Tag: HollywoodReporter

Larry David has returned to HBO Max with the American history-centered sketch comedy show Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness, following the conclusion of his long-running series Curb Your Enthusiasm — and it’s not just executive producers Barack and Michelle Obama who are along for the ride. Dozens of celebrity guests have joined the comedian to fill out the cast of historical figures.

This is not just a few cameos here and there — each episode of Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness has over a dozen celebrity guests, and the roster ranges from a few of David’s co-stars on Curb to the late Rob Reiner, in what became his final screen performance. Major Hollywood stars including Samuel L. Jackson and Lin-Manuel Miranda don the wigs and garb of decades and centuries past alongside television’s biggest names, like Jerry Seinfeld and Jon Hamm. The Hollywood Reporter is watching the series closely to make sure all these stars are accounted for — after all, they deserve some credit for spending time working with L.D.

New episodes of Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness air Friday nights at 9 p.m. on HBO and stream on HBO Max.

Episode 1 – “Livingston”

President Barack Obama as Himself; Samuel L. Jackson as The Narrator; Henry Winkler as John Hancock; Chris Parnell as Benjamin Franklin; Alan Tudyk as Thomas Jefferson; Alison Becker as Spectator 1; Mary Sohn as Spectator 2; Rodney J. Hobbs as Spectator 3; Richard Kind as Thomas Watson; Jake Reiner as Private Wallace; Mike Castle as Private Smith; Michael Chiklis as Sergeant; and Jurnee Smollett as Rosa Parks.

The series opens with an appearance by one of its EPs and a familiar face to all: former President Barack Obama, whose Higher Ground Productions is behind the historical sketch comedy show. Obama praises the nation he led for eight years as it reaches its semiquincentennial and dunks on David a bit — because why not? He’s America’s most beloved curmudgeon. The intro gives way to narration from Samuel L. Jackson, a go-to voiceover these days, giving Morgan Freeman a run for his money.

The first sketch has Winkler, Parnell and Tudyk as our founding fathers as they shut down the additions David’s Robert Livingston is trying to include in the grievances section of the Declaration of Independence. Next up, David portrays Alexander Graham Bell, forced to make awkward conversation with Curb cast member and national treasure Kind as Thomas Watson, as Bell debuts the telephone to a crowd of revelers already demanding text messaging and a variety of color options for the new invention. The annoying crowd features sitcom stalwarts Alison Becker (Parks and Recreation), Mary Sohn (A.P. Bio) and Rodney J. Hobbs (The Office, Modern Family).

The third sketch involves WWI trench warfare, where David portrays a cowardly soldier under the command of a sergeant, played by none other than The Shield‘s Michael Chiklis; his fellow soldiers are Comedy Bang Bang and Curb alum Mike Castle and Jake Reiner, the son of the late Rob Reiner (who also appeared on Curb). The premiere episode closes with David as an irritating bus passenger who sits next to famed civil rights icon Rosa Parks, perfectly cast with Jurnee Smollett in the role.

Episode 2 – “Farewell”

Samuel L. Jackson as The Narrator; Rita Wilson as Mavis Lewis; Jerry Seinfeld as William Clark; Matthew Jones as Tilden’s Aide; Rich Fulcher as Tilden’s Aide; Larry Wilmore as Barney; Kaley Cuoco as Gloria, the Widow; Colton Dunn as Dominic the Soup Server; Rob Reiner as George Washington; Jimmy Kimmel as Crowd Member; and Allan Havey as Crowd Member.

The second episode opens with a reunion between the two creators of the greatest sitcom of all time: Larry David and Jerry Seinfeld. The comedy duo behind the ’90s hit Seinfeld portrays explorers Lewis and Clark, whose landmark military mission, commissioned by President Thomas Jefferson, mapped the newly acquired Louisiana Territory and sought a water route to the Pacific Ocean. The gag is that the two are drinking buddies and it’s a bit too convenient they’re off to explore together for years on their own — as noted by Rita Wilson as Mavis Lewis, Meriwether Lewis’s long-suffering wife.

David then skewers the Electoral College as he portrays Samuel Tilden, who won the popular vote in the 1876 presidential election but fell one vote shy of an Electoral College majority, ultimately losing to Rutherford B. Hayes. Ranting ensues as Matthew Jones, a Curb alum, and Rich Fulcher of The Mighty Boosh portray his aides.

Next, in a Great Depression-set segment, David is joined by Larry Wilmore (formerly of late-night fame) and the incomparable Colton Dunn (Superstore, Parks and Recreation), and, in a series highlight, Kaley Cuoco as a grieving widow David is trying to use to cut in line for bread for his soup.

Finally, the episode ends with the much-talked-about final screen appearance of Rob Reiner; here he portrays George Washington as he discusses term limits for the U.S. presidency in front of a gathered crowd. It’s all a setup for David’s townsman to take veiled swipes at President Trump, who is not named but we all know who L.D. is talking about. Jimmy Kimmel delightfully turns up in some meta-commentary on his forever feud with Trump, too.

Episode 3 – “McCarthy”

Samuel L. Jackson as The Narrator; Lou DiMaggio as Colonial Man; Lin-Manuel Miranda as Michael Finney; Jordan Black as Samuel Cooper; Brad Morris as Joseph Warren; J.B. Smoove as Jonesy Dean Sharpe; Armoire Tru Valentino as Ottoman Jon Hamm as Orville Wright; Sean Hayes as Wilbur Wright; Michael McKean as Joseph Welch; and Rob Huebel as Senator Mundt.

The episode opens with David again playing his usual “guy caught up in a real historical moment” role as he crashes the Boston Tea Party [see flag No. 2 above]. Lin-Manuel Miranda, in fun stunt casting given his Broadway Revolutionary War pedigree from Hamilton, steals the scene as one of the Tea Party ringleaders. Comedian Lou DiMaggio appears too, playing off David’s character being left out of the rebellion.

Speaking of scene stealers, J.B. Smoove’s character Jonesey makes a stop along the Underground Railroad, flabbergasting David’s host with his demands and, soon, his arriving friends. Next, David plays a fictional, less-than-heroic Wright sibling squabbling with his wife (Isla Fisher) over her critique of his butter-churning skills, while Jon Hamm and Sean Hayes play the actual Orville and Wilbur Wright preparing for the first flight.

The episode’s closing and most talked-about segment features David himself playing Senator Joseph McCarthy. It also features Kids in the Hall alum Michael McKean as attorney Joseph Welch, delivering the famous “Have you no decency, sir?” rebuttal, and Rob Huebel (Human Giant, Transparent) as a senator helping moderate one of the infamous hearings.

Episode 4 – “Deepthroat”

Samuel L. Jackson as The Narrator; Beck Bennett as Bob Woodward; Ike Barinholtz as Henry Ford; Diallo Riddle as John Appleton; Katie Aselton as Sylvia Jordana Brewster; Beatrice Merle Dandridge as Clementine; Andrea Savage as Cordelia; Rory Scovel as Jefferson Davis; Judy Gold as Evelyn; Adam Lustick as Jonas Salk; and Gregg “Jeep” Perrie as Bobby.

The Watergate scandal gets the Larry David treatment: in the first sketch of the fourth episode, he portrays “Deep Throat,” the anonymous source who leaked details of the hotel break-in to Washington Post reporters. But David’s leaker doesn’t provide any useful information to SNL alum Beck Bennett’s Woodward when they meet in a parking lot — just trivial nonsense.

Next up, Ike Barinholtz plays the notoriously antisemitic Henry Ford, less than thrilled to be showing his new vehicle to David’s rabbi character. David then portrays President James Buchanan, hitting on each passing lady at a party where he’s introduced the concept of passed appetizers in lieu of dinner. Jordana Brewster of the Fast & Furious movies and The Other Two, and The League‘s Katie Aselton, are among the unfortunate ladies to cross his path; Diallo Riddle (Marlon, South Side) is Buchanan’s assistant, John Appleton.

The big talker of the episode is saved for the finale, with David reviving an old stand-up bit as the overly proud mother of Jonas Salk, Dora, bragging on her son to her neighbor Evelyn about his discovery of the polio vaccine. It gets personal as David mocks his former friend and former co-star Cheryl Hines’ husband, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Soon a young man named Bobby turns up to naysay, telling Dora Salk, “That vaccine’s gonna kill people. It’s gonna give them heart attacks!” A parody of the stark politics of the MMR vaccine ensues, as only David could script.

John Kirby, the longtime acting coach and son to Bruce Kirby, has died. He was 75.

Kirby died Wednesday three years after being diagnosed with ALS. His associate, Nathan Besbitt, confirmed his death on Instagram.

“I am here to officially, with a broken heart, announce the passing of our beloved John on the early morning hours of Wednesday, July 15, and it has been devastating for all of us, and we’re trying to just find a way to cope,” Besbitt said.

Kirby lent his talents as an acting coach to a number of projects across his career, and was a frequent collaborator with Jim Caviezel.

The two worked together on films including Frequency (2000); Pay It Forward (2000); Angel Eyes (2001); The Count of Monte Cristo (2002); High Crimes (2002); I Am David (2003); The Final Cut (2004); Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius (2004); Unknown (2006); and Paul, Apostle of Christ (2018). Kirby also served as Caviezel’s acting coach for the 2009 miniseries The Prisoner.

His additional credits tied to coaching include 2003’s Peter Pan, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Outlander, Hotel California, Scream 4, Stick It and Prom.

Kirby’s family was connected within the entertainment industry, with The Muppet Movie actor Bruce Kirby being his father. His brother, Bruno Kirby, also pursued acting, appearing in City Slickers, Good Morning, Vietnam and When Harry Met Sally…, among others.

The acting coach was diagnosed with ALS on June 7, 2023, after experiencing symptoms a year prior. He suffered a hard fall that resulted in a hip fracture on June 1 of the same year which led to his diagnosis.

A celebration of life will be held on Aug. 15 at the Hall of Liberty Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, and is open to the public.

Tom Brady and Logan Paul shared a stage at Fanatics Fest in New York on Friday, and when their panel ended, an alleged beef heated up and boiled over into an exchange that ended with a slap to the face.

Or did it?

A clip posted on Fanatics’ X account showed the moment Brady and Paul faced off near center stage while exchanging what appeared to be spicy words. Brady then removes his hand from the pocket of his camouflage cargo pants and moves to strike. At first glance, it appears Brady slapped Paul across the face, but closer inspection shows that Brady’s hand missed the target and only made contact with Paul’s shoulder. At that moment, New York Knicks star Karl-Anthony Towns jumped in to break up the “fight.” See the clip below.

“This happened [because] I was roasting Tom for beating him in flag football. And he tries to smack me??” Paul replied on X, referring to their dust-up during another Fanatics event, the 2026 Fanatics Flag Football Classic back in March. “Horrible example for the kids.” Brady weighed in, too, calling Paul a “dork” and replying directly to Paul’s X post by saying, “I tried America…will try again next time I see this nerd.”

This happened bc I was roasting Tom for beating him in flag football. And he tries to smack me ?? Horrible example for the kids

Aura -100
+
Blocked. With a torn tricep https://t.co/3EMBQwYT9M

— Logan Paul (@LoganPaul) July 17, 2026

Needless to say, the original Fanatics clip went viral and within three hours had been viewed more than five million times. Maybe that was the point all along? After rising to fame as an influencer, YouTube content creator and entrepreneur, Paul took his act to the WWE. He’s been signed to the entertainment company since 2022, and has emerged as a big star in the ring though he’s been sidelined for two months due a torn tricep.

During an appearance on ESPN’s First Take, Paul discussed his current status by saying, “I’m an independent contractor with the WWE, and I respect the WWE. In fact, I’m so grateful for what they’ve done, and honestly, they’re grateful for me too because of what I’ve done for the business. And they are. They pay me handsomely — extremely handsomely, may I add.”

Maybe some of the money is heading Brady’s way? He dropped some not-so-veiled hints that a debut in the ring could be on the horizon. “I feel like, I’m retired from football, have the opportunity to go out there and showcase that I’m still a little bit of an athlete. My boy [Rob Gronkowski’s] done it, I’ve seen Logan Paul do it. I think I could get in there for at least one match, right?” Brady asked during an appearance at Fanatics Fest on Thursday, per Bleacher Report.

The legendary quarterback went so far as to say that he’d love to be a heel, aka villain or bad guy. “It’s such an easy choice,” Brady said. “I’m a bad guy. I’ve always been a bad guy. I mean, I feel like when our teams did really well, I would always go into these stadiums and I would feel that. … When you go on the road and you’ve had some success in the NFL, they don’t like you. It’s an incredible feeling when you work that entire day to basically try to send the crowd home early.”

There are some major WWE events on the calendar — including WWE Saturday Night’s Main Event XLV tomorrow at New York’s Madison Square Garden — so it’s possible Brady could be in some spandex very soon. But as far as the slap goes, even Grok wasn’t convinced.

It’s a playful (likely staged promo) moment from Fanatics Fest NYC. Tom Brady and Logan Paul were bantering about athleticism/WWE stuff on stage. Brady slapped him, KAT stepped in to de-escalate, and it stayed light/fun. Not WWE prep—just celebrity event vibes with their ongoing…

— Grok (@grok) July 17, 2026

Colman Domingo is in talks to co-write an original live-action film spotlighting Princess Tiana from Disney‘s The Princess and the Frog, The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed.

Domingo will co-write the take alongside Tony-nominated director Robert O’Hara. Deals have not closed for the pair. It is not described as a live-action remake of The Princess and the Frog, but rather a story inspired by the original film.

The Princess and the Frog released in 2009, centers on Princess Tiana, an aspiring restaurant owner who tries to help a frog prince turn back into a human, when she herself also turns into a frog and they end up falling in love.

The news of a new live-action Disney flick comes after Moana just hit theaters last Friday, and got off to a rocky start at the box office. Disney has seen ups-and-downs in terms of reception to its live-action remakes.

Just last year, Lilo & Stitch earned a record-breaking $183 million four-day opening weekend domestically before surpassing $1 billion; however, Snow White, which also released in 2025 had a $42.2 million opening and was not received with open arms.

This year, Domingo has starred in a number of projects, including Michael, Disclosure Day, The Four Seasons and Euphoria. He recently earned double acting Emmy nominations, tied to his stints in the latter two projects.

The actor discussed his sprawling career in a cover story with The Hollywood Reporter in May. “Maybe it’s because I’m sort of leaning into the third act of my career,” he said. “For a long time, as artists, we’re in our ‘planting seeds’ phase. I feel like I’m in an incredible harvest period.”

Deadline was first to report that Domingo is in talks to co-write the project.

Sunday’s World Cup final is shaping up to be one of the biggest matches in history — and the most expensive if you want be in the stadium where it happens.

With less than 48 hours to go before Argentina takes on Spain inside MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, ticket prices have risen to the $10,000 range for single tickets while hospitality packages (available through FIFA’s official hospitality provider On Location) are upwards of $30,000 to nearly $60,000 for specific lounges.

At last check today on FIFA’s official website, On Location had select hospitality tickets available for Pitchside Lounge at $57,500 for a single ticket, while lower-tier access was available inside the Trophy Lounge for $34,500. Champions Club, FIFA Pavilion and Supporters Club lounges were sold-out as of press time. On StubHub, the lowest price for an available ticket was $9,753 while the highest was $69,786.

That’s nothing compared to a deal Knightsbridge Circle closed for clients to attend the anticipated match. The global private membership-based concierge service — with locations in London, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Dallas and Palm Beach, Florida — sold an unprecedented package for FIFA’s World Cup final for $4 million.

The package, which sold in early June days before the players even hit the pitch to kick off the first game of the 2026 tournament, includes six front-row seats on the halfway line as well as field access for the trophy presentation and award ceremony. Knightsbridge Circle confirmed the sale to The Hollywood Reporter, stating that the package marked “a level of access that has never before been offered at a FIFA World Cup final.”

Per Knightsbridge Circle founder Stuart McNeill, who founded the bespoke luxury travel, VIP access and lifestyle management firm for high net worth individuals in 2012, five percent of its members will be attending Sunday’s game. In addition to the six-ticket deal for the final, Knightsbridge Circle had an offering for two seats at the halfway line (plus pitch-side access and access to the trophy ceremony) for $1.5 million. Though after England and France lost in the semifinals, market interest dipped slightly and those tickets are now available for $750,000 for members.

Speaking of the market, Knightsbridge Circle reports that its membership had leaned toward last-minute bookings as they waited to see how teams progressed in the bracket. And those bookings go beyond stadium access: Knightsbridge also arranges private jet or helicopter landing spots, hospitality suites, security detail and more.

No word on whether or not those high net worth individuals will also be mingling with all the A-listers in the stadium, but it’s more likely than not with so many of them expected to be in attendance. The halftime show itself will be packed with stars as BTS, Madonna, Shakira, Burna Boy, Justin Bieber and Gustavo Dudamel and his orchestra will perform at the midway point, sharing the field for a quick sprint of just 11 minutes.

As the show’s executive producer, Guy Carrington of Done+Dusted, told THR earlier today, the spectacle has been in the works for quite some time with the help of Coldplay’s Chris Martin helping to steer the ship. “Obviously I’m not going to give anything away on the performance itself, but we’ve spent months and months preparing this, developing it and working with all of the artists,” Carrington said. “It’s a carefully curated performance that’s going to be spectacular.”

The FIFA World Cup final kicks off Sunday at 3 p.m. ET/12 p.m. PT.

When Netflix acquired Ben Affleck’s mysterious AI company InterPositive earlier this year, it took the industry by storm.

What was the company? What tools did it create for filmmakers? How would Netflix use them, and use Affleck, who committed to work as a senior advisor to the company in the deal?

And then there was the question of price. How much was the company worth to the streaming giant? Thanks to a new securities filing, we know the answer to that final question.

Netflix disclosed in an SEC filing Friday that it paid $587 million for InterPositive, in cash. The disclosure was made in the company’s form 10-Q, writing that “in March 2026, the Company completed an acquisition which was accounted for as a business combination for a total purchase price of approximately $587 million, consisting of cash consideration.”

While the filing does not name InterPositive, Netflix announced the deal on March 5. The sale price was also filed in the company’s Q1 10-Q, which was filed in May.

InterPositive was formed in 2022 as the multi-hyphenate began to explore the AI space, with a particular emphasis on upending visual effects without impacting the creative part of filmmaking, from writing and directing to acting and production design.

“I knew I had a responsibility to my peers and our industry, to protect the power of human creativity and the people behind it. In creating InterPositive, I sought to do just that,” Affleck wrote in a post at the time. “From the invention of the moving image to the transition to digital, from motion capture to virtual production, technology has evolved alongside the artists who use it. Our shared commitment to continuing this legacy makes joining together a natural next step, in addition to Netflix’s decades of experience applying and scaling technology responsibly.”

The company captured a proprietary data set on a closed soundstage, eventually leading to the company’s first model, which Affleck wrote was “trained to understand visual logic and editorial consistency, while preserving cinematic rules under real-world production challenges such as missing shots, background replacements or incorrect lighting.”

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said on the company’s earnings call this week that about 300 productions currently use AI in their process, mostly in post-production.

“Gen AI is scaling quickly across the entire creative process, from concept to pre-vis through post and delivery,” Sarandos said. “We’re making higher quality output more quickly and efficiently than we could have using traditional methods. So gen AI workflows now have been used in roughly 300 of our titles with the largest concentration right to date is on post-production. But we’re leveraging gen AI for really complicated shots and sequences.”

The Netflix co-chief cited as an example the Tom Hanks-backed doc The American Experiment, which had 17 minutes of what Sarandos called “AI-enhanced” footage. “It enabled us to expand the scope of the series in ways that just wouldn’t have been feasible before. Those 17 minutes,” he added, “They were produced twice as fast and at half the cost of previous options.”

The great Gen Z genre land grab is in full swing.

Mere months after Obsession and Backrooms stormed the summer box office, Hollywood studios have been throwing millions at Internet-fluent horror filmmakers and online-native IP in a battle for the dollars, eyeballs and hearts (in that order) of Gen Z viewers.

The most urgent example today is Backrooms director Kane Parsons, whose $10 million film stands a A24’s top-grossing movie ever with $374 million globally. He is in the midst of a full-court press from multiple power players who want to secure the 21-year-old auteur’s future work.

As first reported by Puck, sources confirmed to The Hollywood Reporter that in recent weeks, Warner Bros. bosses Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy flew to Parsons’ home in the Bay Area, where he lives with his mother, to court the filmmaker. On Thursday, he partook in a Zoom with HBO boss Casey Bloys and head of drama and HBO films Francesca Orsi, as the proposed deal with Warners would encompass film and TV.

Universal chief Donna Langley has also met with Parsons, after successfully wooing Obsession filmmaker Curry Barker for his next movie. A24, meanwhile, very much does not want to lose him, and per Puck is courting him for a Backrooms sequel as well as another original project.

It’s unclear why A24 hadn’t inked a deal with Parsons prior to the release of Backrooms, though it is known that Parsons fully owns the IP, which began life as a series of YouTube shorts.

A24 has long been known for breaking new directing talent, like Robert Eggers (The Witch), Ari Aster (Hereditary) and Celine Song (Past Lives). And while some directors, like Aster and Song, have stayed loyal to the studio, other filmmakers like Eggers and Everything Everywhere All At Once filmmakers Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert have signed deals with larger, more moneyed operations. Eggers’s home is now the Universal specialty label Focus, while the Daniels signed a pre-best picture, five-year deal with Universal.

Splashy deals for online creators have intensified this year, but kicked off in earnest in at the 2023 Sundance Film Festival, when A24 beat out Universal and other studios with a seven-figure deal to land Talk to Me, the Australian horror movie from first-time feature filmmakers Danny and Michael Philippou. Sources have said other studios, including Uni and Warners, attempted to court the YouTubers-turned-horror filmmakers for their follow-up film, but A24 was ultimately able to land the directors’ next film, 2025’s Bring Her Back, and put a Talk to Me sequel into development. Of course, studios would still like to work with them to this day, with Warners said to be in particular high on the duo.

Possibly in order to stave off filmmaker attrition, sources tell THR that in the past few years, A24 has asked that a first-look at a filmmaker’s second project be baked into the deal for their first. This appears not to have been the case with Parsons and Backrooms.

The feeding frenzy for Parsons follows the similar hunt to land Obsession director Barker’s next original project. His Obsession follow-up Anything But Ghosts is already shot and is at Focus, with the studio landing that project after acquiring Obsession out of last year’s Toronto Film Festival. But, in the middle of Obsession’s epic, $400 million box office run, a rival studio offered Barker an astounding $10 million deal for his next original project, sight unseen. Ultimately, Barker stayed in the Universal family for his third film, with the project landing at Universal Film Group and Blumhouse Atomic Monster in what was described as a rich eight-figure deal.

Parsons and Barker are not the only directors cashing in. There have been a myriad of creatives drafting off studios’ fervor for Gen Z-tinged horror talent.

Earlier this month, Warner Bros won a five-studio bidding war with a multi-million-dollar deal for the underlying rights to Siren Head, a viral horror meme that is behind billions of views across TikTok, YouTube and Roblox. Weapons filmmaker Zach Cregger is attached to write and produce the project, along with Whalefall‘s Brian Duffield, who could direct. Amazon MGM ended up the victor in a massive bidding war for the film rights to the YouTube-released horror franchise The Mandela Catalogue from Alex Kister, who will direct for producers United Artists and Amblin.

If these numbers seem wild, there’s a real long-term business reasoning behind them. In success, landing a creator early could mean hundreds of millions in profits (or even north of $1 billion) for a company over a person’s career. Think what Christopher Nolan’s decades at Warner Bros. have netted the company, or the absurd amount of money South Park creators Trey Stone and Matt Parker have generated for Paramount. Of course, few people will ever reach those heights, but these riches are in part driving the early bets studios are taking.

—Tony Maglio contributed to this story.

Natalie Portman famously saw a twisted version of herself in mirrors as part of her Oscar-winning performance as a tortured ballerina in Black Swan.

She may experience the same queasy sensation if Unherd writer Valerie Stivers is to be believed, as she suggests in a July 17 column that Cusk’s upcoming novel, Life of M, is a thinly-veiled portrait of Portman.

And Portman, despite apparently being friends with Cusk and a cheerleader for her novels, may not be flattered with what she sees in the literary mirror. “Chatter in New York literary circles says that Cusk’s upcoming novel, Life of M, is based on Cusk’s relationship with Portman,” Stivers reveals in her Unherd column, entitled A Novelist’s Dark Portrait of Natalie Portman — Rachel Cusk’s New Book Mines the Actress’s Life.

The novel, set for an Aug. 25, 2026 release and available for pre-order, centers on a famous actress, M, and a writer tapped to chronicle her life amid the glamor of olive groves, beaches and from behind the tinted windows of limousines.

“The movie star M is one of the most recognizable faces of our time. Her image is everywhere. It has been like that since she was a child. With such fame, her life has the appearance of freedom: people are instantly obliging, spaces are altered to accommodate her, time can be rearranged. M may live in the same places as real people. She may meet her friends or collect her children from school or walk her dogs as they do. But it seems the rules of reality have melted away,” a synopsis from Macmillan Publishers, which is releasing Cusk’s next novel in the U.S. market, states on its website.

“Now, a writer has decided to pay close attention to M’s life in the hope of understanding who she really is. It is hard not to feel ugly next to M, hard not to feel insignificant. But what truths ― about the very experience of living ― might this proximity allow the writer to briefly capture?,” the synopsis continues.

Stivers, who like Portman lives in Paris, after apparently getting a peek at a pre-publication copy, hints in her column “a Cusk book about you is never going to be flattering,” and that the Hollywood actress has concluded as much.

“M’s key biographical information is very similar to Portman’s. The actress’ dissatisfaction and betrayal at the finished product, as recorded in the final pages of the book, is also said to be true to life,” Stivers writes.

Portman is certainly a fan of Cusk’s novels. In a March 2021 Elle magazine column where Portman, herself a best-selling author, was asked to recommend other books, she cited Cusk. On which books surprised Portman, she answered: “That you can know much about a protagonist through the people around them: The Outline Trilogy (Outline, Transit, and Kudos) by Rachel Cusk.”

The Hollywood Reporter reached out to representatives for Portman for comment.

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos acknowledged that second seasons of the streamer’s shows tend to draw less well than debut seasons. But, he said, it’s not as bad as a recently prevalent narrative would make it seem.

The streamer also touted some early results from the addition of video podcasts to the platform in its quarterly earnings report — but declined to divulge any specific numbers in a large-scale data release for the first half of the year.

The season two problem narrative was sparked by a recent Bloomberg story detailing steep viewing declines for several shows in their second seasons, among them Beef, The Four Seasons and One Piece. Sarandos didn’t dispute those findings — which came from Netflix’s own publicly released weekly top 10 lists — but said that “in aggregate, we’re not seeing any material change in our second season viewing compared to season ones. Our second seasons are performing well within our bands of expectation.”

Sarandos also said that viewing declines for the second season of a show are “very common” across the industry and offered this rationale for why it happens at Netflix: “It’s even moreso with us, because we launch our shows so big,” he said. “Our global reach, our discovery mechanism, releasing all at once — this enables us to find a very large audience early. Our shows tend to start really big, where most other places, their shows start pretty small and occasionally grow from there.”

Sarandos added, “When we look across the entire portfolio … our season two fall-off has actually slightly improved this year relative to last year.”

As for video podcasts, Netflix made a push into that area this year, adding shows from The Ringer, Jay Shetty, Pete Davidson, Brian Williams and New York’s Breakfast Club radio show, among others. Sarandos noted that the shows overindex with mobile users relative to long-form series and have driven up engagement a bit during daytime hours.

So how are they doing, specifically? Well …

A note at the end of Netflix’s data release said that all video podcasts (there are several dozen) are lumped into an “other shows” grouping that also includes any series that received fewer than 50,000 views (calculated as viewing hours divided by run time) in the first half of the year. That doesn’t necessarily mean that every podcast fell below that threshold, the company says. But since it’s a relatively new type of programming for the platform, Netflix opted not to break out the stats for any single show.

The “other shows” category accounted for 757 million viewing hours from January to June — which sounds like a lot but is only about one percent of the 74.4 billion hours Netflix users spent watching all series in those six months.

The Walt Disney Co. is protective of its iconic characters and intellectual property. The National Football League is too. The league wants its teams showcased in the best light, and Disney wants its characters to shine.

On Thursday afternoon, in New York’s Jacob Javits Center, the world of Disney collided with the world of the NFL, all in service of an unusual new consumer product line, one that mixes some of Disney’s characters with all 32 NFL teams.

That’s how Darth Vader, flanked by a pair of Storm Troopers, found himself on stage at Fanatics Fest alongside NFL legend and Las Vegas Raiders owner Tom Brady, Raiders quarterback Fernando Mendoza and NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell, with Marvel chairman Kevin Feige looking on from the audience.

Vader was the first pick in the “Disney Fan Draft,” held on the floor of the convention, which served as a launchpad for the “Disney | Champion NFL Collection,” which pairs Disney characters with an NFL team.

The apparel line launched at the Fest with eight teams (and characters), with all 32 launching in August.

In addition to Vader and the Raiders, the collection includes the Buffalo Bills and Beast from Beauty and the Beast; the Dallas Cowboys and Toy Story’s Woody; the New England Patriots and Marvel’s Captain America; the New York Giants and Wreck-It Ralph; the New York Jets and Toy Story’s Buzz Lightyear; the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Captain Hook; and the Washington Commanders and Toy Story’s Hamm.

“The Disney | Champion NFL Collection reflects our continued commitment to creating consumer products and experiences that sit at the intersection of culture, fandom, and storytelling,” Paul Gitter, executive VP global brand commercialization for Disney Consumer Products, tells The Hollywood Reporter. “As we build toward ESPN’s ‘Year of the Super Bowl,’ we’re expanding how fans engage with Disney across sports through moments that drive relevance, connection and long-term brand affinity.”

According to Bret Healey, director of graphic design at Disney Consumer Products, the Disney products team really did draft the characters for each team. While what happened on stage at Fanatics Fest was in service of the show, the Disney team put a lot of thought into each pairing.

“We did the draft based on the team first: What’s the team’s personality? What are their colors? What’s their team name? What are their fans like? What’s their city like? What are their ‘like ‘if you know you know’ moments? So I took that all into consideration with my team, and we essentially drafted all 32 of the teams together,” Healey says.

And while many of the characters are Disney “all-stars,” so to speak, he says that they were deliberate in their choices.

“Whichever character worked best for that team, that’s the story we were going to tell, even if they are a tertiary character,” he says.

Consumer products are one of the core parts of Disney’s corporate flywheel. The business generated revenue of $974 million in the company’s latest quarterly report, with operating income of $479 million, enormous margins that reflect Disney’s heavy focus on licensing through partners like Champion.

With its latest effort, the company is banking that it can bring some NFL fans along for the ride too.