What's news: Tom Cruise will receive the 52nd AFI Life Achievement Award. John Travolta is shopping a memoir. Filming in L.A. is continuing to slide. Neon will distribute NAZA. A Poison Ivy series is in the works at HBO. And Lea Michele is in talks to reprise her role in Glee. — Abid Rahman
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THR's Creator A-List 2026 |
►The 25 influencers who matter most. Hollywood once dismissed them. Now it’s casting them, courting them and counting on them to deliver audiences. Meet the social media stars the industry is obsessed with. The list.
—How porn blazed the trail for creators. Porn — or so the legend has it — pioneers every technological revolution. That may overstate porn’s role in the development and adoption of home video (particularly VHS), online subscriptions, streaming and interactive webcams. But in the case of the creator economy, writes Gustavo Turner, the legend holds: Porn and sex workers have been monetizing the illusion of online access to one’s object of desire since before Bella Thorne was even born. The story.
—Media giants battle over creators. Disney and Netflix are courting creators, but YouTube is playing hardball to keep them. THR's Alex Weprin reports that the studios are offering rich deals to grow engagement on their platforms. The Google-owned video giant is punching back with its own offers — and threats. The story.
—DM my rep! For THR, Taylor Lorenz and Claudia Rosenbaum highlight the top lawyers, managers and agents driving the creator economy. The likes of MrBeast, Ms. Rachel and the world’s top creators rely on these power players to propel their careers beyond phone screens. The story.
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Fixer in Smear Scandal Spoke of Other Clients |
►New names. Jed Wallace is the formerly mysterious Hollywood fixer who is under legal scrutiny for his alleged role as a co-conspirator in a secretive industry smear machine meant to undermine and even destroy the targets of his clients. Court records and other documents have shown that Wallace’s customers appear to have included Travis Scott, Rebel Wilson Andrew Huberman and the Alexander brothers. THR's Gary Baum reveals additional high-profile names who Wallace claimed have been part of his client portfolio: Elon Musk, as well as Jake and Logan Paul. The story.
—More woe. Filming in Los Angeles is continuing to slide despite California’s urgent bid to revive production in the region. L.A. saw a nearly 5 percent drop in shoot days from June to September compared to the same period last year and an 11 percent drop compared to the previous quarter, according to the latest report from permitting office FilmLA issued on Wednesday. The total is 36 percent below the five-year average, highlighting the fierce competition between states and other countries to host Hollywood. The story.
—"I think there’s a deal coming." Could a major deal between David Ellison’s Skydance and Elon Musk’s SpaceX be brewing? The media mogul John Malone thinks so. Speaking at the Paley Center International Council Summit on Wednesday with Liberty Global chief Mike Fries, Malone predicted that Musk and Ellison would cut some sort of deal to help the media company deliver while also giving Musk’s company access to content or other assets. The story.
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Cruise Tapped for AFI Life Achievement Award
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►Richly deserved. Tom Cruise, one of the most acclaimed actors and popular movie stars of all time, and a fierce champion of the theatrical moviegoing experience, has been tapped by the board of trustees of the American Film Institute to receive the 52nd AFI Life Achievement Award, one of the highest honors for a career in film. Cruise will be feted at a gala celebration at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles on Saturday, April 24, 2027, which will feature clips of his work, tributes from friends and collaborators and an acceptance speech by the 64-year-old himself. The story.
—Surely this time? THR's Rambling Reporter has heard rumors that John Travolta, 72, is shopping a memoir, some 20 years after his last attempt at an auto-biography mysteriously vanished before it reached bookstores. Back in 2004, Travolta signed a blockbuster book deal — reportedly $2.5m for U.S. rights and another $2.3m for the U.K. — with a pub date set for the fall of 2006. “I’ve hit a milestone this year in my life, turning 50,” the actor said at the time. “If I waited any longer, I’d have to write two books.” He waited, anyway. The story.
—"Sally Rooney is a writer, not a terrorist." Paul Mescal and Daisy Edgar-Jones have come out in support of Normal People author Sally Rooney after her books were pulled from U.K. shelves. In an open letter published in The New Statesman on Wednesday, Mescal and Edgar-Jones added their names alongside the likes of Susan Sarandon, Tilda Swinton, Alison Oliver, Armando Iannucci, Jessie Buckley, Kneecap, Jonathan Glazer and Zadie Smith. The story.
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How Danny Trejo Accidentally Made a Pro-ICE Movie
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►"He couldn’t walk off the movie — he’d get sued." Danny Trejo has played a Mexican revolutionary, a Mexican cop, a Mexican cartel assassin and, of course, a Mexican ex-con who kills bad guys with a machete. But now, after more than 400 screen appearances, the 82-year-old actor has popped up in a part nobody saw coming, not even Trejo: He’s the Mexican star of Pawn Shop, a pro-ICE movie. THR's Rambling Reporter explains how the actor unwittingly stepped on a Ben Shapiro culture-war land mine. The story.
—🎠Stacked. 🎠Samara Weaving has joined the growing bold-faced cast of Naughty, a holiday comedy that Olivia Wilde is directing for Universal. Weaving joins a call sheet that already includes Jennifer Aniston, Peter Dinklage, Chase Sui Wonders, Regina Hall and Ike Barinholtz. Written as a spec script by Jimmy Warden, the story centers on a mother (Aniston), whose only hope of securing custody of her son is to find Santa Claus (Dinklage) and convince him to testify in her divorce hearing. The story.
—Major boost. NAZA just won a powerful U.S. film ally as it seeks to continue its box office momentum. Neon is coming aboard to distribute Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor’s documentary about the Israeli military in Gaza, with the Oscar-decorated studio rolling out the movie to theaters from this point forward. The company will provide publicity support, theater booking, P&A funds and other resources as it does for all its acquisitions. The story.
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Yes, 'Heated Rivalry' is Really Headed to Theaters
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►Wait, what?? Heated Rivalry, the hit Canadian hockey romance series, is officially heading to theaters for limited engagement marathon screenings, distributor Sphere Abacus announced Thursday. The Crave original series, which airs on HBO Max in the U.S., is celebrating its one-year anniversary a little early, with screenings of all six episodes of the first season kicking off on Nov. 6. Sphere Abacus, the Bell Media company that helped bring the show international, partnered with Regal Cinemas in the U.S. for the release. The story.
—WOOF! The U.K.’s largest screen, the BFI IMAX, has sold 33,000 advance tickets for Dune: Part Three in just 24 hours, breaking the first-day presale record set by The Odyssey. Denis Villeneuve‘s hotly anticipated sci-fi sequel raked in $1.2m in presales, compared to the $1m Christopher Nolan’s three-hour epic recently scored. The story.
—"A stroke of brilliance." Here’s the very good news of Warner Bros.: Reviews for Clayface are generally positive, and out of the gate, the film has a much higher Rotten Tomatoes score than DC’s last effort, Supergirl (around 74 percent positive instead of 52 percent). THR's own glowing review is further down this newsletter. The reaction.
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Lea Michele in Talks for 'Glee' Return
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►🎠The first domino. 🎠The revival of Glee is zeroing in on its first returning castmember. Lea Michele is in talks to reprise her role as Rachel Berry in the series, which Disney+ and Hulu announced Wednesday. Where the character will be in the present remains to be seen: There are next to no details about the show other than it has a series order and that 20th Television is producing. Even the names of Glee creators Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk and Ian Brennan weren’t mentioned in Disney’s press release early Wednesday, though sources say that’s likely just a matter of all i’s being dotted. The story.
—Planting the seed. Batman adversary and Gotham’s biggest plant lover, Poison Ivy, may be getting her own television series. The Penguin creator and showrunner Lauren LeFranc is in talks to produce a series on the super-villain for HBO and DC Studios. No cast or writer specifics are yet available for the series, which is in early stages, though it‘s said that the series would not fall within The Batman director Matt Reeves’ universe for the character. The story.
—🎠Leads in place. 🎠Esther McGregor and Emilio Sakraya are set to lead Prime Video’s Fourth Wing series, based on Rebecca Yarros’ bestselling novel. McGregor will portray protagonist Violet Sorrengail, with Sakraya taking on the role of Xaden Riorson. Yarros‘ 2023 bestseller The Fourth Wing is part of the author‘s The Empyrean book series, which also includes installments Iron Flame (2023) and Onyx Storm (2025). The story.
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'Other Desert Cities,' 'A Few Good Men' Pack Them In
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►Looking strong. The fall season is gearing up on Broadway, with a number of new shows prepping for openings and drawing in big grosses. Other Desert Cities was the third highest grossing show of the week with $1.8m, despite an Oct. 18 opening night performance that was entirely comped, as well as comped press performances in the leadup. Billy Crystal’s 860 continues to bring in crowds, with close to 99 percent capacity. The play grossed close to $1.3m, with four heavily comped press performances, ahead of an Oct. 21 opening. A Few Good Men jumped up to seven performances from three the prior week, and saw grosses hit $1.2m, with the show playing to 100 percent capacity. The play is scheduled to open Oct. 29. The Broadway box office report.
—"Only the lovely writing at the very end of the play delivers a swell of heady emotion." For THR, Richard Lawson reviews John Benjamin Hickey's production of Other Desert Cities. A starry cast feature in this Broadway revival of Jon Robin Baitz’s lauded 2011 play about politics, family and regret. Starring Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Ed Harris, Allison Janney, Lily Rabe and Joe Keery. Written by Jon Robin Baitz. The review.
—"There’s something about doing a play that, you kind of have to leave your ego at the door." THR's Caitlin Huston spoke to Joe Keery about making his Broadway debut in Other Desert Cities. The Stranger Things alum discusses preparing for one of the key monologues in the play and balancing his music career and acting. The interview.
—🎠Finally! 🎠Tilda Swinton will make her New York stage debut this winter in Manfred Karge’s Man to Man. The solo show will play the Lucille Lortel Theatre starting Feb. 21, 2027, with an opening night Feb. 28 for a strictly limited eight-week run. Swinton returns to the role after originating the role in 1987. The Academy Award winner is currently performing in the role at London’s Royal Court Theatre, marking her first return to the stage for the first time since the original production. The story.
—🎠New hottest ticket in town. 🎠Daniel Kaluuya will make his U.S. stage debut in a new play by Pulitzer Prize winner Branden Jacobs-Jenkins. The Oscar-winner will star in Grass, which was commissioned by Park Avenue Armory and the National Black Theatre, and is set to premiere in February. The play, which was written specifically for the Armory’s 55,000-square-foot stage in New York, follows Kaluuya, who goes on a “fantastical, picturesque” road trip with his mother through the American South in order to reconstruct their family tree, with encounters with historical and allegorical figures along the way. The story.
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►"A big bet that pays off." THR's Frank Scheck reviews James Watkins' Clayface. The DC Studios’ Batman villain origin story is a standalone body-horror delight starring rising Welsh actor Tom Rhys Harries. Also starring Naomi Ackie, David Dencik, Max Minghella, Eddie Marsan, Nancy Carroll and Joshua James. Written by Mike Flanagan and Hossein Amini. The review.
—"As endearing and exasperating as ever." THR's Angie Han reviews season 3 of Netflix's Nobody Wants This. Kristen Bell and Adam Brody’s romance levels up, as the rabbi and the former agnostic preparing to convert to Judaism take a big step forward in their relationship. Also starring Justine Lupe, Timothy Simons, Jackie Tohn, Tovah Feldshuh, Paul Ben-Victor, Stephanie Faracy and Michael Hitchcock. Created by Erin Foster. The review.
In other news...
—Sauron finally puts on the One Ring in Rings of Power S3 official trailer
—Brad Pitt’s Cliff Booth reveals action-packed scenes in new tease ahead of Netflix launch
—Netflix’s Taken documentary trailer revisits Natalee Holloway case
—LA Art Show unveils plans for 2027 event
—Interscope unveils exec promotions following shakeup
—Doctor Who star Noel Clarke pleads not guilty to sexual assault, voyeurism, exposure
What else we're reading...
—Jessica Lucas reports on the rise of "screenagers," the seniors who are spending more time than ever on their slop-filled feeds [Intelligencer]
—Reflecting on the rather "lost" VisionQuest series, Ben Lindbergh writes that Disney+ has seemingly done an "overcorrection to an overcorrection" as the service cotinues "searching for a happy medium in the speed of its streaming assembly line" [Ringer]
—Christian Arnold goes behind the scenes of the crumbling Troy Aikman-Joe Buck relationship [NY Post]
—Masterful Osita Nwanevu essay on why, despite being smug and cynical, Digger is perfectly timed and one of the most important films of this century [Defector]
—Helen Lewis reflects on the internet diagnosing Trump with "gay dementia" as the president keeps harping on about the attractiveness of male politicians, soldiers and even protestors [The Atlantic]
Today...
...in 2010, Warner Bros. Pictures released Clint Eastwood's Hereafter in theaters. The fantasy disaster film, written by Peter Morgan, received mixed reviews but was a box office success. The original review.
Today's birthdays...
Jennifer Lee (55), Derek Jacobi (88), Christopher Lloyd (88), Jeff Goldblum (74), Bob Odenkirk (64), Saffron Burrows (54), Valeria Golino (61), Spike Jonze (57), Catherine Deneuve (83), Corey Hawkins (38), Jesse Tyler Ferguson (51), Jan de Bont (83), Izaac Wang (19), Bill Condon (71), Hong Khaou (51), Kyle Gallner (40), Carmen Ejogo (53), Bill Camp (65), Jonathan Lipnicki (36), Suzanne Snyder (64), Sofia Vassilieva (34), Sharon Rooney (38), Michael Fishman (45), Scott Beck (42), Stevie Lynn Jones (31), Marc Lawrence (67), Sophia Del Pizzo (38), Robert Torti (65), Amy Redford (56), Plan B (43), Elias Harger (19), Luca Marinelli (42), Zuzanna Szadkowski (48), Richard McGonagle (80), Esther McGregor (25), Lisa Gilroy (37)
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