Ciao da Venezia!

►All the latest from THR's intrepid team of reporters and critics on the ground in Italy as the Venice Film Festival gets underway.  

—Allora! THR's first Venice Film Festival daily is out! It's full of the latest news, reviews and features from the Lido. The day 1 daily. 

—Delta blues. With a stellar lineup and in-person events, the 78th Venice Film Festival feels like a return to normalcy. But the the spread of the Delta variant of COVID-19 has many worrying about when the theatrical film business will return to full strength. The story.

—Critic's picks. THR's chief film critic David Rooney breaks down the festival's five most buzzed-about films from Edgar Wright’s Last Night in Soho to Kristen Stewart’s Spencer. The list. 

—The Wright stuff. On the topic of Wright's Last Night in Soho, THR's Alex Ritman spoke to the Brit director about his latest and there was some Baby Driver 2 chat too. The interview. 

—M. Gyllenhaal, director. The multi-talented Maggie Gyllenhaal makes her directorial debut with Venice competition title The Lost Daughter, an adaptation of Elena Ferrante’s 2006 novella starring Oscar-winner Olivia Colman. THR's Mia Galuppo speaks to Gyllenhaal about her directorial debut and how shooting it six months into a pandemic made it something of a gamble. The story. 

—Lido legend. Paul Schrader returns to the competition program in Venice this year with The Card Counter. THR's Patrick Brzeski spoke to the prolific filmmaker and legendary screenwriter about his new film and how the pandemic ultimately helped him make a better movie. The interview.

In other Venice news... 

—Venice jury president Bong Joon-ho: "COVID will pass and cinema will continue."

—Venice hidden gem. Buddhism and sci-fi converge in Cambodian mystery Karmalink.

—Venice flashback: Before Night Falls made Javier Bardem a star in 2000.

—Will Italy’s cruise ship ban transform Venice?

—Power of the Dog producers See-Saw Films: "We would have made whatever Jane Campion wanted."

Before 'Jeopardy!' Mike Richards Left Tumultuous Legacy at 'Price Is Right'

►"I don’t understand how he got the job of producing." After stepping down as Jeopardy! host, Mike Richards is out as exec producer on the Sony quiz show and Wheel of Fortune. Given the current fiasco, Richards' time as exec producer and showrunner at CBS' The Price Is Right has come under scrutiny. 

THR's Lesley Goldberg spoke to more than a dozen former staffers on The Price Is Right who describe Richards "dismantling" the workplace culture, and how he was more interested in being a host, how he ushered out veteran on-set leaders, presided over budget cuts and loss of benefits to staffers and was the subject of at least two HR complaints. The story.

—ICYMI. Here's our full story on Richards leaving his role as executive producer of Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune. The story. 

—Sinking ship? The Talk is down another co-host. Elaine Welteroth is leaving the CBS daytime show after less than a year and she becomes the second co-host to exit in as many weeks, following the Aug. 20 announcement that Carrie Ann Inaba would be departing. The story. 

—First-look deal news. Elliot Page is making a home at Universal Studio Group’s UCP. The Umbrella Academy star has signed a first-look deal at the Beatrice Springborn-led studio, under which he’ll develop both scripted and unscripted projects for all platforms. The story.

—More first-look deal news. Oscar nominee and The Crown star Vanessa Kirby has set up a production company and struck a first-look deal with Netflix. The streamer unveiled a multi-year deal with the award-winning actress and her new London-based banner Aluna Entertainment for a slate of feature films. The story. 

Britney Demands Father's Immediate Resignation

►Held hostage. Weeks after Britney Spears' father announced in a court filing he’d be willing to step away from her conservatorship at some point, the singer is again telling an L.A. judge that he needs to be removed as soon as possible.

Spears' attorney Mathew Rosengart says Jamie Spears is trying to "hold his daughter hostage by setting the terms of his removal" from her longstanding conservatorship. The story. 

—New broom. The scandal-plagued Hollywood Foreign Press Association, the organization behind the Golden Globe Awards, has announced the results of elections to fill a new, expanded board of directors and credentials committee. The new 12-person board includes eight females and five people who have not previously served on the board. The story.

—Big win for broadcast. ABC, CBS, Fox and NBC have gained a huge court decision that could imperil the ongoing viability of Locast, a much-hyped digital app that streams over-the-air television stations. The story.  

—Chasing Amy. Halcyon Studios is set to produce a Amy Winehouse biopic after optioning Daphne Barak’s 2010 book Saving Amy. The book is based on six months of filming, comprising 40 hours of footage, exclusive photos and notes, that Barak completed with Winehouse and her family in the last three years of her life. The story. 

—Heir to the throne. The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air reboot has a new Will. Bel-Air, Peacock’s update of the 1990s sitcom has cast newcomer Jabari Banks in the role that once shot Will Smith to fame. The story. 

THR Critics Break Down the Emmy Frontrunners and Possible Surprises  

►Everything outside the inevitables. To some insiders, the comedy and drama series winners may seem like forgone conclusions (we're looking at you, Ted Lasso and The Crown), but THR TV critics Dan Fienberg and Angie Han feel there's still opportunity for unexpected wins in acting, while the real competition lives in the limited series race. The critics' conversation. 

—Trans-Europe express. HBO Max is coming to Europe with WarnerMedia’s streaming service set to launch in Spain and across Scandinavia this year, with Central Europe and Portugal to come in 2022. The story. 

—HBCU showcase. Michael B. Jordan and WME Sports’ showcase of basketball games featuring historically Black colleges is set to air on TNT on Dec. 18. The story. 

—Wash out. The Bonnaroo Music Festival, scheduled to begin on Thursday, has been canceled due to Hurricane Ida’s heavy rain impacting the festival’s grounds in Manchester, Tennessee. The story.

—Flame out. Disney+ Hotstar is joining the Disney streaming bundle as the service prepares to shut down as a standalone platform in the U.S. in late 2022. The content available on Hotstar, including Bollywood films and IPL cricket, will be divided between Hulu and ESPN+. The story.  

In other news...

—TV review: Beanie Feldstein and Sarah Paulson in FX’s Impeachment: American Crime Story.

—Film review: Netflix’s Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali.

—Netflix's new releases coming in September 2021.

—Netflix: Movies and TV shows leaving in September.

—Top Hong Kong singer Denise Ho loses concert venue amid crackdown.

—Stephen Amell is “deeply ashamed” and trying to make amends following his removal from a flight in June.

—Netflix India strikes partnership with producer Excel Entertainment.

—Disney+ Japan to expand content offering with launch of Star in October.

—Gene Simmons tests positive for COVID-19, Kiss postpones tour dates.

—UTA signs NFT art projects CryptoPunks, Meebits and Autoglyphs.

—Brick Bronsky, pro wrestler turned actor in Troma films, dies at 57.

What else we're reading...

—"Impeachment: American Crime Story Avenges Monica Lewinsky and Turns Bill Clinton Into a Horror Villain" [Daily Beast]

—"God May Forgive Kanye West, but You Don’t Have To" [The Atlantic]

—"He’s All That is a Hallmark movie for Gen Z" [Vox]

—"Kenneth Branagh Gets Personal With Belfast" [Vanity Fair]

—""These Are His True Remains": The Fight Over Jeff Buckley’s Final Recordings" [The Guardian]

Today... 

Today's birthdays: Lily Tomlin (82), Zendaya (25), Padma Lakshmi (51), Gloria Estefan (64), Lara Pulver (41), Boyd Holbrook (40), Scott Speedman (46), Burn Gorman (47), Craig Gillespie (54), Steve Pemberton (54), Barry Gibb (75)