'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' Review; Disney Soars Past 235M Streaming Subs; Elisabeth Moss on 'Handmaid's' Cliffhanger Finale; 35 Major Films of Awards Season

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( November 09, 2022 What's news: Black Panther: Wakanda Forever has scored $45m in advance ticket sales. Meta is laying off 11,000 employees. AMC Theaters' losses widened. Shawn Levy is developing a Star Wars film. Apple has renewed Bad Sisters for a second season. — [Abid Rahman]( Disney Soars Past 235M Streaming Subs ►"Disney+ will still achieve profitability in fiscal 2024." Disney+ beat Wall Street expectations by adding 12.1m subscribers in its fiscal Q4 to hit 164.2m subs. Hulu added another 1m subs in its last quarter, and ESPN+ added 1.5m. Overall Disney global streaming subscribers passed 235m. However, streaming losses continue to grow, nearly doubling year-over-year to $1.47b. [The results.]( —Box office savior. More good news for Disney as Black Panther: Wakanda Forever raced past $45m in advance U.S. box office ticket sales, several days before the film officially opens in roughly 4,300 cinemas domestically. THR's [Pamela McClintock]( writes that projections for Black Panther 2 suggest an opening of at least $175m domestically — some exhibitors are suggesting $185m to $200m — and anywhere from $155m to $195m at the international box office. [The box office report.]( —Losses widen. AMC Theaters reported a net loss of $226.9m in Q3, up nearly 3 percent on a net loss of $224.2m a year ago. The loss comes despite higher overall quarterly revenues of $968.4m (up 27 percent) built upon sharply increased attendance as the movie exhibition giant took advantage of a post-pandemic box office rebound. [The results.]( —Big Tech winter is coming. Major layoffs are hitting Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms Inc. as the company says it will lay off about 11,000 employees, or about 13 percent of its global workforce. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the decision in an email to staff Wednesday morning. [The story.]( —Civil suits. Two anonymous civil suits have been filed against former Scrubs writer and executive producer Eric Weinberg, accusing him of two separate sexual assaults in 2019 and seeking unspecified general and punitive damages. Weinberg recently pled not guilty to 18 counts of sexual assault in a criminal case. [The story.]( Elisabeth Moss on 'Handmaid's' Cliffhanger Finale ►"The tide is turning for all these characters." THR's [Jackie Strause]( spoke to The Handmaid’s Tale star, exec producer and director Elisabeth Moss about the season five finale and how the ending sets up the Hulu drama's final season. Moss reveals that even she was surprised to read the final scene, digs into how she played June’s reaction and confirms her involvement in the Handmaid’s sequel series, Hulu’s forthcoming The Testaments adaptation. Warning spoilers. [The interview.]( —Busy, busy. Shawn Levy, the prolific director and producer behind Free Guy and Stranger Things, is developing a Star Wars feature for Lucasfilm, possibly to direct. It is unclear when this project could happen. Levy currently has a full plate, and is on board to direct the upcoming third Deadpool movie for Marvel Studios that has a release date of Nov. 8, 2024. [The story.]( —Classy addition. THR's [Borys Kit]( has the scoop on Ian McShane joining Ana de Armas in Ballerina, Lionsgate’s feature set in the universe of the John Wick action movies. McShane will reprise his role as the debonair Winston, manager of the Continental, the hotel for assassins with its own set of rules and severe consequences for breaking them. [The story.]( —The Viola doctrine. Borys also has the scoop on Viola Davis signing on to star and produce G20, an action-thriller from Amazon Studios and MRC Film. The film is set at the G20 Summit, which is overtaken by terrorists. Davis plays the American president who must use all her statecraft and military experience to save the world's leaders. Patricia Riggen is set to helm the feature. [The story.]( —Cangri! Netflix has handed out an eight-episode series order for Neon, a comedy from creator Shea Serrano and showrunner Max Searle. The series revolves around three friends who move from a small town in Florida to Miami with the hopes of making it big in the world of reggaeton. Neon chronicles their larger-than-life dreams as well as the harsh comic realities of attempting to make it in the music industry. [The story.]( The 35 Major Films of Awards Season ►Crowd-pleasing film or a smaller, critical favorite? THR's [Tyler Coates]( runs through the features that are the leading contenders in the race for the best picture Oscar at the 95th Academy Awards, with some already picking up critical acclaim and festival accolades on their hopeful route to the Dolby Theatre. [The selection.]( —"I look forward to getting chilly in the Irish Sea one more time." Apple TV+ has ordered a second season of its dark comedy/murder mystery Bad Sisters, co-created by and starring Sharon Horgan. The renewal comes a few weeks after the conclusion of the 10-episode first season, which has earned mostly positive reviews from critics. [The story.]( —Sold! Benito Skinner, better known as comedian Benny Drama, has sold scripted comedy Overcompensating to Amazon. The social media favorite is attached to star in the project which is being produced by A24. The series revolves around an Idaho football player named Benny as he struggles to accept his sexuality in college, finding himself overcompensating as he tries to convince himself he’s something he’s not. [The story.]( —Snapped up. Netflix has landed the feature rights for Japanese mystery writer Kōtarō Isaka’s Seesaw Monster, with Olivia Milch writing the novel’s adapted screenplay and Anne Hathaway and Salma Hayek Pinault attached to star as well as produce. Isaka’s earlier novel Maria Beetle, about a perilous train ride of five assassins, was turned into the action film Bullet Train starring Brad Pitt. [The story.]( Midterms: Wins for Fetterman and Newsom, Abrams Loses ►Oz down, under. Democrat John Fetterman won Pennsylvania’s pivotal race for U.S. Senate, flipping a Republican-held seat as he recovers from a stroke during the bare-knuckled campaign and giving Democrats hope they can retain control of the closely divided chamber. Fetterman defeated Dr. Mehmet Oz, the smooth-talking and wealthy heart surgeon-turned-TV celebrity in the presidential battleground state. [The story.]( —Looking to the national stage. Democrat Gavin Newsom easily won a second term as California’s governor on Tuesday, beating a little-known Republican state senator by mostly ignoring him while campaigning against the policies of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, two leading Republicans who like Newsom may run for president. [The story.]( —"I will never stop doing everything in my power to make sure the people of Georgia have a voice." Democratic challenger Stacey Abrams conceded to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp on Tuesday in their rematch of their 2018 race. Abrams, a lawyer whose 2018 loss to Kemp helped launch her into Democratic stardom, would have been the first Black woman to serve as a governor in the United States if she had won. [The story.]( —Rare win for Trump. Hillbilly Elegy author J.D. Vance defeated Democratic U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan for an open U.S. Senate seat in Ohio on Tuesday in a blow to Democrats who viewed it as one of their best chances nationally to flip a seat. Vance, 38, a venture capitalist and newcomer to politics, benefited from a last-minute push by Donald Trump. [The story.]( Film Review: 'Black Panther: Wakanda Forever' ►"A worthy continuation." THR's chief film critic [David Rooney]( reviews Ryan Coogler's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Letitia Wright, Angela Bassett, Lupita Nyong’o and Danai Gurira return to defend their grieving nation from a new threat in the hotly anticipated follow-up. [The review.]( —"Entertaining, despite itself." David reviews Sean Anders' Spirited. Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds and Octavia Spencer star in this 21st century riff on A Christmas Carol that's a splashy holiday entry for Apple TV+ about spreading goodness in a world turned divisive and mean. [The review.]( —"Big ideas, big vistas, big performances, somewhat convoluted execution." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( reviews Amazon's The English. Hugo Blick's six-part series pairs Emily Blunt and Chaske Spencer as outsiders seeking revenge on the wide open prairie. [The review.]( In other news... —Brendan Fraser [finds redemption in The Whale trailer]( —Santa Barbara Film Fest: [Cate Blanchett to receive Outstanding Performer of the Year Award for Tár]( —BBC Studios [acquires unscripted producer Voltage TV]( —Banijay [acquires majority stake in Israel’s MoviePlus Productions]( —Fremantle [acquires majority stake in documentary producer 72 Films]( —Netflix’s [Matt Thunell replaces Bill Bost as Skydance TV president]( —Conan O’Brien [launching SiriusXM channel]( —[Jeff Cook]( co-founder of country group Alabama, dies at 73 What else we're reading... —Lisa Lerer explains why the G.O.P. midterms wave became a ripple [[NYT]( —Akiva Gottlieb interviews Triangle of Sadness director Ruben Ostlund who reveals that despite his filmography, he's no misanthrope [[LAT]( —Margaret Hartmann writes that Truth Social has become Donald Trump’s self-made prison [[Intelligencer]( —Barbara Ellen writes that she never dreamed The Crown could leave her wincing in sympathy for the royal family [[Guardian]( —Corey Atad praises Weird: The Al Yankovic Story for embracing the beauty of making shit up [[Gawker]( Today... ...in 1988, the horror character Chucky debuted as Child’s Play hit theaters. While the technical aspects of the film were praised, the characters and material were not. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Ryan Murphy (57), Lio Tipton (34), Eric Dane (50), Nick Lachey (49), Vanessa Lachey (42), [Jennifer Holland]( (35), Scottie Thompson (41), Finn Cole (27), Teryl Rothery (60), Lou Ferrigno (71), Elysia Rotaru (38), Toni Hudson (62), Karoline Eichhorn (57), Fernando Meirelles (67), Ion Overman (46), Bille August (74), Delta Goodrem (38), Sisqó (44), Asha Bromfield (28), Sandra "Pepa" Denton (56), Mark A.Z. Dippé (66) Susan Tolsky, the comic character actress who sparkled as the winsome Biddie Cloom on Here Come the Brides and as the shy secretary Bernadette Van Gilder on Madame’s Place, has died. She was 79. [The obituary.]( Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at [tips@thr.com](mailto:tips@thr.com?subject=). This email was sent to {EMAIL} by Penske Media Corporation. 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