The box office tells me it's the last weekend of summer (Spidey claimed another $22 million as it slings its way to No. 1 of all time domestic). But it truly feels like the first week of fall. Venice is in full swing, bags are being packed for Toronto and an Emmys focus will soon be in the rearview as Awards Season begins in earnest. — Erik Hayden
Ticker: Gallaghers' skip presser for their own Oasis doc; Sydney Sweeney picks a rep; Ted Sarandos' buzzy new show is a game trailer; George Lucas takes victory lap.
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The must-read of the week also happens to be THR's latest cover story, a behind-the-curtain look at Alex Gibney's high-stakes new documentary on Elon Musk that's already setting off waves of backlash. "As he accretes more power, he’s no longer interested in checking his worst impulses," Gibney tells Steven Zeitchik, reflecting on Musk’s trajectory. "Someone who worked closely with Elon told me, ‘He’s the most miserable man I’ve ever met.’ So he’s inflicting his misery on everyone else."
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After Fox Business and Fox News host Maria Bartiromo is suddenly taken off the air in Murdochland, she immediately lawyers up with Bryan Freedman. This, of course, is the power attorney who repped Don Lemon and Chris Cuomo after their dramatic exits from CNN as well as Tucker Carlson's exit from Fox and Megyn Kelly's exit from NBC. Bartiromo's attorney denies that she was fired and further claims that she is "still employed by Fox." Freedman suggests they may pursue the matter in court. The report.
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Major studio executives, in talks with THR this summer, are expressing newfound positivity — and not just about the box office numbers themselves (up 21 percent overall y-o-y). Execs seem more aware than ever that any project, regardless of budget, can capture attention — not just the ones with the highest price tag. Finding the innovative ideas, like Curry Barker's Obsession, that Gen Z appears to crave is the trickier part. Ryan Gajewski's report.
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SHOT: "This is not 1986, when you have to shoot below the roof of a backlot set," writes veteran Hollywood director Joseph Kahn in a column that also made waves this week. "We can extend and digitally enhance anything. Setting up shop in business-friendly, film-friendly cities has no downside if the infrastructure truly moves. Every vendor benefits from the lower cost of living for its employees, especially the struggling working class that no one seems to give a shit about in these culture wars."
CHASER: "For too long, the conversation around film incentives has been framed as a coastal elite issue, a favor to L.A.," writes attorney Sam Roseme in a column on the push for a federal tax credit. "This framing fundamentally misunderstands where American productions actually film today — and where they’re fleeing to ... States outside of California and New York have seen the brunt of the production exodus. And it is those states that stand to benefit the most from a federal tax incentive."
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"Shit, I ain’t worried. I’m getting out on an appeal." — Convicted Tupac Shakur slayer Duane "Keffe D" Davis, to THR, upon sitting down at the Clark County Detention Center for his first interview after the trial.
"We have to create an abundance. It’s production begets production." — Tom Cruise, blessing David Ellison's Warner Bros. buy while promoting his Paramount Days of Thunder sequel.
"Ms. Darby has brought serious and substantial claims." — Thomas K. Richards, attorney for Obsession ep Leonora Ann Darby, who alleges she was cut out of profits despite "rescuing" a cut.
"Well, they offered us a lot of money." — Bobby Bones, the radio host who's now taking part in Netflix's grand experiment in video podcasting.
"I learned my lesson, apparently proxy betting, not allowed." — Bill Simmons, after Fanduel said it reported the Spotify host's bets to Massachusetts gaming authorities.
"Right now, unless Ernie changes his mind, next year is my last year." — Charles Barkley, on retirement (along with Ernie Johnson) from Inside the NBA.
"We do not ask the public library to turn a profit." — Robert Clauser, former public media exec, pointing out the essential necessity of rural America's local stations.
Next Big Thing
The 22-year-old singer-songwriter, Malcolm Todd, who's having a breakout year with the success of his sophomore album Do That Again and viral single "Earrings," doesn't want to "curate anything for anyone."
Logline of the Week
[Mammoth]
"Coach Tony Mammoth is a larger-than-life high school gym teacher whose life is put on ice in 1983, when he’s buried in a freak ski avalanche. Forty years later, he thaws out to a world that has completely changed." -> Fox ordered the half-hour live-action comedy from Christopher Lloyd and Danny Zuker.
By the Numbers
(Most-read stories on THR.com this week)
1) "Wheel of Fortune Announcer Suspended Amid Investigation"
2) "The Tragedy of Perez Hilton"
3) "Melinda Gates Doubles Olivia Rodrigo’s Daisy Chain Donation Sum"
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Netflix's The Last House — yes, that's the film that was promoted with a man "trapped" inside a billboard on Sunset Blvd. — led Nielsen's movies chart with 838 million minutes of viewing for its premiere week. Meanwhile, Mattel's Masters of the Universe, which cost $170 million and grossed only $113 million in theaters, kept up its surprising streaming run, staying at No. 3 above theatrical blockbuster The Devil Wears Prada 2. Gen X may have been looking for the movie after all, just not in theaters. All weekly streaming charts.
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The 30 young (and old) auteurs who are keeping movie theaters alive — and even setting off a few bidding wars. To mark the moment, Aaron Couch and Borys Kit surveyed key genre players, studied the box office and considered cultural impact to rank the most influential directors working in the space today. The Top Genre Filmmakers.
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"On a quiet Upper East Side street Thursday, an impromptu memorial for feminist icon Gloria Steinem began forming," Caitlin Huston writes at the scene. "One by one, women walked up to Steinem’s longtime home and left bouquets of flowers and cards, often stopping in silence to take in the moment and the array of florals lining her gate." At the apartment, one woman remarks: "I think one of the things that I learned from her was that it’s not about passing the torch, it’s about lighting it."
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Dropped by UTA and dumped by a famous beau over his videos, the TikTok sensation Harry Daniels thinks it’s time to move on from L.A. and the ambush act that made him famous. "In some ways, I no longer view myself as a person," he tells Seth Abramovitch over an omelet at a crowded Hollywood diner. "Harry Daniels is different. I’m not Harry anymore. I’m a commodity. I’m a product." The story.
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Dozens of CAA assistants worked for months to put together the 22nd annual Young Hollywood party, planning for an evening that is a true celebration of assistants both inside and outside the company. Paramount, Untitled Entertainment and Assistants vs. Agents all purchased tables. The event took over three levels of the Avalon, offering up a tarot reader, portrait and hair tinsel stations, photo booth, makeup touch-up counter and a red carpet. Kirsten Chuba's story.
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Center at West Park hosted a special staged reading of The Big Chill with Josh Hamilton, Matthew Broderick, J. Smith-Cameron, Jumaane D. Williams, Debby Hirshman, Bobby Tisdale, Ilana Levine, Brian d’Arcy James, Amy Brenneman, Dylan Walsh, David Saint, Marisa Tomei, Spencer Garrett and Dana Bash. Nicole Kidman and Sandra Bullock kept close at the L.A. premiere of Practical Magic 2. Mark Wahlberg and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II brought By Any Means to the Paramount lot. Andrew Garfield and Paul Greengrass debuted their Focus Features film The Uprising in L.A. Wilmer Valderrama was honored at the This Is About Humanity Soiree in L.A. Sisters Ashtin and Alix Earle celebrated their Netflix series Earle Meets World in L.A. All 28 photos from the week in premieres.
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Upcoming Releases
Notable movies heading to theaters
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One-liners from THR's team of critics
Kate and Rooney Mara "embrace the weirdness" in Bucking Fastard, Werner Herzog's "nutty but thin tale of two sisters who behave as one." Danny Boyle's Rupert Murdoch origin story Ink, starring Jack O’Connell and Guy Pearce, is "a chronicle more than a critique, but vigorously entertaining." Gal Gadot sprints through ticking-clock thriller The Runner "that’s fun enough if you don’t stop to think about it." Ryan Reynolds and Kenneth Branagh "have infectious chemistry in derivative but diverting" Apple TV action-comedy Mayday. Adria Arjona "shines" in Adam Wingard’s "intriguingly colorful, ultimately underwhelming" A24 action thriller Onslaught. Tiffany Haddish thriller The Girl in the River is a "police procedural that’s like a failed TV pilot from a past era." Guy Nattiv’s cult drama The Liberation, starring Carrie Coon, Bella Ramsey and Lily James, is "heavy with powerhouse performances."
And finally:
A Hollywood Flashback...
"INDIE REVOLUTION," aka Happy 96th Birthday to the Reporter.
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