| | | | | | What's news: Kamala Harris knocked it out of the park with her DNC speech. Gérard Depardieu looks set to stand trial in relation to rape allegations. The Drew Barrymore Show has been renewed for a sixth season. Stephen “Pommel Horse Guy” Nedoroscik will appear in DWTS. Germany has picked Mohammad Rasoulof's The Seed of the Sacred Fig for the 2025 Oscars race. — Abid Rahman
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Kamala Harris Re-Introduces Herself to America ►About last night... The final night of the DNC ended with Kamala Harris' rousing address, but before that there was a host of searing speeches from the likes of Elizabeth Warren, Gretchen Whitmer, Gabby Giffords, The Exonerated 5, Al Sharpton, as well as star power from Pink and Kerry Washington. The recap.
—About that speech... THR culture critic Lovia Gyarkye writes that the vice president's forcefully delivered acceptance speech flaunted her political skills and readiness for the job, even if it was short on the kind of imagination some might have hoped for. The review.
—About that secret guest... Rumors about Beyoncé attending and performing at this year’s DNC have persisted throughout this week, but exploded online on Thursday, particularly after TMZ claimed the singer would appear. Alas, THR's Mesfin Fekadu had the scoop that the Bey rumors were wide of the mark, with a rep revealing that the singer "was never scheduled to be [at the DNC]." The story.
—About that outfit... THR's nicest man Chris Gardner did some digging and has all you need to know about the outfit Kamala Harris was wearing while giving the biggest speech of her political career. The story.
—About the meltdown... Jon Stewart ripped apart Fox News’ coverage of the DNC on The Daily Show Thursday night, mocking the outlet’s incongruous treatment of the convention’s jubilant energy. Stewart played a montage of Fox News pundits claiming “there’s not much joy in this convention hall,” saying “the vibes are off.” In one clip, Jesse Watters said, “this is probably the most boring scene I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” all with a split screen of people singing and dancing. The recap.
—About Anne... DNC host Ana Navarro slammed Ann Coulter for mocking Gus Walz, the son of Democratic vice presidential nominee Tim Walz. During the third night of the convention in Chicago, Gus went viral for his emotional reaction to his father praising him, his sister Hope and mother Gwen. Coulter later took to social media to mock Gus’ emotional reaction and tweeted in a now-deleted post, “Talk about weird.” The story. |
California vs. the World: The Race to Nab Film and TV Productions ►"It’s still the place where the magic is made." Though it remains recognized as the world’s foremost production hub, California is steadily losing its allure as the premiere, go-to destination. THR's Winston Cho writes that Los Angeles still has the largest portion of the film and TV economy in the U.S., but its lead is shrinking, as locales from Atlanta to Tokyo are steadily beefing up their tax relief programs in a bid to attract Hollywood money. The analysis.
—Going backwards. For the second consecutive year, the percentages of women working both as TV creators and in major on-camera roles have declined, according to the latest Boxed In study. The report, which tracked over 3,200 characters and more than 4,400 behind-the-scenes credits during the 2023-24 television year, comes from the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University. The report found that females comprised just 23 percent of creators employed across broadcast and streaming, down from 26 percent in 2022-23, and from 30 percent the year prior. Onscreen, women accounted for just 43 percent of characters in speaking roles, down from 44 percent the year before. As for major characters, females made up only 45 percent of them this year, down from 48 percent in 2022-23. The report.
—Rogues gallery. After a federal court forced its hand, Elon Musk's X Corp. has disclosed a list of shareholders for its parent company. Investors named in the document, unsealed on Wednesday evening, include entities linked to Sean “Diddy” Combs and right wing billionaires Bill Ackman, Larry Ellison and Marc Andreessen. The disclosure stems from a lawsuit filed by former Twitter employees accusing Musk of violating their arbitration agreements by failing to pay them certain fees after he bought the site. It lists nearly 100 groups with a stake in the company, such as Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal Al Sadd, as well as his investment vehicle Kingdom Holding Company. The story.
—"Huge step forward towards a trial." The Paris Prosecutor’s Office has requested that actor Gérard Depardieu stand trial in relation to rape allegations against him made by actress Charlotte Arnould, the French media reported on Thursday. Arnould brought the charges in 2020, alleging Depardieu twice raped and assaulted her at his Paris home in August 2018. Depardieu, who denies the allegations, lost his appeal for the court to drop the case. The story. |
THR's Best U.S. Film Schools ►Crème de la crème. THR is back with its annual ranking of the best film schools in the United States. These 25-plus institutions are providing the next generation of filmmakers with tools (hint: it’s AI) to shape cinema’s future. The list.
—Strong choice. Germany has picked The Seed of the Sacred Fig from Iranian dissident director Mohammad Rasoulof to represent the country at the 2025 Oscars in the best international feature category. This is the first time an Iranian film has been put forward by Germany for the international Oscar race. Rasoulof qualified for the selection because the film is an Iranian-French-German co-production and because he is now a German resident, having fled Iran earlier this year to escape an eight-year prison sentence. Sacred Fig, which won a special jury prize at Cannes, has been banned in Iran. The story.
—📅 Dated 📅 Sony Pictures' anime feature Overlord: The Sacred Kingdom will get a theatrical release in North America on Nov. 8. The film, produced by the studio's specialty streamer Crunchyroll, is a continuation of the popular anime series Overlord, which adapts the novels of Japanese author Kugane Maruyama. The Sacred Kingdom picks up where season 4 of the Overlord series left off. The story.
—🎭 More victims 🎭 The horror feature Goons has scared up five more actors for the Louisiana-based project. Rapper YG, J. Alphonse Nicholson, Serayah McNeill, SteVonté Hart and Tyler Lepley have joined the film, which hails from The First Purge director Gerard McMurray. The feature is in production in New Orleans and surrounding areas, and is set amid the eerie backdrop of the state’s cane fields and plantations. Previously announced stars include Power's Michael Rainey Jr. and The Exorcism's Chloe Bailey. The story. |
Critics' Conversation: Real Life Was Riveting — Summer TV, Not So Much ►"[On the] scripted TV front, the past few months have oscillated between 'kinda slow' and 'deathly slow.'" Politics and the Paris Olympics provided lots of drama this summer, but despite some exceptions — sexy investment bankers, sexier vampires, litigious elves and Muslim punks — THR TV critics Dan Fienberg and Angie Han feel the scripted landscape was lackluster. The conversation.
—Intriguing. Peacock has handed a straight-to-series order to the crime thriller M.I.A., written and executive produced by Ozark co-creator Bill Dubuque. MRC will produce the South Florida-set series about a family running drugs for Etta Tiger Jonze, but when her family is slaughtered, she seeks justice to avenge her blood family while she builds her chosen family. The result sends Etta on a series journey from a powerless orphan to South Florida’s most powerful criminal queenpin. Karen Campbell will executive produce and showrun M.I.A., while Stefano Sollima will direct and executive produce. Earlier, Solima served as the creator and director of ZeroZeroZero and as the showrunner and director of the hit Italian series Gomorrah. The story.
—"An integral part of the CBS and Paramount family." Ahead of its Sept. 9 return, daytime talker The Drew Barrymore Show has been renewed for a sixth season, which will take it through the 2025-26 season. It will continue to air on CBS stations, though its time periods have been upgraded in seven of the top 20 markets. The story.
—Pommel Horse Guy! Olympian Stephen Nedoroscik, widely known online as “Pommel Horse Guy” after his breakout gymnastics performance at Paris 2024, has been confirmed as the first celebrity on the upcoming season of Dancing With the Stars. The upcoming 33rd season of DWTS premieres Tuesday, Sept. 17, at 8/7c on ABC and Disney+, and the next day on Hulu. More castmembers are to be announced in due course. The story.
—Big for Peacock. Most people who watched Peacock in the week of July 22-28 were watching the Olympics — but two other shows on the streamer also had a pretty good week on Nielsen's streaming rankings. The swords-and-sandals drama Those About to Die moved into the top 10 original series for the week, likely with an assist from heavy promotion during NBCU’s Olympics telecasts. Love Island also stayed strong in the week after its July 21 season finale. Though it came down from two straight weeks above a billion minutes, the show’s 724m minutes of viewing is very strong for an unscripted series not showing any new episodes during the measured week. The streaming rankings. |
'BoJack' Creator Sets New Adult Animated Comedy at Netflix ►Next up. BoJack Horseman creator Raphael Bob-Waksberg has settled on his follow-up. Long Story Short, as the new project is titled, is being billed as an adult animated comedy about a family, over time. As its formal logline reads: “It’s about the shared history, the inside jokes, the old wounds. If you’ve ever had a mother, father, sibling, partner, or child, this is the show for you and by the way would it kill you to call them?” Bob-Waksberg will write, showrun and executive produce the series, which, like BoJack, hails from The Tornante Company. It will make its debut on Netflix in 2025. The story.
—🎭 Five more 🎭 The Paramount+ With Showtime drama The Agency is continuing to build up its cast. Five actors — Alex Reznik, Andrew Brooke, Harriet Sansom Harris, India Fowler and Saura Lightfoot-Leon — have joined the espionage thriller, which stars Michael Fassbender and is based on the acclaimed French series Le Bureau des Legendes. The cast also includes Jeffrey Wright, Jodie Turner-Smith, Katherine Waterston, John Magaro and Richard Gere. The Agency centers on Martian (Fassbender), “a covert CIA agent who’s ordered to abandon his undercover life and return to London station,” per the show’s logline. The story.
—🎭 One more piece 🎭 Charithra Chandran — who broke out playing Edwina Sharma in the regal Bridgerton drama — is set to board the second season of One Piece, Netflix’s live-action pirate adventure series about a young, superpowered pirate captain who dreams of finding the ultimate treasure. Chandran becomes a series regular in the role of Miss Wednesday, appearing along previously announced new castmembers Katey Sagal as Dr. Kureha, Mark Harelik as Dr. Hiriluk, Sendhil Ramamurthy as Nefertari Cobra and Brendan Sean Murray as Brogy. The story.
—“It really just feels like he was able to pick up the right where we left off.” While the White Collar revival hasn’t officially been greenlit yet, there is a script and, according to star Matt Bomer, it’s “fantastic.” In a new interview, the Emmy-nominated Fellow Travelers star spoke about the reboot and his hopes for it coming to life. “[The script is] completely in line and in keeping with the show that we were able to do six seasons of,” Bomer said of the potential continuation of the USA Network show. The story. |
Film Review: 'The Crow' ►"Doesn't fly." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Rupert Sanders' The Crow. The Brit filmmaker goes back to the comic book series with a different take on the dark supernatural journey of love and revenge, starring Bill Skarsgård, FKA Twigs and Danny Huston. The review.
—"Stick with the first one." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews John Woo's The Killer. Nathalie Emmanuel and Omar Sy headline a new Peacock version of the Hong Kong filmmaker's groundbreaking hitman flick, which resets the story in Paris. The review.
—"Too busy looking backward to nail its own voice." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews HBO Latino/Max's City of God: The Fight Rages On. Fernando Meirelles is a producer, but not a director or writer, on this thriller set 20 years after the events of his Oscar-nominated Brazilian crime epic. The review. |
Thank Pod It's Friday ►All the latest content from THR's podcast studio.
—Awards Chatter. THR's executive awards editor Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this episode, Scott spoke to Maya Rudolph. The beloved actress/comedienne, who is now nominated for four Emmys, reflects on her seven seasons at SNL, playing an out-of-touch billionaire on Apple TV+'s comedy series Loot and the past and future of her Kamala Harris impersonation. Listen here.
In other news...
—Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim trailer: Brian Cox plays mighty king in anime prequel
—Berlinale unveils new selection committee
—AFI Fest to open with world premiere of Music by John Williams doc
—Monica Austin joins Blizzard Entertainment as CMO
—B.J. Novak and Tim Hollingsworth serving up second helping of ChainFEST in Los Angeles
—Jody Frisch, former WGA and SAG-AFTRA comms exec, dies at 68
What else we're reading...
—A very enthusiastic Jonathan Chait believes Kamala Harris gave the best acceptance speech he's ever seen [Intelligencer]
—Aaron Blake has the 3 big takeaways from Kamala Harris' speech and the final day of the DNC [WaPo]
—Critic Wesley Morris reflects on 1999, widely considered the best year for movies, ever [NYT]
—Tracy Brown looks into why the cancellation of The Acolyte is bad news for the future of Star Wars [LAT]
—Sarah Butler reports that online fashion seller Shein has admitted it has found cases of child labor in its supply chain [Guardian]
—Here's your Friday list: "All the Alien movies, ranked" [THR]
Today...
...in 2013, Focus Features released Edgar Wright's The World's End in theaters. The concluding part of Wright's Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy, the comedy film starred Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman, Eddie Marsan, Rosamund Pike and Pierce Brosnan, and made $46m at the box office. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Park Chan-wook(61), Alexandre Desplat (63), Ray Park (50), Lexi Alexander (50), Shelley Long (75), Kim Matula (36), Joanne Froggatt (44), Andrew Rannells (46), Scott Caan (48), Barbara Eden (93), Chris Potter (64), Ruta Gedmintas (41), Jay Mohr (54), Moeka Hoshi (29), Sam Horrigan (43), Clare Grant (45), Vaani Kapoor (36), Joey Cramer (51), Jake Manley (33), Rick Springfield (75), Marty York (44), Annie Ilonzeh (41), Jaime Lee Kirchner (43), David Robb (77), Roger Avary (59), Skipp Sudduth (68), Charley Boorman (58), Francesca Reale (30), Erin Foster (42), Trixie Mattel (35), China Moo-Young (47), Dhananjaya (38) |
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