Open Thread

Billboard Magazine reports: Taylor Swift’s 1989 (Taylor’s Version) blasts in at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 albums chart (dated Nov. 11), scoring the superstar her 13th No. 1 on the chart. The set debuts with 1.653 million equivalent album units earned in the U.S. in the week ending Nov. 2, according to Luminate. That marks the largest week for …

Billboard Magazine reports: The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame – which began 40 years ago and started inducting artists into its ranks in 1986 – welcomed the Class of 2023 to its extensive roster on Friday (Nov. 3) evening at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Kate Bush, Sheryl Crow, Missy Elliott, George Michael, Willie Nelson, Rage Against the Machine and …

Deadline reports: The first installment of Ryan Murphy’s American Sports Story anthology series for FX will star Josh Andrés Rivera as Aaron Hernandez and Patrick Schwarzenegger as fellow former NFL star Tim Tebow. The season is based on the podcast Gladiator: Aaron Hernandez and Football Inc from the Boston Globe and Wondery. The first limited series installment charts the rise …

Variety reports: HBO and Max CEO and chairman Casey Bloys apologized to TV critics Thursday for using fake Twitter accounts to respond to negative reviews of HBO series, following a Wednesday report that revealed Bloys’ past behavior. “It’s very important to me what you all think of the shows. So when you think of that mindset, and then think of …

The Hollywood Reporter reports: Disney has agreed to take full control of Hulu in a deal with Comcast, which has owned a third of the streamer ever since Disney’s acquisition of the 21st Century Fox entertainment assets. “The acquisition of Comcast’s stake in Hulu at fair market value will further Disney’s streaming objectives,” the Bob Iger-led company said in a …

Billboard Magazine reports: Flavor Flav is known for a lot of things: wearing that giant clock for the past 38 years, serving as Public Enemy rapper Chuck D’s colorful on-stage foil and an unencumbered enthusiasm that helped propel the group into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. But on Sunday (Oct. 29), the Milwaukee Bucks gave Flav a job …

Variety reports: Submarine will serve as the North American Sales agent for “Caligula: The Ultimate Cut,” which premiered at the 2023 Cannes International Film Festival. Following the 1980 release of “Caligula,” producer and reconstructionist Thomas Negovan re-edited the film for three years utilizing the original materials for “Caligula: The Ultimate Cut,” which includes never-before-seen footage shot in 1976. Negovan’s reconstruction …

Deadline reports: Universal/Blumhouse’s big screen version of nine-year-old videogame Five Nights at Freddy’s has hit an unprecedented $78M opening, $4.4M shy of what Uni wowed with earlier this summer in firing up Oppenheimer ($82.4M). Yet, while presales indicated a huge hit, the whole Peacock day-and-date of it all, which wound up knocking out projections on Halloween Ends a year ago …

Deadline reports: Los Angeles is the second-most expensive city in the United States, according to a new survey. A U.S. News and World Report list of the most expensive places to live saw three of the top five cities in Southern California placed. San Diego was named as the most expensive city in the nation, followed by Los Angeles, Honolulu …

NBC News reports: Hawk, a debonair State Department employee, and Tim, a wide-eyed recent college graduate, fall in love after meeting on the night of Dwight D. Eisenhower’s presidential victory in 1952, just as Sen. Joseph McCarthy and his chief legal counsel, Roy Cohn — determined to root out any communists and queer people working in the U.S. government — …

The Associated Press reports: It ain’t the Olympics, but a group of Floridians plan to host competitions themed according to the collective antics of the beer-loving, gator-possessing, rap-sheet heavy, mullet-wearing social media phenomenon known as “Florida Man.” Organizers of the “Florida Man Games” describe the competition as “the most insane athletic showdown on Earth.” The games will poke fun at …

Deadline Hollywood reports: Disney+ and BBC have announced premiere dates for the three new Doctor Who 60th anniversary specials. The first special, The Star Beast, will premiere November 25, followed by Wild Blue Yonder on December 2 and The Giggle on December 9. The specials reunite the 14th Doctor (David Tennant) and Donna Temple-Noble (Catherine Tate) as they come face-to-face …

Yahoo Sports reports: The UFC announced Tuesday a new sponsorship deal with Anheuser-Busch that makes Bud Light the “official beer partner of the UFC,” replacing Modelo. A source familiar with the terms told Yahoo Sports that the deal, which takes effect on Jan. 1, is worth in excess of $100 million. The UFC had a previous sponsorship deal with Anheuser-Busch …

Billboard Magazine reports: Taylor Swift joins the elite club of artists with 10 or more No. 1s on the Billboard Hot 100 songs chart, as “Cruel Summer” ascends to the summit, from No. 9, becoming her 10th leader. The song, which previously peaked at No. 3, was originally released on Swift’s 2019 Republic Records album Lover before being promoted as …

USA Today reports: In a movie match-up almost as unlikely as “Barbie” and “Oppenheimer,” Martin Scorsese took on Taylor Swift in cinemas this weekend. And while the box office belonged for a second time to “Taylor Swift: The Eras Tour,” Scorsese’s “Killers of the Flower Moon” got off to a strong start in Apple Studios’ first major theatrical gambit. After …

The Associated Press reports: There isn’t much Cher hasn’t done in her career. She’s achieved EGOT status, she’s the only artist to have a No. 1 song in each of the past six decades — heck, she’s got her own gelato business, Cherlato. But a Christmas album? That’s new territory. So, why now? “I just didn’t want to do one,” …

Billboard Magazine reports: It’s safe to say that RuPaul Charles is one of the busiest celebrities currently working in the business. Alongside hosting and executive producing his Emmy-winning reality series RuPaul’s Drag Race, the drag icon has spent 2023 overseeing the show’s growing number of international spinoffs, hosting his own game show and writing a book. Now, RuPaul is revealing …

Deadline reports: With more than 1,500 performances during its initial 2016-2020 Broadway run, and a subsequent three-month post-Covid-shutdown remount, Waitress: The Musical baked its way into the hearts of theatergoers, and in December folks who didn’t make it to New York City will get a chance to see what the fuss was about: Bleecker Street and Fathom Events have set …

Reuters reports: Netflix increased subscription prices for some of its streaming plans in the United States, Britain and France on Wednesday as it shattered new customer expectations, and its shares jumped 13%. The company picked up almost 9 million subscribers around the globe, surpassing the 6 million expected by Wall Street analysts, according to LSEG. Netflix said it expected a …

Deadline reports: Just over six months after criminal charges were dropped against Alec Baldwin for the 2021 killing of Rust cinematographer Halyna Hutchins, new involuntary manslaughter claims could be put before a grand jury in a matter of weeks. “After extensive investigation over the past several months, additional facts have come to light that we believe show Mr. Baldwin has …