Remembering Angela Lansbury

And a big Marvel production hits pause

What to know

• Angela Lansbury has died at 96… Hollywood lost another legend today. Sure, you probably know Angela Lansbury from Murder, She Wrote or Beauty and the Beast — but were you aware she won an Oscar for her first film role? 1944’s Gaslight, the movie that gave us the term “gaslighting.” Or that she worked for over 70 years on stage and screen, taking home 5 (!) Tony awards in the process? She played Elvis’ mom in a movie once, that’s how long she’s been around. Truly legendary stuff. 🪦

• Marvel pauses Blade a month ahead of shooting, pushes back 3 other blockbusters… Following the departure of director Bassam Tariq, Marvel has halted Mahershala Ali’s Blade which was set to roll before cameras next month. The movie will face more development as it searches for a new director. This naturally means Blade is getting pushed back on the calendar (from Nov. ‘23 to Sept ‘24) — but it looks like that might have created a cascading effect on some other releases. Deadpool 3 got a two-month delay, Fantastic Four a three-month delay, and Avengers Secret Wars is falling back from Nov. ‘25 to May ‘26, giving us a full year between the two oncoming Avongers films. That’s the tricky thing with long-form cinematic storytelling, all the pieces can affect the others. 🧛🏽‍♀️

• Dahmer passes Bridgerton s2 to becomes Netflix’s 2nd-biggest English language original… Dahmer is the kind of show I don’t have much patience for anymore, but congrats once again to Ryan Murphy for capturing the zeitgest. Despite Netflix’s waffling subscriber rates, it seems the audience for their shows keeps getting bigger and bigger. 📈

• What’s the big deal about the Try Guys?… So one of them cheated on his wife, even SNL asked the question, “who cares?” The thing is their 15 million followers might and THR estimates that the Try Guys business makes $6 million a year. With a business based on personalities, you better hope those personalities aren’t doing anything to anger the fan base. 🤔

• Infamous entertainment journalist Nikki Finke has died at 68… Finke did a lot of important Hollywood reporting over the years, changing the face of trade journalism some would say. As I started blogging about entertainment news, I often turned to Deadline as a frequently cited destination. (I still think the site does good work). But Finke’s legacy is controversial, for all the praise she’s receiving now, many are calling out her darker side. ✍🏻

• The Rock says the point of Black Adam is so he can eventually fight Superman in a follow-up movie… Uh, it’s not a good sign if the “whole point” of your movie is to set up the next movie. 🙃

• Astronaut Scott Kelly debunks Neil deGrasse Tyson’s Top Gun buzz kill… Tyson was at it again trying to ruin the movie magic for everyone until real hero Scott Kelly stepped in and set him straight. 🚀

• Tom Cruise to become first civilian to do a spacewalk for new movie… What’s Neil deGrasse Tyson got to say about this one?! 🧑🏻‍🚀

• Broadway’s A Strange Loop is closing… Proving some loops are not, in fact, infinite. 🎭

• Blink-182 reunite classic lineup for tour, new album, When We Were Young festival… I’m feeling this. 🎸

• The Grinch getting horror-comedy parody film… And likely a cease and desist. 🎄

• Barbarian is coming to HBO Max Oct. 25… Get it on your lists. 📺

• Amsterdam stands to lose $100 million… Oof. 😮

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What’s new

• The Watcher — Oct 13 | Netflix drama series | 🍅

• Rosaline — Oct 14 | Hulu Shakespearean comedy film | 🍅

• Halloween Ends — Oct 14 | Peacock & theaters horror film | 🍅

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What to watch

We can demand more of our genre storytelling — and the studios can and should be willing to take the risks. Because when they do, true greatness can emerge, a greatness built by blending the comfort of what we know with the surprise of something new. That’s the lesson of Marvel’s Werewolf by Night and Lucasfilm’s Andor.

The former is a bold and gory, black and white, 48-minute “special presentation” that sees composer-turned-director Michael Giacchino paying tribute to classic monster movies. (Giacchino, an amazing composer, could in fact quit his day job.) Yes, Werewolf is based on Marvel comics characters, so there’s some super powered action and a McGuffin or two. You’re never too far from the mothership, thematically. But within the walls of the Marvel cinematic universe, this special stands alone in production design, vibe, and subject matter. It’s a daring and important step forward for a studio that claims to take big genre swings but often ends up with a homogenized product. Gael Garcia Bernal anchors the pastiche piece with verve, but it wouldn’t be Marvel if a CGI character didn’t steal the show. Werewolf by Night is so good, it makes the argument for more of this from Marvel. More big swings and divergent content that looks and feels different from the pack. If it’s anywhere as good as this, it will be worth it.

In length and form, Andor couldn’t be farther away from Werewolf by Night. It’s a long-form series in the true sense of the word, giving us 24 half-hour-ish episodes in a galaxy far, far away — but it excels in a similar fashion, by being different. George Lucas based Star Wars itself on the serialized adventures of his youth. Everything that’s come since, including new series like The Mandalorian, have been an extension of that. Tony Gilroy imagines a darker, more grounded Star Wars that feels more like a dense novel than a punchy serial. His sprawling cast, his fluid, subtextual dialogue, and his diversions into small character moments (a sacked corporate officer returns home to his mother and eats cereal — that’s a real scene) stand apart from everything the Lucasfilm has given us prior. And it’s wonderful.

Billions of dollars are on the line with these mega IP properties, so it’s natural to expect things that are safe and repeatable. But what if we didn’t? Let’s hope these two recent successes lead to more risk taking in our genre content.

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