What's news: WBD's Gerhard Zeiler is leaving to pursue a political career. Clive Davis' famed pre-Grammy gala will continue. Jennifer Coolidge will be returning to Netflix's The Watcher. Prime Video has ordered the scripted Karen Read series. Paramount is developing a Cyberpunk 2077 movie. And Diddy will remain in federal lockup for an additional two months. — Abid Rahman
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Zaz Cashed Out More Than $600M in WB Stock
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►Good Lord. Former Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav is now more than $600m richer, now that Paramount’s $111b takeover is complete. The executive on Thursday filed his Form 4 with the SEC, disclosing precisely how many shares and options in the company were cashed out in the deal. The filing showed that Zaslav sold shares worth more than $224m in WBD in conjunction with the acquisition, while options netted him an additional $381m or so. The story.
—For whom the bell tolls. On Thursday morning the ornate marble lobby of the New York Stock Exchange in lower Manhattan was turned into a museum of Hollywood history, as Skydance CEO David Ellison, co-CEO Ynon Kreiz and the entire senior leadership team gathered to ring the opening bell. THR's Alex Weprin writes that now the company's c-suite needs to convince investors they're worth buying. The story.
—"It is surprisingly difficult to find the right words to say goodbye." Skydance is going through all sorts of executive changes now that the merger is complete. Gerhard Zeiler, who has been serving as president, international for WBD, is the latest executive to leave – and he may be eyeing a new career in Austrian politics. Zeiler recently signaled that he would be making a play for the leadership of Austria’s Social Democratic Party. The story.
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Horror Movies and Politics Are Killing Film Festivals |
►"The problem is when the self-importance of festival political activism crosses wires with these horror nerds." Well here it is, the column that is trending on social media and has Film Twitter all in a tizzy. For THR, filmmaker Joseph Kahn is back with an opinion piece on film festivals, namely how the circuit is drowning in bloody genre fare and ideological theater. Joseph asks: Whatever happened to indie cred? The column.
—Dropped. Israel’s Oscar submission, Moshe Rosenthal’s Tell Me Everything, has been dropped by the queer-themed Everybody’s Perfect film festival in Switzerland. The fest told THR that the movie had been “deprogrammed” after emails with boycott threats had been received from a rival Geneva-based festival, Palestine, Filmer C’est Exister and other groups. Rosenthal’s film premiered at Sundance and won the best picture award at Israel’s Ophir Awards, automatically making it the country’s Academy Awards entry. The story.
—Two more months. Sean “Diddy” Combs will remain in federal lockup for an additional two months, after a news report exposed the disgraced music mogul's life of luxury behind bars. Combs is serving a 50-month sentence at a federal prison in New Jersey after he was found guilty of two Mann Act violations following his sensational New York trial last summer. NBC's Dateline reported that Combs has been enjoying massages, home-cooked meals and had an illicit phone. The story.
—Tradition continues. Clive Davis' famed pre-Grammy gala will continue this Grammy season, the Recording Academy confirmed on Thursday, marking the event’s first edition since the prolific music executive’s death in June at 94. The RA said Thursday that the party — which will once again take place at its Beverly Hilton home — would double both as its usual affair as a dinner and concert "while honoring the life and legacy of the late Clive Davis." The story.
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►Diversity now seen as "optional." When #Emmyssowhite began trending after white actors swept the lead and supporting acting categories during the Sept. 14 ceremony, it unearthed a reality deeper than the demand for equal acclaim: Actors of color can’t win accolades for roles that don’t exist. After a couple years of major progress, creators of color are seeing “real regression,” the president of the TV Academy Cris Abrego tells THR's Brande Victorian. The story.
—🎭 Rejoice Watchers! 🎭 Jennifer Coolidge will be returning to Netflix's The Watcher, reprising her role as Karen Calhoun, the real estate agent who sold the Brannock family the home that nearly destroyed them in season one of the hit series. Coolidge joins Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Margo Martindale and Isabel Gravitt in the cast. Production on the Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan series is set for New York in the fall. The story.
—Woof! Pixar’s Toy Story 5 debuted at No. 1 on Nielsen’s streaming charts in its first week of release, beating out strong showings for Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story and Neagley. Toy Story 5 collected 1.54b minutes of viewing time in its first week on Disney+, equivalent to about 15.1m views. That’s the second largest single-week total for a movie on Disney+ this year, behind the 1.72b minutes for Zootopia 2 in March. The streaming rankings.
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'Crazy Rich Asians' Series Greenlit at HBO
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►🟢 Heading to the small screen. 🟢 The first series pickup for HBO since it became part of the new Skydance is a big one. HBO has given a series order to Crazy Rich Asians, a follow-up to the hit 2018 film based on Kevin Kwan’s novel. The movie’s co-writer, Adele Lim, will be the showrunner, and director Jon M. Chu and Kwan are among the executive producers. Stars Constance Wu, Henry Golding, Ronny Chieng and Michelle Yeoh will reprise their roles. Filming is set to begin in 2027. The story.
—🎭 Surprise! 🎭 Eric Stonestreet is returning to the Dexter franchise as fellow serial killer Rapunzel, and Krysten Ritter's role was made a bit clearer during the show’s newsy Thursday panel at New York Comic Con. Ritter will feature in the second season of Dexter: Resurrection, but the cast and crew were more careful about not spoiling how. Her character, Lady Vengeance, died last season. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Marvel TV revealed its latest series, spy-thriller Zodiac, is set to release in 2028, as part of its New York Comic Con panel. The live-action series, which will go into production next year, was teased with its own logo that seemed to hint at a potential connection to the SHIELD agency. The panel also revealed a number of other title developments, including the return of Marvel Zombies, through a trio of two-part specials. The story.
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Amazon Orders Karen Read Series
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►🟢 Greenest of green lights. 🟢 Prime Video has ordered a scripted Karen Read series starring and executive produced by Elizabeth Banks. The currently untitled eight-episode drama inspired by the Law&Crime and Audible Original podcast Karen will be written, showrun and executive produced by Justin Noble. The series tells the story of Read who was accused of striking her police officer boyfriend, John O’Keefe, with her SUV in 2022. Her defense alleged a law enforcement cover-up, ultimately leading to her acquittal of murder in 2025. The story.
—🎭 One more. 🎭 Norwegian actress Pia Tjelta has joined the cast of the second season of the hit spy thriller series The Day of the Jackal. The Sky original, airing in the U.S. on Peacock, stars Oscar-winner Eddie Redmayne as the titular assassin, who is a master of disguise and makes his living carrying out hits for high fees. Season two is set to premiere in spring 2027. The story.
—Pulling a Rabbit. ABC is investigating an American adaptation of the BBC hit Ludwig. The network has ordered a pilot for a U.S.-based remake of the show, under the title Rabbit. It comes from writers Megan Ganz and Humphrey Ker and 20th Television. Rabbit will center on a reclusive puzzle maker named Mark, aka “Rabbit.” “After his homicide detective twin brother goes missing,” the show’s logline reads, “Mark is pulled from his solitary life and thrust into the Cambridge, Massachusetts, police department, where he poses as his brother to investigate his mysterious disappearance." The story.
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Paramount Developing 'Cyberpunk 2077' Movie
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►Edging closer to reality. Paramount is developing a live-action film set in the Cyberpunk 2077 universe. The movie is based on Polish video game developer CD Projekt Red’s best-selling action-adventure role-playing game that stars Keanu Reeves as a mercenary in a tech-obsessed world. Lorenzo di Bonaventura is attached to produce alongside CD Projekt Red. Cyberpunk 2077, which has sold more than 40m copies, is an open-world action-adventure set in Night City, a megalopolis driven by power, glamour and body modification. The story.
—🎭 Batter up! 🎭 Sterling K. Brown has joined Tom Hanks and Callum Turner in The Comebacker, a baseball drama Marielle Heller is directing for Sony. Patricia Clarkson and Amy Madigan are also in the dugout for what is being described as a love letter to baseball and is based on a short story by Dave Eggers. Heller wrote the script for the adaptation, which tells of the relationship between a pitching coach (Hanks) for the Mets and his pitcher (Turner) who gets hit by a line drive while on the mound. Brown will play the manager of the team. The story.
—🏆 Going all-in. 🏆 THR's Scott Feinberg reports that Netflix is planning a multi-category Oscar push for Possible Love, which is the first in eight years from Korean master Lee Chang-dong. The film and already has been awarded Venice's Grand Jury Prize, placed second for the Toronto's audience award and is among 2026’s best-reviewed releases. In addition to an Oscar nom for best international feature, noms for best picture, best director and best original screenplay (Lee and Oh Jung-mi) are high-priority targets. The story.
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►"Too rarely shows its teeth." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Ben Affleck's Animals. A kidnapping plot unfolds against the backdrop of a wealthy independent candidate’s Los Angeles mayoral campaign in this Netflix original film. Starring Ben Affleck, Kerry Washington, Gillian Anderson, Adriana Paz, Ray Fisher, Christopher Woodley, Matt Gerald, Jacob Estrada, Luis Gerardo Méndez and Steven Yeun. Written by Connor McIntyre, Billy Ray and Ben Affleck. The review.
—"Not possessed of a good story." For THR, Richard Lawson reviews Rob Savage's Other Mommy. This James Wan-produced horror film revolves around a child being stalked by a nefarious entity that looks just like her mother. Starring Jessica Chastain, Jay Duplass, Arabella Olivia Clark, Arian Moayed and Karen Allen. Written by Nathan Elston. The review.
—"Feels good to be back." THR's Angie Han reviews Paramount+'s Avatar: Seven Havens. The beloved animated franchise returns with a new fantasy series set after the events of The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra. Featuring the voices of Saheli Khan, Aishu Devan, Akshay Khanna, Major Curda, Dee Bradley Baker, Sakina Jaffrey, Darren Barnet and Dianne Doan. Created by Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. The review.
—"Toothless." THR's chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg reviews CBS' Eternally Yours. In this vampire comedy, Ed Weeks and Allegra Edwards star as bloodsuckers whose 500-year marriage has lost its spark. Also starring Jaren Lewison, Helen J. Shen, Parker Young, Rose Abdoo, Tristan Michael Brown and Shylo Molina. Created by Joe Port and Joe Wiseman. The review.
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►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 John Leguizamo. The veteran character actor and activist for Latino representation in Hollywood reflects on how he discovered comedy and acting; the challenges of breaking into the biz as a Latino in the '90s, and how they led him to make six solo stage shows; and why it means so much to him to be a part of Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey, for which his performance as Eumaeus has garnered him raves. The podcast.
—Awards Chatter. In this episode Scott talks to Andrew Scott. The gifted Irish actor best known for Sherlock, Fleabag, Ripley and All of Us Strangers reflects on how a childhood lisp led him to acting; the impact on his career of his 2013 decision to publicly come out as gay; how he handled the sudden interest in him after playing the "hot priest" opposite Phoebe Waller-Bridge; and why he was so drawn to the story of Chariots of Fire actor Ian Charleson that he signed on not only to play the man in Elsinore but also to produce that film about the remarkable final chapter of Charleson's life. The podcast.
—I’m Having an Episode. THR’s Mikey O’Connell attempts to stay on top of the latest TV and entertainment news with a little help from his friends, colleagues and a revolving door of actors, writers, showrunners and filmmakers. In this episode, Mikey interviews Patrick Brammall, the star of Colin From Accounts and Last Seen. The Aussie creative discusses his banner year that kicked off opposite Anne Hathaway in The Devil Wears Prada 2, his young daughter wanting to enjoy Bluey in peace and what the hell actually happened to his character on Evil. The podcast.
In other news...
—Stick S2 trailer: It’s Pryce vs. Santi in Apple TV comedy
—Netflix's The Altruists trailer shows Sam Bankman-Fried caught in crypto crisis
—Alexander Brothers’ sex trafficking trial tackled in Peacock’s Wolves of Real Estate trailer
—Taylor Swift to perform at this year’s Academy Museum Gala
—Cynthia Erivo to headline benefit at Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts
—Beef star Young Mazino signs with CAA
—Inside Out 2 director Kelsey Mann signs with UTA
What else we're reading...
—With Meta going hard with Muse, John Herrman writes that nobody is really ready for the AI-agent flood [Intelligencer]
—The Democrats are expanding the map for the midterms, which is leading Ed Kilgore to ask whether "everything is suddenly possible" for the party [Intelligencer]
—Aaron Sorkin breaks down a particularly unnerving (and uncanny!) scene of Jeremy Strong as Mark Zuckerberg in his new film The Social Reckoning [NYT]
—Joseph Howlett reports that OpenAI has unleashed hundreds more advanced math results upon a field already in shock [Scientific American]
—Here's your Friday list: Dancing With the Stars: The 35 best dances ever [THR]
Today...
...in 1971, 20th-Fox unveiled William Friedkin’s The French Connection in theaters. The Gene Hackman thriller went on to land 8 noms at the 44th Academy Awards, claiming five wins including for best actor, director, writing, editing and picture. The original review.
Today's birthdays...
Steve McQueen (57), Guillermo del Toro (62), Rupert Friend (45), Tyler James Williams (34), Tony Shalhoub (73), Brian Blessed (90), Pete Docter (58), Jharrel Jerome (29), Bella Hadid (30), Nick Swardson (50), Jodelle Ferland (32), Scott Bakula (72), Chris O'Dowd (47), Jason Butler Harner (56), Brandon Routh (47), Michael Paré (68), Dana Wheeler-Nicholson (66), Jacob Batalon (30), Sheila Kelley (65), Colin Donnell (44), Sam Riegel (50), Jarod Joseph (41), Shera Danese (77), John O'Hurley (72), Steve Burns (53), Anna Castillo (33), Robert Wuhl (75), Erin Daniels (53), Kieren Hutchison (52), Melissa Villaseñor (39), Jennifer Aspen (53), Gethin Anthony (43), Richard Chaves (75), John Ralston (62), Cocoa Brown (54), Tomaso Sanelli (22), Gary Frank (76), Meg Bellamy (24)
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