| | | | | | What's news: Paul King will direct Sony's Labubu movie. Tom Cruise and Alejandro G. Iñárritu's upcoming film will be called Digger. Toho is establishing a Euro HQ in London. Sony has purchased a major stake. And Netflix has renewed the excellent Japanese action series Last Samurai Standing. — Abid Rahman
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THR's Actress Roundtable ►"I watch these interviews all the time because I’m so curious about other people’s processes." THR's award-winning Roundtable Series continues, next up are the film actresses. THR's Seija Rankin sat down with six leading contenders for awards glory — Laura Dern (Is This Thing On?, Jay Kelly), Cynthia Erivo (Wicked: For Good), Jennifer Lawrence (Die My Love), Renate Reinsve (Sentimental Value), Jessie Buckley (Hamnet) and Amanda Seyfried (The Testament of Ann Lee) — to discuss their experiences onscreen — as it turns out, it’s normal to feel embarrassed! — and in navigating the months-long road show that is compulsory to releasing a film these days. The roundtable. |
TikTok U.S. Deal to Close Next Month ►🤝 It's happening... no, really. 🤝 After a long-drawn-out process, TikTok's Chinese parent company ByteDance has signed binding agreements with U.S. and international investors to operate it's American business from Jan. 22, 2026. The deal means that TikTok will have a new joint venture owner in the U.S.: TikTok USDS Joint Venture LLC. The new U.S. operations of TikTok will have three “managing investors” that will collectively own 45 percent of the company: Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX (Abu Dhabi’s state investment firm). Another 5 percent will be owned by other new investors, 30.1 percent will be "held by affiliates of certain existing investors of ByteDance; and 19.9 percent will be retained by ByteDance." The story.
—Omen? Just hours after news broke that the U.S. deal for TikTok is officially happening and will close next month, the social media giant hosted its first U.S. awards show in Hollywood — to rocky results. THR's Kirsten Chuba reports that the event streamed live on TikTok and on Tubi while also taking over the Hollywood Palladium on Thursday night, handing out 14 awards to top creators in a show hosted by La La Anthony. After a two-hour red carpet, though, the ceremony started an hour late, as TikTok execs Kim Farrell and Marisa Hammonds came out to tell the crowd — composed mostly of influencers and reality stars — that the room was so powerful that “you blew out our screens,” meaning zero of the five large screens behind the stage would be working. The recap. |
Why the Fight for Warner Bros. Is a Bidding War ►The last Hollywood gold mine. THR's Alex Weprin looks at why there's been such mad scramble to buy up the assets of Warner Bros. Discovery, writing that both Paramount and Netflix realize that Warners owns the only remaining massive trove of iconic IP in Hollywood. With Harry Potter, Batman, Superman, Barbie, Friends and Game of Thrones up for grabs, no wonder Ted Sarandos and David Ellison are battling to lock it up. The analysis.
—🤝 Paying peanuts for Peanuts. 🤝 In a late in the year deal, Sony Pictures Entertainment and Sony Music Entertainment Japan have taken a significant stake in Peanuts Holding LLC, the company that controls the intellectual property rights of the beloved characters created by Charles M. Schulz such as Charlie Brown and Snoopy. The purchase price was disclosed as about $460m for the stake sale. Sony has acquired all of the approximately 41 percent stake held by WildBrain, a Canadian kids’ and family entertainment company. The story.
—Big win for London. Reliving the glory days of the 1980s, Japanese entertainment heavyweight Toho is stepping up its global expansion, unveiling plans Friday to establish a European headquarters while acquiring British anime distributor Anime Limited and entering into a strategic alliance with Germany’s Plaion Pictures. The moves will see Toho Global — the company’s overseas business arm — set up European operations in London before the end of the year, positioning the new base as a continental hub for film, television, streaming, home entertainment, merchandise and games, all tied to Toho’s animation and select live-action IP. The story.
—🤝 Bubble latest. 🤝 Universal Music Group and music creation platform Splice have established a partnership to create AI music tools together, the companies announced on Thursday, the latest in a flurry of AI developments to hit the business in the past several months. The partnership brings together the world’s largest music company and one of the industry’s biggest music software platforms, though UMG and Splice were vague on the sorts of tools they’d actually be creating beyond saying they’d be “advanced commercial AI tools that can deliver high fidelity and precise expression of artistic intent.” The story. | SAG-AFTRA to Kick Off 2026 Union Negotiations Cycle ►📅 Seems like a lifetime ago. 📅 Believe it or not, it’s nearly been three years since the 2023 actors’ and writers’ strikes. Which means that a new season of labor negotiations is upon us. In fact, it’s less than two months away. SAG-AFTRA announced to members on Thursday that it will kick off the bargaining cycle early in 2026. The union’s negotiations for a new three-year agreement with the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers will begin on Feb. 9, 2026, making it the first major union to begin negotiations next year. The story.
—✊ Strike! ✊ Crew members on Rohit Karn Batra's upcoming gun violence-themed drama The Gun on Second Street are striking the ongoing production in an attempt to establish a union contract. On Thursday, IATSE said that a “majority” of the approximately 40-member crew walked off the set of the film in the Wheeling area of West Virginia that morning. So far, the film’s producers have declined to voluntarily recognize the union, per IATSE. Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell is executive producing the film alongside Sean Penn, whose shingle Projected Picture Works is producing with Batra’s The Film Compartment. The story.
—Tin-pot dictator stuff. The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. may be undergoing a name change. In a post on X Thursday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said the center’s board of trustees “have just voted unanimously” to change the name of the historic arts and cultural institution to the Trump-Kennedy Center. The board members were appointed by Trump in February, after he named himself chairman and fired some board members, with others resigning. However, in a statement after the board vote, several Democratic senators said the move to rename the institution cannot be done without congressional action. The story. |
Cruise and Iñárritu Film Has Title, Poster ►Shut up and take my money! Tom Cruise has unveiled Digger as the title for his upcoming movie with director Alejandro G. Iñárritu, along with the poster on his X account, while Warner Bros. released a short teaser. The “brutal comedy,” as the Oscar-winning Mexican director indicated at Cannes, will see Cruise star as the titular character Digger Rockwell, alongside Sandra Huller, Jesse Plemons, John Goodman, Riz Ahmed, Michael Stuhlbarg, Sophie Wilde and Emma D’Arcy. The Digger poster touts the film, set for an Oct. 2026 release, as a “Comedy of Catastrophic Proportions.” A logline for the project on IMDB says the story is about the “most powerful man in the world” racing to prove he can save humanity before the destruction he unleashes destroys everything. The story.
—Testing times. THR's Borys "Scoops" Kit has the scoop that Walt Disney Pictures is well underway searching for actors to inhabit the live-action adaptation of its 2010 animated movie, Tangled . The studio quietly conducted screen tests and chemistry readings in London last week for the parts of Rapunzel, the curious and plucky would-be princess with magical hair, and Flynn Rider, the cocky outlaw thief who helps her escape her tower prison. Sources tell Borys, Sarah Catherine Hook, Teagan Croft, Freya Skye and Olivia-Mai Barrett have tested for Rapunzel. Milo Manheim, Charlie Gillespie and Gilli Jones tested for the role of Rider. Disney is eyeing to shoot Tangled in the UK beginning in June, although scheduling could change, depending on the casting. The story.
—Wait, he's actually good... Borys is back with another banger scoop, this time with news that Brit filmmaker Paul King is going from cuddly jam-eating bears to cute-ugly monsters. A month after nabbing the film rights to Labubu, Sony has tapped Paddington and Wonka filmmaker King to bring to life a big-screen take on one of the world’s biggest collectible sensations. King is set to direct the feature project and will produce with Department M and Wenxin She. The project is in early development and is still in need of a writer. Sony is working with Chinese retailer and brand owner Pop Mart on the adaptation. The story.
—Getting animated. It's a hat trick of scoops for El Scooperino, Borys revealing that James Tynion IV, the comics author behind Something Is Killing the Children and The Nice House on the Lake, and his production house Tiny Onion are making a big play in the adult animation business. They are launching a muscular slate of titles based on the ideas and works of the creator. In concert with the move, Tiny Onion has brought on Casey Gonzalez, who has spent the last decade working with animation industry stalwart Fred Seibert at FredFilms, as director of multimedia to oversee development for the company’s animated projects. The first project is the adaptation of Tynion’s award-winning comic The Woods. The story. |
The Secret Kobe Doc You May Never See ►"It’s the white whale. But it can’t hold a director, and it’s been sitting out there with this eternal promise that never seems to materialize." Before his tragic death in January 2020, retired NBA superstar Kobe Bryant was busy working on a sports documentary with the working title 20th Season, about his final year in the league. But despite a slew of prominent producers and directors, including two Oscar winners, lining up with offers to shape the footage all into the doc in the years since the star's passing, one stubborn obstacle remains. THR's Peter Kiefer investigates Hollywood’s tumultuous tug-of-war with Kobe’s widow, Vanessa Bryant, over the priceless, unseen footage the late Lakers legend shot during his farewell season. The story.
—🏆 Congrats! 🏆 The Black Film Critics Circle has named Sinners the best film of 2025. The horror flick, written, produced and directed by Ryan Coogler, is the most recognized project by BFCC this year, being awarded the prizes in seven out of its 13 categories, including best director (Coogler), best actor (Michael B. Jordan), best supporting actor (Delroy Lindo), best cinematography, best original screenplay and best ensemble performance. The winners.
—Lightspeed progress. Star Wars: Starfighter is getting ready to hit the ground running. Filmmaker Shawn Levy took to Instagram on Thursday to celebrate the forthcoming feature having wrapped filming. Ryan Gosling stars in the movie that Disney is set to release theatrically on May 28, 2027. Levy shared a photo of himself jogging along the set. He added the caption, “That’s a wrap! Headed into #Starfighter post-production like…" The story. |
Netflix Renews 'Last Samurai Standing' ►SUGOI!!!!!! Steel yourself for more blades, blood and battle — Netflix’s Japanese period-action series Last Samurai Standing has been renewed for a second season. The streamer confirmed the pickup on Friday in Japan after the series became a breakout hit and globally. Since its debut, the Meiji-era battle royale drama has topped Netflix’s Global Top 10 (Non-English Series) chart and ranked in the platform’s Top 10 in 88 countries. In Japan, the series held the No. 1 position for four consecutive weeks, quickly becoming one of the most talked-about domestic releases of the year. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Apple TV has unveiled its first look at Imperfect Women, a psychological thriller starring and executive produced by Elisabeth Moss and Kerry Washington. The show, which is being adapted for TV by showrunner Annie Weisman, will debut with its first two episodes on March 18. A new episode will premiere each Wednesday through April 29 — the limited series has eight episodes in total. An adaptation of Araminta Hall’s novel of the same name, Imperfect Women “examines a crime that shatters the lives of a decades-long friendship of three women." Kate Mara is the third not-so-perfect woman. The story.
—📅 "An early gift to fans around the world." 📅 Taylor Swift and Disney+ are moving up the final two episodes of her six-part End of an Era docuseries. Episodes five and six of the singer’s documentary will now air Dec. 23 at 12 a.m. PT instead of its originally scheduled Dec. 26 at 12 a.m. PT, according to a post on X from Disney+. The story. |
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 episode, Scott spoke to Noah Baumbach. The writer/director best known for dramedies like The Squid and the Whale, Frances Ha and Marriage Story reflects on the people and films that shaped him, the evolution of his collaboration with Greta Gerwig spanning Greenberg through Barbie, and his new Netflix film Jay Kelly, which centers on a movie star (George Clooney) in the midst of an existential crisis. The podcast.
—Awards Chatter. In this live episode, Scott spoke to Gus Van Sant. The trailblazing filmmaker reflects on helping to usher in New Queer Cinema with Mala Noche and My Own Private Idaho; subsequently jumping between mainstream films, like Good Will Hunting and Milk, and experimental works, like Elephant; why he came close to directing, but did not direct, Brokeback Mountain, Call Me by Your Name and 50 Shades of Grey; and returning to feature filmmaking, after seven years away, with Dead Man's Wire. 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 hosts actor Simu Liu, who opens up about his Hollywood learning curve, racism in casting and his new spy series. But that's after a quorum of THR staffers debate the merits (and cost) of the L.A. cake that Tom Cruise famously gifts his friends and associates every Christmas. The podcast.
In other news...
—The Breadwinner trailer: Nate Bargatze, Mandy Moore make risky parenting choice
—Guy Ritchie’s Young Sherlock trailer reimagines detective for Prime Video
—The Sheep Detectives trailer: Hugh Jackman’s talking sheep track down his murderer
—Colombia boosts 2026 tax credit to record $90m for foreign productions
—Tribeca to include social media creators in new online work category
—The Stokes Twins sign with CAA
—Jeffrey Alan Woodley, hairstylist to the stars, dies at 71
What else we're reading...
—Ashley Ahn and Qasim Nauman report that a Reddit post led to a breakthrough in the Brown shooting investigation [NYT]
—Katherine Clarke looks at how the late Gary Winnick, once L.A.'s richest person, went from billionaire to bust [WSJ]
—Josef Adalian offers the take that ABC losing the Oscars to YouTube from 2029 might be a good thing [Vulture]
—M. Gessen reflects on Kaouther Ben Hania's harrowing The Voice of Hind Rajab, describing it as the movie that they were afraid to see for all the wrong reasons [NYT]
—Here's you Friday list: The 10 best TV episodes of 2025 [THR]
Today...
...in 1979, Meryl Streep and Dustin Hoffman’s landmark 105-minute drama Kramer vs. Kramer hit theaters. The film claimed five Oscar wins at the 52nd Academy Awards ceremony, including best picture. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Jake Gyllenhaal (45), Alyssa Milano (53), Jennifer Beals (62), Marla Sokoloff (45), Ken Marino (57), Tim Reid (81), Jack Fisk (80), Lauren Sanchez (56), Jill Talley (63), Annie Murphy (39), Hermione Corfield (32), Til Schweiger (62), Jessica Steen (60), King Princess (27), Amy Locane (54), Scott Cohen (64), Paul Rhys (🏴62), Robert MacNaughton (59), Autumn Noel (25), Elaine Joyce (80), Rosa Blasi (53), Elvis Nolasco (57), Ilhan Sen (38), Tara Summers (46), Richard Hammond (56), Libe Barer (34), Keiynan Lonsdale (34), Manav Kaul (49), Béatrice Dalle (61), Mary Catherine Garrison (52), David Reale (41), Luke Cook (39), Freya Parker (25), Julieth Restrepo (39), Nico Hiraga (28), Daisy Goodwin (64) |
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