IATSE and Studios Reach Tentative Area Standards Agreement Deal

►Deal struck. IATSE and the studios have agreed to a new tentative three-year Theatrical and Television Motion Picture Area Standards Agreement deal following the Oct. 16 tentative agreement reached for workers covered under the union’s Basic Agreement that averted a major strike. 

The deal, which would need to be ratified by IATSE members before going into effect, generally covers 20,000 members working outside the New York and Los Angeles areas. The story. 

—Stepping up. ABC News is making a significant investment in its coverage of climate change, tied to the UN Climate Change Conference, which begins Oct. 31 in Glasgow. The network is planning a monthlong series, Climate Crisis: Saving Tomorrow, which will kick off with coverage of the conference, and continue throughout November, spanning all 7 continents. The story.

—Wall Street ain't buying it. Disney+ had a fast start out the gate, racing to 116 million paying global subscribers that led to lofty subscriber goals over the next few years. Ahead of Disney's Nov. 10 earnings, due to a litany of issues, financial observers are now casting some doubt on the company's streaming service hitting its major 2024 target of 230 million to 260 million subs. The story.

—ICYMI. HBO handed out a speedy fourth-season renewal for its Emmy-winning drama Succession. Season three of the drama from creator Jesse Armstrong returned Oct. 17 following a nearly two-year delay to rave reviews. The story.

—Full-season pickups. ABC is extending the runs of The Wonder Years and Home Economics. The two Wednesday comedies have been picked up for full seasons at the broadcast network. ABC has ordered nine more episodes of each series, bringing both to the traditional full-season tally of 22. The story. 

—"We’re all making assumptions." Julianna Margulies understands the conversation happening in the LGBTQ+ community about her role on Apple TV+'s The Morning Show, in which she plays an openly gay character. During a visit to CBS Mornings, the actress was asked about whether a LGBTQ+ talent could better portray her character, she said, "I understand, 100 percent, that I can’t play a different race. But I am an actress and I am supposed to embody another character." The story. 

Does Hollywood Need Guns?  

►"I hate them on set." After the deadly shooting on Alec Baldwin’s Rust, THR's James Hibberd spoke with filmmakers calling for a ban on live and even less-than-live weapons on set. But others suggest new regulations could be an overreaction to a terrible tragedy and the issue was competence rather than having weapons on sets. The story. 

—Was an inexperienced producing team to blame? With questions swirling around the deadly shooting on Rust, THR's Tatiana Siegel takes a closer look behind the scenes and finds that the film was led by a ragtag group of six men who have produced only nine movies combined: "Everything about it screams amateurish." The story.

—"Everything at this point, including criminal charges, is on the table." The Santa Fe County district attorney Mary Carmack-Altwies said the investigation into the fatal shooting on the set of Rust could take weeks, if not months, and she had not ruled out criminal charges. Carmack-Altwies confirmed that the investigation is ongoing and that detectives are focusing on who placed the ammunition in the gun. The story. 

The Spice Will Continue to Flow In 'Dune 2'  

►"This is only the beginning." Denis Villeneuve's dream of completing his two-part Dune movie series is becoming a reality, with Legendary and Warner Bros. on Tuesday revealing they are moving ahead with a sequel that will hit theaters Oct. 20, 2023. Legendary produced the film and put up 80 percent of its budget with Warners putting up the rest, so whether or not to make a sequel was Legendary’s call, and with strong word-of-mouth, critical love and decent box office numbers they did make the call. The story.

—Father-son dynamics. THR's Patrick Brzeski spoke to Dune stars Timothée Chalamet and Oscar Isaac about how as actors they developed the father and son relationship that is one of the core dynamics in the film and the creation of that pivotal "graveyard scene." Warning spoilers. The interview.

—The Judge of the Change speaks her truth. Dune star Sharon Duncan-Brewster, who plays Dr. Liet Kynes, speaks to THR about her Arrakis journey, including a shot at the end of the film that will leave audiences debating. Warning spoilers. The interview. 

—A life-changing year. THR's second nicest man Aaron Couch speaks to David Dastmalchian, the Dune and The Suicide Squad star who is closing out the biggest year of his career, one that has been both fulfilling, challenging and, at times, heartbreaking following the death of his father. The interview. 

Garrett Morris on Battling Racism on 'SNL,' Overcoming Addiction and Why Chappelle Is a "Comic Genius"

►"Everybody can be the butt of a joke." Garrett Morris has the distinction of being the first Black castmember on Saturday Night Live, and he faced lots of resistance as part of the original cast, particularly from NBC execs, but he credits producer Lorne Michaels for having his back. Now 84, Morris spoke to THR's Seth Abramovitch for a frank, fascinating and hilarious conversation about the business of comedy, then and now, praising Richard Pryor and, when it comes to the recent Dave Chappelle controversy, suggesting that everyone just needs to relax. The interview. 

—"A freshman series already firing on all cylinders." THR critic Angie Han reviews Apple TV+'s new basketball drama Swagger. Inspired by the experiences of NBA player Kevin Durant, Reggie Rock Bythewood's drama stars O'Shea Jackson Jr. as a coach working in the high-stakes world of elite youth basketball. The review. 

—More Madoff. Netflix has ordered a docuseries about notorious Wall Street con artist Bernie Madoff. RadicalMedia and Joe Berlinger are behind the show, which promises to bring new light to the already exhaustively covered Madoff case, a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that fooled investors for years before it fell apart in 2008. The story. 

—Jake and Elwood get the doc treatment. A docuseries about Dan Aykroyd and John Belushi’s classic characters The Blues Brothers is in the works. For the series, Aykroyd and Belushi’s widow Judith Belushi-Pisano, as well as her son Lucas Pisano, will collaborate with Utopia Originals, which will produce along with ALG Brands. The story.

In other news... 

—Film review: Lindsay Gossling's 13 Minutes

—Film review: John Swab's Ida Red

—TV ratings: Good Doctor hits season high, Voice rebounds

—Edgar Wright responds to Stephen King’s Last Night in Soho tweet: “I am truly humbled”

—Anya Taylor-Joy on why she opted to sing a cappella in Last Night in Soho: “It adds vulnerability”

—Spotify hits 172m paying subs, podcasts help boost ad revenue 75 percent

—YouTube ad revenue increases to $7.2b in latest quarter

—Twitter misses on earnings, hits 211m daily users

—John Cleese, Jim Jefferies, Monty Franklin to star in The Great Emu War

—Maneskin, Maluma, Kim Petras to perform at MTV EMAs

—Richard Evans, actor on Peyton Place and Dirty Little Billy, dies at 86

—Hulu ups Ashley Chang, Beth Osisek to VP

—Dr. Luke wants to tell jury that Kesha’s rape allegation cost him $46m

—Kelsey Grammer, Phyllis Logan teaming for survival thriller No Way Up

—Netflix partners with Tribeca Studios, Gold House for film fellowship program 

—HBO and HBO Max lease 7 sound stages, office space at The Lot at Formosa 

—Sandra Bullock seeks redemption in The Unforgivable trailer

What else we're reading...

—"Cuties: Netflix Scrambled Internally to Suppress A Controversial Movie From Search Results" [The Verge]

—"Streamers Battle for Operating System Throne" [Axios]

—"Five Points For Anger, One For A ‘Like’: How Facebook’s Formula Fostered Rage And Misinformation" [Washington Post]

—""She Was So Good at Amazement": Remembering Halyna Hutchins" [Vanity Fair]

—"45% Of Americans Don’t Believe Humans Cause Climate Change, Vice News/Guardian Poll Shows" [Vice]

Today... 

...in 1955, Warner Bros. released a teenage drama, Rebel Without a Cause, just a month after star James Dean’s untimely death in an automobile accident. The film would go on to earn three Oscar nominations at the 28th Academy Awards, including the first for young actress Natalie Wood. The original review. 

Today's birthdays: Inbar Lavi (35), John Cleese (82), Patrick Fugit (39), Ivan Reitman (75), Robert Picardo (68), Roberto Benigni (69), Marla Maples (58), Kelly Osbourne (37), Theodore Melfi (51), Gianni DeCenzo (20), Elan Gale (38), Fran Lebowitz (71)