IATSE Members Vote to Authorize a Strike

►Emphatic. Signaling overwhelming support for its union’s battle with studios over two expiring contracts, as widely expected, IATSE members have voted to authorize an industry-wide strike. This marks the first authorization of a nationwide strike in the union’s history. About 90 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot, and of that number over 98 percent voted to authorize a strike. 

“The members have spoken loud and clear,” said international president Matthew D. Loeb said in a statement on Monday. “This vote is about the quality of life as well as the health and safety of those who work in the film and television industry. Our people have basic human needs like time for meal breaks, adequate sleep, and a weekend. For those at the bottom of the pay scale, they deserve nothing less than a living wage.” The story.  

—Where's Zuckerberg? Facebook’s outgoing chief technology officer Mike Schroepfer apologized on Monday afternoon after the company’s suite of applications, including Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger, remained offline for several hours around the globe. The story. 

—Screen to stage. THR's Scott Feinberg has the scoop on a Silver Linings Playbook musical heading to Broadway. James D. Stern, the veteran producer who won best musical Tonys for The Producers and Hairspray, has acquired the rights to develop the 2012 Oscar-winning film. The story.

—Big move. Hulu’s Kelly Campbell has left the company after less than two years as president of the streaming service and is in negotiations for a position at NBCUniversal. Sources tell THR that Campbell is in preliminary talks for a leadership role at Peacock. The story. 

—"I have no words." Less than a week after seeing her father, Jamie Spears, removed as conservator of her estate, Britney Spears has posted a message of gratitude to the #FreeBritney movement, which has been credited for sounding the alarms in the case and helping to draw widespread media attention. The story. 

'GOT' Prequel, 'SATC' Sequel, 'Succession' And More at HBO Max Europe Launch Event 

►It's all happening. In a newsy launch event for its European services, HBO Max dropped a raft of teaser trailers for some of its biggest upcoming shows including House of the Dragon, Peacemaker, as well as new footage from season three of Succession and details on And Just Like That... 

—First the service details. We'll get the to the trailers in a minute, the HBO Max Europe launch event was notable for the company revealing its pricing and seven additional territories it will expand to after the initial six. WarnerMedia also revealed a 45-day theatrical release window in Europe for its films. The story.

—"Gods. Kings. Fire. Blood." The wait is almost over as the first footage from Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon landed this morning. The teaser features a voiceover from Matt Smith as the series lead Prince Daemon Targaryen. The teaser trailer. 

—"People see this uniform, it strikes fear in their hearts." We have our first proper look at Peacemaker, the hotly-anticipated spinoff HBO Max series to James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad reboot, which stars John Cena as the titular “hero,” a psychotic costumed killer with a metal helmet who is convinced he is America’s greatest patriot. The teaser trailer.

—Just a taste. HBO Max has shared a new clip of season 3 of Succession, that shows the immediate aftermath of the season 2 finale with Kendall Roy exiting his explosive press conference. THR's review is just below. The clip.  

—Please sir, I want some more. Alas, no teaser trailer for Sex and the City sequel And Just Like That... at the HBO Max Europe launch event but we did get some, admittedly scant, details. The show will debut on the streaming service in December, but no exact date yet. The story. 

Review: 'Succession' Season 3   

►"Scathingly funny, uncomfortably tense, and still one of TV's best shows." THR TV critics Dan Fienberg and Angie Han together review season three of HBO's hit series Succession. Will Logan Roy, his scheming children and his sometimes loyal consiglieres be as vicious, hilarious and tapped into the zeitgeist as when we saw them last, in 2019? The answer is yes, but you should read the excellent review anyway. The review.

—Hollywood indie downed by the pandemic. Solstice Studios, the fledgling indie producer and distribution outfit behind the Russell Crowe film Unhinged, lost its top leadership on Monday in a sign that it is winding down. Veteran industry exec Mark Gill, who serves as CEO, is among those exiting. The story. 

—Next up. Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton will direct and executive produce an adaptation of Gene Luen Yang’s graphic novel American Born Chinese for Disney+. The streamer has given a straight-to-series order for the action-comedy, which Kelvin Yu and Charles Yu are adapting. The story. 

—Benn vs. Eubank. Homeland star David Harewood is set to make his directorial debut with the boxing biopic For Whom the Bell Tolls. The feature, which comes from Fulwell 73, the James Corden-backed production banner, will chart the legendary rivalry between two of Britain’s most famous boxers, Chris Eubank and Nigel Benn. The story. 

Spain Selects Bardem's 'Good Boss' for Oscars 

►Tough competition. Spain has picked The Good Boss, starring Javier Bardem, to represent the country at the 2021 Academy Awards in the best international feature category. Bardem reteams with his Loving Pablo director Fernando León de Aranoa for the darkly comic satire, which beat Pedro Almodovar’s Parallel Mothers and Gastón Duprat and Mariano Cohn's Official Competition to the selection. The story.

—South Korea's pick. The Korean Film Council has picked Escape From Mogadishu, an action drama from director Ryoo Seung-wan, to represent South Korea at the 2022 Oscars in the best international feature category. The story.  

—First-look deal. RuPaul is diving head first into the scripted TV arena. The Drag Race mastermind has signed a first-look scripted TV deal with Sony Pictures TV and launched a production company, RuCo, tapping former State Street Pictures exec Jay Marcus to serve as head of film and TV. The story.

In other news... 

—Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Tick, Tick…Boom!: Andrew Garfield is a struggling writer in official trailer.

—Taylor Kitsch boards Netflix’s opioid crisis drama Painkiller.

—Ben Affleck on getting acting notes from George Clooney: "You’re embarrassed you didn’t think of it."

—TV ratings: Sunday Night Football hits 9-year high with Tom Brady’s New England return.

—ViacomCBS expands BET’s Content for Change into companywide initiative.

—Elijah Wood claims Lord of the Rings orc was designed to resemble Harvey Weinstein.

—Marc Pilcher, Emmy-winning Bridgerton hair and makeup designer, dies of COVID-19 at 53.

—Marcia Ross, art consultant and collector in Hollywood, dies at 83.

—How Spawn led John Leguizamo to create PhenomX. 

—Jeremy Davies, Elizabeth Reaser, Luke Kirby join MGM horror thriller Dark Harvest.

—Academy partners with FilmAid for conversation series about the craft of filmmaking.

—Amazon leads Netflix, Disney+ in Japan’s expanding streaming market, study shows.

What else we're reading...

—"Introducing the Real Will Smith" [GQ]

—"Don’t Let Amazon Eat the Film Industry" [New York Times]

—"He Made History As Hollywood’s First Animal Trainer. Then He Scammed L.A. With ‘Iceless Ice’" [Los Angeles Times]

—"Instagram Promoted Pages Glorifying Eating Disorders To Teen Accounts" [CNN]

—"The Very Real Decline of All We Hold Dear As Told Through the Progressively Shittier Spider-Man Movies" [Gawker]

Today... 

... in 2001, Wes Anderson’s whimsical ensemble comedy The Royal Tenenbaums hit theaters, eventually nabbing more than $70 million worldwide and a best original screenplay Oscar nomination. The original review. 

Today's birthdays: Kate Winslet (46), Guy Pearce (54), Tom Hooper (49), Jacob Tremblay (15), Taylour Paige (31), Karen Allen (70), Jesse Eisenberg (38), Parminder Nagra (46), Clive Barker (69), Diane Morgan (46),  Daniel Baldwin (61), Bob Geldof (70), Neil deGrasse Tyson (63), Nathalie Kelley (37)