Tag: HollywoodReporter

The California state legislature has passed a bill intended to mitigate the impact of business tax credit caps on the state’s $750 million annual film and television incentives program.

Legislators voted to pass SB 186, carried by state Senator Ben Allen, on Monday night. The legislation is now in the court of Gov. Gavin Newsom, who will decide to sign the bill into law or veto it by the end of September.

The bill, introduced at the last minute on Friday from Allen, with a companion bill from Assemblymember Rick Chavez Zbur introduced in the Assembly, addresses the fallout from a state budget bill, called SB 122, that alarmed Hollywood production advocates when it was signed into law earlier in the summer.

SB 186 exempts indie productions from annual caps on the use of business tax credits that are rendered permanent as a result of the 2026 state budget legislation. The legislation also sweetens conditions for productions that choose to monetize a portion of their tax credits instead of putting the full value towards their tax liability. The bill allows production to monetize 95 percent of their credits, where previously they could monetize 90 percent.

Under the auspices of the bill productions can also collect their money within two years, rather than five years.

In a statement, one of the champions of the bill — the Entertainment Union Coalition — celebrated its passage. “On behalf of our 167,000 members across California, the Entertainment Union Coalition (EUC) thanks Governor Newsom and Legislators for ensuring that the recently enacted SB 122 would not undermine the competitiveness of the California Film and Television Jobs Program passed just last year,” EUC president Rebecca Rhine said in a statement.

Rhine added, “We appreciate that Assemblymember Rick Zbur and Senator Ben Allen saw the risk and worked diligently on a very short timeline to achieve passage in the final hours of this Legislative session, and we appreciate the Governor’s commitment to our industry and this bill.”

In 2025, after a major lobbying push, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law an expansion of the state’s film and television tax credit from $330 million per year to $750 million a year. Advocates warned that the 2026 state budget bill’s caps on annual usage of business tax credits jeopardized that accomplishment and that the sudden policy change might scare productions away from the state.

While the industry initially sought to exempt Hollywood entirely from the state budget bill, advocates ultimately had to settle for a legislative Band-Aid. According to the Entertainment Union Coalition, 450,000 union members wrote letters to legislators as part of the effort to raise awareness of SB 122’s impact on Hollywood.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Motion Picture Association chairman and CEO Charlie Rivkin lauded the legislature for having “taken steps to help the Golden State remain an attractive and competitive destination for production.”

Rivkin added, “This new resolution to SB122’s previously unintended restrictions to the CA Film & TV Jobs program will maintain the program’s competitiveness so creators continue to make movies and shows in California – and keep bringing brilliant stories to life.”

Emily Blunt, the Oscar-nominated actress who is back in awards contention this year for her performance in Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, will receive the Santa Barbara International Film Festival‘s 19th annual Kirk Douglas Award For Excellence in Film, the fest announced on Tuesday. Blunt will be feted at a black-tie gala dinner at the Ritz-Carlton Bacara — a fundraiser for SBIFF’s year-round educational programs — on Thursday, Dec. 10.

Blunt’s notable credits include The Devil Wears Prada, which helped to make her a star 20 years ago, as well as Sicario, A Quiet Place and A Quite Place Part II, Into the Woods, Mary Poppins Returns, Looper, Oppenheimer, for which she received her Oscar nom, and The Smashing Machine, for which she received a Golden Globe nom. This year, she starred in The Devil Wears Prada 2, reprising her character from the first film, and in Disclosure Day, in which she plays a Kansas City TV meteorologist whose increasingly inexplicable experiences draw her into a sweeping effort to reveal the existence of extraterrestrial life to the world.

Michael Douglas, the two-time Oscar-winning son of the award’s legendary namesake, said in a statement: “Emily Blunt takes risks most actors wouldn’t dare, moving between drama, comedy, and blockbuster spectacle with the same precision and commitment. That range and authenticity are exactly what the Kirk Douglas Award for Excellence in Film was created to celebrate. We’re proud to honor her.”

Previous recipients of the Kirk Douglas Award include the aforementioned Michael Douglas, as well as Cynthia Erivo, Will Ferrell, Ryan Gosling, Michelle Yeoh, Martin Scorsese, Hugh Jackman, Dame Judi Dench, Warren Beatty, Jane Fonda, Jessica Lange, Forest Whitaker, Robert De Niro, Harrison Ford, Quentin Tarantino, Ed Harris and John Travolta.

The 42nd Santa Barbara International Film Festival will take place Feb. 3–13, 2027.

Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman are back for Practical Magic 2, but not all of the same witches have returned with them.

In the sequel, set 25 years after the 1998 cult classic, Joey King and Maisie Williams replace Evan Rachel Wood and Alexandra Artrip as the daughters of Bullock’s Sally Owens. Wood has previously spoken out about being recast, saying she was “not asked to come back” and “it was not in my control or my choice.”

On a red carpet for The Shards in July, Wood added that it appeared she wasn’t asked back because “it seems like they’re not following the book,” but wished King the best in taking over the role as oldest daughter Kylie.

At the follow-up’s L.A. premiere on Monday, King told The Hollywood Reporter that she “had a lovely conversation” with Wood following that interview, “and I just was so appreciative of the support that she showed to me and to the rest of the cast. She is so talented and so beautiful and she made this role so special when she was a young girl. I feel so grateful to be able to play Kylie at this age but I love Evan so much and I’m so appreciative of her kind words and the exchange that her and I shared.”

Director Susanne Bier also shed some further light on the recasting decision, explaining, “It had to be a certain age group; in the story they’re just like literally out of college, and with Joey and Maisie it just felt completely right.”

Practical Magic 2 sees Kylie Owens in a much larger role, as she discovers hidden family secrets and develops her own dark abilities. As a result, the Owens women — with Dianne Wiest and Stockard Channing back as the witchy aunts of Bullock and Kidman’s characters — must reunite to finally break the curse that has haunted their family.

The original film was not a smash hit, but has reached cult classic status over the years. Bullock said there wasn’t the thought of a sequel “until the din got very loud on social media” and “it required a lot of things to fall into place for it to be the right time. We had to find the window where we could shoot it. Do we have the budget? Can we make it for that budget? Who is going to write it? Who knows us? Akiva Goldsman came in and was like, ‘Let me write this,’ and we were like, ‘Have at it.’ It was a lot of things that crashed together at the same time.”

Kidman added, “There were so many parts to the book [Alice Hoffman’s 2021 novel The Book of Magic] that we were basing it off that it was like mining. Going, what do you choose for this particular film? Because it can’t be eight hours.” Bullock teased, “I mean it can, but no one will go” as she noted, “We were very true to the nostalgia of it.”

Producer Denise Di Novi, who was behind the first film as well, echoed that the sequel came together when “the fans built to such a crescendo of saying ‘we want this movie’ and the last few years it kind of became undeniable. We all felt it at the same time.”

And as for if a third movie would be possible, Di Movi emphasized, “We hope so! Spread the word,” while also explaining the decision for Aidan Quinn’s Officer Gary Hallet — who seemed to be getting a happily ever after with Sally Owens at the end of the original — to not appear in the sequel.

“He died! Gary died of the curse,” she confirmed. “We thought the curse had been solved but the curse had not been solved, and it took down poor Gary. We love Aidan Quinn; you have to watch the movie but I think people will be happy with what happens.”

Practical Magic 2 hits theaters Sept. 10.

Gal Gadot is criticizing DC’s handling of its superhero talent from when the company transitioned away from its Zack Snyder-led era.

The actress told the Happy, Sad Confused podcast that the shift from the Snyder-verse to the current creative era — run by co-chairmen and CEOs James Gunn and Peter Safran — was “not handled elegantly, to say the least.”

First, Gadot was asked if there was a moment where she was told by Gunn and Safran that she would no longer play Wonder Woman.

“No, they told me the opposite,” Gadot said. “They were like, ‘We’re going to develop it with you, the third one.’ But I saw the way everybody else was handled, right? And I, you know — the Henry situation was unfortunate. I was in the middle of that. The Henry situation was not handled elegantly, to say the least.”

Continued Gadot: “Same with [Wonder Woman director Patty Jenkins] — it was not handled elegantly. I feel like we’re all adults and it’s all good. It’s not even about them. They are there and they’re there to do what they believe in, and it’s all good.”

Cavill was actually announced as officially returning as Superman just before Gunn and Safran took control of DC Studios. Cavill’s Superman appeared in a Black Adam post-credits scene and then took to social media to declare on Oct. 24, 2022, that he was “back as Superman” and later added there was “a bright future ahead” for the character.

Two months later, Gunn announced his new Superman movie would focus on an earlier period in the character’s life and not star Cavill. The actor then replied, “After being told by the studio to announce my return back in October, prior to their hire, this news isn’t the easiest.” Actor David Corenswet was eventually cast as Gunn’s new Man of Steel for the reboot Superman, which was released last year.

Gunn himself has acknowledged the situation was “really unfortunate,” saying, “The day our [DC] deal closed, all of a sudden, they were announcing that Henry was back. And I’m like, ‘What is going on?’ We know what the plan is. The plan was to come in and do ‘Superman.’ So it was really unfair to him and a total bummer.”

Gunn suggested there was a faction within the studio trying to “force” its own plan for the future of the franchise. Gunn said he and Safran then sat down with Cavill. “He was an absolute gentleman, a great guy about it. He said, ‘The only thing I ask is that I’m able to reveal it myself as opposed to it coming from you guys.’”

As for Wonder Woman, the role has not been officially announced as having been recast, but Adria Arjona has been cast in a mystery role in Gunn’s Superman sequel Man of Tomorrow and fans are speculating the character is Wonder Woman.

Jenkins has previously addressed reports that claimed she walked away from Wonder Woman 3 because she refused to take studio notes. “This is simply not true. I never walked away. I was open to considering anything asked of me. It was my understanding that there was nothing I could do to move anything forward.”

Also in Gadot’s interview, the actress reveals she did a four-hour screen test along with Tom Hiddleston for George Miller’s action classic Mad Max: Fury Road (though they lost the parts to Charlize Theron and Tom Hardy, respectively).

“I came to London, and I remember walking into this beautiful home in London, into this office, and we stayed there for four hours. I came with all layers because it was a winter, cold day in London, and I came out in a tank top. The work that we’ve done was so intensive, and how much we filmed … It was amazing. I felt good about the work that we did. And Hiddleston is such an incredible actor, by the way.”

Gadot is currently promoting her new Prime Video thriller The Runner, in which she plays a single mother whose son is kidnapped.

The return Guy Ritchie’s hit comedy crime series The Gentlemen; an animated Asian-American comedy from Andrew Law; the latest special from comedian-of-the-moment Stavros Halkias; the much-hyped comeback of Aaron Donald as the NFL heads Down Under for the first-ever regular season game in Australia; a second season of animated tales from 1985 Hawkins, Indiana; the fourth chapter of Ryan Murphy’s Monster anthology series; a two-part Lego animated One Piece special; and Jacob Tremblay depicting the origin story of Unabomber are just some of the film and TV highlights hitting Netflix in September.

In the midst of all the speculation on whether Meghan Markle will be joining season 3 of The Gentlemen, it would have been easy to forget that season 2 of the hit Guy Ritchie comedy crime series launches on Sept. 3. The logline for season 2 reads, “It’s been one year since Eddie and Susie joined forces to work together in Bobby’s criminal empire overseas. As they drive to expand their enterprise, the decisions Bobby is making seem to be increasingly unsound. Now Eddie and Susie must decide whether to take action or risk losing it all.” Theo James, Kaya Scodelario, Daniel Ings, Joely Richardson, Vinnie Jones, Giancarlo Esposito and Ray Winstone all return for the second season, with newcomers including Hugh Bonneville, Benjamin Clementine, Benedetta Porcaroli, Amra Mallassi, Tyler Conti and Chris Eubank Jr.

Netflix continues its push into adult animated comedies with the launch of Dang! on Sept. 8. The terminally online will have picked up on the spirited debate the show inspired on social media when a trailer for the Andrew Law-created Asian-American project first dropped. Those who are lucky enough not to be brain-poisoned by internet chatter, maybe interested to know that the show “follows a brother and sister duo whose fun, messy lives in New York City are interrupted when their worst nightmare comes true: their high-achieving older sister shows up and wants to hang out with them.” It’s not much deeper than that, for better or worse. Poppy Liu, Andrew Law, Noël Wells and Stephanie Hsu provide the voices.

Stavros Halkias is the comedian-of-the-moment and his fame is only likely to grow with his new Netflix special landing on Sept. 8. Halkias, the former Cumtown podcaster, current star of Netflix comedy Tires as well as scene stealer in films like Bugonia and Tony, is a new breed of standup that’s crude but empathetic, a refreshing change of pace from the Roganverse comics who seem to delight in punching down and being cruel for the sake of it. Uncle Stav is a followup to 2023’s hilarious Fat Rascal, and deals with Halkias becoming an uncle.

Sept. 17 will see the debut of the next installment of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Emmy-winning anthology series Monster hits Netflix. The eight-episode fourth chapter, The Lizzie Borden Story, is series’ first female-led tale and will focus on the infamous 1892 axe murders of Borden’s father and stepmother in Fall River, Massachusetts. Ella Beatty stars as Lizzie and the stellar cast includes Charlie Hunnam, Vicky Krieps, Rebecca Hall, Billie Lourd, Jessica Barden and Sarah Paulson.

Also on Sept. 17, we return to Hawkins once more for season 2 of Stranger Things: Tales From ’85. Unsurprisingly, the animated series hasn’t inspired the same level of fervor or expectation as the live-action Stranger Things show did, but there are still millions of fans out there to service with more tales of retro horrors from the Upside Down. The logline for season 2 reads, “With Valentine’s Day on the way, the gang must uncover the truth behind ghostly apparitions and a swarm of strange creatures causing chaos around town.”

On Sept. 18, the NFL continues its quixotic attemtps to grow American Football around the world with its first-ever regular season game in Australia, dubbed the NFL Melbourne Game. That’s right, the land of hard-running and hard-hitting Aussie Rules, Rugby Union and Rugby League will host a game of the premiere ball-based stop-start contact sport where you wear full padding and helmets. Fair dinkum! Still, you have to at least try to get skeptical foreigners interested and the NFL is bringing out the big guns with the San Francisco 49ers taking on the L.A. Rams at the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground. Adding extra spice to the occasion is that the game will likely be the first game back for NFL legend Aaron Donald. After two seasons away from the game, the former three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year has come out of retirement to rejoin the Rams and should play Down Under.

Netflix’s major American feature release for September is the Janus Metz Pedersen-directed Unabomber, an origin story for the infamous domestic terrorist Ted Kaczynski. Based on true events, Jacob Tremblay plays the 16-year-old Harvard prodigy who is subjected to controversial psychological experiments by Professor Henry Murray (Russell Crowe) and his eventual transformation into the Unabomber. The film, which debuts on Sept. 25, seems to fit into bracket of modestly budgeted well acted projects that Netflix seems to be leaning into more recently. The cast also includes Shailene Woodley, Annabelle Wallis, Alexander Ludwig, Steven Ogg and Marc Menchaca.

The Stranger Things universe maybe showing signs of exhaustion, but Netflix still has a ways to go to satiate the demand for One Piece-related projects. On Sept. 29, the streamer launches LEGO ONE PIECE, the two-part animated special that kinda speed runs the story of “the crew’s escapades across the East Blue and into the Grand Line.” The voice cast includes Iñaki Godoy (Luffy), Emily Rudd (Nami), Mackenyu (Zoro), Jacob Romero Gibson (Usopp), Taz Skylar (Sanji), Charithra Chandran (Wednesday/Nefertari Vivi), Mikaela Hoover (Tony Tony Chopper), Katey Sagal (Dr. Kureha), Jeff Ward (Buggy) and Callum Kerr (Smoker).

Movies added to Netflix in September include 17 Again, About Time, Alien, Aliens, Antz, Battleship, Big Daddy, The Blues Brothers, The Boy Next Door, Conan the Barbarian, Cruel Intentions, Dragnet, The Flintstones, Gothika, Greta, Jarhead, Jaws, Jaws 2, Jaws 3, Jaws: The Revenge, Kick-Ass 2, Knocked Up, Liar Liar, Neighbors, Phantom Thread, Prom Night, Ready or Not, Resident Evil: Afterlife, Resident Evil: Extinction, Resident Evil: Retribution, The Rite, Scarface, Shark Tale, Sleepless in Seattle, Straight Outta Compton, T2 Trainspotting, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Uncle Buck and Unfriended.

Missed what came to Netflix last month? Check out the August additions here.

Read on for the complete list of titles hitting Netflix in September.

Sept. 1

Jared Freid: The Family Plan
Untold Raygun: Breaking Badly (AU)
17 Again
About Time
Alien
Aliens
Antz
Battleship
Big Daddy
The Blues Brothers
The Boy Next Door
Conan the Barbarian
Cruel Intentions
Dragnet
The Flintstones
Gothika
Greta
Heartland: Season 19
Jarhead
Jaws
Jaws 2
Jaws 3
Jaws: The Revenge
Kick-Ass 2
Knocked Up
Liar Liar
Neighbors
Phantom Thread
Ready or Not
Resident Evil: Afterlife
Resident Evil: Extinction
Resident Evil: Retribution
The Rite
Scarface
Shark Tale
Sleepless in Seattle
Straight Outta Compton
T2 Trainspotting
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Uncle Buck
Unfriended

Sept. 2

Driven: Seasons 1-3
Lovesick (MX)
Resident Evil: Damnation
Resident Evil: Death Island
Resident Evil: Vendetta
Turning Point: Generation 9/11

Sept. 3

Fito Páez: The World Within a Song (AR)
Folktales
The Gentlemen: Season 2 (GB)
Major Crimes: Seasons 1-6
Smile 2

Sept. 4

Earle Meets World
Teenage Wasteland

Sept. 5

Emeril Tailgates: Season 1

Sept. 8

DANG!
Fauda: Season 5 (IL)
Stavros Halkias: Uncle Stav
Untold Mr. T: I Pity The Fool

Sept. 9

Prom Night
Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Again?

Sept. 10

Call My Agent! The Movie (FR)
Crew Girl (CA)
NFL Melbourne Game
The Perfect Lie (NL)
We Don’t Live Here Anymore

Sept. 11

Go Team! (ES)
Physical 100: Italy: Season 1: Batch 1 (IT)
Stolen Heartbeats (CO)
Tribeca 25

Sept. 13

Dog Man

Sept. 14

Gabby’s Dollhouse: Season 14
Hot Ones: Extra Heat: Episode 2
When Hope Calls: Seasons 1-2

Sept. 15

The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist
I Survived a Serial Killer: Season 1
Jo Koy: Blue in the Face

Sept. 16

The Doll (PL)

Sept. 17

The Fixers (TW)
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story
Not a Stranger (TR)
Plastic Beauty (JP)
Stranger Things: Tales From ’85: Season 2

Sept. 18

Best of the Best
Pokémon Horizons: Season 3—Rising Hope Part 4 (JP)

Sept. 20

Stop! That! Train!

Sept. 22

Doc: Season 2
Minerva Academy (IT)
Party Down: Seasons 1-3

Sept. 23

Habeas Corpus (BR)
Lifehack
Wonka’s The Golden Ticket

Sept. 24

A Different World
Delusion (TH)
House at the End of the Street
My Sad Dead (AR)
Oculus

Sept. 25

The Final Problem (ES)
Law & Order: Season 25
STEEL BALL RUN JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: 2nd-3rd STAGE (JP)
UNABOMBER

Sept. 29

LEGO ONE PIECE
Mononoke The Movie: Chapter Ⅲ – The Curse of the Serpent (JP)
Murder in a Small Town: Seasons 1-2

Sept. 30

Ancient Aliens: Season 13
The Arena (FR)
Hoarders: Season 16
What’s Your Number?
The Widower: ‘Til Death Do Us Part

Howard Stern is officially handing over one of his SiriusXM channels to Andy Cohen starting Sept. 1. 

The transition comes about one year after Stern and Cohen pranked listeners by having Cohen take over the airwaves and imply that Stern was fired and that Howard 100, Stern’s main channel, was now his own. The prank came amid rumors about Stern’s impending retirement and the cancellation of his show.

This time, Stern is actually giving Cohen Channel 101, his second channel which hosted archival clips of his show, as he returns and transitions to only doing one show a week, rather than the typical two. Stern has also struck a deal with HBO Max to adapt his live SiriusXM show into streaming episodes for HBO Max. 

“Last year we pranked the world. We made everybody think that I was taking over Howard 100. It was the best morning. Now the carrot is being dangled that Radio Andy will be taking over 101. Is this a prank? Am I being pranked?” Cohen asks Stern in a new video released by SiriusXM. 

“No, you are not being pranked. And Andy has been gracious enough to take over 101. And I have one request: please continue the tradition of doing a lot of gay antics,” Stern says. 

On Sept. 14, Howard will also unveil a new lineup for his Howard 100 channel, which will include Wrap Up Wednesday, an expanded version of Howard’s Wrap Up Show hosted by Gary Dell’Abate and Jon Hein that previously ran on Howard 101.

In the past, Cohen, who helms a SiriusXM radio empire, including hosting Andy Cohen Live, has been rumored to be the eventual successor for Stern. SiriusXM did not comment on that theory, but Cohen and Stern seemed to downplay the idea.

“Any chance I could get 100, and you take 101?” Cohen asks in the video. 

“No, I’m not giving up 100,” Stern says.

As part of the channel shakeup, Sebastian Maniscalco’s Comedy Radio will take over Cohen’s previous channel, 102, while Netflix is a Joke Radio will move to channel 105, which has been home to temporary or pop-up programming. SiriusXM did not comment on reported layoffs as part of Stern’s move to one show a week.

The number of women working as TV creators and directors on original U.S. shows airing on streaming services has declined, in addition to female characters in major roles, according to the latest “Boxed In” study released Tuesday.

The report, which tracked over 2,500 characters and more than 3,600 behind-the-scenes credits during the 2025-26 television year, was penned by Dr. Martha Lauzen, executive director of the Center for the Study of Women in Television and Film at San Diego State University.

She found that the amount of women creating shows across streaming plummeted from 36 percent in 2024-25 to 24 percent in 2025-26, which was a stark contrast to the increase the year prior (27 percent in 2023-24 to 36 percent in 2024-25). The new findings indicate that last year’s increases were a momentary surge, rather than the beginning of a positive trend. As for broadcast, women creators also declined slightly from 20 percent in 2024-25 to 19 percent in 2025-26.

“The numbers of women creating shows on both platforms are now lower than they were almost a decade ago in 2017-18,” Lauzen said.

When it came to the percentage of women directing streaming projects, the report found that number also dropped from 32 percent in 2024-25 to 22 percent in 2025-26, following the temporary increase after 2023-24 (23 percent). Women directing broadcast programs also dipped from 18 percent in 2024-25 to 16 percent in 2025-26.

This new study follows a report from The Hollywood Reporter in June that spotlighted the lack of progress in women-held below-the-line positions after a behind-the-scenes video of Sydney Sweeney on the set of Euphoria season three started circulating on social media. At the time, fans were quick to point out that the majority of the crew members seen in the clip were men, while Sweeney was sitting in a suggestive pose.

As for roles in front of the camera, the number of female characters in major roles also declined last year, per the study. For streaming, women comprised 44 percent of major characters in 2025-26, down from 49 percent in 2024-25, and on broadcast, females accounted for 46 percent of major characters, down slightly from 47 percent in 2024-25.

The report also found that male characters continue to have an easier time aging on television compared to female characters. On both streaming and broadcast shows, the majority of women in speaking roles were in their 20s and 30s, while the majority of men were in their 30s and 40s. The number of female characters also experienced a steep decline as they aged from their 30s into their 40s, while their male counterparts didn’t experience a substantial drop until their 50s.

“The emphasis on youth for the majority of female characters foregrounds their appearance, whereas males are able to credibly age into positions of personal and public power, normalizing the perception that men are naturally more powerful than women,” Lauzen added. “The fully-realized characters played by Kathy Bates on Matlock or Jean Smart on Hacks remain the exception, not the rule, for women on television.”

The “Boxed In” report has monitored over 65,000 characters and more than 80,00 behind-the-scenes credits on original dramas, comedies and reality television programs over the last 27 years, starting in 1997-98. It aims to provide a comprehensive historical record of women’s representation and employment in television.

Could MrBeast and James Patterson have a dud on their hands?

According to Semafor, the pair’s new novel collaboration, titled The Most Dangerous Games, has been tracking poorly in presales.

Citing anonymous sources “close to the project,” Semafor reported that the thriller is “on track to be a historic bomb.” As of last week, preorders were “numbering in the four digits … a tiny fraction of what the publisher will need to justify Patterson’s and YouTuber Jimmy Donaldson’s [aka MrBeast] hefty fees.” As of Monday, the book was at No. 18 on Amazon’s new releases list.

However, another knowledgeable source told The Hollywood Reporter that the number of preorders is not unusual, particularly for a genre novel, and that what really matters is first-week sales. They also pointed out that the book is currently at No. 1 on the mystery novels list.

The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to reps for book publisher HarperCollins for comment.

According to the book’s webpage, the logline is: “A thousand strangers receive the invitation. One hundred make the cut. An unprecedented competition from MrBeast, the world’s #1 creator with more than a billion followers, and James Patterson, the world’s #1 bestselling author, where the stakes couldn’t be higher.

“The Games begin in Antarctica, where one wrong step “on the ice kills you, and they never let up: Shark water off a remote Chilean island, desert heat that cooks you where you stand, storm-battered peaks, and caves so black you cannot find your own hand. No rescue. No second chances. A billion dollars to whoever is still standing.

“Then the terrain stops being the thing that can kill you, and the other players start. Alliances turn into ambushes. Trust becomes the sharpest weapon. And somewhere above it all, a hidden voice is watching every move, testing, deciding who deserves to survive.”

Donaldson and Patterson have been promoting the book on social media, including in a YouTube short titled “Read My Book, You Could Win $1,000,000.” Donaldson, who has 515 million subscribers on YouTube, is known for giving away money to his followers for taking part in (and successfully completing) various outlandish stunts.

“I got just one question for you: Did you miss me?” So goes the catchphrase for Varnell Hill (Tommy Davidson), the late-night talk show host who first graced our screens in Martin some 30-odd years ago. I’ll leave you to determine how much you personally have been longing to revisit a character who, for all his vivid personality, only ever appeared in two episodes of that earlier series.

But hearing that line again in his new spinoff, Paramount+’s The Varnell Hill Show, it feels easy enough to answer in the affirmative. If the workplace comedy works better as a reminder of times gone by than a breath of fresh air, it nonetheless makes for a pleasantly nostalgic time.

Despite its connection to Martin, no real knowledge of the earlier show is required to watch this one. Aside from a few passing references (“My cousin from Detroit told me to tell you, “Wazzup?”), creators Kevin G. Boyd, Sherri McGee McCovey and Bentley Kyle Evans rarely bring up past events or characters; even Martin star and creator (and Varnell Hill executive producer) Martin Lawrence guest stars only as a completely different character.

As for Varnell, not much seems to be different for the self-described “one-time radio king, two-time ex-husband — soon to be three — and eight-time Soul Train Awards presenter.” He’s still an outgoing, egotistical personality, and still played by Davidson with loads of charisma and a knack for big but precise physical comedy. He’s still hosting the same old talk show to the same old, now rapidly aging audience. His most loyal aides, yes-man/bestie Tre (Chris Williams) and assistant Kym (Kym Whitley), are ones who’ve been with him for ages.

But change is coming for Varnell, whether he likes it or not. (He very much does not.) The network CEO who once championed him has been pushed out, replaced by the useless nepo baby son (Nick Cafero’s Jonah) who despises Varnell precisely because the old man adored him. Jonah’s plan to oust Varnell involves installing an ambitious new executive producer (Wendy Raquel Robinson’s Rachel) ostensibly to help boost ratings, but in actuality to annoy Varnell into quitting over creative differences.

Despite the season primarily revolving around the efforts to freshen up the talk show for a wider (i.e., younger) demographic, not much about The Varnell Hill Show reads as particularly modern, for better or for worse.

Its format — multi-cam, laugh-tracked, with the occasional fourth-wall-breaking aside — is one that would have been in vogue when Martin originally aired. It’s done quite well (and of the supporting cast, Robinson and Whitley, both veterans of sitcoms from that era, seem so at home that you’d think they’d been on this brand-new show for years already), but whether that makes it feel hoary or comforting will probably depend on whether you grew up watching similar series.

Its storylines tend to stick to well-trod territory: Varnell not understanding social media, Varnell trying to seem younger, Varnell accidentally getting high on pot brownies. Even a multi-episode arc featuring a Gen Z comic who seems primed to supplant Varnell as the network’s new darling betrays little understanding of who Marshay (Brittney Ayona Clemons) is beyond “younger than Varnell.”

Its jokes are occasionally stale — sometimes in ways that seem appropriate for the characters (of course Varnell is the sort of guy who’d drop a Kato Kaelin reference three decades after the O.J. trial) and sometimes in ways that suggest The Varnell Hill Show itself might benefit from some fresher blood behind the scenes (it makes no sense that a Millennial hypebeast-type writer would describe Moo Deng as a top comedy trend in 2026).

The inconsistency can make it difficult to tell exactly what the vibe of Varnell’s program is meant to be. In one episode, Varnell goes viral for an accidentally live-streamed rant complaining of being treated by top brass like “a TikTok Bojangles” and declaring that, “When I speak my truth, it’s aggressive” — a slightly confusing statement given that what we’ve seen of his public persona up to that point is so easygoing that earlier that day, he’d been boasting of how many grandmas fall asleep to him. (“And a lot of them don’t wake up,” Jonah snarks in response.)

Still, there’s an earnestness to the series that makes it easy to vibe with. The challenges faced by a Black host and his mostly Black staff in trying to create something that feels good and authentic at a company run by white men, at least one of whom is hell-bent on ruining them, is an intermittently important theme throughout the eight-part season. And there’s an element of wish fulfillment in seeing Varnell and Rachel and their colleagues triumph by, for example, giving a MAGA-era Kanye West stand-in the takedown he deserves (even if, again, the real-life reference feels a few years old).

Then there’s the endless rotation of celebrities playing themselves. Varnell’s show might be fictional, but the show about his show actually does function as a way to spotlight Black talents across the industry. Doug E. Fresh is the program’s bandleader, while the likes of Damon Wayans and Matt Barnes come through as talk show guests and Kirk Franklin and Omarion as musical guests.

In one of the comic highlights of the season, Deon Cole, Mike Epps, Lavell Crawford and Miss Pat play themselves as friends of Varnell’s who’ve been invited to roast him for an anniversary special; the chemistry that flows from the segment really does have the joyous, unfiltered feel of old friends just trying to crack each other up.

Ironically, or perhaps appropriately, the most glaring issue with the series, aside from its old-timey-ness, likely would have been less of one in the 1990s: the fact that there simply doesn’t seem to be enough of it.

Like so many first seasons, The Varnell Hill Show’s has the feel of a newcomer trying out everything it can to see what sticks. But at just eight half-hour episodes, it simply doesn’t have time to figure out what to do with supporting ensemble members like AJ (Emmanuel Hudson), Varnell’s dopey social media manager of a nephew, or flesh out ones like hopelessly square head writer Thad (Neil Brown Jr.) and his staff.

If Paramount+ is putting its weight behind this amiable throwback of a series, it might as well go all the way and give it another dozen or 20 episodes to find its most fully realized self.

John Galliano has bowed out of the Met Gala where he was set to be honored, after a backlash over past remarks by the veteran designer, including an antisemitic rant.  

“After much reflection and discussion with all those involved, I have decided, with great sadness, that it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time,” Galliano said Monday in an Instagram post. The exhibit that has been set to kick off May 3 with the Met Gala was to be overseen by Anna Wintour, Vogue’s global editorial director who also serves as a Met trustee. But a backlash over plans to honor Galliano, who is credited with growing luxury-fashion brand Dior into a global giant, left Met Gala organizers in damage control.

“I do not want the debate surrounding me to place the Met in a difficult position or to distract from the remarkable work of the Costume Institute. I also recognize and respect that the exhibition honoring my work would be painful for some,” Galliano added in his statement.

Galliano was fired by Christian Dior in 2011 after video footage surfaced showing the designer, who was inebriated, making antisemitic remarks in a Paris bar, La Perle. French laws at the time made it a crime to incite racial hatred. The chief Dior designer was arrested for allegedly assaulting two people with antisemitic and racist outbursts that included comments like “I love Hitler,” “people like you would be dead” and “your mothers, your forefather” would all be “gassed.” His racist remarks were also said to include “fucking ugly Jewish bitch” and “fucking Asian bastard”.

After the incident, Galliano retreated from public life for two years and was found guilty by a Paris court of a hate crime for public insults based on religion, race and ethnicity for two incidents in Feb. 2011 and another in Oct. 2010 when a woman claimed he made similar racist outbursts in the same bar near to where he lived. Galliano received a suspended fine of $8400 and was forced to pay damages and court fees. Galliano met with Jewish leaders and rabbis following the scandal and received blessings from groups like the Anti-Defamation League.

In July, the Metropolitan Museum of Art first announced that Galliano’s work would be spotlighted in the Met’s Costume Institute. This exhibition serves as the centerpiece for the annual Met Gala, an event attended by the most elite of the A-list, with one of the most coveted invites.

Galliano’s withdrawal from the planned Met Gala spotlight was preceded on Sunday by a New York Times story that pointed to critics, including donors, politicians and Jewish leaders having taken aim at the Metropolitan Museum for championing a fashion industry giant after he had been convicted for a hate crime in 2011.

The tribute to Galliano would have made him the third living designer to receive a solo exhibition at the Met, following Yves Saint Laurent in 1983 and Rei Kawakubo in 2017.

The statement from John Galliano follows in full:

I am profoundly grateful to The Metropolitan Museum of Art, and particularly to Max Hollein, Andrew Bolton and Anna Wintour, for the extraordinary honor of proposing an exhibition devoted to my work. To have my creative journey considered by an institution that I have admired throughout my life moved me more deeply that I can express. I will remain forever grateful for the confidence, care and scholarship that Max, Andrew, Anna and the entire Met team brought to this project.

After much reflection and discussion with all those involved, I have decided, with great sadness, that it is best for the exhibition not to take place at this time. I remain fully accountable for the pain caused by my words in the past, particularly the hurt I caused to the Jewish and Asian communities, and I remain deeply sorry. I understand that meaningful atonement is not achieved through an exhibition, institutional recognition or a single public gesture. It is a continuing responsibility, demonstrated through listening, learning and one’s conduct over time.

I do not want the debate surrounding me to place the Met in a difficult position or to distract from the remarkable work of the Costume Institute. I also recognize and respect that the exhibition honoring my work would be painful for some. I would also like to express my deepest gratitude to all those who have guided, supported and accompanied me throughout those fifteen years of sobriety and recovery from alcoholism and addiction. Your wisdom, patience and humanity have helped me more than I can ever adequately express. I remain profoundly indebted to you for giving me, as you promised, a life better than I could ever have dreamt of.

My gratitude to the Met, Max, Andrew and Anna remains profound and enduring. Their generosity, humanity and belief in the importance of fashion as art, culture and history – as well as their understanding of human fragility and the possibility of growth – will remain with me always.

John Galliano