| | | | | | It's "Sundance Review Saturday," as insiders sift through dispatches from a deluge of premieres before a consensus emerges. The Weekender has the latest from THR's Park City team. — Erik Hayden
+ Ticker: Bari Weiss' pod hiatus; Brendan Carr's power play; Michael Bay's new agency; Amanda Knox's pivot; Sydney Sweeney's next role.
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With a Park City farewell in order, Sundance alumni — Quentin Tarantino, James Mangold, Catherine Hardwicke, Ryan Coogler and more — recount how America’s most consequential film fest launched careers, crushed nerves and rewrote rules. The ultimate Sundance oral history. Plus: Inside the puffer-filled premieres and parties — and the latest interviews, videos and breaking news from the lineup. Festival hub. |
Show-Stoppers Every year, THR is on the ground in Park City to photograph the teams behind the hottest films. This time at the Pendry Hotel, talent — including Channing Tatum, Chase Sui Wonders, Domhnall Gleeson, Gregg Araki, Cooper Hoffman, Gemma Chan and John Wilson, stopped by. All 22 exclusive photos. |
The Early Word One liners from THR's team of film critics in Park City: Rachel Lambert's intimate drama Carousel, featuring Chris Pine and Jenny Slate, "takes its time but sneaks up on you." John Wilson's documentary The History of Concrete is "quirky, educational, touching and revelatory." Beth de Araújo's Josephine, starring Mason Reeves, Channing Tatum and Gemma Chan, is "raw, personal and quietly shattering." Molly Manners' coming-of-age film Extra Geography "trades in offbeat tones quite recognizable to festival audiences since the 1990s." Louis Paxton's Domhnall Gleeson comedy The Incomer is "a shipwreck." Adrian Chiarella's conversion-therapy horror title Leviticus is "a stylish, urgent allegory." Aidan Zamiri's A24 mockumentary The Moment, starring Charli xcx, is "more fan service than funny." David Shadrack Smith's documentary Public Access is "a chaotic film, which may actually be putting it generously." Poh Si Teng's documentary, American Doctor, on volunteer doctors in Gaza, is "filled with courage and chaos." + Latest fest news as it arrives.
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"The King on Main Street" Darren Aronofsky, Richard Linklater, Kenneth Lonergan and others share stories of Sundance founder Robert Redford, whose quiet encouragement shaped generations of independent filmmakers: "When you got time, which was only a few minutes, it was yours. He completely locked in." Chris Gardner's story. |
Succession Watch Keep an eye out. In a letter to shareholders on Jan. 22, Disney chairman James Gorman wrote that planning “remains a top priority” and reaffirming that “we currently expect to announce the appointment of the Company’s next CEO in early 2026.” The filing also disclosed CEO Bob Iger's 2025 pay, which rose to $45.8 million. Speaking of succession, TikTok's U.S. deal launched, with Adam Presser named as the new CEO. Not named among the investors despite all that chatter? The Murdochs. |
It Never Ends A flood of It Ends With Us documents tied to the Justin Baldoni- Blake Lively legal battle were unsealed, exposing behind-the-scenes emails and text messages from those involved with the film, including Sony film chief Tom Rothman and multiple execs. McKinley Franklin's story. |
Deafening Silence As the protests rocking Tehran draw a deadly response, America's typically outspoken entertainment industry has been deafeningly quiet on Iran. These are not abstract human rights violations. They are crimes against humanity, systematic, deliberate and escalating. Maryam Lieberman's guest column.
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The Fate of TCM Lost in the shuffle of Netflix's $83 billion deal for Warner Bros. is the fact that the streaming giant will be getting something that it has never coveted: a basic cable channel, Turner Classic Movies. TCM fanatics, who include Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese and Paul Thomas Anderson, will surely be watching to see what Netflix plans to do with the asset. Alex Weprin's report.
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TV's TikTok Era The future of late night TV as a business may be out of the hands of Jimmy Fallon and The Tonight Show team, but they exude a confidence that they can and will adapt to meet the moment. Despite the changing economics, NBC remains committed to the program — and producers think they have a formula that works. Alex Weprin's report. |
The Assistant Awards Assistants vs. Agents, the popular Instagram account that highlights the struggles of being a Hollywood assistant, hosted its inaugural awards show in L.A. The event, held at the El Rey Theater and livestreamed on YouTube, drew a sold-out crowd of 450 assistants for its hourlong ceremony.
Eight assistants were presented with Assistant of the Year honors: Erica Barry (UTA), Hawa Jobateh (WME/IMG), Wendy Hernandez (UTA), Alexa Rozansky (SMAC Entertainment), Liv Castro (LiveNation and Amplify Her Voice), Arman Yaghmai (Verve), Shannon Moran (CAA) and Drew Cortopassi (Aggregate Films).
Kirsten Chuba's dispatch.
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Quoted "The Netflix deal is the Harry Houdini of deals." — RedBird Capital's Gerry Cardinale, Paramount’s second-largest shareholder. "Go ahead. Make me into the new Jimmy Kimmel if you want." — Don Lemon, daring the DOJ to charge him after a Minnesota church protest incident. "How is he doing and how is he feeling about the conditions?" — A Netflix rep, on the delay for Alex Honnold’s Skyscraper Live climb amid dangerously rainy conditions in Taipei. "I thought I deleted a comment and I accidentally hit 'like.'" — Rachel Accurso, aka Ms. Rachel, after screenshots circulated appearing to show her Instagram account liking an explicitly antisemitic comment. "We’re not friends, I think that’s pretty obvious." — Chris Noth, on origin of bad blood with former Sex and the City co-star Sarah Jessica Parker. "I would make a deal just to alleviate the boredom." — Mark Cuban, on why he decided to move on from Shark Tank after 15 seasons. |
A Few Questions for... Bert Kreischer, comedian-star of Netflix's Free Bert. If I’m an exec, and I’m trying to crack comedy, I think I’d be wise to rely on folks like you, who have these big built-in fanbases. "You know what it feels like? Here’s an analogy, which may be bad. Five years ago, 10 years ago, making a movie was like you’re opening a Chili’s, right? Hollywood gave you the money, you knew the menu ... Right now, Hollywood feels like those mom and pop shops in East LA where they open up their house and they make great tamales and that’s all they really make is three types of tamales and you’ve got to find it and you got to hope you like tamales too."
Lacey Rose's full Q&A.
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Mickey's Money Mickey Rourke wasn’t ready for the close-up on his financial woes, but he’s been here before. And his embattled manager says hope — a much-needed payday — is on the horizon. Steve Garbarino's feature. |
In Plane Sight Now that everyone is being transparent about getting work done, the technique has emerged as celebrity surgeons’ facelift of choice — for those ready to pay six figures. Elycia Rubin's story. |
Box Office Gold After a 30-year search, archaeologist Roger Dooley discovered the Holy Grail of Shipwrecks, with a treasure worth billions. The search would take him more than 30 years, during which he led a parallel career as a filmmaker. His two passions, it turns out, would complement one another. Julian Sancton's feature. |
Around Town Mel Brooks joined director Judd Apatow at the L.A. premiere of doc Mel Brooks: The 99 Year Old Man!. Yahya Abdul-Mateen II, Sir Ben Kingsley and Arian Moayed debuted Marvel's Wonder Man in L.A. Dylan O'Brien and Rachel McAdams paired up at the L.A. premiere of Send Help. Chris Pratt premiered his new Amazon MGM Studios flick Mercy in NYC. Demi Lovato supported Paris Hilton at the premiere of her new doc Infinite Icon: A Visual Memoir in L.A. on Tuesday. Sissy Spacek presented production designer (and husband) Jack Fisk an honor at American Cinematheque's Tribute to the Crafts in L.A. 50 Cent made an appearance at the L.A. premiere of Moses the Black. All 23 photos from this week's premieres and parties. |
The Postgame As the dust settles on Oscar nominees week, we'll leave it with Scott Feinberg's post-nominations look at who's got momentum in the race:
"All in all, it was a remarkable showing for Sinners — but was it enough to jolt the widely held belief that One Battle After Another, which already won top honors at the Critics Choice and Golden Globe awards, is the film to beat for the best picture Oscar?"
Feinberg's latest forecast. Congrats to all the nominees: 2026 NOMINATION COUNT BY DISTRIBUTOR
Warner Bros. — 30 Sinners, One Battle after Another, Weapons Neon — 18 Sentimental Value, The Secret Agent, It Was Just an Accident, Sirāt Netflix — 16 Frankenstein, KPop Demon Hunters, Train Dreams Focus Features — 13 Hamnet, Bugonia, Song Sung Blue A24 — 11 Marty Supreme, The Smashing Machine, If I Had Legs I'd Kick You Apple — 6 F1, The Lost Bus, Come See Me in the Good Light Walt Disney - 4 Avatar: Fire and Ash, Zootopia 2, Elio GKIDS — 2 Little Amélie or the Character of Rain, Kokuho Sony Pictures Classics — 2 Blue Moon HBO Documentary Film — 1 The Alabama Solution Independent Film Company/Shudder — 1 The Ugly Stepsister MasterClass/Greenwich Entertainment — 1 Diane Warren: Relentless PINK — 1 Mr. Nobody Against Putin Universal — 1 Jurassic World: Rebirth Viva Verdi! — 1 Sweet Tears of Joy WILLA — 1 The Voice of Hind Rajab
+ The full nominees list. |
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