Strike Averted as IATSE and Studios Reach Tentative Deal

►"This is a Hollywood ending." After an unprecedented strike authorization, IATSE and the AMPTP confirmed they had reached a tentative contract deal Saturday that narrowly averted a major Hollywood work stoppage.

According to a letter sent to members, the deal applied to the 2021 Basic and Videotape Agreements, and union priorities that were satisfied in the agreement included living wages, better wages and working conditions on streaming projects, 3% annual increases of scale wages that are retroactive, “employer funded benefits” during the course of the contract, higher meal penalties, daily 10-hour turnarounds for all and 54- and 32-hour weekend rest periods. 

The new, three-year Basic Agreement deal will now go to union members for ratification. Negotiations continue for IATSE’s Area Standards Agreement. The story. 

—A little pat on the back. THR was awarded the top website prize at the 63rd Southern California Journalism Awards on Saturday evening, while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was honored with best columnist for the sixth straight year. In all THR, which was nominated for 37 awards this year, nabbed recognitions in 21 categories. The story. 

—Cyber attack. Sinclair Broadcast Group said Monday that it was the victim of a ransomware attack, resulting in dozens of local newscasts and other programming being pulled off the air Sunday and Monday. Sinclair is one of the largest owners of local TV stations in the U.S., operating 184 stations in 86 markets. THR's Alex Weprin reports that the incident began on Sunday, with a source saying that emails and corporate phone lines were also taken down. The story.  

—"We are committed to finding Y its next home." It took Y: The Last Man more than a decade to make it to the screen but, sadly, the TV adaptation of Brian K. Vaughan’s beloved comics will not return for a second season on FX on Hulu. In a statement, showrunner Eliza Clark wrote that she hoped the series about gender and identity will find another outlet. The story.

—Meltdown at Fox News in 3, 2, 1... DC Comics is changing what Superman stands for, with the company releasing a new mission statement for the 83-year-old icon who famously fought for "Truth, Justice and the American Way." Now Clark Kent’s Man of Steel is about "Truth, Justice and a Better Tomorrow." The story.  

'Succession': Brian Cox Talks Season 3 and Aftermath of Bombshell Betrayal 

►"Full fucking beast." THR's Katie Kilkenny speaks to Succession star Brian Cox about the season three premiere, his favorite scenes to film this season, a COVID scare during production and why he ultimately chose general counsel Gerri (J. Smith-Cameron) to be the public face of his family business: "She is Miss Ethics." Warning spoilers. The interview.  

—"The TV show and the message were not very feminist at the end." Sex and the City author Candace Bushnell says HBO’s hit TV adaptation of her book should not be a model for women to live by. In a new interview, Bushnell spoke about obsessive fans for whom “the show really guides them” and said that landing a “Mr. Big” of their own should not be one’s primary goal in life. She also defended Kim Cattrall's decision not to return for And Just Like That... The story. 

—Time for a break. Ryan Reynolds took to social media on Saturday to reveal he’s taking “a little sabbatical” from movie making. The actor took to Instagram on Saturday to share that he'll be stepping away for a break now that he's finished work on the Christmas-themed Apple musical movie Spirited. The story. 

—London's finest. Hit the Road, Iranian writer-director Panah Panahi’s first feature, has won the top prize at the BFI London Film Festival. The $69,000 IWC Schaffhausen bursary award went to True Things director Harry Wootliff. Sutherland Award for best first feature went to Playground writer/director Laura Wandel, while the Grierson Award for best doc was won by Liz Garbus’ Becoming Cousteau. The story.

—With me it's a full time job. Michael Caine has put the kibosh on talk that he's retiring from acting. The two-time Oscar winner confirmed to THR that he will not be closing out his acting career following his role in Best Sellers, despite vague rumblings that he calling it a day on Friday. The story.  

—Special recognition. The feature film Judas and the Black Messiah, country singer Mickey Guyton and ABC News’ 20/20 special on Breonna Taylor have been chosen as the recipients of the fifth biennial SAG-AFTRA American Scene Awards, which honor “producers who realistically portray the American Scene by employing union talent from misrepresented or underrepresented groups.” The story. 

'Halloween Kills' Opens to Killer $50.4M   

►Bravo Universal! David Gordon Green’s Halloween Kills scared up the biggest horror opening of the pandemic era, earning $50.4 million from 3,705 theaters. And that killer performance came despite the movie also launching Friday on Universal’s sister streaming service, Peacock.

Peacock didn’t disclose any viewership numbers for Halloween Kills, but at the box office, it came in ahead of expectations. The R-rated slasher sequel bested A Quiet Place Part II ($47.5 million) to become the top horror of the pandemic. 

THR's Pam McClintock writes that Halloween Kills performance will no doubt please advocates of drastically shortening or collapsing the exclusive theatrical window. Such advocates include NBCUniversal chief Jeff Shell, who oversees Universal and Peacock.

Elsewhere, No Time to Die, tumbled 56 percent to $24.3 million in its second outing for a 10-day domestic total of $99.5 million. At the same time, the latest Bond movie neared the $450 million mark globally, after earning another $54 million overseas. The box office report.

—"The business can’t rely on Marvel characters alone." Despite good reviews, Ridley Scott’s A-list The Last Duel bombed in its debut with $4.8 million as Hollywood continues to struggle to convince older audiences to turn up. Only two percent of moviegoers turning up to see the film on opening weekend were 17 or younger, while just 17 percent were between the ages 18 and 24. Conversely, more than 80 percent of ticket buyers were 25 years old and up. The analysis. 

—The battle never ends. Chinese war epic The Battle of Lake Changjin earned $73 million over the weekend, taking its China box-office total to a massive $768.8 million and counting. In the all-time China box office charts, the war film now ranks third, in U.S. dollar terms, behind Wolf Warrior 2 ($854 million) and Hi, Mom (which made $821 million earlier this year). The China box office report. 

It All Went Off at DC FanDome 

►RPattz like you've never seen him before. DC FanDome, the online convention celebrating all things DC, took place this weekend and THR's second nicest man Aaron Couch has the must-read rundown of all the teasers, trailers, news, views and more from the event. There's stuff on Black Adam and Aquaman 2, teaser footage of The Flash movie and Peacemaker series, but everyone is, quite rightly, talking about the incredible trailer for Matt Reeves' The Batman. The story.

—"I am vengeance." Returning to that Batman trailer, Graeme McMillan posits that Matt Reeves' film, at least the bits we've been shown so far, shows a Caped Crusader who is more akin to a horror movie character "as if Batman is the latest incarnation of Jason Voorhees or Freddie Krueger, another unstoppable elemental force on the prowl." The analysis.   

—HBO Max fortifies its DC roster. THR's Lesley Goldberg looks at how HBO Max used its second annual DC FanDome event to expand its lineup of DC dramas, announcing early fourth-season renewals for Titans and Doom Patrol and officially become the new home of former Epix series Pennyworth. The story. 

In other news... 

—Bowen Yang brings down the SNL house as "proud gay oompa loompa."

—Feinberg Forecast: The Oscars landscape in mid-October. 

—Betty Lynn, Barney’s girlfriend Thelma Lou on The Andy Griffith Show, dies at 95.

—Colin Powell dies of COVID-19 complications at 84. 

—Jodie Comer on The Last Duel and Ridley Scott’s sensitive and efficient set.

—Noomi Rapace Icelandic horror Lamb wins Sitges Fantasy Festival.

—Adrien Brody turned down Lord of the Rings and had major regret.

—Maggie Gyllenhaal’s The Lost Daughter heading to Netflix in U.K., Germany under eOne deal.

—Black Hollywood is snapping up paintings by this young artist.

—Robert Durst hospitalized after contracting COVID-19.

What else we're reading...

—"The Chinese Film Beating Bond And Marvel At The Box Office" [BBC]

—"Facebook Says AI Will Clean Up the Platform. Its Own Engineers Have Doubts." [Wall Street Journal]

—"No Time To Pee – Why Today’s Blockbusters Are Just Too Long" [Independent]

—"At Axel Springer, Politico’s New Owner, Allegations of Sex, Lies and a Secret Payment" [New York Times]

—"Christopher Walken: "I’ve Played Strange, Villainous People But My Life Is Contrary To That"" [Financial Times]

Today... 

Today's birthdays: Zac Efron (34), Freida Pinto (37), Jean-Claude Van Damme (61), Chuck Lorre (69), Nic Pizzolatto (46), Tyler Posey (30), Pam Dawber (70), Corinne Bohrer (63), Joe Morton (74), Joy Bryant (47), Howard Shore (75), Vincent Spano (59), David Twohy (66)