| | | | | | What's news: Marty Supreme gave A24 its biggest opening ever. Tyler Perry has been sued for sexual battery by an actor who appeared in Boo! A Madea Halloween. And Ms. Rachel, Luis Guzman, John Turturro, Cynthia Nixon, Cole Escola are among the celebs who will appear at Zohran Mamdani's New Year’s Day block party. — Abid Rahman
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'Avatar 3' Sprints to $760M WW ►Jimmy eat world. James Cameron's Avatar: Fire and Ash dominated the long Christmas weekend with a four-day earnings of $88m, including $64m for the three-day weekend proper. While it’s lagging behind the last film at the same point in its run, Avatar 3 is still a monster, grossing another $181.2m overseas for a monster global tally of $760.4 million through Sunday, including $217.7m domestically and $542.7m overseas. And with a week to go before the holidays are officially wrapped, it should be at $1b by the end of next weekend.
THR's Pamela McClintock writes that including Avatar 3, Disney held dominion over the only three 2025 movies that crossed $1b at the 2025 worldwide box office behind Lilo & Stitch and Zootopia 2, which — no joke — stayed high up on the Christmas chart five weeks after first opening as it crossed a near-record $561m in China alone, finishing Sunday with a cume of $1.420b (Avatar 3 is also doing business in China).
A24’s high-profile period pic Marty Supreme was the biggest surprise in grabbing second place over a four-day holiday opening of $27.1m, the best opening in the history of the indie studio. The pic’s Friday-Sunday haul was $17.5m, putting it at No. 3. In a surprise upset, Timothée Chalamet’s film easily came in ahead of Sony’s Anaconda, which also opened Dec. 25 alongdide Focus Features’ specialty pic Song Sung Blue, starring Hugh Jackman and Kate Hudson. Anaconda, rebuffed by many critics, posted a four-day opening of $23.6m and a fourth-place finish domestically. The box office report. |
Trump's Kennedy Center Christmas of Chaos ►Ratings loser. Donald Trump's Christmas week in office culminated in a cascade of headline-grabbing activity, including his broadcast debut as an awards show host at the Kennedy Center Honors. Preliminary ratings for this year’s show were well below last year’s (2.65m compared to 4.1m) though one insider cautioned that the final numbers, due in the next few days, should provide a higher total — though whether that is enough to overtake last year’s ratings low remains to be seen. The ratings.
—Banana republic latest. Richard Grenell, the president of the Kennedy Center, on Friday fiercely criticized a musician’s sudden decision to cancel a Christmas Eve performance at the venue days after the White House announced that Donald Trump’s name would be added to the facility. “Your decision to withdraw at the last moment... is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit Arts institution,” Grenell wrote in a letter to musician Chuck Redd. In the letter, Grenell said he would seek $1m in damages "for this political stunt." The story.
—"I don’t see what I do as partisan so much as corrective. Everyone’s ripe for a website." Toby Morton, a former South Park voice-over actor and writer turned online activist, has been purchasing the web domain names of mostly Republican politicians and action groups, and recently revealed he made a prescient move in snatching up two Trump Kennedy Center domains months ahead of the president’s naming overhaul of the institution. THR's Kevin Dolak spoke to Morton about his mischievous project. The interview. |
Tyler Perry Sued for Sexual Assault ►New accuser. Tyler Perry has been sued for sexual battery by an actor who appeared in Boo! A Madea Halloween and accuses the entertainment mogul of multiple instances of assault across several years at his Los Angeles home. Mario Rodriguez, in a lawsuit filed on Thursday in California state court, claims that Perry subjected him to unwanted sexual advances, including one occasion in 2018 in which the filmmaker "tightly hugged" him and "grabbed his penis." In a statement to THR , a lawyer for Perry denied the allegations, describing the claims as a "failed money grab." The complaint is the second filed against Perry accusing him of leveraging his power in Hollywood to assault aspiring male actors in his orbit. Derek Dixon sued Perry in June, alleging that the mogul pinned him against a wall and groped him. The story.
—Suppression attempt. The attorneys for the man accused of killing rap icon Tupac Shakur in 1996 are pushing to suppress evidence obtained in what they claim was an “unlawful nighttime search.” Criminal defense attorneys Robert Draskovich and William Brown filed a motion this week on behalf of their client, Duane “Keffe D” Davis, who was charged in the drive-by shooting of the iconic rapper off the Las Vegas Strip. Davis’ attorneys argue a judge relied on a “misleading portrait” of Davis as a dangerous drug dealer to grant the execution of a search warrant at night, which should only be done in exceptional circumstances, such as if there’s a risk that evidence will disappear if officers wait until morning. The story.
—Get Mikel Arteta in the lineup. New York City’s mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has lined up a slate of familiar names to Hollywood for his inaugural committee, with a massive New Year’s Day block party planned to be held by City Hall. As is tradition, Mamdani will be sworn in as mayor in Times Square, just minutes after the ball has dropped to welcome the new year. Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Attorney General Letitia James will swear him in. Among the members of the committee are Ms. Rachel, Luis Guzman, John Turturro, Cynthia Nixon, Cole Escola, Julio Torres, Kal Penn, The Kid Mero, Sonny Rollins, Colson Whitehead and A24 executive Sara’o Bery. The story.
—"They see that I’m a rebel with a cause." Perhaps the biggest celebrity on the streets of New York City right now is two-time failed mayoral candidate Curtis Sliwa, the garrulous red beret-sporting founder of the Guardian Angels who went toe-to-toe with Andrew Cuomo and eventual winner Zohran Mamdani. THR's Steven Zeitchik spoke to Sliwa about his own appeal and why he thinks Mamdani will not be a great disruptor. The interview. |
The Forgotten Past of Hollywood's Anti-Nazi Committee ►"The group listed a long train of abuses by the Nazis, a regime “unfit to be the friend of free people” and issued a demand for concrete action from the Roosevelt Administration." As Jane Fonda revives the Committee for the First Amendment, Thomas Doherty, a professor of American Studies at Brandeis University, takes a look at the lesser-known Committee of 56, whose membership expanded well beyond the elite ranks of Hollywood talent to a broad spectrum of the American public. The story. |
'Pluribus' Star Breaks Down That Season Finale Betrayal ►"It was very interesting because I felt that for the first time this whole season, we see Manousos confused." THR's Brian Davids spoke to Pluribus star Carlos-Manuel Vesga about the season one finale of Apple TV's much-talked about series. The actor who plays Manousos Oviedo dishes about that bombshell cliffhanger with Rhea Seehorn's Carol. Warning: Spoilers! The interview.
—"What [the parting glance] was for me is that maybe there’s somehow still a chance [to reconsider]." Brian also spoke to Pluribus' Karolina Wydra, who plays Zosia in the Apple series. Wydra breaks down Zosia's final look to Carol in that cliffhanger season-ender. Warning: Spoilers! The interview.
—"It’s funny because I’m finally Tuk’s height [at 16]. She’s 5’7’’ or 5’8’’ as a nine-year-old Na’vi." Busy Brian also spoke to rising actress Trinity Bliss about her latest film, Avatar: Fire and Ash. The franchise's youngest castmember reveals she has already shot a little from Avatar 4 and hopes the sequel still happens: "I'm bursting to get into it." The interview.
—"I generally don’t take my work home with me, but there were things that weren’t scripted that ended up happening during that sequence." It's that man again, and this time Brian spoke to Daisy Ridley about her new project, the zombie survival thriller We Bury the Dead. Ridley also discusses working with Solo: A Star Wars Story star Alden Ehrenreich on The Last Resort, the next collaboration between her and husband Tom Bateman following 2024’s Magpie, as well as her favorite film of 2025. The interview. |
In Praise of 'Heated Rivalry' and Gay Happy Endings ►Get your mind out of the gutter! THR critic David Rooney writes that the sex is hot in Crave/HBO's Heated Rivalry, but it's the swoony romantic highs and tender insights into queer first love and self-acceptance that make HBO’s breakout hit special. The critic's notebook.
—"More than about gayness, actually, it’s about masculinity and the currency that it is." THR's resident Heated Rivalry expert Nicole Fell spoke to François Arnaud, who plays Scott Hunter, a veteran professional hockey player in the buzzy series. Arnaud digs into the show’s success, why he’s so vocal about intrusions into actors’ lives and what the show’s about at its core. Warning: Spoilers! The interview. |
For 'Stranger Things' Star Sadie Sink, It's Not Goodbye — It's See You Later ►"I cried so much that last day, I feel like I grieved it properly and I got it all out of my system. But I fear there’s more coming." THR's Carly Thomas spoke to Sadie Sink about saying farewell to Stranger Things. As the Netflix's meghit series comes to an end, Sink is filled with all the emotions as she closes this chapter with her character Max. She's also ecstatic about what's next. Warning: Spoilers! The interview.
—"We had to bring the mechanics of the strokes to a world-class level from the 1950s, which is distinctly different from how the sport is played today." THR's Lexi Carlson goes inside Timothée Chalamet’s surprisingly thorough table tennis training for Marty Supreme. Lexi spoke to the film's ping-pong consultant, Diego Schaaf, who says he hopes the actor's wild press run "gives the sport the breakthrough it’s deserved." The interview.
—"The ambition here is to write a real novel." THR's David Canfield spoke to Tim Blake Nelson about his new novel, Superhero, that draws on his decades of experience on the set of comic book projects such as The Incredible Hulk, The Fantastic Four, Watchmen and Captain America: Brave New World. The book interrogates the making of a fictional Marvel-esque tentpole, featuring a washed-up movie star in his comeback role, a hotshot young director questioning his shift into the corporate big-leagues and an occasionally insubordinate cinematographer. The interview. |
TV Review: 'The Copenhagen Test' ►"A two-hour pilot stretched to eight episodes, four of them skippable." THR's chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg reviews Peacock's The Copenhagen Test. An intelligence agency analyst discovers his brain has been hacked and has to figure out whom he can trust in this sci-fi drama executive produced by James Wan. Starring Simu Liu, Melissa Barrera, Sinclair Daniel, Brian d’Arcy James, Mark O’Brien, Kathleen Chalfant, Saul Rubinek and Adam Godley. Created by Thomas Brandon. The review.
In other news...
—Netflix drops first look at Take That music docuseries
—Bahram Beyzaie, Iranian director of Venice winner Bashu, the Little Stranger, dies at 87
—Perry Bamonte, guitarist and keyboardist for The Cure, dies at 65
—Marilyn Granas, first stand-in for Shirley Temple, dies at 98
—Mickey Lee, Big Brother alum, dies at 35
—Amos Poe, "No Wave" director behind The Blank Generation and The Foreigner, dies at 76
What else we're reading...
—Clément Guillou looks at the late Brigitte Bardot's 30 years of sympathy for the far right in France and her repeated racist remarks [Le Monde]
—Elizabeth Dwoskin, Natalie Allison and Faiz Siddiqui write that Elon Musk's return to Trump’s side revives an alliance that could remake — or rupture — MAGA [WaPo]
—Nicholas Barber posits that A Minecraft Movie was 2025's most important film [BBC]
—Reflecting on Hamnet, Jay Kelly and Sentimental Value, Susie Goldsbrough writes that three of the year’s buzziest films hold career-obsessed, absentee fathers accountable [Atlantic]
—Robert Draper goes inside Marjorie Taylor Greene’s dramatic break with Trump [NYT]
Today...
...in 2006, after a premiere in Cannes earlier in the year, Guillermo Del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth hit theaters in limited release. The film went on to claim three Oscars at the 79th Academy Awards, for art direction, makeup and cinematography. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Jude Law (53), Diego Luna (46), Patricia Clarkson (66), Ted Danson (78), Alison Brie (43), Jon Voight (87), Shawn Hatosy (50), Mekhi Phifer (51), Maitreyi Ramakrishnan (24), Lilly Wachowski (58), Alice Rohrwacher (44), Jane Levy (36), Jennifer Ehle (56), Danny McBride (49), Charlotte Riley (44), Patrick Fischler (56), Dylan Minnette (29), Mecia Simson (36), Michael Cudlitz (61), Tori Anderson (37), Maria Dizzia (51), Leonor Varela (53), Kate Moennig (48), Ally Maki (39), Ross Lynch (30), Ali Hillis (47), Ennis Esmer (47), Kevin Weisman (55), Brian Vernel (35), Paris Berelc (27), Barbara Steele (88), Iain De Caestecker (38), Brady Smith (54), Chris Pang (41), Cyrina Fiallo (34), Charlayne Woodard (72), Marc Schöttner (39), Barry Atsma (53) |
| Brigitte Bardot, the enchanting French starlet with the marvelous pout who became a carefree icon of sexuality in the 1950s and ’60s after her liberated performance in the scandalous And God Created Woman, has died. She was 91. The obituary. |
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