What's news: Perez Hilton was hospitalized after appearing to self-harm on a livestream. Paramount+ had its best-ever quarter for retention. Disney's consumer products unit will move to the entertainment division. Spider-Man: Brand New Day crossed $1b in 6 days. Bowen Yang will make his Broadway debut with Oh, Mary! And Netflix will give La Bola Negra a 47-day exclusive theatrical release. — Abid Rahman
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Cooper Hoffman Is Courting Controversy — Onscreen, Anyway |
►On the cover. Unsurprisingly for an actor who entered the industry in the shadow of Philip Seymour Hoffman, Cooper Hoffman early on gravitated towards projects that offered some form of familiarity. He took a part in Wildcat, a passion project from Ethan Hawke, who was a member of his father’s LAByrinth Theater Company, that also starred Hawke’s daughter Maya, a childhood friend. He joined the ensemble of Saturday Night, overseen by Jason Reitman, who also grew up in Hollywood. He did The Long Walk, directed by Francis Lawrence, the last person to work with his father (on The Hunger Games: Mockingjay). But now, at 23, Hoffman is ready to get uncomfortable, branching beyond the safety net of his father’s inner circle and taking on roles in two of the year’s most provocative films.
THR's Seija Rankin profiles Hoffman just as he cements his reputation as one of the most in-demand actors after starring in Gregg Araki’s boundary-pushing and explicit comedy I Want Your Sex and Luca Guadagnino’s highly anticipated OpenAI exposé Artificial. The cover story.
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Paramount-WBD Trial to Start in March 2027 |
►Ouch! The judge overseeing a lawsuit from a coalition of 12 states looking to block Paramount‘s $111b takeover of Warner Bros. Discovery has scheduled a trial to start in March. The decision marks a blow for the studio, which pushed to start the trial in November. Starting on Oct. 1, Paramount will have to pay a ticking fee of roughly $7m per day to Warners shareholders until the deal closes. It’ll likely be on the hook for upwards of $1.5b, accounting for the time it takes for the court to issue a ruling on the antitrust trial. The story.
—Meh. Paramount reported mixed second-quarter earnings Tuesday. The company reported group revenues of $6.9b, up 1 percent from its predecessor company a year ago, while net earnings fell to $41m after $57m a year ago. The TV unit continued to fall, dropping 9 percent year-over-year to $3.1b, while direct-to-consumer revenue rose 9 percent to $2.5b. Studio revenue rose 16 percent to $1.3b. Revenue at Paramount+ rose 16 percent to $2.1b, as the company said Q2 was its best quarter for retention ever on the streamer. The results.
—What Ellison is really up to. At first it just seemed like a happy coincidence — a Hollywood agency mogul supporting a Hollywood corporate merger. Ari Emanuel published an op-ed last Tuesday saying David Ellison buying WBD was a good idea and that those 12 Democratic AG’s who have sued to stop the deal were on the wrong warpath. Over the past week, though, the support has started to look a lot less like passive presents and a lot more like an active strategy, writes THR's Steven Zeitchik. The story.
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Disney, TikTok Ink Wide-Ranging Deal |
►🤝 Sora who? 🤝 TikTok videos will be coming to Disney+. The two companies have inked what they are calling a “first-of-its-kind” content sharing deal, which will allow TikTok videos from Disney fans to live on both of their streaming platforms. The deal bears a striking similarity to last year’s short-lived announcement with OpenAI to fold videos from Sora into Disney+… but without the whole AI-generated angle. Creators who opt-in to the program will gain access to Disney assets. The story.
—Chugging along. Disney reported its fiscal Q3 earnings early Wednesday, with films like Toy Story 5, streaming, and its lucrative experiences division powering its results. Disney reported revenue of $25.2b, up 7 percent from a year ago, with segment operating income of $5.5b, up 21 percent from a year ago. The company also revealed that the lucrative consumer products segment will move from being part of Disney’s experiences division and into its entertainment division. The result.
—FAST talking. Disney said it is exploring launching a FAST product, or free, ad-supported channels for consumers. "We’re exploring a free product for consumers, one that will allow us to accomplish several goals and hopefully do that efficiently," CEO Josh D’Amaro said on the earnings call Wednesday. "We see it as a way to expand our reach to a customer segment that’s more price sensitive, and expanding our reach is as we’ve talked about before, one of our strategic priorities." The story.
—Woof! Super Bowl LXI is more than half a year away, but Disney has already sold out its advertising inventory for the Big Game, an early sellout for the most important event in sports and advertising. CFO Hugh Johnston disclosed the milestone on the company’s earnings call. NBC sold out of its Super Bowl last September, while Fox sold out of its game in November. Disney had been seeking as much as $10m for a 30 second ad. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Disney has sold its 50 percent equity stake in A+E Global Media to Hearst for $1.2b in cash, ending the joint venture that was first created in 1984. The deal will see Hearst take full control of the media company formerly known as A+E Networks, which owns brands like A&E, History and Lifetime, including cable TV channels, content studios, and streaming offerings. A+E has also invested in companies like Vice, Propagate Content, Atlas Obscura and Philo TV. The story.
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Perez Hilton Hospitalized After Self-Harming on Livestream
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►The latest. Police responded to Perez Hilton‘s home in Miami on Tuesday night after the celebrity gossip blogger appeared to be harming himself on a TikTok livestream. In graphic clips reposted on social media, Hilton, appearing manic, could be seen in the livestream covered in blood, using an object to cut himself repeatedly. After confirming Hilton was alone in the home, authorities later said he was "safely recovered and transported by Miami-Dade Fire Rescue to a local hospital, where he is receiving medical attention." The story.
—Dismissed. CAA won’t have to face a lawsuit from Terrence Howard accusing the agency of botching negotiations for his contract on Empire, a court has ruled. Howard in 2023 sued CAA, alleging his agents had a conflict of interest when they convinced him into taking below-market salaries for his six-season run starring in the series. The sweeping lawsuit targeted packaging fees, a lucrative commission paid to agencies for bundling key creative elements — like writers, directors and actors — into a single project. The story.
—Thwarted! WBD CEO David Zaslav‘s effort to buy a summer camp just north of New York City appears to have failed, with a private equity firm swooping in to outbid him for the property at a bankruptcy auction, according to court records filed Tuesday. Zaslav was the stalking horse bidder for Mohawk Day Camp and Mohawk Country Day School, the preschool that it also operates, with his Grandview Ventures bidding $68m for the property as a personal investment. FitzWalter Capital Partners emerged as the winning bidder in the auction. The story.
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Netflix Gives 'La Bola Negra' 47-Day Theatrical Release
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►📅 Well, well, wellity, well. 📅 La Bola Negra, the sweeping Spanish-language epic that Netflix acquired out of Cannes for an awards season push, will be given a U.S. theatrical release on Oct. 16 and will subsequently begin streaming on Dec. 2. That 47-day period of theatrical exclusivity before streaming will be the longest yet for any Netflix film, surpassing the 31-day given to Marriage Story in 2019. A new record is expected to be established in 2027, with Greta Gerwig’s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew set for a 49-day theatrical release. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Poetic License, Maude Apatow’s critical darling from TIFF 2026, has landed at Sony Pictures Classics in a worldwide deal, with a theatrical release planned for 2027. Written by Raffi Donatich, and produced by Judd Apatow, the film follows a soon-to-be empty nester (Leslie Mann) who audits a college poetry class after her family moves to a small college town. In the class, she befriends two co-eds (Cooper Hoffman, Andrew Barth Feldman) who, unbeknownst to her, start competing for her affections. The story.
— 🎭 Hunting wife to vengeful wife. 🎭 Brittany Snow, one of the wives of twisty hit series The Hunting Wives, has joined the cast of The Housemaid’s Secret, Lionsgate’s sequel to its surprise hit The Housemaid. Snow joins a roll call that includes returning star Sydney Sweeney as well as new stars Kirsten Dunst and Paul Anthony Kelly. Michele Morrone will also return to star as Enzo, reprising his role from the first film. Paul Feig returns to direct the thriller. The story.
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The Box Office Is Finally Back, Baby!
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►So, so back! After years of doom and gloom, 2026 is on track to be the biggest year at the box office since the pandemic. Toy Story 5, Michael and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie have raked in a cool billion each, and then there's hits Project Hail Mary ($684m) Obsession ($475m) and Backrooms ($390 million) all before The Odyssey ($911m and counting) and Spider-Man: Brand New Day (soaring towards all manner of box office records). THR's James Hibberd reflects on a bumper year at the box office so far. The analysis.
—Backety back, back! Spider-Man: Brand New Day has already spun its way to the billion-dollar mark at the global box office. Sony Pictures announced Tuesday that the superhero movie has grossed $1.05b in its first six days. This makes it the second-fastest film to achieve this milestone, behind only Avengers: Endgame, which launched with $1.2b worldwide in its opening weekend in April 2019. The box office report.
—The backiest we've ever been! Glendale’s century-old Alex Theatre installed its 70mm presentation system six weeks ago, just ahead of the July 17 premiere of The Odyssey. Now the venue, which hadn’t shown a first-run movie for 35 years, has announced it’s the highest grossing theatre in the country for Christopher Nolan’s epic for the film format. The 900-seat Alex, has been showing The Odyssey three times per day. The venue will be extending its run by at least two weeks. The last first-run film at the Alex was Terminator 2: Judgment Day in 1991. The story.
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The Most Streamed Original Series in First Half of 2026
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►Going out with bang. The final episode of Stranger Things premiered on the last day of 2025, but the momentum of one of Netflix’s biggest series ever carried well into this year. The show was the most streamed series or movie in the U.S. in the first half of 2026, according to Nielsen. The ratings service released a rundown of the top shows and movies for the first half of the year on Tuesday. Stranger Things racked up 23.26b minutes of viewing from Dec. 29, 2025 to June 28, 2026, including a single-week record of 8.65b minutes for the week the series finale debuted. The Pitt, whose second season grew by huge amounts, finished second among original series and third overall with 21.12b viewing minutes on HBO Max. The ratings.
—🟢 Touch of class. 🟢 Paramount+ has greenlit Ascent, a thriller about a corporate fixer starring and executive produced by Viola Davis. The Oscar-winner will play Catriona Vail, a problem-solver for billion-dollar corporate clients, who must deploy her damage control and crisis skills when her estranged daughter comes into harm’s way. Skyfall and Michael screenwriter John Logan created the series and will serve as showrunner. Alongside Davis, Michael Aguilar and Julius Tennon will executive produce. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Netflix‘s Monster anthology is returning this fall with its first female “monster.” The streamer has released the first look photos and premiere date for season four of its Emmy-winning series, which stars Ella Beatty as Lizzie Borden. All eight episodes premiere Sept. 17 on Netflix. Beatty stars as the accused axe murderer who was tried and acquitted in the 1892 killings of her father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. The story.
—Broken Daly routine. After trying to make stars for 15 years and 30 seasons, The Voice will feature a group of already well-known contestants in 2027. The NBC singing competition will launch a celebrity edition (The Voice: Celebrity) next year which Keke Palmer will host, taking over from usual emcee Carson Daly. Joe Jonas, Queen Latifah and Riley Green will be the coaches for the celebrity season. The story.
—🎭 Perfect 10. 🎭 Jack Gleeson, James Nesbitt, Henry Ashton, James D’Arcy, Calvin Demba, Phil Dunning, Tamsin Greig, Guy Remmers, Rebecca Rittenhouse and Mawaan Rizwan have joined the cast of the BBC and BritBox‘s Agatha Christie adaptation, Hercule. Edward Bluemel had already been confirmed to play the young version of the beloved Belgian detective in a six-part series. The story.
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Bowen Yang to Make Broadway Debut in 'Oh, Mary!'
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►🎭 A new diva. 🎭 Bowen Yang will be the next Mary Todd Lincoln in Oh, Mary! Yang is a coproducer on Titanique on Broadway but the Oh, Mary! role will be his acting debut in New York and marks one of his biggest projects since he departed SNL in December. He takes over from current Mary, Meg Stalter, for a run starting Sept. 15 and ending Dec. 6. The story.
—ICYMI. Geno Segers will no longer be part of the Broadway cast of Hadestown after his casting drew online outrage due to his social media postings. Segers was announced July 29 as part of the new principal cast of the show. However, his casting quickly drew backlash online, as theater fans pointed to prior videos made by Segers in which he allegedly spoke out against transgender people, including trans athletes. The story.
—"For a show with this [amount of] worldwide acclaim and success, I think humility is a good thing." THR's Lily Ford spoke to Leslie Odom Jr. just as Broadway's original Aaron Burr is thrilling the West End with his return to Lin-Manuel Miranda's Hamilton. Odom Jr. reveals exactly why he chose to come back — and how his years away from Hamilton changed everything. The interview.
—Out of the loop. Ariana Grande’s decision to issue a statement to People announcing she would “step away from the public eye” after her tour came as a surprise to some members of Sunday in the Park With George, which Grande also withdrew from. Team members of the London musical were only given hours to prepare their own statement for the People piece, and were surprised at the speed and her decision. The story.
—Last chance riches. Ragtime hit close to $2m as the best musical revival winner nears the end of its run. The production brought in $1.89m, as the fifth highest grossing show of the week and its highest gross yet, with the average ticket price hitting an eye-popping $224. This was the highest average ticket price of the week, besting Hamilton’s average ticket price by $4. The musical is set to end its run Aug. 16. Cats: The Jellicle Ball also hits its highest gross yet, as the musical prepares for its Aug. 8 closing. The revival brought in $1.4m, as the average ticket price inched up to $148, and capacity remained above 100 percent. The Broadway box office report.
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TV Review: 'Ted Lasso' S4
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►"Sweet but empty." THR's Angie Han reviews season four of Apple TV's Ted Lasso. More than three years since it went off the air, the Emmy-winning series returns with Jason Sudeikis' chipper American taking a new post as head coach of Richmond's inaugural women's team. Also starring Hannah Waddingham, Juno Temple, Tanya Reynolds, Jeremy Swift, Brett Goldstein, Abbie Hern, Faye Marsay, Jude Mack, Aisling Sharkey and Rex Hayes. Created by Jason Sudekis, Bill Lawrence, Brendan Hunt and Joe Kelly. The review.
—"A getaway worth taking." Angie reviews Amazon Prime Video's Sterling Point. Hailing from My Old Ass filmmaker Megan Park and The O.C. executive producers Stephanie Savage and Josh Schwartz, the series follows a teenager who inherits a Canadian island from her late grandfather. Starring Ella Rubin, Amélie Hoeferle, Jacob Whiteduck-Lavoie, Bo Bragason, Keen Ruffalo, Daniel Quinn-Toye, Mabel Strachan, Jay Duplass, Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Missi Pyle. Created by Megan Park. The review.
In other news...
—TIFF adds Zooey Deschanel, Michelle Yeoh, Simon Rex, Ed Helms, Barry Keoghan films
—NYFF to host world premiere of Godzilla Minus Zero
—Gotham Week sets 2026 programming lineup
What else we're reading...
—Cookbook author Joshua David Stein writes that new film Tony, both adds to and rises above a cottage industry dedicated to selling the mythology of Anthony Bourdain [Grubstreet]
—After her savage LRB piece, Homer scholar Emily Wilson is back with more digs against Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey [The Atlantic]
—Hannah Critchfield and Shane Shifflett report on how ICE is weaponizing social media against its critics [WSJ]
—Dave Simpson talked to legendary music video director Tim Pope on his iconic work with the Cure, Bowie, Queen, Soft Cell and more during the golden age of MTV [Guardian]
—Wild Jennifer Schuessler and Alexandra Alter story on the questions being raised about the life and achievements of Cambridge University professor Jason Arday [NYT]
Today...
...in 2011, 20th Century Fox released Rupert Wyatt's Rise of the Planet of the Apes in theaters. The first film in the Planet of the Apes reboot series was a huge commercial and critical success and was nominated for a VFX Oscar. The original review.
Today's birthdays...
James Gunn (60), Steven Knight (67), Mark Strong (63), Jesse Williams (45), Olivia Holt (29), Janet McTeer (65), Josie Totah (25), Wi Ha-joon (35), Bruce Horak (52), John Reynolds (35), Kajol (52), Jonathan Silverman (60), Sophie Winkleman (46), Mimi Keene (28), Maureen McCormick (70), Kara Tointon (43), Yungblud (29), Scott William Winters (61), Honor Kneafsey (22), Barbara Flynn (78), John Jarratt (74), Izzy G. (18), Ray Fearon (53), Clayton Rohner (69), Kola Bokinni (34), Franco Lo Presti (36), Elle McKinnon (20), Kô Shibasaki (45), Lorri Bagley (53), Karl Theobald (57), Tara Karsian (61), Chip Fields (75), Nick Pugliese (30), Ami Foster (51), Chad Einbinder (63), Holly Palance (76), Zach Appelman (41), Maddox Jolie-Pitt (25), Chris Sandiford (39)
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