| | | | | | What's news: Rahm Emanuel has found a media gig at CNN. Lexi Minetree has been cast as Elle Woods in the Legally Blonde prequel series. Amazon Studios is rolling back its DEI policies. AMC Networks now boasts 12.4m total streaming subs. Issa Rae has canceled her Kennedy Center show. — Abid Rahman
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Netflix Breaks Silence on 'Emilia Pérez' Scandal ►"I think it’s really a bummer for the 100 incredibly talented people who made an amazing movie." Netflix is finally commenting on the massive scandal that’s engulfed its leading Oscar contender Emilia Pérez. Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria addressed the controversy during an interview on The Town podcast, where she was asked her reaction to star Karla Sofía Gascón’s resurfaced history of racist tweets. Asked if Netflix will reexamine its social media vetting process for talent on its projects in the future, Bajaria replied, "It’s not really common practice for people to vet social tweets that way … A lot of people are reevaluating that … I do think it is raising questions for a lot of people about reevaluating that process." The story.
—"Is this the fifth or is it the sixth time the press has wrongly reported that Ye and Bianca are separating?" Reports that Kanye West and Bianca Censori are headed for divorce after splitting days after the rap mogul’s wife shocked attendees at the 2025 Grammys with a nude look on the music awards show’s red carpet, and he went on an antisemitic social media tirade are entirely false, their longtime rep told THR on Thursday. A report in The Daily Mail early Thursday stated that, according to an unnamed source close to the rapper, the couple split, and a legal filing to end the marriage is expected in the coming days. The story.
—Growing crisis. Issa Rae has canceled an upcoming one-night appearance at the Kennedy Center after Donald Trump installed himself as chair of the performing arts institution following a vote by the board and the ouster of the longtime president, Deborah Rutter. Rae posted on Instagram that she will no longer appear for her An Evening With Issa Rae. The sold-out show was scheduled at the venue for March 16. The Kennedy Center oversees the National Symphony Orchestra, as well as the Washington National Opera, in addition to presenting theatrical shows, the Kennedy Center Honors and more. Also this week, Shonda Rhimes resigned from the Kennedy Center board. The story. |
CNN Hires Rahm Emanuel ►Big get. Rahm Emanuel, who last served as ambassador to Japan in Joe Biden’s administration, has found a media gig at CNN. The veteran politician will join the cable news outlet as senior political and global affairs commentator, the network said on Thursday. Emanuel, who grew his national stature as White House chief of staff to President Obama, served as mayor of Chicago from 2011 to 2019. The hire adds another staunch Democrat voice on global affairs to a pundit and anchor roster that is retooling in the second Trump administration. The official, the brother of Endeavor mogul Ari Emanuel, stepped down from the ambassadorship on January 14 a week ahead of the presidential transition. The story.
—Not great. AMC Networks reported fourth quarter revenue of $599m, down 12 percent from the same period a year ago. Both numbers missed Wall Street earnings expectations. In its domestic operations unit, AMC Networks said subscription revenue fell 4 percent to $314m in the fourth-quarter as the company cited declines in linear subscribers, partially offset by streaming revenue growth. Streaming revenues increased 8 percent to $156m due to year-over-year subscriber growth and price increases. The company’s total streaming subscribers reached 12.4m at the end of 2024, including subscribers to AMC+, Acorn TV, Shudder, Sundance Now, ALLBLK and HIDIVE, up from 11.4m subscribers a year ago. The results.
—Supine. Amazon Studios is rolling back division-wide policies aimed at boosting diversity on its series and films. The Culver City studio implemented in 2021 an inclusion playbook, with the goal of more accurately reflecting audiences worldwide. The standards revolved around boosting racial, ethnic and gender diversity, including one that aspired to cast at least one Black, Latino, Indigenous, Middle Eastern or Asian character for speaking roles. The inclusion playbook was removed from Amazon’s website in September and is no longer in effect. The move aligns with companies rolling back DEI programs as the Trump administration campaigns against diversity initiatives. The story.
—Solid. Roku reported total net revenue of $1.2b in its Q4, above its prior guidance of $1.140b. This also marks the first quarter the streaming platform reported more than $1b in platform revenue. Roku reported gross profit of $512.6m, above its guidance of $465m, and a net loss of $35.5m. In the fourth quarter, streaming hours on The Roku Channel were up 82 percent year-over-year. In the U.S., the channel reached households with approximately 145m people. In the quarter, Roku noted that advertising activities grew faster than platform revenue and outperformed the overall ad market. The results. |
Who is Justin Baldoni's Alleged Fixer? ►Mystery man. On Jan. 21, Blake Lively’s legal team petitioned a Texas court to depose Jed Wallace. The attorneys say he’s a key player in the alleged smear campaign she believes Justin Baldoni enacted to counter her claims that he engaged in unprofessional and sexually harassing conduct while they worked together on their summer 2024 hit It Ends With Us. THR's Gary Baum digs into who Wallace is and finds a mysterious Hollywood operator who says he assists people who’ve found themselves in need of help "navigating through the most frightening situations." The story.
—Colleen in the middle. Colleen Hoover's Instagram feed has seemingly broken up with Justin Baldoni and Blake Lively. The It Ends With Us author has reactivated her social media account after taking a break from Instagram amid the heated legal battle between the film adaptation’s director/co-star and lead actress. Hoover previously had posted photos from the film’s promotional campaign that included Baldoni and Lively. Hoover had also previously posted an Instagram Story supporting Lively, describing the actress as “nothing but honest, kind, supportive and patient since the day we met,” while avoiding directly commenting on Lively’s sexual harassment and “astroturfing” allegations against Baldoni at the time. In December, Hoover shut down the account. The story. |
'Legally Blonde' Prequel Series Finds Its Young Elle Woods ►🎭 Passing the pink baton 🎭 Reese Witherspoon took to Instagram on Thursday to announce that Lexi Minetree has been cast as Elle Woods in the upcoming Legally Blonde prequel series Elle, which will follow Woods during her high school years before she went off to Harvard. Witherspoon, who originated the role in the 2001 movie Legally Blonde and its 2003 sequel, has been candid about her search to pick the new Elle Woods. Witherspoon will exec produce the Amazon Prime Video series via her Hello Sunshine banner. The story.
—🎭 Gilead's next star 🎭 The Handmaid’s Tale sequel series The Testaments has cast Chase Infiniti as its co-lead with returning star Ann Dowd. Hulu and MGM, home to the Emmy-winning series starring Elisabeth Moss, have been actively developing its next adaptation from author Margaret Atwood. The Testaments is the sequel to Atwood's best-selling 1985 dystopian novel that inspired the flagship series. When The Testaments was first announced in 2019, the streamer and studio began discussions with Handmaid’s Tale series creator Bruce Miller about the follow-up becoming a key extension to the hit drama that put the streamer on the map for original content. Since then, Miller has been developing The Testaments , where Atwood is a consulting producer. The story.
—🎭 Filling out, innit 🎭 Geoff Bell, Daniel Betts, Lisa Dwan, and Emily Barber have joined an untitled Guy Ritchie crime series starring Tom Hardy, Pierce Brosnan, and Helen Mirren that is in production for MTV Entertainment Studios and Paramount+ With Showtime. The global crime series centers on two warring families based in London whose enterprises stretch to all corners of the globe and the fiercely loyal “fixer” charged with protecting one of them at all costs. The story.
—🤝 Gloves off 🤝 Vice TV, its cable partnership with A&E, has signed a media rights agreement with BYB Bare Knuckle Boxing. The deal will see the cable TV platform air 13 live events this year, mostly on Saturday nights. The licensing agreement with the bare-knuckle boxing promoter also marks the first live event series for Vice TV, which kicks off with the BYB 37 Denver Brawl IV on Feb. 22. And the agreement marks another move by Vice Media into sports and away from its edgy pop culture shows under the former Viceland brand. The story.
—It finally happened. After spending three weeks at No. 1 on Nielsen’s overall streaming viewership chart, Netflix’s Squid Game has relinquished its crown. Netflix’s Jamie Foxx-Cameron Diaz thriller Back In Action landed the top spot this week with 1.5b minutes viewed, Nielsen said in its weekly update on Thursday. Squid Game fell to No. 4 on the overall streaming chart with 1.25b minutes viewed during the Jan. 13-Jan. 19 frame, the most recent week in the data firm’s tally. Meanwhile, Billy Bob Thornton-starrer Landman kept up its run with 1.05b minutes of viewing and represents the only Paramount+ show outside of library title Dexter to chart in the top 5 for this week on either the TV or movies charts. The streaming rankings. |
'After the Hunt' Lands Awards Season Release ►📅 Dated! 📅 After the Hunt has tracked down a prime awards season slot from Amazon MGM Studios. Director Luca Guadagnino‘s thriller feature is set to launch in limited theatrical release on Oct. 10, with the film expanding its theater count the following week. Julia Roberts leads a cast that includes Ayo Edebiri, Andrew Garfield, Michael Stuhlbarg and Chloë Sevigny. Hailing from Imagine Entertainment, After the Hunt focuses on a college professor (Roberts) who is forced to confront her own dark past when a prominent student (Edebiri) makes an accusation against one of her colleagues (Garfield). The story.
—In the works. Mother-daughter duo P.C. and Kristin Cast’s vampire books House of Night is heading to the big screen. The first film adaptation in an anticipated franchise is in the works of the wildly popular young adult fantasy romance. With the entire series selling over 31m copies across 40 countries, Highland Film Group is presenting the movie adaptations at the European Film Market this week. Directed by Rain Li, casting for the film is currently underway. Victor Hadida and Molly Hassell are producing. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 There’s been a bit of a feeding frenzy over Dangerous Animals , the new horror title from Australian director Sean Byrne. The “shark-meets-serial killer” movie stars Hassie Harrison, Jai Courtney and Josh Heuston. Harrison plays Zephyr, a free-spirited surfer, who is abducted by Courtney’s shark-obsessed serial killer and held captive on his boat, awaiting a gruesome end in which he will ritualistically feed her to the sharks below. Her new lover Moses (Heuston) goes looking for her, only to be caught by the deranged murderer as well. Mister Smith Entertainment has sold the picture across much of the world, signing deals for most of Europe, as well as the Middle East and Asia. Major deals included a U.K. sale to Vertigo, a German buy from Constantin Film, a deal for France with The Jokers, and a Canadian deal with Elevation. The story. |
'Wicked' Continues Broadway Reign With $2.3M Gross ►Not slowing down. Wicked continued its domination on Broadway, as the musical was the top-grossing show last week, bringing in $2.3m and playing to 100 percent capacity. The Lion King followed with $1.6m. The revival of Gypsy, starring Audra McDonald, continues to be a high-grossing show, with $1.56m brought in last week. Hamilton followed with $1.53m. The top five was rounded out by Sunset Blvd., starring Nicole Scherzinger, which brought in $1.3m. Redwood , a new musical starring Idina Menzel, played its first week of seven performances last week at the Nederlander Theatre. Though many tickets were comped for critics and press, ahead of the musical’s opening Feb. 13, the show still brought in a strong $856,603 and played to 98 percent capacity. The Broadway box office report.
—Must-see. Andrew Scott’s Off-Broadway production of Vanya is adding more dates to the run due to demand. The one-man show, starring and co-created by Scott, will now begin performances one day early, on March 10, and extend an additional week through May 11, 2025. The play is scheduled to open March 18 at the Lucille Lortel Theatre. This marks the American premiere of the production, which sees Scott taking on every character in an adaptation of the classic Chekhov drama, Uncle Vanya. The story. |
TV Review: 'Yellowjackets' S3 ►"All bets are off." THR's Angie Han reviews season three of Paramount+ With Showtime's Yellowjackets. The drama finds now-grown survivors dealing with the aftermath of Natalie's death in the 2020s while, in the 1990s, their stranded teenage selves enjoy the relative ease of summer. The review.
—"Flails around in the dark." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Tom Tykwer's The Light. In this film that opened the 2025 Berlin Film Festival, Lars Eidinger and Nicolette Krebitz star as a German couple in crisis, whose dysfunctional family is changed by the arrival of a Syrian housekeeper. The review.
—"Lovely build-up, lackluster follow-through." THR's Lovia Gyarkye reviews Scott Derrickson's The Gorge. Anya Taylor-Joy and Miles Teller play snipers tasked with guarding a mysterious ravine in this Apple Studios sci-fi feature also starring Sigourney Weaver. The review.
—"A haunting blend of fact and fiction." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Tom Shoval's A Letter to David. Nancy Spielberg (Steven Spielberg's sister) produced the Israeli writer-director's portrait of David Cunio, who starred in his 2013 film Youth and was taken hostage during the October 7th, 2023 attack on Israel. The review.
—"Messaging over moviemaking." Jordan reviews David Cutler-Kreutz, Sam Cutler-Kreutz, Adam J. Graves, Victoria Warmerdam, Cindy Lee and Nebojsa Slijepcevic's Oscar-Nominated Shorts 2025: Live Action. The five films hail from Croatia, South Africa, India, the Netherlands and the U.S., tackling a multitude of hot-button topics currently plaguing the globe. 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 live episode, Scott spoke to Conclave star Ralph Fiennes. The revered English stage and screen actor reflects on how Shakespeare led him to his path; what he learned from collaborators like Steven Spielberg (Schindler's List), Robert Redford (Quiz Show), Anthony Minghella (The English Patient) and Kathryn Bigelow (Strange Days and The Hurt Locker); and what went into his latest — and, some believe, greatest — perfromance, as the dean of the College of Cardinals overseeing the election of a new Pope. Listen here.
—Awards Chatter. Scott also spoke to A Complete Unknown director James Mangold. One of Hollywood's most dependable filmmakers reflects on how, at 21, his career took off like a rocket, then crashed, and then was rebuilt; how he learned to work with actors, including the biggest names in the biz (among them Stallone, Cruise and Chalamet), and guided two (Jolie and Witherspoon) to performances for which they won Oscars; and what it meant to him to personally land three Oscar noms — for producing, writing and, for the first time in his career, directing — for his new film about Bob Dylan. Listen here.
In other news...
—Sadie Sink sings to save the world in trailer for rock opera O’Dessa
—Anthony Mackie faces deadly demolition derby in S2 Twisted Metal trailer
—Ben Affleck, Jon Bernthal team up in The Accountant 2 trailer
—Regal Cineworld bolsters c-suite with new role
—Russo Bros.’ company pushes further into gaming with new hire
—The CW network taps Michael Perman to lead sports efforts
—A+E Networks names new distribution chiefs as longtime president steps down
—The best last-minute digital gifts for Valentine’s Day
—Inside Netflix Bites’ Las Vegas opening, with over 70 show-themed menu items
What else we're reading...
—Travis M. Andrews, Manuel Roig-Franzia and Michael Andor Brodeur talk to Kennedy Center staff who describe a climate of fear as events drop from the calendar [WaPo]
—Emma Jones looks at how Brady Corbet's The Brutalist skewers the American dream [BBC]
—Mark Gurman reports that Apple and Google are restoring the TikTok app after assurances from Trump [Bloomberg]
—As S3 of HBO's The White Lotus heads to Thailand, Simon Elegant reports that the country is expecting a tourism boost [NYT]
—Here's your Friday list: "17 great Valentine’s Day TV episodes you can stream right now" [Vulture]
Today...
...in 2013, Relativity Media released Lasse Hallström's Safe Haven in theaters. Josh Duhamel, Julianne Hough and Cobie Smulders starred in this adaptation of the Nicholas Sparks novel that made almost $100m at the box office. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Danai Gurira (47), Simon Pegg (55), Freddie Highmore (33), Jake Lacy (40), Madison Iseman (28), Enrico Colantoni (62), Andrew Robinson (83), Stephanie Leonidas (41), Meg Tilly (65), Anton Lesser (73), Sakina Jaffrey (63), Kristen Dalton (52), Jake Weary (35), Chris Mason (34), Karima McAdams (40), Najwa Nimri (53), Matt Barr (41), Sebastian Pigott (42), Alberto Rosende (32), Julia Ling (42), Allie Grant (31), Brett Dier (35), Zach Galligan (61), Olly Rix (40), Frank Collison (75), Donna Benedicto (23), Krsy Fox (41), Patrick Heusinger (44), Teller (77), Jules Asner (57), Guillermo Francella (70), Kirk R. Thatcher (63), Rie Rasmussen (47), Karol G (34) |
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