Benedict Cumberbatch Gets Mean  

►On the cover: The (actually quite lovely) British actor speaks with THR's Rebecca Keegan about staying cruel for Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog, the time Doctor Strange told-off Iron Man and his onslaught of new projects: "It's just a lot of me."

--Busy year! "Three films Cumberbatch stars in and produced arrive for audiences in an eight-month window — the dramas The Courier and The Mauritanian, both already out this year, and The Electrical Life of Louis Wain, which screens at TIFF and Telluride ahead of a theatrical and online release by Amazon. He’s got a significant arc in Spider-Man: No Way Home, due from Sony on Dec. 17, and has finished shooting a second stand-alone Marvel film, Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, which is due March 25.

“It’s crazy how much I’ve got coming out,” Cumberbatch says. “I suppose there’s a mild thrum of overload anxiety of, ‘Will people be …’ It’s just a lot. It’s just a lot of me. But you know what? If you can stand by the work and be proud of it, and if it’s varied and diverse, then, great. You just roll with it.”

--Meet Phil: "Cumberbatch also worked with acting coach Kim Gillingham to analyze his dreams and, at Campion’s behest, remained in character for the entire 12-week shoot, stifling his usual agreeableness even when cameras were off. '[Campion] introduced me to the crew as Phil and said, ‘You’ll meet Benedict at the end. Benedict’s really nice. Phil is Phil,’ ' Cumberbatch says. 'And it just gave me carte blanche to say, ‘No.’ To be Phil, really. To stand in his shoes.' (He did return to himself with his family in the evenings.)"

--On the Disney-Scarlett Johansson suit : “It’s sad what’s going on between the lawyers,” Cumberbatch says. “Just the verbiage and the accusations of, ‘Put it in a global pandemic context.’ The whole thing’s just a bit of a mess. We’re trying to understand what the revenue streams should be for artists that contribute to the billion-dollar business that is Disney. And it has to be contractualized. How does an artist’s normal compensation with box office bonuses, how does it work? It’s a new paradigm, and it’s a very complex one. No one saw this coming, and no one should use hindsight to say, ‘Well, it should have been done.’ That was the first of these films that was going to get a cinematic release during the pandemic and got stalled and stalled and stalled. It’s very new territory.” The cover story.

+How Benedict Cumberbatch’s SunnyMarch grew into a major production player. What began as a small passion project has become a Hollywood success, securing a TV financing deal with StudioCanal, an Emmy-nominated series in Patrick Melrose and a crop of movies on the way, Keegan writes. The story.

Substack's Comic Play

►A new comic book battle looms: The San Francisco-based newsletter platform plans to spend north of $30 million to entice big comic scribes to leave publishers — and let them keep rights to their own IP, Borys Kit and Graeme McMillan report.

--“People work at DC or Marvel because they love the characters and want the exposure,” says one insider at the Big Two, adding that top talent at both can make well into the six figures. This source, however, concedes that Substack money is becoming the writer equivalent of Netflix dough to creatives when the streamer initially courted Hollywood’s top talent extravagantly as it jumped into programming. “They have deep pockets,” says another source, a comics creator who was approached by Substack, noting, “They are paying for names.” The story.

►Get ready for a wave of college athletes signing media deals: On Saturdays this fall, University of Alabama quarterback Bryce Young will lead the Crimson Tide as they vie for yet another national title. But on Tuesdays this season, Young will have another role: podcast host.

--As part of a deal the quarterback signed with Colin Cowherd and iHeartRadio’s The Volume podcast network, Young will talk college football each week on The Bryce Young Podcast alongside Jake Crain, host of The Volume’s Jboy Show.

--It all stems from a “name, images or likeness” (NIL) policy the NCAA adopted in July following the Supreme Court ruling in NCAA v. Alston, which found that restrictions on college athlete compensation violated antitrust rules. The new NIL rules allow college athletes to monetize their brands through endorsements, merchandising, and yes, media deals like podcasts. The story.

Ratings Revolt

►Numbers game: Nielsen under siege: who (if anyone) will capitalize on the ratings giant’s woes? Few major clients are happy with the data service — but no one sees a realistic alternative, Rick Porter writes.

--"Network beefs with Nielsen are a regular feature of the TV business. CBS briefly threatened to drop its contract with Nielsen in 2019 before coming to a new agreement, for instance. The months-long nature of this one, and the sustained pressure on the company from industry groups, feels different this time." The story.

►Retirement community film news: A group of Oscar winners and nominees will star in a retirement community-set noir feature, with sales launching at the Toronto International Film Festival. Morgan Freeman, Al Pacino, Helen Mirren and Danny DeVito will appear in Sniff from director Taylor Hackford. The story.

+A couple of notable festival reviews: From Telluride, Peter Dinklage and Haley Bennett in the musical Cyrano... From Venice, a Quentin Tarantino-heavy documentary about "the second-greatest spaghetti Western director," Sergio Corbucci, Django & Django...

Hulu's Price Hike

►From the department of streaming inflation: Hulu is hiking up the price of its ad-supported and ad-free subscriptions by $1 beginning Oct. 8. The price increases, which will impact both existing and new Hulu subscribers, means that the ad-supported tier will increase from $5.99 to $6.99 a month, while the ad-free tier will increase from $11.99 to $12.99 a month. The live TV plans and Disney streaming bundle, which includes Disney+, Hulu with ads and ESPN+ for $13.99 a month, will not change in price at this time. The story.

+On the other end of that spectrum: Netflix and Hulu have convinced a federal judge that they are more than mere video service providers. That’s important because a ruling on Friday will allow Netflix and Hulu to dodge a lawsuit demanding the streamers pay the type of fees imposed on cable operators. The details.

+And in other streaming news: HBO Max is headed to Europe next month. Beginning on Oct. 26, the streaming platform will launch in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Spain and Andorra, the company said on Wednesday. Next year, 14 additional European countries and territories — Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and Slovenia — will be added as part of the streamer’s international rollout. More.

►Casting roundup: Dr. Megan Hunt is returning to Grey Sloan. Abigail Spencer will return to reprise her role as the on-screen sister for Kevin McKidd’s Owen Hunt with a recurring role in the upcoming 18th season of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy... Fox has set the lead roles for its country music drama Monarch. Susan Sarandon and Anna Friel will star in the series, which is set for a January premiere on the broadcast network...

In other news...

--Britney Spears’ father filed Tuesday to end the court conservatorship that has controlled the singer’s life and money for 13 years.

--A new doc about pop star Justin Bieber is on its way to Amazon. Justin Bieber: Our World will premiere, worldwide, on the tech giant’s Prime Video service on Oct. 8.

--Linda Kahn, who worked for nearly four decades in children’s television as an executive with such companies as Nickelodeon, MTV Networks and Scholastic Media, has died. She was 72.

--Hearst’s TV division is expanding its TV production presence, launching the Hearst Media Production Group.

--Mobile games company Jam City revealed on Wednesday that it has acquired Canadian game development studio Ludia for $165 million.

What else we're reading...

--"NFL Media kicks off ambitious expansion with new headquarters in Inglewood" [L.A. Times]

--"Neon's awards season strategy" [Vanity Fair]

--"You can now buy Met merch on Instagram" [The Cut]

--"Steve from Blue's Clues talks about growing up and why he left show: 'I never forgot about you'" [People]

Today's birthdays: Bernie Sanders, 80, Pink, 42, David Arquette, 50, Wiz Khalifa, 34.