| | | | | | If there's comfort in the familiar, thank Avatar: Fire and Ash for briefly bringing back a news cycle where Hollywood can debate opening weekend box office numbers over "what's good." Meanwhile, The Weekender brings highlights from THR's 100-page year-end issue (flip through it here or, better yet, subscribe). — Erik Hayden
+ News ticker: SAG-AFTRA goes first in '26; Dave Chappelle is back on Netflix; Paul King lands Labubu movie; Peanuts IP sold for $460M.
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ALL FIRED UP James Cameron is moving on. "I’ve got other stories to tell, and I’ve got other stories to tell within Avatar," he says. "What won’t happen is, I won’t go down the rabbit hole of exclusively making only Avatar for multiple years. I’m going to figure out another way that involves more collaboration. I’m not saying I’m going to step away as a director, but I’m going to pull back." James Hibberd's cover. |
THE ULTIMATUM In a phone call hours before Netflix sealed the deal for Warner Bros. on Dec. 4, Ted Sarandos played hardball with David Zaslav: Sign a deal for Netflix to buy Warners today, or we're pulling out of the bidding. Alex Weprin's tick-tock. |
THE LAST GOLD MINE The battle to control Warner Bros is, beyond just a battle for streaming domination and the future of movie theaters, a battle about IP, and both Paramount's David Ellison and Netflix's Ted Sarandos believe that the Warners library and its long list of franchises can propel them for long into the future. Weprin's feature. |
What's Lost Rob Reiner's filmography is sprawling, but there is one connective thread among them: None of these types of films are being made by the major studios anymore. Reiner specialized in midbudget movies aimed at an adult audience. It’s those midbudget movies, which filled theaters in the ’80s and ’90s, that contemporary Hollywood mourns the loss of today. Mia Galuppo's story. |
Yes, They Did Say That " Does America Need God?" "Has Feminism Failed Women?" and " Should Gen Z Believe in the American Dream?" — Titles from Bari Weiss' new town hall series at CBS News. "The screens aren’t working and I find that to be really funny." — Mr. Fantasy (likely actor KJ Apa’s alter ego) during a tech glitch at the first TikTok awards. "I joke and say they’re like the cockroach of film." — Monika Dalman, a casting director, on Vancouver's boom town status for microdramas. "You don't know what the American way even is anymore." — Jimmy Kimmel, during his last ABC monologue of the year. "Just have a hearing." — Harvey Weinstein lawyer Arthur Aidala, who is focusing on one juror as the legal team pushes for the ex-mogul's New York conviction to be set aside. |
The $9 Billion Man In a rare interview, THR’s Producer of the Year Roy Lee, whose 11 credits in 2025 include Weapons, Minecraft, The Long Walk and How to Train Your Dragon, explains why studios should give fewer notes and how a psychic drove his latest payday. Borys Kit's interview. |
Will Power With his dramatic role in Is This Thing On?, the perennial funnyman and SmartLess co-host Will Arnett has his first legit awards contender — and he can't stop mocking himself for it: "I can hear my own voice going, like, Shut the f*** up, man.'" Lacey Rose's feature. |
Kobe's Last Dance An investigation into a tumultuous tug-of-war with Vanessa Bryant over the unseen footage the late Lakers legend shot during his final season. Among those most wary of Vanessa — or, at least, of her creative vision — are the Hollywood directors and producers who've approached her about the mountain of footage she now controls. Peter Kiefer's feature. |
The Billionaires' Brawl David Zaslav sparks a bidding war to sell Warner Bros., Lachlan Murdoch is rebuilding the Fox empire, Bob Iger is getting Disney into the AI gold rush (we’ll see if it’s fool’s gold) and Saudi funds are flooding the zone for entertainment assets. THR's Dealmakers of the Year list. |
Actress Roundtable All six women — Jennifer Lawrence, Cynthia Erivo, Jessie Buckley, Amanda Seyfried, Laura Dern and Renate Reinsve — gathered on a rainy Los Angeles afternoon to discuss their experiences onscreen and in navigating the months-long road show that is compulsory to releasing a film. Seija Rankin's feature. |
There Will Be Blood The making of Sinners Ryan Coogler, who had final cut on the Warner Bros. film, reordered scenes and recut the film repeatedly, shaping versions that ranged from 90 minutes to two hours and 45 minutes. Creating the smash horror hit required battles in the Louisiana bayou, wrangling alligators (who weren’t part of the movie) and learning how to swim in pools of sticky red stuff. Mia Galuppo's feature. |
Around Town This week's events Steve Zahn, Paul Rudd, Thandiwe Newton and Jack Black debuted the new Anaconda in L.A. Macaulay Culkin and director Chris Columbus reunited at a 35th anniversary event for Home Alone at the Academy Museum. Martin Scorsese and Jennifer Lawrence took part in a NYC screening and conversation for Die My Love. Warner Bros. Studio Tour Hollywood hosted the 25th anniversary of Gilmore Girls with Scott Patterson. Keltie Knight, Sterling K. Brown and Ryan Michelle Bathe attended American Ballet Theatre's Holiday Benefit in Beverly Hills. Simu Liu joined Lucy Liu at a special screening of her film Rosemead in L.A. All 40 photos from 7 days in premieres and parties. |
The Bottom Line One-liners from THR's team of critics this week:
"Enough with the Modigliani Smurfs already." -> Avatar: Fire and Ash
"A lobotomy might be useful to buy all the shock twists." -> The Housemaid
"Lots of ideas, little depth." -> Breakdown, 1975
"Appealingly loose and whimsically personal." -> Endless Cookie
+ The best TV performances of the year, and 10 best episodes of '25.
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