| | | | | | What's news: Marvel broke Comic-Con with news on Fantastic Four, Avengers and more. The MCU has crossed $30b mark at the global box office. Amazon has ordered new seasons of Invincible, Hazbin Hotel and Sausage Party: Foodtopia. Steve Zahn is joining S2 of Apple's Silo. A Doctor Who spinoff series is a go. Hulu has canceled Life & Beth. AMC has renewed Daryl Dixon. Scott Stuber is relaunching United Artists. — Abid Rahman
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'Deadpool 3' Lands 8th Biggest Opening of All Time With $205M ►Record-rated. Deadpool & Wolverine opened to a record-shattering $205m at the domestic box office, landing the eighth-biggest opening of all time among any film and by far the biggest launch for an R-rated film, not adjusted for inflation. The first Deadpool was the previous record-holder at $133.7m. Deadpool 3 also shattered records for an R-rated pic on a global scale, opening to $233m internationally from 55 materials markets for a worldwide start of $438m.
Among additional records domestically, Deadpool 3 is the top opening ever for stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman and directory Shawn Levy, and the fifth-biggest superhero launch. It’s also the biggest July opening of all time, the biggest opening of 2024 so far, and the biggest launch since Spider-Man: No Way Home in December 2021.
Globally, Deadpool 3 is the biggest opening since Avatar: The Way of the Water. Also, it pushed Marvel’s MCU movies past the $30b mark in combined worldwide ticket sales, making it the top-grossing franchise in history. The box office report.
—"I’ve always thought of Deadpool & Wolverine as the first four-quadrant, R-rated film." On Sunday, THR's Pamela McClintock spoke Ryan Reynolds about Deadpool 3's record-shattering opening. "Yes, it’s rated R, but we set out to make a movie with enough laughs, action and heart to appeal to everyone, whether you’re a comic book movie fan or not," said Reynolds of the film. The story.
—Who decides which stories matter? Deadpool 3 has a lot of cameos, so many cameos that the film has been criticized online for its character count. For THR, Richard Newby pushes back on the criticisms, suggesting that the film is actually a sly exploration about whose stories matter — and who gets to tell them. Warning: Spoilers! The analysis. |
RDJ Back as Doctor Doom for Two Avengers Movies ►Surprise! Marvel Studios revealed that its most bankable star Robert Downey Jr. will be coming out of MCU retirement for a pair of Avengers movies. Downey will return to the film franchise as classic Fantastic Four villain Doctor Doom for the newly titled Avengers: Doomsday, due out in May 2026, and Avengers: Secret Wars, bowing in May 2027. Kevin Feige also officially confirmed the Russo Bros. will direct these next two Avengers films. The story.
—The jolt the MCU needs? For THR, Richard Newby breaks down the huge news of RDJ returning to Marvel, although not as Iron Man, but the iconic Doctor Doom. Richard writes that though there was a great deal of excitement at SDCC and on online about the Oscar-winner returning to the MCU, the "decision is a disappointing and boring one." The analysis.
—FF:FS. Marvel's forthcoming Fantastic Four film has revealed its official title. At SDCC on Saturday, the movie’s title was announced as Fantastic Four: First Steps. Additionally, Michael Giacchino, who won the Oscar for his score for Up, was announced as the composer on the film. The film will hit theaters July 25, 2025 with WandaVision's Matt Shakman directing. The story.
—Grand plans. For anyone wondering if after a challenging few years, Marvel Studios could chart a path that would instantly earn back the trust of fans, the studio’s panel at SDCC seems to suggest the answer is a resounding yes. THR outlines all that the studio revealed during its newsy panel in the iconic Hall H. The story.
—Guns at the ready. Derek Kolstad, the screenwriter behind the John Wick franchise and action movie Nobody, has set his sights on a new shoot ‘em up. The scribe has come aboard to adapt Ordained, a comic from upstart comic book publisher Bad Idea. Kolstad made the announcement at a Bad Idea panel held Saturday at SDCC. Bad Idea’s Dinesh Shamdasani and Benjamin Simpson are producing the adaptation. The story.
—Back to the future. DC Entertainment and its fledgling screen media division DC Studios have unveiled new logos. Long term comic fans will recognize the designs as the company is bringing back the classic logo, known as the “DC bullet,” that graced its publications for almost three decades, from 1977 to 2005. The logo was designed by Milton Glaser, the legendary graphic designer who also introduced the “I Love NY” logo, among other notable works. The story. |
'The Boys' Prequel Greenlit at Amazon ►Universe expands. Amazon Prime Video has ordered The Boys prequel series Vought Rising that will see Jensen Ackles and Aya Cash reprising their roles from the flagship show. Vought Rising joins The Boys' college-set spinoff Gen V and the animated show The Boys Presents: Diabolical in Amazon’s franchise. The story.
—Hat trick of renewals. Amazon has also ordered new seasons of animated shows Invincible, Hazbin Hotel and Sausage Party: Foodtopia. The pickups, announced at Comic-Con in San Diego, will bring a fourth season of Invincible, seasons three and four of Hazbin Hotel and season two Foodtopia to the platform. The story.
—🎭 Zahn! 🎭 Steve Zahn is joining Apple TV+'s sci-fi series Silo for season two. The show’s team announced the news during its panel at SDCC on Saturday. Zahn made a surprise appearance at the event alongside star and executive producer Rebecca Ferguson, star Common, creator and showrunner Graham Yost and executive producer Hugh Howey. Also announced during the panel was a premiere date of Nov. 15 of the 10-episode second season. The story.
—🎭 It's official 🎭 Disney Branded Television and the BBC have revealed that The War Between the Land and the Sea will extend the world of Doctor Who. The spinoff of the British sci-fi series will focus on the Doctor's 1970s foes, the Sea Devils. Confirming long-running speculation by Whovians, Disney/BBC revealed the five-part series will star Russell Tovey and Gugu Mbatha-Raw, alongside returning Doctor Who castmembers Jemma Redgrave as Kate Lethbridge-Stewart and Alexander Devrient as Colonel Ibrahim. The story.
—In the works. Justin Simien, the writer-director behind Dear White People and The Haunted Mansion, and Tawny Newsome, one of the voice stars of Star Trek: Lower Decks, are in development on a new live-action Star Trek series for Paramount+. The new series is intended to be an action comedy that, according to Paramount, centers on Federation outsiders who are serving on a gleaming resort planet. Not only that, their day-to-day exploits are being broadcast to the entire quadrant. The story. |
Michael C. Hall Returning for New 'Dexter' Series ►Dexterousier. Showtime is expanding the Dexter universe with a new series, Dexter: Resurrection, that sees Michael C. Hall returning to the lead role as Dexter Morgan. Hall will also narrate the inner voice of a young Dexter (played by Patrick Gibson) in the previously announced prequel series Dexter: Original Sin, which takes place in the ’90s. As for Resurrection, a follow-up to 2021’s Dexter: New Blood, it’s set in the present day. The story.
—Heading south. AMC has renewed Daryl Dixon for a third season. The Walking Dead spinoff will also move the action to Spain, after the show’s first and upcoming second seasons are set in France. Production on the new episodes will start next month and will be based in Madrid. The first season easily became the No. 1 premiere of all time on the AMC+ streaming service and is coming to Netflix on Aug. 19. The story.
—Brutal. Hulu has canceled Life & Beth, the dramedy created by and starring Amy Schumer, after two seasons. The second (and now final) installment of the show debuted on the streamer in February. The series, which Schumer also wrote and directed and is based on her own experience, did not crack Nielsen’s top 10 streaming lists during either of its two seasons. The story.
—Going long. Fox has ordered a fourth season of Krapopolis. The animated show from creator Dan Harmon is set in a mythical version of Ancient Greece where humans, gods and monsters intermingle. The early renewal is nothing new for Krapopolis, which by the time it premiered in September 2023 had already been picked up for three seasons. With the long production cycle for animated shows, ordering seasons well in advance can ensure an uninterrupted flow of episodes. The show’s second season is set to premiere in September. The story.
—Sticking around. Hulu has ordered a sixth season of the animated series Solar Opposites. Additionally, the show will have a Halloween special that will follow season five (which will have a binge release) that will premiere closer to the holiday. The pickup comes a couple of weeks ahead of the season five premiere on Aug. 12. Dan Stevens joined the show in season four, taking over the voice role from series co-creator Justin Roiland after he was ousted from the show in the wake of domestic violence allegations. The story. |
TV Review: Opening Ceremony Delivers Spectacle to Go Gaga Over ►"Designed for television." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics. Lady Gaga, Celine Dion and more starred in a four-hour Olympics telecast that traveled up and down the Seine, spotlighting Paris itself, rather than some anonymous stadium. The review.
—Sacré bleu! The first ever waterborne Opening Ceremony drew a big audience for NBCUniversal. The official start of the Paris games drew 28.6m viewers on NBC and Peacock, along with about 670,000 more on Telemundo, according to fast national figures from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics. That’s the biggest audience for a summer Opening Ceremony since 2012 in London (40.7m viewers), surpassing both 2016 in Rio de Janeiro (26.5m) and 2021 in Tokyo (17.9m). The ratings.
—Back with a bang. Scott Stuber has found his post-Netlfix gig, re-launching the storied United Artists label under Amazon MGM Studios. The multi-year partnership will see Stuber finance and produce films via his soon-to-be-launched production company that will be released through UA, both theatrically and on streaming for Prime Video. Stuber will be involved in all UA releases, even the projects his company does not produce. Stuber and his new shingle will also have a first-look deal with Amazon and will be based out of the company’s Culver City offices. The story.
—Troubling. Videos from the set of Megalopolis have surfaced that show director Francis Ford Coppola kissing background actors on the cheek during the filming of a party scene. The videos show the director walking through a crowded dance floor, hugging and interacting with various dancing women, and giving several a kiss on the cheek. The videos come a couple of months after a previous report in the Guardian detailed Coppola’s behavior on the Atlanta set of his epic during the filming of the raucous nightclub scene, described as Studio 54-esque. The story. |
The J.D. Vance Couch Story Will Never Die ►Just ask Richard Gere. For THR, Allen Salkin looks at how the J.D. Vance couch rumor has become a phenomenon and birthed a million memes. Allen writes that the Republican vice presidential nominee (almost certainly) never copulated with a sofa. But sexually tinged urban legends about celebrities are un-disprovable, and denial only emboldens the memes. The story.
—"I’ve never seen someone with more couch-f***er energy." John Oliver spent several minutes of his Last Week Tonight opening segment talking about the 2024 presidential race, but he devoted a good chunk of that time addressing the J.D. Vance couch rumor. "If you told me that his first celebrity crush was the plastic sofa from Everybody Loves Raymond, I’d believe you without question. If you told me the reason you find coins in between couch cushions is because J.D. Vance always leaves a tip, I’d be like, yeah, yeah, that sounds right," are among the zingers Oliver fired off. The recap.
—"J.D. Vance is a very religious conservative. He knows it’s Adam and Eve, not Raymour and Flanagan." Inevitably, the Vance rumor made its way into late-night monologues. "Where does someone even get an idea like that? I blame those filthy IKEA instructions," Stephen Colbert quipped. Colbert structured the series of gags at Vance’s expense as a salute to the Associated Press, which published a fact-check article, headlined, "No, J.D. Vance did not have sex with a couch." The recap.
—"You’re being hysterical." Vance is having a rough week, outside the furniture memes. The Ohio senator's past comments, particularly those related to women without children, have also gone viral. After being slammed by Jennifer Aniston, comedian Chelsea Handler joined in the Vance pile-on. "All of us childless cat and dog ladies are going to go from childless and crushing it to childless and crushing you in November," Handler said. The story.
—She doesn't miss! Someone who is having an exemplary week is Kamala Harris, and it continued at SDCC of all places. The Simpsons panel saved a final surprise for last, as the event ended with a resurfaced video message from the vice president. After introducing the final clip as coming from a “super fan,” creator Matt Groening set up footage of a laughing Harris delivering a well-known line from a previous “Treehouse of Horror” episode. “We must move forward, not backward; upward, not forward; and always twirling, twirling, twirling towards freedom,” Harris said in the clip. The story. |
'Garden State' at 20: An Oral History of Zach Braff's Film ►"Not two days go by in my life where someone doesn’t mention the Garden State soundtrack to me." Garden State was released in theaters on July 28, 2004, telling the offbeat story about a struggling actor who finds love and a new lease on life after returning to his hometown following his mother’s death. THR's Tatiana Tenreyro compiled an oral history of the making of the acclaimed film, speaking to star and director Zach Braff, stars Natalie Portman, Jim Parsons and Jean Smart, producers Pam Abdy and Gary Gilbert and The Shins frontman James Mercer. The oral history.
In other news...
—The Rings of Power releases an epic S2 trailer at Comic-Con
—The Penguin brings crime-ridden trailer to Comic-Con
—Star Trek: Section 31 movie trailer starring Michelle Yeoh released at Comic-Con
—Garcelle Beauvais falls for younger man in steamy Terry McMillan Presents: Tempted By Love trailer
—Peacock debuts The Day of the Jackal teaser with Eddie Redmayne, Lashana Lynch
—Joanna Hogg named jury president for Venice’s Giornate degli Autori
—Celebrity decorator Tobe Morrow reveals her favorite L.A. design stores
—Lady Gaga refers to boyfriend Michael Polansky as her “fiancé” at Paris Olympics
—Pat Heywood, the nurse in Franco Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet, dies at 92
—Tracie Brennan, veteran Al Roker entertainment exec, dies at 64
—Gail Lumet Buckley, author and daughter of Lena Horne, dies at 86
What else we're reading...
—Amanda Lewellyn tries to decipher what the song of the summer is, and wonders whether we can have one anymore [Vox]
—With Under Paris the latest in a long line of shark attack movies, Charlotte Gallagher looks at why audiences have an enduring love for the genre [BBC]
—Thomas Buckley looks at how Disney has bet big on Deadpool and R-rated jokes to save Marvel and stave off superhero fatigue [Bloomberg]
—Margaret Renkl writes that Twisters was great entertainment but was a disappointing missed opportunity to spotlight climate crisis [NYT]
—With more dragon action than season one (or Game of Thrones) Sean T. Collins dives deep into how producers made the beasts more realistic in the second season of House of the Dragon [NYT]
Today...
...in 2011, Warner Bros. released Glenn Ficarra and John Requa's Crazy, Stupid, Love. The critically acclaimed rom-com starred Steve Carell, Ryan Gosling, Julianne Moore, Emma Stone, Marisa Tomei and Kevin Bacon and grossed $145m at the box office. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Ken Burns (71), Wil Wheaton (52), Josh Radnor (50), Stephen Dorff (51), Tim Gunn (71), Timothy Omundson (55), Genesis Rodriguez (37), Rachel Miner (44), Ato Essandoh (52), Robert Fuller (91), Richard Steven Horvitz (58), Dominic Burgess (42), Kevin Chapman (62), Todd Bosley (40), Sanjay Dutt (65), Maestro Harrell (33), Jeannetta Arnette (70), Matt Prokop (34), Jessica Lord (26), Lino Facioli (24), Emelia Hartford (31), Kaitlyn Black (41), Munro Chambers (34), Gary Springer (65), Tania Gunadi (41), Ophélie Bau (32), Siobhan Thompson (40), Monica Calhoun (53), Tina Krause (54), Jean-Hugues Anglade (69), Dileep Rao (51), Ari'el Stachel (33), Miki Ishikawa (33) |
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