| | | | | | What's news: The Oscars will have increased security amid an FBI alert. Tommy Lee Jones has joined the cast of FX's The Lowdown. Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman are leaving Sony Pictures Television. The Obama’s Higher Ground will co-produce Proof on Broadway. And Billie Eilish is in talks to make her feature acting debut in Sarah Polley's The Bell Jar. — Abid Rahman
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Which Films Would've Won the Best Casting Oscar? ►What if. For all the talk about how much the Academy Awards have changed in recent years, one key facet has remained remarkably constant: the category lineup. This year, that changes. Casting directors are finally getting their due. But if the casting Oscar had existed in past, who would have won? For THR, Ben Zauzmer worked with the Casting Society to survey members about which Academy Awards contenders would have prevailed over the past 15 years. The story.
—"We had a feeling before last year’s show that Conan was going to crush." THR's executive editor for awards coverage Scott Feinberg spoke to Oscars producers Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan about Sunday's ceremony. The duo, who are producing the telecast for the third year in a row, preview the event and reveal the inaugural casting Oscar will be presented in the “fab five” format, and that the in memoriam segment will be expanded. The interview.
—Final batch. The Academy has revealed its final round of show presenters for Sunday’s Oscars telecast. Rose Byrne, Nicole Kidman, Jimmy Kimmel, Delroy Lindo, Ewan McGregor, Wagner Moura, Pedro Pascal, Bill Pullman, Lewis Pullman, Channing Tatum and Sigourney Weaver are all set to present awards at the ceremony. The story.
—"[It's] going to be very special." On Wednesday, Katy Mullan and Raj Kapoor confirmed that a special Bridesmaids reunion will take place during the ceremony on Sunday, and teased a Marvel reunion as well. The duo took part in a press conference alongside host Conan O’Brien, music director Michael Bearden, production designer Misty Buckley and supervising choreographer Mandy Moore, moderated by Rotten Tomatoes awards editor Jacqueline Coley. The story.
—"We have the support of the FBI and the LAPD, and it’s a close collaboration." Oscars producers have promised that they “want everybody to feel safe and protected” at Sunday's ceremony amid reports of an FBI alert about Iran‘s plan to attack California with drones. During the press conference on Wednesday, Katy Mullan and Raj Kapoor said the ceremony will have increased security. The story.
—Don't forget the Globes! Nikki Glaser, the Golden Globe, Grammy and Emmy-nominated comedian who hosted the Golden Globe Awards in 2025 and 2026, will return as the emcee of that ceremony for its 84th edition. The ceremony will air on CBS, and stream on Paramount+ in the U.S., on Sunday, Jan. 10, 2027. With her next stint, Glaser will have emceed the show more times than any other host(s) save for Ricky Gervais, a five-timer, and the team of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, four-timers. The story. |
U.S. Lawmakers Introduce Hind Rajab Accountability Bill ►"Comprehensive answers." THR's Scott Roxborough has the scoop that U.S. Senator Peter Welch (D-Vt.) and U.S. Representative Sara Jacobs (D-CA-51) today introduced legislation, the Justice for Hind Rajab Act, that would require the U.S. government to investigate and hold accountable those responsible for the killing of the 5-year-old Palestinian girl whose story inspired the Oscar-nominated docudrama The Voice of Hind Rajab . The act will require the Trump administration “to provide comprehensive answers on the death of Hind and broader patterns of civilian harm in Gaza to reassert the United States’ commitment to the Geneva Conventions and the prosecution of war crimes.” The story.
—Presidential seal of approval. Barack Obama and Michelle Obama’s Higher Ground will co-produce Proof on Broadway. The revival of the David Auburn play, starring Ayo Edebiri and Don Cheadle, is set to play the Booth Theatre on Broadway this spring, with an April 16 bow. This marks the first foray into theater for Higher Ground, which has a first-look deal with Netflix and previously partnered with Spotify. The company has previously produced work across film, television and podcasting, with projects such as Leave the World Behind, Crip Camp, Rustin and American Factory. The story.
—Oh Liza! In her long-awaited memoir, Kids, Wait Til You Hear This!, showbiz icon and EGOT winner Liza Minnelli — who turns 80 today! — pulls back the curtain on a life lived at maximum volume. Across its 400-odd pages, the Cabaret star dishes on a life filled with famous friends, explosive romances, family wounds and backstage chaos. THR's Seth Abramovitch has sped-read through the book to compile a list of its wildest anecdotes and confessions, which include the full retelling of her Oscar-night humiliation; the inside account of her drug-fueled affair with Martin Scorsese; and gory new details behind two of her doomed marriages. The revelations. |
Starz Adopts "Poison Pill" Plan After Byron Allen's Play ►Defensive move. Starz is adopting a so-called “Poison Pill” after the media mogul Byron Allen acquired 10.7 percent of the company last week in a surprise deal. The poison pill, also called a shareholder rights plan, is typically enacted by companies seeking to ward off hostile or unwelcome acquisition efforts. The plan adopted by Starz would kick in if any one shareholder acquired 17.5 percent or more of the company, and would allow for other shareholders to purchase shares in the company at a 50 percent discount, effectively diluting the activist. The story.
—Exits. Sony Pictures Television’s unscripted division is undergoing a big shake-up. Eli Holzman and Aaron Saidman, who have lead Sony Pictures TV Nonfiction for the past four years, are departing the studio. The nonfiction unit will be folded into Sony Pictures TV Studios president Katherine Pope’s portfolio, SPT chairman Keith Le Goy wrote in a memo to staff Wednesday. Holzman and Saidman, who were prolific producers prior to joining Sony, are set to return to that side of the business. The story.
—Pivot continues. RTL Group reported $6.55b in revenue for 2025 as the European broadcaster and streamer continued its pivot toward subscription and digital businesses, while reshaping its portfolio through a series of deals designed to scale its streaming operations. The Luxembourg-based group — owned by German media giant Bertelsmann and the parent company of production powerhouse Fremantle, the maker of global entertainment franchises including The X Factor and Got Talent — posted revenue of $6.55b for the year, down 3.8 percent from $6.81b in 2024 as traditional TV advertising declined. Adjusted EBITA came in at $720m, broadly in line with company guidance. The results. |
NFL Plots New Thanksgiving Eve Game ►TV takeover continues. THR's Alex Weprin reports that the NFL is once again looking to add new broadcast windows this coming season, including a possible game on Thanksgiving Eve. The league, of course, has multiple games on Thanksgiving itself, and in recent years launched a Black Friday game with Amazon. But the day before Thanksgiving would be a new window for the league, so it is exploring the move. A source notes that the league has had success with the Thanksgiving and Black Friday games, as well as the Christmas Day games on Netflix, so adding another game around the holidays makes sense. The league is also said to be considering other new windows as well. The story.
—🎭 Award-winning addition. 🎭 Season two of The Lowdown is adding an Oscar winner to its cast. Tommy Lee Jones has joined the critically acclaimed FX series from Reservation Dogs showrunner Sterlin Harjo. Details on his role in The Lowdown are being kept quiet for now. Jones is the second new addition to the show; Betty Gilpin was previously cast, joining returning star Ethan Hawke. Season one of The Lowdown followed citizen journalist and self-proclaimed “truthstorian” Lee Raybon (Hawke) as he worked to uncover corruption in Tulsa, Oklahoma, focusing on the powerful Washberg family and its patriarch (Kyle MacLachlan), who is running for governor. The story.
—🎭 From briefs to bikinis. 🎭 Shay Mitchell is heading to the beach. Fox announced Wednesday that Mitchell has been cast in the Baywatch reboot as a series regular. She joins the show as Trina, a former lawyer who left a top-tier firm to become a full-time lifeguard. Mitchell is best known for starring as Emily Fields across all seven seasons of Pretty Little Liars. The upcoming Baywatch series will consist of 12 episodes and is slated to premiere during the 2026–27 season. The story.
—Duran-go!!! Hulu is looking to add to its slate of drama series with a pilot from Y: The Last Man’s Eliza Clark. The streamer has ordered a pilot called Durango, which will center on a couple facing long odds. Clark is writing the project and will executive produce. Media Res and 20th Television are producing the show. The logline for Durango reads, “Mikey is a ski bum townie chasing a buzz. Bunny is a homeschooled runaway working as a greasy-spoon waitress. Together they’re riding an avalanche of bad decisions and falling in love while running from cops, criminals, and Mikey’s wife in pursuit of their own American dream.” The story.
—Order! Order! Hulu has also ordered a comedy pilot about a disgraced reality star from Unstable and Workaholics writer-producer Sean Clements and comedy veteran Paul Simms. The project, called Lex, comes from 20th Television, with Clements and Simms executive producing. Lex’s title character is a former reality star who, per the show’s logline, “accidentally films a murder in the background of a $20 Cameo video. He finds himself at the center of a global conspiracy — and on the run from powerful forces who want him dead. Using the skills he acquired navigating reality TV’s toxic social dynamics, Lex must fight to not get killed, to expose the truth, and most importantly, to get back on TV." The story. |
Can Gen Z Save Hollywood? ►"Moviegoing is increasingly becoming a new kind of night out." Some had written off Zoomers as anti-moviegoing, since they were the first generation to bond 24/7 with an iPhone or other device. But they love PG movies, buy tickets with their whole family, and post their reviews on social media. Now they’re the primary customers at movie theaters. THR's Pamela McClintock and Lily Ford unpack the reams of data that suggests Gen Z might save the cinemagoing experience. The analysis.
—🎭 Eyeing the big screen. 🎭 Billie Eilish is in talks to make her feature acting debut with Sarah Polley‘s adaptation of Sylvia Path’s classic 1963 novel The Bell Jar. Polley, who earned an Oscar for her script for 2022’s Women Talking, is penning the screenplay that adapts the book. Focus Features has landed the project that hails from Plan B Entertainment and StudioCanal. Joy Gorman Wettels, known for Little House on the Prairie and 13 Reasons Why, serves as producer. After originating the project through her company Joy Coalition, Gorman Wettels packaged The Bell Jar with Eilish and Polley and brought Plan B and StudioCanal on board. The story.
—🎭 Middle Earth bound. 🎭 Kate Winslet is in talks for Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum, which will go into production in the country this year. Details of Winslet’s role were not disclosed. Andy Serkis is directing the film and reprising the role of Gollum, the tragic figure he originated in Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings trilogy in the early 2000s and which he reprised for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The Hunt for Gollum takes place between The Hobbit trilogy and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, with Aragorn and Gandalf searching for Gollum to learn more information about Bilbo’s ring, which turns out to be the One Ring that threatens all of Middle Earth during the events of Lord of the Rings. The story. |
TV Review: 'Imperfect Women' ►"If I had a dollar for every similar show I've seen, I'd be as rich as the characters in them." THR's chief TV critic Daniel Fienberg reviews Apple TV's Imperfect Women . Based on the book by Araminta Hall, this eight-part drama focuses on a trio of friends whose secrets and lies lead to violence and tragedy. Starring Kerry Washington, Elisabeth Moss, Kate Mara, Corey Stoll and Joel Kinnaman. Created by Annie Weisman, from the book by Araminta Hall. The review.
—"Not as good as It Ends with Us, better than Regretting You." THR's Frank Scheck reviews Vanessa Vaswill's Reminders of Him. Maika Monroe leads the latest big-screen spin on a novel by Colleen Hoover. Starring Maika Monroe, Tyriq Withers, Rudy Pankow, Lainey Wilson, Lauren Graham and Bradley Whitford. Written by Colleen Hoover and Lauren Levine, based on the book of the same name by Hoover. The review.
In other news...
—Paul Rudd, Nick Jonas get violent as songwriting goes wrong in Power Ballad trailer
—Netflix's Thrash: Phoebe Dynevor’s shark movie gets new title, first trailer
—The Pussycat Dolls reunite as trio with new single, global tour
—Banff: Spain named country of honor
What else we're reading...
—Graham Bowley reports on the civil trial over sexual assault allegations that Bill Cosby faces this week in California [NYT]
—Patrick Temple-West and Aanu Adeoye report that the battle for weight-loss supremacy shifts from jabs to pills as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy launches a tablet [FT]
—Sam Adler-Bell has a must-read new piece on the young women leaving the New Right/MAGA due to the movement's inherent misogyny problem [Intelligencer]
—Raphael Satter has a wild story about a foreign hacker who compromised the Epstein files held by the FBI in 2023 [Reuters]
—A lover of Pixar movies as a kid, Chris Kelly writes that Hoppers is the film he needed as an adult [Washington Post]
Today...
...in 1954, 20th Century Fox opened the Gregory Peck thriller Night People at the Roxy Theatre in New York. The film went on to be nominated for an Oscar for its story at the 27th Academy Awards. The original review.
Today's birthdays: Liza Minnelli (80), Courtney B. Vance (66), Chris Sanders (64), Zhao Wei (50), Aaron Eckhart (58), Lesley Manville (70), Titus Welliver (64), Masali Baduza (29), Jaimie Alexander (42), Jason Beghe (66), Aleks Le (27), Frank Welker (80), Jake Weber (63), Ron Funches (43), Malina Pauli Weissman (23), Julia Campbell (63), Nicholas and Cameron Crovetti (18), Jama Williamson (52), Richard Harrington (🏴 51), Samm Levine (44), Caren Kaye (75), Jerry Levine (69), Jo Hartley (54), Barbara Feldon (93), Namgoong Min (48), Lisa Durupt (45), Carl Hiaasen (73), Rhys Coiro (47), Luis Gerardo Méndez (44), Jake Lockett (41), Luenell (67), Larry Murphy (54) |
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