What's news: Spider-Man: Brand New Day sails past $700m at the domestic box office. California's AB 1720 bill has failed. CBS News is making a big push into live events. Paramount Primal has picked up period fantasy feature Tower Defense. And NBCU and Disney are handing another 33 hours of broadcast TV programming to the NBA. — Abid Rahman
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The War Over WBD Is Splintering Hollywood's Labor World
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►Whither solidarity? When the antitrust trial over the planned $111b merger between Paramount Skydance and Warner Bros. Discovery was scheduled for March 2027, the delay was viewed as a major blow to studio CEO David Ellison and his team. It turns out the leaders of the Directors Guild of America and IATSE unions think the prolonged timeline is a disaster for them, too. THR's Katie Kilkenny writes that California AG Rob Bonta and Ellison are dividing the Hollywood unions, whose members have diverging interests on the way the antitrust battle is being waged. The story.
—Big W. Months after a resolution to the sprawling legal battle over the filming of It Ends With Us, Hollywood power lawyer Bryan Freedman is still dealing with fallout from the case. THR's Winston Cho reports that Zoey 101 alum Alexa Nikolas won a key ruling on Wednesday in a defamation lawsuit against Freedman, with a court finding that she’s established a probability of prevailing on defamation claims accusing him and those in his orbit of marshaling a smear campaign against her. The story.
—Big Ticket wins again. A California bill intended to limit how much tickets are allowed to be re-sold for in the state has failed, as AB 1720 failed to make it out of the Senate appropriations committee on Thursday. The bill as originally published would’ve capped concert ticket resale prices at no more than 10 percent higher than a ticket’s original price. StubHub, the industry's largest ticket resale platform, spent $3.4m this year lobbying against AB 1720. The story.
—🤝 Events push. 🤝 THR's Alex Weprin has the scoop that CBS News is making a big push into live events, with its CBS Sunday Morning show inking a deal with the 92nd Street Y in New York on a series of live interviews that will connect the TV program to the Upper East Side cultural institution. The partnership, dubbed “CBS Sunday Morning At 92NY” will kick off Sept. 28 with correspondent Tracy Smith in conversation with Sylvester Stallone. The day before, Stallone will be interviewed by Smith on CBS Sunday Morning. The story.
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Addiction Experts on Brad Pitt's Drinking Admission |
►"Alcoholics are a horrible source of information about themselves." Brad Pitt’s admission that he’s consuming alcohol again after seven years sober and attending Alcoholics Anonymous for 18 months has set off some strong reactions within the recovery community. The 62-year-old Oscar-winner revealed to Esquire that he’s “off the wagon,” but says he’s only drinking "in a more restrained manner,” claiming, “I can have a few [glasses of wine]. But I can’t have a lot. I have to be professional about it." THR's James Hibberd spoke to experts about Pitt's surprise admission. The story.
—Guilty plea. Tiffany Haddish avoided additional jail time Tuesday when she pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor alcohol-related driving charge that stemmed from her 2022 arrest in Georgia after someone called 911 about a driver asleep at the wheel at a traffic light. Other charges were dropped. After entering the plea by video, the actor and comedian was placed on 12 months’ probation and told to avoid drugs and alcohol and complete a substance abuse evaluation. She was credited for the brief time she spent in jail following her arrest. The story.
—"I didn't recognize my brother." Perez Hilton‘s sister is speaking out about the moment last week when she found her celebrity blogger brother in the bathroom of his Miami home covered in blood after cutting himself repeatedly while streaming the self-harm and possible suicide attempt live online. “Aug. 4 will forever be one of the darkest days my family and I have ever experienced,” Barbara Lavandeira, the sister of the star blogger, whose real name is Mario Armando Lavandeira Jr., told Page Six. The story.
—The latest. Nick Reiner has been indicted for the slayings of his parents Rob Reiner and Michele Singer Reiner, with prosecutors signaling an aggressive posture on the case as they look to trial. Reiner has been held in custody without bail since pleading not guilty to the murders in February. He was initially charged with two counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances relating to multiple homicides, allowing the L.A. County district attorney’s office to seek a sentence of life without parole upon conviction. The new indictment adds another special circumstance allegation that Reiner committed the murders by means of lying in wait, meaning prosecutors believe the killings were premeditated. The story.
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If Hollywood Is Dying, Why Are L.A.'s Cinemas Roaring Back?
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►"This is a reclamation." As the box office surges on the back of monster hits such as The Odyssey and Spider-Man:Brand New Day, Los Angeles' movie houses — from the Alex to the Cinerama Dome — are rising from the ashes. THR's Gary Baum goes inside the city's much-needed cinema renaissance. The story.
—🤝 Shut up and take my money! 🤝 Paramount Primal, Paramount’s smartly-budgeted genre label, has picked up Tower Defense, an original Medieval fantasy from longtime adventure movie scribe Evan Daugherty. The spec script sale comes with no filmmaker or producer attachments. Plot details are under wraps, but it is being described as a supernatural fantasy twist on the concept seen in the early John Carpenter's Assault on Precinct 13. The story.
—🏆 Selected! 🏆 Switzerland has chosen Nicolas Wadimoff’s Who is Still Alive, a documentary about nine Palestinian refugees who escaped the violence in Gaza, as its official pick for the 2027 Oscar race in the best international feature category. In his experimental doc, Wadimoff has the Palestinian refugees recreate the experiences of their escape from Gaza on a barren stage marked out by chalk outlines, in the style of Lars von Trier’s Dogville. The story.
—Fantastiske nyheter! Dual Oscar nominee Eskil Vogt, a co-screenwriter on Joachim Trier‘s Sentimental Value and The Worst Person in the World has received backing for his next film as a director. Vogt received a $1m grant from the Norwegian Film Institute to go towards the production of Untitled, a psychological thriller about “art, power and the blurred boundaries between memory and truth.” Vogt will write and direct. The story.
—Another record! Spider-Man: Brand New Day continues its epic run at the box office. The Sony Pictures feature has become the fastest title to swing past the $700m mark at the domestic box office as its sum reached $704.5m on Wednesday. It now ranks at No. 6 on the all-time North American chart after hitting theaters July 31, moving past Black Panther’s $700m domestically. Internationally, Brand New Day has added $1.108b to leap past Spider-Man: No Way Home ($1.106b) as Sony’s biggest film ever overseas. The box office report.
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THR Critics Pick Summer TV's Beauties and Bores
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►"Hot IP Summer." THR's award-winning TV critics Daniel Fienberg and Angie Han get together for a conversation about the small screen's most recent heroes and zeroes. A globe-conquering sports event, a searing feminist thriller and a refreshing YA drama emerged among the season’s winners. Others missed the mark. The conversation.
—Swagger heads rise up! With FX’s The Shards and Amazon Prime Video's Sterling Point reeling in nostalgic viewers, Daniel and Angie knocked up a rather diverting list of their favorite TV teen dramas of all time, as an extra special treat. The list.
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Why Hollywood Is Drunk on "White Wine Thrillers" |
►Shooting Blancs. THR's Mikey O'Connell writes that three years ago Bela Bajaria revealed the internal label for Netflix’s programming ideal: the gourmet cheeseburger. Evoking populist fare with a garnish of prestige, it seemed like the only dining-related descriptor the TV industry would ever need. But there’s a new moniker on the rise, the "white wine thriller," a label for series like All Her Fault, The Perfect Couple and Big Little Lies — and every player in town is suddenly thirsty. The story.
—🎭 Filling out. 🎭 Heated Rivalry has added five new cast members to its upcoming second season. Emily Hampshire, Edvin Ryding, Robert Naylor, Sabrina Jalees and Priyanka are joining the queer hockey series. The news comes just a week after the key castings of Charlie Gillespie and Justice Smith, who are set to lead season two alongside returning stars Hudson Williams and Connor Storrie. The new additions hail from different books throughout Rachel Reid’s Game Changers series, which serves as the source material for the show. The story.
—🎭 Two more. 🎭 Paramount+ is adding to the cast of its drama Discretion. Stephan James and Colton Ryan have joined the legal thriller as series regulars alongside Nicole Kidman, Elle Fanning and Josh Lucas. Filming on the A24-produced series began this week for a 2027 premiere date. Based on a short story by author Chandler Baker — who is also writing the series adaptation — Discretion follows Lenny (Fanning), a summer associate at a prestigious Dallas law firm. She discovers a web of NDAs that cover up a dark secret. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Australian medical drama The F Ward is going global. Paramount revealed Thursday that it has sold the series to 100 international markets, including Channel 4 in the U.K., CBC in Canada, JioHotstar in India and HBO Asia across Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. The six-part series, which premiered on Stan in Australia, follows a group of medical interns who have already failed once — through misjudgment, medical error or concealed personal issues — and are dispatched to the chronically underfunded hospital as a last chance. The story.
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ABC and NBC to Add 11 More NBA Games This Season
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►Bad news for creatives. As Hollywood frets over Paramount’s deal for WBD, NBCU and Disney are handing another 33 hours of broadcast TV programming to the NBA. The NBA announced its 2026-2027 schedule this week, and it includes an expanded slate of games for its broadcast network partners: Between NBC and ABC, an additional 11 games will air on broadcast TV this upcoming season. In total, the two networks will air 90 games combined, up from 79 a year ago. The games are ultimately replacing original network programming, meaning creatives will get fewer shots to reach audiences on broadcast TV. The story.
—Woof! The fourth season premiere of Ted Lasso was, in fact, highly anticipated, based on Nielsen’s data. The series’ return set a premiere window viewing record for Apple TV. Ted Lasso drew 296.6m minutes of viewing time on Aug. 4 and 5. About 200m of those minutes came on Aug. 5, making Ted Lasso the No. 1 streaming series in the U.S. that day. The 296.6m minutes for season four’s launch window is substantially higher than the previous record for an Apple season or series debut — which was held by season three of Ted Lasso in 2023. The ratings.
—The Ingalls back on top. With Love Island USA’s season over, a new series took over the top of the streaming charts in mid-July. Netflix’s Little House on the Prairie remake claimed the top overall spot in Nielsen’s streaming ratings for the week of July 13-19. The series drew 1.18b minutes of viewing for the week, up about 27 percent from its premiere. The Hawk, Netflix’s golf comedy starring Will Ferrell, premiered with 999m minutes of watch time. Prime Video’s action comedy Ride or Die, starring Hannah Waddingham and Octavia Spencer, also had a solid debut week with 869m minutes. The streaming rankings.
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►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 live episode Scott spoke to Jay Leno. The legendary standup and late night host reflects on his ascent from sleeping in an alley near the Hollywood Improv to succeeding Johnny Carson at The Tonight Show, his complicated relationships with David Letterman and Conan O'Brien, and how Donald Trump has changed late night shows. 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 actress and producer Diarra Kilpatrick who discusses the second season of Diarra From Detroit, awkward pitches and her Hollywood journey. But first! Kyle Desiderio goes on mic to discuss the cult of IMAX, whether or not we need to see The Odyssey in 70 mm and why it's totally fine to just lurk on Letterboxd. The podcast.
In other news...
—American Horror Story: 13 first teaser gives us a glimpse at all-star season
—MobLand S2 trailer sees Tom Hardy returns after drama over his future
—China’s $300m sleeper hit Dear You unveils U.S. trailer
—Charlize Theron, Colman Domingo and John Carpenter set as Academy Museum Gala honorees
—Gerhard Zeiler to receive 2026 International Emmy Directorate Award
—NYFF sets Currents lineup led by Bardi world premiere
—Busan Film Festival to honor founder Kim Dong-ho with Korean Cinema Award
—Tyler Duckworth, The Challenge winner, dies at 44
What else we're reading...
—John Jurgensen talks to comedian Shane Gillis about his remarkable journey from getting axed by SNL to selling out the Philadelphia Eagles’ stadium for a solo show and fronting his own Netflix sitcom [WSJ]
—Hershal Pandya talks to the rising young comedians redefining "the Arab joke" [Vulture]
—If you've seen the surprisingly excellent The End of Oak Street and have questions about that ending, Siddhant Adlakha has you covered [Vulture]
—David Jesudason writes that the Anthony Bourdain biopic Tony "undersells his legacy and sidelines the workers, many immigrants or people of colour, that to him were the real stars of the restaurant industry" [BBC]
—Here's your Friday list: The 20 most unforgettable Real Housewives moments, ranked [THR]
Today...
...in 2015, Universal released F. Gary Gray's Straight Outta Compton in theaters. The NWA biopic was a huge critical and commercial success, grossing $202m globally and bagged a best original screenplay Oscar nom. The original review.
Today's birthdays...
Steve Martin (81), Halle Berry (60), Wim Wenders (81), Mila Kunis (43), Marcia Gay Harden (67), Lamorne Morris (43), Jackée Harry (70), Andrew Kevin Walker (62), Spencer Pratt (43), Jamie Sives (53), Catherine Bell (58), Neil Newbon (49), Christopher Gorham (52), Jessica Sipos (37), Brianna Hildebrand (30), Carl Lumbly (75), Emmanuelle Béart (63), Adrian Lester (58), Chris Jenks (38), Scott Michael Campbell (55), Adrienne C. Moore (46), Charlotte Nicdao (35), Alison Thornton (27), Marsai Martin (22), Peter Franzén (55), Susan Saint James (80), Miranda Rae Mayo (36), Jim Wynorski (76), John Hillcoat (65), Cassi Thomson (33), Olivia Sui (33), Antonio Fargas (80), Raoul Bova (55), Terry Notary (58), Jose Coronado (69), Jennifer Flavin (58), Ben Bass (58), Tomer Sisley (52), Andrei Mignea (49)
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Christy Knowings, who starred on the beloved Nickelodeon sketch comedy series All That, has died. She was 46. The obituary.
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