted the crypto platform, including Larry David, Tom Brady and Stephen Curry. The proposed class action alleges that FTX was a “Ponzi scheme” that fraudulently shuffled customer funds between its affiliated entities. It accuses the company and its endorsers of promoting unregistered securities. The story.
—For sale. Hasbro is putting Entertainment One up for a possible sale as it explores interest in the film and TV production and distribution unit. The toy giant acquired eOne in 2019 as part of a $4b all-cash transaction as it looked to combine the indie studio with its own film and TV unit to become a Hollywood player. The pandemic disrupted that media strategy with a production shutdown and delays in content deliveries as the industry reopened. The story. |
Atomic Monster and Blumhouse in Talks to Merge ►Horrifying deal. James Wan’s Atomic Monster and Jason Blum’s Blumhouse, which between them have created horror franchises Saw, The Conjuring, Paranormal Activity and Sinister, are in advanced talks to merge. The merger would see both companies continue to operate as separate labels, with creative autonomy and their own brand identity. Sources say that after merging, Atomic Monster would have a first-look deal with Universal where Blumhouse currently has a first-look pact. The story.
—🤝 Exclusive deal 🤝 Emma Chamberlain is bringing her hit podcast Anything Goes exclusively to Spotify as part of a multiyear licensing deal with the audio giant. Beginning in early 2023, new episodes and the entire back catalog of Anything Goes, currently distributed by Ramble, will be available to stream exclusively on Spotify. The story.
—"t absolutely breaks my heart that anyone would ever think I intentionally would want to offend and hurt anyone." Candace Cameron Bure has addressed the backlash over comments she made about "traditional marriage" in an interview with the WSJ while speaking about Great American Family network’s programming. In a statement to THR, Bure said she had "great love and affection for all people" and called out the media and those “who have tried to assassinate my character.” The story.
—"Freedom of speech is a fundamental right." Pakistan has reversed course and lifted a ban on its Oscars entry Joyland, but the film will receive some cuts by local censors, an aide to the country’s prime minister revealed on Twitter. Written and directed by Saim Sadiq, the film features a love story between a married man and a transgender woman, which sparked controversy among conservatives in the Muslim majority country. A ban was issued after a concerted social media campaign that targeted the movie. The story.
—New character alert. Moonbug Entertainment is set to expand its children’s empire on Netflix. On Dec. 1, the streamer will launch Meekah, the first spin-off show set in the world of Blippi starring Meekah, a character played by Kaitlin Becker. The company also released a 20-track Meekah-branded musical album, and is developing Meekah-themed merchandise. The story. |
Stewart, Seinfeld React to Chappelle's 'SNL' Monologue ►"Reflexively naming things antisemitism is as reductive as some of the things they might be saying." Jon Stewart weighed in on the antisemitism debate surrounding Dave Chappelle, Kanye “Ye” West and Kyrie Irving during an appearance on The Late Show on Tuesday night. Giving one of his characteristically nuanced-yet-contrarian takes, Stewart told his former Daily Show colleague Stephen Colbert that he doesn’t "believe censorship and penalties are the way to end antisemitism." The story.
—"I think the subject matter calls for a conversation." THR's Seth Abramovitch spoke to Jerry Seinfeld about his new book The Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee Book, but the comedian also discussed a range of topics including the Chappelle controversy. The interview.
—Negotiating. Rising actress Cailee Spaeny, who appeared in HBO’s Mare of Easttown, is in talks to lead the next Alien movie. Fede Alvarez, the filmmaker behind Don’t Breathe and 2013’s remake of Evil Dead, wrote the script and is directing the feature project that will reboot the sci-fi horror franchise. This would be the seventh Alien movie, with the last being 2017’s Alien: Covenant. The story.
—Circling. Stranger Things breakout Joseph Quinn is in talks to star in A Quiet Place: Day One. The film is a spinoff of A Quiet Place, which in 2018 became a surprise hit in the hands of director and star John Krasinski. Day One will be helmed by Pig filmmaker Michael Sarnoski, with Lupita Nyong’o attached to star. The story.
—🤝 Production pact 🤝 Anime specialty service Crunchyroll is joining forces with Sony Pictures and Japanese pay TV broadcaster Wowow to boost its original anime series output. The three companies’ first joint project will be the fantasy adventure series Bye Bye, Earth, based on a best-selling Japanese novel by Tow Ubukata. The story.
—Plot twist! Neighbours, the iconic Australian soap that looked like it had finished for good after 37 years and almost 9,000 episodes, is set to make a dramatic return. Amazon Freevee and the show’s producer Fremantle have unveiled that a new season of the beloved series — which helped launch the careers of a host of stars, including Margot Robbie, Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce — will start shooting in Australia next year. The story. |
How Daniels, the Farting Corpse Guys, Became Oscar Contenders ►"We love to chase things that could almost be a catastrophe." Directing duo Daniels (Kwan and Scheinert) have come a long way since Daniel Radcliffe's flatulent reanimated corpse prompted walkouts at the 2016 Sundance premiere of Swiss Army Man. Mia Galuppo spoke to THR’s Young Filmmakers of the Year about obsessively planning for worst-case scenarios, their 13-year partnership, and what to expect after buzzy Everything Everywhere All at Once. The interview.
—More pain. Roku is the latest technology and media player to slash jobs, revealing in a securities filing Thursday that it plans to reduce its workforce by about 5 percent, or about 200 jobs. The company plans to take severance charges of between $28-$31m on the layoffs, which will mostly take place this quarter, and will largely be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2023. The story.
—"These actions will provide greater investor choice." Liberty Media Corp. said Thursday that its board of directors has authorized management to pursue a split-off of the Atlanta Braves MLB team and its associated real estate development project and the creation of a new Liberty Live Group tracking stock, which will house the company’s 31 percent stake in Live Nation Entertainment. The story.
—"I’m alive!" The social media rumors of Jimmy Fallon’s demise have been greatly exaggerated as The Tonight Show host tackled Twitter scuttlebutt about his death on Wednesday night’s episode. Fallon opened the show with a revivalist gospel choir singing "he’s alive!," and then spoke about the #RIPJimmyFallon hashtag that has been trending on Twitter in his monologue. The story.
—"I would totally do the "Jingle Bell Rock" in the movie with her." Jonathan Bennett thinks it would be so fetch to have a Mean Girls reunion with Lindsay Lohan. In a new interview, the actor, who played Aaron Samuels in Mean Girls, said it would be his “dream” to star alongside Lohan once again in a Christmas movie. The story. |
Film Review: 'A Christmas Story Christmas' ►"As comforting as eggnog on Christmas Eve." THR film critic Frank Scheck reviews Clay Kaytis' A Christmas Story Christmas. Peter Billingsley reprises his iconic role of Ralphie in this follow-up to the classic holiday perennial. The review.
In other news...
—5 new Los Angeles restaurants to try now
—Travis Scott, Playboi Carti, Future, Lil Wayne top 2023 Rolling Loud L.A. lineup
—CNN Early Start anchor Laura Jarrett jumping to NBC News
—WME promotes 5 across film sales, production
—Colin Farrell to receive honor at Palm Springs Film Festival
—Bill Treusch, manager for Sissy Spacek, Christopher Walken and many others, dies at 80
What else we're reading...
—Incredibly important, and desperately sad, piece from Tariq Panja and Bhadra Sharma on the heavy price migrant workers have paid for the Qatar World Cup [NYT]
—David Barnett on why female writers are a top draw in the world of comics [Guardian]
—Li Cohen reports that a trademark board has denied Mariah Carey's bid to become the sole "Queen of Christmas" [CBS News]
—Rebecca Onion feels that Yellowstone is doubling down on rural American rage [Slate]
—Jude Sheerin writes that Donald Trump is not first politician to be ditched by Rupert Murdoch [BBC]
Today...
...in 1995, Eon and MGM relaunched the 007 series in theaters with Pierce Brosnan as James Bond in GoldenEye. The film went on to earn $352m globally and Brosnan reprised the role three more times. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Martin Scorsese (80), Danny DeVito (78), RuPaul (62), Sophie Marceau (56), Rachel McAdams (44), Lorne Michaels (78), Tom Ellis (44), Leslie Bibb (48), Harry Lloyd (39), Stephen Root (71), Mary Elizabeth Mastrantonio (64), Zoë Bell (44), Lauren Hutton (79), Kara Hayward (24), Jon Cor (38), Dylan Walsh (59), Kerry Godliman (49), William R. Moses (63), Nonso Anozie (44), David Ramsey (51), Azita Ghanizada (43), Daisy Fuentes (56), Patrick McHale (39), Roland Joffé (77) |
| Robert Clary, the French actor, singer and Holocaust survivor who portrayed Corporal LeBeau on the World War II-set sitcom Hogan’s Heroes, has died. He was 96. The obituary. |
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