TIFF 2024 Kicks Off; New Plan to "Revitalize" CBS Revealed In Filing; 'Megalopolis' Tracking for $5M+ Domestic Opening; 'Nutcrackers' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( September 06, 2024 What's news: TIFF 2024 is fully underway. Rapper Rich Homie Quan has died. Linkin Park is back with new music and a new singer. Keke Palmer will star in Peacock's series adaptation of The Burbs. Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen will star in a limited series about the murder of JonBenét Ramsey. 911: Lone Star will end with its fifth season. — [Abid Rahman]( Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at [tips@thr.com](. THR at TIFF 2024 ►LFG! The 49th Toronto International Film Festival is officially underway and THR's team on the ground has all the latest. [Click here to read the day 1 digital daily.]( —"TIFF, cut ties with RBC." Pro-Palestine protestors disrupted the TIFF opening night screening on Thursday night. The protest occurred at a screening of David Gordon Green's opening movie Nutcrackers, starring Ben Stiller, held at Toronto’s Princess of Wales Theatre. Chants were targeted at Royal Bank of Canada, which is an official partner of the fest. Four protestors chanted "From Turtle Island to Palestine, RBC funds genocide" and raised banners declaring "RBC is killing our future." [The story.]( —The hot list. TIFF 2024 features buzzy features starring the likes of Sydney Sweeney, Mads Mikkelsen and Pamela Anderson. THR's [Scott Roxborough]( and [Mia Galuppo]( list some of the titles likely to attract the most market attention this year. [The list.]( —Battle of the fall film markets. With the start of TIFF 2024, Scott Roxborough writes that the first shot has been fired in a battle for supremacy in the fall film markets. Toronto will officially launch its new market in 2026, with the help of an eight-figure sum from the Canadian government, and the ground is being laid to make TIFF a contender, perhaps even a replacement, for the current reigning fall champ, the American Film Market. [The analysis.]( —Surprise! TIFF audiences got a surprise musical performance at the world premiere of When Up the Hill on Thursday night when the film’s star, Vicky Krieps, performed the closing theme live. Krieps wrote the song, Jill, herself, inspired by the character she plays in the psychological ghost story from New Zealand director Samuel Van Grinsven. [The story.]( —Bookmark this page. THR's crack team of critics weigh in on this year’s crop of Toronto titles, from biopics to documentaries, sweeping epics to intimate character studies, tear-jerking dramas to laugh-out-loud comedies. Click here to see links to all of THR's TIFF 2024 reviews. [The reviews.]( New Plan to "Revitalize" CBS Revealed In Filing ►More details. A new filing with the FCC outlines a plan to “strengthen and revitalize” the CBS broadcast network and its owned and operated stations, should Oracle founder Larry Ellison be allowed to assume control of the broadcast licenses. Ellison, the father of Skydance founder and CEO David Ellison (who would be the future CEO of Paramount should the merger go through), would control the new company through a handful of corporate entities, alongside Gerry Cardinale’s RedBird Capital. Companies controlled by Larry Ellison are contributing the bulk of the cash required to get the deal done, hence the voting control. [The story.]( —The Hollywood labor chief pay chart. 2023 proved to be a landmark year for Hollywood labor, as actors and writers called a historic double strike in the name of reshaping a transforming industry. Given the climate, THR's [Katie Kilkenny]( writes that chief negotiators for the striking unions, as well as the directors’ union, took home the top labor leader salaries in Hollywood. SAG-AFTRA’s Duncan Crabtree-Ireland led the pack, while leaders of the WGA West and the Directors Guild of America also made more than $600,000. [The list.]( —🤝 Direct deal 🤝 Fox is adding another veteran writer and producer to its roster of broadcast direct deals. The network has signed Without a Trace and The Last Ship creator Hank Steinberg to such a pact, under which Steinberg will develop drama series that will be wholly owned by Fox. Steinberg is currently an executive producer of Doc, a medical drama set to premiere on Fox in early 2025. [The story.]( WBD Launches New Experiences Division ►Burgeoning business. Warner Bros. Discovery is making a big bet on live experiences like theme parks, studio tours, themed exhibitions and retail, creating a new division meant to capitalize on that opportunity. The new division is called Warner Bros. Discovery Global Experiences, and will encompass both owned and operated experiences like its studio tours or exhibitions, as well as licensed entertainment, like its deals with Universal Destinations and Miral (which are the home of Harry Potter in theme parks). Simon Robinson, COO of WBD Studios, will lead the new division. [The story.]( —"Rest in peace my brother." Atlanta rapper Rich Homie Quan, born Dequantes Lamar, has died. He was 34. The cause of Lamar's death remains unknown. He emerged alongside Young Thug as part of a tidal wave that cemented Atlanta as the rap capital of the world in the mid-2010s. He made a splash with his debut on the charts in 2013 when his “Type of Way” anthem peaked at No. 12 on the Billboard Hot 100. [The obituary.]( —New singer, new music. Linkin Park is back, seven years after the 2017 death of lead singer Chester Bennington. The rock band debuted new singer Emily Armstrong and drummer Colin Brittain on a livestream Thursday. The pair will be joining returning members Mike Shinoda, Brad Delson, Phoenix and Joe Hahn, with Armstrong sharing vocal duties with Shinoda. [The story.]( Lisa Frank Docuseries Set at Amazon ►A little extra color. Amazon Prime Video has ordered a Lisa Frank docuseries. The four-part doc Glitter and Greed: The Lisa Frank Story will dive into the popular brand that defined girlhood for a generation of Americans. The series comes from director Arianna LaPenne and Sony Pictures Television’s Maxine Productions, which was behind Quiet on Set: The Dark Side of Kids TV. [The story.]( —There goes the neighborhood. Peacock has given a straight-to-series order for a comedic mystery series based on the 1989 Tom Hanks-Carrie Fisher movie The Burbs. Keke Palmer is attached to star in the series, which counts Brian Grazer and Seth MacFarlane among its executive producers. Grazer and Ron Howard’s Imagine Entertainment produced the film. Palmer will play half of a young married couple who return to the husband’s childhood home. Their world is upended when new neighbors move in next door, bringing old secrets of the cul-de-sac to light, and new deadly threats shatter the illusion of their quiet little neighborhood. [The story.]( —🎭 Another look at a tragedy 🎭 Melissa McCarthy and Clive Owen will star in a limited series about the murder of JonBenét Ramsey. The series, currently titled JonBenét Ramsey, has scored a series order at Paramount+. The series comes from Yellowstone producers MTV Entertainment Studios and 101 Studios and showrunner Richard LaGravenese. Harrison Query, Tommy Wallach and LaGravenese are writing. Presumed Innocent's Anne Sewitsky has also signed on to direct four of the eight episodes in the series. [The story.]( —"Now in our final season of the show, we’re set to give it the high-stakes send-off it deserves." The forthcoming season of 911: Lone Star will be its last at Fox. The series, a Texas-set spinoff of 911 (which now airs on ABC after moving from Fox last season), is set to begin its fifth season on Sept. 23. The show took the 2023-24 season off following last year’s labor strikes, and speculation that the coming season would mark the end of its Fox run has been widespread. Season five will run for 12 episodes, with a series finale airing early next year. [The story.]( —Back for more. Netflix has greenlit a second season of the hit children’s fantasy-adventure series Unicorn Academy from Spin Master Entertainment. The show will have another 16 episodes, propelling the adventure across the next two years and into 2026. Unicorn Academy first dropped on Netflix in November 2023 and was followed by a 44-minute special and nine 22-minute episodes that were released earlier this summer. In addition to season two, the show will also release complementary and short-form digital content available for fans on YouTube and TikTok. [The story.]( —Breaking free. In its second week on Netflix, Prison Break rocketed to the top of Nielsen’s streaming rankings. The former Fox series, which also streams on Hulu, was added to Netflix on July 29 and made its streaming chart debut that week. For the week of Aug. 5-11, it more than doubled the previous frame’s viewing time, rising from 758m to 1.6b minutes. (Hulu, incidentally, is developing a new version of Prison Break with Mayans MC showrunner Elgin James.) [The streaming rankings.]( Coppola's 'Megalopolis' Tracking for $5M+ Domestic Opening ►Keep the faith. THR's [Pamela McClintock]( reports that Francis Ford Coppola's passion project Megalopolis is tracking for an anemic domestic opening in the $5m-plus range against a budget of $120m before marketing, according to one major Hollywood research firm. Another leading service thinks it could come in at between $6m to $8m. Either way, that would rank among the lowest wide launches of the revered filmmaker’s career, and put the movie in danger of incurring major losses. [The box office report.]( —🎭 Tuning up 🎭 Amy Adams is ready to make noise with the comedy feature Lazy Susans. The six-time Oscar nominee has signed a deal to produce and star in the film that is in development at 20th Century Studios. Annie Mumolo and Stan Chervin are penning the script for the project that does not yet have a director attached. Lazy Susans centers on a rock band, comprised of a group of musical moms. The film is based on a true story that was chronicled in a Boston Magazine article that TEG+ optioned. Adams and Stacy O’Neil will produce through their banner Bond Group Entertainment, alongside TEG+’s Vivek J. Tiwary and Jack Leslie. [The story.]( —📅 Dated 📅 Caddo Lake, from producer M. Night Shyamalan and writer-directors Celine Held and Logan George, has found a home in the U.S. The mystery pic will debut on Max on Oct. 10. Caddo Lake is set around an eight-year-old girl mysteriously vanishing, and a series of past deaths and disappearances starting to link together, forever altering a broken family’s history. The film stars Dylan O’Brien, Eliza Scanlen, Diana Hopper, Caroline Falk, Sam Hennings, Eric Lange and Lauren Ambrose. [The story.]( TV Review: 'Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos' ►"Missing a few things, but still essential." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( reviews Alex Gibney's Wise Guy: David Chase and The Sopranos. The TV creator, plus stars like Edie Falco, Lorraine Bracco and Michael Imperioli, sit down for a two-part look back at the game-changing mob dramedy. [The review.]( —"Effective, though deliberately repulsive." For THR, Justin Lowe reviews Max and Sam Eggers' The Front Room. Brandy Norwood, Andre Burnap and Kathryn Hunter star in this story of a pregnant woman relentlessly harassed by her husband's cruel stepmother in the feature directorial debut by the brothers of filmmaker Robert Eggers. [The review.]( —"An evocative, if somewhat flimsy, star vehicle." THR's [Angie Han]( reviews Samir Oliveros' The Luckiest Man in America. Paul Walter Hauser stars in this film that depicts the fateful 1984 appearance on the game show Press Your Luck by ice-cream truck driver Michael Larson, who would win the largest prize in the show's history. [The review.]( —"A great ending can't save this deathly dull drama." Angie reviews Netflix's The Perfect Couple. A young couple's Nantucket wedding weekend is derailed by a dead body in the Susanne Bier-directed adaptation of Elin Hilderbrand's novel, starring Nicole Kidman, Eve Hewson, Billy Howle, Meghann Fahy, Dakota Fanning, Michael Beach, Donna Lynne Champlin and Liev Schreiber. [The review.]( Film Review: 'Nutcrackers' ►"Warm and heartfelt if a touch formulaic." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews David Gordon Green's Nutcrackers. A work-obsessed Chicago real estate developer (Ben Stiller) gets stuck on his late sister’s Ohio farm playing guardian to four rambunctious nephews in this Toronto festival opener. [The review.]( —"Pretty to look at but emotionally hollow." For THR, Caryn James reviews Durga Chew-Bose's Bonjour Tristesse. Chloë Sevigny, Claes Bang and Lily McInerny star in this updated take on Françoise Sagan's 1954 coming-of-age story, about a young woman meddling in her father's love life. [The review.]( —"Stunning and original." Caryn reviews Samuel Van Grinsven's Went Up the Hill. Premiering in Toronto, the film revolves around a woman and her dead wife's estranged son, starring icky Krieps and Dacre Montgomery. [The review.]( —"Delivers a little bundle of woe." THR's Leslie Felperin reviews Dea Kulumbegashvili's Venice competition entry, April. Beginning star Ia Sukhitashvili reunites with director Kulumbegashvili for her second feature, about an OB-GYN operating in a remote rural community. [The review.]( Thank Pod It's Friday ►All the latest content from THR's podcast studio. —It Happened in Hollywood. THR senior writer [Seth Abramovitch]( goes behind the scenes of the pop culture moments that shaped Hollywood history. In this episode, Seth spoke to Penelope Ann Miller. The Reagan star joins Seth to discuss Pee-wee Herman’s second big-screen outing in 1988's Big Top Pee-wee. [Listen here.]( In other news... —Netflix’s Mr. McMahon [trailer explores blurred lines of reality behind the wrestling mogul]( —The Diplomat S2 [teaser reveals fate of Keri Russell’s husband]( —Friends Will Ferrell and Harper Steele [grow even closer in Will & Harper trailer]( —Malala Yousafzai [makes film producer debut with Last of the Sea Women trailer]( —Nickel Boys [trailer stars Daveed Diggs, Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor in adaptation of Pulitzer-winning novel]( —Child Star [doc trailer showcases the joys and toll of young celebrity]( —Melania Trump [teases upcoming memoir in new video]( —Lionsgate [names new head of inclusive content at movie group]( —Bella Hadid [tapped as Chopard’s latest global ambassador]( —Ellen Burstyn [honored with Liberatum’s Pioneer Award in Venice]( —L.A.’s [top museums turn sci-fi into high art]( —The [best 4K TV deals at Target to shop ahead of football season]( —Where [to stream Studio Ghibli's The Boy and the Heron online]( ​​​What else we're reading... —Stephen Fowler, Quil Lawrence and Tom Bowman report that Trump's deputy campaign manager has been identified in the Arlington National Cemetery dustup [[NPR]( —With Beetlejuice Beetlejuice celebrating goth culture, Emily Steer charts the history of the aesthetic [[BBC]( —Ayan Artan wonders where all the Black girls are in the new YA shows and movies [[Teen Vogue]( —Sarah Paynter has a fascinating piece on Michael Jordan's 56,000-square-foot Chicago mansion that is still up for sale 12 years later [[WSJ]( —Here's your Friday list: "Every Ben Stiller movie performance, ranked" [[Vulture]( Today... ...in 2013, Universal released Riddick in theaters. The third installment in David Twohy and Vin Diesel's The Chronicles of Riddick film series was moderate box office, a long-gestating fourth film is currently in production. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Idris Elba (52), Naomie Harris (48), Macy Gray (57), [Rosie Perez]( (60), Anika Noni Rose (52), Justina Machado (52), Chad L. Coleman (57), Michael Winslow (66), Trina McGee (55), Kevin Carroll (55), Jane Curtin (77), Lauren Lapkus (39), Freya Allan (23), Maddie Phillips (30), Betsy Russell (61), Nicholas Chavez (25), Swoosie Kurtz (80), Graham Wardle (38), Jo Anne Worley (87), Justin Whalin (50), Anne Lockhart (71), Howard Charles (41), Robin Atkin Downes (48), Mathew Horne (46), Katherine Cannon (71), Bertie Carvel (47), Asher Angel (22), Jovan Adepo (36), Keone Young (77), Dylan Bruno (52), Natalia Cigliuti (46), Mark Ivanir (56), Sarah Strange (50), Shay Rudolph (19), Søren Bregendal (41), Steven Eckholdt (63), Ian Puleston-Davies (🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿66), Heather Vandeven (43), Tehmina Sunny (44), Pearce Joza (22), Paton Ashbrook (36) Norman Spencer, the British producer, production manager and screenwriter who worked alongside famed director David Lean on films including Blithe Spirit, Great Expectations, The Bridge on the River Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia, has died. He was 110. [The obituary.]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} by The Hollywood Reporter. Please add email@email.hollywoodreporter.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. Visit the [Preferences Center]( to update your profile and customize what email alerts and newsletters you receive. The Hollywood Reporter is a part of Penske Media Corporation. © 2024 The Hollywood Reporter, LLC. All Rights Reserved. 11175 Santa Monica Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90025 [View in Browser]( | [Privacy Policy]( | [Your Privacy Rights]( | [Ad Choices]( | [Terms of Use]( | [Unsubscribe](