Creative Arts Emmys: 'The Queen’s Gambit' Wins a Leading 9 Awards

►Checkmate. Netflix's chess drama The Queen’s Gambit topped the 2021 Creative Arts Emmys, presented across three ceremonies over Saturday and Sunday, collecting nine awards including for casting, cinematography, costumes, editing, makeup, production design, score, sound editing and sound mixing.

The Mandalorian followed with seven Emmys, including one for composer Ludwig Göransson—his second consecutive win for the Disney+ series. RuPaul’s Drag Race won five awards, with host RuPaul scoring his sixth consecutive win and 10th Emmy. Saturday Night Live also collected five awards, bringing the live series, which returns for its 47th season on Oct. 2, to 83 Emmy wins. The full winners list. 

—"It doesn’t make sense." Courtney B. Vance won an Emmy for guest actor in a drama series for Lovecraft Country and backstage he lamented HBO's decision to cancel the show after one season. "In my mind, it doesn’t make sense, something as successful as that show was that the powers that be couldn’t figure it out." Vance also expressed his sorrow for the recent death of his Lovecraft Country co-star Michael K. Williams. The story.

—"I have an EGO now." Songwriting duo Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez won an Emmy for the WandaVision song “Agatha All Along” which puts the former now one Tony away from joining the latter in having the coveted EGOT status. The story. 

—"Fundamental rights." Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X used their acceptance speeches and performances as an opportunity to address women’s rights and raise awareness about HIV at the 2021 MTV Video Music Awards. Presenting the best pop award, Cyndi Lauper took a shot at Texas’ new restrictive abortion law, saying "Yeah, girls still want to have fun, but we also want to have funds, equal pay and control over our bodies. You know, fundamental rights." The story. 

'Shang-Chi' Still On Top

►Kicking ass. Shang-Chi remains atop the domestic box office charts after an encouraging $35.8 million haul in its second weekend. The Marvel movie now boasts the largest second weekend since the start of the pandemic, besting Black Widow’s $25.8 million. The movie now has a domestic cume-to-date of $145.6 million. Crucially, unlike Black Widow which premiered day-and-date in theaters and on Disney+ Premier Access, Shang-Chi is exclusively in theaters. 

In third place is Warner Bros.' Malignant which debuted with a tepid $5.57 million from 3,500 locations. James Wan's horror film has divided critics despite becoming something of a social media phenomenon but like all of Warners 2021 slate its numbers likely weren't helped by premiering day-and-date in theaters and on HBO Max. The full box office report. 

—Three guy. On the weekend Free Guy finally crossed over the symbolic $100 million mark at the North American box office, the Ryan Reynolds-Jodie Comer movie scored its third week atop China's box office. The film added $12.3 million, taking its China total to $75.8 million and is now Hollywood's third biggest in the country after F9 ($203.8 million) and Godzilla vs. Kong ($188.7 million). The China box office report. 

—Shake-up. Showtime CEO David Nevins will oversee Paramount’s television division as ViacomCBS shakes up the studio’s management structure and separates film and TV into individual units. Nickelodeon boss Brian Robbins, who is set to replace Jim Gianopulos as Paramount Pictures chief, will inherit a reduced portfolio overseeing just the film unit. The story. 

—Overall deal news. Unorthodox creator Anna Winger has sealed a multi-year overall deal with Netflix. The Berlin-based American producer and her company Airlift will develop and produce international drama series for the streamer. The pact’s first project, currently in pre-production, is a drama series set during the 1940 refugee crisis in Marseilles, France. The story. 

Review: Chastain and Garfield in 'The Eyes of Tammy Faye'

►"A grotesque clown show." THR's chief film critic David Rooney reviews the hotly anticipated The Eyes of Tammy Faye, Michael Showalter's dramatic feature adapted from the 2000 documentary about the rise and fall of the televangelist, her husband and their multimillion-dollar empire. The film stars Jessica Chastain as Tammy Faye Bakker and Andrew Garfield as Jim Bakker. The review.  

—"We’re becoming very experienced at these virtual festivals." Unsurprisingly TIFF has been rather low-key amid diminished star power and even fewer execs. But while Toronto 2021 might be lacking the buzz and glamor of pre-COVID fests, the pure market side of the business continues to tick over virtually for the second year running. The story.

—"We have to show the world that we’re better." Benedict Cumberbatch has repeated his call for the U.S. to shut down the U.S. military prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba while attending the Toronto Film Festival on Sunday. The story. 
 
—Missing. Tanya Fear, a British actress who appeared in an episode of BBC sci-fi Doctor Who, has been reported missing in Los Angeles. The 31-year-old Londoner was originally reported as last being seen in The Hollywood Bowl area on Sep. 9. Friends and family are urging people to use the #FindTanyaFear hashtag on Twitter to help gather information on her whereabouts. The story.

Mayer and Staggs Eye the Smiths' Westbrook  

►Green table talk. Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith’s Westbrook Inc. is in talks to be acquired by the unnamed media company led by former Disney executives Kevin Mayer and Tom Staggs, sources familiar with the deal told THR. 

With the Smiths’ Westbrook Inc., Mayer and Staggs’ media venture would have access to the production studio, Westbrook Studios, behind films like King Richard and hit TV series like Red Table Talk and Cobra Kai, as well as Westbrook’s digital arm, Westbrook Media, that sold 12 shows last year — including a Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reunion special on HBO Max and a docuseries featuring Alicia Keys on YouTube. The story. 

—Carter to Croft. Hayley Atwell will voice Lara Croft in Netflix's anime series based on the Tomb Raider franchise. The Brit actress takes on the iconic character in the series which will be set after the events of Square Enix’s Tomb Raider 2013-18 video game reboot. Netflix ordered the project from Legendary Television to series in January. The story. 

—Some good news at last. Britney Spears announced her engagement to Sam Asghari on Instagram on Sunday. “I can’t f***** believe it,” the singer wrote on Instagram, flashing her new ring while smiling alongside Asghari. Congrats to Brit. The story.

—"My heart, my love." Uzo Aduba revealed a celebratory surprise on Instagram this Sunday. The Orange is the New Black actress took to social media to mark her one-year wedding anniversary with filmmaker Robert Sweeting. A rep for Aduba confirmed to THR that the two wed last year in New York. The story. 

In other news... (there's a lot of TIFF reviews, unsurprisingly)

—TIFF film review: Ralph Fiennes and Jessica Chastain in John Michael McDonagh’s The Forgiven.

—TIFF film review: Mélanie Laurent's The Mad Women’s Ball  (Le Bal des folles).

—TIFF film review: Naomi Watts in Phillip Noyce’s Lakewood. 

—TIFF film review: Beanie Feldstein and Steven Yeun in The Humans.

—TIFF film review: Melissa McCarthy in The Starling.

—TIFF film review: Steve Pink's The Wheel. 

—TIFF film review: HBO’s Listening to Kenny G.

—Dune VFX house DNEG sets paid overtime policy for U.K. 

—L.A. Rams unveil Spielberg-inspired hype video from Inception cinematographer Wally Pfister.

—Move over, TikTok and Instagram! Hollywood calls Nextdoor the "most wonderful, horrible app in existence right now."

What else we're reading...

—"Conflict Of Interest: Why Hollywood Failed to Honestly Address The War On Terror" [The Guardian]

—"David Simon: The Question Michael K. Williams Asked Me Before Every Season of The Wire" [New York Times]

—"How Hollywood Sold Out to China" [The Atlantic]

—"As Hulu’s Price Rises, How Much Is Too Much For A Streaming Service?" [Los Angeles Times]

—"Starring In A Marvel Blockbuster Doesn't Exempt This Canadian From Scrutiny In Xi's China" [CNN]

Today... 

Today's birthdays: Jean Smart (70), Lili Reinhart (25), Niall Horan (28), Jacqueline Bisset (77), Ben Savage (41), Aisha Dee (28), Isiah Whitlock Jr. (67), Colin Trevorrow (45), Vella Lovell (36), Frank Marshall (75), Ace Bhatti (52), Nick Vallelonga (62)