We'll let the dust settle a bit on David Ellison's Hollywood takeover, which may be T-minus 10 days or so away. Coupled with a big boost from D.C. in the form of a substantial tax incentive, there may be some wild times ahead in film and TV production. — Erik Hayden
Ticker: Grainge Jr. teams with Blavatnik Jr. at WMG; Fallon goes microdrama; Glasser makes creators push; Lindo wraps directorial debut.
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When people worry about "what AI will do to the workforce," one big fear is the carving out of institutional memory, or bureaucracy depending on your perspective, in favor of far fewer workers that have more tools at their disposal to do a massive amount of tasks that used to be specialized. It's difficult to not see some of these contours in Disney's legal chief Horacio Gutierrez warning about his division being "a much smaller organization than it is today, and some of you will personally be affected by decisions we make in this process." Coincidentally, or not, as Winston Cho reports, Disney has an open job listing for "Director of AI Enablement." The report.
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Yes, Meta's AI agent Muse piled up the headlines this week after Mark Zuckerberg made an appearance at his developer conference. Practically speaking, Steven Zeitchik has a good column on the matter, "Should You Use Muse?" But Zuckerberg also unveiled a major VR product this week, with the company turning to Disney, Imax, Dolby, James Cameron and others to help create a cadence of content. As Alex Weprin writes, "After the VR wars had seemed to fizzle out, Meta is ramping it back up again, betting that consumers will once again give the headset a try to get a taste of that immersive worldbuilding." The report.
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In Nov. 1994, THR named its Next Gen class of the year. Included was an ICM agent who offered in his questionnaire what turned out to be a memorable boast.
CAREER GOAL: "Besides getting money and power, I haven't figured it out yet."
32 years later, Ari Emanuel is now reflecting on his superagent career as he kickstarts his next chapter as a power broker (and podcaster). In an exclusive excerpt from his book, Roll the Calls, he details his time in the CAA mailroom and his early days in the industry. He also updates his infamous Next Gen questionnaire (the '94 version is above) with a new edition circa '26.
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"I’m beginning to wonder if this is actually what the title comes from." — A fan reaction to A24's Elizabeth Holmes doc You Can See Everything getting an R-rating.
"[H]as to also be good enough for us to be able to point a journalist towards." — Melissa Nathan, a top Hollywood publicist, as quoted in a court filing alleging she hid evidence about role in celebrity smear sites.
"I’m trying to understand why it was all blown up." — Guy Campanile, ousted 60 Minutes managing editor, who reviewed the first two episodes of the new season.
"You should either do the deal with Netflix or you should do it with us." — Eddy Cue, in describing his pitch for Formula 1 on Apple TV.
"I’ve been strategizing with Spencer Pratt and Jon Voight and others." — Sen. Adam Schiff, one of the many strange bipartisan alliances made in pushing for a federal film and TV tax credit.
"I'm still figuring out what the heck it is." — Gilbert Cruz, a New York Times editor in charge of "canon," a new area that oversees its Top 100 entertainment lists.
One Big Payday
$51M
Inter Miami owner David Beckham saw revenue and profits at his business soar during the World Cup. You couldn't go an hour without seeing an ad starring the soccer legend.
Logline of the Week
[Helo]
"End of Watch meets Top Gun."
Narcos helmer Andrés Baiz will direct the feature for Netflix.
By the Numbers
(Most-read stories on THR.com this week)
1) "DWTS Viral Hits Night Ends With a Three-Way Tie"
2) "Daredevil: Born Again to End With Season 3"
3) "Taylor Tomlinson on Quitting Late Night and Staying Quiet"
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Hulu can boast the highest renewal rate for series in 2025, with 54 percent of its U.S. projects getting a greenlight for another run, per Luminate's latest tally released Thursday. Netflix, as the data provider notes, has far more projects and is only a few percentage points behind. Interestingly, on the other end of the chart, HBO Max has the lowest renewal rate of the top streamers and it has fallen from a 42 percent renewal rate in 2022 to 31 percent last year amid corporate tumult.
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For those following the bread crumb trail of the now former Disney CEOs openly dueling in the press, it's been a week. Bob Chapek has been the blunter of the two, what with his tell-all memoir premised on the idea of going behind-the-scenes about why he was ousted. But Bob Iger has obliquely made his own references, even in high-minded forums like Harvard Business Review. In the excerpt of Chapek's book, which is filled with minor slights that are alleged, we'll leave it with his kicker. Chapek details the "first time I had seen him demonstrate anger."
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Put a pin in this pledge from the film Academy's chief Bill Kramer: "I think you’ll see a very different-looking Oscars that allows you to engage with the show in more interactive and deep ways than we can do right now.” The Oscars leader, speaking at the Zurich Film Festival Summit, said that bringing Hollywood's biggest night to YouTube "gives the Academy more control in engaging with film lovers." He gave more of his rationale, too.
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That was fast: "In luxury fashion, creative directors used to get years to put their stamp on a house. Lately, they’re lucky to get a few seasons. The latest possible casualty is Pierpaolo Piccioli, the acclaimed designer who took over Balenciaga only last year," Merle Ginsberg reports. "Multiple industry sources say Piccioli is expected to leave the Kering-owned house following his spring/summer 2027 show in Paris" in October.
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Pete Davidson and Colin Jost hosted the Snapple Island Ferry, a comedy show aboard the Staten Island Ferry they bought. Fran Drescher stepped out at the NYC premiere of doc World Without Cows. Sienna Miller and Dominic West brought HBO's War to NYC. Mimi Rogers and Heather Graham brought What Happened to Dorris? to Austin's Fantastic Fest. Halle Berry took part in the two-day Create & Cultivate Festival in L.A. Nicholas Duvernay, Lili Reinhart, Rachel Marsh and Jaboukie Young-White celebrated The Love Hypothesis in L.A. Louis Paxton, Domhnall Gleeson and Grant O'Rourke brought a special screening of The Incomer to Vidiots. All 52 photos from this week's events and premieres.
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Upcoming Releases
Notable movies heading to theaters
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One-liners from THR's team of critics
Brad Pitt's survival thriller Heart of the Beast "packs a surprising emotional punch." Daisy Edgar-Jones and George MacKay "are standouts" in Sense and Sensibility, a Jane Austen redo "that’s fine if not strictly necessary." DreamWorks Animation’s Forgotten Island "celebrates Filipino folklore with dazzling wit and imagination." Johnny Knoxville’s chaotic Jewish camp comedy Tiny Fugitives is "alternately tiresome and amusing." Rebel Wilson's Girl Group is "derivative pop slop as bland and unimaginative as its title." NBC's Line of Fire, starring Peter Krause and Hope Davis, is "a kitchen-sink take on the federal agent thriller." Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson's Apple TV sitcom Brothers is "barely alright, alright, alright."
And finally:
A Hollywood Flashback...
65 years ago, Paul Newman's The Hustler premieres in D.C. — "An odd and serious picture that will have some fanatical admirers - as it should."
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