| | | | | | What's news: NBA TV will have 60 exclusive regular season games. Wicked: For Good star Cynthia Erivo will get a best actress awards push, with Ariana Grande pushed for best supporting actress. Mortal Kombat III is happening. Amazon has canceled Butterfly and Countdown. And Jim Caviezel will not return to play Jesus in Mel Gibson's The Resurrection of the Christ. — Abid Rahman
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Diane Keaton 1946 - 2025 ►Legend. Diane Keaton, who sparkled in her Oscar-winning turn as the titular quirky woman in Woody Allen’s Annie Hall and portrayed the outsider Kay Adams-Corleone in Francis Ford Coppola’s three Godfather films, died Saturday. She was 79. Keaton also starred as a playwright/mother who becomes involved with a nefarious womanizer in Something’s Gotta Give (2003), good for her fourth best actress Oscar nomination. She was nominated for her work in Reds (1981) and in Marvin’s Room (1996) as well. The obituary.
—"We lost a true original." A host of Hollywood legends took to social media over the weekend to pay tribute to Diane Keaton. Bette Midler, Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Francis Ford Coppola, Kate Hudson, Steve Martin, Candice Bergen, Jane Fonda and Octavia Spencer were among the A-listers who remembered Keaton. "The brilliant, beautiful, extraordinary Diane Keaton has died. I cannot tell you how unbearably sad this makes me. She was hilarious, a complete original, and completely without guile, or any of the competitiveness one would have expected from such a star. What you saw was who she was…oh, la, lala!” Midler wrote on Instagram. The reaction.
—"Keaton’s innate radiance and verve made her born to play comedy, but she was no less gifted a dramatic actor." THR's chief film critic David Rooney pens a personal tribute to Diane Keaton's work. David writes that the irreplaceable Keaton modernized the screwball heroine with sophistication, intellect and singular style. The appreciation.
—Style icon. She was the ultimate cool girl who defined menswear-influenced style in the 1970s, and almost a half-century later Diane Keaton remained the ultimate cool woman both onscreen and off, making style statements in films and on red carpets that were equal parts uncommon, fun and age-appropriate, and which always felt wholly authentic to her personality. THR's Laurie Brookins writes that Annie Hall made the iconic actress a style star, but throughout her life, she showed women of all ages how to seamlessly blend fashion and identity. The appreciation.
—Sprezzatura! Just to illustrate Diane Keaton's effortless style, THR's Chris Gardner has put together some of the late actress' most memorable red carpet looks over the decades. The looks. |
'Tron 3' Hits the Skids With $33.5M Opening ►End of line? Disney’s reboot Tron: Ares malfunctioned badly in its box office debut, coming in well behind expectations with a domestic opening of $33.5m from 4,000 theaters. Unless it can solve its problem quickly, it will once and for all end hopes of rebooting a storied, yet troubled, sci-fi franchise that began more than four decades ago when the first film became a cult classic. Overseas — where the sci-fi genre is an even harder sell — Ares also disappointed with a debut of $27m for a global start of $60.5m. It unfurled everywhere except for China, where it opens next weekend.
THR's Pamela McClintock writes that heading into the weekend, the big-budget event pic had been tracking to open to $40m to $45m domestically (at one point, $50m was even a possibility) against a hefty net production budget of $180m after tens of millions in tax breaks and production incentives. The Tron film franchise has always been challenged, resulting in terms of long gaps between installments. It took 33 years for the sequel, Tron: Legacy, to hit the big screen. Debuting in 2015, Legacy opened to $44m domestically on its way to earning $409.9m globally, not adjusted for inflation. Ares was in development for a decade, but former Disney exec Sean Bailey refused to give up and shepherded the project when serving as head of Disney’s live-action studio.
Disney insiders were well aware that Ares might encounter trouble in its box office debut. The hope now is that solid audience scores can make up for decidedly mixed reviews. Its current critics’ score on Rotten Tomatoes is 57 percent, while the audience ranking is much better at 87 percent. And it got four out of five stars on PostTrak. The box office report. |
Oliver Fears for CBS News in Wake of "Alarming" Weiss Hire ►"She's been given editorial control of a massive news organization, even though she's never run a TV network, has no experience directing television coverage and, as one 60 Minutes producer pointed out, is not even a reporter." John Oliver used his main segment on Sunday’s Last Week Tonight to take a close look at Bari Weiss, the newly appointed editor-in-chief of CBS news. Earlier this month, Paramount announced that it had officially acquired The Free Press, the digital publication founded by Weiss, and would bring Weiss into the fold of CBS News, which, as THR recently reported, had been expected but also was greeted with dread inside the news division. Oliver didn't hold back, and described Weiss as someone "who has spent years putting out work that, in my opinion, is at best irresponsible and at worst deeply misleading." The recap.
—Hmmm... If there was any doubt about the active role that Bari Weiss would play as the newly-minted editor-in-chief of CBS News, her first week at the news division put it to rest. On Friday, Weiss sent a note to all CBS News staff, asking them to send a memo to her by the end of day Tuesday, outlining how they spend their time, what they are most proud of, and perhaps most significantly “your views on what’s working; what’s broken or substandard; and how we can be better.” The memo asking how staff are spending their time reminded some observers of Elon Musk’s infamous memo to federal government staff earlier this year, making them justify their jobs, one CBS staffer actually thinks it may be about Weiss finding allies internally who want to see the news division make big, bold changes, hence her promise to keep replies in strict confidence. The story.
—Warning. A union representing CBS News broadcast and digital staffers has cautioned its members against responding to Bari Weiss' memo requesting company feedback and workload details. Also on Friday, reps of the Writers Guild of America East suggested their members refrain from replying until they get more information about the message. “Many of you have expressed concern to us about the purpose of the email, and we share those concerns,” wrote the director of the union’s broadcast/cable/streaming news division and three field representatives. The story. |
'Resurrection of the Christ': Caviezel Won't Return as Jesus ►🎭 All-new cast. 🎭 Jim Caviezel will not return to play Jesus Christ for director Mel Gibson's forthcoming follow-ups to the smash hit The Passion of the Christ. Lionsgate is set to release the two-film project The Resurrection of the Christ theatrically in 2027, with the production aiming to begin soon in Rome. THR auto didact Ryan Gajewski reports that key roles will be recast for the new movies, as Caviezel will not reprise the titular part of Jesus, while Monica Bellucci also won’t return as Mary Magdalene. Telling the story of Jesus’ arrest and crucifixion, Passion was a box office sensation when it hit theaters Feb. 25, 2004, surpassing $600m globally. After having been in the works for roughly a decade, The Resurrection of the Christ: Part One hits theaters March 26, 2027, which is Good Friday. Forty days later, Part Two will debut May 6, 2027, in honor of Ascension Day. Gibson is producing the films with Icon Productions partner Bruce Davey. The story.
—🏆 All set. 🏆 THR's Scott Feinberg reports that the folks behind the awards campaigns for Wicked: For Good stars Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have decided to hold space for them in separate Oscar categories. As was the case for last year’s Wicked, Erivo, who plays Elphaba Thropp (now known as the “Wicked Witch of the West”), will be promoted for best actress, while Grande, who plays Glinda Upland (now known as “Glinda the Good”), will be pushed for best supporting actress. For Wicked , both Erivo and Grande received Critics Choice, SAG, Golden Globe, BAFTA and Academy Award nominations. And their screen time in Jon M. Chu’s highly-anticipated sequel, which Universal will release nationwide on Nov. 21, does not justify a change, it was determined. The story.
—🎭 New face. 🎭 THR's Borys "El Scooperino" Kit has the scoop that Jumanji is back in game play mode as Sony’s latest sequel of its hit franchise heads toward a November start of production in Los Angeles. Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Jack Black and Karen Gillan are returning to star in the feature, which will once again be directed by Jake Kasdan. It has a release date of Dec. 11, 2026. One new face in the feature will be Brittany O’Grady, who may be best known for co-starring in the first season of Mike White’s HBO series, The White Lotus. The story.
—It's happening! Mortal Kombat II screenwriter Jeremy Slater revealed that New Line and Warner Bros. have already greenlit the next film at the end of the sequel’s Saturday New York Comic Con panel, telling the excited crowd to show up to theaters next summer and “make sure they know there’s an audience for this movie because we want to keep making them for you guys.” Slater was on hand Saturday alongside director Simon McQuoid and sequel cast members Karl Urban, Adeline Rudolph, Tati Gabrielle and Martyn Ford, where they talked sequel delays and what fans can expect out of the next chapter. McQuoid, who took the question about the movie’s release shift from October to May 16, 2026, said the sequel was delayed as a result of being “a victim of our own success.” The story.
—Ripley's believe it or not. Sigourney Weaver won’t rule out returning to her seminal Alien character Ripley in light of 50 new pages of a script she’s seen from producer Walter Hill. "Walter Hill is a very good friend of mine, and he wrote 50 pages where Ripley would be now, and they are quite extraordinary. I don’t know if it’s going to happen, but I have had a meeting with Fox, Disney, or whoever it is now,” she told the crowd at New York Comic Con on Friday. "I said I have never felt the need. I was always like, ‘Let her rest, let her recover.’ But what Walter has written seems so true to me as very much about the society that would incarcerate someone who has tried to help mankind." The story.
—🤝 Sold! 🤝 H Is for Hawk, a drama featuring a standout performance by Emmy, SAG and Golden Globe award winner Claire Foy as a grieving woman who finds renewed purpose through falconry, has had its North American rights acquired by Roadside Attractions. Roadside will give it an awards-qualifying theatrical release in December — largely to push Foy for recognition in this season’s wide-open best actress race — before opening it more widely in 2026. The film, which was co-written and directed by three-time BAFTA Award winner Philippa Lowthorpe and produced by Plan B Entertainment, had its world premiere at Telluride. The story. |
'Yellowjackets' to End With S4 on Paramount+ ►One last ride. The surviving Yellowjackets will have one more season to make it home. The Paramount+ thriller, produced by Lionsgate TV, will end with its upcoming fourth season. A writers room for the now-final season is open, with production set to start in 2026. A premiere date hasn’t been set. Series creators Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson will continue as showrunners in the final season and are in conversations with Paramount about extending their relationship with the company. Yellowjackets premiered on Showtime in 2021 and became a word-of-mouth hit as it told the often wild tale of a high school girls’ soccer team surviving the Canadian wilderness after a plane crash in the late 1990s and the present-day stories of those who made it out and tried to put their lives back together. The story.
—One and dones. Amazon Prime Video has canceled a pair of first-year series, Butterfly and Countdown. The Amazon MGM Studios series had summer debuts and each spent a short time on Nielsen’s top 10 U.S. streaming charts, but neither will return for a second run. The cancellation of Butterfly, based on a graphic novel by Arash Amel and Marguerite Bennett and starring Daniel Dae Kim, comes about two months after it premiered as a binge release. The show spent two weeks on the Nielsen streaming charts following its Aug. 13 premiere. Countdown, led by Jensen Ackles, premiered in June and had a longer rollout, wrapping its 13-episode season in early September. Countdown also had a two-week run on the Nielsen streaming charts shortly after its premiere. It didn’t keep up that momentum as the season continued, however. The story.
—Fresh start. The NBA is taking NBA TV into its own hands. The league on Monday rolled out a slate of live games and basketball programming that will power its reimagined NBA streaming app, as well as its cable channel NBA TV. The news is significant because the league has not had operational control of NBA TV or its streaming business since 2008, with Warner Bros. Discovery (and before that WarnerMedia and Time Warner) operating the business for the league. NBA TV will have 60 exclusive regular season games, beginning Oct. 25 when the defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder visits the Atlanta Hawks, as well as games from the WNBA and the NBA’s development league The G League. It will also televise international games from Australia’s NBL, France’s LNB, Germany’s BBL, Spain’s Liga ACB, the China's CBA, and Korea's KBL. The story.
—📅 "It was the End of an Era and we knew it." 📅 Taylor Swift‘s full concert film The Eras Tour | The Final Show, featuring the entire Tortured Poets Department set, and a docuseries on the tour are coming to streaming. The movie and the first two episodes of the docuseries, Taylor Swift | The Eras Tour | The End of an Era, release on Disney+ on Dec. 12. Swift announced the news, including the six-episode behind-the-scenes docuseries, on her socials Monday morning. The story.
—📅 Dated! 📅 Bridgerton will be welcoming viewers back to the Ton with a two-part release this winter. Season four of the Shonda Rhimes-created hit period drama will return on Netflix with Part 1 on Jan. 29, followed by Part 2 on Feb. 26. Each part consists of four episodes. The brief teaser released with the news asks, “Do we rise to the occasion or do we bury oneself deeper amidst society’s secrets? As always, time — and this author — will tell.” The story.
—🎭 All set. 🎭 Anna Kendrick and J.K. Simmons are signing up for Embassy, a six-part geopolitical action series. Kendrik will play Layla, a resourceful American diplomat stationed at the U.S. Embassy in London when it comes under attack from armed mercenaries. The U.S. Ambassador (Simmons) orders her to extract a high-value asset held inside the compound, and Layla is forced to team up with her ex, a British SAS soldier, even as evidence emerges of a broader conspiracy. AGC Television is producing the series with Ascendant Fox and Turbine Studios and will be selling the show to international buyers at MIPCOM in Cannes. The story. |
TV Review: 'The Chair Company' ►"Uncomfortable, unsettling and very funny." THR's Angie Han reviews HBO's The Chair Company. Tim Robinson and Lake Bell star in this comedy-thriller series about a husband and father who goes down a conspiracy rabbit hole following an embarrassing workplace incident. Also starring Joseph Tudisco, Sophia Lillis, Will Price and Lou Diamond Phillips. Created by Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin. The review.
—"Soulful, funny and affecting." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews Bradley Cooper's Is This Thing On? In his third outing as director, Cooper's feature is a comic drama about stand-up as divorce therapy. Starring Will Arnett, Laura Dern, Andra Day, Bradley Cooper, Christine Ebersole, Ciarán Hinds, Sean Hayes and Amy Sedaris. Written by Bradley Cooper, Will Arnett and Mark Chappell. The review.
—"More bark than bite." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Bryan Bertino's Vicious. In this Paramount+ horror feature, a young woman receives a mysterious box from an unexpected visitor. Starring Dakota Fanning, Kathryn Hunter, Mary McCormack, Rachel Blanchard, Deveyn Nekoda, Klea Scott and Emily Mitchell. Written by Bryan Bertino. The review.
In other news...
—Simu Liu, Melissa Barrera play spy games in The Copenhagen Test teaser
—Jurassic World: Chaos Theory S4 trailer debuts at NY Comic Con
—Star Trek: Starfleet Academy trailer has cadet sex and an angry Paul Giamatti
—Peacock’s All Her Fault trailer puts Sarah Snook through the wringer
—AMC Networks CEO Kristin Dolan inks contract extension
—John Lodge, longtime Moody Blues bassist, dies at 82
—Fede Dorcaz, Argentine singer, dies at 29 in drive-by shooting in Mexico City
What else we're reading...
—In a moving tribute, Matt Zoller Seitz reflects on the "the unfading beauty" of Diane Keaton [Vulture]
—Brian Stelter unpacks the "protest frogs" vs. MAGA media influencers fight as tensions over ICE raids hit Portland and Chicago [CNN]
—Alaina Demopoulos reports on "Death to Spotify," the growing DIY movement to get artists and fans to quit the music app [Guardian]
—Colin Paterson talks to the directors of KPop Demon Hunters on the film's Oscar chances and a possible sequel [BBC]
—Michelle Goldberg reflects on Megyn Kelly's rightward push to a place that's closer to Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens [NYT]
Today...
...in 2017, Open Road Films releases Reginald Hudlin's Marshall in theaters. The biopic of Thurgood Marshall, the first African American Supreme Court Justice, starred Chadwick Boseman and was a hit with critics. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Paul Simon (84), Kate Walsh (58), Caleb McLaughlin (24), Himesh Patel (35), Ashanti (45), Chris Carter (69), Sacha Baron Cohen (54), Matt Walsh (61), Alex Ferns (57), Hiro Kanagawa (62), Danny Lloyd (53), Nell Tiger Free (26), Kiele Sanchez (48), Allen Covert (61), Christopher Judge (61), Florian Munteanu (35), Christopher Leone (54), Katia Winter (42), Susan Blommaert (78), Aaron Dismuke (33), Katie Walder (43), Richard Sammel (65), Ashley Newbrough (38), Jennifer Sky (49), John Lone (73), Elizabeth Maxwell (42), Luis Tosar (54), Kaito Ishikawa (32), Rutanya Alda (83), Sadie Katz (47), Bill Glass (81), Demond Wilson (79), Kira Reed (54), Bailey Noble (35), Chris Tergliafera (42) |
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