It's a deal!
What to know
Writers and studios have a deal… After 146 days, the WGA and the AMPTP have come to a tentative agreement on a new contract. While we don’t know what the exact terms are yet, Variety reports that the writers are getting new streaming residuals in the form of bonuses when their films or shows hit certain viewership benchmarks. The entire WGA will now have a chance to vote on the new contract and if approved the writers strike will officially be over. This is good news for the actors as well, because once they see what’s in the writers’ deal, they’ll be able to ask for the same thing, which should bring a fast end to the SAG strike too. And yes, this means the talk shows and the late night shows will return shortly after the deal is approved. 🪧
A reboot of The Office is allegedly in the works from showrunner Greg Daniels… The report comes from Matt Beloni’s newsletter Puck, which is pretty reliable for this sort of thing. The show would be at Peacock and be helmed by Daniels, which should come as a relief to fans considering he was instrumental in making The Office great in the first place. It’s unclear what “reboot” means in this case, if we take it at face value it sounds like a restart or a redo — but my guess is that this is actually a spinoff or a sequel series. Last year, Greg Daniels said if he were to return he’d like to do “an extension” of the world, that wouldn’t necessarily bring back the same characters, and compared it to The Mandalorian vis a vis Star Wars. Makes sense to me and throws back to when he and Mike Schur were planning Parks and Rec as an Office spin off. The Office is an enduring hit for NBCUniversal, so it comes as no surprise that they’d back the truck up in order to bring it back in any capacity. 📄
Spotify is testing AI-powered podcast language translations that sound like the host… Dax Shepard might not speak German, but thanks to Spotify’s new tech, German listeners will be able to hear “him” do his podcast in their native tongue. This AI tech translates speech and then replicates the original speaker’s voice. If all the hosts involved gave their consent, which I’m assuming they did, then that’s pretty cool and a smart way to reach new audiences. We’re getting closer and closer to a real babel fish or Star Trek’s universal translator. 🗣️
HBO’s Band of Brothers is climbing the Netflix charts… That’s cool to see! It’s always fascinating to see which legacy shows are doing well on Netflix, first Suits and now this. It’s soothing to see the masses hop onto a high quality, prestige show like Band of Brothers. This is also an encouraging sign for the future of TV and its viability as a business, in which studios can license out their library content to others as a revenue generator. 🍿
Peacock tries to swipe Yellowstone CBS viewers… Here’s a fun, catty thing. CBS is currently airing Yellowstone from the beginning on a weekly basis — but Yellowstone is already available in full on Peacock. So NBCUniversal bought commercial time during Yellowstone to tell CBS viewers, “hey, you can watch every episode right now!” Pretty sly — but this could actually benefit Paramount, because if Yellowstone continues to do well, NBCUniversal would have to pay Paramount to keep it on Peacock. It could also drum up interest in the spinoffs on Paramount+. 🦚
Usher to headline Super Bowl halftime show… That’s a good pick. He certainly has the hits and the mass appeal. Sorry to all the boy band fans out there hoping for an NSYNC-Backstreet Boys double bill. Those rumors did not pan out and NSYNC’s press tour continues to be mostly about promoting Trolls 3 without actually mentioning it. 🏈
Update: Robert De Niro is not reprising Taxi Driver role in Uber ad… Though he is starring in an Uber ad. So no need to worry, Paul Schrader. 🚕
Scorsese says he might only have one more film in him… That’s fair, he’s had a pretty good career I’d say. 🎥
Expend4bles flops with $8M opening weekend… 4 shame, it seems no one came out to the theater 4 it. 4️⃣
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What’s new
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar — Sept 27 | Netflix short film | Ⓜ️ 85
Gen V — Sept 29 | Amazon superhero dark comedy series | Ⓜ️
The Creator — Sept 29 | Sci-fi film in theaters | Ⓜ️
Dumb Money — Sept 28 | Comedy satire film in wide theaters | Ⓜ️ 66
Saw X — Sept 29 | Horror film in theaters | Ⓜ️
Paw Patrol: The Mighty Movie — Sept 29 | Animated film in theaters | Ⓜ️
Returning: Lego Masters s4, Starstruck s3, The Simpsons s35, Bob’s Burgers s14
What to watch
Good for Hulu and 20th Century Studios. After last year’s Prey and now No One Will Save You, it’s clear they’re committed to bold and artistic storytelling within genre structures. Prey was a genius reimagining of the Predator franchise, in which the monster faced off against a young Comanche woman on the 1719 Great Plains. Meanwhile, No One Will Save You is similarly about a young woman fighting aliens, but the setting is more generic mid-to-late century exurbia (evoking The Twilight Zone) and the creative hook is that there’s virtually no dialogue in the movie. This is a feature not a bug, as writer-director Brian Duffield proves you can fully engross an audience in action and suspense, but still a tell cathartic human-level story with just a few words. It also helps to have Kaitlyn Dever in the lead role, who remains an under appreciated gem of her generation. The movie is suspenseful and packed with surprises, but its ending is a tad baffling. It’s clear Duffield wanted to go for some ambiguity, but ended up muddling the message with needless quirkiness. And yet this is a forgivable sin when the rest of the movie is so audacious and inventive — a fine addition to a well-trodden genre. Now if only it had been in theaters.
For all past ‘what to watch’ recommendations, see the full list here!