'The Crown' Reigns at the Emmys

►Rule Britannia. Netflix’s The Crown reigned over the 73rd Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday night, winning seven honors, including drama series. Apple TV+’s Ted Lasso took home four while HBO Max’s Hacks and HBO’s Mare of Easttown have claimed three wins apiece and Netflix’s The Queen’s Gambit won two honors including a win for limited series. The full list of primetime winners.  

—Netflix finally topped HBO. It took eight years, and an assist from the pandemic, but Netflix earned Emmys bragging rights for the first time in its history by topping the winners list with a total of 44 thanks, in part, to a complete sweep by The Crown in the drama categories. The combined HBO/HBO Max finished a distant second with 19 awards. The full studio breakdown.

—The changing of the guard is complete. Nine years ago, not a single streaming show had ever been nominated for a Primetime Emmy. This year the Big Four broadcast networks collectively won just one award. THR's awards analyst Scott Feinberg tries to make sense of the Emmys and offers three maxims as to why and how streamers came to dominate Sunday's show. The analysis.

—"An occasionally interminable sea of mixed messages, with some highlights." THR's chief TV critic Dan Fienberg reviews the 73rd Primetime Emmys and finds that, for a second straight year, voters honored a few juggernauts — Ted Lasso, Queen's Gambit and The Crown — but failed to capture the year's most ambitious and diverse programming. The review.   

—Most memorable looks. After last year's virtual event, the Emmys returned with an in-person red carpet and a host of star's peacocking. Laurie Brookins rounds up the best of the Emmys fashion including looks from Anya Taylor Joy, Michaela Coel, Jason Sudekis and the always outré Billy Porter. The fashion. 

—Most memorable moments. From the singalong opener to Hannah Waddingham's screams, here's a roundup of the ten standout moments from the Emmy Awards. The moments. 

#EmmysSoWhite

►Whitewash. THR's D&I editor Rebecca Sun ran the rule over this year's Emmys from the diversity standpoint and it's not good reading, scratch that, it's pretty terrible. Despite performers from the global majority comprising 44 percent of acting nominees heading into Sunday night, white actors ultimately swept all 12 lead and supporting races across the comedy, drama and limited series categories. In 2021. Incredible. The analysis.  

—Ru makes history. The only diverse highlight of the Emmys was RuPaul picking up another Emmy for competition program for RuPaul's Drag Race. With the win the 60-year-old host has surpassed Donald A. Morgan with the most awards for a Black person from the TV Academy. The story. 

—Snubs. With The Crown dominating there were lots of surprising snubs on Sunday, among them Hulu's The Handmaid's Tale, Netflix's The Kominsky Method  and Disney+'s WandaVision. Among the acting categories, the absent Tobias Menzies' win over the late Lovecraft Country star Michael K. Williams was a shock as was the lack of recognition for Pose's  Mj Rodriguez and Billy Porter. The snubs. 

—"Your excellence, your artistry will endure." Kerry Washington paid a brief but moving tribute to The Wire and Lovecraft Country star Michael K. Williams while presenting the supporting actor in a drama series category during Sunday's Emmys, describing him as a "brilliantly talented actor and a generous human being who has left us far too soon." The story. 

—"There’s way too many of us in this little room." The 2021 Emmys took great pains to be COVID-compliant, requiring attendees to be vaccinated and present negative test results, and the location for the awards show was even switched to the event deck at L.A. Live. But Seth Rogen, presenting the first trophy of the evening, was not convinced and made his feelings known. The story. 

In other Emmys news...

—Emmys: Debbie Allen encourages youth to “claim your voice” during Emmy Awards speech.

—Emmys: Jean Smart honors late husband Richard Gilliland during comedy actress win.

—Emmys: Hacks co-creator Lucia Aniello reveals marriage to Paul W. Downs during acceptance speech.

—Cedric the Entertainer kicks off Emmys with TV-inspired cover of Biz Markie’s “Just a Friend.”

—John Oliver on Emmy win: "I was rooting for Conan."

—Emmys: Jason Sudeikis thanks Second City, SNL mentors in Ted Lasso best actor speech.

'Dune' Opens to $36.8M Overseas 

►The spice must flow. Dune launched at the international box office this past weekend and opened to a healthy $36.8 million across 24 markets and 7,819 screens. The movie's giant-format ticket sales were a particular stand-out, with it earning $3.6 million in Imax ticket sales from 142 screens, making its per-screen Imax average an astounding $25,000. The Imax ticket sales made up 10 percent of the movie’s total international take. The story. 

—Much needed boost. Sticking with Dune, Denis Villeneuve's sci-fi epic, along with the 25th Bond film No Time to Die, has secured a coveted, and increasingly rare for Hollywood, China release date. Dune will open on Oct. 22, with No Time to Die opening Oct. 29. The story. 

—Strong legs. For a third weekend in a row, Marvel's Shang-Chi has topped the domestic box office chart. The superhero stand-alone earned $21.7 million from 4,070 theaters, dropping a mere 37 percent from the previous week, bringing its North American total to an excellent $176.9 million. Shang-Chi is on track to overtake Black Widow this week and become the highest grossing domestic release this year.

The weekend’s biggest new release, Clint Eastwood’s Cry Macho, came in third with three-day earnings of $4.5 million from 3,967 theaters. Like all of Warner Bros. 2021 releases, Cry Macho debuted day-and-date on HBO Max and in theaters and like Malignant and Reminiscence before it, it has also fallen flat at the box office. The full box office report.

"For Omar" 

►Oh, indeed. The late Michael K. Williams also made his presence felt in Baltimore on Sunday night after the NFL's Ravens used his character Omar Little’s iconic signature whistle as part of their pre-game introductions. The story. 

—"I’ve loved every single second of these movies." In scenes from the new Apple doc Being James Bond, Daniel Craig was overcome with emotion while giving a speech when his final James Bond film wrapped in 2019. The story. 

—Empire building. Netflix is expanding its U.K. presence by leasing the giant Longcross Studios. The streaming giant, which already has a long-term lease at Shepperton Studios and has reaffirmed its pledge to spend $1 billion in the U.K. in 2021, will "operate and significantly expand" the facility. The story. 

In other news... 

—Hotel Rwanda hero found guilty of terror-related charges.

—First look at James Gunn’s Peacemaker HBO Max series.

—Electronic Arts closes $1.4B Playdemic acquisition from AT&T’s Warner Bros. Games.

—China’s version of TikTok limits kids’ screen time to 40 minutes per day.

—Ray Liotta says iconic Goodfellas tracking shot take was ruined by line flub.

—Next big thing: Actress and amputee Zyra Gorecki on starring in NBC’s apocalyptic La Brea.

What else we're reading...

—"Why Michael K. Williams’ Emmy Loss Hurt So Much" [Los Angeles Times]

—"The Quietest Emmys Speech Was the Loudest" [The Atlantic]

—"The 2021 Emmys Were a Thoroughly Modern (Mostly-White, COVID-Unsafe) Disaster" [Daily Beast]

—"Peter Thiel’s Origin Story" [New York Magazine]

—"How Lil Nas X Mastered the Modern Art of Attention" [GQ]

Today... 

... in 2002, Fox rolled the dice with a new sci-fi series, Firefly. Created, written and directed by Joss Whedon, Firefly was a future-set space western starring Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres and Alan Tudyk. The show was canceled after 11 of the 14 produced episodes were aired, but became a cult favorite and spawned a movie, Serenity, in 2005. The original review. 

Today's birthdays: Jon Bernthal (45), Kristen Johnston (54), Gary Cole (65), Sophia Loren (87), Aldis Hodge (35), Wallis Day (27), Maggie Cheung (57), Chad Stahelski (53), Moon Bloodgood (46), George R.R. Martin (73), Michelle Visage (53), Ghassan Massoud (63)