Inside Jon Stewart's Return to 'The Daily Show'; 'Sex and the City' Is Coming to Netflix; The Search for DC's New Supergirl; 'God Save Texas' Review

[View on web]( [New reader? Subscribe]( January 25, 2024 What's news: Julianne Moore will star alongside Tilda Swinton in Pedro Almodóvar's first English-language film. Judge Judy is returning to broadcast. Netflix has shelved Halle Berry's almost complete sci-fi film The Mothership. Hillary Clinton has weighed in on the Barbie snub controversy. — [Abid Rahman]( Do you have THR's next big story? Confidentially share tips with us at [tips@thr.com](. Jon Stewart Returns to 'The Daily Show' as Host ►"The voice of our generation." Jon Stewart is back at The Daily Show. After a yearlong search for Trevor Noah's replacement, the longtime host and Noah’s predecessor has agreed to return on Monday nights through the 2024 election. The new setup, a major coup for the show and for parent company Paramount, is set to begin Feb. 12. The Comedy Central series will rely on the newsroom of correspondents to lead the show for the remainder of the week. [The story.]( —Flexibility was key to the deal. THR's [Lacey Rose]( goes inside the top-secret plan to lure Jon Stewart back to The Daily Show. Lacey writes that those who have worked with Stewart speculate that the timing was ideal – and not simply because his post-Daily Show work had garnered mixed results. [The story.]( —"Jordan's back!" Just how big a deal is Stewart’s return to The Daily Show desk? John Oliver, the former Daily Show correspondent turned Last Week Tonight host, compared it to NBA legend Michael Jordan’s return to the Chicago Bulls in 1995 after retiring from the game. Daily Show vets Trevor Noah, Jordan Klepper and others weighed in on Stewart's move back to the Comedy Central series. [The reaction.]( 'Sex and the City' Is Coming to Netflix ►And just like that. All six seasons of HBO's Emmy-winning comedy Sex and the City are going to stream on Netflix for the first time. The show will reportedly be added to the platform in April as a co-exclusive with Max (so SATC will still be available on HBO’s streaming service as well). The licensing deal is part of a content agreement that HBO parent company Warner Bros. Discovery made with Netflix last July, but SATC was not originally announced as part of that package. [The story.]( —Never work alone. Season three of Amazon Prime Video's hit Reacher will feature the return of Maria Sten as Frances Neagley, Reacher’s (Alan Ritchson) former military colleague. The streamer renewed Reacher for a third season before its season two premiere in December, and is in production on the next set of episodes that will be based on Persuader, the seventh book in Lee Child's series. Neagley doesn’t appear in the book, so her presence in the series will diverge from the text. [The story.]( —Double-dipping. Judge Judy Sheindlin, the long-reigning queen of syndication, is returning to her roots. Sheindlin has inked a multiyear deal to put her streaming effort, Amazon Freevee original Judy Justice, on broadcast channels in more than 100 U.S. markets this fall. The show will continue to premiere new episodes on Freevee and Prime Video. The streamer initially launched the show in November 2021 after Sheindlin, long the highest-paid host in TV, ended the 25-year run of the titular Judge Judy. [The story.]( —New show. Fox Corp. continues to shift its talent across its linear and streaming platforms. In the latest move, Fox News contributor Tyrus is expected to host an interview series for Outkick, the sports outlet Fox acquired in 2021. The series, Maintaining with Tyrus, will debut Feb. 1 with an interview with Piers Morgan. Tyrus joins Clay Travis and Tomi Lahren in hosting a series on the digital sports site. [The story.]( The Search for DC's New Supergirl ►Final two. THR's [Borys Kit]( has the scoop on the search for a new Supergirl nearing completion. Screen tests for the role took place this week, according to several sources, with the field now narrowed to two actresses. Milly Alcock, best known for her work on HBO’s House of the Dragon, and Meg Donnelly, who starred in Disney Channel’s Zombies, both tested in Atlanta, per sources. DC Studios bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran were present. Whoever scores the Supergirl role will first appear in Superman: Legacy before headlining her own movie, Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow. [The story.]( —"I am opposed to Amazon gutting MGM and its theatrical business." Doug Liman will not be taking a trip to Austin in March for the premiere of his feature Roadhouse, the Amazon MGM remake of the 1989 Patrick Swayze feature that stars Jake Gyllenhaal. The filmmaker is boycotting the premiere in protest of studio Amazon MGM declining to give the film a theatrical release, as it has done for features such as Ben Affleck’s Air. [The story.]( —Worrying trend continues. In a surprising development, Netflix will no longer be releasing Halle Berry’s sci-fi movie The Mothership. Berry and the Mothership team already completed much of the filming on the project, but it was in need of extensive reshoots to get it over the finish line. Netflix opted not to move forward with those reshoots and shelved the film instead. Berry has a multi-picture partnership with the streaming giant. [The story.]( —🎭 A-list addition 🎭 Julianne Moore will star alongside Tilda Swinton in The Room Next Door, the first English-language feature from Pedro Almodóvar. The Oscar-winning Spanish director first spoke about Swinton’s casting last year. Not much is known about the project, but it will shoot in the U.S. and Spain. The Room Next Door marks Almodóvar’s first full feature since 2021’s Parallel Mothers. [The story.]( —🎭 Next up 🎭 Margaret Qualley, Aubrey Plaza and Chris Evans will star in Honey Don't!, the latest dark comedy from Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke. Coen, better known for collaborating with his brother Joel, and Cooke last directed Drive-Away Dolls, the lesbian comedy road trip that Focus Features debuts Feb. 23. Focus is also behind Honey Don't!, which reunites the Dolls producing team of Tim Bevan and Eric Fellner of Working Title, Robert Graf, Coen and Cooke. [The story.]( —🎭 Ricky Baker! 🎭 Universal has cast up-and-comers Julian Dennison (Hunt for the Wilderpeople), Gabriel Howell (Nightsleeper), Bronwyn James (Masters of the Air) and Harry Trevaldwyn (Ten Percent) in its live-action adaptation of DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon. Dean DeBlois, who co-wrote and directed the original and revered trilogy, is steering the new feature, returning as writer, director and producer. [The story.]( —🤝 First-look deal 🤝 Tessa Thompson and her Viva Maude production banner have signed a first-look film deal with Amazon MGM Studios. Viva Maude is already in business with the studio's Orion Pictures unit on Hedda, Nia DaCosta's adaptation of Henrik Ibsen's play with Thompson in the lead. Thompson also starred in all three of MGM's Creed films. [The story.]( 'Barbie' Snub Row Rumbles On ►"You’re both so much more than Kenough." Hillary Clinton and Michelle Yeoh are the latest people to wade into Barbie Oscar snubs discourse. Clinton posted a reassuring message on Instagram for star Margot Robbie and director Greta Gerwig, and even posted a hashtag #HillaryBarbie. Yeoh was asked about the snubs on Wednesday’s episode of the Today show. The Oscar winning actress said: "Thank God the movie got nominated for best picture. But you do think, ‘How do you get nominated for best picture but not best director and not best actress?’" [The story.]( —"You don’t get everything that you want to get." The Barbie snubs were also discussed on Wednesday’s episode of The View. Host Whoopi Goldberg, an EGOT winner, shared her rather blunt thoughts, saying, "Here’s the deal: Everybody doesn’t win," before adding, "They’re not snubs. And that’s what I want to sort of point out." [The story.]( —Eva enters the chat. Though it wasn't snub discourse, Eva Mendes did weigh in on a Barbie topic, specifically people who initially criticized her partner Ryan Gosling for taking the role of Ken. With Gosling's best supporting actor Oscar nomination vindicating his decision to play Ken, Mendes took to social media to lambast a 2022 Rolling Stone article that ridiculed the casting. "So proud of my man. So much hate when he took on this role. So many people trying to shame him for doing it," Mendes wrote in the caption. [The story.]( Fox News, Smartmatic Handed Wins in Election Falsehoods Case ►Dueling claims. Fox News' last-minute decision to pay nearly $800m to avert a trial over accusations it defamed Dominion Voting System by broadcasting false statements that the 2020 presidential election was stolen is paying off. THR's [Winston Cho]( writes that a New York judge, in an order issued on Wednesday, found that Smartmatic must face FNC's counterclaims accusing the voting machine company of trying to suppress the network’s speech by bringing a $2.7b lawsuit. But in a win for Smartmatic, the judge refused to dismiss its suit against FNC. [The story.]( —🤝 Settlement 🤝 Netflix has settled a defamation lawsuit brought by the head of a Cuban exile organization, who accused the streamer of falsely portraying him as a terrorist and drug trafficker in Olivier Assayas' political spy thriller Wasp Network. Lawyers for Brothers to the Rescue leader Jose Basulto and Netflix notified the court of a deal to resolve the suit, according to a notice of settlement filed on Wednesday. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. A jury trial was set to start next month. [The story.]( —Con man. Kevin Spacey is stepping up his efforts to return to the public eye by booking his first comic book convention appearance. The two-time Oscar winner is set to appear at Mad Monster on Feb. 16-18, the con held in Concord, North Carolina. Spacey has largely avoided public appearances after his career imploded following accusations of sexual misconduct involving young men in late 2017. The comic convention circuit has long been a platform for controversial figures looking to make quick money. [The story.]( TV Review: 'God Save Texas' ►"Linklater's doc is the standout, but they're all strong." THR's chief TV critic [Dan Fienberg]( reviews HBO's God Save Texas. In this docuseries, a trio of filmmakers — Richard Linklater, Alex Stapleton and Iliana Sosa — examine the death penalty, the oil industry and strained relations on the El Paso/Juarez border in this potent anthology about the Lone Star state. [The review.]( —"More amusing than outright hilarious." THR's [Angie Han]( reviews Peacock's In the Know. This comedy created by Mike Judge, Zach Woods and Brandon Gardner follows the stop-motion-animated staff of an NPR show as they interview live-action guests. [The review.]( —"Whips it good." THR's chief film critic [David Rooney]( reviews Chris Smith's Devo. This doc offers a welcome corrective to the misconception that the band from industrial Ohio were one-hit wonders or that their eccentricities didn’t have philosophical foundations. [The review.]( —"Too krazy for general consumption." THR's Jordan Mintzer reviews Steffen Haars and Flip van der Kuil's Krazy House. The Dutch directing duo's first English-language feature stars Nick Frost and Alicia Silverstone as fictional TV parents stuck in an ultra-violent episode. [The review](. In other news... —Dakota Johnson [is wildly confused about SNL history in show promo]( —The Bear Emmy winner [Ayo Edebiri, Jennifer Lopez booked for SNL]( —Taraji P. Henson, Jeffrey Wright [set for American Black Film Festival honors]( —Tiësto [set to be Super Bowl’s first in-game DJ]( —Billy Joel [to perform at Grammy Awards]( —Sandy Kenyon [leaves WABC role as movie critic]( —[Margaret Riley]( Bombshell producer and Lighthouse Management partner, dies at 58 —[Walter E. Calmette Sr.]( film exec and longtime Felix the Cat rep, dies at 85 ​​​What else we're reading... —With Ted clips flooding social media, Fletcher Peters investigates how the Peacock series became the internet's new favorite show [[Daily Beast]( —Emma Jones goes inside The Chosen, the Christian fan-funded hit series about Jesus of Nazareth that is quietly taking the U.S. by storm [[BBC]( —In a touching tribute, Matt Zoller Seitz writes that the late Norman Jewison could (and did) do it all when it came to filmmaking [[Vulture]( —Pamela Paul wades into the Barbie snub discourse, and writes that the omissions were correct as the film is bad, and it's OK to think that [[NYT]( —Michael Waters explains why rich people don't cover their windows [[Atlantic]( Today... ...in 1970, Robert Altman’s R-rated M*A*S*H premiered in New York, breaking a single-day house record at the time for the Baronet Theatre with $6,660 in receipts. The film earned five nominations at the 43rd Academy Awards, winning one for its screenplay. [The original review.]( Today's birthdays: Ariana DeBose (33), Jenifer Lewis (67), Alicia Keys (43), Olivier Assayas (69), Stephen Chbosky (54), Whit Stillman (72), Volodymyr Zelenskyy (46), Mia Kirshner (49), Claudia Kim (39), Pauline Chalamet (32), Tati Gabrielle (28), Christine Lakin (45), Em Haine (22), Ana Ortiz (53), Dinah Manoff (68), Natalie Hall (34), Shawna Waldron (42), Christina Ochoa (39), Michael Trevino (39), Ethann Isidore (17), Charlie Bewley (43), Diane Salinger (73), Hartley Sawyer (39), Olivia Edward (17), Toni Servillo (65) Singer Melanie, who performed at Woodstock in 1969 and had hits in the 1970s with “Brand New Key” and “Lay Down (Candles in the Rain),” died Tuesday. She was 76. [The obituary.]( This email was sent to {EMAIL} by The Hollywood Reporter. Please add email@email.hollywoodreporter.com to your address book to ensure delivery to your inbox. 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