| | | | | | What's news: AI will be all over the Super Bowl. The FBI is offering a $50,000 reward for info about Nancy Guthrie whereabouts. AMC has renewed Dark Winds. The Wizard of Oz is coming back to broadcast TV. And Moulin Rouge! The Musical will end its Broadway run in July. — Abid Rahman
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Super Bowl Ads: Star Talent Fees Down As AI Surges ►Ominous. This year’s Super Bowl will once again be jammed with celebrity-filled commercials, but THR's Alex Weprin has learned that as the price of admission keeps climbing, advertisers are beginning to get a bit more judicious with where they are spending their marketing dollars. A survey of CMOs, network executives, media buyers, agents and talent, are painting a picture of what to expect between plays during this year’s Big Game. The cost of entry for advertisers seeking 30 seconds during this year’s Super Bowl on NBC has passed an eye-watering $10m for some late buyers (most are paying around $8m), and celebrities could end up feeling the pinch as the larger ad market tightens up. The story.
—AI WARS! OpenAI, Anthropic, Google's Gemini and Amazon's Alexa+ have all bought Super Bowl ad time and will take their fierce competition to the largest TV audience of the year. Even as AI threatens every part of the entertainment business, live sports is still the king of advertising, and even the biggest of the tech giants are gladly ponying up the million in fees (and millions more in production costs) to secure an ad slot. The story.
—The fembot has been prompted. Svedka’s famous robot character, gone from pop culture for nearly 13 years, has returned to the brand’s ad campaigns recently and will now appear in a Super Bowl commercial. The catch? Pretty much the whole spot has been created with AI. The 30-second commercial features Fembot and her new companion, Brobot, as they dance in front of a group of human partiers while discovering Svedka products within their casing, in a video that was almost entirely prompted by AI instead of conventionally shot. The story.
More Super Bowl ads...
—Why David Blaine became a “meh-gician” for YouTube TV
—Uber Eats wants you to order up your own cameo-filled ad
—Inside Ritz’s salty and star-studded Super Bowl play
—Sabrina Carpenter finds a unique soul mate in Pringles ad’s extended cut
—Why Bud Light decided to make the keg the star of its Super Bowl campaign
—Hellmann’s bets that Some Lonely Island Magic (and Elle Fanning) can deliver results
—Why Michelob Ultra turned to Kurt Russell, Lewis Pullman and Joseph Kosinski for ad
—Emma Stone, Yorgos Lanthimos continue their partnership with bold Squarespace spot |
Savannah Guthrie's Brother Addresses Suspected Kidnappers in New Video ►"Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you." Savannah Guthrie‘s brother, Camron Guthrie, has a direct message for those suspected of abducting their mother, Nancy Guthrie. In a new video posted on Savannah’s Instagram page on Thursday, Camron, a retired F-16 fighter pilot, pleads for those responsible “to reach out.” Investigators have said Nancy was likely taken against her will in a “possible kidnapping or abduction.” “This is Camron Guthrie. I’m speaking for the Guthrie family,” he said in the new video. “Whoever is out there holding our mother, we want to hear from you. We haven’t heard anything directly. We need you to reach out and we need a way to communicate with you so we can move forward. But first, we have to know that you have our mom. We want to talk to you and we are waiting for contact.” The story.
—"The FBI is now working this case jointly with the Pima County Sheriff’s Department." The FBI announced a $50,000 reward on Thursday for information that leads to the discovery of Nancy Guthrie. The bureau has been working on the case alongside local police in Tucson, Arizona, where the 84-year-old vanished overnight on Sunday from her home. Authorities said that they are treating the case as if Guthrie is still alive. The story.
—"Reckless." On Tuesday, Ashleigh Banfield reported on her podcast that Nancy Guthrie‘s son-in-law Tommaso Cioni “may be” the “prime suspect” in the alleged kidnapping. Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos called the report “reckless.” “We don’t have anybody here listed as a suspect,” Nanos said at a Thursday press conference. He did acknowledge, however, that “nobody’s eliminated.” Nanos specified they don’t have a “person of interest” identified either. The story.
—Beefing up security. The Today show studio set and wider 30 Rockefeller Plaza in New York City has an increased security and police presence in the wake of the kidnapping of co-host Savannah Guthrie’s mother. THR has learned from sources close to the situation the ramped up security at NBC is being carried out in an abundance of caution. The police and private security presence at 30 Rockefeller Plaza, aka 30 Rock, where NBCUniversal also has an office, is usually strong as the Manhattan landmark is popular with tourists and shoppers. The story. |
How Award Show Speeches Are Slowly Going Activist Again ►"When Billie and Bruce and Bad Bunny and so many others say “Fuck ICE” without fear of repercussion... it makes you wonder why movie stars as a group can’t do the same." On Sunday Billie Eilish had one of the most famous award show moments of the still-burgeoning Trump II era. Accepting song of the year at the Grammys, she said, among other coyly delivered broadsides, “Fuck ICE, “no one is illegal on stolen land” and “I feel like we just need to keep fighting.” The moment kicked off a storm of reaction, including being referenced during a tense congressional hearing and that mortifying Ted Cruz attempt at a burn. THR 's Steven Zeitchik writes that the Grammys illustrated how many musicians have moved from fluff to full on activism, yet many screen stars are still scared. The analysis.
—Clapping back. Finneas O’Connell is coming to his sister Billie Eilish‘s defense. The Grammy winner took to Threads on Wednesday to clap back at haters who criticized the “Wildflower” singer’s Grammys acceptance speech. “Seeing a lot of very powerful old white men outraged about what my 24 year old sister said during her acceptance speech,” O’Connell wrote. “We can literally see your names in the Epstein files.” The story.
—We need to talk about Kevin. It seems the latest Hollywood beef is between Mark Ruffalo and Shark Tank's Kevin O’Leary. The Oscar-nominated actor, who has been very outspoken against Donald Trump and his aggressive immigration policies, also took to Threads on Thursday to defend Billie Eilish. “Kevin O’Leary why don’t you STFU," Ruffalo wrote. “It’s hilarious, you will go on any show and talk shit about any number of things and smugly expect us to listen to you, but you will dig into a real artist that dwarfs anything you dream of doing for actually saying something that resonates with 100’s of millions of people the world over. It’s astounding the fantasy double standard Kevin O’Leary lives in.” The story. |
Can NY Stop Ticket Scalpers From Gouging Concertgoers? ►"The vast majority of the public is sick and tired of being locked out of these concerts." Ticket scalping could be facing major upheaval in New York, as a state senator is set to bring forward legislation that, if passed, would outlaw reselling concert tickets for more than they were originally purchased for. State senator James Skoufis will introduce several proposed amendments to New York’s exiting ticketing laws on Friday morning, the most notable of which focuses on capping resale prices to the original face value ticket price. The story.
—Stranger Things bump. Warner Music Group posted $1.8b in revenue for its first quarter ended Dec. 31, 2025, a 10 percent jump from a year ago. Net income fell 27 percent though, to $175m from $241m last year, with the company attributing the drop in exchange rates on debt and loans. WMG’s recorded music revenues from its labels rose 10 percent to about $1.48b, while revenues from music publishing rose 12 percent to $362m. During the call, Kyncl lauded high-profile synchs like with Stranger Things, which featured WMG artists Prince’s “Purple Rain” and David Bowie’s "Heroes" in the series finale, driving more streams to both songs. The results.
—Chugging along. Now-solo Lionsgate on Thursday posted higher overall film and TV studio revenues and a widened loss for the third quarter of fiscal 2026 after spinning off its Starz streaming platform. The studio posted a net loss attributable to shareholders at $46.2m, compared to a year-earlier $21.9m loss. During the latest quarter to Dec. 31, 2025, overall revenue rose to $724.3m, against $628.2m in the same period of last year. That beat an analyst forecast for the latest overall third quarter revenues at Lionsgate to come in at $705.9m. The results.
—Digital future. On the heels of striking a deal with YouTube to bring the Oscars to that streaming platform in 2029, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is further prioritizing its digital presence by creating Academy Studios, under the banner of which the organization will polish, professionalize and expand its digital initiatives — interviews, videos, livestreams and podcasts and more — “that embody the Academy’s mission, voice and cultural identity.” Tasked with leading Academy Studios, which will include a production team, is Jennifer Davidson, the well-liked PR vet who has been working with the Academy since 2019. The story.
—Suit filed. The Jim Henson Company, the puppet-based production house behind The Muppet Show, The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth, has been sued by a film producer who ran its feature film department and says he hasn’t seen his share of profits or proper credits on a trio of movies he developed. Jason Lust claims the company reneged on the terms of a 2015 settlement guaranteeing him profit participation and executive producer billing on Pinocchio, Fraggle Rock and Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Road Trip. He seeks at least $7.5m in the breach of contract suit. Lust claims he hasn’t been paid a 15 percent production bonus of the company’s producing fee or 10 percent of the production house’s profits for the movie under a deal he reached over his departure. The story. |
'Dark Winds' Scores Early S5 Renewal at AMC ►No brainer. The Navajo Tribal Police have another case to solve. AMC Networks announced Thursday that it has renewed its critically acclaimed noir drama Dark Winds for a fifth season. The decision was made ahead of the season four premiere, which will air Feb. 15 at 9 p.m. ET/PT. Filming for season five will begin in Santa Fe, New Mexico, in March. It will debut in 2027 and, like season four, will consist of eight hourlong episodes. The story.
—Rejoice! The Wizard of Oz is coming back to broadcast TV. The exclusive broadcast rights to the 1939 classic, once a staple of broadcast TV, have been snapped up by MeTV. The classic TV network will air the MGM musical in October, marking the film’s first appearance on free broadcast television since its final CBS telecast nearly 30 years ago, on May 9, 1998. It began airing annually on broadcast in 1956, particularly around certain holidays. The beloved musical has experienced a resurgence, thanks in part to the film adaptations of the musical Wicked. The Wizard of Oz also has become a blockbuster attraction at Las Vegas’ Sphere. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 The logline for HBO’s upcoming series Rooster, starring Steve Carell, doesn’t offer much in the way of detail: The show is “a comedy set on a college campus centering on an author’s (Carell) complicated relationship with his daughter (Charly Clive),” per the official description. A newly released trailer for the show, however, fills in some gaps — including why the series is called Rooster. HBO has set a March 8 premiere date for the series. The story.
—Woof! The breakout ratings performance of ABC’s High Potential shows no signs of slowing down midway through its second season. The series delivered its biggest seven-day audience to date with the Jan. 20 episode, drawing 12.98m viewers after a week of streaming and other delayed viewing. That’s more than double its first-night total of 5.93m viewers. The episode’s 2.17 rating among adults 18-49 (equivalent to about 2.95m people in that demographic) is a fivefold increase from its starting point of 0.41. The ratings.
—Woof! Woof! The Pitt opened its second season with its best showing to date in Nielsen’s streaming ratings, while Netflix’s His & Hers also had a strong opening. The top spot, however, still belonged to Stranger Things in the week of Jan. 5-11. The Pitt recorded 939m minutes of viewing for the week on HBO Max (season two premiered Jan. 8), 10 percent higher than its previous best of 852m for the week of the season one finale in April 2025. The show returned to the charts the previous week as viewers seemingly caught up on the first season. The streaming rankings. |
Dan Trachtenberg Signs First-Look Deal With Paramount ►🤝 Poached! 🤝 Dan Trachtenberg, who has spent the last several years reviving and steering the Predator franchise for 20th Century Studios, is planting his flag at Paramount Pictures. The filmmaker has signed a three-year first-look directing and producing deal with the studio. He will develop, direct and produce feature projects with his producing partner, Ben Rosenblatt. The deal marks a return to the Melrose lot for Trachtenberg, who made his feature debut with 2016’s 10 Cloverfield Lane for Paramount. And it’s the latest big-name filmmaker deal for the David Ellison-owned Paramount, which is headed by co-chairs Josh Greenstein and Dana Goldberg. The story.
—🎭 Exorcise caution. 🎭 Karen Gillan, Josh Hutcherson, and Clive Owen have signed to star in Blasphemous, a supernatural thriller that will mark the directorial debut of Luke Piotrowski, the genre screenwriter behind Hellraiser and She Rides Shotgun. Piotrowski wrote the script, which appeared on the 2023 Black List, and the plot is characterized as a mix of The Exorcist and Training Day, centering on two clerics – a rookie priest (Hutcherson) and his devout mentor (Owen) who must transport a possessed young woman (Gillan) to a secure location for an exorcism. The filmmakers are hoping to get production underway in New York this August. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Apple has acquired the global rights to The Last First: Winter K2, the mountaineering doc from Amir Bar-Lev that premiered at Sundance. Propagate, Ventureland and Object Studios are behind the doc, which follows a 2021 expedition to conquer K2 mountain in winter, an attempt that left five dead. Bar-Lev centers his story on mountaineers John Snorri Sigurjónsson and Pakistani father-son team Ali and Sajid Sadpara, who find themselves on the ascent with influencer climbers and their film crews, commercial expedition clients, and Nims, a Nepalese celebrity mountaineer, and his team of Sherpas. The story.
—🎭 Sweet summer child. 🎭 The Summer I Turned Pretty star Gavin Casalegno will star in the upcoming indie romantic comedy Sunflower Child, playing a would-be-be Hollywood director who falls for an up-and-coming screenwriter, played by British-American actress Jennifer James, who also wrote the script. Cinematographer Jamie Touche is directing in his feature debut. The supporting cast includes Daniela Norman, Muhannad Ben Amor, and Maddie Close. Shooting on Sunflower Child has begun at Twickenham Film Studios in the U.K. and on location around London. The story. |
'Mamma Mia!' Bids Farewell to Broadway ►Lots of endings. Mamma Mia! played its final Broadway performance Feb. 1, after opening at the Winter Garden Theatre on Aug. 14. The musical revival, which was often one of the top grossing shows in the industry, brought in $1.8m in its final week (one of its higher grosses but below holiday totals) and played to 99 percent capacity. Liberation also ended its Broadway run Sunday with the highest gross of its run, bringing in $734,237 and playing to a 94 percent capacity crowd at the James Earl Jones Theatre. Harry Potter and the Cursed Child retained its top grossing spot, bringing in $2.4m, followed by Hamilton with $1.9m, Mamma Mia! with $1.8m, Wicked with $1.6m and The Lion King with $1.5m. The Broadway box office report.
—More endings! Moulin Rouge! The Musical will end its Broadway run in July. The musical will play its final performance at the Al Hirschfeld Theatre on July 26, after initially opening at the theater on July 25, 2019. The musical’s initial run was curtailed by the pandemic, as all Broadway productions were shuttered March 12, 2020, but the show resumed performances at the theater on Sept. 24, 2021. It is the only new show from the 2019-2020 season that is still running, as many shows were either unable to return or survive amid reduced audiences upon reopening. The musical, which is based on the 2001 film, was capitalized for up to $28m, and recouped its investment in late 2022. The story. |
Film Review: 'Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die' ►"Time-out from screen time." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Gore Verbinski's Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die. The Pirates of the Caribbean filmmaker's first feature in almost a decade is a gonzo sci-fi on the perils of our techno-dependence and the looming danger of AI. Starring Sam Rockwell, Haley Lu Richardson, Juno Temple, Michael Peña, Zazie Beetz, Asim Chaudhry, Tom Taylor, Georgia Goodman, Daniel Barnett and Artie Wilkinson-Hunt. Written by Matthew Robinson. The review. |
Thank Pod It's Friday ►All the latest content from THR's podcast studio.
—Awards Chatter. THR's executive awards editor Scott Feinberg talks to the great and the good of Hollywood. In this episode Scott spoke to Jack Fisk. Perhaps the greatest of all living film craftsmen, a production designer who literally built the worlds at the center of many of the most admired films since the '70s — including Badlands, Carrie, Days of Heaven, Mulholland Drive, There Will Be Blood, The Revenant and Killers of the Flower Moon — reflects on coming to Hollywood with David Lynch, his decades-long collaboration with Terrence Malick, how he researches and designs sets, and what it was like recreating '50s New York for Marty Supreme. The podcast.
—I’m Having an Episode. THR’s Mikey O’Connell attempts to stay on top of the latest TV and entertainment news with a little help from his friends, colleagues and a revolving door of actors, writers, showrunners and filmmakers. In this episode, Mikey interviews legendary comedy writer Paula Pell, who talks about her evolution from mothering sketch comedians to acting (Girls5Eva and, now, The Burbs). And THR's Mia Galuppo joins to discuss that Marty Supreme speed bump and the history of messy Oscar campaigns. The podcast.
In other news...
—Stegosaurus will mess your day up in trailer for Steven Spielberg’s docuseries The Dinosaurs
—Bill Nye to receive lifetime achievement Honor at Children’s & Family Emmy Awards
—Lionsgate hires chief AI officer
—Influencer Rebecca Zamolo signs with CAA
What else we're reading...
—Lily Isaacs laments our grim, nihilistic AI slop culture that has reduced Jeffrey Epstein from an actual monster to a meme [Observer]
—Malaika Kanaaneh Tapper has an incredible story of how an auto shop worker in northern Lebanon impersonated a Saudi prince and changed Lebanese government policy [FT]
—Another absolute banger of a story, this time Philip Buckingham reports that Olympic ski jumpers are injecting their penises to improve their aerodynamics, and the drug authorities are investigating [The Athletic]
—J.D. Capelouto looks into the controversial Chinese firm in charge of TikTok star Khaby Lame’s AI avatar, that was supposedly bought for a whopping $975m [Semafor]
—Here's your Friday list: 10 of the biggest Seahawks and Patriots fans in Hollywood [THR]
Today...
...in Magnolia released Jody Lee Lipes' Ballet 422. The doc, which follows rising-star choreographer Justin Peck as he creates a new ballet, was a big critical hit. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Jim Sheridan (77), Anna Diop (38), Charlie Heaton (32), Alice Eve (44), Dane DeHaan (40), Josh Stewart (49), Crystal Reed (41), Alice Greczyn (40), Kathy Najimy (69), Dimitrius Schuster-Koloamatangi (25), Ben Lawson (46), Moses Ingram (32), Erin Matthews (53), Dylan Efron (34), Dominic Sherwood (36), Brian Stepanek (55), Megan Gallagher (66), Maude Hirst (38), Robert Townsend (69), Jon Walmsley (70), Amir Wilson (22), David Hayter (57), Gabriel Guevara (25), Naomi Grossman (51), Simone Lahbib (61), Andrey Zvyagintsev (62), James Hiroyuki Liao (50), Nora Fatehi (34), Nabil Elouahabi (51) |
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