What's news: David Ellison apparently met with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick. Peacock has ordered three more seasons of The Traitors. SNL is adding two new players to the cast. MACRO has acquired ALLBLK from AMC Global Media. And Justin Baldoni is back with his first project since the culmination of the It Ends With Us legal battle. — Abid Rahman
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Universal Hesitates On 'Musk' Doc Release
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►Shifting political winds. THR's Steven Zeitchik has the scoop that Universal, which controls worldwide rights to Alex Gibney's Elon Musk documentary outside of North America, now appears to be having second thoughts on the film it paid a significant sum to acquire. Steven reports that the studio has not dated Musk, has not communicated with the filmmaking team about its plans, and generally appears to be rethinking the release of a project that it once showed high enthusiasm for but is now politically sensitive for parts of the Trump administration. Universal bought the rights to Musk three years ago, paying a multimillion dollar price tag to release the film around the world. HBO snapped up North American TV and streaming rights back in 2023. The story.
—Pressure builds. With the clock ticking on his own deadline to move Paramount out of California, CEO David Ellison has been making the rounds to state officials as he fields bids on relocation packages, reports THR's Winston Cho. A sit-down with Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick last month supposedly took place, per a public records request. In an Aug. 11 email to economic development officials, Red Sanders, chair of the Texas Media Production Alliance, said that Ellison met with Patrick about the move. The records disclosure didn’t detail the substance of any supposed talks, which could include offers of job-creation tax credits, workforce-training grants or property tax abatements, among other things. The story.
—The latest. A woman whose wrong-way driving led to a fatal Metro L.A. bus crash on Tuesday has been arrested on murder charges. The crash was being covered by a news helicopter that subsequently went down, killing three people. Bailee Lynn Rios' SUV crashed into the bus, killing at least two people and injuring six. Reporter Eliana Moreno and the helicopter’s pilot, George Marciniw, who were covering the accident for NBC4 and Telemundo 5, died in the helicopter crash on Tuesday evening. The story.
—Suit filed. A former assistant director on Shrinking has sued Warner Bros. Television and the executive producer of the series, alleging she was wrongfully terminated after raising complaints of alleged wage theft and sexual misconduct. The assistant director, Mindy McKoin, claims the production altered her and other crewmembers’ time cards to reflect that they worked fewer hours than they actually did, among other workplace-related claims. The story.
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Congress Gets a "Film and TV Caucus" |
►"Bringing film and television production back to the United States isn’t a partisan fight." THR's Katie Kilkenny reports that a bipartisan group of U.S. House members is inaugurating a Congressional caucus devoted to film and television production. Representatives Brian Jack (R-GA), Laura Friedman (D-CA), Nathaniel Moran (R-TX), Linda Sánchez (D-CA), Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) and Tom Suozzi (D-NY) on Wednesday announced the formation of the Congressional American Film & TV Production Caucus to gather likeminded lawmakers together on efforts to boost domestic production. The caucus will join the hundreds of other such groups centered around shared affinities and interests that exist in Congress. The story.
—🤝 Moving fast. 🤝 The Formula 1 star Lewis Hamilton’s Dawn Apollo Studios has inked a multiyear, first-look deal with Skydance Sports, the sports entertainment division within Paramount Skydance. The deal will see Dawn Apollo develop and produce content spanning scripted, unscripted, and animation, with Hamilton serving as EP on all projects. Notably the deal also extends beyond just Skydance Sports to potentially include other parts of Paramount, including video games, consumer products and other areas. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Charles D. King‘s media company, MACRO, has acquired ALLBLK from AMC Global Media, marking its entry into direct-to-consumer streaming. No terms of the deal were disclosed. MACRO, the multi-platform entertainment company behind films such as Judas and the Black Messiah, Sorry to Bother You and They Cloned Tyrone, plans to invest in new original programming to usher in ALLBLK’s next phase of expansion, the company said. The story.
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Kraft Responds After Macklemore Invites Him to Match His $1M Donation |
►"I have dedicated much of my life to building bridges between all people." Shortly after Macklemore revealed that he’s donating $1m to support Palestinian people, in addition to inviting billionaire Robert Kraft to match his donation, the Gillette Stadium owner has replied. Kraft wrote in a statement on X Wednesday afternoon that he plans "to commit $2m to match his donation to aid in the region to fight this humanitarian crisis." The donation comes after Macklemore was dropped as an opener for Ed Sheeran‘s Loop Tour after making headlines for his pro-Palestine speeches during his performances. The story.
—Madge is back! Madonna is set to make her return to the MTV Video Music Awards stage for the first time in 23 years, MTV and CBS announced Wednesday. The pop icon will return to the award show after the release of her chart-topping album Confessions II. The last time Madonna performed at the show was in 2003, during an iconic collaboration with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera that opened that year’s show. The story.
—🏆 ¡Felicidades! 🏆 The nominations for the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards have been revealed, and it’s a four way tie for the lead between Karol G, Rosalia, Jorge Drexler and Ca7riel & Paco Amoroso, who all earned seven. All four acts received nominations in the major three record of the year, album of the year and song of the year categories. The nominations.
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Justin Baldoni to Produce Gina Rodriguez's Directorial Debut |
►Comeback. Justin Baldoni is stepping into the ring alongside former co-star and longtime friend Gina Rodriguez for a new indie film. Rodriguez is set to make her feature directorial debut with boxing movie House of Guerrero. The project, which has a script from Bernardo Cubría, is currently in preproduction and has not yet announced any castmembers. House of Guerrero is the first major project that Baldoni has announced since he and Blake Lively reached a settlement in the It Ends With Us legal battle. The story.
—🎭 Filled out. 🎭 THR's Nicole Fell has the scoop on the second feature from writer-directors Neal Kelley and Jono Sherman finding its cast. Lauren Patten, Pauline Chalamet, Kimball Farley, Carlos Valdes and Rachel Marsh are set to lead Old Mission. Enid Graham, Zoe Kanters, Matthew Hays, Josh Broder and Karen Leiner round out the cast. Set over five days on the shores of Lake Michigan, the film, which began filming earlier this month and is expected to wrap this week, is the pair’s follow-up to the pair’s 2023 film Daddy. The story.
—Chopped. THR card shark Ryan Gajewski has the scoop on Red Leaf Entertainment developing The Chop, a rags-to-riches drama movie that has set Mike Young to pen the script and produce. The feature is inspired by the true story of Stephen Matt Morrow, aka Vegas Matt, and his path to becoming an advantage slot player and gambling influencer with more than 1.6m YouTube subscribers. The story.
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'Brand New Day' Hits No. 1 on All-Time Domestic Chart |
►Record-breaking woof! Spider-Man: Brand New Day is still soaring to new box office heights. Sony's superhero blockbuster has become the highest-grossing title on the all-time North American chart with $936.773m. The new domestic champion hit the top spot after 47 days of release, surpassing the previous record of $936.6m for 2015’s Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens. Brand New Day‘s historic run has included becoming the fastest feature to hit every major domestic milestone, from $400m through $900m. The box office report.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 The new specialty label Magenta Edge Films has acquired Good Sport, the second feature from writer/director Andrew Jack Zuckerman, for a limited theatrical release from Sept. 20. The distribution label of Bob Yari’s Magenta Light Studios plans screenings in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles, ahead of its digital release on Oct. 13. Zuckerman co-wrote the screenplay with Dillon Orth for Good Sport, which stars Sam Landman, Mike O’Gorman, Sari Lennick, Virginia Newcomb, Elizabeth Guest, Michelle Hutchison, Darius Jones and Esera Tuaolo. The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 Watermelon Pictures, an indie distributor that specializes in Palestinian and Arab cinema, has picked up all rights in North America for Thirteen in Gaza, the debut feature from Palestinian filmmaker Hosam Abu Dan, which premiered at Toronto's TIFF Centerpiece section. The coming-of-age drama follows Raghad (Mary Ziyara), a 13-year-old girl who has lost her home and much of her family in a bombing, who now lives in a displacement camp in Gaza with her father (Feras Al Masri). The story.
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'SNL' Adds Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter as Featured Players |
►🎭 New faces. 🎭 Saturday Night Live is adding two people to the show’s cast ahead of season 52. Saidah Belo-Osagie and Grace Reiter have joined the show as featured players. The cast from last season will largely return, with Bowen Yang, Chloe Fineman and Martin Herlihy the only departures. Belo-Osagie is a writer and comedian who wrote and directed the short film Tinge and created and stars in the solo theater show Saidah Gets Closure. Comedian Reiter’s credits include a recurring role on HBO’s The Chair Company and the upcoming Netflix show Minimum Wage. The story.
—🎭 Jimmy heads rejoice. 🎭 Jefferson White will reprise his Yellowstone role as the fan-favorite Jimmy Hurdstrom in a recurring role on season two of spinoff Marshals. In the Yellowstone-verse, Jimmy is described as “a good-hearted yet rough-around-the-edges ranch hand who evolved from a troubled criminal into a resilient, proud cowboy.” Marshals stars Luke Grimes reprising his Yellowstone role as Kayce Dutton as he joins an elite unit of U.S. Marshals. The story.
—🎭 Six more. 🎭 Heated Rivalry has added six more actors to its upcoming second season. Brendan Morgan joins as Zane Boodram, an Ottawa hockey pro. David Tomlinson will play Cody Kent, a Toronto player. Gerry Dee will play Toronto coach Cooper. Michelle Mylett joins as Lisa, a doctor and the wife to Ottawa's Wyatt Hayes. Lauren Chan will play Gen, an employee of the Ottawa team. And Nick Stahl joins as Curtis Barrett, father to new season two lead Troy Barrett. The story.
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'How to Survive Without Me' Scores HBO Max Series Order |
►🟢 Greenest of green lights. 🟢 HBO Max is adding to its original series lineup — and its broadcast-esque roster of shows that run 15 episodes per season. The streamer has picked up a drama called How to Survive Without Me, about a family dealing with the loss of its matriarch. Ray Romano, Kaley Cuoco, Joshua Jackson and Rita Wilson lead the cast of the series, which comes from writers Greg Berlanti and Bash Doran (from a story by Berlanti, Doran and Robbie Rogers). The show, which HBO Max put into development last year, will produce 15 episodes for its first season, similar to the model followed by The Pitt. The story.
—🟢 No-brainer. 🟢 The Traitors is safe at the roundtable for a few more years. Peacock has ordered another three seasons of the award-winning reality series. The Alan Cumming-hosted hit series, which had already been renewed through season five, is set to return in January for that season, meaning fans of the show are in for at least four more seasons. Cumming has signed on to return as host. He recently scored his third consecutive Emmy win for outstanding host for a reality or reality competition program. The story.
—Woof! Dancing With the Stars did not lose any of its ratings momentum in the offseason. If anything, it picked up steam. The ABC competition opened its 35th season Tuesday with a sizable jump in both viewers and the key ad-sales demographic of adults 18-49 over its 2025 premiere. DWTS drew 6.67m viewers, based on preliminary Nielsen ratings, a 24 percent improvement on last year’s debut (5.38m) and a little ahead of the show’s full-season average of 6.5m viewers. It was the most watched season premiere for the series since season 29 in September 2020. The ratings.
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'Hamilton' Hits $2.5M As Chris Jackson Returns |
►Gorgeous George. Hamilton was the highest grossing show of the week, bringing in $2.5m, up more than $350,000 from the prior frame, thanks to the return of original cast member Chris Jackson. The Lion King followed with $1.66 million, then Harry Potter and the Cursed Child with $1.54m, MJ with $1.51m and Wicked, re-entering the top five after a bumpy summer, with $1.2m. Oh, Mary! followed just behind with $1.1m for the final week starring Meg Stalter, before Bowen Yang takes over Monday. School Girls; Or, The African Mean Girls Play began previews on Broadway last week and played to 97 percent capacity at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre. School Girls, which is set to open Sept. 28, brought in $270,461 across seven performances. The Broadway box office report.
—🎭 To the rescue! 🎭 Rosie O’Donnell is stepping into the role of The Narrator in The Rocky Horror Show for two weeks in October. She will play the role from Oct. 6 through Oct. 18, as current Narrator Rachel Dratch takes a short leave from the show. O’Donnell takes over the role after appearing Off-Broadway this summer in the one-woman show Common Knowledge for 12 performances. She then took over Jimmy Kimmel Live! for a weeklong stint in August. The story.
—📅 The end is nigh. 📅 Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York) will play its final performance Nov. 29 after one year on Broadway. The two-hander musical, about a British man enthusiastically visiting New York for the first time and connecting with a cynical New Yorker, opened at the Longacre Theatre on Nov. 20, 2025, after runs in Boston and the West End. The closure of the show comes as gross and attendance for the show have been trending down over the last several months, with the show recently reporting 70 percent capacity and grosses around or under $500,000. The musical was nominated for eight Tonys, but didn't win any. The story.
—Busy, busy. Sam Pinkleton, the Tony-winning director of Oh, Mary! and of The Rocky Horror Show, will direct Annie, which return to Broadway in fall 2027 to mark the musical’s 50th anniversary. Pinkleton is also set to direct the star-studded Encores production of You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown, with Ayo Edebiri, Danielle Brooks and David Hyde Pierce, in February 2027. The story.
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Film Review: 'Resident Evil'
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►"This is how it's done." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Zach Cregger's Resident Evil. The auteur behind Weapons and Barbarian co-writes and directs the latest reboot of the horror film series based on the popular action horror video games. Starring Austin Abrams, Zach Cherry, Kali Reis, Paul Walter Hauser and Will Merrick. Written by Zach Cregger and Shay Hatten. The review.
—"Delicate and emotionally authentic." For THR, Jourdain Searles reviews Kris Rey's Trash Mountain. Caleb Hearon and Zooey Deschanel star as siblings reconnecting after their father dies in this indie dramedy premiering at the Toronto Film Festival. Also starring Jacki Weaver, Kyle Marvin, Jaboukie Young-White, Holmes, Tim Hopper, Hanna Dworkin, Peggy Roeder, Max Cortezi, Finn Russell and Ruby Russell. Written by Caleb Hearon and Ruby Caster. The review.
—"Undermined by unabashed triteness." THR's Leslie Felperin reviews Avi Nesher's Our Loves. The Israeli writer-director assembles a large ensemble of locally well-known actors to tell this October 7 story of fear and trauma, premiering at the Toronto Film Festival. Starring Shalom Michaelshvili, Magi Azarzar, Yaniv Biton, Noa Cohen, Daniel Gimpel, Hadas Yaron, Evelin Hagoel, Lena Fraifeld, Lior Miller, Nevo Katan, Nomi Aharoni-Gal (Nunu), Amir Banai, Elad Turgeman, Chancela “Sean” Mongoza and Leib Lev Levin. Written by Avi Nesher. The review.
—"Gracefully acted and directed." For THR, Michael Rechtshaffen reviews John Madden's Onwards and Sideways. Laura Linney and Rhys Ifans lead this British dramedy about two people who bond over their shared diagnosis of Parkinson’s. Also starring Rory Kinnear and Monica Dolan. Written by Paul Mayhew-Archer. The review.
—"Slapdash and tuneless." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Rebel Wilson's Girl Group. A washed-up former girl group singer turned messy drunk gets a shot at redemption after being forced to coach a bunch of teens preparing for a record label competition. Starring Rebel Wilson, Chabely Ponce, Lilah Pate, Bailey Stender, Daniela Couso, Ana Yi Pung, Miracle Washington, Mia Kaplan, Randall Park, Loren Gray, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, Sally Hawkins, Jennifer Coolidge and Nicole Scherzinger. Written by Rebel Wilson. The review.
—"So-so as history, but a potent conversation-starter." THR's Daniel Fienberg reviews Lacey Schwartz Delgado's Re/Pair. The TIFF-premiering documentary explores the shifting dynamic between Blacks and Jews in America via 19 paired conversations. The review.
In other news...
—Anya Taylor-Joy kidnaps Chris Evans in Netflix’s Sacrifice trailer
—Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping trailer: Haymitch steps up the fight against the Capital
—Cute: Danish drama tackling sexual taboos launches trailer
—VidCon to leave Anaheim as the creator convention links up with Cannes Lions
—Zhang Yimou to lead Busan Film Festival competition jury
—Unauthorized book on Bob Iger’s Disney power struggle gets release date
—Lena Dunham welcomes first childLena Dunham welcomes first child
—Peter Max, the psychedelic pop artist, dies at 88
What else we're reading...
—Emmy Martin reports that OpenAI has disclosed six new incidents of "concerning" AI behavior [NYT]
—Fascinating report from Andrew Beaton, Katherine Sayre and Elias Leight on the 40-minute phone call that left Ed Sheeran’s tour hanging by a thread [WSJ]
—Mark Savage looks at how being music's Mr Nice Guy contributed to biggest crisis of Ed Sheeran's career [BBC]
—Max Tani goes inside U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent's tense relationship with the financial media [Semafor]
—Chris Marshall digs into the rather corny phenomenon of Big Tech companies offering branded fashion items [BBC]
Today...
...in 1972, two years after its movie adaptation, the M*A*S*H team leaped to the small screen during the 8 p.m. hour on CBS. The original review.
Today's birthdays...
Baz Luhrmann (64), Mena Massoud (35), Kyle Chandler (61), Danielle Brooks (37), Doug E. Fresh (60), Sam Esmail (49), Paul Feig (64), Neill Blomkamp (47), Augustus Prew (39), India Amarteifio (25), Ella Purnell (30), Ritu Arya (38), Cassandra Peterson (75), Bobby Lee (55), Ian Whyte (55), Matthew Settle (57), Annabelle Apsion (66), Bruce Spence (81), Susan Ursitti (69), Malik Yoba (59), Mia Talerico (18), Harriet Cains (33), James Urbaniak (63), Danny Ramirez (34), Dustin Nguyen (64), Felix Solis (55), Sunrise Coigney (54), Nam Ji-hyun (31), Daniel Maslany (38), Bo Brinkman (70), Lily Frazer (38), Michelle Joyner (65), Denyse Tontz (32), Daniel Huttlestone (27), Stacy Kamano (52), William Brent Bell (56)
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Rodney Charters, the New Zealand-born cinematographer who shot all but eight episodes of the first eight seasons of the high-octane, Kiefer Sutherland-starring Fox drama 24, has died. He was 80. The obituary.
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