Sinkholes in Malibu, beaches rapidly eroding in Santa Monica, record-setting humidity across the City of Angels. It's not the start of an apocalyptic movie. It's pre-Emmys weekend party time! Stay safe out there. — Erik Hayden
Ticker: Nolan conquers Spielberg; Trudeau plots a film banner; Rapinoe goes HBO; SBC does theater with Tarantino; Kopple returns to picket line.
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"The threats facing corporate execs are at an all-time high," Alex Weprin writes in this week's lead story in the magazine. "And companies in the entertainment, media and tech sectors are responding by spending substantially more on CEO security, by double — and in some cases triple — digits." This isn't theoretical, Weprin has the numbers from Disney, Warner Bros. Discovery, Comcast, Paramount and more. The report.
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Things have gotten awfully quiet over at California AG Rob Bonta and David Ellison's conference rooms of late. Now the states and Paramount have been ordered by a judge to talk at the end of October. "The meeting will be introductory, meaning there’s no guarantee it’ll be substantive," Winston Cho reports. "Still, it could move the needle on resolving the case before a trial next year as both sides seemingly refuse to budge on their positions." Notably, Cho adds: "The settlement conference will take place nearly a month after the so-called $7 million-per-day ticking fee starts accruing." The story.
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It's back: THR selected the annual Most Powerful TV Producers from all writing producers with live-action scripted series that aired original episodes in the U.S. between August 2025 and August 2026. With acknowledgment that roles and duties can vary significantly from show to show, each entrant is judged relative to slates, deal size, ratings, value to platform and studio, cultural impact, awards and, pivotally, who can actually sell a show in this bizarre and uncertain climate. The Top 50.
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The Law & Order: SVU star, Knicks superfan and, soon, Emmy host Mariska Hargitay dishes with Mikey O'Connell about the speeches, the jokes and the prep for TV’s biggest night: "I have not only watched past monologues, I've built mine out of everything that killed in the past 78 years. It's been focus-grouped, and it works. Word-for-word, no updates. If it's not broken, don't fix it." The Emmys host Q&A.
It's that time of year...
The Brutally Honest Emmys Ballot — A member of the TV Academy, granted anonymity, reveals their ballot. (And votes for The Pitt and Widow's Bay.)
Who Will Win and Who Should Win — Scott Feinberg and Daniel Fienberg debate inevitability vs. merit among the nominees this year. The predictions.
*Didn't grab a magazine (or get one delivered) ahead of TV's big night? You missed out. Reading is better in print. Subscribe!
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"There’s some fun stuff to think about. I’m in no hurry." — Stephen Colbert, to THR, on his next chapter as he raises $5M and talks up his screenwriting software Scripto.
"We really believe in an eclectic slate." — Pamela Abdy, Warner Bros.' co-chief in a TIFF keynote. Up next for the studio? An unrecognizable Tom Cruise in Digger.
"If the world suffered an apocalypse tomorrow, the following day the global currency would be Pokémon cards." — Peter Levin, investor and founder of Griffin Gaming, who also has a personal collection of trading cards totaling 550,000-plus.
"We’ve ignored humanity for some reason." — Marcus Mabry, MS NOW content exec, on the channel's live event plans, including members lounge pop-ups with a bar.
"How do we keep outdoing ourselves?" — Michael Rubin, the Fanatics mogul who has cultivated a growing Rolodex of A-listers. Now he's building a studio, too.
"What’s precious is your feeling of being understood. You can’t live without that." — Gloria Steinem, at her last public event, now set to be an Audible Original.
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Next Big Thing
Following breakouts in Cobra Kai and Blue Beetle, 25-year-old Xolo Maridueña is showing a new side of masculinity as Joey King's love interest in Practical Magic 2: "I loved getting to show something a little bit different that is not always portrayed."
Logline of the Week
[Understudy]
"Centers on an actor who is hired for a unique role in South Korea. Before long, bodies start dropping, crimes are being committed, and the actor slowly realizes he’s at the center of a far-reaching plan." -> A 23-page short story that sold for $1 million to Netflix as a hot TV package that has Steven Yeun, Phil Lord and Chris Miller attached.
By the Numbers
(Most-read stories on THR.com this week)
1) "South Park Creators Apologize to Kendrick Lamar"
2) "Malkovich Cancels The Music Critic Israel Performance"
3) "Nathan Fielder’s Elizabeth Holmes Doc: First Reactions"
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60 Minutes is the most-watched news program in America. The newsmagazine benefits greatly from an NFL lead-in for much of the year to secure its significant ratings. As the above chart of its last season shows, 60 Minutes regularly beats 6 million viewers and sometimes has doubled that figure. Those are big numbers right now. Tomorrow, Bari Weiss' new edition spearheaded by Nick Bilton will launch after football wraps. As Alex Weprin reports, "Enormous effort will be put into the new season, but with so many tenured producers and correspondents out, and so many new names in, it remains to be seen if they will be able to pull off the overhaul this year." The report.
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What happens when L.A. billboard icon Angelyne sits down at a Denny's with Seth Abramovitch to chat about her latest big stunt (drone billboards above the city). Talk quickly turns to how she got Marc Jacobs to pay up over that unauthorized bag, claims of overtures from Nithya Raman's campaign (!) and dancing in '80s WeHo with Madonna and Boy George. The profile.
+ "The Fresh Sheikh of Beverly Hills." A billionaire Abu Dhabi royal, Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan, has been snapping up Hollywood watering holes like they’re going out of style. But two LA hangouts – the Sunset Tower and the San Vicente Bungalows – just turned down a $700M offer. Rambling Reporter.
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"The new Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is a Rorschach test for the value of mass culture, the future of Los Angeles and the legacy of founder George Lucas," writes Gary Baum in a critique of its main rival: "Its arrival also happens to highlight LACMA’s epic flop of a main new exhibition hall, the David Geffen Galleries building, which debuted across town four months ago." He adds, "LACMA’s failures, involving substantial public money, constitute serious lapses." The column.
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"Congrats, you cut the cord. Now you have six more cords. Streaming prices are rising three times as fast as inflation, making escaping cable company greed now seem quaint," writes James Hibberd, who takes out his calculator and notes: "Consumer prices have climbed an average of 3.84 percent annually since 2019, double the Federal Reserve’s 2 percent target. That number might still seem small, but it’s added up to a 33 percent increase in the cost of consumer living, which is why everything besides a Costco hot dog has gotten noticeably more expensive." The report.
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With actors buying teams and athletes becoming studios, the line between sports and entertainment has never been blurrier. THR has partnered with Sportico for a special issue examining the growing overlap. We’re also launching Game Recognize Game, a series uniting the biggest names in Hollywood with the pros they admire most. Up first:
— Oscar winner Mahershala Ali opens up to NBA champion Jaylen Brown.
— Off Campus sensation Belmont Cameli meets NHL phenom Macklin Celebrini.
...Plus...
"The Athlete Is the Studio": Forget brand deals. Coco Gauff joins LeBron James, Tom Brady and a generation of athletes building media empires. The report.
"Artificial Turf": Sports is hailed as a safe haven from AI, but sportscasting is going all in on the tech. Are fans ready for Bot Costas? The feature.
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Hasan Minhaj, Maitreyi Ramakrishnan and Priyanka Kedia debuted Netflix comedy Best of the Best in NYC. Nathan Fielder and Josh Safdie came out for the one-year anniversary of A24's ownership of New York’s Cherry Lane Theatre. Romy Mars joined Marc Jacobs at his brand event in NYC. Chris Pine showed up for Léa Seydoux at a NYC screening of her film Gentle Monster. Bobby Cannavale supported Twiggy at a New York Fashion Week celebration of her self-titled docy. David Ayer and Brad Pitt stopped by a special L.A. screening of their film Heart of the Beast. All 50 photos from the week in premieres.
*In Toronto? First, check out our dailies. Here's the freshly published, 40-page Saturday issue. Also: THR hosted a studio at 1 Hotel with photographer Kayla Rocca where Gary Oldman, Michelle Yeoh, Naomi Watts, Ziwe, Sebastian Stan, Jodie Comer, Michael Imperioli, Martin Freeman and, yes, the new Air Bud, stopped by. Festival photos.
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Upcoming Releases
Notable movies heading to theaters
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One-liners from THR's team of critics
Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman's Practical Magic 2 "works well enough to conjure a few warm sparks, if not quite to cast its own spell." Alex Gibney's Musk doc is "a poleaxing portrait of the tech titan as a con man given way too much power." Mike Leigh's Tender Loving Care is "a lovely addition — and likely conclusion — to an exceptional career." Paul Greengrass' medieval actioner The Uprising, starring Andrew Garfield, is "skillfully made and acted, but exhausting." Julianne Moore and Paul Giamatti "are dynamite together" in Jesse Eisenberg's theater comedy The Debut. Robert Pattinson's A24 turn in Primetime is "a peak Sleaze TV rerun, for whoever wants it." Ellen Burstyn, Taika Waititi and Pamela Anderson lead Kornél Mundruczó's "strange, sentimental, occasionally endearing road movie" Place to Be. Alexandra Pechman's directorial debut Magazine, set at a prestigious literary mag in 2010s New York, is "an affectionate but clear-eyed portrait of a time and place."
And finally:
A Hollywood Flashback...
"One might say that a new Carol Burnett has arrived on the TV scene, and we don’t mean just her new short haircut."
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