| | | | | | What's news: Gavin Newsom says trans athletes in female sports is unfair. Paramount Global is looking to dismiss Trump’s lawsuit against CBS News. CBS has canceled SWAT (again). Vikings creator Michael Hirst will produce another Norse saga show for Amazon. — Abid Rahman
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License to Shill: Inside Amazon's 007 Takeover ►"There’s nobody there with any institutional memory of how to make a Bond movie." It’s the Bond movies’ most shocking plot twist in decades. But will tech giant Amazon's surprise buyout of the enduring film series prove deadly? Or could it breathe new life into cinema’s most famous spy? THR's Benjamin Svetkey digs into what prompted the shock deal and what could happen now that the Broccolis are out of the picture, and Amazon attempts to rebuild one of the largest franchises in the history of film. The story.
—"The issue of fairness is completely legit." California Gov. Gavin Newsom, a potential 2028 Democratic presidential candidate, used the inaugural episode of his new podcast to break from progressives by speaking out against allowing transgender women and girls to compete in female sports. Newsom made his declaration in an extended conversation with conservative activist Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old who built the influential Turning Point USA organization that helped President Donald Trump increase his support last fall among the youngest generation of voters. Kirk, like Trump, has been a vocal opponent of allowing transgender women and girls to participate. The story.
—Superseding indictment. In a bolstered version of an indictment, prosecutors accuse Sean "Diddy" Combs of obligating employees, one of whom he forced to have sex with him, to work long hours under the threat of physical, financial and reputational harm. The indictment, issued on Thursday, doesn’t contain new charges or victims but instead expands upon allegations over the method of the alleged enterprise through which he assaulted and trafficked women with the help of his various businesses. In a statement, Marc Agnifilo, a lawyer for Combs, denied the allegations. The story. |
Paramount Moves to Dismiss Trump Lawsuit ►"This lawsuit is an affront to the First Amendment and is without basis in law or fact." Without a settlement in sight, Paramount Global is looking to dismiss Donald Trump’s lawsuit against its CBS News unit from a federal court in Texas, which has become a hot spot for legal battles advancing conservative legal causes. CBS is incorporated in New York, but Trump’s legal team chose to sue in the Northern District of Texas, prompting concerns that he’s cherry-picking judges by filing the lawsuit at a court where a sympathetic judge is likely to oversee the case. The story.
—"This gag on artists’ speech has had a ripple effect across the entire art world." The ACLU has filed a lawsuit in conjunction with a number of artists and theater groups challenging a new grant requirement from the National Endowment for the Arts. Per the new requirement, potential grant applicants must state that they will not “promote gender ideology” as part of their project under consideration for funding. This requirement came after Donald Trump signed an executive order claiming male and female as the only two sexes and said that federal funds should be used to promote gender ideology. The story.
—✊ It's official ✊ Production workers at Walt Disney Animation Studios officially have a first union contract. In a ratification vote that took ended on Wednesday, 93 percent of participating bargaining unit members voted to support a deal reached on Feb. 13, while 7 percent voted against. Ninety-six percent of union members turned out to vote on the agreement, which is a sideletter to The Animation Guild‘s preexisting contract with Walt Disney Animation Studios. Production managers, production supervisors and production coordinators at the studio negotiated for health and pension benefits as well as higher minimum wage rates. The story. |
DiCaprio Remains in Talks for Evel Knievel Biopic ►Evel talk. THR's Borys Kit reports that Paramount is looking to close a deal with Leonardo DiCaprio to star in a biopic of motorcycle daredevil Evel Knievel. Damien Chazelle, who last directed Babylon and has a first-look deal with Paramount, is due to helm the feature. The dealmaking has been going on for months, since late last year at least, and while that process plays out, eyes are on other roles. Adrien Brody, who just won a best actor Oscar for his work on The Brutalist , may be one of those waiting in the wings. While there is no offer for a role, Brody is said to have met with Chazelle for the part of Shelly Saltman, the author and sports promoter who was viciously attacked by Knievel with an aluminum bat. The story.
—🎭 Next up 🎭 Wicked star Cynthia Erivo has lined up her next movie role. The Emmy, Grammy and Tony winner has joined Past Lives breakout Teo Yoo and Isabel May in Karoshi, a unique action-thriller being made by Lionsgate. Takashi Doscher, who was behind the 2019 post-apocalyptic thriller Only, wrote the script and is directing. Plot and character details are being kept under wraps but the project is being described as a corporate thriller with a samurai twist. The story is set in a Japanese-influenced New York City and features a revenge twist. In Japanese, “karoshi” refers to an unexplained sudden death related to overwork. The story. |
HBO's Programming Team Tells All ►"More hard comedies!" THR's Lacey Rose sat down with HBO and Max's all-female leadership — Amy Gravitt, Francesca Orsi, Lisa Heller, Nancy Abraham, Sarah Aubrey and Nina Rosenstein — for a candid chat on what it takes to get a greenlight (and what’s a hard pass) at TV’s blue-chip brand. The conversation.
—🤝 $100m man 🤝 ESPN's superstar commentator Stephen A. Smith has inked a new long-term deal with the sports media giant. The deal, which could top nine figures per The Athletic, will see Smith continue to lead First Take, his flagship weekday show. He will also appear on other ESPN programming. However, it also allows Smith to pursue other deals for programming that touches politics, culture, or other topics. The story.
—Third time's a charm? SWAT will not return for a ninth season, CBS announced Thursday evening. The network has canceled and un-canceled the show twice before. CBS canceled SWAT after season six in 2023, and then reversed its decision and billed the seventh installment as the show’s last. Then, in April 2024, the network surprised fans with a last-minute renewal for an eighth installment. “Here at CBS, we always ‘stay liquid’ and love a good dramatic twist, especially when it leads to an eighth season of SWAT,” Amy Reisenbach, president of CBS Entertainment, said at the time. SWAT is based on the 1975 ABC series of the same name, and stars Shemar Moore as Daniel “Hondo” Harrelson. The story.
—The (Norse) saga continues. Vikings creator Michael Hirst is heading back to Scandinavia for his next historical drama. Amazon’s Prime Video has greenlit Bloodaxe, a series that will track the rise of Viking warrior Erik Bloodaxe and his wife, Gunnhild, known as the Mother of Kings. Hirst and his son, Horatio Hirst, will write and executive produce. Bloodaxe is Hirst’s third series set in the Viking world — and will run on a third outlet. Vikings initially aired on History Channel, and follow-up series Vikings: Valhalla (which featured Horatio Hirst as an actor) streamed on Netflix. The new series isn’t narratively connected to those two. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Amazon Prime Video has set an April 24 premiere date for Étoile, the latest series from The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel creators Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino. The drama follows the dancers and artistic staff of two world-renowned ballet companies — one in New York, one in Paris — as they take on an ambitious plan to save their storied institutions: swapping their most talented stars. The eight-episode season will debut as a binge release. Along with the premiere date, Prime Video released the first photos from the series, showing the dancers at work and characters behind the scenes of their respective companies. The story.
—🏴 National treasure 🏴 Michael Sheen has written off $1.29m (1 million quid, in old country money) of debt for 900 people, including using $129,000 of his own money. The Welsh actor, famed for roles in Good Omens, Twilight and more recently, A Very Royal Scandal, has started a debt acquisition company to help people in his native South Wales. The business venture is documented in an upcoming Channel 4 documentary Michael Sheen’s Secret Million Pound Giveaway, set to air in the U.K. next week. Fremantle is handling global distribution for the title under Michael Sheen’s Debt Heist. The story. |
'Traitors' Finale: Tearful Twists, Helicopter Hijinks and Backstabbing Besties ►"Wow, you did it to me again." The Traitors season three has finally come to an end. Did the Faithfuls succeed or will Reyes and Haynes pull off a victory? Warning: Spoilers! The recap.
—Tough to beat. The Night Agent continued its run as the top streaming series in the U.S. in early February. The Netflix spy drama captured 1.52b minutes of viewing time for the week of Feb. 3-9, the show’s third straight week in the top overall spot. Though it fell off by about 48 percent from the previous week, The Night Agent’s viewing total was still well ahead of the second-place show, Netflix’s Sweet Magnolias (1.07b minutes). On the week of the Super Bowl — which recorded a record audience on Feb. 9 — overall streaming volume was down some, at least among the top shows. The 10 titles in the week’s overall Nielsen rankings combined for 9.27b minutes of viewing, down from 10.87b a week earlier (a decline of about 15 percent). The streaming rankings.
—Strong start. The CBS daytime drama Beyond the Gates brought a good-sized number of viewers into its world during the show’s premiere week. The soap opera, the first daytime drama centered on Black characters in more than 35 years, averaged 2.28m cross-platform viewers for its premiere week, including three days of streaming and other delayed viewing. Beyond the Gates premiered Feb. 24. On CBS alone, the show averaged a little over 2m viewers over three days, finishing in a virtual tie with ABC’s General Hospital. It also beat out the long-running ABC series in key demographics, including adults and women 25-54. The ratings. |
Rachel Zoe Wants Red Carpet "Petty Criticism" to Go Away ►"Pretty much everything has changed." For THR, Alison Edmond spoke to Rachel Zoe, the former celebrity stylist, and the very first cover star for THR's stylists issue all the way back in 2011. Zoe shared her thoughts on how fashion designer contracts narrows creativity and can create poor styling choices ("It's because they were paid") and how, though she was a reality show star, she disliked talking about her work: "I was ashamed." The interview.
—"Yeah, at this point, I don’t know that there’s anything wrong with my sperm." THR's Lacey Rose spoke to Andrew Schulz about his new Netflix comedy special, Life. The Fragrant podcast host and arena-touring comic unloads on the demise of cancel culture, the dullness of acting and the reason he decided to, as he puts it, "Get up in front of 15,000 people and be like, ‘Yo, my sperm doesn't swim.’" The interview. |
Film Review: 'The Electric State' ►"Robotic in the worst way." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Anthony Russo and Joe Russo's The Electric State. Man vs. machine in a retro-futuristic adventure set in an alternate version of the 1990s that features Millie Bobby Brown, Chris Pratt, Ke Huy Quan, Giancarlo Esposito, Stanley Tucci and a starry voice cast. The review.
—"Tantalizing, even if the aftertaste doesn’t linger." David reviews Steven Soderbergh's Black Bag. Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page and Pierce Brosnan flesh out the ensemble in this twisty spy tale of loyalty and deception among British intelligence agents. The review.
—"Compelling in concept, bland in execution." THR's Daniel Fienberg reviews Errol Morris's CHAOS: The Manson Murders. Was Charles Manson involved with the CIA's MKUltra program or any vast government conspiracy? Don't look for answers in this Netflix feature doc. The review.
In other news...
—Seth Rogen fears cinema’s future in latest The Studio trailer
—Queer rom-com A Nice Indian Boy from Producer Justin Baldoni debuts first trailer
—TCM Classic Film Festival to honor Michelle Pfeiffer
—MSNBC hires Scott Matthews as svp of newsgathering
—Elevator Boys sign with CAA
What else we're reading...
—Paul Chi talks to Oscar-winning filmmaker Bong Joon Ho about his new film Mickey 17, working with Robert Pattinson and the tragic death of Parasite actor Lee Sun-kyun [Vanity Fair]
—Shayla Love writes that excessive use of the drug ketamine can make anyone feel like they rule the world...ahem [Atlantic]
—Imogen West-Knights writes that Meghan Markle’s new Netflix show is going down like a lead balloon in the U.K., and not just with the tabloid press who reflexively dislike her, but also normies [Slate]
—Ann E. Marimow reports that MAGA has turned on "DEI hire" Justice Amy Coney Barrett [WaPo]
—Here's your Friday list: "From Ripley to Ragnarok: Cate Blanchett’s 20 best film performances – ranked!" [Guardian]
Today...
...in 1973, Robert Altman unveiled his two-hour, R-rated noir adaptation of Raymond Chandler’s novel The Long Goodbye in theaters. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Rachel Weisz (55), Bryan Cranston (69), Matthew Vaughn (54), Peter Sarsgaard (54), Jenna Fischer (51), Greta Lee (42), Mona Fastvold (39), Sarah Sherman (32), Brandon T. Jackson (41), Sarayu Blue (50), Wanda Sykes (61), Jay Duplass (52), Andrew Haigh (52), Laura Prepon (45), Tobias Menzies (51), Bel Powley (33), Donna Murphy (66), Sophie Skelton (31), Haley Lu Richardson (30), Daisy Head (34), T.J. Thyne (50), Diana Gómez (36), Giselle Eisenberg (18), Lauren McNamara (21), Mel Martin (78), Audrey Marie Anderson (50), Maxim Roy (53), Robert Harris (68), Jonathan Del Arco (59), Anupam Kher (70), Erika Ishii (38), Jolie Jenkins (51), Dan Grimaldi (79), Richard Lawson (78), Justin Kelly (33), George Salazar (39), Hettienne Park (42), Bill Brochtrup (62) |
| Pamela Bach, an actress who appeared on The Young and the Restless, and the ex-wife of Baywatch star David Hasselhoff, has died. She was 62. The obituary. |
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