Film
Castings to development deals
Keanu Reeves at the Good Fortune world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival in September.
A new Eloise live-action film, co-written and directed by Amy Sherman-Palladino and produced by Ryan Reynolds, has landed at Netflix. MRC and Maximum Effort will team on the film. →
Issa Rae, Dan Stevens, Zach Cherry and Kate Berlant have joined Anna Kendrick and Seth Rogen in Babies, the comedy drama from writer-director Lauren Miller Rogen now shooting in L.A. AGC will handle sales at AFM. →
Warner Bros. is in final negotiations to acquire Shiver, a unique sci-fi package that has Keanu Reeves attached to star and Deadpool helmer Tim Miller attached to direct. →
Daisy Edgar-Jones and Emilia Jones will topline period revenge thriller Bad Bridgets, which is serving as the follow-up feature for Rich Peppiatt. WME Independent is on for domestic sales for the title, which will be shopped at AFM. →
Anna Sawai was cast as Yoko Ono, Aimee Lou Wood will be Pattie Boyd, Saoirse Ronan will portray Linda McCartney and Mia McKenna-Bruce will star as Maureen Cox in Sony’s four Beatles biopic movies. →
In a surprise move, Taylor Sheridan has closed a deal to write the theatrical adaptation of Call of Duty and Peter Berg has closed his deal to direct and also write. →
Wicked screenwriter Dana Fox is penning the script for Warner Bros.’ Hello Kitty movie, which was dated for July 2028. →
Steven Paul has taken North American rights to Kevin Spacey-starrer The Contract. Paul’s SP Releasing is planning a theatrical release in early 2026. →
Director Andrew Haigh’s Mubi and Film4 title A Long Winter has cast Fred Hechinger, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Caitriona Balfe, Kit Connor and D’Pharaoh Woon-A-Tai as it begins production in Alberta, Canada.
Claire Foy is joining Jack O’Connell and Guy Pearce in the cast of Rupert Murdoch drama Ink, with production now starting. Foy plays a Sun editor.
Michael B. Jordan and Austin Butler are in talks for Universal’s Miami Vice movie from Joseph Kosinski. Butler is set to play James “Sonny” Crockett while opposite Jordan’s detective Ricardo “Rico” Tubbs. →
Olivia Wilde has joined Pedro Pascal and David Harbour in Behemoth!, a drama Tony Gilroy is directing for Searchlight Pictures. →
Johnny Depp is returning to big studio movies with a new Christmas Carol for Paramount, Ti West, the horror filmmaker behind the X, Pearl and MaXXXine movies, is attached to direct the feature. →
Glenn Close was cast in Spanish drama The Black Ball from directing duo Javier Calvo and Javier Ambrossi, and is based on an unfinished work by Spanish poet Federico Garcia Lorca. →
Jennifer Coolidge and Nicole Scherzinger have joined the cast of Rebel Wilson’s Girl Group, for Live Nation Studios and Future Artists. →
Callum Turner and Adria Arjona have signed on to star in AFM package Alone Together from director Ben Sharrock. HanWay Films will introduce to buyers. →
Mia Goth, Dan Stevens and Zach Galifianakis have signed on to star in Hey Bear, the feature directoral debut of Portlandia co-creator Jonathan Krisel. WME Independent and UTA Independent Film Group will handle North American sales at AFM. →
Kingsley Ben-Adir and Archie Madekwe inked a deal to play reunited brothers in AFM package The Arrival. Cornerstone is pitching the title to buyers. →
TV
Pilot orders to video podcasts
A move to Tubi positions Ashley Flowers’ Crime Junkie for video, as video podcasts explode in popularity and rake in ad dollars.
Top true crime podcaster Ashley Flowers and her Audiochuck podcast network are exiting SiriusXM and planting roots at Fox’s Tubi. →
FX has ordered a second season of Adults, from creators Ben Kronengold and Rebecca Shaw. The renewal arrives five months after the show’s first season released all at once on Hulu. →
Taraji P. Henson and her banner TPH Entertainment inked a multiyear first-look deal with Fox Entertainment Studios. Henson will look to develop both scripted and unscripted programming.
Netflix has won a bidding war for Rabbit, Rabbit, a drama series starring Adam Driver that will follow a tense hostage standoff. The series, which comes from creator Peter Craig and indie studio MRC, has Philip Barantini of Adolescence set to direct. →
Betsy Brandt is joining the coven of Anne Rice’s Mayfair Witches as the third season of the series starring Alexandra Daddario begins production this week in Vancouver, Canada. →
Aseem Batra will be the sole showrunner of ABC’s Scrubs revival after Tim Hobert stepped down a short time into production on the series. Hobert remains an executive producer on the revival; both he and Batra were writers and producers during the show’s original run.
Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez are taking Only Murders in the Building to film in London for season six of the Hulu show. →
Ray Romano will replace Robert Townsend on Netflix’s Running Point season two as a recurring guest star. He’ll play Norm Stinson, “a basketball savant turned social recluse.”
Mark Harmon will guest star in an episode of NCIS: Origins on Nov. 11, reprising his longtime character Leroy Jethro Gibbs. →
Ronan Farrow has reemerged with a new HBO documentary adapted from his New Yorker investigative story on the police’s mishandling of serial sexual predator Sean Williams. →
Netflix gave a straight-to-series order for a project based on Charles Burns’ Black Hole comics, with I Saw the TV Glow writer-director Jane Schoenbrun set to adapt the story and direct. →
David Chase has optioned John Lisle’s nonfiction book Project Mind Control to adapt as a limited series for HBO. →
Russell T Davies inked a deal to write a Doctor Who Christmas special for 2026 as Disney+ exits a partnership with BBC. →
John Allen aka MrBallen is moving to SiriusXM from Wondery. As part of the multiyear deal, SiriusXM will have exclusive ad sales rights to Allen’s flagship show on audio, as well as on his YouTube channel. →
Janet Hubert, Caroline Chikezie and Tyra Banks are set to guest star in season 4 of Peacock drama Bel-Air.
EJAE, Kevin Woo
Rep Sheet
Who’s signing where?
KPop Demon Hunters breakouts have found new reps: EJAE signed with WME while Kevin Woo inked with UTA. … Meanwhile, Now You See Me: Now You Don’t actress Ariana Greenblatt and Dept Q co-creator Chandni Lakhani landed at CAA … Influencer Livvy Dunne has signed with Wasserman … Olympic star Jordan Chiles and Too Hot to Handle breakout Melinda Melrose inked with CAA. … Comedian Donnell Rawlings signed with UTA, Camilia Perez inked at Gersh … Earlier in October, Dickinson creators Alena Smith and Charlie Sheen signed at WME, which also inked Play Dirty writers Anthony Bagarozzi and Charles Mondry, Wasteman helmer Cal McMau and The Hit List hosts Rochelle and Marvin Humes. …Rosemead screenwriter Marilyn Fu, Billy the Kid actor Daniel Webber and Thomas Haden Church landed at Paradigm. … Michael Chiklis signed with UTA, as did Kevin Nealon, creator Bailey Sarian and Shilo Sanders.
Rights Available!
A hot new book with Hollywood appeal
Neptune’s Fortune (Crown, Jan. 27, 2026)
By Julian Sancton AGENCY Aevitas
It’s an Indiana Jones logline: “A man who looked like Hemingway” seeks out the Colombian president with a framed copy of an antique map and says, “This map is not known to anyone.” He believes he knows where a Spanish galleon that sunk after a pitched naval fight in 1708 lies, with billions in gold and silver coins in its hull. This is the true-life story of marine archaeologist Roger Dooley‘s search for the wreck, a tale that wrestles with the morality of treasure hunting, the rogues that aim to excavate it and the battle over ownership. This 384-page tome builds on a 2022 Vanity Fair feature “What Lies Beneath” by the author, now a Hollywood Reporter editor. — Erik Hayden
Release Dates
power dining
BAR 109
641 N. Western Ave, Los Angeles
Perhaps the most impressive new drinks destination in town is in Melrose Hill, near the Paramount lot. Head bartender Kayla Garcia (pictured) is turning out a martini with saline and white kelp, as well as a boulevardier infused with oolong tea. Chef-owner Brian Baik, who spent time back east at Eleven Madison Park, will soon open a tasting menu restaurant next door. Here, he offers snacks like Wagyu beef hotdogs and a memorable shrimp cocktail boasting colossal crustaceans and a house-made sauce. — Gary Baum
Revolving Door
C-suite hirings, firings and key moves
John Malone will exit the boards of the holding companies he founded, as his half century career winds down.
Billionaire mogul John Malone revealed that he is stepping down as chairman of his holding companies Liberty Media and Liberty Global beginning on Jan. 1. →
Julie Van Ullen has joined TV ad measurement firm iSpot as president and chief revenue officer.
Amanda Kruse has joined Blumhouse Games as vp of business development, arriving from Big Fan Games, where she served as head of business development. She previously co-founded Lionsgate’s gaming division.
Campbell Brown, the former head of global media partnerships for Meta, and a former CNN primetime anchor and NBC Weekend Today co-host, has raised $3 million in seed funding for a new company called Forum AI. →
Suzanne De Passe, Madison Jones and Corey Martin are launching the full-service studio banner Immortal Studio. →
Lilah Kojoori, vp communications at Nickelodeon and Paramount+ Kids & Family, is exiting her role after 20 years at the company. →
Veteran German film executive Thorsten Ritter is leaving Beta Cinema after more than 13 years at the company. →
Amanda Cary and Jamie Palatini have joined Comcast spinoff Versant as vps of communications. →
Sarah Schweitzman was named co-head of CAA Media Finance, joining Roeg Sutherland. →
Digital content veteran Jacob Selzer has joined Creative Artists Agency as an agent in its Creators division.
Michael Moriarty was named CFO of Disney Experiences, succeeding the retiring Kevin Lansberry. Saumil Mehta was tapped as Ticketmaster’s new global president.
Valerie Meraz joined Fox Entertainment Global as senior vp content and acquisitions.
Rena Ayer was hired as senior vp content and talent partnerships at Red Seat Ventures.
CASE: Penguin Random House vs. Donald Sutherland estate.
WHY IT MATTERS: Sutherland’s memoir reflecting on his life and career is being held up by his estate. In a lawsuit filed in New York federal court on Oct. 30, Penguin Random House details a dispute with McNichol Pictures in which the company failed to deliver a manuscript of Made Up, But Still True because the estate of the late actor didn’t approve the draft. The publishing house seeks the return of a $400,000 advance. Before Sutherland’s passing last year, a draft of the memoir had been submitted, with Crown announcing a release in November. But after Sutherland’s death, Crown was told that Sutherland’s estate had undisclosed issues with the book, according to the complaint. Under the deal, Penguin Random House paid an advance against royalties totaling $1.25 million, including a $400,000 payment upon signing. The lawsuit accuses McNichol of refusing to return the money. — Winston Cho
Data Snapshot
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What Matters In Hollywood
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