| | | | What's news: Anne Heche's cause of death has been revealed. Jonah Hill says he will no longer do promo work for projects due to anxiety attacks. Simone Kessell joins S2 of Yellowjackets. Netflix has revived reality show The Mole. WBD is selling its stake in GB News. Streaming services topped cable as the most watched platform for the first time — Abid Rahman |
'Lord of the Rings' IP Rights Sold to Sweden's Embracer ►Mad for Middle-earth. Swedish gaming company Embracer Group has agreed to acquire Middle-earth Enterprises from The Saul Zaentz Company. The division owns an intellectual property catalog as well as worldwide rights to motion pictures, video games, board games, merchandising, theme parks and stage productions relating to author J.R.R. Tolkien's literary works including The Lord of the Rings trilogy and The Hobbit. The price tag wasn’t disclosed. The story.
—Inhalation and thermal injuries. Anne Heche’s cause of death has been revealed after her death following a car crash in Los Angeles earlier this month. According to the Los Angeles County coroner’s office, Heche died of “inhalation and thermal injuries.” The coroner’s report also lists “sternal fracture due to blunt trauma” as what is termed a “significant condition” in her passing. The story.
—"Important step to protect myself." Jonah Hill will soon debut a documentary about mental health but he won’t be available to promote it — or any of his upcoming projects. While making the Netflix film — titled Stutz after his personal therapist Dr. Phil Stutz — Hill came to understand that he has spent “nearly 20 years experiencing anxiety attacks, which are exacerbated by media appearances and public facing events.” The story.
—Court date set. Rapper A$AP Rocky has pleaded not guilty to felony assault with a firearm charges stemming from a November 2021 confrontation in Hollywood. He is accused of drawing a gun and firing it twice in the direction of a former friend during an argument. He pleaded not guilty Wednesday to two counts of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and ordered to return to court on Nov. 2. The story.
—Looking to history to grasp our complicated present. In a guest column for THR, Oscar-winning director Barry Levinson reveals the drive to make his HBO Emmy-nominated film The Survivor, that stars Ben Foster as Holocaust survivor Harry Haft. The column. |
'Dragon' vs. 'Rings': Which Epic Fantasy Show Will "Win"? ►Head-to-head fantasy. With potentially billions at stake, Amazon Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power and HBO's Game of Thrones prequel House of Dragon are about to face off. THR's James Hibberd offers his analysis of which will emerge victorious — and why the entire notion of a competition might also be a fantasy. The matchup.
—Batgirl beyond. The newly combined Warner Bros. Discovery’s recent $825m content culling, axing projects like Scoob!: Holiday Haunt, Wonder Twins and J.J. Abrams’ big-budget sci-fi drama Demimonde, is raising antitrust red flags and causing consumer backlash. As one creator tells THR's Winston Cho, "It seems like self-harm." The analysis.
—On the subject of cuts. Warner Bros. Discovery is set to sell its stake in GB News, the U.K. news channel that launched in June 2021 as a right-leaning Fox News-lite alternative to the likes of the BBC and ITV News. Discovery was one of the early investors in GB News, which was hit by a string of issues and embarrassing ratings in its opening weeks, eventually losing its chairman Andrew Neil following a very public fallout. The story.
—Some answers! Showtime has enlisted Obi-Wan Kenobi actress Simone Kessell to play the role of the mysterious Lottie Matthews in Yellowjackets’ present-day storyline. The character’s arrival was teased in the season one finale and set off a wave of online casting suggestions for the breakout series. Courtney Eaton, who plays the 1996-set version of Lottie, has also been promoted to series regular. The story.
—Throwback TV. Netflix has ordered a new version of The Mole, a competition series in which one player — the “mole” — works to undermine the others. The series, based on a Belgian format, aired for five seasons on ABC, with the last coming in 2008. Eureka Productions is behind the new version, which is slated to debut on Netflix in the fall. The story.
—Comprehensive coverage. An all-star tribute concert honoring late Foo Fighters drummer Taylor Hawkins will air across Paramount’s streaming and linear platforms next month. The Taylor Hawkins Tribute Concert Sept. 3 at Wembley Stadium in London will stream live on Paramount+ (in the U.S.), Pluto TV (internationally) and MTV’s YouTube channels (globally) starting Saturday, Sept. 3 at 11:30 a.m. ET. The story. |
Emmys: THR's Critics Break Down the Frontrunners ►"This year feels much more wide-open." Despite returning favorites Ted Lasso and Succession leading the comedy and drama nominees, respectively, THR TV critics Dan Fienberg and Angie Han say that the highly competitive acting and limited series categories may bring some surprises. The critics' conversation.
—It finally happened. Streaming services hit a fifth consecutive high in their share of all TV use in July — and for the first time, ranked as the most watched platform across the television landscape. Streamers overtook cable for the month, accounting for almost 35 percent (34.8 percent, to be exact) of all TV usage in the U.S., according to Nielsen’s monthly Gauge platform rankings. That’s up more than a full percentage point from June’s figure of 33.7 percent. The story.
—"I kick myself for it." Twilight: New Moon director Chris Weitz has revealed he declined Taylor Swift’s request to be in the film. In a new interview, Weitz recalled being told by Swift’s agent at the time that the singer wanted to be in the 2009 film, even in a minor role, given how much of a “Twi-hard” she was. However, given Swift’s stardom and the possible distraction that could cause, Weitz declined the request, a decision he admitted he might regret. The story.
—Shaken and stirred. Netflix is set to shake up the bar and spirits worlds with Drink Masters, a reality series out of Canada to debut on Oct. 28 as competing mixologists look to create fresh takes on storied cocktails. The show features 12 contestants from across North America who have to complete challenges against the clock. The story.
—"The division has to stop." THR's nicest man Chris Gardner spoke to the equally nice Anson Williams, aka Potsie on Happy Days, who is running to become mayor of Ojai, California. The actor, director and businessman discusses why "not being a politician" will help his chances and whether he'll lean on Hollywood pals like Ron Howard for his campaign. The interview. |
TV Review: 'Sprung'►"Sure to appeal to fans of Raising Hope and My Name Is Earl." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews Freevee's Sprung. Raising Hope cohorts Martha Plimpton and Garret Dillahunt reunite in Greg Garcia's comedy about ex-cons committing crimes for the right reasons early in the COVID pandemic. The review. — "Trashy, twisted fun for a few episodes and then boring and over-explained." Dan reviews Netflix's Echoes. Michelle Monaghan plays twins with seemingly very different personalities in Netflix's new seven-episode limited-series mystery. The review. In other news... —Feinberg Forecast: Mid-voting Emmy projections — Wednesday trailer teases high school mayhem for the Addams Family teen —Alexis Bledel and Vincent Kartheiser to divorce after eight years of marriage —Inside the new Waldorf Astoria Washington DC, the former Trump International —828 Productions to relocate to New Mexico, plans to build studio complex —YouTube and Twitch streamers Sykkuno, Grace Van Dien sign with UTA —Polish remake of Volodymyr Zelensky sitcom Servant of the People in the works What else we're reading... —Felix Gillette and Eliza Ronalds-Hannon write that AMC Theaters CEO Adam Aron’s will do whatever it takes to keep his company a memestock forever [ Bloomberg] —Ben Sisario looks at why music's biggest acts are currently opting for long residences at one venue [ NYT] —Aja Romano doesn't hold back on the not-too-subtle military propaganda that is Netflix's Purple Hearts [ Vox] —Lauren Puckett-Pope has an indepth interview with She-Hulk star Tatiana Maslany and she discusses CGI, women's bodies and there's a bit of Orphan Black chat too [ Elle] —Shannon O’Connor opines that Emily the Criminal star Aubrey Plaza has quietly become one of best actors working today [ Daily Beast] Today... Today's birthdays: Robert Redford (86), Kaitlin Olson (47), Edward Norton (53), Christian Slater (53), Andy Samberg (44), Madeleine Stowe (64), Madelaine Petsch (28), Maia Mitchell (29), Josephine Langford (25), Elizabeth Chambers (40), Richard Harmon (31), Anna Akana (33), Denis Leary (65), Craig Bierko (58), Sarita Choudhury (56), Malcolm-Jamal Warner (52), Glenn Plummer (61), Max Winkler (39), John Debney (66) | | | | | | | | | | | |
