'Color Purple' to try 'Sound of Freedom' method

And network late night gets its first female, full-time host

What to know

• The Color Purple will allow fans to buy tickets as gifts, after Sound of Freedom success… A big part of why Sound of Freedom made so much money is because at the end of the movie it put up a QR code encouraging its audiences to gift tickets to other people. It was only a matter of time until some studio tried this with a major release. I think it makes sense for Color Purple, which has the loyal fan base of musical lovers as well as appeal to audiences of color. We’ll see if it works. 🎟️

• House of the Dragon season 2 to premiere on HBO and Max next summer, HBO packs in the news… House of the Dragon is a Game of Thrones spinoff, I think. It’s been a while since it last aired. Speaking of which, HBO made a number of release date announcements: The Jinx Part II is coming next year, Euphoria season 3, The White Lotus s3, and the It prequel show are all headed for 2025, and The Last of Us season 2 will shoot next year (meaning a late ‘24 or ‘25 release seems likely). 🐲

• Comedian Taylor Tomlinson will host post-Colbert CBS game show After Midnight… A woman in late night! What a concept! In fact, Tomlinson is now the first woman to ever full-time host a late night show on network television. As you’ll recall this will be a reboot of Comedy Central’s At Midnight. It starts in early 2024. 🕛

• Stranger Things producer says AI won’t be used to de-age stars in season 5… I don’t believe this for a second considering they already applied de-aging technology to Millie Bobbie Brown in season 5. Maybe their de-aging tech isn’t based on AI, but you’re splitting hairs at that point. 🙃

• Nicolas Cage calls out his Flash cameo and AI… Meanwhile, this. Cage says his scene in the movie looks nothing like what he filmed, before calling artificial intelligence a nightmare. All we can hope is that SAG is working on getting strong protections. 🤖

• Scarlett Johansson takes legal action against AI app that used her likeness… And then there’s this. Good for her! 👏

• Final season of Yellowstone will air in Nov 2024, spinoffs 1944 and 2024 ordered… The Taylor Sheridan empire rolls on, and I bet Paramount is thrilled to have those new series under its own streaming deal. ⛰️

• Mike Birbiglia’s new special The Old Man and the Pool to hit Netflix Nov 21… Contemplate death this Thanksgiving. 🏊

• Six Flags and Cedar Fair are merging into $8B theme park giant… Cue the dancing old guy! 🎢

Programming note: Pop Culture Brain Daily will be off Friday and Monday, returning with a new edition on Tuesday.

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What’s new

• All the Light We Cannot See — Nov 2 | Netflix drama miniseries | Ⓜ️ 40

• Quiz Lady — Nov 2 | Comedy film on Hulu | Ⓜ️ 62

• Lawmen: Bass Reeves — Nov 5 | Paramount+ Western series | Ⓜ️

• Returning: Behind the Attraction s2, Invincible s2, Planet Earth III

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What to watch

TV trailer: Shōgun — February on FX and Hulu

Developed by Rachel Kondo and Justin Marks, starring Cosmo Jarvis, Hiroyuki Sanada, and Anna Sawai.

Wasn’t I just talking about how I wanted more big swings from FX? Well, looks like we’re getting one in February, a new take on the James Clavell novel Shōgun. This miniseries looks appropriately epic and almost like FX’s answer to Game of Thrones — albeit more Earth-based. Even though All the Light We Cannot See is getting bad reviews this week, I’m glad to see the streamers still willing to make grand historical dramas such as these.

For all past ‘what to watch’ recommendations, see the full list here!