What to know
Marvel thought Ant-Man 3 was “a banger”… Some interesting Marvel revelations from author Joanna Robinson’s appearance on The Watch podcast last week. The co-writer of MCU: The Reign of Marvel Studios said that internally, the studio thought Quantumania was great and was surprised to see it fail. Robinson thinks it’s pretty shocking that Marvel’s internal barometer for what is good and will connect with audiences is broken — and I agree. This miscalculation has apparently rattled the Marvel braintrust — and hopefully will motivate them to course correct. It seems a lot of that is already happening in their TV pipeline. 🐜
Matthew Vaughn quit X-Men: The Last Stand after Fox made a fake script for Halle Berry… The Kick-Ass and Kingsman director revealed at New York Comic Con this weekend that back in the early ‘00s he was in line to direct X-Men: The Last Stand. During one fateful meeting with Fox, he noticed a script for the movie much “fatter” than the one he had. He discovered that Fox had written a script with additional Storm scenes, as requested by Halle Berry, in order to get her to sign onto the threequel — but that once she did, they’d “throw it in the bin.” This is just gross and sketchy behavior. Vaughn rightfully quit after seeing how they’d deceive an Oscar-winner. 😮
Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour breaks domestic concert film record with $92.8M, $123.5M total worldwide… OK so I was a bit bullish on my predictions, thinking this would go to $150M domestic. It doesn’t seem that the movie had much crossover appeal outside of Swift’s (still very large) core audience. But that was enough to become the highest grossing domestic concert film ever, and it shouldn’t take long for her to take down the global champ too. Meanwhile, have you seen any of the videos from the screenings this weekend? I knew the Swifties would have fun, but they’ve gone full interactive, turning these showings into full-on dance parties. 🎸
The Afterparty canceled after 2 seasons by Apple… I know this show has its fans, and its creative ambitions were admirable, but I didn’t find the first season to be as funny as it should be. So I’m not too broken up about this. 🍎
Best Buy rumored to be ditching physical media sales… Can’t say I’m surprised, but as one of the last vestiges of discs, I know there will be a lot of disappointed collectors out there. 📀
Oscar Isaac, Jason Momoa, Gerard Butler currently shooting new Julian Schnabel movie in Italy… Thanks to a SAG interim agreement. These 3 together could be explosive. 🇮🇹
JFK limited series in development at Netflix… Ask not what your streamer can do for you, but instead what subscription you can give to your streamer. 🍿
The Late Show pivots to at-home show after Colbert tests positive for COVID… Impressive that they can switch on a dime like that. 🦠
Ken Jeong to headline syndicated daytime talk show… I like it. He seems like the right kind of person for the gig. 🌅
The makers of Dumb Money are OK that it flopped due to the actors strike… Now that’s some impressive solidarity. 🪧
Michael Caine now officially retired… Well deserved. 👏
What’s new
Neon — Oct 19 | Netflix music comedy series | Ⓜ️
Killers of the Flower Moon — Oct 20 | Martin Scorsese film in theaters | Ⓜ️ 90
Returning: Big Mouth s7, Upload s3, Bosch: Legacy s2, Fear the Walking Dead s8
What to watch
Trailer: American Fiction — Dec 15 in theaters
Written and directed by Cord Jefferson, starring Jeffrey Wright, Tracee Ellis Ross, Issa Rae, Adam Brody and Sterling K. Brown.
Put American Fiction on your list, because it has a very good shot at winning Best Picture — or at the very least earning a few Oscar nominations. Most movies that win the People’s Choice Award at the Toronto Film Festival usually end up in the conversation on Oscar night. It’s already showing its mettle with critics, earning 94% on RT and 82 on Metacritic. This trailer didn’t wow me, though I’m enjoying the satire and the comedic tone. I’m happy to trust all of the above accolades though — and the fact that Cord Jefferson is already one of the most exciting TV writers of recent memory. His resume includes writing credits on, get this, Master of None, The Good Place, Station Eleven, and Watchmen. The last of which earned him an Emmy. Really excited to see his debut feature and where he goes from here.
For all past ‘what to watch’ recommendations, see the full list here!